Hello people, how are you? I don't know how and when this is all going to end, but it's doing my head in. It's no fun going in to work any more and the whole mask wearing, social distancing, non friend seeing, non travelling to different places kinda life is beginning to annoy the hell out of me! There, rant over, and I'm sure you're all feeling the same, so who am I to complain? It's not like it's only me affected by all the craziness going on in the world. At least I'm able to go out and about, there are people who can't/don't and I'm sure it is much harder for them than it is for the likes of me. Here's a song that has invaded my head since I heard it on the radio - just sharing my ear worm, I'm that kind of a person. Share and share alike, I say. The garden has been my solace and my plants are returning the love and attention they have received by flowering for me most obligingly. When I moved into my first house, it was a new build, with no garden at all apart from what I put in it. I had no clue, and soon grew plants that refused to flower because they had too little sunlight, or fried to a crisp from too much sun. In despair I went on a RHS course and finally understood what I was doing wrong and put in a load of plants in places where they would flower - just as it was looking nice, we moved! As this one was an older property, I was hoping that the owners would have put some plants in but no, what they had was brick paving all around the house so that all their children could park their cars - it looked like the front of Crossroads Motel! We dug out some of the paving, filled the area in with compost and planted away to our heart's content - but that wasn't enough, so we brought in the pots - we ended up with over 150 pots all around the house and the garden now is mainly in containers. In summer, my jewellery becomes more and more floral and that's obviously the influence of my surroundings. This week, I put together some earrings with dried rose buds dipped in resin that preserves them for posterity. I call them my Potpourri earrings. What you cannot tell from these photographs is the beautiful sheen the resin adds to the dried roses. The gold tone studs are my favourites, as they sit close to the ear and are large - just over the size of a 50p piece and extremely stylish. S&M and FOMONicole Hanna posts a 'Finish It' Challenge on her Blog twice a year. She posts the first few steps of a tutorial for a piece of wire woven jewellery and gets the people who attempt the challenge to finish the piece with the specified materials - no variations allowed. The finished articles are all in an album on Pinterest for viewers to vote - I never bother with the voting as everyone's a winner in my opinion, as she sends all the entrants the finished tutorial, and that's what I want. Some extremely talented masochists attempt the challenge and the designs are fantastical, sometimes even Nicole is stunned. If you want to look at the entries click here. The contest ended at midnight last night, and I only began to weave my piece the night before - this one was hard, folks - I must've been mad to keep going. She started out with six wires, and that was fine, and then suddenly, wham! the sadistic woman hit us with four more. Weaving with ten base wires is not my idea of fun, but I'd started, so I'd continue, besides, I couldn't miss out on that tutorial now, could I?? The picture shows where she ended her instructions - and that is where I should have called it as a bad job. After all, I don't want to weave anything ever again with ten base wires - do I? Humph!! 'Now what?' I asked out loud, as I scratched my head with the half finished wire thing I had just created. 'I dunno,' said the muse, 'geroff, go to bed, and don't bother me anymore.' So the next evening, I picked it up again, with that heartsink feeling (but I wanted the tutorial!) and kept on going until I had something that resembled a finished piece, ending with a pain deep in my right hand from holding those wires steady, that still hasn't gone away. No wonder my piece is terrible! It came out looking like a bug - my garden has certainly invaded my head. I quickly took a picture with my phone and sent it in just in time, and will be rewarded (punished) for my efforts shortly with the tutorial which will be an instrument of torture for many years to come. There are some very pretty designs on that page, although there are a couple of critters - a spider and an octopus as well as my bug. I'm sure those people had the same idea as me! All they wanted was the tutorial. There is a frog and a peacock, and there is a beautiful bulls head with horns and all - I can't imagine how difficult it must have been to turn this tutorial into that piece, but it sure took her longer