doily patterns...

Tealight candles adorning our entrance...

Tealight candles have become a big part of the Diwali illuminations in many Indian homes. I love using these along with the traditional oil diyas.

I wanted an interesting background to form a base for these candles. Coasters were one option but I zeroed in on traditional 'Kolam' stencils available widely in stores that sell 'pooja articles' or stalls near temples.

The patterns remind me of doilies that my mother used to crochet during my childhood:-)

A lotus shaped kolam stencil...

Some interesting design stencils...

(images by Arch)

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glassy illumination...

As the festival of lights approaches, my head is bursting with various ideas to try out at home.

I also love checking out what's new in the market for diyas and lamps...

Recently I picked up these small glass oil lamps. It's a small flower shaped glass container with enough space for two tablespoons of oil. On top of it goes a detachable metal flower-shaped wick holder!

Placing them on a terracotta plate and scattering white rose petals makes it a lovely center of interest.

Love the floral pattern the light and glass together create:-)

You could also place them on small traditional coasters and line them on your window-sill or entrance...

Here I have placed it on small framed 'Patachitra' painting.

(Images by Arch)

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Beads

Beads are in vogue again. From necklace to earings, bracelets to anklets, pins to brooches everything in beads are available in lot of styles and patterns. Here are some patterns for you ladies to drool over.
Beaded necklace


http://www.beadage.net/

 Name of artist is Peter Sewell and you can find more of his creations on the mentioned website. Also I found work by very talented lady Kathy.

http://www.kathykingjewelry.com/

She is very talented and own a alluring collection of beaded jewelry.
Earings specially those chandelier like ones are in fashion for quite long time now. Grab this one from Kathy's collection as this will be a great pick for this festive season.



http://www.kathykingjewelry.com/

And this one is also in queue

http://www.beadage.net/

The artist is Anthea Rose find her collection on mentioned url.

Bracelets are the things girls can't live without specially fashionable girls.



http://www.kathykingjewelry.com/

 This one is again from Kathy.

http://www.beadage.net/

This bracelet can never go wrong with any kind of outfit. The artist of this bracelet is Sally Adamson. She as lot more to show just click on link above(in pic) and have a look.

Ankelets are also in. And one can team it up with Indian as well as western outfit.

http://www.beadage.net/

Heather Donhue is the artist of this beautiful ankelet. All this and more you can find on Emma's website http://www.beadage.net/ .
If anyone who wants to make jewelry by their own then  just let me know and I'll post the step by step DIY project.

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What is Decor

Decor is an act or process of enhancing the beauty of a place or thing. Decoration beautifies our surrounding and it can be done by addorning the place or thing with combination of elments like art, craft, fabric, mirror or any other thing that fits aestheticaly.

Here you can see how a living room can be transformed from dull place to exquisite, warm and welcoming area.

Decor is something that involves lot of creativity. There is no need to spend a lot of money for decorating your space you can make your own decorating items.Below is an example of such a room.  

                                     

Using simple things can add drama to your space.You can find everything on my blog so keep an eye on my post. I will post how you can make different decorative items your own. So just wait and watch....

Image Courtesy: Interior-design-book.blogspot.com

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What is Craft

Craft is about objects, the artists who make them and the people who use them. It is created by creative person by using his/her imaginations, skills, different elements and processes. Craft is a skill that involves practical art. It can be Glass, Wood, Jute, Paper, Bead, Clay, Metal or Textile.
Craft is an expression of idea to creat decorative or functional object.

Meaning of craft according to persons from craft world:

Edmund de Waal
Practitioner

'Craft is a starting place, a set of possibilities.
It avoids absolutes, certainties, over-robust definitions, solace.
It offers places, interstices, where objects and people meet.
It is unstable, contingent.
It is about experience. It is about desire.
It can be beautiful.'

Mark Jones
Director, Victoria & Albert Museum

Craft is remembering that art is seen, felt and heard as well as understood, knowing that not all ideas start with words, thinking with hands as well as head.

Rosy Greenlees
Director, Crafts Council

'Contemporary craft is about making things.  It is an intellectual and physical activity where the maker explores the infinite possibilities of materials and processes to produce unique objects. To see craft is to enter a world of wonderful things which can be challenging, beautiful, sometimes useful, tactile, extraordinary; and to understand and enjoy the energy and care which has gone into their making.'

If still you want to explore more about craft then you can go through links below :

http://www.craftscotland.org/

http://www.vam.ac.uk/

http://www.myartsandcrafts.com/

Your comments encourage me.......so keep commenting!

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What is Art

Art has no satisfactory defination. Though I tried my best and it is my endeavour to make you understand what art is.
In old days art is considered as something that is beautiful, that pleases your eyes and that represents something. Now defination of art has changed a lot. Art is a medium of expression where the individual and culture come together. It is a process of arranging elements in such a way that it affects and influences senses, emotions and intellect. It has been defined as a vehicle for the expression or communication of emotions and ideas. It is a superior skill that you can learn by study, practice and observation.

Britanica online defines art as "the use of skill and imagination in the creation of aesthetic objects, environments, or experiences that can be shared with others."

