Jewels of Sayuri

valentine gift box - chalk art

2012-02-13T18:08:00.000+05:30

Those of you who celebrate Valentine's day must have done your shopping by now and some of you would be still hunting for gifts. Whether you have already got yours in place or not, presenting your gifts in a new and romantic fashion is a must. To help you inch closer to that, here is a short tutorial.

Valentine gift box - chalk art

To make this all you need - is a box (wooden, cardboard, Leather or rexine), a piece of chalk and a sealant.

I actually found this box in one of the classrooms (where I teach) some time back. It was being used as a chalk box and naturally had some scribblings on it. After some dusting and cleaning, I decided to take it up a step further by drawing some...wait for it...Hearts on it!!

The box had a wonderful quote - Everlasting love on it

so I highlighted the word love with a silver marker. Finally A coat of clear sealant and it was done.

If you want, you could cover up words on such boxes by decoupage strips or pieces of beautiful paper before sealing it.

You could also use this idea for your boyfriend/hubby's gift. If you are planning to give him a Tie, Cuff links or a Pen set use this on the branded box to give a personal and romantic touch to the gift

Another idea is to transform an old tie/jewelry box like this and use it to gift wrap Love notes or coupons ;)

I hope you found this post interesting...

Happy Valentine's Day to all of you..Will meet you on the 15th !!

Bubble wrap jewelry - pinterest Challenge

2012-02-11T11:50:00.001+05:30

Here is the second post for another project submission to the Pinterest Challenge. New here...or wondering what it is do check it out here and my previous post here.
My inspiration: How-To: Bubble Wrap Necklace, from Jewelry Upcycled, by Sherri Haab
I found this tutorial first during the winter Gift swap when I wasnt even on pinterest. So After a couple of months, I once again stumbled on this page and pinned it
So here are my Creations...take a look

I am big fan of Recycling and the urgent need to clear all the bubble wrap from under my bed made me take this tutorial seriously....Its fast, easy, economic and Looking at these pieces, you would never guess that they are made from Bubble wrap...
So dive in and try your hand at it...these could make really quick gifts for Valentine's Day too

Then as I am entering this for the Pinterest challenge 5, incase you missed reading it in the first post, a little about how the challenge works...

Find something from your Pinterest boards you have been dying to make.
DO IT!
Blog about your project and link it up to the Hosting Pinhead's Linky Party when it opens.
Get your friends to "like" your thumbnail on the Linky Party when the voting starts.
The most votes wins great prizes from some awesome sponsors!

So Do visit the party, link up your projects and please do vote for me. Voting begins on coming Monday.

Cheers

Pinterest Challenge - Mirror bib

2012-02-08T12:46:00.001+05:30

We all keep pining lots of stuff in pinterest...(I pin a lot of stuff to make!!) but do we really do anything with them.??.....Sometime back I decided to make a conscious effort to work on prohects from Pinterest and have been waiting to show them off here. Finally I have got the perfect opportunity for it. The Pinterest challenge!! Read all about it here

Valentine week is still on but am taking break and presenting a project that I did based on an image I pinned in Pinterest.

I call this design The mirror bib...its inspired from a headband made by Erica in PS. I made this...
She in turn was inspired by Nina Ricci's head turner and had used mirrors and fun gemstones on a hairband.
Inspired by this I decided to make a bib necklace. I used differenct shapes of mirror (round, square and diamond) and glued them on to a felt base which I later backed with a piece of leather. I created the chain by connecting jump rings (Chain maille) and finally finished off with a Toggle clasp

Mirrored headband from PS: I made this

My necklace at a photo shoot

The necklace looks better than in the pics (I couldnt control the reflection while clicking pictures) and one of my students wore it at a college photo shoot and created a lot of interest.. So What do you think of it?

Then as I am entering this for the Pinterest challenge 5, a little about how the challenge works...

Find something from your Pinterest boards you have been dying to make.
DO IT!
Blog about your project and link it up to the Hosting Pinhead's Linky Party when it opens.
Get your friends to "like" your thumbnail on the Linky Party when the voting starts.
The most votes wins great prizes from some awesome sponsors!

So Do visit the party, link up your projects and please do vote for me. Voting begins on coming monday.
Cheers

Leather rose earring tutorial

2012-02-06T10:30:00.002+05:30

Hope everyone enjoyed the leather rose ring tutorial posted last week. In continuation, as promised, here is the leather rose earring.

The construction of the earring is very much similar to the ring, except that in the earring the raw edge will be visible in the front while the finger ring will have a smooth folded finish. The funda behind that is - the folded edge makes the ring more stable and single layer as opposed to double on an earring makes it lightweight.

Materials:

# A strip of leather 1" X 7" - you could use rexin or faux leather instead. The length of the strip determines the width of your flower so you could make it a little longer or shorter.
# A pair of studs- earring base
# Scissors and glue (rubber based adhesive)

Procedure:
1) Taper one edge of the strip like in the picture. Make a knot and pull tight

2) Now fold and twist the strip as you go around the knot, making sure that the folds are neat. Keep gluing as you twist and fold.

3) when you are about 1 to 1.5 inches from the edge, stop and make a hole

4) Insert the stud back from inside so that the base is covered. Glue in place.

5) Turn around to the from and glue it

6) Press firmly and let it dry completely. Repeat for the otehr earring

Your Valentine Rose Earring is done!! Let it rest for a day and then enjoy wearing it. Please note that both pieces will not exactly look the same so please dont frustrate yourself trying to get the exact piece for both side. ;)

Hope you found this interesting
Cheers

Valentine leather rose ring tutorial

2012-02-01T09:10:00.002+05:30

Here is the first tutorial in the run up to Valentine's Day - A pretty little ring that you can make for yourself and your BFFs. I normally dont prefer very dainty girly stuff or colors, but then what the heck - its valentine's day. So With all that romance in the air - here is a ring that oozes feminine charm - Its in pink, Its a flower and its got lace!! My last year's BFF corsage was a big hit and I hope that you like this ring too. Without much ado, here it is

Materials:

# A strip of leather 1" X 10" - you could use rexin or faux leather instead. The length of the strip determines the width of your flower so you could make it a little longer or shorter.
# A ring base
# A strip of White lace (0.5" wide)
# A Normal circle of leather and felt for the base
# Scissors and glue

Procedure:

1) Taper one edge of the strip like in the picture. Make a knot and pull tight making sure that the backside is not visible on the front.

2) Now fold and twist the strip as you go around the knot, making sure that the folds are neat and that the backside (suede part) is not visible on the front.Keep gluing as you twist and fold. When you come to the end just snip off and tuck it in the flower. Glue in place.

