The Many Moods of a Caprilicious Woman

Hello folks, how are you this week? It is as always lovely to speak to you. I've had a long weekend off work and am feeling so much better, my knees are almost back to normal. As I've been at home, with nothing to do I made a few pieces of jewellery to keep myself busy. Without meaning to, I've made three necklaces, each of them so different from the last that it may be difficult to identify that one person made all three. I know that at business management classes we are told about branding, and how anyone should be able to say '..x... made this piece' when they look at the jewellery made by a designer. I'm not sure if you get that vibe from my necklaces, or do you? Please write in and tell me. All I know is that my moods often leach into the colours I pick and the jewellery I design and I think that it must be right as the the ethos of Caprilicious Jewellery is to make jewellery for every mood a woman might have! Anyway, I'd be bored silly if I had to make the same thing over and over again, each day, every week.

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Birdie

Whenever I have a bit of time, I make a bunch of polymer clay beads, the simpler the better. They go into a little biscuit tin that lives on top of my buffing wheel. I rummage through it occasionally and when I have enough of the beads I need, I use them in a piece of jewellery. I have beads that have lived in there for over three years. I made the pink and yellow beads from a sheet of clay I rolled out at Polymania in Bristol two years ago, at a class by Jana Roberts Benzon. She teaches this beautiful technique and I'm loath to throw away any of the beautiful veneers she taught us to create. I used the last bits to make these two beads and they've been with me ever since. The black/grey ones were made with clay left over from last years Polymania and the birdies for which the necklace is named, somewhere in between times.
I always think that winter deserves a colourful necklace, and if it is long, so much the better to wear over roll neck tops and closed collars. 

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Dragonflight

Colourful little cloisonne dragonflies chase each other over this torque necklace. The torque is meant to sit over the collarbones, not particularly close to the neck. It is made of wire wound over a very thick wire, with even more wire fixing the dragonflies to it, marking out the tortuous track of a dragonflies flight path. The handmade clasp and extender chain at the back has beads that come from the opposite end of the colour wheel to the dragonflies, adding interest to the piece.

Ocean Queen

Once I'd started with wire, there was no stopping me, my wire addiction was in full cry. I pulled out a tutorial written by the diva of wirework tutorials, Nicole Hanna - I swear that girl writes one tutorial a fortnight at least, in between photographing her cats, writing poetry, binge watching Game of Thrones on Netflix and managing her family and writing a blog. I had an idea what I wanted to do with it and a string of abalone beads, and here's what I envisioned (more or less)!! This one works with nine lengths of the thicker gauge wire, bound together with miles and miles of fine wire. The woven wire strips thus formed divide and rejoin each other, twisting and folding on themselves over and over again. It is quite a feat ending eighteen wires on the back of the piece in a tidy manner and I'm proud to say I managed it - if the pendant should turn over in error, the back would look almost as good as the front, and definitely tidy, with no pokey - outey bits to irritate the wearer! 

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That's me for this week folks. Have a fabulous week and I'll catch you next Friday, same time, same place.
Until then
​xx