My social media followers will know that in April I moved into a shared studio. I feel it is time to properly welcome you to my new work space.
For a few years my friend, Amy from Mint Nifty, and I have dreamed about having a shared studio where we could spread out to work rather than working out of boxes, bounce ideas off each other and generally have some fun. We walked around our home town trying to decide where our dream space would be, maybe the old workshop at the bottom of the hill, or upstairs at the library, or one of the lovely shop fronts on the main street of our little mill town.
We thought it was just a dream, until our friend Rachael, aka Mrs Bead, got in touch to ask if we'd like to share a space with her. She'd found a work space that was too large for her alone, but otherwise pretty much perfect in every way. Well, how could we say no?
This perfect place is the upstairs hall of the Old Grammar School in our home town of Earby, which just happens to sit right at the end of my road, just 100m or so from my house.
Built over 400 years ago, this gorgeous building is one of the oldest in the town, and has all the history, beauty and character you'd expect from a sixteenth century school building.
There are six of us using the space altogether (along with a few hundred spiders I'm sure), and I'm blessed to be sharing with the most amazing, creative and funny group of ladies I could hope for. We laugh until our bellies hurt and our faces ache.
I have a small plot in the corner next to the window that just neatly fits my table, drawers, storage boxes and shelves (and a bit of room for dancing if the urge takes me).
I love being able to easily reach all my tools. No more rooting about in boxes to find what I want, everything has a place. But what I love more is being able to leave my creations half finished without having to worry about things getting knocked and damaged.
Everything about the space is inspiring. The two foot thick walls that make you feel cosy and snug when a storm is howling outside, the exposed beams and carved stone of the window frames, the wonderful flower garden outside and the view of the moors beyond our little town.
I'm one of those lucky people who can't wait to get up and go to work in the morning. I can't imagine I'll ever stop thinking how lucky I am to work in such and amazing space.