Fifth Anniversary - Waterproofing of quilled jhumkas - Tutorial and Review

Hello All,

Thank you so much for all the love you people have showered on us for past 5 years! It has been a roller coaster of a ride but what is life without some adventure thrown in!! Just like every year, we celebrate this anniversary with some love of sharing.........

All the crafters who make quilling jewellery groan (inwardly or otherwise) when their jewellery is compared with readymade, mass manufactured and impersonal alloy jewellery (most of it Made in China). We know the pain! Waterproofing of quilled jewellery has been its Achilles' Heel for a long time and most crafters struggle with answering the question: Will this jewellery get ruined when water falls on it?

We saw the problem for what it was. The customers want to make sure their money is worth it and the cost (of handmade jewellery) is justified too! So, we experimented with a host of resins and coating materials. The wall we kept hitting was: Importing the resin! Most resins available in India either had a short shelf like, or yellowed after some time! Since resin is susceptible to fire, it's transported via ships and that meant long waiting periods!

When Itsy Bitsy announced its line of resin (Lil Birdie: https://goo.gl/2EacL3 ), we seized the opportunity to try it on our quilled jhumkas..........we were a bit apprehensive as the reviews we had received so far said that the resin had a lot of bubbles upon mixing. We have worked around that problem and this video demonstrates how to use the resin on quilled jhumkas....

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 castle and some sand

Hello All,

One never really knows when a challenge will come one's way! When this frame order came, the deadline was highly inflexible - ONE WEEK (including courier) and there was no concept whatsoever. Starting from scratch becomes a little hard when you don't even know what to scratch! :D

The starting point finally became the initials of the family this frame goes out to. Their initials make the word SAND. So, sand castles, yay! Since the family is moving and will mostly likely be furnishing a new house soon, sand castle was all the more relevant :) The criterion was that the entire frame be colourful!

When time is short and order complex, beehive always comes to save the day! And since the last time we made a frame, we have acquired this additional expertise of polymer clay. Polymer clay saved the day by being both quick and 3-dimensional. The alphabets were sliced out of black clay and jazzed up with orange. While they baked, a simple castle was outlined using quillography and filled with beehiving. I was extremely lucky with the background paper as I had bought this beach themed paper almost 10 years ago and never did anything with it (talk about hoarding!!!)......

A work in progress photo (the only one that I took, unfortunately!). The alphabets aren't stuck there yet.....

And here it is (after a burnt night!)......

The extra shaded touch is acrylic paints 'rubbed' onto the beehive pattern :)

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........:-)

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........:-)

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........:-)

Two years of Art'zire - A simple tutorial........

Hello All,

Here comes a simple tutorial for quilled studs, that, according to me, look very royal once done :)

Make one strip cones, a simple video is here: Video for Cones

Use head pins (or ball head pins or even eye-pins)

Put them through the wider side of the cone, towards the narrow side and pull completely

Your cones should look like this.....

Now, very gently, start bending the cone down. Go very carefully while doing this because one misstep can lead to the cone opening up completely....

This is roughly how your cone will look after bending

Fill the cone completely with glue (my recommendation is Tacky glue but you can use any resin glue)

Spread it completely on the inside

Let the glue dry completely

I've used teardrop crystals in amber colour (contact A 1 Craft Supplies for these crystals and E6000)

Apply the E6000 glue to the edge of the cone 

Push in the teardrop crystal until it comes to rest comfortably in the cone

Allow E6000 also to dry completely. Paint the outer surface with your choice of colour. I've used Camlin Antique Bronze acrylic colour

On the edge of the cone, glue 1.5 mm rhinestone chain (I've used amber finish) using Tacky Glue/E6000 (for amber chain, contact A1 Craft Supply)

Allow the layer to dry completely

On top of amber, I've used black rhinestone chain

To make the design look coherent, 1 mm ball chain (available with A1 Craft Supply) was used. Allow all the glue to dry properly and your studs are good to go :)

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........:-)

Quilled jhumka, varnish application tutorial

Hello All,

A very quick and short tutorial for applying varnish on a quilled jhumka

So, go ahead, create jhumkas that you love creating :)

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........:-)

Diwali special - Tutorial for attaching studs to quilled tight coils......

Hello All,

Wish you all a very happy (though belated) Diwali. Hope you all had a fun and safe Diwali......

Here's a little tutorial (in response to the queries) for attaching a stud base to a quilled tight coil (as seen in this creation).......

This is bare basics and the material is mentioned in the tutorial, Please use your own ingenuity to try variations, and even better, coming up with your own methods that surpass this.......

Hoping that the tutorial helped.............happy stud-attaching :)

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........:-)