Moving into the new space.

It has been a while since the last update. It’s been an exciting couple of months! Since the last post, I had moved out of a very leaky Mellwood Art Center and into the new space. I still have the “Move out of Mellwood” going on with GoFundMe to help offset the costs. Thank you for those who have donated. I appreciate your generosity.

Did I mention the new place does not leak?! So far, it’s been a very rainy November and December. Even with the cold and driving rain we have had in the past couple of weeks, everything has remained dry.

I am very comfortable in this 1300 square ft space. I can see myself here for many more years to come. This space has a lot of potential. Including access to a 220v power source.

As you can see, there was a LOT of things in the space I had occupied. It may have been 500 square feet, but it was a very efficient 500 square feet.

I still need to get things organized to the way I want it. This will still take some time.

Piles of shelves

My most notable reason for moving is the drying racks:

To the left, there are stacks of shelves. I picked these up on Facebook Marketplace for a good deal from a closing automotive store. In the old place, my bottleneck was my drying racks, or specifically, the space I had to dry soaps.

Normally (and ideally), it takes about 8 weeks for soaps to cure. I would have to make 5 batches of soap, cut them up and, wait four weeks. After that four weeks, I could make another 5 batches, cut them up and wait another four weeks.

After that, my drying racks were completely full with ten batches in the old space. If I needed to make another batch, I would have to move something before I could work with anything, which was usually wrap and box soap, or remove it off of the shelf.

Not any more! Each shelf holds two batches of 60 bars each. I can put 10 shelves on one side of the rack. Each rack has two sides, and I can put two racks in a row (with the room I have). With each row, I can hold 40 batches of 60 bars each… that’s a LOT of soap (2400 bars) without the wait. Yes, I am looking at how I can expand!

Shipping Center After

My “shipping department” took a new direction. I had a small table that was used to store supplies. Now I am re-using a shelf and the table to have a complete shipping center. I plan on printing labels, taping boxes, wrapping, stuffing and loading packages from this area. All in the works, and very easy to navigate around.

USPS is my friend and quite literally, if it fits, it ships.

Space to Park

There is also space to park my trailer. No more loading or unloading in a rainy, cold or inhospitable environment.

I can come home late from an event, back in the trailer and come home during the evening and call it a good event. We get our driveway back!

I have also closed down a storage unit and in the process of moving camping supplies into my garage, and workshop supplies into the workshop.

By the way, I am BACK IN FULL PRODUCTION and looking forward to a very busy 2019!

More later! Please donate to the “Move out of Mellwood” fundraiser!

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