3) Let it dry for sometime

4) Snip of all the extras at the back so that it is flat, taking care not to cut the tucked in portion

5) Cover with a round pieces of leather and glue a ring back on in the center

6) Press and let it dry completely

7) Measure the outer circumference of the ring and cut a strip of 0.5" wide lace or rick rack. Glue along the outer edge of the ring.

8) Finally cut a circle of felt for the backing and cut a slit in the middle. Position it over the ring back in such a way that the base of the ring gets hidden inside and only the round portion is visible. Apply glue, press and hold for a few seconds and let dry.

Your Valentine Rose ring is done!! Let it rest for sometime and then enjoy wearing it. The ring is quite statement makign by itself, but if you like an accompaniment or tune in the coming week to learn how to make rose studs earrings for Valentine's day.

Hope you found this interesting
Cheers

Valentine Spl - Key to my heart

2012-01-28T10:30:00.001+05:30

With the blog world being awash with Valentine posts, I am finally (officially) starting my valentine series for this year. Starting from Today till February 15th, which as some of you might know is my second blogiversary, there will be posts and tutorials dedicated to Love, Romance, passion and ofcourse Valentines day.

Sometime back, I found a batch of keys on my front porch - very nondescript local aluminium ones. On enquiry I found out that the keys were useless as their lock was broken. I smelt a project coming up right away and picked two of those keys for a special makeover. I looked through my inspiration folders and pinterest pictures and finally decided to make something based on Romance and travel

Instinctively I picked up the atlas and went to the legend and coordinates of the Indian Ocean and south India as that is where my heart truly is. I traced the key image, decoupaged it and painted it red to signify passion. The beaten copper flowers that you see were originally silver tone bead caps, which I flattened and cut apart and gave them a coat of copper.I resinated ( cold diamond glaze)everything to preserve them. I finally added some crystal chain and made a wire wrapped bail for it. The pendant was done!

Then came some wooded beads, gold spacers and viola the key to my heart necklace was done. the finished piece looked very surreal to me - one one hand it had a punk meets steampunk feel and other hand it reminded me of the Indian Thali (Thirumangalam - wedding necklace) because of the gold, stone and the coral colored beads - either way it reminded me of love

As a continuation of this necklace I made a key charm, with emphasis on Travel. I again picked out a map and added the beaten silver bead caps to it. A wire wrapped pearl and its was done. A perfect gift I say for honeymooners - with the map of their honeymoon destination/favourite place to remind them of all the love that travel could imbibe.

So how did you like these? And to all 150 followers (yipee!!) Thanks a million and please do check out my Pinterest button on the side bar and at the end of this post. Do pin some images from JewelsofSayuri and spread the love...

Cheers

Featured on Recyled Market

2012-01-25T20:10:00.002+05:30

Yipee... I am the next featured seller on Recycled Market, The Australian Online retail Store that I blogger here about. Erica was so sweet to interview me and add pics of some of my designs there...It was lovely so do check it out.

While you are there - do not forget to check out my store

Also I thought I would introduce you to the Universal Craft Blog Directory a free directory, where you will find a whole bunch of other crafty minded people there.

You may like to add yourself or recommend other people to the directory, it's a way of connecting all the crafty bloggers out there and a great way for new people to find you!

Add your link to the directory & connect with other crafters. ...And even if you're already on the ball & have added your link...do invite your friends to join in.

Cheers

Celtic Knot connection

2012-01-21T10:20:00.003+05:30

Somewhere in 2011, Pearl of Beadinggem wrote a post on celtic and Viking motifs. I left a comment on that stating the fact that the celtic knot is a common motif used in Indian embroidery. Soon a discussion started, that run into multiple mails and I eventually told her that I would write a post on it. Finally after all this time, here it is.

Celtic knots are a variety of knots and stylized graphical representations of knots used for decoration, used extensively in the Celtic style of Insular art. They are also referred to as the mystic knot, or the endless knot or infinity knot.You can find them as ornamentation in Christian monuments and manuscripts. The knot pattern is said to appear around 3-4th century A. In modern times Celtic Art is popularly thought of as Irish, Scottish or Welsh.

I once did a college project on celtic knots, where I found the motif was used in Indian Kutch Embroidery. Many years later an artist who was working on a similar project told me that, when the celtic traders travelled to Indian shores in the 16-17th century, they brought the motif with them. Most of them settled here and married into the local community and spread the art. Some also say that it was brought into Kutch from Sindh by Muslim Jats. I am not sure which one of them is true, but it is incredible to see a completely different interpretation of the motif.

But Being a south Indian who grew up drawing kolam, I know that the beginning of the knots, especially Eternity knots is in Vedic Hinduism. We refer to that knot as Srivatsaangam an auspicious symbol on Lord Vishnu chest, Signifying his consort, Maha Lakshmi - The Goddess of wealth. In Tamil we sometimes refer to this motif as "Marma mudichu" or the mysterious (mystic) knot. It also believed that these lines trace the path of the divine. This is often used in Pulli Kolam (or art based on a dot grid. This signifies the eternal cycle of life and death. We draw it out of rice flour or chalk powder and use it as decorations on the ground in front of our houses and even inside the house during festivals. Each festival and each day of the week has a distinct kolam.

Other forms of kolams are rangoli (with colors), Maa kolam (with a wet paste) and Kambi kolam (using lines and geometrical shapes)

Do notice the similarity between these shapes and the celtic knot. The kolam pattern is often the base for the kutch work as shown above. The exact origin of kolams is unknown - maybe thousands even millions of years.

The beauty of this motif is that it lends itself well to Jewelry - especially wire jewelry. It is one of my favourite motifs and I use it all the time.

Such versatile motifs like the endless knot show that life with Design is like eternal love - always present yet constantly evolving!!

Note: I have just shown a few examples here with apt resources from the net. Please read further for more information or you can contact me and I will try my best to help you. Also this is a part of a paper I am planning to present in the future so please do not copy.

I hope you found this post interesting

Cheers

Jewelry for God a spiritual Sojourn

2012-01-17T20:55:00.000+05:30

It is very common for Hindu families to take frequent trips to visit the temple of their family deity and pray there at the start of a New year or before weddings or starting any new venture. In the past, the entire family would go and special pujas would be performed. These days, it is a custom that is hardly followed, but my mom is very particular that we do it atleast once a year.

Our Family Deity is Lord Oppiliappan, near kumbakonam and he is considered as lord Venkateshwara’s brother and so those devotees who are unable to visit Tirupati to fulfill their promises can do so here.

While on such trips, we also visit a few nearby temples, Divya Desams (Divine locations) and have found beautiful places nearby, especially shrines of my favourite God - Lord Narasimha (Half lion and half Man).

You must be wondering what all this has got to do with jewelry. You see that it is very common for people to donate jewelry to their favourite Gods and their Shrines. It could be gold, silver, diamonds or simply glass. We usually buy from jewelry stores and present it and I wanted to do the same last year, but somehow never found anything suitable.

