Inside the Studio with Rebecca of Songbead and The Curious Bead Shop

Welcome to Inside the Studio!

Each week one of our contributors gives you a sneak peek into their studio, creative process or inspirations. We ask a related question of our readers and hope you'll leave comments! As an incentive we offer a free prize each week to bribe you to use that keyboard. The following week we choose a random winner.

Congratulations Steph L.! You have won a set of four Facet Effects in whichever ombre colour palette you like from  Erin Prais-Hintz of Tesori Trovati.
Please send Erin an email with your information.

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Today we visit the studio of Rebecca Anderson of Songbead and The Curious Bead Shop.

This is my first Inside the Studio post in a good while! A lot has changed since my last post. You see me here every Monday now, bringing my 'Amuse Your Muse' posts to you, sharing your and my beady finds in different themes each month. So you may have some idea of what's been going on in my life recently....but today I'll fill you in a little more.

Back in September, my partner and I - and our 3 house bunnies! - moved over from Manchester in England to Belfast in Northern Ireland due to my partner's work. Neither of us had visited N Ireland for more than a single day before, and that was back in the '90s. So we really were diving in head first, with no real idea of where we would land! It was exciting and scary as you can well imagine. I also had craft fairs booked up over on the mainland (Britain) up until Christmas. So there would potentially be a lot of travelling backwards and forwards through 2013 - both plane and ferry. And car at either end! 

Although there have been more than a few hiccups along the way, Belfast is proving to be a fun place to be, albeit for only a short length of time (again, partner's work). I was able to give up my school teaching that I had been doing for the past 8 years (and very gladly so, the time had come to end that particular chapter in my life, much as I got a lot out of it at the time) and work solely from home. 

Ok, I admit it....I'm not the tidiest of souls....! Although it's not looking too bad from this angle....

We were lucky that renting costs are not as high as elsewhere in the UK and we live in a beautiful big house and I have my own dedicated studio to work from home in. Of course, that's not without it's challenges. We didn't know a soul here when we moved over, and that was hard....plus having a house empty of furniture for the first few weeks (months really!) made things extra challenging.

My packing station. No Polar Vortex here, just drizzle torrential rain and yuckiness! Bring on the Spring.

However, 2014 is here and I can keep my feet here in Ireland for the next few months at least. That is  GOOD feeling. I can get used to the rhythm of working by myself, find out what works for me and what doesn't. For example, even though I would consider myself very much an introvert, I find that being alone in all day every day during the week quite lonely. So getting out and about and working in local cafes a few times a week has proved a god-send, even if it does mean I have to get out of my pyjamas! Free Wi-fi is an excellent thing and very much worth the price of a cup of tea. 

My very fancy photography set up in my home studio!

I had all sorts of plans for New.Things. in 2014.....which so far have not come to much! I was totally burned out after 6 weeks including 5 plane trips, 3 ferry trips and goodness knows how many hours in the car...and I think I actually need some mental head-clearing space before I move onto some of the many ideas I have cluttering up my head and studio space. Metal-smithing, polymer clay-ing and torch-fire enamelling are just some of the things I have bought most of the equipment for and have plans to dive into over the next few months. But head space first. Allow myself to breathe. Not put too much pressure on myself to come up with designs that are New! Original! Ground-breaking! moving on in great leaps and bounds. Slow and steady. It is only January, after all ;-) 

Because of this pressure I was putting on myself since 2014 began, I found myself in a bit of a creative rut until about a week ago. I stopped trying to think new and different, just laid some beads out, and started creating. I am sure some of those pieces will get cut up and go back into the stash, but it allowed me to get going again, and get into my groove. It felt good! Long may that continue. I still have those ideas percolating but I've got to allow myself less-pressured play too. 

One of my new creations - Feathering the Nest. Sweet, simple and hopefully very wearable. Not everything has to be ground-breaking...lovely can be 'enough'! Art beads from Humblebeads and Blueberri Beads. 

