Hello readers, and a very Mery Christmas to you all. I hope Santa has put a lot of thought into the presents he is bringing you, especially those of you who are getting pieces of Caprilicious Jewellery. Life at the day job has been very hectic recently and I'm quite looking forward to the long break over Christmas. I shall lie in, have long bubble baths in candlelight, light a fire and cook roast beef for Christmas lunch with a few friends, eat chocolate and drink champagne (no, that's one step too far!). When my friends have gone, there will be loads of time to play with clay and beads - plus ça change, plus ça même chose! An Epic Fail - I've Been Humptied!Last week, I was inspired by previous successes to make clay flowers. I love the pale gold of bronze, and the beautiful play of colours when the pieces come out of a hot kiln after being fired in a closed, carbon filled container at 800 degrees C for two hours. I opened a fresh package of bronze clay which looks just like a mud pie when it comes out of it's plastic wrap, and got started. I made three flowers - a poppy, a violet/pansy and a hibiscus. Working out the making of the pieces was so much fun and I got carried away with the hibiscus. I fired the two smaller pendants while I lovingly gazed at the hibiscus, stroking the petals sensuously like one would the thigh of a lover, sanding it to remove any irregularities and prettifying it with little shiny cubic zirconia. Perhaps I knew I was in over my head and that the hibiscus was doomed to fail? Anyway, I prevaricated, telling myself I had to get it perfect before firing it - until eventually I could do no more with it. I came home early from work one afternoon, and my heart quickened - finally, it was time to fire my beauty. So onto the steel mesh she went, lovingly snuggled up in a fibre blanket, with supports for the petals and pistil that might just go floppy in the kiln. Just ten minutes in the kiln at 500 degrees to burn off the binder and I brought her out to cool while I raised the temperature in the kiln to 800 degrees C. When cool enough to touch, I picked her up and put her on a bed of carbon, gently nestling her into it so she wouldn't flop at high temperatures. And suddenly, it happened - crunch! came a little sound, and one of the petals had broken in three. OMG! Oh well, I could take it indoors and fix it, I reckoned. So I sat down with clay paste, trying to fix the hibiscus - unfortunately it was a bit like trying to fix Humpty Dumpty and eventually, the whole thing disintegrated in my hands. Oh yes, I learned some lessons, and yes, there will be another hibiscus - and I shall persevere till it works. I have kept a photo diary of what I did, and will take pictures again so that when I do get it right, I will know what works, for future reference. At least I had the two other flower pendants to play with! To stave off the depression that threatened to descend on me after the loss of my beauty, I made two necklaces with them. I sat down with wire and made a couple of clasps to go onto the ends of the necklaces and picked out a few strings of gemstone beads, spacer beads, accents, generally busying myself with putting the elements together for a couple of necklaces. Every now and then a self pitying thought surfaced for having Humptied such a beautiful pendant, but I refused to allow it to overwhelm me and forged on. Here are the necklaces I made. ViolaThe little flower could just as easily be a violet as a pansy and the purple agate was interspersed with loads of tiny little colourful gemstone beads, and a little bronze leaf I made earlier dangling from the clasp. PoppyThe centre of this flower was purposefully made rough and darkened with alcohol ink. A couple of lost wax cast Kenyan beads pick up the colour of the flower and provide and accent. Along with the blue dyed jade, the necklace looks rather pretty, even though I say so myself. What do you think?? While I spent daylight hours making and refining the flowers including the hibiscus that got Humptied, I sat in front of the telly in the evenings sewing tiny beads and braids around a druzy cabochon and came up with this little pendant hung on a non tarnish copper torque necklace. It looks a lot like a sun, and is rather bright and so named after a Beatle's song, Here Comes the Sun. That's me for this week, folks. All that's left is for me to wish you a very happy Christmas, and I shall catch up with you next week, same time, same place. Until then xx
