Elhabe: Making jewels from paper

Elhabe is named after my father Elhabe Yusuf Fulhu. I have memories of him making souvenirs in the 80s, in his workshop at home. He passed away when I was 11-years-old. In a way I am carrying his legacy forward, so its only fitting that I brand my jewellery line after his name.

He used to make boxes, earrings and spoons from turtle shells and black coral. Of course we wouldn’t use these materials now. Sometimes I wonder if he was here, what he would say after taking a paper bead in his hand. 

An airport rack set me off on this path. I am a graphic designer by trade, on a trip abroad, I saw this rack at the Malé airport. It was supposed to be for Maldivian souvenirs, but there weren’t enough artisanal Maldivian items, so they had filled it with souvenirs from abroad. Even the ones made out of shells were foreign. It saddened me to see that. So many creative Maldivians and yet we didn’t have enough Maldivian products. I decided I was going to create enough souvenirs to at least fill that rack. I started off with making fridge magnets, and using shells that I had collected. Then I thought of branching out to jewellery, but I had no expertise in that area. My husband suggested studying it, so I went to Malaysia and did a short course in jewellery making.