The two new bracelets for the week

Last week I was exploring light and dark, and so this week I decided to go Jacques Cousteau and explore the wonderful life of all things aquatic.

The first cuff is called the "Urchins Are Coming". Because the set of three focals, once again work of lovely lady Dorcas of Wondrous Strange Designs on Etsy named her cabochons exactly that.

I tried to showcase the urchins as nicely as I could, imagining a sea full of life around them, with great textures and soothing colors. I thought the purplish pearls complimented the urchins too.

Then I added a lovely fringe around it, which was supposed to remind the dear viewer of

sea foam.

(Does it?)

While making this piece, I was thinking about John Carpenter movies, like "The Fog" and of course "The Thing" , and so I giggled at the thought of what the "Urchins are coming" would have turned into his capable hands.

"The Urchins"

I can just hear the unsettling music, as the old fashioned story unfolds by the man eating urchins.

Who are, deep down very nice people but humans genetically modified them into ravenous little beasties.

Anyhow, that was fun.

Then I started working on the "Summer Rain" cuff.

The inspiration came from two things for this one. First I saw the porcelain cabochon that became the center piece on Lisa Steven's Esty site, Seaurchin .

Lisa does amazing work with ceramics, she makes some neat pendants, cabochons and lots and lots of bowl, and everything the woman touches turns into light and texture, delicate and fully alive.

And when I saw the cabochon that became the centerpiece for this bracelet I instantly thought of the long gone summer rains and my childhood.

See, as a kid I did not care much for other kids.

But I loved animals, and shortly after abandoning the hopes of becoming a tight rope walker at the tender age of five, I decided that I must dedicate myself to animals and become a vet or a herpetologist or possibly a naturalist like Gerald Durrell.

Well, that didn't happen, but long story short,

one summer I spent all the rainy afternoons with my granny's washbasin outside, trying to teach toads how to swim.

See, toads don't like to swim. Frogs do, but toads really rather not.

And I took it upon myself to introduce them to the art and joy of swimming by catching them and letting them do a few laps around in my basin.

Of course I released them afterwards.

Now back in the day the streets of the small town we spent our summers became a regular highway for toads, frogs and hedgehogs too, and there was always something to catch , feed and release for me .

Let's just say that the same method of teaching my lovely lady pup , Samantha to swim resulted in great success she now is an avid swimmer/fisher woman and unlike most boxers she truly enjoys water. I had to dunk her in a slow moving creek, and I went in with her and she was huffy and puffy,but took to it well..

So sometimes the way I teach things work.

Anyhow, the cabochon reminded me of summers long gone, time stopping, as fat rain drops fall from the sky, and unite with the turquoise puddles below...

And ripples of water all light and lovely, all shimmer.

I worked with cool colors only , which created a really interesting, very soothing effect, and if you look close ,there are two tiny frogs facing the cabochon, my summer basin of water.

I could not find pewter toads.

If you do, send them my way.