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Oh, well, I suppose if I don't do it now, there won't be much point in decking those halls at all! Hello readers, and thanks for joining me. I'll bet you've got it all taped up with presents wrapped and halls decked. We feel a bit Bleah! this year so much so I haven't even bought a single card yet. Soon, I tell myself, but with the postal strike threatened in the UK next week, there mightn't be much point. I have been wrapping presents, though. I've had a flurry of orders from mainland Europe all of a sudden and have been busy wrapping them up and mailing them out. Last week I spent a day in London at a meeting for work, and once we were done, I thought it would be rude not to go and see the Christmas lights. My friend wanted to stop off at Fortnum and Mason's and I have to tell you, the fabulous cakes and the heavenly Christmassy smells in the patisserie section were to die for. Just sniffing the air put a few pounds on me ( or that's what I told the Slimming World consultant). See what i mean?? I didn't eat anything, not a thing, I promise - there was just so much on offer it just blew my tiny little mind! I came back home, and to keep my tummy from growling at me, I took up an ammonite and started to bead around it as if my life depended on it. As i picked the colours and beads and put the piece together, I decided I'd make a cuff bracelet. I have a little stash of aluminium blanks and some sheets of leather and I used them to make a pretty little cuff bracelet. It is bright and colourful and a statement piece for the arm - arm candy, I think they call it - there you are, I'm back in the food hall again! African SunThe necklace takes it's name from the Ashanti lost wax cast Baule Sun bead that I've been meaning to use for ages but haven't got to. The waxy black agate slab nuggets act as a perfect foil for the bronze sun, and a second string of freshwater pearls adds a contrast. There are loads of little contrasting bright coloured beads to add a splash of colour. This is the invitation for next years exhibition, folks. Neelam, my friend told me how to do it, but I struggled with converting it from a pdf to a photograph so that I could post it here, however, I got a bit of help from Google and here I am! What do you think?? You like?? I'm hoping the monetary situation improves by the end of January as I'm unable to hire a card reader for love nor money. I've tried so hard but as my business doesn't have an address in India I cannot get one, so will need to deal in paper money , which as you know is in short supply just now in India. That's me for this week folks, I'd best bestir myself, halls to deck and all that. Presents won't wrap themselves nor will cards get mysteriously written, I'm afraid - no elves in our house! I'm on call this weekend and hopefully it won't be too busy.
Have a great week folks, and I'll catch you next week, same time, same place. Until then xx Hiya folks, nice to catch up with you again. I thought it would be good to play some music right at the beginning, so you can have something to listen to as you read - most of my readers are women, and at the risk of sounding sexist, I think we are good at multitasking. The inspiration for my piece this week was this picture - the pink smoke spreading through the grey in a careless whisper. For once I chose the colour scheme first and picked a peachy-pink druzy teardrop to embroider around, with braids of pale pink and grey and accents of peridot green. Hung on two strands of spectrolite, which is a dark labradorite with the same beautiful flashes of colour, and rose quartz. In last weeks edition of the blog I showed you some polymer clay headpins I made - here they are made up into simple earrings. I applied paint and a coat of resin to get these pretty effects. I even threw some sequins onto the resin on one of them, just because it is the festive season. The earrings are all about 2.5 - 2.7" in length. The black and white drawing I have used to display them on is not life size and is only meant to give an idea of how the earrings would hang from the ear lobe, so don't be taken aback by the seeming 'hugeness' of the jewellery. I took Caprilicious to the 'Family Fun Day' last Sunday. Mike drove me to the venue, on a cold autumn day, only to find that the place was being cleaned - there had been a fortieth birthday party the night before, and the revellers had decided to have a food fight - chicken legs and nuts and crisps were strewn all over the place as well as glitter and streamers and other party stuff and the cleaners had not turned up. The poor organisers were frantically sweeping up all the detritus and eventually made the place habitable. Caprilicious did fairly well and made a few quid for charity, which I put into one of the collection pails at the end of the day. There was the obligatory bouncy castle, line dancing to live music for the kids, face painting, tombola, cake stalls, and a few others that I did not visit. I met Emma, the bath bomb lady - she had a line in home made skin creams and bath products that were cheap and cheerful and were snapped up by people looking for Christmas stocking fillers. In spite of the cold and obligatory rain which always shows up at an outdoor event, loads of people turned out to support the charity. Here are some pictures from the event.
