Lampwork Studio is ready to roll!

The lampworking studio is ready to rock and roll! 

• Ventilation installed - check
• torches installed and hooked up to gas and oxygen and tested - check
• 8 workstations - 2 more than before - check
• individual task lighting for each workstation - check
• noisy equipment installed in other room for more pleasant torching environment - check
• new, sturdier glass shelves installed - check

We are ready to go!

Tuesday - Tomorrow night - Carol will be hosting a Happy Hour Torching from 5 - 9 pm, and then the studio will officially re-open Wednesday, February 22. 

Please call ahead to reserve space!  For more information on rates and availability - please check out our website!

Oh, and the new Metal Smithing Studio is just about ready too - so stay tuned for details about that!

Lampwork Studio Progress

A number of folks have asked about the progress of the lampwork studio - especially after they have seen the store and how exciting that is!

It looks like it will be another week for the lampwork studio - here is a picture of how it looked at the beginning of last week. The vent hoods have been hung - and since then - the torches have been mounted on the tables and the new table covered in metal.

The "booster" - that blue box temporarily sitting on the end of the table in the picture - has been relocated into the next room so that - joy of joys! - we won't have to listen to it anymore!

It has been the ventilation that has been taking up most of time in this renovation - getting the hoods moved from the old location, getting holes cut in the roof (always a little traumatic) - and having the hoods ducted and hooked up. After that is finished - things should roll along quickly!

We'll be starting out with 8 torches - 2 more than we had before - and adding 4 more in the future. This will allow us to accommodate more people - especially for classes and guest instructors!

I know a lot of you are really looking forward to getting back to the torch and getting your next lampworking fix! Should be soon now!

We're open for business!

Well - as of 11 am we are!

Can't say that everything is completely in place - but we're good to go! Oh, there's some doors missing (don't wander into the janitor's room by mistake - we are NOT selling mops!) - and only about half of the cabinets are in place - and the phones aren't working (which means no debit transactions) - but we're here and we are moved!

Check out this awesome panorama of the showroom. (This is what the store looked like, Saturday eveing - by now - the ladder is put away and it looking even neater and better.)

BTW - this image is all stitched together automatically by Photoshop. I am completely blown away by this function. (Click on the image for a larger version!)

 As you can see - our lovely, custom wooden cabinets have come with us ...

 But have not necessarily all been reinstalled. In which case, we're making do with tables.

 

And with so much more space, we'll be able to lay things out with more room around them. 

 

Well - for the few weeks that it takes for us to fill the place up again. Actually - I'm pretty boggled at how full it looks already. Anybody want to bet how long before Rosemary is complaining that we are out of room?

The sign is installed out front, and we are back to business as, more or less, usual. Looking forward to having you drop on by!

19 Waterman Ave
Unit 2
Toronto, Ontario
M4B 1Y2
(that's Make 4 Beads, I'll Yank two.)

Oh, and in further driving around in the area - I've found if you come along O'Connor to the big home depot, turn just north of the Home Depot (on Curity Ave, before the Home Depot if you are coming from Eglinton - it's big - you'll spot it in time) - and then do right, left, and we are on the right, half a block up. It's a good way to go back too - as there is a light that makes it easy to turn back onto O'Connor.

Tip: Drop your hubby off at Home Depot - so he doesn't notice how long you are in the store.  ;-) Yes - I know, that is a horribly presumptuous remark - and plays into many stereotypes. Rest assured, the gentlemen who are shopping at beadFX are welcome to drop their wives at Home Depot. Both of them.

It's coming along!

More pictures to share! We reopen on Monday, and although things will be a little chaotic - we'd love to see you!

Pictures from the move!

I have a few pictures that were shared on facebook yesterday from the team at Waterman. I am truly amazed at how quickly things are coming together. The staff and helpers are doing a fabulous job!  We are beyond excited about the new space. It's HUGE!!!

Moving Day!

Well, I really shouldn't say moving day. Days more like it of course. However, today is the day the trucks arrive. As I work from home, I'm watching all of this from the outside, but I can well imagine the chaos of moving an entire very full store from one location to another. The staff are of course excited, and most likely quite stressed right around now. Marg is standing guard over the contractors to make sure everything is done (or gets done). She even managed to have them working past midnight on Monday!

Please keep in mind our phones will most likely be down (or no one available to answer them) over the next couple of days. We really appreciate your patience as we get settled in.