Hello folks, how are you today? I'm up early writing this blog because hubby forgot to shut the bedroom door when he woke up at 4 am to get a drink of water. I'm working later on today, so by the time I'd tossed and turned in bed for an hour, I thought it was a waste of time trying hard to fall asleep as it would soon be time to wake up all over again. Black IceBlack ice, sometimes called clear ice, is a thin coating of glazed ice on a surface, especially on streets. The ice itself is not black, but visually transparent, allowing the often black road below to be seen through it. It looks really pretty when the street lights shine on it because it's crystalline structure appears to glitter, but, be afraid, be very afraid! The low levels of noticeable ice pellets, snow, or sleet surrounding black ice means that areas of the ice are often nigh on invisible to drivers or people walking on it. You might not even recognise it's presence until Wham! you are lifted off your feet and find yourself sitting on your bottom on a cold and slushy surface. It is most prevalent during the early morning hours, especially after snow that melts on the roadways has a chance to refreeze overnight when the temperature drops below freezing. Black ice can also form when roadways are slick from rain and temperatures drop below freezing overnight. Black ice tends to form on paved surfaces rather than on grass or dirt. Bridges and overpasses are also more likely to develop black ice than regular roadways since the cold air flowing beneath the bridge chills the pavement even faster. Another common location is beneath trees or other shade-producing objects like buildings. The black agate druzy teardrop I worked on all of last week has a central window with a glittery surface that reminded me of Black Ice. However, sadly, I cannot demonstrate it to you in still photographs and believe me, I've tried my damndest. The geological process that forms druzy, a layer of crystals on the rock, occurs when water brings minerals onto a rock's surface. When the water evaporates, cooling occurs and the minerals are left behind to form crystals on top of the rock. Depending on the minerals, druzy gemstones can be almost any color of the rainbow, including white, pink, blue, purple, green or black. Most druse forms as cavity lining in geodes. A border of plain agate around the druzy covered area of the stone produces the most beautiful gemstones. In most druzy, the crystals appear random and stones glitter like a fistful of tiny diamonds as the viewing angle changes with movement - like Black Ice! I sent photographs of Black Ice and The Flight of the Bumblebee to one of my clients - I knew she'd love them and that they would suit her perfectly. She had a big birthday coming up and reserved both of them as a gift to herself. DM sent me a photograph wearing earrings she picked from the Caprilicious collection; her daughter seems to love them too! She once picked up a well-appreciated necklace for her mother as a birthday gift, and I thought how gratifying it was that three generation of women loved Caprilicious. DM then requested a similar pair in blue. I dug out the findings and some blue patina, and this is what I came up with - she loved them too! That's me for today, folks. Have a wonderful weekend and I'll catch you soon.
Until then, xx
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Hello, folks, how are you today? It's raining cats and dogs out here, but it's warm and toasty indoors. The weather is Europe has gone crazy with a heat wave hitting the mainland, and the UK drenched in a swathe of rain - oops! I forgot we aren't in Europe any more! Never mind, at least the plants will get a good drenching and our little lawn will come back greener than ever. I had very little time last week for creative pursuits but I did manage to pull out some extremely pretty druzy beads hiding away in the back of a drawer and make this two stranded necklace with them. Druzy Quartz forms from repeated evaporation of silica-rich waters on the surface of an existing stone, rather than forming directly. This coating takes millions of years to form, as the silica deposits continuously re-crystallize on the surface of the stone. That’s why it’s mainly found inside geodes and seams in the bedrock. They’re considered a second-generation formation since they form separately on the surface the stone that they’re coating. Druzies are beautiful in their own right, but they are often enhanced in a chemical process called Chemical Vapor Deposition in which the druzies are exposed in a gaseous environment that contains a metal like titanium. During the process the metal bonds on a molecular level with the mineral resulting in a spectacular rainbow of colors. By varying the metals and process a host of colors and shades are created. The most common compound used is titanium but others are cobalt, Silicone-Dioxide, gold, and silver. These beads look like an oil slick has spread on water - the electric blues and vibrant golds of the oil slick are replicated in them and I teamed them with artisanal Nepalese beads, inlaid with turquoise and coral. The Oil Slick NecklaceI have been collecting materials for my next embroidered necklace - bit by bit the beads, colours, focal elements are all coming together and the piece will probably be started off this weekend. I have yet to decide whether this will be a full blown necklace or just a pendant, but I'm favouring the former. The elements have been in my cupboard for around ten years, and I've finally found a way to use them. You'll just have to wait for the pictures as they come out one by one - all I will say is that this piece will be a seascape, or at least, something related to the sea. Ideas are still swirling around in my head as I'm still unsure of the how and what - all I know is which of my stash is coming out to play. That's me for this week, folks. Have a wonderful weekend and I'll catch you soon.
