I realized that I never showed you pictures of the studio tour. So, here goes. The first picture is what is normally my beading area. This year I decided to cover the countertops with nice fabric so it looked more “showy” and less “workshoppy”. I think that went over well. This area had mostly bracelets, necklaces and a few beads on cards mixed in.
Next, the beads-for-sale area. As you can see, this is the space that usually houses my bulk glass storage with a little counter space in front that is usually full of my stacks of mail. There are nice cabinets underneath but again, this year I used fabric to cover them. It’s nice to have people coming to your studio and liking the fixtures and such but, I’d rather talk about my beads, if you know what I mean. I didn’t cover up the glass though because I thought the colors looked cool and might make it look like I know what I’m doing. My high school softball coach always used to tell us, if you don’t play well, at least you can look good…therefore, make sure your uniform is clean. Â
And last, some window shutters that I had from a pre-glass show. I kicked around the idea of painting them white but decided to leave them as they were and use white cards instead. I think it worked out well, even though things look a little crooked. This was well into the show and things needed to be straightened up. The shutters held earrings, beads on cards, beads on cords and a display of different stringing options that I’d whip up for you on the spot.
There are a couple more pictures of what the back of the house looks like with two of the other artists set up, and I can’t believe I didn’t get a picture of the front where Sharon was set up. But, oh well, maybe next year, if she returns.
During my studio tour, customers can pick beads and different stringing options. Sometimes they need a cord size that I don’t already have made up or I have to order a different thickness. Or they’ll choose a few beads and design with me right there on the spot to come up with a piece that appeals to them. If I don’t have everything I need I’ll put the components/beads that I do have, into a baggie with their paid receipt and a detailed description of what the order is. After the show (and after I’ver dug out and reorganized my space so I can work again) I go back to the orders and start constructing the pieces and get them ready to ship or deliver.
I’m a little afraid of being able to identify my supplies now because I also keep some of them in ziploc bags. Like my coils of sterling wire. I keep them in a file cabinet, each coil in it’s own large sized freezer ziploc bag with a sticker on it labeling what guage it is and wheter it is dead soft or half hard.
Well, I just found a ziploc baggie with three partially constructed lariats in it. That is not a problem because, like I said, that is how I keep them separate until I am able to work on them. My concern is that that baggie has a sticker on it that reads: 20ga DS 4oz. So I’m wondering…where the heck is my 20 guage, dead soft sterling silver coil of wire?Â
MOM!!
I cleaned so well for the studio tour that now I can’t find anything. ARGH! And not only that, but my mom helped, which was awesome, but she has a way of cleaning. Can I hear an Amen from those out there with mothers that love to rearrange and clean your house? Well, it sure does look neat in here but I’m finding things like sterling silver ear wires in my frit jar that is clearly marked “Deep Aqua #1″. I guess if the frit was out on the work surface and not actually occupying it’s container that it lost it’s home. That explains why today, when I was trying to clean up my work bench that there was the odd frit in a bowl that I couldn’t, for the life of me, find it’s conatiner…and I am a bit anal about organizing and labeling my frits and enamels so it really boggled me. Like mom says…you snooze you lose…and Aqua Blue was taking a nice little nap on my graphite marver…those sneaky ear wires slipped right in.
Back to re-organizing and uncovering more treasures. I still cannot find my telephone wire that I use to wire beads to cards nor my more delicate bead reaming tips. You should have seen me cleaning 1/16″ bead holes with a monster diamond bit. I was lucky and there was no chipping around the holes. MOM!