I was exhausted after a day of resisting cake, and spent the rest of the week in a slight daze. Next week, I will be running the Caprilicious Treasure Hunt on the website - I shall post the picture below with a code - it will be found amongst the necklaces in one of the pages of the 'Treasury of Statement Necklaces'. All you have to do is find the picture and code to be entitled to 15% off your entire checkout cart. There will be a new Christmas related code every day, and it will be valid for a week. So, do feel free to have a go, folks. Grab a few Christmas presents and Bling for that office party while you can. Only one code per person please - as the codes are valid for a week, you have plenty of time to pick the stuff you want. That's me for this week folks, thanks for joining me. Catch you next week, same time, same place,
Until then xx Happy Friday, dear readers, how nice to have your company again this week. I have been busy booking my next holiday - it will soon be January and time to visit my 89 year old mother in India again. I find that I get very depressed after a holiday ends, and the only antidote to that is to book another almost immediately. One does need something to look forward to, don't you think? A visit to Bangalore means of course, that I will take Caprilicious Jewellery with me and have a little show, once more at Raintree. I've got used to the place and the way they work, and am comfortable with the footfall there. This time, an old friend from university has a daughter who is to be married in Mysore (two and a half hours from Bangalore) and I am invited. I get to wear my silks and jewellery and it promises to be a grand affair. I love to wear my sarees and walk with a swishy/gliding movement, rather than striding and stomping along like a great galumphing heffalump in my regular trousers and skirts. The family is related to the Mysore royal family and it should be an interesting and lavish affair. Indian weddings are crazy, raucous, and a load of fun, where everyone has a good time except perhaps the hapless bride and groom who wear heavily embroidered and embellished clothes that weigh a ton, and sit sweating by a fire in the heat of an Indian summer, their eyes smarting from the smoke, with the weight of their attire, headgear and make up hampering their every move. I've done my time a long time ago, and now it is somebody elses turn. September is always a manic month in maternity units up and down the country and this year has been no different. Although I had very little time to spare, I played with my beads and braids and an amazonite cabochon caught my eye - I've had it in my stash for ages. Surrounded by hundreds of little tiny Japanese seed beads and strips of soutache braid, this stone sprang to life - I realise now why I let it sit in my stash for such a long time. Set in a conventional manner it's beauty would prove very muted and in my opinion, it's colours have been brought out by the South Western colour scheme of the pendant. I hung it on a simple torque necklace and covered the back with ultrasuede to keep it clean and tidy. I made a couple of pairs of earrings to match a couple of necklaces I made previously - I personally do not believe in wearing more than one piece of jewellery at a time as I tend to think it dilutes the effect of a statement, but a lot of people are used to this concept and ask for earrings to go with their necklaces. And who am I to argue? After all, the customer is always right!! That's me for this week, dear readers. I am due to have yet another busy week and am not looking forward to it. Caprilicious Jewellery will have a stall at a Family Fun day in Nuneaton on the 23rd of October in aid of a couple of charities with our maternity unit as a major beneficiary. If any of you are in the vicinity, do come by. Thanks for joining me today. Have a fabulous week, and I'll catch you next week, same time, same place Until then, xx Hello folks, and how are you today? Have you been watching the Presidential campaign and the debate?? Truly!! I cannot believe that morons and/or the morally corrupt will have their finger on the nuclear button for the next five to ten years - the world is going to hell in a hand basket, whichever one of them wins! I rushed off to rummage in my stash of gemstones and began to bead around them furiously in an effort to alleviate the pain behind my eyes. CaribaCariba is a necklace made from sea sediment jasper tusk beads in beautiful greens and browns reminding me of a tropical sunrise. The pendant was made from three cabochons of solar quartz, surrounded by beads and soutache braids in coordinating colours. The beads themselves are unusual and the whole ensemble is very fetching. Making it certainly took my mind off the world's troubles. DuskI do so love pearls - their luminescence when worn close to the face gives one a healthy glow. However, I'm not keen on granny's pearl necklace - I like mine to have a modern twist. On