Hello folks, how are you today? In the UK we are in yet another lockdown situation which, truth be told should have come a bit earlier, and the USA has turned into a Banana Republic. A hard frost grips the land and it is very cold outside, although not as bad as the temperatures in the Ban.. sorry USA. At least they have ratified a new POTUS now and can begin to heal. I've had a long week off work, sleeping late every night and lying in every morning. I usually save up a lot of leave till January so that I can make my customary visit to India to see my mother but this year I have plenty of days left that I have to take before the end of the financial year for fear of losing them. On the first day of the New Year, I received a note from a customer in the USA who is herself a jewellery maker. She dropped in on my stint at The Earrings Show and picked up three pairs of earrings, which took four long anxiety ridden weeks to get to her in South Carolina, due to Covid and Christmas. I was worried that she might complain about the length of time her parcel took to get to her, but no, she was so complimentary that she started my year off with a warm glow! I guess it goes to show that everyone needs validation and encouragement, and a virtual hug goes a long way towards giving people a sense of value. In turn, I send one out to you, do feel free to pass it on. I spent the week chilling out in front of the TV making 'fringies'. I also taught myself some new bead embroidery stitches from videos on You Tube - I'm so grateful to the ladies who posted them, as I couldn't have learned these new techniques without help. Here is an 'alternative' view of the earrings I made this week - once made, I wrapped the fringes with an elastic band, having wet them first. This 'sets' the fringes overnight, so that they drape properly when released. I have a few more days till I go back in to work, and will most likely start on a new necklace tomorrow. It is hubby's birthday and Leicester theatre has announced an online showing of Sunset boulevard - we're going to dress up and watch it, I only hope the technology works. If you want to join us, and support the theatre at the same time, click on the link - it costs only £20 per home. That's me for this week folks. Stay warm and safe, and I'll catch you next Friday, same time, same place. Until then xx
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Hello folks, thank you for joining me again today. I've been a bit under the weather this week and have had to will myself to better health. The latter half of the week has been spent in Manchester at a meeting to do with the day job, that had to be attended as part of a long standing commitment. I took delivery of a bunch of little silver pendants from a vendor in Indonesia and this time I went for bright colours and contemporary shapes. The pendants look lovely on their own, and I hope that any way I choose to string them will enhance them. I especially love the black pendant - it is pyrite in black magnetite and the stone at the bottom is a rough black tourmaline. I have no plans for any of them as yet, and that's part of the fun of it all - I never know what's going to emerge until it does. Mambo ItalianoThe pendant is made from a stone called Rainbow Calsilica - it is a manmade stone, but nevertheless very pretty. It reminds me of Fordite which is basically layers of paint cut into slabs and cabochons. Rainbow Calsilica is bright and colourful and this pendant has a dragonfly hovering over it and is accented with peridot and garnets. The pendant has such a happy vibe that I thought it would be a complete shame to string it with a monochromatic necklace. I borrowed a bit of style and penchant for colour from the Italians for inspiration and pulled out a bunch of colour enhanced jade teardrop beads. I've been people watching in quite a few Italian cities, and the women always look relaxed and elegant, as if they take ages to put themselves together. But, as I discovered when I met a couple of them, their secret is in the casual flinging on of a colourful accessory over a simple and well cut monochromatic outfit. There's always a splash of colour - a scarf, a necklace, a belt or coloured shoes. Describing Italian women, I have several thoughts in my mind - mainly 'easygoing sex appeal' and 'bombshell'. I have tried to put these thoughts into this piece of jewellery - I want it to shriek sunshine and Vespas, Roman Holiday and fruit trees in the summer. I was idly leafing through my pictures from a visit to Venice and these are some of the pictures that inspired the necklace I called Mambo Italiano So here it is, Mambo Italiano in Burano colours........ Blue GlassI made this one a couple of weeks ago - it is of silvered blue glass and freshwater pearls - pretty, simple and easy to wear. It looks very pale in comparison to the one above - but hey! some people like bright and some like pale and interesting. Me? I'm a true Caprilicious woman - it depends on my mood, the lunar cycle, the weather, and whatever dictates my capricious little mind! So as you're reading this, I am up in Manchester at the Safety Collaborative waiting to get back home to Mike and Wilfred. That's all I have for you this week, folks. I'll catch you next Friday, same place, same time, in the meanwhile, have a great week
