My Messy Workshop(s) or This One's for You Brenda Sue

Let's start at the beginning, where all good stories start.  My mom taught me to do crafts, basic sewing and basic crochet when I was really young.  Then Aunt Alice taught me to knit and embroider.  From there, I was hopeless.  I have embroidery thread and yarn that I have hauled around with me to many houses and four states.  The beading thing started back in 1994 when I got my first issue of Bead & Button, it was around issue 9 or 10.  I was an old hippie girl, and still had a few stray love beads, but this was a whole new way of thinking, and that just made it worse.  Since then you will see all the places I have gone by the depth of my messes.

First - The Bead Room

This is short round me at my bead sorting table.  I don't work in this room, it is a spare bedroom, but I am supposed to put all my purchases in here, and then sort and sift and put away.  Naturally, there is stuff all over the house but mostly in here, waiting messily for me to put it away.

Here's a close up of the table

containing everything from bead boards, to twine to Future Floor Wax to seed beads, glass beads, stones, pearls and glue.  There are also stray findings, brass stampings and odd craft supplies.

Here is the sacred bead shrine

where on the right are seed beads, wood and shell beads, cabs and donuts and glass bead strands.  On the left are lampwork, pearls, semi-precious stones, precious gems, findings and throughout, there are other miscellaneous beady treasures.

Here are a few more patient, unorganized beads and supplies, waiting for someone to get off her lazy beading behind and put them away.

Now for the room we affectionately call "The Warehouse".

These are bulk supplies, paints, paper, wood, soldering supplies, polymer and metal clay and related tools and miscellany.  There are also several boxes of wire and jump rings for wire wrapping and maille work, as well as metal and acrylic sheet, just in case I need them.


Here is the other side of The Warehouse.

These are my favorite papers, glue, paints, pens, ephemera, printmaking supplies, etc.  And  peeking out from behind my favorites is my alleged workroom.  For most folks, this room would be a front room, a living room, but for me, it is the workroom.  I only work there when my health permits me to spend time sitting up straight.  When I am feeling icky, I just sit in my lazy boy and work as much or as little as I can.

Here's a better pic of my workroom with me actually in it!

This room contains my drawing table, my bookcases (all full), my often-used supplies, my metal work table and my sewing and fabric area.

The drawing table

Complete with baskets of ink, pens and stuff, and a little pink pig heat tool.

The metal work table (the book in the foreground is a drawing journal complete with a personalized floral cover)

The sewing area (as well as the unofficial observatory)

And finally (I'll bet you are ALL glad to get to this point.) the dining or photo room (this one will get cleaned first!)

As you may have figured out, there are only two of us in this big ol' house.  We have three bedrooms, two bathrooms, a front room, a dining room, a kitchen, a great room, a covered back porch and a giant garage.  So of course, we have spread out all over.  Hubby has a spare room and the garage, and some of the stuff in the Warehouse is his as well.  We also share some, but not all tools.  I am really picky about my hammers cutters and pliers, and hubby is cranky about his power tools and he claims ownership of the kilns.  (We all know that is sooooo not the case, but he has to claim some real estate for himself.  He is endlessly and endearingly indulgent of my craziness.)

So that's it.  Unfortunately, I didn't have anything on tap that I could display due to other pending blog hops, so stay tuned for those.  Here's the list of blog links with a big shout out to the wonderful Brenda Sue at B'Sue's Boutique!  Happy Hopping to all you Bloggers!

