More Journal Snippets

As an artist, I find myself using journals to express myself very often. A journal is like a diary, only more visual. You are already seeing pages from my Nature Journal every month. So thought of sharing a few pages from my Transition Journal that I finished earlier this month.

The above picture is the front cover, and the picture below features an amalgamation of some individual pages along with the back cover.

In these difficult days when our world is in the grip of the pandemic, maintaining a daily/weekly/fortnightly or even monthly journal is a good way to release some pent up stress, sadness and frustration. Try it, dear readers!

Dare To Dream

Since the soaring temperatures of last month fried my brains, I just couldn't get any creative work done. :D A couple of downpours later, now I'm back with another spread from my journal.

So this journal includes positive messages and thoughts on each page, that one can go to and derive inspiration from. While I call it my transition journal but it really is a celebration of life itself! And that is exactly what this spread is all about.

It incorporates this lovely idea I came across on Pinterest - of cutting up a page according to the shape of your artwork.

Gives an amazing new edge to the predictable page presentation. Who says all pages need straight edges? :)

The dreamy girl on the left is inspired by a similar visual I saw. I love the effects one can create using a single shade of colour and some simple line work. Isn't it pretty?

I'm prepping for a furniture redo project that is close to my heart and on the lines of this previous project I did. Hope to finish it soon and share with you all.

And in the meanwhile, why don't you tell me what you dare to dream about? Go on, give me your responses pronto! :)

Bottles Revisited

Though I hardly work on bottles any more, such exceptions always bring me happiness.

The yellow one was a personal commission and is already displayed in its new home in Kolkata, the City of Joy, hopefully bringing joy to all those who see it.

While this pink beauty adorns my work table, holding crafty knick-knacks for my mixed media projects. I love this yummilicious one sitting on my desk! 😊

I do miss my avid bottle painting days.... when each piece conjured up a new story in my head, that my hands would then transfer on to the bottles. After all, my handpainted bottles played a huge role in my incredible creative journey! Hope I manage to make some more soon...

Corner Table Redo

I am trying to sneak in one more blog post before the year goes out and a new one starts, full of promise, with new projects and ideas. So here's sharing a project I did a couple of months back -- when the weather was warmer and the sun much stronger -- but forgot to post about. This project was a part of my pre-Diwali clean-ups around the house.

We have had this corner table around the house for years. It has been a rather useful piece of furniture, as it promptly fits in just about anywhere, and mostly gets obscured by whatever is placed on it. But still that awful sunmica tabletop had been an eyesore for me, bothering me every time I placed the table in my room. Then this year I had an idea.... why not change it?

And so you see the good old corner table donning a new avatar. Well, at least the tabletop does.... who sees the legs anyway? :P I started by sanding the borders and covering them in some yummy pink acrylic. Next I covered up the yucky brown sunmica with my favourite newsprint, dabbed some washes in white to tone down the blacks, and stuck a bouquet of flowers on it, making a round central pattern. And voila, the makeover was complete! Of course, a better effort would have meant painting up the sides and legs as well but I just got lazy. 

Anyhow, now the table looks good enough to be placed by itself, without needing things to hide its shabbiness. In fact, the pink borders add quite a dash of cheerfulness to it. Ending this year on that happy note.... Have a fantastic 2018, everyone! 

Gratitude Postcards

Just about 3 weeks into the new year and I am trying to get things back on track in my world. I'm no spring chicken - having spent enough years going round the sun, I can safely say that 2016 has decidedly been the worst year of my life thus far, with so much going wrong on so many fronts. But then the only way to move forward from all that drags one down is to count one's blessings. So I just have to be grateful for all the things that did go right in the midst of all that chaos last year.



Hence this first post of the new year is dedicated to sharing with you the gratitude cards that I made while trying to recover from loss and pain. They were simply my way of adopting a grateful attitude, of showing thankfulness and gratitude for the life that I live.



As things stand now, a lot of things have changed around me. How that pans out and impacts my creative self and my output is something that will show as we traverse through 2017. Here's hoping that the changes in my personal sphere only serve to act as a springboard to greater heights in the creative realm. Signing off on that optimistic note....

Here is something you may want to follow this year:

Wishing all my readers a wonderfully creative 2017 again....

 

Book Charms Earrings and Necklace Set

For those of you wondering why I had done the disappearing act, I have been nose-deep in maths equations, computer jargon, grammar and likewise. Phew! just got over with the exam season and I sure am a happy mommy. Browsing through some old pictures on my desktop, I came across this little project I did last year and forgot to share with you. So here goes....

Someone approached me to create a sample set of handmade jewellery featuring tiny book charms. It was meant for members of a book club and the client wanted to have paper as the medium. However, we finally settled on polymer clay as a more sturdy material and I created a pair of danglers and a necklace. Must say it was a fun diversion from my usual line of work.

And polymer clay is such an addictive medium. As one gets used to it, moulding pieces becomes that much easier and you can create innumerable designs with it. Needless to say I am already hooked, and have created a few more neck pieces. Watch this space for a reveal soon!

If you are looking at a book charms jewellery set, do write in to me at creativerumblings@gmail.com and place your order. The set is completely customizable - the beads that you see in the pictures here can be replaced by a colour or size of your liking, and the book covers can be changed to your favourite ones too. These jewellery sets will make ideal gifts for young girls, and can even work as return gifts.

Nature Journal: October Observations

Bringing you the much-delayed October page of the Nature Journal. The changing season, the clamour of festivals, and a general lassitude kept me from finishing the page on time. Not that there has been any dearth of experiences to document....

That is the thing about Nature, I guess - there is never a day when you don't have moments to cherish. Sharing some of my October observations with you all....

Now that this year is drawing to a close, with just 2 more months left to document about in the Nature Journal, it seems like such a wondrous journey. Me and the kids love flipping through the previous months' pages, reading on our (often shared) experiences, and touching and feeling the specimens stuck in there.

As another year is soon to start, I again exhort you all to make a Nature Journal of your own. Not only will it discipline you to observe your natural surroundings, it will bring you immense pleasure once you have completed a whole year of recording your observations. Go ahead, try it! You will surely thank me if you do. :)

Serving Tray Makeover

So there was this old serving tray lying around the house. It had been gifted long back by some relative and though I hated its tacky looks right from the beginning, my mother refused to part with it. Sentimental reasons and all that mushy nonsense! It lay around in our shelves for years, getting used occasionally.

Till finally last weekend I gave it a much-deserved makeover. See the transformation yourself.... now the tray sports a Poppy theme, and looks (hopefully) more elegant.... at least to my eyes. 

I have used combined techniques of decoupaging, layering and sketching - using a photograph clicked by me and some newspapers - to give it the present look.



 

 

The last picture shows you a close-up of the tray surface, where decoupage and paint come together on a background of newspapers treated with gesso. I finished the tray with a generous layer of sealer so it could take spills and occasional washing.

Hope this post encourages you to try making over any such unused items lying around the house, giving them a fresh lease of life just in time for Diwali. Now tell me, which version of my tray do you like better -  the Before or the After?