What's the best way to get your creative mojo flowing again? Why, with new beads of course! Here are some of the lovely goodies I've treated myself to - a destash from mixed-media artist Barbara Bechtel of Second Surf.

Yum! Are you jealous?!

These came straight out of the box and became jewellery straight away. See what they grew up to be!

Pacific Depths

As yet nameless....what do you think?

Peacock Pearl

Here are some totally gorgeous polymer art beads I bought from Leah Curtis of Beady Eyed Bunny, an American artist now based in the UK.

Look at these beautiful rosebuds! They were a special gift to me for being Leah's 300th sale. Thank you Leah! I love them. 

These beads haven't become anything quite yet, but they will. Cute wee beasties with sweet hearts adorning them. Absolutely gorgeous, and very much my folky, whimsical aesthetic. Can't wait to create with them!

One of the new designs I have come up with this year for The Curious Bead Shop are my wirework Heart Headpins. 

Heart Headpins in antiqued copper

Just in time for Valentine's Day! It's less of a big event over here in the UK (at least that's my impression) but we still see a lot of hearts and flowers about the place - and who doesn't love hearts and flowers? They have proved super-popular which is always a lovely feeling, and I'm now offering them in two different metals and finishes. 

How about you? What's new for 2014? What's staying the same? Leave a comment to be in with the chance to win some of my heart headpins in the metal and finish of your choice - either 6 sterling pins or 10 copper, antiqued or shiny. Or a mix of both. 

Just comment below, telling me about your plans for 2014, to be entered.

Rebecca is a Scottish jewellery designer, currently living in Belfast, Northern Ireland. You can read more about her and her work at her blog, songbeads.blogspot.com and see more of her jewellery at songbead.etsy.com. She also has a supplies shop at thecuriousbeadshop.etsy.com.

Studio Saturday with Erin Siegel

Welcome to Studio Saturday! Each week one of our contributors gives you a sneak peek into their studio, creative process or inspirations. We ask a related question of our readers and hope you'll leave comments! As an incentive we offer a free prize each week to bribe you to use that keyboard.
The following week we choose a random winner.

This week's winner is Pam of Klassy Joolz! Congratulations, Pam! You have won your choice of a mushroom pendant or a pair of yellow tulip charms from Erin Prais-Hintz of Tesori Trovati Jewelry!
  Send Erin PH an email with your address and she will get your prize out to you soon!

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This week we visit the studio of

Erin Siegel of Erin Siegel Jewelry

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 Here is my current studio space! 

I realized I've never ever shared my actual jewelry studio here on Studio Saturday! Mainly, that's because it is usually in such a disastrous state that I wouldn't wish to show anyone on a good day. Recently, I received a much needed reprieve when the grandparents took my 2 1/2 year old daughter, Nora off my hands for a weekend. What did I do with my rare freedom from motherly duties? I cleaned out my whole studio from top to bottom. Obviously, you can clearly see where my priorities lie. As soon as I get a moment to myself, I go straight to fixing up my studio! Oh, and deciding to take on that task was not that fun, mind you. There were huge boxes upon boxes of stuff piled up under the desk, items and paperwork that I had been avoiding dealing with for over a year and a mish-mash of beads and findings in every corner that had been thrown every which way. In my defense, I did have some help with the beads going everywhere part. There's a 2 1/2 year old cutie pie around here that loves to play with Mama's beads. ;) Even with all that work, there is plenty more I would love to do with my space, but at least it is clean, the top of the desk is clear and I can work in there once again. It was all well worth the effort. So, let me take you on a mini tour!

In the top picture above, you see my main work surface where I create my pieces. Here is where I keep some of my finished jewelry and favorite displays, a few bead storage units, my essential jewelry-making tools and some bead bowls and baskets. I love the colorful art piece on my wall. It makes me happy to look at it. I would love to hang more art on the walls soon!

My materials wall.

This wall is directly behind the desk and chair. The pegboard expands across almost the entire length of the wall. Over the years of making jewelry, I've learned I work most efficiently when I have my supplies out where I can see them all the time and can get to them quickly and easily. 

