Daily Archives: January 11, 2010

One of the first things I did today was to finish sorting out and bagging up the scrap metal from my studio overhaul. It was like a treasure hunt going through bags like this:

Really old designs I had put high on a shelf, out of sight, out of mind. Unsold earrings from a different time in my life. What a relief to let them go!

In some of my “sort” drawers there were things like tiny sterling silver spring rings. Findings purchased ages ago, when silver was $7 an ounce. Like clothing in a closet that hasn’t been worn for  years, I was ruthless in ridding myself of things I no longer needed or wanted to find a way to use. The result was 40 ounces of silver scrap and 8 ounces of silver with some gold keum-boo. I also came up with one ounce of gold which included someone’s gold tooth crown (?!), a gold pin from a boyfriend I dated almost 40 years ago, and have not worn in almost as long, and snips of gold wire and sheet scraps I have saved over the years. I sent them all in to Rio Grande for refining and they will give me 75% of the value in credit. I know how I am going to pay for my next PMC order!!

As I get back to work, the snippets, scraps, and rejects will start to gather again in the little dishes around my studio. But today, seeing the bare surfaces of these little plates and bowls was a lucrative treat!

I finally have room to turn around in my creative space, and show you that it really was possible to find some order in all of the previous chaos. It took all week (minus two days when I had to be off the island) but it was so worth it.

Behind the door, a spot for paperwork, box and mailer storage.

That poster on the wall is a satellite shot of the coast of Maine so I know where to find my tiny island home in case I ever feel lost. Little Cranberry Island is only a mile by a mile and a half, but it can still be seen from space!

The work area for stringing beads and assembling earrings, etc.

A clean surface to begin the 2010 metal clay work.

That’s it.  360º of improvement in an 8 by 10 foot room. Phew.  All of those little drawers? About 60% sorted and labeled. This is the only room in the house where it would be okay to be out of sorts.