Me - in a nutshell!
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About me
Thank you for stopping by my website - my name is Neena , and I am based in Warwickshire in the UK. I am married to Michael Shilvock and we have a cat named Harold. I was born in the UK, in Hull - a long time ago, but went to India with my parents as a child.
I moved back to the UK to pursue my profession and have lived here since 1984 - have been in Warwickshire since 1991. I am an obstetrician and gynaecologist, but my passion has always been jewellery - it used to be wearing it, but I now enjoy making it - and seeing other people wearing my pieces fills me with pleasure. I love designing personalised pieces, to be able to use found objects, to repair and reuse jewellery components from much loved but broken old pieces of jewellery - and to put a smile on someone's face when they can coordinate their moods with their apparel, and earn myself a compliment in the bargain.
My husband encourages my passion and is a great source of inspiration - he has taken to looking at other peoples jewellery with a discerning eye and giving me ideas about what to put together - and he sometimes says - 'your jewellery is better than that' - that puts a big fat smile on my face! - he loves the fact that a reel of wire can, at the end of an evening of watching TV, turn into something I wear to work the next day.
I love it when I find something that inspires me - a leaf or a photograph, or a seashell perhaps and make something resembling it, and with the addition of different colours/ gemstones, or the flick of the wrist which turns the wire in a different direction, change the piece into something else altogether - and let my imagination run riot.
The best piece of advice I was given was to make sure that a piece of jewellery sits well on the wearer - and not just in a photograph. How often have you seen a beauty in a still picture, only to have it disappoint when it doesn't move quite right on the wearer in real life because of poor engineering - I try out all my designs and make sure they sit and fit properly. Poor craftsmanship can also cause jewellery to fall apart, clasps to open up and dangles etc. to fall off, not to mention loosing the entire piece because of shoddy workmanship. I put safety elements like clasp chains into my bracelets, use closed wrapped loops rather than open hook shapes in my dangles so that there is very little danger of loosing the article with normal wear.
I moved back to the UK to pursue my profession and have lived here since 1984 - have been in Warwickshire since 1991. I am an obstetrician and gynaecologist, but my passion has always been jewellery - it used to be wearing it, but I now enjoy making it - and seeing other people wearing my pieces fills me with pleasure. I love designing personalised pieces, to be able to use found objects, to repair and reuse jewellery components from much loved but broken old pieces of jewellery - and to put a smile on someone's face when they can coordinate their moods with their apparel, and earn myself a compliment in the bargain.
My husband encourages my passion and is a great source of inspiration - he has taken to looking at other peoples jewellery with a discerning eye and giving me ideas about what to put together - and he sometimes says - 'your jewellery is better than that' - that puts a big fat smile on my face! - he loves the fact that a reel of wire can, at the end of an evening of watching TV, turn into something I wear to work the next day.
I love it when I find something that inspires me - a leaf or a photograph, or a seashell perhaps and make something resembling it, and with the addition of different colours/ gemstones, or the flick of the wrist which turns the wire in a different direction, change the piece into something else altogether - and let my imagination run riot.
The best piece of advice I was given was to make sure that a piece of jewellery sits well on the wearer - and not just in a photograph. How often have you seen a beauty in a still picture, only to have it disappoint when it doesn't move quite right on the wearer in real life because of poor engineering - I try out all my designs and make sure they sit and fit properly. Poor craftsmanship can also cause jewellery to fall apart, clasps to open up and dangles etc. to fall off, not to mention loosing the entire piece because of shoddy workmanship. I put safety elements like clasp chains into my bracelets, use closed wrapped loops rather than open hook shapes in my dangles so that there is very little danger of loosing the article with normal wear.
Caprilicious Jewellery
Caprilicious started with a piece of jewellery made as a gift for me (in the picture) by a very dear friend, Suzy, after she had been to a weekend jewellery making class. I decided to try my hand at it and booked myself onto a course, which was so much fun, I went back three times in the space of a year to learn different elements of jewellery making . I have always had a love of jewellery but found that the pieces I liked were way beyond my means - or that I couldn't get anything I liked - most of the pieces I saw were traditional and to my mind, too staid and boring. So I went with my instincts - to create modern, timeless pieces - or, tradition with a twist!
I design for the woman who likes to be noticed - stylish, individual,confident, with a sense of humour and a zest for life - Delicious jewellery for the Capricious woman - Caprilicious!
I try to make traditional pieces once in a while, but by the time the finished article appears in my hands, there is always something that has crept in to make it different - a contrasting bead, an asymmetrical focal piece, a beautiful clasp. I have tried - I really have, believe me, to make simple, 'nice' designs, but failed miserably - so now I let rip and let my muse take me where she will.
