The Caprilicious Jewellery Birthday GIVEAWAY!!

Happy Birthday to yoo-ho-hoo, Happy Birthday to yoooo.....dear Caprilicious, Happy Birthday tooooo yooooo! 
​Better late than never, eh, readers? Caprilicious had a birthday in November and I was so busy with the day job, I quite forgot to celebrate. 
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Hello folks, how nice to see you again, and thank you for joining me. Storm Eleanor has wreaked havoc with my plans this week, we had gusts of wind upto 80 mph and it was cold and rainy, so although I had the week off neither of us felt like leaving the house so we spent time staying warm, with long lie -ins, cooking hearty stews in the slow cooker and staying up late watching movies into the wee hours.

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So, let's celebrate Caprilicious' fifth birthday belatedly - I have a little give away for you  - a pair of earrings from my Mixed Metals page. The earrings are textured, forged and antiqued rectangular copper panels, 2.6" long and very light, with a little turquoise bead dangling from them. Their ear wires are sterling silver and have been forged into rectangular shapes to suit the contemporary look of the earrings.  
To enter the giveaway, please click the Network Blogs 'Follow The Caprilicious Jewellery Blog' link to the right of the blog title. For a second chance to win, share the blog from the Caprilicious Jewellery Facebook Page to yours. I will announce the winner in next Friday's blog post. 

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Storm Eleanor forced us indoors, so I played in my craft room for a couple of hours each day over the week.

Oshun

​I have long had a fascination with mythology - I spent long days at my grandmother's knee listening to tales about Gods and Goddesses, of whom there are many in India. As I grew older I read Greek and Roman mythology from books my grandfather bought me and ended up reading African and Afro Caribbean stories about Orishas and other spirits. An Orisha is a spirit who reflects one of the manifestations of the supreme divinity in the Yoruba religion. Orisha are said to have existed in the spiritual world, or lived as human beings in the planetary world. Others are said to be humans who are recognized as deities due to extraordinary feats. It is amazing how tales in various cultures repeat themselves, and there are loads of similarities between Indian and African stories. 

This is my fourth iteration of Oshun, and each one has been different from the others. I make one of these necklaces a year as they take a while to find their forever home. They are looking for fearless, fun loving women who like to wear in-your-face jewellery that grabs attention instantly, and such ladies are not easy to find - yet, but I live in hope that they will beat a path to my door someday soon. My friend Bernadette gave me the first two Oshun pendants made from a dark wood, and I made the other two from polymer clay.
This necklace has multicolour lentil swirl beads that I made with a liberal sprinkling of gold foil and the beads look mysteriously 'cosmic', as if strewn with stardust.

When I made Oshun, I remained in what my husband calls the 'mumbo jumbo zone' and I also made a smaller pendant and coloured it with pale blue chalk, and put it in pale blue flowing headgear - I started off trying to make a fierce Tuareg warrior like face with tribal markings on its face, but by the time it was done and cured in the oven, I knew it was a sweet and gentle Orisha, no self respecting Tuareg would want to be associated with it!
​ I went looking for a name for her and as I sifted through the Orishas, her name had to be Yemoja - the name seemed to fit her like a glove. Yemoja is a major water deity from the Yoruba religion. She is the mother of all Orishas, having given birth to the 14 Yoruba gods and goddesses. Yemoja is motherly and strongly protective, and cares deeply for all her children, comforting them and cleansing them of sorrow. She is said to be able to cure infertility in women, and cowrie shells represent her wealth. She does not easily lose her temper, but when angered she can be quite destructive and violent. 
 Am I a believer? - well, that is an easy and resounding 'absolutely not'. However, I am enough of a romantic to enjoy stories of when Gods and Goddesses roamed the earth and walked amongst men, but that is what they are, just stories!

Dragonfly Dreams

This one was completely at odds with the other two pieces - a little Bali silver dragonfly with a moonstone, aquamarine and amethyst in its body, on a necklace of flashy labradorite and pearls. I posted it on my social media sites and it was snapped up the very next day - as I type, it is winging its way to the lovely lady who fell in love with it and has given it a forever home.

I hope you all had a fabulous New Year's Eve celebration. Mine consisted of watching Jools Holland's Hootenanny on the telly and drinking non alcoholic champagne at midnight as I was on call - it could have been worse, I could have been called out, so I should be thankful for small mercies. We have a bit of a blowout planned in London shortly as Mike has a birthday coming up, so that will have to be a deferred welcome to the New Year.
Have a good week and I'll catch you next Friday, same time, same place.
Until then
​xx