than the two evenings I gave myself through procrastination. I spent all Sunday on Facebook, showcasing earrings on The Earrings Show and sold quite a few pieces. The earrings went down a storm and I got some fabulous feedback. I posted out on Monday and a bunch of them got to Massachusetts in two days time - the couriers aren't busy, obviously. I love great feedback, it strokes the ego and stokes the Caprilicious fires - I feel like making more jewellery. The pandemic has been depressing as there has been a distinct lack of love - but who has the money? and if they did, where is there to wear new jewellery? It is now that there is a hope of the lockdown ending, and people are fed up of moping around the house in T shirts and jogger bottoms that they need some prettiness in their lives. Here's a shot of the feedback I received - heart warming stuff! Anyways, that's me for this week, folks. My annual barbeque for my junior doctors stands cancelled this time round, as does the mini school reunion we have at this time every year. Ah, well, I'm sure we will do it next year, should we all survive. Have a fabulous week and I'll catch you next Friday, same time, same place. Until then xx
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Hello people, how are you? The sun is shining and the garden is blooming, but yet it's hard to enjoy this bounty when it has to be done in seclusion. I had a friend visit with me today after so many weeks now that restrictions are lifted a bit, and we sat out in the garden and had a good long natter, drinking shandies and sitting in the shade - that was so good. The garden is benefitting from the attention we are lavishing on it - everything is standing upright and there isn't a weed or a slug that hasn't been got rid of, never to be heard from again. I've also been practicing my photography skills and the flowers have lent themselves to this task in the absence of other inspiration. I used to like to go and sit in busy places - train stations, city centres, pubs, and parks were favourites; and photograph the people there, going about their business not knowing that my beady eye is upon them. I've agreed to do a virtual show of earrings at The Earring Show on Facebook and will be displaying my wares online on the 12th of July. Although I have loads of stock, I felt I should make at least one more new piece and came up with this pair of stud earring danglers. Initial response was quite enthusiastic so I hope they will be well received at the show. The beads are all imported from the Czech Republic and Japan. Woodland FantasyThese are two little brass Vintaj lizards I bought from an outlet in the USA and they are beautiful - their only problem is that there is no way to anchor them to a piece of jewellery apart from using glue. I don't generally use glue for this purpose as once the glue deteriorates the attachments come loose. I decided very early on in the game that my jewellery has to stand the test of time and so double sew all my beads, and sew a bezel around every cabochon so that the crystals, beads and cabochons are extra secure. I've had the lizards for almost five years now as I didn't know how I would use them. My recent foray into beading has meant that I've been using this hole making tool, so I decided to give it a go. I've no idea what it is called, and if anyone does, please tell me in the comments. As you can see, the lizards are pretty tiny and I approached the task very gingerly. I held my breath - and all of a sudden I had two usable little critters. A large labradorite slab lay unused for many years. This is a very deceptive stone which at first look appears dull and grey - walk it into the light and suddenly it flashes fire with an inner iridescence that can be shocking if you're not expecting it. I tend to put a lot of colour around a labradorite so that the piece is colourful and interesting even when it isn't giving away its secret. I planned that the slab would represent a woodland pool, with little creatures around it - I added an enamelled dragonfly and a crystal scarab beetle and set to work making the pendant. Little lily pads were made individually and added to the edge of the 'pond', and three lotus flowers sewn onto one edge. This piece had very little planning involved in its making - but even after I had put in a lot of the beadwork, I wasn't happy - I wanted more. I changed tack and turned the pendant sideways, and attached it to a collar devised from Lacy's Stiff Stuff, and now it is a focal point in a statement necklace. Now what? The clue is in the name - Woodland Fantasy. I've just discovered Japanese seed beading and have sent off for Margaret Lee's fabulous book on these techniques. Japan is the home of the Miyuki and Toho seed beads and the