Menu
Caprilicious Jewellery
  • Home
    • Caprilicious and I
    • T & C, Payment, P & P
    • Testimonials
    • Care of your jewellery
  • Statement Necklaces
    • Gemstone and Wire
    • Mixed Media Necklaces
    • Soutache and Beadwork
    • Leather Jewellery
    • Bling! Party Wear
      • Formal Party Wear
    • The English Country Garden
    • Leafy Glade Collection
    • The Out of Africa Collection
    • Tribal Necklaces
    • Eastern Promise / Mini Tribals
    • Oriental Inspiration
    • She Sells Sea Shells
    • Lagenlook Jewellery
  • Mini Statements
    • Copper Bracelets for Arthritis
    • Pendants
    • Earrings
      • Diamante / Party Earrings
    • Mixed Metal Jewellery
    • Hair accessories
  • Silver Jewellery
    • Silver Necklaces
    • Silver pendants
    • Silver Earrings
  • Blog
  • Publications
    • Free Mini Tutorials
      • Decoupage for Virgins - a Mini Tutorial
      • Colouring Polymer Clay with Chalk - a Mini Tutorial
      • Faux Drawbench glass bi-cone beads - a mini tutorial
      • Sunflower Smile Tutorial
      • Gold Rush Necklace Tutorial
      • Using Pebeo paint on polymer clay
    • Articles / Tutorials / Press
  • Home
    • Caprilicious and I
    • T & C, Payment, P & P
    • Testimonials
    • Care of your jewellery
  • Statement Necklaces
    • Gemstone and Wire
    • Mixed Media Necklaces
    • Soutache and Beadwork
    • Leather Jewellery
    • Bling! Party Wear
      • Formal Party Wear
    • The English Country Garden
    • Leafy Glade Collection
    • The Out of Africa Collection
    • Tribal Necklaces
    • Eastern Promise / Mini Tribals
    • Oriental Inspiration
    • She Sells Sea Shells
    • Lagenlook Jewellery
  • Mini Statements
    • Copper Bracelets for Arthritis
    • Pendants
    • Earrings
      • Diamante / Party Earrings
    • Mixed Metal Jewellery
    • Hair accessories
  • Silver Jewellery
    • Silver Necklaces
    • Silver pendants
    • Silver Earrings
  • Blog
  • Publications
    • Free Mini Tutorials
      • Decoupage for Virgins - a Mini Tutorial
      • Colouring Polymer Clay with Chalk - a Mini Tutorial
      • Faux Drawbench glass bi-cone beads - a mini tutorial
      • Sunflower Smile Tutorial
      • Gold Rush Necklace Tutorial
      • Using Pebeo paint on polymer clay
    • Articles / Tutorials / Press

The Caprilicious Jewellery Blog

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

Beteljuice!

31/8/2012

1 Comment

 
Good day everyone, I trust you had a good week. I have been very rested, as I took some time off the day job, and found I had no pressing matters to attend to, so could chill, and make as many pieces of jewellery as I like, with little or no interruption.

This week, I tried out a new technique - chainmaille.
Chainmaille is the practice of  linking rings to create interesting patterns, or more traditionally "sheets" of flexible metal for the purpose of armor or decoration. The name comes from the French word maille, derived from the Latin macula, which means a 'mesh of net'. The basic weaves use jump rings, which are open rings not intended to be soldered.  For decorative use, the supportive structure of the weaves is enough to ensure the rings don't pull open.


I bought a rhodochrosite carved pendant a while ago - rhodochrosite is a reddish pink stone - the pink color of rhodochrosite is caused by the element manganese and it is formed when manganese is dissolved by ground water and combines with a carbonate material, then drips off the ceiling of caves and crevices deep underground.  It is commonly found in the form of stalactites and stalagmites in the caves of Argentina. The Incas, who called it Inca Rose, believed that rhodochrosite is the blood of their former kings and queens that was turned to stone.

I am by no stretch of imagination a 'pink lady' - but I had to have the pendant - the carving called out to me - 'buy me Neena, buy me' it implored. I searched for a suitable way to tone down the pinkness - I bought Morganite - too pink, tektite - too black, rose quartz - even more 'too pink', and  finally, after my bead stash was swollen with unsuitable (!) elements, I found frosted red agate - orangey pink/ red beads, smudged with inky black, and frosted over like the bloom on a grape - lovely!


