Hello lovely people, I hope you're all well today. Spring is in the air - I don't know about you but it seems like we've had a very short winter to me. Perhaps because we haven't been anywhere, or done anything all year - it's as if 2020 was a damp squib all round. 2021 hasn't got too much to say for itself either - the first quarter has gone by without too much fanfare. I'm about to have my second Covid jab on Monday and I fully expect to be filled with enthusiasm, to be greeted with bells and whistles, and confetti to shower upon me. 'You're immune, You're immune' sing the bells of St Godeberta, the church of the patron saint of epidemics. But a little voice in my head goes 'Ah, but the vaccine has only a 75% efficacy rate - how d'you know you don't belong in the other 25%?'. And the bells fade away in the distance and eventually go muffled and silent. There's no way of knowing, is there? One just has to plod on, masked face forward. EnchainedI've been looking at these photographs everywhere, beautiful women in their acrylic chain link necklaces - the first time I saw one, I didn't think much of it, but eventually the trend grew on me and I found myself sending for acrylic chain links and making one of them myself. I added some colour with a carabiner clasp from my collection, and a couple of dangles, including a bright green cloisonne dragonfly and a large baroque pearl. Each of the links clicks into the next one, so the necklace can be shortened easily if required. I actually like the look of it. What d'you think? I gave it a practice run and people at work loved it. JasperThe silver pendant in this necklace came from Jaipur, India - the focal stone is a red jasper crowned by moonstones. I've had it for a while and had no idea what I was going to do with it until it's moment arrived and bang! the idea descended upon me like a bolt from the blue. Rutilated quartz beads that are faceted and reflect the light, accented by even more sparkle from faceted haematite that has been electroplated with silver seemed to be the perfect match, and so they were, when I put them together in a necklace of four strands. The tiny rutilated quartz beads are in shades ranging from clear to grey, orange-brown and black and they match the jasper and the moonstone in the pendant perfectly. The light bouncing around this necklace when it is prismed over and through the little facets cannot be picked up in any still photograph. If you wish to read about the properties of red jasper, you can do so here, and here's a link to an article about the healing properties of rutilated quartz. That's me for this week, folks. Have a wonderful week, and I'll catch you next Friday, same time, same place,
Until then xx
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Hello readers, thanks for joining me for this week's edition of the Caprilicious blog. I have been laid low with a cold, and spent a few days in bed, waiting for it and the jet lag to pass. There was very little time to miss my muse, although a niggly thought remained at the back of my mind - 'where on earth is she' ?? In the meanwhile, I kept myself busy between snoozes, rearranging the website and sorting out a couple of pieces that I made just before I went to India but hadn't photographed. The Ottoman NecklaceNamed for the beautiful green of the crystals and the agate in this piece, the necklace is called The Ottoman Necklace after the emeralds so beloved by the sultans of the Ottoman Empire in Turkey. The necklace is made to resemble a lariat, but has a magnetic clasp at the back which facilitates easy fastening. The bunch of crystals, agate and bling that drips into the décolletage is particularly pretty. The beautiful green of the stones is a fresh and vivid colour which conveys joie de vivre. Monochromasia Monochromasia is a medical condition of complete colour blindness in which all colours appear as shades of grey. This necklace is made of three strands of rutilated quartz teardrops, a focal coffee agate bead and an onyx clasp. Rutile is an ore of titanium, which often forms hair-like crystal inclusions inside quartz. It is meant to have metaphysical properties which enhance creativity and relieve depression and loneliness, and slow the ageing process (worth a try I suppose). And then Ms Muse was back! I woke up one morning and found that she had snuck back in without saying a word to anyone. She had already picked out the beads for my new necklace, all bright and colourful, a celebration of her return to work. We did a little joyous 'welcome home' dance together, and then I settled back in my chair, with my bead tray in my lap, Ms Muse at my shoulder, whispering in my ear. The Gypsy In StilletosThe most colourful and vibrant beads in my stash came out to play in these two necklaces - unashamedly bright and in your face. There's no way you'd be a wallflower if you wore one of these. By the way, a lot of the beads on this page came from Itsy Bitsy in Bangalore - Ms Muse simply loved them. I made the colourful polymer clay toggle clasp in the first one and the green and black dangle at the end of the other a few months ago. And then she pleaded with me for a rest - 'a couple more days off', she begged. I too was just getting into the swing of things at the day job, it isn't easy after such a long time away, so though I pretended to grumble, I was secretly relieved. I allowed her a couple of days to rest up and find her feet again and this is what her imagination came up with. Cinderella's NecklaceShe said 'imagine poor Cinderella, sweeping up after her stepmother and the Ugly Sisters, sighing over her broom - along comes the Fairy Godmother (I think Ms Muse secretly believes she is mine), and with a wave of her wand gets Cinders ready for a night on the razzle. Just before this, she'd been wearing a necklace made from lumps of coal, which was converted by the FG into a piece of Bling'. This, then, is Cinderella's necklace, mid conversion! And because I wasn't sure whether Cinders would have preferred to go silver tone or gold, I made two versions, to give her the choice. The black beads are made of clay and were also found at Itsy Bitsy, just before I started my second workshop. The silver tone beads are electroplated quartz nuggets and the gold tone are Kenyan lost wax casting bronze beads.
That's it for this week folks. Have a fabulous week and I'll catch you next week, same time, same place, xx Don't you just love that Dr Seuss! - I only read The Cat in the Hat and Green Eggs and Ham as an adult as he was'nt popular reading for children in India when I was growing up - but he gave me many hours of sheer pleasure reading it to a friend's daughter in my twenties. Just like playing with plasticine! - Polymer Clay is just that, but the stuff that can be made with it is amazing. I have to say I was rubbish at it as a child - but I am really surprising myself with my first experiments with the clay. I moulded it and coloured it and patted it, and put it in the oven with a paper 'tent' over it and held my breath for 30 minutes - then I had to wait for it to cool without opening the oven - and this is what I found - after some polishing and buffing I think it is quite pretty, and I am now off and away. So, from these two and a few other shiny ingredients, and a bit of anxiety while my baby baked in the oven, I got this! Magic, or what?? - I am going to eventually combine these pieces with silver and copper clay and make mixed media jewellery - of course, my favourite, wire, will have to be in on the act. I made a bracelet for Jan, who is celebrating her 25th wedding anniversary in Barbados - she is an amazing midwife who used to be a seamstress before she did midwifery - needless to say, she repairs and renovates clothes for half the workplace, and I have had cause in the last couple of years to use her services - she has been ever so sweet, nothing was too much trouble for her. I hope she has a great time and that she loves the bracelet. I used my Wigjig to make the links - have owned for an year but never used - actually quite a lot of fun to use, although not as easy as it sounds - but is anything?? The idea is that all the elements come out more or less alike, so repetition is easy - hmmm...... - OK, I suppose it is better than going freeform -the makers of the Jig seem to take themselves extremely seriously and even have an Internet based WigJig University, with free designs a nd ideas - may be thats why it took me this long to actually use it - I prefer a light hearted approach to my hobby!!
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