On Dropping a Clanger by Caprilicious Jewellery

Hello folks, I am so happy to be home in one piece to be able to write this blog today. I've been to London (not to see the queen) to a Safety Collaborative event - we got there nice and early and wondered what the fuss was all about. There were warnings for snow and ice all over the UK and my colleague and I debated long and hard about whether we  ought to risk it. Eventually we got the train at 730 am yesterday and reached London, easy peasy. There was a bit of snow on the ground, nothing to write home about. It was bitterly cold though, but I was dressed for it in multiple layers of clothing. We spent a nice day at the QEII centre outside Westminster Abbey, and got back to Euston early. And then the nightmare began! A horrendous journey back, with delays, stoppages on the track, everyone being decanted off the train in Rugby which is only 20 minutes from home to stand like a horde of zombies from Sean of the Dead on a freezing cold platform in the dark, in a bitter wind and snow, waiting for another train to pick us up to continue our journeys. Two and a half hours later I fell into Mike's car and heaved a sigh of relief. I was lucky - some of my colleagues ended up getting home after 4 and 5 hours on other routes!

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Westminster Abbey

Trafalgar Square

Nelson's Column

Fiesta

The original necklace made in 2016

​It all began when I posted a necklace I made a couple of years ago on Instagram. A number of people got in touch asking if I could remake the necklace for them. The beads were made from polymer clay using tutorials written by Marie Segal on her blog, to resemble African Trade Beads. It took me ages to make the beads last time and even longer to make the canes to embellish them. I thought I ought to give it a go and dug out the tutorials, made the canes, rolled out the beads, made up the necklaces - and remade them, and remade them yet again. And now I dont like two out of three of them and am having to remake them once more this weekend. On much reflection and soul searching, it turns out that the elements I dislike are metal three hole connectors that I thought were a good idea to use at the time and I shall take them out.

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I thought I'd show you the process that has evolved over the last few weekends, just so you know what it entails. Polymer clay canes are made much like sticks of Blackpool rock and every slice ought to look the same, or have the same pattern. 

The beads were rolled out in long tubes and embellished with slices of a cane, then cut randomly into various sizes before being cured in my oven.

Some of the beads were given contrasting polymer clay bead caps and cured again, and then I was ready to make up the necklaces.
I found that I had made enough to string three necklaces and set to making them. 

When beads of random lengths are put together, there is always a risk of awkwardness, and I had to remake them a number of times before two of them hung to my satisfaction and I went out into the cold conservatory and took some photographs. The third necklace was made with leftover beads and looked so awkward, I didn't bother to get a decent picture of it.  

And then I found that I didn't like any of them at all and would have to take them all apart and start again. Oh no!

I really, really didn't like them at all. As it was the third one that wasn't right in every possible way, I remade it and realised that it was the connectors that were bothering me.

Once I had remade it, I liked it so much I wore it to the meeting in London to brighten up a dab, grey day. So the task for this weekend is to remake the other two, something to keep me out of mischief while Storm Emma wreaks havoc in addition to the snow that we have already had. I will have some pictures for you by next week.

That's all I had time for this week folks, Thanks once again for joining me. Have a fabulous week and I'll catch you next week, same time, same place.
Until then
​xx