Hello, and a warm welcome to you, wonderful readers. Four weeks of sunshine - probably the best summer we have had here in the UK for a long time, ended with a crashing thunderstorm - and exactly at the wrong time, for us, anyway. We had a barbeque planned, and it started to pelt it down half an hour before we were due to light up - fortunately, we outsmarted the malign party - pooper gods by taking the simple precaution of reading the weather report - and moving the barbeque under cover - Ha Ha Ha! Put that in your collective pipes and smoke it, malign party - pooper gods! And a good time was had by all - no doubt it could have been better, but no one complained, and we just got on with it, the way we are wont to do in this country. Biker Pearls I had some beautiful pearls, in pastel colours - cream, lavender and peach - they had large holes, and could be strung onto leather - they are quite difficult to find, as pearls usually have the tiniest holes that do not allow for stringing onto anything but the finest material. I wanted to make an unconventional pearl piece for the non Audrey Hepburn woman - not everyone wants to look like a tea dance is imminent on their schedule for the day. I love these two necklaces - fifteen strands of black leather with a pearl on each strand, with a magnetic clasp - who says that the words 'pearls, lavender, peach and leather' weren't meant to be in the same sentence - eat your words, people! I loved them so much, I even wore one to the barbeque. Berry Sensation These are Himalayan Goji berries - much has been written about them being super fruit with whole websites devoted to their antioxidant and nutrient value, claiming that they are the next best thing since sliced bread (what's so wonderful about sliced bread, anyway ?? - it dries out so quickly - anyone who has eaten an unsliced French crusty loaf will attest it's superiority). Tibetan beeswax amber beads, capped with sterling silver that arrived on my doorstep a couple of days ago looked so much like these berries, that once the necklace was made, I had to use the word 'berry' in the name - I couldn't think of anything more befitting. I teamed the 'berries' with aventurine, dyed jade, malachite, red howlite and iridescent Czech glass to make two strands of a fairly long necklace. The Emerald Isle This is a picture of an island in the Maldives - why is it on a blog that deals in the main with jewellery?? Well, I bought these beautiful slabs of green agate - and the markings within the stones reminded me of the atolls of the Maldives - the serenity emanating from the depths of these gemstones is amazing. These were teamed with frosted clear quartz chunks, which reminded me of the breakers when the waves hit the shoreline, and The Emerald Isle was born from these thoughts. When I modelled it for my husband, he sort of chuckled - I was a bit taken aback at this - I didn't see the joke, until he explained himself - he said whoever wears this one is most definitely making this statement, 'look at me, look at what I am wearing' - well, I don't see anything wrong with that, do you? The Caprilicious woman is no wee, quaking, timorous beastie - she is most definitely visible, and what's more, enjoys and revels in that visibility!
Anyway, in my opinion, what's the point wearing something that says 'don't look at me' ?? One might as well save one's money and wrap up in a chador. After all, your clothes, jewellery, your home and garden all make a statement about you - people make judgements about you on looking at them - nondescript outfits are a bit like wearing camouflage - a cover up of the real you. I will leave you with that thought this week, I am off to play with polymer clay in my craft room this weekend. Have a fab week and I will catch you later, same time, same place xx
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Hello readers, I trust you have all had a good week. The flowers are a-blooming and everything looks so pretty when we walk into our garden or drive around town. The warmth of the unaccustomed summer sun in the UK has brought out the romantic in me and this mood has touched all that I have made this week. I had a bunch of coloured baroque pearls and I strung them onto mono filament invisible nylon, using jeweller's glue to get them to stay in place. Of course, the nylon had a mind of it's own, so did the pearls, and as for the glue - let's not even go there - a few newly invented swear words later, this necklace appeared - my husband wondered whether I was developing Tourette's syndrome and I had to take time out to reassure him that it was all for real and the air around me wasn't blue due to a psychiatric disorder. I had to prise my fingers apart after