Massive Songbead Update!

Yep, these are all the things which are heading, or have already landed, in my etsy shop, post-West End Fair. Phew! Are you in need of earrings? I've got ALL THE EARRINGS. Seriously - just look at that collage - I felt slightly gluttonous compiling it, somehow. Several bracelets also, and well, necklaces...ok, not so many there, but they were really very popular at the fair, I'm extremely grateful to say. And of course, earrings are quicker to make and refill spaces :-) 

Head over there now to find the perfect piece for you!

Songbead Sale!

Hey everyone! I'm having a wee sale from today through until Thursday. You can take a whopping 25% off all jewellery until then with coupon code JULY25. Just type the code in at the checkout (click on 'Apply Shop Coupon Code') and Etsy will recalculate the total. Loads of new pretties waiting to fly out to their new homes! Hop over now. 

Garden Green

Necklaces, we meet again....or should I say *necklace* singular. It's a start! If you remember from this post, I said/resolved "As for February, it's time to create a few more necklaces!". Well, here we go, here's my first. Oh dear! Actually, that's not true, but a couple have gone to local friends/customers before photographing. I think that's half the problem with them for me - so much to fit in on the full shot, not having a spot where I can pose a mannequin - the conservatory is great for light but filled with - shudder - house plants and various other bits and bobs which are not necessarily great background props - close ups focussing on the pendant area not giving a proper 'feel' of the piece as a whole....you get the gist. 

Garden Green is nice and chunky, and so it's a little easier to squeeze it all in to one shot without feeling like the eye doesn't know where to rest. Lovely vibrant green chrysoprase, one of my favourite gemstones, has a slightly waxy feel to it somehow, and I've paired it with some delicious vintage German pressed glass. Vintage German glass is similar to but distinctly different from it's Czech neighbour - somehow, the pressings are just a little less sharp, but it gives them a little more heft, and they are definitely bolder too. I've had these twisted rounds for a couple of years now, and they seemed happy to be paired up with the chunky chrysoprase, and a similarly visually weighty ceramic house from Elukka. Pretty pleased with this jolly piece! What do you think? 

Three Bracelets

Three wee bracelets for you today, all quite different from one another. 

Most frequent readers will know that I *love* colour in general, but I think it's fair to say I tend toward to vibrant. I reached for the softer tones here though, and I'm pretty pleased with it's gentleness. We can always do with a wee bit more gentleness in the world.

Ceramic bird - Something to do beads

Polymer rondelles - Alison Sachs

This bracelet seems very 'me' to my eyes. I love flowers (especially in bead-form, it must be said!), I love turquoise and orange/red and I love birds. And if you add in a piece of vintage brass chain from Paris, it can't hurt, can it? Unfortunately this bracelet is an absolute pest to photograph. The chain section just doesn't behave when sat on a flat surface. Much better on the wrist. I hope you still get a good idea of it nonetheless.

Polymer birdie - Tree Wings Studio

This last one is a bit different in more ways than one. It's a return from Stringing magazine, where it was published in the Winter 2014 edition. The first issue with some of my designs featured - I was pretty chuffed! It was part of the issue's 'delicate femininity' section, and I love, love, love the palette which Stringing selected, part of which you can see below. Hand-cut tiny gemstones, a bit of organic rusticity alongside it's delicate palette and general dainty-nature. My quandary now is that I just don't know how to price this type of piece. It's unusual that I would use quite so many gemstones in one piece. I get most of my gemstones from Precious Sparkle Beads and honestly, the quality is second to none. So I am keen not to undervalue a piece like this with the wrong price. It may be that I just *have* to keep it for myself.....oh well, it's a hard life and all that! 

Up, up and away!

...in my beautiful balloon! 

I've been hoarding this gorgeous ceramic balloon from Bo Hulley Beads for several months now - not that long in the world of hoarding, but still, I felt it was overdue for turning into jewellery. 

Sailing off to Germany later today...

&

Yesterday, I blogged about these delicious hand-woven beads from Sally Thake Jewellery.

Let's all take another look at them:

 Mmmmmmhhhhhhh...yum! 

One of them snapped into a new design pretty quickly. 

Featuring more handmade beads from Something to do beads, some lovely lampwork artist (sorry, one of those spacers that lost it's set and so I have forgotten where it came from) and Jubilee. 

It's actually longer than it looks here, at around 28 inches, and slips over the head easily. 

 I'll be listing this beauty over in my etsy shop today. 

Muffin Tin Challenge

This post is a sneak peek behind the scenes here at Songbead Designs! One of my good beady friends, Heather of Humblebeads (also chief bead guru over at Art Bead Scene where I am a co-editor) posed a challenge for her fellow-jewellery designers a few years back, and this week revisited this challenge. I joined in, although this post is at least a week later than it was supposed to be! Ah well, better late than never, eh?! Basically, you take a muffin tin (or similar) and gather selections of co-ordinating supplies in each little section, and then create designs from each wee section. It's great fun and stretches you just that little bit more. 

I actually don't own a muffin tin (yes, I wish I was a domestic goddess, but I'm definitely not...), so my alternative....

...a random collection tea light holders. They did the job - Ikea's finest! The collections of beads I selected for each holder varied, but there was one (almost) unifying theme throughout....I'll see if you can guess, reading though.

And here are the results...

 

These earrings came together really quickly. The purple handwoven {song}beads are in my very favourite shade, and larger than most which I use for earrings. However, I had a random pair done and dusted, and I thought they went beautifully with Claire Lockwood's celadon leaves. The rustic Vintaj brass visually knits them together. 

