Melange

Hello readers, nice to see you here again. Ive had the strangest weekend - I was all ready and prepared for a fair which was postponed at the last minute. It was just as well it was cancelled, I cannot imagine that there would have been too many people out and about in such awful weather. But it was weird to be faced with an empty weekend, where I had no plans and nothing to do.

One of my regular customers saw Clarice and asked if I would make her another piece, this time with a bracelet to match and I decided to use the 'empty weekend' to make these pieces. I didn't have too many of the leaves I used in the original 'Clarice' but I did have a couple in my stash that were a close colour match. I made the larger leaves last year and the two resulting pieces I made with them couldn't have been more different from each other.

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Clarice (2)

I made a few smaller leaves for the cuff bracelet and covered the with resin I mixed for another project. I love the sheen resin gives to a piece of polymer, but one has to be careful, as it is a very tetchy medium - one little mistake and it will refuse to set, or get air bubbles and misbehave to the extent that it seems simpler to throw away the piece and to start afresh. Also, patience is not my strong suit and I have a tendency to test whether the piece is dry by putting fingerprints all over wet resin (I also drove my parents mad in the car on long journeys).

The new owner just received her jewellery as I write this, and here is the lovely message she sent me

Hi Neena, it arrived today, gorgeous as always!! Its so nice to have the set, bracelet fits perfectly and is beautifully made. Thanks so much, again ! x

When I send a piece of jewellery out, I worry - firstly that it gets to the recipient, and second that she likes it - it is lovely to hear that all is well, and I can relax.

Here's the original Clarice - just so you can compare the two. I think they are both lovely in their own way.

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Afterglow

I had never really noticed the afterglow, growing up in India - twilight is but short, the closer you get to the equator, and as it occurred early on in the evening when I was usually busy getting home or studying, or engaged in another such mundane activity it never entered my consciousness. In fact it was when I met Mike and he pointed it out to me, that I began to appreciate the colours of the sky after the sun sets below the horizon. 
The clay beads in this necklace reminded me of the orange of the sky, they are touched here and there with a silvery grey, and shimmer with a pale pearlescence. I added lapis beads and a couple of ceramic triangular beads to make this pretty daytime necklace that will go with a lot of summer gear, and can be worn well into the autumn.

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Mariposa

The butterfly in this piece is made using a technique called polymer clay embroidery and was inspired by a polymer clay and wire butterfly made by Daniela D'Uva of Alkhymeia. Made in bright primary colours, it reminds me of Hungarian Magyar embroidery. A strange technique which requires the precise placement of tiny pieces of polymer clay on an uncured, soft base, it is not really my cup of tea (once again the patience factor is my downfall), but once I'd got used to it, I had a lot of fun embellishing the pieces that went into the butterfly.

And finally, as if that wasn't enough wirework for one week, I made these two pairs of earrings from a design by Lisa Barth.

The labradorite is hand carved with butterflies on the front of the stone - I think someone with short hair, or hair that is put up to allow light to play on these earrings to bring out the beautiful flashes of labradorescence would love these and of course, turquoise and copper are a beautiful combination that would look good on anyone. 

That's as much as I had time for this week folks. The weekend promises to be sunny and we have plans to go to the Upton on Severn Jazz Festival on Saturday. The garden is looking good and we made our annual pilgrimage to the garden centre to open our wallets and allow them to take our cash with impunity - if we didn't make this trip each year, the garden spirits would frown on us and bare patches would grow and spread in the garden rather than flowers and greenery, and that wouldn't do at all - Oh no, it wouldn't. The cats were most unimpressed - they quite like the bare patches in the flower beds, where they can sit and wait to ambush unwary mice and frogs that happen by.

Have a fabulous week, and I'll catch you next Friday, same time, same place.

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