soaking them in warm water to take some pictures of my latest creation. Anyway, it was all worth it in the end, and I can present Summer Holiday............... This is an ideal piece to carry away on holiday, light and pretty, and with so many colours, it will go with anything - Summer Holiday seemed apt. The next piece was almost to claw back the now distant memory of our holiday in the spring, and Peter Cincotti's rendition of I Love Paris says it all. Romance was firmly back on the agenda. Shiny heart shaped Czech glass beads, little crystals and rose quartz wired onto a torque sit around the neck in this piece like a garland of flowers. I didn't put any crystals at the back of the necklace - the stiffness of the torque would cause the wired flowers and leaves to dig the wearer in the neck - who wants that in the heat of a warm summer evening, when this piece should really float elegantly around the neck? Not me, that's who! Peacock from the Ocean Abalone or Paua is a snail, found in temperate waters around the world from the genus Haliotis ( no, not Halitosis - pay attention now!), meaning 'sea - ear'. It has a flattish shell, which is dull on the outside, and beautifully coloured on the inside, with a mother of pearl nacre. The snail has a strong foot, and clings to a rock surface on the ocean bed, and has to be prised off - this can be extremely difficult, and I was surprised to read that divers have perished in the attempt. "Abalone grip so hard that unless you catch one by surprise, you are unable to pry it off the basin. Divers used to drown while collecting abalone . . . a diver would pry an abalone loose, stick his fingers under the shell to lift it and then in surprise and pain when the ab clamps down would drop his ab bar. At that point, there would be no way to get his hand loose and he would drown. (Tank diving is illegal when gathering abalone.)" This is called the 'Abalone's Revenge'. One question - how does one catch an abalone by surprise?? - there is no mention of this anywhere - maybe you have to leap out at it from behind a rock, all guns blazing?? Clint Eastwood, eat your heart out! Abalone Sashimi Red Abalone are harvested mainly for the Sushi restaurant trade - males and females are put into large tanks on moonlit nights ( they prefer to mate on full moon nights), with soft violin music, candlelight, and a bottle of wine (yes, joke!). An Abalone Farm - a far cry from 'bring on the violins'! They produce baby abalones, which are collected and given a diet of kelp smoothies and snail spaghetti, which is a slurry of bran, seaweed and other nutrients made into a dough, extruded through a pasta machine and baked, to help them grow till they are large enough to be eaten. The shells are used for jewellery, but have to be ground and polished by experts as the dust is very toxic, and causes lung diseases. No wonder then, the shells are expensive - however, the colours are so beautiful, I am sure you will agree it is worth all that trouble. I made a polymer clay ruffle bead in abalone colours, and put a necklace together. The colours are gorgeous and I could only hope that my ruffle bead would be up to the task of complementing the abalone shell beads - what do you think?? WILD This necklace, made with crystals and diamante encrusted spacers, has been one of Caprilicious' more successful designs. It has been reproduced in quite a few colours, and at the jewellery party at my friends place, the hostess picked it up almost immediately - when she showed it off to her friends, they fell in love with it, and I had orders for the same piece, having asked her permission first, of course. I sent off for strings of crystals and spacers and clasps, and I made the first of the necklaces on order this week. Fortunately, I have the design and the suppliers written down, and this is one of the few that can actually be remade. That's about all I have had time for this week folks, it looks like another scorcher here in the UK over the weekend. Have fun, and I will catch up with you next week, same time, same place xx 'Clasp my love around your neck, The windows in our house and light playing on the carpet Wear my heart on your finger. My soul will be your pendant: I live to adorn you - You're the precious one'. ~ Grey Livingston, Genuine Adoration. I found this poem quoted by various people on one of my random browsing sessions - but cannot for the life of me find out who Grey Livingston is - even Google doesn't know! If you are a reader of poetry and know, please drop me a line. Will the real Grey Livingston stand up and take a bow, please. Well hello, readers, how have you been? It has been a good week here in sunny Warwickshire, at work, in the garden and