Aabharan : All things Ethnic...

Traditional jhumkas...3

2011-11-26T19:23:00.000-08:00

One of the stores I love shopping at is Anokhi, a beautiful Jaipur based store with outlets all over India. I am glad that Bangalore has 3 outlets :) Their collection is limited and I am yet to come across two pieces of the same accessory - hence I consider these unique. You can see my Anokhi collection in my previous post.

The pics I posted here are new jhumkis with pearls and beautiful dark pink semi precious stones - bought these in Jaipur.

From - Anokhi; Made of silver, pearls and semi precious stones; Price - Rs.1800

Traditional Jhumkas...2

2011-11-26T05:01:00.000-08:00

In continuion from this post, one more pair of Jhumkas/Jhumkis.....

Made of Gold, pearls & Cubic Zircon; Gifted by Theo ;-)

My TOP favourite purchase till date!

2011-06-17T02:57:00.000-07:00

Hello - How are you guys doing?
No activity here for a long time now. Loads of action in personal life-weddings in the family, getting our dream home ready, shifting etc., you know how it is! Anyways - back to blogging for good :)

Last week we went to Jaipur for 2 days, and almost went bankrupt shopping! the place rocks - block printed fabrics, awesome bedlinen, quilts, jewellery, my fave stores like Anokhi, Amrapali etc., I am glad I was there only 2 days and the weather was bad (HOT!!!) - If not I would have maxed out my credit card!

Here is my MOST favourite purchase from Amrapali! What do you think?

More treasures to be opened soon :)

Silk salwar suit 4

2010-11-16T02:11:00.000-08:00

Pure silk salwar suit for the wedding, this one is a proper traditional south Indian kanjeevaram saree style salwar suit in green, Maroon & yellow with gold zari. I have got very little zardosi detail done near the neck.

Silk Salwar Suit 3

2010-11-05T02:16:00.000-07:00

Happy Diwali to you & your family :)

At one of the handicraft exhibitions I saw a lady adding final touches to the embroidery on this beautiful Phulkari dupatta, it was love at first sight! Picked it up without second thoughts, then got the orange raw silk fabric and got very simple mirror work done around the neck & sleeves with complementing colors from the dupatta.

Silk salwar suit 2

2010-10-16T02:05:00.000-07:00

Dupatta - Georgette crêpe fabric with embroidery & borders on all 4 sides

The whole outfit - the kurta is made of Tussar silk fabric. The salwar is made of crêpe & matches the dupatta

The Yoke of the Kurta - Bigger motifs when compared to the rest of the outfit

Happy Dasshera folks!

Silk salwar suit 1

2010-10-15T05:12:00.000-07:00

Let me start with my latest purchases & then will get to the older ones in the future.

Bright rose pink silk kurta with dark green salwar with matching dupatta with gold borders. I love the delicate work on the Kurta, specially the mango shaped motifs. I might wear this for the formal engagement party - not at decided :) Choices!

Silk salwar suits

2010-10-13T19:12:00.000-07:00

This festive season all the shopping areas are busy with people shopping for Durga pooja, Diwali & the upcoming wedding season. I have been crazily shopping for a wedding in my family.

Along with accessories I love clothes & I got into a silk phase last year. I now own a considerable collection of silks - no complaints here :) I would like to share my collection of silk suits with you regularly. The crazy thing about me is that I do not like buying ready made suits or ready to stitch ones. I like getting them done the way I envision them.

In many cases I like a dupatta, which I buy & after that I start searching for the suit fabric, then get embroidery done on it matching the dupatta, finally the stitching. Some times I buy small bits & pieces of fabrics to use as patches on kurtas, then buy the main fabric & then the stiching. Crazy is int it? Yeah - I am not normal :P I love the process though! No wonder all the shop keepers I buy fabric from think I own a boutique! There was a time when I liked a Chain & made a whole outfit around that!

Watch this space in the coming days to see my collection of silks.

