*~* Maa Durga *~*

** Om Jayanti Mangala kali bhadra kali kapalini
Durga shama shiva dhatri swaha swadha namostutae **

Her presence bequeaths power, her grandeur unparallel; her beauty captivates the heart to the core, her glimpse eliminates the evil and with her arrival festival season begins. Such is the splendor of Maa Durga... and the festival of Navaratri lifts up the spirit of joy inside us. There are lots of memories associated with Durga Pooja, the celebrations, sound of drums and aarti, happy faces all around, bright lights, but what has always took my breath away… is the magnificent statue of Maa Durga.

As festival season has started …I have decided to decorate my blog with festive colors too…and what could be better than attempting to paint Maa Durga... below is my humble attempt.

I wish you all a very happy and prosperous Durga Pooja.

Glass Painting

So he did it again …he climbed up on the chair… used his tiny hands and my fragile picture frame is gone and all I am left with... a glass sheet. Yeah… my little 16 month old has found his new love …climbing and jumping… on tables, chairs, sofa and bed. Toys have lost their charm in his eyes and and his mission is to get those thing that his mommy keeps far away from his tiny hands :D… Mommies out there you know what I am talking about.

It was a fine morning and I was so much into clean the house mode. I moved the chair to the side and did the vacuum and there he was watching me with a grin as if saying “You don’t know what you are doing mommy dear” and that same moment my mind instructed me to move the chair from that spot and put it somewhere else but I did not listen and His Highness got his chance.

Then followed … Thank God nothing bad happened to him, next came the guilt that I should have paid attention and the Gyan by hubby dear “Everything Happens for a Reason… may be you can do something with it for your blog”

Hmm…well not a bad idea I thought ... got some glass paint still left from my last India trip. I opened the box… checked the colors, they were fine but the black liner was dried up. So it clicked to me why not use permanent marker to draw and I was all set for this week project. After drawing and coloring all I can say “All’s Well That Ends Well” …Scroll down and take a look.

design made with permanent marker...

then comes the colouring part...

colouring finished... outlined the design with permanent marker again...

Finished piece with yellow construction paper on the back side ...

Same painting with different background this time wrinkled foil sheet...

Your comments and/or suggestions are welcomed here. Thanks for visiting my blog. Have a happy weekend.

Stamping

Hi Everyone!!!

It’s autumn morning here in Connecticut, USA. Air is cool and crisp, leaves are changing their colours slowly. It’s really delightful to see the beautiful trees with green, orange and red leaves. I am writing this post and sipping my favourite ginger tea... perfect for the cool day like this.







It seems as if nature is painting its own canvas...well I am relaxing and enjoying the beauty of autumn because my current project for this week is done…and this time I tried my hand on stamping.

So I tell you how it all started…. I went to the local craft store to look for some stamps but could not find the designs that I was looking for. So I thought why not make some stamp on my own.
To start with, I first drew some sketches on paper.... then to turn those sketches into a reality, my eyes landed on potatoes and as usual my hands were ready with a knife this time… for a change :-).




So after slaying few potatoes(as per my hubby wasting potatoes;-)), I finally got few stamps ready and the rest of it followed easily. Why don't you have a look ...

Once my stamps were done, I painted acrylic paint on them as shown in below image.

Then I pressed it facing down on the place mat...

half way through...

Stamping part is done now.... place mat is looking good ...What do you say?

Then I cut some shapes out of a empty Coke can.... You guys must be thinking that this girl has something against these poor cans...

I glued them on the place mat as you can see it below image.

With little embellishment the work is done and ready for display...

This one is on paper and then I glued it on the cardboard box. As you can see, finally we have a place to keep all our remotes at one place and can hide them from my 1 year old...;-)

Hope you like it...

I would love to hear your comments and/or suggestions, since they work as fuel for me to get going to my next week's work...Have a wonderful weekend...

To Sona...from Maa

This week, one fine morning my daughter reminded me of Wednesday to be her gym day in her school...That rang the bell in my mind...OMG tomorrow is Thursday and it is time to publish my post...I was perplexed on what to post this time, lots of ideas were going through my mind...


Finally I decided to write something on my sweetest little girl who will be turning 6 in next few weeks. I hope you will enjoy this...

They wrapped her in a blanket with pink and blue stripe
They called her a munchkin; my heart said she’s mine

Like a sweet rose bud with beauty folded deep
My heart melted as I saw her and tears slowly sneaked

I hold her tight and put close to my heart
She opened her eyes with twinkling star

I called her with the sweetest names, till I lost their count
And sang her the merry tunes as the sun went down

She was my doll, the best one I ever had
I changed and dressed her many times without any fret

I cheered for the tiny tooth that brightened her smile
My eyes closed with fear when she took her first ride

I played hide and seek with her on sunny afternoons
She always said I am in a closet Maa, come and find me soon

I waited with a pounding heart to pick her from school
She came with smiles and hugs and said it’s all cool

I can’t believe there will be six candles on her cake
It still feels like yesterday, when she was in my arms wide awake.

Saying it with Flower

Congratulation to Rekha and Sharon of TheKeybunch blog, who are celebrating their second blog anniversary by saying it with flowers. Join the blog party by clicking here.

Patachitra

There is a unique sense of beauty in folk arts. Their earthiness and charm captivates the attention of generation after generation. What has moved me this time is…Patachitra- a folk art of Orissa, India. The Patachitra painting dates back to the 8th century AD and it is considered as one of the earliest forms of indigenous paintings. Flourished under the patronage of the royals and temples, the Patachitra paintings usually depict the stories of Hindu gods and goddesses.

Religious in nature these paintings display the vibrant colors, fine lines, well adorned borders and fine detail work. The canvas for Patachitra made with the double coarse white cloth pasted with an adhesive extracted from the tamarind seed. The main colors used in Patachitra are red, brick red, yellow, white and black.

The beauty of Patachitra compelled me so much that this time I decided to give it a try. Well after few attempts of sketching, I was good to go …why don’t you scroll down and view my work!

Your comments and/or feedback are highly appreciated.

* Recycle *

If you are like me, you must have had Pepsi or Coke directly out of the can for the umpteenth time.

But have you ever thought about using that empty can to its fullest possibility…. other than getting 5cents :-) ( at least in the state of Connecticut) in return by putting it in the recycling machine…. or just tossing it away in a trash bag.

For many times, I have held the chilled Pepsi can and enjoyed it till its last drop, but never thought of creating something out of an empty can until yesterday…..when I was in my creative Zen mode. So as always with my magic wand of imagination, I started my new project.


Well the result was satisfying indeed (at least to me)….and why not there is an immense pleasure in creating something out of nothing ….Why don’t you see it yourself...

I cut the empty can carefully as it has sharp edges....

I draw on the back side with pen as you can see in the picture...

Figure half done....

Job done!!

Close up view...

Please feel free to comment and/or ask any question you have on above post.