Some of the Indian Craft Blogs I read

Hey…I haven’t disappeared yet-before you leave this blog thinking I did:) I’ve been coming home very late from work and that left me too tired to blog or even tweet often.. I had a lovely Independence Day weekend and I hope you all did too…I got to try a new craft shop- A post will be up about it shortly šŸ˜‰

I’ve found a new craft to obsess about- paper quilling..I chanced up on it after a random google…(How I love Google!)…in my search for Indian craft blogs I came up on some lovely blogs…I don’t know how these ladies manage it all-family+work+ crafting+selling…phew…I think I need lessons on time management from them šŸ˜‰

Presenting:

http://www.craftyjc.com/

This is Jaya’s(also known as J.C.) blog where she shows off her paper crafts especially hand made cards. She is a mom and a Software Architect by profession…She has started what must be India’s only monthly Craft Challenge…Just go here to check it out.

Next you just gotta check out Juhi’s handmade cards. She is from Bangalore and she is a hardware verification engineer byĀ  day! Her cards are very professional and absolutely CUTE!!

Last, my favorite favorite blog…Reshmi Nair from Mumbai has a craft’s blog with a LOT of detailed tutorials, photos and info on virtually almost every craft I have heard of! She’s into calligraphy, art, quilling, flower making, shell figurines…the list is endless..Her bubbly enthusiasm makes every blog post a fun read…

So there’s these 3 blogs on my “To follow” list for now…I’m off for a new adventure of Paper Quilling! Hope to be able to take some pics and share them with you soon.till then – Happy Crafting šŸ™‚

Real India: Etsy Finds

I love Etsy.com …I’ve never made any secret of that fact šŸ™‚ but I’ve always wished we Indians could do more for our little crafty shops on Etsy…OK…so I thought I’d do a little bit of scouting around using Etsy’s Shop Local feature…I was looking for products made by Indians, creations that reflect our rich culture, items that feature our insane love of color and beauty in all possible ways…Here’s what I found…head over to these shops and get a feel of India – real India and Indianness…Enjoy!

First stop- The Home Centric

Urvi, a qualified Fashion and Textile designer, has been designing for 5 years…I have no ‘one’ favorite that I can point out in her shop…all her cushions and pillow cases are unique and beautiful..No one can stop with one, I say!! The metallic ones really tempt me- must be the Indian love of ‘bling’ that’s making me want each one!

Gold Dreams Throw Pillow Cover
Gold Dreams Throw Pillow Cover by The Home Centric on Etsy
Plum Beauty - Throw Pillow Cover
Plum Beauty - Throw Pillow Cover by The Home Centric on Etsy
Marigolds - Throw Pillow Covers
Marigolds - Throw Pillow Covers by The Home Centric on Etsy

The Marigold one is my favorite!!! Such a lovely, bright splash of color…reminds me of saffron and garam masala šŸ™‚

Second Shop for the day-Mayaruhi

Pearl Bhasin, a stay-at-home Mom, makes limited design earrings from semi-precious stones, crystal, cut glass, pearls, shell, 925 silver and 24-karat gold-plated 925 silver. (Her shop is based out of her home in Singapore but cos she’s Indian and her pieces are inspired by Mughal paintings she deserves to be in this list!)

Indian agate wrapped hoops
Indian agate wrapped hoops by Mayaruhi
Coral wrapped hoops
Coral wrapped hoops by Mayaruhi
Rainbow of Agates in big gold hoop
Rainbow of Agates in big gold hoop by Mayaruhi

Now, onto the next shop – HippieKingdom

Devi, an Accessory Designer, makes bright and happy jewelry that’s both eco-friendly and recycled- she uses thread, jute, hemp, cardboard and paper in her creations-playful and fun!

Coconut Shell and Colorful Tassel Earrings
Coconut Shell and Colorful Tassel Earrings by Hippie Kingdom on Etsy
Eco friendly Hemp Bangle by Hippie Kingdom
Eco friendly Hemp Bangle by Hippie Kingdom on Etsy
Cute Turtle Couple Earrings
Cute Turtle Couple Earrings by Hippie Kigdom on Etsy
Eco-friendly Paper Weave Earrings
Eco-friendly Paper Weave Earrings by Hippie Kingdom on Etsy

I simply love these earrings!!! They look just right for an afternoon out with friends, while drinking filter kaapi (coffee) šŸ™‚ Nirvana!

