Wednesday Photos!

Wednesday pics.... what started as a weekly post turned into a monthly then bi monthly post.... bad bad alishka!!!!

So let me try again.... this week I'm going to post the cutest picture ever that I found on pinterest!! (not true.... well okie, one of the cutest pictures ever!!!)

is that not just the most adorable thing in the world??? 

Have a great mid week!!!!

New Art Affairs!!

So yesterday i got art attacked!!! saw this beautiful blog of graphic,multi-media artist Alisa Burke....and i got out my sketch book and my colors and spent the whole day in paradise!!

I was already bit by the bug a few days earlier when i saw artist Anahata Katkins blog.... but more than having her art (which is fantastic) inspire me it was her profile picture!!!

So let me start by showing you what came out of my Anahata inspired art work.... though i must admit parts of it came from this other artist (!!!!! i know!!!!) Hajin Bae aka Soulist-Aurora as well!!

Here is her profile picture:

I fell in love with the way the flowers frame her face.... so magical don't you think?

And here is the artwork from Hajjin bae- what i loved was the hair.... the detailing of like each strand..... so pretty!

And here is my version :)

I did the flowers in water color..... sooooo much fun! and sketched the face and hair with a sketch pen. its not as magical as i wanted it to be, like the photograph and neither is the hair as accurate as the inspiration.... but hey its my first!!! 

I'm especially pleased with the face... the scale and slight expression.... i always drew bland faced girls.... i think this on'es got a little something!

Hajjin bae collaborates with Bryant Eslava, together they are called BryJin and they create  some really spectacular work.... I was really inspired by one of her works....

again i loved the detailing of the hair.... the colors are just stunning....

But for me the girl just had to be prettier!!! ha ha ha!!! 

Ok look the hair is super tough... but i'm going to keep at it till i get it right!

But again i really liked the expression i have caught.... the flowers i like and the front of the hair.... like! 

my shading however could get better!!!! 

Now for my new favorite Alisa Burke....! I love her sketches, all of them.... her work is just so colorful and detailed ... she has a seven moth little baby girl Lucy who she straps to her back when she just has to work! you guys have to read her blog.... its fun and inspiring and full of life! what especially attracted me to her work was her doodling.... her little flowers and circles and things.... plus she is a complete DIY girl... from headbands to toys for her daughter made of scraps to bangles.... everything and anything basically.

Here is some of her work:

isn't that just so pretty?!

I always loved sketching flowers but seeing this has just inspired me more!

So this formed the basis of my art work....

as did this.....

and voila! here is my representation of her work....

I've worked with watercolor before but not quite like this.... the mixing is not as easy as it seems.... and the colors and shade and shadow.... hmmmm.... that's a whole other blog post!!!!

but still i liked the red flowers and the blue and purple backgrounds..... the leaves and the rose needs a lot more work.... 

I know what my mum is going to say though "its the damn paper.... no one should be using silly normal sketchbook paper... invest in better paper and your work will get better"!!!!!!!

and i will!!!!

In the meantime you guys check out all the links on this page if you'll enjoy sketching and art... while i keep sketching :)

Tuesday tips - Working from home!

After a very very long time I have got back to my work......Its a great feeling because working from  home is just such a difficult task.... that you invariably keep postponing it....!!

When I started aiku... i was in bombay... it was easier in a way that there was no one in the house once hubby left and no other work or distractions for me (except the tv!!) but still even there getting into work mode was super duper difficult....

Here more so!!! there is so much going on at home that till like 12:00 you cant even think about it.... then you think, may as well have lunch and then start... after all that chaas you feel sleepy so you convince yourself that an hours sleep in the afternoon in this heat is a must..by the time you knock out (thanks to tv) an hour is already gone by!!!.. and your actual sleep time is 40 mins!!! by the time your up its already 5:30 sometimes 6:00.... then you want to have tea coffee with the family and the time creeps up to dinner time....

So really how to work from home???!!!!!

I worked out a few solutions if you stick to seriously then you can manage... of course rather than actually working i sat and made up this list!!!

So here goes:

1. MAKE A WORK AREA IN YOUR HOME.

Equip it with everything you will need such that once you're there you don't keep getting up to get stuff. Most important is to have lots of plug points.... for all your chargers... technology technology!!! If you cant take over a whole room.... just take a corner and put a desk with lots of drawers and some shelves or a small cupboard along it.

Also its super important to keep this space outside your bedroom... don't mix the two!

