Handmade Rakhis Taking Centre Stage

If you look around in any market place, all that you see are the colourful, glittering Rakhis, considered the thread of brother sister bond. It's a very beautiful thought where a sister ties this thread on her brother's hand and asks him to be by her side and protect her all her life.

Well, while on my research on what, the different designs artists have come up this year, I bumped upon really exquisite designs and would love to share them with you'll too.

Rakhis by Jugaad

Upcycled- For those looking for recycled upcycled products, like made for waster fabric and paper they should check Pure Ghee on their facebook page, Jaypore.com and Soulfulsaai too. One should also check the recycled fabric rakhis by Jugaad, on facebook.

Dolki Bead rakhis by Soulfulsaai

Bead Rakhis- This year we at Soulfulsaai, made it a point to make our own inhouse beads which could be used in the rakhis. We used techniques such as crochet and winding on wooden beads and further embellishing them with stones and seed beads. There are rakhis made using beads made of newspaper and ordinary paper and then coloured and
embellished. Check the rakhis on Jaypore.com.

Grandmas Garden on Hopscotch.in

Felt Rakhis are another big time favourite for kids rakhis. Many artists have explored felt in making these rakhis. I specially loved Oyester kids  and Grandmas Garden rakhis on Hopscotch.in . They were actually hand cut and hand stitched unlike others which were machine cut and stuck on.

image courtesy alibaba.com

Embroidered Rakhis- using traditional embroideries such as mirror work, zardozi, and bead work beautifula patches are created and then mounted on make unique rakhis. The rakhis made Shipra Nayyar via pinterest.

Pompom Rakhis by Soulfulsaai

Pompom Rakhis- Again being used since time immemorial, but again at Soulfulsaai we used pompoms with a touch of bling and they have been loved but all. The street markets are full of pompom rakhis though the basic ones.

Rakhis by Samoolam

Crochet rakhis- We at Soulfulsaai are know for our crochet products thus beside the crochet bead rakhis we also have zardozi rakhis, made with metallic thread and embellished with kundan and pearls. We also loved the rakhis on Jaypore.com made by Samoolam.




Quilling Rakhis is not a new concept, people have been designing different designs using thin sheets of paper. We at Soulfulsaai had made quilling rakhis last year too. What particularly caught my attention was this 3D TV design which was then later mounted to make it a rakhi that could be tied on to the wrist. Our hot selling rakhi this season was the favourite Minion.
These rakhis are available on firstcry.com and hopscotch.in

Just came across interesting rakhis using Bamboo Art and Dokra art, you can buy them on http://baayadesign.com/estore/rakhi-special.html

Since I'm an ardent fan of handmade products and would love to see more and more people appreciate and buy handmade products, I've written this blog. Please do share if you come across interesting handmade design.

Quilling is Therapeutic For Me..

I am not a very paper friendly person. Therefore, quilling was not something I took to, at the first instance. When I first introduced quilling Rakhis in Soulfulsaai product range, I had a good friend and fellow crafter Nikki Lad, make the designs for me. The response was encouraging. And the next year in 2014, before the festive season begun, I bought myself a quilling kit and took the leap.

I must mention here- Quilling is Therapeutic. Quilling is creating motifs using thin strips of paper rolling them and then shaping them individually and sticking them together to create the final motif.

Quilling is most popularly used in making flowers. And online there are some artist who have made magnificient designs using quilling flowers. Therefore the thought that came to mind was, how would and what would I do, to make something unique in this already explored art.

That when I used quilling to create articles other than flowers. Before I started making Rakhis, I made a few quilling items and used them in cards. The cards turned out damn unique and people loved them.

How delicate the papers are, equally delicately one needs to be when working on them. Quilling is time consuming but once you start, I doubt one would want to stop. But the task ahead of me was making 200 pcs of Rakhis phew!!... Because boutiques on sites like Hopscotch, the minimum quantity is very high.

Unlike when making other items, one could delegate them. But in quilling that was not possible. Thus every quilling rakhi made in our product range was made by me.

And when the boutique went live on Hopscotch in 2014, I was overwhelmed!! A complete sell out.



So now in 2015, when I was planning Rakhis, the challenge was, quilling rakhis but how to make them unique. That's when it struck, to add an alphabet element, because when it comes to kids, learning is their way of life and on the other hand one can pick the alphabets as per the name of the child.

So, while I'm quilling, the entire time spent is so rejuventing and satisfying. Thus the final product is not an outcome just for selling but has the vibrations of a happy soul in it.