My pegboard wall holds materials and tools I use on a regular basis: metal gauge wire and beading wires, rulers and measuring tapes, scissors, hammer, metal and leather punches, bead stops and misc. tools, silk knotting cords, leather cords, suede lace, hemp, cotton and Irish waxed linen cord, silk cords, dupioni ribbon, sari ribbon and fibers, glass beads, gemstones and wood beads. 

I've had a few people ask me where I have acquired some of the items I have in my studio space. In case you are wondering, too, I have provided the following handy list of resources! I hope you enjoy the links and information. If you'd like to know about something that is not on this list, just ask me in the comments!

Clear-front Multi-Drawer storage unit: The Container Store
Small Ceramic and Metal bowls: Sur La Table
Handcrafted Driftwood Necklace and Bracelet Displays: Miss Fickle Media on Etsy
Woven Silk Easel Necklace stands: Fire Mountain Gems
Hemp Pedestal Necklace stands: Michaels Arts & Crafts Stores
Natural Linen Earring displays: Rio Grande   

White Pegboard, pegs, hooks and accessories: Amazon.com
Clear Plastic boxes for bead storage on pegboard: Fire Mountain Gems
 
Studios and organization is such an interesting topic for jewelry makers because anyone who works with beads knows the dilemma of bead storage and setting up a creative space that works. It is the bane of our existence! Isn't it? There seems to be no easy answer or solution for most of us. Ideally, I'd love to have absolutely every bead and finding visible at a glance. Just like when you walk into a bead shop, everything is out where you can see it!  

How about you?
How do you like to organize your work space? 
Do you have any tips or tricks you are willing to share? 
Know of any resources for great bead storage ideas?
Help us get organized! Please share in the comments! I'd love to hear your thoughts on studios and organization.

20-piece storage container from Ornamentea.com

Leave a comment answering any of the above questions and you will be entered for a chance to win this 20-piece, aluminum storage container from Ornamentea.com to organize your beads or findings!

Thanks for joining me today. Happy creating and organizing!

Erin Siegel is a jewelry designer, beading instructor and co-author of the jewelry book, Bohemian-Inspired Jewelry: 50 Designs Using Leather, Ribbon and Cords. To find out more, visit her blog: Erin Siegel Jewelry.

Studio Saturday: Humblebeads

Welcome to Studio Saturday! Each week one of our contributors gives you a sneak peek into their studio, creative process or inspirations. We ask a related question of our readers and hope you'll leave comments! As an incentive we offer a free prize each week to bribe you to use that keyboard. The following week we choose a random winner.

Congrats to Shannon N who is the winner of copy The Art of Resin Clay compliments of Lori Anderson. Please email Lori with your mailing address so she can send your book out to you!

 Welcome to the Humblebeads' Studio today with Heather Powers.

I should definitely have some "Under Construction: Excuse the Mess" signs up today.  I have been slowly moving into my new studio space.  My largest space yet.  It doesn't look like it from the photos, but it is 22 x 14 square feet of space dedicated to creating.  I love that.

Although it's a large space, there are some drawbacks.  Like it's dungeon like appeal that I'm combating.  It's an unfinished family room on the lower level, there is natural light via a sliding glass door. But it still feels like a basement to me.  And then there is the cold.  Oh Michigan, you will toughen me up before the winter is over!

I covered the utilitarian bulbs with with some lovely paper lanterns and added in a scrap fabric banner in some festive colors.  I need to rethink the gray curtain - I may go for some flowy white ones instead. The walls are a warm earthy green that work well with my nice wood tables.  (A total steal at a used a furniture shop.)  Let's take a moment to celebrate no more folding tables in the studio - yeah! 

Getting the studio back to normal has been such a slow going process. I've been working on fixing it up between being sick for the last two weeks.  So not fun. I feel like frozen sludge moving down a river.  As you can see above, the clay table is up, so first things first!

