Hello all, how are you this lovely Bank Holiday weekend? Warmer weather is on the way and I intend to enjoy every moment of it. I have four days to do absolutely nothing, and I intend to do just that. It's time to do a bit of spring cleaning and check out what I have in my cupboards in terms of beads, clay supplies, tutorials and other resources. I have been picking up bits and bobs for over ten years now and I've forgotten that I even own some of the stuff in my stash. But first, I need to clear out my worktable - it is such a total mess, that I don't want to sit at it, let alone create anything. This weekend, I promise. I need to recharge the creative batteries, and while I'm doing that, some of my unused bits and bobs might just end up in the charity shops, now that they are open. TapestryThe inspiration for this bracelet came from my book on Japanese embroidery - The Art of Bead Embroidery: Japanese style, by Margaret Lee where the author follows the lines on a piece of paisley printed velvet with beads. I created the cuff bracelet using the general idea. This is the second project in this book that has inspired me, the first was Woodland Fantasy. A lot of embroidery work goes into Japanese beading, and before anyone asks me, no the beads aren't stuck on, they are sewn in one by one. The velvet was hard to find as I was looking for just the right pattern in an offcut from e bay, so that the project wouldn't be too expensive and I wouldn't be lumbered with yards of material that I might not find any use for later on. After all this was an experimental piece and I had no idea if it would work out. It took so long to make this cuff, and it looked so hopeless at the beginning, that it almost got thrown in a dark corner on many an occasion. However, perseverance is my middle name and eventually this lovely piece hove into sight. The trick was to use one colour at a time and to sew in the straight (ish) lines first. You can see the patterned velvet in some of the photographs in the background. It is lined with Italian leather, so soft and supple that my No 10 needle (which is extremely fine, for those who don't know) went through it like a hot knife through butter. Caprilicious Jewellery is in a showcase on the 29th May from 830 pm to 830 pm on the 30th in The Jewellery Show, Facebook - do drop by if you fancy looking at some pretties - now that summer is on us and things are opening up, you need something to lift your spirits, right? Here's the link https://www.facebook.com/groups/202104383623506/?ref=share and if you let me know that you saw the invitation on the blog, you can have a discount of 10%. Do be sure to let me know, though. That's me for this week, folks. Have a lovely bank holiday weekend and an even better week. I'll catch you next Friday, same time, same place.
Until then xx
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Hello, good people, lovely to meet you again, and if you've never been here before, welcome to the Caprilicious Blog. The blog is a record of the jewellery I have made over the years and I can go right back to the first week (imaginatively titled Week 1) in 2011 - Caprilicious and I've certainly come a long way since!! The picture opposite is from a Virginia Slims advertisement, back in the day when I was every marketing persons dream target - I was only 16 when this one came out and my friends and I truly believed that if only we could find ourselves a packet of cigarettes, we'd miraculously wake up looking like the woman in the ad. The blurb says "Back then, the working woman could enter the field of her choice" with a picture of a woman ploughing a field - some marketing genius hooked a whole generation of women onto a harmful substance just to prove we were every bit as good as men! I don't think young women are quite as gullible today. Magic SpellFor my first spell, I present three strands of citrine teardrops held together with a purple dragons vein agate slab nugget - the markings on the beads are really beautiful. My camera unfortunately is simply not up to capturing their beauty, even on a macro setting. When you look into the depths of the slab of agate it feels as if you could dive right into it, as if a spell has been cast on you. I always feel strange when I wax lyrical about pieces of stone - however, they are very special and if I cannot show you their beauty in a photograph, I do my best to attempt a word painting. FlutterbyThis one is made of three strands of turquoise dyed howlite beads, gathered up together with a micro pave diamante butterfly that seems to hover over the necklace. That's me for now, folks. Thank you very much for being with me over the years, and as I said, if you've just joined the party, welcome. Have a fabulous week and I'll catch you next Friday, same time, same place.
