Hello folks, great to talk to you this week. It has felt a bit Bleagh! on the weather front out here. Storm Arwen has been wreaking havoc in the UK, but fortunately, where we live in the Midlands, we have had a couple of days with a bit of snow, but no more. My heart goes out to the poor folks in Wales, some of whom have had a power outage for over 6 days now - and of course the poor guys who have to climb up the electricity poles in the face of high winds and driving rain to repair the cables that have broken due to trees crashing into them. I lived in Wales a long time ago, and I remember after one such storm in 1989, the garage roof blew off and ended up in a heap at the end of the street with the door crashing and banging into the car. We lived without electricity for about five days - that is the coldest I've ever been in my life and I wouldn't wish that experience on anyone. 
While snow looks pretty in pictures, it isn't nice unless you are wrapped up and warm, and of course there's always the danger of the icy patches lurking underneath, especially when the temperature drops at night. 

I've been telling you about this necklace that sits unfinished on my worksurface for over 3 weeks now - and unfortunately I still haven't got a clasp for it - the original one got lost in the post. When I wrote to the vendor, I was told that it was the last one in their shop, so I then had to pick another and it is on it's way. With the lack of HGV drivers, Brexit and the snow, who knows when it will arrive?  

I made yet another pair of beaded peacock feather earrings - they are so pretty, I couldn't resist it. This time I used a grey crystal bead for the centre of the feather, and then decided to put a little beaded bezel around the central bead anyway as it forms the 'eye'. I posted pictures on a beading forum and the folks there fell in love with it. I'm not expecting it to last on my books for very long, but I do have the supplies to make more if required to. This pair is hung on gold tone ear wires, with the tiniest micropave diamante inlaid into the front.

This necklace was made for my Ethnic Collection, for the Eastern Promise page and I remodelled it - I was never happy with the original design and it would appear, neither was anyone else.
It now has three vintage pendants from Afghanistan, set with little glass gems - a central box pendant set with cobalt and red glass in a paisley design and the other two are mismatched squares set with colourful glass, edged with loads of little bells. They are strung on two strands of vintage African vinyl beads in red and have little crystals and seed beads to break up the boredom and add movement and colour. Mismatched necklaces are worn by tribal women in India all the time - they just pick up the pendants as they go along and string them together with little seed beads and chains made of alloy, interspersed with little coins. These are old pendants, and show signs of loving wear and tear.

​Vinyl beads from Nigeria are made from vinyl recycled from old records. In countries all across Africa vinyl beads are used to create beautiful necklace,   bracelets and striking waist chains. Vinyl bead strand jewelry is sometimes worn to indicate the wearers state of mind. Each individual color of vinyl bead strands has a different meaning. Blue vinyl beads stand for love, harmony, togetherness and peace. Black vinyl beads are said to represent spiritual energy and emotional maturity. Maroon tones stand for healing and mother earth. Purple vinyl beads are said to represent everything feminine and royalty. Pink vinyl beads are said to indicate mildness and feminine qualities. Red vinyl bead strands stand for spirituality and passion.  

Unfortunately (unless you travel to Africa) it is almost impossible to source these beads in loads of colours and sizes in the UK. They have to be purchased through outlets in the USA and then brought back. I picked up a few strands of them when I went there a few years ago and am still playing with them. 

I used some of the soutache braiding I have in my stash to make these earrings - the central bead is a 'cat's eye' bead, which incorporates strands of fiberglass at it's core, giving it a shimmer when it is moved in the light - unfortunately a still photograph doesn't do it justice - it just looks like a brown bead. I have tried taking photographs in the light in preference to using my photobox, but I'm not sure if that's enough to capture the pretty movement of light within the bead. It is on an ear stud and has a Nepalese resin bead dangling from it.

