Song-ing followed by Bead-ing

Dear oh dear - here I am again, feeling like it's been far too long since I last blogged. It is an all-too-familiar feeling it seems! I always have plans for blog posts, but time runs away and I lose track of everything.....sounds like the rest of my life too! This time, I have a slight excuse - I have been preparing for and performing in a concert over in Glasgow, in the beautiful University Chapel, which was this past weekend.

Now, it wasn't a huge concert and my part in it was fairly minor. But, it was the first time I had sung in a long time - and I don't just mean in a concert, I mean not along with the radio, not in the shower; practically not a single note has passed my lips since I moved to Belfast. I seemed to lose my voice along with the move back in September. I have felt somehow silenced for the past 7 months - as if I had my throat stopped up. But a friend asked a couple of weeks ago if I was free for a concert he was fixing, he was in a pinch for my voice-type, and so I decided that a fairly low-key event would be something I could do. 

Of course, my stamina was at a literal all-time low, and the prospect of singing in public after so long was daunting enough in itself - coupled with my usual nerves! But I practiced, and I went and I sang, and god-damn it if I didn't do ok after only a minor psychological melt-down the morning of the performance. It felt like a real achievement for me at this time, and (dare I say it) I was proud of myself for taking even a small step out of my void of silence. 

So that has taken my mind slightly away from blogging and suchlike. The Curious Bead Shop has to continue, as do custom jewellery orders, so the things that fall by the wayside, albeit it temporarily, are often social media-based. I know, I should really figure out an automated system....but I haven't yet. One day....

Anyway, I arrived back in Belfast yesterday and spent the day packing up the weekend's orders. I then gave myself the evening off (that's allowed, right?) and did what my brain likes to zone out to - made some bracelets. Here are the spoils of my mental unwind ~ 

I'm pretty pleased with them. I can't tell you just how happy I am to have more of these gorgeous flower beads back in my life. Just in time for summer fair preparation. I have a few new colours on the way too and I am very excited to get my hands on them. I'm writing this up on my phone, on the bus (why am I incapable of organising my time?!) so I will add full links later, but for now, the art beads come from ~ 

www.swoondimples.etsy.com

www.elukka.etsy.com

www.secondsurf.com

www.magdalenaruiz.etsy.com

and the flower beads are of course available at www.thecuriousbeadshop.etsy.com.