Blog Giveaway! - How many letters on a grain of rice?

I was asked by Laura of 'Cards and Candles for all Occasions' recently if I would like to make her a name on rice pendant. The pendant was to contain grains of rice containing her Mums name, her Mum’s kennel club affix and her dates of birth and passing. Everything sounded fine and then I counted the number of letters in her Mums name – nine eek! I haven’t previously managed to write more than eight letters onto a single side of a grain of rice before. But then the more I thought about it, the more I concluded that I had probably restricted myself to that number because I just haven’t been asked to write more, and I am always up for a challenge!

Name on Rice Jewellery

I found writing nine letters onto a grain of rice was relatively easy and felt I could even go for more! But writing on both sides of a grain of rice still proves to be quite a challenge, in fact to some extent I find writing on both sides of a grain of rice more challenging than the writing itself. It is a psychological challenge of knowing that I am writing onto the back of a grain of rice that has already had successfully completed writing.

I made two pendants for Laura, the first contained three grains of rice with her mums name on one grain, kennel club affix on the second grain and the third grain with the dates written onto both sides of the grain of rice.

The second pendant (as seen below) contained a single grain with her mother’s name and a tiny red flower.

Name on rice necklace

Blog Giveaway

To Celebrate 150 blog followers I have decided to do a Blog giveaway and here it is: I have decided to set myself a target this year. I want to get all the letters of the alphabet onto a single grain of rice, and here is where you can win my giveaway. Firstly follow my blog and then place your bets (by commenting on this blog post) on how many letters I will achieve (the closest guess will get a little gift from me at the end of the year). Duplicate correct entries will be decided by the ‘drawn out of the hat’ method and sorry you have to wait so long for your prize...but I hope it is worth it and it will make an unexpected present at the end of the year!

If you are interested I have put together a small tutorial with advice and a few tips for writing names on a grain of rice. It can be found here: How to make name on rice jewellery.

My first name on rice custom order

I completed these pendants last week and they are the result of my first custom order for 'name on rice' pendants.

The young lady who contacted me wanted the pendants personalised with the words 'Ari (heart) Roni' writing on the grain of rice, and also wanted two identical pendants making, one for her and one for her sister.

Personalised name on rice necklaces

These 'name on rice' pendants proved quite a challenge, it wasn't the wording that was the problem it was the heart symbol. For some reason I am not the best at drawing hearts on paper and trying to draw something that resembles a heart on a grain of rice is a different matter! She also wanted the pendants colouring with a tint of blue. Anyway, several hours later (and many grains of rice) I had produced two pendants that I was happy with.

She is over the moon with her new pendants and so am I for overcoming the challenge of my first custom order!

You can see more 'name on rice' jewellery, the history and symbolism on my name on rice page.

Personalised Name on Rice Jewellery

Yes my eyes may be sore, yes reading a book will not be the same again but I think what I made my wife recently was well worth it!

This is a necklace personalised with her name written on a single grain of rice.

Name on rice pendant

With a steady hand and lots and lots of practice and patience I have managed to master the art of rice writing. Recognised as a symbol of good luck, prosperity and fertility (but we will ignore the last one!), writing on a single grain of rice dates back to ancient times and originates from Ancient Turkey and India.

Currently I can comfortably write 16 characters on a single grain of rice (eight characters per side), which covers most names and messages. However I am slowly aiming for the record of two hundred characters, made by a man in Turkey a long time ago and written with a strand of hair!

If you would like to know more about name on rice writing and its history and symbolism, please visit my page Personalised Name Jewellery.