Creative
journey
Melissa Trudinger of BohoBirdjewellery
tells us about her work and creative journey.
ABOVE LEFT- Recent work ABOVE
RIGHT - Beginner work
creativebeadchat.com
I started making jewellery in 2010 when my youngest was
a baby. I’d been thinking about it for a while, and even
bought a few bits and pieces, so I booked myself into a
two hour class at a local bead shop and made myself a
necklace, which I was quite pleased with. Of course, that
lead to buying myself a few more beads and components
to play with. A few months later I discovered artisan
beads—metal, lampwork, ceramic and polymer clay—and
that was the beginning of a new obsession for me. My
Mum is a potter, and that’s given me a real appreciation
for everything handmade and unique. Through reading
jewellery blogs and magazines, I found more and more
jewellery designers and bead makers to inspire me, and
I’ve developed a definite style with loads of colour and
texture, and of course, beautiful art beads!
In 2012, I started a blog (beadrecipes.wordpress.com)
about my jewellery (with a few recipes thrown in) and
started taking part in blog hops and challenges, which
really started pushing me to create more interesting and
original pieces using artisan components. I started selling my work at a local craft market in 2013 and opened
my Etsy shop (bohobirdjewellery.etsy.com) later that year.
I’m continuing to take classes here and there, especially
in metalwork techniques, and I’d like to learn more about
creating ceramic beads with my Mum. Eventually, as I gain
confidence with metal and clay, I’ll start incorporating
some of that into my jewellery designs.