Today's post is a little different to recent posts in that I don't have a free tutorial for you but I really wanted to share with you this fabulous jewellery display. No doubt you've seen plenty of these around on the internet but this one was made especially for me by my father and he's done such a fabulous job on it - I couldn't be happier with how it turned out. My brief was that it needed to have mesh for hanging earrings, a rail for bracelets and hooks to hang necklaces from (I still need to screw those in along the bottom of the frame). The only other thing I specified was that it be black and white. You can clearly see the white frame. And that lovely white scallop in the background is actually curtain lace placed against black cardstock, so he fulfilled the brief perfectly. But what I love about the overall look of the display is how the white-on-black has become a shade of grey - it's the perfect foil to show off my jewellery without taking anything awa......

I've had a bee in my bonnet just recently. You see, a while back, I came across an eye catching ceiling pendant in a local homewares shop that I was really taken with. It was a simple black shade studded with chandelier crystals that sit suspended in little cutouts, allowing the light to glisten through the crystals. All I could think was how PERFECT it would be in my studio.......... and I really wanted it. If only it weren't a ceiling pendant! I didn't end up buying that light fitting (althought I am still tempted) but it did inspire me to recreate the look in a more practical and compact table lamp that will glisten and gleam and be just as sparkly, if not more! All it takes to create your own dazzling sparkle-icious lamp is an inexpensive black lamp with a chrome base....... and as many Swarovski crystals as your heart desires (or your budget allows). Here's what you'll need: A straight sided lamp shade (mine is a black 6" shade) and a chrome lamp base Your......

Good lighting is essential when you do a lot of close up work. When I moved in to my studio 5 years ago, I had a suspended double fluoro installed above my work table to make sure that the work space was well lit. But even with this central light, tasks lights were still needed at every station around the table. Having a suspended light seemed like a good idea at the time but with light only hitting the tables, the rest of the room was dark. And with so many cables and cords dangling from the ceiling, it looked untidy. But today, all that has changed. I had an electrician install two new ceiling lights which are flush mounted to the ceiling.  I am quite impressed with how much light they give off and as I sit here at my computer, I am amazed that the light is reaching this far. You can see that I still have the power cords dangling from the ceiling (for power at the work tables) but it's much tidier now without the cables suspending the old lightfitting. But the best part of these ......

Are you like me, always looking for new or better ways to store your craft supplies? Isn't it  interesting to peek into the studios of other creatives to see how they organise their supplies? It's fun to see how they decorate their space and see what storage systems work for them - after all, organising is a neverending task. Don't you love it when you glean a little storage or organisation tip that might help in your own crafting area? The BEST Craft Organizer system is excellent for storing beads Today, I invite you into my studio so you can learn some of the little tips that keep all my supplies organised. Cut Out + Keep take you on a virtual tour of my workspace whilst I talk about the trick that makes my studio look clutter free and how I store my supplies to keep them under control. I can tell you it doesn't always look so tidy but it does function well as both a studio and a classroom. I hope you'll find some helpful tips for keeping things in order in your ......

Today, I continue the transformation of my little sewing stool from dated 1980's brown laminate to a modern, graphic piece of furniture that looks right at home in my recently revamped studio. Didn't it come up well?!! You can see Part 1 of the transformation here . What I started out with is the little stool below. It has served me well over the years; firstly as a sewing stool and more recently, as seating in my studio. It has a lift up lid with storage inside making it perfect for stowing away works in progress when I have to clean up the studio for workshops. But this dated brown laminate just has to go! Replacing the laminate isn't an option because the composite wood underneath would probably have disintegrated if I tried to remove the old laminate. The best alternative is to paint the surface with laminate paint. So off to the hardware store I went armed with a list of what I needed. But my jaw nearly dropped when I saw how expensive the laminate paint system is: Til......

Many, many, MANY years ago, my husband gave me the most wonderful birthday gift - a Horn sewing cabinet with a built in machine lifter. To say I was over the moon would be an understatement. At the time, I was doing a lot of sewing for the little people in our lives so it was wonderful to have a space where I could not only sew, but I could also quickly and easily stow away my machine and sewing projects out of little hands way. Over the years, the cabinet fell into a state of disrepair and we parted company but the little stool which came with it continues to serve me well. Last week, I got a bee in my bonnet about that little stool. Whilst it's very compact and fits perfectly under my workdesk, visually, its 1980's brown laminate and brown fabric was sticking out like a sore thumb in my crisp black and white studio. It suddenly seemed very out of place! And whilst it's not in perfect condition, it's a very sturdy little stool that has a lift up lid with a storage comp......