embroidery techniques look like tapestry. I can't wait until the book arrives and I start again on my necklace. Until then, I shall have to find something else with which to occupy my hands. That's me for this week, folks. Before I sign off, if anyone can tell me why Wilfred the cat absolutely refuses to sleep in his new and lovely fluffy bed, preferring to sleep in a wooden tray on the dining table, I would be very interested in the answer. I just don't get it. I've sprayed it with catnip, and put morsels of of cat treats into it, but try as I might I had no luck, I even considered trying to curl up in it myself to set him an example. I ended up selling it on Facebook Marketplace this morning. Have a wonderful week and I'll catch you next Friday,
Until then xx Hello folks, how are you this week? Corona virus anxiety has spread around the world and has hit the UK as well. Our local supermarket is almost emptied of canned food, dried pasta and frozen food, and yet we know that 80% of sufferers have a mild flu type illness and the death rate is only about 1%, mainly in those who already have other comorbidities . Ah well, the media has much to answer for. Hospitals have been inundated by the worried well - everyone has a mobile phone and access to Google and it would seem that everyone's an armchair diagnostician today. With all this going on around me, I haven't gone back to my tools - an extended break! I took pictures of earrings I created just before I went on holiday. I keep forgetting to show people my earrings and a whole load of my necklaces were picked up by ladies who come to take a look at Caprilicious while I'm in India - earrings however remain in the box and come back home with me. Both my clients and I run out of time and steam by the time they have tried on all my necklaces and we never seem to have the energy to take the earrings out of their box, let alone try them on, or indeed buy them. BeezBees are wasps that went vegetarian. This was a brilliant evolutionary move: they now outnumber wasps by around three to one. Instead of hunting creatures that would rather not be eaten, they turned to living things that offered themselves on a plate. Bees and flowers evolved together in a gorgeous spiral of mutual dependence. Humans depend on bees to fertilize the plants and make them a food source. There are several fruits and vegetables which depend on the process of pollination to be fertilized, including apples, watermelons, pears, strawberries, corn, cucumbers, almonds and tomatoes. Bees are also responsible for providing us with beeswax which is obtained from the glandular secretions of honeybees and used in cosmetics, polishes, candles, and pharmaceuticals. Scientists know that bees are dying from a variety of factors — pesticides, drought, habitat destruction, nutrition deficit, air pollution, global warming and so forth. We know that humanity is the perpetrator, and that the two most prominent causes appear to be pesticides and habitat loss. Mike and I do our bit to save the bees, short of building our own hive - we grow loads of wildflowers, allow the dandelions to flourish in our lawn (or at least that's our excuse) and I made these two pairs of earrings, 50% of the proceeds of which I will donate to the Give Bees a Chance Charity. The earrings will go on sale on the website shortly and I hope someone will help to support this worthy cause. I also made a few more earrings - some of them to go with necklaces already on the website, although they can be bought separately if wished, and others just because ... I thought I'd show you the pieces of jewellery I picked up in India - I've always loved torque necklaces and I bought a couple of variations, the first one is a modern piece with repousse flowers and leaves and the second, an antique torque made for a woman of the Banjara or gypsy community. The Banjara women wear the family wealth around their neck and wrists and when the men need the money, they have to apply to the bank of the missus. I can only imagine that this was how the piece I now own found its way into this tiny shop in a side street behind the palace in Udaipur. My sister in law and I were wandering around this tiny street, mainly window shopping and I saw all these antique pieces of jewellery in this little shop that would fit only two customers in it at a time, and the jeweller behind a glass case filled with antique silver. I fell in love but couldn't make up my mind. I eventually requested my sister in law to go back with me to the shop as she's better at the bargaining game than I am and eventually bought it. It weighs 280 grammes and is therefore quite heavy, but I love it. That's me for this week, folks. have a fabulous week, and I'll catch you next Friday, same time, same place.
