Welcome to Studio Saturday! Each week one of our contributors gives you a sneak peek into their studio, creative process or inspirations. We ask a related question of our readers and hope you’ll leave comments! As an incentive we offer a free prize each week to bribe you to use that keyboard. The following week we choose a random winner.
Last weeks winner is BeadRoe . Congratulations you’ve won one of her stamped metal pendants! Send Cindy an e-mail and she will get it right out to you.
Hi there,
This is not a good time for me to have a Studio Saturday post. I hate to show you what is going on in my studio. It’s an absolute disaster. Most of it is my lack of organization. I do my best, but I have a lot of different projects going on so things don’t always get put back where they should. Now I have some problem areas. Let me show you…
Trays of beads are stacked up wherever there is a spot. Oh my gosh…look at my bead table! I am so embarrassed!
Shelves that hold waaaay to many different things.
Now I have to say those are my actual problem areas. This picture below is my gallery space. It’s a wreck as well, but this is by choice. I have decided to expand the store area. My bead studio used to be at the back of the store but I am moving it to the other end of the studio and taking up all of the front with the store.
Summer is a great time for me to catch up on everything I didn’t get to in the spring. I can re-group and get organized before the holidays. So that’s what I am up to, I am knee deep in organizing.
I have to admit, I like planning and preparing so this studio clean up is kind of fun. I promise on my next Studio Saturday I will be able to show you a very organized studio.
My question of the week is an easy one….is your studio organized?
Leave me an answer in the comments and you will be entered to win some of my flower stackers.
Happy Saturday,
Jennifer Jangles
KayzKreationz
July 16, 2011 at 1:10 pmNo. My studio is a disaster right now. I'd been gone half of last year and when I got back I just put stuff back in it haphazardly. Then I spent the rest of my time trying to get my house back in shape. So now it's time to get out in the studio and reorganize it. But it's so hot here in Texas and my little ac window unit just can't get it cool, I haven't had the desire or energy. Hoping to get out there pretty quick, though. Because now my house is my studio and it's becoming disorganized again. LOL
Carol Creech
July 16, 2011 at 1:31 pmMy studio space – a few bookshelves next to my desk in our living room – is not terribly organized. It comes in fits and spurts. I just reorg'd a shelf with some reference materials and my current projects are at least in one stack! 🙂 When I start not being able to find things, I will clean up as much as I can and let it go at that. The flower stackers are beautiful, by the way!
Carol
Alice
July 16, 2011 at 1:46 pmI love your flower stackers!!!
My studio is actually our dining room, the place I hold my home shows, and also where we keep stuff to recycle (for lack of a better place). I can't remember the last time we actually used the room to host a dinner. What's worse, is that I have to move it all out when I have a home show.
It's messy, cramped, and uninspiring. I hope someday to use my son's room when he gets done with college and has a place of his own. His room has an entire wall of bookshelves and great natural light.
Thanks for sharing your space with us!
Boot ~C
July 16, 2011 at 1:58 pmHAhahahahhhaaaHAHAHAHHaAHAHAHAHHAHA
JeannieK
July 16, 2011 at 2:14 pmHeck No! I would never be able to find anything if it was. That's the beauty of having a studio. You can stop and leave your mess and come back and start again where you left off. Right?
Sarah
July 16, 2011 at 2:16 pmMy studio space is a spare room at the top of the house. At the moment I am midway through 2 beading projects and a quilt, so No my studio is not tidy! I try to keep it organised, but as long as I can find whatever I need, I find a bit of chaos a stimulating factor. Things will get put together to get them out of the way and then I look at them and think "hum, they actually go together quite well" and TADA! A new project is born! So tidiness is over-rated!!!
Cat
July 16, 2011 at 2:24 pmIf only 🙂 But sadly, not organized, except in the loosest of terms! As usual, my workspace shrinks to a 5 inch square area surrounded by sliding piles of stuff. I do try to clear it all away after each project but it just seems to come back, surely, I have been sleep-walking & turning my art space into chaos!
I LOVE your flower stackers & hope I will be the lucky one!
Patty
July 16, 2011 at 2:35 pmNo, my space is not presently well organized (I'm wondering how you got in there to get those photos!), and it frustrates me to death when I can't find things.
I'm living vicariously through you as you organize and clean up, hoping that some of it may happen here eventually.
I love how happy and colorful your space is! It shows your work nicely.