Until then xx Hello my lovely friends - less than 20 days to the big day and I have nothing done - packing gifts and putting up my little tree - that's what I shall have to do over the weekend. The days are zipping by in a blur as they go past, I might need to sit down and take a deep breath just to calm down! SaraI've had this necklace in my minds eye for ages and had put the materials to one side until I was ready to make it. It was meant to be a simple braided seed bead necklace with a central pendant stitched into it. However, as is usual, the organic nature of my design ethic came to the fore - I spotted a bezeled rose quartz leaf that I had lying around, I was originally thinking of using it in another piece and stitched it into the centre of the pendant, and the pendant asymmetrically onto the bib and voila! Sara was born. Why Sara? I haven't a clue - when I thought to myself 'Now, what shall I name this piece?' the word 'Sara' came floating out of the ether at me. The colours in this necklace are so vibrant and it is a very different piece and one of a kind, I'm quietly proud of it! Baroque BeautyThe pearls in this necklace come from my trip to Bangkok Here's a little information about how pearls are harvested today - they are called nucleated pearls inasmuch as the pearl farmers insert a little nucleus into each oyster. A pearl nucleus is a bead or other object implanted into the the gonad of a marine mollusk, or into an existing pearl sac in the gonad or mantle of a freshwater mussel. Nacre deposition occurs around this. The shape of the pearl mimics closely the shape of the bead or tissue that is inserted into the oyster. Saltwater Pearls Saltwater mollusks will only produce 1-2 pearls per nucleation, the nucleus used in all saltwater pearl farming today is most often a mother-of-pearl bead. This bead is composed of mussel shell that has been cut, rounded, and polished. Akoya molluscs can be nucleated with up to 5 beads. The Akoya dies at harvest. South Sea and Tahitian mollusks accept only one nucleus at a time, but as they do not die at harvest, they may be nucleated several times. If a particular mollusk has been successfully nucleated several times and consistently produces fine pearls, the mollusk is often returned to the wild to strengthen the genes of future generations - they've literally worked their way to freedom - time off for good behaviour! Freshwater Pearls Freshwater pearls must also be nucleated, but in lieu of the mother-of-pearl bead, freshwater pearl farmers nucleate their mussels with small pieces of mantle tissue. They are not placed in the reproductive organ of the mussel, but in the fleshy mantle tissue. Because the mantle tissue is large and located on either side of the shell, each mussel can withstand many insertions. Most mussels receive 12 to 16 insertions on either side of the valve for a total of 24 to 32. The large number of freshwater pearls produced per mussel accounts for the reason why freshwater pearls are more easily accessible and less expensive than the saltwater ones. But, because the mantle tissue gets dissolved into the pearl-sac, freshwater pearls are solid nacre. The turquoise goes well with the pearls and two strands of this delightful combination make this a beautiful statement necklace. I spent an evening putting together a few pairs of earrings - I think they're rather pretty and I used studs in the ears, which although a bit more expensive, are easier to wear. Colourful and fun with gemstones - the roses in the first pair are hand carved amethysts, as are the little beads, the pearls are pretty and the posts are surgical steel and hypoallergenic. Here are the last posting dates for Christmas 2019 UK 2nd Class and 2nd Class Signed For: Wednesday 18th December UK Special Delivery Guaranteed: Monday 23rd December UK 1st Class and 1st Class Signed For: Friday 20th December UK Royal Mail Tracked 24 (available online only): Saturday 21st December. I have a few days left then, to get my gifts and together, Phew! That's me for now, folks. Have a lovely week and I'll catch you next Friday, same time, same place. Until then xx Hello