Tale of Two Studios

So, imagine that you have your studio pretty much set up the way you like it and then you decide to enter the lifestyle known as snowbirding and you'll actually be living in two different places quite far away from each other, splitting the year. You'd find yourself pretty much having to double up on all of your supplies and equipment wouldn't you?

I can't feature spending half the year away from my "stuff" that I need to create. When we bought our house in Arizona I made sure that I had a space that I could set up another lampworking studio. Transporting a kiln back and forth wasn't an option and I didn't really want to trouble myself with shipping it either. That was one of the items I needed to double up on.

Because we were driving down the first year I was able to split most of my supplies in half and stock my studio up to at least have a good stash to begin with. My digital controller is a bit to spendy to double upon but luckily it's light enough to transport back and forth in my luggage. I sometimes wonder if the TSA folks are scratching their heads when they see a box with a digital readout going through. No problems yet! My presses are quite heavy and also not something I want to reinvest in so I'm finding that a flat rate box to ship them is most worthwhile. Some tools aren't so bulky so I'm bringing them back and forth as well.

A few things I'm going to have to live without such as my sewing machine which I'll dedicate to my northern projects. maybe I'll find a good deal on one this winter now that I'm back in sewing mode after many years of letting the machine gather dust.

I'm looking forward to revisiting some of my collections, supplies and ephemera that I left behind last April. It will be all new inspiration...again. My piles of rusty things are calling me as is the sunshine and warmth of my patio.