Maybe God wanted to wear what I make :) So I bought some enameled charms, golden beads, jumkhas, pearls and set about making 4 pieces of jewelry.

It came out quite pretty I should say and I fell in love with these Kerala style enamelled pieces.

Such pieces are available at Giri trading company, Mylapore, Chennai but they are just strung together and they have to be either restrung or looped like I have done if you want to wear them.

At First I didnt want to show them off, for it felt weird, then I thought, maybe somebody else would get an idea from this and would want to do something similar. I am out this week visiting these temples but I dont even know if the temple will accept my offering, and whether they would fit the deities. But I hope and pray, that they will.

Cheers

Leather bow cuff and ring Tutorial

2012-01-11T10:20:00.003+05:30

Long long ago I made this tutorial on how to make a leather bow for a cuff/ring and somehow totally forgot about it. As I was doing some organizing on my system I found it and here it is.This is a simple 5 minute cuff and it can be made with scrap leather. You could also substitute it with rexin, pleather or thick felt

Materials Required:

-Three pieces of leather (same or contrast color) - 6" X1" for the bow and 1.5" X0.5" for the center

For the base* use - circumference of your wrist ( plus or minus) X 1.5" (refer to the procedure for detailed instructions)

- Thread

- Rubber adhesive (fevi bond)

- Closure of your choice

Procedure:
1) Fold the bow strip in two. Stick both ends at the back as in pic. Wait for it to dry. Turn to the front, pinch and tie up with a thread as shown

2) Cover the center with a contrast pieces and glue firmly
3) Your bow is now done. Glue it on to a ring base for a statement ring or to a thick base for a cuff.

4) Make a closure for your cuff :
I just used a snap button by hammering it in.
My trick - I place the piece leather with little slots marked for the snap and pushed in and then I slip the entire thing between pages of a thick Vogue and hammer on the cover....

Thats it my secret is out....I dont have a hammer block or a jeweller's bench - Cant find the first one here and no place for the second. So Thick copies of vogue come to my rescue. If I have shocked some of you, I apologise (Many people who saw me work were shocked at first (including my mom)) but believe me it works :D

CUTTING THE BASE:
* If you are using a button or hook closure you will need circumference plus 1". If you are using a lace up, you will need circumference minus half inch and if you are planning to just use jump rings and a toggle closure you need circumference minus one inch.

If are using continuous tie up you will need circumference plus 12" thinner strip (The base will be 1.5" thick in the middle and 0.5" when it comes to the tie up portion)

I hope you found the tutorial interesting. These bows are so simple to make and can be used on hairclips, as pendants and even tiny versions of them as earrings.According to snaptheconference bows are back in trend and in a big way

PS: How did you all like the new look? Many people have asked me to change the background to white and I have finally done it. It was a lot of work, the header is still in progress, but I guess continuous change is what keeps me going.

Cheers

My Recycled Market store

2012-01-08T11:30:00.003+05:30

We talk about Re-invention and recycling all the time here at Sayuri. Though recycling is great for personal DIYs, it somehow is difficult to sell such products on an open forum, for people are skeptical about buying such things. I wont blame them, for everyone wants maximum value for their money.

But what if the retail forum sold only recycled products across categories?

While participating in the blog hop (Creating my worlds to success), I stumbled upon a Australian blog that led me to an intriguing site. That site is Recycled Market.

Recycled Market is a unique online venue that encourages buyers and sellers to reduce, reuse, redesign, refashion, rework and recycle as much as possible. It is run by two people- Erica and Lester with a passion for recycling and protecting the environment. Recycled Market is an Australian registered business, so the prices are in AUD Australian Dollars. However, they have currency convert which are display an estimate of prices in the selected currency.Payment is through paypal.

It is free to list your product on Recycled Market. Once a product is sold, 10% commission is charged on the sale of a product, plus a 50c transaction fee.

Though it might be a little difficult to figure out how to list and add payment details in the beginning(It was for me), Erica really helps you through. She was extremely patient and not just answered my questions but also did some listing work for me. How awesome is that? That kind of customised service, you can never find on Etsy or Artfire.

So here a link and a snapshot of my Recycled market store, look around and shop. Also if it excites you do sign up and become a seller.

Click here to visit my store - http://www.recycled-market.com/Sayuri

(This is not a sponsored post nor a referral and all opinions are mine)

PS: What is everyone upto in the New Year?

Cheers

Wedding Gift Packaging 2 - DIY

2012-01-05T10:20:00.001+05:30

Here is the continuation of my post on wedding gifts and packaging. Recently my dad's boss's (company owner's) daughter of got married, and after breaking our heads on what to gift her I settled on a nice contemporary set I made.

I used some acrylic agate look alikes in green-blue-white along with glass pearls, spacers and some silver bead caps for a set that comprised on a neckpiece, earrings and a matching bracelet.

Once it was done, packing it well became the objective.

A week before this was due, another one of my dad's client had sent him a box of sweets - kaju katli. the box looked really nice from outside and thankfully it was completely double lined with plastic sheets and butter paper. My mother on receiving the box immediately shifted its contents into another one and cleaned it. I further took out any lining & backing paper that would have come in contact with food, wiped it with a damp cloth and sun dried it for 2 days. I then lined the insides it with dark wine fabric felt (matching the color on the box).

Finally the logo of the supplier on the front posed a problem. So I added some kundan stones to hide it and brought some bling on in the process.

The front was very decorate but the insides were drab. So I added some zari lace in green to bring out a contrast and to match the green in the jewelry set. While doing this I got sneaky idea of branding the whole thing.I usually use branded tags for my jewelry but I thought that they would look tacky here. My mom suggested a visiting card but I was apprehensive. It didnt feel too right to put a VC in a gift box. But then my mom pointed out that people, big brands did it all the time. "Don't big brands put their name, logo and address on the inside or backside of their packaging? If they can do it, why cant you? Afterall you have to promote yourself and your work!" argued my mom and I couldn't argue with that. When it was time to place the pieces inside the box, my mom was skeptical on their placement. She was actually irritated that I hadn't listened to her and put a jewel board with ears inside to hold up the pieces. I didnt want to do that and spoil the lining, so I improvised.

The easiest thing is to cut strips of felt and adhere (with fast drying clear adhesive) the ends to the lining. Here are the measurements.1.5" each for the necklace and bracelet and 2" for the earrings.
Once it dries and bonds well, it gets strong and holds the pieces in place. The pieces dont shift during movement. I shook the box enough times to check it. Lining the box with felt made it protective and made the lid fit well, so there was no need to tape the box and make it ugly.