This is nice because then at the end of the day you can just draw the curtains and hide your work area!

Simple and nice.... anything color co-ordinated just looks great!

I liked this too.... like one big cupboard just for your work!!!

2. MAKE A WORK SCHEDULE.

Yes, you have responsibilities at home as well so divide your day. If you want to devote pre-lunch hours to the home do it. But then finish off everything before.... no suddenly remembering something mid way work and rushing off. All the cooking dusting clearing should be finished in time. 

Inform all family members about your work timings.... so that they don't disturb you while you're at work....BE FIRM.... since this, i have experienced is the most difficult part of working from home. Sometimes when we're being all creative we stare into space and family takes that as us doing nothing right??!!!! So they will come just at that moment assume you're doing nothing and expect you to do something for them... and it gets tough to explain that you were actually brainstorming in your head! hence the strict timing rule should work.

3. DRESS FOR WORK!!!! 

Back in Bombay when i used to work i used to do it in my jammies..... and it just didn't work!!!!! it makes you all lazy and loungy and lazy!!!! 

The only way it works is if you shower, wear nice smart work clothes, even shoes (if you must!) anything that makes you feel all fresh and ready to work....

4. EAT HEALTHY!! 

Have a great breakfast.... eggs sausages bacon toast coffee juice the works.... but lunch has to be very light.... working on a full stomach is impossible......!

here are some fun options.... get the recipes from my pinterest page "Comfort Food"

Sesame Brown Rice Salad with Shredded Chicken and Peanuts

Grilled chicken sandwich

teriyaki chicken and boiled rice

spicy thai noodles...

5. WHEN YOU'RE DONE YOU'RE DONE!

Pack up at the end of the day. Pick a suitable time like 7:00 maybe and then call it a day. even if you have pending work... keep it for the next day. Remember if you were in an office you would have left at the end of your working hours, so keep the same systems for your home. No checking emails on your phone either!!!

 watch TV chill with the family get dinner into place... there is lots to do!!!

These are just a few things that helped me.... however while i'm writing this blog i have shifted to the office...!! its about ten minutes from home.... but only because this way I can be with the Hubby all day!!!

But no really... working from home may not be easy and it might take a while to get into the flow... but once you've got things in place its very much do able!!!

:) happy working!!!!

White Sauce Pasta.....

I'm not a fan of cooking.... but every once in  while i find myself wanting to make some yummy dish that every one just loves!!! ha ha... Also you'll mainly find me cooking when masterchef is going on on tv.... i find it super inspiring..... a little worried about watching master chef junior.... i think i'll just feel super silly about my (non-existent) cooking skills!!!

Also cooking in different kitchens can totally cramp your style... back in bombay i had a very tiny kitchen with every thing at arms distance.... and i knew all my spices all my veggies all my utensils.... here it's a little tough..... the kitchen is big and everything has its own place which i'm not really aware of.... yes yes... the more i'm in the kitchen the more i'll be aware!!

So anyhow.... the other day i made a pasta.... a nice green pesto flavored heavily white sauced generously cheesed pasta!!!! and here is how-

i chopped up about four stalks of green onion.... ( i know most people don't cook the green of it... but i did!) a lot of garlic.... maybe some 8 to 10 medium sized ones and 2 big green chilies....

shredded boiled chicken.... doesn't look so appetizing.... hmmmm.... yeah but it tastes great once its cooked!!!

I hardly used any spices.... just some thyme and parsley and some ready pesto sauce and salt pepper... added some grated cheese later..

I usually use olive oil... but since I didn't know where it was i just put a little regular oil into a non stick pan...

put in garlic and chilies first... i love when the garlic gets nice and brown....

added the spring onions.... some capsicum (one) and about seven baby corns chopped in circles...

once it was all nicely stir fried.... i added the thyme parsley pesto sauce and salt pepper

Now i didn't take pictures of the white sauce preparation because it has to be done real quick... what u need to do is in another pot add some butter (i add in a very guess work kinda way :( but about three to four table spoons) then add some flour.... maybe some three to four tea spoons....keep stirring this and while stirring add the milk to this..... 

now there are two ways of doing this... one is you keep it on the gas and keep stirring till you have no lumps.... but this is tough since the sauce keeps getting thicker while its heating.... so the other option is that after adding enough milk take it off the gas and quickly stir out all the lumps and then put it back on the gas to thicken up...white sauce is a little tricky but its just so much yummier than red... i think!

once your sauce is ready add it to the pasta.... at this point i added some grated cheese to add to the fun value....

