Well, it has been a very long time indeed since I last posted a blog! I could put this down to being consistently busy but then again, aren't we all?
This past year in particular has been a massive learning curve for me. Taking my hobby to a fully fledged business has not been an easy undertaking. I think perhaps I underestimated just how many areas I would have to be across to make, assemble, market & sell my glass goodies as well as teaching my craft.
Thankfully, I have some really great people involved in the business, people who are committed to making this work, people who realise what the dream is and are hanging out with me as my little boutique business goes from strength to strength.
One of the biggest challenges of late has been how to continue working from my existing space. Now that I'm teaching more often, I need a really user friendly and happy place for people to come and do my workshops. I think people really like to get away from it all and enjoy and experience, where they can return to something "handmade" in our over-processed and over-engineered way of life today. Being in a country village certainly adds to the ambience but my little "playhouse" is now increasingly becoming far too small to cater to my workshop participants.
I've looked at retail space, had plans drawn up for a studio extension so it's now a matter of making a choice about which direction to take to expand the space.
George Clarke's small spaces has been a great show to watch lately, it's amazing to me what people do with their tiny spaces and how they make them so functional!
Numerous trips to places like Junk & Disorderly (love that place!) and other vintage shops have given me some really good ideas about up-cycling and creating a unique, quirky space. Yes, it takes a bit of effort but I really like the idea of taking found objects and giving them a new purpose vs creating something new. It plays further on the handmade theme too.
One thing I purchased recently were these wine boxes. $60 for the lot! These will be mounted on the wall to create a clever glass rod storage area.
I'd be keen to have you share your experiences with me in terms of how you have created your studio & retail spaces. What were the challenges? How did you make the decisions you did? What were the key considerations?
I wonder what the final result will be once I up-cycle my happy little place...