This bracelet is a real mixture of beads which I've been hoarding for quite some time now. One of my favourite bead artists, Alison Sachs of Beads by Earth Tones made the majority of these, with the addition of a neat little ceramic house from Elukka and a pewter clasp from Green Girl Studios.

I don't quite know how this piece came together, but I'm so glad it did! It was one of those things that simply wouldn't have happened without this very specific way of working. A Humblebead bird, handwoven {song}beads by me, a pewter clasp from Green Girl Studios and stunning porcelain roses from Claire. 

 Happily, my little tea light holder for this bracelet had quite a few beads and bobs left over....so these happened too.

 This bracelet, you could perhaps see as a cheat. Whilst I was scrabbling through my supplies to create the 'fillings' for the tealight holders, I realised I had the correct beads to recreate this design from before Christmas. It was one of those that I made the day before a craft fair and which then sold immediately, so I was keen to remake, not least because there had been a lot of interest online too! It's hanging out here, if you fancied taking it home ;-) Again, handmade ceramic birdie from Claire, and handmade polymer facets from Beads by Earth Tones. 

A sweet piece which was/is, quite frankly, a right bugger to photograph. Berries and leaves and blooms - oh my! I really like this one. It looks better in real life, and I may have another go with it and my camera at some point this week. Beautifully rustic ceramic leaf bar from Bo Hulley. 

Last, but hopefully not least, this sweet and simple necklace. I love long necklaces - the only length I would ever consider wearing (I really don't ever wear necklaces), and they are so versatile as well as comfortable. Two more wonderful ceramic artists - Petra Carpreau and Kylie Parry - along with Czech pressed glass and faceted brass. I think this could be a really special piece for someone, with any luck. 

Anyway, I am pretty pleased with the results of this challenge. Ok, so I didn't play along within the given time frame, but I enjoyed myself, and I am also quite happy with what I came up with. Once I'd filled my candle holders, the process was quite smooth and straightforward, also - the pieces really came together with ease. A worthwhile exercise that definitely bears repeating! Thank you Heather for organising this fun challenge. 

Oh, and want to see what happened when I took part in this challenge a few years ago (thank goodness that even given the January light, my photography is very much improved!)? Here's the link...Enjoy!

Earrings!

Earrings....I love 'em. Cannot get enough of them. 

A day goes by without my putting some in my ears, then it's a wasted day. 

Luckily, I love making them too! So quick to whip up, yet so satisfying too. And there's plenty of scope for artistic expression too. It's like a painter with a teeny, tiny canvas. 

I'm on a real earring kick at the moment, as you can see from these pictures. All created in the past week (and not the only ones!)

I think these last ones are my favourite. I'm always a fan of a decorated earwire, and I'm so pleased that the very tiniest of my handwoven {song}beads can be created with large enough holes to decorate these long and elegant earwires. What do you think? I have plans for more of these!

If you're also an earring fan, most of the earrings in this post are available in my etsy shop. 

Love (Even) More

I wrote last week about my (sort of) New Year's resolution to take better care of myself. Part of my wishing to do this is actually so I can take better care of other people - to become a better partner, a better daughter/sister, a better friend....a better human. (Bear with me. I'll stop sounding so pretentious by the 2nd week of January, surely!)

Heather Millican's words were apt to begin the year with, and I made this companion piece for my earrings. Love myself more - love those around me more.

The earrings are mine, but the bracelet is ready for its forever home. Rather like my resolution, and that image of Janus from a few days ago - the balance between caring for oneself and caring others. You need both - at least, I am finding that I do. I will continue to try at any rate!

On another note, today Helen and I magically turn our civil partnership into a marriage. All it takes is  a couple of signatures and a meeting at the registry office, but it's like the tardis - so much more than its exterior belies. We've come through such a lot over the past (almost) 5 years, but we're still here. I can't wait to continue our journey together. 

Songbead Studs - now available, and with a special offer for blog readers too.

This is something I've been working on for a while now.....my Songbead Studs! I can't tell you how pleased I am with how these have turned out. Take a peek - These fourteen designs are just the beginning. I think I've covered most bases - but what colours would you like to see?  I'm particularly pleased with this little design of mine. I've only stitched it up in these colours - turquoise and antique bronze - but I can see it in other colours too. What do you think?  These studs are mounted on sterling silver stud settings, and I also have plans to roll out some with 14k gold-filled settings too. Gold-filled is a really cost-effective way of wearing gold in your ears - it is a solid layer of gold, bonded to a base metal - a much thicker layer than a plating, so findings in this finish have the appearance and feel of real 14k gold.  ***This offer has now closed*** These stud earrings will be available in my etsy shop for £15 a pair. But for the month of November, I have a special offer available via my blog - £12.50 a pair, or - even better! - two pairs for £22, plus P+P (£2 uk, £3.50 Europe, £4 RoW). There are PayPal buttons below for you to purchase these studs - I had to make two as each button only allows up to 10 colour options, so if you don't see the colour you're after under the first button, it's sure to be there under the second. The studs will be made to order, and will be posted out in 5 working days from the point of payment.  Postage is included in the price below, and if you buy more than one pair at once, I will refund the different via paypal. It would have been too complicated creating buttons to cater for all of the possible colour/metal combinations! But don't worry, refunds will be issued within 24 hours of purchase. I'm so excited to be sharing these little pieces of me with the world. They feel like a real reflection of where I am creatively at the moment.They are ideal little gifts - perfect stocking fillers, and a sweet treat for yourself too.  I hope lots of you will be unwrapping these under the tree this year!