Hello dear readers and lovers of statement jewellery, how are you all this fine Friday in January? I am in all of a tizz, picking out my best pieces and packing them carefully so that they arrive intact for the show - have I mentioned this show before?? I'm sure I have (once or twice - at least!), but just for good measure, I've included an invitation for people who might not have been paying attention, have had an outage of their internet facilities, been living in the Outer Hebrides, meditating on one foot in the Himalayas or simply not caught up with the blog these last few weeks. I've talked to you before about my friend who makes the most exquisite bowls out of wood. Indeed, I have a couple of them for sale on this website, right here. He brought this beauty around to ask if I would be able to make a central insert using a polymer clay mosaic. He brought along a design for a yellow mosaic flower which I faithfully reproduced. It was sanded and buffed to within an inch of it's life and then handed over to be inserted into the bowl. When it was finally finished, he brought it to me to be photographed and here it is in all it's glory. My contribution to this beautiful work of art is but paltry in contrast to all the woodwork, but Shekhar seemed to think it 'lifted' the piece - and who am I to argue with a free compliment?? He obviously liked the way it turned out as he has brought me another bowl, and this time, I am to have a free hand in the design of the central insert. Bead and Jewellery Magazine ProjectI woke up to this - I'd been waiting for ages for this announcement, and here it was - Bead and jewellery magazine No 68 will be on the stands on the 1st of February with my very first project published in it. On the basis of the job I did with writing this tutorial, the editor has agreed for me to contribute two more projects this year, one of which is already completed and sent in. I really enjoyed writing up the project and taking step by step photographs. I hope there is good feedback from the readers as I would love to do more of them. These are the original beads I submitted and the necklace I made with them. Love AffairEarringsI played with beads and wire to make a few pairs of earrings - it didn't feel right to sit in front of the TV without a pair of pliers and a few beads in my hands, and herein lies the makings of an addiction. I don't really need any more stuff to carry to the show, but I just can't seem to stop myself reaching for the wire and the beads. Ring BowlsThese little bowls were made from a tutorial by Melanie West. I made them over a wet weekend in December, but they needed sanding and buffing to bring out the colours and shine on the outside. They are great fun to make, and just over 2.5" in diameter and about 2" in height. They will hold a couple of rings or a pair of earrings - I've actually got a sample piece which didn't quite turn out perfect, and I've been using it to hold tiny seed beads on a little tray in my lap.
The BLue Lotus A pendant set of three chrysocolla stones has been sitting in my stash, reproaching me for not showing it any love for ages. I bought it waaay back, when I was commissioned to make a rainforest necklace by one of my customers - I bought three sets of multi stone pendants and used two of them in the necklaces above. It was great fun making dragonflies and ants and other little beetles which were supposed to look as if they were supping at a pool made of these stones in a clearing in the rainforest. Obviously there's only that many bugs one can make so the third set of stones got tucked away until their piteous wailing was heard even with the lid tightly shut. Out they came, but I was completely stumped for ideas. Not wanting to make yet another rainforest necklace, I was scratting around at the bottom of the barrel for ideas. When a piece of jewellery that is so evocative is conceived, it is difficult to move away from it and make something completely different. That probably explains why jewellery designers often make variations on the same theme over and over again in a series. I decided I was going to try and make a peacock - much like an old favourite piece I made a couple of years ago, with the stones fanning out into the peacock's tail. By the time I finished, a couple of days later, I realised it would be impossible to balance the stones in such an awkward position, so after a hurried rebranding, we now have Blue Lotus! I enjoyed making this pendant - the original inspiration was a design by Lisa Barth, but I made the whole thing more difficult by weaving the frame for all three stones with the same length of wire - did I ever tell you that I love wire work? - I thought I might have let it slip once or twice! The necklace arrived from a vendor in Tibet and I thought it was robust enough to carry and enhance the pendant. I had been trying not to make any more jewellery before my trip to India, but unfortunately, I cannot sit still without a pair of pliers and a bit of wire in my hands, it seems almost criminal and a terrible waste of time - oh well, C'est la Vie! If something pretty comes from it, who am I to stop myself? That's all I have for today folks, have a lovely week and I'll catch you next week, same time, same place before I board the plane to India.
