A Mini Break to Nowhere, by Caprilicious Jewellery

Hello folks, thanks for joining me today. I've had a fabulous week off from the day job and have relaxed so much that I feel extremely refreshed. Never mind, eh! One day into the new week once I'm back and it will be like this little break never happened. 

I had a visitor at the weekend and spent an enjoyable couple of days nattering away and playing with beads. I have at last finished Cherry Blossom and have decided to take a short break from bead embroidery. As I was putting my stash in order, I came across hanks of iolite and neon apatite and couldn't resist turning them into a necklace. 
I've noticed that the latest trend is to make little necklaces that are worn stacked together, and I thought I'd put together a single necklace in a similar vein. I'd only just finished putting it together when Danielle turned up and found her way to the necklace unerringly - and before I could say anything, it was taken. These photographs have been sent in by her as I didn't get a chance to take any.

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Danielle suggested I try my hand at making an embroidered silk mask for occasion wear- I bought in a two layered silk mask and managed to keep most of the embroidery stitches behind the first layer so that there would be no scratchy threads on the face. I used Shibori silk for the tail and fins and loads of tiny, shiny beads - I was anxious about the embroidery becoming so heavy that it would cause the mask to flop forward, but this seemed to work well.

We went for a walk around Coombe Abbey and then drove to the Temperance Cafe in Leamington to see how Woodland Fantasy was faring in the window. The rest of the weekend was spent nattering and before we knew it, time was up and the visit was over. I've talked of Coombe Abbey before - here's the link to that post.

I took some pictures of various necklaces, modelled by Danielle who very kindly brings changes of clothing, etc. all the way up from London, just to indulge me. I have a few here on the blog - the rest will be peppered throughout the website, with the necklaces she is modelling.

Aren't the pictures lovely? It's not that difficult to get great pictures when you have a beautiful model and a good camera.

I shall be on the Jewellery Show, an online marketplace on Facebook from 830 pm on Saturday the 12th to 830 pm on Sunday the 13th of September, so I made a few pairs of earrings while I did nothing all week (?!?). Do come and join me if you have a few spare minutes on those days, it's always nice to hear a friendly halloo! pop up out of the ether.

I used lashings of gemstones, pearls and diamante elements - I think the earrings are pretty.
And just when I thought I'd got away from the needle and seed beads, I was inspired by some pictures on Pinterest, and a tutorial on You Tube by Beadaholique to put together the pink and green earrings across the page. And now that I've started, I cannot stop and have continued with the beading techniques - I just haven't had a chance to photograph the rest yet.

One of my Caprilicious ladies has started a Facebook group called Dhi - the members of Dhi are on a quest to understand the nature of spirituality, and have speakers from wide ranging schools of thought - from the TheosophicaL Society to Astrology, to the Indian Vedas and Upanishads. Taps is a Phd in Statistics and is the founder member of this group - I occasionally dip into their meetings and Zoom calls when I can get away. She asked if I could design a logo for Dhi - she said, 'I know for sure your creativity stands out and is edgy.' So no pressure then! OMG, it's true that flattery gets you everywhere!!
After a bit of research I came up with an Unalome (pronounced Oonalome) which depicts the quest for spiritual knowledge. It starts with a spiral, signifying life, and then twists and turns as the individual seeks knowledge and slowly straightens out, until, at the end of the road is a dot, where the person becomes one with the highest spiritual knowledge. A lotus was incorporated into the design, being a beautiful flower that rises and blooms out of mud. And then I sent it off to her, and she loved it - Phew, I could breathe again - I had redeemed myself!  

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That's me for this week folks. Have a fabulous week, and don't forget to drop by the Jewellery Show on Saturday/Sunday if you have a spare minute. I'll catch you next Friday, same time, same place.
Until then
​xx