Finally to keep the box safe I further wrapped it in another gift paper and put on a hand made bow

This technique of holding up also pieces is useful when you have to ship or send the pieces long distance. As the strips match the base, it looks totally professional and neat
I hope that you found it interesting

cheers

Fashionable Eyewear from GKBopticals

2012-01-01T17:30:00.017+05:30

First of All, Wishing you all a very very Happy Happy New Year....May all your hopes, dreams and wishes come true this year!!

Though I love jewelry and we mostly talk about that here, this is also a blog about accessories and one accessory that should be on every gurl's list is eyewear.

And now, buying fashionable eye wear - sunglasses, power glasses, contact lens and frames is easier than ever and is available at the click of a button.

I am talking about GKB Opticals a renowned eye wear store in India. gkbopticals.com aims to be India's ultimate online eyewear shopping destination, where you can buy Sunglasses, Eyeglasses, Contact Lenses. They have a large collection of brands in different segments. From Rayban to Versace, from D&G to Esprit, from Poloroid to Adidas, from Bvlgari to sundrive they have something for every whim and every budget. Looking through the site..I really fell in love with these 2 glasses.

One is DOLCE&GABBANA DG 6036-B 501/87 - a rimless, shell black and gray shades with a bling DG at the temple.It is on sale and so retails at Rs.11,693 (original price-15,990). It comes with its own monogrammed cover.

The next one is a cool Designer piece from Bvlgari. BVLGARI BV 8080 5114/8F
As dutone, lucid and matt textures are the go to trends for eyewear in 2012, this is one piece that is sure on my lust list. The frame is brown while the shades are blue and the temples are just gorgeous. Well Price is a little on the higher side and retails at Rs.21,840. Who said designer wear is cheap?

It is not that there are no inexpensive products on their site. Their range of products cater to all needs, from Rs 300 up to over Rs 35,000. They also provide free shipping across India, warranty, & a money back policy. Whats more they also have a team of optical specialists who can help you over the phone, email, chat, or at any of their 60 stores across India.

With over 50 years of expertise, they also have more than 1 million customers across the world!
The one thing I really like about the site is that you can try on the glasses. Just upload one of your pictures and try the chosen product - sunglasses or prescription glasses on the photo to get an idea of how they would look on you. Also while buying Lenses and Prescription glasses they offer tips and advise you on how to buy the most suitable one for your face, eyes and your vision problems.

So what did I order....a basic wrap around blue gray from Sundrive. (Guys, I am on a budget here!!) and I plan to bling it up with some DIY. I smell a tutorial coming up...dont you?

This is a Sponsored post written by me on behalf of gkbopticals.com. All opinions are 100% mine.

Click here to visit the sponsor's site

Cheers

Wedding gift packaging 1

2011-12-29T11:19:00.002+05:30

Hope everybody had a wonderful Christmas with their family and friends. Throughout last month I saw innumerable posts on gifts and packaging all over the net and I wanted to share some of my work too but somehow, this post just went to the back of the list due to giveaways and tutorials.

Talking about gifts, Since I have not celebrated Christmas in a long time and we dont having a gift giving tradition during Diwali, my major gift giving opportunities are occasions like weddings, engagement, birthdays and House warming ceremonies.
I often like making a hand made gift for these occasions for two reasons - a) its personal, customized and often unique and b) its much nicer than a store bought gift of the same/higher value.

I have been wrapping gifts and decorating cards for many years now and I am like the official gift maker/wrapper for my family and friends. These days however everyone prefers cash to gifts and since that doesn't involve much creativity. So I try and do something innovative on the cover. On the right are traditional envelopes which you can pretty much whip up if you have some colored paper or card stock with you. I usually cut motifs from old invitations and use them as decoration. I whip up a bunch whenever I have time and it works for 6 months

This one (right) is a cash cover for a Rs.1000 note. I used the flap of another wedding invitation which had a holographic beautiful silver print on it and converted it into a thin box. Since the material was very thick, it wouldnt stick well with glue, so I used some holographic tapes in silver and blue on both front and back of the box to make it like a design.

I really wanted to use a bride-bridegroom silhouette but couldn't get a print that looked Indian. so I just drew on on a gateway sheet and dabbed marker colour on it. As it was translucent, it looked as thought the girl was wearing a blue saree with silver print on it. I finally finished of with a ribbon bow and a cloud tag. It is customary for us to give cash with a Rs.1 coin. Since I couldn't drop it into the box for obvious reason, I stuck it like a charm under the cloud to give some weight to it.

Finally here is a gift card envelope I made for my friend last year. As gift cards are even more impersonal than cash, the sole objective of this envelope was to make it personal. Eight of us friends pooled our money together to get the card, so I first picked photographs of everyone and combined it in photoshop. Fort the base a picked a lovely beige textured image and added floral scrolls to it (they are actually from a blog layout I saw on the net). Then I wrote the sentiments on top, made my own layout, printed it out on an A3 sheet and folded it into a card

I then added a golden bow at the back and tiny rhinestones on the front for some bling. In the actual slot to hold the card, I made another bow and embellished with an image of Lord Ganesha and added more sentiments to the bottom. In between I just scoured out semicircular slots to hold the card. This one was a real hit at the wedding.:)

Hope, these give you some packaging ideas for the upcoming wedding season. My next post, a continuation of this one, I would be sharing some ideas to package jewelry for a wedding through a tutorial, so do catch up.

Till then Cheers and Have a fantastic New year!!

customized badge tutorial

2011-12-23T11:38:00.001+05:30

For the blogger kootam meet, that happened on Nov 26th, I had made some blogger kootam badges for the attendees. When I posted about the badges in the blogger kootam blog and on facebook, apart from the "they are cute" remarks, I also got many requests for a tutorial...So here is one..

When I wanted some goodies to give to the BK members - something that was affordable (since I was spending out of my pocket), something simple and classy( it should be used over a period of time) and of course handmade(for we were an artsy - craftsy group!!). Then I was reminded of conferences where they give everyone a kit bag and a badge and then simply I decided to make a customised badge.

To begin with it is very simple process that anybody could do and like everything else I found the idea to do it on the internet.

Blogger Kootam Badge

Materials:

- A badge ( without or without a pin)

- A safety pin (incase your badge is pin less)

- custom prints

- white glue

- Decoupage medium

- Scissors (regular & pinking)

- Brush

Procedure:

1) Get the base ready: You can buy regular tin back badges at the market - then cost anywhere between Rs.6 - Rs.25 a badge depending on the pin thats used on it. I used smiley ones with a safety pin back for this project for they were easily available. If your badges dont have pins, you can add them easily. Use pliers to pull back the notches behind the badge, insert the pin and close.

2) Once you have bought your badge, measure it. You will need a print or an artwork to fit this size.

3) Even before I made the badges,I had already developed a blog button for BK which said "I belong to blogger kootam" so I decided to use the same artwork for the badges too.

