It's about time that I get around to showing you my new studio. I keep thinking I will get it completely done before I show it, but that will take forever, so I am just going to show it to you even though it is not completely put together. This will be a series of posts over the next week or so. Welcome to Jillily Studio. Imagine you are standing outside on my porch. There's that red door. (Matches my red windows!) Now if you were already in my house, here's the entrance off the family room: I was planning to cover the windows in the french doors to hide the mess, but I think I like it. (Not the mess, but the doors.) It lets in a lot of light, and I love light! More about that later... My studio space is not huge, (~11 x23) but it is nice and big compared to what I have had before. You can make any small space work for you if you are creative about storage. Here's my fabric storage. Built in shelves that flank the window seat provide plenty of storage area for my fabric. The bolts are easy, they were the first thing I moved in. I can put more bolts on the top shelves horizontally if needed, and there is more bolt storage area under the sewing table, too. I keep rotating this fabric by cutting and selling, or sewing. When I get my new line in a month or so, much of this will be cut into kits and bundles to sell at shows or online. The cut yardage, or stash fabrics that I have collected, belongs on the opposite shelves. I am still working on this area. I have a lot more fabric to fold and organize, and EDIT. (I figure if I have had that same piece of fabric through the last 4 moves, it is probably time for it to be donated.) That makes room for more NEW fabric! Right? I put my cut pieces in wire baskets. That way I can see what is in them, and get them down easily. Before, I had stacks of fabric in a large cupboard, and it was a disaster--when you wanted to pull out one piece, the whole stack came tumbling out. So I found these baskets, and I love them! I place the fabrics in the baskets verticallly, so that when I pull it out to look, I can see everything in there, and pull out just the piece I need. Between the two shelves is the window and seat. I planned this area so that people will have a nice place to sit when they come in to visit with me while I am sewing. It's perfect place for a grand-child to sit and read or watch a video while I work. We do have a good time together! Inside the window seat is storage for batting, pillow forms, and stuffing, etc. Bulky items that are not very attractive by themselves. I am planning to make a cushion for the top of the window seat, but that is not done yet. (Add it to the list.) My sewing area is right near the window seat. I had this countertop made in an L shape to go along the wall and out into the room to create a peninsula. My budget didn't allow for a lot of cabinets, so I just cleated it to the wall and have just one small cabinet with some drawers to hold up the end. This also allows for a lot of storage area under the table top on each side. Don't you just love that red leather chair I found? I got it for free at Office Max. I had purchased a new printer and some other stuff there and I had this reward $$ from their buyer loyalty program, so I went in looking for a sewing chair. I was planning to dress up an office chair with a cute handmade slip cover, but now I won't need to! I made the counter top wide so I can have plenty of room for friends to join me to sew. (Or I can just be really messy and take up all the space myself.) Someone else can join me and sit inside the L or on the outside. So far the only ones that have joined me were my grandkids--they sat on the red ottoman and colored while I was working. Now here is one of my favorite things in my studio. My red armoire. I have had this for many years, and it has been used in many different rooms. But I knew when we built this house that I wanted it in the studio. I only have one small closet in the studio, so I needed a closed storage area, and I love using furniture pieces mixed in with built-ins for storage. This red cupboard holds my quilts. Many of my quilts are used throughout my home on beds, tables, or hung on walls. I rotate those around. When they are not being displayed in my home or in a shop somewhere, this is where they live. Make sure if you keep quilts folded that you occasionally open them up and re-fold them in a different way so they do not develop creases or fade on one side. Fold them with the right side in sometimes, and the right side out sometimes. When I re-fold, sometimes I pop them in the dryer for a quick fluff up before storing them again. On top of my red armoire is my collection of glass jars. They also serve as storage/display for small things like buttons and thread and clothespins. (I still have some fake fruit in some of them from my booth display when I did the Sorbet Garden ice cream shop.) I love how the glass jars are shiny and let the light shine through. Now here's the part about light. I wanted lots of natural light in my studio, but I also needed some wall space, so on the north wall (north has the best natural light) I put skinny long window up high. That preserved some wall space below the windows and gives me the light I needed. Then for those nights when I am sewing way past sundown, I opted for halogen flood lights in my recessed cans in the ceiling. I finally have a nice BRIGHT studio! That's all for today. In a few days I will tell you about my cutting table, display areas, design wall, ribbon storage, and my pressing station. See you then.
