Hey folks, how are you? I'm sorry I missed you last week - and I'm late this week - but hey, what's a week or two between friends? Life has been ever so hectic and instead of resting at the weekend, I've been working. One weekend was spent at the hospital and the second -well, last weekend was spent organising the annual barbecue for my junior doctors who moved on to their next placement. August is always a difficult time, when all the people you've spent a year getting to know move on, and there's a new bunch to take their place. No doubt they feel awful too, having to get used to a new place in a new town, a fresh bunch of nurses and midwives who are eyeing them with suspicion, and relearning the systems and guidelines in another hospital just as they were getting comfortable with the last one.

At least the weather is playing ball - the sun is out, and all's well with the world. The necklace for this week is one for hot summer nights - and days, when you're not keen to overburden yourself with heavy, perspiration inducing jewellery, but yet want a smasher to get you noticed! Three layers of faux coral, interspersed with the real thing in a bright turquoise blue and gold - what could be more summery?
I pulled out all the stops with this one and it can be carried easily to destination weddings - think sitting on the beach with a hibiscus in your tresses, a floaty cover up, cocktail in hand, and this necklace! 

That's me for this week, folks. I'll catch up with you next weekend, have a wonderful week in the sun in the meantime
Until then
​xx

Hello everyone, how are you today. I'm back after a week off, having fun with my friends. If one of them hadn't brought her two children, and my husband wasn't in the house, it would have been as if there were no intervening years. Age has not dulled our 40 year old friendship, and we sat around squabbling and reminiscing, gently pulling each others legs - we first met when we were just seventeen years old, and went through a lot of strange and difficult times in medical school by being a support system for one another, and that continues, to this day.

We weren't able to go anywhere as one of them tested positive for Covid on arrival at our place - so we just masked up and sat around telling yarns, roasting one another, and comparing the number of swear words in Indian languages that we knew - I'm proud to say I remembered plenty, although there were a few I hadn't heard before. The house was full of noise and laughter, and smells of food being cooked around the clock - it was a very warm and loving visit and I'm so happy we could do it, and I'm sure we'll do it again.

The piece I finished this week is one that you have seen in the making earlier on. It took simply ages to complete, mainly because I put in loads of tiny beads to signify 'grass' as it was meant to be set in a wildflower meadow. The little pewter art nouveau lady was imported from the USA, and is made by Vintaj. She sits, draped artfully in scarves and wraps, her long hair flowing around her, in the style of an art nouveau Mucha drawing. I sat her on a knoll of grass under a wisteria, with a tiny patch of ground and sky just visible to one side, surrounded by the wildflower meadow. Mucha I ain't, but this is my effort at a romantic and wistful setting. I ended the necklace with tourmaline and jade beads and a little toggle clasp. The whole piece from start to finish took me 3 weeks to complete.

I think it is even more stunning in real life than in photographs, because of the 3-D dimensions of the piece - it has to be held to be truly appreciated. 

The day job has been really busy and added to that I lost Wi-Fi during the heat wave and couldn't get Virgin Media to send someone out for 3 days. I've truly earned this weekend - I'm going to sit around, doing absolutely nothing, relaxing with a cuppa tea until it's Monday again.
Next weekend is party time - my junior doctors are leaving us - is it a celebration that they are getting closer to that consultant or GP job, or one that they are finally leaving us to wreak havoc in another department? That's for me to know and the hospital they go to to find out. Actually, this bunch have been lovely and deserve a good end of term blow-out, which I shall give them.

That's all for this week, folks. Have a wonderful week, and I'll catch you again next Friday, same time, same place. 
Until then
​xx

Hello everyone, how's tricks? I'm very excited - the sun is shining, the flowers in my garden are blooming and my friends are coming all the way from the USA to spend a week with me. Added to all this, I've got next week off and as of 5 pm tonight, am as free as a bird. I spent so much time in the hospital this week sorting out one problem and another, that my brain is just about ready to burst!

I've spent a few hours every evening sewing little beads onto a piece of backing - it seems like this necklace is taking ages. I wanted to give the effect of a wildflower meadow, with a woman sitting under a wisteria, perhaps taking a little mid afternoon nap. I have a couple of progress pictures as it is nowhere near finished - the grass is taking ages to block in. I've used little crystals as the wildflowers - in the past I filled the space with large fowers, and added the 'grass' as a filler, but this time, there are a few roses and mainly greenery, which is probably the reason why it's taking so long as it is fine work that causes my fingers and eyes a degree of exhaustion. When it is finished, I'm sure the effect will be very pretty, it certainly shows signs of it already. Here are a couple of progress pictures for you.

