Abhushan - Metal work - part 1

Continuing from Last week's intro on Abhushan, this week I would like to put forward a couple of my basic sheet metal and chain work that I did there. Considering that our theme was Recycle and Reinvention (sounds like my personal motto right;), all these designs use bits and pieces of things lying around.

# Sunflower Sieve

Materials: Mixed Media - brass sheet, fabric, leather cord, metal ball chain, wooden and acrylic beads and findings

- The cord is make of a leather cord and a metal chain twisted together and wrapped with wire at the ends to make a clasp

- The sieve is a left over brass piece that was cut to a rounded rectangle and drilled with random multiple holes. I then strung some beads to copper wire and secured them on the plate with the help of the holes. I then twisted the copper hooks around the jump rings on the cord to make a bail.

- the sunflower is a piece of fabric rosette I made sometime back. It was big and gold and didn't fit into anything else and it travelled  with me all the way to Delhi, to fit in beautifully with this piece as though it was destined to be that way

- The piece is further embellished by earring button stoppers and some findings.

 # Drops of Fire Necklace

Materials: Mixed Media - wooden Lacquer beads, coconut beads, metal chains, toothpick and wire & clasps

Concept Description: Ahmed Uncle & Abida Aunty, who are Lacquer artisans from Chenapatinam when describing their process said something that captured my heart -"These soft round beads shining with colour are nothing but drops of fire that burn our hands" It was so heart wrenching and got me thinking and thus was born this design.

As a designer I feel that for a design to be effective the concept of the piece should be effective not just in the thought level but should be seen visually. So I thought what better way  than to do a charm necklace with wire wrapped lac beads in fiery colours (red, orange, burnt sienna and ocher)

- The disc beads are coconut, the center one is a wire wrapped tooth pick charm (inspired by the poison prickers of Black & white cinema) and the others are lacquer beads wrapped with wire - each in their own way.

I am submitting this design to the Ecuadorian hands bead contest. Vote for me  before the 27th march (2011) and help me win a bunch of Tagua beads

Because these pictures were taken in a hurry during the workshop I know that they really don't do enough justice to how the pieces really looked when worn.

Post to be continued....with part 2 & 3 of the Abhushan workshop.

Hope you enjoyed the post

BTW Here is the list of materials that were used to make the items in last weeks post:

Jute strips, handbag handle, cut plastic pearls, plastic sticker, metal ball, silver colored pollens and aluminium ring, two pin plug, beads, daisy spacers and hooks/clasps. So did you get all of them right?

Cheers

Honeysuckle- color of 2011

Every year, Pantone (the global authority on color and provider of professional color standards for the design industries) makes a prediction of what color will be “it” for the following year. They predicted that Turquoise would be the color of 2010 and a lot of people took to it, making it very fashionable. This year they’re going almost directly diagonally across the color wheel with the announcement that 2011 will be the year of Honeysuckle.

Honeysuckle - commonly known as “tickled pink” stands for energy, good health, vitality and positive thoughts. Carrying a mix of orange and red in it as well it is supposed to infuse passion and lift up our spirits in trying times. It combines well with other colours like black, charcoal, navy, gray, beige and green and suits both the fair and dusky Indian skin tone perfectly.

Using Honeysuckle

Whether you're buying groceries, paying the drycleaner or getting Sparky groomed for the dog show, now you can do it in style, with the new PANTONE Visa® Platinum Rewards Card. It comes with benefits like No Annual Fee, a Low Introductory APR, Travel Insurance and more. Available in pink (honeysuckle), orange (firecracker) and lavender shades, this is a great addition to any fashionista’s purse.

Fashion: Wear a honeysuckle dress as you are off to meet your date this Valentine’s day. Pair a honeysuckle shirt (plain/striped) with a charcoal/beige trouser or skirt to work. It is a great colour for weddings and it brings out the vibrancy and festivity of the occasion. A great color for beaders, Jewelry & accessory makers

Honeysuckle is not just restricted to clothes. It is a wonderful colour for accessories. A belt here, a floral brooch there and it would instantly spice up your look. Pick up a honeysuckle bag to be worn with your white dress/ top for a casual day outing. Think in terms of stoles, footwear, belts and jewelry to add zing to your wardrobe. Wear it with bronze greens, creams, grays and dark browns. A Honeysuckle cashmere scarf and belt create a luscious combination. Menneed not shy away from it. It is a great colour for formal striped shirts, casual polo tees and ties. A great choice for work wear as it would perk up the dull corporate attire.

Make up: Apart from being used as a blush, Honeysuckle is a great lip colour - Pout and full of life. As nail colour it spells class and sets the temperature raising. Just don’t use it with a honeysuckle clothes.

 Home Interiors:Honeysuckle is an upbeat colour (available in the eco range) and can be used on entry areas of a house or on the dining room walls. If you think its too loud then try incorporating it in placemats and other linens (patterned or solid), colored glassware, candles, flowers and small appliances. It will go perfectly with beige, cream, off white and green walls. Adding Honeysuckle cushions is a great way to liven up your room.

