Progress, of sorts

Bah! So much for all my good intentions. I started this blog in a flurry of activity and determination to start making shiny things again, but it turned out that trying to do everything all at once didn't work out so well. I spent the last 6 months of this year trying to redecorate my flat, working full time (and mostly late) and also trying to make 3 or 4 roller derby practices a week, as we split the league into teams recently and dedication was needed in order to win. It turned out that there are only 24 hours in any one day, much as I wished for more, and something had to give. So, sadly I've had to give up skating for a while, as being on a team requires 100% committment, but alas so does starting a jewellery business from scratch. Bum. I really love skating and hope I still get to turn up at the odd practice. I felt really bad about leaving my team, as they are all awesome girls, but I think they're more likely to win their next game if I don’t play! I think my team captain understood, as she's an awesome illustrator, so probably knows how difficult it is to set up a creative business whilst holding down a full time job.

Anyway, so... room of junk has been gutted and renovated during the Xmas holidays. I ripped down all the existing shelves, filled holes, put up new shelves, painted (three bloody coats of the stuff to cover the hideous green) and hung a new vertical blind. Yay! I even used a spirit level and rawlplugs and everything, rather than my usual cowboy tactics of hammering screws into walls! Things I learned were (a) it is very difficult to drill into brickwork using a drill bit designed for drilling wood, (b) putting up a blind is a lot harder than I thought it might be, and (c) attempting to wash gloss paint off a brush and one's hands with water rather than white spirit creates a right mess. But, it was incredibly satisfying to do it all by myself and it now looks like this:





Alas, the shelves still need finishing, but I ran out of money :( I wish I'd taken a "before" picture, as the walls were a horrible sludgy green colour and covered in wonky black shelving, and the whole room was filled with boxes we never unpacked when we moved in and an additional 2 years worth of accumulated junk. It looks much better now and, hurrah, I have space to work!

Also, I've been offered some great workshop space for very cheap for the next couple of months whilst someone that usually shares it is away, AND, a guy I used to go to college with has opened his own jewellery store back home and is looking for designers to represent. Difficult as it was to choose between derby and jewellery, I think these things may have been the universe poking me in the right direction. After all, it does make sense to choose the thing I don't suck at :)

So, onwards and upwards. I have printed out much research material and have picked up a pencil for the first time in 2 years. And, do you know what...? I love it!

More soon...