In the studio with Nina Gibson Designs

We have some fantastic photos this week from Nina Gibson Designs. Be sure to check out Nina's etsy shop for more of her jewelry. Below are two of my favorites from her shop, the tally mark earrings and the white garden necklace.

1.) tell us about your studio. how long have you been there? where is it? (in your home, arts center, store, etc.. and city) My studio is in my home in Anaheim, California. The house is a vintage craftsman bungalow, and I've carved a small workspace out of my large kitchen. I do all my work at a small desk/bench I've set up there. Because of limited space, all of my tools and equiptment needs to be compact and able to be put away when not in use. This is sometimes a challenge and I've been known to spread out to the breakfast table and the dining room table is my photography area. I have a small storage space in my laundry room.


2.) what is your favorite tool you have? why?It's very hard to chose! I love my rolling mill which allows me to texture and flatten and recycle scrap. I also love my decorative metal stamps, which I've made or bought over the years- they are fun to work with to texture and mark metal. I also love my little tumbler, which helps to smooth, harden, and finish some of my pieces.

3.) what do you listen to or do while working? music, news, or nothing- i'm conentrating!I I dodge interruptions from my kids (two wild boys) and try to listen to either itunes on my computer or XM radio, and lately, I'm listening to music from our recent EtsyMetal CD swap. Sometimes it's just the hum of the tumbler, which is a bit hypnotic.

4.) what time of day is your favorite to work? I am most productive in the morning to early afternoon. After about 3 pm I need a nap or a coffee to keep me going.

5.) do you have an inspiration bulletin board or something else that you keeps you inspired? do you have a picture of it? I have a small library of jewelry design books and a series of sketch books that I look to for inspiration and sometimes tape pictures to. Sometimes an old idea that didn't work then can be a great source now. My clients are also a great source of inspiration. I love it when the come to me with ideas.

6.) can we get a little sneak peek of what you're working on right now? Sure! I'm working on a couple of things today. A custom variation of my See A Penny Necklace, and a pendant and earrings set with domed disks that have been chased into little baseballs. "Go Angels" is stamped on the back of the pendant.

Fantastic! Thank you Nina! I really love seeing other people's sketchbooks and benches. See Nina's flickr for more pictures of her work , too!