The Mermaid's Song

Picture
Picture
Picture
Picture
The Love Knots
Picture
Picture
Picture
Picture
This necklace just grrrrrew - couldnt stop it - I made a seahorse, a couple of starfish, and a 'fisherman's net' around the mermaid with fish and other shells caught up in it - and then thought I would try the chainmaille techniques out here to link the beads together - well, easier said than done - it is ever such a fiddly technique, and certainly not suited to sitting in front of the telly with a tray in your lap. But, I persevered and in the end, I am glad I did.
Love knots are very basic chain maille links, with three rings linked together, rather like a Russian wedding ring, and the individual bead links leading off the centre of the knot. All was well till I decided I didn't like the placement of one or two of the elements - it has to be just so for me - and for you - and everything needed to be taken apart and redone - but in the end, I liked the effect - a little more ornate than using just the one ring between elements, I may try this again, and who knows, one day, I might surprise myself with a bracelet made of chainmaille links (don't hold your breath, Neena!).

Diamond White

Diamond White is a necklace made of clear quartz needles with pewter coloured vintage focal beads from another necklace I cannibalised. It is also a cider with a hight alcohol content (12.5%) here in the UK and it had a certain following amongst my friends when I was young. I decided that I would use the name of an old favourite for this rather nice necklace. One of my friends said it made her think of winter - but hey, our non summer is almost over - and we have to face a bleak winter - what better way than to wear nice jewellery - wearing pretty stuff puts a smile on my face, anyway.
Picture
Picture
Picture
Picture
Picture

Here Comes The Sun

Confused?? - the weather here certainly is - one day it is hot and sunny, and the next it is raining cats and dogs and freezing cold - my jewellery efforts reflect that seesaw - so on this particular day, after a swim and a barbeque meal (no clearing up - yippee!), I sat down with a reel of copper wire and some peridot beads and made this.....
I love the green of peridot - wish it wasn't quite so expensive - but in common with amethysts and aquamarine, it is too expensive to buy in large amounts. Peridot is one of the few gemstones that occur in only one color, an olive green. The intensity and tint of the green comes from the iron in the crystal structure. It is also called Olivine - due to its colour, and is classed as a precious gem. I got the faceted teardrops on a visit to Capri, where they seem to have large deposits of the gemstone, and I used two of them in these copper wire earrings.
Picture
Picture
And while the barbeque was sizzling and Mike was slaving away over it, I put the polymer clay flowers I made a few weeks ago onto brooch backs and popped them in the oven to cure.
Picture
Picture
Picture
Picture

The Paisley pattern has been around for simply ages - its origins are claimed by the peoples of both India  and Persia, but its Western name derives from the Scottish town of Paisley. In India, it is a common design, and thought to be a stylised mango. It was popularised in the Western world by the East India Company, and adopted by Liberty into the 'Liberty Print'. I am very familiar with this design, as it is very common in the gold thread work in South India,  where I am from, originally, so I decided to make a paisley 'mango' in silver, with some delicious multicoloured tourmaline I acquired earlier, and add a fine silver daisy made from Precious Metal Clay in my kiln. I used wire netting to fill out the paisley shape with tourmaline beads, and hung it from the daisy on a silver chain - sweet!
Picture
Picture

The Wings of Love

A Hungarian jewellery maker I once bought a bracelet from posted a piece of embroidered jewellery she created around a beetle's wing - I was startled and thought then that she was joking, but not so - the naturally beautiful elytra (wings) of the Green Jewel beetle (Sternocera aequisignata) shift in color from green to hints of blue at the edges, and  the surface is shiny and iridescent, giving the effect of sunlight on an oil-slick. The beetles have a short life span of 3-4 days, and when they die, they loose their wings, which are then collected up for use in various objects, and jewellery. No beetles are harmed in the making of this jewellery (phew!).

A bit more research revealed that beetle wings have been used for centuries by Indian civilizations, cut into tiny spangle shapes and sequins to adorn a range of objects, their reflective properties admired as a means to ward off evil spirits.  The beetles, in beautiful colours are like living jewels, and in Victorian England it was the height of cool to have live jewel beetles tethered by tiny gold chains to your décolletage! The beetles were caged and fed, and covered with gemstones, if they weren't colourful enough, and taken on regular outings pinned to the lady's chest!

