Hello, and good day readers. I hope you are all keeping safe and well and out of danger. In ten days time, we will be allowed more freedom than we have had for a long time - but I think I'll take a rain check on it and wait just that bit longer before venturing out into the world. I feel a bit institutionalised and overwhelmed - to suddenly have the freedom to go to the movies or a theatre, or to meet up with friends in a pub - EEP! Just a bit too difficult to digest. People about to be released from prison usually experience fear, anxiety, excitement, and expectation all mixed together, and I'm sure you will all recognise one or more of these emotions in yourself. I certainly do, although I've worked throughout the pandemic and gone in every day, met people and done all the things I did before Covid hit us, albeit now in a mask and visor. The only member of our household who was happy through the pandemic restrictions and will most certainly be cross when they are lifted is Wilfred - he loved having us at home, waiting on him hand and foot, at his beck and miaow! SerenityTo calm myself down I made a serene necklace of pale green, graduated amazonite, with just the right amount of brown veining running through the beads. Crystal Vaults tells me that 'amazonite beckons in captivating shades of turquoise-green, promising to soothe the spirit and calm the soul. Its energy is as powerful as the river for which it is named, and as bold as the legendary women warriors with whom it is connected, yet it tempers aggression, tames the irrational, and stills disquiet. It provides harmony and balance. As a powerful talisman of healing and prosperity, Amazonite has been used in jewelry and cut into beads since the time of the early Mesopotamian cultures.' And the write-up goes on amusingly to say, 'Hide an Amazonite in a child’s or teen’s bedroom to encourage tidiness, and keep a dish of Amazonite on the kitchen table to persuade others to assist more with chores.' Do try it and see if this tip works for you. I contrasted it with a large vintage Moroccan copper bead, set asymmetrically to one side. All this week I've spent an hour or two every evening patiently sewing tiny beads onto a piece of printed velvet, which I will eventually turn into a bracelet. Obviously, it's going to be a while before I finish it - I have yet to completely pick out all the yellow bits and will then fill in the rest of the colours. I hope it works out as I have envisaged, but it will definitely be a long time before it is done and dusted. I have draped the velvet over an aluminum form which is how it will be held in shape once it is completed. I'm going to end here - it is about 230 am - we got caught up in watching a movie on Netflix and it's time I went to bed. Have a great week people, and I'll catch you next Friday, same time, same place. Until then xx
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Happy Friday, dear readers, how nice to have your company again this week. I have been busy booking my next holiday - it will soon be January and time to visit my 89 year old mother in India again. I find that I get very depressed after a holiday ends, and the only antidote to that is to book another almost immediately. One does need something to look forward to, don't you think? A visit to Bangalore means of course, that I will take Caprilicious Jewellery with me and have a little show, once more at Raintree. I've got used to the place and the way they work, and am comfortable with the footfall there. This time, an old friend from university has a daughter who is to be married in Mysore (two and a half hours from Bangalore) and I am invited. I get to wear my silks and jewellery and it promises to be a grand affair. I love to wear my sarees and walk with a swishy/gliding movement, rather than striding and stomping along like a great galumphing heffalump in my regular trousers and skirts. The family is related to the Mysore royal family and it should be an interesting and lavish affair. Indian weddings are crazy, raucous, and a load of fun, where everyone has a good time except perhaps the hapless bride and groom who wear heavily embroidered and embellished clothes that weigh a ton, and sit sweating by a fire in the heat of an Indian summer, their eyes smarting from the smoke, with the weight of their attire, headgear and make up hampering their every move. I've done my time a long time ago, and now it is somebody elses turn. September is always a manic month in maternity units up and down the country and this year has been no different. Although I had very little time to spare, I played with my beads and braids and an amazonite cabochon caught my eye - I've had it in my stash for ages. Surrounded by hundreds of little tiny Japanese seed beads and strips of soutache braid, this stone sprang to life - I realise now why I let it sit in my stash for such a long time. Set in a conventional manner it's beauty would prove very muted and in my opinion, it's colours have been brought out by the South Western colour scheme of the pendant. I hung it on a simple torque necklace and covered the back with ultrasuede to keep it clean and tidy. I made a couple of pairs of earrings to match a couple of necklaces I made previously - I personally do not believe in wearing more than one piece of jewellery at a time as I tend to think it dilutes the effect of a statement, but a lot of people are used to this concept and ask for earrings to go with their necklaces. And who am I to argue? After all, the customer is always right!! That's me for this week, dear readers. I am due to have yet another busy week and am not looking forward to it. Caprilicious Jewellery will have a stall at a Family Fun day in Nuneaton on the 23rd of October in aid of a couple of charities with our maternity unit as a major beneficiary. If any of you are in the vicinity, do come by. Thanks for joining me today. Have a fabulous week, and I'll catch you next week, same time, same place Until then, xx |
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