Messy Workshop Blog Hop Links

Brenda Sue Lansdowne, B'sue Boutiques

http://www.bsueboutiques.typepad.com/

Robin Delargy, LooLoo's Box

http://looloosbox.blogspot.com/

Kim at CianciBlue

http://cianciblue.blogspot.com/

Jennifer Jazwick-Smith, Hudathots

http://hudathoughts-jennifer.blogspot.com

Mary Shannon Hicks   YOU ARE HERE

http://www.uptwnsh-fallingintothesky.blogspot.com/

Tracy Swartz

http://tracyswartz.com/category/blog

Jacqueline Marchant

http://jaacquelinesjewels.blogspot.com/

Lynnea Perry Bennett

http://designsbylynnea.blogspot.com/

Terry Matusyk

http://pinkchapeau.wordpress.com/

Laurel Steven

http://laurelsteven.blogspot.com/

Dr. Brassy Steamington

http://drbrassysteampunk.blogspot.com/

Pamela Takeshige

http://www.crittersandthings.blogspot.com

Kris Lanae Binsfeld

http://www.cherishdesigns.wordpress.com

Outre Art

http://theartistspaintbox.wordpress.com/

Linzi Alford

http://www.magpieintheskyspoilheaptales.blogspot.com/

Deb Davis

http://naturaltreasuresbydeb.blogspot.com/

Tamara Jones

http://irrysistablejewels.wordpress.com

Harry Wood

http://www.oscarcrow.blogspot.com

Gerry Nickerson

http://gersgems1.blogspot.com/

Elizabeth Owens-Dwy

http://www.thepolymergeek.blogspot.com/

Georgene Lockwood

http://sylvanavintagedesigns.wordpress.com/

Charisa Sloper

http://www.blog.obsidiansoda.com/

Jennifer Justman

http://soulsfiredesigns.blogspot.com/

Beanzie

http://the-vintage-heart.blogspot.com/

Mary Deis

http://mdeis.blogspot.com/

Cheri Reed

http://creativedesignsbycheri.blogspot.com/

Sondra Kolner

http://scrappybydesign.weebly.com/index.html

Sonya Ingersoll-Stille

http://www.dreaminofbeads.blogspot.com/

Lori Anderson

http://www.prettythingsblog.com/

Sandra McGriff

http://skyescreativechaos.blogspot.ca/

Shelly Joyce

http://www.aujourlejour-shelly.blogspot.com/

Joan Williams

http://www.lilrubyjewelry.wordpress.com/

Kashmira Patel

http://sadafulee.blogspot.com/

Deb Beechy

http://beetique56.blogspot.com/

Ginger Bishop

http://lilmummylikes.blogspot.com

Kelli Jacobson

http://creativemoonjewelryandthings.com/

Natalie McKenna

http://www.grubbi.co.uk/

Andrew Thornton

http://andrew-thornton.blogspot.com/

Mary Govaars

http://mlhjewelrydesigns.com/

Kate Mulligan

http://mulliganstewjewelry.blogspot.com/

Lisa Lodge

http://pineridgetreasures.blogspot.com

Tami Luchini

http://ssprocketsmetal.blogspot.com

Monique Lula

http://www.moniquelula.com/blog/

Lee Koopman

http://stregajewellry.wordpress.com/

Jayne Capps 

http://mamasgottodoodle.blogspot.com 

Susan Lloyd

http://designsbysusan-dbs.blogspot.com/

Cynthia Wainscott

http://www.exoticperujewelry.blogspot.com/

Stephanie Amanti

http://www.stephaniesjewelrybox.blogspot.com/

Alicia Marinache

http://www.allprettythings.ca/

Sam Hamp

http://hampgirl59.blogspot.com/

Lennis Carrier

http://www.windbent.net/

Commenting into the Great Void

OK, I'm still cycloptic, and my back hurts, too.  I do have medical professionals on the job now, however.  Hopefully, I'm on the mend!!!!!  I did discover a little anomaly in my blog settings, though.  For all of you who have tried to comment and were unable to do so, I think I fixed it.  Let me know on Facebook if any of you have further problems.  Here are my three latest pieces.  I already posted these on Create+Connect+Collaborate and Creative Bead Chat, so I apologize to those folks for posting again, but this post is for friends and family :)  Hopefully, I can get around to posting regularly soon if the health issues get better!

Where in the world is Shannon Hicks??

I have been kind of invisible except for the very occasional comment here or there, the last couple of months have just been crazy for me.  I bent some kind of crazy way my back resisted and it hurt for three or so weeks.  Then my eyes started to bother me.  I thought, "Allergies, no big deal!"  Used the drops and they felt somewhat better but they never really improved significantly.  Then a week ago, my right hip and leg started to hurt so much I couldn't sleep, probably from the aforementioned back aggravation.  My poor back has been injured so often, I should be an exhibit in some lab.

Soooooooo...  this past Saturday, my eye started to hurt, bad.  It felt like gravel at first, then like jagged glass, complete with searing pain from light, and I can't see through it when I do manage to pry it open.  The back improved some, but is still kind of miserable, especially if I move in a non-back-approved way.  And the eye is not feeling much better, all despite multiple visits to multiple doctors and multiple encouragements and eye drops.  I have an MRI next Wednesday for the back.  I also have a return to eye doctor central for the sliced/ulcerated cornea that they tell me is healing.  I am a miserable unit, and though I have done some beading, mostly by feel and using my one good eye, LOL, I can't even take pix right now because the light hurts too much. Anyway, I can't even see to edit them.

So, I'm kind of pouty right now, and I'm trying to tell myself that my upcoming 60th birthday is a good thing.  And I really do think it is, I have never had too many issues about age, stopped dying my hair because I'm into the grey, never wore much makeup.  I've always been kind of a little round hippie goddess, so I'm really hoping my 60's will get better.  I want to live every day, just as I always have, and though my body seems to be misbehaving, pool season is coming soon, and I am ready to get a bit more fit and a lot more sunny.  

Needless to say, pics to follow, really.  I promise, just can't promise when.  You can see my March 4 a month pictures, some pendants I finished and photographed in March, the last before the eye injury.