My Summer story..

Hello Friends...
It's a beautiful out here in Bangalore...sunny by morning and some light to heavy showers now and then! My garden is a green lush and luckily we still get to hear the birds chirping throughout the day!I love my
morning cuppa in the garden, listening to the different sounds of birds chirping...music to the ears!

My 5yr old daughter, Sakshi too loves to have her morning glass of milk in the garden...listening to these sounds, and we have a lovely conversation around it. She is curious to know what the birds are saying and in the process we make our own birdie dialogues! Every time a bird coo's, she would say" Amma, what is it saying now"... It is a belief that if the Cuckoo bird coo'c then it is a sure sign of rain and invariably there is a slight drizzle at least!
With this inspiration...I have made this mixed media hanging piece, reflecting a bit of my summer story!Have a look...

And...if you are wondering if this is an altered embroidery hoop...NO....save your patience till the end of the story...else scroll down!

Simon says Monday wants us to inspired by the letter"J" and JUTE , it is for me!!! Jute and summer, what a combo...have a visual treat now...

 An aerial view...

 The tree is made using hot glue and colored with acrylics. The cute pink birds in conversation are resin birds using modge melt moulds and then colored. The cute nest and eggs too! The tiny flowers are using CLD shasta daisy(B310) smallest size! Inked with wild honey DI.

There are butterflies using different materials..the green is made of satin fabric and the pink is a resin.

 Another pink butterfly...stamped and colored with bling center!I love this caption from google!The beaded string on the top in summery colors.

 The rugged texture of the jute layered with gesso, colored with acrylics, stenciled with TCW mini textures and the color splat in black!

 My cuckoo birds having been cooing this morning...will it rain today????

The lovely black lace all around looks like some more butterflies hovering around!
 Well, this is my story this summer...What is your's??? Feel free to tell me what's the weather in your part of the globe!

Some of the household scraps used for making this...a piece of jute cloth, the chipboard circle is a cake base and some jute rope!

Thank you so much for stopping by and would love to hear what you have to say about this creation.

Am linking this to...

Shopping our stash

(have used lace, flowers,mist, punched leaves, diecuts, Rhine stones)

Make My Monday

Cheery Lynn Designs

Simon Says Monday Challenge

Crafty Catz

Until then,

happy crafting and re cycling.

Hugs.

"Getting to Know me"..Blog Hop

Hello Crafters…

Today is a very different post me…it’s the new topic “Getting to know me” that’s abuzz in blogosphere these days!

Every post of mine has a small bit of information about me and in this one you will find a  whole lot of me(hope not to bore you) and my work info.

I am less than a year old in blog land and am so happy to have made friends with some talented co crafters and getting inspired by their works and learning so much from different blogs. I have been tagged by Jasleen of "Happily ever crafter" who makes the most stylish CAS cards that I know! I am really challenged at making cards and always at an awe at people who can make them and especially CAS…Jasleen dear, you rock here and am so glad to have found you! You have to visit her blog to see her cards to believe me!

At the end of this post, I would be introducing you two more fellow crafters who are talented in their own style and have always liked what they make!

Are you ready to hear about me????

WHY DO I CRAFT AND BLOG…

I never realized the creative streak in me until I got married and had to set up my own house! I loved the idea of home and interior decoration and would love it when we shifted house every 2 years! I was never a crafter until I accidentally

bought my big shot about 1.5 years back!!
 Yes, I am an Artist and have been dabbling with paints and other mediums for the last 12years.

I have been taking art classes from home for the last 10 years and have my Face Book page, TOFA where

you can see more of my works. I have a lovely studio attached to my home, from where I work.

 I have named my brand as “ TOFA” which in Urdu means “Gift” and also if you break up the alphabets you get “ TOgether For Arts”…

My love affair with craft and blogging is just a year old, and am loving it here. In a short span, I have been able to see and get inspired from world all over the world and each and every comments from you all lifts my spirits and re assures me that I am in the right place.

MY STYLE OF WORK…

I love anything complicated! I am a little scared of CAS and love to sit on my project for hours and love embellishing then with all my hand made elements. Crafting or any kind of art is a stress buster for me and in that world…I get a very different level of happiness and satisfaction. It is very soul satisfying! I have been bitten by re- cycling bug for sometime now and am always on the lookout for some “Trash” at home, which can be given a make over!

Yes, my studio has a store room where I have accumulated all things “unused”…and for every project, I dish out thins from there! I have some wonderful friends who collect tissue rolls, Cd’s, boxes, bottle, duct tape rolls and more…on a monthly basis and drop it home!

