Craftroom: Moving In

Good weather finally hit in Chicagoland, so we were outside. I'm not fully moved into the basement craft room, but it is beginning to look like a real work/play room. This is just a preview, as with all new spaces you have to make 'friends' with it. Everything will eventually find it's 'space'.

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The huge table is the BEST for sorting items. I did get tired of walking around it for two days while I moved things around in circles, LOL.

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The sink still isn't hooked up, saving that for a rainy day. 

We added two IKEA corner tables for work stations. We opted for the tables for their work surfaces instead of cabinetry. The left one will be for painting, small assembly, and paper work. The right one will be for power tools, (dremel, sawing, jewelry, and hot gluing.) 

During this photo, I'm still sorting.

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The pegboard rings hold plastic pots on the wall for storing pens, pencils, brushes, etc. I do have some for sale in my Etsy shop. They take a 7 1/2"-8" pot. IKEA has some perfect white metal pots that fit, but they are $5.99 each, so I'm making do right now with Dollar Store pots, and a couple of my own ceramics. 

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I will eventually put up hooks for all my tapes, adhesives and small tools. A few pretties have been added. The bag was from a TJMax/Homegoods store. Just love the photo....great for a backdrop or I may frame one side.

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I really had a lot of stuff to sort through and organize. I couldn't believe I had stuff stashed everywhere.

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My Etsy Shop storage is below. Five of those bins are full of goodies I have to list.

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Here is my collection of baskets, I probably have 7 or so more of these. 

They will be used for storage and eventually specific projects. Labels are temporary until I decide of something more attractive. The baskets will slide under the tables for easy access. 

This little corner to the left will be slotted for a permanent Vickie's Vintage 

and the new second floor addition. 

I hope to install shelves above for standing doll display, if I ever find my doll stands.

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We've found that the doll houses aren't sitting level despite propping up here and there on the small tables. Everything is wonky and wobbly---as the floor is uneven, mostly higher at the walls. So, some rainy day the empty doors (raw wood you see), will be secured to the wall by sitting on an installed small ledge. Then the front will be on supported by adjustable legs so we can get the entire surface plumb and level.

The Grand (she's five now) Moved everything back into the houses. And she designed the back yard. 

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(Seems the old garage was taken down during the move...so now the yard is larger.)

We have yet to reinstall the decks. I will wait and do that when we redo the support doors. All the clothing and accessories have been sorted and labeled in bins below.

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Vickie's townhouse was enlarged by a second matching house I found for $4.99. This will be fun to rework, paint and really decorate. The garage will be enlarged when the new bases are finished.

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The pegboard above will be flexible for storage and/or display. Quick shelves can be put up for lighter items. 

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Here is the holding corner for projects. The lower shelf left is the stranded on the island set, above will be Joe's apartment. Parts of Vickie's Vintage shop, the bowling alley, the cabin in the woods, the bar setup from the Halloween setting, are all here along with extra dolls.

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This eight foot long banquet table will be perfect for setting up temporary dioramas, having art/craft parties, and sorting through my antiques for the Etsy shop. Come on over and have a cup of coffee or some iced tea and have fun with me.

NEXT: Plumbing and Lighting

All the opinions and photographs in this blog are my own. I have not been paid or reimbursed in anyway for my opinions, posts or any products shown or anywhere I shop.

Thanks always for visiting. 

I will try and respond to every comment and answer every question.

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Craft Room part 4: Final Bits!

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Hi! Last week and weekend were very busy. 

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We used an insulating foam layer on the floor. I can walk around barefoot in the basement, now. It's really warm, will be easy on the knees, too. 

I had to hang a picture, print on canvas....from thrift store.

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Click and lock, vinyl flooring. We will eventually have this in the whole house, one room upstairs to go. Love the clean up--and 18 months, and no issues anywhere.

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Cutting is done with an exact knife. So if you dont' have tools, this is the flooring for you!