folks, how are you? I'm here today to tell you that a husband's man flu works wonders - for the wife! Last week I told you about my poor hubby, sniffling and sneezing away into a huge box of tissues - I gave him loads of TLC while he was awake, but my way of getting myself a load of spare time was to put him to bed, ably assisted by antihistamines, hot toddies and those stalwarts of the medicine cabinet, Day Nurse and Night Nurse! I received some fabulous components from one of my regular suppliers and made some jewellery immediately with them - in fact, the components are so beautiful, the necklaces designed themselves! I also finished a couple of pieces I have been working on for a while, two of which are to go to the USA, to my friend who commissioned them. PhoenixI've been embroidering this piece for ages and only managed to put it together this week. I had intended it to be a three piece pendant, and made it up and took photographs of it, only to decide the next day that it would be better off with only two pieces. It just seemed too unwieldy and the bottom piece kept twisting on itself. So before I could change my mind, out came the scissors and Snip Snip - that was that!! The beads used in between the turquoise are of Chrysanthemum stone, which I have wanted to buy for simply ages. Chrysanthemum stone or Flower stone is an ancient Chinese stone, approximately 270 million years old. It is a dark gray to black limestone matrix with andalusite crystals, taking on the appearance of a chrysanthemum. The black rock itself is a piece of limestone which is dark because of the presence of substantial amounts of organic carbon. This rock is from a time when many areas that today make up China were offshore or underwater plateaus. The white pattern on the rock is formed of elongated crystals of celestine (or celestite), and when seen in larger stones is very pretty, although sometimes accentuated by hand carving and dyeing of the black matrix so it is darker. The Chrysanthemum Stone is known for integrating change and harmony, and lending the knowledge of how the two work together to help one “bloom” and progress on the path to the perfect Self. It ameliorates negative mindsets and strengthens one’s character, while enhancing compatibility with others and the renewal of relationships. If you believe this, this is the necklace for you. If not, it is so pretty that it doesn't matter, it will still be loved by it's new owner. Commissioned PiecesMy friend from California met me after many, many years and handed me some beads to 'do something with'. The first package was a necklace of tiny faceted pigeon blood rubies that she wanted restrung with a bit of zing put into the necklace, and the second was a broken necklace of what appear to be Czech glass beads and she wanted a pendant with a face for it. Here's what I came up with. The rubies are only 2-3mm, with tiny holes, and they wouldn't take a beading wire. I had to thread them onto doubled up Fireline using a No 12 beading needle - anyone who beads will know how fine that is! Tying knots at the end was also tricky, but I finally managed it and covered the knots with a dab of glue for added security. I'd never live it down if anything untoward happened to that necklace. And then I turned my attention to the other string of beads - I had a yak bone face somewhere in my stash, some Shibori ribbon in gentle colours to match her gentle personality, added a few shiny seed beads, made a pendant from it and strung it on the beaded necklace. We've established that she likes both the pieces and we are now organising the best way for her jewellery to get to her in the USA. Last week, I talked about the beautiful micro pave connectors I was keen to use, and use them I did. While Mike snored gently, under the influence of Day Nurse, I took the opportunity to finish these pieces. Wild IndigoPearly QueenBlue BeautyI think I've done well this week - however the pieces have been made over a couple of weeks, between my work commitments ministering to the sick, and at home, doing exactly the same thing - no wonder I'm suffering from compassion fatigue!