Until then xx Hello everyone, how are you all on this bright and sunny morning? Green shoots are springing up everywhere and although the weather report is full of doom and gloom with high wind forecast over the weekend, my spirits are lifted every time I look out of the window and instead of brown bare soil there are tiny slivers of green. Coincidentally, I was asked to make a bright emerald green chunky necklace by a friend of mine and I jumped at the chance to reflect my surroundings. Commissioned pieces can be difficult to make because what the person envisages and what you see in your own mind may be entirely different. As customer satisfaction is what Caprilicious is all about, I sent pictures of beads that I had in my not inconsiderable stash, and some more from suppliers' websites. Pictures of necklaces already made up for design purposes, and others to confirm the colour. Price points, delivery arrangements; our phone lines were red hot with all the back and forthing that took place between us - thank you WhatsApp! However, we had one thing going for us - I know this girl almost as well as I know myself, having met on our very first day at medical school as terrified 17 year olds at rag week. We've been friends ever since and supported each other through all sorts of craziness and shared experiences. So, here's the necklace I made for her - she loves the one picture of it that I sent her, and has already made arrangements for delivery to Boston, where she lives. The Enchanted ForestI love the lost wax cast bronze sun beads from Ghana, which always make a fabulous focal counter point to the agate druzy. I've had a strand of these for ages - I've written about them before and there is a link to a previous blog post above. I picked them up in the USA when I went there in 2017. I've obviously used them very, very sparingly as I still have a couple left in 2023! I last used them in another agate necklace, which incidentally, is still available on the website. I am disappointed, however, by the inability of my camera to pick up the sugar-crystal sparkles from the druzy at the centre of each stone. Unfortunately, it can only be seen when the light plays over it in movement, and I would need to film a little video to show off that effect but haven't had the time. I used fire agate beads at the back of the necklace - the agate slab nuggets were too irregular shaped and seemed unwieldy to me, and the necklace might have been too heavy for my friend as she has a very slender neck. There are little onyx beads at the centre of each agate to hide the beading wire - I had some green wire, which I doubled to increase the tensile strength of the necklace. The other little silvery beads are electroplated haematite. That's it for this week, folks. I have to report that I finally gave up on the 'fugly' piece and took it apart, retrieving safely the elements that I could reuse. This is the first time I've had to do this, as I can usually rescue most pieces, but I lost patience with this one.