a visit to China, we visited a government run pearl farm, and watched as they injected particles of sand into the oysters before lowering them into freshwater pools to wait for the pearls to form. I didn't know that pearls were merely Calcium Carbonate - how depressingly mundane! The Chinese eat ground up pearls as a calcium supplement, grind them up for face powder and add them to lanolin, beeswax and cocoa butter to produce face creams and exfoliants, as well as antiseptics. Drilling holes in pearls can be tricky as the calcium is likely to crumble if handled wrongly - which is possibly why tiny pearl beads can be more expensive than the larger ones. The pearls in this necklace are dyed in grey with an iridescent sheen, and drilled from side to side at the top, which means that they hang in a manner that suggests a double string. A hand carved mother of pearl shell clasp worn to one side like a corsage complements the piece beautifully. Hand fulls of waxy prehnite teardrops were strung onto all three strands, and the necklace was finished. MamouniaLa Mamounia is an opulent hotel in Marrakesh, originally a palace built in the 12th century. Prince Mamoun who owned it turned it into a hotel in the 20th century and it certainly is one of the most beautiful and opulent places I have visited. We were fairly recently married and Mike took me there, sat me down in front of the grand piano in the foyer and played 'As Time Goes By' for me, the romantic sap that he is. I have to say I was a bit overwhelmed by the beauty of the hotel - the floors are so shiny that I swear that one could see the underwear of the women who walk upon it in skirts! The enamelled amulet in this necklace comes from Morocco, and the beads are bamboo coral teardrops dyed a vibrant green, reminding me of the beautiful gardens surrounding the Mamounia. The large coloured beads are cat's eye's - they have a reflective fibre-optic thread running through them that gives them a sheen. I've now booked my annual trip to see my mother back in India and will take some of my jewellery back with me for my third show in Bangalore. I do look forward to meeting old friends and relaxing in the environment that I grew up in and remember with great fondness and the rose tinted glasses of the retrospectoscope.
That's me for this week, folks. Have a fabulous week, and I'll catch you next week, same time, same place. Until then xx Hello readers, I hope you are getting ready for a fabulous weekend with lots of fun and games planned. As you read this, we will be frantically throwing things together in a suitcase in a last minute packing frenzy for our holiday in Firenze, Italy. I am really looking forward to it and a bit of sunshine, after a fairly mediocre British summer - a few rays are exactly what the doctor ordered. In the meantime, I had a message from Empress Dianne Regisford asking if the piece I called Nomad Spirit, after one of her poems was still available. She was delighted to find it was and commissioned a pair of earrings and a bracelet to go with it as a birthday present to herself. As I had this holiday looming on the horizon, I decided to put all other projects on hold and finish off her parure first so that she could have it for her birthday. After all, who can resist the call of an Empress? Nomad SpiritThis is a photograph of the original necklace. It has an ammonite fossil surrounded by bead work and soutache braiding, carrying a blue jade Chinese pendant. The earrings needed to be long and showy, but not too heavy, and I decided to make a flexible cuff bracelet, as having never met the Empress, I do not have measurements for her. I had a 3" wide aluminium blank cuff in my store and I sent off for a strip of leather to cover it with. The earrings were made with two ammonite fossils, and I put in all the elements that I used for the necklace, omitting the jade, of course. I found some sea urchin spines and used them as dangles at the end of a beaded fringe. They tinkle gently when they hit each other in movement and I thought they suited the ammonites perfectly. The earrings are over 3.8" long. and very showy. The cuff was hard work, but fun - I made the centrepiece with a large ammonite surrounded by soutache and bead work, and then sewed it onto a piece of shiny metallic leather that I cut to the size of the blank. I glued the centrepiece down for extra safety and then glued on a layer of ultrasuede to the inside of the cuff. I spent a whole evening sewing on little beads to the edge of the bracelet, effectively sewing the leather and ultrasuede to one another, and trapping the aluminium blank in between them. It is certainly a statement piece and of the three, it is my favourite. By the time I finished, my arm hurt from the workout it got, pushing the needle through the leather and the Size 10 needles themselves were bent like corkscrews, from being worked so hard. So, what do you think, which one of the three do you like best?? Do tell!!