Therese's Treasures
July 16, 2011 at 2:50 pmMy studio is under construction litarly and it will be on wheels. I have moved in with my Mother until I can get my house sold so I came up with an idea to put my workspace on wheels so when guest are over I can roll it into my bedroom where it is out of site. Right now everything is in an armoire in my bedroom.
Sandi Volpe
July 16, 2011 at 3:36 pmI am "organizing" my studio, not sure it is legit to call it a studio, but such is the life of a creative soul:-) it looks like a jumbled mess, goal is to take a picture for BTW soon. Love your beads!!!
Pretty Things
July 16, 2011 at 3:42 pmParts are, and parts aren't. Yesterday I took place in the blog hop Where Bloggers Create so if you feel like it, you can click my name and check it out. My office desk is absolutely hopeless, and my bead desk has its moments. But my photography table and lampwork studio is pretty organized!
m.e.
July 16, 2011 at 3:57 pmis my studio organized???
I do have nice shelves with clear plastic boxes each to hold one color family of new clay pkts and color blends in similar shades.
The shelves have lovely curtains I can pull shut at the end of the day to hide the boxes.
Sounds great ..right???
Who am I kidding !!! When did I ever think I'd have time to neatly sort my clay !!! ORGANIZED ? Hey I can still find almost anything I want in less than a hour …is that good enough ???
LOL!!! m.e. 😀
Michelle Hardy
July 16, 2011 at 4:01 pmMy "studio" is in the dining room right now. It is as organized as I can get it because with 7 people we use the dining room everyday! I am carving out a space in the living room. Adding a nice work table, shelving, and lighting. Then I will really have to keep it organized 🙂 I love your flower stackers and hope that I am the lucky winner.
Beth
July 16, 2011 at 4:17 pmMy storage space stays organized for about 5 minutes and then everything jumps out of storage and rearranges itself to be comfortable when I am not looking.
Beth
Elizabeth
July 16, 2011 at 4:24 pmMy studio is organized now, because I took 4 days to put everything in a place and have managed to keep it there. Hopefully this will last…doubtful. My desk area in the studio is a disaster, but I keep it behind a curtain for obvious reasons.
Have a great week everyone
Erin S
July 16, 2011 at 5:53 pmOrganized??? are you kidding? Not even close, but I do try to remember where I put the basic, most used stuff.
amyburl
July 16, 2011 at 7:53 pmJust returned from the famous Brimfield MA gigantic show of stuff and am ready to organize my work space with new treasures. My space is a cozy corner between bookshelf and balcony, small, central and one of the only spaces in the house I alone claim.
I would love to win a stacker. Thanks!
Mimi
July 16, 2011 at 8:16 pmI keep trying to get organized, but every time I go in to staighten up and put things away, I end up working on a design with something I found buried on my bench that I had forgotten about. 🙂
Janet Bocciardi
July 16, 2011 at 8:43 pmGosh no. Well, actually it's 90% organized and yet that 10% is pretty much a mess. My husband calls it my hovel which is embarrassing. I start cleaning up and then get inspired by a bead or a photo or… and then I'm back to pulling more stuff out. I need the self-control to just clean it ALL up and then go back to creating I guess. ; )
RivkaBelle
July 16, 2011 at 9:50 pmSadly, my studio is transient, haha … I either park on the floor at a low table, on the kitchen table, or in the garage when I'm working, so … Let's go with: nope, not organized at all ;o) Although when I'm not working, all my beads & supplies are tucked away neatly. That counts for something right? :o)
Rosalynn
July 16, 2011 at 9:54 pmStudio organized? Heaven's no. Are we supposed to? I buy the beads. I am sure someone else is supposed to be organizing the studio. I just can't do it all, can I?
I wonder if there is a service I could hire to do that for me. I may just have come up with an idea for a new business to start… but then who would organize my studio for me?
Sweet Willow Designs
July 16, 2011 at 10:06 pmI feel lucky to have a nice studio space in my basement. Unfortunately, I seem to be a magnet for all kinds of stuff that I know I will use at some time in some wonderful piece of jewelry. So, the space is continually undergoing attempts at organization. My husband teases me that my real passion is buying plastic storage containers/systems. He may be right.
