Hello everyone, how have you been this week? Last weekend was a bit damp, but I'm hoping that this one will be better as my garden is crying out for weeding and planting into the bare spots where the frost has killed off my perennials. A trip to the garden centre is written in my stars (as well as a massive bill). A lot of our garden is permanently in dappled shade and it is quite a challenge to find plants that flourish there and are disliked by the slugs and snails that love shady, wet corners. The necklace I made this week was commissioned by my bestie - she walked around a market in Boston, USA, and saw a necklace that she fell in love with but walked away from because she is a careful buyer and doesn't impulse buy like the rest of us (me). She used to drive me crazy when we went shopping as young women, with her shopping technique. 'I want this one, but in another colour and another print, in a different material,' was the constant refrain. She took a grainy picture of the necklace and sent it to me - could I make one like it, please? I do not like to copy another person's work, however, this was basically a string of interesting beads, and the challenge was to identify the beads, find them, and then restring them for her. And so the work/fun began. She told me that the beads were a really pretty shade of pink. I guessed that they were most likely rhodochrosite, although her dreadful photograph was pretty inconclusive, so I sent her pictures of the beads I found. I got a question in return - why rhodochrosite and not rhodonite? What was the difference? Obviously, as a scientist and researcher, she wasn't going to take my word for it; thankfully I knew the answer. Both rhodochrosite and rhodonite are predominately pink. What sets them apart visually tends to be the veining and banding. With pink rhodochrosite, white or gray bands typically run across the stone. They tend to be mainly parallel to one another. Pink rhodonite, on the other hand, has dramatic black smudges. Rhodonite commonly has a notable matrix of black manganese oxide, which contrasts dramatically against the pink. While there is some veining, it doesn’t tend to create the distinct parallel lines one finds in rhodochrosite. The next task was to actually find the right beads - I hunted high and low - shops in India, China and the USA were scoured for these beads at a reasonable price. I even bought some from China, but they were the wrong size and have since been used in another piece, Melange. I looked on Etsy but the prices were prohibitive. Eventually I found a string of beads at a wholesaler in Oregon, USA and had them sent out to my friend, who thankfully said that she approved! Now we had to find a way of getting them to me, and the finished necklace back to her. Fortunately, she found someone who works in the UK, but was going to conference in the US in April who kindly agreed to carry them to me. Pushpa's Pink NecklaceI added a few chunky, rough nuggets of strawberry quartz, a couple of silver tone beads that ought to age and tarnish well with time and a rhodochrosite seahorse clasp that has been sitting in my stash for a few years now. This was not part of the original remit, of course, so I was careful to make the piece so that the clasp could work to one side, should she wish, or at the back if not. I'm quietly confident that she will like the clasp, however, it can always be changed if she doesn't. To my mind, one doesn't go to a jewellery designer for an 'ordinary string of beads kinda necklace!' There has to be something that sets my pieces apart from the run of the mill, and it would grieve me to be accused of being that. The clasp has been cut so that part of the ring is slimmer than the rest, so that it fits easily under the chin of the seahorse, and once it is in place, the ring is turned so that the necklace remains secure due to the weight of the beads and because the thicker part of the ring cannot escape from under the hook/chin. So, what d'you think? Will she like it? Do you? I've also been sewing beads onto my next piece, a few at a time. For the first time, I had a design in mind when I started, and drew it out onto the felt - much good that did me, though, because I've already altered it thrice since I started! I might have it ready for display in a couple of weeks. For some reason, I've picked pink as the predominant colour once again. However, I have a cunning plan to water down the 'pinkness' of it so it doesn't look too girly - this is most definitely a grown up's necklace.