~Latest treasures~

2010-07-21T18:50:00.000-07:00

I was introduced to this place by one of my friends & I have been eyeing every piece of jewellery they stocked since then...each one of them is unique & the best part is they look great with any Indian outfit. These pictures do not do any justice to the beauty of these pieces. Couple of these are birthday presents, couple anniversary presents & one of them belongs to a friend. Hope you enjoy them as much as I do :)

Jewels out of clay

2010-06-28T05:44:00.000-07:00

Its been ages since I blogged. having some difficulty transfering pics, hence the delay. How have you been?

Recently I received an email from Sathish, he wanted me to share thesed bautiful Terrakota jewelry creations by his wife Manju. Here is what he had to say:
"I am Sathish born and bought up in Cochin my native place is in Palakkad from where I found Manju as my life partner. She is very reserved by nature and she dint have the confidence to go for work in Cochin. The idea of Jewelry design came to my mind accidentally and I have asked her to try this 2 years before .It took 1 year for her to master the art.
Unfortunately you know that the place where we come from people prefer only Gold jewelry. So we had a big problem of marketing Manju’s creations. We go to exhibitions and display our products for sale . Most of the people do not understand the pain behind making these jewelry. Each bead is made out of hands and fired - it is a painstaking process. We never keep any record or pictures of the products except the Blog which I don’t show to Manju. This keeps her thinking creatively for new designs and patterns. We do not use artificial paints to make them attractive. The thread we use is pure cotton."

If you have any questions/suggestions leave them in the comments section here. If you are interested in buying Manju’s products contact Sathish.

My Lust List

2010-02-09T06:35:00.000-08:00

My latest obsession is 'VIOLA'. All the below are on my "lust" list! I just love them!! So here's to some beautiful gifting ideas for Valentines day... gift them, buy them or "hint ;-)" to that special someone - and wait for a beautiful surprise :) here's a feast to your eyes...

Accessorize your hands in style

2009-10-18T20:48:00.000-07:00

Currently obsessed with rings, specially oversized ones.

Here's some eye candy from 1000markets

Clutches

2009-10-18T19:43:00.000-07:00

~Happy Diwali to you all~

These traditional looking clutches as they go well with any Indian outfit, be it a silk salwar or a saree. These clutches are made of Raw silk & detailed with Zardosi, Kundan, Crystals & beads. Don't you love them?

These clutches are from one of my favourites stores - SIA

Vacation time

2009-09-28T06:32:00.000-07:00

Soaking in the beauty of Kandy...

Giveaway - With love from Bangalore, India

2009-09-03T19:09:00.000-07:00

In appreciation to all the encouragement you guys have given me in the last 1 year, I have decided to give away this a set of 10 handmade paper post cards named as Reflections of Bangalore by artist Rajendra Bagate to one lucky reader of Aabharan. This set has sketches of 10 different landmarks of Bangalore that I purchased from Craft Corner.

The entire set

A peek into the post cards:

The Bull Temple

International tech park - ITPB

St. Mary's Bascilica

You can frame them, send them to your Friends, make a collage - its up to you. All you have to do is leave a message on this post by 6.00pm CST , Sep 10Th with your city name & country. I will pick a random winner & mail this to you anywhere in the world.

Craft Corner

2009-08-27T18:58:00.000-07:00

It all started when I received a beautiful terracotta aroma oil infuser & a hand made paper planner as a gift from one of my friends.

I loved the stuff so much that it prompted me to check out the address of the shop on the handmade paper bag it came in & luckily there was a website address too! I browsed through and was very interested. I decided that I need to feature this store here and sent an email to the enterprising ladies who run the show-Leena & Mala asking if I can visit them & take pics for my blog. They were kind enough to oblige my request. So here you go:

Craft Corner is located in a serene residential locality. They sell a variety of paper & terracotta products under their roof.

Over ten years ago Mala was helping her father with his printing press. That’s where her fascination with paper has started. She started creating paper products. One of the customers at the printing press was holding an exhibition to give a chance to women entrepreneurs and she wanted Mala to showcase her creations. That’s where Mala met her partner Leena & the two of them hit it off really well and decided to become partners & started Craft Corner.

