Setting up shop

Last weekend was spent almost entirely working on my studio. The paint colours look great and Nyron assembled a great big corner shelving unit that we got from Ikea. The wood is untreated softwood, so I had to spend some time sanding the splinters off the boards. I've decided to leave it unpated for now, since I like to look of the raw wood with the earthy green tones of the walls.

I got most of the larger items and things already in boxes or cases on the shelves, but I need some storage systems for all the loose items that got piled into the closet through all this. I'm trying to be as cost-effective as possible and since my business is about upcycling I thought it would be best to try and make my own storage containers. I've sent Nyron around his store in search of books on basketweaving and I'm going to try and make storage boxes by weaving rolled-up lengths of newspaper. I don't subscribe to any newspapers, since I never bother reading them, but every neighbourhood in Toronto has a local paper that gets delivered to every door, whether you subscribe to it or not. I'd been using them for my vermicomposter, but that's on hold while I make some necessary adjustments to the composter, so they'll do nicely. If anyone knows of any websites with good beginner instructions for basketweaving, please let me know.

Once I get my studio set up all I need to do is start producing product. I've found a website, Etsy.com, that provides online stores to people who make and sell hand-made products. Online stores provided by servers like Yahoo!, where you get a cookie-cutter webpage, are expensive and buying a .com means having to hire a web-developer, two options that I don't have the money for right now. Etsy is great because there is no cost to set up the store and no monthly fee, you just have to pay per item listed and purchased, which is excellent for someone just starting out.

Now all I need is a name. Nyron has suggested Dam That Beaver Designs and my dad has thought of Second Chance. If any of you can think of anything, let me know. I'll keep you updated as I work this out and you can be sure there will be a prominent link once it's up and running.

o( )__