Have a wonderful weekend, folks, and I'll catch up with you later. Until then xx
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Hello people, how are you? As this blog post is published, I will most likely be waiting in line for my PCR test to come back in Bangalore airport, or if I'm very lucky, on my way into town towards home quarantine for a week before I can get out and enjoy meeting people for a couple of weeks. I go with major trepidation, mixed with excitement at the thought of seeing my family. The prospect of catching the awful bug does not fill me with joy, as you can imagine. A landmark trial from Imperial College, London indicates that exposure to a single nasal droplet is sufficient to become infected with Covid-19. I am not keen to catch the damn thing, and even less keen to spread it to a 94 year old mother - just imagine the shame of it, if I'm instrumental in finishing her off!! Eep! It doesn't bear thinking about - needless to say I shall be extremely careful. I spent the week preparing for my holiday, getting clothes together and tying off loose ends at work. Packing is always a last minute exercise and I've just got my suitcases weighed and ready to go tomorrow morning. I still have bits and bobs to throw into my hand luggage and then I'm leaving on a jet plane, leaving my lovely hubby behind for a few weeks. Forever AmberThis week, I took delivery of a string of rough nuggets of amber - to my mind, amber is a mystical substance, known since at least 320BC, and is the fossilized resins from extinct coniferous tree trunks. Trees usually release a form of resin to make their trunks resistant to the attacks of parasites and insects. These resins also heal internal damage, keeping the tree healthy and safe. Over time, the resin evolves as an organic fossil which we now call Amber. Because it originates as a soft, sticky tree mass, amber sometimes contains animal and plant material, trapped as inclusions. Amber can be coloured from yellow to a dark brown/ green. The most valued form of amber is one that still has traces of the organic life which at one point was trapped in the tree trunk. Being light and buoyant, amber floats in water and is found on seashores, especially the ones in Northern Europe. Amber is commonly found on the beach after a storm. In the Baltic regions, several glaciers destroyed resin-bearing trees. When buried, the resin in these trees fossilized as amber. It takes many many years for a piece of amber to be formed and I had read somewhere that when lit using a match, one can prove that the substance is truly amber rather than a synthetic imitation made of plastic if it burns without an odour. It can also be dissolved using alcohol and chloroform, but as I don't have the latter and wouldn't waste the former on such an errand, I pulled off a tiny piece from one of the nuggets, held it with tweezers and lit it with a match - and hooray! it burned with a gentle flame, minimal smoke and disappeared when the flame died down. This is certainly not plastic. To bring some bright colour into the piece I added a flower made of blue dyed howlite, electroformed into the shape of a flower, and added some simple lapis beads to the back of the necklace for comfort. The piece is light, belying its chunkiness, and I love it. As I walked back into the house I saw this tree trunk with lichen growing from it - or are they mushrooms? Whatever it is, it's beautiful and I had to take a photograph or two. Well that's me for now, folks. I will be imprisoned in my mother's house all of next week, so I shan't have much to say. I'll catch up with you when I get back from India, at the end of the first week in March.
Until then, stay safe and keep warm xx Hello lovely people, how are you today? It turned a year since the UK first went into lockdown on the 23rd of March - a time for introspection and for being grateful for all the hard work put in by my colleagues in the NHS. I lit a candle in my porch that night in gratitude, and in memory of those who didn't survive, notably a wonderful woman called Dawn Downes, who was a theatre practicioner when I first came to Nuneaton over 20 years ago - she was a load of fun, larger than life, and an all round good egg. We became friends over the patients we cared for and later on over Caprilicious when she helped out with displays at shows. I will miss her cheerful presence in the hospital. Ebony and IvoryBefore any one gets on the 'OMG! ivory!!' bandwagon, there's neither ebony nor ivory in this piece, the name is just a play on monochrome. The hand cut chunks of black tourmaline have their crystals aligned in parallel, vertical lines which make a beautiful pattern on the outside of the beads. The most spectacular tourmaline crystals are formed by hydrothermal activity when hot waters and vapors carry the elements needed to form tourmaline into pockets and fractures, which offer space for crystal growth. The tourmaline crystals formed in these cavities range in size from tiny millimeter crystals to massive prisms weighing over 100 kilograms. The baroque pearls come from Bali and are heavy, large, creamy and luscious. Baroque pearls are pearls with an irregular non-spherical shape. They aren't all regular and round like grandma's pearls. Shapes can range from minor aberrations to distinctly ovoid, curved, pinched, or lumpy shapes. Most cultured freshwater pearls are baroque because freshwater pearls are mantle-tissue nucleated. I started embroidering a new necklace this week - this one will be simple, but still hopefully gorgeous in all its simplicity. Here are some pictures from the first few steps. And now for the strange dichotomy of the painful, yet enjoyable process of filling in the blank spaces between the beetle wings with tiny black beads. I want the necklace to highlight the beauty of the colours of the wings and the crystals, so a plain black background seemed the obvious answer. I've had a few days off from work, trying to finish as much of my annual leave as possible before it expires on the 1st of April. However, I made the fatal mistake of bringing my work laptop home and have found myself joining meetings on Teams, writing proformas and checking my emails. However, it's nice not to have to actually go in and to be able to slob around in my PJs, bare faced and hair uncombed in a knot on top of my head. People at work probably wouldn't recognise me if they dropped in! I saw these flowers when I went out to the conservatory to take my photographs - this one has sat at the back of my border for 15 years and comes back every winter - I rarely look at it because it is tucked away in the garden at the back of the house, and blooms only in winter - I almost never go out into the garden in the cold, being a tropical person. It is called Helleborus foetidus - not sure why as it isn't particularly stinky. I keep meaning to get some more, but haven't bothered - it is a boring green plant all year and flowers when it knows I'm not looking! That's me for this week, folks. Have a good week and I'll catch you next Friday, same time, same place.
