Hello everyone, how are you at the end of this very exhausting week? I hope you're all tucked away somewhere, being sensible and self isolating. I've just been watching Question Time, as I do when I'm writing this blog and have heard all about the protective equipment that has left the warehouses in their millions, assisted ably by the army, but has mysteriously vanished into thin air - it certainly hasn't reached the poor staff in various hospitals and care workers, according to Richard Horton of the Lancet. Everyone went out and clapped the NHS staff at 8pm (reportedly) around the UK, my husband went out into the doorway in our street and he was the only one there. However, my lovely neighbour Michelle did send me a bunch of flowers a couple of days ago. The Corona virus has certainly brought out the feral gene in people - the stockpiling of food and toilet rolls, hand sanitisers and liquid soap, and the price gouging on ebay of these items has left me dumbfounded. I work in the NHS and my husband is in a vulnerable age group, with comorbidities, so I have chosen to go to the supermarket after work to forage for food. We are meant to buy food online, but apart from Fortnum and Mason, all the other supermarkets have either broken websites or have no delivery slots for over 3 weeks. I think ordering from F & M might probably be a bit of overkill for a loaf of bread and a pat of butter. There may yet be a silver lining - perhaps I'll lose some weight? (Hah! and pigs might fly!) It also seems a bit silly to be worried about one's weight at a time when we don't know if one will still be alive in a couple of weeks. Here are some pics of the supermarket when I was there a couple of days ago - post Soviet Russia or even Cuba probably had more on their shelves! I think you probably get the idea by now - apologies for so many photographs of nothing, but it was quite infuriating. However I found something that has recently become rarer than rocking horse poo - the very last bag of loo rolls on the shelf on that day, which I snatched up and eventually shared with a friend - yaay! now we can wipe our bottoms without anxiety that we might run out. I've had a couple of days off and was encouraged to take them - 'to recharge batteries for what is to come'! We were meant to be in Tenerife, but of course that trip fell through, so I've had a lazy, wake-up-late-and-do-nothing few days. LegendI love prehnite-and raw nuggets are my go-to when I buy beads. The pale seafoam green with smudges of black, as if touched accidentally by a child's inky fingers are so pretty, I always have some in my stash. I had one last Chinese jade pendant to use up and it came out of the cupboard, proudly strutting its stuff. Dzi (pronounced Zee) is a Tibetan word used to describe a patterned bead, usually agate, of mainly oblong, round, cylindrical or tabular shape pierced lengthwise and called Heaven's Bead in Chinese. The beads originate in the Tibetan cultural sphere and can command high prices. They are very difficult to come by and are found primarily in Tibet, but also in neighbouring Bhutan, Ladakh and Sikkim. Shepherds and farmers pick them up in the grasslands or while cultivating fields. Since knowledge of the bead is derived from oral traditions, few beads have provoked more controversy concerning their source, method of manufacture and even precise definition. These beads are generally prized as protective amulets and are sometimes ground into a powder to be used in traditional Tibetan medicine. Beads subject to this process have small “dig marks” where a portion of the bead has been scraped or ground away to be included in the medicine. Some dzi exhibit grinding and polishing of one or both ends, again the result of reduction for use in traditional Tibetan medicine or, in some cases, due to the bead’s use as a burnishing tool in the application of gold leaf to thanka paintings or gilt bronze statuary. The most highly prized dzi beads are those of ancient age, made of natural agate. The original source of these beads is a mystery. While the traditional, ancient-style beads are greatly preferred, new modern-made dzi are gaining popularity amongst Tibetans. This makes them some of the most sought after and collectable beads on earth. The green agate beads in the necklace are of course, more recently manufactured in a factory in Tibet, but it's nice to think that there is a legend behind the name. The artisans use agate as the base stone, and then embellish the beads with lines and shapes using ancient methods. Treatments may include darkening with plant sugars and heat, bleaching and white line etching with natron, and protecting other areas with grease, clay, wax or a similar substance. That's me for this week, folks. I'll catch you next Friday, same time, same place. In the meantime, stay home, wash those hands and make like Wilfred. And of course there's still 20% off everything Code - Boredathome on the website till the end of the month. I will be sending out orders as they come in in case the post office develops a problem, but your parcel may still take a while to get to you, apologies for that. Until Friday xx
