Free tutorial - Adding ghunghroos to a quilled jhumka

Hello All,

HAPPY DIWALI!!!!!!!!!! And Happy Halloween to all those who are celebrating :)

Here comes the tutorial for addition of ghunghroos to a quilled jhumka

The video for the theory is here

For material related to ghunghroo addition, please contact A1 Craft Supplies or check out their Facebook Page

Important notes:

1. Finish all the processes (including waterproofing) before you add ghunghroos. After ghunghroos, it is virtually impossible to waterproof them later (you'll end up clumping ghunghroos). Ghunghroo addition should ideally be the last step, irrespective of the type of jewellery (quilled, layered paper or polymer clay)
2. You can use any ghunghroo beads sizes you like. We've used 4.5 mm beads. The bigger the beads, the smaller the number you'll need and vice versa.
3. Take a fine tip pliers, it'll help prevent loose ghunghroos.
4. This technique works for layered paper jewellery (including Chaand Baalis) and polymer clay too. Feel free to experiment.......

Happy Quilling

Pritesh

PS: If my posts inspire you to create something on similar lines, I feel highly flattered. But please, do respect the effort I take in conceptualizing and executing, please give a direct link to my work when you are inspired by mine. Thanks for understanding........:-)

Celebrations and a tutorial...........

Hello All,

It was in late 2012 that I picked up a 1/16 inch punch (I just can't remember why!!!) and was fiddling about with it. Something clicked somewhere in my brain and a jhumka resulted from it. I was very lucky that one of my friends was travelling from USA and she brought that punch for me, but I also knew that it was a speciality tool. By extension, it was expensive! I used it, I recommended it, but I knew it in the heart of my hearts that I was dependent. Dependent on a tool and dependent on my dependence.......

For almost 3.5 years, I've made jhumkas using that technique, but I never stopped wondering how to overcome this dependence. And sometimes, lack of sleep fires my brain up. Today was one such day! Having been thinking about this since Friday or so, the idea finally struck and I set about to work on it. It is an elegant (and cheap) solution, I wonder why it took me forever to come up with it!

So, over to the tutorial:

List of materials:

4 mm jump rings (kindly contact A1 Craft supply for the same)

I tried with smaller and bigger ones, but 4 mm works and looks best. 5 mm is too big to look at. And 3 mm too small to handle while working.

Fevicryl Fabric Glue

This works well enough and is cheaply (and easily) available across the country. I also did an experiment with B6000/E6000 (kindly contact A1 Craft supply for the same). The side effects of the super glue? Expensive, not very healthy to handle (SPECIAL NO NO to pregnant and lactating women and children) and takes time to set. Advantage: The glue is strong and dries transparent.

Prepared quilled dome (I've used a 5 mm strips dome, feel free to experiment)

Paint of your choice

Ghunghroo wire (A1 Craft Supply please)

Beads for ghunghroos (according to your colour scheme and preference)

The steps are illustrated in the series of images below:

The glue can take anything from 4-8 hours to dry completely, please let it dry before you handle the jump rings. Otherwise, they will come off (and they did when I made an attempt).......

Finished look of the dome. Now, go ahead, colour, embellish, paint................unleash your creativity

Paint the inside neatly

Do the waterproofing and Voila! You're DONE! [For waterproofing aids, please ping A1 Craft Supply, they'll help you out]

Add ghunghroos and you'll have a jhumka that looks almost like clay :)

A strong word of warning against people who want to walk away with the credit for a lot of things that began at Art'zire, a tweak or two in our technique is STILL derivative work. If you're a true crafter, you'd much rather think on your own. And certainly, won't come to us and blame us of copying your work (which you derived from ours, in the first place). We strongly condemn such underhanded tactics and would pray that God grants you some integrity!