Until then xx Hello people, how are you. It is raining outside, and the clouds are grey and the sky threatening more rain. Added to that my knee is giving me a bit of gypp. So, not much to celebrate here, then! Why do I feel all excited and smiley in spite of this? Well, I caught sight of the Pantone colours for fashion for the autumn of 2019 today - and they are rich and vibrant, very me, very Caprilicious. Usually I look at the predictions and go "Pshaw!!", and carry on with my own colour combinations. I simply cannot seem to create in colours that resemble fust, must, or dust! I just get creative constipation and the ideas wont flow one little bit. Now rust is another matter, I love the oranges and burnt sugar colours that come from the oxidation of iron. This week I made a couple of necklaces in the Pantone colours for 2019, even before I knew what they were. Prescient, or what?? Autumn/Winter 2019/2020 colours reflect a new level of colour complexity; sophisticated and strong; a meaningful palette of colour that empowers and instills confidence. Displaying endlessly varied combinations, colour stories exhibit a mix of nuances, creating the feeling of freedom to create one’s own personalised identity. Rich tones, indeed, and the words 'confidence and empowerment' are close to my heart as that is what Caprilicious sets out to do. Strong women who express themselves freely are in the majority in the Caprilicious Tribe, and the rest of is made up of ladies who use my jewellery as a sort of armour, something to aid them in their quest for self confidence. Either way, the word 'empowerment' is fitting in the context of statement jewellery in general and Caprilicious, most definitely. Agate is a rock consisting primarily of crystalline silica, alternating with microgranular quartz. It is characterized by its fineness of grain and variety of color. Most agates occur as nodules in volcanic rocks or ancient lava in former cavities produced by volatile gases in the original molten mass. They were then filled by siliceous matter deposited in regular layers upon the walls. Agate has also been known to fill veins or cracks in rock. Such agates, when cut transversely, exhibit a succession of parallel lines, giving a banded appearance to the section. Many agates are hollow, when deposition has not proceeded far enough to fill the cavity, and in such cases the last deposit commonly consists of druzy quartz, with the apices of the crystals directed towards the free space so as to form a crystal-lined cavity or geode. One of my customers picked up a graduated string of the most beautifully banded peach and cream coloured agate on a visit to Pompeii, and my instructions were 'do something with them.' Such an ambiguous instruction can be nerve wracking, but hey, I'm always up for a challenge. The lady in question is quite exacting in her requirements and isn't keen on the asymmetrical vibe that Caprilicious brings to the table, but yet likes my jewellery. I generally have to remake a few elements of my jewellery to suit her but I'm always accepting of the 'customer's always right' (even when I think she's wrong) dictum so I go along with it. The beads are graduated but the depth of colour does not follow the graduation. Another problem when attempting to make a non asymmetrical piece. I decided to follow the graduation in the bead size rather than the colouring and see what transpired. The paler beads are almost cream and I sought to raise the colour quotient with a copper wire pendant made from one of Nicole Hannas designs. The addition of little gold tone seed beads and a matching clasp finished the necklace but the central piece looked dull when I added a creamy round agate from my stash, so I replaced it with blue/green crystals. I tried an orange tone teardrop, but this mango yellow bead seemed to do better in both raising the colour stakes and in coordinating with the main agate beads in the necklace. The large central beads remained unused, so I put them into a simple piece on a memory wire so that the necklace sits close to the neck like a torque necklace. A contrast with gently faceted blue colour enhanced jade beads and silver tone spacers completes the piece. Once again, the symmetry of the bead sizes had to be paramount rather than the colour variation. As for the Unfinished Business from last week - it remains unfinished, although I've made one more of the beaded tubes during the week.
That's me for this week folks. Have a fabulous week and I'll catch you next Friday, same time, same place. Until then xx Hello readers, how nice of you to drop by - autumn will soon be here and the colours of my new statement jewellery collection are reflecting this. No, they are not brown and grey - they are bigger and brighter than ever, to zhush up the autumnal hues of rust, must and dust that most dress designers pick as being suitable for us during this season. I will let you in on an open secret - I am a very shy person - and when I tell people this, they laugh at me disbelievingly. I am even intimidated by hairdressers because I cannot relate to them, and small talk with a stranger is a no go area for me - I usually come out looking like someone else's mop - they seem to have a pack instinct when they see me coming - there's no 'Hello moddom, would you like a coffee?' - it's all snip, snip, snip - and when they've finished, they make me look like the person they perceive - a raggedy Orphan Annie type on a bad hair day - and that's cos she's exactly who they see when I slink in, looking apologetic for breathing the same air! At the age of - well, older than many of you - I am now qualified to tell you how I overcame this using my passion for jewellery, and perhaps you will find you can do it too. 1) Spark A Conversation - EffortlesslyThis is where Caprilicious comes in - wear one of your pieces of statement jewellery and you will find people coming up to you and complimenting you on what you are wearing. It doesn't have to be a massive piece of jewellery and you don't have to be blinged up to the eyeballs. Take Glamour Puss - one of the pieces I made this week - all it is is a piece of pink and black agate - but it is presented on a pink stainless steel torque, wire wrapped, with an extremely shiny Swarovski crystal square wrapped onto it - a definite conversational opening gambit if ever there was one. Glamour PussObviously, no one can guarantee that people are going to walk up to you - you may have to do the walking - find someone in a nice ensemble and tell them you like it - instant spark! they will compliment you back ( people love a compliment and usually reciprocate - I'm sure you've noticed that) and Bob's your uncle! 