September - a Mixed up Month

RIP bro

It has been a horrendous year for our family - my brother - the baby of the family died unexpectedly last year on the 15th, having celebrated his son's 17th birthday the day before. I have spent the year in a fog of denial, and Caprilicious Jewellery and my husband Mike have been the two bedrock elements that have saved my sanity. I have yet to come to terms with the loss of my brother - perhaps it wil hit me when I go back to India the next time - and I am putting that off for as long as possible. Just as the family and I were sorting ourselves out, I lost my aunt on the 13th  - she was my role model and mentor, and I went into my 'Day Job' mainly because of her. When I first qualified in 1983-4, I worked for her, and learned my craft at the feet of a master.

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Caprilicious Jewellery started up as a way out of my grief at the loss of my brother - to keep me occupied and safely away from sinking into the deep depression that threatened to engulf me at the time. I thank all those who supported Caprilicious, appreciated my jewellery, 'liked' my Facebook page and bought my jewellery - you have all helped me without even being aware of it.

We had some time away in Santorini - what a truly beautiful place - even better than in the Muller lite advert - but  one would need to be a mountain goat/or centaur - or very fit, to be truly comfortable there. I nipped into every jewellery shop in town - and was very pleased - no one had any wire jewellery for sale, and I had taken a lot of mine with me - the shop keepers were all drooling over what I was wearing, and I had to take stuff off so they could examine it in greater detail - mind you, no one offered to buy some off me, but they do try to stock local artists, and of course, the recession is biting them - hard!

Before we went I made a necklace with an ox bone pendant I bought from a Chinese trader - I alternated the creamy bone with shiny haematite beads, and the pendant is a four leaf clover - we could all do with some luck!

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I was casting about for something to take me away from my problems, and found the perfect solution - four days in the Cotswolds sharing a cottage with five other ladies, who all shared a passion for polymer clay. I had never met any of them before, but this sojurn turned out to be the perfect antidote to my distress. We went to classes with Bettina Welker, Carol Hemmings, and Alison Gallant who organised the whole affair and had press ganged her entire family into helping - and a fabulous job they made of it too. I learned a lot, came home dog tired ( and at the end of three days, I look and feel like one!) and had no time at all to think about anything except a warm single bed at the end of each day. The ladies were lovely, and so friendly - I relaxed in their company almost immediately, and they gave me so many tips and tricks that will make my life easier - there is nothing more frustrating than the gap between trying to achieving something, and knowing that it would be so easy if only a small modification could be made to your technique - but not knowing what that is.

So, soon, very soon, I will be making jewellery with the really 'modern' look I would like to achieve - wire, polymer clay, precious metal clay, enamel work - in amazing shapes and colours - I am filled with enthusiasm.

Now to finish off all the little incomplete projects I brought home before setting out on this most ambitious adventure...........

Catch you later
xx