Lofty Improvements - Happy Birthday To Me!

My husband and I don't exchange gifts often. It's a rule we set up long ago to take the pressure and guesswork out of holidays. Along with that comes the freedom to pretty much just buy ourselves whatever we want all year round. Within reason, of course. It works for us.

But every once in awhile, we'll surprise each other with a little unexpected gift. This year, he went way above and beyond for my birthday and helped me finish an area of my studio I've been dreaming about and planning for a long time.

I flew off to Chicago to spend my birthday weekend with my mom and sister, and he got to work measuring, planning and building. He even made the ultimate human sacrifice, by which I mean he trekked over an hour to the nearest Ikea all alone on a Sunday and battled crowds to shop for my new desk and shelf. He then carried it up the ladder and put it all together, and I came home to a stunning new packaging and prep area in the loft!

This is how I found it – all put together for me and ready to go!

Here is what the workstation looked like after I added my stuff.

I've gotta say, this new desk has really made a huge difference in my work flow! Making jewelry creates a huge amount of grime so, no matter how much I try to keep up with it, my working surfaces are always covered with dust, metal bits, and polishing compound, not to mention half-finished projects everywhere. 

I use this typewriter to create all of my shipping labels.
I just LOVE the look of a nicely typed address label.

To combat this, I used to manufacture everything in the loft and then transport it down the ladder to the office and/or kitchen table to address and package each order in a clean environment. Now I have a clean station in the studio specifically for processing and managing orders, labeling and packaging. 

 I've organized the built-in shelving to accommodate my gift boxes, envelopes and correspondence materials.

The plan is to stay organized and surround myself with objects that inspire me.

Inspiration in the form of prints by Maria Vetesse (from the beloved and much-missed port2port press Card Society) and Ryan Berkley. I plan to change out this artwork often to keep myself inspired.

And of course I had to add an element of "weird" to the space.
My dad gave me this signed portrait of Oompa Loompa Rusty Goffe many years ago.
It's one of my most treasured possessions.

I am so thankful to be loved and supported by my wonderful husband. Even though Lofted Designs takes up a lot of my time (nights and weekends, mostly, when I could be spending time with him), he understands how important it is to me and how much I love it. I am a lucky gal!

**NOTE: This post is kind of old (my birthday was in March), but sometimes it takes me awhile to get my act together, take pictures, edit and post these things.