Studio

I am happy to say that I now have a real studio to work in! As you can see from the before picture, the paint was dark and dreary and my supplies were just piled on the shelves and that photo was taken as I was removing stuff to take the shelves down. It took a lot of blood, sweat and tears, literally! Now the room is bright and cheery and I feel like I have so much more energy just being in there! A fresh coat of paint, new light fixture, sink and cabinetry has made all the difference! Yippee! Now to get back in there and start creating!

1 Tada! I love, love my new space! It was a lot of hard work, literally blood, sweat and tears to get this studio together in a few weeks. I was deeply unhappy with how it was and it was actually starting to bring me down. So, what's a girl to do? Just dive in head first! I had to laugh because the guy at the hardware store asked me if my middle name was McGivor! Now my happy space is even happier!	2 Before and After Here are the before and after pictures, to be fair the before was taken at night while I was removing supplies in order to take down the shelving. Plus, it was way worse, you are getting the edited version of chaos, I just could not bring myself to post the real before pictures! A fresh coat of paint, new light fixture, Prepac cupboards and a sink and the difference is truly astounding. I am happy beyond words to be able to gather my creative energies in such a beautiful space! Feeling blessed!	3 Eggshell Storage Drawers Ostrich and Emu eggs in the tall, clear cabinet on the left and turkey eggs in all stages in the 7 drawer cabinets to the right. Also makes a wonderful space for all my orchids!	4 Treasured Close up of one of my treasures! A handmade wooden box with the most beautiful inlayed work created by Tom Trout. A gift from my dear friend Carolyn who graciously hosted me while at the Pysanky At The Gardens retreat in Arkansas.
5 Oodles of Eggs A peek at some of my double yolk turkey eggs just waiting to be worked on. I can't tell you how ridiculously satisfying it is to have these shells organized!	6 Jewels Jewelry making station and storage for a small part my yarn habit above.	7 Bling Finished jewelry to the left, in progress and supplies to the right.	8 Epoxy Epoxy cupboard! I use Ecopoxy to strengthen the pieces. It is commonly used to seal countertops, so it is extremely durable, crystal clear, contains UV filters to keep the colors bright and is made with NO Toxic Organic Compounds or Heavy Metals and is "Greenseal" approved, being formulated with no harsh chemicals!
9 Beads and Findings	10 Tools Oven for making polymer clay mosaic jewelry, sandpapers, Dremel drill press and cutting booth.	11 Camoflage This is where I cut my eggshells to make jewelry! Can you believe it?	12 Cutting Booth I remove the endcap off the wall vent and tighten a single screw on a pipe clamp and voila! All the dangerous eggshell dust is sucked directly out of the house.
13 Under desk storage Under my jewelry making work desk I store shipping supplies, stands and general office supplies.	14 Prep Egg prep station! This is where I will be cleaning out eggs, mixing dyes, and etching shells. To the right is my fume booth, it still needs a few doors, but eventually I may make a new, smaller booth instead, so it's a bit up in the air at the moment.	15 More eggs More eggs! Rhea, quail, peahen, chicken and some inprogress ones.	16 And even more eggs Yet again more shells, odd turkey eggs for jewelry, duck, guinea and multi-coloured chicken eggs. To the right are all my dyes, packets and jars of dry aniline powders.
17 Shipping More shipping supplies! Shipping online requires a lot of supplies!	18 Cleaners Liquid storage cabinet, cleaners, fertilizer, vinegar, bleach, etc for prepping and washing shells.	19 Sink I can't describe how excited I am to finally have my very own sink, no more mess in our bathroom!	20 By night Night shot with my essential oils ultrasonic diffuser, so relaxing!
21 Drying Not the prettiest photo, but this is the inside of my fume booth cabinet. This is where I varnish my eggs and the varnish fumes are vented through the ductwork to the outdoors so we don't breath in any dangerous chemicals.	22 Craft fair displays Another cabinet tucked in behind my door, some of my display stands are placed on top.	23 So much stuff Inside the cabinet I have supplies for cleaning up the eggs after the wax is removed, including a jewelr's alcohol lamp, citric acid which I like to add to my vinegar, extra light bulbs for my lamp, pens and pencils, a variety of design books and my collection of magazines and articles where I have been published.	24 Dye shelf My egg writing desk and all my jars of dye! This is where I spend most of my time, so this is about as neat and tidy as it gets! I store the mixed dyes in wide mouth mason jars, plastic tops are my favourite because they don't rust. My lamp is a daylight model which really helps when working through the long winter months. I use a microbead pillow to cushion the egg as I work, and behind that is my Petit wax warmer which allows me to always have hot, liquid wax. The wooden stand to the right was made by Rob Terry and it holds all my kistky writing styluses, I normally use six but the stand will hold up to ten.
25 Portal to the outside world Lastly, here is my computer desk, where I communicate with customers, do website updates and print postage for my parcels. I hope that you enjoyed my studio tour!