Until then xx
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Hello readers, how are you today? Hasn't January just flown by? It is already the 22nd, and in two weeks I will be back in India in the sunshine, having escaped from the miserable cold weather we are experiencing recently. I've started packing stuff in boxes for my show and making the last few pieces I intend to take with me. I've decided to call it a day now, and pack a few things every day - to stay away from my jewellery altogether would give me the DTs. And now I have a small favor to ask. (Don't worry, it doesn't involve lending me money.) All I'm asking is, if you have the opportunity, that you help me get the word out about the exhibition on any social media platform you happen to participate in. It can be something as simple as a tweet, or a mention on Facebook, or Tumblr, or Pinterest, or Instagram, or even Google+. Anything to raise awareness would be great! Please tell your friends - and of course come yourself, I'd love to see you. It even managed to snow this week, and although it didn't last long and melted away in a couple of days, it messed up my weekend as we had planned a little shopping trip on the very day it snowed and my credit card heaved a sigh of relief. The Tuareg OasisThis year, it feels like I've thraped the Tuareg theme to death - but I love the tribal motif and it gives me a great opportunity to play with colour and shapes - to me the word 'colour' instantly calls for polymer clay in some form. As the Tuareg amulets and pendants came strung simply on black braided thread or black glass beads, there was no limit to where my imagination could take me and no precedent to block my flights of fancy. I totally agree with the Rajasthani tribal people - the desert they wander is so sparse, and well, sandy, that their clothes have to be colourful to light up their lives. If I had my way, I'd get the Tuareg people walking about bedecked in bright colours too. The green of this pendant though pretty, is not one that I would generally pick - I like the brighter green of the parrot, or even the chili - this one is a gentle leaf green, which is soothing to the eye, but not really vibrant. Prehnite is a vaseline green colour, with inky black random smudges and goes well with the pendant to give it a soft, sophistication which isn't 'in your face', which is usually my wont. Just to vary the shapes, I added a tribalistic imitation spindle whorl bead made of polymer clay in a silvery black. I played with clay at the weekend and made these Shibori Seashell earrings designed by Carol Blackburn - love the icecream colours, don't you? A bit fed up with the cold weather, I also made some snowdrop earrings. Where are you, spring?? Happy DanceI did a happy dance - I entered a giveaway on the blog written by Pearl Blay - 'The Beading Gem's Journal' and won! I won a free webinar on how to photograph jewellery. I spent Sunday rushing around the house finishing all my chores to free myself up for seven pm which was the time allocated. I have a Canon point and shoot as well as a dslr, and have been to a couple of lessons on how to use my camera - but not with jewellery specifically. She managed to talk to dslr users, point and shooters and camera phone users all at the same time and made sense to all of them. I wasn't sure what exactly I hoped to gain, but I know that product photography is of the utmost importance and any help with this is welcome. I wanted to learn how to get a clear white background, and how to keep shiny objects looking shiny - in my opinion, silver and pearls are very difficult to photograph. Pearl gave us some really great tips on this and what sort of lighting to use. I took loads of notes and am having a lot of fun experimenting with my new-found knowledge. Before I knew it, two and a half hours had flashed by - time does fly when you're having fun! On Golden WingsI found a vendor who had Jewellery Beetle's wings that have a golden tinge to them. I simply could not resist them and just had to make them up for the show - they are not freely available in India (or if they are, I've never seen them) and I thought it would be nice to offer something exotic. I've made jewellery with Elytra before, so I tried to do something completely different with them on this occasion, using earring connectors to give them a unique look. I couldn't resist showing my pictures to my teacher - 'Look miss', I cried. And she was suitably pleased with my homework and sent me to the top of the class, which is more than I've ever achieved at school! "Can do better," my report cards always said, which I took as a compliment - at least they didn't say "DUNCE". Indian schooling is very competitive and my entire childhood was spent looking crestfallen at being made to feel a bit of a duffer. When I got to the UK, I was pleasantly surprised to hear that children were not put through the mill with hundreds of exams each year. If I wasn't such a resilient character, I might have believed that I was stupid. Happy Dance No 2At the end of last week, HOLY S*1T ( I mean