Handmade Spaces: Liebling Crafts

Hey, hope you all had a good, long weekend!  Although Monday's are a drag, I like to make them a little bit better with some inspiration in the form of handmade spaces!  Today we get to take a look at the workspace of Jessica of Liebling Crafts- Liebling means "darling" in German, and all of Jessica's creations are just that!  Let's take a peek at where she creates them, shall we?



What do you create in this space?
I create my eclectic line of handmade jewelry for my shop, Liebling Crafts , where my style ranges from vintage inspired to contemporary and geometric. I also use the space for photographing my jewelry and other not-so-creative functions of a home based business!

Where is it located?
I have a small space, and it goes without saying, using one small area for so many purposes is nearly impossible without having an system of organization in place.  While I dream of having a room dedicated to my craft, with a separate area for each of the functions I have to perform and handy spools of wire and chain at my fingertips, I have to face facts. I don't have this room. In the famous words of Tim Gunn (Project Runway, yes I am addicted) I had to "Make it work!"

My resolve to "Make it work" was something I came to when I made the decision to turn my creative hobby into a business. I knew I could no longer uncomfortably bead on the couch if I was at all serious about being successful. My husband and I rent a two bedroom flat, and we have the luxury of having a sunroom with windows facing north, west and south. The room is filled with beautiful, natural light and is the perfect space for creating and photographing my jewelry. I have a little desk we purchased a while back so I could have a space of my own for doing schoolwork (part-time student), and it now also serves as my workbench, staging area for photography, mail center, computer desk for doing business and for homework when I'm in school.

What sort of tools/equipment do you use?
My tools are pretty minimal. I use a basic wire cutter, a round nosed pliers for making wire loops, flat nosed pliers for holding wire and wrapping, a crimp tool and a few different sized wooden dowels for making earwires and perfect circles. I also use a scissors quite frequently and a spoon helps for scooping up small beads.

I took over the television media stand for storing my beads, photography props, bubble mailers and craft show supplies. I also make good use of the desk drawer and cubby, and store my finished pieces in a small shoebox sized tote in ziplock type bags. Jewelry is small, so this is a convenient storage option. Using the space for multiple purposes forces me to stay very organized.

What inspirations do you keep nearby?
I have a lot of different colors and textures in the room itself, prints and sculpture and ambient lighting. It puts me in the mood and gets my creative juices flowing. I also keep jewelry catalogs and how to books nearby for when I'm feeling like I need a little inspiration, and a sketchbook that follows me to bed at night so I can remember the ideas that pop into my head while I'm trying to drift off at night. I also keep my IPod boombox nearby, I couldn't work without the inspiration of music.

What do you like to listen to/watch while creating?
Have I mentioned my love affair with my Ipod? I love it, I have almost 7,000 songs on it and I keep it on shuffle. It's like the best radio station ever to exist minus the commercials and pledge drives. I listen to everything, right now my favorite artists are Nelly McKay and Tom Waits, those two get a lot of play on the boombox.

How do you feel when you enter your handmade space?
I feel energized, the room is bright even on cloudy days and the decor is very cheery. I always want to be in this space, it's very hard to tear myself away to do other things.

Thanks for sharing Jessica!  It is hard to not have a dedicated space just for your crafts, but that's probably what many other people are faced with as well, so it's great to see that you can "make it work!" :) 

Be sure to check out all the adorable jewelry creations that Jessica makes here at Liebling Crafts!

**Want to share your handmade space with Modish?  Just email me with the subject "handmade spaces" along with some pictures to be considered- I'm looking for more entries!