Until then xx Hello all, how are you? Less than a week left to Christmas, and I hope everyone is ready for the big day. I've spent the week packing parcels, writing cards and distributing gifts like a demented Mrs Claus - and it is all done and dusted bar Christmas dinner - for which I still have to shop! Ah well, there are still five days to go and I'm sure we can codge something together. I finish work at the day job on Tuesday afternoon and I am already looking forward to a bit of peace and quiet. Windswept WavesI wanted to use a string of chisel shaped agate beads in a necklace that I've been saving for a special moment. The agate beads are rugged and have a wild beauty that reminds me of the jagged rocks around the coast of Cornwall or the Blue Grotto off the coast of Capri. I wanted to contrast the masculinity of the agate with a feminine, frothy, frilly pendant and spent a long time looking for the perfect piece but then realised that I'd be better off making my own. I wrote about the beginnings of the piece last week, here, and can now present the finished necklace. The smooth ceramic beads from Greece, the rugged, masculine agate chisels and the feminine, frilly pendant - a necklace of delightful contrasts, colour and texture. Toni Ballard, from the Mitchell Gallery in Warwick where I displayed my jewellery until they closed their physical gallery, contacted me to request a pair of earrings to match a turquoise necklace she purchased last year. I was a bit sceptical as didn't think I could match the blue of the turquoise in her necklace to any earrings I might make without the necklace in front of me to ensure a perfect colour comparison. I picked a design by Nicole Hanna and made the wire the predominant feature, using small turquoise beads. I put it in the post and held my breath - two days later I had a reply from Toni - she loved the earrings and I could breathe again. She will send me pictures, she promises, and I will share them with you when she does. I've been playing with wire and beads, and have a half finished piece, which should be ready for the blog next week. Have a fabulous Christmas, won't you, relax and have a load of fun with family and friends. Feliz Navidad from Caprilicious and I'll catch you next Friday, same time, same place. Until then xx G'day, people, how are you this fine morning. OMG what a fabulous week it has been - it was criminal that I had to work through it and missed most of the rays, but I did catch the tail end of each day and that just had to do. Ah well, I made my own sunshine - some that is pretty portable and is guaranteed through the year. Bring Me SunshineNamed after Willie Nelson's iconic song, these are one more pair in my little growing collection of Shibori earrings. I love the colour of the silk with a pale yellow hidden in the depths of the accordion pleats and a vibrant orange visible at first glance, the 'gemstones', the copper flowers, and the little diamante hoops are to die for. I saw them somewhere, and simply had to have them on your behalf. Sacred SeedThe Bodhi tree is well known in Buddhist circles as the tree under which the Buddha meditated and gained Nirvana. These seeds are called Bodhi seeds in South East Asia and used to make malas and bracelets. However, they are not actually seeds of the Bodhi tree, which is a fig tree whose seeds are tiny inside the little fruit. Perhaps the Buddhists decided they didn't like real Bodhi seeds as they were too small to represent anything, so they picked the largest seed they could make into a mala and transferred the name to give it significance. That's just my theory - who knows the real reason. A Moroccan amulet, gaily enamelled in blues, green and red and coral beads make this a very pretty mixed media piece, light and easy to wear. Cara (2)I made Cara (1) out of slices of solar quartz, and the second one is also made from the same material, although it is dyed a fabulous blue. Teamed with freshwater pearls, it is very summery necklace. Midsummer MelangeI've been collecting these little potato nuggets for a while - aquamarine, peridot, green aventurine, amethyst, citrine and yellow jade which is a more opaque yellow than the citrine, little peacock pearls and tiny, shiny crystals. I have probably ended up with enough beads to make half a dozen of these necklaces, but it is quite exhausting, stringing seven strands of beads - tiring but fun, but not something I'd want to repeat in a hurry! The clasp is a mother of pearl flower and I've connected the strings of beads to it randomly so that they are all entwined, and can be worn all twisted into a rope, or loosely slung around the neck as in the first picture. That's me for this week, folks. I'm working at the weekend and by the time I emerge from the dungeon the summer will be over (oh, no!!). It's a wonder that I haven't got a Vit D deficiency. Have a fabulous week, and I'll catch you next week, same time, same place.