Here are some pics of the wonderful creations from their store. You can visit their website too.

Some terracotta creations under the brand Kshiti:

Aroma oil diffusers

Freshly painted Ganeshas

Elephants

Diyas (Lamps)

Sample of Bengaluru Bimba – range of Bangalore souvenirs:

Sketch of Glass house in Bangalore

More sketches of Tourist spots in Bangalore on these note pad holders

Some hand-made paper creations under the brand name Paper Nothings:

Photo albums & a paper lamp shade

Paper folders

Coasters with a beautiful message on each one of them

Journals/Note books

Photo frames

I enjoyed visiting the store, taking pics & meeting Mala. I also ended up buying a lot of paper products from Bangalore Bimba range. I am definitely going to visit them again to get some cute terracotta Ganeshas they they did not have in stock. I definitely recommend this place if you love handmade stuff like me.

Watch this space for more of my favourite stores in Bangalore & a chance to win a give away soon!

Drooling...

2009-08-01T06:52:00.000-07:00

I have been a fan of Amrapali jewellery for a long time now... As of now, I can only drool over all these till I make enough money to afford these. But then, why should I be the only person suffering unable to resist these? Hence sharing them with you all :) Total eye candy!

Gold diamond coral turquoise earrings

Gold multi stone enamel eerrings

Silver Zircon pendant

Gold - Ruby - Diamond - Emerald - necklaces (above & below)

Gold silver diamond emerald pearl necklace

Gold silver diamond rubilite necklace

Gold tourmaline diamond necklace

Six yards of beauty & elegance

2009-07-27T01:24:00.000-07:00

Today is Aabharan's first anniversary! I cant believe its been a year! A big thank you to all you guys for the encouragement, suggestions & support!

Love ~Shillu~

I decided to celebrate this special day with this colorful post :: Six yards of beauty & elegance.

At work we have a some fun events & one such event was the "Traditional dressing day". Here are a few pics for you: Thanks to all the guys who posed patiently for me :)

The lovely colors, the intricate details & the matching bangles made this day very beautiful :)

Handicrafts exhibition

2009-07-17T09:34:00.000-07:00

I love all kind of crafts exhibitions, especially for the colorful displays and some unexpected surprises you bounce on sometimes. I also love bargaining with the vendors - Thats the best part of shopping in India?

Some pics that I clicked at 'Sampoorn' - a handicrafts exhibition held in Bangalore.

Colorful vases - My fav is the brown one in the background (behind the camel pic vase)

"Juti's" in all sizes, patterns & designs

I love these colorful woven baskets - especially the wooden parrot handles on top of the lids.

Ceramic stuff - I love the colors and the variety here. I have my eyes on the kids tea set which is to the bottom right side of this pic.

Copper handmade bells in different sizes

Feet Chronicle - 4

2009-06-02T09:04:00.000-07:00

Another blue butterfly :)

Feet Chronicle - 3

2009-05-10T06:26:00.000-07:00

Its the pretty blue butterfly's turn today :)

Feet chronicle - 2

2009-05-08T07:32:00.000-07:00

The earlier pic was a cute little yellow duck. This one according to me is a grasshopper & according to my friends dragon fly, whatever it is - it looks cute. Don't you agree?

Click on the picture to see a close up.

Feet Chronicle - 1

2009-05-06T18:59:00.000-07:00

Its been long since I posted here. I will soon announce an event, an idea from Veda which I loved! Thanks Veda.

Now, my camera is at a service center for repair. So I am taking pics from my mobile & not at all happy about the quality.

Back to the point, I love toe rings. I find the ones that most of us (Indians) wear after marriage not so interesting & I need some variety, so I deck my feet up with some fancy ones. As you know by now, I am anyway obsessed with all kind of accessories. Here you go - I will post 1 picture everyday with the toe ring I wore that day :)

'Bead' it up

2009-02-21T23:28:00.000-08:00

Black beads with silver embellishments

Brown beads with an over sized brass pendant
Bracelets & Earrings in vibrant colors

Wooden beads to dress up any outfit - Traditional or western wear. I picked some of these from Pondicherry & some from various handicraft exhibitions in Safina Plaza, Bangalore.

