This week, Maruti Beads has donated an assortment of Kashmiri beads for another lucky winner.  Maruti Beads employs artisans and crafts people  who fashion Kashmiri beads by hand from polymer clay, marble powder and resin.   The beads are  embellished with faceted glass, rhinestones,  seed beads, wire and various metal components and, because each one is made by hand, no two are exactly alike.  

These are big-holed, durable beads.  I think they might be too small for a Pandora-style bracelet.  But if you like the way they look, Maruti Beads offers Pandora-style beads as well.

Or how about mixing them with silver beads or lamp worked beads?  

Besides Kashmiri Bead,  Maruti Beads makes Lac Beads,  Shambala Bracelets  and a  new style bead they  call  the  Maruti Bead.    You can reach them on any of the following social media links or at their website.

• +Google
• Pinterest
• Facebook
• Twitter

And now for the giveaway information. 

One lucky winner will receive all the beads you see in this post plus a few more, approximately 25 beads in all.   

To enter,  leave a comment below by June 19, 2013 telling me what you would like to make if you win the  Kashmiri beads.   

I will choose the winner at random and send the beads off to their new home.

 Remember,  if you don’t win this week, I will be running  the final  Maruti Beads giveaway next week.  

How would you like to win these beautiful hand-made beads from  India?  You will find details on how to enter the giveaway at the end of the post.

I received an email a few months ago from Maruti Beads, a bead company located in India asking if I would consider writing about their beads on my blog and hosting a giveaway.  I am new to this sort of thing having never engaged in any kind of blog promotion.  But I felt that as long as I didn’t take anything of value that could call my objectivity into question, it could be  fun and a learning experience.  Beads are a passion of mine after all.  So I agreed.

A few weeks later, a brown paper-wrapped parcel arrived in the mail filled with packets of very attractive beads.  I ripped one open  and examined the beads inside. They were glossy and  light weight.  I didn’t know what they were made from; it wasn’t  wood or ceramic. The label said “Lac.”   I’d never heard of Lac beads so  I decided to find out more about them.   I got obsessed with learning about Lac jewelry for a few days.   When I am learning about something, I tend to get obsessed, something my husband and friends know very well.

A Little Background . . .

No one knows how long people have been making things of Lac but archaeological excavations have uncovered Lac coated materials, possibly dating to 1600 BC.   Francesco Balducci Pegolotti was a Florentine merchant who lived in the 1300s and traveled the Silk Road in search of goods for the European market. Along with the exotic indigo dyes, spices, Brazil wood and amber, Pegolotti mentions that Lac was a valued commodity-so valued that it was made into beads and sometimes covered in gold.

I found out more about Lac from Traditional Jewelry of India. by Oppi Untracht. Lac is a natural resin secreted from Kerria lacca -a species of tiny insect indigenous to the forests of northern India. The resin accumulates on the twigs of trees where the insects live in colonies. The twigs are harvested and the resin is refined into Lac. In ancient times Lac turned into lacquer, shellac, and jewelry.   Most varnish is  man-made  and mass market jewelry is made from plastic and refined metal.  But Lac jewelry is still made in India.     Jewelry has a tremendous cultural significance in India.   One article I read said  that if a woman got married without jewelry “it would be a sacrilege.” Read “The History of Indian Jewelry” here.   In India,  married women customarily wear bangles and while gold is the material of choice, not everyone can afford it.  So many of the bangles were made of Lac which gave  rise to the Lac jewelry industry. 

Maruti Beads is putting a modern twist on the traditional Lac jewelry designs with their beautiful and unusual beads. Maruti employs artisans and craftspeople who make every bead by hand; each one is a little different so they are all truly one of a kind.  When you make a purchase from them, you really are buying from the artist!

Lac beads are eco-friendly because they are made from natural resin.   I have read  that  they might also be a good choice for people who are sensitive to metal and plastic jewelry, but you will have to try for yourself.  While Lac beads are not fragile, they should be treated with care because they are made from natural resin and crushed marble powder.   Maruti Beads does business internationally with everyone from hobbyists to bead stores.  You can find their ordering policies here.

Besides Lac Beads,  Maruti Beads makes Kashmiri Beads, Shamballa Bracelets  and a  new style bead they  call  the  Maruti Bead.    You can reach them on any of the following social media links or at their website.

• +Google
• Pinterest
• Facebook
• Twitter

And now for the giveaway information. 

One lucky winner will receive all the beads you see in this post plus a few more, approximately 25 beads in all.   

To enter,  leave a comment below telling me which Lac bead you like best by June 12, 2013.

I will choose the winner at random  and send the beads off to their new home.

And now for the good news!  If you don’t win this week, I will be running TWO more giveaways thanks to Maruti Beads.  Next week’s post will showcase  their Kashmiri beads and the post of June 20 will be on their original creations: Maruti beads.  There will be giveaways each week.

Congratulations to Karin Martinez of Hippy Freak Beads You are the lucky winner of giveaway number one!

Leave me a comment with your address (it won’t be published) and I will send your beads to you.

Reblogged from Philadelphia Area Polymer Clay Guild Reporter:

I’m making a modified Log Cabin pattern, semi wonky because I could never color inside the lines and still can’t. I plan each block to be 13 inches square raw and 12 inches square sewn and I have 70 made so far. I want to make 14 more.  I am using mostly cut up clothes, old sheets and tablecloths, scraps and found fabric.

I bought a big box of scraps on Etsy.  If you do a search for “fabric destash” you can get some incredible deals and the shipping is reasonable too.