Malin de Koning
July 17, 2011 at 12:17 amIt's a constant struggle, isn't it. To be organized and tidy. I'm not doing too well. And not too bad either in a sense. I would love to have the most well organized studio you could imagine. If the basic structure is well laid out I am satisfied, coz that means that WHEN I do tidying up, it goes a lot easier. AND I can have others help me. For instance my husband. "Put all these bead cups in the trays with the corresponding colors." I store my beads in little plastic cups for "snaps", Swedish for shots of vodka that comes in many different flavors.
How extraordinary weird! I just saw that my verification word for this comment is "ingrog". Grogg is a swedish word for a coctail type drink. So, in-grogg-cups, that's where most of my beads are … when they are tidy and sorted.
How I would love to win your stacked flower Jennifer.
🙂
Genea
July 17, 2011 at 12:46 amFirst of all I would like to tell you how much I love your work! Your studio is so cute it just goes with your style. I love the checkerboard floors and the lime green door!
Now to answer your question 😉 My studio is kinda crazy as the beading and computer portion shares a space with the bed and the dog crates! Yikes! So there are little piles inside. The outside lampwork area is kinda messy as well since it is exposed to the dust outside and the rods, papers and tools litter up the free spaces. It is indeed a creative mess 😉
Good luck with your studio clean up!
xo Genea
Kristi
July 17, 2011 at 1:00 amI just moved, so it is sorta organized…and everything just feels out of place.
For My Sweet Daughter
July 17, 2011 at 1:08 amStudio? What's that? Nope I use my kitchen counter top and it's a mess. I have beads and boxes overflowing to the dining room table and counters and and and…
I have a room with most of my beads in it but it was my cat's room and he died in my arms on Wednesday and I can't bring myself to go in there yet. Once I feel up to it I would love to get more organized.
Krista Winter
July 17, 2011 at 1:24 amNo it's not, but I need to get it in better order and part of it is that I don't have enough space.
Krista
Sally Anderson
July 17, 2011 at 1:29 amI sometimes worry that I like the organizing part too much — so much that I can spend hours doing the organizing instead of doing the actually jewelry making. I don't have a whole studio but my beading area is pretty well organized most of the time. Just not when I'm actually making things. Sadly, sometimes I'm so organized I can't find things!
Sue O.
July 17, 2011 at 3:01 amFirst I have to say, I am so jealous of your space — it's fabulous! Second, I have to ask, "what disorganization??" I would be only too happy if my studio were in this good shape! This is real life! (When I see the studios featured in magazines, I always wonder how many people and months it took to get them photo-ready! – LOL!)
Thanks for sharing your wonderful space with us~
rosebud101
July 17, 2011 at 3:29 amI only wish!!!!!!
WireMySoul
July 17, 2011 at 3:54 amMy studio table looks just like that bead table (it's pretty spooky actually) and I have 19 bankers' boxes of yarn stash taking up half the room. It's so disorganized right now that I have a 'go to' box of my favourite tools and recent projects in progress in the living room so I can do them on the kitchen table. Sad, isn't it?
Pam Chesbro
July 17, 2011 at 4:39 amMy studio is a mess. I am way behind in cleaning it and I am in the middle of a reorg of my stash too. However, I have hopes!
somethingunique
July 17, 2011 at 6:04 amHey everyone, well it's 2am here in my part of Canada just got home from first day of festival cna't believe i'm here visiting just needed to wind down b4 i pass out only to wake a 6am for tom, they are having a kids fishing derby so vender have to go 3 hours early if we want a spot to park and unload, anyway to the question i feel just horrible saying anything after ready several comments but mine is very organized i just found a system that works and it was a process but i love it, i have things broken down into stations, torching,stamping,poly clay,and desk area i am very lucky to have a whole room to my stdio space and it;s tken 3 years to get it like it is now anyway gotta go before my face hits the keyboard i'm going on almosr 48hrs no sleep most of my suppilies for the fest only arrived Wed.and Thurs, because of the mail strike to i had to speed create
ttfn Lana
somethingunique
July 17, 2011 at 6:06 amby the way Jennifer everyone is going crazy for your "Jangles" everything i created with them is a huge hit may have to stock up for Comber fait in 3 weeks, i'll let you know 🙂
GlassBeadArt
July 17, 2011 at 8:37 amMy lampwork studio is always a mess: rods of glass and frit jars everywhere…i get my best inspirations from stuff lying together that looks great which I would not have combined otherwise.