making some fun pieces of jewellery. Stained glass has long been a favourite in our house, and we have had a couple of window panes replaced with a Frank Lloyd Wright design. Mike and I often watch the colours from the window inch across the floor on sunshiny days. I have been trying out a new technique, and am having so much fun, I don't want to stop. I once bought a pair of earrings from a little boutique in Stratford on Avon, and always wanted to learn how to make them - and now I have. It is liquid resin painted onto a metal frame, and a bit fiddly, but with fabulous results. The transparent resin lets the light through like stained glass, but of course, the pieces are very light, and suitable for earrings. I think they might just be a bit too fragile for heavier wear in necklaces etc. There is also an opaque resin, which is meant to give a porcelain effect. Have a look at the earrings made using wire shaped into dragonflies, butterflies and flowers - they are so very pretty . These flowers are more robust than 'the real thing' and have allowed me to manipulate the wire underneath into various shapes after the resin was applied and dried. However, they are made with a thin film of resin suspended over a wire frame, and will need to be treated with a degree of delicacy. They are so pretty, I hope people will find it worth their while to look after them. Sea Breeze This piece is made from a dendritic opal pendant and aquamarine nuggets offset by baroque pearls, blue agate, and silver crystals. The prosaic explanation for a sea breeze is that the warm air overland rises in the daytime, and is replaced by the cooler air from over the sea - well, what a killjoy explanation that is! When I imagine a sea breeze, it is something light and frothy, bringing the scent of the sea, and a taste of salt to the lips, fluttering white clothes, and flying hair, walking hand in hand on a beach, with perhaps a little dog running on ahead - am I a romantic at heart?? or have too many romantic movies addled my brain - you might think so; I couldn't possibly comment. I grew up loving books like Summer of '42 by Herman Raucher, and perhaps this has coloured my rose tinted spectacles a deeper shade of pink! Dendritic opal is not really an opal, as it has no shimmer to it. The manganese oxide which is the black part of the stone is an excellent balance to the white. The stone is popular because of the black and white contrasting colours that go with many outfits and other gemstones, and the patterns are amazing and strikingly realistic. 'Dendritic' refers to the tree or fern like patterns in the stone. This pendant is set in sterling silver, with pale blue aquamarines, and I loved the contrast between the milky white opaque 'opal' and the transparent aquamarines that look like droplets of water. Thank you very much, thank you very very very very much.... This necklace was bought as a birthday gift for her friend by one of my customers - both she and her friend were pleased with the service they received from Caprilicious - its nice to get thank you notes, and for both the customer and her friend to 'love love love' it. Chardonnay I love free form nuggets - all the little shapes and sizes mean that somebody hasn't tried to tame the wildness of nature. Druzy and geodes appeal to me similarly - I don't believe that everything must be cut and trimmed into shape by human hands, which is what we tend to do to give us that feeling of superiority - we ought to be able to revel in natural beauty. These amethyst nuggets reminded me of little grapes, so I hung a bunch of green Czech teardrops in front of the leaf skeleton, and named it after my favourite wine. Maya This beautiful pendant deserved a beautiful necklace to go with it - three strands of blue gold stone beads were press ganged into action - coral and turquoise accents tied them in with the blues and reds in the pendant. Blue gold stone looks black at first sight, but in the light, it is actually a dark navy, with little glints of gold deep inside. The gold glints are from copper particles in the stone, and are very pretty. The word Maya comes from Sanskrit and means magic, illusion or deception, a veil draped over the eyes of the beholder so that they are unable to perceive the truth. The gold stone beads certainly deceived me - I bought them thinking they were black! but on reflection, I like the deep blue just as well, or even better - and the flash of gold is fabulous - here's one time an illusion has served me well! For readers in the UAE, pieces of jewellery from Caprilicious are being sold online and in store by Farhat Khan of Ehtnic Couture - contact her here https://www.facebook.com/writetofarhat to find her in Abu Dhabi.