I almost never taste the food i make while cooking.... don't know why...!!! but you should and make sure your spices are all ok.... 

the boys had called for some cheese and pepperoni pizza from Dominos and some garlic bread.... yummy!!!!

Gift Wrapping Paper!

finally after so so long another DIY.... i've missed it !!!!

this, well i did long back .... when  i was still in bombay (u can see my old table....!!) but it was a very fun and easy one to do....

So i love gift wrapping paper as you well know.... and i love the idea of creating your own... I'm not much of an artist.... so this whole stamping designs was what worked for me...

One was is to buy those mehendi (henna) stamps that you get ready made in the market... but i find those designs too traditional... i wanted something fun!!

So i decided to cut up my erasers into different designs and use them. I did see this at another site.... but now i've forgotten which one... :(

but here is my version of making a fun gift wrapping paper....

all you need is like a thinnish paper ... i used a butter paper (gateway was too thick tracing paper too thin....) some erasers pencils and a cutter and then some paint.

now this is the first most important thing.... i lost one sheet over this....!! the writing has to be a mirror image.... i know you're thinking "but obviously".... but no when your super excited "not so obvious!!!"

So write anything like love or happy birthday (if you have the patience) I chose Hello because it just seemed most cheerful!!! 

Start cutting.... again be very careful.... the eraser is small and the cutter is sharp.... also if you cut one alphabet wrong you have o start over.....

also remember to cut only up to about half the eraser in thickness....don't go all the way you could end up separating the alphabets.

yes it is not very neat I agree..... but by the time I reached "o" i was a little run out of patience!!!!!!!

I also did some fun stars and stripes to add a little design element....

So here we are with our little stamps.... always test first.... see the colors you like.... regular acrylic paint is what i used.... just make sure your paint is not too thick not too watery.... 

and before you stamp on your final stamp once on a rough paper to remove any excess paint...

decide on a pattern first and then keep stamping!!!!

and ta-da.... your handmade gift wrapping paper is ready!!!!! 

how fun is that? with such a pretty wrapping paper... the gift can be a cheap one !!!! ha ha ha ha ha!!!!!

get to work!!!

been a while since i created something... this was not about writing about me...... hmmmmmm I guess when anyone gets a platform they can't resist blaberring!!! but i'll be back with great arty crafty things....

must make something new... something fun and real and alive and beautiful..... bring out the papers bring out the colors bring out the scissors the brushes the fabrics...... I'll be back!!!

HaPpy NEw YeAr!!!

New years in sunny Goa!!

Shack by the beach, fireworks that went on for about a half hour nonstop! a fun couple from Singapore for conversations and a great husband to kiss at midnight!!! what else can a girl ask for!!!

But now i'm back in freezing cold Jaipur! Its sometimes so cold that i actually feel like my mind has frozen.... i can't complete my own thoughts! and I crave for the sun.... (which was the bane of my existence in Bombay!)

This was probably not the best month to shift to Jaipur i think.... it gets dark real fast and it's only relatively warm between 12:00 and 5:00..... most of which time stores are closed for lunch!

Also the city is very tough to understand.... i know of very few areas and unless you have a car or a bike (i tried learning a kinetic, not so easy considering i can't ride a cycle!!!!!) you can't get very far.

So first few new years resolutions are:
1. Quit whining about the weather. 
2. Learn to explore new things. 

Due to the above i'm home most often and out of sheer boredom I am either on the internet or watching TV or even worse eating!!! internet is ok... well it keeps me connected to my family and friends.... TV ok.... its my sole addiction really.... but the food... oh my god the food!!! The main meals all consist of veggies and meat made in ghee (super fatty!!!) and even the snack options during the evenings is cheese on toast or fried somethings!!!! aaaarrrrggghhh!!!!!

So next few resolutions:
3. Learn to cook what you want to eat!
4. Discipline yourself with a diet. 


You know the best lesson i learnt last year with Aiku was that not only am i good at crafty things not only do I still have the creative streak in me that i thought I had lost... but working on even the smallest thing keep your mind sharp and active.... which is very important especially when life is moving along slowly....

5. Figure out my work irrespective of everything else. 


So five things is not so bad..... but I'm going to add another just because....

6. Be super selfish..... worry less about others and yourself.... so long as you are happy you will keep people around you happy!

I think I can manage these this year.....

ok...

ready!

lets go!!!!!