The following three entries of mine were shortlisted…I guess in the top 100:

1. Stationery from Cow Dung Paper 2. Luxe – Brass Metal Range 3. Paper Jewellery

The following entry was in the honourable mention:

1. Spice Stationery

My entries in detail:

Luxe

“Luxe” is a limited edition of chic and trendy range of stationery, books, invitations and business cards. Each piece is handcrafted from recycled brass metal and is avant garde in its look and feel.

Paper Jewellery

My first love and medium of choice is paper. While working with this medium I feel a sense of joy and belonging and I am always trying to mould it into a variety of products. This range of paper jewellery is handmade from recycled and 100% wood free paper. It has a special transparent coating to make it water-proof. The black border holding the quilled pendant is also recycled board.

This in other words is environmentally responsible fashion.

Spice

Spice range of stationery, recipe books, invitation cards, etc are quintessentially very me. I am a rebel and I love to create the unusual. The mediums I use are varied but simple. The Spice range was designed keeping the food connoisseur in mind as it brings a certain level of ingenuity to the otherwise mundane recipe books and invitations. It simply spices it up.

Cow Dung Range

This is a range of journals and greeting cards handcrafted from paper that is 100% recycled and handmade from cow dung and cotton rags. Cow dung is typically full of short to medium grained fibrous materials from the cows diet which when processed makes excellent paper. Naturally dried cow dung from cow shelters (also called “gaushalas”) is brought back to the village unit to make beautiful handmade paper. GauShala, a Sanskrit word, means the sanctuary or the abode for old, sick, abandoned and stray cows, calves and oxen.

(In Sanskrit, Gau means cow, Shala means a sanctuary).

Time Piece

This piece of art epitomises the experimental part of me. The inspiration for this “timepiece” runs back to the time when I was a young boy and the wooden scale with its rudimentary appeal was a constant source of fascination; it was a multipurpose tool and also a toy. This timepiece is sold by invitation.

Egyptian Hieroglyphs

The fascination with Egypt and its mysterious civilisation inspired me to create this unusual range of greeting cards, journals, bookmarks and gifts. All products have hieroglyphs with its meaning in english printed at the back. The hieroglyphs have been printed on a specially designed and environmentally responsible handmade paper that mimics a peeling wall texture. The papers that hold the hieroglyphs have been hand coated and brushed to give it that authentic look. This range has been developed after months of extensive research on hieroglyphs, papers and textures.

I get a travel grant from British Council to visit London to further my business.