Once every few months I go on a cleaning mission, but then it looks so great and neat I am afraid to work there because I hate to get it all disorderly again 😉
averilpam
July 17, 2011 at 9:08 amIf only I had a studio…
I work in my living room from a small table and a lap tray. My beads and polymer clay stuff are all in boxes so are fairly well organised but it does spread a lot when I'm working. I have to tidy up when expecting company so they can sit down!
fantayzya
July 17, 2011 at 1:05 pmMy studio tries so hard to be organized but it's efforts are simply not appreciated or respected because it's always got that tornado just blew thru, cluttered look to it. We try, my studio and I. But every time we begin to tidy up, some treasure we forgot we had pops out and begs us to play instead.
Would love to have those pretty flower stackers join us!
maneki
July 17, 2011 at 2:28 pmIt's a matter of definition, I think. My tables are somewhere under a mix of beads, findings, stampings etc and many time I have to clear a small space just so I'm able to sit down with a project on the table. That probably looks like a hopeless mess to many, but it's creative chaos to me. It's not disorganized as long as I know where the things are. Whenever it becomes too messy or things just lay there, not being used, I tidy up. Return beads to the right boxes, cut up UFOs I no longer like etc. I can rediscover old stuff that way. But there's always some amount of UFOs, test pieces and loose beads in "project bags" laying around. I like that.
However, most of my stash, books, tools and doodads are organized, neatly tucked into boxes, shelves and other containers.
So: not too messy, but not super tidy either. It's unruly, but with an underlying structure that keeps things from getting too chaotic (and thus more a nuisance than inspiring by being right in from of you). Some of the "mess" is due to the fact that I work both in what you might call a studio, our bead/craft room, and in my bedroom. So I move things back and forth. Sometimes I end up having half my bead stash by the bed…
cw
July 17, 2011 at 2:31 pmFirst, let me say the necklace shown at the end of your post today is really a great piece. It is so colorful and fun, a great piece for summertime.
I doubt that any true artist has a studio that is organized. When creativity speaks, you should take advantage of the opportunity. That means, more than one project is going at all times. Therefore, a studio is a place for creative thought and development,and it should never look organized. One would ask…..who works here? Color, design, and constant sparks of creativity are alive and well in any studio that looks like yours! =)
Klassy Joolz
July 17, 2011 at 3:05 pmI keep saying someday…someday I'll have a studio or at least a design room. My studio is on wheels and in plastic containers. I use the dining room table when I work and…BIG SIGH…that has to be cleaned up daily as I moved in with a friend and can't have a mess going. I'm really displaced right now.
But, anyway, would love to win your wonderful giveaway…thank you!
Smiles, Pam
Sabine
July 17, 2011 at 3:43 pmNo, my studio is currently in boxes from out move. It is always the last thing to be unpacked. Boo hoo! I do have a traveling bead bag that I am beading a few things when I get some extra time. I am looking forward to organizing a real studio. Sometime. Soon.
Ann
mycriticaleye.com
[email protected]
DASI GLAM
July 17, 2011 at 3:45 pmThese are some great studios! And no, my studio is never really organized, as much as I try 🙁
Charis Designs
July 17, 2011 at 5:13 pmI'm in the process of moving from sharing a space in my hubby's office to a bigger space of my own- and we're both happy about that! I hope to reorganize during the process. I get SO frustrated over the amount of time I waste looking for things because of the chaos.
carol higgins
July 17, 2011 at 5:39 pmWelllllll….as soon as I get half way through an organization blitz, I've inevitably "found" some items that my hands are itching to make something with. Which leads to me dragging all of my bins back out, spreading stuff about while I dream of possibilities and thus my studio is right back to disorder….just a different disorder than before I began organizing!
MoonRae
July 17, 2011 at 5:42 pmUnfortunately(for my loved ones)organized doesn't seem to be in my vocabulary hehehe. I can't find anything when it's all tidy. I end up pulling everything back out and having it spread everywhere. Thanks for sharing your "messy" studio with us,it's wonderful!!
~smiles~
Sharon
Jane
July 17, 2011 at 5:45 pmMy studio looks as if Hurricane Hilda roared through it. Hmmm…..well, I could blame her, but it is entirely my doing. I have several projects on the go at once, and need to learn to clean up (entirely) after each project. I love your beads. They tickle my heart and leave a smile on my face.