2) Have Something to Say PreparedWhen someone compliments your jewellery, don't just mumble your thanks or go the 'this old thing??....' routine- smile widely, tell them a little story about it - perhaps even how clever you were to find it - if it's a piece by Caprilicious and you have read the blog, there's a backstory all ready for you to tell. At Caprilicious, I attempt to make jewellery that is interesting and different - I have the occasional daytime, everyday piece - but even that is usually different from the norm - you have plenty to talk about. These little lampwork beads were turned into daytime earrings, but they are so pretty, I'm sure you will be noticed when you wear them. I turned the leftover beads into bracelets with braided leather, so you can have a whole ensemble if you want one. They are made to resemble the spinning top I had as a child - I was only allowed to play with it if I promised to be very, very careful (?), and eventually it was used by both my siblings, probably with the same proviso, and in turn, by their children. It still exists in my mother's cupboard - waiting for her great grandchildren, I guess! Unfortunately, their toys of choice are likely to be an internet enabled mobile phone, so mum has wasted her efforts to save what has now become an antique heirloom - perhaps it will be worth something one of these days. Spinning Tops3) Ms. Attention - To - DetailBe Little Miss Attention-To-Detail - wear the right piece for your neckline, to coordinate with your outfit - and if you are in Caprilicious Woman mode, dare to wear jewellery in a completely contrasting colour to your outfit - after all, an orange necklace with the outfit in the picture would be drowned out by the colour of the vest - the blue necklace is definitely the better fit. 4) Get Up Close and PersonalOnce you have complimented someone about their jewellery, and received one in return, you have chatted about your sources for said jewellery and smiled at each other, you are fast becoming friends - after all you have found something in common - your love for pretty jewellery! Introduce her to someone you know, she reciprocates - and before you know it, you have a networking session going on right there, under your very shy nose - did you know that was going to happen?? I did! There are a few more tips on Reggie Darling's fabulous blog - Reggie's Advice For the Tongue-Tied Guest at Table Amongst Strangers, and I recommend this post to you. And of course, you must never get so carried away by your success by turning into a Conversation Hog! Click on the link to find out how not to do it. 5) Be Different - and Revel in ItWhen I was younger, all I wanted to do was to be like everyone else, to merge seamlessly into the background - I blame my mother for this (as I type I can hear her grumbling in the background 'you blame your mother for everything') - I was expected to be a Little Miss Muffet - but I was also expected to go out and fight my corner in the world of modern medicine when I grew up! And then I ended up in Britain, and have found that a lot of the time I stick out like a sore thumb, and there is no Marks & Spencer camouflage that works. It took a bit of getting used to, but I'm over the worst. I'm happy to be me and revel in being different. I wear Caprilicious all the time, and that helps me walk tall ( I'm only 5'2") and people come up to me and talk about my jewellery. I like to take the stuff I make on test runs, but sometimes they get sold before I get a chance - here's one of the pieces I made last week that lasted fifteen minutes on my pages... FreyaIt is most definitely evening wear, and I didn't have an occasion to wear it before someone from work snapped it up. A statement jewelry piece by Caprilicious will give you confidence, help you stand out in the crowd of 'samey people', and allow you to start a natural conversation - the death knell to shyness. The end result is a helpful, natural connection. The best part? It’s a great excuse to start shopping!
That's it for this week folks. Have a good weekend and I'll catch you next Friday, same time, same place xx Hello all you Caprilicious women out there, I hope you are all relaxed and ready for the weekend, ready to go partying in your statement jewellery. I have some exciting news this week - Caprilicious is due to have a second exhibition in January 2015. I am negotiating with the good people of Raintree, where I had my first exhibition, to find us a suitable weekend at the end of January when I am due to be in Bangalore visiting with my mother. Lipstick on your CollarThat's right, I've made this necklace before - last time, I used the jasper I acquired from my friend BN with a coral pink howlite - I happened to have some pale, blush pink howlite lying around and a few black veined jasper beads left over from last time and they just seemed to cry out to be put together. I am by no stretch of imagination a 'pink' person, but I just love the combination of pink and grey/black - very cool and sophisticated. You wouldn't catch me in a pink outfit though - one has to draw the line somewhere! There are plenty of greys, blacks and whites in my wardrobe that could be accesorised beautifully by this necklace when I take it out for it's test run. ParadisoFor the longest time, I thought seahorses were mythical creatures, like unicorns, phoenix', dragons, dinosaurs and pixies - only kidding, honest. I love the little critters, they are the cutest and I am always on the look out for them. I found an aventurine carved into a seahorse, so smooth and shiny - an instant love affair. With a little wire bail, and the addition of agates and glass beads as well as pearls, it