Even since I was a child I loved to make things and making things were part of my life. My favourite things to make were glittery balls from candy wrappers and tiny gift boxes from matchboxes. I hung them on the Christmas tree, and then it felt like Christmas. My parents were super supportive in my craft adventures and ignored the mess”, says Devi Chand.
Devi uses minimal tools and no machinery in production, because she feels her hands are usually enough. She also says, “Some find it hard to believe that these were made from paper. In such cases, I rescue my jewellery from the burn test.”
She grew up and studied design at NIFT and college was a nice place to be, a new way to live, dream, make things and meet my husband. After graduation, I worked in a design firm. I yawned most of the time there. It took me only nine months to say goodbye to corporate life and start Papermelon.
Devi who does every work from home says, “My husband is my courier boy and my baby girl is my timer, she decides if, when and how much I work”, relishes Devi.
In 2009, Devi discovered Etsy, a platform to sell what she was making. “Paper jewellery was something which I enjoyed making the most and its garnering attention from the customers and that was the one which was selling the most, so with time I decided to concentrate completely on the paper initially my brand was named as Hippiekingdom when I started in 2009, by 2013 I renamed it as Papermelon and from then I have been completely concentrating on paper products”, says Devi.
What is the most unique thing about paper jewellery? “The one main reason I like about paper jewellery is it’s very versatile and when I make jewellery there is no same paper that is being used in the jewellery. It surprises me every time I make jewellery because I have no idea what the end product is going to look like and I think that is one of the fun things about making the jewellery. I also feel great to be a part of the sustainable fashion movement and paper is one of the most recycled items on the planet, it’s organic too.”
Devi conducts workshop for women who are already passionate about crafts on how they can persuade future and make a living out of it and they can convert it into a profession.