Invest in the colour this 2011 and watch your style quotient soar high. After all it’s every girl dream to be “pretty in Pink or rather Honeysuckle” 

Please do not republish without prior permission from me and Sulekha.-Thanks

Article source : http://she.sulekha.com/wearing-honeysuckle-the-colour-of-2011_02_2011_postedby_divya-n

Author: Divya N

hope you enjoyed reading it!!
Cheers

Abhushan

I have been saying Abhushan Abhushan for quite some time so you all must be wondering what exactly it is and what was I doing there. Abhushan - which means Jewelry was an international Convention on Jewellery from Grass to Gold January 28th -February 6th, 2011, New Delhi, India. With a workshop and a seminar it was a collaboration of artists, artisans, designers, scholars and students, an exchange of ideas, a combination of the traditional and the modern, functional and the aesthetic aspect of making jewelry.

I Participated in the week long workshop and interacted with International designers like Helen Britton (my mentor for the program), Tasso Mattar, Akewele Suma Glory, Andrew Keith, Charmian Inman, Paola Leal and traditional craftsman from India (not necessarily jewelers) who were sponsored by CCI (Crafts council of India).

It was a wonderful experience and am glad that I found exceptionally talented and congenial teammates to work with. From national award winning craftsman to beginners, from industry designers to trainers - It was a  nice heterogeneous group.

I learnt how to crochet (finally!!) and also how to work with sheet metal - sawing, grinding, drilling, soldering, riveting even though I was supposedly in the recycled materials group. :) :)

Here is a little teaser of my work in recycled materials..would do separate posts on metal work subsequently.

Can you guess all the materials these three pieces are made of? Come on, its very simple lets see who gets all the materials right. Fill it up in the comments.

Cheers

Happy Blogiversary to us

Hey,

Its been a year, when I got up one morning and suddenly decided to blog.I had done a lot of research on Ancient Indian jewelry and really really wanted to share it (afterall why waste all the hard work ;) so thus was born this blog. So through constant support of some of my friends (n a lot of mouse friends- like pen pals) and screaming advices of why dont you make it more commercial, more advertising type, I am glad that I have stuck to what I wanted to do. Display my experiments in Jewelry and accessories. Share my learning as many did with me...and maybe as I get richer would do a lot of giveaways ;)

So the last one year has been really eventful...so now it is gloating time :D

- I designed a website for myself and it is doing alright (still slightly cranky in IE)

- Made loads of Mouse friends

- Ran a contest and found some amazing participants

- Have a facebook fan page now (check it out at the bottom of right side link bar and join in if you wish so)

- Published 75+ articles in the she section of Sulekha

- Taught Design at design schools to loads of students and help put up a fashion show of 100+ garments

- Attended Abhushan- a workshop of design dialogues in jewelry conducted by the world craft council in Delhi and had a swell of a time (Pics, inspirations an thoughts in the days to follow)

- This blog now has had about 25 followers, 61 posts around 7500 hits ( help me hit 10K soon :D) and a bunch of people who comment regularly

God save me from all this vanity ;)

Hmm...so what to expect in this year....

- obviously better work

- more tutorials

- maybe an online store (somebody help me with paypal!!)

- some giveaways

- and hopefully lots of new friends

So here to a great year that went by

Cheers & Happy Blogiversary people :) :)

Luv

Valentine Gem set Ring: How to

Valentine's day is here, Love is in the air, blossoming in the air with roses, chocolates and balloons.A perfect day for a perfect proposal from special someone who would go down on his knees with a beautiful ring in his hands!! Hmmmmm......Doesn't happen all the time right? 

Okay there is nothing I can do about the proposal, but I can do something about the ring. This Valentine's day I am going to help all of you make a pink tourmaline (look alike only !!) and pearl ring. May be that would just give him the hint ;) 

Again the stones I have used are from an old link bracelet and the pearl is from an earring whose pair I lost. Time taken 5 minutes...so make it and wear it right now !!
I apologize for not posting step wise pictures as I was in Delhi participating at the Abhushan Summit for the last 2 weeks. More on that later.


Materials required: 

Two Swarovski gem/stone links (I don't know what they are called in Europe or US) & a pearl

Wire round 18-20 gauge (Sterling silver, stainless steel or aluminium is okay)
Ring mandrel

nose pliers
wire cutters

Procedure:
Step one:Cut a 16 inch piece of 18-20 gauge  wire, more for larger ring sizes. Find your desired size on a ring mandrel and work with one size larger.Now there are 2 ways in which you could proceed Easy and Easiest


EASIEST
Step two:Center the wire over the mandrel. Wrap one side of the wire around the mandrel and wrap the other side around the mandrel in the opposite direction. The band should now contain 2 strands of wire.
Step three:Thread one end of the wire through one side of the holes of one Swarovski gem, followed by a pearl and end with the other gem. Thread the other end of wire through the other side of the holes passing through the pearl in the center. Pull the wires tight and hold them in place while you carefully slide the ring off of the mandrel.