Have a wonderfull weekend and I'll try and catch you next week with a new piece i'm working on - all I can tell you now is that it promises to be a pretty piece and that flowers are involved. Take care, and I'll see you soon. Watch out for my next instalment. Until then xx Hello lovely people, how are you today? Apologies for being a bit late with this post - I've been busy with the day job and too tired to create anything, let alone write a blog post. Grief is a strange emotion - it saps you of the will to do anything constructive or creative. However, the job I do demands concentration and care, and consequently I've found that I have given my all at work and have nothing left when I get home. Losing two important people from my world in the space of eight weeks has been a bit crushing, to say the least. I have some time off, though - I had saved a lot of my holiday to go to India in February, but as I won't be going next year, I have redistributed my days off evenly, so that I can have some respite and me time. Pearls, Glorious PearlsJust about any pearl you’ll find today is a cultured pearl. Cultured pearls are an effort made by pearl farmers in order to maintain the delicate balance of nature, while still responding to the demand for pearls in the jewelry marketplace. Culturing pearls began at the very beginning of the 20th century, when several inventors discovered the techniques required in order to cultivate pearls. The most famous of these inventors is Kokichi Mikimoto, the father of Akoya pearl. Spherical pearls with a variation of less than 2% in diameter fall into the "round" category. They roll in a straight line on a flat surface. This is the most expensive shape, provided it has an adequate coating of nacre. Pearls that are not round, but look spherical to the eye, are called off-round or near-round pearls. Unlike round pearls, off-round pearls deviate more than slightly when rolled on a flat surface. Shapes that are obviously not round or slightly irregular are called semi-baroque. These include oval, drop, and button-shaped pearls. Pearls with one or more ring-like grooves around the body fall into this category. These circles are usually formed on off-round, semi-baroque and baroque shapes, and are more commonly seen in South Sea, Tahitian, and freshwater pearls. Baroque pearls are completely irregular in shape, also known as freeform. They are just as affordable as the circled pearls, and often make a more interesting jewellery design than round pearls do. The majority of freshwater cultured pearls are tissue-nucleated, so most pearls are in small or large semi-baroque and baroque shapes. Some are nucleated with flat discs or large round beads to culture coin shapes and fireball. Cultured saltwater pearls are cultivated in oysters from oceans and tropical atolls or lagoons. A perfectly round shell-bead nucleus, along with a tiny 1mm slice of donor mantle tissue from another oyster is inserted into the oyster's gonad; this is the "base" or template for the oyster to begin forming a pearl sac around and eventually begins layering crystalline nacre in concentric layers, much like an onion. The oysters are periodically brought onto land for cleaning and a health assessment. Pearl technicians take every conceivable measure to protect the oysters from disease and damage. Pearls can be harvested as early as 18 months, but the longer the pearls are left in the oyster to acquire thicker layers of nacre, the better the resulting quality. South Sea pearls, and Tahitian pearls will usually take between 2 and 3 years to form while Akoya pearls from Japan will usually take under 2 years. This means that a large, fine Tahitian or South Sea pearl necklace can take many years to properly match for size, luster and color, which is why they are so expensive. Chinese freshwater pearls are farmed in freshwater lakes, rivers and man-made ponds, and are grown within freshwater mussels. Freshwater pearls are begun by inserting tiny pieces of donor mantle tissue into the mussel; as many as twenty-five insertions may be made per valve, or each side of the shell. The mussel begins forming pearl sacs for each irritant, and after a period of about two years the pearls are harvested. Each mussel can produce a wide variety of natural colors ranging from lavender to pink and peach, bright silver white to deeper creamy/ivory shades. Clean, balanced environmental conditions are essential to the health of the molluscs and the resulting beauty of the pearls, which means that pearliculture is extremely environmentally friendly. And the best part - it is relatively easy to produce a specific pearl shape, color and size on demand and wild oyster populations, once over-fished to near extinction around the world have been given a long-deserved rest from pearl hunters and are once again allowed to flourish and regain their once plentiful numbers. A win - win situation! LilacThis one is a beaut - I've hoarded the amethyst druzy chunks for over 3 years, periodically bringing them out to marvel at their beauty. I always knew they would go into a necklace with pearls, but it's only when I received the baroque pearls in the post that I decided that their time had come to be made up. Three different shapes and sizes of pearl go into this piece as well as the beautiful amethyst beads and tiny faceted silvery haematite. This is a very modern take on a classic combination and will look great in both summer and winter, over a pullover as the necklace is 26" long. Thank you all for chatting with me today. I hope to be back at the end of the week you wish you all a Merry Christmas.
