Studio Spaces and Places

Those of us that have been crafting for a number of years remember the days of working on the kitchen table, or tucked away in the laundry room. Eventually though, our business, or our interests expanded and our work space had to expand with it. This week, we all shared our personal little corners of the crafting world. It’s interesting to see how we all evolved in similar ways, as well as what we did differently. Here’s a couple of photos from our discussion, and what we had to say about them.

Carrie Hawkins of Souvenirs from Wonderland had this to say about her space, “I kind of love that my space is in my grandparent’s home, grandma was a crafter and grandpa was a salvager, and I combine both in my work. They had interesting tastes like highly patterned red/gold/blue wall paper and red painted walls. I love having these vintage colors and patterns around me that bring back memories of childhood and lively family gatherings. I love having the comforts of home in my work space: kitchen, wood burning stove, couch, TV…but I do not love having my work in my living space, it makes it hard to clock out and forget about work and deadlines. I wish I had a separate work space that I could shut the door to and then “go home”. I also would love lots more windows and natural light.”

Tori Sacco of Paperkeet has a wonderful workspace in her shop in Saint Louis. We all love how tidy it is, which is one of the real advantages of having your workspace in a public place of business as well. She uploaded simply a TON of pictures to her facebook page for us to see it as it came together with the help of family and friends. There’s a lot to see, and it looks like such a fun place to work and shop. Go check her out!

Jeffrey Johnson: “I still get yelled at for spilling production over into this area though…”
Carrie Hawkins: “I can imagine! Crafting is like the blob, it grows and consumes and grows and consumes….”
Amy Lovewell: “I always wanted a shipping station! I do a lot of running upstairs and downstairs, count it as part of cardio.”
It seems like every studio has something that we all wish we’d put in ours. Amy and Jeffrey Johnson of Handmade Family got around to setting up a shipping station in their studio this year, to help streamline things during the holiday rush. It’d be so nice to have everything in one place!

Dante Hunter and Jim Peregrin of The Weaving Guys share a workspace at home with one loom, and a workspace with two looms at Treasures of the City, down in Granite City, Illinois. What’s not pictured here is the shelves of cloth scraps that are used to weave their incredible rugs. Do you notice though, what’s conspicuously missing from this photo? I bet those tile floors are cold in the winter.

Karen Tabaka of Kakabaka shared this photo with the group as a “Sneak Preview” of her studio. At least she has a place to keep warm, I guess…

I’d like to thank all the ShowMe Etsy members who so generously shared their photos with us, and wish I had room here to show off everybody today. How about your studio space? What do you love about it? Is there anything  you’d love to change? Let us know in the comments!

Writer Jeffrey Johnson
Stay-At-Home Dad and freelance Illustrator, comiker, crafter and urban homesteader. Jeffrey  and his wife Amy work together as Handmade Family, making back to basics toys, gifts and decor for growing families. You can find his work and personal blog at www.handmadefamily.com, his web comic at www.lifewithgirls.com, or around the web as redherringjeff.