Until then xx Hello everyone, I hope all of you have had a good week and thank you for coming back to my blog. Since I last wrote, I've turned a whole year older and to mark the ageing process, I had a few days leave from work. This year I had time owing in lieu of working a few Bank Holidays and decided to take the whole week off. We went to London at the end of the week and instead of booking a show or play, just spent time mooching around a couple of London's markets. First stop, Portobello Road Market where we went into one antique stall after another, spoilt for choice and stopping at strategic intervals for coffee and a bite to eat. Saturday is the busiest day in the market and the crowds did not disappoint - it was difficult at times to walk two abreast without bumping into someone. We couldn't possibly see all the stalls, and didn't even go near the ones selling tourist tat. We were exhausted by 5pm and went straight back to the hotel for a quick nap before the next part of the evening - I told you I was a whole year older! We went to a little cafe called Jazz After Dark at 10 pm and listened to a Jazz Funk group in this tiny little Soho cafe - and when I say tiny, I mean really, really tiny. The tables are almost joined together and are a foot and a half square, at the very most. We were so close to the neighbouring tables that we participated in each others conversations without thinking twice about it. Everyone was very friendly and the musicians were great, although the music was a bit more modern than we would have preferred. The clocks went forward while we were there, so it was 330 am before we took a taxi ride home to our hotel. The next morning, we went to Covent Garden and wandered around there until it was time to take the train back home. I found a little stall called Woody and Blue where the owner Haroun Ray makes and embellishes hats, and being the embellishment queen that I am, I fell in love with one of them and had it as a birthday gift from hubby. People watching in Covent Garden on a sunny and warm day was a lot of fun, and for a change to my surprise, I even met a few people I knew, who had obviously had the same idea as us and come out to London for the day. Of course all good things come to an end, and I had to go back to work on the Monday. I sat down with Shibori ribbon and seed beads and a couple of pairs of earrings evolved over the course of the week. Pearl RiverPeacock EarringsAnd that's about as much as I had time for this week. Hubby caught my cold from a couple of weeks ago and of course, he suffered ever so much more than I did. So the week was spent administering cold compresses, hot water bottles, warm toddies, massages and generally pandering to his man flu, the terrible symptoms of which he kept under wraps while we were in London(thankfully), only to have a requirement for extreme pampering in repayment for being allowed to enjoy my birthday outing. Ah well, C'est la vie!
Have a lovely week and I'll catch you next Friday, same time, same place. Until then, xx Hello folks, nice to have you back. I've been playing tourist this week - I've lived and worked in and around Coventry since 1992, but have never been to see Coventry Cathedral, one of the most iconic ruins in this part of the country. The Cathedral is relatively new, having been rebuilt in 1962 after it was razed to the ground in the Second World War. The ruins of the original cathedral exist and one can even climb up into the tower (I didn't). There are loads of lovely old buildings around the cathedral and the whole area is so nice, one would be forgiven for forgetting that we were in Coventry. The aid raid on Coventry on the night of 14 November 1940 was the single most concentrated attack on a British city in the Second World War. Following the raid, Nazi propagandists coined a new word in Germany - Coventrieren - to raze a city to the ground. Code named 'Moonlight Sonata', the raid lasted for 11 hours and involved nearly 500 Luftwaffe bombers, gathered from airfields all over occupied Europe. The aim was to knock out Coventry as a major centre for war production, and perhaps as revenge on an RAF attack on Munich. 14 November apparently was a brilliant moonlit night, so bright that the traffic could move around on the road without lights. The Luftwaffe dropped 500 tons of high explosive, 30,000 incendiaries and 50 landmines, and was also trying out a new weapon, the exploding incendiary. It has been claimed in a number of books that the wartime prime minister Churchill knew that the city was to be targeted by the German Luftwaffe, but chose to do nothing because it would have alerted Adolf Hitler to the fact the Allies had recently cracked the Nazis' top-secret Enigma codes. Coventry and its people were sacrificed, the theory goes, "for the greater good". Shortly after the destruction, the cathedral stonemason, Jock Forbes, noticed that two of the charred medieval roof timbers had fallen in the shape of a cross. He set them up in the ruins where they were later placed on an altar of rubble with the moving words ‘Father Forgive’ inscribed on the Sanctuary wall. So, why did I feel I should visit the cathedral after so many years? Well, there was an art installation making the rounds of the country, and it came to Coventry Cathedral having been in Hull and Liverpool. The 27ft Knife Angel sculpture is made from 100,000 blades handed into police across the country. It was unveiled in 2017 and artist Alfie Bradley, who created the sculpture at the British Ironworks Centre, said it was a "monument against violence and aggression". The Knife Angel I think you'll agree that the angel is a very moving and beautiful object, made from some pretty scary knives. The wings have the blades visible and overlapping one another, while the body has the blades covered over with the hilts of the knives more on sight. The installation is placed at the entrance of the cathedral, to one side of the bronze of the Archangel Michael slaying the devil. The face of the Archangel was modelled on the nephew of the architect of the new cathedral, Basil Spence - not terribly handsome, I thought. The devil had a more interesting face, but maybe that's where the phrase 'devilishly good looking' comes from! The staggered nave walls are illuminated by ten narrow floor to ceiling windows filled with semi-abstract symbolic designs arranged in pairs of dominant colours (green, red, multi-coloured, purple/blue and gold) representing the souls journey to maturity, and revealed gradually as one approaches the altar. The altar is dominated by a tapestry of Christ by Graham Sutherland and is thought to be the largest one piece tapestry in the world - I can't imagine how difficult that must have been to make. My own little efforts pale into insignificance after this. CupidIt was the pinks and the greens in this pair of earrings that gave it its name - spring is in the air, after all. The Shibori ribbon is a pale pink, shading into green and I added crystals and leaves liberally, it was so much fun to make. I first tried it with a gold tone oval stud finding, but changed it to a silver tone shell shaped stud, which to my mind suited it better. I've found it difficult to take pictures of Shibori Jewellery - the undulation in the ribbon and the fact that the entire thing is not on the flat requires better photography skills than mine, but I'm sure I will get better as I go along. The earrings are very light even though they look large and heavy - they are only 14 gms each and are well supported by the stud findings in the ears. And after I made these, I developed the worst cold I've ever known and stayed in bed for the rest of the week. I'm only just feeling better in time to post this.