That's it for this week folks, catch you next week, same time, same place. UK readers will definitely have a fabulous weekend - according to the weatherman, the summer is finally here - probably for all of four days. Enjoy, and I will catch up with you later xx We had the most wonderful time in Rome, eating gelato twice a day, tramping around till my feet and knees hurt and begged for mercy. What a fabulous city, with history at every turn. Unfortunately, I came home with the beginnings of a streaming cold, and am still suffering with it - no rest for the wicked, I have had to go in to the day job - I just hope I haven't spread the germs far and wide. I took a load of my jewellery with me, and wore some every day - it was fabulous to have the right accessories for each outfit, although I wouldn't admit as much to anyone but you - I like to pretend that it was all effortlessly thrown together!! Starry Starry Night
Mike bought me an anvil from a junk shop - and proudly brought it home. He put it on the dining table for me to find as a surprise when I got in from work - I'm afraid my gratitude was tempered by the sight of the rust stains on my clean white tablecloth - I had to restrain myself from having the screaming abdabs by stuffing my knuckles into my mouth!! I have a little steel block to bash away at wire, and now, I have a little cobblers anvil, which has to be cleaned and oiled until it is fit to bring back into the house. My cold has meant that I haven't been able to play with my beads for a couple of days, but I felt well enough after a couple of days to make a little necklace I called Lumiere. It has ten strands of rainbow effect glass beads, and glass pearls, carrying a Lava rock pendant set with pink, blue and clear Swarovski crystals. The crystals have been hand set into the lava rock and catch the light with movement, and the colours are echoed by the beads in the necklace. The necklace was made back to front, with the longest strands carrying the pendant at the front of the necklace - and it can be worn as it is or twisted into a roll - both ways are pretty - what do you think?? LumiereTektite - Classique The Chinese called it the "Inkstone of the Thundergod", while the Australian aborigines called it Maban or magic and associated it with good luck. Indians consider Tektite as the sacred gem of Lord Krishna or the fire pearl. Tibetan monks worship this stone as the "Stone of Shambala". It’s also been worn as a fertility amulet since centuries. Tektites are natural glass objects primarily composed of silica. Tektites found on Earth are formed by large asteroidal impact with the Earth. Energy from the impact melts terrestrial rock and ejects it into the upper reaches of the atmosphere. A few minutes later tektites rain down. The final shape is dependent on terrestrial weathering. Libyan glass is a pale yellow tektite, and Moldavite is a beautiful emerald green.Tektites are found in geographically 'strewn fields' related to the source crater. The most recent and largest strewn field is in Australasia with tektites being found in the Indochinese peninsula (Thailand, Vietnam, Cambodia, Laos and southern parts of China), the Philippines, Malaysia, Indonesia and Australia. I bought mine from a dealer in Australia - the beads are a rugged black, but smooth and cool to touch, with no evidence of jagged edges. Not being overly concerned with its healing powers, I bought the string of beads for their beauty, and combined them with silver crystal and black onyx. As bright focals, I added a large silver tone toggle clasp and some 'wiggly' wire spheres. I thought the round beads would be better at the back, for comfort, but in the end, this piece turned out to be just as comfortable with the clasp at the back as when worn to one side, the way it was designed. While rummaging around for the tektite beads, I found some large,faceted lapis beads which I had been hoarding for a special purpose - this seemed to be the ideal time to use at least one, having developed acute wire withdrawal symptoms. While we watched J Edgar Hoover on DVD, I pulled out some wire and made 'Sceptre'. This was designed by Donna Spadfore of Gaillavira, and I have had the tutorial in my folder for ages - I love the way the piece has evolved, having changed a few minor details to suit the way I wanted to make it. I find I have now passed my cold on to Michael (amongst others, most likely), who of course, has it much worse than me (and blames me for giving it him) - probably the worst cold since the beginning of time, and is convinced he requires constant nursing care ( no sympathy from me, sorry! - d'you think this is why a nurses uniform turns men on? - they haven't heard of compassion fatigue???), and added to this, my old cat has decided he needs feeding one tablespoon at a time - if I put any more than that in his bowl, he walks off and demands a new/ fresh meal after some time - in a fresh bowl each time! - no use me trying to force him to eat the old stuff - he just sits there and stares at me, or stalks off in disgust - anyone with a solution to this, please let me know.