was transformed into a cruisers necklace - or for someone going on a holiday to an island paradise. I used the colours in this photograph to make this necklace. SalomeDo you know the story of Salome?? It is from the New Testament - Salome, who by all accounts was a raving beauty and a femme fatale, who is hailed as the embodiment of female seductiveness and an icon of sensuality , did the Dance of the Seven Veils at her step fathers birthday bash - he offered her anything her little heart desired, and Salome, being as thick as two short planks, looked to her mom for an answer. Her mom had dumped her first husband, and married his brother - she was extremely put out that John The Baptist had denounced her marriage as unlawful; and he didn't just say it once - he raved and ranted and denounced her from the rooftops, unfortunately prophets just don't seem to know when to stop - to silence him she decided to get her daughter to demand that John be beheaded. Salome could have asked for anything - gold, diamonds, pearls - but being a bit sweet and unworldly, she said 'what shall I ask for mommy??' and chose to obey her mother. The king had no choice but to behead the hapless John and present her with his head on a plate. But on Herod's birthday, the daughter of Herodias danced before them: and pleased Herod. Whereupon he promised with an oath, to give her whatsoever she would ask of him. But she being instructed before by her mother, said: Give me here in a dish the head of John the Baptist. And the king was struck sad: yet because of his oath, and for them that sat with him at table, he commanded it to be given. And he sent, and beheaded John in the prison. My necklace is named Salome - I'm sure it wouldn't have looked out of place during the Dance of the Seven Veils - men will lose their heads over the wearer - but hopefully in a nicer way than poor old John. I've tried to put nuances of sensuality and fiery desire into this magnificent necklace and the haematite gleams brightly in contrast to the hand carved black jade and the paisley howlite beads in the second strand of this piece. Warrior PrincessHer face is hand carved of ox bone, she wears a sterling silver and marcasite helmet, her helmet straps are fastened and she looks calm, yet resigned, as if off to do battle for a cause she believes in, wearing her regalia. A beautiful faceted citrine teardrop dangles below her chin - she is The Warrior Princess. I teamed her with citrine and carnelian freeform nuggets, pearls and blue goldstone beads to make this piece. Now that I've decided that there will be an exhibition, a bit of anxiety has started to creep up on me - yes, I know I'm being silly, and that I have five months to go - but I'm just a ' have everything ready ahead of time' type . So, I made some earrings - they will go on the website, and eventually make their way to the exhibition, or not, as the case may be - but at least I will have them ready in time. These are sweet, and helped me watch one of my favourite movies 'The English Patient' for the n'th time as my pliers moved rhythmically along with the soundtrack. And then, with mental calm restored, now that I have enough earrings, I went to bed and slept the sleep of the truly righteous. Now all I have to do is to remember to carry them along - one time I did a jewellery party at my friend Gerry's house, and I left all my earrings and other little bits behind in the cupboard at home. That's all for this week, folks, I hope you have enjoyed looking at my bits and bobs - if you have, do leave me a message - I'm beginning to think I'm talking to myself. One of my kittens, Wilfred has found a spool of wire and is chasing it around the room, whilst Charlie has bumped into a wall and got a huge bruise on his nose - £50 to the vet and a clutch of tablets later ( I'm so in the wrong profession), he looks like a rugby player after a particularly violent scrum. Thankfully he is a kitten and not a child, or they would have had me up for non accidental injuries! Catch you next Friday, same time, same place xx Hello readers, thanks for stopping by to read about the statement jewellery made at Caprilicious this week. It was my privilege to provide a piece of jewellery to the Children's Unit at the hospital as a raffle prize - the manager who requested it of me was very complimentary about the piece I handed in - I was quietly pleased with it myself, and the reaction on the Facebook page was heartening when I posted some pictures there. The carved jade flower had been lying around in my stash, just waiting to be used and this is a very worthy cause, very close to my heart. If you're wondering what the mention of statement jewellery in the opening line was all about - I've been reading blogging guides - and the theory is that a googlebot, which in my imagination looks like the picture above, worms it's way into a website and if the raison d'être of the blog is mentioned in the first few sentences, the botworm gets the message - and when people look for 'Handmade Statement Jewellery', the Caprilicious Jewellery website comes up in a Google search - having done this for a few weeks, I was quite gratified to find that I haven't been misguided by the bloggers guide. However, I don't know any woman who goes to Google when she wants to look for handmade statement jewellery! I certainly wouldn't do a Google search to look for jewellery, would you?? What beats me is that knowing this fact doesn't make me chase the botworm any less frantically - just shows how competitive I really am, I suppose, and also that I like to test a theory before I accept it as common wisdom. AnatevkaAnatevka was a fictional shtetl in Imperial Russia where the musical Fiddler on the Roof was set. We went to the Eutin Festival in Germany, where they had this musical on, inspiring me to create this necklace. I acquired a necklace of hand knotted shell pearls in beautiful colours of bronze/ cream, peach and shades of grey - the pearls are large and very beautiful, and though I normally would have cut up the necklace to restring the pearls, this one was so well made, I couldn't bring myself to wantonly destroy someones painstaking work - in fact, I