Amuse the Muse - birds and butterflies - with Rebecca of Songbead

Happy Easter Monday everyone! We have today as a public holiday here in the UK, although I have, as usual been working anyway - such is life when you're self-employed! For me at least. I have a spa day (a late christmas gift) booked on Friday (eek!) and so I thought I'd do some work today so that I can really enjoy that. I rare treat for me! 

Anyway, enough about that. Sharp-brained readers may have realised that today is my last ABS post. Gulp! If you've missed that news, then you can check out my proper farewell post here. Things are moving and a-chainging and shifting, and it feels like, however hard it is (and it is/was a very difficult decision), it's the right thing for me just now. 

But I'm not going to bog this post down with sad farewells - been there, done, that - and anyway, you're here to see the beads! Right?! 

Here's what I found for you this week:

Donna Millard - adore these colours! Just look at that 'paint swirl' on the body of the wee birdie - swoon.

Round Rabbit - hitting Nancy's shop tomorrow at 12pm EST! You'll have to get in the queue behind me, hehe!

Genea - imagine what beautiful butterfly jewellery you could make with these gorgeous wing beads!

Tupper's Perch - love love love the speckles!

Metamorphic Beads - I find this sort of detailed glasswork nothing short of mind-blowing!

More wonderful colour choices from Pink Blue Sky! Love these cute, rustic birdies. 

Grubbi - these punchy colours work wonders together!

Robin the Raven - I love the rich, saturated colours on these polymer pieces!

And really, how cute are these wee birdies from the aptly names Charming Bluebird?

And so - gulp - that's me signing off for now. Like I said in my post earlier this month, it's definitely au revoir. I'll be back, as a reader and as a guest blogger so you will be seeing me sooner rather than later!. Thank you to you the readers, and thank you to my wonderful co-editors. It's been a huge pleasure, and I will miss being part of this art powerhouse so much - so keep in touch over on my blog and Facebook. And keep on showing your art bead love! I know I will :-)

Rebecca is a Scottish jewellery designer; currently living in the capital city of Edinburgh. 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.

Inside the Studio with Rebecca of Songbead - Au Revoir but not Good-Bye

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 prize each week to encourage you to use that keyboard and tell us what you think. The following week a winner is chosen at random from all eligible entries. And here are the results from last week!

Congratulations to Nan Smith!  You have won of a $20 gift certificate to Humblebeads. Please email Heather Powers to claim your prize.

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Well, well - here we are; a day I knew would come at some point but it's sort of taken even me by surprise! About a month ago, I came to the realisation that my days weren't looking quite how I wanted them to - not just my schedule but my priorities needed to shift. Or in fact, that they had started to shift already and I needed to keep up with them - and to make some changes to allow me to do so. And that very sadly means signing off from the Art Bead Scene team, which I've been an enthusiastic member of since back in 2011 - almost 4 and a half years now, can you believe?!

My first Art Bead Scene post - a tutorial for this cute bangle, featuring a lampwork tab from Helen Chalmers - still one of my favourite bead artists. 

When I started writing for Art Bead Scene, things were pretty different for me on a day-to-day basis. I was living down in England, and heavily involved in teaching - both of jewellery-making and music, primarily singing. My time was split about 60:40 music:beading, and I did a few craft fairs here and there - but my focus was mainly on the education side of things, which I loved. I often taught three jewellery classes a week, and published frequently for magazines - not least for the now sadly-missed Beads and Beyond (gone but not forgotten!). 

The beautiful classroom in Manchester where I was lucky enough to teach from. 

Over the next couple of years that balance switched - I started doing a lot more jewellery teaching and less music teaching, until we moved unexpectedly in 2013 to Belfast due to my partner's work. Which basically meant I had to give up ALL my teaching and go full-time with jewellery - bead selling at The Curious Bead Shop which I'd launched the previous year, jewellery making for fairs (which I was now doing a lot more of) and my online shop, and designing for magazines. 

March 2013 - cover girl at Beads and Beyond!

2014 saw a move back to Edinburgh, my home city (again, following my partner for work!) which brought me closer to a lot of the craft fairs and art markets I'd previously travelled to take part in, and I've gradually become more and more involved in the designer-maker scene here in Scotland, picking up stockists across the country and taking classes in new skills (my own little jewellery bench actually arrived in the post today!). I'm still selling beads too, including my own handwoven {song}beads, and I *love* seeing what other people do with my carefully curated selections, but I've become less involved in the education side of things. This is of course, not least because of the silly amount of moves we've done, along with the closing of several UK magazines over the past few years (which is incredibly sad), but I now find myself after 10 years of focussing on what other people are creating, needing to carve a little more time and mental space to focus on what I'M creating. 

