St. Elmo's Fire, by Caprilicious Jewellery

Hey, hey, hey, good people, how are you doing out there? The weeks are passing us by, with one day merging into the next and I feel like I'm in freefall now. I'm almost longing for a bit of structure in my routine. My only constant has been Caprilicious and the clutch of beads on a tray in my lap of an evening. The garden carries on, regardless, and I've spent a lot of time working in it this year. I'm told that we aren't doing too well with the numbers of new Covid patients which is disappointing. So nothing is going to change anytime soon, then.

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St. Elmo's Fire

Photo credit - Pinterest

I've spent many an enjoyable evening over the last couple of weeks adding beads to my latest necklace - I've called it St Elmo's Fire.
St. Elmo's fire is a weather phenomenon in which luminous plasma is created by a corona discharge from a sharp or pointed object in a strong electric field in the atmosphere (such as those generated by thunderstorms or created by a volcanic eruption).

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Photo credit - Flickr

It is named after St. Elmo, one of the two Italian names for St. Erasmus, the other being St. Erasmo), the patron saint of sailors. The phenomenon sometimes appeared at sea during thunderstorms and was regarded by sailors with religious awe for its glowing ball of light, accounting for the name. Sailors may have considered St. Elmo's fire as a good omen (as a sign of the presence of their patron saint).
St. Elmo's fire is a bright blue or violet glow, appearing like fire in some circumstances, from tall, sharply pointed structures such as masts, spires, and chimneys, and on aircraft wings or nose cones. St. Elmo's fire can also appear on leaves and grass, and even at the tips of cattle horns. Often accompanying the glow is a distinct hissing or buzzing sound.  

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I've told you last week about the beautiful cabochon that inspired me to make this piece and when you see the piece in its entirety, you will surely agree with me. There has been a bit of artistic licence taken with the flames but I'm sure you will forgive me for that. On one side is the night sky with stars sparkling in pools of light and on the other is the spectacle of flames shooting from a pointed object, and the flames are reflected in that object, the cabochon. It was a lot of fun to make and I enjoyed every minute of putting it together. Someone who likes a piece of spectacular jewellery but doesn't want it to be too huge a piece will find this an ideal necklace.

What d'you think, then? If you had told me a few years ago that I would be making necklaces with tiny seed beads, I'd have laughed. I remember approaching soutache so gingerly - I was totally psyched out that I even had plans to go in that direction. Now, however, I can see that the sky's the limit - all I have to do is come up with a story and I can set about thinking about how to convert it into a piece of jewellery. 

That's all I've had time for this week, folks. We have been trying to get back to some semblance of 'normal' at work, and are trying to catch up with the patients waiting patiently for their operations. I can tell you that it is most uncomfortable working in PPE - my glasses kept riding up over the mask, and soon my eyebrows had the full benefit of sight, but unfortunately, I didn't. On one occasion I forgot to put my glasses on before the visor, and nearly had an eye out when I tried to put them on. People have difficulty hearing one another through all these layers, and commands have to be repeated over and over, which can become quite irritating when one is all hot and sweaty. 
OK, rant over, and many thanks for listening to it. After all I'm in the same boat as all my colleagues, so we just have to get on with it.

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A decal on a window at the hospital

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

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