Musings from Kay Whitt, designer for Serendipity Studio
Can I get a huge cheer and a big raise the roof sign on this project! This was the project that took FOREVER because of a few speed bumps: pneumonia, mono, water leak, mold growth,
I’ve been spending lots of time at Ikea lately, and no matter what aisle I go down I run into one of their best-selling items, the Expedit Bookcase. The Expedit is available in 4 colors (b…
I've had a love/hate relationship with the 4x4 Ikea Expedit shelf unit in my living room for a long time now and, in a frenzied moment yesterday, I decided to finally say goodbye to it. Here it is, going: going: gone: Now I have all of this empty space to work with as you enter my apartment. I want my home to be comprised only of things I love, rather than place holders, and my 5-year old Expedit just didn't meet that criteria any more. I want to create a welcoming first impression that represents who I am now--a bit more grown up and ready to invest in a piece of furniture for the space. So, what will fill this void, you say? How about a sleek console? (via Markham Roberts) A skirted table covered in a fun ethnic textile? (via Beach Bungalow 8) Or a small chest for the storage of mittens, keys, and other "stuff" of entryways? (via One Kings Lane) The possibilities are endless...but I needed to let the Expedit go before I could realize those possibilities. Do you have a piece that you are finally ready to let go of?
Lately I have been asked by several of you over on instagram to see more of my craft room, so yesterday after finishing a big project and getting my room all clean I took TONS of photos so I could give you a tour! Photo heavy post about to happen here, but I don't want to leave anything out! I have to tell you that I l
Explore Pam Brisse's 2999 photos on Flickr!
Your walls can't bet left empty. They need some spice. Something fun to read. Something that will bring a smile to your face. Inspire you. Push you a little or maybe just give you the
Fun Easter kids craft idea for the whole family. Have the kids create some super inexpensive painted wood bunnies, and then you stamp a cute Easter saying on them. Add a cute bow, and put up for everyone to enjoy!
Home is, after all, where the heart is.
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via: pinterest.com
There are about a million different ways to organize your scrapbook paper. It took me a while to figure out what really works for me. I am the type of person that knows exactly what I'm looking for and I want to be able to grab it instantly. Therefore, a hyper-organized scrapbook paper drawer is ideal for me. I have the storage cube system from Michael's in my craft room. I simply purchased 1 large file drawer and a few sets of the corresponding file folders. I organized my papers first by season, then by holiday, a few random categories, and finally, by color. The tabs are stickable tabs from Staples and I used my best friend {my label maker} to keep the labels clean and uniform. (See my full list of labels below.) Here are my labels: Spring Summer Fall Winter Valentines St Patricks Easter Patriotic Halloween Thanksgiving Christmas Disney Travel Misc Red/Pink Orange Yellow/Gold Green Blue Purple Brown White Grey/Silver Black I'm sure once I have children or I find a big need for it, I'll add a few more categories. Some others to consider: School Boy Girl Wedding Birthdays Sports Hobbies Happy Organizing!
It is Scrap Happy Time and I have just the project for you! Moving cut scraps from the cutting board to the sewing table can be a bit tricky. The pieces can shift and move or even fall to the floor…
We are a little disney obsessed. Wait a minute we are alot disney obsessed! As if it is not enough that we visit every year sometimes twice ...
Pattern Storage is always a challenge! So, I have rounded up amazing ideas and tricks from around the web to keep your patterns together and looking good!