We have some pegboard to paint, an inspiration board to cover in seagrass paper and some shelves to hang up still.  My sister has been repainting a large round table for me.  This is a space where I could teach small classes.  I have four work surfaces to use plus lots of shelving.  I need a comfy chair or loveseat for some daydreaming.  As my buddy Andrew says, "Little by little the bird builds her nest."

And then there is the unpacking.  And purging.  There are so many boxes of crafty stuff that I haven't seen since August and it just makes me wonder, if I could live that long without it do I really need it. 

I would like to opt for less stuff and more room for creativity.

And speaking of creativity, while I was gathering ideas for the studio I used Pinterest to collect my inspirations and thoughts.  You can see my color palette and some ideas that we will add into the space as times goes on.  Yes, Jess is even going to paint that pattern on one of my walls.  He has the template, now to get him to pick up the brush again.

For this week, I'm giving away the owl pendant above.  It's an awesome necklace with a stamped brass owl, a lampwork glass bead from Sea of Glass and a disk bead from me.  And look - it matches my studio!

All you have to do is leave a comment and answer this question: Tell me one thing you've created or done that was inspired by something you saw online. (Not copying, of course, just inspired.) Maybe it was a tutorial you tried or a color palette that inspired a necklace.  If you'd like some extra brownie points, write a blog post about it and share in the comments section too!

Studio Saturday with Lori Anderson

Welcome to Studio Saturday! Each week one of our contributors gives you a sneak peek into their studio, creative process or inspirations. We ask a related question of our readers and hope you'll leave comments! As an incentive we offer a free prize each week to bribe you to use that keyboard. The following week we choose a random winner.

This weeks winner is Carol of Dillman's Dallies! You have won a pair of  that awesome earring tree from Miss Fickle Media.  Please email Shannon with your address so she can ship that off to you.

And now we'll join Lori Anderson in her studio...

Today I'm going to give you a bit of a tour through my studio.  This might take a little bit, because I don't have ONE studio, but a lampwork studio, a work space, and an office.  All three handle distinctly different things, and I love them all for distinctly different reasons.

So grab a drink and a snack and settle in, why don't you?  

We'll start first with my work space -- the kitchen table.


(Click all the photos for a larger look).

I found a desk organizer from TJMaxx that is perfect for my tool caddy.  The drawer holds beading wire, files, and tools I use every day (I have a tool box, a large cookie jar, and a tray for the random tools that I use on occasion but still MUST have).  I use a self-healing cutting  mat and cover it with a Vellux beading pad (secured with clips) for my work surface.  I LOVE the blue mat because it has a ruler at the bottom.  Very handy.

To the left of the beading area is a wooden tray (a silverware tray from IKEA).  I keep a bunch of beading supplies in it that I need at hand for the day in this nifty little gadget.

Behind my chair is my bead cabinet, made by Collectors Cabinets.  LOVE this cabinet.  It holds a million beads so I'm not sure why there are a million and a half scattered all over my table, but... you know what it's like.

The top drawers hold a plastic tackle box easily with room at the front and sides for overage, and the bottom can hold either two tackle boxes or, as you can see by my system, a heck-ton of baggies.

I like working at my kitchen table for many reasons.  I can look outside through the double sliding doors (my lampwork studio is right in view), and since we have an open plan first floor, I can enjoy my family while I'm working on jewelry.  

Now on to the work horse of the Lori Anderson Designs operation -- the office.

Running a jewelry business is my full-time job.  I'm a single-person company, getting help only when my husband sets up and takes down my booth and tent at craft shows.  Most of the time, I'm sitting at this desk, writing blog articles, updating my web site, PhotoShopping pictures, writing invoices, entering receipts, organizing marketing plans, applying to shows, wrapping packages, etc. And etc.  And.... etc.

