It isn't often that you get to experience an artist's personal space like this...let alone walk on his "artwork." These are our feet here on the floor of the barn where Jackson Pollock painted. He put his canvases on the floor and walked around them, applying the various types of paints from all four sides. The friendly tour guide told us that Pollock considered the drips on the floor as part of the art work, simply extending the canvas. It is amazing you're actually allowed to walk on it (with these lovely foam slippers). You also get to walk inside the house where he and Lee Krasner lived. However I found this studio the most exciting part of the place and quite an emotional experience. Even my kids were impressed. Jackson Pollock is a great artist to introduce your kids to, as his art, or at least the art he produced in this barn from 1946 on, is so recognizable and the technique clearly appeals to children (of all ages). I've read this book to my boys years ago, and every visit to the MoMA or many other contemporary art museums, they're thrilled when they "find" one of his paintings. So this was the perfect family outing. If you live anywhere close, I highly recommend it. The house is still open until the end of October by appointment (if you can't make it this summer, or live too far away, do check out their website, which is great. It also shows a video that gives you a 360 view of the place). Enjoy!

When I first started working here, I was most blown away by our bin of cupcake wrappers. There is such a variety, we actually had to break them down into several bins of cupcake liners.

That bin on the bottom is the panibois and berry basket bin, which seems pretty closely related to cupcake liners.

Quite a collection, huh?

In case you think it's a little excessive, be aware, they make perfect disposable containers for crafting. Sometimes we use our more basic cupcake liners for paint or glitter.

The printing table is made out of two doors that Steffi covered with foam and stretched canvas.

We printed my artwork on an ink-jet transparency. We placed it under the screen and exposed it in the darkroom. (There's a big vacuum table that holds everything in place while it's exposed to a strong light on a timer.)

Next, I washed out the screen at the wash-out sink. The emulsion washes out wherever the light was blocked– it was neat to see my artwork slowly appear on the screen.

All different size squeegees...

I measured and mixed inks to make the colors I wanted.

I placed the screen onto the fabric and pulled the ink across with a squeegee. This pushes the ink through the screen onto the fabric.

There's something really gratifying about printing your own artwork. The fact that you can print multiples so easily makes the possibilities seem endless. The studio is amazing! I was so lucky to have spent the day there. Now that I know the basics, maybe next time Steffi will show me how to print pattern repeats. They are actually looking for a couple of studio-mates or a company to share the studio. If you know anyone who is looking for a space in Brooklyn have them contact Steffi.

Before: Yellow tape aided in our move, but makes for unsightly labels.

We numbered each closet and vertical shelving unit, and chose a color for all five shelf heights. We labeled each bin with its contents and location, and recorded all 500 bins, their size, and location in a spread sheet for easy label making and searching. So far it seems to be working.

After: This bin belongs in shelving unit twelve, on the yellow shelf.

Next, we have to finish the fabric closets...

I've carved out a small space in my home for working, and I try my best to keep unneeded supplies tucked away in spare closet and dresser space. Admittedly, I still haven't found a good hiding place for my drill press or plywood.

I showed Martha how to make these flowers last February, but it looked a lot tidier on TV. At home, I reuse my foam and cardboard for as long as possible.

IMG_1866.jpg

This is where I sew at home in Brooklyn. I don't have a great view of the city but I love my sewing machines. I have a a Juki DDL-5550-6, a single needle industrial machine, it was rebuilt and it's seen better days but it was a steal. I also have  a Juki home serger that really needs to be serviced. The industrial machine is great because it goes incredibly fast, it took me almost  a year to get used to the speed! It will also sew through anything, I repaired some shoes on it once. It's great for most of my sewing projects but I do miss the precision of the Pfaff we use in the office with automatic backstitching and thread cutting. Another downside of an industrial machine is that it's attatched to a table and it weighs over 100 pounds! It's not going anywhere...

Ok, so I hear it a lot. "Who is the obsessive person who put these up?"

And I have to admit I did it. Sure, it seems above and beyond being organized, but with so many people in and out of our supply storage at TV, it helps reduce the constant question of "where is...?". When setting up the TV Crafts workroom, I really thought about what setup and labeling would be most helpful, and best allow people to be independent on their quest. Supermarket aisles and aisle markers seemed like the obvious way to go.

Within these aisles are the famous p-touch-labeled bins. When I started freelancing for MSLO, I was beside myself to see bins with labels telling me what was in them. Don’t get me wrong, I love mystery bins and boxes as well (and discovering what lies within) but when trying to make a craft, it's just awesome to grab that bin labeled with your need.

I actually bought my p-touch before I even started working at Martha, so the organizing bug has been with me for a long time -- it's not just a work thing. At home, a particular organizational frustration of mine was my unusually-sized Everyday Food magazines, which have been stored in growing stacks under a counter, where I never used them. I realized I wasn't the only one when Anduin, our art director at TV, designed this simple box to keep her EDF's organized and shared it with our viewers.

It took me a few months to finally make mine; of course I had to make a shelf/box for the cookbooks first to sit on top of the frig. But now the magazine holders sit on the shelf, and we can finally get to them. My boyfriend and I now have a game of "what's for dinner" in the morning -- we grab an issue and go from there.

Living in a shared 750 sq.ft. one bedroom apartment, the idea of a separate craft room is a dream I have yet to reach. All of my work gets done on our dining table and gets swapped out for meal times. I keep most of my supplies in a glass door cabinet from ikea. It's the perfect hiding place. Thanks to boxes, drawers & bins from Muji & Ikea, I manage to keep it pretty organized.

Working on some new leather link jewelry (after breakfast had been cleared) with my morning coffee.

It's pretty crammed full - you may even notice some relics from Martha Stewart stories past. Recognize anything? Hint. Hint. And hint.

CLOSET BEFORE

I recently moved into a new apartment and decided to turn one of the closets into a desk. I bought the surface, shelf and cabinet below from Ikea. I had to cut the surface and shelf to fit and then mounted 3 wood slats to the wall to support the desk surface.

I was excited to turn both doors and the back wall into bulletin boards. I ordered Forbo colored cork and mounted it with contact cement (low VOC) to masonite sheets. Contact cement is easy to use - the bond is made by applying the cement to both surfaces being adhered. It needs to dry for about thirty minutes and then the surfaces can be attached. The cork is ¼” thick and can be cut with a box cutter however, it still needs the rigidity of the masonite to hang properly. I bought the masonite sheets at Home Depot and had them cut to size there. The whole project including the 3 bulletin boards, surface, shelf and cabinet underneath was around $425.00.

CLOSET AFTER

Here are two more desk projects from Living that I have always liked.

Bookcase Armoire

Clever Office

1_before.jpg

◄ Back

Next ►

Picture 1 of 5

Before

It's great to get a fresh start in the new Craft room. We decided to put the sewing station in the corner. The wall of windows provides a great view of the city and a lot of light, perfect for sewing. We got a large table for the new Pfaff creative 2.0, it looks amazing. I have an old industrial machine at home that I love but I'm looking forward to figuring out all of the features on this computerized machine. We used a p-touch to label the pedal and the cords so they don't get confused with the other machines we have. We set up the ironing board near by and we set up a smaller ironing table in front of the windows for smaller projects. I'm excited to start sewing in the new space.