The effect is meant to be as if she's sitting in a bower under the shade of a wisteria, there's a patch of land and a bit of the sky visible, as well as the wildflower meadow surrounding her, with a few roses thrown in for good measure. Hubby and I have been glued to the television for the last couple of days watching the drama in Downing Street unfold, so I've had plenty of time to sew my fingers to the bone, the limiting factor of course, being exhaustion. Painting with beads is so much fun!

I'm going to go now and have a well earned nap in the garden. Have a wonderful weekend and I'll catch up with you in a couple of weeks when my friends have gone, same time, same place.
Until then,
​xx

Hello lovely people, so glad to join you here again. I'm very excited this week - two of my friends from medical school are going to be with me in a about fifteen days time and I'm getting ready for some fun and games! One of them had a talk to deliver in Brussels and decided to make a little detour into France and then come and visit with me - on hearing this, another mate from our group decided to come as well. They are coming all the way from the USA to Warwickshire, just to spend some time with me and I'm all of a tizzy! I have to work all of next week, Monday to Thursday, and have just got the weekend to prepare for them and do the shopping, cooking and cleaning that a housefull of guests entails. I hear you thinking - two guests a housefull do not make - but one of them is coming with her two grown-up kids in tow - so yes, it does!

My bestie picked up a few pieces from Caprilicious and I sent her 'Fiesta' as a gift with the rest of her goodies. She likes to wear matching earrings, while I don't ever make them - I think a statement necklace is more than enough for one person at any occasion. However, my policy has always been 'the customer is always right, even when she's wrong' and I try to live by that tenet. 
I set out to make a pair of earrings to match and decided that I would use the motifs in the necklace, but put them on a black background so that the designs stood out - I just hope she likes them and doesn't want them on a red/pink background - in any case it will take me just a few minutes to whip up another pair, now that they've been made before, I know exactly how to make another lot.

And, because I didn't want to turn on an oven to make just one pair, I made a few more, which she is welcome to have, should she like them - or perhaps her daughter will.

I've spent evenings in front of the telly populating a necklace with little beads and if I have time, ought to finish it by the end of next week. 
That's me for now, folks. Have a wonderful week, and I'll catch you next Friday, around the same time, same place.
Until then
​xx

Hello everyone, how are you today? We are sweltering in the lovely heat as I type - sweltering sounds awful, right? However, the alternative in this country is shivering! There you go, sweltering/sweating/melting/drooping/wilting/whatever - all those words sound much nicer to me than shivering/blue fingers, noses and toes/umbrellas/macs/cardigans and the other horrors that usually go with the words summer in Britain. 
And, the bonus is we can switch off the heating for at least one day! I've spent my life in the UK with the heating turned up full blast - winter or summer, I wear T-shirts, light dresses and flip-flops around the house and hubby has got used to what he calls 'Bangalore temperatures' - no mismatched socks and oatmeal coloured cardis in my house! We are dressed in hope-inducing summer gear all year round.

And now the cost of living is going up! The government does nothing, and there's a rash of cr*ppy advice on every website and newspaper from supposedly sensible authors who usually write articles about investing your money sensibly.
​ These self styled 'money-gurus' now write tips like putting bricks in your toilet cistern so that you can save on water, and what you can do with potato peelings. And then, you might hopefully save enough to follow their by-now obsolete investment advice. I'm told there's even an app that you can download so you can get a 'mystery bag' from the local supermarkets - if you're really lucky you can cook an egg over a candle and eat it with browning cauliflower stalks leftover from the supermarket. 

So why shop online? Why buy jewellery? Where would you go in it? These are the questions I've been asking myself. I will never stop making stuff, I don't think - it gives me a lot of pleasure to create pretty things. I used to wear my jewellery to work, until the lovely lady from Infection Control took me to one side and put a compelling argument to me - what is euphemistically called a 'respectful challenge' - that just means that the sentence doesn't end with an 'or else', but you know there's one, just the same. Oh well, that is by-the-by. I will still make my beauties, even though I might not be able to wear them every day. 

Women shop and buy jewellery online because everyone is owed a treat - and sometimes it's nice to own a nice object even though you can't wear it immediately. You know it's in the cupboard waiting for you when the occasion arises - and it will come, believe me. We've been through recessions, wars and problems before and the world has survived. My mother still talks about the time when she could buy a bunch of bananas for a rupee - which is about 10 pence in todays money - however, she is 95 years old, and I'm glad she can still remember anything at all. Caprilicious is chock full of pieces that one wouldn't find in a regular shop and is less expensive than many boutiques. And though the flow out of my door has been stemmed by the fabulous Mr Putin's war, it will not stop and I will not raise the prices of my stock because I don't think it's fair on the Caprilicious women who shop with me.