Well, that's me for the week. I am looking forward to nodding off on the plane as I never rest well before I fly. I fall asleep instantly to the rhythm of the engines much to my husband's annoyance as he would like someone to talk to. Oh well, he'll just have to wait till we get to Florence. As we have a whole week there, we will have plenty of time to visit the countryside around us and Siena, San Gimignano and the Cinqe Terre are on our list. I shall of course, be back with a post about my travels next week, albeit a couple of days late. Have a fabulous week and see you soon Ciao xx Hello readers, happy Friday to you all. As this blog post goes out, I will be at a Health and Safety lecture at the day job, and riveting it will be too! Oh well, I shall just have to make up for it later on and have a lovely relaxing weekend. I have had a satisfying week creating a few pieces of jewellery so I can't complain. Folies BergèreMost people go to the Lido on the Champs-Élysées or the Moulin Rouge when they hit Paris as a tourist. However, the Folies Bergère, established in 1869, is still in business, not far from the Moulin Rouge. It was at the height of its fame and popularity from the 1890s and the gaieté girls and their dance routines are legendary. I was lucky enough to go to all three institutions on various trips to Paris and was just blown away by the spectacle they put on. The women are barely clothed in the conventional sense, but their headgear and beads with feathers and sequins and the fabulousness of their routine ensures that it is not in the least bit pornographic, but just amazing. I made a pendant using solar quartz and colourful soutache braids, with multi colour gemstone and glass seed beads to go with a strand of lapis lazuli slab nuggets that I bought in Jaipur. The stones were so beautiful, I felt compelled to work hard to make a pendant worthy of them and name the resultant necklace after the spectacular dancers at the Folies. I've agreed to have a stall at a couple of events to support Sophia - the Pregnancy Loss Support Service at the George Eliot Hospital. They are having their fundraiser at The Labour Club, Stockingford on the 23rd of October and possibly another one in December just before Christmas. The ladies who run the group are very compassionate and give of their time and energy freely, and I've agreed to take Caprilicious to both events. I've been making little earrings and necklaces for the stalls. Here's a sneak peek at a couple of the items destined for the events. The events are also in support of Ariana's Hope, a non profit organisation that raises awareness of Edwards' syndrome or Trisomy 18, a condition incompatible with life. If you have a moment, do click on the links above and even better, if you can, come and say hello and support the events. People with healthy babies can't even begin to imagine the heartbreak that comes with problems like these, so do support the cause and check out their Facebook pages. That's me for this week, folks. I've made a few pairs of earrings but have yet to antique them and take pictures - perhaps I'll show them off next week. I shall schedule the blog to be posted tomorrow at 10 am, UK time - at that point I will be listening to an extremely riveting lecture at the Statutory and Mandatory update at work - if we don't attend, we are not allowed any other study leave for the year and our appraisal paperwork is not signed off, so there's no escaping it. I just hope it rains tomorrow, I'd hate to spend a lovely sunny day bound to a chair in a darkened room, and anyway the garden could do with a good dousing.
