Doors in London

I love doors.... something about them i just find so inviting... so personal.... its the first impression really of your home..... on my trip to london last year i took pictures just of doors.... though this has nothing to do with a DIY project... i thought it would be interesting to share!

Love the blue off setted against the white and brown... stunning!

Love the modern touch with the brown border and the antique lamp on top...

Love the weathered look.... so old so vintage!

Love how classic this looks....the white moldings around the the door...

Love Love Love the logo on the top!

Love the classic once again.... 

Love how mysterious this door looks!!!I wonder where this leads to.... is that a danger sign?!!!

Happy Birthday Hubby!!!

Threw the husband a happy birthday surprise party....!!!

He's now 30.... thirty... wow.... thats a milestone...!!!

Had a full on DIY party.... but since i didn't have my camera... I got all our friends to take pictures on their phones.... still awaiting them!!!

But here is one to start with and will upload the rest as and when the come!

This is my wall of "30 things i love about him"!!!

Inspirations Boards

Nothing excites me more than a inspiration board....
After scouring thru hundreds of wedding blogs i found that projectwedding.com offered the best inspiration board application...

You simply pick your format (the number of images you would like to have number of rows and columns). Then you pick your color or theme and add your images! easy addictive and so so fun!!!

Baby Pink.

Keep those Blues away!

Oranges and Lemons!

The Silver Lining.... my favorite!

Paper Lanterns Re-invented!

So i started out with designing a tutorial for this :

And ended up with this: (!!!!!)

Somehow every time i start with something i just end up making something new and different!!! this was really really fun... and it got added to the earlier pom pom set i had made.

So this is how this beautiful lantern came into being!

I had seen these fabric pom poms and even made one (will upload that soon). But since i was working with crepe paper i decided to try this one with the paper as well. 

Fabric Pom Poms

Now here is my version!

First and most important cut lots and lots and lots and lots of crepe paper into a flower shape. I didn't realize it so had to go back to cutting twice. I just counted and you need a minimum of 130 flowers to create just one thin line like i have on my lantern.

 I took three sizes and three colors 

Put a little (very little) fevicol in the center of one flower

And place the other on it.... hold for a few seconds...

Fold and check which side looks most interesting... let that be the outer side of your flower

now add a little more fevicol in the center....

and fold again! and hold again!

Ta-da... you're flower is shaped!

Now do that like 50 times more!!!! keep mixing up your colors and don't worry if the two flowers don't stay exactly one over the other... if it is a little up and down it will create interesting flowers!

Now for this process its very very important to draw out your line on the lantern first.... i didn't do it because i am super impatient but i did pay for it.... mid way i had to change my plans as the curve was not what i wanted it to be.... So draw your curved line and first stick the flowers along the line so you are absolutely sure its going the way you want it!

Its a long process.... from cutting to sticking (of just todays lantern) took me around 3 hours... do remember i watch a lot of TV in between!!!

But it is totally worth it don't you think? now imagine these at a wedding.... ahhhh.... such a pretty!!!!

Shakti the Feminine Power....

My mum has the most amazing collection of books.... and i love reading (robbing) them!

Classics religious spiritual poetry.... Indian writers british writers american writers all kinds.... its like a mini library for me! So every other week i browse thru them and pick one that i connect to at that time.

Recently, and owing to my new found weight, i picked up this book: Shakti the Feminine Power of Yoga.

The cover itself fascinated me. those lines of her body the strength in her legs in her shoulders in her fingers.... superb! And what made this even better was that all the photographs were black and white... I don't think any picture can be as powerful as a black and white image. 

In the foreward well known yogini and teacher, Shiva Rea, writes," Victoria's images celebrate Shakti through the yogini....Here you see the many aspects of the feminine force - strong as a live oak, fluid as the sea, soft and still as the fertile earth, changing like the moon - sister, daughter, mother, lover, leader, dancer." beautiful!

Now i had this mad urge to sketch! and sketch i did..... I picked three yoga asanas where i found the most strength and the most calmness and did those...

FLOW

I just realized mine was a mirror image... funny how that happened?!

STRENGTH

Couldn't get the curly hair... but i still love it!

CONNECT

After doing the initial sketch i just felt i needed to add my own touch... something that was me. And so the flowers.... the abstract art around the figures... for me it was like the energy flowing out of them, around them... Just felt incomplete without it... what do you think?

by the way... the new found weight ... its still there!!! this yoga book only and only helped in making me more confident about my sketching!!! ha ha!!!

Paper Flower Pompoms!!

so paper poms poms were on my list of things to do..... just look at this and tell me you don't want one of your own....!!!!

via

via

The only thing that i didn't like is that i couldn't find colors as fun as the ones in the images. So i used basic butter paper (I'm guessing its similar to tissue paper.... i also made one with actual tissue napkins but i didn't quite like them) and then just colored them.

For some reason i still cant explain i cut the butter paper into rectangles... i wanted square the tutorials said square..... anyhow! I had two sizes: i made two small ones 4" by 2.5" and 1 large one 8"x8".

 ......after cutting i placed 7 sheets together and started folding it like an accordion.

  .....this way then that way and ta-da!

 ....I tied the center with a string of wool. 

 ....rounded the edges so that the flower has a much softer look.

