Mehndi Inspired Jewelry – from Sketch to Finished Piece

I am very proud of the new pieces just added to the Abella Blue Shop and my Abella Blue Etsy Shop. These pieces began as a sketch in my notebook and then were transformed into necklaces and earrings. I began with a doodle. You can see a bit of it in the photo below. It is the leafy swirly doodle in the corner. I didn’t start with the intention of using it for anything, just a doodle to pass the time. Someone peeking over my shoulder mentioned that it looked like a mehndi or henna tattoo.  This lead me to look up some images, and I loved what I saw. My doodles often take on the decorative quality found in the tattoos and I was drawn to the floral shapes in the intricate patterns. What I ended up with was the flower below. As soon as I was finished I knew I had to incorporate it into my jewelry. After scanning it into my computer and cleaning up the sketch a bit I used it to to create a photopolymer plate, which is essentially a stamp created from my image. I then took this stamp and used it to transfer the floral design into metal clay.

I am excited to start using more of my own hand drawn designs in my work. It makes the piece totally unique, and I love knowing that each process was done by hand. Drawing is something I have loved to do all my life and I hope to have a few more pieces of jewelry with my own drawings featured on them soon.

Thanks so much for looking. I hope this inspires you too.