Have a great week folks, and I'll catch you next Friday, same time, same place Until then xx Hello good people, thanks for dropping by again today. I hope you've all had a good week and are looking forward to the weekend ahead. I've been playing with the Shibori ribbon in my stash again, I can't seem to get enough of it. Yet another pair of earrings came off my beading tray this week - I posted a picture of the work in progress on Instagram and the earrings were snapped up straight away. I love the graceful curves of the pleats when the ribbon is stitched to the backing. The earrings look large and heavy, but in actual fact they are very light and easy to wear. I suspect you will see a few more of these over the next few weeks. When I came back from my holidays in India, I sat around thinking about the direction in which Caprilicious was leading me - I don't want to make the same old, same old, over and over again. Every year I want to go in a slightly different direction so that both I and my customers don't get bored. I simply couldn't think what I was going to do next to fulfil this requirement until I caught sight of the Shibori ribbon, and off I went. BirdiesThese little birdies are embellished with tiny flowers and teamed with stripy polymer clay beads in a playful, summery combination of pink and yellow. This is the third birdie necklace I've made - the first one lives in Australia, and the second in India. I wonder where this one will fly away to. I found out a short while ago that I have been accepted to exhibit at Warwickshire Open Studios at the end of June. They are a self-funded membership organisation run by a voluntary team who are all artists themselves or have an interest in art. They help artists and designer makers across the Warwickshire and Coventry area connect with art-lovers who enjoy, buy, commission and participate in their work. Warwickshire Open Studios is Coventry and Warwickshires biggest free arts event. During the annual Open Studios Summer Event, there are over 300 artists who open their homes and studios to the public . This year they have four blocks of exhibits through June and I will be exhibiting at the Leamington Spa Museum as I have no studio to show people around - mind you, my husband would say that I have converted the entire house into a studio, with beads and wire and craft supplies everywhere. Nuneaton is too remote from the regular run which is Kenilworth, Warwick, Leamington, Stratford and Rugby/ Dunchurch - mainly in South Warwickshire. I'm pleased that they accepted my application to exhibit at the Museum. Leamington isn't far from me and I can easily drive up there every day. I will be there from the 27th to the 30th of June, and this includes a Saturday and Sunday, which is probably the most productive time to exhibit. Admission to all the exhibits is free. I have an entry on their website, do go along and take a look. I have to admit that it does overawe me a bit, that someone would consider my efforts worthy of a county wide Art Exhibition, and in a Museum, no less, but hey! they are the experts, so they must know what they're on about. I admit to minor pangs of impostor syndrome here. There was a call for photographs of wire jewellery from the Editor of Making Jewellery for the Inspiration page of the Wirework edition of the magazine, and I sent some in and forgot all about it. I received a magazine in the post this morning, in lieu of them publishing my photographs. I always have a peacock torque lurking in my cupboard and the second one was made using slices of a polymer clay cane that I made and wove into the fabric of the torque necklace. It was made a while ago, and lives in India now.