Catch you next week folks, same time, same place, Until then xx Hello readers, how are you this weekend? Thanks for stopping by, it is always lovely to have your company. We've had a great upset - one of our cats went missing last Friday and we have hunted high and low, leafleting all the surrounding houses and putting up posters in all the local shops, unfortunately to no avail. We feel terrible about it and even writing these words hurts, so I shall say no more about it. With all this going on we did not enjoy a moment of the most beautiful weekend we are likely to have this year and it took me ages to finish the piece of jewellery I had started a week ago. I did force myself to play with clay and beads, just to lift the sadness that engulfed me all week. The Kimono CollectionThese are pendants made from polymer clay, made to resemble crackle glazed Raku pottery with a Japanese theme running through them. They are all coloured using alcohol ink and I think they are quite fun. Sizzle in PinkWallowing in clay, especially when it has to be pounded with a mallet to condition it, is a very satisfying way to dispel tension. I have a few blocks of slightly old clay and the plasticiser required to be re-dispersed through it to make it pliable again. I bashed away at it using a mallet and the pasta machine and all this took some of the edge off my frustration and anxiety. In the meantime, I had started a pendant with a beautiful solar quartz cabochon dyed to resemble watermelon tourmaline. Matching the braids and beads to the colours of the cabochon, I created Sizzle in Pink. It took ages to finish - what would normally take a week took me two, because of my preoccupation with Charlie. When I finally finished it, it certainly sizzled! I hung it simply on a shepherd's crook torque necklace. A couple of weeks ago I sold some polymer clay roses to a lady who commissioned them to make a hairband for a little bridesmaid to wear to her mother's wedding. Elaine sent me a picture of the finished article and I thought I'd show it to you here. She wrapped a load of crystals all the way down the band and it looks really pretty. That's all I had time for this week folks - we are exhausted, mentally and physically and I have decided to wean myself away from talking or even thinking about Charlie lest I make myself ill. We hope very much that he will come back, but who knows what the future holds?
Thanks for joining me, once again. Have a good weekend and I'll catch you next week, same time, same place. Until then, xx Dear readers, thanks for stopping by this week, it is always a pleasure to have your company. As I mentioned last week, I've had a few days away in Edinburgh, both sight seeing and attending a reunion to which I was invited. Of course, I took the opportunity to showcase Caprilicious Jewellery - I take any opportunity to showcase my jewellery! and I was gratified that so many people came and took a look and picked up some pieces. I never know how much or what to carry and consequently end up taking too much - however, after a few of these events, I am now an expert at packing and unpacking and can do it all without help in the space of twenty minutes. The display of course, never satisfies my aesthetic sensibilities, but as I usually show far away from home and am unable to carry too many display items, I have to make the best of what is available. As you can see from the pictures above, Edinburgh is a fairly masculine, sombre city built in sandstone, not without the occasional pop of colour and a whimsical sense of humour. The reunion was at a school, where the men played cricket and the ladies chatted, drank tea and shopped at Caprilicious. There was a raucous party that night at a club overlooking the estuary with the Firth of Forth in the distance, and we all had a great time dancing to the sounds made by the Madivala Cockroaches! These stalwart gentlemen all come from St John's Medical College in Bangalore and practice in the UK. I have to say their musical skills were impressive and extremely professional, for all that they are busy doctors scattered around the UK and have very little time to play together.
