Jewellery with Pearls and Natural Stones

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Hey everyone, I am back after a long gap.. After 2 whole years we have started with our regular routine and even though we all live in different parts of the world, our way of living has definitely changed.

I spent my free time post my regular teaching job, learning crochet and making artificial jewellery with natural stones and pearls.

I felt making jewellery for myself, family and friends was so therapeutic. I took out the bead necklace and earrings that I stopped wearing due to wear-out on the metal or due to lack of interest in the design and tried to reuse with different patterns or stringing together with different textured beads and pearls.

Jewellery making is a skill and the appreciation that the designer gets, in my observation, is very minimal. Art is not just about the money, it is about showcasing the skills using a medium such as paper or beads; beads can come in varied forms like pearl, natural stone, paper, clay, metal, acrylic and so on. The art of making the jewellery enhances the ability to plan and design according to the prevailing mood and the mindset of the designer. If the requirement is for a family member or for a friend, the designer will analyse the interest in colour, texture and preference to pearls or the natural stone of the person and design the jewellery according to their choice. The finished product reflects the time and effort dedicated by the designer. Kudos to all the designers out there who are making an effort to bring a smile on the person wearing the jewellery 🙂

As I have mentioned in my other posts, I always appreciate handmade products as the effort and the affection are visible no matter the size or texture of the artefact.

Here are some of the jewellery patterns that I enjoyed creating in recent times 🙂

Look forward to your thoughts. Remember, if you’d like to acknowledge the designer in you or someone in your known circles, just go for it and say it out loud – “Keep up the good work”

Waiting to hear your thoughts 🙂

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Mandalas for relaxation

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Mandalas, meaning “circles” in Sanskrit, are known to boost the immune system, by reducing the stress, activating the brain stem, imaginative thinking and connecting with our emotions.

How emotions are linked to Mandala?

I always used to think that Mandala is very complex as it has so many concentric circles and the precision while drawing should be followed. I was so hesitant at the beginning to give it a try as I had assumed that this will induce stress instead of relaxation. When I started drawing patterns and colouring them with different shades of black, I realised that I could create patterns using strokes and it was really satisfying.

Your mood decides the pattern and how intricate the design is. The Mandala art internalises the unconscious emotions within us.

If you observe further, Mandalas go from the centre outwards. The colors and shapes indicate our sub-conscious thinking. Thereby, we are connecting with ourselves, rebuilding and freeing us from inhibitions.

My daughter and I recently started creating a few Mandala designs of our own. Thus far, it has been a very relaxing and refreshing activity during these prolonged periods of being at home.

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Try it out and share your thoughts 🙂

Regards,

Sriranjini

Spread Good Vibes

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Hello all,

Trust this finds you and your loved ones safe and healthy.

Neurological studies emphasize the magic of 21 days – repeating a routine for 21 days makes it a habit; well, repeating the same routine for 90 days makes it a permanent habit. With close to 3 months of staying at home, I am certain everyone would have developed some “new” positive habits and routines, that otherwise wouldn’t have been possible – be it exercising or doing yoga in the morning or just sipping hot coffee with a book in the evening. I can think of one habit that has silently crept in to all our lives (definitely mine) – hope. The hope that the pandemic situation will improve and life will approach “normal”.

A famous leader once said – “Everything that is done in the world is done by hope”.

I would like to express my gratitude to our community helpers, without whose sacrifice and tireless work, we would not have been able to fight this pandemic.

With hope, gratitude and prayers, here is a typography that I quilled during the lockdown to “Spread Good Vibes”

Thanks for your support.

– Sriranjini

Beautiful Quilling

I developed a penchant for quilled jewellery and learnt several ideas from this wonderful book – “Beautiful Quilling”(Step-by-Step) by Diane Boden-Crane (Author), Judy Cardinal (Author), Jane Jenkins (Author), Janet Wilson(Author), Diane Crane (Author). My heartfelt thanks to them 🙂

The patterns are very good and lots of pictures that clearly explain the concept. The templates for the patterns are very helpful and come in handy when we have to make the cards in short notice.

I make birthday cards to be handed over by my kids when they attend their friends’ birthday parties. I quill these cards based on their friends’ interests and my kids write a few lines about their friends. This makes my children feel good when giving and for their friends when receiving.

 

Quilling workshop at Snehadhara foundation

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The workshop was fun-filled and packed with loads of creativity among the kids and adults. The newspaper quilled craft was introduced to the group. The session started with warm-up songs and introducing newspaper as the main medium for the craft.

The kids with special needs understood the concept of rolling the paper and tried rolling the newspaper to strips. It was wonderful to see the excitement and the focus that they exhibited while learning the technique. It was not easy for them to do on their own initially but with support they were able to roll the newspaper into strips. 

When the rolled strips were handed over to them and were asked of them to shape into coils, some were able to do it on their own while the others accomplished it with some support. The creativity that the support group and rest of the regular children showed was mind-blowing. These kids were asked to roll out different shapes from the newspaper strips and glue together to form an artefact. Hairband, necklace, anklet, binocular, spectacles, table coasters,  face, kumkum holder, chariot etc. were created out of newspaper quilling.

pipilika session

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The group was so fascinated about their own creations and with regular practice their motor skills will improve further and they will be able to create different artefacts by combining different shaped quilled coils.