Thank you all sooo much for your lovely comments! Very kind and encouraging too when the doubts set in at 4am!!
But d'yez want a laugh? A real cackle, now?
Last week I signed the lease and met several of the people who work in the same building (who are lovely, but then aren't most craftspeople?) and there I am all excited, just waiting on my very own set of keys...
So today when I leave school I head into town to see whether the keys are cut and I'm met by one mortified owner...yesterday afternoon there was an absolute deluge in town and...the studio flooded!! A drain at the lower end of the yard blocked up and the water rose until it was over the lintel of the studio door and In.It.Went!
Can you believe it?? I'm afraid when she told me I started laughing- it is so absolutely the sort of thing which happens to me! You've heard of Murphy's Law ('If it can go wrong it will go wrong!'), well I really believe there should be the Law of Heckety too, something along the lines of 'If its bizarre, unbelievable, or so ridiculously unlikely that no one would believe you, then it will happen to Heckety.'
Should I have warned my new Landlady that I am a bit of a hazard? Even when I'm not there??
By this morning the water had all been siphoned out, mopped up and the extractor fans were going full blast to get rid of the smell. The owner is in the process of getting the blocked drain dealt with where it extends beyond her property and the door lintel built up higher, but for the moment I guess I'd better hold off moving anything...unless it on stilts or waterproof!!
Showing posts with label studio space. Show all posts
Showing posts with label studio space. Show all posts
Tuesday, 3 July 2012
Wednesday, 27 June 2012
Time Flies...
That expression always makes me imagine small bugs buzzing around with clocks on their backs! If I could draw I'd make a cartoon...
A lot has happened this last few weeks, some of it in my head and some in 'real' life. But the thing which makes me realise that I'm handling problems better is that I haven't slid down into the black pit. That's an achievemnet for Yours' Truly here!
The outcome of all the mental swings and roundabouts is that I have managed to wangle back enough salary from the Hub to pay the rent on an artisan's studio in town! How amazingly, incredibly awesome is that? I'm already calling it 'The Bolt Hole' in my mind, and today I overheard Youngest refer to it as 'The Escape'!
I've paid four weeks' rent and tomorrow I go to sign the lease after which I can move in; its really exciting as I've never done anything like this before! Imagine having a whole room to sew in? With no one to object to the mess or stuff lying around or the sound of the machine or shout at me? Being in town, Youngest will be able to walk down after school next term and study in the evenings until we're ready to return home.
The studio is located in the yard of a shop which sells all Irish handmade artisan wares. It's a bit difficult to describe as it's not a Craft shop, but its not a high-end designer shop either although the items would be Irish designed and made. The sort of shop you'd visit to sigh and dream over the contents!! In the yard are the jewellry workshops and folk working, so I think it will be a lovely place to work.
Tomorrow after school Youngest and I are going to have a look in the Market Yard Auction rooms to see if we can find some shelves, two tall stools and a chair, and then to Argos to buy an iron...the Hub would take serious umbrage if the house was left ironless and his shirts ceased to be de-creased...Doncha love auction rooms? The ultimate Aladdin's Cave!
So there ya have it! Excitin' stuff hey?!
A lot has happened this last few weeks, some of it in my head and some in 'real' life. But the thing which makes me realise that I'm handling problems better is that I haven't slid down into the black pit. That's an achievemnet for Yours' Truly here!
The outcome of all the mental swings and roundabouts is that I have managed to wangle back enough salary from the Hub to pay the rent on an artisan's studio in town! How amazingly, incredibly awesome is that? I'm already calling it 'The Bolt Hole' in my mind, and today I overheard Youngest refer to it as 'The Escape'!
I've paid four weeks' rent and tomorrow I go to sign the lease after which I can move in; its really exciting as I've never done anything like this before! Imagine having a whole room to sew in? With no one to object to the mess or stuff lying around or the sound of the machine or shout at me? Being in town, Youngest will be able to walk down after school next term and study in the evenings until we're ready to return home.
The studio is located in the yard of a shop which sells all Irish handmade artisan wares. It's a bit difficult to describe as it's not a Craft shop, but its not a high-end designer shop either although the items would be Irish designed and made. The sort of shop you'd visit to sigh and dream over the contents!! In the yard are the jewellry workshops and folk working, so I think it will be a lovely place to work.
Tomorrow after school Youngest and I are going to have a look in the Market Yard Auction rooms to see if we can find some shelves, two tall stools and a chair, and then to Argos to buy an iron...the Hub would take serious umbrage if the house was left ironless and his shirts ceased to be de-creased...Doncha love auction rooms? The ultimate Aladdin's Cave!