A quick tour.  On the left side : the pink metal lunch box holds pretty greeting cards as I like to send customers and colleagues snail mail from time to time.  Underneath, I store jewelry boxes (I'm running low, I see). A rack of file folders takes up the rest of the left side of the desk.  On the right side, on the printer, is my stack of marketing postcards and my Zentangle box.  Above the desk is my collection of Swarovski crystal snowflakes.

Next to the desk is my credenza filled with boring files and receipts, but it's topped with some interesting inspiration -- two very vintage typewriters.  I learned to type on a manual typewriter when I was eight and have been tested out on typing at a speed of 90-120 wpm. I started writing stories when I was six.  So when I look over at those typewriters, I get inspired.  I think, YES, even beyond making jewelry, there are other things I can do.

Next comes my photo staging area, which is relatively new since I put away my light tent and professional lamps.

I love this darned table.  Sometimes when I'm stumped or tired out or even sad, I can twirl around in my desk chair and just stare at this table. It's so full of STUFF!  

The shelf above holds a mix of modern and vintage -- a handmade doll by Vanessa Valencia, a pottery fish by a friend of mine in the craft show biz, a bottle collection, and an old camera.  On the table are old ledgers, fabric boxes, pieces of wood, another vintage typewriter (and next to it, a vintage tin toy typewriter), vases, bits and bobs, all things that I have bought, found, or been gifted that either will make a cool photo prop or just makes my studio feel pretty.  

Barely out of the picture in the bottom right, you can see my metal work table, where I can pound rivets and punch metal.  Cool table, inexpensively purchased at Harbor Freight (click here) for $28.  Expect to curse a little when putting it together, though, unless you were a bit more clever than either me or my husband!

I have a lot of beading books in my office bookcase, too. 

Now let's go outside to the lampwork studio!

The lampwork studio is very new (built last year) and I only torch a few months out of the year because I don't have enough hours in the day to keep up with making jewelry for the various shows and projects I have going on.  One day, that may change, but for now, it's where I run to when I need a zen moment.  There's nothing else you can think about when you're melting glass BUT the glass.  Start worrying about bills, the kids, or the number of cookies you ate before dinner, and you're liable to either burn yourself or your beads will rebel and look at you with reproachful eyes. ("Dear.  I know you can do better than THAT.")

Here's my studio being built.

I found an L-shaped desk (again, at IKEA) and I covered the top with ceramic tile to create a fire-proof surface.  Then, before the torch was even lit, the interior designer in me went to work.

There had to be a mural in one corner...

...and as you can see, the walls and part of the ceiling are painted in three different colors.  I added a chill-out space to relax and read up on how-to books and tutorials that I store in pretty boxes by the chair.  (What?  Doesn't every studio have a fake tree?).

My glass storage on my actual work bench is heavy-bottomed square glass vases from Pottery Barn.  For mass-glass storage, though, I needed something bigger, and one day, in an antique barn in Pennsylvania, I found it -- an old postal sorting bin made out of oak.  I BARELY got it to fit in the van, but after three men sweat and swore and shoved, we got it in with only a few splinters to show for it.  And it's perfect.

Those pink and purple curtains you see to the top right swing down and cover the whole shebang for dust protection, and also to cover the storage-of-stuff shelves that AREN'T pretty above the sorting bin.  That sorting bin?  It's five feet (at least) wide and four feet-ish tall.  Cooooool beans.

I hope you enjoyed your tour -- it was a long one, wasn't it?  But since my job is pretty much a 24/7 deal, I surround myself with pretty, interesting things no matter what room I happen to work in. I think it's important to find a way to make your space your own, whether it's a corner of the basement or a full-fledged studio space.  After all, the first thing a visitor to your realm will see is how it's decorated, and it should be a reflection of yourself.

Whether your studio is on your kitchen table or spread across your home, how have you made that space feel more creative?  Leave a comment for a chance to win this ceramic bird pendant by Spirited Earth. 

Now go out, create, and decorate!

Lori Anderson is a full-time jewelry designer residing in Maryland.  She writes the blog Pretty Things, and you can see her work at Lori Anderson Designs.