That's me for this week, folks. Have a fabulous Easter break and a great week after, and I'll catch you next Friday, same time, same place. Until then xx Hello folks, I hope you've had a great week and thanks for coming back to take a look at Caprilicious. It's a horrible rainy, windy day out there and it seems like it's time to snuggle under the duvet and stay put all day. It's a good thing I have Caprilicious to get out of bed for this morning or I probably wouldn't have bothered as it is my day off. It's a sad day today, as we have to cut down our tree on the front of the house. When we bought the house, the previous owner had it looking like a car park, with nothing but hard standing on the front so that his family could all get their cars off the road. We put in all the greenery you see in the photograph, but unfortunately, the tree to the left of the picture, now ten years old has invasive surface roots which are now encroaching on the house. It has to be chopped down, the roots dug up with a small digger as this particular tree can grow back from any roots left behind, and the paving that has gone all higgledy piggledy because of the surface roots has to be replaced. If we'd known this earlier - like when we asked the guy at the garden centre before we bought it as a sapling - we'd never have bought our Gleditsia - Oh well, we've enjoyed it for ten years! Cloudy SkiesGetting in the mood for autumn this week, I picked up a hank of cloud agate. The notion of a cloud being captured in a stone always enchants me and I love this beautiful grey agate. I added bright turquoise blue magnesite and made a necklace called Cloudy Skies. It's almost as if I reached out of an aeroplane and condensed a handful of cloud into this necklace. Forest FlowersI was playing with clay, trying to finish off all the old clay I brought back home from a three day extravaganza called Polymania earlier on in the year and ended up with the flowers in this necklace. They reminded me of the Japanese anemones that come up in my garden in late August - they are very pretty, but the plant is so invasive, it sends out deep sucker roots that take over any flower bed. I spend most of summer pulling up the plant, and yet get a beautiful display of the anemones come August. They are so pretty, I cannot bring myself to dig up the flower bed to start again, sans anemone. I had two malas of Rudraksh beads, acquired during a trip to India, and I thought this would be an ideal time to use some of the beads, this being autumn and a time for seeds and nuts. The rudraksh is meant to be a sacred seed that has many mythical metaphysical qualities. The seed can have up to fourteen segments, called 'faces', and each number of faces have their own significance and worn for a different metaphysical cure. I know none of these things, of course, just that the beads are interesting and different. If you wish to read a bit more about the tree, I have a link to an informative blog right here for you. Sadhus cover themselves in garlands of these beads, to dress like their boss, Lord Shiva, who was the greatest mendicant/sadhu of all time. Apparently, when Shiva once woke up from a period of meditation, he shed a tear, and this (when it fell to the ground, thankfully) grew into a rudraksh tree. Sadhus hope that if they wear the rudraksh beads, they will curry favour with the boss man. Legend has it that Indira Gandhi wore a rudraksh with one face, which is extremely rare and expensive and wore it at all times. We all know how much luck that brought her - or perhaps she'd slipped it off her neck on that fateful day! Apart from the malas, I've seen jewellery made with these seeds in India, heavily encrusted with gold and occasionally silver, but I'm proud to have found a very contemporary and one off way of wearing these beads that is different from anything I've ever seen. The beads I brought back are smaller than usual, and I added lashings of crystals to bring a bit of brightness to the brown of the necklace which of course, was not colourful enough for Caprilicious without the extra oomph! A few red resin roses, and some teardrop orange coral beads left over from another necklace contributed to the colour factor in this piece. The Pursuit of Happiness"We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness." This is part of the American Declaration of Independence written by Thomas Jefferson in 1776. This necklace makes me happy! The green aventurine raw nugget beads, the beautiful Mandala pendant from Nepal, the whole thing came together effortlessly. That's me for this week, folks. Have a lovely week, and I'll catch you next week, same time, same place.