had to agree that I couldn't have done it better ( a rare admission for me ). I decided to make a pendant for it, and string it onto the necklace directly. An agate druzy cabochon, surrounded by wire lace, with pearls and crystals thrown in just grew and grew until two days later, my muse declared it finished. Although wire lace looks pretty, it is hard work on the finger tips which resembled Shreddies by the time I was done - but hey! I love the way it looks, so won't complain. The pendant is very baroque in appearance, and suits the necklace - and the name! If you want to know what shell pearls are, here's a link to a very well written article I found during my research - I couldn't have put it better myself. And with this, I decided to put my Lacemania aside for a while - and my fingertips heaved a huge sigh of relief!! I've had two new helpers this week - Charlie and Wilfred have moved in with us - they must have been techies in a previous life, they are fascinated by the moving cursor on my laptop screen, and keep trying to help me type this blog and won't take no for an answer. They are also interior decorators of sorts, and are helping me to remodel my house and change the decor, by systematically destroying anything they dislike - Mike's 40 year old German oil lamp (he's had it 40 years, but it was an antique when he first bought it) is something they have taken a dislike to - only he refuses to part with it - the boys are most annoyed that it is now out of reach! Silver MonsoonWith my fingertips sore and out of commission, I decided to give them a rest. I have these peacock feather pendants in from Indonesia - the ends have been fringed, much like a Rastafarians dreadlocks, with beads, and I love the effect. I used shards of electroplated quartz needles in the necklace, strung with spacers of crackle quartz in a deep peacock blue and a couple of enamelled beads from India. The quartz needles remind me of the silver rain that sheets down during a monsoon - the rain in the UK though persistent, is usually gentler. DurgaDurga is a wrathful form of Parvati, otherwise known as Mrs Shiva, and the mother of Ganesh the elephant God. Kali is an even more angry form - women of all ages, at different times of their cycles have fleeting resemblances to one or another avatar of this multipurpose Goddess. According to legend, Parvathi was peed off at something- or someone (possibly, but not necessarily hubby), and she knitted her brows together in a frown - a third eye originated there ( watch out - the gaze from that third eye when provoked into opening can burn you into a frazzle). When someone else peed the already irritated Durga off, she went wild, hair unbound, arms akimbo - and she didn't stop until she killed the annoyance, hung his head around her neck and drank his blood. She laughed and laughed, and did a dance that a whirling dervish would have envied, until suddenly to her horror, she found that she was trampling on her poor husband Shiva - Oops! she said and stuck her tongue out - and an ancient photographer took her picture (or maybe the wind changed and her facial expression stuck), so she is doomed to being immortalised as the crazy one with her tongue stuck out, hair wild, with strings of demon's heads hung about her person. This story, I am sure will resonate with my female readers - we've all been there, pootling along, minding our own, when along comes this nuisance - whether we turn into Durga or Kali depends on the irritant! Anyway, I digress - this necklace is made of a pendant from the Banjara tribe in India, with two paisa coins from 1962. I put them on a rope, which can be tied so that the pendant sits where you would like it to and can be worn with all sorts of necklines. It looks like something Durga might like to wear - well, she's most definitely a Caprilicious woman.................... That's it for this week folks. Charlie has destroyed a bunch of silk flowers I had prettifying a dull corner of the house, and the two brothers are now flicking the flowers around the house like crazed confetti - I'd better go and rescue what's left of those poor flowers. Have a fab weekend, and I'll catch you next week, same time, same place
xx Hello good people, here's your weekly dose of statement jewellery from Caprilicious. Once I have posted this, I am off to Hamburg, to visit with a friend and have a few days away by the Baltic in her lovely bungalow by the sea - not that I'm rushing or anything, just saying..... My muse capriliciously tripped along from one style of jewellery to another, seemingly without a cohesive thought in her head, and I followed, led by the nose - I just do as I am bid and see what transpires (hubby often wonders why I won't follow him in quite the same way)............................. ChantillyI blame my mother for my lacemania. She was/is a true lacemaniac, and in my childhood dressed my sister and me in imports from around the globe - she turned up her nose at what was produced in India. Every outfit we had was edged with a hint of lace (imports were expensive, thankfully), and that has left it's mark on us - both of us drool over lace when we see it, but today I would combine it with other elements to detract from the 'girly' effect. Chunky jewellery, leather waistcoats, boho bracelets, trilby hats, slouchy boots, 50's sunnies (not all at the same time, admittedly - the gangsta rap look doesn't suit me either) - these are what I wear 'for badness', a word learned from Gabrielle, an old Irish friend! I learned this style of wire work from an Indonesian friend - in her country these wire medallions are made into brooches to pin back their headscarves and it takes hours to painstakingly coil fine wire around a thicker wire, and then curve and coil the thicker wire into shape, embellishing it with beads as one goes along, without the use of any tools other than a pair of wire snips - but the final effect is so pretty, it is most definitely a labour of love. Chantilly lace has been made since the 16th century - handmade in France and Belgium and worn by fashionable ladies in Europe and America - and much loved by brides even today. If my mother could have laid her hands on