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Hello you lovely people, hope all is well with you. We await storm Lorenzo, or the tail end of it with bated breath, but as I'm working most of the weekend, I don't suppose it matters too much to me. We've been glued to the television all week watching the BJ horror show (no, I meant Boris Johnson, not the other) in a kind of shocked and awed fascination, though not in a good way, and most of the week has been consumed in this manner. As I am now unable to sit in front of the television without a bunch of beads in my lap and an implement of some sort in my hands, thanks to BJ, I managed to make a pendant from some of the beads I brought back from Prague. I also used a string of beautiful prehnite teardrop beads I brought back from Jaipur in 2016 in a lavish fringe made for this pendant. Fleur De LysIn my stash, hidden away deep underneath a bunch of other stuff lay a little rectangular rose quartz cabochon, hand carved with a fleur de lys - as I rummaged around looking for inspiration, it jumped out at me begging to be used. I had picked up a lot of pink beads in Prague for some reason, probably because there was a large block of various shades of pink and green beads just as I entered the door of Koralky Komponenty. Over the days it took to un prorogue parliament and the conference speeches, I sewed away like a modern day Madame de Farge. So, here is the pendant as it was made - I echoed the fleur de lys on the pink rose quartz by drawing it on the four corners of the rectangle of Lacey's Stiff Stuff and beaded away - someone, I can't remember who, called this technique 'painting with beads' and this is just what I did. The rectangle then had to be backed with ultrasuede edged with beads and then hung on a necklace. It took me a while to decide what I wanted to hang it on, and finally decided to use a string of silvery baroque pearls with little pink seed beads in between. A friend came to visit us over the weekend, and I got her to model the necklace among other pieces, which she did very graciously - I must say she is very pretty, and the necklace served to gild the lily beautifully. The end of November will be Caprilicious' eight birthday and I will have to look for a way to celebrate it with you. Look out for an announcement in a couple of weeks. Caprilicious has given me immense pleasure over the years, and brought a number of interesting people into my life whom I'd never have met if it hadn't been for my hobby. It has rescued me from being depressed about the passing of my brother and taken care of me during the long dark winter evenings when a purpose in life is important to stave off boredom, dark thoughts and mischief. There are little heaps of beads all around the house and most rooms have something jewellery related in them, my poor husband has had to get used to it, he makes the occasional grumbling comment, especially when my beads get in the way of him accessing his DVD collection - he gets a bit grumpy when he can't find the one he's looking for. In the meantime, while I'm still feeling all misty eyed about Caprilicious and all you lovely Caprilicious ladies, here's a link to a couple of tutorials which will take you through the making of the Gold Rush necklace, and the Sunflower pendant bead - what's more, they are in a downloadable PDF and are totally free. There, don't say I never give you anything!! If you don't fancy making the sunflower bead, there's one already made up into a necklace on the website - It's called Kiku and is on the Mixed Media Necklaces page. As I said earlier, a friend spent some time with us at the weekend, and modelled some necklaces and earrings for me - I'll be posting them on Instagram all through next week, so do look out for them. Here's a picture of her between shots in her sexy mismatched funny socks, although she assured me that they were actually a pair - I believe her, millions wouldn't! That's me for this week folks, have a lovely week and I'll catch you next Friday, same time, same place, Until then xx Hello good people, and a very happy Easter to those of you who celebrate it. Easter eggs are everywhere and I'm going to resist them this year, as always figting a loosing battle with the flab. This year I have the whole of Easter off work and nothing planned, and it feels glorious to think I have no responsibilities except to relax for four whole days. I shall however be making more pieces of jewellery for The Handmade Fair. I spent ages thinking that I had a lot of stuff ready and then someone bought up a bunch of necklaces, leaving me with a hole in my inventory which needs filling, and quick! Seal of Approval I love pendants made of handcarved jade and buy them regularly, forgetting each time how irritatingly annoying they are as they never have an integral way to hang them. Perhaps they are meant to be displayed on a plinth or little easel - but as far as I'm concerned, as jewellery, I need to find an engineering solution each time. Each one is different, so one answer doesn't fit all, unfortunately. However, I've always loved finding solutions to problems and enjoy a bit of a challenge. I managed to hang the pendant on an improvised bail made of coiled wire and added prehnite nugget beads in a lovely shade of pale green. I left the necklace overnight, and by the time I woke up, had decided that it needed a bit more 'Zhoosh'. Four more strands of beads were added, and only then was I satisfied. Turquoise, ruby with zoisite and Czech glass seed beads went into the necklace in a tousled, bohemian look. KalinkaI started to make a soutache bezel around an ammonite fossil, not sure what exactly I was going to do with it - perhaps a centrepiece for a cuff bracelet? or a bail for one of my jade pendants? - in the end it seemed to cry out to be strung simply on a strand of Biwa pearls, rather than be part of another piece. The reds and greens