Incredible India

2009-01-31T03:25:00.000-08:00

India is an Incredible country, filled with vibrant people & rich colors. In this post, I have captured some of these beautiful colors/Patterns for you to enjoy.

Cotton pillow covers in my house. My mom-in-laws choice. I love the colors & the details on it.

A lift in a residential apartment building colored in bright yellow with beautiful hand painted details.

A lady waiting with a kid on a railway platform. What attracted me is their colorful outfits.

A bench in a railway station. More vibrant colors in the background, even on the floor tiles.

Stone carvings on a south Indian temple. You can check out more Temple pictures here.

Sankranthi Subhakankshalu

2009-01-14T09:08:00.000-08:00

Sankranthi Subhakankshalu to you & your family

Designer dishes

2009-01-09T08:16:00.000-08:00

If you like hosting a party or dining in style you need to get your hands on these beautiful designer dishes from ccgemz. I got a chance to visit their stall at a crafts show in Minneapolis. These dishes are decorated skillfully with glass gems and sterling silver wire. They look very elegant & stylish with a hint of color - nothing too loud.

Which one is your favourite? I love the jars & dishes from the 3rd and 4th pictur from top.

You can read about Woven & Braided jewelry and heat colored metal jewelry- the other treasures I stumbled on at the same crafts fair.

Happy New Year

2009-01-01T05:05:00.000-08:00

Wishing you & your loved ones a happy & prosperous New Year

*Picture courtesy my best friend - VJ

Heat colored metal jewelry

2008-11-21T17:15:00.000-08:00

Another store from the Autumn Festival: Phoenix Designs

Very unique & innovative. Have not seen any like these before, a feast to the eyes! Enjoy!

Woven and braided jewelry

2008-11-16T14:42:00.000-08:00

I finally managed to go to the Annual Autumn Festival in Minneapolis and have met multiple talented artists with creative hand crafts. I am going to blog about these folks in multiple posts.

The First in this series is about Jan-Ra Jewelry. This Artist makes silver & gold jewelry which is woven/braided and entwined.

Here is what Jan says about her passion on her blog:

"My journey here has been a bit convoluted. I have a B.A. in Biology and an M.S. in Wildlife Conservation. I used neither degree professionally, however, and spent 13 years as a licensed remodeling contractor. I have more power tools than most men! My need to work with my hands, however, has grown stronger over the years, and making jewelry is the current manifestation of that need."

Jan at work:

Pics from the Jan-Ra stall at the Autumn Festival. Unfortunately I do not have many close-up pics of the jewelry, however I insist that you look at much better pictures here and here. Adorable jewelry I must say, with an interesting twist!

Watch this space for more.

On my mind...

2008-11-12T19:26:00.000-08:00

I have not been posting much here.
As I am away from home, I have not bought much stuff YET
I have been trying to update Tangled Maze with my weekend activities. Check out when you have time.
I might go to a crafts fair (I wish I could) sounds damn interesting! They promised "500 of America's finest artists & craftspeople from 30 states". So, watch out for more...

Downtown Minneapolis - this illuminated building looks much better than in this pic

Happy Diwali

2008-10-29T18:17:00.000-07:00

Happy Deepavali to you & your family

Give him an inch and he'll take a yard....

2008-10-10T19:45:00.000-07:00

I have been away from Aabharan for some time now.... Now, that does not mean I am not buying more jewellery!? That cant happen...This greed for Junk is never ending! Show me a store & I will end up buying the entire jewellery section!!

Don't these look like miniature kashmiri earrings with small coins dangling on a chain.

I could not resist these ...

And these...
Aren't these are the cutest pair ever? This pic does not do any justice... there are cute, tiny mother of pearl discs dangling down the hoops.

Watch out for more updates from me in the days to come...If I buy less junk, I promise I will at least update Tangled Maze.

