Major Studio Overhaul and Tour

When we moved to our new home nine years ago we made plans to include a complete studio for our clay.  It has been really good having a separate room in the house just for this with lots of work space and storage.  Over the years, however, we started to outgrow it resulting in some reorganizing to create more room.  Eventually it just wasn't working as well for us anymore and we decided a total overhaul and move to a different room in our home would be the best plan.  Even though this room isn't much bigger than the previous, the space within is more functional.

In the photo below you will see our main clay area all across the back wall which is more than 11 feet long.  We broke up the area so we would have two working heights.  On the right is counter height for standing and on the left is for sitting. 

2 Good Claymates - Overview of studio - front is jewelry making storage

2 Good Claymates - Studio Space - sitting area

At the one end and center of the room is the Ikea glass top table.  I positioned it there so it would be directly across from our lower/sitting counter top.  Since we do a lot of work with messy materials such as mica powders, inks and paints, we prefer to keep them away from the raw clay and a glass work surface is easier for clean-up. 

2 Good Claymates - Sit down area for working

Between the two sitting down areas is my favorite old but super heavy duty file cabinet.  This is such a useful item that we picked up a while ago from a used office furniture store.  I painted it black to give it a more modern look.  It makes the perfect base for one of our work counter tops (1).  Besides the large file drawer at the bottom (2), it has several other drawers that provide easy access to items we use on a regular basis.  The next lower drawer holds all our inks, glazes and specialty paints and tools (4).  The drawer above that shows all our mica and embossing powders for quick and easy color selection (5).  Above that is an additional work space that pulls out (6).  This is so handy when I need a little more work area.

  

Finally, at the bottom (3) is an extra storage drawer unit for storing solvents, glazes, glues, and pan pastels.

Our standing area is where we do all of our clay conditioning and mixing of colors.  The counter tops are a type of Formica and extremely durable so we can work with the clay right on it. 

2 Good Claymates - Standing Counter Height

I reorganized some of the drawers in the Ikea unit in the middle.  All our shape cutters fit in the top for easy access.

Our newest addition for the studio is the heavy duty drawer unit that Dave purchased for my birthday gift.  It is one of those pieces that is for organizing heavy tools in a garage and can hold a lot of weight like 800 pounds.  I needed something to hold the heavy counter top plus better storage for all our clay and this one does it all!  I also love the stainless steel front.  

It has 4 drawers that pull out all the way with a super smooth glide.  The bottom 2 drawers are very deep and hold our entire clay stock.  One drawer is for all the Premo and Souffle and the other holds all the large blocks of Kato and now extra space for our new Fimo Professional.  There isn't much black clay at the moment as more should be arriving from Shades of Clay any day.

The top 2 drawers are not as deep but I love how they keep all my clay color recipes organized.

And finally, in the opposite corner of the room, is our large rack for keeping our snap jewelry supplies organized and a new photo booth area with more storage.

We do have a large patio door that steps out onto our covered deck.  This is handy when I need to step outside to spray our work with the PYM11.

The hot tub is especially nice after a long hard day of claying.

Studio Organization Ideas

It is nice to have a clean and tidy studio again as I prefer to work in a well organized and uncluttered environment.  It has also helped improve production and my first day back to claying I decided to make a lot of new canes.  The intense colors in these remind me of a box of crayons and the patterns found in a coloring book.

Now that the studio is pretty much organized, I thought I would share a few organizing tips that I have applied.  I don't have a huge budget for new furnishings and consider myself to be good at improvising with what we already have.  Sometimes taking an item and using it in a different way than intended can be inspiring.

We have these metal shelves that are very useful.  They not only provide support in holding up our long countertop (clay table) but they are also strong enough to hold all of our clay supply which is away from direct heat and sunlight.

As you can see, we go through a lot of clay (yes these are the large blocks) and our order from Shades of Clay just arrived today.  Most of it fit here except for the extra case of black and transluscent.

We order extra (double our usual amount) in the spring before the hot summer arrives as it takes nearly a week to get here and we do not want the clay to "bake" in any trucks that might be sitting during transit.  Some of our large shows are in the early fall so it is important that we have enough clay to get us through the summer.

We found these little drawer units a while ago and I tested them out to see if the clay could be stored in them.  It turns out that the clay doesn't react at all to the plastic so I like to keep the open blocks of each clay color organized.  This way when I need some, it is quick and handy to grab.  I also have one drawer just for the "white mix", wrapped in deli sheets, that I use a lot of.

This simple book shelf sits on our clay table and is perfect for organizing all the containers that hold our canes and mixed color blends.  I still need to label a few of them but pretty much know what is in each one of them.