Most of my projects are 3D and invariably have an up cycled item…I don’t feel my project is complete without that!

HOW LONG DOES IT TAKE…

Like I said, I love sitting on a project for hours…sometimes even a couple of days!

 A lot of creative visuals happen in my sleep!!! Yes, I get some amazing and clear pictures of the end product in my sleep and that is one reason I love my night sleep! I love escaping to this creative haven…

I play around embellishments the longest.

 I love to make my own flowers, trinkets , resin charms and other little things required for the project. I make a box full of flowers and it comes or 5-6 projects. If you see my style, it is loaded with embellishments!

CURRENTLY WORKING ON…

 Yes, another re cycled project! Something really" HOT"!!! Maybe you will see it happening next month..I can't reveal much cos I have not slept enough to get the visuals on this..LOL!!!

I would really like to thank you all for stopping by and taking time to leave your comments. Hugs and Cheers to all of who have joined my site ..hope not to disappoint you!

Lastly, would like to tag my fellow crafters who have their own unique style of crafting…

DAKSHA… I have not met her but as I said earlier, cards are nit my forte and I have a special liking for people who make them. Daksha makes some amazing cards and why I loove them is they are as complicated as my projects! She also has a lot of work on it and most of them are interactive with a lot of techniques and coloring. Have a look…

ANUJA…this lady is multi talented…she crafts, bakes, quills, conducts workshops, does origami, makes jewellery, Phew!!!.. and more1 I have met her in person and found her to be so humble and  un assuming! She has all the craft supplies in this world and keeps acquiring a new “Toy” every now and then …so jealous of you, Anuja.

With that, I would like to sign off with my own favorite quote “ Scraps are precious, Don’t throw them ! “

To me recycling is like helping some one in distress, it is very satisfying! You have to experience it!

Take care buddies…

Lotsa Love,

Rupa.

Keep the door Closed !!!

Hello Crafters...
Am sure you are wondering about the title of this post...but, before that I would like to thank you ll for the lovely comments and the appreciation that you gave me for my altered nest shadow box! Looks like you all do like re cycled projects, and hope I will not let you down on that! A big and warm welcome to my new followers too.
Yes, now about this title...I made an altered door knob hanger and I think it is best noticed and appreciated when the door is Shut, right???
Here too I have recycled an empty drinks carton to make the basic door hanger and then went about altering it Julie Nutting style!!! She had done it on a canvas, and I can see a canvas in empty cartons these days!!! LOL...

Am excited about this tag cos it's going to my sweet little niece in Japan. It's het birthday today and she happens to be in India, she is all of 3yrs old and looks just like a Japanese doll! Wondering how...yes, my cousin married this lovely lady from Japan and the kids seems to have inherited a loooot of their genes!!!
Onto the door hanger...yes, I chose this cute prima doll as it best describes little girls of that age and stamped her using Momento brown onto a sheet from Prima, Sunrise sunset paper line.
I then stamped using the script stamp from Bo Bunny on her. To color her, I chose my much forgotten Dervent, pastel pencils!!! Oh my...it was just so smooth and fuss coloring and shading with it! I loved it.

 I paper pieced her frock and heat embossed little flowers in white on her and then colored the frock on darker shades of orange and green. there is a green crochet lace on her hemline and have colored her hair bang and shoes with white liquid pearls. A cute felt flower in orange and green decorates the hair band!

Using a metal charm and some coordinated beads, I made a sling bag for the little girl and hung it around her shoulder! Isn't she looking cute with that???

For the BG of the hanger, I paper pieced all the scraps that I had with matte medium and then stamped some stitches on it and gave light water wash of gesso. later stamped some doilies and with home made texture, used dots stencil from TCW.
For the base I made a frill using green checkered polyester cloth and then on top a white lace and then sealed with some flat back green pearls.

The flowers are using scrap Georgette cloth and TH tattered florals die with a button in the center.
The sentiment is from Prima, Leeza Gibbons(Wishes and Dreams).
That's pretty much the front!

The back is very simple, with a paper embossed back ground using the cup cake embossing folder from Itsy Bitsy.

I then made a paper quilted pocket to hold 3 colorful tags wishing the little girl for her Birthday!

Yet another satisfying project of trash to treasure...hope my niece is able to treasure this!
Thank you so much for stopping by and leaving those lovely comments. I love it!

 Am linking this to...
Artistic Inspirations
Craft Hoarders Anonymous
Crafty sentiments Designs
Top Tip Tuesday
Moving Along with Times
Until then,
Happy Crafting and re cycling.
Hugs.