Until then xx Good day, readers. Thanks for joining me at Chez Caprilicious. What can I say, the sun is still shining (for now) and the bees are buzzing, and everyone is happy. Apart from a few curmudgeons, that is - those who are grumbling about being fed up of the heat and wanting the rain to come back. Well, they won't have to wait long, as the weather is expected to break this afternoon, with thundershowers predicted - and of course, as we don't do things by halves, there may even be flash floods! Still, we've had a straight run of almost four weeks of pure, undiluted sunshine and being able to wear our summer clothes without cardigans and sweaters over them. UniqueI normally make colourful jewellery, but the weather over the week just gone by has inspired me to ratchet up my love for vibrancy to an even higher level. My first piece is made from turquoise dyed magnesite. The beads are slab nuggets, with the holes going through the centre of each bead so that they stack up beautifully, giving the necklace a texture that is quite unique. I added a chunk of raw amethyst to the centre of the necklace, adding to it's tactility and called it Ferideh, which is an old Arabic name, meaning 'unique'. A few Nepalese beads inlaid with coral and turquoise added even more colour to the piece. I loved it so much that I borrowed the necklace to wear at an interview - as an interviewer, I hasten to add. My days of being an interviewee are long gone, hopefully. CaravanseraiAnd as if Ferideh wasn't colourful enough, I took inspiration for the next piece from the Pushkar camel fair in Rajasthan. The caravans of camels are so highly decorated that they manage to alter the dry desert landscape for the duration. I used a Nepalese pendant and added all the colourful howlite I had in my stash to create this one. The aim is for the wearer to feel confident, glamorous, and sure of herself, knowing that she is dressed to attract attention and compliments. One couldn't help but feel fabulous in this piece, in my opinion. I thought I'd play you a rendition of Caravan as sung by one of my favourite singers, Laura Fygi - I have all her albums and they are all uniformly fabulous. I hope to be able to hear her live someday but she doesn't seem to come to the UK, so we'll have to go over to wherever she's playing a gig. She sings in a multitude of European languages and I think I prefer her songs in French than English - do Google her and see what you think. That's me for this week folks, thanks for dropping by. Have a wonderful week and I'll catch you next Friday, same time, same place.
Until then xx Hello folks, thank you for coming back to Caprilicious today. I'm happy to report that the sun is still shining over the UK - we've had the best summer since 1976 apparently, and it is set to continue for at least six weeks more. I have to say there's nothing like England when it's warm and sunny - if it were always like this, we'd never go abroad. The fly in the ointment is that the reservoirs are running dry and we are looking a hosepipe ban squarely in the eye - if that happens our gardens will go dry and brown, rather than the beautiful verdant green England is famous for. We forget so easily that to be green, lawns need the rain! Just now we are still allowed to water our plants and Mike does so diligently, hence the scene above, photographed yesterday. As I mentioned last week, I was gifted a ticket to Paul Simon's Farewell Tour concert in Hyde Park, at which James Taylor was his warm up act. We stood listening to these two giants play for over five hours and my feet are still recovering from that ordeal. As it was the day of the World Cup, Wimbledon finals, and a beautiful warm day to boot, London was heaving with tourists. The concert was fabulous, and I came home sad that Paul Simon was retiring, but happy that I'd been there to cheer him on his way. CarnivalThe warm weather is bringing back memories of my life in India and the colours of the East are prevalent in my pieces of jewellery this week. It has in recent years, become quite fashionable for those who wear statement necklaces to look towards Eastern influences in their choice of apparel. Colourful jackets, scarves and even trousers (remember harem pants?), have become commonplace, and an East meets West vibe is now quite the thing, especially with linens and lagenlook clothing. The pendant was handmade by artisans in the border area of Tibet and Nepal, and is inlaid with coral, lapis lazuli and turquoise, and filled with scroll work. The amount of workmanship in the pieces that originate from this area is mind boggling. I have been to a jewellery makers workshop in Nepal a number of years ago, and remember the artisans putting in the inlay work after painstakingly soldering in the scrolled metal, one piece at a time. The pendants in the necklaces I make are purchased from Fair Trade sources, ensuring that the artisans are paid the right price for their labours. NailaNaila is a girl who you think is the most gorgeous, beautiful girl you have ever met. Someone who has changed you and made you a better person. She has the best sense of humor out of everyone you know and she has the greatest personality that can brighten your day ......... I made this necklace with matte cylinders of lapis lazuli which are hard to come by, and found accidentally when I was recently looking for matte amethyst beads. I added coral cylinders and a ghau box pendant inlaid with turquoise and coral which brightened the piece to my satisfaction. With the addition of a beautiful box clasp from Jaipur, the piece was good to go - simple but effective, as the best pieces often are. That's me for this week folks. I'm off to enjoy the garden in the fabulous sunshine. I'm working all next weekend, so I'd better make the most of it!
