studio tour - part three

Okay, we are rounding the corner of our week long studio tour today.  You can go here and here to see the first two parts.

This area is designated for paper projects.  There are blank tags, paper scissors, small bits of ribbon and loose buttons in the pretty containers on my blue painted table.

studio tour - part two

Welcome back for part two of my studio tour.  If you missed part one, you can find it here.

We are continuing on from the desk along the same wall today starting with my art cart.  I bought this a couple of years ago at IKEA and love it.  I could actually use a couple more around the studio.

Studio tour...part one

I thought it was about time I shared a tour of my studio with you since it is probably the place in our home that is most reflective of who I am and the area that provides me a safe shelter in life's storms.

My studio/craft/sewing room has been in just about every room in our home but I love it's current location most of all.  I am upstairs facing the street with a view of the nearby foothills and shaded by our large California Ash trees.

the studio tour continues

Thanks for coming back to see the rest of my art studio.  It's hard to miss the focal point on this side of the room.  I found this large wooden easel at the thrift store for $8.00.  It is solid wood and in great shape except for the front panel which has been replaced with particle board.  I knew I needed to cover it up and decided a little paint job might be in order.  Never one to shy away from color, I love how it turned out.

The sewing machine table is another thrift store find.  A coat of reddish orange paint transformed it into the perfect spot to add a few stitches to my art work.

This framed canvas was used as a photo board in my old craft space.  I knew I wanted a little more order in how I displayed my grand kids pictures in the new space so I treated the whole thing as a large mixed media art canvas and painted four flowers to frame each of my grand children's picture.  The photos are held up with push pins which allows for me to change them as often as I like.

I found this vintage wire basket at the Pasadena Flea Market a couple of years ago and decided to hang it on the wall and use it as a display case.

The wardrobe mirrors will be used as a large display board and are slowly being used to showcase works in progress and copies of my favorite art journal pages.  The small hutch is being used as my printer stand as well as magazine holder.  I love the jewelry wall which I've shared with you before.

I've stored my baker's twine in these sugar canisters for a while now and I still love the mix of cuteness and function.  As you can see I hung a banner or two or three around the room as well.

I love the natural light that flows into this room and the large trees just outside the window make me feel like I'm in a tree house.  I added a row of white lights and my heart banner as a the window treatment.

Vintage sheets are tacked around the open shelves to hide plastic storage bins and totes.  I love that everyone including the dog likes to hang out in the chair while I'm working.  My grandson thinks the whole room is too pretty to get all messy with my art but he's coming around.

I'm glad I took these pictures when I did because it didn't stay this neat for very long.  I think I would be worried if it did because the whole point of transforming the room was to get me creating and creating is messy, wonderful business.

xo, Patty

a tour of my studio - part one

I have a young friend named Sara. Sara is an artist.  She believes in who she was created to be and it flows freely into every aspect of her life.  She has encouraged me to embrace the artist in me and I am immensely grateful to her for it.

With this new found admission I knew it was time for me to create a space that would draw me in, that would stimulate the artist in me.  To finally put together my dream art studio...

I've divided the room in to two posts and will share half today and half tomorrow.

We'll start the tour clockwise as you enter the door.

I am a very visual person and know that color stimulates my creativity, so I spent some time adding pops of brights to bring life to the white walls.

 I covered an old bulletin board with scrapbook paper that I had in my stash. (I took pictures as I went and will show you how simple it was soon.)  Now it's too pretty to actually use to tack things up on but that's okay, it reminds me to always be a dreamer and that's a quality I never want to lose.

This large frame has followed me the last couple of house moves we've made.  The glass broke out of it many years ago so now I use it as a place to hang inspiration.  Every one should have a spot to gather things they love, don't you agree?

The tall shelving unit holds a lot of my little what nots including buttons, brushes and washi tape.  The three tiered cart is from IKEA and it stores my mixed media papers and stamps.  The large farm table takes up the majority of the room and is well worth the real estate investment.  I scored it a few years ago at the thrift store for $20.00.

And lastly as we turn the corner on the half way mark of the room, I pushed a drop leaf table under the beautiful sun exposing window to hold all the essential tools I use on a regular basis.  It's not pretty but it is functional and I'm okay with a little organized mess.

There really are no words for how I feel when I walk into this room, I just know that I think about going back in there as soon as I walk out and I can't imagine a better endorsement of a space.

I can't wait to come back tomorrow with the other half of the room.

Happy Monday!

xo, Patty

the details

I was hoping to get this post out yesterday but this week has turned out to be busier than I thought.  A good kind of busy, but busy none the less, so this post may be heavy on pictures and light on words.  Which just might be a good thing.

First off the space I am now using is the original room that was designated as my craft room when we moved in nearly five years ago.  We had the white carpet replaced with a faux wood floor after a pipe burst shortly after moving in so that if (when) I got paint on the floor the guilt would be minimal.  When my daughter moved out last year I quickly took her larger room upstairs but as the boomerang flies, she is back for a while which prompted my moving to a corner of my grandson's room. All of which you can find here.

So now we are full circle and I am back in the office/laundry closet room which is in all actuality, the best place for my craft studio to be.  (Did I say this was going to be short on words?  Sheesh...)

Okay, now on to the details of my new, old craft space...