On a lighter note: here is the evolution of the paper jhumka :)

October 25, 2012 :)

June 19, 2015

June 7, 2016

Happy Quilling

Pritesh

PS: If my posts inspire you to create something on similar lines, I feel highly flattered. But please, do respect the effort I take in conceptualizing and executing, please give a direct link to my work when you are inspired by mine. Thanks for understanding........:-)

Basic Earring making tutorial

Hello All,

Often we know how to make the 'rest of the ' quilling jewellery but stumble at making the final metal loops :)

And material for basic earrings........

Here is a guideline on how you can do that :)

Happy Quilling

Pritesh

PS: If my posts inspire you to create something on similar lines, I feel highly flattered. But please, do respect the effort I take in conceptualizing and executing, please give a direct link to my work when you are inspired by mine. Thanks for understanding........:-)

Antique finish jhumka - Free Tutorial

Hello All,

Here is a very quick tutorial for getting the antique effect on jhumkas (or any surface, for that matter).......

Step 1: Paint the dome (in any colour). It's painted yellow here, just for the sake of it. Now draw the pattern you wish with the "colour you wish to show above antique finish". For example, if you want antique golden, draw with golden outliner. For antique silver finish, draw with silver 3D outliner. We were targeting antique look with yellow as prominent colour, so yellow 3D outliner was used. In principle, any 3D outliner colour can be used, depending on your requirement. The denser the pattern, the better the antique finish looks.

Step 2: The pattern should be allowed to dry completely, before you do the following processes. You can also use half pearls, available with A1 Craft supply. The key is to allow the 3D outliner to dry completely.

Step 3: Paint the majority colour you wish to see among the antique sub-layer. We've used antique bronze (by Camlin). Make a complete layer above the 3D outliner pattern.

Step 4: Now, dab with pearl black to give an "old and rusted" look. Make only sporadic dabs.

Step 5: On top, make sporadic dabs with antique gold (by Camlin), if you wish, to give a partially antiquated look. 

Step 6: This is an important step. The key here is to use a piece of cloth (or tissue) that isn't too soft or coarse. For example, muslin is too soft but denim is too coarse. We've used an old cotton pant piece. Make the small patch above your index finger damp and scrape gently over the 3D outliner. Do not "wet" the tip, just make it damp enough to scrape off acrylic paint. You'll slowly see the 3D outliner colour emerge from underneath the "antique" colours.

(A video to help)

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

And here is an antique yellow jhumka :) Proceed with waterproofing, as described in the tutorial. You may need to alter the steps to accommodate your specific design, so get experimenting!

The obvious question is: Why so much hassle when one can simply buy an antique looking jhumka? Answer: You can "choose" your antique tone, it's made of paper (ultra-light) AND that it's handmade (there is no parallel to THAT, is there?)........

Happy jhumka decorating :)

Happy Quilling Pritesh PS: If my posts inspire you to create something on similar lines, I feel highly flattered. But please, do respect the effort I take in conceptualizing and executing, please give a direct link to my work when you are inspired by mine. Thanks for understanding........:-)

Inserting head/eye pins in a Quilled Pendant - Tutorial

Hello All,

I am back (only to disappear again, after a while) with a tutorial. I've taken the bold step of making a video against the tide of slow Internet! :D Let us see after how many hours of "Trying to upload" does it go online :)

Many people had this question about how to insert the head/eye pin into a quilled pendant. So, here is how I do it (and it truly is very simple). This is only a guideline video and you're free to devise your own methods, based on what is available with you :)

With this tutorial, I am nearly touching a MILLION views on my blog :)

After a mere 3 years and 1 month of being in existence, I am fortunate enough to see this landmark on my blog. Thank you! Every single one of you :)

Loads of love and keep crafting............

Happy Quilling

Pritesh

PS: If my posts inspire you to create something on similar lines, I feel highly flattered. But please, do respect the effort I take in conceptualizing and executing, please give a direct link to my work when you are inspired by mine. Thanks for understanding........:-)

A blog hop with a difference

Hello All,

After a long long break from writing, I am back with a very unique blog hop, where I got involved, thanks to my College classmate and an avid crafter, Kripa Koushik. The number of years I've known her can't be counted on the fingers on our hands! We did Graduation together and then, recently got back in touch through the world of crafts.

