Inside the Studio with Ema Kilroy

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 Susanm! 

You have won a pair of handwoven bead earrings handmade by Rebecca of Songbead and The Curious Bead Shop.

Please email Rebecca with your contact information and your color selection.

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Hello Art Bead Scene Friends. It seems like it's been quite some time since I've had a chance to visit with you. There have been some changes in my life that have been keeping me busy. I'll cut straight to the heart of it and tell you that I got a job! A job outside the studio. A job that pays weekly (yes I'm liking that!).

I am excited about getting out of the studio and back to work with other people. I had a challenging summer. You could hear the cricketts chirping in my workspace. My ideas dried up with the summer heat and I felt artistically tired. After a lot of thinking about my life and my direction I decided it was a good time for me to look for a job outside the studio. There are many folks that work hard and successfully create a niche for themselves in this art bead world we all love. Personally I find marketing my work to be daunting. Keeping up with trends and the ever changing desires of magazines and such is a chore for me. A chore that doesn't resonate with my style. I'm pretty laid back and prefer to take life slow. I have a style and I'm not one who chases after too many trends. I stop often to listen to the birds and to smell the roses. I don't care to rush about to meet deadlines for shows and magazines. I think some folks are cut out for this type of lifestyle. I don't think I'm one of them. I love to create but a marketing guru I am not.

 I've gone back to my accounting roots and taken a job as a bookkeeper for a large company that has a second location not far from my home. I'll be handling all the accounting tasks in this location. I'm really enjoying it so far. I think this job will be perfect for me. The job is supposed to be part time but for the last 4 weeks I've been working close to full time. I see the light at the end of the tunnel and hope to be working on a part time basis next week. That's where I want to be. I'm hoping the part time hours will allow me to have free time to create and spend more time with my family. I feel that creating without relying on it for my income will free up my creative spirit. I have to say that I like getting that regular paycheck. If you've relied on your art and craft for an income you know exactly what I'm talkin' about.

Soooo....as far as what's happening inside my studio, it's been a bit quiet. I did manage to create some pieces inspired by the onset of Fall. It was down right cold in my part of the world this past week. We might even get a frost tonight. Yikes! It's too early for that! Inspired by thoughts of Fall I got out some leaves I had collected, dried and pressed last year; before I ever had a thought about creating the Natural Impressions line. This means there are a limited number of these pieces available. When they're gone they're gone (until next year). As the Fall season gets into full swing I'll definitely be on the hunt for fantastic leaves to press this year.

I thought these pieces would be fun in an Autumnal jewelry design.

I have little more cleaning up and polishing to do in order to get these pieces ready for sale. I'll be listing them on  Sunday Friday. I'll be sharing new listings on my FB page. 

In the meantime you could win this lovely lampwork bead set. Silvered glass encased in a layer of clear glass, handmade by me.

Leave your comment answering this question for a chance to win. 

Are you creating a special piece of jewelry inspired by the beauty of the Fall season? 

Thanks for visiting ABS today.

Ema Kilroy is a lampworker and metalsmith living and working in Central Massachusetts. 

Facebook at Ema K Designs

Ema K Designs on Etsy

Ema's Blog

Tool Talk: Wood Forming Block + Curving Your Metal

I recently added a new tool to my work bench. Yay! I love adding new tools to the studio, especially a tool that makes metal working easier. The new addition is a wood forming block.

The block has two sides which enables me to acheive varying depths of curve. The above photo has the two large nylon rollers in place.

This photo shows the smaller nylon rollers in place.

I begin with a flat piece of metal.

Place the metal into the largest forming block. You always want to work from the largest form to the smallest form. Following this technique will form the bend into the piece without creating a crease in the metal.

Place the appropriate nylon roller into the block and press.

A lovely bend is taking shape.

For this piece I wanted a bit more shape so I went to the next form down and repeated the process.

Nice! 

So much better than creating a curve using a mallet and a baseball bat. That's how I used to acheive a curve to my pieces.

The wood forming block is inexpensive, under $40.00. There are other tools available to create a curved shape in metal but the wooden block appealed to me. I like the price. I like that it sits stable on a table top (as opposed to pliers), I like the ability to acheive various depth of curves and the nylon rollers won't marre the metal. I think this just might become my favorite tool! I purchased my forming block from Rio Grande.

