Monday, December 3, 2012

The Mahalakshmi Necklace.



At Indian weddings , there is always , without doubt , an ocean of ideas and inspiration for a keen observer. And what more do I want! Always the one to enjoy wearing  a  piece of  recreated and redesigned jewellery , I was full of  ideas to make something new when I attended a South Indian wedding . Drooling over the Kanjeevaram sarees , the traditional jewellery  , I could`nt wait to get back home and make something.

Mahalakshmi , the goddess of wealth.
  Rummaging through my jewellery box I found the perfect Temple Jewellery necklace that I wanted to redesign .
the necklace that I dis-assembled
Using ruby beads that I had , I made the necklace in square stitch .
Attaching the pieces to the finished necklace , I found a Mahalakshmi hair ornament to match the peacock pieces . And my necklace was ready .
square stitch, netted beadwork
 Looking at the assembled necklace I found that each of the peacocks are of a different pattern , and the hair ornament also doubles over as a pendant and can be worn seperately. But the backing of the pendant is silver and is filled with lac ( a type of resin ) to hold its shape .


Each peacock is designed slightly different from the other , beautiful artistry is`nt it ?




( Temple Jewellery , a traditional style of  South Indian jewellery , is handcrafted in the repousse technique of jewellery making. For an in depth article on this jewellery making technique visit this link )http://www.ganoksin.com/borisat/nenam/repousse.htm





so what do you think of this necklace , Is the name Mahalakshmi ( The Goddess Of Wealth ) befitting this creation?

Looking forward to your comments

Motidana.

17 comments:

  1. you ask what we think, well i am amazed at your creativity, you certainly have a wonderful necklace here

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    1. Thanks Margaret. Your words always motivate me to keep on trying. Thanks again

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  2. Its absolutely stunning..quite a head turner..the next time you wear it to a wedding, the bride is going to feel jealous of you...I remember you redesigning some more of your old pieces...have you completed them?

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    1. Thanks Divya , and yes I have changed a few of my old pieces to suit my taste rather than leave them unsed . Will post the pics sometime soon.

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  3. Then one question & a suggestion for you. Ques - how come the hair ornament came with a top loop? ( I have many that I want to reuse but none of them have a loop) then suggestion - if you put a small red looped (wrapped loop) bead at the end of your peacocks, I feel that that the necklace would look even more complete and royal

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    1. Thanks for the suggestion Divya. Will definately do that. As for the loop , this hair ornament was worn on plaited hair , so the top loop was inserted with a U pin and attached on top of the plait.The middle loop was secured with black wool and tied to the hair to prevent it from falling off. Though this one is old and from Karnataka , I have seen bharatnatyam dancers wearing similar ones too.

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  4. Stunning!!!.....I loved that bead work. Hope you will post the tutorial for making it... :)

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    1. thanx Ranjana. Will definately post a tutorial soon .

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  5. This is absolutely stunning!, So glad I found your blog. Greetings

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  6. Very nice, madam I like your ideas of jewellery making. Can you please tell me from where you get those amazing pendants ?

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    1. Thanks Deepa. The pendants you see are actually motifs that I dismanteled from an old necklace . The second picture on this page has one side of the necklace and the seperated pieces too , which will give you the idea . I made the bead netting and attached those pieces as hangings to give it a trendy look.

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  7. wow, Very creative and innovative

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  8. this is stunning !! i was looking for some ideas and came across your blog !! i have two lines of ruby beads and a gold mahalakshmi pendant which i want to string together and now i know how to do.... i wont be getting a broad necklace like yours, as i do not have many ruby beads, but i believe a thin one would also look good :-)

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    1. Thanks for dropping by Swathi , and I am glad you liked the necklace. Looking forward to seeing your creation soon......

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  9. This is a stunning necklace you made! The idea of using ruby beads with the rest of your beads is very creative. I have a few pieces in my jewelry box and I am so scared. No designs seem to quite fit it. You tackled the challenge wonderfully.

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    1. Glad you liked the necklace . It`s one of my favorite ones too !

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