That's me for today folks. See you soon on these pages Until then xx Hello folks, thanks for joining me again this week. Another cold and drab week has gone by, the highlight of which was Mr. D J Trump making the history books. I'm also pleased to report that I had my first dose of Pfizer vaccine against Covid 19 and had no major ill effects other than a mildly sore arm for 24 hours. Now to wait for my second dose and for others to get it as well so that the world can come out to play again - and near normalcy returns. Until then, we'll just have to lie low and nimbly skip around the edges so that we don't get caught by the dreaded unmentionable. I found this image on a friends social media - isn't he beautiful? And his jewellery? Swoon! The blurb seems to suggest that the image is an ad from Gaultier. I knew I just had to share him with you. I had a whole week off, and spent the time delightfully slothful, doing absolutely nothing - sleeping late (nothing new there as I have always suffered from insomnia) but also waking up late, which is rare as I have to be at work by 9 am on normal working days. I played with beads of course, and came up with the beginnings of a new piece. That's as far as I got this week. The large black agate has a druzy window that shimmers in the light and the flame shaped stone on top is a gold vapour coated piece of druzy. Just now it is still at the fugly stage, but I'm sure that when you come back next Friday, it will be a different story - or at least, I sure hope so. That's me for this week, folks. Have a lovely week and I'll catch you next Friday, same time, same place. Stay warm, and stay safe.
Until then xx Hello all, how are you? Less than a week left to Christmas, and I hope everyone is ready for the big day. I've spent the week packing parcels, writing cards and distributing gifts like a demented Mrs Claus - and it is all done and dusted bar Christmas dinner - for which I still have to shop! Ah well, there are still five days to go and I'm sure we can codge something together. I finish work at the day job on Tuesday afternoon and I am already looking forward to a bit of peace and quiet. Windswept WavesI wanted to use a string of chisel shaped agate beads in a necklace that I've been saving for a special moment. The agate beads are rugged and have a wild beauty that reminds me of the jagged rocks around the coast of Cornwall or the Blue Grotto off the coast of Capri. I wanted to contrast the masculinity of the agate with a feminine, frothy, frilly pendant and spent a long time looking for the perfect piece but then realised that I'd be better off making my own. I wrote about the beginnings of the piece last week, here, and can now present the finished necklace. The smooth ceramic beads from Greece, the rugged, masculine agate chisels and the feminine, frilly pendant - a necklace of delightful contrasts, colour and texture. Toni Ballard, from the Mitchell Gallery in Warwick where I displayed my jewellery until they closed their physical gallery, contacted me to request a pair of earrings to match a turquoise necklace she purchased last year. I was a bit sceptical as didn't think I could match the blue of the turquoise in her necklace to any earrings I might make without the necklace in front of me to ensure a perfect colour comparison. I picked a design by Nicole Hanna and made the wire the predominant feature, using small turquoise beads. I put it in the post and held my breath - two days later I had a reply from Toni - she loved the earrings and I could breathe again. She will send me pictures, she promises, and I will share them with you when she does. I've been playing with wire and beads, and have a half finished piece, which should be ready for the blog next week. Have a fabulous Christmas, won't you, relax and have a load of fun with family and friends. Feliz Navidad from Caprilicious and I'll catch you next Friday, same time, same place. Until then xx Hello folks, aww, you came back for another peek at Caprilicious, thank you so much. It's been lovely to have you around all year. Before you go any further let me remind you that the Caprilicious payday giveaway is on for a couple of days more, until the 8th, so you still have a chance to grab those presents ( all for yourself, right? - I totally agree, you do deserve a treat!) I can see the Christmas clock ticking away relentlessly in the sidebar - only eighteen days to go, it says. If you need some help, I'll take the pain of Christmas shopping away for you, I'll pack it, gift wrap and post out for you with a little card, you only have to say the word. Do remember the Christmas post dates, please. I'd hate for you to be disappointed. Get your parcels out on time and all will be well. Last year, I had a flurry of parcels on the