scenes from the studio

I shared a few weeks ago some scenes from the studio and told you I'd be back with more and that I was hoping to keep it a regular, not scheduled, but regular type post.  

And here I am sticking to that plan and back with another scenes from the studio post.

 No, my felt isn't always this organized.  Although it is most of the time.  I need to keep it as organized as possible so that I can keep an eye on inventory.  I try to only pull down what I am going to cut up for the project I am about to work on.  I have also found if I cut my felt down into smaller pieces before stacking it up I am able to keep it much more organized.

One of the questions I get asked A LOT on Instagram and in emails is where I buy my felt.  Here's the details on that. I buy a few of my regular colors(a few shades of green and a mustard) from JoAnn Fabric.  I buy the rest of my felt from M&L Fabrics.  It is a big warehouse store about 15 minutes from where I live.  If you are local to Orange County it is totally worth the drive!  If you are not local they do not have an online store option. Sorry.  I recently added one other felt shop to the list.  I held out as long as I could without buying online but I needed more colors so after lots of research and trying a couple online felt sellers, I have found one that I am very happy with and that is Benzie Design.  So those are the three stores that my felt collection comes from.

 I had a dream when I created these boxes.  A wonderful dream.  A dream where these boxes were always filled to the top with various flower shapes in the labeled colors.  This dream involved an Etsy order printing out from my printer all by itself and me looking at it with a smile on my face while I easily grabbed the already cut pieces from these bins, stacked them up and sewed the garland together... and then viola, twenty minutes later I was packaging and shipping out that order. Then I woke up... the bins are empty.  They've never been filled.  My printer does not do that and my current turnaround time is NOT twenty minutes. Twenty days, maybe... not minutes.  But I can dream.  And I do smile at every Etsy order.

  One wall of my studio is dedicated to displaying garlands. I love that as I create and ship out garlands this wall is always changing.

 I try really hard to have a designated area for packaging.  Things run much smoother for me if I have all my packaging materials pre stamped and ready to go.

Cleaned up desk.

In the midst of packaging desk.

Clear everything away from the desk for a quick staged shot. ;)

When I post pictures to Instagram of the studio I almost always get comments on it being clean and how that's possible.  This shot IS right after I cleaned it.  In the midst of a busy work day it won't remain like this... although I do try and clean as I go because once the place is a wreck I can no longer focus.  I think some people can work in messy and some can't... and for me it is hard.

 I am almost never alone in my studio, especially now that it is summer vacation.  My little creative girl is almost always with me or she's right out side the door writing with chalk on the cement or riding her scooter.  Most often she is inside with me though.  Luckily I have enough workspaces that she can always make one her own.  She has an entire wall dedicated to her drawings.  She has a basket full of cards she writes to me and she has her own collections of notions that I have let her claim to make her OOAK accesories. =)  She's pretty creative and while I'd like to take credit for it she really seems to be quite the natural.

Confetti Garland and Doily Garland both ordered in bright coordinating colors.

Mod Poppy Garland with no color specifications.

 Daisy Flower Garland with no color specifications.

 Star Garlands in the 4th of July color scheme.  These can be ordered year round in any colors you want.  Currently I am up to my eyeballs in these stars and am hustling big time to try and get them all out in time for the holiday!

Thanks for visiting the studio again with me.