I set out looking for these wings, and found a vendor in Thailand, where these beetles are found, and am now the proud owner of a large number of these wings, this means that I will need to think up plenty of designs to use all of them, but I have no doubt that they will be liked - anyone who likes shiny, pretty things, is bound to like these. I made some  earrings, just to get the feel of this new acquisition - but I just know that they will  fly out of my hands real quick! I did worry a little about the word 'beetle' which does not conjure up the nicest image - but hey, if the Victorians could wear real live beetles, why shouldn't we wear the wings, beautiful as they are - just takes a bit of getting used to - and we do wear leather from dead animals all the time, don't we??

 A bit more about those Victorians - they loved insect jewellery - apparently.  For example, Caddisfly larvae glue together tiny stones, grains of sand, and bits of litter to form cases that camouflage and protect them from their natural enemies.  When  gold nuggets, shells, or semiprecious stones, were added to their cages, they  incorporated these into their protective cases, which was later harvested and made into earrings, necklaces, tie tacks, and pins. Amber jewellery - or fossilised insect jewellery was also very popular, and remains so today.
Picture
A Victorian Living Jewel pin - University of Colorado Museum of Natural History
Picture
Aren't the colours just fabulous??
Picture
Picture
Picture
Though light, the wings are quite robust. I accidentally stood on one and it didn't break (and I am no featherweight)! I will of course provide stoppers, as the earrings are very light - but the converse of that is that they can be made long as you like, without fearing for your earlobes! They make a pleasant swishing sound when they knock against each other - a sort of rustle - brings to mind long silk gowns - which is just the right mental image for these beautiful jewel coloured earrings. 

The Flemish artist Jan Fabre created the ‘Heaven of Delight’ using 1.6 million of these wings! Fabre and his team of thirty people took 4 months to glue all of the beetle shells to the ceiling and a chandelier in the Heaven of Delight Hall of Mirrors, of the Royal Palace in Brussels. I would have associated the colours and the name with a more exotic place than Brussels, but Fabre really loved these beetle wings and used them extensively in a lot of his art.

Picture
The living jewel!
Picture
The ceiling in the Hall of Mirrors by Jan Fabre
Picture
A closer look at the ceiling
Picture
The chandelier
Picture
He sure loved his beetles!
I hope you have enjoyed the tale of the beetles - I really got stuck into my research about them, and found so much to talk about. The wings are truly beautiful, and I am surprised that they are not more commonly used in jewellery. I must mention Agi Kiss from Moonsafari Beads who set me off on this journey - you can see her piece here - http://www.etsy.com/shop/MoonsafariBeads

That's all for now folks.  Catch you later
xx
Follow
1 Comment
agi kiss
2/9/2012 09:54:02 am

Hey Neena, the earrings are beautiful! I have a pair like those myself, the wings look so amazing :)) But as you wrote, my friends think it is a bit strange, if not disgusting to make jewelry from beetles, even my dad told me so - I was surprised as he works with animals and knows all kinds of creatures, and also a hoarder who collects all kinds of things to make pretty or useful things of them. But whatever, they are beautiful to me! :) The decoration of the palace looks amazing too, i'd like to see it in person, those colors cannot be captured on photos.

Reply

Your comment will be posted after it is approved.


Leave a Reply.

    Follow
    The Caprilicious Jewellery Blog 
    on Bloglovin'  
    ​Click on the link below 

    Picture

    Author

     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.
    I'd love to get to know kindred spirits like you, so drop me a line and I'll get back to you, and who knows, this could be the start of a beautiful friendship. Write to me at jewellerybycaprilicious(at)gmail.com

    Picture

    Find me on Instagram

    Find me on Pinterest  

    Contact me

     I would love to hear from you - please leave a comment on the blog or send an email  to jewellerybycaprilicious(at)gmail.com
    Picture
    In Berlin with my sweet better half, Mike
    Caprilicious Jewellery

    Promote your Page too

    Free Mini Tutorials

Caprilicious Jewellery

Picture
Contact us
About us

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