Thanks for stopping by ABS today. Do you have a favorite tool in your studio? Share with us your favorite tool that you love to use.

Ema Kilroy is a lampworker and metalsmith living and working in Central Massachusetts. 

Facebook at Ema K Designs

Ema K Designs on Etsy

Ema's Blog

Studio Saturday with Rebecca of Songbead and The Curious Bead Shop

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 Susanm, Congratulations! You have won a Lotus Button from Tari. 

Send Tari an email with your email address and she will get it right out to you.

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

I've had a busy time of it lately - flitting between my two shops. I love both of them and am excited about where both my jewellery AND my supplies shops are heading, but I do find I can only really focus on one or the other on any given day. I've been going backwards and forward this week so I thought I'd share what has been going on in both of my little corners of the internet these past few weeks! If you read my own blog, you'll know some of my goings on already......

It's long been an ambition of mine to create a jewellery collection or two. All the advise you read online about running a successful jewellery business suggests that this is a really important aspect of this. It makes things more cohesive, and if you want to approach shops and potential stockists, it gives a clearer message. The problem for me, and many others I am sure, is that working with handmade beads and components, often the items we work with are one of a kind. Not so easy to create a collection based around this! 

However, there are some pieces you design that I really feel 'I could develop and take this idea further'. One such is my popular Gardenia bracelet:

around which I have excitedly begun to design The Gardenia Collection this week. Beginning with this lovely, subtle yet colourful palette, I have created both a necklace and earrings, and have plans to take this further!

All will be available in a Made-to-Order section of my shop very soon. I am also excited to explore further colour palettes in these designs....I feel there is lots of scope here. This is something to build on over the coming weeks and months. I am very excited about this side of my jewellery - I won't be giving up my custom, bespoke and one-of-a-kind items, of course. After all, what could be more lovely than wearing a unique piece of handmade art? But I am also excited to go down this avenue as well. Collections of jewellery that I can present to the world, with the real stamp of 'me' upon them. I can't wait to see where this all goes!

As for The Curious Bead Shop, there have been exciting goings on there too! I love coming up with new ideas and projects for each of my wee shops :-) In Curious, it has been the launch of my own handmade copper findings. The primary range available are my Deco Rose Findings. These sprung from my work with the Brit Pack Beaders a few months ago. I chose this painting by Scottish artist Margaret MacDonald as our inspiration piece:

(c) The Hunterian, University of Glasgow 2012 

NOT TO BE REPRODUCED.

You may know Charles Rennie Mackintosh, Scottish architect, designer and artist, and one of the Glasgow Four, of which Margaret MacDonald was also a part. I adore her work and return to it often for inspiration. 

As part of my Brit Pack Beaders challenge, I had to send out clasps to the rest of the team....and I chose to make my own, based upon the swirling roses within this piece. Here's what those clasps eventually grew up to become:

Rich, sumptuous copper findings with my swirling rose designs on each. I particularly love the ear wires:

Sweet, simple and oh-so-easy to use. I love the rich patina that you can achieve with copper too. So delicious and mysterious!

I have also been doing some collaborative work with my friend Teresa of Bo Hulley Beads. She makes the most beautiful ceramic beads and components - if you are not already familiar with her work, do go and check it out! We have been working on a series of clasps together. Here are just a few that are or were available in Curious these past few days! 

These are all button clasps, made specially to work with my Deco Rose clasps. Bo also makes connectors which are a lovely alternative to these buttons:

Don't you just love the gorgeous colours that Bo glazes with? I think they work perfectly with my patinated copper! Bo and I share a passion for colour and I love working with another artist in another medium to come up with these lovely components.

This week, I am giving away a pack of my Deco Rose copper findings, worth £14/$22! To be in with the chance to win, leave a comment below, answering one of the questions I pose you.....

So my question for you is about your design process. Have you ever worked on a collection? Or do you stick to one of a kind, flitting from one idea to another? Do you have plans to explore a single design idea in the future and see where it develops? Or are you happy just to create whatever feels right to you? 

Leave a comment below to be in with the chance to win!

Rebecca is a Scottish jewellery designer, currently living in Manchester, England. 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.