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Gap at the end of the wall will be covered by trim and cabinetry.

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Last piece and the guys are done!

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This pattern almost looks seamless!

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Trying to figure out the shelving.

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Trim and electricity done.

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Next repainting the pegboard and all the trim.

And always clean up!

My next post will be moving in.  All cabinetry and shelving won't be up and the sink will be later

We finally have decent weather and need to work in the yard.

And, we have exceeded our budget at this time.

The rest can be done--here and there. 

Besides, I like using a space before determining exactly what I need. 

All the opinions and photographs in this blog are my own. I have not been paid or reimbursed in anyway for my opinions, posts or any products shown or anywhere I shop.

Thanks always for visiting. 

I will try and respond to every comment and answer every question.

All the opinions and photographs in this blog are my own, I have not been paid or reimbursed in anyway for my opinions,

 posts, or any products shown, or anywhere I shop.

 Please do not use photos without linking back to this blog without my permission. 

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Craft Room part 3: It's a Room

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Okay, it's been a little over a month---and both of us having the flu for over two weeks---to get this far. Post Three, but maybe---5 weeks or so.

Entering the NEW craftroom, on the right we have standards up, some electrical showing. We chose this light colored wood paneling, with pegboard for most of the room.

This wall continues for 16 feet---my goodness, my first impulse is to counter this whole wall. But, we are holding off until I decide what I really need the space for. The plan is to have all moveable pieces on locking wheels. So I can configure the room in multiple ways. 

Down at the west end is the 10' wall where a sink will be---plumbing is already there. We will be using an ejector pump to get the waste water to go UP and out. Our sewer pipe is really only a few feet below outside ground level. Originally, in the clay shop we we ran a pipe sixty-feet into the sump pump well. We aren't allowed to do that anymore. 

It's a good idea to follow codes---a GREEN thing to do.

This niche corner is all paneling. I think it may be a great location for Vickie's Vintage 

or a photo area, for closeups.

The two sides facing out of the room. are also all paneling with heavy duty standards for shelving. 

My OLD geniuses, hubby and friend checking out the heavy duty standards for NEW storage shelving. Their week's plan: flooring and preliminary plumbing. 

I will keep organizing and take some photos of vintage for my Etsy shop.

The new standards hung in the shipping room wall. 

I removed the huge plastic shelving in here. I had become a 'packaging hoarder'! 

Here is the scaled down version of boxes and packaging.

Now under control---my packaging shelf is now by the desk. I downsized everything...but still hoard small boxes, the work horses for shipping online. My GREEN thing is trying to reuse bags, boxes and clean paper. I'm careful to save any packing envelopes and reuse them. 

In this day and age, we all need to reuse or recycle mailing refuse.

My work shipping station is almost clear. There are still two jewelry boxes that will be put in the craft room for a REDO.  My goofy OLD vintage lamp---which just makes me smile--has been rewired. I will probably use that in a corner of the craft room, for mood when overhead lights are off.  I'm anxious to use some of my own 'collection' pieces in there for decor.

The shipping room wall is a work in progress. 

Sometimes you have to live with a space for awhile, before deciding on a final configuration.

 I have another wrapping station to hang at the other end. 

Miscommunication---between 'Mars' and 'Venus' led to hubby 

hanging the big standards all the way across. 

The space underneath the shelves will be for only the bins I am working on. 

Plan for this week:

New floor in the craft room. 

Electrical. 

Look at lighting---I'm happy with what is there, 'Mars' isn't. 

Work on at least two bins for listing in my Etsy Shop. 

HOW are YOUR projects going!

Thanks always for visiting. 

I will try and respond to every comment and answer every question.

All the opinions and photographs in this blog are my own. I have not been paid or reimbursed in anyway for my opinions, posts, or any products shown or where I shop.

Please do not use my photographs without my written permission--Thank you for your cooperation. 

 Sandi Magle

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Midwest SPRING???

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It continues...the constant bluster of a winter that won't quit.