You use a lot of thread when you sew patches together so I am using a cone rather than a spool of thread and I made a stand for the thread cone that is working out quite well! Here are some instructions.

I also learned about the chain piecing technique that helps you to sew faster. There’s a nice video on it at the bottom of the post.

And now for the gallery

The materials I used are pebbles, twigs, stripped electrical wire (12 and 18 gauge copper) and picture hanging cable.

I drilled holes in the pebbles and twigs with a hand rotary drill.  Find a tute on drilling rocks here.

I cut sections of the 12 gauge copper,  formed them into interesting shapes, bent a loop  on top for hanging  and pounded them with a hammer.  I also filed the ends because they get sharp!

I made a closure with the thinner wire by wrapping it around the  ends of the cable and fashioning a hook and eye.

Here’s a good tute on how to do that .

I don’t think I’d wear this necklace to a formal event, but I have worn it.   I recommend is  coating the twigs with resin after drilling  to strengthen them.   Then you could do all kinds of things with them!  You could color them with pencils and markers and make Christmas ornaments or jewelry components or garlands or  . . .  the list goes on and on.

And be sure to check out Clayathon goes to the Circus.

The furniture in my workshop  (see pictures on the left and right) was made up of street finds, boards, old furniture taken apart and repurposed and yard sale acquisitions. I dismantled most of it and had it carted away. I also got rid of 120 books and replaced hundreds of magazines I like with digital editions.  I will never again  subscribe to a bead or jewelry magazine that isn’t digital. I plan to get rid of the remainder of the magazines when their respective publishers see fit to have a sale on back digital editions.

This is how things look now.                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                         The behemoth behind the work table is part of an entertainment unit that Ikea sold  back in the 1990s.  It was so hard to put together and so cheap, that they only sold it for one year.  I dismantled the middle unit and the two six foot bookcases, dragged them from the living room to the basement (by now cleared) and reassembled them.  I mean, I put the bookcases back together.  I needed help for the middle section in the form of a husband who kept grousing that we would never be able to put it back together.  Boy was he surprised when suddenly, there it was standing in front of us completely reassembled!

I took two Limmon tabletops from Ikea and put them onto four cabinets.  I got the idea from the Ikea Hackers blog.   It worked out so well that I added four more Helmer cabinets.   I bought a computer monitor stand with a slide out shelf for $3.99 at a thrift shop and attached it to the underside of the table for a handy drawer.

I have been switching doors around as I find that certain items are better stored in other cabinets.

I learned how to use a hammer drill so I could relocate the pegboards and shelving on the masonry walls

Lampworking station is closed until I can open the windows and get the fans going.  The kilns and oak watchmaking bench have been relocated to the wall to the right of th lampworking station.

Now I have enough room to sew and I can invite  friends over to work.  It’s easy to walk around the table  which now has eight Helmer cabinets stowed beneath as well as three plastic carts.  I’m going to have the electric service upgraded and make some other changes, but I think I’ve found the layout that works and a place for everything!

Press here for a wonderful site that links to 44 different artists work spaces. Maybe one will inspire you!

Necklace Number One

I used Miranda’s clasp in this necklace and the bit of gunmetal chain she sent. I added brass and copper figaro chains and mixed my metals willy nilly. Miranda included a strand of chicklet-like brown beads with her soup and most of them ended up in this necklace, I had an especially good time assembling the focal and combined the beads in an unconventional way. I like how they look! Besides the chains, I added some seed beads and wire, and the brass, turquoise and red beads which I thought would go well with the brown. This necklace ended up being a lot of work and I had to solve some engineering problems but I had fun and that’s what counts.

Necklace Number Two

Here you see the big yellow focal with one of Miranda’s turquoise beads. The focal frame is an earring I found on the street! Miranda sent a strand of chips which I strung with 0/8 turquoise seed beads. The pearl chain is the second strand and the third strand with the gemstone beads is connected by base metal eye pins that I wrapped with real French bullion gold wire that I’ve had for years. I think it really makes the piece look opulent although I never heard of French bullion being used this way. It’s a bit extravagant but I wanted to try it. I made the toggle clasp from brass (process explained in prior post) and textured it to go with the brass disk Miranda included with the beads. That’s a bullion-wrapped eye pin hanging on the bottom.

Necklace Number Three

The only Miranda beads I used here are a gorgeous Biwa pearl (she sent two; the other one is in the focal of necklace number one) and a brown freshwater pearl. The rest of the necklace is street finds: rusty washers, stripped electrical wire and materials discussed in a prior post.

Earrings

I have a confession to make. When I first saw these wire beads I didn’t like them. They don’t have any holes and Miranda sent three of them. I was stumped until I turned them on their sides, added some of her chips and her purple crystals, and ended up with earrings I will wear!

And I made a pendant with the third wire bead and an enameled bead Miranda sent.

Thank you Lori Anderson for another great Bead Soup Blog Party!!!

To see the rest of the participants, press here.

Here’s a gallery of close ups and detail shots.

The pieces cut out

The brass disk  was part of the bead soup and I textured it and the loop and toggle clasp

Another View

Ready for  soldering.  You’ll have to wait for reveal day to see the finished clasp.

This is a clasp I made for another piece you will see on reveal day.   It’s made of stripped electrical wire and a section o ring from a 5 gallon plastic bucket which resembles thick buna cord and it’s free when you find it in the street!

And here are some more preview pix!

A Building. See the camera?

A Building

A Flowerpot

A Barbershop

A Door

Another Door

A Doggie in a Window

A Building

A Decorative Element

The Shoes of the Photographer