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

Hello, good people, and thanks for joining me once again. It has gone cold in the UK and set to get worse. However, what we experience here, especially in the Midlands where I live is piffling compared to North America, so I shouldn't really make a big deal of it. Moaning about the weather is part of the British psyche and I've lived in the UK long enough to participate in the national weather angst! 
I saw this picture on Facebook and thought it was so cute, I had to save it for everyone here.

I've made one of the prettiest necklaces using a bunch of tiny seed beads, and I've been so keen to show it to you. Unfortunately, I suddenly decided that I absolutely needed a particular clasp when I saw it used by another beader - I've been hunting for the selfsame thing all over. It's quite difficult, hunting down something when you don't know where the other person got it from, what it's name is, or what to put in a search engine when looking for it. I can't remember who the lady was who had it on one of the pieces she had made, or I might have asked her, although she might not have told me.
But, determined as I am, I spent days looking for it and finally struck gold. Hubby was pretty annoyed with me, as I seemed to be on the computer all the time - he was probably just looking for a bit of attention. However, I've had a hard week at work, and the last thing I needed of an evening is conversation. Watching rubbish on the telly while beading or scrolling through various shops on my phone in silence seems to be the better pastime than making an effort to chat. Never mind, next week is likely to be better and I will stroke his ego and give him some attention at the weekend.

As I said last week, I'm going on the Earrings Show in December - the 10th and 11th is the Caprilicious show, so I've begun to salt away a few pairs of earrings specifically for that. I always like to have lots of stock, so that ladies who like earrings have something new to look at, and I like my earrings to be as different as possible to what the others display. I make the components myself rather than assemble what I have bought from others, and therefore it takes a while to put them together.

Anyone who knows Caprilicious knows my love of peacocks - this pair was made using purple crystals at the centre of the eye, surrounded by silver lined seed beads in four colours. I'm not sure the camera picks up the way these earrings glow - silver lined beads have an ethereal sheen and I think this is a very pretty pair of earrings, as light as a (peacock) feather.

I picked up two pairs of stick beads of lapis lazuli and turquoise - the beads themselves are so pretty, I felt that they ought to be presented in as simple a manner as possible. I spent a few months wrestling with the idea of adding little embellishments to the tops of the beads but in the end, have presented them simply with little micro pave bails and sterling ear wires that enhance rather than detract from the beauty of the stones.

Unfortunately still photographs do not pick up little nuances, such as the glow of the silver lined beads, the little glints of pyrite in the lapis beads or the glints from the micro pave diamante - some degree of movement is required for that. 

I'm looking forward to this weekend which is going to be about pampering - long lie ins, soaks in the bath, and generally a relaxed time, both to get over the week I've had, and to get ready for next weekend when I'm going to be on call again.
​
29 days to Christmas, folks! Hubby is buying me a new laptop in the sales and I'm half excited, while the other half of me is a bit anxious about losing all the photographs stored on my old laptop. Yes, they are sitting in cloud storage as well, but there's nothing like being able to access them straight up from the computer. Oh well, I'll just have to grin and bear it.  

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

Hello everyone, and how are you today? It's been the mildest November, ever, and I'm just hoping that the rest of the year remains as wonderful. 
Thank you everyone who picked up pieces of jewellery during the birthday sale - they have all gone out and should be with you in the next couple of days.

I spent some time making earrings last week -  as well as the beginnings of another necklace which I will have to hold on to for another time as it isn't quite finished yet. I'm on the Earrings Show again in December and feel the need to put together a few new pieces for the ladies who browse the show.  

We went for a little drive last week and fetched up in a quaint little courtyard outside an outfitters for bikers called The Idle Torque - there was a little cafe, and an organic butcher, a vegetable shop, a blacksmith and a schoolhouse. We sat in the courtyard on a crisp autumn morning and had a cup of tea from the cafe, when a little cat joined us - he was so friendly, I was quite envious. We've ended up with a very standoffish cat at home who only comes to us when he wants to and when his tummy tells him that it's running on empty. What we would have loved was a friendly lap cat that draped itself over us like a mink stole, but alas! it was not to be.
There were some fierce looking hombres standing around in leathers, ponytails, piercings, hobnailed boots, and strange hairstyles and beards - they looked a bit intimidating to say the least, and I thought we ought to leave, but when Mike said hello they ambled over with gap toothed grins and waggly beards, and were friendly enough. 

