Happy New Year!

Here's wishing my readers a peaceful, serene and safe 2009.

May the new year bring new hope, and be creatively fulfilling!

I leave you this year with a picture of the Red Sock Santa that I made for the kids' Christmas display this year. Not a very fantastic piece but it gave the kids a lot of joy, and that is what matters the most.

I will be away from my blogs for a few months as I will be busy moving houses.

I hope to be back with you sometime in the middle of 2009 with lots more to report about my creative projects.

CD Artworks

I have found a very effective way of dealing with corrupt CDs. The solution is surprisingly simple - just turn them into works of art! Like I did this for my kids....

I stuck stars and a half moon made out of chocolate wrappers on the shiny side to create an effect of night. Then I painted a sun on the side which had all the writings.

Since dollops of acrylic paint didn't hide the markings effectively, I finished it off by sticking paper bits to the sun.

And voila! This CD mobile now hangs right above the kids' bed, and they love it.

Hope you like the idea, and can put your corrupt CDs to better use. Have fun creating! :)

Glassy Affair

I’m back here after a long hiatus because my internet service provider knocked off our connection and kept us away from the Web for a whole month. But that meant some “extra time” for my creative pursuits, so I really shouldn’t complain. :)

Here’s a peek into what I have been up to in the last month. Glass has caught my fancy currently so I am painting bottles and trying out new styles and combinations. I have mostly worked with water-based ceramic and glass paints, and a couple of glitter outliners.

I plan to use these bottle-vases in my new home when we move there next year. How’s this for a tiny flower vase? It used to be a nail paint remover bottle.

I created a Ganesha glass painting using a similar technique but I’m not going to show you that now. Let’s wait till we get that one framed….

The second bottle-vase I plan to use for dry floral decorations; this was an antiseptic solution bottle before it landed in my hands.

I really love the way it came out, especially how I can see the objects on the other side through the glass.

Do let me know what you think of my bottle-vases!

Hardy Is Ready!

I have finally done it; the recycling project on our resident creature that I started working on with my kids is finally complete. You can see its original view here. The animal is now named Hardy by my son, though its new avatar is yet to find its place around the house.

While we started with the revamping more than 2 months back, the completion kept getting delayed due to various reasons. And the festive season only made me busier, pushing the poor guy to a corner. So I am now feeling relieved and happy, and my guilt at not tackling Hardy with a vengeance all these weeks is now gone. I can now start work on other experimental projects I have lined up in my head.

Anyway, here’s a picture of Hardy from the front.

And here’s a close-up of its rear end.


Do let me know how you like Hardy’s new look. And for the record, the blue and green finger-painting on its body was done by my 3 year old daughter and 5 year old son. :)


I also thought I’d give you a peek into similar projects I did in the past, and which have been hanging around the house. Here’s a mask I still love looking at.

And the sun that shines on one of our walls.

Hope to be back soon with more updates on my creative projects.

My New Colours!

Just popping in with a quick update. I went out to visit a book fair but landed up at stationery fair instead. So like me to start for one place and land up elsewhere!

It was fun because I could come away with a set each of acrylic and ceramic paints. And some glitter highlighters!

Don’t I sound like a little kid full of glee at getting some gifts? Well, that’s exactly how I feel about my purchases. Even if I don’t use them right away, I get this sense of satisfaction from having them sitting in my cupboard. Just looking at those pots of colors gives me a high!

Newspaper Gift Wraps

An artist uncle told me years ago that if I ever run out of gift wrapping paper, I should use newspaper instead. “How uncool” was my silent response to his suggestion. After all, who uses down-market newsprint to adorn gifts? The idea is to embellish, is it not?

Today, when carbon footprints are such a big deal, I realize the import of his words.

For newspaper wraps not only save a few trees from being cut, they get you scoring high with the environmentalists, make you feel good about having done your bit for the planet, and give you a chance to be creative. Now that’s quite a list….

So here’s a couple of newspaper wraps I did recently for gifts to family. When I finished wrapping the first one, I didn’t know what to do with the bits sticking out. So I shaped leaves out of them…


Of course you can do better. Add more detailing, stick on more stuff, and give your creative self a free hand. Heck, you could even paint on it. But lazy ol’ me just stuck to plain newspaper, and some coloured bits from the glossies to jazz things up. Here’s a red paper bow I added to the second one…


The creature I mentioned in my last post is still work-in-progress. Will try finishing up soon… In the meanwhile, what do you think of these?

I am back after a long absence from this page. Am halfway through a recycling project with my kids. Here's the story behind it....

There was this creature I created way back in the mid-90s.... with twigs from the garden and lots of paper and glue. The poor fellow has since gathered a lot of dust, and his paper coat has faded, making him look sad (see below).

So my kids unanimously agreed to give him a fresh lease of life. The fellow has a name too now! :) And is all-white with a fresh base coat of paper. Check back in a few days and you will get to see him in his new colours!

Tin-Tin!

Apart from reminding you of a popular comic book character, that title refers to the tin sheets that cover a whole lot of packaged tinned food containers. You know, the types that you cut out with a pair of scissors before you actually get to empty the contents of the tin can.

So what can you do with a sheet of tin that you ripped off some container? (considering this is a creative blog!)…. Pretty much, if you ask me. Just see what I did – backed it up with some cardboard and paper, and had a homemade coaster for the table.


Dressed it up with some scribbles and it can pass off as a wall piece! Yippee...

I am sure the story hasn’t ended yet… I can feel another makeover for the tin is on its way already. Look out for more…

And in the meanwhile, have fun recycling. It really is one of my favourite-est pastimes (though it is a different matter that I have no time with a full-day job, two kids, and a new house making constant demands on my sanity!)….

The Nasturtium

I had to start my creativity-based blog on a creative note. This space is meant to capture the essence of my ‘crafty’ soul, and so whatever I place on it will reflect on what I have been up to in the realm of creativity.

I have been feeling very, very guilty in the recent past as I haven’t been able to post anything here for so long. So guilty that I finally got around to creating some computer-art just so I could give this poor blog a formal launch.

So here is my rendition of one of my favourite flowers from my mom’s garden – the Nasturtium. Every year in winters (winters is flowering time here in the tropical heat of India) when these hardy plants rear their heads and the distinct round-shaped leaves sprout forth, my heart misses a beat. For I know the bright orange hued flowers aren’t too far…. I have been photographing this flower for the last 2-3 years, and got some amazing results every time. The sheer beauty of their delicate designs, as they smile at you cheerily in the gray winter fog is always so uplifting.

You’ll find more Nasturtium lovers here.

Hope you enjoy the blooms….