4) Since the artwork was in Photoshop, I just converted it into a circle, re sized it and arrange it on a A4 layout for multiple prints. You can do this with any photo editing software.

5) While resizing make sure to add 10- 15% extra depending on the thickness of your badge to your artwork. Dont just make it bigger, then the important figures could go behind. ( I did that first and realised the the paper was too big for my badge :( ) Just add another circle in the same colour of your artwork around it so that it will cover the sides correctly.

TIP# You might want to take a print of one piece first and check it if its right, if you are making multiple badges

6) Now Print them and cut them out with pinking shears on the edge so that only the tips are white

7) Now you have to slash the sides. From the tips till the actual line that with come on the badge. It is necessary to do this step, to make sure that you have a smooth circle covering.
It is not necessary to pink the circles, but it is helpful in guiding you how and where to slash.
While slashing also make sure that the cut is not visible on the front side
TIP# You might want to trace the badge on the back of the paper with pencil as a guide to slashing

8)Apply white glue, fevicol on the paper and drop the badge face down. It is easier this way rather than putting glue on the badge. You can move around the badge littleto make sure the artwork is the way you want on the badge. Now press to stick and smooth out any bubbles.

9) now press gently, mould the shape and stick back the excess on the backside. Press to even out creases and air bubbles. Since you have slashed it, you will get a very good shape.

10)Now the hardest part - Wait till it dries completely!!!!

11) Once dried, apply 2-3 coats of any decoupage medium on the top and on the side, waiting to dry it in between coats. Coat with a brush in one direction with even pressure so that no streaks are visible....

12) Its Done!! Wear and enjoy!!

When I made it I realised that this idea has a lot of potential. It could be used for different craft clubs (members can make it themselves at a meet!!), book clubs - maybe with the initial of a member, scout groups and other meets and clubs...!!! Here is the picture of the table arrangement I did at the meet..!!

I hope you all found this tutorial interesting and useful
Waiting to hear from you
Cheers

Handmade gift exchange

2011-12-19T17:30:00.003+05:30

As I was in Facebook the other day, I found a link for a Handmade gift exchange - Winter. I was immediately intrigued and went to check out the site. The Handmade Gift Exchange is an initiative by Craftaholics Anonymous ,in which crafters pair up and gift each other something during the holiday season. There are two different categories - USA and international, where Linda, tries her best to pair you up with a crafter closest to you, so that you save on shipping charges. My love for gifts being legendary (hmmmm!!) I signed up and was assigned a partner from Australia, Megan.She is a stay at home mom of a 7 year old boy and she loves travel. Even in her intro mail, she told me that she was just about to take a cruise to New Zealand with her family. Lovely!

As we exchanged mails (writing to each other like pen pals) I felt that I had to make something special for her. No points for guessing what I made for her.....Jewelry.
She told me that she likes simple and classy things and loves Diamonds...
As I cannot afford diamonds, yet wanted something simple yet blingy (that sounds like an oxymoron doesnt it?) I went with something crystals. I made a simple necklace with multicolour glass crystal, clear acrylic crystal, some jump rings and a ball chain. Then when I made it, it felt incomplete. So I added a little black gauze bow for some cuteness

Okay now as the suspense is over...here is the necklace...actually I featured it in my post on roof top photography...

I made it with the thought that maybe Megan could wear it during her Cruise. I then packed it in a little red paper box (handmade) and attached a happy holidays bookmark in traditional red- green and gold colors. Megan had told me that she likes dabbling in paper crafts. I made it using an invitation card, gift wrapping paper, some ribbon and a big kundan stone and finally wrapped up everything in a handmade bubble envelope....

So much for my recyling craze :)

I finally heard from Megan after a long time that my gift reached her and that she really likes it. She told me that the moment she looked at it, She realised why I had chosen such a simple yet classic design for her. She said that she also recollected the exact words she told me that promoted me to make this pieces. WOW!! She's got the point bang on!

I am sooo happy that she is planning to wear it along with a nice black top during here cruise....Yay!! She also loves the book mark and is hiding it from her son for her own use.

And before I forget here are the lovely gifts I got from her

She had made me a lovely soap kit. It contains a hand knitted bamboo yarn soap pouch with a cute soap bar and a wash cloth to wipe off makeup. The colours are natural - gray-white with hints of blue and yellow. Its soft, fluffy and I haven't really received such a lovingly made (hand crafted) Thoughtful gift in recent times.

To be frank, I have never before seen a knitted soap pouch. Even when there is a net pouch I usually take the soap out out of it to use it for the fear of ruining the pouch. But Megan says that bamboo yarn is really strong and will not get affected in water. It is so beautiful and pretty and I am unable to let myself use it, though maybe due to Megan's insistent pressure to try it will use it someday :)

She also wrote me a special card letter that I'll always cherish....!! Thanks a million Megan :)

Finally my Special thanks to Linda for organizing this wonderful event. Thanks for bringing together not just gifted inspiring people but also catalyzing friendships that are born across continents based on mutual respect and love for one another....

Cant wait for the next Handmade Exchange :) !!

Check out this link to find out what all gifts were made and exchanged in the Handmade exchange Winter 2011

Cheers

The Winner is...and inspirations

2011-12-17T18:30:00.004+05:30

wow!! The Sew mama giveaway is finally over and the response was tremendous. I guess that concept of the linky giveaway worked for people chose to enter giveaways after seeing the visuals. There were totally 150 entries and I loved reading all your comments.

As a mandatory entry I had asked the participants to come up with "an idea or a project " using these supplies. Most people said that they wanted to decorate Christmas ornaments or do up next years cards and favours. The next most common idea was to make fabric postcards and art quilts. Some even thought that the giveaway is split into packet they'll make great stocking stuffers. More ideas include hair bows, bracelets and necklaces. A lot of people were excited about the earring kit for they were on the verge of just learning to make jewelry.

But wait, there's more- Danny wanted to make a bedazzled purse with her daughter, Lisa wanted to do a sequin applique on her shirt, Nikipeachy wanted to make hairclips, amanda from ninth street notions wanted to make a button pillow, Kerican wanted to do a marine layers wall hanging, Kristen wanted to make knitting stitch markers and Marie wanted to make a cosmo bear.

Wow so many different ideas with one stash bag...great and without further ado let me announce the winner (radomly chosen by number) for more fun..and the Winner is.....

no.63 Catskill Quilter

who really really wanted to win it for her Grand daughter who turned 12 recently. Congratulations and I hope and wish you have a fabulous time using these supplies and making something wonderful with your grand daughter

And to others thanks a million for playing along, a big welcome to all new followers and I hope that this blog would provide you all the interesting information that you are looking for with regard to jewelry. I am soon planning an index page to make all the navigating easier.