Last week, I made a dark and brooding black and white necklace, but Ms Muse got going this week with an explosion of colour. I made some hollow beads earlier as a prototype for a tutorial I am writing for Bead and Jewellery magazine later on in the year. The beads are gaily coloured with oil pastels and doodled on, giving a carved effect. They are about 2 inches in diameter, but very light as they are hollow. I showed them to a friend and he looked dismayed. 'Who on earth would wear beads this size?' he asked, with a shocked expression. I didn't know what I could make with them either, until something went 'Whirrrrrr.......click' in my head and I suddenly knew exactly how to string them. The Doodlebead NecklaceKnotted together with ultrasuede, showing off the carving on the beads to great effect and a length of Kumihimo braid at the back, this is a cheerfully colourful necklace. Persian BlueIt would seem that Ms Muse hadn't finished with colour yet. I picked out a beautiful flashy blue labradorite cabochon and beaded around it. Soutache embroidery comprises of a few different elements that are repeated over and over - the difference between one artisan and another are in the colours and beads used and the layout of the various elements. I don't often plan the design before I start or the colours I want to use, and tend to rummage in my box of braid and beads, picking out those that catch my eye in a random manner. What emerges is as much of a surprise to me as it is to anyone who watches the piece evolve. I sometimes post pictures on the Caprilicious Instagram account of work in progress when I finish up for the night, and I have no idea what is going to happen to the piece when I next pick it up. This one ended up colourful, with blues and greens, yellow and orange. I wanted it to be a smaller piece that could be worn both day or night and hope I have succeeded. I hung it on a copper torque necklace that has been coated with a non tarnish finish. There is something extremely Middle Eastern about this pendant and the flashy azure blue of the labradorite inspired the name. The colour Persian blue comes from the blue of Persian pottery and the tiles used in mosques and palaces in the Middle East. That's me for this week folks. We have been re bonding with our cats who were put into the cattery when we were in Edinburgh - they weren't too pleased about it, and let us know in no uncertain terms. They are being spoiled and pampered to attempt to make up for it. Have a lovely week and I'll catch you next weekend, same time, same place. Until then xx Good morning readers, thanks for stopping by the Caprilicious Jewellery blog today. This week has been very busy in preparation for a show I am planning at a medical school reunion in Edinburgh on Saturday. I spent a few days picking out the jewellery I intended to take with me - we have booked tickets to fly with a no - frills airline which restricts the amount of baggage I can carry. It is so difficult to choose which ones to take and which to leave behind - in my eyes, they are all interesting and deserve to be showcased. My problem is that I do not know my target audience - all I know about them is that they are from a medical school in Bangalore. Oh well, I'll give it my best shot and see how things go. I shall have something to report next week. Solar QuartzSolar Quartz is a natural agatised quartz that is sliced from stalactites. It is usually clear white or gray, with central mossy inclusions. As with all quartz it is thought to be an energy enhancer, connecting to spirit and harmony and is said to bring emotional strength with great power and energy. A stalactite is a formation that hangs from the ceiling of caves, hot springs, or man made structures such as bridges and mines. Any material which is soluble, and can be deposited as a colloid in suspension may form a stalactite. Stalagmites grow up from the ground and can sometimes meet up with stalactites and form pillars supporting the walls of caves. It seems such a romantic notion to me that something as beautiful as this, can be sliced up and worn as a piece of jewellery. The slices of solar quartz are dyed in many colours and I have quite a few of them from my trip to Jaipur. The pale cream slices I went with for my next piece were stunning enough for me to try and outdo myself, and I am so glad I did. Surrounded by jet black soutache braiding and grey/black dyed baroque freshwater pearls the piece is startlingly sombre, but yet beautiful at the same time. At that very moment, a parcel dropped into my letterbox - a string of black agate slab beads which would go perfectly with the pendant and so it was that Raven's Moon appeared in my hands. For some reason recently, spiky beads are attracting my eye more and more, and they seem to be calling to me to make jewellery with them of late. They are different, they are interesting and they elevate the piece of jewellery to a greater height - but that's just my opinion - what do you think?? Raven's MoonDark and beautiful, with a row of diamanté sewed around the solar quartz, embellished with soutache braiding, dark beads and pearls, the sheen of this necklace reminded me of a raven's wings. That's all I had time for this week. There is a room in my house piled high with all the stuff I'm carrying to Edinburgh. My friend BN is an alumna of the medical school whose reunion I am attending, and will be there to help me, fortunately- she's very good at readjusting displays and helping people try on jewellery and I am very grateful for her assistance. Mike will come with me and hang up the banner and drag tables together - all the tasks that need a bit of muscle and then sit back and watch the performance. I will get him to take some pictures for the blog next week.
Have a fabulous week and I'll catch you next week, same time, same place, Until then xx |
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