Desert Rose, by Caprilicious

Hello lovely folks, how are you? Thank you to everyone who picked up pieces in the birthday sale - those of you who haven't, please feel free to take a moment to browse as the sale goes on till the 14th of November, pick up some early Christmas presents for yourself and friends - there are plenty of inexpensive pieces, especially on the Mixed Media/Daywear page that would be eminently suitable as gifts - remember, there are only 43 days to go!

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I love this song and video by Sting and CHeb Mami. It brings all the romance and mystery of the desert into our collective consciousness, as do the beads in this weeks piece of jewellery. 
I was taken with the Desert Rose a number of years ago when I made an attempt to recreate them in wire. A friend of mine, on reading my blog post bought me a desert rose when she saw one in a shop on her travels. Imagine my excitement when I saw beads of Desert Rose - I had to buy them, of course I did! You might wonder what I'm getting so aereated about. Close your eyes and imagine a wind blowing in a desert, whipping up sand that finally settles in nooks and crannies in rock formations. The grains of sand are packed tight against each other and every molecule of moisture extracted by the baking hot sun. What we have in essence is a fistful of silica that has been compressed so efficiently that it has become a dense, hard, permanent structure, carved by the very elements that it is made of - the sand, whipped up by the wind. 

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Desert Rose is also sometimes called Gypsum Rose, Selenite Rose, Rose Rock, Gypsum Rosette, or Sand Rose and is found in many deserts in Algeria, Australia, Spain, Morocco, Mexico, and Africa. It is a stone that molds your character and help you grow and improve as a person. If there’s any kind of stagnation in your life, it will be eliminated by this stone. The energies of this stone will also strengthen your natural intuition. It will give you more motivation and initiative to pursue your goals and dreams. If you want to read more about it, this article should be of interest to you.

The dark blood red beads in the necklace were made in-house, from Ultralight polymer clay and then given a surface treatment that makes them gleam in the light. They serve as a fine contrast to the Desert Rose beads, as well as making the necklace lighter and more comfortable on the back of the neck. If you love unique pieces of jewellery, this is a must have - a head turner and conversation starter, for sure.

I've agreed to take part in the Earring show in early December and I've been putting together a few pairs of earrings - they aren't finished yet, so I'll have to show them off next week.

That's me for now, folks. Have a fabulous week and I'll catch you next Friday, same time, same place.
Until then
​xx