WOW!), I HAD MY FIRST SALE IN MY ETSY SHOP !!! Pardon me for shouting, but I was so excited, all of it could have been in capitals, and we all know how annoying that can be. Anyway, it turned out that my first Etsy buyer is an artist called Julie Dumbarton who won Visual Artist of the Year in 2013 and 2014 and is totally in love with colour. OMG, pressure, or what?? I chewed my nails until I couldn't wait any more and sent her mail asking if she'd received it. Eventually that day it reached her in Scotland and I had an email from her to say she loved the piece - Phew! I can breathe again. That's me for this week, folks. Here's a picture of my boys having a snooze on my bed - aren't they sweet? Have a fabulous weekend and I'll catch you next week, same time, same place. Until then xx Hello my lovely readers, thanks for coming back for your weekly look into the goings on at Caprilicious. It is a cold, wet January - but not as bad as it could have been. My thoughts are all in sunnier climes - in a few weeks I am off to see my family in India and although I am trying hard to keep a lid on it, little gurgles of excitement escape me at unexpected moments, reminding me that although I have lived and worked in the UK for ages and ages, a piece of my heart is firmly rooted in India. The colours, sounds and smells of India beckon me - and I always respond with a quickening of the pulse. Sometimes the reality doesn't live up to my expectations and I get a bit grumpy - no one likes change or disappointment, but hey, you can't have it all! It is that time of year again, to display my art and wait to see how it will be received. I hope to meet a lot of you and your friends there - do come and talk to me. This week has been all about supporting the junior doctors in their strike action and making sure the hospital was staffed safely for the patients. Mike went to the supermarket and took the juniors a load of carbohydrates to keep their inner fires stoked as it was a bitterly cold and rainy day out there on the picket line outside the hospital. The Evolution of the FrankenButterflyLast week I talked about my polymer clay "Frankenbutterfly" cane. Here are some pictures of how it evolved. I put all the components together, let it rest for a while, reduced it in size, and gasped as it began to look like nothing on earth! I held my nerve and my breath and cut it in half and.....exhale! There it was, my Frankenbutterfly. The clip above is from The Young Frankenstein - it is a classic film made in 1974 by Gene Wilder and Mel Brooks, and if you haven't seen it, it is one you should not miss, do look out for it, I guarantee you loads of laughs. LhasaLhasa, or The Place of the Gods is the administrative capital of what is now the "Tibet Autonomous Region of the People's Republic of China". It is the second most populous city on the Tibetan Plateau and, at an altitude of nearly 12,000 ft, Lhasa is one of the highest cities in the world. The inlaid brass beads in this necklace come from Tibetan vendors. Turquoise and red coral are much sought after in Tibet. They are at the opposite spectrums of colour and this is believed to enhance lives and bring good luck to the wearer. Tibetan turquoise is sought after by Nepalese and Tibetan people for its spiritual powers as well as its beauty. The New Year Giveaway I decided to run a New Year giveaway on the Caprilicious Facebook page and I put Pavo up as the prize. People had to like the necklace and say how or where they would wear it. The giveaway attracted around thirty five people - I assigned each one of them a number and put the numbers into a random number generator, and drew three numbers. The first number drawn was 16, which was assigned to Maggie Leitch Craig. If this lady does not get in touch I will contact the second lady on the random number list and then the third. I will also give all the ladies who cared to enter the giveaway a code, which they can apply to any purchase they make from Caprilicious for a couple of months. They are obviously sophisticated ladies who appreciate a nice piece of handmade jewellery and I am so pleased that they took the time to engage with the competition. Thats a wrap for this week folks. I will catch you next week, same time, same place. Have a great week,
xx Hello readers, by the time this edition of the blog hits your screens we will be well into boring old January, with all the fun and anticipation of the festive season behind us and only the wonders of a wet weekend to look forward to. At this time of year I generally try to spend some time taking stock of myself and my development in the past years, and to look back at the giants in my chosen art form. This year I am mesmerised by the work of Professor Mary Lee Hu from Seattle who translates fibre arts and basket weaving into her work with wire. Having started with brass and finding that this worked, she now uses 18 and 22K gold in her beautiful jewellery. It is said that she takes a good half an hour to weave an inch of the jewellery she makes and when you see it, you will wonder why it doesn't take longer.
