Wednesday, November 24, 2010

Not finishing NaNoCraftMo

Unfortunately, I got sick with a fever and a cold after I was already behind on my self-imposed goal--there's no way I can catch up now that November's almost over. I'm going to just move on now--to making awesome stuff, but without worrying about how what I make fits into my categories and goals! It sounds kind of freeing, actually :) I can't wait to play with foldforming more.

Thursday, November 11, 2010

November, Week 2

Well, here's my NaNoCraftMo progress so far: 5 pairs of foldformed earrings.
"Fell from the stars and shattered"
(You can see pictures of the rest of the pairs here on Flickr.)
At 11/30 days, I'm at 5/28 pieces, and haven't done any "reach" ones yet... so I'm a bit behind. But I can feel my creative drive charging up, and I'm hoping to sprint ahead soon!

In the meantime, I'm going to give you guys a tour of my workspace! It's a little crazy, but it's the perfect kind of space for me to work--everything's in arm's reach, and since I don't share the space with anybody, I always know where something is. It's certainly changed since I first set it up in April.

Here's an overview of the space, from the basement stairs:
IMG_4538.JPG
You can see that there's a window for ventilation when I open it, and I've put in a bunch of lighting (very good for both morale and ability to see detailed bits of metal).

Starting at the rightmost part of the work area, here's my awesome old sewing machine:
IMG_4546.JPG
I use this for making silk necklace cords and gift bags.

Next is the newest addition to the space, a rectangular table with storage space underneath:
IMG_4540.JPG

The table surface is sometimes a workspace for light-duty stuff like wirework, and sometimes a place for photographing new things. Right now the components of my lightbox are not in use:
IMG_4544.JPG

Moving to the left, here's the soldering area:
IMG_4547.JPG
It's a very sturdy wooden table. The surface is protected from my torch by the combination of a metal tray and a fireproof ceramic tile. The crockpot is for warming a solution of vinegar and salt called a pickle, which is used to clean oxides and flux from recently-soldered pieces.

Next is the workbench:
IMG_4549.JPG
The workbench was in the basement when my housemate bought the building--lucky for me! It's quite sturdy, and I do my hammering, drilling, stonesetting, and polishing here. Since this area has so many functions, it's the most cluttered area.

Here's a view of the drawers under the workbench:
IMG_4551.JPG
You can see a little shelf with my beads, stones, and a few books, and sturdy wooden drawers above that. In theory, my hammers and pliers and other miscellaneous tools and supplies mostly belong in here.

IMG_4553.JPG
But instead, they're usually found within arm's reach on my workbench instead :)

This tour is part of the Aspiring Metalsmiths blog carnival. Here are some other great workspace tours: