The Caprilicious Christmas Treasure Hunt 2016

Hello folks, and a Happy Friday to you. I wonder if you realise that there are only nine weeks and three days to Christmas. Phew! That sounds exhausting. I've been getting mentally prepared for two pre-Christmas stalls, all the presents I need to make, and stuff to take back to India for my show in February. In the meantime, I also have the Christmas Treasure Hunt next week and possibly a giveaway on Caprilicious' birthday in mid November. I am exhausted already!

So let me tell you about a couple of these events. First, the Treasure Hunt - I hope a lot of you will join in - it is open to everyone, including ladies who do not live in the UK - if you live in India, you'll just have to wait for your jewellery until I get there in February as I wouldn't want to take any chances with the postal system.

Just as it says in the poster above, every day next week, I will place a discount code with a word relating to Christmas amongst the jewellery in the 'Treasury of Statement Necklaces'. Every day will have a different code in a different place on the website - all you have to do is find it and use it at checkout to claim a 15% discount, simple! Here's what the code will look like. 

So, here's your chance to snag yourself some gifts and treat yourself and your loved ones this Christmas. Have fun shopping.

This week, one of my lovely customers sent me a few drawings for a kilt pin she designed for her brother. I picked one of the designs and made a penannular fibula brooch with pale green jade briolettes as accents.

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No sooner had I put this on Instagram and Facebook (yes, I am now into all sorts of social media!) than Jules Harper, who is a jewellery maker herself, saw it and commissioned one for herself.  As it was going to be worn with a dark coloured wrap she had knitted herself, she decided on turquoise briolettes for maximum contrast and I added a few extra curlicues to make it a bit more 'girly'.

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Which one do you like??

Spice Route

 This one started it's life from a Tiger Iron cabochon in my stash - Tiger Iron is a stone cut from a specimen of Tiger Eye which has seams of Haematite, Yellow and Red Jasper running through it. It has a beautiful sheen and flashes in the light. 
If you believe in the metaphysical properties of gemstones,"'Tiger Iron is thought to be a powerful lower Chakra stone, promoting physical vitality, energy, and stamina. Tiger Iron is a helpful aid to those who feel emotionally, mentally or physically exhausted and burned out." To read more, please check out this website.  I  just love it for it's beauty and would have used it even if it didn't have all these wonderful qualities.
Soutache is a strange and interesting genre of jewellery making. It starts when I pick out a stone and stick it onto Lacy's Stiff Stuff - which sounds like it comes from a J K Rowling novel, but is actually a felted card, which is stiff and acts as a backing. I then surround it with bead work and the act of picking out the tiny seed bead colours is what sets the future look of the necklace. By the time the bead work is finished, the piece takes on a life of it's own. I then pick out the colours of braid and sew them on, and we're off and away. At this point, I'm reluctant to put it down and go to bed - I want to know how the story ends. I make no drawings, and so each stage has the capacity to evolve into just about anything depending entirely on what I do next - exciting!!​
​I post pictures on Instagram as I end each day, just before I go to bed - many people ask me where I got the jewellery from especially when I have my exhibitions in India and it helps to have a running display of my work as it evolves, just to prove that I made it.

I had a few minutes last weekend to play with clay and quickly made these headpins - they don't look like anything at the moment, but soon, one day they will be beautiful earrings - at least that's the plan for them, we'll have to wait and see if it works out.

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I cured them on a tile and let them cool slowly so that they would remain flat and then applied a layer of paint. When this dries, I will apply a layer of resin to preserve the paintwork and once set I will be able to turn them into the items of jewellery I visualise in my mind's eye - you'll have to come back next week to find out.

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That's it this week folks. I have the stall on Sunday and am going to be exhausted next week as I rely on my weekends to relax and recover from the rigours of the week. However, I don't do this very often, so I daresay I will survive. Those of you who live in and around Warwickshire, do come to the Family Fun Day - it promises to be a good day, under cover in case of crappy weather and of course, in a good cause.

Have a fabulous weekend, and I'll catch you again next Friday, same time, same place.
Until then
​xx