Playful twist to traditional Jhumkas

2008-09-05T06:50:00.000-07:00

I love Jhumka’s made of any metal, shape & size! They definitely add brightness to the person wearing them. Over a period of time I have collected some silver Jhumka’s with have a playful twist that can be accessorized with both traditional as well as Modern outfits.

Here is my collection:

Jhumka with long silver stem & Dark rose colored beads from Kalanjali in Hyderabad, priced at Rs.350/- (Length: 2 in.)

Finely crafted Jhumka with beautiful garnet colored beads. From an exhibition in Safina Plaza, Bangalore; Priced at Rs.550/- (Length: 1.5 in.)

Another beautiful set made with pearls of different sizes. From Auroville boutique, Pondicherry; Priced at Rs.250 (Length: 2 in.)

What about you? Do you like Jhumkas?

Saffron, White, Green accessories

2008-08-13T06:54:00.000-07:00

May our great nation always bloom with happiness & prosperity... Happy Independence Day to you.

My accessories for the day, celebrating the spirit of Independence:

Dyed tri-color cotton crushed Dupatta ready to adorn my simple white khadi kurta and a green cotton salwar.

Tri-color bangles - We get such a wide range of beautiful bangles here in India, the best way to add a splash of color to any outfit.

Matching earrings & Trendy toe rings (Of course, I won’t wear all three – they are too cute! So I could not resist posting this picture here! These can be worn as finger rings too.)

This Independence Day post is an inspiration from Pooja of My Creative Ideas. She has come up with this theme: Saffron, White & Green for Independence Day week.

I have browsed through her earlier events to get an idea & I realized that most of the participants are extremely talented as they have created beautiful recipes to participate! Now, I am just a toddler when it comes to cooking – leave alone create something on my own! :( Sigh… However I love the theme & so decided to participate. Here is my entry.

Fridge magnets event

2008-08-11T20:03:00.000-07:00

I am new to blogging, started some weeks ago. I never imagined that this would open doors to so many interesting, informative & beautiful blogs. The icing on the cake is the most interesting events hosted by fellow bloggers!

Veda from Iyengars Kitchen was the first visitor to my blog & she has been kind enough to encourage me. When I visited her space - she was hosting this event - Fridge magnets which is so simple yet interesting & cool! So, here is my entry to my first blog event!

I do not have many magnets here in Bangalore as most of my collection is in Hyderabad (Mom's place). This is my new collection with started post my marriage.

My favourite... Is'nt he cool :)

2-Aquamarine jewellery

2008-08-07T19:17:00.000-07:00

Sparkling aquamarines are set in sterling silver to create a stylish, asymmetrical look. I have a beautiful pendant to match these Aquamarine earrings.

Fun facts about Aquamarine (Source: Wiki)

Birthstones of Pisceans.
Gemstone for the 16th and 19th marriage anniversary.
It has a soothing effect on "just married" couples, assisting them in working out their differences and insuring a long and happy marriage.
It is said to re-awaken love in long-married couples and signify the making of new friends.

Sterling Silver jewellery series: 1-Tourmaline jewellery

2008-08-07T08:44:00.000-07:00

My dad was posted in Chennai for a couple of years; this was a perfect excuse for me to explore the various shopping avenues & food there. I love shopping at Spencer Plaza, they have beautiful stores…My personal favorites are the cute & colorful Juti’s store on the top floor right to the food court: these guys have beautiful Jutis/Chappal which are very colorful and decorated with beautiful beads, shells & glitter. Another place is the silver jewellery store beside the Ceylon shopping area on second floor I think. Unfortunately I do not recollect the names of both the places. This place has huge collection of silver jewellery. And if you know me any better – you would have guessed by now that I would have madly bought loads of jewellery from this store in multiple colors, I am the way I am - Beyond hope!

From today I am going to post multiple pictures of the jewellery that I have picked-up from this second floor store & other shops @Spencer’s. I promise that I will get the names of the places in my next visit.

Here you go…

First Post: Tourmaline jewellery

Striking Tourmalines are used in these impressive drop earrings with a matching pendant set in sterling silver.

