How to make different earrings with same beads

As changing couple of ingredients or spices can give you a new taste in the same recipe, playing with same primary bead but changing the findings or using different complimentary beads can give you new designs for your earrings (and necklaces). That's what I tried when I was playing with different shades of Amazonite recently.

The earrings below have same circular Amazonite bead as the main bead. I have used a blue Swarovski bicone, a crystal studded separator and leverback earwire in one, and small round Amazonites with silver beadcaps and flat fishhook earwire in second. As you can see in the picture, one is elegant and the second one looks more rustic.



In the earrings below, I have used Aquamarine irregular rectangles as the main beads and accentuated them with different color and shapes of Amazonite. In the first earrings, using four Aquamarine rectangles together with round Amazonite at the end gives it a shorter look but in the second earrings, separating the rectangles with small round Amazonite beads and using Amazonite briolettes give it a taller look perfect for a long neck wearer. As you can see, changing the pattern in which you use the same beads can give you a unique design.

My first Bead Soup Blog Party

Bead Soup Blog Party...interesting name, isn't it? Last week I came across a tweet about an upcoming such party. I read the blog of the organizer - a very talented bead artist Lori Anderson and found the concept very interesting. Always looking forward to connect to more and more talented beaders out there and inspired by one of my favorite artist TheBeadDreamer I signed up for the party.


This is how it works...the organizer announces the date of the party on her blog, invites sign ups, pairs the participants who then send a bead soup mainly consisting of a focal bead, some coordinating beads and a nice clasp, to each other. The participants show the beads they got on their blog, make something out of it, take a picture and post it on their blog on the party day. Every participant hops around to see as many party blogs as possible to see what everybody made on the party day. The whole purpose of the party is challenge the creativity of the participants and connect creative people together.

With more than 200 beading artists as participants, the party is sure going to be an amazing one. A big thanks to Lori for putting all the hard work to make it happen. My partner for the party is Francy Inman an Oklahoma crafter. Looking forward to have a tasty bead soup with her :)

Picture courtesy Lori Anderson

Silver and Chains

Couple of months back, while I was thinking of new designs for the Winter Art & Crafts Fair I invited my best friend for a dinner at my house first time after her wedding. I was very sure that I would gift her my handmade jewelry and wanted to make something special for her. As she wears very simple jewelry the question was should I gift her what I wanted her to wear ;) or what I knew she will wear for sure. After thinking for a while, I went with the latter. So I made a simple necklace set with Silver chain and Lemon Topaz. I was very glad that she not only loved the set, but she in fact gave me the inspiration for my new designs for the fair. I humbly dedicate my new collection to her :)

In the new collection, I have emphasized on chains and different shapes of Silver more than the gemstones which resulted in simple but elegant pieces. Here is a glimpse of some of them.

From Menka's Jewelry

The necklace set above has a crazy Jasper square as the pendant with Pyrite gemstone. The grey color of Pyrite enhances the grey yellow pattern of the Jasper. Different shapes of the gemstones used in the necklace adds to its beauty.

From Menka's Jewelry

The second necklace set has Amethyst drops with Swarovski crystals. Laser cut oblong Silver pendant compliments the pattern of the chain.

From daughter to her father

Dear Papa,
Its been two years today since you left us for your heavenly abode. Though my mind has accepted the fact that you are not with us physically but the heart always tells me that you are with us all the time spiritually and emotionally. Since you left, I have been trying to find the answer to the question why you had to go all of a sudden but I guess only God knows the answer. Every morning I feel like picking up the phone and calling you to share what's happening in my life - at home, at work, kids activities.
While you were here, I don't know if I told you enough how much I loved and cared for you and how much I respected you for the wonderful upbringing you have given me. Today I want to thank you from the bottom of my heart for giving me life's values to lead a successful one, be strong to face its ups and downs with a smile on my face, be helping and caring - above all be a good human being. I love you so much and miss you lots. You were the greatest father, friend and guide for me and will always be!
With lots of love and hugs,
Your little girl

Giving back to the community

Sometimes certain losses in life make us realize that life is so short and uncertain and make us appreciate much more what we are left with. These events also help us understand the need of supporting each other and giving back to the community.

Recently in a span of few weeks, one of my friend lost her mom in-law, a family lost their house to a fire in our neighbourhood and my 7 year old lost his little fish which he got from Yosemite camping trip. These three losses are quite different from each other but at the same time quite similar in terms of love and bonding involved.

My friend's mom in-law was ailing for last couple of years but still never showed any signs of pain on her ever smiling face. I really salute my friend who served her till her very last breath with lots of patience and dedication. While I was attending one of the rituals after her mom in-law's demise, I came to know about a neighbourhood house which got completely burnt down due to a fire caused by a gas leak in the garage. I was really petrified to see the condition of the house and the cars standing in the garage. The thought itself that the family in the house woke up that morning due to the fire and at the end left with just the clothes they were wearing, ran shivers down my spine. Then after few days came the loss of my son's little fishy. He worked so hard for catching the fish at Mirror Lake,Yosemite during our camping trip and was extremely thrilled to have it as his pet at home. The fish grew a little in size in next few days but for some reason didn't survive for a long time.

Feeling very sad with all these events, when I came to know about a volunteer opportunity at San Jose's Trace Elementary School which lost its library and many classrooms in a recent fire, I knew I have to contribute as much as I could. From my work, there were two teams going to help the school to reestablish their new library - one to build the shelves and second one to arrange and setup the books. I was in the second team and believe me, those 2.5 hours that I spend at the school volunteering were so fulfilling and the thought that those books will be used by the students to learn and explore new horizons gave me immense happiness and peace. A group of students who stopped by the room next door came and peeped inside the library were so thrilled to see the new books in there...a big delight to the volunteer team! Here are some of the pictures I took there.

New book shelves with new books :)


Packing slips

Pile of packing material

One thing I realized with all these life events that though our lives are extremely busy these days with so much happening around us and so much to do, the least we can do is to take out couple of hours to serve the community and spread smiles around us...relieving our stress too...a win-win situation!!

Peas of the same pod

The moment I saw them, I fell in love with the Solar Quartz used as pendants in the two necklaces below and while designing one, the second one just followed through. I really liked the mystic look these quartz have with different colors and shapes in the middle of them.

The necklace here has multicolored quartz beads which in a way offset the simple look of the pendant.

From Menka's Jewelry

The peach fresh water pearls and green Swarovski crystals compliment the Quartz and enhance the colors embedded in the center shapes.

From Menka's Jewelry

Simple yet mystic :)

Spring Art & Crafts Fair 2010

Today I am showcasing my jewelry at Spring Art & Crafts Fair 2010 at my work place.

From Menka's Jewelry

Its always an amazing experience to see the 'other creative side' of high tech engineers & colleagues. Some of other Artisans who are showcasing their talents are
Ruth Kim - Handmade Origami
Arlene Robbins - Photography
Raju Yasala - Paintings

To contribute back to community, I will be donating 10% of my sales to Small Steps Foundation - a 501 (c)(3)organization supporting projects targeted at formal and informal education for underprivileged children in India.

This time I was one of the main organizers for the fair and experienced the happy and not so happy side of it. But at the end,a successful fair and smiles on peoples faces tells you that all the hard work and effort was totally worth it :)