Yesterday, we woke up to sleet. Followed by continued freezing rain all day, with intermittent melt, followed by more ice.

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My clothesline dressed for the ball, in sparkling diamond drops.

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I was trying to catch the huge limb that slid down the 100+ foot elm that is my neighbors. But, the suffering maple buds....frozen in the front caught the camera eye.

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The ice got thicker as the day progressed.

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Midwest gardening: My Viburnum wearing an icy coat. Daffodils have budded out on the lower left, in the corner where it's sheltered and surrounded with concrete.

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This morning---the limb and other refuse, blown over garbage cans, 

still in the yard covered with snow on top of the ice.

Spring---I don't think so. I know there's worse in the rest of the country, my heart goes out to all suffering the continual storms gripping the nation.

But, it sure has been hard to even think spring here in Chicagoland.

How's the weather in your neck of the woods?

All the opinions and photographs in this blog are my own. I have not been paid or reimbursed in anyway for my opinions, posts or any products shown or anywhere I shop.

Thanks always for visiting. 

I will try and respond to every comment and answer every question.

All the opinions and photographs in this blog are my own, I have not been paid or reimbursed in anyway for my opinions,

 posts, or any products shown, or anywhere I shop.

 Please do not use photos without linking back to this blog without my permission. 

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Craft Room 2: Progress

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Here is where we left off on the NEW CRAFT ROOM in the basement last week. 

Lots of OLD stuff, tons of mess, and trying to work around it. 

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Good news! I sold my wheel a GREEN thing to do and all my ceramics magazines, tools and a big butcher block counter.
Also, sold a kiln, that would have been a real hassle to recycle.

The other good kiln and miscellaneous has been moved out. 

It's in NEW condition for sale,---we are also hoping to find buyers for 

100+ ceramic molds, anyone interested in Chicago area or surrounding states, mail me.

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My Etsy shop is open again. This is the now scrambled shipping room. We are going to REDO some organizational things in here. I use a lot of GREEN-RECYCLED materials for shipping, but storing it had reached unmanageable proportions. 

I also photograph my OLD vintage items and craft items in here for listing. My bins of stock under the bench are currently inventoried and organized. That was a big project this week. I donated a bin worth of small unsold goodies to charity thrift stores, another GREEN thing.

Where I am standing, I turn around and below is what will be the NEW craft room. 

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The ugly 1980's paneling had been chosen because it was the color of the clay and really cheap. lol. We are going right over the top of it, with a nice light barn-board paneling. The below hole will be an open doorway after removing three cement blocks.  On the other side is another huge 'craft workshop' storage room, stuffed with STUFF. 

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It's organized over there, but very tight for working. I will---donate or sell at least half. Watch for some real bargains in my Etsy stores in the coming months. 

I worked for M'S and HL, so my craft stashes are monumental.

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Back in the NEW craft room. 

The outside walls are waterproofed, insulated with 2"thick foam board, and studded. 

I can't believe how warm it is down here, now. 

It will be really cozy. I can't wait to have crafting parties in this space.

These two walls will be white pegboard on top and paneling on the bottom with chair rail. A long counter will run across the right wall. The left wall will have storage--we are talking about barn doors sliding there. The ceiling may stay undone for quite awhile as we have some first floor bathroom fixtures to REDO sometime in the future. All the water pipes and heat ducting run through this room. 

 The NEW subfloor is 2'x2' Dri-Core (name brand) panels. On the bottom side is a thick plastic grid for moisture proofing, the top is thick plywood. These inter-lock and provide a solid base for new flooring on irregular concrete surfaces. We use vinyl plank on top---which we love and have in most of the house.

 Hubby's goal this week is to get all the paneling and pegboard up, the trim and start the electrical.

My goal, is to reorganize the shipping room. To go through more bins and purge excess or photograph and list it. 

The Grand will be here again the end of next week, and the Barbie room upstairs and family room are a disaster. It's always "Fruit Basket UPSET" in your home, when you do Old-New-Green-Redo....anything!