last postal day and I was up late into the night with ribbon and tape and wrapping paper and Michael went off in the morning to post the parcels looking like Santa himself with a sackful of gifts! This week once again was all about wire. I've come to the end of two reels of wire, one kilogram of copper each, silver plated, and then coated in nylon to prevent a build up of tarnish. I love this nylon coated wire, and it has been a best seller for Caprilicious. Unfortunately it means that I cannot give my pieces the fancy patinas that are so fashionable today, but tarnished silver plated wire looks so ugly, I've had to get over that disappointment quickly. Also, the nylon coating means that I have to be very gentle and even handed with the wire. If I don't pay it sufficient attention, and the pliers slip, it leaves a gouge mark in the nylon which is very unsightly - I've got used to manipulating it almost completely with my fingers and using the pliers to coax it into place and to tuck the ends away at the very finish. Anyway, I've got about three feet of 18 gauge wire left to use up next week before I can unpack my new reels from the wire company. SunriseThe pendant design is from a tutorial by Nicole Hanna - I've made it before, ages ago after I won it in a 'Finish It' competition she ran on her website. "What's a 'Finish it' competition", you ask? Nicole writes a tutorial, and sends out only half of it to those who enter. She allows the entrants to finish it any way they choose. She's always complimentary and very encouraging, even if you mangle her tutorial into an unrecognisable mess, and gives everyone who enters the full tutorial, and additionally there's a prize for the best design. The necklace in the picture above was made after a visit to the Newmarket bead show where I bought that rather funky hand blown glass focal bead. The polymer clay colourful beads in the necklace are hollow and bright, made from a technique taught by Orly Fuchs Galen and I thought the piece was very vibrant and circus like, so I called it 'Trapeze'. This time, I chose a more sombre palette, inspired by a picture I took early one morning of the park across the road. A slab nugget of blue/black agate, titanium coated druzy and Czech hand cut glass beads were pulled out of the stash and I'm sure you'll agree that this piece is very different from the last one. The original lives in India where the owner bought it because the necklace was 'funky'. This one was picked up a couple of days after I posted it on Instagram. I worked on the wire left on the reel almost manically, trying to end it. The more I made, it seemed like there was even more left to use. I sat in front of the TV, fingers flying, cackling and muttering incantations to myself, cursing the reel of wire under my breath. My fingertips are numb and shredded by the fine wire which cuts into the pulp. Now that my ordeal is over and I've thrown the plastic core away, it seems so crazy, but at the time, I was determined that I would see the end of the reel. I made as many pairs of earrings as I could, after all it will soon be Christmas and there will be gifts I need to put together. I am working on Christmas day and I usually take in a grab bag of little bits for all the poor midwives and doctors who have had to give up their day for the greater good. I can announce proudly that I have finished the 20 Gauge wire, and have the dregs of the second reel of 18G - hopefully I can finish that one off by the end of next week, although 18G is thicker and more difficult to manipulate, and hence less fun to play with, calling for simple designs. As you can see, I haven't had time to put ear wires on them and have taken a few quick pictures with my phone for this blog post. That's me for this week folks. I've started a piece of embroidered jewellery incorporating this strip of ribbon. Just now it is at the fugly stage and it is tempting to just put it aside and go back to the wire. In my experience embroidered pieces usually go through this stage and need a bit of perseverance, so I shall force myself to go back to it although just now the fugliness of it is very off putting. Have a fabulous week, and I'll catch you next Friday, same time, same place. Until then xx Hello folks, thanks for coming back to the Caprilicious blog. I'm looking forward to this weekend - for the first time in ages, I'm not on call at work, or entertaining, or needing to go somewhere - just chilling, and the anticipation feels great. Last weekend I had old schoolmates come to our annual reunion and we had a great time, but I was a bit exhausted after entertaining folks on two consecutive weekends. Fortunately, I had the sense to book the Monday off to recover. However, I found time to create a couple of necklaces during