A Day In The Life Of A Maker

The main upside of working for myself, apart from not having a line manager, wearing pjs at my desk and being at home for deliveries, is that I can set my own schedule. Like anybody I have amazingly productive days when I can do no wrong, and other days where everything I touch turns to crap, and on those days it’s often better to just walk away and try again tomorrow. To navigate these ups and downs I find setting myself achievable tasks at the start of every month and then using a daily to-do list gives me overall structure with enough leeway to deal with ‘domestics’. So what does a typical workday look like for me?

A Typical Day…morning

9.45am I take a cuppa into the studio (front bedroom for maximum street viewing) and read through my to-do list before I check my emails. I respond to a request for more work from one of my stockists, promising to ship a parcel this week, then I pack up a couple of new website orders. I see that my gift box supplier is having a flash sale, so I add that to today’s list.

10.45am I walk to the Post Office which thankfully is only 5 minutes away at my local shopping area. My little dog, Otis, begs to come, but I don’t like tying him up outside shops, so I promise to return soon (he understands every word I say!). While I’m out I pop into the supermarket for some things for dinner and withdraw some cash for my upcoming market.

11.15am I’m back at home and put my shopping away, then head out with Otis for a walk around the neighbourhood. He’s getting old so it’s a ponderous journey, with lots of little stops for sniffing to happen. It’s a pleasant walk and the leaves are already falling.

11.50am I’m back in the studio with a fresh cuppa and a biscuit or two. The dog settles down in his bed in the corner. I spend 10 minutes on Instagram and post a photo of my new autumn mushroom necklace to my grid.

Photography session

I keep my product photos simple and focus on the detail.

12-1pm I turn on a true crime podcast (Small Town Murder) and move to my workbench in the window. I glue ear posts onto a batch of studs, then add chain to some necklaces. I cut the chain from a spool and add the clasps myself. I remember the stock request email and discover that I’m out of the circle tops (walnut wood circles with ear posts) I need to make some Dancer earrings. While my podcast is nearing its conclusion I lay out the wood circles on a piece of cardboard and glue on the ear posts. With that done, I head downstairs for some lunch, followed by the dog.

Glueing up

I attach ear posts to the backs of studs using epoxy resin glue.

afternoon…

1.45pm With lunch eaten and a load of washing started, I’m now setting up my foldable light-box on my workbench to snap some photographs of my finished necklaces from this morning and some new earrings I’ve been working on. I stage them simply, draped over a gift box and on some printed papers from a wallpaper sample book. That done, I edit them in my phone and write ‘list new pieces’ on my to-do list for today. Then I pour a glass of iced tea and take the washing out of the machine.

2.30pm I pull out some paints to start a batch of The Lovers earrings while I listen to another podcast, this time Stuff You Should Know. I use standard acrylics to paint the birch plywood bases for 10 pairs of earrings. Then I switch to paint pens to colour in the details on the sun and moon faces. Tomorrow morning I will glue all the components together.

3.30pm The dog begs for his dinner (as he’s old I feed him fairly early these days) so I oblige. I head back upstairs to spend half an hour writing in my studio journal and checking my emails, before I head downstairs to start dinner prep.

Painting session

These are the paint pens I use to colour in the details on my etched pieces. These are highly pigmented and the felt-tip nibs help with tiny areas.

evening…

7.30 - 8.30pm After dinner and a chat with Mr Cluttery over an episode of Superstore on Netflix I order some gift boxes from my supplier, happy that I’ve saved 15% in their flash sale. They have new colours in stock, so I take a punt on some pink matchbox style boxes that fit my brand colours. This takes about 20 minutes and then I spend around 40 minutes creating new product listings on my website. I use the photos I took this afternoon and write content for 2 new products. I tick those tasks off my to-do list and shut down the studio for the day.

Product listing

One of the new products I added to my website, using my fingers for scale.

This is a fairly typical mid-week day, although I don’t always work in the evenings. There are some days when I’ll be delivering items to a stockist or buying materials so I won’t be in the studio at all and certainly won’t manage to make anything. Around 20 weekends a year I'll spend either one or both days selling at arts markets, which usually means I give myself the following Monday off to relax!