Watchmaker's Bench

Check out the new addition to my art studio...

This is an antique watchmaker's bench and I'm so happy to have scored it for my art studio. My husband's father is a German-trained watch and clock maker and my husband has taken over his 60 year old business. In the move, this bench was not needed so I snapped it up.

It fits perfectly at the end of my island and it is now the new home for my sewing machine. I've been using my sewing machine more and more and it didn't have a permanent home, so this is perfect.

My husband is going to make a hole in the top near the back so that my pedal wire can slip down through it and not have the wire draping over the front like it is now.
Do you see all of those shallow drawers? Is that a rubberstamper's heaven or what?!

I'm toying with the idea of painting this bench to match my studio but on the other hand, I love the "old" look it has... what do you think? Please leave a comment and let me know if you think I should spruce it up by painting it or leave it as is. Thanks for your advice!

Stamp & Ink Spot Storage

Today I'd like to share a couple of organizational tips.  First, I'd like to show you how I keep track of and store my rubberstamps.  All of my stamps are indexed by catagory in a binder (as shown below).  Once a new set is in this binder, I give it a number.  As you can see in the photo, the set on right is number 214.

Now, the next step is to number that set on the case and file it according to number (as shown in the photo below).   This system makes it easy to find and use what you have.  When I start a project, I pull out the binder and choose the stamps I'd like to use and I always know exactly where to find them.
A couple of quick tips: 

**I number SU sets by the size of the case.  The smallest cases are 100, 101, etc. and the next size up is 200, 201, etc. and so on, up to the largest case size.  This way, I can store them by size and things look and stay neater.

**I also use this same book and system for non-su stamps.  Unmounted and clear stamps are stored in CD cases.  I index and number them in the binder and then number the outside of the CD case accordingly.  For single unmounted wood stamps, I index them and number them by tray (I use box frames like in the pictures below).

Now on to ink spots....

As you can see in the photo above, ink spots fit perfectly into an 8 1/2 by 11 acrylic box frame that you can take the box out of and use as a tray.  This size tray is perfect for the 4 color groups of SU ink spots.
Once the tray is organized, I store it in a paper sorter- using the sorter as shelving as pictured above.  Since it is a paper sorter and the trays (box frames) are 8 1/2 by 11, it fits and works perfectly.  I store all kinds of things this way (wood mounted stamps, inks, paints, etc.).  

The paper sorters are from Sams Club and if I remember correctly, were about $15 each and each has 12 slots/shelves.  The trays can be found at Micheals or AC Moore and are on sale with the rest of the picture frames quite often.  At 40% off, which happens often enough, they are only a couple of bucks each.

I hope you find some of this info helpful.  If you have any great storage tips, I'd love to know about them- please leave a comment.   Have a great day!

Storing Decorative Pins

One quick post before I hit the road to visit my sister.  Today I'm sharing how I store my rather large collection of decorative corsage pins.  I love these pins and I always pick up a whole box when I find something new.

I use small glass votive cups for some of the longer ones.  They work well for longer pearl head pins.  For the larger gem pins, I use mason jars.  These are small quilt patterned jelly jars.  I use two sizes- they are the same diameter, one is just taller than the other.

I stuff Oasis floral foam in the opening at the top and hot glue a strip of ribbon around the jars threads at the top.  Then I just stick the pins in and it's done.  I keep them lined up along the back of my embellishment counter and I love that they look like pretty flowers in pots and they are always right there for me to use when the mood strikes me.  

I love to see the way others organize and store things in their art rooms.  I spend lots of time surfing blogs and galleries for storage ideas.  My favorite ideas are ones where the art room looks as beautiful as the artwork and is still very functional.  This pin storage is just that.  

Have a great weekend!

SU Marker Storage Idea

Modifying a Stampin' Up marker case into a display holder for your work desk (scroll down for more pictures):

I am always looking for new and different ideas for storing art supplies in my studio.  One of the goals in storing and organizing is to make sure supplies are easily accessible.  I've come up with a great storage solution for my SU Markers by modifying the original case they came in.  

Now let me start by telling you that I bought my set of markers from SU a very long time ago, so they are the old style.  And they came in the case way back then.  I don't know if the case has changed with the new style markers but I thought this tip was worth sharing anyway.

Inside the box of markers, there are clear acrylic pieces that make it so each marker has it's own little "hole" in which to live.   I took those out of the box- it's several pieces that once they are confined in the box, stay together nicely.  When you remove them from the box, the come apart into several pieces.  This is very easily remedied by just wrapping some clear packing tape around the outside to hold them together.  

At this point, you can just set the nice acrylic holder on your desk and it looks very nice.  I wanted mine to tip forward so I could have easy access to all the colors.  What I did was use two triangle pieces of foam.  This foam is the kind that you can heat with your heat gun and press into a texture and use that as a stamp.  Remember that stuff?  I actually found a big bucket of it in the toy department years ago that was being sold as bathtub blocks.  I bought it and both my son and I had new toys!  (My son is in the military now... it was a long time ago!)

Once I found my two pieces of triangle foam, I attached them to the front of the acrylic holder with ATG tape.  This allows the holder to tip forward as pictured.

To finish it up, I created a chart on white cardstock that fits nicely on the front of the foam.  This hides the foam pieces and gives me a visual of the marker colors and guides me to where they are located in the holder.

I know that the common wisdom is to store markers flat so they don't dry out, but I've had my markers this way for years and years and they are holding up great.  I don't use them a lot, but when I do, they still work perfectly.

I wonder if the new SU marker packaging allows you to do this?  Or maybe you can find an empty case on ebay?