reminded me of the military uniforms worn by the Cossack Guards and the Russian folk song 'Kalinka' began to play in my head. Beetle WIngsBeetle wings are a tour de force of nature - the jewel colours are amazing. This will be my sixth necklace made from these beautiful wings that once belonged to the Indonesian Jewellery Beetle. My very first necklace was commissioned by Meghna who wore it to a cocktail party thrown by her parents. Two rows of wings, with a glass tear drop adding a bit of weight to the centre of the piece, drawing it down into the decollete' - a simple, yet effective piece. These necklaces are difficult to photograph lying flat, the wings seem to have a mind of their own. I used up my entire stash in this necklace and hadn't planned on buying any more. Mike was aghast and twisted my arm into placing another order from the shop in Thailand, so it would appear that there are to be more of these on my pages. I will have to think up new and novel ways to make the necklaces as I don't really like to repeat myself. As an aside, the owner of the online beetle wing shop in Thailand is called Ronnie Biggs!! It is either a joke or he is named after his notorious ancestor, in which case, Trains, beware! That's all I have for you folks. Have a fab Easter break and I'll catch you next week, same time, same place. Until then xx Hello readers, and lovers of unusual handmade statement jewellery, it is nice to see you again here at the Caprilicious blog this week. The week at the day job has been a bit quieter than the last and I had some spare time to play with beads and wire. Success at Last - CoralieA couple of weeks ago I cut up two wirework surrounds to a fossil coral cabochon - I decided a long time ago that if I wasn't happy with a design, into the dustbin it would go. I was so fed up with the whole thing after two evenings of failure, I put it away for a while - this week I tried a third design and Eureka! success at last. A coral fossil is formed when the organic matter in a coral dissolves, gets washed away and is slowly replaced by calcium carbonate. Some of the patterns formed when the fossil is sliced open and polished are extremely beautiful. This cabochon is a pale salmon pink, and I visualised it with grey spectrolite - a form of labradorite which has the same glints of labradorescence deep within - pink and grey are a very sophisticated colour combination and go well together. I added a couple of quirky lampwork glass beads and Shiva eye shell beads to add more colour and interest, and was eventually satisfied with the necklace. Coralie(a French name meaning coral), took a lot of energy and angst out of me and I thought I'd make some simpler necklaces, just to ease the pain! Alicorn - from the horn of a unicorn - was named thus because the beads are made of horn - as I didn't know what creature sacrificed it's horns to this necklace, I picked the unicorn - and why not?? AlicornThe twisted blue beads are lucite, and turquoise and coral beads add to the asymmetrical beauty of this interesting mixed media piece. Columbine Here's another simple yet sweet necklace called Columbine - I didn't think anyone would mind if I reused the name - I made a similar necklace with purple agate beads exactly two years ago - and I had these waiting in my stash for just such a moment. EnchantedThe colours in this necklace come from a painting by David Miller, a well known marine artist. I love the blues and greens in this painting, and when I looked deep into the solar quartz cabochon, I could see the enchanted pool . The green fire agate beads are vibrant and set off beautifully by the twisted rectangular lapis lazuli beads. Rummaging in my stash idly one evening, I found some prehnite beads - prehnite is a waxy, almost translucent vaseline green stone, with black smudges on it as if touched by an untidy child - I am so reminded of my very first pen which regurgitated ink all over my pristine pages and school uniform, earning me a good telling off - it wasn't my fault, obviously that I came home covered in ink blots, but my mom didn't wait to find out. A Moroccan bead from my stash went into 'Tangier'. TangierPiscesJust as I began to feel ready for a challenge, a piece of carved black jade appeared in the morning's post - I have so many cabochons and beads in my stash that haven't seen the light of day, but yet, I have this urge to acquire more - an affliction I call magpieism. I spent two evenings making the frame and embellishing it with a fish to go with the carving - a simple leather thong seemed to be just the thing to add that extra bit of je ne sais quoi - I didn't want to over-egg the pudding. Inch by tiny inch, I have very slowly taken over the conservatory - I now have a kiln, enamelling paraphernalia, a light box and tripod, as well as other photography props stashed in it. Mike's electric pianola, which used to take pride of place is now squeezed into a corner and looks extremely uneasy, completely sidelined by all my stuff. My most recent acquisition is a photography background and collapsible rail to give my photographs a more professional look. I had an afternoon to play with polymer clay and I had a bit of fun constructing a flower cane. I cut the end bits off to take a look at it, and it was quite pretty - I will definitely find a use for it one of these days. My friend BN gave me some clasps - they originally had some extremely ugly blister pearls set into them - I dug these out and refilled the clasps with polymer clay - most certainly an improvement, don't you think?? And somewhere, in between all these other pieces, I found a spare evening to make a copper bracelet out of a design from Lisa Barth's book. That's me for this week - you can see that I've had plenty of fun! Well a girl has to enjoy herself whenever she can - who knows, if next week is busy, I might not have time to make anything at all. Have a great week, and I'll catch you next Friday, same time, same place