xx Hello readers, and lovers of unusual handmade statement jewellery, it is nice of you to drop by the Caprilicious blog this week. Today, it is three years since Caprilicious was born. To thank my supporters, I had a giveaway of six pairs of snowdrop earrings - And the winners of the Caprilicious Jewellery Birthday giveaway are - drumroll....................... Eilidh Webster, Lorraine Szymanski, Lucy Sampson, Isobel Neilan, Luisa Heaton and Gillie Mayer - congratulations and thanks for entering the giveaway. I hope all those who entered found something to treat yourself with, using the Promo code - everyone's a winner at the Caprilicious Birthday party! I would appreciate it if you ladies would follow the Caprilicious blog using either of the links in the sidebar, and I will send you some pretty pictures on the blog each week. Staying with the party theme, I celebrated by making some Blingcandescent necklaces - I was on a roll this week! I bought some beautifully shiny trapezoid shaped crystals - you saw some of them used last week- and spent a considerable amount of time separating the loose crystals and putting them in colour coded boxes so that I could get to them easily, and picking out gemstone beads to go with them. I drew my inspiration from the pictures above, mixing colours with gay abandon - a pinch of this, and a drop of that, a bit of Bling, and loads of colour. Of course one man's Gaudi, is another man's gaudy, not everyone is happy to wear so much colour - I wait to see how these pieces are received with interest. From what I have seen, colourful pieces are eye catching, but then some people seem to mentally shake their heads, drop the piece and move away from it quickly, as if it is going to rear up on it's hind legs and bite them. I am keen to start a colour revolution - Up With Colour, I say! Colour blocking is a trend that creeps in and out of fashion and is very 'in' at the moment. It is the technique of using blocks of several different solid colors together in one outfit or accessory in a simple, yet extremely interesting look. Of late I have been using this technique a lot, in my effort to make my jewellery colourful. Colour blocking never looks dated as it seems to come back in fashion just as you think it is going out! Colori Colori is the Italian word for colours, and that seemed like a good place to start. The pale gold of the crystals seemed to be begging for an injection of colour, so I gave in enthusiastically - agate, quartz, and cats eye glass were all mixed in to give this necklace a multicolour appeal. Razzle Dazzle The name for this necklace was lifted from a song from one of my favourite shows - Chicago. Here's a little clip from the movie... Sodalite and dyed green howlite beads were combined with deep blue crystals and Czech glass for maximum Blingcandescence. Silk Road - Tribal Bling The Silk Road is a trade and cultural transmission route through regions of the Asian continent, serving traders, pilgrims, monks, soldiers, and nomads. It stretches from China and India to the Mediterranean Sea. Besides a trade in silk, paper and other goods from 206 BC, the Silk Road which stretches over 4000 miles, carried another commodity - it was the vehicle which spread Buddhism through Central Asia. I recently took delivery of a package containing pewter Buddha beads and just had to use some of them. The rest of the necklace was strung using polymer clay beads that I made myself in an attempt to keep the necklace light, rather than use gemstones which would give the wearer a pain in the neck through sheer weight. The faux lapis nuggets contrast well with the yellow and black 'trade beads', and tassels of sari silk were added to the pendant. A migraine inducing overdose of Blingcandescence meant that the crystals had to be put away for a while and I made a necklace using what the traders call 'Rain Flower Stone' - which on further research is actually dyed white jade with pretty splotches of colour. Sometimes the beauty of the bead outweighs it's perceived value - I don't care what they are called, as long as they are not being passed off as genuine precious stones. Mint Chocolate I contrasted the yellows and greens of the rain flower stone with mint green chrysocolla lentil shaped beads - it reminded me of the cool colours and taste of mint chocolate. This is a necklace that is cool and screams sophistication for the 'ladies who lunch' - I see it worn in the neckline of a white shirt at a venue with tinkling fountains and perfumed interiors, cool as the mint in mint chocolate. Cinnamon The spicy warmth of wooden beads that resemble cinnamon sticks, with muted crystals that gleam gently against the skin - another one for the lunchers, easily taking them to an evening do from their luncheon party. I can almost taste the spicy mulled wine one would drink when wearing this piece - very evocative of Christmas mornings and the unwrapping of presents. Over The Rainbow I restrung opaque crystals in four colours with contrasting agate teardrops and added a hand carved aventurine clasp - you couldn't ask for more colour blocking than this! This necklace is named after the famous Judy Garland song in The Wizard of Oz, although the colours are bright, it is a very sophisticated piece of jewellery. Smoke on the Water Smoke on the water was inspired by an image for free wallpaper I found online - the blues and greys in the picture are echoed in the crystals. Fire in the Sky Anyone who knows their heavy metal will recognise the names of the last two necklaces as lyrics from a song by Deep Purple. We listened to a lot of Purple in my misspent youth - a touch of nostalgia here. The colours for Fire in the Sky came from a picture of an afterglow at sunset. That's as much as I had time for this week - my muse was obsessed with Bling, and neglected the spools of wire that were waiting sadly on the sidelines. I love those trapezoid shaped crystals and have a few more to make up next week. In the meantime, have a great weekend and catch you next week, same time, same place.
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