How i started and what my working places looks like

               Welcome to my world full of colors, napkins, brushes and a lot of ideas. I started decoupage in February of 2013, and since then i moved to couple of different places , i even changed my country , but i kept doing what i liked to do. I live in New York now and i have my own workshop to paint and create, but in the beginning i was using my mother's kitchen table for couple of hours, and after i had to put all my stuff back in boxes. It's not easy to do that, because sometimes i had to let the products to dry very good before i put the next layer.

                 My first order of material for decoupage was a primer, couple of acrylic colors, two brushes, couple of rice papers , few unfinished wooden products and varnish.

                     As soon i start working i wanted more , more colors, bigger size material ,and i discovered the crackle paint, liner, patina of aging and more napkins. 

                 The easiest way to organize my stuff was to put them all in boxes, and the napkins in folders . This way i could keep them in order, because when i was  painting, my working table was full of containers of paint, brushes and napkins 

                     It was such a pleasure to receive the box full of "goodies", because it was much easier to order online . This techniques (decoupage) wasn't too popular in my part of the country and you couldn't find stores like here (Michael's, AC Moore ) to buy what you need. 

                  

                     When i moved to New York i couldn't find the same products i used in Romania , so i had to start from the beginning , to try different products and finally to choose the ones worked for me . The only thing i brought with me was my napkin collection, because honestly they look even better than the ones you find in here .

                    When I'm working i do 3-4 projects at the same time because it takes time for the layers of paint to dry, probably that is why it looks like a mess on my working table. Most of the time i know from the beginning how i want the product to look like , sometimes i change the design while I'm working , but at the end i always find the best model for each project .

                     I spent a lot of hours working on my projects but i never get tired of doing this.

                      Every new project is a challenge , i walk in the craft store like I'm in a candy store, pick up my "candies", and walk home happy and excited with my stuff.  

                           

                     I don;t care if i get dirty from the paint, or from the dust during polishing, i will do all this with pleasure because i love every part of this process.  

                     This is my curent place and it's a pleasure to work here for hours . I have a window to my right and some shelves above me where i can dry my stuff  , and the most important thing is that i don't have to move them anywhere. Now i have all the colors and napkins organized in the boxes on a self standing shelf and now everything feels much easier.

                      I strongly recommend to you to never give up on your dreams and if you have some hobby, find a place and do it, nothing is impossible and one day you'll say " thank God i didn't give up ". I wish you all to do what you like to do , it is a challenge to do what you like and everybody has something special, you only have to discover what makes you be special. Good luck ! 

Thank you for visiting Simonel Handmade Gifts !