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 3/4^ths 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.

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.