Update from India

I've been in India a few weeks now, and was able to manage only one blog post so far, and that not for this blog, but for the two lovely ones I frequently contribute to. This was a story about a house so full of color that I had to feature it. Interested? Read more here or here!

Meanwhile, the BabyButton is being very enchanting to all my relatives, and is sleeping better than she ever has, but is also learning the Magical Art of Throwing. Throwing what, you may ask. Why, tantrums, of course! Thank goodness for Attachment Parenting techniques for a crying baby!

Other than that, it's been wonderful so far. Lots of family and fun, and yes, food! I have pictures, but I'm not sure when I'll be able to upload them. They are on my dad's computer right now, but I hope to sort them out soon. He's been clicking away by the hundreds!

I am so busy trying to wrap everything up before the SnuggleBug and I leave for India. There are little lists everywhere, but the big question is:

While I'm gone. will DaddyBoy eat his vegetables???

From a long time ago...

Two watercolor paintings I came across while cleaning up...these are very bad pictures, but until I scan them properly, here they are:




I think I'd been reading Gerald Durrell's My Family and Other Animals (for probably the nth time) when I made these. The trees, the whitewashed houses, and the turquoise sea all remind me of his childhood in Corfu.

On printed paper

...I painted an orchid:

Random shot

The winter sun streaming through our kitchen window...



life presents amazing moments

savor them
cherish them
remember them

there's no ordinary day!

Lil Birdie flies....again!

The past few weeks have been filled with planning.
The BabyButterfly and I will be taking a trip to India!

We'll see me parents
and my uncles
and my aunties
and my cousins

with neices and nephews thrown in for good measure

and deal with

the noise
and the traffic
and the colors

and most of all

try and navigate our way through all the dinner parties without offending the host.

(not taking five helpings of food counts as offending the host)

Flying to Houston seems like nothing compared to this VERY long journey.

Hoping everything goes well!

Photo courtsey marcelgermain.

Featured on Etsy

Inspiring Color

I came across Kris's Color Stripes, an amazing blog with an amazing idea - she takes inspirations from things around her and creates color palettes based on them. What an incredible way to hone your color instincts!

This is such a cool idea I want to do it myself. I think it would a great lesson in really looking at what makes color combinations work, and then using those palettes in art, craft, decor or clothing. Either way it would be a great starting point in design, no matter what kind.

This is a set of three palettes she created out of pictures by Iris Velghe, who does some amazing photography, as you can see.










And one of Kris's many other sources of inspiration:




And some of her own work, available in her shop.





Hope this inspires you to seek out colors that speak to you!

Another masterpiece

I only wish I could make something like that!

I'm busy, Mommy!!!

Color Culture - Pink City

Here's a post I did for Etsy's CraftingInColor team about color and culture. Way back, my family lived in Jaipur for about six years. The city left an edelible mark on me, and this a tribute to all my Jaipur memories.

Have you ever hesitated to use pink in your work? In the Western world pink can sometimes have a negative connotation as being frivolous or effeminate. In India, it is generally celebrated in all its manifestations, making its mark even in architecture!

Just take a look at these majestic buildings of Jaipur, the country's famed Pink City. Back in the 1700s, the Maharajah who built it had the palaces painted pink to emulate the sandstone monuments of the Mughals.

To show you just a few-

The Palace of Winds:





City Palace buildings:







Not pink, but I couldn't resist including this magnificent Peacock Gate:



I love the detail in these peacocks - hundreds of years old, and now back in vogue!



And here are some gorgeous pink patchwork rustic Indian wall hangings, sparkling with sequins.





In jaipur even the elephants are decorated!




Handmade puppets for street shows...




This type of jewelry is called Meenakari.




Colorful parasols in the marketplace - fit for a princess!




And some Jaipur-inspired art from AllPosters.



Jaipur artisans also make lovely blue pottery, but more on that later.

Pictures courtesy gangesindia.com, saharaglobal, travelpod.com, href="http://www.allposters.com/">allposters.com

Lara Cameron

Although it seems there's a small clique of fabric designers with a huge following, I am sure there are tons of indie artists we know little or nothing about who also do wonderful work.

I came across one such designer and just looking at her fabrics makes me so happy! Australian Lara Cameron's website says she is "a designer of all sorts of things - visual identities, promotional materials, websites, and last but not least textiles."

It was really hard to choose from this multi-talented artist's work, but here's a snapshot:


















And here's what she makes with them:

Bags and cushions


Moo mini cards


Moo note cards


Moo stickers


Notebook covers


Letterpress cards


Beautiful, simple and inspired by nature - aren't they lovely? Check out Lara's website and her blog for more about her. There are many, many more goodies there, along with insights and tutorials.

Fused plastic fantastic

Fused plastic? When I first heard that term I thought it must be some long drawn out funky process that I wouldn't be able to do. Surprise! It's only a matter of using a hot iron on the plastic (under something stick-proof, like wax-paper, of course). So a few weeks ago I played around with used plastic bags that we end up accumulating even though we use cloth bags for grocery. These are thin, thin bags, with some writing on them in black. They are the ones on big rolls under the fruit and vegetable counters.

So anyway, I fused a bunch of bags, making an 8-ply fold for each bag and ironing them together. The result was a delicate, translucent, pliable plastic. I made a bowl out of some ( maybe I can take some pictures of that when our camera feels up to the job) but from the left over pieces I made these:

I wish I had better pictures, but here goes:

OK, this picture is REALLY grainy...


Can you see the cut out plastic house? There's some of the writing showing through, which looks pretty cool.


I embellished the house by stitching all around it as well as stiching a door shape on the front, drew some tree branches, and sewed on a random, connected ovals crochet piece I had previously made. It's now a cloud!

And here's the second one I did. Here the fused plastic is the cloud, which I made by simply cutting little circles and then sewing them on to the paper in an overlapping pattern.


With more mehndi-like embellishments:


These were so much fun to make. And I liked the fact that I used up some of that plastic! Do you have a recyling story to share?