Have a fabulous week, and I'll catch you next Friday, same time, same place. Until then, xx Hello folks, gee willikins, what a wonderful week we've had! I've never seen anything like it, where there has been day after day of golden sunshine, warmth on the old bones and summer seems to have taken off like a rocket. Of course, now that I've said it, there are thunderstorms forecast for next week, but I think the gardens will sigh with relief. I've spent a lot of time outdoors, watering the garden, pulling the weeds and generally ensuring that my plants stay alive. Consequently I haven't had time to go into the conservatory and play with my torch and bash out a bit of fold forming on my anvil. The idea of writing this blog is that it serves as a gallery of my designs. Sporadically, people discover them and ask if I could make a similar piece. This year, a piece called the Sorcerers Apprentice has taken people's imagination and I have been asked to remake the piece twice over. As the beads are handmade, the necklace can never be the same as the original, just similar. Just now the beads above, made at the weekend are not technically 'beads' as they have yet to have holes put through them, they also need sanding and buffing before they can be made up into a necklace. This one is destined for a friend and customer in India. KathmanduI bought a beautiful Nepalese Ghau box, with loads of scroll work and filigree wire all over it. It is pretty large, and I think it was originally meant for a man. Faux beeswax amber beads, turquoise dyed magnesite heishi beads and little red beads are held together by a beautiful moss agate box clasp. The ghau is a box meant for carrying small reliquaries and prayers and of course if you need it, can be used as a pill box for when you travel afar and require medication later on in the day. Bright and sunny to reflect the weather, this necklace can be worn with Eastern dress, but far more effectively with Lagenlook clothes, bohemian outfits or even in the neck of a simple white shirt and jeans. I love the picture opposite - the lady is so stylish and sophisticated. Iris Apfel and friends have done a lot to make this style of bohemian jewellery popular and it totally chimes with my sense of colour and requirement for bold and beautiful jewellery. This week is a short post folks, as between the weather and garden and the day job I've been too busy to play with beads and baubles. I'll have more for you next time, have a great week and see you next Friday, same time, same place.
Until then xx Hello, my lovely internet friends, thanks for coming back to join me today. I've only just managed to shake off a cold and am over the worst of the jet lag - I feel like it gets worse as I get older. While I was in India I met a young lady who came to take a look at my jewellery and ended up buying a couple of pieces. We had made contact via the website earlier on and she wanted me to wrap a piece of turquoise she owned in copper wire. When Ms A came to the house she brought with her a little bag of bits and bobs which she wanted to have made up, among which were a pair of silver earrings, one of which had a broken catch, a few turquoise beads bought on a visit to Bhutan, lapis lazuli beads and a few pearls which came from one of the earrings. She'd made a start at stringing the beads with one of the earrings as a pendant, but had given up mid way, either bored, too busy, or unsure of the direction it was taking. Ms A is an educator by profession, feisty, sensible, well spoken with a left wing attitude which chimed with mine, and I felt that although I had only just met her, we achieved an instant rapport. I love bags that contain treasure - well, who doesn't? The possibilities are endless especially if one is given a free hand and I could see hours of fun in that little bag, a cornucopia of fun. With the two earrings being virtually identical, I wanted to make necklaces that were as different from one another as possible. There was also an anxiety that the remaining catches on the earrings might break so I drilled holes into the tops of the earrings, cut off the remaining catches and filed down the ends to make them comfortable to wear. I added garnets, labradorite and carnelian chips to the mix as there weren't quite enough beads, and knowing that the lady does not like her jewellery too bright or big, picked muted colours that are more her bag. Anyone who knows me will understand that this was a design challenge for me as I tend to design big, bold and bright! I had a single turquoise bead left over when I finished the garnet necklace and I put it in the second necklace at first, in place of the large lapis bead that now rests above the earring/pendant. Ms A said she wasn't keen to have turquoise in both the necklaces when I sent her a picture taken with my phone. After a bit of toing and froing, with me sending her pictures of all the suitable replacements, we decided to swap it with the lapis bead, so I remade that particular strand for her. After all, the customer is always right and should have what she wants, as far as possible! This has always been the Caprilicious credo and I do my best to keep it going. And then, of course it was the turn of the pendant bead which was destined to be wrapped in miles of tarnish resistant copper wire. The bead itself is pretty tiny, just over a centimetre long so I had to come up with a design that exposed as much of it as possible. I also had to make sure that the holes were covered up so that it appeared more like a cabochon than a bead. Tarnish resistant wire is coated with nylon and has to be manipulated by hand rather than with pliers as the nylon tears if held too tightly and the wire looks unsightly. It is a bit more difficult to use, however, Ms A wanted it and as I said before whatever Ms A wants, Ms A gets (sung to the tune of Whatever Lola wants.....). There they are, then, Ms A's bag of beads, transformed into wearable pieces. I hope she is happy with them when she receives them, and wish her hours of enjoyment in them. I had to make these pieces up as soon as possible because one of my friends is travelling to India and has agreed to carry them back with her. I wouldn't be able to trust them to the vagaries of the Indian postal system. I certainly wouldn't want them stolen and for Mrs Indian Postman to be wearing them on her next outing to the cinema! That's me for this week, folks. Have a wonderful week, and I'll catch you next Friday, same time, same place.
