Thursday, May 12, 2011

Studio Solutions

by D'Arsie Manzella



Good Morning!




Patty's post got me thinking of studio solutions. Her gorgeous glass case is a marvel of beauty and function born of necessity. Many of us have created just the right tool or studio accessory to make our creative lives unique. Often those hidden gems go unnoticed, today I would like to share one of mine!







I often use letter stamps to make impressions in the clay that I use to sculpt my original designs. These letter stamps are tiny, rubber and generally unruly. Especially if the box of them gets shaken or stirred and heaven forbid- dropped!



In the search to keep my little stamps safe and sound, I was inspired by what generally surrounds them... Beads! I would "string" them on some wire, in alphabetical order and they would be by the ready and beautifully contained in a tiny bracelet configuration.




In order to do this, I used a very tiny hole punch to get a hole in each part of the non-usable black side of the stamp. Once they were on I connected the wire ends and voila!



My favorite part about this solution is that each letter can be twisted so that the one I am using to stamp with is separated from the rest.






What solutions have you created? Please share your favorite idea!







13 comments:

Artisan Beads Plus said...

What a great idea, D'Arsie! I will have to think about anything I've created to make my creating go smoother...... I'm not sure that I have anything to offer, but I do think I will try out your letter stamp idea!

mairedodd said...

that is an incredible idea! always in alphabetical order, ready to go... and yet easy to hang up or store away... necessity surely is the mother of invention... now if we could just come up with something for the steel ones!

Norma's Bag Boutique said...

Thanks for sharing your great idea!

VanBeads said...

D'Arsie, that's a genius way to store those little stamps! Sadly, I have not yet figured out any brilliant ways to store my huge stash of seed beads. I still just toss 'em in bags or tubes and throw them in a drawer. At least they're all sorted according to color!

DArsie Manzella said...

Jen, you've got one up on my seed bead storage solution (which is a small box with all of them mixed and tumbled together). No wonder I never use them, I would have to dig for hours!

Patty said...

D'Arsie, you rock. Like Mary Jane I'm also wondering about the steel ones...perhaps just a wooden stand that arranges them alphabetically? Your bracelets are genius.

Yolanda M. said...

Genius! Thank you for sharing, I have those same stamps and others too and can't wait to put them in order.

Do Be Do Bead Do said...

Brilliant!

Norma's Bag Boutique said...

Love your idea. Thanks for sharing.

Marlene Brady said...

Where did you purchase the mini alphabet? I love your solution! Genius.

DArsie Manzella said...

It's been a few years since I purchased the set, but I would check an office supply store or the local Super Store in the office supply section!

mairedodd said...

this is a fabulous idea! something is going on with blogger (or me) - i feel like my comments are not getting posted... love this d'arsie... they are always in order and in one place.. now if they could only do that for the steel ones! :0)

CraftyHope said...

That is a fantastic solution. I've got little ones like that which are falling all over the place. Something along these lines just might work. Thanks!

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