Blue gold in a box

Making blue patina jewelry is one of my favorite activities in the studio. All this time I used to create one or a pair of pieces together at most since my set up was basically two tiny chutney bowls ( like the one below ) and a slightly larger bowl  upturned over them.

Then recently I realized I had sold off almost all of my patina earrings and needed to restock and this is what I came up with an airtight container, one chutney bowl and basically space to create as many pieces as I wanted! 

Here they are in the box just before I opened it up and the bonus I get to check on their progress all the time! 

All done! don't they look amazing I especially loved the uneven pattern that has developed. :)

Miracle in a jar.

         Artists are regular folks too, and while designing and creating art (in this case jewelry ) is loads of fun, it does a lot of good to get 'away' from in some time. So what do I do to get away you ask ? I escape to a workshop of course !! Not in jewelry making but  terrarium making ! Now whats a terrarium you ask, well its a little piece of paradise in a bottle! The idea is to create an ecosystem inside an enclosed environment in such a way that it is sustainable  Once the plants  have settled in you do not open the container or interfere in any way. 

                    I joined up for a four hour course and was given a small fish bowl (oh yes you can create these in bottles, jars and any container that you can put fish into isn't that nice :) three beautiful  plants including a fern, a Fitonia and a Syngonium (see I get to brag about learning plant names here !!! )  After a very detailed lecture on how the ecosystem of the terrarium actually works ( which is best left to the experts and I am not one, so am sure to muddle it up :) we very gently placed some stone chips followed by some charcoal chunks ( helps in curbing fungus growth) , soil and finally the plants. After a light misting of water we sealed off the bowl with some cling film. 

                    Now you might wonder what of air for the plant and what of water, and how cruel is this but let me assure you the plants have enough of both,  you see the plants recycle the water that they loose through their leaves, as it remains in the sealed environment and so too the air. The oxygen that they release during the day is reused at night and vice-versa with the carbon dioxide, brilliant isn't it !!! 

                   So much like an artist and their connoisseurs, readers like you and fans on Facebook, all of you give inspiration that helps create art which in turn  hopefully brightens  your days, and your happy reactions give more inspiration, a miraculous cycle isn't it :)

We are at the beginning of the festival of Diwali at this time and I would like to wish you a very 'HAPPY DIWALI, May the Goddess bring joy, peace and prosperity to all of you :) 

Thanks for being here with me !! 

A fold here a fold there....

 Fold forming as complicated as it sounds, this technique has always fascinated and scared me equally :)

Recently though having bought my first small anvil and sourced a few hammers that I figured would work I decided to give it a try. The technique involves folding a piece of metal and then hitting it either at the fold or on the opposite side of the fold literally forcing the metal to turn.

Fold formed cuff
©2012 Nayna studios™

This lovely cuff started out as a straight piece of metal and the hammer blows caused it to turn upon itself thus giving it a beautiful shape. I will be following this post up with a detailed post with step by step pics. I just couldn't wait to share this experiment with all of you :)