Hello folks, thanks for joining me today, it certainly is good to catch up with you and I'm very pleased you dropped in to take a look at the goings on at Caprilicious. As you read this, I shall be elbow deep in polymer clay, learning new techniques, meeting old frineds, making new ones and having a great time at Polymania in Bristol. I was there last year and had a whale of a time. My only anxiety about this year is that once again on Sunday, when I'm due to travel back home on the train we are expecting bad weather in the UK - oh well, time for the thermal underwear, and I shall keep everything crossed that the trains will run, and run on time. Lugging pasta machines and other heavy articles on a train across the country is not my idea of fun, but the great time I shall have there will most definitely be worth it. We have no less than Donna Kato, Kathleen Dustin and Carol Blackburn teaching us this time. I've been so keen to learn from these ladies for ages and ages, and now my wish will come true! This week has been a productive one for Caprilicious - I've been trying out Amazon Prime for a month and binge watching movies. Of course while I'm watching all these movies, my hands have been busy with wire and beads. The parlous state of the NHS has meant that elective operations were cancelled and I got to come home early and make beads with polymer clay, and then turned them into a necklace. Art Nouveau Torque NecklaceI bought a tutorial for a wire bracelet on Etsy from Doras Accessory and decided to use it as a template for a necklace instead. It has been sitting in my document cloud for an year and I finally found the sticking point - it calls for a frame of really thick wire. I didn't want to use copper, as nobody wants a green ring around the neck. Finally, I found 12g stainless steel wire and then had to hunt for a pair of wire cutters that would work as it is a very hard wire to cut without ruining my usual snips. Eventually I used the cutters I have for memory wire, and this just about did the job. A turquoise cabochon was trapped in squiggles and curlicues of wire and embellished with yet more wire and rutilated quartz beads. More Polymer clay beads and another Fiesta necklaceI had some beads left over from the last necklace I made, and they were just sitting there staring reproachfully up at me. 'Use us, please, oh puhleeease', they moaned. Oh well, I'm a sucker for a hard luck story, so I quickly threw a few more into the oven to make up the numbers and made yet another Fiesta necklace. I made these two torque necklaces last week, and as they were less than perfect, decided to keep them for myself. I wore one singly to work, and then a couple of days later, wore them together over a roll neck top. I think the torque necklace is great and am happy to wear one any time. One of my colleagues at work asked me to make her a sun catcher and I made her one with a copper wire dragonfly. She liked it so much, she immediately ordered a couple more. They are very difficult to photograph but the little beads in the wings are made of silver lined glass seed beads and they pick up the light like wet cobwebs. I love the picture with the sun shining behind it, although it's not the best photograph I've ever taken. That's all I had time for this week people, have a fabulous week and I'll catch you next weekend, same time, same place.
Until then xx |
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