How are your projects coming? 

All the opinions and photographs in this blog are my own. I have not been paid or reimbursed in anyway for my opinions, posts or any products shown or anywhere I shop.

Thanks always for visiting. 

I will try and respond to every comment and answer every question.

All the opinions and photographs in this blog are my own, I have not been paid or reimbursed in anyway for my opinions,

 posts, or any products shown, or anywhere I shop.

 Please do not use photos without linking back to this blog without my permission. 

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Sandi

Craft Room: New Beginnings

Hi, all. I've been MIA pretty much since January. 

Here's what's been going on.

I was a stoneware potter and ceramicist for 40 some years. In 1984 first thing we did when we moved in was set up the clay shop in roughly 1/4 of the basement and adding a small kiln room with proper ventilation. The kiln room is now my shipping room for my Etsy shop.

Later in the late 1990's--when my back and hands gave out---I began casting earthenware and painting on blanks.  

From roughly 2005, when my parents both began to reach later years---everything was set aside and left untouched. New molds ($1000 worth) never even used. The room became a dumping ground after my parent's house was sold.

About a month ago---we started in earnest clearing out all the old clay, containers, supplies and extra tools. A sink/counter was removed from here. The walls needing to be patched and properly sealed.

The room is roughly 12 x 16...so a decent size.

The only window in the room, now sealed tight----for leakage. 

The room was never insulated. The kilns kept it warm in the winter. But now, hubby has begun 

insulating both walls after repairs and waterproofing. A new waterproof subfloor is being laid. And some vinyl planking will be next. 

We still have lots to deal with. But the new beginning has begun.

We are still working around tons of stuff. 

We filled one Bagster and all the garbage cans a couple times over.

I listed two kilns, the wheel (sold) and all the molds (106+) on Craig's List.

All the molds have been cleaned and catalogued. 

The white boxes are my parent's legal records, 

which I am required to keep for a couple of more years.

My wonderful shipping area---in transition right now---as everything has to travel through here.

My Etsy shop*(temporarily closed)---has been displaced to the family room.

I'm going through the 10 or so totes that say LIST  and all my previous stock! 

No Easter gathering here this year. 

Final Goals: New walls, Etsy shelving, lighting, sink, craft work surface, storage, display for 

my Barbie houses and play area for the Grand. Phew---that's a lot on the agenda.

And restoring our family room to some sort of normal.

So what have you been working on?

All the opinions and photographs in this blog are my own, I have not been paid or reimbursed in anyway for my opinions, posts or any products shown or anywhere I shop.

Thanks always for visiting. 

I will try and respond to every comment and answer every question.

All the opinions and photographs in this blog are my own, I have not been paid or reimbursed in anyway for my opinions, posts or any products shown or anywhere I shop.

 Please do not use photos without linking back to this blog without my permission. 

Sharing at these Ad Free blog parties-with ads not in the middle of the blog (I'm going to try and see if this is possible)

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Sandi

Happy Easter All!

Promotional  Free BLOG---Enjoy!

Spring is a time for new beginnings, but I guess we have to wait a little longer in Chicagoland.

We've had flu here for the last 11 days. So I dug these out from last year.

What's better than carrot cake for Easter.

Tulips----and bunnies nesting in my vintage fish packer.

I have some of these in the yard---but they haven't even peeked up yet.!

To you and yours have a Happy Easter Holiday!

All the opinions and photographs in this blog are my own, I have not been paid or reimbursed in anyway for my opinions, posts or any products shown or anywhere I shop.

Thanks always for visiting. 

I will try and respond to every comment and answer every question.

All the opinions and photographs in this blog are my own, I have not been paid or reimbursed in anyway for my opinions, posts or any products shown or anywhere I shop.

 Please do not use photos without linking back to this blog without my permission. 

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Thank you for your cooperation, Sandi Magle

Sandi