I mentioned previously that my house is so small that I had to divide up my clay and jewelry-making activities into two rooms. Well, here’s where the jewelry assembly portion of this one-person operation lives – in a corner of my bedroom. The clay table is in the other bedroom, which is my home office.
I had new windows put in my house a couple of months ago, and had to dismantle this table and pack up all the beads, tools, and half-finished projects. Well, today I finally got around to rearranging and organizing all that stuff! It took a couple of hours, but I think I can find things better now. I have so many different findings – bead caps, clasps, toggles, cord ends, charms, dangles, pin backs, and tons of other stuff – not to mention the beads themselves! All the findings are now in the storage drawers, and the beads are on top of it.
And now I have a good-sized area to lay out my current project for assembly. It’s so nice to have a place for (almost) everything, and (almost) everything in its place!
by Myra
on April 30, 2012
No sooner than I had added storage space to my work area, I decided it wasn’t enough! So back I went to the hardware store to buy another large storage bin. I’m moving the original storage unit (at the bottom left in the previous post’s photo) to my jewelry assembly table that lives in another room, to store more tools and supplies in.
My house is so small that I can’t put all my craft things in one place — I have to tuck them into whatever corner is available. Sometimes that makes for some trekking from one room to another, but it works well most of the time.
At least the entire spectrum of clay colors is within easy reach now — and most importantly, my table isn’t constantly covered with bits and pieces of clay left over from previous projects. I have a few empty drawers left, but you know how that goes — things tend to expand to fill up the available space! But that won’t be for quite awhile, I think…
by Myra
on April 22, 2012
For the past three days, our polymer clay guild has been hosting a retreat, where about 30 people played in clay from morning until night. We had a fabulous guest artist in attendance, Christi Friesen, who taught us fun and creative techniques. Her upbeat energy and encouragement sparked our enthusiasm and creativity to new levels.
The retreat was a wonderful chance to socialize with new people — we had attendees from Texas, Kansas and Illinois, as well as from various Oklahoma locations. It was also an opportunity to know our fellow guild members better, since we weren’t concentrating on a lesson or business meeting 100% of the time we were together. I sat at the table with Stacie and Tom (notBob), and feel like I’ve made two more good friends.
The food was plentiful and well-prepared by our team of hard-working guild members, headed by Ruth and Jane. And of course, there were mounds of snacks to graze on at any time. No one starved, that’s for sure!
All in all, the retreat was a rousing success, and a good time was had by all. I am refreshed and rejuvenated, and anxious to work on new projects. My first step was to organize my work area with more storage and a larger work surface. When my area gets cluttered with bits of scrap clay, it really inhibits my (sometimes tenuous) creative muse, so having more cubbyholes to stash my clay should help alleviate that issue.
by Myra
on February 24, 2012
Getting ready for a fun night at Mademoiselle Fitness Center on March 2! They’re having a slumber party — an all-night get-together for club members, with activities, snacks, a movie, and lots of girl-talk.
They had one last year, and it was so much fun! Someone brought a Wii, and we played with the dance program. Of course, we were laughing so hard when we messed up that we messed up even more, but we all enjoyed it. Some lounged in the hot tub or sauna, while others worked out on the exercise machines. One of the instructors led a Zumba class during the festivities. At the end of the party, we spread our sleeping bags on the exercise floor and watched “Phantom of the Opera. Well, at least SOME of us watched the whole movie — others could be heard snoring softly after the first half-hour or so.
The event was over at 6 a.m. It was so much fun that I’m looking forward to this year’s party!
Several of the ladies have purchased items from Clay Harmony, so I asked the owner if I could bring some things to sell during the slumber party. She said I could, so I’ll have quite a few of my popular polymer clay covered pens for sale, as well as key rings and a few other items.
UPDATE: The party was postponed until March 30. More time to make pens! LOL….
by Myra
on January 13, 2012
The first monthly issue of the new Clay Harmony newsletter is ready to go! I’ll be publishing it this weekend.
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