Last year, we had around 300 Soulfulsaai rakhis being tied to brothers establishing the brother sister bond. We are hoping to cross 750 this year, including quilling and non quilling rakhis,

 The quilling designs that are a dedication to our childhood days are - Natraj Pencil, Cadbury Eclairs, the trending Minions, Vans and Jeeps a little boy's favourite play companion.

Presently, these rakhis are getting sold out on Firstcry.com and are going live on Hopscotch.in on Aug 15, 2015. On can buy directly form our fb page too.

I would conclude by saying if you are looking for some art form which is therapeutic too, definitely have a try at quilling and share your experiences.

Happy Rakshabandhan to all....

Quest to Make Something Unique

I'm approached by friends and clients with design suggestions. It's very thoughtful of them to think about me when they are looking around in the market or browsing and then sending me reference images of designs. Please do continue sending me reference images.

In the process of making something most unique involves and extensive search of existing designs. The fact that some design is available in the market is the reason I'm not making such designs.

When a particular design and pattern has been already created by a fellow artist discourages me to explore in that direction. However, it inspires me to work on some particular kind of trend that trending.

Here I would like to mention pompoms. I had worked on pompom designs around two years back and even for Diwali last year. The response was good. However, I didn't explore them much. But now again, since the trend has caught on well thought of working on some designs. Here is the first glimpse of pompom accessories of little girls. Pompoms have a very cute appeal. In the design, the pompoms add colour, the gota patti adds the glitter and pearls the soft charm.

Pompoms are readily available in the market in all traditional colours. But when we wish to make something in non traditional colours then the only resort is to make these pompoms by ourself. My maid helped me make some of the pompoms. There is a small unit which helps in making pompoms though it is a time taking process but the resulting pompoms are much better than the readymade ones.

The yarn used is acrylic baby wool, however if one wants to make large pompoms then using the normal or thicker yarn will help. There are much simpler ways to make pompoms at home, google it or pinterest helps.

We are planning a unique range of pompoms western jewellery kids with non traditional colours stay tuned. Till then let us make the most of the coming festivals with the pompom range of accessories.

I feel there is a dearth of good ethnic jewellery for little girls and thus have worked on hairclips, headchains, hairbands and bangles to begin with.

I'm particularly excited as some of these designs are debuting on firstcry.com hopscotch.in and Curious Village, Ludhiana store soon.

Do leave your comments on these designs. I'm waiting.........

Birth of Soulfulsaai

Now that Soulfulsaai is 6 mnths old, and quite visible, I felt to penned down the journey, though short but has been very novel yet fulfilling. 

In the last one month, Ive been approached by people having a similar urge I experienced about a year back, to explore the creative thoughts. 

While troubleshooting their queries suddenly made me realise I indeed have paved a unique path to put to use my ideas and also earn through them. Feeling very proud about myself and even realising how useful it would be to share my experiences with my thoughtmates (my own word for people whose thought fall in the same class).

So, lets start from the beginning.....

The first hairclip I made.

Conception

Etsy, ( www.etsy.com ) that's the word. Post me quitting my full time job as the Editor of a Fashion Magazine, I spent hours n hours online, practically just trying to not lose out on what is happening around. 

I eventually opened a twitter account. In twitter you need to have a name which is called a Twitter handle. And that is where the name Soulfulsaai actually took birth. Soulfulsaai was actually my twitter handle, which I eventually went on to you use as the brand name for my products simply because every product I make has a part of my soul in it.

Logo

Keep it simple and rather something that states your brand image. You could take the help of a designer. In my case I did it myself.

Etsy Shop

I met some very good online friends can say soul sisters. Nandita Iyer (a Food blogger herself http://saffrontrail.blogspot.com/ ) shared a link on etsy and I plunged into the creative ocean. I surfed and surfed aimlessly. But did realise off all the products I surfed, I started liking a particular segment-Hair Accessories.  I went to the nearby malls to check out what type of Hair Accessories are presently being sold and what is the price range. Then decided to check how the individual designers open shops on this site, and realized it much simpler than opening a bank account. 

My 1st online sale on Craftsvilla

1. You have a unique handmade product. (could be anything from hand-printed fabric to furniture to accessories..)

2. Photograph it in the most appealing (Etsy even has online videos and blog on photography tips). A FB friend Sandhya Menon was kind enough to have a look at my photos and share some valuable tips to improve them. Trust me I do not know photoshop and all my photos are just clicked, cropped, resized and uploaded.  For the compliment I got from my cousin a fashion photographer I always pat myself to do a good job with a simple 14 mega pixel Nikon Cool Pix. You click your photos in natural reflected light without flash. This will give you photos in actual colours. 

