Midnight Desire

A desperate desire for creativity in the middle of the night. 

The urge and determination was immense and it surprised me too as to how I could be awake in the middle of the night and show such ease in doing this piece which otherwise would be impossible for me. People who know me well know that ''early to bed and early to rise'', is my birth motto!! :)

All said and done, I am posting this for the pleasure of sharing the idea. Am not motivated now to explain how to do it. I am sure you have enough leads now from my previous posts, and my inspiration list, as to how things can be done!! More later.

           

                 Close-up of the flowers and leaves

    

 Close-up of the Bee 

At an angle

PS: I think the desire was also because I was gifting this frame to a frien (Ashish Arondekar and fly) when visiting the family for Ganpati (the elephant-head lord). Ganpati Bappa Morya!!!

A Flowery Act!

I am glad, I had the motivation and time this weekend to open up the creative side in me.
Have been extremely busy with the new job, but I made it a point to get the arty stuff out from the attic and paint.

It's been long since I held a brush in my hand since most of my earlier posts comprise of paper quilling. 

And what else could I do with the brush other than one stroke painting. If you know me very well, it is one of my favorite techniques which, I guess, I have mastered to a certain level.

A bit of information for those who are unaware of this technique. In the early 1970’s, the name Donna Dewberry did not draw much attention in the Craft Industry in the States. A self-taught artist, she picked up different painting tips from wherever she could and “learned by observations”. Thirty years later, she is recognized throughout America, Europe and Asia as the innovative creator of the One Stroke painting technique.
So what is one stroke painting? It involves blending, shading and highlighting in one stroke of the brush. A very basic video of Donna explaining the technique here.

Recently, I had bought her book "Painting fabulous flowers". It has step-by-step instructions and pictures on how to paint all kinds of flowers. It has paintings of approx. 50 different flowers using this technique.

She has also categorized the flowers as garden flowers, flowering trees, shrubs & herbs, wildflowers , Tropicals and exotics.  I guess it is a great book to have in your library for mastering the art of one stroke.

I was beginning to fear that I had lost the art since it's been a while but after I went onto the second and the third flower I was happy.
Below is the painting I finally managed to create on the canvas :)

Monogram R

Here is a monogram, I made using 3mm colored strips, for my niece's 5th birthday!!!
Wishing her a colorful  and bright future.

I did the basic outline first followed by all the detailed work and then outlined with the dark colored strip.

Hope you like it and can make it for loved ones.
Cheers

Name Tag for a Gift

I was gift wrapping a present for a friend and at the end was not happy with how it looked it missed something. A name tag! :) Thus I came up with this easy way of making a name tag. Here I will be demonstrating how to make a simple easy rose using a quilling technique. 

Material needed:

Card stock (any colour, I have used yellow for the rose)

Scissors

Ruler

Glue

Quilling tool

1. Cut the card stock into these quadrilateral shape. You will need about 8-9 for one rose.

 

2. Use the quilling tool and curl both ends of the broader side of the quadrangle

3. Cut the narrow end of the quadrangle in the centre like shown in the photo and apply little glue and overlap the slit ends on top of each other. You have one petal! Make all the ten petals.
  

4. Cut a round shape of the card stock (usually the same colour but I am using a contrast colour here).


5. Now stick the petals one by one in concentric order like so.

6. Roll a loose strip and place it in the center of the rose.

7. Finally place the rose on a contrasting colour card stock and place it on the present like so. Doesn't it not look great!! :)

There are many ways to make roses using paper, here are some of them. Have fun!
Cards ,Crafts and Kids Projects
Kaisercraft
http://www.craftster.org/forum/index.php?topic=134959.0

Owl on a Magnet

I must apologize, I have been busy with job applications and was on a long awaited holiday in Istanbul.

To get back into the groove, thought I must put my hands on something cute, simple and useful. I saw these owls made by Quilly Nilly for a great cause. I just loved the idea, who wouldn't; and I had a blast making them. Make a visit to Quilly Nilly's blog and donate for the great cause.

Each owl measures 1.5 (W) X 2 (H) inch (approximately). I have hand-cut the body shapes with contrasting paper stock, stuck each owl on a magnet and then quilled the accessories that make them so cute. 

Together...

On my laptop, not too long though :))

Photo frame with Royal & Chrysanthemum flowers

Back with a photo frame board decorated with royal flowers and chrysanthemums. Can be gifted to loved ones and they can make a box frame/ deep frame of their choice. I am sure the colours with their photograph will keep the memory fresh and bright.

Made this specially for my niece and nephew (twins) living in NYC.

Our photo taken last year at our housewarming party

I think this frame will look complete with their photograph :). Hope to send it soon.
PS: Sorry for the not so good quality of pics.

Gift Box- Gold & Red

I started with a wooden box and glazed it with some metal foil (gold) and thought of some bright red flowers to finish the look. One can use this box for practically anything; gifting chocolates, sweets, or for that matter precious memories. My favorite is as a jewellery box.

I wanted to personalize it slightly to fit an engagement gift for a dear one. Thus the Mr & Mrs. on the lid.

The leaves are spray painted with gold for a somewhat monochrome effect.

Mr. & Mrs.

                                               

The wooden box is about 5 inches in diameter and approx. 3 inches in height. I hope my dear one likes it when I gift it to her and will remember me fondly :)

PS: You can see there are patches of the gold metal foil. I have overlayed the foil in patches for a rustic look. The box is coated with a matt varnish to make weather resistant.