Till next week then, if I am still sane, xx If The King said so - it must be true -do listen to the song while reading this - brings the blog alive!' A little Madness in the Spring Is wholesome even for the King.' Emily Elizabeth Dickinson (1830 -1886) The weather is getting warmer and the plants in the garden are aching with buds - I love England in the springtime, especially after a bleak winter. I found an Intarsia cabochon in my stash -Intarsia is the centuries old skill of combining gem materials into works of art. Each piece of stone is precisely cut and fitted for inlay into another gemstone. Once assembled the complete piece is polished to a high finish. Each Intarsia is made entirely by hand - and because of this, relatively expensive. This one has elements of pink rhodochrosite, jasper and agate, and I decided to frame it in polymer clay to resemble a picture frame and then use it as a pendant. The cabochon itself is only 2 1/2 x 1 inch, and would stand no chance being visible, given my penchant for 'big' jewellery. So this is what I made with it - added a polymer clay frame using cherry blossom millefiori cane, and stringing it with a bunch of multicolour lucite leaves and flowers, using glass and acrylic pearls and Czech crystals thrown in for added sparkle. The flowers are substantial in size but light, so the pendant anchors the necklace and makes it drape well, and I have left the back free so that it is comfortable around the neck - no one wants something prodding their neck - especially in springtime, when collared jackets are still mandatory. The profusion of flowers is so springlike that the necklace could only be called Spring Fever. 'It's spring fever. That is what the name of it is. And when you've got it, you want - oh, you don't quite know what it is you do want, but it just fairly makes your heart ache, you want it so!' ~Mark Twain On another note, I submitted a few of my designs to Rena Klingenberg's website http://www.making-jewelry-now.com - Making Jewellery Now - The Friendly Jewellery Community, and am pleased that I had quite a favourable response from her readers, most of whom are jewellery designers - there are some fascinating insights into jewellery making and marketing on her site and I have spent a lot of my time reading it.
This is the link to the Caprilicious Jewellery Etsy store - http://www.etsy.com/shop/CapriliciousJewelry A Naiad's TreasureThere is definitely a method in my madness - my stash of beads is all jumbled up - and I would forget that I had a particular item, unless I found it quite by accident during a frantic rummage for something else. While I was looking for the lucite flowers, I found some prehnite nuggets - I love prehnite - it looks like pistachio green nuggets of frosted sugar candy, touched by a naughty child with dirty fingers, leaving black smudges on it's surface. I put it together with an ammonite fossil and khaki/gold pyrite nuggets, and a few freshwater pearls - there is an air of enchantment about this necklace that gave it it's name. A Naiad The Naiads were nymphs of bodies of fresh water.A naiad was intimately connected to the water she lived in, and if the stream dried up, she breathed her last with it. Like all the nymphs, the Naiads were in many ways female sex symbols of the ancient world and played the part of both the seduced and the seducer. Zeus in particular is said to have enjoyed the favors of countless Naiads and the other gods do not seem to have lagged far behind. The Naiads fell in love with, and actively pursued mortals as well.
Now, don't shoot the messenger - I got this from a website dealing with the mystical properties of crystals http://www.shimmerlings.com/gemstones/prehnite.htm#GENERAL - 'Prehnite is quite a protective stone. It can protect one on all levels, as it strengthens the life force and generally increases energy as well as stimulating it. Healers use prehnite's memory skill in aiding with diagnosis of patients, if you have a patient that is particularly difficult to diagnose, have them carry this stone for one month, when they return the crystal, use it during meditation to tap into the stone's memory.' I said this to a colleague of mine - and he looked horrified - as if I had grown another head (which I have - the one that makes jewellery) - and said -'please tell me you don't believe this'..... I wish I knew about the healing properties especially before I spent years and years in medical training - could've saved me a lot of trouble. Pyrite is commonly called Fools Gold because of its similarity in color, shape, to gold - it is also closely related to the more silvery Marcasite. Now, I have an idea for something I found while rummaging for the pyrite - am off to find it - who knows what else I might find - see you next week!
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