xx Guess what I bought this week.......... a Dremel! - I realised that there was no way I was going to realise my ambition to get bigger and better with my ideas for precious metal clay and polymer clay unless I conquered my irrational, rather girly fear of power tools. Also, one of the ladies from the Polydays 2012 group had a lovely power tool with a cute silver carry case and she made light work of the drilling part of making the hinged bangle - I wanted one immediately (mainly for the cute case though). Alas, the one I bought has a boring case - it is cordless, and can do hands free operations though, which will be ideal for coiling wire - which is another thing I have always wanted to do - yippee! Since I posted last, my fingers have been flying - why, I'm surprised that I have any left at all and they haven't been worn down into stumps, like an old pencil! I was on a roll, and all the components in my stash were fighting to come out of the cupboard and join the melee'. I used up components I have been hoarding for over a year - who knows what I was saving them for. I figured that instead of buying more, I ought to make an effort to put what I have into my designs. Endless Love This one was made with a Chinese jade carved Endless Knot, strung with rice pearls, emerald chips and other tiny beads. The Endless Knot symbolises Eternal Love and friendship - it has been integrated into many cultures, and has mystical connotations - the Celtic knot is one example. Cleo Some beautiful Turquoise spike beads arrived in the post that morning - and I could not resist them - just had to make them up to see what they looked like in a necklace. One of my favourite ways is to add an asymmetrical focal element, but this time, the spikes themselves needed to be the focus of attention, so I chose to use dull gold pyrite chunks instead, to break up the line of spikes. I thought Cleopatra might have fancied this one - but she apparently didn't pay for her jewellery - and cut the fingers off her favourite jewellery makers for the privilege of creating her bijoux, just so they wouldn't replicate the necklace - so, thanks, but, no thanks Cleo, someone else can have it instead - but only if they promise to leave me my fingers. Ode to the LBD I love pearls, but I prefer the modern way of wearing them - in multiple strings, and ropes, swaying in gay abandon - I am not a fan of the single string. However, there are times that one requires a bit of simple sophistication, when 'swaying in gay abandon' may be inappropriate, but something makes you want to step out of the Doris Day mould - this next one is for those times. Black onyx squares in two strands interspersed with silver tone spacers in different shapes, suit this requirement. This is surely a lyrical verse inspired by the little black dress. Forever in Blue Jeans
I remade the necklace thrice before I was satisfied with the elements - it seemed best with shimmering Swarovski crystals in different colours and shapes between the flat cream and blue of the agate. A twisted lapis and pyrite rectangle, a jade flower and a butterfly were added to the mix, and my work here was done. The necklace, when finished looked like something I would wear with blue jeans and a casual jacket - hence the title.
Unconditional Love This piece is named for the focal piece - a black onyx pendant carved with the face of Kwan Yin. She is the Buddhist goddess of mercy and unconditional love. I love the statues and sculptures they have of her in Thailand and Indonesia - she has such a beautiful compassionate, serene face, and a curvaceous feminine body. I wrapped the graceful face in square wire, and attached it to a wire collar - I thought I'd go with a monochrome pallete this time, and used white howlite beads to contrast with the pendant. Fronds A copper wire branch with little leaves, on a sweet little necklace of coral spikes, pearls and crystals. Enter the Dragon A carved turquoise pendant with a dragon motif was hung on a necklace made of such diverse elements as Rowan branches cut into beads, yellow agate, coral, turquoise and even a freshwater pearl. It is a very 'on trend' Tribal Chic piece and very comfortable to wear. In between making all of these, I played with enamels in my kiln. When I went on the enamelling course, a lady dropped by - she was selling her mother's collection of enamel colours and other paraphernelia - I picked up whatever I could lay my hands on - as always the start up costs are expensive - especially as the first pieces are usually rubbish - but I surprised myself, and Mike, and made a couple of nice pendants. I also made a little dog, a butterfly and a heavily pregnant teddy bear - but the pendant holes got blocked up by the glass - I probably overloaded them with the enamel powder - I shall keep them as souvenirs of my journey into new horizons - and to remind me not to do that again. That's all for this week folks, I'm off to play with my Dremel, finally finish off the lentil beads I made in Polydays 2012, buff up some pendants, redo the enamel on the one pendant..... a woman's work is never done.
