finished bridal hair chain

wax elements with batik tool

figure 1

figure 2

figure 3

figure 1,2,3 shows the tree built with the moulded elements

figure 4

figure 5

figure 6

figure 4,5,6 shows the casted elements linked together making a beautiful chain

draped head accessory

 

figure 1

 

figure 2

Initially when I design this head piece, the main idea was for the elements to look like chain. Figure 1 and 2 shows the initial design of the elements.

 figure 3

figure 3 shows the elements that were made by forging wire and soldering balls together with a jumpring at the ends as to attach to each other. These were all made individually by hand and no casting included,this was taking a long time to make. The connection between the two elements were quite weak because there were to many solder joints.

figure 4

figure 4 shows a different element that might work better. I want to use the batik wax tool to draw the pattern so that it is delicate and detailed.

figure 5

figure 5 shows the final element that im going to attempt drawing with the batik tool

mehndi and diamate tiara

figure 1

i used a graver to engrave lines to fill in the spaces that looked bare as shown in figure 1, im engraving lines that cross over

figure 2

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figure 2,3,4,5 show the finish piece from different angles,trying to show detail and the diamates that have been stuck

cast mehndi elements for head piece

figure 1

now that the domed flowers for the diamante stones are done(figure 1),need to cast the other elements and clean them.

figure 2

 figure 2 and 3 shows the mould that i had made earlier using 1 master element that i spent one entire day piercing and filing round,sanded,polised than made a mould off.

figure 3

figure 4

 figure 4 shows the tree off elements that have just been casted and is now being cut off one at a time.

figure 5

the elements are being cleaned in sulphuric acid (figure 5)

figure 6

 figure 6 shows some of the elements that have been sanded and polished.

figure 7

figure 7 shows the arrangement of elements in the correct sequence for the bridal head piece

draped hair accessory

Ive decided to make the elements by hand, reason being, I made a mould which doesnt inject so well, its costing a lot of time. And after casting, cutting the elements off the tree and cleaning them will be such a mission,I  prefer making them by hand, I find it quite de-stressing.

As I use my pliers to bend these into shapes,it becomes like a recipe in my mind,I know exactly how much to bend them so that they ,sort off look the same

forging them changes their shape,they now look like mehndi squeesed out of a bottle amd using the tip of the bottle to press in down so that it touches the skin and creates the marks of the bottle.

the little balls that are solderd onto the jumprings that will then be soldered onto the forged 's' shaped wires.

draped hair accessory

My relative is gettng married and she asked me to design and make he a bridal head piece based on a brand of accessories by Kim Kardashian called noel belle head chain. however she wanted me to include my style,and add mehndi elements to create the chain

https://www.google.co.za/search?q=belle+noel+hair+chain&hl=en&prmd=imvnso&tbm=isch&tbo=u&source=univ&sa=X&ei=_iXGT9ifO8TN4QSFurDdBQ&ved=0CGIQsAQ&biw=1024&bih=571

forged wire

soldered on the silver balls with jumprings

i soldered a y-shaped wire to the element so that the wax can flow

in order to make a 5 layered chain with this element i have to use approxmatley 188 of these elements so im gonna make a mould and inject wax to cast them,if my mould is not successful, since its so thin,it might not inject properly,i will do it by hand,soldering each one indiviually,i find this process of making each link theraputic.

My mum on her wedding day

 mums mehndi was so beautiful,had a branch sort of pattern running all the way down the front and back of the palm.Relating to the henna encyclopedia, mum uses the fishbone pattern,although now that pattern has transformed and used in many ways,before this was the standard way the pattern was used.To see other uses of this pattern,check The Henna page

 mums forehead was decorated with red liquid dots, now most brides use the stick on bindis that are easier to peel off and stick on to skin and they are highly decorated with rinestones and beads that make it look more attractive when the bride is on stage and the light reflects of the shiny bindis, below is a picture of the bindis I bought from the Sunday TimesEastern Bridal fair thet was held in August

Shanal Ramlall is a jewellery artist that worked with similar jewellery forms like the one my mum is wearing.
The word “Hathphul” translates directly to “Flower for the Hand” this specific ornament is worn by an Indian bride for the purpose of adornment. “the ornament literally bridges the gap between bracelet and finger rings with delicate gold chains” (Krishnan- 1999).