Spellbound and Mesmerised

Look into My Eyes

Happy Friday readers, I hope all of you are well this fine morning and rocking it with your statement jewellery. 
This week started with my muse following one of my previous avatars and going into a mesmeric mode.
I qualified as a clinical hypnotherapist a number of years ago, and still use my skills from time to time, although not as much as I would have hoped - a girl can't do everything! But, when this polymer clay bead formed itself in my hands it reminded me of a traditional stage hypnotist's induction tool. I made two, but lost one to the process ( i.e. it was consigned to the scrap pile) but I saved this one in the nick of time. I put it into my 'orphan beads' box- and one day, my muse decided that this pendant would be made with it, using the tutorial I won from a competition on the lovely Nicole Hanna's website.

I love the way the swirls of colour go towards the centre point - perhaps it should be worn by someone trying to persuade people into following their will - or someone who is trying to keep those eyes focused at a point away from their cleavage!! 
There are earrings to match and I have talked about them in a previous post.

Spellbound - The Keeper of Secrets

This jade pendant came from China - I bet you guessed that!  I love the face on her - Les Dawson (the late comedian who was famous for his mother in law jokes) would have said that the face reminded him of his own MIL.

In an attempt to soften her profile a bit and make her look less like Les' mother in law, I added a frame of woven wire - I did think of adding other embellishments - but the severe lines of the face go with the straight lines of the frame - curlicues would have been out of place here - although she did get one or two - and a dangling bead, I simply couldn't resist.

Raziel is the Hebrew Archangel and Keeper of Secrets and is the ruling God of the Second Heaven - I think the face on this pendant looks a lot like a Raziel - don't you??

And finally, after all the work put into it, the necklace is a true statement piece - certainly arresting and worthy of a second look when it is worn.

Precious Metal Clay Pendants

I have talked a bit about precious metal clay before - it is a great medium that yields silver that is 99% pure, as opposed to Sterling Silver, which is only 92.5%. The heat in the kiln scared me a bit to start with, but I am rapidly getting more relaxed about it. I made a couple of pendants earlier and strung them on some extremely pretty semi precious gemstone necklaces. 

Pitter Patter

This pendant has tiny feet carved into it, and I set a little red cubic zirconium into the second toe on one foot - like a bejeweled toe ring. Strung with labradorite and peridot the necklace is extremely delicate and pretty. This particular string of beads has exceptional labradorescence - it flashes every time the light shines on it from various angles.

Stardust

With this little scrap of deeply engraved silver, I went a bit overboard when I was setting the cubic zirconia - I put in so many stones, that the piece twinkles like a starlit sky. I found the beautiful, tiny squares of apatite in India and when teamed together, the result is soothing and pleasing to the eye. Someone who likes their statement jewellery a bit on the small side will love these pieces from my kiln.

A couple of pairs of earrings rolled off my pliers while I was watching late night movies with Mike - there has to be some benefit to being an insomniac! These were made with inspiration from mini tutorials donated to the cause of wire workers everywhere by the very generous Nicole Hanna.

The Dragonfly's Dell

I acquired this slice of agate from my friend BN - it has beautiful striations deep within when held up to the light, but when held against the skin, it resembles the blue green waters of a still and glassy lake - the warm summer weather has brought out the dragonflies and I was reminded of a poem I read by someone who calls herself SusieA, published in Fairies World.
The Dell
Down past my garden, underneath the trees,
There is a place of magic that no-one ever sees,
A little grassy clearing, plain at ones first sight;
But if you take the time to see, you shall find delight.
If you come to see this place, take heed: 
you've found the Dell.

The back of the pendant

I wire wrapped the stone, and then added a dragonfly to the bail, along with some extremely shiny iridescent Czech fire polished beads -  when I finally decided it was finished, I thought any respectable dragonfly worth it's salt ought to love it in this dell!

And finally, my last piece this week - drumroll................

Sea Breeze

Made with a handmade toggle clasp as the focal, and a string of graduated turquoise heishi beads. Lot's of blue air around me - I dropped the beads, and spent time scrabbling around on the floor on my hands and knees, and then reassembling them into the graduation on a bead board, swearing softly to myself all the while - then stringing them so that the focal bit was to one side with the larger beads at the bottom of the necklace.

One of my friends asked if I would write a guest post for her blog on 'What is Statement Jewellery and How to Wear it' - I began to put some thoughts together - I found that I had so much to say, that I decided to start a mini series here, on the Caprilicious Blog - each week, I'll start off with a paragraph or two on how to rock your statement jewellery - I am very excited about this little project - if you have any questions for me, do post a comment and I'll try my very best to answer them.

That's it for this week folks, have a fabulous weekend and I'll catch you next week, same time, same place
xx