Blessed

Thrilled to announce the sweet addition to our family!! 

Our son has arrived!! 

Excited to become mommy and enjoying every moment of it!!!!

Share

Happy New Year!!

Wishing everyone a very happy and prosperous New year! 

I found some amazing calendars on online.. These are made by talented artists and are free to download!!!

             Download this fabulous freebie calendar from mygrafico. It has 12 wonderful designer graphics. 

Download this freebie Kokeshi dolls Calendar from Creative mama. 

Download this floral print freebie calendar from Skiptomylou. 

Download this customizable cute freebie Owl calendar from My Owl Barn.

Print on photo paper or card stock.Punch a hole and these original little art pieces are ready to use!!!!


Also thanks everyone who wrote lovely comments on my previous posts and emailed me..
Thanks for the support you all showed to my humble blog..
For all those who are wondering I am due during the end of this month 
and am very excited about it!!!!

Share

Bal (baby) Ganesha

Some time ago I had posted about the work in progress of Bal(baby) Ganesha (see here)..

Here is the finished version.. I completed it in September somehow slipped from my mind to post it ...

I made Madhubani style flowers on the background..

Used acrylics, watercolors and micro pen ..

A hint of gold for the garlands..

will post the pics after framing !!

Share

Flower market in Singapore

This weekend we drove to one of my favorite places- the flower market. This flower market consists of many shops selling huge selection of cut flowers from all over the world, plants and potted trees, vases and garden decoration accessories. It is a little away from the city but the destination is worth the long drive.. 

I just couldn't resist taking pictures of these beautiful flowers...

Rainbow roses from Ecuador.. Aren't they pretty!! They are made by a special technique.. splitting and then dipping the stem into different color water.. I had never seen any rose like these before!!

Tulips from Holland...

Roses from India..

Rosa chinensis or China Rose from China..

They have a huge variety of other flowers like hydrangeas, chrysanthemums, lilies, orchids, gerberas and other exotic flowers..Apart from this there is a huge selection of leaves of various shapes and sizes. 

I bought roses from India and some beautiful leaves to create a simple arrangement in a tall vase for the dining table..

Plants and flowers arrive here according to festivals..Christmas trees and Poinsettia are the flavor of the season now.. You can buy carnivorous plants as well which are so amazing to look at:)

If you are looking for plants like hydrangea or mandarin then you will have to wait for the Chinese New Year.. That is the time when the market is full of all beautiful variety of exotic plants!!!


This  is a wholesale market which means apart from the huge variety , it is also quite reasonably priced compared to the flower shops in the city and online as well. It is very tempting to buy more than what you really had in mind for!!

This flower market is at 555 Thomson road, Singapore. 

Share

New painting: The great Buddha

I am very impressed by the marvelous statue of The Great Buddha of Kamakura, Japan. It is a tallest statue in Japan and is surrounded by sakura or cherry blossoms . The bronze statue is 43.8 ft tall. You can read more about this here. 

                                                                                                                                                                                                         Courtesy: Travelers digest

I wanted to make a painting of Buddha for a long time and after I saw the pictures of Kamakura's Great Buddha I made this sketch. 

Before starting to paint, I researched about the facial features of Buddha. According to the Buddhist scripts, Buddha has a glowing smooth spotless skin.His complexion has a golden sheen. His cheeks are radiant, fully rounded. His eyes are deep blue and has long thick eye lashes like an ox. His eyebrows are arched like a bow.His hair are thick black with curls and bluish tint to it. His features are sharp and slender. His head is in a shape of a turban. His ears lobes are long which almost reach his shoulders. His neck is not very long. He has even proportionate shoulders and neck. His mouth always has a beautiful smile.

I also researched about The great Buddha statue. Found a very good source here.

Color symbolism is used in a wide variety of fascinating ways in Buddhist art and ritual. In Buddhism, especially in Tibetan Buddhism, five colors (pancha-varna) symbolizes a state of mind. These colors are the five colors of white, yellow, red, blue and green. This site on Buddhist symbols has beautifully explained the meaning and how these colors transform the emotions.  

Accordingly I started painting. The canvas is huge- 3ft by 4ft. It is the biggest I have ever painted on till date. 

I painted with shades of red and orange for the face with golden tinge. I have incorporated all the five colors in this painting. This is how it looked like mid way through..

I think texture is the most important thing in a good painting. As you have seen in my earlier paintings ( Gulmohar and Peacock) I am trying out new textures in each one. In this one I have created texture for hair.

Then I painted cherry blossom with thick texture paint 

on both sides..

Then I painted lotus on the bottom side...





worked on the golden sheen on the face and silver glow behind the head..

I haven't varnished it yet.. heard somewhere that pregnant women should stay away from varnish and other chemicals..I will varnish it later.

I have another canvas of the same size on which I want to start painting now that this is done!!!  

Share

Weekend retail therapy

I am on hunt for some good decor items for the house.. Most of the items I have are small and cute.. Now that there is a baby on its way in few months..I want to decorate the house with big , bit heavier items which won't come in small ones hands. Also they should be made of sturdy material like wood instead of easily breakable material like ceramic or unsafe like glass..So this weekend we went shopping ..

We went shopping to a lovely place in Singapore - Dempsey hill. Dempsey Hill is a lush green area with a resort-like ambience. This relaxed and laid back place has old world charm and real-world comforts. The area has lots of restaurants, cafes,furniture shops which have exotic collection of  original, rustic and colonial furniture, antiques and accessories from all over Asia. 

Sharing with you some pictures I took..loved this door handle in the shape of Bodhi tree leaf..