Sheesh! Did I just say just a couple more wires, and just a bit longer?? - I must have been out of my tiny mind! Toc! Toc! Toc! Here it is - I brought the wires together and split them up, twisting them as I did so and then back together again - There are sixteen wires in total in this piece, each one about two feet long, all bound together with fine wire - yes, Toc! Toc! Toc! indeed. Oh, and by the way, I have to give my cat Charlie credit for part of the weave! And Wilfred even very kindly agreed to model it for me when I needed to try it out. SymphonyGiveawayIn the spirit of welcoming the New Year, I decided to host a giveaway on the Caprilicious Facebook page. The giveaway runs till the 15th of January. All you have to do is to head over to Facebook - follow the link above, like the picture of the necklace and tell me how or where you would wear it. The FrankenButterflyI did it, I did it, I managed to finish off all those old canes - they came from a series by Marie Segal, made three years ago. I ended up with a bunch of ring trays, a tutorial for ring bowls that I am yet to use and an empty box where I used to store all those canes. I woke up one morning with a vision - I saw a brightly coloured door number for our front door in polymer clay in my dreams. I jumped out of bed and drew my vision ( yes, I am now a certifiable Toc! Toc!) on the first piece of paper I could lay my hands on. It has a large butterfly in profile and a flower on the top of the number which is going to be made of all the canes I am going to repopulate my recently emptied box with. I spent a happy afternoon making the beginnings of a butterfly cane. This is the first time I have made something from my imagination armed with a load of images from the internet (not to mention my 'vision') so I have no idea what it will look like when it is reduced, but let's just wait and see - anyway, there's no waste with this fabulous medium. This insect is really a Franken butterfly as it is made from an amalgamation of at least 4 images, as if I have tried to improve on nature. As I only have time to work with clay at weekends, this is as far as I have got. I shall make the other canes, one by one and then put them all together in my door furniture. Before this, I have to reduce this behemoth without distorting it. I'm not sure whether it ought to be a standalone number or part of a tile - d'you have any thoughts?? I will be back in Bangalore in February and running my exhibition at Raintree on the 12th and 13th of February - you are all invited, of course. Do come by and talk to me - I would love that. There's a lovely little cafe/patisserie just around the corner and we can have a cuppa if it is quiet. Have a fabulous week and I'll catch you next week, same time, same place,
Until then xx Dear readers, Happy New Year to you all. 2016 is going to be a fabulous year, I can feel it in my waters! Statement necklaces are going to become bigger, more tribal and multi layered and more 'Capriliciousy', and you and I are going to have a great time together. Apparently, tattoos are competing with jewellery to make a statement, but I would only have a tattoo if I could change my skin to suit my mood - imagine what fun that would be! One could always come out in zebra stripes if not entirely sure of themselves, zebras are cute too. In the absence of that possibility, I'm afraid I shall stick with jewellery. Besides, tattoos involve a bit (a lot) of pain and I couldn't be doing with that. Earrings are set to be larger, longer shoulder dusters, and asymmetrical earrings are very, very in, with long, single earrings even more fashionable, perhaps with a little stud in the other ear. Tassels, fringes, and geometric shapes are all in this year- Oh, there's more than enough to keep me busy and happy. The choker necklace is still in - what a non surprise! I've loved torque choker necklaces and have been winding and weaving wire into these shapes all of this year, so we are well before the rest of the crowd at Caprilicious. Jewellery with writing on it - names, slogans, and poetry is set to become popular - probably for the same people who have 'mum' written into heart shaped tattoos, or LOVE and HATE on their knuckles in ink. Slogan jewellery will also appeal to those who constantly post other people's wisdom and memes on their Facebook pages, possibly because they firmly believe that if there's no such thing as an original thought, why bother to use their brain cell? Buddha/Einstein/Groucho Marx - they've said it already, so why not just repeat it? Oh and look, they've even put a pretty drawing with it! How clever! And tons of people press the 'like' button, fingers rushing to follow each other with an unerring herd instinct. For Hands That do Dishes
