Hand-crafted Jewellery (blog marathon post 11)

Jewellery is something which will interest most women. It always makes a perfect gift too.No matter how many pieces of jewellery a woman has, yet another one is always welcome. And if it is hand-crafted and does not cost the earth, it is indeed the icing on the cake. When I saw these initially in my cousin Sandya's album I was totally blown away. She was making them and had sold a lot of pieces too.

Sandya and I have always shared  a special relationship. She is my mother's sisters daughter and as children, every summer vacation would be spent together. We have countless stories of mischiefs , laughs and giggles and even now, when we talk about it, we laugh uproariously! After she got married and moved to the U.S, we somehow  lost touch and we re-connected only recently (thanks to Facebook) which was when I came to  know about her jewellery making. I was instantly fascinated.


It is indeed wonderful when someone converts their hobby into a business and I asked Sandya if she was willing to share her experience. She sweetly agreed. You have seen her creations (if you haven't do see the video above). Now meet Sandya Shenoy, the pretty lady behind these exquisite creations!

1. When did you first start making jewellery? What prompted the interest?

My friend and I decided to do something fun for the weekend.  We then decided to take a class on the basics of Jewellery making at the Arts and Crafts Store called A.C.Moore.  It was a 2hour class and we made a necklace and a pair of earrings.  They showed and made us familiar with the tools and basic supplies that we would need to get started. After the class we ventured to the Jewellery and bead aisle of the store and then went crazy buying supplies to make it our selves at home for our own use. 

Once, I started making jewellery I could not stop and before I knew it I had a hand full of jewellery sets.  I started showing it off to my friends, and they loved it. I started giving it off as gifts to my close friends and neighbours.

2.How did you think of selling it as a business?

Gopal pushed me to put a few on sale and this is how I put up a few on Etsy.com and many more people started looking at it.  They started sending me emails when they saw something they liked and this is how I sold my first set.  My friends placed custom orders as well and they were asking me to charge them for the services.  It made sense since jewellery supplies don’t come cheap.  I even redesigned old beaded necklaces.

3.Do you face any difficulties or setbacks?

The difficulties that I face is promoting myself and getting more people to get to know about me or about seeing the sets on my Picasa website and ordering a set after they see it. on line.  The challenge is to stand out, since there are so many websites that sell handmade jewellery. 

4.How do you manage to make time since you have two small children?

It’s hard to find the time to make the jewellery. I make sure that my kids are done with their homework, dinner etc  before I can even think of making any jewellery. It’s 10:00 in the night by the time I get around to making my jewelry. 

In the morning when I have a set or 2 ready, I have my critics (my kids and husband) looking at it and telling me about what they think about it.   I really like it when they try to advice me on what could have looked better and what combination would look good etc

5.Any advice for women wanting to do something on their own?

I guess my advice is if you are passionate and dedicated enough about something that you really want to do then just go for it.  Take that first step. It is not going to be easy but you will learn a lot along the way.  I learned a lot from my mistakes and with time have come a long way.

Thank you Sandya!
To see more of her creations and to see what is available for sale and the prices click here. In case you wish to buy it, the easiest way would be to get someone coming from the U.S to bring it for you. She does ship to India, but the shipping charges will have to be added to the cost.

If you wish to mail her you can contact her on sandya(dot)shenoy(at)gmail(dot)com

If you liked reading about this, and if you liked her creations, do take a few moments and do leave a comment. It would really be a lot of encouragement for my cousin Sandya. (I am so proud of her!)

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Current mood video (see right) : A remix of Jhumka Gira re! (asha bhosle)