What music does it for you?

It did not take me to long to discover that I enjoy having music to listen to whilst I am making beads. It did take me a little longer to discover WHAT music.

I can't listen to chillout whilst making beads I find it to relaxing and can't concentrate properly but Muse...different matter.

I thought I would give you a wee list of some of the stuff I listen to, on my iPod I have a "songs to torch to" playlist. There are 206 songs currently on this list...Don't worry I am not going to list all 206 but thought I would list some of the artists and any songs I particularly recommend. I stick the earphones in me ears hit shuffle and off I go:
The Beloved
Bjork
Coldplay
The Cure (All Mixed up album)
Dave Gahan (of Depeche Mode fame)
Depeche Mode (Massive fan!!!)
Def Leppard (Hysteria Album)
Foo Fighters
The Hoosiers
Kaiser Chiefs
Linkin Park
Muse (massive fan)
Nik Kershaw (random I know but I adore his "The Riddle" album Roses is an awesome track)
Pendulum (Propane nightmares - seems strangley appropriate!!!)
Bloc Party (Flux)

So there you have it fairly eclectic but no where near as eclectic as the contents of my iPod, thats another post!!!

TTFNx

I've discovered something else...

...it is not just about what music I listen to when I torch but it is also about planning! If I go to my studio (shed!) with no real ideas about what I am going to do I flounder. I stare at the glass with no real concept of what I want to do, which colours go together or even any idea of design. Yet when I spend a little time with a pen and bit of paper jotting down ideas beforehand I find myself able to put something together. Sometimes I do find that once this happens and I have made my "planned" beads then I can get into what if I do this or would that work! Mmmm...spontaneity is not my strong point methinks!!!

Something else occured to me earlier as well. I wonder if you (avid reader) wonder where I get Saffie from. Not wanting to disappoint you I will share this with you. Samantha is very often shortened to Sam and when I was a kid wasting time down the arcades on the seafront there were loads of Sam on the high score tables so I decided to use Saf instead of Sam. Saffie just came from there really and I use it quite a lot in forums etc! I did really want Saffie's beads for my business name but someone else had already bagged the domain name so I thought about it and decided on Aurorabeadz instead. Z instead of S cos it is a bit quirky (may not have been the best idea business wise on the internet: people search beads with an S and not generally with a Z but aurorabeads was already taken, ok it is in Australia but it was already taken!) The reason for Aurora is that I have this strong desire to see the Aurora Borealis sometime in my life and I was reading Northern Lights by Philip Pullman when I was thinking about a company name so Aurora it was!!!

So there you go some more useless information for you! But I do quite like sharing stuff like this with you guys cos it gives you bit more of an insight into me!!!

Right best be off, dinner is cooking and I got beads to make tonight. Got to fill my shelves!!
TTFNx

music to torch to...

I have discovered that I need music to torch to!!! Muse, Dave Gahan, Depeche Mode, The Feeling, these seem to produce the best results!!! How very bizarre! Still if it helps then who am I to go against it eh!!!.

As you can see the "Dotty Mayhem" series continues! I am really enjoying practicing my dot placement and think that at last I have some dotty beads to be proud of. I have sold one of my sets so I am hopeful for the other 2 and who knows how many more will come along. It is a fab way of exploring colour combinations and very good for me to practice as I have quite shaky hands and this helps me to control it! These beads are going to be available for sale once the proper pictures are done. I will get a few more sets together so probabaly the end of the week before they go up! I went for a bike ride with my youngest yesterday and we rode along the sea shore and the sea was shades of green with a blue sky (and loads of cloud!) but hence the colour choice of periwinkle and teal. This colour combination works very well anyway so I went with it!!!

I have also managed to squeeze in some Olympics whilst I have been tootling around! I love the rowing and the cycling but have completely got into the swimming as well. Rebecca Adlington was supreme in the pool and will be worth watching in 2012.

anyway must dash!

TTFNx