Chantilly lace when we were growing up, who knows what damage she would have inflicted on our psyches - todays little hints of 'badness' would have become a deluge, to counteract the Little Miss Muffet-ness of my childhood - Phew! Whilst I love the colour that polymer clay and beads have brought into my life, it is no secret that wire is my first love. EclipseI make this pendant time and time again - inspired by the work of Nicole Hanna , and I love it. It's asymmetry draws me to this design. The markings on the matte blue agate complement the wire work. And as I went about my business, pottering about the house and going back and forth to work, my muse caught sight of a polymer clay faux bone medallion I made earlier, meaning to eventually turn it into a tribal piece - she decided the medallion had waited long enough and clicked her fingers -lo and behold, Zanzibar came into being! A silk, vaguely Chinese looking silk choker was unearthed, my stash raided for colourful wooden beads and Cowrie shells, and they were all put together using waxed linen. I think the necklace is fun and can be easily worn in summer with T shirts and linens, as well as in winter over jumpers. I have always wanted to go to Zanzibar which is an archipelago off the coast of Tanzania, once a Portuguese and then a British protectorate, a Spice Island that sounds warm and exotic - one day perhaps. Just now, I shall have to make do with the necklace. ZanzibarSarayuThe Sarayu is a river that runs through the north of India and is a tributary of the Ganges. The turquoise beads in this necklace carrying the conch shell pendant, and the flow of the necklace, reminded me of a river - I used the 'stare hard at it and call it the first name that jumps into your head' technique. This technique works well when I like a piece of jewellery - Bang, a name jumps up and bites me on the nose - if, however, I don't feel any rapport with it, I could go cross eyed and anoxic from holding my breath and concentrating hard with no results. Needless to say, such pieces end up on the scrap heap. The pendant is a black and gold disc from Indonesia - one I made earlier was red, black and gold and equally beautiful. Earlier on in the year I made a pair of earrings I called The Bollywood Barbie Earrings - what I imagined Barbie would wear if she went to Bollywood. In the process of researching this for my blog, I came across Rachel Chitra's blog - she had written a post about the scarcity of dolls in India. We had quite a few virtual conversations, and I thought no more of it. Rachel is an Indian journalist and blogger and sent me this link today - she very kindly wrote a little blog post about Caprilicious Jewellery. That's me done before my little mini break in Hohwacht. Have a fabulous week and I'll catch you next Friday, same place same time xx P.S - I know more of you read me than you let on - go on, put your heads above the parapet and leave me a comment, show me some love darnit, I deserve it - wouldn't you agree?? - the app might ask for your email id, but don't be frightened - it is just to make sure you are human and not a robot selling snake oil from Outer Mongolia xx This lovely piano solo by Kevin Kerr expresses the emotions I have tried to capture in this necklace. To me summertime is all about butterflies and dragonflies, mellow sunlight, tinkling music and flowers - I don't think about the slugs and snails and weeds and rain that are such a nuisance - I must be a romantic at heart, although I would deny it hotly, if someone said that about me. Happy Friday, readers and thanks for joining me today. This week, I've written two posts - the last one about Statement Jewellery, posted on Wednesday will be a guest post on a friend's blog later on in the year - but you caught sight of it first, right here. I didn't want to add this weeks pieces of jewellery to the guest post and decided to write a separate one instead. My muse see sawed wildly this week from the conventional and pretty, to the wild and crazy. I kick started the weekend by making wire and resin dragonflies. The problem with this was that each coating of resin took at least a couple of days to set - this gave my mischievous muse time to draw my attention to all sorts of other ideas - I was a bit overloaded on the ideas front and my mind was spinning out of control! And while I waited for the resin to set, off Ms Muse trotted dragging me in her wake, this time in the direction of Cubism and Pablo Picasso. A few lessons ( quite a few, actually - because I cannot draw) off the internet in drawing a face from two different perspectives and I set about making this piece, which in the end was made into a brooch by the addition of a pin. It was an awful, grey and rainy weekend, which might have sparked the need for bright colour. I love it, but I do feel the need to offer apologies to Pablo. In my defence, it is more difficult than one would think, especially for someone who cannot draw in one perspective, let alone two at the same time! - try it and see how you go - and then, once it has been drawn, to successfully convert it to a polymer clay piece - eeps! not sure I'll be doing this again any time soon. This is a gift for a very wacky and fun friend of mine - we are to visit her in Hamburg soon, I hope she will love it as much as I do. And the dragonflies showed no sign of being ready yet, so on we went, my muse and I, plodding on with another piece. Images from the Subconscious - Mind Games!While I was researching the making of the 'Picasso' pin, I looked at a whole load of stuff on the internet that set my mind a buzzing - among others, the art of Romero Britto, and the South American god of Fertility - the Kokopelli - colourful images that seemed to stay with me in my dreams. No wonder then, that my next piece was shaped by them. This is Kokopelli, a Native American fertility deity. He is usually depicted as a hump backed and feathered flute player, and he takes care of both the harvest and fertility - which in the end mean one and the same! I was looking for a colourful piece to replicate in Polymer clay, but passed him up in favour of the cubist face - another time perhaps, I thought.............