This three stranded necklace is made of blue agate cubes and tiny seed pearls. I love this blue, which is reminiscent of Peruvian opal, it has the instant effect of cooling you down. Perfect for the days when you are drooping in the heat with a white dress, it's also great in the winter, worn with darker outfits. I like the fact that it is versatile and can be worn to a party at night, yet isn't so showy that it couldn't be worn to the office when you need a boost to your confidence levels. 
While the Agean sea is but a bay of the Mediterranean, their colours are completely different. The bottom of the Aegean is made of limestone and the pale rock reflects the light differently, causing it to be much lighter than the Mediterranean sea.  I'd love to be in Greece, sitting by the seaside, a glass of something tasty in my hand, watching people go by.

That's me for this week, folks. Have a wonderful week, and I'll catch you on the Friday, same time, same place.
Until then
​xx

Hello everyone, how are you today? Britain has been basking in a heat wave and although I've been busy and locked into the hospital, it's nice to know that outside, someone, somewhere, is lying on a patch of grass, basking in the sun. Life has been crazy busy and I simply didn't have time to get to you last week, but here I am at last, bright eyed and bushy tailed. The garden is enjoying the weather, and hubby is spending loads of time outdoors, watering the plants. I have friends coming to stay with me from the USA in four weeks time and I'm hoping the garden will still look nice, and all the flowers aren't spent by the time they get here.

With all that's going on at work, I had no time to pick up my beads or pliers, but when I received a few beautiful pairs of earring beads, I wasted no time in putting them together. One pair is already spoken for, but the others are loaded onto the website now. Here are a few pictures of my simple, but beautiful earrings. 

These acid green beauties are made with Cymophane, an opalescent version of chrysoberyl. I've never seen these gems before and scrambled to pick them up as soon as I saw them.

This is the second time I'm making them and I think they are ever so sleek, sohisticated and elegant. As they are so simple, the fact that they are long won't be a reason why you can't wear them during the daytime, and to work, if you so choose. In fact I see them with a white shirt and jeans, just as easily as a little black dress. 

The flowers in the garden are calling out to me to make another floral piece and I have the whole thing planned out in my head. In the meantime, I have the weekend off, but loads of prep to do for a presentation next week. Long lie-ins, lazy brunches in the garden, out in the sunshine - and a laptop by my side, constantly reminding me that I'm playing hooky, instead of preparing for the next week - I'm going to feel like I'm back in school!

That's me for this week, folks. Have a fabulous week and I hope to catch up with you again next Friday, same time, same place.
Until then
xx

Hello people, how are you today? Britain was supposed to be basking in a heat wave this weekend, but unfortunately this turned out to be a fake news. I wonder if the Met office was giving us a false sense of wellbeing, so we'd all go down to London and line the streets in the hope of watching Royalty strutting their stuff. In any event, they needn't have bothered - those who wanted to go would have been there with bells on, whatever the weather. The Queen has been out on the balcony, but couldn't manage any more celebrating, but everyone else had a great time. I enjoyed the two day break and chilled out at home with hubby in the garden, my cat and my beloved beads!

Quite a few people wrote in to me to ask about the burning of the Sanctuary, which I talked about in last week's blog. Hubby didn't want to go for some mysterious reason, although I did, so we watched it second hand - here are a couple of short clips for you. I thought it was incredibly moving, that they burned out such a beautiful creation in an effort to heal an entire community. 

As I explained to you last time, I've been beading around several little cabochons for a few weeks now, and I set them into a single piece - to me it resembled a Catherine wheel, with the central oval cabochon and the others seeming to spin around it. I decided to give it a fringe of golden seed beads, dripping with citrine teardrops. And when that was finished, I thought it needed more and I added another layer of fringe, this time in a medley of blue seed beads, with pale blue agate sprinkled generously through them. It was meant to go onto a torque initially, but I felt it could do with a more opulent necklace, and a string of peach quartz, coated with titanium vapour seemed to be the ideal match, with a few seed pearls thrown in for good measure.

I found a few dichroic glass cabochons in a pot - I must've bought them years ago - I wonder what I was storing them for? Perhaps they were waiting for a rainy day. The colours are so beautiful, I can't think why I didn't use them earlier. Well, that stops now - they have come back into circulation and will appear in some of my next few pieces, methinks. 
I'm off to spend the rest of the 'Jubilee Weekend' with the hubby and cat. That's me for now, have a great time if you're out celebrating and I'll catch you next weekend, same time, same place.
Until then
xx

Hello, people, how are you today? I've been a bit late with this weeks post, but in my defence I've been a bit snowed under at work and with other things happening  around me that have eaten away at my days, one bite at a time. I did have a bit of time to play with my beads, but the week was crowned by what I am going to tell you about in a minute - Sanctuary.

