Spears and Shields by Caprilicious

Hello everyone, I hope all goes well with you and yours. I'm back after a couple of weeks where I've been busy at work and trying to keep my head above water. A few days off this week have helped me get back into the flow. My neice is getting married in India an December and I plan a little trip - I'll have to go in a few days early to get some clothes for the numerous pre and post events that will swirl around the wedding day like a mist - one running into another, exhausting, exhilerating and loads of fun.

This week, I started a fresh embroidered piece, but had some time to put together a necklace that I had designed earlier. When I see elements that I think will go together, I put them all into a plastic baggie with a crude drawing of what I envisage. In spite of that, the jewellery usually turns into something else altogether, because I find other elements to add to the original (and also because my drawing skills are shocking, and so is my memory). This time, however, I stayed with the original plan and here it is, Spears ad Shields - a tribalistic necklace that is a daytime piece, taking you to the office, to lunch or a tea party.

Spears and Shields

The Koi Pond

This one is taking a load of time - I found the little resin koi carp on one of my suppliers websites and they were so colourful that I picked them up straight away. Deciding what to do with them was more difficult than anticipated, but eventually, I knew they had to go into a pond. The lotus leaves were made separately and then appliqued over the koi to ensure that the fish were stitched on securely - I placed beads under each leaf to elevate them, so that they seem to be floating over the water, with the fish peeking out from under them and the lotus flowers that I put in next.
Now, I have to block out the pond itself - covering the whole thing bead by bead will take me ages. Taking meetings from home on Teams helps, though - I sat in front of the laptop all of yesterday, listening to the delivery of the MBRACE report, which is the maternal mortality report for the UK, sewing beads on one by one - two birds/ one stone!.

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I've started to put the blue pond in with a 'bead-soup' of blues, whites and transparent beads with a few other colours thrown in for good measure. If my vision proves right, it should be very pretty when it is finished, but we'll just have to wait and see. 

Yesterday marked a year since my mother passed away - it felt strangely flat. My sister and I comforted one another as best we could, but there just didn't seem to be the right words. Mum wasn't given to emotional outbursts - she was a very pragmatic and sensible woman, so I guess that is what she would have expected from us. I do miss her, though.

That's me for this week, folks. I shall spend a bit of time of the koi pond, and catch up with you when it is done. Have a great weekend, and I'll catch you soon.
Until then
​xx