She works magic with her mixed media layouts, and unlike me, cards! She has a distinct style, which often begs careful examination, for there are so many tiny details that add up to the big picture :)

I agreed to be a part of this hop because of the different format! This hop actually helps us all get to know each other better, as people and as crafters.............idiosyncrasies included! :D

More about me:

1. What am I working on?

A lot of things, like always. Quilled jewellery is something that always adorns my table. In addition, there are a couple of frames in various stages of non-completion. I just finished this jewellery piece (which took quite a bit of time, split over 3 days, to make). This is my attempt at recreating the ancient jewellery making technique - Thewa

2. How does my work differ from others of its genre?

I don't know if there is a lot of difference between the work I do and the others do, but I try to play by my strengths, namely, free-hand drawing and an understanding of the chemistry of the materials. The combinations of materials become a lot easier to devise once you know how they work in tandem. I try to exploit that information to get better at my work.

3. Why do I write/create what I do?

The simple answer is: Because that's what I can see myself doing day after day, for years to come. My husband once asked me: Where do you see yourself five years from now, and the only vision that I could come up with was: In a giant craft workshop, doling out really good craft pieces. I craft, because I live for it :)

4. How does your writing/creating process work?

This is a complex question to answer. Most times, the most difficult/tricky part is to come up with an idea. Often, ideas strike seeing something completely unrelated. And sometimes, something similar sparks an incremental idea. Often, it is the craft material itself that makes me think about how I can use it in a different way. 

Once the idea is in place, the first thing I do is a strength test. In my mind, I run through the process of creating it (earlier, I used to draw them but with experience, I am able to visualize them now). On the way, I look for loopholes like a hawk. I've an almost manic obsession with sturdiness. If my work is not sturdy, I take it as a  personal insult. So, making designs sturdy or devising processes to introduce sturdiness is what comes next. Often, I modify the design/idea to keep strength a priority. Once the process is clear in my head, I start with the actual execution. There have been rare times when I have been stumped by hurdles (largely, because of lacunae in my information database) but mostly, I've been able to foresee mistakes. If some mistakes get the better of me, I restart the whole process, subtracting the mistake.

I'll give one example. There was this one time I was making a yellow jhumka and no matter what I did, the yellow colour kept "leaking". It'd separate into a pale yellow part and dusty brown part. It took me 4 trials to figure out that it was the problem with the yellow paint (which I figured out after trying three different and top-of-the-notch brands) and the 4-step process finally because 7-step process to eliminate this pigment separation. 

To pass this baton on, I choose two of my favourite crafters: Manuela Koosch and Cecelia Louie.

Although neither of them need any introduction to crafters and quillers alike, I'll go ahead and introduce them (pardon me if I sound like a star struck teenager, but both these women are my role models!)

Manuela (or Manu, as I call her) is a crafter with superlative capability to transform the mundane to magic and if you think I am exaggerating, drop by to www.manuk.ro and see for yourself :)

Cecelia redefines "Design isn't when you can't add anything more, it is when you can't take anything away". She gives simplicity an elevation the way I haven't seen anyone do. Minimum talks maximum is a quote written for her.

Happy Hopping and thank you for dropping by!

Happy Quilling

Pritesh

PS: If my posts inspire you to create something on similar lines, I feel highly flattered. But please, do respect the effort I take in conceptualizing and executing, please give a direct link to my work when you are inspired by mine. Thanks for understanding........:-)

Hobby Mela Tutorial Video

Hello Everyone,

When Avani called me for a video interview, it sounded too good to be true..........and when she did turn up on my doorstep, it was wonderful! :D Making tutorial videos is hard work, there is loads of planning that goes into it. Avani has worked very hard at editing this video and boy! Am I thankful or what :)

She has done a terrific job with the speeding up parts and the clipping as well......thank you from the bottom of my heart Avani :)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o22KAGmQVx4

Some snapshots.............