I lived in Bedworth for over 5 years, and drove past Bedworth Miners Park on a number of occasions - however, I never went into it and didn't know how huge and how beautiful it was. We read about 'Sanctuary' in the local press and decided that we ought to make the effort to go and take a look at it, seeing that they were planning to burn it on Saturday. When it is burned, it is meant to release all the pent up grief and pain into the cosmos and help people to heal from the wounds Covid has inflicted on us.

We strolled through the park, and walked for what seemed like ages till we came to an artifically built hillock with the most beautiful wooden pagoda built on the top. 
The students had cut a lacy pattern into what appeared to be MDF with a jigsaw and assembled the tower with a central stalactite/stalagmite formation inside it. Volunteers were offering felt tipped pens and people were writing the names of their loved ones with heart rending messages. I don't cry easily, but looking at the sheer numbers of messages brought a lump to my throat. As someone who works in the NHS, I think we treat people who come to us as 'patients' - and as a defence mechanism to keep ourselves sane, we have to forget that these 'patients' are actually someones parents, grandparents and children, or we wouldn't be able to do the job.

I had a number of small cabochons, and with my propensity for statement pieces, thought I'd put them together in some way and convert them into one large piece. I have been beading around them, piece by piece over the last few weeks and I finally put them together, ready to finish and embellish into the beauty it will inevitably become (I hope!!). Apologies for the poor photograph - it was taken with my phone, in a hurry. I will have it finished by next week most likely, and you can see it in all it's glory.

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

Hello my friends, how are you? It's been a lovely day and the sun is still shining at seven o'clock in the evening as I type this in readiness to put out first thing tomorrow as I go in to work. I'm working all weekend, and hoping for a quiet one so that I will be fresh and ready for the week to come. 
The garden is beginning to wake up and the Canterbury bells in the rockery are flowering - they come back year on year and last for ages, so they are a good investment in any garden.

I started the piece I'm about to show you in December of last year. It has taken me ages to get it to a stage where it is wearable - part of the reason was that I ran out of beads and had to send away for more and then I had to decide how to finish it off and send out again for the grosgrain ribbon which makes a beautiful contrast to the haematite beads. The other reason was that sewing shiny black beads with a tiny needle and a fine black thread takes a lot out of the eyes. Added to that, I only had the time to make jewellery at night when already tired from the day job. I only managed to weave about an inch at a time before the eye strain told on me.
However, I think it was entirely worth it - the facets on the haematite beads shimmer and gleam in the light and the necklace has a pleasing weight. I have left the ends of the ribbon loose, so that it can be worn at any length chosen, but I'm happy to set up a clasp if that's what is required. 

The beads are woven together using a rot proof, fray proof, monofilament nylon thread using a technique called the Cellini Peyote stitch, and I've ended the ribbon with a fray proof paint so that it doesn't fall apart. I think I'm very happy with this one.

 Grand Duchess Anastasia Nikolaevna was the youngest daughter of Tsar Nicholas II of Russia and his wife, Tsarina Alexandra. Along with her parents and young siblings, Anastasia was captured and executed during the Bolshevik Revolution. She is well-known for the mystery that surrounded her death for decades. In the years following the execution of the Romanov family, conspiracy theories began to emerge. Beginning in 1920, numerous women came forward and claimed to be the Grand Duchess Anastasia. There is something Russian , dark and mysterious about this necklace, which is why I named it after the doomed Grand Duchess.

That's all I have time for this week, folks. have a wonderful weekend and I'll catch you next Friday, same time, same place.
Until then
​xx

Hello folks, how are you today? I'm a happy bunny - I've never been busier at work and that makes me enjoy and appreciate my leisure time much more. I was in London for a couple of days at the brand new Royal College of Obstetricians and Gyaecologists - the building is new, not the College itself. Well, actually, the building isn't new either, it is a refurbished hop storage facility connected by an atrium to an office block. I'm told the architects won awards for the refurbishment and they deserve it - it is rather nice. It's in a rather seedy neighbourhood, though, compared to the original building opposite Regent's Park and our spirits were all dampened by the 'park' opposite which looked more like West Side Story was about to erupt at any moment.

I was stuck in one of these little booths for two days examining junior doctors, and although it wasn't fun, I met some interesting people, including the actors who were there as make-believe patients. As we were very close to The Shard, my colleague and I decided to go to dinner at T'ing, the restaurant on the 35th floor. I wore 'Sunshiny Day' to dinner, and here are some pictures from high up in the sky.

I've been planning this necklace in my mind for a long time. The amethyst cylinders are interspersed with handmade glass beads in a deep purple, embellished with peach and purple coloured floral motifs. The faceted pyrite beads between the amethysts brighten the necklace, and the piece would be perfect to wear to work or in the evening to a tea party in the park. 

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