Creating Success around the world - Kavya

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.

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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

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

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.

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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

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

Creating success around the world -Bhushavali

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.

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Today we are going to meet Bhushavali (Bhusha for short) from Fashion Panache a textile designer and a wanderlust.
I met Bhusha in the first year of college. A friend of mine Satya, from another dept asked me if I could talk to an aspiring student and her mother regarding the entrance exams and life at NIFT general. I said okay, as I used to do that a lot and met her (Bhushavali). We spoke for a long time. Next year she joined NIFT in the textile design department and we have been in touch ever since. Apart from being a fantastic designer, she also travels a lot and blogs about that too. Infact it was her blog that made me take up blogging in the first place. So I am grabbing this opportunity to introduce her to you.

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

I am Bhushavali, I blog, I teach, and I learn. I am a fashion & textile designer by qualification, profession,and passion. And also a traveler by passion. I hail from Tamilnadu in the southern part of India, but ofcourse I travel a lot and seen a lot of places.Well, the world is afterall, not a global village, I have lot more to travel, to see, to learn and enjoy.

That's a big list of things both of us have in common - clothes, makeup, travel and teaching...haaaa. Is that what inspires you to create?

I am inspired by the fabric and I know what I want to create when I see a fabric.
I work with handloom, khadi and natural dyed fabrics. Coz, when I do that, I feel, I return back to the community and mother Earth.

Being a textile designer, working around a fabric is obviously your strength. So does someone have been artistic and eco friendly to wear your clothes? who do you think is your perfect client?

I design for the cosmopolitan working woman for her formal and casual wear.This woman wants not just comfort and style but wants to help sustainable rural development and to give back to the Mother Earth.

That's a noble thought but is it profitable? It is. I sell online at http://www.bhushavali.com.I also provide customized solutions where my client comes in with an idea and walks out with a dream apparel.

Yes, that does sound like a dream model. As a designer, do you have any Rolemodels; People who you would like to emulate?
In creation of masterpieces I love Ritukumar & JJ Valaya. In style I love Gauri & Nainika and Anita Dongre here and Micheal Kors in the international arena.

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

Ofcourse without scratching the knee, one can never learn to ride a bicycle.Mistakes have happened. But they have improved my understanding and helped me to become a better person.

Has there been a point in your life when you thought (thinking) that yes, I have succeeded in doing what I want to do?

No. I have a lot lot more to succeed. But yeah, I know this is the path I want to move forward.

Finally,What are your 3 tips for people who want to be more successful with creating/design business?

3? I'll make that one. Just follow your heart... :)

That's a good one and I hope we all follow that sincerely...:). Thanks for joining us today and we wish you lots of luck in your business. Long live your creative process.
I hope you all found Bhusha's work inspiring.  Do visit her blog to check out more of her work. Also Visit her Travel blog to read about places she has lived in/visited and loved.
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.





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 the linky code: Link up & Have fun

Bridal Series: The kandyan Bride

Dressed by Anoma & Angeeka Athukorala

Every bride wants to look like a princess in a fairy tale on her wedding day. A kandyan Bride, from Kandy in Sri Lanka is no different. She goes from looking shy to regal and royal in minute and that is really charming. The Kandyan bride in her traditional Osariya (sari) and the complementing gold and stone jewelry looks like a queen and, she is certainly the cynosure of all during the wedding. This saree is often rich and is woven ( or embroidered) with pure silver and gold threads. Culture experts say that great part of the Kandyan jewellery exhibits a strong Tamil influence, resembling the "Temple Jewelry" or the ornaments once worn by the Deva Dhasis of South India. This might be due to the fact that in olden times, Kandyan Kings married into Tamil Royal families. Epics like "Ponniyin Selvan" bear testimony to this. 
The bridal set is said to consist of 26 pieces of jewelry that will adorn the bride from head to waist.

Head gear: Very similar to the thalai alangaram or Head decoration of the Tamils, this head gear is called the Nalalpata. It is placed on the middle of the forehead, with one stem extending down the middle parting of the hair, and another two branches extending across the forehead upto the ear. The symbols of the sun and the moon are placed on either side of the head.

Photograph by Mahesh Mannapperuma

Photograph by Clifford Murray of Minal Studio

Dressed by Janki Soyza of Bliss Salon

 The hair do is mostly a bun or a chignon and is beautifully decorated with flowers.

Neck: As you can see in the visuals, the bride wears atleast seven neck pieces.  Most of these are chains with beautiful pendants with floral or swan and makara motifs called padakkam. They might also wear a choker called Karapatti. The Peti Malaya, meaning a garland of flowers is the last and longest chain encircling the rest. Some might wear chains with seed beads or even agate - called Agasthi Malaya.