 

Next shop – Bootika

Shruti hand paints her products ā€“ Tees, Tank Tops, Bags, Belts, HeadbandsĀ  and Cushion Covers!! Her creations use graphics that reflect India- images that every Indian can identify with…Stop by her shop with some chai!

Handpainted Tote Bag with Chai Glasses
Handpainted Tote Bag with Chai Glasses by Bootika on Etsy
Handpainted Tee with White Auto rickshaw
Handpainted Tee with White Auto rickshaw by Bootika on Etsy
Handpainted Tote Bag with Matkas (Indian Pots)
Handpainted Tote Bag with Matkas (Indian Pots) by Bootika on Etsy

The Last Shops for the day- Art by susmitha and Veganosaurus

Susmitha from Bangalore makes Art Beads, Miniature Sculptures and exculsive Artisan Jewelry. She also makes cute little creatures to celebrate Veganism on her other shop-Veganosaurus.

Demeter Earrings
Demeter Earrings by Artbysusmitha
LOVE carnelian copper clay pendant
LOVE carnelian copper clay pendant by Susmitha
Spiral Dance chunky copper wire necklace
Spiral Dance chunky copper wire necklace by Susmitha

oooohhh…the colors are gorgeous-they remind me of peacock feathers for some reason!

Mommy and Baby Turtleclopses
Mommy and Baby Turtleclopses by Veganosaurus on Etsy

(the second turtle item I picked-anyone notice a theme here?)

Miniature Froggy Family -terrarium decor
Miniature Froggy Family -terrarium decor by Veganosaurus on Etsy
Puffy - smart little cyclops monster clay sculpture
Little cyclops monster clay sculpture by Veganosaurus on Etsy

Oh how I’d like a terrarium with these lil monsters on my desk at work!! I specially love the froggies (such an awesome orange) and of course, I love the blue cyclops’ tie (he’s a smartie!).

Which one’s your favorite product?? Which one would you buy? Stop by these shops and share your love…Promote Indian crafters and Indian crafts…

NOTE: All images in this post are the properties of the shop sellers featured in the post.

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How to Make an Origami Lotus Box

Lotuses come to my mind whenever I think of India and Indian cultureā€¦though they donā€™t smell as good as roses or they donā€™t look as good as my favorite flowers(carnations) I still have a thing for Lotus patterns and designs!

National Flower of India- the Lotus
National Flower of India - the Lotus
IMAGE SOURCE: WIKIPEDIA

Want to learn how to make a beautiful paper Lotus box for yourself or to give as a gift? Hereā€™s a step-by-step tutorial to make an Indian inspired Lotus box.

Supplies:

  • Scissors
  • 3 squares of handmade paper or origami paper (all three must be the same size-must be of co-coordinating colors )

Instructions:

  1. Gather your supplies
  2. Take the plain cream square. Fold it in half diagonally from edge to edge making an X on the square
  3. Lift and fold down a corner of the square to the center of the X.
  4. Repeat and fold down the other three corners to the center.

    steps 1 to 4
    Make a Lotus Box - steps 1 to 4
  5. Open out the folds. Fold the corner to the nearest fold line as shown.
  6. Repeat the fold for the other three corners.
  7. Fold down the triangle that you just made on the crease made in steps 3 and 4.
  8. Repeat for the other three corners till you have a ‘framed’ square.

    steps 5 to 8
    Make a Lotus Box - steps 5 to 8
  9. Flip the square over. Fold back the square till the right edge touches the center mark.
  10. Repeat on the left edge till it touches the center.
  11. Open out the folds that you made in step 10.
  12. Fold down the top edge till it touches the center mark. Repeat for the bottom edge.

    steps 9 to 12
    Make a Lotus Box - steps 9 to 12
  13. Open the flap on the right side.
  14. Fold down the top right corner to make a triangle along the line.
  15. Fold up the bottom right corner to make a triangle.
  16. Fold back the flap into place.

