Arabian Nights and some Zardozi

Spin me a story and I may never sleep again............or kill you, for that matter.......

THAT was the origin of the 1001 tale of Arabian Nights and well, the Emperor did fall in love with his quick witted and smart Queen eventually........

This necklace has an almost equally enchanting story behind it.......while we were going through Victorian beads at an alarming rate, Preethi expressed a desire to have a set made using those beads. We had made so many Tanjore pieces for her already (Tanjore being the design we were pairing Victorian beads with) that it was foolhardy to attempt yet another one and look/sound repetitive. We begged Preethi to allow us to experiment with a new technique and after a spread of choices was laid out for her, she went for Zardozi! When you mentin Zardozi, the first thought that comes to your head is flowy silks, rich golden embroidery, pearls, precious stones and Princesses!

We have tried to bring that grand vision to 3-dimensions, incorporating the "richest" elements we possessed - Swarovski pearls, Swarovski crystals, high gloss mica powders and of course, our finest skills........The "fish-like" entangled piece takes inspiration from the Japanese shibori ribbons, sans the ribbed texture. We've gone for a more 'fluid silk' texture and given faux-sequinned look using polymer clay and a smattering of aztec gold mica. When it comes to the zardozi look, we can only describe it as self-inflicted pain that we quite enjoyed :D Line by line, the 'threads' were precisely cut, assembled and highlighted. Some serious swarovski crystal embedding later, this has surely become THE creation of all creations for us!

And, of course, when he's asked to "dress properly" he dresses like a band-baaje wala :D AND loves photobombing Mumma's photos :D

A compilation like never before.....

Hello All,

Every once in a while, we feel challenged! And surprisingly, we welcome such opportunities. Challenges are an excellent time to feel isky about oneself. And they are the ideal time to convert a difficulty into a golden chance......it is all about perspective! Whenever we get an order from Preethi, our collective hearts take a leap! A leap of fear and a leap of faith...........fear because we know that whatever we knew so far is about to be put to test. And faith because we delve into the unknown.

Right from the nascent stages of paper jewellery development, we've had Preethi's unwavering support. She's trusted us where few others have! She's given us so much free-hand that our nearly aesthetic selves are willing to believe in angels guarding over us.........and we could pay no higher compliment to her.

In this order, we have a compilation of 3 completely 'untried' styles........

When we had picked up Naulakha, we had vague knowledge of painting (and securing) Tanjore on polymer clay. We knew about the difficulties of using red (and its cousin colours, orange, maroon, magenta) on polymer clay. What we did not know was how we were going to overcome this problem. After a great deal of brainstorming, we did figure the process out and it took two people two full days to get this piece working (that's nearly 40 work hours), apart from planning and testing, that took a few days before we even touched this piece. A systematic and detailed analysis of various components was done before this piece was made and well, the results of the thoroughness is for all to see :)

Now, if you've been following us, you'd know that we make a LOT of peacocks (many many more than we'd ever like to!). It so happens that most of these peacocks were made for Preethi! So, once her collection had peacocks in all fathomable shapes, sizes and techniques, it was a time to break off from the routine. What the break was going to be, we didn't know.......and it turned out to be Kerala Mural style painting. The "half-stuck" Swarovski pearl style was a first for us and we dare say we like it, a great deal too.....

And ah! The star of our innovation of late......

We have been practicing our wire weaving just to culminate to this moment where we can bring wire weaving together with polymer clay. The design began with the sunset colour blend in clay. Then we worked on the shape and size of the design so as to incorporate the wires. We didn’t intend it to look like a beetle , but more like a tulip :). When we brought the wires in, some hammered to give a slight aged look and some wrapped to give it strength, it ended up being very bugsy wugsy. Our first and fairly uncomplicated design with a strong string to give it an urbane look.   

And WHAT a colourful compilation it became when it finally headed off to Preethi!

Thank you for dropping by! 

Love, Art'zire