I followed my first beading pattern this week - the first time I've ever followed any sort of pattern. I fell in love with a picture on Pinterest and it led me to DragonflyDesigns UK on Etsy. The colours in the earrings were so attractive I bought the pattern - after all how hard could it be? Well, I started the earrings and cut them up a few times, and then the whole lot skulked in a corner waiting for me, until I decided not to be such a coward and allow a beading pattern to win. The earrings are called Tequila Sunrise and are actually quite complicated to make for a beginner, but with perseverance, they turned out to be very pretty.

A Tequila Sunset has the same ingredients as the original Tequila Sunrise, but with a splash of soda water mixed with grenadine to give the drink a red hue at the top instead of the bottom. Here's the Caprilicious version for you.

I also made a pair of South Western style earrings using turquoise and a lavish fringe with Czech dagger beads - they are light and ever so pretty, and the movement - OMG! I am blown away! They are lined with leather and they are worthy of any cowgirl princess. 

37 days to go to Christmas - have you ordered your turkey yet? What about your presents? Don't forget that Caprilicious is happy to wrap your gifts and send them out to your friends - all you have to do is mention it on PayPal and it will be sorted out for you.

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

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!

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. 

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

Here I am, writing to you on Caprilicious' 10th birthday. How are you, good people? I do hope you're all well, wherever you are. I celebrated with a few of my Caprilicious ladies who were kind enough to join me in raising a glass to my journey.  I have an annual anniversary gift for you too from the 4th to the 14th of November - use the promo code HappyBirthday to gift yourself 20% off everything on the website for the birthday. Thank you for being part of the Caprilicious family, I value all of you and am honoured to be worn by you.

It's also Diwali this week and I've invited a few friends round to dinner - I always feel homesick around this time as Diwali is a massive deal in India - probably bigger than Christmas is in the Western world, if that's at all possible.
My trip to India looms on the not so far horizon - and I have started a new diet so that I won't shock my poor mother with all the weight that has crept on during lockdown.
I swear that as soon as I go on a diet, there's a malevolent spirit that makes my social life explode - people ask me out, bring me sweets, parties and 'drinks after work' opportunities go through the roof, and if all else fails, hubby brings home crusty white bread - there's nothing as droolworthy as toast made with crusty farmhouse white bread, dripping  with butter, on a cold autumn day. 

This weeks piece of jewellery is inspired by photographs of aerial views of the bulbfields in Amsterdam. I was flicking through the photographs and when I looked up I was looking straight at a Kandinsky print on my living room wall. I put the two ideas together and here's what emerged. The pendant is asymmetrically shaped with a sea sediment jasper at it's heart. Hundreds of little Miyuki beads have been sewn onto it painstakingly in glorious technicolour. The necklace is also made of seed beads - I bought this one ready made. It is mainly in shades of dark green and I decided that the pendant would have acents in that colour and that the rest would be bright and eye catchingly vibrant. 

I enjoyed making the bail in an off loom bead weave and embellishing it with colourful beads to add even more pizzazz. 

I'd best go and sort out the final touches to that meal, it won't cook itself. Have a fabulous week and I'll catch you next Friday, same time, same place,
Until then
​xx

Hello folks, how are you this week? Mike and I have been a bit swamped by problems with our cat, Wilfred. Mike found a swelling at the base of WIlfred's tail one morning and I was barraged by questions, 'what d'you think it is?' until eventually I prodded the offending area and offered the usual advice - observation and watchful waiting. I did point out that I know more about human beings than cats, and that perhaps he ought to be taken to the vet. My provisional diagnosis of an abscess turned out to be right and after a short visit to the vet, a quick incision and drainage, and us £115 out of pocket, the cat is back to his old swagger.  He was given two kinds of antibiotics - a tablet and a liquid that needs to be squirted into his mouth. We're not doing very well with those, I'm afraid. Wilfred seems to sense when we're trying to creep up on him with a tablet and makes a dash for it. When we finally catch him and stuff the medication down his throat, he sicks up in a short while. So, a fun week for everyone!