If you didnt win or even if you did here is a coupon for 15% discount in my Etsy Store...to avail the discount just use the code Sayuribk during checkout!!Valid till 26th December.

*If you from Chennai, blogger or otherwise, do check out the Blogger Kootam Lets do Something Contest/Giveaway to win 2 prizes worth Rs.500 each

Hope you all had a wonderful time!! Cheers

Sew Mama Sew Giveaway is back

2011-12-12T19:10:00.009+05:30

Thanks for the wonderful Participation...This Giveaway is now closed! I will announce the winners shortly!!!

It is that time of the year when crafters all over the world participate in a big time giveaway where loads of handmade goodies and supplies are exchanged. Last time it happened in may, I participated with my Valentine BFF corsage bracelet. Since that was the first time I hosted a giveaway, I wasnt really sure, how the turn out would be. It proved to be really great and I had so much fun visiting so many other blogs for giveaways.

It was indeed a little chaotic last time, so now SMS has made some wonderful changes. It will be one big Linky party full of giveaways in different categories. So this time instead of a piece of jewelry I am going to be giving away a stash bag full of crafting goodies, which can be used for sewing, scrapbooking and other crafting purposes....

So would you like to see what all would be in the International Giveaway here it is...

The stash bag contains

Sequins & beads
1) icy blue dutone sequins mixed- 1 packet
2) Mixed rhinestones (normal) - 1 packet
3)Mixed Bugle beads (orange & green) - 1 packet
4) Copper & gold sew on shapes - 1 packet
5) Silver lace (gotta) flower - 1 medium sized

Buttons
6) 2 colours (pink & white) buttons - 12
7) Snap button with Rhinestone (with matching rivets) - 4 pairs

Ribbons/ Thread:
8) shiny black ribb0n - 1 meter
9) Knotted ribbon - dutone - moon gray - 2 meters+
10) Poly core sewing thread - purple - 1 spool

+ a starter earring kit (with eye pins, hooks and beads) to make 2 pairs of earrings. That is a total of 12 items for you. The sequins and the rhinestones can be glued as well as stitched. These supplies will add a nice Indian and ethnic touch to all your projects and hopefully give you loads of ideas.

Here's how to participate in the Giveaway

Mandatory: * Leave a comment stating what item/product/ideas you have for using these materials ( it is not necessary to become a follower!!)*

Totally Totally Optional !! Leave a separate entry for each....

1) Follow Jewelsofsayuri through google friend connect or GFC and drop in a comment

2) Like jewelsofsayuri on Facebook and drop in a comment

3) Visit my website http://sayuri.hpage.com/ and leave a comment in the guest book/and mention in the comment form here for an extra entry

Keeping with the Christmas spirit, All participants will get 15% in my Etsy Store...to avail the discount just use the code Sayuribk during checkout!!

As per the rules this giveaway will be open from Dec 12 till Dec 16 following which I'll announce one winner (selected randomly...and yes I will ship internationally ;)). Come back on Dec 18th to know who won.
TIP: make sure that your email is available to me so that I can contact you. Once the winner confirms their address the articles will be shipped.

So have fun participating in the Giveaway and Also here is the link of everyone who is participating in the Sew, Mama, Sew giveaway. So pay a visit, enter a lot of giveaways and have loads of Fun.

*If you from Chennai, blogger or otherwise, do check out the Blogger Kootam Lets do Something Contest/Giveaway to win 2 prizes worth Rs.500 each

Cheers

Kolaveri scrabble tile necklace tutorial

2011-12-08T19:05:00.003+05:30

*If you from Chennai, blogger or otherwise, do check out the Blogger Kootam Lets do Something Contest/Giveaway to win 2 prizes worth Rs.500 each

Like I promised in the last post, I am back with the tutorial to make the Kolaveri necklace ;)

If you still havent hear the song or do not understand what the phrase means, click here to go back to my previous post on the Kolaveri necklace and how it was developed

*Kolaveri - translated simply means a murderous rage or even hell bent passion, or a compulsive desire to irritate, so if you would like, substitute this the word for another one, to make this necklace. You can use this technique to make any type of necklace or bracelet with scrabble tiles

Materials required

- Scrabble tiles

- A candle/flame & needle

- Eye pins

- Normal glass beads

- Loop/cable chain

- Clasp

- Nose pliers

Procedure:

The process is very simple. Collect the necessary scrabble tiles to make your word. You would need an equivalent number of eye pins and beads.

1) Now heat a needle in a candle flame and poke hole in the tiles.

2) Insert an eye pin and a bead and with your pliers make a half loop.

3) Select a chain that has equally spaced loops and adda clsap at the end.

4) Now add the middle letter to the middle of the chain

5) Holding the loop with your pliers, turn the remaining wire with your hand to make a nice wrapped loop

If you are making a single letter necklace you can stop now.

6) Now using the same process add the other letters to both sides of the middle letter, making sure to leave equal space between them, so that they dont clash with one another

I found it easier to do the middle first and then add other letters on both the sides. You could also do it from one side to another if you find that easier.

While looping make sure that all the tiles are facing the same directions. This is actually tricky and I put a couple of tiles in the wrong direction and had to do them over later

Thats it! It is done....Wear the necklace and show off you KOLAVERI in style ...:):) LOL

I hope you found this interesting

Cheers

Charm of the Kolaveri necklace

2011-12-04T17:30:00.003+05:30

Why this kolaveri Kolaveri Kolaveri di....????

If you havent heard this song or atleast this phrase then that means that you are totally out of sync with the virtual/music world. Written and sung by Dhanush, this is a song is from the upcoming movie "3" which is directed by his wife Aishwarya Rajnikanth Dhanush. When it was launched in Youtube it went viral (more than 12 million hits) and it was played on MTV for 3 days as top song. Though this is a Tamil movie song, the lyrics are completely in broken English, facilitating its acceptance all over the world.
Kolaveri - translated simply means a murderous rage or even hell bent passion, or a compulsive desire to irritate

When I heard it first, I dint like it, but slowly I started humming it as it was so catchy. It has became such a big hit that an entire blog is dedicated to this song

Only the first video in that blog is the original, everything else is a dedication and they are all so funny. The words absolutely make no sense, but given the fact that over half the people in this world cannot speak fluent English, its caught the fancy of many.

The productions house hasn't launched any merchandise but most big brands like Urban dictionary are catching on this trend, making merchandise out of it (mostly for men). Looking at all those Tshirts,blaming women for love failure, I had this kolaveri to make a Womenswear version. Thus was born the Kolveri Necklace - Made from Scrabble tiles... :D.

For Sale

The Philosophy of the necklace is simple as derived from the song with is strung together with basic words sometimes gibberish (like soup song) to make a song. Here I used applied the concept to using individual letters (tiles) to make not just a word, but also a statement.
There is a tutorial on its way for this necklace. It is also for sale and please contact me to buy it.