However, there is still a need to wash the occasional dish (damn and blast!) and for those moments, I made these little ring trays so that delicate rings can be taken off while you do them and then cream your hands - yes, creaming your hands is important, readers - even though they have been trying to hoax women into believing it since the 60's, no amount of Fairy liquid will keep your hands soft. For those of you who are lucky enough to have a human dishwasher - perhaps a well trained child or husband, the ring trays will come in handy while you cream your hands. Just be nice, and supply your human dishwasher with some cream too. It was great fun making them - I set myself a challenge to finish as many as possible of the old polymer clay canes in my stash, so that I could eventually make new ones to replace them, I'm sick of the same ones popping up all the time. I took pictures of the process, more to remind me of how to do it should I wish to repeat the exercise some day. When I finished for the day, my table resembled the site of a minor explosion. It was so hard to resist the temptation to clean up, but resist I did - the task I set myself was to devise a way not to waste a single scrap - after all, those canes were a result of a lot of hard work. Unfortunately two of the trays I made fell apart and I threw them away after a long repair job that just wouldn't go right ( oh well, some waste is inevitable). I ended up with seven trays, as well as buying a new tutorial from Melanie West for ring bowls which I will use on another occasion. I put another thicker layer of clay over the previously made backs and embellished them with slices of cane to my heart's content. One more session in the oven and I added bun feet, using a spirit level to make sure the trays stood completely flat and put them back in for a third session in the oven. Left over scraps of cane were collected up to make swirly feet for some of the trays. I think they came out real pretty, don't you? My sweet friend Bernadette collects bits and pieces for me to use with polymer clay on her travels. The last time she came up she brought me a bag of box clasps set with misshapen Mabe pearls, which I extracted and then inlaid with polymer clay canes. This time it was a set of six wooden napkin rings and I decided that the remnants of a loaf of rainbow cane would be just right to prettify them. I used a guillotine called the Lucy Slicer to cut the slices of veneer really thin so that it would go further. In the end, I had used every scrap of cane and even had to put in a flower from another cane to make up the shortfall - you can see that in the picture on the left, above. As described by Ginger Davis Allman of the Blue Bottle Tree, I used three acrylic blocks behind the slab of cane so that every scrap could be cut really thin. Of course, if only I had read her article properly (or used my common sense), I'd have been saved the grazing of the knuckles and the slicing of the finger which ensured that my ring bowls were liberally anointed with blood - it does wash out, though. What's a bit of blood spilled in the pursuit of one's art form, eh? ExoticaThis necklace was made on Christmas day, once the meal had been eaten and we had taken a walk in the park to help the meal go down a bit. Charlie and Wilfred loved the beef I had roasted, under instruction from Delia Smith and they collapsed in a heap. I pulled out a spool of wire and wove me a torque necklace. Embellished with Swarovski squares and daisy beads, curls, swirls and weaves it is a very exotic piece of jewellery. Wouldn't it look fabulous with a low cut floaty outfit? It remains for me to wish all of you a very very happy New Year. I hope 2016 will bring us all peace, prosperity and happiness. Catch you next week, same time, same place. Until then, enjoy yourself, while you're still in the pink!!
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