So there ya have it! Excitin' stuff hey?!
Saturday, 3 October 2009
Open Studios Event
Welcome to my Fabulous Studio...actually, its in my kitchen! We have a lovely big kitchen as I am used to hosting streams of gangly teenagers so, although today my workspace is all open and viewable, on another day it might be all packed away and the space taken up with extended tables, up to twenty chairs, loud music, and youngsters cooking for themselves and having (loud!!) fun.
By the way, if you have the soundtrack to 'Top Gun' please play it whilst you take the tour as at present it is my favourite working music! (Yeah yeah, showing my age, don't tell me!!)
Here is the Dining table (extension closed) with my latest project being put together.
Behind the table I am using the grey trolley table as a cutting space. You can laugh, but the Hub pulled it out of a skip in the Industrial Area a few years back! The height is adjustable, and there is a pull out section (here pulled out) which extends the surface. Sometimes I sit at it but I also transfer the sewing machine onto it at standing height if I want to machine quilt as I find that easier on my back. Very useful!
Storage...sometimes all pushed under the work-table, but I hauled the boxes out looking for yellow fabric. The chair is also out of a skip- at the Recycling Center, this time! I love the big African baskets, of which I have several; I can hide a multitude of sins in there! Many, many years ago I even found one of my children in an empty basket hiding from me because she had been bold!
My lovely old pine cupboard, and plastic drawer trolley.
Terribly tidy and well-organised contents...I DON'T think!
Sewing space right by the cupboard, with extra expandable desk lamp. Those are cookery books, by the way, my sewing books are out in the hall. All the threads and notions are to hand in boxes and cartons on the table.
More storage out in the hall, right by the kitchen, along with a load of houseplants which have to be battled through if I want something out of the end white drawer!
And opposite the above cupboards, the quilt frame with this week's finished quilt top. I love hand quilting but as it is so time consuming I have begin teaching myself to machine quilt. The Hub planed down 2''x2'' lengths of timber to make my frame fifteen or more years ago and it has done good service. Five minutes after I finished putting the quilt up this morning Ben-dog (black Labrador) came galloping in covered in burrs and ran along underneath the quilt. So first I had to catch and de-burr him, and then crawl under the quilt to de-burr the backing! Aargh!
So there you have my workspace. I like being in the kitchen with people around, and also it is warm in the winter with the range which means not having to turn on the heating during the daytime. Perhaps one day I'll have a dedicated Studio, but I'm in no hurry...as long as the children keep their bread and jam away from my fabric!
By the way, if you have the soundtrack to 'Top Gun' please play it whilst you take the tour as at present it is my favourite working music! (Yeah yeah, showing my age, don't tell me!!)
Here is the Dining table (extension closed) with my latest project being put together.
Behind the table I am using the grey trolley table as a cutting space. You can laugh, but the Hub pulled it out of a skip in the Industrial Area a few years back! The height is adjustable, and there is a pull out section (here pulled out) which extends the surface. Sometimes I sit at it but I also transfer the sewing machine onto it at standing height if I want to machine quilt as I find that easier on my back. Very useful!
Storage...sometimes all pushed under the work-table, but I hauled the boxes out looking for yellow fabric. The chair is also out of a skip- at the Recycling Center, this time! I love the big African baskets, of which I have several; I can hide a multitude of sins in there! Many, many years ago I even found one of my children in an empty basket hiding from me because she had been bold!
My lovely old pine cupboard, and plastic drawer trolley.
Terribly tidy and well-organised contents...I DON'T think!
Sewing space right by the cupboard, with extra expandable desk lamp. Those are cookery books, by the way, my sewing books are out in the hall. All the threads and notions are to hand in boxes and cartons on the table.
More storage out in the hall, right by the kitchen, along with a load of houseplants which have to be battled through if I want something out of the end white drawer!
And opposite the above cupboards, the quilt frame with this week's finished quilt top. I love hand quilting but as it is so time consuming I have begin teaching myself to machine quilt. The Hub planed down 2''x2'' lengths of timber to make my frame fifteen or more years ago and it has done good service. Five minutes after I finished putting the quilt up this morning Ben-dog (black Labrador) came galloping in covered in burrs and ran along underneath the quilt. So first I had to catch and de-burr him, and then crawl under the quilt to de-burr the backing! Aargh!
So there you have my workspace. I like being in the kitchen with people around, and also it is warm in the winter with the range which means not having to turn on the heating during the daytime. Perhaps one day I'll have a dedicated Studio, but I'm in no hurry...as long as the children keep their bread and jam away from my fabric!Thank you for visiting!
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