EASY ( what I did)
Step two: Turn the mandrel around so that the curved portion is in the front. Center the wire over the mandrel. Add one Swarovski gem, followed by a pearl and end with the other gem on the wire so that they are in the center. Wrap one side of the wire around the mandrel and wrap the other side around the mandrel in the opposite direction. The band should now contain 2 strands of wire at back.

Step three: Take one edge of the wire around the gem nearest to it so that it forms a loop. Do the same with the other wire and the other gem. Now both gems will be set in the loop as in the pic and the pearl will be free to rotate. Push them as close as possible to one another.

Step Four is the same for both versions
Step four:Wrap the ends of the wire five or six times over all three strands of the ring on both sides of the center gem setting, keeping it as tight as possible. Cut the excess wire. Re-shape the ring if required.
Step Five: Dress up a ring box and place the ring in it and wear it whenever you feel like it :D

Hope you had fun doing this ring

Cheers

Valentine week BFF corsage bracelet: How to

Rose Day which begins the official valentine week is here. So If you are somebody who is into celebrating this holiday, you will need lots of ideas for new gifts (to your BFFs). So here is an idea that will make cool (Thrifty) Valentine week BFF corsage that you and your BFFs can wear to show your solidarity and friendship.    

Materials:Remember from pink cami from the last post.The strap area remained unused at the end so I am utilizing those little pieces to make this corsage bracelet. You can use any knit corsage. The rosettes are made from the armhole bindings and the strap is the shoulder portion. you can also use a 1" satin tape or twill tape for the base.
(Compliments to self : great idea to use all leftover pieces from so many UFOs lying around the house)
- some spare beads or pearls
-a small square (3X3) of silver gauze/lace or tulle
- hand needle and matching thread/ Scissors
 Procedure:

Cut the binding of one armhole. Use half of it to make the smaller rosette. You'll need the full length of the other armhole binding for the bigger rosette. Start with a knot and roll the extra fabric around the knot, twisting it as you go. Secure with hand stitches while adding pearls or beads as embellishments.

Repeat for the bigger rosette. Now take a square of tulle/ gauze or anything shiny and gather it (or pleat it) in the center so that it looks like a unopened fan. Sandwich it between the 2 rosettes and stitch through all 3 pieces to secure them. You can add a couple of beads on the joint for decoration.





Without Snipping of the thread attach the focal to the base. Measure your wrist and add 4-5" to it. Cut the shoulder strap or use a ribbon in that measure. Stitch it tight and its done. Now wear it on your wrist and tie it up at the back.

Now all my designs have some funda in them..here the rosettes stand for you and your friend/partner (no ego here so your friend is obviously the bigger rosette :) )The tulle is your friendship or love for each other. The beads  are the memories that you share and finally the base is the trust on which your relationship stands. Too cheesy right ? but what the heck...its Fun :)



I hope you'll have fun making/wearing/gifting this corsage bracelet. Tell me what you think of it

Will meet you all again with a new tutorial on Valentine's day  for Feb15th happens to be  
"My First Blogiversary" 

Cheers

How to make : Velvet bangle

This is one of the easiest jewelry tutorials you'll ever come across. I did it first many many years ago in college when an accessory project was due with 1/2 hour's time. But actually this project takes only 5 minutes(totally including the cutting) if you don't count the drying time. Since this is a popular technique you might have seen similar tutorials on the net before but there is no plagarism here. so off to the  

Material list: 

- A strip of velvet fabric cut in bias (45 degrees): The length and width of the piece is determined by the size of the bangle.circumference of the bangle + 1/2 inch = length of the strip. Thickness of the bangle + 1/2 to 1" extra (again depending on the size) = width of the strip

- An old/new bangle (can be wooden or plastic - thick or thin depending on what you have), I have used a wooden bangle which I had painted years ago but as the paint came off, I sanded it to get a smooth edge.

- 1/2" satin tape length = inner circumference of the bangle +1/2"

- Fabric glue, scissors, a candle to singe the tape

Process:

Apply fabric glue to the outside of the bangle and place it on the middle of the strip (strip placed length wise) and start rolling. secure the front completely.Since the fabric is cut on bias there will be no lumps and the finish will be smooth. also there will be less fraying. (you can singe the edges before you begin to be doubly sure ;)

Now apply glue on the inside and press the fabric down tightly so that the fabric edges overlap each other and  is moulded to the base. Let it dry for 10 minutes

Cut a satin tape to the required length. Singe the edges. Apply glue on the inside of the bangle on the overlapped fabric edge and stick the tape and press firmly. leave for 15 minutes.

You velvet bangle is now done and ready to be worn.

You can do this with any type  of fabric and decorate it further with sequins, stones or findings if you wish so.

This is a great technique to create quirky accessories with whatever or fabric or print that is in vogue right now. This could be the answer to that leopard print cuff thats so much in trend right now.

So have fun creating this

Cheers