A cozy nest

Hello Crafters…

Am back again with another re cycled altered project ( do I know anything else???)…..This one took me about 8hrs to complete cos a lot of thought process went into it! I have also tried some new technique, which you will see.

Here again I have recycled a cereal carton and another small medicine box to make a shadow box and went about altering it. You may wonder why I take the trouble to creating a shadow box when loads of them are easily available in the market. 

Well, the joy of creating one to your size requirement and that too using materials otherwise ending up as trash is so so satisfying than a ready made one! Well, end of day, I enjoy what I do and converting cartons to canvases has not only made it easier on availability of supplies but we have ended up eating more cereals now, LOL!!!!

About this project…what do you give someone who is an artist, a nature lover, a sewing enthusiast, talks a looooot ! and most of all, a beautiful person and a good friend of your’s???? Well, I could think of only this…..

I made a welcome board for her, which could be hung outside her home or her studio…

The details…

I have used the paper line from prima, “Something Blue”. Torn pieces of 2 co originating papers and stuck them randomly. The PP has music notes and images of birds and nests.

I then took some home made texture paste and applied it randomly with a popsicle stick…a vary thin layer and them stamped on it using the urban clings, scrip rubber stamp. After allowing it to dry, I applied some acrylic colors and inked with peacock feathers and finally rubbed on some gold gilding pate with my fingers. Look at this magic…loved the weathered and distressed scripted look!  A technique that I saw in Paper Artsy channel in you-Tube.

The color theme for this is pink, blue, brown and gold! Once I was satisfied with look of the bos, I started working on the inner box. Have lined it with Pp from French stack, DCWV and then arranged some dry twig from my garden and hung a TH birdcage using some vintage gold chain. The cage too id heat embossed in gold and gessoed in places to give the weathered look. It is 3 side cage and fits snuggly into the shadow box. Decorated it with a few creepers and a little stamped and colored butterfly and a few flat back pearls.

I have used an old measuring tape,( from my mothers sewing kit)to form the border of the lining of the small box! Love the numbers peeping in the sides!!! A few coconut shell buttons completes the border.

 

Just near the nest, a lot of activity is buzzing with a few birds chirping, sitting on a twig and another pair chatting on a thread spool which has been stamped and inked too! The birds are busy in their own world, and so are the gold glittery butterflies that you can see hovering.

 An altered car key with a CLD daisy in blue, and a bobbin with a  mini bouquet of 2 mini roses has a reel with the quote “Home Sweet Home” coming out of it!!!

The top part of the box has a small garden there again with some twigs and loads of handmade flowers using TH tattered floral, joy crafts and CLD dies. The flowers sit on a bed of feathers using CLD (B369) and some olive branches(B147)

too.

The bird is a local buy and am sure is enjoying his stay there!!!

Have punched golden eyelets on the sides with a paper rope handle for hanging this.

 

Do you  think this little nest is warm and inviting??? You are welcome to this cozy nest any time!!! Waiting to hear from you… I think this box summarizes the person that my friend is…hope she likes it!

To me, working on a re cycling project is like helping someone in distress! Just do it to experience it, WARNING...it could get addictive!

Am linking to…

Lessology

Beyond Grey Challenges

Cherry Lynn Designs

Tando creative
Simon says Monday Challenge

Until then,

Happy Crafting and recycling.

Hugs.

 (B369)

Then and Now...

Hello Crafters...
It's shinning and raining in Bangalore and absolutely the right feel to get your creative juices flowing!!!
Well, today's post is yet again a picture heavy post...which of mine is NOT!!!! Sit back and relax...
How does it feel to create your own home decor projects and that too space saving cos you are not buying something new but altering things lying around at home! Well for this there a re quiet a few of them!!!
I keep telling my husband," I haved saved you a fortune by not buying deco items" and in reality he has no clue how much I spend on craft supplies, LOL!!!
There again, the real satisfaction is playing with trash, and here it is the burlap panel! I made my own burlap panel for this project using an empty cereal carton box and an old gunny sack from the attic!!!

This otherwise untouched, rejected gunny sack got loads of attention and pampering from me....treated it to a good scrub and wash and later rinsed it in fabric softener...oh my! smells and feels great!
Well, you wondering, if it's worth all the trouble??? have a look...

I stuffed the carton with old newspaper for making it sturdy and then wrapped the burlap piece and adhered it with strong glue and also screwed in some jump rings on the top to make it hang! PRICELESS...literally!!!
Burlap panels are a rage now...I love the grungy texture and immediately can think of only vintage but amazingly it fits into a contemporary set up to..
This is what I did to it...