I found this old farm table at Goodwill a couple of weeks ago.  It was marked $44.00 but was tagged with the half off color of the week so I scored it for $22.00.  I have wanted one to craft on forever, so this was a major thrill for me!

Metal bin from Home Goods holds vintage sheets.

Thrift store drawers hold inks and letter/number stamps.

These built in bookshelves are filled with all kinds of storage containers and holds the bulk of my crafting supplies.

The large frame has cotton batting as the center and is used as a design wall for quilting.  The smaller one is a piece of foam board covered with canvas and is for pinning inspirational things on.

This red basket is filled with my basic sewing supplies and can be moved to the table as needed.

Threads in a two tiered stand.

Framed artwork from my grandson.

 

An old serving tray as wall art and a cabinet door turned into a chalkboard.

Another inspiration board.

More bins filled with my paper crafting supplies and scrapbook paper.

So there you have it.  I am truly blessed to have all this at my disposal.  I don't take it for granted for one second and when you add these cute tootsie warmers...I am one lucky girl. 

xo, Patty

edited to add...the cute black and white furball is on loan from my mom while she takes a much deserved vacation with my brother.  You are coming back for her, aren't you mom?

recapturing my own space

     "A woman is walking along the beach, she sees an older woman picking up starfish and tossing them into the sea.  The young woman, thinking the older woman's efforts futile, asks, "Old woman, why do you do that?  There are  so many starfish, and the sea's waves unceasingly beat up against the shore.  You toss a few back, but what difference does it make? 
    The old woman picks up a starfish, flings it into the ocean and says, "It made a difference to that one!"     Pam Farrel, A Woman of Influence

I hadn't realized  how much I missed having my own space until I recaptured it this past week.  I had forgotten how much a place to dream of creative things feeds my very soul. 

I remember now the joy that fills my heart when I walk into this little room that is more me than any other place in our home. 

I am reminded that I was made to create beautiful things.  As trite as that sounds in light of all the suffering and injustice in this world...making pretty things matters. 

I have thought to myself (and said out loud to my husband) how thankful I am that he knows me and for giving back the blessing of this little piece of me.

 

 

Welcome to my corner of the world.  A place to write, to dream, to pray, to create...a place to recapture me.

It looks like these two approve...

I will be back tomorrow with all the details.

xo, Patty

I'm joining Brenda over at Cozy Little House for Tweak it Tuesday.

another sneak peak

I know I am shameless about the sneak peaks but I couldn't resist.  Those of you who guessed craft room were correct.

While I loved my little corner in my grandson's room, crafting is messy business and I was in serious danger of swallowing up his entire space.  So, once I presented my story to dear hubby...Let's just say I have come full circle and leave it at that till next time.

Yesterday was very productive but there are still only 24 hours in a day and well, I couldn't leave you without a reality check and a taste of what the next couple of days will have me doing.

Enjoy your weekend.  If I finish up, I will pop in with some photos.

xo, Patty

my craft space

When I decided to join Karen over at My Desert Cottage for her annual Where Bloggers Create party a couple of months ago, I was enjoying my recently redone Craft Studio.  Just to show how quickly life can change, our (oh, so briefly) empty nest is no longer empty and my beautiful studio is now my daughter's room once again. 

After touring our little cottage looking for a new craft room (and trying to figure out who I could kick out of what space) inspiration hit. 

I have relocated to a cozy little corner in my four year old grandson's room. Since he tended to join me every time I snuck in my studio to play, it only made sense for me to take my craft toys to him.  He has been around grandma's stuff since he was born and is very good about what he can and cannot touch. 

His walls are painted light blue and his room is accented with red and navy.  I decided to embrace the color palette along with some splashes of turquoise to add a fun twist and bring in a little femininity without being too girly.

The biggest difference I found when adapting to a smaller space is the greater need for streamlined organization.  Plus with limited floor space, find ways to go vertical.

My fabrics used to be folded and exposed in this shelving unit (which was on the floor before) but in this smaller space it was a little chaotic looking so I purchased these fabric totes to store them in and sorted it by line and color.  I couldn't resist leaving a few of my vintage sheets displayed for inspiration.  I also swapped out my mix matched storage boxes for inexpensive paper boxes in white (plus a few of the blue with pink roses). 

I also labeled e.v.e.r.y.t.h.i.n.g.

I rounded up pretty containers for storage since I wanted everything that was left exposed to be beautiful.

Some of my ribbon collection is rolled on round clothespins and placed in these weathered planting boxes.  My copic markers and fine tip writing pens are at hand in a planting tin...




I used this pretty floral pot to corral my wrapping and packaging supplies.  The space underneath the oil cloth covered tables houses all my batting, yarn and paints. Plus a whole lot more...

My buttons are sorted by color and collected on a terraced stand in a cubby and my vintage embroidered hankie and napkin collection looks sweet in a red tin bucket.

Pretty pots and cups hold my colored pencils, paint brushes and more buttons...

I love using pretty things for utilitarian purposes.

I was over the moon excited when I graduated to a big girl studio earlier this year but life changes and you adapt and find new beauty and inspiration.  When the time comes for our nest to be empty again I am sure I will jump at the chance to have my own space but for now, I am just fine sharing what I love to do with my favorite little boy.  I wouldn't trade my time with this little guy for any studio space in the world.

xo, Patty

Now head over to My Desert Cottage for Where Blogger's Create and so many more wonderful creative spaces and be inspired to make a little space of your own.