Download contains supply list and Pattern to build a wooden cabinet for spooled thread organizer, holds 160 spools of thread, unless you have small spools 2 will fit one dowel. The finished Cabinet size is 29" H, 21" W, and 5" deep. My husband made this for me to store my threads in, he knew the frustration I had digging through spools looking for the color I wanted to do embroidery, now its nice to see all colors at once, I realized I had more than I thought. I posted a picture of it to show off on a FB site and received 600 likes, after many requests for patterns my husband decided to make the pattern and voila! The nice thing also is you can make a graph for each column and row and keep notes on what color of thread you have on each dowel or notes on what color you used on a project. Pattern is in pictorial format for universal language. PROPRIETY AND CONFIDENTIAL-THE INFORMATION CONTAINED IN THESE DRAWINGS IS THE SOLE PROPERTY OF VOS VISIONS. ANY REPRODUCTION IN PART OR AS A WHOLE WITHOUT THE WRITTEN PERMISSION OF VOS VISIONS IS PROHIBITED.
I'm starting this blog to record and share a new phase of my life. I have waited a long time to do what I truly love - to design and create ...
....you really, really wouldn't want it any other way. Alexander Girard's material sample boxes, as seen at Alexander Girard. A Designer's Universe, Vitra Design Museum
A boutique design project that brings together metal, glass and terrazzo-style surfaces by Note Design Studio and Open Studio. Gina Tricot store is based in...
Workshop Series 2 - That's not gray hair...it's paint! You can read Workshop Series Part I what did I get into now, to get caught up. After finally getting the workshop completely empty, the primer
Parts can modulate each other for transposition sequencing, microtonal offsetting and complex polyrhythmic patterns.
I've had a few requests to share my craft room photos recently. I was going to wait until it was cleaned up to do this, but then my craft room is never totally clean. I would like to have everything completely organized with a place for everything and everything in it's place. Its not finished yet, but it will get there someday. Anyway here goes: I applied the Dandelion Decor Elements (retired) to the sliding glass door that seperates my craft room and the family room. The section of the house with my craft room and sunroom was an addition to the house and the owners at the time just left the sliding glass door there. I'm glad they did because I really like it. The hanging fruit basket holds all of my various adhesives. Its a great way to keep them all in one place and within reach of where I normally work. This is the corner to the left of the door. It is really a pile of various crafting supplies. The plastic drawers hold my scraps right now. Eventually I will have a counter in this cubby to hold my electronic cutter and paper cutters. I will have shelves above to hold my textbooks, magazines, and maybe my dolls. This is the wonderful craft island that my hubby built for me. It has drawers on one side and shelves on the other side. This is the ribbon rack that my hubby made for me to house all of my various ribbons. The bottom shelf is for my current SU ribbon. I need to stock up, I don't have that much right now. There was a table here and most of this stuff was underneath it, but I needed the table for the First City Festival booth. But hubby promised to put in my countertop here this weekend or next weekend. We already have the roll of laminate sitting in the garage. I'm currently preparing for the make and take this week, which is why the island top is covered in plastic bins with stampin' supplies. The purple mat is a stamping mat that I purchased online. I always work on one of these! They are wonderful. The outside window and the cable modem on the floor. This is another piece of furniture that hubby built for me. I liked the "cube" style of the shelves I've seen on Ikea, but since we don't have one near by I asked him to build it for me. The white shelves were already there before the book case was, and now they look incredibly cheap. So I will be taking them down and replacing them with some other kind of shelf. This room is long and skinny, about 12' x 24'. See how bright it is? This photo was taken at 10:00 PM. I love all of the lights. It makes it really easy to see what you are doing and it makes it easy to take a great looking photograph. The little outdoor bistro table is just a catch-all that I periodically clean off. So here's to being creative, and messy. I do hope to have some time soon to go through things and clean up a bit. I'll make sure to update you when it is all finished and somewhat organized. I hope you've enjoyed touring my craft room! Have fun stamping!
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Craft store have you overwhelmed with gadgets? Don't have an endless budget for sewing toold? Here are 13 Must-Have Tools in the Sewing Room!