Then as I was in the mood for charm necklaces I also made another one. This time a totally contrasting, very classic and elegant piece, with (Filipino) Opal shell charms

SOLD!!

Adding charms is very easy if the charm has a loop on it. Just open up a jump ring and attach the charm to the chain at fixed intervals.
Can you believe that these charms have been sitting idle in my stash for the last 10 months and the minute I made the necklace and put it up on facebook it got sold....So much for the wait...!! As my Dad puts it I guess everything has its own time and place...

*If you from Chennai blogger or otherwise, do check out the Blogger Kootam Lets do Something Contest/Giveaway to win 2 prizes worth Rs.500 each

Cheers

World Gold Council Report

2011-12-02T12:05:00.001+05:30

Sometime back, a representative of the World Gold Council contacted me regarding their third quarter Gold Demand Trends to find out if I would be interested in passing on the findings to mu readers. I said yes and she promptly mailed me the reports. The report provides insight and stats on global gold demand, and also includes a section on the luxury, gold jewellery. Here are just a couple of points in brief...
-The report has some interesting data for the period between July and September relating to the global demand for gold jewellery. Of particular note is the fact that in value terms demand reached a quarterly record of US$25.5bn. This was 24 per cent higher than the value registered during the third quarter of 2010. Chinese jewellery demand also saw an increase in demand reaching 13 per cent higher than the previous year’s levels.

- Third quarter gold demand volume increased 6% year-on-year to reach 1,053.9 tonnes, worth a record US$57.7bn. A strong rise in investment demand drove the growth in overall demand, as investors across the globe sought to protect their wealth, diversify their risk and benefit from gold’s strong returns. Jewellery demand contracted in the face of record gold prices and challenging economic conditions, while the technology sector contributed a steady level of demand

- Regardless of the price raise India's demand for Gold still is the maximum for the quarter say these graphs.
To get the full Gold Demands Trend report visit www.gold.org/media for download
or You can also write to me and I can send you a copy of these reports and it is worth reading if you interested in the gold market.

* The Gold Demand Trends report is the authoritative source of information and insight for those involved in the gold market, current and future investors and consumers and businesses alike. It provides analysis on the long-term gold market fundamentals and the current trends driving gold demand.

Cheers

Creating Success around the world - Kavya

2011-11-30T03:30:00.004+05:30

Welcome to Creating Success around the World with me at JewelsofSayuri - This is a worldwide blog hop tour, that introduces you to creative people from all corners of the globe and I, Divya N, is your host from Asia for the month of November.

She is pretty, she is cute and she sure is talented and I guess she is the youngest person to be featured on CSAW till now....so who is that "she" we are going to meet today?

She is Kavya from !Fantasies of Paper a talented little girl of 12.
I chanced upon her blog through this blog hop and the page I visited had some quilled dolls. A couple of months back I was looking to make/buy similar dolls in wood for navaratri, but I couldnt find then anywhere. so I was really excited, to find it online. It was only at the second glace I figured out they were made in paper...I was wowed!! I didnt know such things could be made from paper. I looked through the blog and it was so mind blowing & creative.
We then wrote to each other and when I decided to feature her and gave her the regular questions to which she innocently replied "Thanks a lot for this opportunity!!But I don't think I will have 1 or 2 answers as I am still 12 and a half !!" and I changed the questions.
She reminded me of myself and how enthusiastic I used to be about crafting that age...so even though the star of this feature is Kavya, I would like to dedicate this blog hop to all of us who began crafting seriously at an young age...!!

Off to the interview

Hi Kavya, Tell us something about you, yours likes and your interests

I am Kavya Nagalakunta currently studying in Grade 8, The Indian High School, Dubai. I am from Hyderabad, Andhra Pradesh, India. My interests include reading books, crafting, drawing and playing the keyboard.

Personally I love your dolls but what is that you really like to create?

I mostly work on Paper Quilling, Punch art and making quilled miniatures.

At Dubai, you must be getting a fair bit of international exposure, Is that what inspires you to create?

Many crafters around the world inspire me....No particular crafter is my role model as I find every crafter unique as they have their own style.

No doubt you work has a global appeal to it and it is so beautiful. Have you ever thought of selling them?

As of now, nobody approached me to buy them but in the future I might if someone is interested, But I feel crafting as a hobby is more fun than a business..

Your work is lovely and people will be definitely willing to buy it once get to know about it, and believe me they will soon :)
Tell us something about your support system - your parents, teachers & friends

My mom and my dad are really supportive, they encourage me to give my best and most of the time they are ones who give me lot of ideas!! My teachers and friends are equally supportive but not many of them are aware that I craft. But then, it was because of my parents and teachers that I took crafting seriously this year!!

As a designer I have made loads of mistakes in my life, I still do and attempt learning from them. What about you?

I have made numerous mistakes when it comes to crafting but I am lucky to have people around me who guide me and put me in the right track..... I have found various answers such as the right glue, how to avoid getting quilled pieces dirty, right tools to name a few through net..

Since you are still in school, do you have any ideas of making this hobby your profession? Do you want to be a crafter/ designer when you grow up?
My Ambition in life is to become an interior designer or a graphic designer as I like art and want to make it my career.

That's really cool and I hope and wish for that goal of yours to come true. Thanks for joining us today and we wish you lots of luck inthe future
I hope you all found Kavya's work inspiring. Do visit her blog to check out more of her work.

As November comes to a close, so does my hosting. It was great fun meeting some talented women and getting to know them and their work. Special thanks to Janelle & Jill for giving me the opportunity to host this blog hop.....Hoping to keep in touch with all of you...
Till then... Cheers & do link up

Here's how you can take this worldwide tour with us:
You can follow all the hosts to support them and keep up to date with the fabulous posts they will share every week. Then if you are inspired to join, just link up your own blog to make some new international friends.
Remember to leave us a comment when you follow us so we can follow you back!And of course we'd love if you added our button to your site to help spread the word! Here are your hosts:Make sure you visit them all to see the inspiration and creative people every continent has to add to our community.

Here's the linky code: Link up & Have fun

Holiday Goodies Giveaway

2011-11-24T13:04:00.002+05:30

Now that design brands and small business are gearing up for Holiday Shopping - especially Black Friday...I am not to be left behind. Apart from entering a huge number of huge number of Giveaways like I did last year (Ya ya I hear you say that I am shameless!!...heeeee, but thats the fun!!) I am also planning to do a small Giveaway of my own, here at Sayuri....

Starting from Today, I will be giving a shop credit of 15% on all products available on my Etsy Store....

Because of the all time rupee low, I am unable to include new products in my shop, so I have decided to do this giveaway - No strings attached!!

No obligation to comment, blog or tweet about it - but If you do so I will be grateful!!

