A necklace - dear to me!

Last summer, I learnt to make coasters out of plastic beads and crystals from my nieces visiting India. They learnt this craft in Chennai during their vacation and I picked it up from them. I took a lot of help from my mother who learnt alongside them.  If you look closely at the picture below you will see what I am talking about.  A technique meant for coaster making I converted to a necklace!  I am sure the pendant attached is beautiful by itself and would look good with a string or a silver chain.... but this necklace does the magic!

It was indeed a lot of trouble for me from finding a pendant to hunting a clasp with four holes to thread the silver beads.  I succeeded finally.  The silver beads are about 6mm big.  It looks like pearls... doesn't it? The oxidized pendant with pearl drops fixed to a necklace of silver beads worked really well.  I have worn this many times and have received many a compliment.  You can scout the whole market.... there isn't another piece!!!  I take great pride this is what is 'one of a kind'.  

Here is a close look at the pendant

This is pendant with Lord Krishna in it.  It has tiny green emeralds that accentuates the beauty.   I team this up with one of many pearl jhumkas and I know... it simply is stunning!

I would finish the look with a pair of pearl bangles or four of my plain silver ones and not to forget a pair of pretty pearl toe rings.

Deepika Padukone's Ramleela inspired earrings!

I watched Ram Leela and I loved Deepika Padukone in it.  She is so pretty! You can't not notice Ranveer in that movie.... He is hot! Long before the movie was released the earrings that Deepika wore in the promos caught my eye.  Well I decided I would make a similar pair for myself  and watch the movie wearing it and so I did!  You must think I am crazy.... but if you listen to stories from my mum about how i would be up all night to embroider a dress that I stitched myself and wore the next day to college..you won't be surprised!

Here is a picture of the gorgeous Deepika padukone

                                                                          The earring inspired by Deepika Padukone

Well it isn't identical but similar. The earrings are very heavy and I use what we call a 'maati' (worn around the ear) to bear the weight. Here is a closer look....

The motif is that of Goddess Lakshmi with aquamarine stones

You can see no stones in the one worn in the movie... I just changed it a bit and added white polki and aquamarine stones.  This pair is stunning!  All credit to the master craftsman who converts each of my sketches to masterpieces. Team a plain sari with an embroidered blouse and you are ready to go.

From drawing board to work table....

        

Ear cuffs

If it was hip in the 90s chances are it will come back again.... and to no one's surprise it is cool again. Yes I am talking about ear cuffs.  I had worn it for a wedding way back in '93, a friend of mine had given me one.  How I enjoyed wearing it!  I don't have a picture of that... I hope Meena if you are reading this, you will dig through your wedding pictures and post it here.

That pair was in gold.  I have since graduated to silver and probably will not go back.

Here is the picture of pretty ear cuffs in zircon... my first pair of 2013!

Wow! is all I have to say about this.

I will soon upload a picture of this on  pretty ears of someone who is ready to model for me. You can have ones in silver without stones, cuffs that look like finger rings that sit on your ear lobe. So many options!  I am a floral person, as I said before.  You will see a lot of flowers in my designs.  The more ornate, the more intricate the better for me.

Jewellery with Rudraksh beads

Rudraksh beads are actually seeds that are traditionally used as  prayer beads.  The beads are known to have benefits and powers.  I don't know more than this about rudraksh. However, I use it in my jewellery only because it looks beautiful and the colour of wood contrasts the silver pendants beautifully.

   I am sorry for the picture quality... I need to take better pictures!

This is about 35" long 

A closer look at the pendant strung with wooden beads

This is a choker with silver beads and rudraksh.

Each of the pieces is hard to find and unique. I would wear it with a dress, a skirt and of course a sari! The best is yet to come!  One of the most gorgeous pieces... a head turner .... here it is!

This is strung with 12 mm beads that I bought at a temple in Kumbakonam in Tamil Nadu.  I used similar kind of silver beads( don't you like it?)  The necklace has been strung with silver beads interspaced and is about 36 inches long. 

It was very uncommon to find big pendants in silver.  We mostly see it in gold.  Such chunky pieces have been worn in gold and precious stones by the Maharajas,Maharanis and dancers too......Each piece has a story.  When a piece of jewellery reaches me, I sit on it and visualise what looks best with it. A silver chain? I would have gone so wrong if I chose that! Black onyx or ruby? Nothing would be as convincing as the rudraksh and silver bead combination.

My blogs... ones yet to happen!

I have been contemplating writing a blog for close to three years.  Not just one but three blogs! 

One of course is my silver jewellery blog, that I hope will firstly help ladies experiment with silver instead of yellow gold and then graduate to bold and statement pieces.  My hope is that there will be at least one convert who is willing to team up traditional jewellery pieces with western outfits! I am happy and confident to carry off a pair of jhumkas with a little black dress.  I simply love the look! 

My second blog was going to be called 'Nail Trail' on nail art.  Sounds very silly doesn't it? I still will do it some day!

The third one was going be 'This that and everything Indian'  A blog with information on traditional hand embroidery that India is known for, where to get kutch, kasuti, kantha embroidery done... the unbelievable kinds of silk and cotton fabrics with textures that are available from different parts of India..... the block printing in Indian motifs ... the brass and bronze ware .... jewellery boxes with inlay work and hand painted ones.....Indian culture and tradition..... festivals and food.... sarees and shopping!!! I hope some day I compile all the information and put it up so people in Indian and ones new to India can get their hands on everything they are looking for.

A Look into my all time favourite creation!

My favourite jhumka!
A detachable one that can be used with a stud of your choice

 I am extremely proud of this creation of mine.I can now wear this jhumka with different studs and you will get to see just how beautiful it is!

Triangular jhumkas are hard to find.  Teaming it with the coloured stone earrings or plain silver studs is just unique!

This is a peridot flower earring stud with the same jhumka..... It just looks so pretty and different! I love everything floral, from floral fragrances for diffuser perfumes to body soaps to flowers in jewellery.  I love it all. I will put up about a dozen pictures of different studs with the same jhumka.  I have many more that I will save for a later day.

The ruby with marcasite is not common so is orange carnelian.

The garnet, aquamarine and the peridot  studs are just as beautiful!  The one problem you will have is ... you won't be able to see full sized images of all those that have been aligned above.

Pearls just brighten up an outfit... try with any dress and you will love it!

I took so many years to convince myself that a blog on jewellery had to have pictures.  Well, I did not want to share any of mine! It occurred to me that countless times I have surfed the net for a solution to a problem or to learn craft techniques or whatever!  If people had not shared their secrets, I wouldn't have found answers to a lot of my questions. So here are my secrets!  I am not sure if I am flooding this page with too many pictures... well, guess you can't visualise if the pictures are missing.

First step, after a long journey.

After years of research, experimentation, designing, sourcing and wearing silver jewelry, this is my first step to showcase specially handcrafted pieces to a supporting audience.

I have received encouragement, help and support from many friends to make this move. Hope everyone enjoys the experience.