Brown Thomas Christmas Decorations!

We left Bella home today to take some pictures of the Brown Thomas windows. This year the theme is Celtic Mythology. A super-modern take on Celtic Mythology, I should add. I thought it was just brilliant and, for the 1st time in my life, I wish I were a windows designer! Beautiful. All Pradas, D&G, Armanis and so on mixing up with the mythological characters. Very well done, and super-creative. I particularly like the boho atmosphere in all the clothes, as well as the earthy, autumnal colours.

We did not use flash on the pictures. Some of them were taken before Sunset, and the others after Sunset. The ones were the reflections on the windows are more evident were taken before Sunset (3h15pm more or less). Please click on the pictures for the maximised version. Enjoy!

The pictures above show a "generic" view, from a certain distance and before Sunset. Below, some more detailed shots...

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Some more shots to follow. These were taken after Sunset... I must say my favourites here are the fluffy feather hairbands and also the sequined top in bronze/gold that one of the mannequins is wearing...

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The next pictures show the top I mentioned before and the lovely feathery hairband. I would definitely wear them...

Late again... And a new necklace (はなび)

Again, I spent too much time without blogging. This is a shame, since it's something I enjoy and feel it's important to me somehow. But I've always been known by the lack of "continuity" in most of the things I do. Unfortunately. I try to change that from time to time, but it is hard and frustrating. Again, and again, I will try it. Maybe one day I will elaborate a bit more about it but, right now, I need to do more and perhaps think a bit less!

Since my last post and today, I made another necklace. Or perhaps I made it before, not sure right now. Somehow, I forgot to post it, I don't know why. I mean, I probably had some lapses of memory during that time, involved as I was with all the colds and flus that never cease to get inflicted on me, ha ha! Seriously though... Lately it's all about colds and flus (and a diet), and my pretty Bella!

I decided to call it Hanabi －はなび。The word means literally, "fireworks" and it was given to the piece because of its colours. Reds and golds and deep night, ultramarine blue, very much like the night sky where fireworks during Summer festivities occur.　

Here's what I used for Hanabi...

- 1 large and quite heavy oblong Murano glass bead in gold foil with speckles of red, green and blue coloured glass and two round ones with the same kind of work;
- 2 medium round Chinese vintage Cloisonnée beads in the same shades and with a flower motif in shades of pale pink;
- Several, several, several Swarovski bicones in different sizes, shades and effects;
- My usual signature stardust antique gold plated small round beads near the clasp;
- Ten antique gold, plated bead caps around the cloisonée and Murano main beads;
- Tibetan gold plated hook clasp.

And here are the pictures...

Some details of the necklace are shown below. On the next two pictures we can see the details of the focal Murano bead. It measures approximately 40mm and showcases a different style of glass work, very similar to molten enamel...

Follow the auxiliary Murano beads, round and smaller, but with the same kind of finishing... Note as well, the Swarovski bicones and the stardust spacers...

In the next screenshots, we can view the cloisonée beads, and hook clasp in more detail. These cloisonée are very pretty, heavy and hard to find nowadays. The contemporary ones are normally quite light and look very hollow indeed, and the artwork is not nearly as detailed. I love the fact that the colours are so delicate and displaying midtones, like a real painting...

As I mentioned before, the Muranos feel quite heavy. However in the overall result, the necklace itself feels very light and looks quite delicate, oddly enough. I might try and take other pictures since these are a bit too dark and the colours don't seem quite right. The final piece is much nicer in real life though!

The Shizuku necklace...

Shizuku is my 2nd necklace from this week. It was also made from recycled Antica Murrina beads, also from a bracelet, as my previous Wagashi. The original bracelet name was called Kiruna, and included light aqua blue Murano beads, very pretty.

I turned the bracelet into a necklace, as before, and it became Shizuku, name which means droplet, a "drop of water" in Japanese. The association with this element is more than obvious, due to the texture of the main beads, their colour and transparency, making them look like real water drops, or splashes, or even ice. Two different aqua tones are present here: a light aquamarine tint similar to the sea in a sunny morning, and a darker, grayish kyanite shade, similar to the sea in the afternoon, after a rain shower.

Or at least, that's how I feel about it, anyway! The name I firstly decided on was Asatsuyu - meaning "morning dew". Then, I changed it to Shizuku, which sounds prettier and easier, and is more generic as well. In my mind, an Asatsuyu necklace would rather be shorter and with more delicate components, in the end!

For Shizuku, I used:

- Six large Antica Murrina glass beads in different aqua shades and irregular shapes, slightly crackled and smooth. One of them however, is round and has a crispy, sugar-coated finish like the beads used in Wagashi;
- Ten small aqua-gray Murrina beads with a smooth surface;
- Seven small Kyanite beads;
- Two faceted Czech Fire beads in silver-gold approaching the clasp;
- Several stardust silver-plated round beads;
- Several flat silver-plated Heishi spacers for the Murrina large beads;
- Several Swarovski elements such as bicones, cubes, small briolettes, stars and an octagonal pendant, all in complimentary shades of light Azore blue, aquamarine and different Sapphire shades and effects;
- One large silver-plated lobster clasp and ring.

Details are shown next. As usual, please click on thumbnails to magnify...

These three pictures show the Antica Murrina irregular glass beads in dark and light shades of blue (aquamarine and grayish), as well as the small round Murrina ones with a smooth surface. Swarovski bicones and cubes can also be seen, in different shades, sizes and shapes, interspersed with the Murrina beads. The sugar-coated dark sapphire blue Murrina is also visible on the 1st shot...


The 1st thumbnail shows the silver-plated lobster clasp and ring. It is a big clasp, since this necklace is quite heavy. It was threaded on sterling silver wire, thus very resistant to breakage. However, it is always safer to use large clasps in the case of a heavy piece. One of the faceted Czech fire beads is also visible. The 2nd picture displays the only sugar-coated Murrina bead, surrounded by some Swarovski bicones and the flat Heishi spacers, used as bead caps. Finally, the remaining shot shows the upper section of the necklace, with the stardust round balls and some of the kyanite beads and, of course, the main Murrina glass beads once again.


I added these screenshots since we can appreciate how beautifully the light is refracted by the Swarovski elements. Cubes, bicones and an octagonal pendant can be seen throughout, especially on the 3rd shot. As for the Murrina beads, with their smooth irregular surfaces, we can also see how the light appears reflected, making them look like pieces of shiny crushed ice.

And to end this post tonight, some more views of Shizuku. I hope you have enjoyed this one!