DIY Ideas - Decoupaged Coasters

I decided to go Handmade this wedding anniversary of ours.
And went berserk with the DIY ideas in my head, mod podge, coloured handmade Auroville paper, and three plain wooden coasters who simply got weary being called plain-Jane by daily morning cups of tea!

Better half S is a super-dad, loves football and is a great companion. So all I had to do was to make the three coasters tell these stories...

Howdya like these decoupaged coasters?
Linking to the weekly story at Colours Dekor

Art Journal - Painting Poems

A Haathi Chaap scrapbook for an art journal, Potli wooden blocks from Kadam, multi-hued watercolors, a black pigment liner, and a few words waiting to be strung together - were my tools of the trade.

I'm sure most of you know of Haathi Chaap, the folks who celebrate Elephant Dung paper. With that they create organic stationery, which sport the coolest of logos, and I like the post script on their homepage ... "No, it doesn't smell of poo. Really!" :-)

Incidentally, here's a fun picture I caught at the Singapore zoo.

And so,
my Haathi Chaap scrapbook flaunting the mammal's behind, and tied together with a ribbon, was waiting for the right inspiration. So were the hugely popular wooden blocks from Kadam.

I penned down two small poems.

One, of a tree calling out to his feathered friends. 

And another of a parrot's song 

And did I have fun splashing color on these beautifully textured pages!

Am linking on to the weekly story @Colours Dekor.

Savouring the last of summer

A week's holiday at home in Kerala is a rejuvenizer beyond compare. Life is relaxed, and each time I go down to my hometown, I manage to find time in abundance to sit back or walk around and savour the slow pace and nature's bounty. While this part of the world awaits monsoons, I relished the last of this summer.

My mom had cleaned up the vase to set in fresh flowers of the day ... what she tossed out of the window as "yesterday's" looked beautiful on the ground as well.

Curry leaves for the daily tadka come from the backyard. The shrub planted long ago in the backyard has flourished into a tall tree, what with the ample ground water, nutrient-rich soil and sunshine. This season, the tree is done flowering, and is in bloom with bunches of fruits.

My father had lovingly planted a cherry plant long ago. We hardly had hopes of it bearing fruit, but this time it did, and how!

I see him smiling through this freshly plucked branch.

The 60-year old mango tree in front of the house has done its deed for the year. This year's supplies of mangoes were collected, some sold off, some relished at home itself. Its that time of the year when within minutes of sweeping, the tree gets back to weaving a carpet of shed brown leaves on the ground.

I found these wicked nail extensions (thanks to a Gulmohar flower), and grinned delightfully to myself. I probably did this last on my evening walks with cousins nearly fifteen years ago.

Ah :-)
Once monsoon sets in, there's no respite. It pours until you wish the rains away. But as kids we never wished it away ... what better time to race paper boats and splash in muddy puddles.
Like those days, this monsoon I plan to mock-squeal at all noisy thunderstorms, I hope the child in you does too! Good day!

Indian Bazaar

Local bazaars never cease to fascinate ...

(Scenes caught on my lens at a market in Gangtok, Sikkim)
Linking up to Mosaic Monday at the Little Red House, and The Creative Exchange.
To a colorful week ahead!