I thought I'd give you guys a little tour of my home studio
where all the magic happens!
My artist/carpenter husband have collaborated quite a bit in our new home but the sliding barn door to the studio is my favorite piece. It adds an element of fun as soon as you walk in, and when you close it from the inside it becomes a chalkboard...double the fun!
It's important to lay out your studio in a way that is useful and convenient to how you work. For me, that's my computer and printer side by side and a separate station for crafting and packaging. I try to infuse my workspace with lots of color to put me in a happy mood. I gave my book shelves a make-over by color coordinating them and I can't believe how much of a difference it makes in lifting my spirits!
One of the things I love about my studio is that it has plenty of natural light... so important when taking product photos! Plus it's another mood booster when the sun shines in. I was lucky enough to find this awesome mint chair, which matches my studio walls almost perfectly, at a local vintage shop.
Having a daily planner is a MUST for me! If I don't write things down I will forget. It definitely keeps me organized and on top of deadlines. Sometimes you get bogged down and stuck in a rut so it's important to surround yourself with inspirational reminders and lovely images. My sweet friend wrote me a list of positive affirmations which I keep handy when I need a pick-me-up.
I found this awesome website for printables called mrprintables.com and printed this U.S. map to keep track of the different states my shop has made sales in. It's a quick way of seeing where most of my customers are coming from and it's fun putting a pin in a new state!
I like to work on my hand-drawn jewelry, drawing, calligraphy and painting in this area. For some reason I like to be at different levels to do certain things. I feel more at ease with those tasks when I'm at a lower level. I am in love with my blue IKEA cart. It's perfect for storing art supplies and paper goods and it's so easy to move around.
See what I mean about all of that natural light?! Makes me so happy!
This is where I do my packaging for all of my orders. If you can't tell, I love collecting vintage knickknacks! A lot of pieces are from my grandma and other things I've found at antique stores. My table is a mid to late 1800s work table from France and I adore it. On my table I have two paper cutters. One is larger and used for trimming down prints and cards, and the smaller one is used just for scoring folds for cards. My DIY washi tape tree is made from an old coffee cup holder and I get so much use out of it packaging up orders.
Things I'm preparing at the moment.
One thing I cannot control is my obsession with pens, pencils and markers! I am running out of containers to hold them all in :) Seriously, every direction you look in my studio you will see some kind of container with drawing utensils. What can I say, I love to experiment!
I get asked all the time what kind of pens and markers I use, so I thought I'd share some of my favorites. My good old stand by is my Sakura Micron 05 pen (bottom). It's great for line work and doesn't smudge. I have so many now that I've started wrapping washi tape around every new one I buy so I will know the difference. I use a gray Copic marker for shading my doodles. I recently bought the Tombow Fudenosuke Brush Pens (the two above the Micron) and I use them all the time because they are so versatile. You can get really thin lines and pretty thick lines all in one pen. I use them a lot for lettering. The colored markers I also bought recently are Tombow Dual Brush Markers and they are also great for lettering. You can also blend them together. I use these markers a lot in my daily doodles. You can find most of these pens on jetpens.com or at your local art store.
Thus concludes the tour of my little studio space! It's always a work in progress but it works and definitely encourages lots of creativity! I hope it will inspire you with your creative spaces!
XO,Rhi
