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The Caprilicious Jewellery Blog

Beautiful Handmade Statement Necklaces and other Fabulousness from Neena Shilvock - Inspirations and Designs From the Week Gone by

Adventures with Precious Metal Clay

24/9/2015

2 Comments

 
Hello readers, how nice to see you again. Last week has gone by in a blur that has been mostly about metal clay. I went to a workshop at Metal Clay Ltd in Wareham - the teacher was the delightful Anna Mazon of Drakonaria who came to us from Krakow in Poland. I fell in love with her Herbarium pendants and when I saw that she was running a class, I decided that I just had to go to it.
Anyone who knows me well knows my phobia for driving, but I was determined to face my fears and drive the 175 miles - the four hour drive was hell on my nerves, especially with all the roadworks, traffic and diversions - but the class was so worth the effort, I learned so much and am determined to put it into practice over and over again.
Metal clay adventures by Caprilicious Jewellery
The making of my pendant
Metal clay adventures by Caprilicious Jewellery
Anna Mazon of Drakonaria, our teacher
 Metal clay adventures by Caprilicious Jewellery
The pendants made at the workshop
Metal clay adventures by Caprilicious Jewellery
Hard at work
Anna gave us a few templates to design our pendants with, but I, who am rubbish at drawing, took the bull by the horns and decided to draw a gingko leaf and design a pendant from it - after all it is easier to be brave when you have an experienced teacher to correct your errors. That said, I didn't need too much correction and the template made, I cut out the clay and made the pendant. All the other ladies had much more experience than me and had been working with metal clay a lot longer. However, the experience I had with repairing broken greenware came very handy when I accidentally broke bits off the pendant a couple of times, and repaired them with panache. Oh, come on, it's just as important to know how to correct your mistakes as it is to learn never to make them! I just went 'oops!' and repaired my piece. Eventually it was ready to fire, and then I was given a lesson in soldering a setting for a stone, which is an entirely new skill that I got to learn.  

Appassionata

The Appassionata is Beethoven's 23rd symphony, written at the time when he realised that he was becoming progressively and irreversibly deaf. It is thought to be a very technically challenging piece to play - all I know is that it sounds fabulous and that it is at least 25 minutes long, or I would have played it for you - if you have a free half hour to spare, you can listen to it here. I hung my pendant on a necklace made of blue sunstone and mother of pearl beads and added a dangle of dark blue jade.
 
I thought it deserved a beautiful name.
99% silver precious metal clay pendant with a blue sunstone, on a necklace of blue sunstone and mother of pearl beads by Caprilicious Jewellery
99% silver precious metal clay pendant with a blue sunstone, on a necklace of blue sunstone and mother of pearl beads by Caprilicious Jewellery
99% silver precious metal clay pendant with a blue sunstone, on a necklace of blue sunstone and mother of pearl beads by Caprilicious Jewellery

Morgan Le Fay

Arthurian legend has long been of interest - as a young girl, I sighed over The Lady of Shalott, handsome Galahad, and tales of King Arthur and Guinevere. Morgan Le Fay or Morgana was Arthur's half sister, and hated him and Guinevere with a vengeance. She was a sorceress and practiced the dark arts to plot their downfall and her name always invoked a shiver down my spine. And now, even though I am all grown up, the stories still haven't lost their magic.
As an adult I came across Marion Zimmer Bradley's book 'The Mists of Avalon', where she tells the story of Arthur from the perspective of the women involved. Morgan is portrayed as a victim of circumstances, a story in which there is neither black and white nor good and evil, but several truths, much like real life itself. I developed a sympathy for the character since I read the book. The rough cut amethyst nuggets in this necklace brought Morgana to mind - they are dark and Autumnal, and just right for the season.
Sugar maple leaf skeleton pendant with rough cut amethyst nuggets by Caprilicious Jewellery
Sugar maple leaf skeleton pendant with rough cut amethyst nuggets by Caprilicious Jewellery
Sugar maple leaf skeleton pendant with rough cut amethyst nuggets by Caprilicious Jewellery
Sugar maple leaf skeleton pendant with rough cut amethyst nuggets by Caprilicious Jewellery
That's all I had time for this week, thanks a lot for stopping by folks, catch you next week, same time, same place 
xx
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2 Comments
Divya link
25/9/2015 04:33:15 pm

I love the Appassionata pendant, its so intricate and drool worthy . You should be really proud of yourself for making it. The amethyst nuggets add a splendid mysterious feeling to the piece

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Neena Shilvock link
26/9/2015 04:30:30 pm

Thank you Diva, it was a fabulous class and I learned a lot - I love my pendant too.

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     I'm Neena Shilvock,  and I'm crazily addicted to jewellery. I've been designing and making quirky and interesting statement necklaces for the last eight years and my passion hasn't cooled off one little bit - in fact it has got worse, such that I'm even dreaming jewellery.
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I am very proud of my body of work and what people say about it, here are some of the compliments I have received 

'Neena, the necklace has just arrived & I can't find enough of the right words to do it justice. Somehow "stunning" "gorgeous" "exquisite" don't seem to fit the bill! It's definitely a statement piece ..................'                 LJ

'Wow received my jewellery to day. Love them, so beautifully presented in a pretty green box and many thanks for gift of earrings, lovely, 
thanks :-)'         AT
 
 'Hi Neena, just been busy all week at a folk festival.....my Mme Butterfly drew lots of admiration, as did my Ice Queen and someone leaned over the counter in a store of healing and crystals and exclaimed at my beautiful lapis. I so enjoy wearing my pieces and the attention they receive. '          LB
 
 ' Neena, I can't describe how delighted I am with Scherezade - she is simply breathtaking.'  EW


Read more testimonials here and see pictures of happy customers here, here and​​ here