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Everything Within Reach

by Lady Mockingbird.
(Upstate, New York, USA)

To say I am a little bit ADD is like saying photos on the cover of Cosmo are a little bit retouched.

Which means that I tend to head off to a given room in the house, intent on one kind of project when a runaway piece of lint will catch my eye and send me scurrying for the dust pan and brush, which will take me past the cat’s water dish which oops needs to be filled…and so on.

It will often take me hours to get back to doing what I originally set out to do. So I need a workspace that keeps me in one place while I am creating.

For me, that means having everything I might need within arm’s reach of where I’m working.

Sometimes that is as simple as taking a few tools, wire, and components over to the recliner in a small velvet lined tray and work from my lap.

This happens most frequently when I’m doing production work on things like new ear wires OR am working on a bunch of wire weaving for a single piece.

Both are things I can do with only two or three tools and a small amount of wire while keeping half an eye on whichever Netflix DVD I’m ‘listening’ to while I work.

The rest of the time, I work at my studio which is essentially a corner and part of two walls in my bedroom.

In both cases everything I’m going to need to create jewelry is reachable from my chair.

I get lost in my tiny studio space for hours on end, and am less easily distracted by other household chores than I was before when I had different stations around the house for different sorts of jewelry work.

What I have is a corner desk on which I have a leather cloth, suede side up, for my work surface.

To the right and left of the desk are free standing shelving units each of which is the same height as the corner desk, and each of which has a single drawer on top and two open shelves underneath.

There is also shelving under the desk surface too. On the right side of the desk against the wall is my tool organizer.

On the left side of the desk hanging on the wall is a combination mini shelf and coat hook unit I have re-purposed for organizing cords, ribbons, rulers, etc.

There is also a multi-compartment pen holder that I use for my needle files, mandrels, etc.

I looked in my photo archives and for some reason this current iteration of my workspace hasn’t been photographed yet. So I don’t have a picture to share yet.

But everything I use, from painters tape, to reference books, two separate work lights, my bench clamp, even small plastic Ziploc baggies, sharpie markers, and a small digital scale are all right to hand.

Lady Mockingbird
Mockingbird Lane Creations at Etsy

Comments:

Thanks for the information
by: Leigh

First off your opening is too funny. Thanks for the chuckle. Second, you have some great tips for not only those with ADD but for the best way to keep you productive. Thanks for sharing your workspace with us. Can’t wait to see some pictures for more inspiration.

ADD
by: Anonymous

Haaa !
I thought I was the only one who got that way .
Thank you for returning me to the norm !

witty
by: pat barden

iparticularlly liked the first line. your jewelry is beautiful.

Aww gee shucks folks..
by: LadyMockingbird

What a nice response from each of you. My full-time day job is keeping me out of the house and my studio space during daylight hours and so there are still no new photos. I hope to be able to change that this coming weekend, but with my mom bringing a 17′ truck of her furniture on Friday night (she’s moving in, you see) that might not actually happen.

But check back in after the weekend to see if I have been able to grab a couple of quick shots.

Good Job!
by: Angie S

On getting your work area organized and recognizing how it needs to be for you to be efficient while working!
Sounds like you may be getting ready to go through a new adjustment phase with your Mom coming. Best of luck and take care!
Ang (weirdlywired)