Happy Quilling

Pritesh

PS: If my posts inspire you to create something on similar lines, I feel highly flattered. But please, do respect the effort I take in conceptualizing and executing, please give a direct link to my work when you are inspired by mine. Thanks for understanding........:-)

Bead Soutache Jewellery Tutorial on Hobby Mela

Hello All,

Bead soutache is a jewellery form that has fascinated Art'zire for a while, so I decided to develop my own version of it, thanks to the unavailability of soutache cords in India........

For the curious ones, the soutache type jewellery I made looks like this:

And don't let that complexity scare you! These are rather simple to make..........don't believe us? Here is the video tutorial for it :) [The tutorial for the paper "base" is HERE]

VIDEO

Blogger just won't embed the video, so I'm providing only the link! Apologies for that.........

I want to thanks Avani Shah and Hobby Mela, for giving us this opportunity.......

Happy Quilling

Pritesh

PS: If my posts inspire you to create something on similar lines, I feel highly flattered. But please, do respect the effort I take in conceptualizing and executing, please give a direct link to my work when you are inspired by mine. Thanks for understanding........:-)

Off-beat...........bead soutache again :)

Hello All,

When I saw Lulupu Craft Lounge's second B'day challenge notification, I so knew I had to participate. Not being a card-maker, I am more or less away from challenges as most involve cards. Add to that the inability to meet deadlines due to personal commitments and we have a recipe for non-participation in time-bound challenges! BUt this time, Lulupu has made it easier for us all. The challenge was to create something with the alphabets L, U, P, T, C. A minimum of three had to be incorporated. So, here is my take on it:

L - Layers (layers of paper used to make the 'base' for the soutache jewellery)
P - Paper (use for making the backing according to this method) and Pearl (flat back pearls used in the centre)
T - Thread (used to hold the beads together while arranging the beads)
C - Concentric circles (of beads in the jewellery)

I hope I qualify with this piece in Category 3 (everything else) :)

Happy Quilling

 Pritesh

 PS: If my posts inspire you to create something on similar lines, I feel highly flattered. But please, do respect the effort I take in conceptualizing and executing, please give a direct link to my work when you are inspired by mine. Thanks for understanding........:-)

Messy desk and output :D

Hello All,

If there is anyone who can spot a square inch of free space on my work desk, I'll give that person a hundred bucks instantly! :D Such a mess I work in the middle of!

As I've maintained, Who says my desk is cluttered? I am a generous crafter who didn't say no to a homeless cyclone ;) If it wasn't for me, it'd roam around in the city, IMAGINE! :D

But well, here is the result of the "mess" on my desk (somehow, I need to see many things together, in one place, to come up with a design)...........

Happy Quilling

Pritesh

PS: If my posts inspire you to create something on similar lines, I feel highly flattered. But please, do respect the effort I take in conceptualizing and executing, please give a direct link to my work when you are inspired by mine. Thanks for understanding........:-)

Beaute Naturelle - Final Edition

Hello All,

Thank you all for so much love and encouragement for my previous posts............here is the third (and final!) part of the order..........4 more sign boards for Meghana's boutique in Pune..........I have a busy few days ahead of me, hence the rush to post them in one go :) If you're in Pune, do drop by for the opening and trust me, the stuff she stocks is WONDERFUL! Just picked up one today :) Go freak there! :)

For her nature-inspired line of home-decor products:

Being Meghana, she is all for promoting individual artists and there is one wall in her shop dedicated to Art! This is what will describe that wall :):

Being eco-friendly needn't be an activity, it can become an attitude........and Meghana announces this is style:

Trust honey bees for collecting the best wax you can get and imagine a flavouring of raspberries and pomegranate in it! THAT is one of the many awesome things Meghana offers in her "Lip Service" section:

Happy Quilling

Pritesh

PS: If my posts inspire you to create something on similar lines, I feel highly flattered. But please, do respect the effort I take in conceptualizing and executing, please give a direct link to my work when you are inspired by mine. Thanks for understanding........:-)