Lacemania

Hello good people, here's your weekly dose of statement jewellery from Caprilicious. Once I have posted this, I am off to Hamburg, to visit with a friend and have a few days away by the Baltic in her lovely bungalow by the sea - not that I'm rushing or anything, just saying.....
 My muse capriliciously tripped along from one style of jewellery to another, seemingly  without a cohesive thought in her head, and I followed, led by the nose -  I just do as I am bid and see what transpires (hubby often wonders why I won't follow him in quite the same way).............................

Chantilly 

I blame my mother for my lacemania.

She was/is a true lacemaniac, and in my childhood dressed my sister and me in imports from around the globe - she turned up her nose at what was produced in India. Every outfit we had was edged with a hint of lace (imports were expensive, thankfully), and that has left it's mark on us - both of us drool over lace when we see it, but today I would combine it with other elements to detract from the 'girly' effect.  Chunky jewellery, leather waistcoats, boho bracelets, trilby hats, slouchy boots, 50's sunnies (not all at the same time, admittedly - the gangsta rap look doesn't suit me either) - these are what I wear 'for badness', a word learned from Gabrielle, an old Irish friend!

I learned this style of wire work from an Indonesian friend - in her country these wire medallions are made into brooches to pin back their headscarves and it takes hours to painstakingly coil fine wire around a thicker wire, and then curve and coil the thicker wire into shape, embellishing it with beads as one goes along, without the use of any tools other than a pair of wire snips - but the final effect is so pretty, it is most definitely a labour of love.

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Chantilly Lace

Chantilly lace has been made since the 16th century - handmade in France and Belgium and worn by fashionable ladies in Europe and America - and much loved by brides even today. 

If my mother could have laid her hands on Chantilly lace when we were growing up, who knows what damage she would have inflicted on our psyches - todays little hints of 'badness' would have become a deluge, to counteract the Little Miss Muffet-ness of  my childhood - Phew!

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Embellished with turquoise beads and hung on a strand of aquamarine and gold electroplated crystals, it certainly is a pretty piece and worthy of my mother's daughter.  

Whilst I love the colour  that polymer clay and beads have brought into my life, it is no secret that wire is my first love.  

Eclipse

I make this pendant time and time again - inspired by the work of Nicole Hanna , and I love it. It's asymmetry  draws me to this design. The markings on the matte blue agate complement the wire work.

And as I went about my business, pottering about the house and going back and forth to work, my muse caught sight of a  polymer clay faux bone medallion I made earlier, meaning to eventually turn it into a tribal piece - she decided the medallion had waited long enough and clicked her fingers -lo and behold, Zanzibar came into being!  
A silk, vaguely Chinese looking silk choker was unearthed, my stash raided for colourful wooden beads and Cowrie shells, and they were all put together using waxed linen.
 I think the necklace is fun and can be easily worn in summer with T shirts and linens, as well as in winter over jumpers. 
I have always wanted to go to Zanzibar which is an archipelago off the coast of Tanzania, once a Portuguese and then a British protectorate, a Spice Island that sounds warm and exotic - one day perhaps. 
Just now, I shall have to make do with the necklace.

Zanzibar

Sarayu

The Sarayu is a river that runs through the north of India and is a tributary of the Ganges. The turquoise beads in this necklace carrying the conch shell pendant, and the flow of the necklace, reminded me of a river - I used the 'stare hard at it and call it the first name that jumps into your head' technique. This technique works well when I like a piece of jewellery - Bang, a name jumps up and bites me on the nose - if, however, I don't feel any rapport with it, I could go cross eyed and anoxic from holding my breath and concentrating hard with no results.  Needless to say, such pieces end up on the scrap heap.

 The pendant is a black and gold disc from Indonesia - one I made earlier was red, black and gold and equally beautiful. 

Earlier on in the year I made a pair of earrings I called The Bollywood Barbie Earrings - what I imagined Barbie would wear if she went to Bollywood. In the process of researching this for my blog, I came across Rachel Chitra's blog - she had written a post about the scarcity of dolls in India. We had quite a few virtual conversations, and I thought no more of it. Rachel is an Indian journalist and blogger and sent me this link today - she  very kindly wrote a little blog post about Caprilicious Jewellery.

That's me done before my little mini break in Hohwacht. Have a fabulous week and I'll catch you next Friday, same place same time
xx

P.S - I know more of you read me than you let on - go on, put your heads above the parapet and leave me a comment, show me some love darnit, I deserve it - wouldn't you agree?? - the app might ask for your email id, but don't be frightened - it is just to make sure you are human and not a robot selling snake oil from Outer Mongolia
xx

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