the week - it was a case of assembling them, really, as I'd created them in my mind a while ago. A Touch of EleganceI found the little silver dragonfly pendant while I was looking for something else altogether and knew I had to have it. The little orange sodalite teardrop that dangles from it is exceedingly pretty, too. Sodalite is a deep blue mineral named after its sodium content. Orange sodalite is a special variety with its calcite inclusions, usually white, and contains iron, presenting a beautiful rosey orange glow. This stone was first discovered in Greenland in 1811 and is now being mined in Africa. Sodalite is said to help bring rational thinking, inner peace, and a calming energy to its wearer. Keshi or 'cornflake' pearls are small non-nucleated pearls typically formed as by-products of pearl cultivation. A pearl is formed when a substance such as a piece of shell becomes embedded in a mollusc such as an oyster. A type of infection ensues, and the oyster heals itself by developing a layer of nacre over the intruding substance, walling it off from the irritant. Layers of nacre continue to form as long as the oyster is alive, and the result is a pearl. The Keshi pearl forms when the oyster spits out the nucleus before the development of the pearl has had the opportunity to finish. 'Ptooey' goes the oyster, and a Keshi pearl is formed!! SophiaThe second piece I made was to showcase a slab nugget of agate druzy that has been electroplated with titanium. I added large clear quartz beads that are hand faceted and separated them with haematite beads that are also electroplated. Druzy crystal is a configuration of many tiny sparkling crystals on the surface of a bulky crystalline body. The geological process that forms a druzy occurs when water brings minerals onto a rock's surface. When the water evaporates, the minerals are left behind to form crystals on top of the rock. With its multitude of tiny crystals, druzy possesses a reflective surface reminiscent of sugar or snow. It can be coated with titanium or other metallic vapour to create various iridescent finishes. Druzy crystal is considered to bestow strength and promote fresh ideas to guide an individual’s growth. It is also connected with harmony, patience, and optimistic love. The piece turned out so glamorous that I called it Sophia, after the most glamorous woman I know of - Sophia Loren!! That's me for this week, folks. I'm now going to get some more shut eye and slob around in my PJ's for most of this weekend as I'm back to the daily grind come next week. Have a fabulous week, and I'll catch you next Friday, same time, same place.
Until then xx Howdy folks,how are you this fine and sunny day. It's been a glorious summer this year, with more to come in the UK and I am so happy. You can feel the elevation of your mood when the sun shines all day long, we are able to take off our customary swaddling layers and wear clothes that we only normally get to wear on holidays abroad. I've enjoyed the week so much that my creative juices were running and consequently my output was pretty high. The Mitchell Art Gallery from Warwick where I used to place my jewellery contacted me with a proposal to exhibit some pieces at a show in November, and they wanted a few pieces to photograph. I'm of course the classic 'I don't have anything to wear' type of woman, and so I had to make new pieces to show the management of the Gallery at the end of July and I started a small collection of statement jewellery. The theme for this week was all about tactile texture - texture and pattern are intricately intertwined, for instance a brick wall has a distinct pattern which can also be felt when touched. We react to textures in our psyche, which allows us to mentally feel things without ever actually touching them. The Oil Slick Necklace Mark 2The beautiful druzy beads, coated with a vapour of gold and titanium, with Kenyan lost wax cast beads and a smooth moss agate clasp make up this fabulously tactile necklace. Mark one now lives in Scotland with a lady who fell in love with it almost as soon as I put it on the website a few months ago. RunesCool ceramic black beads I found in a shop in India, with brushed silver plated copper beads and a smooth black agate clasp - this one sits close to the neck like a cravat and will do well in the neckline of a shirt, among other ways to wear it. Lodestone LoveThe pendant is made of sterling silver set with magnetite and pyrite. Magnetite is called the lodestone, due to it's being weakly magnetic and a seam of pyrite runs through the main stone. Another dagger shaped piece of magnetite descends into the decollete' and has a subtle texture to it. Faceted pyrite beads in round and teardrop shapes carry the pendant, echoing the pyrite in the main stone.
