WELCOME to my Studio...

First things First....

Winner of giveaway #1
Erin Strother

Please email me at artisanbeadsplus@gmail.com with your address!

Now for the peek into our studios....

Although, most of my free time is glazing the porcelain beads that my son Ben creates, I am now taking those creations and turning them into jewelry.  I LOVE ceramic beads and although, I also love the look of other beads and components, my favorites are ceramic.  It is not just because I make them because I love what others make too and will mix and match other ceramic pieces in my designs.  They just seem to fit my style!!

Rather than re-invent the wheel....or in this case, re-invent a former blog post...  I've taken one that I've written in the past and revised it to keep it current.... Current is always good...Right???

Since my ceramic studio still consists of an open area in my diningroom that I can neatly close up into an armoire', I will share my newest studio space which is where I create ceramic jewelry.

I hate to admit this, but the main area downstairs and the bedrooms were neglected in recent years other than an occasional visitor which forced me into clean up mode, so that they could spend some time with us.  That was always my sister or it was one of our combined six offspring returning for the night.  So, no big deal....

I started to find myself swimming in beads, glazes, clay, wire and then came the torch, the copper beads and the enamel  from Barbara Lewis.  I was now on to painting with fire.  That started to tip my little spread out all over the house "area" the other way.  I knew that  I couldn't keep my "torching station" on my counter!  I was torching, hammering and making all kinds of jewelry right up until Christmas morning....Can you believe it?  I thought I had a head start this year planning which beads, etc. for the jewelry I wanted to make way back on December 1st. 

This used to be my stepson Jay's former bedroom. He has since moved and is "basically" on his own now.  There were two bedrooms downstairs and I chose this room because there was more light. 

This is my husband Bill hard at work building shelves for bead storage while I take pictures ;o)

And...do you see that counter in the back....Yes!!! Yes!!! Yes!!!  That is my torching area and I can pound away in the area right next to it!

Here we have it.....almost done!

I've added my many, many trays of beads that I used to pile up on the bed with me while I created the jewelry that I was going to wear.......  Now...they have a home :O)

This is the only table that I have for now.  I will be checking Craig's List regularly for a deal on the table that will work in this space.  I'm also psyched that when I have friends and family over who want to make jewelry (it happens often)...we can head right on downstairs rather than me pulling out tons of storage cases!

So, here's a recent shot.  I'd love to show you that I'm a neat and tidy designer, but as you can see.... that isn't the case!  What you see is what you get ;o)

Lastly, this is my little makeshift photo booth.  I made this using ceiling tiles.  For the most part, it works great, but personally, I would rather take pictures outside when the weather is warm.  In Central, NY, however, that is only for a few months out of the year.

There you have it.... a little peek into my new studio :O)

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