It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas!

We've all been busy down at the Sorting Office this week, getting everything ready for the Winter Open Studios - which is tomorrow - eeek! Where on earth has the week gone?!

The building of Santa's Grotto

We now have Santa's Grotto in the Production House where I teach my group workshops, fairy lights hanging from the rafters, snowflakes decorating the walls and windows and beautiful artwork and crafts on display.

A very messy studio after a couple of days teaching - I haven't even got any jewellery on the walls since taking it down for the Christmas Gifts Bazaar last Friday!

 I was teaching Wednesday and Thursday so I had to wait until today to get my studio ready. It was rather messy to start with, and halfway through it looked worse than when I started but I got there in the end! You can find more photos, including some of my studio neighbours work, on my Facebook page.

Jewellery back on display on the walls, more jewellery on display where my computer, photography set-up and polishing set-up usually are. It was a long day but  it was worth it!

I'd love to show you round if you can make it, and you can find all the details here. But whether you can make it or not I have an early Christmas present for you....

If you can make it tomorrow just print out the voucher above or show it to me on your phone and you will get 15% off when you spend £45 or more. If you can't make it, simply enter "openstudios" at check out on my website and until the end of November you will get the same deal!

Ready to go!

It's been a busy few days, but my new studio is ready for my first student tomorrow morning! I'm actually teaching in there Thursday, Saturday and Sunday as well but Julie is my first student tomorrow. We've got stone setting planned!

A quick reminder of what the studio looked like at the start and end of Saturday...

And this is how I left it on Sunday...

And this is what it looks like now!

Tables are up, the soldering station is set up in the corner, the tools are set up on my desk which is also where students will work. I've gone back to using clamp-on bench pegs as the desk is a bit more flexible then. I can just have one out when it's just me and move things about a bit for visitors. The bookcase (on the wall opposite the window) hasn't changed much yet, the photo studio isn't set up yet and the drawers under the desks aren't how I want them yet, but that will come. And so will more shelves on the walls, and finishing touches like a notice board and pictures. I'll get there!

All Change!

There is a very good reason why things have been so quiet round here lately. I've been hoping for, planning for, dreaming of some big changes, and as I couldn't tell you about them until they became a reality I found it impossible to blog about anything - I couldn't focus on anything else! But now they have become a reality....ready? It's definitely all change here!

Firstly, I've changed the name of my business to Joanne Tinley Jewellery. Visitors to my website over the last week will have seen the new logo above, and I have a new web address (www.joannetinleyjewellery.com) and a new email address (admin@joannetinleyjewellery.com), although the old daisychain web and email address will still forward you on to the right places. I've been thinking of making the change for months - well, a couple of years to be honest - but the time never felt right until now, and I am so pleased that I've done it. Daisychain no longer gave the right image for my designs, and as galleries and magazines use my name and not Daisychain it makes far more sense. I've still got a few jobs to do such as changing the Facebook page, and I'm in the process of moving over to a new Joanne Tinley Jewellery blog, and they will be done over the next couple of weeks because this is not the only change. Ready for the next one?

I'VE GOT A NEW STUDIO!!!!

Did everyone catch that? I tell you, if I wasn't typing at this moment I would be doing a happy dance round the room! I applied for a space at a new set of studios at the beginning of May, and it has been so hard not telling the whole world about it. My new studio (I love typing that!) is one of 16 spaces in Eastleigh, the small town just outside Southampton. It's called the Sorting Office as it's in the old Royal Mail sorting office right in the centre of town. It's in the perfect location for my students too - even easier to get to from the motorway than before, and 5 minutes walk from Eastleigh train station which is a mainline from London. And Southampton airport, which I do pick students up from every now and then, is actually in Eastleigh, not Southampton! The building had been empty for the last five years but now it is a beautiful, bright, light and colourful creative space full of wonderfully creative people who I will introduce you to over the next few months. I had to go through an application and interview process as the studio comes with EU funding designed to help the residents develop their businesses - you can read more about the Sorting Office here. We've got a Business Manager to basically mentor us which is fantastic as, let's face it, we creative types aren't always the best at being business like!

Most of the studio spaces are fairly open-plan but mine is just through that door way - and has it's own lockable door. Not that keen on the colour of the woodwork, but you can't have everything!

I signed the lease agreement on Thursday, spent that evening measuring up and sticking masking tape to the floor as that was the only way that I could get a real idea of how best to use the space, and started moving things over there today. Brenda and Paul, two of my regular students, were absolutely wonderful today at helping me move so many boxes and drawers over there - thank you again both of you! It's a slightly smaller space than my shed - 8' by 9' rather than 8' by 12', but it's got a proper high ceiling and strong walls rather than wooden shed walls which means that I can make much better use of the space, and it's still big enough for teaching. The residents have also got access to the Production Space, a massive room that will be perfect for teaching my small group workshops.

My studio before and after we started moving things in today! Tomorrow's job is building the bookcase and desks and getting unpacked.

So, that's what I've been up to while I've been MIA from blogging  - well, that as well as the usual teaching and orders and magazine projects. Watch this space for photos of my empty room with masking tape on the floor being transformed into a wonderful creative space!