So that's my week, then folks. Actually it's been a hard week at work and I've needed distraction therapy to keep me going. Perhaps that's why I found myself making so many pieces, or maybe it was the thought of the photographs for the exhibition at the Mitchell Gallery? Whatever it was, the week was very productive and a lot of fun.
That's me for this week, folks. Have a wonderful, sunny week and I'll catch you next Friday, same time, same place, Until then xx Hiya good people on the internet, nice to catch you again today. As you read this, I am girding my loins (what an old fashioned expression; to gird one's loins!! Not sure I even know what it means) to start packing my bags to fly to India tomorrow. I would have normally been flying out today, but it is Friday the 13th and I didn't want to travel - stupid, I know, but there it is! Paraskevidekatriaphobia, or a phobia of Friday the 13th comes from the Greek words Paraskeví, meaning Friday, and dekatreís meaning thirteen. It probably originates from the story of Jesus' last supper and crucifixion, in which there were 13 individuals present in the Room on Maundy Thursday, the night before his death on Good Friday. A study in the British Medical Journal, in 1993 concluded that there "is a significant level of traffic-related incidents on Friday the 13th as opposed to a random day, in the UK." However, the Dutch Centre for Insurance Statistics (2008) stated that "fewer accidents and reports of fire and theft occur on a Friday the 13th because people are preventatively more careful or just stay home". So the day is almost upon us, when my mother turns 90, fortunately able in body and entirely compos mentis. My sister in law and I have been working to set up a credible party and give her a good day, and the WhatsApp lines have been smoking hot with phone calls, invitations and messages! We will have a weekend of celebration, and horror of horrors, I am to make a speech - not sure how that happened, but it seemed like a good idea at the time when I first agreed to do it. We have a week to fine tune the party plan, and then it all happens. Oil SlickI made this necklace with three strings of titanium coated druzy agate beads. I bought them for a completely different project and then changed my mind and left them lying in the drawer until inspiration struck this week. Tibetan brass beads inlaid with coral and turquoise chips and a golden sunstone clasp complement the beads in this very pretty necklace and it has already been snapped up. The palette of indigo, purple, emerald and magenta gives the impression of an oil slick, indeed this is well known in hairdressing terms where people colour their hair in blended streaks of these colours to produce this very effect. The Silver SufiLast week I mentioned a Sufi necklace I made to order with lapis nuggets and coral. I had to send away to Istanbul for the pendant and while I was doing this, I noticed another fretwork Sufi on their website, and I simply had to have him. Whirling is a form of Sama or meditation involving physical activity, which originated among Sufis and is still practiced by Dervishes or Semazen. It is a customary meditation practice performed within the Sema, or worship ceremony, through which Semazen aim to reach the source of all perfection through abandoning one's egos and personal desires, by listening to the music, focusing on God, and spinning one's body in repetitive circles, which has been seen as a symbolic imitation of planets in the Solar System orbiting the sun. The billowing skirts of my Sufi are beautiful in fretwork, and I teamed him with titanium coated black quartz nuggets and coral as an accent and added a brass Turkomen bead as an extra point of interest. A lovely vintage Kuchi coin dangles from the back of the clasp. Plenty to look at, then! I haven't the time to organise a show in Bangalore this year, but if any of you reading this are interested, I will be carrying some of my jewellery and you are welcome to message me via the Caprilicious Facebook page and arrange to come and look at it, I'll be only too happy to see you.
That's me for this week folks, I'll catch you next Friday, same time, same place. Until then xx |
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