Confessions of a Shopaholic's Daughter

It's over folks, and my mother has flown back to her home in India. However, she appears to have one of everything, from every shop she visited in her suit case - and some from those she hasn't, having discovered online shopping. She came here with one medium sized case and a little one, and has gone back with no less than four cases, with 68 kg of luggage, having paid the airline a small fortune in excess baggage charges. Now, I am as acquisitive as the next man, or woman, but fortunately for my bank balance, I can control my requirements for inanimate objects. It will be a loooong time before I set foot in another shop, I can tell you - I am all shopped out!
I had very little time to make jewellery this week, with the last minute flurry of visitors who came by to wish my mother Bon Voyage. I was beginning to have withdrawal symptoms, so I picked up my pliers and tweaked a roll of wire into the one piece made this week under my mothers eagle eye and copious instructions (mostly ignored!).

A short clip of hummingbirds  feeding shot in slow motion for the nature lovers amongst you.

Ode to the Hummingbird  
Pablo Neruda
The hummingbird
in flight
is a water-spark,
an incandescent drip
of American
fire,
the jungle's
flaming resume
a heavenly,
precise
rainbow:
the hummingbird is
an arc,
a golden
thread,
a green
bonfire!

I found a photograph of a humming bird - I had always wanted to make one, and decided to have a go this week. 
 I searched the internet for other pictures, and finally shaped my bird - mum's comment was 'hmm, it does look like a bird, all right'.

Of course, when I started, I had no idea what its final shape would take - a pendant, or a brooch perhaps?? The old muse of course, had other ideas and it ended up as one of my favourite pieces of jewellery - a statement necklace! 
My mother paints, and was a bit disappointed that my hummingbird didn't look exactly like the picture - I had to explain that the picture was just for inspiration, and that there is no way I could make feathers out of seed beads and wire - I did try though, using Aurora Borealis coated beads, which have a shiny rainbow finish, and shading them, one colour into the other, but a mirror image of the photograph it is not, and never will be.

 I made the wings stand proud from the necklace, to give them some dimension, and curved them so the bird appeared to hover over the white jade trumpet flower  to which I added red Swarovski crystal stamens and a beaded cap to replicate sepals. Wire leaves and tendrils in non tarnish copper finished the plant off, and the hummingbird was set against turquoise blue and silver electroplated beads to suggest the sky. I wanted to end the piece with a leather necklace, but mother felt something more elaborate was called for after all the effort I had put into the focal piece, so I made a Kumihimo braid in blue and white waxed linen and added spiral bead caps - finally, she agreed that it was 'quite nice'.

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I had a lovely phone call all the way from New Delhi, from the lady who commissioned Meluhan Sunset. I made a complimentary pair of earrings to match, and she was delighted with the way the whole set had turned out - and this was from the pictures I posted, she is yet to receive it - always nice to have ones efforts appreciated!

I also have a commission to make Rainforest Symphony Mark 2 - one of my Facebook fans says she fell in love with the piece and has asked for a similar one. I have already started to make the rain forest insects for it, while I wait for the gemstones to arrive from Hong Kong - I always think second pieces turn out well, once all the bugs have been ironed out of the first.

Catch you next week folks, have a good one
xx