Fun facts about Tourmaline (Source: Wiki)

Birthstones of Librans.
Multicolored Tourmaline is the gemstone for the 8th anniversary.
Tourmaline is said to dispel fear, negativity and grief. According to legend, the tourmaline of all colors protects the wearer against many dangers and misfortune.

Lacquer earrings

2008-08-01T07:01:00.000-07:00

One of my close friends got me my first pair of these simple yet amazing earrings from Rajasthan. I instantly fell in love with these - now I have almost all the colors that are available! (Yeah! we already talked about my fetish/madness/craze for such stuff)

These come in different colors, shapes & sizes. The ones in the picture are the most common ones. The pictures below don’t do any justice to the beauty of these earrings. They are simple yet graceful. These will definitely add an understated traditional touch to Any Outfit!

In Bangalore you can find these at Safina Plaza (Infantry Road), Commercial Street.

About Lacquer jewellery:
Lacquer is a type of resin excreted from certain insects. To make these earrings Lacquer is fused with etched beaten metal sheets. They join these fused plaques to make bangles, earrings & Chains. The finished jewellery looks beautiful with studded colorful stones & multi color beads.

Minakari Jewellery

2008-07-29T06:49:00.000-07:00

This ornament is close to my heart as this is the first piece of jewellery that I bought (beginning of my junk jewellery journey, though this does not exactly fall into the “junk” category”). This is made of gold plated silver. I bought this hand crafted jewellery from a Rajasthani store that set up exhibition in Hyderabad a couple of years ago.

About Minakari Art:
Enamelling or minakari is the art of colouring and ornamenting the surface of metals by fusing over it brilliant colors that are decorated in an intricate design. Gold has been used traditionally for minakari jewelry as it holds the enamel better, lasts longer and its lustre brings out the colors of the enamels. Silver, is a later introduction.

Minakari is a hereditary craft and it is rare that outsiders are allowed to acquire any knowledge of this craft. The process followed is long drawn and complex in which a single piece of mina may pass through many expert hands before being completed.The minakars engrave the surface of the metal with intricate designs using a metal stylus which is then filled in with colours. The mina is then placed in a furnace where the colours fuse and harden to become one with the surface. Thereafter its gently rubbed with a file and the mina is then cleaned with a mixture of lemon and tamarind that helps to highlight the lustre of each colour. Enamel colours are metal oxides mixed with a tint of finely powdered glass where the oxide content controls the shade obtained. Before the enamel is applied, the surface of the ornament is carefully cleaned. In their raw form these mixtures do not always show their true colours, which emerge only when they are fired in the kiln. The average firing temperature is about 850 degrees Celsius.

Delicate floral designs with imaginative blend of traditional patterns and colors give Minakari jewellery a rich distinctive look.

Oversized pendant

2008-07-27T20:21:00.000-07:00

I am neither a fan of over sized pendants nor the color green...until I spotted this beautiful chain with its over sized pendant while window shopping at Forum Mall. I just could not resist it. At that point I was not sure what I will wear this with. There was nothing in my wardrobe that would remotely match this. Now I do :) (Yeah, I am crazy! bought a chain for which I had to buy an outfit to match!!) Anyways....

The chain has multiple suede cords & some beads. The pendant is made of burnished gold tone metal with multiple shades of green enamel. I matched this with simple earrings in the same color combination from Estelle. This set will definitely add style & glam to any simple outfit!

Close up
Matching dangle earrings

Terracotta Jewellery

2008-07-27T06:11:00.000-07:00

I bought these unique hand crafted Terracotta earrings in a crafts exhibition in Bangalore. These are hand painted with Lac & come in vibrant colors. One can accessorize ethnic salwars, kurtis or even denims with these.

I prefer bigger earrings, hence picked these cute jhumkas. Aren't they cool? They had a huge collection of pendants & small earrings too.

Kashmiri Jhola

2008-07-27T01:00:00.000-07:00

I received this cute Kashmiri Jhola on my birthday from my best friend. This has beautiful bright colored hand embroidery on the exterior, thick cotton lining inside & a small inner pocket for my valuables. This can be closed with draw strings. cant wait to use this!!