1st international sale on Etsy

3. Describe your product in such a way it answers the queries of the prospective buyer. Tag words are important. do read how the other sellers describe their product and what all details you need to include like colours, size, material etc.

4. Pricing- That is a challenge but Etsy had a solution for that too. Material+time taken+ profit=Price

5. Payment options- You just have to open a paypal account and you are ready to become an international seller. (you just need a credit card to register and then a local Bank account where the money could be transferred once the sale happens).

Made to order new born sets.

6. Shipping- Since you have an online shop the most important aspect is ensuring you have most reliable yet economical courier partner. I did ask fellow Indian shop owners (http://www.etsy.com/shop/armcandyforyou and http://www.Mamta.etsy.com) on Etsy to finally circle down on our own Indian Post.

7. You pay a minimum amount to list your products and you are on.

6. You get your orders, the money comes directly to your account, you just have to ship the product. You can interact with your buyer if there are any further queries regarding your product. 

In short you have your own international shop. And buyers who could be staying in any part of the world.

Yes. it's that simple.

FB Page

Along with my Etsy shop, ( http://www.etsy.com/shop/saivijayanaidu ) I opened a my FB page http://www.facebook.com/SaaiV for Soulfulsaai. Where I had the liberty to post photos of all the products and share with my friends. Here you have to interact build your Fan list, but the challenge is not about numbers by having people who seriously like your products, would purchase and recommend. 

My first sale on unwrapindia.com

1. Be active on your page.

2. Upload and update your products regularly on your page

3. Don't overdo, ensure you are also sharing other things like quotes, incidents, celeb styles, other designer products, trends on your page. Such that your fans wait to see what you are going to upload today and take cues for their life and dressing.

4. Like other similar pages, interact with them so that there is an increased visibility to your brand.

5. Reward your fans- Not all would buy your products but to keep the spirit of the page and have some fun have some contests from time to time to keep people engaged on your page.

Rosette Bib Necklaces off shelf the fastest

Indian Websites

There was on hitch to have a shop on Etsy, people in India wouldn't be able to buy in Indian rupees and FB is not a place where I could reach out to more people. That's when I came across http://www.craftsvilla.com. After the initial glitches (because Craftsvilla set up was not as advanced or simple as Etsy at that time) of  uploading products, ensuring the dispatches, now even Craftsvilla is working to making the interface easier for sellers to upload, ship and interact with customers. Nearly all Indian websites work on the policy of charging the seller a percentage commission once the product is sold. There are some who handle the shipping themselves so you have to send the product to them or there are some who ask the seller to do the shipping directly to the buyer. 

Handcrochetted Jhumkas are a Hit

After craftsvilla, Soulfulsaai opened shops on  

http://unwrapindia.com/shop/Soulfulsaai,   

http://shop.styleme.co.in

http://www.itshandmade.in/index.php/user/profiles/store?st_id=388

http://shopick.com/soulfulsaai

http://www.rangiru.com/shop/soulfulsaai

And there are many more who now keep approaching me on daily basis to be a part of their website. 

Cloth button studs- best selling product on Craftsvilla

Sourcing

When creating a product you just keep one thought in mind, what you have in offer no other brand is offering at that point. Only then would be get your buyers to come and purchase your product.

R&D

It is very important and a continuous process. Keep analyzing and checking what is selling better and why. This information would help you tweak your product line and get your more sales.

Best Selling product

My Advantages

1. Education- I'm a post grad in Textiles and Clothing and have this as a strong base to explore and reinvent new products.

2. Net Savvy- This is a basic essential, which I inculcated when working as an editor at http://mumbai.explocity.com that's where I learnt how to upload and interact live on a website.

3. Sourcing Raw Material- Staying in Mumbai and that to in a suburb where there is a whole market for jewellery and craft supplies makes my life very easy. If not you have to plan your shopping trips before hand. Etsy is a site where you can shop for supplies, though might be a little expensive at times. 

4. Product Type- My products are small, light and usually not fragile. So packing and shipping is not a major concern. 

I've tried to include every challenge and every advantage I experienced while conceptualizing my brand. Please feel free to write, share and pose queries if you have any.

Love Handmade

Saai