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Ginko Leaf
11.14.2009

When I was a young girl, I made an amazing discovery in my quiet little neighborhood... a ginko tree. The leaves were so beautifully shaped, so elegant and foreign. I always felt guilty swiping one or two of those glowing yellow fans from my neighbor's lawn, but the sharp pleasure of inspecting them later won over my reservations.

I rarely saw ginko trees anywhere else since then. You can imagine my delight when I moved to New York and began passing under ginko trees on every block of my Manhattan neighborhood. It seemed fitting that these exotic leaves, once perceived as a delicious secret, were strewn across my beloved city.

To preserve my special memory, I cut the ginko shape from sheet metal and then filed and textured it. I tied it on a brown leather cord to complete the look of a tree. ^ top

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Corinne
07.03.2009

I walked by these plants on the sidewalk, and backtracked after they hit me halfway down the block. I was transfixed by the cheerful orange and green right up on top of each other. Does green go with everything? I would have never guessed... but in nature, it is always true.

I've been dreaming of green and orange since, and decided to make a pair of peridot and carnelian earrings for my friend Corinne. Remembering her beachy, dark blonde wavy hair and sparkling smile, I knew Corinne earrings would have to be done in gold, with pearl accents. I love the mixture of matte, shiny, and sparkly in these earrings.     ^ top

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Amrita
06.16.2009

When you're the mom of a (very) active 2.5 year old boy, you become intimately familiar with every inch of your local playground. I spend hours (a day) at Dino Park in Riverside watching the little rugrat shriek down the slides. Occasionally, I find a moment to admire a particularly shapely leaf or configuration of stones. Dino park has quickly become a favorite spot for photographing Sapni Apni jewelry.

At first, my inner asthetic cringed at the clash between nature's soothing palate and the clown colors of the playground equipment. But the view has grown on me. And recently, I found myself itching to put that yellow, blue, and red together to see if I could come up with something wearable. Whenever I go out with Amrita, I get compliments all day long. Inspiration can be found in the most unlikely of places!     ^ top

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Sajitha
05.03.2009

It's not easy designing jewelry for a new friend. What if you think she is a particular color, or a particular stone, and she disagrees? What if you craft her story with some wire, cord, and beads... only to discover you've misunderstood? It is a hard-stopping moment when you hand over your interpretation.

Thankfully, my friend Sajitha was thrilled with her necklace - swirling dark stones shaped like her almond eyes, a bright happy vein of yellow, a mellow jade, a little sparkle, and an edgier city gray as the backdrop. This isn't a necklace for just anyone. Happy Birthday, Saj!     ^ top

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Neela
02.15.2009

It's as if the flowers are suspended in air. I don't remember taking this photo, but I go back to it time and time again and gasp whenever it fills up my screen. I made a pair of earrings and a necklace in a similar shade of blue, trying to mimic the weightless feeling the photo always gives me.

Creating the earrings was easy enough; naming them was hard. I gazed at the pair's photo for a long time, trying to decide. As I gazed and glazed, a famous Hindi song kept popping into my head. When I finally began paying attention to what my brain already knew, choosing a name was simple. This is Neela, named from the song "Neela Aasmaan" - meaning blue sky.     ^ top

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Shabana
08.29.2008

The ultimate challenge... an upcoming summer wedding outfit needs the perfect jewelry. How do I finalize my accessories? Length, shapes, colors, types... one could go crazy with the possibilities. I had a beautiful wrap dress I wanted to wear that was just a shade on the casual side. I would need something with a little 'oomph' to turn up the fancy, something that could stand up to the crazy colors and patterns of the dress and pull it all together. I decided I needed seriously intense earrings, long in length and thick with weight, and no other jewelry.

Shabana - the sassiest, strongest earrings I own, are my favorite. And also were one of the most nerve-wracking pieces I've made. I had no idea how they would look once I hung them upright. My neck and fingers were cramped and frozen as I was rushing to finish them in time to make the wedding. But wow, they shaped up to be a real treat. A fat smoky quartz stone giving each earring an anchor, with a cascade of pearl, turquoise, carnelian, smoky quartz, and vermeil beads providing the color commentary. Perfect summer earrings!     ^ top

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Padmi
05.08.2008

There's a gorgeous stretch of Riverside Park near my apartment that explodes in pinks during springtime. I'm not a pink kind of girl, but when I see the hundreds of shades, from first blush to magenta, spread across the West side cityscape, I can't help but rethink my taste. The cherry and apple blooms manage to soften the skyline without taking away its strength. And they are powerful in and of themselves... from the hardy shape of their petals, to the thick, scaly bark of their trunks. Yet their long, limber branches allow them to move flirtatiously in the breeze.

I was inspired by these cherry blossoms to create Padmi - dangling earrings in quartz, rhondite, and pearl - that seem almost weightless but are quite substantial with their round, harmonious shapes and flowing clusters.     ^ top

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