My stand at the West End Fair this past summer. 

I wouldn't describe how I'm feeling as burnt out exactly, but give me a year or two and I think I'd be there. Time to pare things down, sharpen my focus and simplify. I'm sure you can all relate - if not in your jewellery making then perhaps in other parts of your life. The need for simplicity; the need for honed-in intention - and yes, perhaps to allow myself to focus on my own artistry, for a little while at least. I hope that doesn't sound selfish. Sometimes we need to take the time to fill our own well before we can begin to let others draw from it again.

Some of my own handwoven {song}beads.

I cannot tell you how much I will miss being a part of this incredible group of women. So much talent here - Julie did a wonderful post here which if you missed, I thoroughly recommend taking a stroll through it - that really captured some of the incredible art and spirit that these ladies have within themselves. Thank you especially to Heather for inviting me to be a part of this team - I do hope that you will have me back for guest posts sooner rather than later! And you'll definitely see me around as a reader - and oh, maybe I'll find the time to actually take part in our challenges more often! That's a thought I certainly relish. 

Things to come...?

Along with hopefully posting more over on my own personal blog - something I sorely neglected last year, and have resolved to do better with this year. Not least, because I love it! To take the time to write about making and designing, and contemplate the nature of creativity - well, that serves me very well. I've been a creative soul since I arrived on this planet in one way or another, and songbead blog readers may have noticed more wordy posts from me this year, as I try and turn intention into action over there. Please don't be a stranger - I love to hear from readers over there, and I certainly won't be a stranger over here on Art Bead Scene! It's definitely au revoir, not good-bye. 

I still have a few more posts scheduled to write for you - I wanted to eke out my departure! - so I won't be fully signing off until the end of the month. But this is my last Inside the Studio, and I wanted to take the opportunity to not only say au revoir, but also to say a huge THANK YOU to you the readers, for being such an important - vital! - part of this journey, and being a part of our Art Bead Scene family. Readers, commenters, challenge-enterers - you're all wonderful, and I thank you for making being part of this fantastic team such a huge pleasure! 

I had to finish with a piece of jewellery, didn't I?! A few art beads in this recent one...! Me, Claire Lockwood, Helen Chalmers and Lorelei Eurto. 

Time for one last giveaway from me - and I'm offering a £15 voucher for either Songbead or The Curious Bead Shop - your choice. Tell me; what is one thing you feel shifting in your life right now? 

Au revoir, you wonderful lot. Thank you for being amazing!

Rebecca is a Scottish jewellery designer; currently living in the capital city of Edinburgh. 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.

Inside the Studio with Rebecca of Songbead

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 prize each week to bribe you to use that keyboard and tell us what you think. The following week a winner is chosen at random from all eligible entries.

Congratulations to Terri del Signore!

You have won a 'Seek Beautiful Moments' bracelet kit from Erin:

in your choice of SPICY (reds/pinks) or BREEZY (blues/greens) color palette. WooP! Email Erin to claim your lovely prize.

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Today it's over to me at Songbead. Well, as usual for this year (and every year - let's be honest, but particularly 2015) this past month has been super-busy. I sometimes feel like I'm pedalling to stand still right now. You know that feeling - a constant whirling dervish but all you seem to manage to achieve is the bare minimum requirements, perhaps because there are so many of them?! Which is all very well, but I have soooo much to prepare for for the end of this month and all of August - I could really do with one of Hermione Granger's time whatsits - you know, that thing that allows you to go back in time and gain extra hours. Yes please, one of them for me over here, thank you kindly. 

Last time I wrote for Inside the Studio, I was about to head off to Holmfirth for their biannual Art Market. 

My stand at this summer's Art Market, Holmfirth.

Well, that's been and gone - blink and you miss it! - and I'm forging ahead with preparations for the rest of the summer, along with, you know, keeping things going with The Curious Bead Shop, Songbead, the flat, family and three cute bunny rabbits. Phew! 

The big things I have ahead are for one, the 3.5 week Craft and Design Fair in Edinburgh, an annual event, which this year is from the 8th - 30th  August. If you're in or around Edinburgh during August, I thoroughly recommend popping along - it's open every day, come rain or shine(!), from 11am to 6pm, and it's free entry for absolutely oodles and oodles of wonderful handmade loveliness. 

A view of my wee hut from last year's West End Fair.

You'll also not only see me, but art bead artist Helen Chalmers too - one of my favourite lampworkers. 

Helen putting her wee own hut together last year!

As you can imagine, everyone preparing for this event, whether they are doing one, two and three and a half weeks like I am, is starting to feel that August really is only just around the corner....eek! And as I discovered at Holmfirth 2 weekends ago, after working until after midnight every night for a week, I *just* had enough stock for a one-day fair. So, quite a lot to do for a 3.5 week event then.....

