Yarn Wrapped Decorative Box

Sometimes, inspiration and a good product come about unexpectedly. Like the box above. Last night after dinner, I had about two hours to kill before going to bed. I decided to try out a new idea for decorating the box. I have seen bottles wrapped with knitting yarn and I wanted to see if it would work on a wooden box. I already had all the supplies on hand including time. So, I set out to play a little.

Two and a half hours later it was done and I absolutely loved how it turned out.  Here is how I did it:

Supplies and Materials:

1 small box (wood, cardboard, paper mache etc.)
Knitting yarns of different colors, fairly thick
Glue (I used Sobo, you can also use Modge Podge); craft stick for applying glue
craft paints and scrap papers
embellishments

I first sanded and painted the sides and the insides of the box and lined the inside top and bottom with scrap paper. Then started applying the yarn to the sides with the glue. It is easy to wrap around if one works with a long string of yarn. To cover the top of the box, I cut and glued single strands of yarn lengthwise. I finished the piece with a piece of embroidery from a discarded top.

Went to bed very happy!

This and several other decorative boxes are available in my Etsy shop.

Thanks for visiting.

For Lunch Today: Rava Semia Iddly

My lunch (actually brunch) today is rava (cream of wheat) and semia (vermicelli) iddly with spice powder and pulled madras coffee. Take a look below:

Iddly with spice powder (aka mulagai podi)

Pulled Madras Coffee

Yum...

DIY: Artist Canvas Wall Clock

The idea of using a paint canvas to make a wall clock came to me quite accidentally. After a frustrating search for a wall clock that was reasonably priced, one that matched the rest of the decor of my living room and was of the right size, I decided to make it myself. A search on the internet for ideas came up with many using ceramic plates, which, for many reasons did not appeal to me. While I was still waiting for that eureka moment, I joined Traci Bautista's called Doodles Unleashed, the first of three online workshops run by Stathmore's Artist Studio.  For lesson one, I created this doodle art using an artist canvas that was first covered with vintage papers and painted and stenciled with various found objects.

Used for stenciling

I loved the way it turned out and that was when it hit me that I could turn this canvas into a clock. Off I went to Michaels to buy a clock kit and came up with this!

As you can see, it is not a very functional clock because the busy background obscured the numbers. I removed the clock unit and covered the design with a green paint mixed with glaze, which created a transparent layer letting the design beneath show through. I put back the clock unit and now it looked like this:

This was better and I was happy with it. For a week. The numbers were beginning to look too small and brassy. Went to Michaels again and got another number set in a larger size. They too were in metallic brass but I painted over them black with a deco art pen. Here is the final version (for now!).

Thanks for visiting.

Submitted to Gingersnap Creations Color Challenge Glorious Greens

P.S. I will post detailed instructions for making the clock soon.

Ganesha!

Threshold Ganesha Remover of Obstacles

Unlike my family or friends, I am not a collector of Ganesha images. Yet, I was surprised to see how many I had in my home! Here are a few samples. Enjoy.

Papercut Ganesha Lantern

Thanks for visiting.

Challenge #54: Purple Haze

I have not been participating in zentangle challenge hosted by I am the Diva in a while, mainly because of time constraints. But, I do follow the challenges regularly and also keep up with what's happening in the world of plucky Laura Harms.

When I discovered that this week's challenge is called Purple Haze I realized that I have already created ZIA that would qualify for the challenge. It is a mandala (kolam) painting that I drew and colored in purple and other colors on a box. It is one of my favorite decorative work and I am happy to be submitting for the challenge. It is available for purchase at my Etsy shop

Altering an Old Calendar into New

It always seem that at the beginning of the new year one does not seem to have enough calendars for use. Typically, I need one for each room in the house, plus one for the office. I also like to have the religious calendars like the one I get from the temples which are marked with all the Hindu festivals, moon's phases etc,.