One of the shops had a wonderful collection of Buddha statues.. 

I am totally hooked on these two ladies.. I really wanted to buy them but I saw no one in the shop ..will have to make another trip just for them :) 

One more shop had lot of intricate wood carvings, Ganesha and Buddha statues..I will share with you what I bought from these shops soon..I just wish I had shopped more:))

This Plumeria or Frangipani tree near the parking was a stunner.. picked up some flowers which had fallen down.. I love the smell of these flowers...

will share the pics of the items I shopped soon...

Have a lovely week ahead!!!!

           

Share

Diwali Decorations

Hi beautiful people!!! Hope you all had a wonderful holidays and festivities..I still have a holiday hangover..Sharing with you some of the pictures of Diwali decorations in my house last week!!!

This is how my center table in the living room looked like..Floated lots of flowers in a brass urli along with some floating candles..I changed the flowers everyday..sometimes orchids..sometimes roses ..sometimes marigold and rose petals..Around it is designer Rangoli..It really looks good on glass surfaces!!

Outside the main door I made traditional Rangoli from chalk powder..I was bit lazy so I used stencil to make these patterns...

Flower garlands on the main door with mango leaves and lovely door decorations which my mom send me from India..

Few more wall hangings she sent me I have hung them from the ceiling near the Ganesha paintings..

     That's how my balcony looked like.. Fairy lights have such a magical effect..

Some more pics of the decorations in my house... 

I am updating the blog after quite some time....I have just started my third trimester .. feeling tired now but of course I have more time on my hand as I am full time home now..I have lots of baby projects in my mind.. Hope to complete them in these 2-3 months!!! will share the update on my new painting soon..Stay tuned!!!!

Share

Autumn table decorations

Hello lovely people!! How are you? I am sure you all must be enjoying autumn..autumn colors..falling leaves..collecting pine cones..shorter and cooler days..hmmm.. I live in the tropics and really miss this season..Though I must say it does get a few degrees cooler here as well!! 

I was browsing through some of favorite German magazines and came across these lovely autumn decoration ideas.. They are so easy, practical and so pretty as well!!! 

Take a look and be inspired!!!

                              The cool, crisp autumn weather is perfect for apple picking..Use red apples as mini vase!!!! Remove the core of the apple ..Fill it with little water and put some fresh flowers from your garden or the ones you picked from your walk in it.. 

Make yourselves warm and cozy with candles..Decorate the tea light holders with cut out patterns of autumn leaves attached to them.. This could also be a great project for kids..You can get the Instructions and templates in this PDF ..They are in German but very easy to understand:)

  

Easy and quick decor idea for this fall... Heather twigs!!! Dry them and using a simple rubber band tie them around a glass carafe.. These will look good around a tea light holder as well!!! You can keep a bunch of  red, violet or pink heather twigs in a cane basket and that will also look good!!!!

 Bring the autumn to your dining table .... How about a napkin decoration with a cookie in leaf shape.. It would be a nice surprise for the guest. Shape the crispy biscuit dough with a cookie cutter in leaf shape.. Make a hole in it before baking it and later just pull a  pretty ribbon through the hole... wrap together around a napkin. 

Why just stop at table decorations... Create a Wreath of nuts...Made from hazelnuts, almonds or pine cones . . 

First, collect nuts and cones.. make a hole in the nuts  with a wood drill pierce and string them on a sturdy floral wire. Then form a uniform ring...connect the wire ends and cover up with raffia. Tip: It looks best if arrange several rings together!!

                          Lovely DIY lanterns for outdoors are very easy to make.. I had done                          something similar sometime back.. Check the tutorial here..Decorate them with ribbons and fabric flowers..Fill it with water and floating candles..

    Last but not the least .. I totally loved this table arrangement... You will need baking cups, candles, candle holders and flowers like Phlox... Fill the baking cups with water and place the candle into the holder...Then float some individual phlox flowers. 

All beautiful images are courtesy: Living at Home.de 

Share

Peacock painting

I had mentioned in my earlier posts about the large peacock painting I was working on...Today I want to share with you the finished one.. This painting is a larger version of my watercolor painting of a peacock on a tree.. I think I made this more than a year or so back..

The tricky situation is that when you are making a small painting it is easy to hide the minute tiny details but in a large painting it is the opposite. It is the minute details painted to the accuracy which makes a painting look alive and pretty.. I researched lot of peacock pictures on flickr and elsewhere to study the features and details of the bird..

   Courtesy: Peacock, 2. Showing Off - part deux!, 3. What lovely tail feathers you have, 4. Peacock On Tree

    Accordingly as a practice I made this smaller painting of a individual peacock feather which I had shared with you .. You can see it here!! So finally a few weeks back I finished the painting and found a place for it to hang...

 I am not thoroughly satisfied with the background. I wanted to make motifs or something in the background..but DH liked it and insisted that I keep it the way it is...This area you must have seen in earlier post here and here. We moved the tables and this is how it looks like now..

I have used a blunt knife to paint .. It has given it a sort of 3- D look .. For the feathers I must have painted 3-4 layers to create depth..I painted a part of feathers with golden color which reflects when the light  shines on it at a certain angle..I know it cannot be seen in these compressed pictures:( 

This is how this area looks in the evening when I light the candles!!!


Joining party at Patty's 

Share

Beach napkin ring DIY

These beach  napkin rings are so stylish, aren't they!! Can you believe you can make them at home ... They are super easy to make..This could be a perfect weekend project....Found this awesome beach napkin ring tutorial on a equally awesome blog- Design Sponge.. Get the instructions here !!!

Have a great weekend!!!!

xo

Share