Cheers,
Jane
MommyP
July 17, 2011 at 5:58 pmActually, it is about half organized at the moment. All of my beads and tools are in good shape, because I JUST got a desk, so I could move out of the dining room. But my polymer clay is a mess. I REALLY need to get on that, but it's just too darn hot.
[email protected]
Jennifer Jangles
July 17, 2011 at 6:01 pmI am feeling much better about the state of my studio thanks to all of your comments. I am realizing that it might get organized but the chances of it staying that way are slim.
Thanks for all your great comments!
Steph L.
July 17, 2011 at 6:31 pmAs much as I try to fight it, my studio is a mess right now and probably always will be.
Attorney Angela Lund-Logan
July 17, 2011 at 6:43 pmI just purchased several pieces of furniture to better house my expanding beads and tools. I just need to get all the beads and tools inside the new pieces.
Anonymous
July 17, 2011 at 7:16 pmMy"studio" consist of my living coom coffeetable and the kitchen tableand currently my bedside table. All is there for me to create when I am up to it.
Katidebelic at shaw.ca
GailW.
July 17, 2011 at 7:22 pmNo.Cindy,it is a big ole NO.I have boxes of beads in my kitchen island.They are in my clothing drawers,while my clothes are in boxes,behind doors that won't shut.I can't see myself in large mirrows,beads hang in the way.Beads in trunk of car.My husband has threatened to leave,my daughters are embarressed,and won't bring friends by.I did clean it up,once,and couldn't find a thing for weeks!Is this a form of hoarding!LOL
Paula Lee M.
July 18, 2011 at 12:23 amHi cindy,
I have a very small room at the back of our garage. I would say it is half organized. I have two armoirs, a 5 foot steel shelf, some book shelves as well as a ledge above the armoirs and a workbench with shelves to one side and a cabinet to the other ( it was set on top of kitchen cabinets ).
The shelves excepting the top one and one of the armoires is organized. The other is sorta organized, but has too much in it. The ledge on top is full of plastic containers and bags of cloth, not so organized. The book shelves are overpacked so not so organized. I have projest sheets in folders, in binders and in a big expandable scrapbook paper keeper. Not so organized.
The worst thing though is my workbench which is covered with project kits, findings, bags of beads, half finished and repair projects. If I didn't work 42 hours a week I might be able to get it clearer and get some of the overflow down by actually having time to work. Either that or I need a much bigger studio.
quiltingjewel39
July 18, 2011 at 3:51 pmMine wasn't until yesterday and I finally couldn't take it any more. I spent time putting things away, straightening and changing a couple of things to be a little more user friendly. Of course I haven't done anything in there since so it is still good (until I get home from work tonight and start another project!) Your studio always makes me smile-so playful and fun.
Ashleigh Becker
July 18, 2011 at 6:12 pmNO! Far from it. I'm going to work on it … soon…in my spare time…oh, but I don't have any. Hmmm…
The Beadjar
July 18, 2011 at 8:45 pmMy things are like Beth's: they jump out at night to stretch, lie around, and chat. No boundaries!
Beadroe
July 19, 2011 at 12:50 pmSo glad to see a truly creative space that mirrors my mess. It gets cleaned up every couple of months when I absolutely can't stand it anymore. Great necklace.
:-) MaryLou
July 19, 2011 at 3:24 pmNope, not organized at all. I blame it on the fact that I don't really have a studio — we're in a rental house while we build our new house, and there's just no good place for everything.
My massive collection of delicas is organized, as are most of my seed beads. And my thread is all corralled into one container. But the rest of the art beads, findings, and other goodies? They're all over the place.
Even though you think your studio is a mess, I envy the SPACE you have.
Christy Minnis
July 19, 2011 at 7:53 pmWell, kind of… the things I'm not using are organized, but the new things I've bought are a disaster! I'm also "sharing" studio space with a play yard for my 8-month old daughter and whatever project my 13-year old daughter decides to do and leave dumped around!
Pips
July 20, 2011 at 3:18 pmOrganised? I wish!!! I am in the middle of creating a new studio and my things are at present taking up residence in just about every room in the house! I love your studio so much – hopefully mine will be just as lovely in a couple of weeks time!
Shaiha
July 21, 2011 at 8:04 pmI would have to say that mine is semi-organized. I am in the process of purchasing some wonderful organizers and setting them up. I have all of the ones that I have set up but when I went to purchase more, they are one backorder thru FMG 🙁