To make things extra challenging for myself, I'm diving back into the 'Song' part of Songbead and off to London on the 21st July to work on a newly commissioned opera with Re:Sound, which we'll be performing in London, Suffolk and Manchester during August - with the final performance on the 11th August. What's that, I hear you say? But my fair starts on the 8th? Yes - you are quite right - I'm overlapping these two projects. Gah! When I applied for both, I had no certainty of getting either, and so after much discussion with Helen, decided that if the best case scenario happened, she would take time off work and cover the beginning of the fair for me. She is a SUPER-supportive wife, and almost always helps me out at craft fairs, and so she knows the ropes almost as well as I do with these things, so I have no concerns there (and lots of gratitude!). However, it does mean that I have to be extra prepared for the fair, because I will be working flat out throughout England from the 21st July - 11th August at something completely different! And as it's a brand new opera, score only arriving with the cast yesterday, with all of us not just singing and acting, but playing instruments too (eek!), it is going to be A LOT of work. Rewarding, exciting and brilliant - but a LOT of work. Cue hilarious picture of me playing the cello as Cinderella's Mother in Into the Woods 4 years ago. 

FYI, that's my wee sister Catriona on the far right, playing Rapunzel in the same production. The younger and cuter version of me. Or perhaps I am the older, decidedly more worn-out version of her...!

So, as you can imagine, I'm feeling not a little anxious and full of nervous anticipation about the season ahead. In some ways, I'm wishing I had another two months before I head off to London - but in another way, I am itching to get going. However, it's probably best that I do have the ten (TEN!!!) days left before leaving, as I still have oodles of music learning AND jewellery making to achieve before then. Eek! Wish me luck! Here are some of the pieces I've whipped up over the past week or so - a good start but still lots and lots of making to do:

Art Beads - Green Girl Studios

Art Beads - Something to do beads, Humblebeads, Green Girl Studios

Art Beads - Swoondimples, Helen Chalmers

Art Beads - Round Rabbit, Green Girl Studios

Art Beads - Round Rabbit, Joanne Tinley

Art Beads - Soul Silver

Art Beads - Soul Silver 

You can find most of these pieces over in my etsy shop now by the way - I am trying my best to keep on top of photographing and listing as I create, so that my only recently restocked shop doesn't empty again over the summer! 

You'll see I've an abundance of necklaces in this latest crop, which some of you will know is unlike me. And it's for this very reason that I'm trying to focus on producing more necklaces! For some reason, my brain really resists necklaces - it's desperate to create bracelet after bracelet after earrings after bracelet....but I'm trying to be strict and say NO! Necklaces are needed too! And I'm rather pleased with the ones here, I must say. 

So this leads me onto my question for you, dear readers, and of course the offer of a little bribe prize for answering :-) 

Tell me, what's your go-to piece of jewellery to create? What flows from you naturally and easily - and what challenges you, seemingly every time? 

Leave your answer in the comments below to be in with the chance of winning a £14 (just over $20) voucher for your choice of my shops - Songbead or The Curious Bead Shop, the choice is yours. The winner will be announced in next week's Inside the Studio post. 

Rebecca is a Scottish jewellery designer; currently living in the capital city of Edinburgh. 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.

Metalsmithing + Bench Shears + YouTube

Hello Art Beading Friends.

Spring has finally reached us here in the Northeastern part of the US and I'm incredibly grateful for that! In fact it has been more like summer the last few days but as I write the weather is happily becoming much more seasonal. Today I want to talk to you about metalsmithing tools in a general way.

I recently purchased a new tool and man it is a monster of a tool.

Bench Shear dubbed the Monster Shear

I purchased this bench shear from Northern Tools for a mere $100-ish (I found an online coupon for $20 off then shipping was an added expense). That felt like a steal of a price to me. It's not a beautifully polished tool with all the bells and whistles, but you know what? It cuts metal like a knife through butter. Sweeeeet! 

I tried to get my hand in the picture to give you an idea of the size of the shear.

I make all my own blanks from sheets of upcycled metal - sometimes very large metal sheets. Each piece goes through many steps (you can see some of that process in my earlier post) before it's finished. The sheet needs to be cut in stages, minimizing waste, before becoming the appropriate size for a finished, wearable piece of jewelry.

You don't want to know how I've been cutting down my metal sheet. Okay maybe now that I've said that you do. I'll share my dirty little secret with you .... but please keep it to yourself, I'm a little embarassed to let this secret out ... I've gone from using metal cutting shears (not so bad but awkward on large sheets) to using a paper cutter (gasp!). An old fashioned paper cutter actually worked. I don't suggest trying this method at home as it does have its drawbacks which I'm not going to go into now but I'll repeat that I don't recommend trying that method at home.