All you need to do is to use this promo code "SAYURIBK" when checking out to get 15% discount....!!!

I have also reduced the shipping price of all items to spread some holiday cheer!!

Click here to visit my etsy store - http://www.etsy.com/shop/JewelsofSayuri

** Offer valid till stocks last

Also on Saturday that is on Nov26th - there is going to be another exclusive Giveaway of Craft supplies, lovingly (& generously) sponsored by Kavitha of Kalalaya for 2 lucky bloggers who would be attending the Blogger kootam meet...So if you havent joined in till now...do so immediately... The goodies are too good to pass up!!

So shop, win stuff and Have fun!!

Cheers

Creating Success around the world - Shalini

2011-11-23T03:30:00.004+05:30

Today we are going to meet Shalini Maskara from Craft Curry...There once used to be a blog called Artsy, blog and soul, now Craftziners, a great blog for Indian arts and crafts. They were the first ones to do a full length feature of me, needless to say I was thrilled. The person to be featured after me was Shalini. One look at her cards I was spell bound. They were so wonderful and breathtaking. Later when we became each other's follower and a visit to her blog always fascinates and inspires me

Hi Shalini, Tell us something about you, yours likes and your interests

Hi, I am Shalini from www.craftcurry.com. Born, brought up and spent all my life till now in Delhi, India.I am a Chartered Accountant by education, currently engaged in a garment manufacturing industry…stealing out time to pursue my passion of paper crafting particularly card making. I love dabbling between diff. forms of art and crafts right from knitting, crochet, oil painting to cooking and music too

Wow! That's a big list of things you do! How do you find time to craft?

My problem is that me and my mind can’t sit idle… so I am on the constant lookout for new things.

Haa...that sounds exactly like me....So What is that you like to create?

Predominantly I make Cards… I also indulge in 3D projects at times and scrapbooking too occasionally.

What inspires you to create?

I love observing things around me and draw inspiration from random things… Blogging has been an eye opener… it introduced me to possibilities, I never ever could imagine existed!!!!... it brought a whole new world, right here to me… have learned so much about the new techniques, ideas, tools, materials that exist… and in the process have come in contact with some beautifully talented people from around the world with similar passion for paper craft.

Ya..a couple of years back there were hardly any blogs talking about Contemporary Indian talent and now we have finally arrived...Isn't that great?

Yes, What began as a small community is slowly growing and spreading its wings in India too…

I absolutely love my blogger friends too. Apart from them do you have any other Rolemodels; People who you would like to emulate?

My role model is my Mom who has been ‘THE’ guiding force in my life… I am in awe of the way she takes strong decisions so easily and conducts her life with such poise and calmness. With my impulsiveness, I am yet to achieve that in my life

You make such beautiful cards, do you sell them?

I usually make cards for friends and family. Though on some occasions I have also made some bulk cards for a diwali and Christmas exhibition I put up with some friends. So, Yes, I do sell my creations to those interested in buying them

As a designer I have made loads of mistakes in my life, I still do and attempt learning from them. What about you?

Well, one lesson that I have learnt is to stop buying supplies just for the urge of buying…. Initially when the crafting goodies were in scarce supply in India, I have bought random useless stuff from UK and US just with the idea of saving them for the rainy day. Now, when I look back at some of the stuff I am like, ‘what was I thinking!!!’ Now, I am a little more organized(I said little;) )

Haaa...very true. Even I have done crazy Internet supplies shopping. Has there been a point in your life when you thought (thinking) that yes, I have succeeded in doing what I want to do?

I think I am yet to reach that point in life. I have set a goal for myself with a couple of things to achieve in life. I am working towards them and I hope it’s not too long before I can proudly say that yes, I have succeeded in doing what I wanted to do

So What's next?
Loads of future plans… on personal, professional and crafty fronts!!! Coming to the craft side of it… I have always dreamt of having my own craft-books-coffee lounge one day… so hopefully it might just come true!!! :D and yes, I seriously do hope to get more regular with blogging in future!!!

I wish you great luck for that and thanks for joining us today!!

I hope you all found Shalini work inspiring. Do visit her blog to check out more of her work.
Till then... Cheers & do link up

Note: If you are an art/craft/ style blogger from Chennai or are in Chennai on the 26th of Nov please Join me and my friends at Kalpataru in Palavakkam, ECR, for a Craft blogger meet.

Details at http://bloggerkootam.blogspot.com/

Here's how you can take this worldwide tour with us:
You can follow all the hosts to support them and keep up to date with the fabulous posts they will share every week. Then if you are inspired to join, just link up your own blog to make some new international friends.
Remember to leave us a comment when you follow us so we can follow you back!And of course we'd love if you added our button to your site to help spread the word! Here are your hosts:Make sure you visit them all to see the inspiration and creative people every continent has to add to our community.

Here's the linky code: Link up & Have fun

Rooftop Jewelry

2011-11-19T10:50:00.010+05:30

You must have all heard of rooftop garden, rooftop restaurant and must be wondering what rooftop jewelry is. Its very simple - its jewelry that had to get to the rooftop, in order to get photographed, as I have lost the only source of natural light at my house for taking pictures.

You see I used to take all my jewelry pics on my dining table and sunlight from the adjacent window would light it adequately. But in the last few months, we are letting our neighbour's neem tree grow over and cover the window in order to offer us some privacy from the apartment thats getting built next door. Yes we did get our privacy, but with the rainy season in full spell here, the tree has completely blocked out the window leaving me without a space to click pics and its been showing in all my pics they look grainy and really bad.

So fed up, I went up to the terrace last week and set up shop on the water tank staircase.

Me, in my frumpy work attire

Cement steps + mud+dirt = great texture

The texture on the stairs was great and I even used my handmade lightbox for darker jewelry pieces. For the first time in a couple of months, the pieces came out in their original colour, without me having colour correct any of them. Even the light colours came out good. I haven't done much photoshop work on these pics apart from sizing them. for the picture of the ring I used a technique I found in Pearl's blog - to use a piece of black paper on the side while shooting silver pieces on a white backgrounds. More photography tips can be found here.

It did come out well for a time, until the winds started blowing and my backgrounds and reflectors started flying away. It was hilarious, as I chased after jewelry covers along the length of the terrace. Finally my water bottle and some bricks came to my rescue.


Top: Arrangement -A 3 way light box with a silver reflector Left: Result

But as fate would have it...it became cloudy, soon the blue tinge started reappearing in pics...and I decided to leave it for another day. Atleast it was good while it lasted!!

Note: If you are an art/craft/ style blogger from Chennai or are in Chennai on the 26th of Nov please Join me and my friends at Kalpataru in Palavakkam, ECR, for a Craft blogger meet.

Details at http://bloggerkootam.blogspot.com/

Cheers