This is a simple cardboard stationary box that I've had for some time now.  The top part works as a dispenser for our deli sheets and the drawer works for stashing things like the shop towel.  Shop towels come in a roll like paper towel, but are much stronger and can be used over and over.  They are also lint-free which is a good thing when working with polymer clay.  The sheets are quite large so I like to cut them in quarters.

This is an old metal file cabinet that is used as a base for our large work counter.  It was an ugly grey color which we painted black.  The bottom drawer holds a lot of files but I found that one of the drawers is perfect for holding most of our texture sheets and moulds, etc. and all of our shape cutters fit in the top shallow drawer. 

The coolest thing about this cabinet is the pull out "shelf" at the top which can come in handy at times.

Lastly, a studio isn't complete without at least one OttLite which is a more accurate way to see true color.  We have several throughout our studio -- with two of them in my sewing area and one here.  It is on the jewelry making table but also right next to the clay table so is handy for color matching and mixing.

You will notice the metre (yard) stick attached to the front edge of the counter.  I never have to look for my ruler again this way.  If you don't have a yard stick you can always attach a tape measure instead.  This one has both imperial (inches) as well as metric (centimeters) measurements which is useful.

Clay Storage Tips

The first thing anyone says that enters our studio is "Wow, you  sure are organized".  It is not that everything automatically falls into place -- I do have to work at it -- a lot!  If I don't, it drives me (and Dave from all my moaning and complaining) nuts when I spend more time looking for something than actually working on a project.

I have been looking for some time to find the right container for storing my clay canes and blends and such.  I found these containers in the scrap booking section at a Michael's store and bought a few to test out.  I figured I could use them for other things if they were not compatible with the clay.

I was happy to discover that they are totally compatible and I love that they are shallow so you can store a lot of clay canes and pieces without having to stack them.

So on the next sale I picked up a bunch more and I love how they all fit nicely on the shelves at my clay work table.

The other item I was always looking for were those cool deli sheets that work great for wrapping and storing your clay.  They are just not a common item to buy here in Canada and I have never had success finding them.  I managed to buy some from a guild member who brought a few boxes up from the U.S. and showed them to my friend Denyse.  Well the next day she comes over with a box of these "perfect portions" bags by ziploc for me.  I could hardly believe it that it was the exact same stuff but in "bag" form.  We just cut the bottoms off and slit them open and voila --- we now have lots of sheets for our clay.  Thanks to Denyse that she found these (she bought them at Costco real cheap) and I thought I would pass this info on to anyone who has had a difficult time as well to find such a thing.

Clay Veneer Sheet Storage Tip

I was reading a clay book some time ago and the writer had suggested storing clay veneer sheets in plastic page protectors.  I wasn't really sure how well that would work but I was keeping them stored in containers and wasn't really happy with that system.  I would forget what was in the box and had to pull everything out to find what I was looking for and some of the sheets would start to dry out and crack.

I had several types of sheet protectors and decided to test them out to see if they would react with the clay.   I would check them every day and after several weeks there was no reaction with the plastic whatsoever. so I proceeded to fill them with my clay veneer sheets and pieces I had stored.

I liked the clearer type protectors as I could see through them much better and went with those.  I cut down the one side leaving the bottom seam still attached.  I could then fill the sheet up with all my clay pieces easily and then "reseal" it again.

It is really cool how the clay sheets stick to the plastic sheet keeping it sealed and you can turn the pages in the binder without them falling out or moving.  It also keeps them nice and clean and dust-free.

This is such a handy way to keep them and I store them in the same binder as my Clay Color System Recipes, etc. so everything is all together.

Gone Fishin'

I've been having fun re-organizing all my little findings and such into my new tackle box and I still have room to spare which is a good thing!  This is how I have three of my boxes sorted.

Silver Findings:

Gold (and Copper) Findings:

Czech Crystals:

We love combining Czech fire-polished crystals the most with our clay as they just add that extra bling and sparkle.

I still have one more box that is empty yet and deciding what to use it for.  You will probably notice the small little plastic boxes that say "breakfast, bedtime, etc.".  These are pill boxes I found in the dollar store that are my favorite storage item.  I love to use them for my tiny crimps, findings and seed beads.

While we were on holidays, someone asked a question pertaining to finishing our clay pieces into jewelry -- specifically using the softglass cord.  I have to apologize for not answering as I cannot recall if it was a comment on our blog or an e-mail and I hope they don't think I was ignoring them.  I have been searching my computer for the message and it is nowhere to be found.  If you are reading this, please feel free to contact us again or leave a comment here.  I would love to share some tips on finishing our pieces into chokers, earrings, etc.  If any of you are interested, leave a comment and let us know you are and then we will consider it.