Learning to twist wire and make it behave itself by coaxing and crafting it into a design of my making (sometimes you win, sometimes you lose) has given my jewellery a life of its own - I still put the beads together, but with a wire focal or accent - this changes it beyond recognition and makes it a 'one of a kind' piece - which cannot be duplicated - possibly even by me! - although I can try to approximate it, the second piece is always a bit different from the original. I have recently introduced a range of my own focal accents using polymer clay, precious metal clay enamel work and resins.
I spend fun hours sourcing materials from far afield on the internet, so that I can keep costs low - I also use copper a lot - with gold prohibitively expensive, and silver taking its place, copper is the new silver! I also use silver plate and gold fill wire in my designs, but I love copper for its earthiness - I have learnt to texture, patinate and varnish it, to keep it from tarnishing and staining the wearer green!
I am very careful to ensure safety so my designs dont fall apart, will be happy to remake them if they do - am pretty sure that with normal usage, the pieces should last a long time and give the wearer plenty of fun times. I make sure I round off all the protruding bits of wire so that the design is comfortable and doesnt just look good in a photograph, and works in real life too - indeed I 'test - drive' most of my pieces - and nothing leaves the house before my husband has shown approval and given me his input - I demand praise at every stage of the design and execution of my pieces - and get it - we are happily married (or he's a good, convincing liar!).
Have a look at my designs and if there is anything you like, contact me with the thumbnail number - I will design a piece specifically for you, with your colours in mind if you wish - but my designs are organic and seem to grrrrrow - like Alice in Wonderland! - but if you like what I have on the Caprilicious website, I am sure you will like what I have to offer you at the end of our journey together. My jewellery is very modestly priced, and because you can choose the materials, you determine your price range - for instance, a simple pair of earrings or pendant in silver plated copper may start from £10 - 12 - in sterling silver it would go up in price to 35 - 50£ - unfortunately, I have to pass on the cost of the materials to you. However, if you want something nice to wear and are not really wanting an heirloom piece, go for it - try silver plated copper- as long as you keep it clean and dry, and look after it, silver plate will last a long time - and of course, you can have the beautiful designs made up in copper, which to my mind is the best option - but remember - you're the boss, and shall have what you want.
I design for the woman who likes to be noticed - stylish, individual,confident, with a sense of humour and a zest for life - Delicious jewellery for the Capricious woman - Caprilicious!
I try to make traditional pieces once in a while, but by the time the finished article appears in my hands, there is always something that has crept in to make it different - a contrasting bead, an asymmetrical focal piece, a beautiful clasp. I have tried - I really have, believe me, to make simple, 'nice' designs, but failed miserably - so now I let rip and let my muse take me where she will.
Learning to twist wire and make it behave itself by coaxing and crafting it into a design of my making (sometimes you win, sometimes you lose) has given my jewellery a life of its own - I still put the beads together, but with a wire focal or accent - this changes it beyond recognition and makes it a 'one of a kind' piece - which cannot be duplicated - possibly even by me! - although I can try to approximate it, the second piece is always a bit different from the original. I have recently introduced a range of my own focal accents using polymer clay, precious metal clay enamel work and resins.
I spend fun hours sourcing materials from far afield on the internet, so that I can keep costs low - I also use copper a lot - with gold prohibitively expensive, and silver taking its place, copper is the new silver! I also use silver plate and gold fill wire in my designs, but I love copper for its earthiness - I have learnt to texture, patinate and varnish it, to keep it from tarnishing and staining the wearer green!
I am very careful to ensure safety so my designs dont fall apart, will be happy to remake them if they do - am pretty sure that with normal usage, the pieces should last a long time and give the wearer plenty of fun times. I make sure I round off all the protruding bits of wire so that the design is comfortable and doesnt just look good in a photograph, and works in real life too - indeed I 'test - drive' most of my pieces - and nothing leaves the house before my husband has shown approval and given me his input - I demand praise at every stage of the design and execution of my pieces - and get it - we are happily married (or he's a good, convincing liar!).
Have a look at my designs and if there is anything you like, contact me with the thumbnail number - I will design a piece specifically for you, with your colours in mind if you wish - but my designs are organic and seem to grrrrrow - like Alice in Wonderland! - but if you like what I have on the Caprilicious website, I am sure you will like what I have to offer you at the end of our journey together. My jewellery is very modestly priced, and because you can choose the materials, you determine your price range - for instance, a simple pair of earrings or pendant in silver plated copper may start from £10 - 12 - in sterling silver it would go up in price to 35 - 50£ - unfortunately, I have to pass on the cost of the materials to you. However, if you want something nice to wear and are not really wanting an heirloom piece, go for it - try silver plated copper- as long as you keep it clean and dry, and look after it, silver plate will last a long time - and of course, you can have the beautiful designs made up in copper, which to my mind is the best option - but remember - you're the boss, and shall have what you want.
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