See you next week, xx If The King said so - it must be true -do listen to the song while reading this - brings the blog alive!' A little Madness in the Spring Is wholesome even for the King.' Emily Elizabeth Dickinson (1830 -1886) The weather is getting warmer and the plants in the garden are aching with buds - I love England in the springtime, especially after a bleak winter. I found an Intarsia cabochon in my stash -Intarsia is the centuries old skill of combining gem materials into works of art. Each piece of stone is precisely cut and fitted for inlay into another gemstone. Once assembled the complete piece is polished to a high finish. Each Intarsia is made entirely by hand - and because of this, relatively expensive. This one has elements of pink rhodochrosite, jasper and agate, and I decided to frame it in polymer clay to resemble a picture frame and then use it as a pendant. The cabochon itself is only 2 1/2 x 1 inch, and would stand no chance being visible, given my penchant for 'big' jewellery. So this is what I made with it - added a polymer clay frame using cherry blossom millefiori cane, and stringing it with a bunch of multicolour lucite leaves and flowers, using glass and acrylic pearls and Czech crystals thrown in for added sparkle. The flowers are substantial in size but light, so the pendant anchors the necklace and makes it drape well, and I have left the back free so that it is comfortable around the neck - no one wants something prodding their neck - especially in springtime, when collared jackets are still mandatory. The profusion of flowers is so springlike that the necklace could only be called Spring Fever. 'It's spring fever. That is what the name of it is. And when you've got it, you want - oh, you don't quite know what it is you do want, but it just fairly makes your heart ache, you want it so!' ~Mark Twain On another note, I submitted a few of my designs to Rena Klingenberg's website http://www.making-jewelry-now.com - Making Jewellery Now - The Friendly Jewellery Community, and am pleased that I had quite a favourable response from her readers, most of whom are jewellery designers - there are some fascinating insights into jewellery making and marketing on her site and I have spent a lot of my time reading it.
This is the link to the Caprilicious Jewellery Etsy store - http://www.etsy.com/shop/CapriliciousJewelry A Naiad's TreasureThere is definitely a method in my madness - my stash of beads is all jumbled up - and I would forget that I had a particular item, unless I found it quite by accident during a frantic rummage for something else. While I was looking for the lucite flowers, I found some prehnite nuggets - I love prehnite - it looks like pistachio green nuggets of frosted sugar candy, touched by a naughty child with dirty fingers, leaving black smudges on it's surface. I put it together with an ammonite fossil and khaki/gold pyrite nuggets, and a few freshwater pearls - there is an air of enchantment about this necklace that gave it it's name. A Naiad The Naiads were nymphs of bodies of fresh water.A naiad was intimately connected to the water she lived in, and if the stream dried up, she breathed her last with it. Like all the nymphs, the Naiads were in many ways female sex symbols of the ancient world and played the part of both the seduced and the seducer. Zeus in particular is said to have enjoyed the favors of countless Naiads and the other gods do not seem to have lagged far behind. The Naiads fell in love with, and actively pursued mortals as well.
Now, don't shoot the messenger - I got this from a website dealing with the mystical properties of crystals http://www.shimmerlings.com/gemstones/prehnite.htm#GENERAL - 'Prehnite is quite a protective stone. It can protect one on all levels, as it strengthens the life force and generally increases energy as well as stimulating it. Healers use prehnite's memory skill in aiding with diagnosis of patients, if you have a patient that is particularly difficult to diagnose, have them carry this stone for one month, when they return the crystal, use it during meditation to tap into the stone's memory.' I said this to a colleague of mine - and he looked horrified - as if I had grown another head (which I have - the one that makes jewellery) - and said -'please tell me you don't believe this'..... I wish I knew about the healing properties especially before I spent years and years in medical training - could've saved me a lot of trouble. Pyrite is commonly called Fools Gold because of its similarity in color, shape, to gold - it is also closely related to the more silvery Marcasite. Now, I have an idea for something I found while rummaging for the pyrite - am off to find it - who knows what else I might find - see you next week!
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