The panel was gessoed randomly and I played around with stencils from Prima(clocks), leaf stencil (local craft store) and home made texture paste in peach and green! The tissue wrap with mucic notes and butterflies too is home made and have scrunched it up in various places.

The top cluster of hand made blooms in shades of peach, all using the TH tattered florals and some die cut foliage too.

The bohemian gypsy in me had a feast!!! Loved making these beaded charms and hung them in different levels from the sides. You can actually play around with them by positioning it wherever you want!!! Hope you can see the vintage clock hanging from the rose!

 The floral cluster and the hand made floral spray at the corner and spilling to the edges of the panel. The lace flower is hand made too and has a generous inking and misting of spiced marmalade and wild honey!

 The thought behind this panel was to create a "then" and "now" of me...The "then" is me at 4yrs plus and the "now" is 42+!!! Just like the seasoned, old burlap...LOL!!!

The black lace at the bottom is gessoed with my finger just to give it a softer look. The TH clock and the hands pointing are chipboard pieces, heat embossed in white. The heart behind the little "me" too is a chipboard piece with scrunched up tissue wrap. The pocket watch is a die cut with TH visual artistry stamp( my fav embellishment for vintage projects). I have entwined a piece of black bakers twine to the jute rope(for hanging) to balance the black lace at the bottom.

Well, with that we come to the end of the "BEFORE" and "AFTER" of the old burlap and the "THEN" and "NOW" of me!!!

For this project, my husband got a good deal...not only on the deco piece but also,he got a gorgeous model to pose for FREE!!!!

What say???? Do let me know what you think about this project...am waiting, I had a blast making this for "me" with a lot of my favourites...re cycling, texture, colors, hand made blooms, charms, laces and mostly my current passion for mixed media and vintage style!!

Next time you see a gunny sack/bag, DON'T ignore it...there's a whole big canvas, waiting to be altered !!!!

Thank you all for your patience!!!

Am linking this to...

A Vintage Journey

City Crafter Challenge

Country View Challenge

Lulupu

Simon Monday Challenge

Until then,

Happy Crafting and re cycling.

Hugs.

Fragile mail !!!

Hello Crafters…

Firstly, thank you so much for all the lovely comments that you left on my village in a bottle. I am back again today with another set of altered bottles….

The best thing about this project is, you first clean the bottle and then you mess and dirty the place to make it look old and aged again!!! I love the vintage and grungy look of Tims’s work and none of my projects are complete without a bit of tearing, distressing or using Distress inks!!!

What more, my bottles today are based on a postal theme and have used the stamp set from ITSY BITSY ”Vintage stamps”.

The bottles were first given a coat of gesso and then went on to work 2 different techniques.

Bottle 1:

After the gesso, gave a coat of acrylic color in off white and then inked with DI, vintage photo on all the edges to give an aged look. Later mixed black and brown acrylic colors and did a generous color splat on the bottle. I fussy cut some floral print from DCWV French stack and using home made modge podge stuck it to the bottle. The cut out was inked with vintage photo too. 

I tore out the word “beauty” from the same stack and then using the postage stamp and scrip stamp from the set went about randomly stamping all over the bottle with vintage photo DI.The butterfly too is from the same stack.

I then cut out a few mini tags from the same stack, distressed the edges using TH distressing tool and stamped some friendship quotes on it and hung it around the bottle neck with natural twine.

Bottle 2:

This is vintage style too but after the gesso, I painted a lovely apple green acrylic color and then used the crackle medium to create cracks. When it was tacky, I applied the top coat of yellow ochre and voila! There appeared the lovely cracks…Oh! I so love this look and it looked even better when I inked the edges with vintage photo.

Here, I have used a lot of Prima stamps…the doll is paper pieced in vintage colors and pearls and colored using D inks too. Have used the vintage postage stamp in this bottle too and the blooms are all hand made and have the script stamping on it too. I have used TH tattered florals die to create all the flowers here, inked and misted them with picked raspberry and milled lavender and then inked the edges with vintage photo to give the dried up look!

The PP is from “something blue” stack from Prima and have fussy cut some roses here. The tag too has a Prima sentiment. The lace flower on the lid is hand made too and inked with picked raspberry and vintage photo. The pocket watch is using Joycrafts die and TH visual artistry stamp!

The stamping against the cracks on the bottle just gives a lovely worn out look and personally , I like the 2^nd bottle better then the first!

How about you??? Thank you so much for stopping by and would love to hear your feedback.

Am linking this to…

Make my Monday

Love to Scrap Challenge Blog

Electic Paperie

A Vintage journey
Imaginations
(have used PP, die cuts, pearls and butterfly)

Until then,

Happy Crafting and recycling.

Hugs.