Friday, June 19, 2009

more progress

What I made yesterday ::

3 notebooks for a special order (the books were already covered, I just had to attach the yummy embellishments)

a new home for my sewing machine :-)
It takes 20 screws to hold those legs on, that is a lot of screwdriver-ing!

My new shelves to hold all my supplies and stashes, and the new ironing board.....I am so excited by the fact that I can have the ironing board up all the time...no more dragging it out from behind the door, moving furniture out the way, and putting it away again, just to iron a few seams!

I also put these rails together, ready for John to drill the holes in the wall.

and these little beauties are the storage I forgot to photograph the other day. They are quite large (50x25 cm) ... they aren't designed to stack together, but they are quite happy sitting on top of each other, perfect for all my handmade embellishments :-)
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thank you for all your support and sharing the excitement of a new workshop with me, I am struggling to reply to comments so figured I could answer most questions on the blog!

1. I'm definitely not giving up the day job....even though I am full-time my working day is only 6.5 hours (instead of 9), which leaves me time in the mornings to do computer work, and time after work to go to the Post Office and grab a couple of hours in the workshop. The Post Office and workshop are just a few minutes walk away from home, which makes it easier!

2. I managed to get a knock-down price on the rent ... I went to view a different workshop originally but it was very damp and horrible, so the estate agent showed me the one over the road (that I couldn't afford) but whilst he was talking he let slip who the owner was and Bingo! ...John only knows the landlord (it's a car thing!) ... a bit of negotiation later and I got the keys for less than the one I went to see in the first place! the rent even includes business rates and water rates too! yay!

3. I'm going to miss working from home, but it has very slowly been driving me mad. If we had room in our flat I'd still be working here but the current set up just doesn't work, all my stock is in the living room (along with the packing desk, sewing machine and piles of fabric everywhere) My industrial over locker and sewing machine take up so much room in the dining room that we don't even have a dining room table! (we've had tv dinners for years now!) and the other industrial sewing machine lives at the foot of the bed so to get round the bed you have to do a crab-like walk! We've lived like this for years and the more paper-and-string grows, the worse it gets....so I'm doing what a lot of people are doing, turning the spare room into a studio, 'cept our teeny seaside flat doesn't have a spare room, so I have to rent one!!

4. I'm planning to have an open-workshop...one end is going to be set as a retail space, with all my stocks and handmade items on display, the other end will be for all my materials and equipment I use to create with. The huge table is in the middle and will eventually be somewhere where people can come and craft, hopefully with a few lessons thrown in! It's early days and i'm sure the details will change and evolve over time, but for now I am tentatively planning that I'll be 'open' on Wednesdays, and by appointment over the weekend.

...if anymore questions crop up I'll do the same and answer them here so pop back here to see the answers!

7 comments:

bex said...

that sounds perfect, i will be opening a shop very soon with my buisness partner and we will be wroking on stock whilst the shop is open...sounds a bit like what you are hoping to do!
good luck
x

cindy said...

I really love those notebooks! adorable!:)

Anonymous said...

I seriously cannot wait to see all your colorful felt in that white shop. It's going to look AMAZING!!

Treaclezoo said...

wow, what brilliant plans, purpose & direction. I am impressed & inspired by your drive & determination, and excited just following what you are doing to realise this next step with paper&string. I wish you all the best! Well done to you for all that you've achieved so far :o)

Rachel said...

Ooh, love that open workshop idea! I will definitely want to come down and visit you and hopefully pick up some tips! Can't wait to see how it all progresses.
R x

Anonymous said...

You have a lovely blog! We seem to share a love for felt :) I found you while searching flickr on ideas for "sprinkles" on some felt doughnuts I am making to give as a gift.
I am at times unsure if my crafting is going to look silly or if I am in the right path, so in my search for "assurance" I go to flickr :)
I shall be back often for some more eye candy, and to check out your Thursday freebies - thank you for your generosity!
Greetings from Mexico ~

em said...

Wow. same with these photos. I wonder what's up. I can see all the pics in the next post. I'll guess just wait until you show us the finished studio. :)