I showed you the pendant I made last week, as well as the necklace I'd begun for it. I finished the necklace and ran a strong wire through the tube to convert the necklace into a stiff torque that sits at the base of the neck. The pendant was inspired by a photograph of a meadow of alpine flowers in the Alaskan wilderness. I have contrasted strong colours with pastel ice cream shades and the tubular torque is made of green and grey beads, accented with pink. 

I enjoyed making the tubular necklace, spiral peyote stitch was a lot of fun. It can only be made when one is firing on all four pistons, as it is a rather unforgiving pattern. I tried to continue weaving beads late into the night until I found that I was spending more time unpicking all my stitches and gave up in disgust. 

The clocks will soon turn back, Diwali is next week and I have twenty people coming to dinner, and as of today there are 58 days to Christmas. I'm focusing on February when I fly back to India. My sister has already booked a mini getaway for the two of us in Goa and I can't wait. 

In the meantime, Happy Diwali to those of you who celebrate it and may there be loads of love, light and prosperity in your lives.

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

Hello people, how are you today? I've been so busy this week with one thing and another that I haven't had a moment to catch my breath. And it hasn't ended yet - I'm working all weekend and am sitting in front of a computer at work, trying to catch up with you during a lull in the proceedings - hopefully not the one at the eye of a storm, but a harbinger of the rest of the next couple of days.

I've had time to make a little pendant during the evenings - I made it to go with a necklace that I have - the plan was to make a beaded bail and thread it onto the necklace. Unfortunately I made a boo-boo and the bail is too narrow to fit the end caps of the necklace - however, if I had made the bail any taller, it would have been disproportionately large and unbalanced. C'est la vie and the best laid plans, etc, etc. So now I was left with a pendant and no necklace to hang it from. What a pain in the proverbial! I decided that I was going to make a necklace myself - I've always wanted to try this stitch, and I decided that now was as good a time as any to take the plunge. Like most people, I have to push myself to leave my comfort zone and it takes circumstances to click into place for me to decide that I should get on with it. However, I didn't have the time to finish the whole necklace, so have to show you pictures of half finished work, taken with my iphone.

Last weekend, I was rummaging through my stash of beads and found a string of 'Desert Rose' beads that I had picked up a little while ago. At the time, I just needed to have them in my stash because they are so pretty and so different from anything I have ever seen. I've been wracking my brains since I bought them for a way to make something with them and I decided I would mix them up with something dark, and super shiny. Whatever I used would also have to be light, as these beads are pretty heavy. I couldn't come to a decision at the time, and the beads went into my bead box. As I couldn't find anything in my stash to match the description of what I detailed earlier, I decided to make them myself. I looked to a tutorial by Debbie Crothers, an Australian polymer clay artist and designer, who specialises in surface techniques to embellish polymer clay. She makes some really interesting 'grungy' artefacts and I love her style. The beads were made with Ultra Light polymer clay, and then coated with liquid clay and foils, with a final cure using a wallpaper stripper type heat gun.

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

Hello, how are you, lovely readers? Winter draws closer and closer - but I'm still stubbornly clinging on to my summer clothes and colourful jewellery - I refuse to get depresed by the onset of cold and damp weather. Instead I'm focusing on the celebrations that are on the calendar - Diwali, Halloween, Christmas - and then my long awaited trip to India - yes, I finally have my tickets and will spend almost all of February with my family. 