Sometimes, I also like to repurpose old calendars into new like the one at the top of the page. It was originally a 2010 calendar I got from a local Chinese restaurant. Shaped like a scroll, in plastic (!), it was the usual kitschy stuff, except that it was a zodiac calendar. I like anything zodiac, so I kept it even after the year was over. As 2012 was approaching, I decided to reuse it with some alterations. These are the alterations I made:

Original 2010 Calendar

1. I kept the "Good Luck Every Year", since it was neutral year wise. 

2. I replaced the year of the Tiger (2010) with the Year of Dragon 2012. Using the word processing software,  I composed the Year of the Dragon with text and image and printed it on a green card stock. I laid it over the over the old text using glue dots.

3. I replaced the cherubic images of bouncy Chinese children with a colorful Hiroshige woodblock print of Tanabata Festival.

4. For the calendar part, I adhered a square of chalkboard cloth over the old calendar with brads. Then drew the grid for the month of January 2012 using chalk and white Gelly roll pen. 

Each month, all that I need to do is to wipe off the chalkboard and create a new grid for the new month. I look forward to it with pleasure. 

Enabling the Disabled, 2012

Children at mid-day lunch at Shri Arunodhayam

All concentration! Road Safety Poster Contest

Despite some unexpected events during this recent trip to Chennai (Dec, 2011), I managed to do two projects for the Sukriti Social Foundation: a craft workshop for special educators for mentally challenged children, and jurying a road safety poster contest. Sukriti is a non-governmental organization that I support. Founded by Sowmya Simhan (my sister), it is a  cross-disability organisation based in Chennai (Tamil Nadu, South India) that addresses key disability issues with initiatives in the areas of prevention, rehabilitation, employability and advocacy. (Sowmya too is a victim of childhood polio.) My support for Sukriti usually takes two forms: (1) donation of funds from sales from my handmade shop Dharmakarmaarts and (2) free arts and crafts workshops. (During my visit to India last year, I conducted a jewelry making workshop to a group of physically challenged young women at the Andhra Mahila Sabha.)


I. Paper Crafting Workshop: I was requested by Mr. Iyyappan, who runs a home for orphaned mentally challenged children called Shri Arunodhayam, to conduct a craft workshop for his special education teachers and care-givers. 

Good lunch and Happy Smile!

After much back-and-forth, I decided to do a paper crafting workshop for them. One of the core principles that I follow in teaching these workshops is that the tools and the materials used are economically priced and locally available and, the techniques are accessible and sensible (no burning of Tyvek paper here!). The goal is that the participants, should they choose to, be able to continue with the craft after the workshop on their own. With that in mind, I took a collection of stamps, inks, punches and papers from my own stash for use by the participants. Though my own stash was American bought, I made sure that equivalent materials are available in India. 


The workshop participants were from both sexes--all of them have vocational training in special education. None have been exposed to paper crafting tools like punches or stamps. So, it was a totally new craft experience for them. I started it small with tag decoration and then moved on to decorating book covers.  Each participant first created a blank book using the slot-and-tab method and the proceeded to decorate the cover using scrap papers, old greeting cards, cut outs etc. They were like kids in a toy store, punching and stamping away to glory. Overall, it was a very enjoyable morning.

Happy crafters!

II. Road Safety Poster Contest: It may seem strange, but the biggest contributor to childhood disability in India is not natural diseases like polio, but road accidents. So, it is not surprising that organizations such as Sukriti that focus on disability put a lot of time and effort on raising awareness about road safety among school children. In addition to road safety workshops, Sukriti also sponsors poster contests at local schools. This year almost fifty children participated in the contest and I, along with another artist, juried the contest. I was impressed by their seriousness and many of the posters were creative and accurate on facts. It was tough choosing the winners! Here are some photos of the day and the winning entries.

Road Safety Poster Contestants

Tips on Becoming an Artist

Winning Entries

If you are interested in knowing more about Sukriti, please check out its website.


Thanks for visiting.