.....now for the most difficult part. see you need to take each sheet and pull it up, its ok if it's uneven but the whole sheet must get lifted at least the first three to make the flower look full. the unevenness brings out a nice natural feel to it. So what is difficult is that the sheets can tear if you try to rush it.... but even thats ok... don't discard a flower just because a bit of the paper tears... you wont notice it as much... just be careful!

......isn't that super pretty!!!

.....now this is the part i added... i like a bit of color...and i'm in love with watercolors recently so thats what i used.

..... blues greens violets.... wanted very non Indian wedding colors... just to see what it would look like.... 

I like.....

..... u like???!!!!!

This image is simply for my mother.... yes i am messy... yes i paint my hands more than i paint what i need to paint!!!!!!!!!!!

So there..... thats my flower pompom! you see the round lantern with the rolled up crepe flowers... ? that tutorial is next!

until then... happy DIY-ing!!!

ps: the links below the first two images will take you to the original tutorials i used.... have a look!

why a stay at home?

being a stay at home is not so much a choice....its just something that has become my life right now...

sometimes i even feel like maybe i should take on a job.... but 10 to 7 i cant do no more!!

just the idea of having to get up at a certain time reach an office sign in the attendance sit in front of a computer (hey its very very different from sitting in my shorts with my legs up on my coffee table and having dexter on and working on the laptop) trying to please an inconsistent boss (there is no other kind)....

I have had all kinds of jobs all my life.... interior designing with an architect was my first... and it was actually fun... i was the youngest in the office and so got away with much! coming in late...not having too much responsibility.... good fun!! but my too good for anything quality came out and i decided in hardly two years of experience to branch out on my own.... not a good idea in retrospect!

so i did one house on my own..... disaster....! not the house they house was great.... but the whole financial and management part of it... scarred me for life....

till my next job i learnt Spanish went for salsa classes..... then when i couldn't stay at home anymore (and i had spent everything i had earned!!) it was time for job number two....

A call center.... i bet you're thinking from interior designer to call center....???? whaaaat??!!!
i was uninspired to join another architect.... but the best thing that came out of this job was.... a husband... no wait.... the best husband! Even though we married some five years later.... i love our story! (another time!)

so then we both quit.... so so boring that job was.... and really tiring...

next came an audition for a film (which i got thru) for some friends. while waiting for the shooting to start... i planned the same friends' wedding. Now that was MY moment!!!

it was like those moments in films where suddenly everything is brighter and birds are flying in the clear blue sky....and everything is just perfect! i loved everything about weddings... the creating of the decor... (yup i handmade most of the decor.... even then i was the DIY girl!!!) the meeting and handling of guests feeling like family to them... being the problem solver.... superb... what a feeling it is to make a couples most important day so so special!

did one more friends wedding after that one... and it was even prettier even more "me"!!! i felt like this was it this is what i wanted to do forever!

then came the film shooting... i put weddings on a back burner... and fully enjoyed this new "stardom"!!! ha ha... no but it really was fun.... different... but fun.

after the shoot i was a bit lost.... for some reason i didn't go back to weddings...i tried working with my mum she's an artist so i tried to make products with her art.... we did exhibitions and things... but for some reason... ah no... for the very clear reason of both of us being terrible at marketing... we didn't really manage to take it out there like we wanted to...

so  instead i took up a job of film writing.... I can't explain why... but i did. It was ok... felt more like a little secretary who was taking notes for the writers... because i couldn't add to the story... I also handled the accounts of my boss... funny jobs!!! but i learnt to keep files... which has come in handy today!

during my writing stint i found another opportunity to get into weddings so i took it.... but it turned out to be a sham!! The guy who hired me actually wanted and interior designer for his office at a very low rate... so he showed me dreams of being the wedding planner in his event company but "Could you also help me with our new office?"!!

Well that stint got over pretty fast... but the wedding bug had settled into my head.
Also by this time husband and i were engaged to get married in a year... so i decided to really put myself out there in the field of weddings... I applied for a job!

And got one in a very interesting company..... worked there for around 5 months...then i got badly ill and had to leave. But it was a really great experience...i got to help design and manage a wedding in the royal palaces in udaipur.... got to design a casual wedding by the beach in Kashid near alibaug... i wish i could have actually done that wedding but i had already quit and it was very close to my own wedding!

Post this job... i started planning my own wedding... what a job that was!!! i put my heart and soul it in... and used my beautiful artist mother fully!!! she hand painted my wedding cards... my sangeet backdrop.... the gifts we gave every guest.... she did everything!!! Will put up my wedding soon!

now happily married.... i had to do something else... the opportunity of another film came about.... so i took it.... i mean a 2 month vacation in London fully paid.... why would i refuse!!! This was my biggest experience in life... and i grew emotionally and physically!!! (i also grew more confused!!!)

back from London and husband and decided to work together... good idea... but bad decisions!!! also the end as i know it of my creativity.... i was so overshadowed by his flow of creativity... that mine went into hiding... and its still there!!!

SO

as you can see job after job after job.... I can easily say i have done it all!!! so now you can see why i cant get myself to take on another JOB!

but i must do something.... something i must do.... with myself with my life.... stay at home can only stay at home so much!!!