And the dragonflies were still wet........sigh! Oh well! ZehraConus snails are venomous though beautiful and are the species of snail whose shells are seen in most collections.The species most dangerous to humans are the larger ones which prey on small bottom-dwelling fish; the smaller species mostly hunt and eat marine worms. They have a venom gland and a hollow tooth like a harpoon or proboscis through which they inject and paralyse their prey before eating it. This pendant came from Indonesia and is set with cross sections of conus shells in coloured resin, and I added faceted onyx, and pyrite nuggets which gleam in the light - they aren't called 'Fools Gold' for nothing! 'Zehr' is the Arabic word for poison - although Zehra means beautiful! Either way, I think the name fits this pendant - would you agree?? MayuriThis peacock feather pendant came from Indonesia as well - I was quite taken with the way the edges of the feather had been beaded like a Rastafarian's dreads - hard work, and done so neatly - I have a great deal of admiration for the artist who made it. It can't be fun to play with feathers and glue and beads - just imagine the mess at the end of it. Together with a string of freshwater pearls and a couple of enamelled Indian beads, bought during my last trip home, a simple, but elegant necklace was born. Of course the word Mayuri really means a peahen and is a misnomer - the poor peahen hasn't been born with the elegance of the male bird - but hey, let's not quibble, eh! At last, finally, the dragonflies were ready to be used - and about time too!! The Dance of The DragonflyI think it was worth the wait, don't you?? As a bonus, I have a few leftover dragon flies, which will eventually work their way into other pieces, later on.
That's a wrap for this week folks, I'll catch you again next week, same time, same place. Have a lovely week xx Hello readers, I hope you are all feeling better than I am today - Mike and I have had the flu for nearly two weeks now - I had a week off work and spent Easter in bed. But, things are looking up now, and I am looking forward to the weekend. This whole week I stayed warm in my armchair, making little bits and bobs with wire and beads. CasablancaThe Islamic origins of these Moroccan beads are obvious - they come from a shop in Casablanca, as do these pictures of the Hassan II Mosque. The amazonite slab nuggets in this piece are cut in such a way that when strung, it gives an illusion of there being two strands of beads - a very clever way to cut the stones, as two strands of these undoubtedly beautiful gemstones would be too heavy - and expensive! The Butterfly's WeddingI acquired a pendant made of a sheet of mother-of-pearl from my friend BN, and it lay around the house for a while, my house elf moved it from spot to spot - until one day, I decided to make something with it before the elf 'disappeared' it forever! I sat down with it one evening, and played with wire - I meant to cover over the brown markings on the edge of the pendant - to my mind, they marred what would otherwise be a pretty, shiny sheet of MOP. But by the time I was done, I had used the entire pendant as a backing sheet for a profusion of leaves, vines, and tendrils in a fanciful garden populated by crystal butterflies. The piece reminded me of a fairy tale by Hans Christian Andersen called 'The Butterfly' - you can read it if you have the time and want to find out what happened - just click on the link - it is the story of a butterfly who was looking for a bride, and the most famous quote from that tale is “Just living is not enough, said the butterfly, one must have sunshine, freedom and a little flower for company.” CapriI've been experimenting with using donuts as focal beads, held in an asymmetric wire weave, which is harder than you might think. These donuts have no aperture where the wire may be passed vertically through them - the central hole has to accommodate the wire, which has to pass through it gracefully, and yet securely. I tried out yet another method, using approximately four feet of the heavier gauge wire, and twenty feet of the fine weaving wire - and another evening bit the dust! The stone here is a blue agate geode with druzy, which is a coating of fine crystals on the stone fracture surface, in the centre. More Earrings and a GiveawayAlthough I felt better with each day, I hadn't the strength to summon my muse and put her to work - I felt as if I was chasing her all around the room, and boy, was she eluding me. I gave up in disgust, and made some earrings with ideas I had had earlier, but just not executed yet. My mother turned 87 on the 22nd - she is fit and well - in fact she's fitter than I am - she walks on a treadmill every day for an hour, and takes painting lessons, to which she has to climb two flights of stairs. On that day, I felt well enough to want to play with clay, and although I didn't spend too much time in my craft room, I managed to make these little sweetpeas, and turned them into earrings that evening. I decided to host a giveaway - yes I know the last one was a disaster, logistics wise, but what can I say, I'm a glutton for punishment. So, the earrings are on Facebook till Sunday the 27th - all people are required to do is to like them and share the image on their page - I will draw the five people who win the earrings from a random number generator. That's me for this week folks, thanks for stopping by, have a great week and I'll catch you next Friday, same time, same place
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