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 everyone, thanks for joining me today. It is as always great to have your company. The day job has kept me busy and I've offset the stress and tiredness with a bit of Caprilicious to keep me sane. I don't know what I'd do if I didn't have Caprilicious and all of you for company. This week I picked up a length of Shibori silk. I've talked about how they make Shibori silk in a previous post. The ribbon I chose from my little stash, about a foot long is dyed in shades of maroon. I thought of the sumptuous trousers the king of Siam wore in The King and I, and when I spread the ribbon out and ballooned it, I was reminded of them. I cut out shapes for earrings from Lacy's Stiff Stuff and anchored the silk to it, spreading it out as artistically as I could to show off the difference in colour between the peaks and troughs in the pleated material. I patted myself on the back, ‘they most definitely resemble Yul Brynner's trousers,’ I thought. In fact the outfits he wears in the movie are quite contemporary. I wouldn't mind a jacket like the one he has on myself. There's actually another one he wore in the movie that I'd love to have as well. Aren't they beautiful?? To think this movie was made in 1956, fashion has certainly come full circle! But, I digress..... SiamI embellished them lavishly with a brass passion flower, lilac dyed potato pearls, Czech glass leaves that shimmer in the light and tiny seed beads in silver lined orange and antique gold, backed them with ultrasuede and attached them to stud earrings, and Bingo, one of the most sumptuous pieces I've ever made came to life. For once, Instagram and Facebook worked in my favour and the earrings were picked up as soon as I posted them, they never got to hit the website. The proud owner should have them on Saturday as I posted them out straight away. I work hard to mail jewellery out within 24 hrs of being paid as I reckon that once paid for, the goods belong to the new owner, who should have them asap. That's how I like to receive my purchases and it's one of the reasons Amazon Prime is so popular. I cannot manage a 24 hr turnaround, but the next best thing will have to suffice. That's me for this week folks. Earrings take a while to make, as they are in essence two pieces. I had to run two threaded needles, and sew them in tandem so that they would look a mirror image of one another. Have a fabulous week and I'll catch you next Friday, same time, same place.
Until then xx Hello folks, how are you today? I have holidayitis as we are soon off to India to visit my mother and have a few adventures of our own, and I'm really looking forward to it. I was hoping to have a little show of my own while in India, but nothing has come together yet - however, I do have a few people lined up to come and see what I have carried with me. I never tire of taking out my pieces of jewellery to show people, and then put them away in the suitcase - it never seems like a chore. That my necklaces go to a good home, that's what I want, and I show them over and over again, quite tirelessly. OctarineOctarine is the colour of magic - from Terry Pratchett's series of books, Discworld. It's the eighth colour of the Discworld rainbow, sitting where we might expect ultra-violet, and it is only visible to wizards. The eyes of wizards apparently contain, besides the usual rods and cones, octagons that detect octarine. Less magically-sensitive humans can see where octarine would be, as the blackness around the edges of fire. As we can't actually see the colour, it appears as a dark hole in space. I made a veneer using Copper acrylic paint, Kroma Krackle and alcohol inks and as the Krackle dried it separated into plaques coloured by the alcohol ink, displaying the copper paint beneath. The veneer took almost a week to dry out before I could colour it and then I made beads with it. I wanted to seal the Krackle and painted it with liquid clay and was terrified when the alcohol ink vanished, only to reappear when I cured it with a heat gun. I used every single piece of it, wrapping the last few strips around black beads. Here then, is Octarine, the necklace I made using the beads with this veneer. The necklace has an enamelled toggle clasp - I fell in love with it as soon as I saw it and had to have a few - a pretty clasp enhances a necklace so much and I couldn't resist it. Shonky GeometryI've been making earring components for a while now, and decided it was time to put them together. Most of the components are misshapen on purpose in the fashion of the times. They are mostly stud earrings which are trickier to make than ones that dangle from hooks, but they have a more polished dimension to them. The asymmetric vibe which is so dear to my heart and very much in fashion is in evidence in most of them in one way or another. They are comfortable, colourful, funky, easy to wear and most importantly, different. I will launch them on the website when I get back from India. This is a sneak peek for you, my lovely readers, and I hope you like them.
That's me for this week, folks. Have a lovely week and I'll catch you soon - I'll do my best to check in each week, if not, I'll catch you when I get back home. Until then xx |
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