Ear: The brides wear Jumkas or jimikis called as Dimiki. The two ear-studs from which the Dimithi flow, are studded with "odd" number of stones as even number of stones is considered unlucky.

Hand: The brides matching stone and gold bangles in both her hands
Hip: Some brides wear a dangling hip chain called Hawadiya

Photograph by Asela Wijesinghe

Even though it sounds a lot like the Tamil wedding Trousseau, there is one big difference. The usage of white saree as bridal wear is almost unimaginable in Tamil custom. Also the way in which the Kandyan saree is worn is very different from other saree drapes. It begins with the chest portion being draped first and the actual pallu is tucked in at the front waist below the fan like pleats.

Click here to read the South Indian Bridal Jewelry post

Images from:http://www.bridesofsrilanka.com/

With this we come to the end of the First edition of Bridal Series on JewelsofSayuri. Will come back with more soon. Thanks to Vichitra, Janelle and Keith for helping me out. I really enjoyed writing it and I hope it was interesting for you to read

Sorry for the long wait, this post somehow went to the back of the list!!Cheers

Creating success around the world - Dr.Sonia

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.

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Now for today's Feature...Janelle the previous host from Phillippines, once mentioned Dr. Sonia's name, an ENT  surgeon who is a passionate crafter. I was intrigued and set out to explore her blog Crafts and School Projects. Her projects were interesting and yet came with simple instructions and I was wowed. So I thought that all of you should meet her too.

Hi Sonia, Tell us something about you and how did you get interested in crafting?

I am an ENT Surgeon by profession and a crafter by passion. I started blogging to
share some of the school projects I was doing for my daughters school and hence I
named my blog http://cardsandschoolprojects.blogspot.com. I love paper as a
medium and while blog hopping became more and more interested in various crafts.
I am from Bangalore, India and India has such a rich culture and artistically speaking it is simply mind blowing.

Oh! I lived in Bangalore for a couple of years and I love that place. Its got an artistic flair. So what kinds of things do you like working on?

I like to dabble in all sorts of crafts but especially love paper craft. I love glass painting as its so easy to do[had to put a stop to it as there are no more places at home to keep my paintings!]. There is something called emboss painting which is simply fantastic, quick and literally therapeutic. I love to make cards especially pop up and interactive cards and in recent months I have come to enjoy quilling.

Same here, I hardly paint or do craft work anymore as there is no place to keep them at home and that is what led me to recycling too...its great isnt it?

Yes, My passion is recycling and transforming an everyday "throw away"object to a thing of beauty!

 

I see you do a lot of flowers in various materials. I guess that's your favourite motif. So What inspires your creations?

I am inspired to create by the mood and need of the moment! and sometimes necessity -My 5 year old daughter goes to a school which places a lot of importance on bringing models and projects from home and so many a times I make stuff to make my daughter happy.

Ya..these days schools give a lot of home work to parents too. Then do you sell your creations? And is it profitable?

I craft as a passion and recently I got an offer from an Indian Website to sell my crafts online-- I decided not to pursue that avenue as I want to keep my crafting a hobby and not let prices and costs restrict me. If I want to turn my passion into a business I would have to calculate costs profits etc which I think at this point in my life would take away the fun of my crafting and my blog!

That's an interesting thought. What mistakes have you made or lessons you have learned in your crafting?

Since I keep trying out new crafts all the time ,making mistakes and learning from them is an ongoing process that is why I write tutorials for stuff I am no expert at so as to help others who are novices !

I love your tutorials. They are so simple and clear. Then what, to you is success? Have you achieved it yet, or are you on your way towards success?

Professionally [I am an ENT Surgeon ] I am happy and am in fact cutting back my
practice so that I am there for my daughter. Craft wise - I am eager to learn more
and more !!

So what's next? I plan to diversify my blog to incorporate more crafts other than paper crafts but I think my readership is mostly paper craft enthusiasts so lets see!
Till now I never had the opportunity or the time for craft lessons but recently I got the chance to squeeze in a few hours to start learning the traditional South India craft called Tanjore painting done with gold leaves and semi precious stones! For the future I hope and dearly wish I will be able to learn crafts such as Waterfall making, Japanese Pottery, Ceramic work.

Tanjore painting sure is time consuming and I wish you great luck and happiness in you learning and crafting process. Thanks a lot for joining us, Sonia and now lets all proceed to check out her wonderful Blog.

I hope you all found Sonia's work inspiring.  Next Wednesday, I would be featuring another talented lady from Chennai...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