Get Ideas for Bead Jewelry

Waiting for Inspiration
Waiting for Inspiration

My brain went numb for a few days and I stopped making earrings just as abruptly as I started making them-dunno if the success went to my head or the fear did…Will I be able to make more…Have to wait and see..
What have I been doing with my time? Been put back into work-reluctant but happy…Did a bit of shopping for a sofa and at the Valluvar Kottam Craft Bazaar.

Thought and thought a lot about what project I should post- I have a very bad habit of having my fingers in quite a few pies at the same time-Then I got this brilliant idea-why not post about ideas and the things that inspire us?

 

 

 

 

So I put down what I do when I need ideas for jewelry:

  1. I read my Google reader feeds
  2. I google”beads” (Very obvious, I know)
  3. I search for colour schemes with a Color Scheme Generator
  4. I pull out clothes from my wardrobe that do not have jewelry to match and just find beads from my stash that match with them (Necessity is the mother of invention isn’t it?)
  5. I play with my beads-I take out some eye pins(gold and silver and then just sit and stack different beads from my box in as different arangements I can come up with
  6. I linger around sites like:
    www.Craftster.org
    www.Etsy.com
  7. I love to use the Virtual Bead Board, an awesome feature in www.FireMountainGems.com that lets you play around with thousands of beads all just after signing up for a free membership with them….While you’re there, you can check out the video tutorials and their “Gem of the week” section.
How do you get ideas for jewelry? What inspires you? What are the techniques you use? I’d love to hear about them…Do drop by and comment on this..
Image Courtesy: Wikipedia
Image:William-Adolphe Bouguereau (1825-1905) – Inspiration (1898)

Crafts Bazaar 2008,Valluvar Kottam,Chennai

I went to Valluvar Kottam last Sunday for the Crafts Bazaar by the Crafts Council of India ….The bazaar started last week and will be on till the weekend.

Artisans from all over India are displaying their crafts ranging from Kalamkari work, block prints, sarees, jute bags, mats, carpets, silver and handmade jewelry. There are antique wooden boxes, blue tile pottery (where u can find lovely handmade tiles and doorknobs. You can also get to see and buy straw bags, hand embroidered linen, straw boxes and wastepaper baskets..Lots of wooden toys for children are also available…There are handmade flowers and paper products…

Let me show you what I bought:

Blocks for Printing

Some carved wooden blocks for printing- some come in pairs for printing in two colours. (Rs 30 onwards)

Papercut Stencils
Papercut Stencils

Some stencils for painting-papercut work. they are made of plastic though (Rs 40 onwards)

Gypsy  Jewelry
Gypsy Jewelry

I also got two Navrathna stone beaded chains( Rs 150 onwards) and two pairs of beaded anklets ( Rs 30 each) from two different sellers..

The Exhibition cum sale is on only till this Sunday, 28 September so hurry to Valluvar Kottam, Kodambakkam High Road…

The Sale is on every day from 10:00 a.m to 7:00 p.m

You can contact 28110101 for more details..

Cell Phone Charms Two

I made this cell phone charm for myself recently just cos I was bored with my phone and needed a charm that wasn’t too noisy and didn’t squash in the side of my face when I use my phone.

Handmade Blue Cell Phone Charm
Handmade Blue Cell Phone Charm

I found an awesome blue crystal bead ( half of a pair of earrings I used to have- I seem to have lost the other half). I added some small white beads and a turquoise blue tube bead- also from another orphaned earring. I took the lariat or charm holder cord from a free charm I received from Vodafone at some college event (Yes I hound stuff like that….but who doesn’t?).

My colleague saw my charm and asked for one for herself..I had a nature theme in mind and was inspired by two more orphaned earrings- one with a brown tube bead and the other a light green crystal bead. I added two tiny white beads for balance so that the brown and green combo didn’t seem too “tree-like”. I gave this charm to her today and she has already put it on her phone!!

Handmade Green Cell Phone Charm
Handmade Green Cell Phone Charm

Do you like them?

My First Handmade Earrings

After 2 months of hard work, I am in a rut again…jobless and “benching”. As a result I have developed a new hobby – making what is referred to as “junk” jewelry. I made around 22 pairs of earrings in two nights simply because the wire wrapping bug bit me late at night..All thanks to S who so sweetly took me to Raja Thread Stores(RTS) in crowded Ranganathan Street and took care to see that I wasn’t trampled….

I was inspired to start making earrings by two people-

  • My friend Methodless Madness returned from the US bringing chocolates and even yummier Beads!!!She got me 3 packets, each one more awesome than the other, costing almost 10 $ (approx 441.391 Rs) worth of beads from San Jose. The deep brown hexagonal beads were so gorgeous I can’t tell you…I gifted one pair of earrings made from them to my friend, I am keeping one and am going to give the last one away to another friend. She got me some lovely irregular shaped beads that she calls “pomegranate” and some Moroccan-blue ceramic beads with lime green Chinese dragons on them. I have used 3/4ths of the pomegranate ones and they have been a huge hit so far. I haven’t used the blue ceramic beads cos I couldn’t get headpins/eye pins long enough to go through them with ample space to knot up.
  • The other person who inspired me does not know me and I do not know her personally…I stumbled on this post by Iaminchennai when I googled…She has a beautiful blog showcasing her many talents that include knitting and making ceramic beads. Thank you Iaminchennai- without your directions I would never have found the beads when I did.

Coming back to my earrings, I gave away about 5 pairs to my friends including S..

I took the rest of the earrings to my office on 1st September and my boss saw them..The next 5 minutes went by in a whirl as ALL of my earrings except the ones already booked for my friends were bought..Such an amazing feeling to have SOLD your designs however juvenile and amateurish they may be!And to think that the sale happened only because of your boss’ curiosity!
Here are some of the earrings I made.

My first Earrings

Just a Note: I haven’t had any professional training in Jewelry design. I watched some videos on You Tube and decided to try my hand at making wire jewelry..Of course it helped that I always had a thing for beads.

P.S: I went to Parry’s Corner this weekend to pick up more beads cos I used almost all the beads I bought from RTS. will post the shop details soon. Any idea about the best shops in Parry’s Corner for bead buying??

Comments on my work and directions to places where I can buy more beads are very welcome.