Metal sheet cut with hand held scissor type shears

You'd think I'd be excited about a new tool (well yeah I get excited about tools!). When I made the decision to purchase this bench shear I ruminated on it after I placed the order. I had a slight taste of disappointment hanging around because I wasn't buying a pretty shear as seen in the popular jewelry making tool & equipment catalogs. Once the tool arrived and I cut that first piece of metal all thoughts of disappointment disappeared. The bottom line: this tool is going to do what I want, speed up the process and get me to best part of making jewelry components which is the decorating and finishing. 

Unannealed metal sheet cut with the new monster shear. Clean cut lines, what a huge difference. :) 

The monster shear will be very useful for cuting long strips of metal for rectangle or square designs.

But to the point of this post and the lesson I'm learning. Don't be afraid to buy what you can afford. There are many tools which can be found with a smaller price tag which aren't quite as polished as the high end tools that will work for a metalsmith of finer jewelry designs . You don't always have to have the high end tool to get the job done. 

That being said I do think if you're talking about hand held tools it's better to buy the best you can afford. I do see a huge difference in quality hand held tools vs. cheaper tools. 

I'd like to leave you with a few YouTube links. These are a few of the people I've followed over the years. As a self taught metalsmith I've learned quite a bit from these wonderful folks.

Melissa Muir creates beautiful art jewelry and shares wonderful, instructional reviews of tools. Melissa is sweet and full of superb information. Find Melissa on YouTube.

Nancy Hamilton creates stunning jewelry designs and shares many instructional videos on tool uses and how to videos. Nancy is a little on the wild side (nothing she doesn't acknowledge) in a fun way so be prepared. You must check Nancy out on YouTube.

George Goehl has some great metalsmithing videos too. George's YouTube videos cover shop tips, how to's and all types of useful metalsmithing information. George's videos are a little dry (sorry George) but there's just something I love about George's shop and approach to working metal. It's a little rough around the edges (I mean that in a comfortable fit, favorite jeans kind of way) always yielding a beautifully finished product. I think his shop reminds me of my own grandfather's shop (who has long since passed).

Shopping. In no particular order. These are some of the places I've purchased tools and equipment from over the years. I have no affiliation with any of the companies I've listed.

Otto Frei

Rio Grande

Northern Tools

Harbor Freight

Please feel free to shop around and leave a comment sharing your favorite places to shop for metalsmithing supplies and tools.

Thanks for visiting with me 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

Inside the Studio with Ema Kilroy and Cherry Blossoms

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 to Liz!

You have won a $20 gift certificate to Erin Prais-Hintz's lovely shop, Tesori Trovati.  Send Erin an email to claim your gift certificate. 

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Hello Art Beading Friends,

It's been some time since I've had a chance to visit with you. I'm happy to be here today. The day job, family life and snow (as I write this post on April 9th, it snowed ... again! Mother nature has been overbearing this winter.) have kept me incredibly busy over the past few months.

I wish I was better at carving out time to create. Lately I've been feeling a sense of lack in myself because my schedule hasn't allowed time for me to relax and create. Or maybe I haven't properly scheduled the time. Whatver the reason I've had plenty of sources for inspiration!

New glass inspired me.

This scrumptious pink glass, Opal Raspberry, by Reichenbach is simply amazing. It's an incredibly expensive glass. This rod is sold by the ounce whereas most glass rods are priced by the pound. I'm always on the hunt for delicious pink glass so when I saw this I couldn't resist, I had to buy a few rods and I'm glad I did. This is simply a luscious glass to work with. 

Raspberry Cherry Blossom

Opal Raspberry Blossoms

Cherry Blossom heart

Staying with the cherry blossom theme I was inspired by a scarf worn by my friend. She was kind enough to take it off so I could snap a couple photos to use for my inspiration.

 Cherry blossom scarf ....

... becomes Cherry Blossom beads.

I also found inspiration in a blog; Earrings Everyday March Inspiration photos. Our own Erin Prais-Hintz choose some fantastic macro dragonfly photos for the March inspiration. Here is just one. I just love these photos!

Macro Inspirations

I'd like to explore these macro photos a bit more. The color combinations and the macro nature of the photos light my creative fires!

(Side note: I'll be listing these beads in my shop on Sunday morning. The beads have been added to my shop on Etsy)

As always, thanks for visiting ABS today.

Please share with me how you manage your time.

Answer this question to win a $20 gift certificate to my shop.

 How do you work creative time into your schedule?

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