    Steps 13 to 16
    Make a Lotus Box- steps 13 to 16
  17. Repeat and fold down the corners for the left side. Slide your fingers into the slit.
  18. Use your fingers to spread out and open out the box.
  19. Pinch the 4 sides of the box to make them straight.
  20. The basic box lid is done!! Flip it over..now onto the next part of the lid..hang in there ( I know it’s a looooong tutorial but please bear with me!)
Steps 17 to 20
Make a Lotus Box - Steps 17 to 20

Lotus For the Box

A) Take the printed cream and gold square. Fold it in half diagonally from edge to edge making an X on the square.

B) Lift and fold down a corner of the square to the center of the X.
Repeat and fold down the other three corners to the center.

C) Fold down the 4 corners that you made in step B to the center. Flip it over

D)Ā Fold down the 4 corners to the center. Your square should look like the one in the picture..

Lotus box- Steps A to D
Lotus box- Steps A to D

E) Flip the box over again. Lift up one point(corner)Ā  from the center and fold back till it touches the end corner.

F) Repeat for the other 3 points in the first layer.

G) Fold back the 4 points of the second layer to touch the meeting points of the triangles in the first layer.

H) Place this square on top of the box lid you made earlier. Push the triangles you made in Step D in to the slits on all four sides of the lid. This should make the lotus part sit on top of the lid.

Lotus box-steps E to H
Lotus box-steps E to H

You’re almost done! Just make a basic box base from the last square sheet (gold color). Refer to my tutorial on the basic origami box.

Cover the box with the lid and you’re done!!

Basic Box base and Completed Lotus Box
Basic Box base and Completed Lotus Box

Did you like the box?? Please send me pictures if you make this box.

Jai Ho!!

NOTE: This box was not designed by me…I learned how to make it from a library book I borrowed years ago…I have forgotten who the designer is šŸ™ But I wanted to share it just cos it’s soooo pretty!

 

 

 

 

Scrapbook Blog Design

What was behind my idea of site re-design?

I thought of bringing fresh life to my blog and since I moved to Wu Wei, a WordPress theme that allows me to upload my own blog backgrounds, What the Heck! I can make my own backgrounds! So, I started messing around with free patterned backgrounds but I found that most of them were unreadable between the font colors that the WordPress template offered and the patterns/colors I selected. Then it struck me that I needed to make a background with two areas- a white/cream colored center area which would be under the blog text and a patterned outer area that would not be below the blog text.

How did I create the background for this blog?

A chance search for “blog backgrounds” in Google led me to some brilliant sites offering great wallpapers and backgrounds for free. I started first with www.shabbyblogs.com but I couldnā€™t use their backgrounds on my free WordPress blog. I saw this background there which made me decide that I wanted something similar- trees, a woodland theme perhaps and maybe some owls ā€˜cos I craft mostly at night!

From there, jumping from one link to another led me to this gem of a site – www.Kevinandamanda.com ! I followed Amandaā€™s step-by-step tutorial to make my blog back ground. It was such a well-written, easy to follow template that I could follow it even with my basic Photoshop abilities! I think I will create a similar background for my Twitter page and as desktop wallpaper at home to sort of tie the whole thing together.

www.kevinandamanda.com
www.kevinandamanda.com for recipes and scrapbooking!!

Software used: Adobe Photoshop Elements

Papers, ribbons, stitches and buttons: from www.Kevinandamanda.com

How can you make this look your own?

Iā€™m not a designer and I can hardly claim to be an expert but I thought Iā€™d make some more backgrounds just for fun.

I made more blog backgrounds using the same tutorial. Do download them and share them with your friends tooā€¦Do let me know in the comments which one is your favorite and also leave links to your blogs ā€“ so that I can see these backgrounds if you use them.

The first background I made is this Teal and Red one- just right in warmth and coolness- Iā€™ve put teal buttons on the side.

Teal and Red Blog Background
Teal and Red Blog Background

The second background is Red and Greenā€¦I know its too early for Christmas, but who said you canā€™t have a red and green background in August! This one has ribbons and buttery yellow buttons for style!

Red and green blog background
Red and green blog background