Art is consist of Form and Genre or Content.
An art Form is the specific shape, elements of art, material or quality an artistic expression takes for example canvas texture, color, shape of brush, oil paint etc.
Whereas Content is idea based. It is a set of conventions and style. It generally means what artist meant to portray or the ways in which the work was influenced like nature, religion or spirituality.

With all that, I think you must have understand lot about art. So why to wait go and get your art elements and awake artist in you.

Your comments encourage me.......so keep commenting!

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festive twinkle...

Yesterday while cleaning the drawers I found a string of fairy lights.

I draped it on our antique medicine chest and saw stars descend into our living room.A simple idea that can transform your space.

These twinkling lights are definitely going to be part of my diwali decorations:-)

Hope to share more simple decorating ideas for diwali from my home.

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Crafty Karwachauth

Karwachauth is the most romantic festival celebrated mainly in North India, Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh , Himachal Pradesh and Gujrat. These days it is celebrated almost in every state of India and even in Pakistan and other countries too. One day fast is observed by women from sunrise to moonrise for the safety and longevity of their husbands.

Women gear up for this festival few weeks in advance. Here are some handcrafted beautiful things that you would like to add this karwachauth. That's why I called it crafty karwachauth. First comes the pooja calender and karwa .... This is very tradition one that women used to draw on wall by rice paste. In present days very decorative and beautiful calenders are available in markets.

This special one is hand crafted brass karwa for special you. You need one clay karwa also ...here it is

Now comes the thali for pooja. You can decorate one by your own. Its very easy just get some Bandhni print cloth, golden laces, sequins, beads or mirror and glue. try your hand on it and will come out like this

After pooja its a great idea to gift your beloved ones with hamper of 'suhaag'. This is just awesome...

You can also go for jewellery boxes that comes in loads of varieties. You can even use them to beautify your place.                                                                                                                                               

This yellow glass case jewelry box is must have. It has beautifully carved metal rim that gives it elegance.

This one is to adorn your place. It is gold plated and lot of meenakari work all around and crystal top.

Now its time for some jewelery shopping. look at these elegant yet stylish pieces. These are all handcrafted jewelery. you too can try hands on it if you are that creative.your

This jhumkas are just beautiful thing to add in your collection.

No festival is complete without flowers and specially when the festival is exclusively for husband and wife. Try to gift such a beautiful bunch of flower to your beloved one and make his/her day.

These multicolor Gerberas are just perfect for that special day and for that special one.

Everything is perfect now and you can enjoy this very romantic festival your own style. Best wishes.....

All images from http://karwachauth.indiangiftsportal.com/

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Dining Room, Take 2 ...

Happy Wednesday ... we're halfway through the week!  It's getting quite chilly here and, unfortunately, 'tis the season for getting sick.  My poor kiddo has strep.  Not to worry though ... a little bit of Keflex and a lot of TLC, and he'll be good as new!

Well, I've slowly been attempting to transform our dining room from dark and cozy to light and somewhat shabby chic (I think)!  This lighten and brighten kick I'm on has attacked almost every room in our poor house!

BEFORE: The walls were painted RL Metallic Paint/Lush Brown ... area rug in red/black and traditional hutch buffet: 

NOW:  Yes, this is the same room, I promise!  (Please go easy on me.)  The walls are now BM Manchester Tan ... smaller sisal rug ... hutch buffet replaced by antique sideboard and one *ha-uge* mirror, and I slipcovered the side chairs in cotton duck slipcovers: 

BEFORE:  Window treatments done in gold and red that just seemed to get lost against the dark wall color:

NOW: A new "mis-treatment" done in a gold satin *swirly* material.  I raised the height of the panels to compliment the high ceilings and added a few tassels for fun. 

This bench used to sit at the foot of our bed.  I placed it in the window and added a fun grain sack pillow from Tuesday Morning:

On the other side of the room, I decided to make my first attempt at a plate collection.  And, of course, I had to steal PB's idea of adding the twine and pictures:

I found this beautiful sideboard and mirror at my favorite antique store.  I *really* want to paint the sideboard cream and glaze it, leaving the top its natural color.  Okay, all of you painting experts ... whaddaya think?  Paint it or leave it?

Love the detailed edges on the mirror:

The tea service was also purchased from the same antique store:

I found the floating shelves flanking the mirror/sideboard at Lowes and asked our friend to add small, simple molding to them to dress them up *just* a tad:  And, while I love the clean look of them, I may end up adding small corbels underneath as I'm just *waiting* for the shelves to all to come crashing down!

I also found the *perty* silver vase and candlesticks as well and love it on the table, mixed with the burlap runner:

I'm not done in here yet (imagine that), as I'd love to replace my existing chairs (which are on their last legs ... no pun intended, lol) with french country chairs, along with adding crystal magnetized charms and beaded chain to our chandie.  So, stay tuned ...

I'm off to join some fun parties!  Come on over and visit these wonderful blogs as there are so many inspiring and creative sights to see:

The Shabby Chic Cottage

Color Outside the Lines

My Romantic Home

French Country Cottage

Southern in My Heart

Funky Junk Interiors

BNOTP for Metamorphosis Monday

Thanks so much for stopping by,

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