Every piece has a story behind it!

Isn't it true that most of us love stories?
Well...I do...both listening and telling stories!
And I feel very happy when a story gets attached to my jewelry pieces.

The necklace set below is one of the sets I made for the Winter Art & Crafts fair held at my work place in the beginning of December. The set is made of oval cream fresh water Pearls, pink Swarovski crystals and Silver beads.

From Menka's Jewelry

One of my colleagues really liked this set during the show but couldn't decide whether she wanted to buy it or not. Next morning when I went to work, she peeked into my cube and asked me if the necklace or the earrings were already sold. Then she told me that she really wanted to buy it but was not sure about the size. I customized the necklace as she wanted and she was so happy to have the set :)

Featured Artisan @ Winter Art & Crafts Fair

Really thrilled to be one of the featured Artisans @ Winter Art & Crafts fair at work. First time my jewelry was featured in an article...just can't describe the joy and happiness it brought to me.

The fair is tomorrow, Dec 2nd from 7:30am-5:00pm.
Am I ready? Well...you are never fully ready; always have this feeling that you could have done much more but you can always plan do better in the next one!

I know that its going to be a long day but the excitement to showcase my new jewelry and opportunity to meet other Artisans with their fabulous art work will be rewarding enough to beat the tiredness:)

Here is one of my favorites from the new collection.

From Menka's Jewelry

Necklace made of Blue and Green Turquoise with Silver beads accentuated with an irregular heart shaped Green Turquoise pendant; ending with a Silver clasp.

And here is the complete album.

Princess Necklace Set

One of my favorites...simple, elegant and royal in itself.
Set in silver with white & olive green fresh water pearls and purple Swarovski cubes.



I am glad that it found a home already and is on its way to NY!

My first shipment...

Today, I shipped an order of my jewelry to a friend in NJ...my first shipment:)

Feels great to know that my friend, whom I know for past 14 years; when she saw the pictures of my jewelry, right away wanted to possess some of my creations!


The necklace has different sized Tiger Eye gemstones with silver beads and findings. A drop like Tiger Eye pendant with silver around it, adds to the beauty of the necklace.

It took me some time to finally ship the order to her due to numerous other things in my life that kept me ultra busy, I hope she will like the necklace and the small earrings she wanted. Waiting for her feedback now:)

Chandelier Earrings

It seems time is flying way too faster than I could realize. Its been more than a month since I could post a blog entry. Lots of activity in the past month both at professional and personal front which kept me away from the blog. But better late than never...so here I am :)

During the Arts and Crafts Show at Intel, one of my colleagues bought a Jade and Malakite necklace and wanted me to make bigger earrings for her.

I myself like Chandelier Earrings a lot so right away I had a design in my mind. The earrings have matching Jade and Malakite gems in oxidized silver.

I am glad that I could put the earrings together and hand them to her in time before she delivered her baby :)

1:1 with Craig Barrett

Last week, I got a chance to attend an Open Forum with Intel's Chairman Craig Barrett at our Santa Clara office. After having a very exciting, busy and eventful 35 years at Intel, Craig is retiring in couple of days. For many of us @ Intel, it was our first and may be last chance to actually meet him in person and talk to him. All set with my camera not to miss a picture with him, I reached the auditorium well in time to get a good seat.



It was amazing to hear Craig talking about various topics involving Intel and current economic conditions; face to face. Later on, he opened the forum for Q&A and answered lot of questions ranging from how he came into Intel, his life, challenges and wins at Intel and of course, life after Intel. He rated people @ Intel as the top thing he is going to miss and while answering my question on that he said Intel's biggest asset are the people here and they are the ones that makes Intel the great company it is.

Some of my colleagues were joking with me that I am lucky to meet two big bosses @ Intel in one week - first our CEO Paul Otellini at the Arts and Crafts Fair and then the chairman Craig Barrett :-)

Art & Crafts Show @ Intel

Yesterday I participated in Employees Art and Crafts Show at Intel, Santa Clara. The show was a whole day affair from 7:30am-5:00pm with 20 Artisans displaying their art work which included handmade jewelry, purses & baskets, photographs, paintings, homemade honey, soaps & cosmetics. I showcased my handmade semi-precious gemstones jewelry and my sister in-law's mural paintings. Being a first timer, I was very excited & anxious at the same time.


The show had a good turn around with around 300 employees, friends & family visiting it. The best part was that our CEO Paul Otellini took out few minutes from his busy schedule and stopped by each booth to encourage Intel's own silent Artisans.


I made few sales, got few orders and valuable tips & suggestions on how to take nice pictures of my jewelry. The amazing part was one of the ladies found the jewelry set I was wearing as the most interesting one and I ended up giving away the earrings :-) It was very encouraging to see how people really appreciate your creative interests and want to know more about what else you do besides being a hard working employee @ Intel.

You can check out the websites of some of the other Artisans from the show
Nance Wheeler's Fine Art @ www.NanceWheeler.com
Shobana's handmade jewelry @ www.shobanajb.com
Santhosh's photography @ www.clearsnaps.com

My key take away from the show are the acquaintances I made; I am sure few of them will turn into long lasting friendships:-)
And of course, keep a spare set for yourself in case you end up giving away the one you are wearing!