...first photos

...first photos of my new little work bench [I did 'borrow' a small sections of hubs' shop :)] It's nothing fancy but will get the job done!

Excitedly Waiting for New Tools...

I want to cereal for lunch and am not ready for bed til the middle of the night but we are officially back in Canada and adjusting to the 7 hour time change.  In many ways, it's good to be home and back to work (even if it is at odd hours!).  I've been planning improvements and additions to my workbench, ordering new tools and materials and am so ready to get started using some of my new metalworking skills.  Many of my new toys have arrived but I'm still waiting for the main parcel of equipment, including my flexshaft, disc cutters, soldering supplies and a new torch!!!

 

Today, to distract myself from the waiting (and to get some work done too), I decided to make some new earrings.  The shop is getting restocked with new and returning items and I made a few of each today. I needed to revamp my oxidizing station so that happened as well! These photos show my set up  - which is also my laundry room.  I love the natural light in this room - it has two large windows - which is also helpful for the smell of the liver of sulfur...good ventilation is absolutely necessary!

Then, I headed for my workbench. It needed a serious re- working to make room for the new tools and equipment and to better utilize my work space.  Because it's in the basement and there is no natural light, the top got a coat of bright green paint to add some color - I plan to spend a fair bit of time here and want it to feel happy and fun! A second little desk (don't you just love this vintage enamel table top?) means I can keep an eye on the shop without running up and down stairs all day (although the exercise wouldn't kill me :).  Looking at these photos, I can see that I'm a bit of a clutterbug in this room!  So, maybe those tools will arrive tomorrow...fingers crossed!  Otherwise, who knows what will get organized next!

My New Workbench!

I'm so lucky to have a lovely worktable in our house with gorgeous natural light and big windows for my bead and wire work as well as my photography and computer time. It's perfect, really, but for a couple of years now, as my interest in creating more jewelry pieces from scratch and my quiver of jewelry making tools and metal supplies has grown, all my noisy, flammable, and chemically smelly work has been set up on the end of my husband's worktable in our garage. While it's certainly better than nothing, I'm usually cold and never seem to have exactly what I want with me. Add to that, all my bits are cleaned up at the end of each session, and while I've been fortunate to have this little space, frankly it's been a pain! Projects are all over the place and it really bugs me! Over the Christmas holidays, my darling husband built me my own space in our basement with a workbench at my most comfortable height for creating and lots of light. Here's a little look -- there's a spot for everything-- tools, mandrels, torch, tumbler, stamping tools and so on... and even a little heater to keep me toasty warm! I can leave everything out when I'm in the middle of a project and make all the noise I want!

I actually think he likes my space better than his, now, and fully expect to see him set up at the end of MY bench sometime in the not too distant future!
Happy day!