Ok, grab the hot beverage of your choice and settle in.

For any new readers today, I am sharing the progression of my studio which is in the back of my little gift shop (yummy goods!) on Cape Cod.

The right side of the studio, before:

This was before we moved in. There is just a little bit of my stuff that I was using to paint signage for the windows. We removed that odd partial wall and got started primering the walls.

Ok, in closer now, freshly painted (yes, the same color as my living room):

I'm not sure why, but I actually like  the bars on the windows!

That bookcase was already there, built in. I just gave it a fresh coat of white.

Putting up the 3/4 walls to separate the shop from the studio :

Of course, when we first moved in, our priority was getting the shop space ready. But even after being there for a couple of months, I was still working on displays all the time and never had a moment to spend on the studio. I pretty much just threw my stuff in there and was using it storage and 'behind the scenes' stuff for the shop:

Eventually it ended up looking like this:

Um, yeah. See, I'm kinda messy, is the thing.

It was around this time that I was contacted by the editor of the Studios issue of Cloth Paper Scissors Magazine asking me if they could feature my studio in the next issue. And could they have the photographs in 4 weeks?

"Well, my studio is, uh... in transition right now, but I can swing it!"

I immediately got to work! I would steal a couple of hours each day to organize my supplies and work on the bookcases.

The basic stuff I use most often (tape, paint, markers, brushes) I like to keep out and have easy access to. But also want my space to be appealing and inspiring. With this in mind, I focused on making the shelf space look cute.

I mixed in my paintings and knick-knacks, creating little vignettes.

While working on one of them, I noticed a few items of similar coloring were next to each other, creating a really pleasing look. So, I took it further (of course) and started intentionally arranging the shelves by color. Here, some pales and pinks:

Oh, joy! Gaining momentum, the blue shelf was born:

You know how I love to show you all my thrift finds? People always ask me where (the heck) do I put all that stuff? Well, here you go! And if you've been reading yummygoods for a while, you might recognize a bunch of the stuff!

Greeny:

mmmmm. When I look at these shelves, my heart flip flops. Seriously, it just makes me really happy.

Gold:

 Here you can see them all together, and me:

 >sigh<

Moving on: worktable. I considered using my old one, which is just a big banquet table- you know, the kind that the legs fold in? I had painted it white ages ago and after years of use it has a gorgeous painty surface that I love. But I wanted a deeper table with storage underneath. Hmm, what to do?

Just when I was trying to figure that out, I was offered two old retail display cabinets. For my favorite price, free!

Pushed together face to face, they make a large enough work surface, plus all that hidden storage underneath. But the best part is the display area under the glass!

They needed a bit of lovin' first.

I painted the cases white and we removed the legs to make it more of a regular table height.

You can see some better shots of the table and the other wall here.

In the area under the glass, I have room to put all of my crazy collections that I love so much.

Stacks of used pallettes and a snippet of paintings in progress:

On top of the table, one of my many containers of odd bits (with alphabet stamps displayed beneath):

I love stamps. I use the alphabet ones all the time.

Is random ok? Because that's what I got:

From the white shelf:

mmm, peaceful, isn't it?

I love this picture, Love. It:

One of my paintings and bulletin boards covered with Tendril from my Sugar Snap collection:

Detail of a painting in progress, Sugar Snap apron and painty clothes:

On the fabric shelf:

Baskets and boxes:

Bits and bowls:

Whew! Are you still with me? I truly hope you enjoyed the before and afters. I am excited to see it in print!

I'll let you know when the issue is available, should be March 31.

Oh, and we didn't miss my appearance on Quilting Arts TV, after all! I am the first guest on Episode 13, so that will probably air in a couple of months. I will keep you posted, of course.

xoxoxox

m