Our New Studio space!

I have been on UK Craft Forum a fair bit recently and it seems that everyone is posting about their workspace/studios so I thought I'd write a little about mine.You can see my small but well-lit space in the corner. Luckily my miniature origami pieces don't take up much space. Just next to it is the space I use to teach Japanese.

We are going for a 'white' theme in the room (thanks Ikea!) and here is the space my husband uses to work. It's actually a fair bit messier than this at the moment...

We have recently been working with new lacquering materials which involve quite a time consuming lacquering process. The new process we are using allows our pieces to have a similar strength to resin, but is water based and allows us to avoid the staining that occurs with chemical based resins. Sometimes it gives my workspace a slightly 'surreal' feel!

As you can see my desk is usually full of 'works in progress'. I have photos of my family and friends from Japan under the laminate desk protector so that I don't get too homesick! All these pieces are in the final stage of the lacquering process...

Here's a close up of one of the final pieces after all the lacquering has been applied. The new process gives it a much more durable waterproof finish. It also creates a much more gloss-like appearance. The whole process takes a long time but it is worth it to be confident in the strength of our pieces.

Thanks for reading! I am currently working on a bespoke piece of silver jewellery that for the first time, although it is made with the same PMC sheeting, doesn't use one of our origami designs. It has been a steep learning curve for me and I'll post some photos up as soon as it's finished!