My New Craft Studio - Part 1!

Hi there everyone!

Today I thought I would share with you my new craft studio. This was built May/June of last year and I have been working in it since probably October/November of 2015 and I LOVE IT! It is my own little haven of craftiness that I can take myself to on a daily basis and get away from people, mess and just be at one with my inkiness.

In a previous post I wrote about having the craft studio built and you can read more about this here. At the end of that post I was waiting for the interior to be insulated, plasterboarded and painted and Peter was in the process of putting the internet up there. We also still had a bit of painting to do on the balustrades. Well not much has changed on the outside re: the painting, but wow! has it changed on the inside like you wouldn't believe!

As you can see I still need to paint the veranda balustrades but I just knew that once I got the inside to the point that I could actually start getting my stuff into there I wouldn't be interested in painting! Having said that I promise that the first good few days of weather I'll be doing this then the painting is finished. We have also planted a few roses and bedding plants to the front of the craft studio to make it look pretty.

 Mr. P has also put up my 'We Can do it' metal sign. it's a bit chilly for it at present but it's a lovely place to sit out of an evening and enjoy the garden and sun set.

My bunny planter doubles as a door stop on the entrance to the studio. The double doors are great for when I have lots to get in and out.

The first thing you get to as you walk through the doors is this view. Yes! Mr. P has finished the lighting and all the plastering and painting has been completed. We might paint the end eaves white but the middle ceiling beam will be yacht varnished. I had a worktop fitted as a desk and then stepped up to worktop height (which you will see better on later photos. I got the higher shelves with the jars on for my buttons and flowers from Ikea. And don't you just love the light shade? Also from Ikea. 

On the back wall is the main bulk of my crafty stuff. Nuff said 

Underneath the worktop height area is the classic crafter's friend - the expedit shelving unit, now renames as Kalax. I also have the new favourite for Crafters - the Raskog trolley, in my fave colour. I have two of these as I couldn't resist. More on these later.

This is to the left of the door. Again I have Expedit shelving. the top boxes in these are turquoise material and the bottom are white plastic - very sturdy. Here I keep my kettle, coffee. You know -the  essentials. I have no running water so I fill my kettle each morning and refill whenever needed. I do have a mini fridge to keep my milk cold though. I have my sewing machine on here (in the centre).

The two boards either side of the window are my magnetic boards for the main dies I use regularly. There is also a couple of ribbon holders on the side of the cupboard to the left of the picture which is just the tip of the iceberg. I love ribbon. 

Here is the first of my Raskog Trolleys. This one is my stamping trolley. The top tier has my acrylic blocks, misti, stamp scrubbers, baby wipes and also holds pots for my brushes brayers, pens, scissors etc. The second tier holds various inks and embossing powders, and the bottom tier holds my gilding flakes, acrylic paints, masking fluids. It's brilliant, I can just wheel it to my desk when I need it. 

This is the raised worktp height area. I just love how Darren (the carpenter I used to fit it for me) has managed to step up from the desk to the worktop so neatly. To the left of the picture are my Stampin' up inks and distress inks, then theres my pro markers next to that. This is where I keep my A4 guillotine too. 

This is on the other side of the craft studio. On top of the unit (again Ikea) is my Minc machine and my laser printer. Underneath this is my Cricut Explore and Silhouette Cameo. I have drilled holes into the back of the unit to allow me to put my leads etc through to keep everything neat. And yes there is room for 2 electronic die cutting machines in my life! 

Underneath these are just some of my stamps. I love stamps. Can't get enough of stamps.  There are 4 drawers of stamps all in CD cases in these drawers. I think there's about 350 CD cases in these drawers. My other stamps are stored in other areas. More on that later.

Then I have my collection of bins These are labelled (I used vinyl with my Silhouette Machine) as general waste, cardboard and plastic. I'm going to change the plastic one to paper, as where we live the cardboard and plastic go in the same recycling bin. Duh! On top of that is my ink jet printer I use the laser jet for my Minc machine (which I've only really just got) and the ink jet for my Craftwork Cards USB printing). 

Here is the second Raskog trolley. I don't use this to the best of my ability but I like my 'hack'. I fitted the top tier upside-down so I could use it to hold my Big Shot Plus. The next tier has cardstock in a rainbow of colours cut to A5 size and my Craftwork Cards Candi, and the bottom tier has numerous tools. hot glue gun, corner chomper, crop a dile etc.

The drawers to the left hold my glues, foam pads and less used tools, adhesive gems, circle cutter, rulers, ribbon (yes more ribbon), and the bottom drawer is batteries, cameras chargers etc etc.I use those removeable hooks for my heat tool and hot glue gun so they are always to hand.  

This is the 'flight deck' of the whole room. My lovely desk! e had a satellite dish fitted to the studio so I could get TV as an ariel wouldn't work due to the trees that surround the studio. I also had a freesat box too so it made use of that. The TV also has a DVD player so I can have films on in the background when I'm crafting. hen there's my computer. In the end we didn't use ethernet cable (Peter accidentally cut it short by about 5 metres, the studio is 100 metres from the house!), we got a contraption that you plug into your router in the house and an electric socket, then another plug goes in a electric socket where you want the internet. This then plugs into your computer and hey presto! It's great - fast enough to watch videos and most importantly speak to Sheila Halliwell, my best friend on Whatsapp! What more could a girl ask for! 

Next to that is my stand I got from Ebay. Still a lot of space for things! I use this for my stickles glue, re-inkers and alcohol inks.

The drawers to the left hold my glues, foam pads and less used tools, adhesive gems, circle cutter, rulers, ribbon (yes more ribbon), and the bottom drawer is batteries, cameras chargers etc etc.I use those removeable hooks for my heat tool and hot glue gun so they are always to hand.  

I have two A3 craft mats. One on the black side (inches) and one on the white side (Cm's) this allows me have both forms of measurement to hand. If I'm working with white card I work on the black mat and if I'm working on black card or dark colours I use the white mat. it works really well. under this is a plastic clear mat from ikea. It's meant to be a desk protector, but I use it to put inks on and it protects my surfaces. 

  

I have a shelf (Ikea, are you noticing a pattern here?) that stores my nice things including photos of me and Peter, my teddy my son Joe bought for me with his hard earned money for Mother's Day, my alien from Disney World, My mini me Michael Jackson . I also use the removable hooks for my scissors. I have a different pair for paper and ribbon. 

Wow! This is a long post! I will show you part two tomorrow!