Hi ,
This is week one for my personal April challenge : Jewelry sets and week 14 for the #2015PCChallenge .
I have seen many artists / jewelry designers and newbies like me make these beautiful jewelry sets inclusive of something for the neck , something for the ear , something for the arms.Occasionally even finger rings and toe rings are part of the pack.
I decided to do this challenge taking into consideration the advice I have been receiving about having complete sets in my shop.Once I decided that this was the challenge for me this month , I started thinking about the reasons why would this be a challenge for me. Lots of introspection followed.
Note :This is a slightly long and somewhat rambly post , so if you want to , just skip to the pictures to see what I was up to this week.
I don't wear a lot of jewelry other than for formal functions , where I need to dress up a bit to blend in.This might sound like an oxymoron( did I get that right?) , a jewelry crafter ( ok, aspiring ) who hardly wears any jewelry !
I collect a whole lot of jewelry. I love the big baubles and most of all the huge strands of seed beads , all twisted up with huge chunky pendants. Oh , how I love them! I adore silver jewelry and I can honestly spend thousands of rupees on them without feeling (too) guilty. Add to all of this the fact that I have been making ( trying to make) jewelry since I was around ten years old , yet I wear minimal jewelry !
The main reasons I do not wear jewelry is that :
1. I did not find the kind of jewelry I was always looking for. For example , my favorite stone would be labrodorite , followed by opals and agates. These are not considered very valuable here in my community, certainly not valuable enough to be worn for functions. Finding good quality focal pieces and setting them seemed like an impossible job.
2.I am expected to wear gold jewelry (only). I do not like gold jewelry that much , I am more of an antique silver person. I don't think the 22 carat gold that is popular here flatters my skin tone.I also don't like the societal connotations that go with gold jewelry . All of this adds up to me avoiding wearing jewelry all together.
There are beautiful pieces of jewelry being made in gold. I have a few pieces that have been passed on to me through family , and a few pieces that were purchased for my wedding that I dearly love.They are gorgeous ,pieces of traditional Malayali jewelry and I feel amazing when I wear them.My attachment to them is mostly on the basis of their history,personal significance and the handiwork that has gone into it , not because they are simply gold.
However where I come from, gold is a sign of wealth , so wearing gold is flaunting your wealth.It doesn't matter how you live , you wear gold. It doesn't matter how ugly your gold jewelry is , it doesn't matter it doesn't suit you, you wear gold.Add to all of this the fact that 22 carat gold is garishly yellow. I agreed to wear gold for my wedding , because I didn't want other people to be mean to my mother and because I do understand that gold is a form of investment.
3. Heaviness of jewelry : I have tiny earlobes. They cannot support the weight of the heavy , ornate beautiful jhimkis ( Jhumkas , Jhumkis , the pronunciations changes from place to place.) and other earrings that I love.If I cant wear what i like , I decided I wont wear any jewelry at all.
There are frankly some more reasons, such as I don't like mass produced jewelry.I am also not fond of wearing identical pieces that someone else has ,( unless of course I like the person).I like to wear jewelry that is beautiful but also significant.
****** Introspective section is over ******
I hated wearing fully matched sets. I do not normally wear completely matched sets , I like a bit of unexpectedness in matching my jewelry.That is one the reasons I took this months challenge , to move out of my comfort zone. making multiple similar looking pieces is a major challenge for me.
To be fair , I gave myself a short cut and based my week 14 jewelry on the week 13 challenge. So hehe , a significant short cut for me.
Here they are , my pieces for #2015PCChallenge , week 14.
Blue green Jhimkis with floral motifs and blue textured choker.
The textured blue choker is made up of four individually crafted pieces , and handmade polymer clay beads.Back is black and textured.Brown cotton cord for stringing and sliding knots for closure.
These were harder to make than I planned. I wanted to do something other than my typical cord and sliding knot , so I gave tiger tail wire a try. While it is nice , it is not right for me. I like the feel of cotton cord that is used on this neck piece.I initially planned on adding more beads , but it didn't look like something that I would wear , so opened it back up. Now I like it!
These are the jhimkis along with the set. they are pretty light weight. I could wear them comfortably for around 8 hours , because I would forget I am wearing them in the first place.
This blue-green stud based earring comes with textured leaves and cane flowers.Little polymer clay balls for accents. These balls are typically much smaller on the gold and silver versions.
Sorry about the poor quality photos. The weather nor electricity was on my side today :( Try to put up better pics soon !
Thanks for reading ! Would love your feedback :)
Have a great day!
