Raven's Moon

Good morning readers, thanks for stopping by the Caprilicious Jewellery blog today. This week has been very busy in preparation for a show I am planning at a medical school reunion in Edinburgh on Saturday. 
I spent a few days picking out the jewellery I intended to take with me - we have booked tickets to fly with a no - frills airline which restricts the amount of baggage I can carry. It is so difficult to choose which ones to take and which to leave behind - in my eyes, they are all interesting and deserve to be showcased. My problem is that I do not know my target audience  - all I know about them is that they are from a medical school in Bangalore. Oh well, I'll give it my best shot and see how things go. I shall have something to report next week.

Solar Quartz

The Obir Caves, Austria

​Solar Quartz is a natural agatised quartz that is sliced from stalactites. It is usually  clear white or gray, with central mossy inclusions. As with all quartz it is thought to be an energy enhancer, connecting to spirit and harmony and is said to bring emotional strength with great power and  energy.
 A stalactite is a formation that hangs from the ceiling of caves, hot springs, or man made structures such as bridges and mines. Any material which is soluble, and can be deposited as a colloid in suspension may form a stalactite. Stalagmites grow up from the ground and can sometimes meet up with stalactites and form pillars supporting the walls of caves. 
It seems such a romantic notion to me that something as beautiful as this, can be sliced up and worn as a piece of jewellery. The slices of solar quartz are dyed in many colours and I have quite a few of them from my trip to Jaipur. The pale cream slices I went with for my next piece were stunning enough for me to try and outdo myself, and I am so glad I did. 
Surrounded by jet black soutache braiding and grey/black dyed baroque freshwater pearls the piece is startlingly sombre, but yet beautiful at the same time. At that very moment, a parcel dropped into my letterbox - a string of black agate slab beads which would go perfectly with the pendant and so it was that Raven's Moon appeared in my hands.

For some reason recently, spiky beads are attracting my eye more and more, and they seem to be calling to me to make jewellery with them of late. They are different, they are interesting and they elevate the piece of jewellery to a greater height - but that's just my opinion - what do you think??

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Raven's Moon

Dark and beautiful, with a row of diamanté sewed around the solar quartz, embellished with soutache braiding, dark beads and pearls, the sheen of this necklace reminded me of a raven's wings.

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That's all I had time for this week.  There is a room in my house piled high with all the stuff I'm carrying to Edinburgh. My friend BN  is an alumna of the medical school whose reunion I am attending, and will be there to help me, fortunately- she's very good at readjusting displays and helping people try on jewellery and I am very grateful for her assistance. Mike will come with me and hang up the banner and drag tables together - all the tasks that need a bit of muscle and then sit back and watch the performance. I will get him to take some pictures for the blog next week.  
Have a fabulous week and I'll catch you next week, same time, same place,
Until then
​xx