Studio Tour - Part 1

As promised a few weeks ago, I'm starting a series of posts to go into more detail about my newly-decorated (well, to be honest, it's more like CONTINUING-TO-BE-decorated because I still am collecting items for it) studio.

When I moved my craft space downstairs, I decided it needed a theme. When perusing the internet for ideas, I fell in love with the many vintage / antique rooms I found. I had already picked up a few antiques, so I began visiting antique shops, thrift stores, and of course, eBay to outfit my space.

Today's post will highlight probably the most important part: my workspace.

I placed my six foot table on the long wall opposite the door to the room. Over it I attached two vintage printers drawers that store my rubber wooden stamps. As in my old room, I ran a long curtain rod above those to keep my ribbon in view and at hand.

On the table are my pens, pencils and Copic markers as well as some other antiques. But I'll begin today with my favorite piece: that wooden watchmaker's cabinet in the center. I used to have a plastic and metal hardware box to hold my small embellishments; but in order to have a truly antique look, the plastic had to go. I waited, watched and finally bid on a piece that was within my budget. These cabinets can go for many hundreds of dollars; luckily I won this one on eBay for a reasonable price as it is missing a drawer; but not a problem for me, as I needed a cubby to hold some Copic pens... this fit the bill PERFECTLY! Here's a closer look:

On top of the cabinet sits an antique glass pen and ink holder, an old tin tart tray (to hold shavings when sharpening pencils), a great heavy lion head - a recent find that I think may have been a furniture decoration.

The other three antique pieces above the cabinet are two Victorian items: a cast iron metal clip and a cast iron note hook.

The small card on the clip is from 1905; a Player's cigarette card from the UK all about "The Dominion of Canada" (depicting the Canadian crest and flag at the time). The chalkboard is a child's item from a local antique shop; they are very hard to find with real slate.

As always, click on the images for larger views. The next post will feature the other vintage items on my desk.