This is week one for my personal April challenge : Jewelry sets and week 14 for the #2015PCChallenge .
I have seen many artists / jewelry designers and newbies like me make these beautiful jewelry sets inclusive of something for the neck , something for the ear , something for the arms.Occasionally even finger rings and toe rings are part of the pack.
I decided to do this challenge taking into consideration the advice I have been receiving about having complete sets in my shop.Once I decided that this was the challenge for me this month , I started thinking about the reasons why would this be a challenge for me. Lots of introspection followed.
Note :This is a slightly long and somewhat rambly post , so if you want to , just skip to the pictures to see what I was up to this week.
I don't wear a lot of jewelry other than for formal functions , where I need to dress up a bit to blend in.This might sound like an oxymoron( did I get that right?) , a jewelry crafter ( ok, aspiring ) who hardly wears any jewelry !
I collect a whole lot of jewelry. I love the big baubles and most of all the huge strands of seed beads , all twisted up with huge chunky pendants. Oh , how I love them! I adore silver jewelry and I can honestly spend thousands of rupees on them without feeling (too) guilty. Add to all of this the fact that I have been making ( trying to make) jewelry since I was around ten years old , yet I wear minimal jewelry !
The main reasons I do not wear jewelry is that :
1. I did not find the kind of jewelry I was always looking for. For example , my favorite stone would be labrodorite , followed by opals and agates. These are not considered very valuable here in my community, certainly not valuable enough to be worn for functions. Finding good quality focal pieces and setting them seemed like an impossible job.
2.I am expected to wear gold jewelry (only). I do not like gold jewelry that much , I am more of an antique silver person. I don't think the 22 carat gold that is popular here flatters my skin tone.I also don't like the societal connotations that go with gold jewelry . All of this adds up to me avoiding wearing jewelry all together.
There are beautiful pieces of jewelry being made in gold. I have a few pieces that have been passed on to me through family , and a few pieces that were purchased for my wedding that I dearly love.They are gorgeous ,pieces of traditional Malayali jewelry and I feel amazing when I wear them.My attachment to them is mostly on the basis of their history,personal significance and the handiwork that has gone into it , not because they are simply gold.
However where I come from, gold is a sign of wealth , so wearing gold is flaunting your wealth.It doesn't matter how you live , you wear gold. It doesn't matter how ugly your gold jewelry is , it doesn't matter it doesn't suit you, you wear gold.Add to all of this the fact that 22 carat gold is garishly yellow. I agreed to wear gold for my wedding , because I didn't want other people to be mean to my mother and because I do understand that gold is a form of investment.
3. Heaviness of jewelry : I have tiny earlobes. They cannot support the weight of the heavy , ornate beautiful jhimkis ( Jhumkas , Jhumkis , the pronunciations changes from place to place.) and other earrings that I love.If I cant wear what i like , I decided I wont wear any jewelry at all.
There are frankly some more reasons, such as I don't like mass produced jewelry.I am also not fond of wearing identical pieces that someone else has ,( unless of course I like the person).I like to wear jewelry that is beautiful but also significant.
****** Introspective section is over ******
I hated wearing fully matched sets. I do not normally wear completely matched sets , I like a bit of unexpectedness in matching my jewelry.That is one the reasons I took this months challenge , to move out of my comfort zone. making multiple similar looking pieces is a major challenge for me.
To be fair , I gave myself a short cut and based my week 14 jewelry on the week 13 challenge. So hehe , a significant short cut for me.
Here they are , my pieces for #2015PCChallenge , week 14.
Blue green Jhimkis with floral motifs and blue textured choker.
 |
| The whole set together |
The textured blue choker is made up of four individually crafted pieces , and handmade polymer clay beads.Back is black and textured.Brown cotton cord for stringing and sliding knots for closure.
These were harder to make than I planned. I wanted to do something other than my typical cord and sliding knot , so I gave tiger tail wire a try. While it is nice , it is not right for me. I like the feel of cotton cord that is used on this neck piece.I initially planned on adding more beads , but it didn't look like something that I would wear , so opened it back up. Now I like it!
These are the jhimkis along with the set. they are pretty light weight. I could wear them comfortably for around 8 hours , because I would forget I am wearing them in the first place.
This blue-green stud based earring comes with textured leaves and cane flowers.Little polymer clay balls for accents. These balls are typically much smaller on the gold and silver versions.
Sorry about the poor quality photos. The weather nor electricity was on my side today :( Try to put up better pics soon !
Thanks for reading ! Would love your feedback :)
Have a great day!
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