It's been a while since we've had any music on the blog - here's the lovely Eva Cassidy for you.​

I started 'Rainbow' by putting a beaded bezel around a slab of orange agate and then waiting for inspiration to come to me.
​And it literally came out of the clear blue sky! I was driving home from work after a squally rainstorm and there it was, a beautiful  rainbow arching over the M6. I came home and pulled out all the beads I could find in VIBGYOR colours and began to sew. It seems rather a large pendant, but actually isn't too big when worn - I wore it to work to try it out and it is very comfortable, especially as it is  light. It is on a simple torque necklace that sits close to the base of the throat. 

I almost forgot, Caprilicious' tenth birthday will soon be here - another celebration in the offing at the beginning of November. I never thought all those years ago that I would still be playing with beads and baubles and loving every moment of it. There will of course be a party and a giveaway - watch out for it at the end of October. 

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

Hello people, how are you doing this week? Guess what? It's almot time to start using the 'C' word again - oh, yes, as sure as eggs are eggs! 77 days to Christmas - I think I'm rather looking forward to it this year. After the last couple of years, we could use some fun and festivity.
​We went to a wedding last weekend and I wore a 'The Heat is On' - it matched the outfit I'd chosen and loads of people came up to me to say how fabulous it was, which is always nice.
It was wonderful to be out and about, meeting people, dressing up and enjoying the experience thoroughly. I'm not sure about the fascinator, though. I bought it a number of years ago for another wedding ad decided that I had to get value out of it by wearing it again.

We went to a tiny village in Essex called Ingatestone - it was as if time had stood still - the tiny railway station, only 3 stops away from London had no signage at all, we couldn't find the exit and had to ask someone how to get out of there. Of course there were no taxis, in fact there appeared to be no one in the village at all. The houses were huge and when we finally managed to phone for a taxi to come and pick us up, the driver said the average house in the village cost over two million pounds as befits a village within commuting distance of the CIty of London.

I had a couple of days off whenI got back and new goodies had arrived in the post while I was away. This pendant has 5 dragonflies aligned into a mandala shape, inlaid with tiny semi precious stones, abalone and little cubic zirconia radiating from a central turquoise. It reminded me of the kaleidoscopes we used to play with as children. I hung it on a necklace of rough cut rose quartz and amethyst separated by colourful semi precious beads to echo the colours in the pendant. Rose quartz is the stone of love, and there are many legends about how it came into existence. According to one, Cupid, the Roman god of desire and affection, was said to have bestowed rose quartz upon the Earth as a gift of love, passion, and happiness for all. 

The necklace is striking in it's simplicity and contrasts with the busy pendant. I let the beauty of the rough hewn nuggets do the talking. It was nice to design and make something simple for a change, although I have started on another embroidered pendant, which ought to be ready next week. 

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

Hello folks, how goes it with you this week? I've been snowed under with work at the day job and am so glad the weekend is here as we're off to a wedding. The bride is the daughter of an old friend and it ought to be fun. Of course it won't be crazy and noisy fun like an Indian wedding usually is, but it's nice to have something to get dressed up for and wear jewellery to after ages and ages. 

I spent the week embroidering a pendant around a slice of blue agate. I imagined the core of a flame with the edges glowing in reds, orange and yellow, shooting sparks into the air as it burns fiercely. The part of the flame closest to the candle or the wood is usually blue/ white, since the temperature is usually greatest near the fuel source. The farther away from the fuel source that the flame reaches, its temperature decreases, leading to the bulk of a flame often being orange while the tip is red. Here is my interpretation.

There is a crystal embedded in the centre of the agate surrounded by 'sparks' of red bugle beads. Two layers of beaded flames shoot upwards from the central stone. The pendant is hung on a torque necklace in the interest of simplicity.

Right folks, I'm off to pack my case for the wedding. I'll tell you all about it when I get back. That's me for now, I'll catch you next Friday, same time, same place. 
Until then
​xx