DIY embellishments on a fun sunday!

there's no right way to do it, just do it!

we all have that stach lying around for a "later use" but we always take out fresh material whenever there is a project to do it. so today was dedicated to making some treasure from my stock of trash.

using my

repairing some ripped pants that i cannot just let go of with embroidery

so today was dedicated to making a-mends. this paosr of pants that i loooooove was ripped from the knee in a small accident a few years ago. and i hadn't let go of these even though i was too lazy to actually repair. and one fine TOday i finally decided i won't buy another pair of denims until i had repaired any/all of my old one (yeaas there's more than one, i am a hoarder what can i say)

i hate doing the patch thing, simply don't like them. so i had to find an alternative to patching it up. a simple answer - embroidery. and my inspiration - this lovely blog called Small Things. 

so here's the fractured denim as it looked after the accident. ripped on the left knee.

full length

i started by first creating a sort of 'canvas' for me to work upon. a base of any cotton fabric to be put at the back to provide more strength to your patch

diy mini album with colorful printed paper

picture chime for a cute couple

flower watercolours

mixed media canvas on a fun sun-day!

today was spent on yet another mixed media session! using some different techniques from the mixed media session i did earlier this year, today i made it on a canvas. 

take your blank canvas and paint it over with a thin layer of Gesso. this is to give you a smooth surface for the next steps. the thickness of Gesso varies with the purpose you want to solve with it. for example, if you want to create a base for your inks and paints, paint a thin layer and if you want to create texture use a thicker layer.

dry out the canvas using a hair dryer or heat tool. when using a dryer, be careful not to go really close to the canvas as it may cause bubbles in the Gesso, which would kind of defeat the purpose of creating a smooth surface. if you have the time and patience to let it dry in the sun, then go for it too. the canvas should be warm to touch, that's how you would know its completely dry.

just trying to see how i would want to arrange my focal point items. as you progress with your piece however, you will keep changing these positions and the end result could be different. but in this piece, the second texture could only be created in a straight line, so i could not arrange my flowers this way. 

the nest step was to use texture paste and stencil. this particular texture paste when dried gives the look of cracked paint. the beauty of mixed media is that there is no right or wrong way to do it (excepts the basics of course). use your imagination and apply the materials or techniques any which way you like. the only requirement is to keep practicing and keep experimenting.

so here i used my stencil to create a polka dot appearance.

golden sequins design on a white T-shirt

Using the very simple technique of applying sequins, i started working on this design today. it's a symbol in Sikhism that stands for sovereignty and integrity.

i had made a design on similar sequined embroidery technique a while ago, that too was something related to Sikhism. well the reason behind this preference is that CraftWings along with Teri Oat is planning to launch a series of T-shirts with these designs and all profits from these T-shirts would go to charity. not any particular charity, but a different one everytime we launch a new design.

we would request you to please go to the Teri Oat page and be a part of this endeavour. all our new designs shall be uploaded on their Facebook page. sign up for the newsletter and you shall get an alert everytime a new design is launched.

here's a little tutorial on how i proceeded with the design, slowly and patiently, one sequin at a time and doing it only during the day as it takes a lot of eye work!😁

first off i copied the design on to my t-shirt using a black carbon paper. i had printed out the design on an a4 sheet.

sunday photography at Cubbon Park, Bengaluru

keeping in line with doing a creative thing every sunday, i finally took a more concrete step towards my another love, photography! armed with my Nikon Coolpix L120 (yes, i wanted to start small) i set out for Cubbon Park early today morning. amidst a game of hide and seek by clouds and the sun, it was the perfect weather for a place like Cubbon Park.

before i begin, a slight warning especially for mosquito magnets like me, please cloth yourself well and apply a generous amount of mosquito repellent as the place is swarming with them. that said, it is still a beautiful place to go to on a lazy sunday and just observe each and everything. 

  i started off from the gate, facing the Central State Library and walked down the bamboo lined pathway. it almost seemed like walking in a jungle; a bit scary, a bit adventurous...

baby girl scrapbook

a multi-paged scrapbook completely handmade for a sweet little baby girl. everything from the binding and interactive pages is handmade.

baby album for a baby boy

we love handmade! as if that wasn't clear from this blog, here's one more baby album for a cute little guy. a loving aunt wanted to gift her nephew something adorable that the mom could use to save her memories of the little one. 

the album is made using lots of colors. now i know its not a written rule that anything related to kids has to be colorful, but for this particular item we were asked to include as many colors as possible. personally i too am a fan of colors and we had a blast making this album. 

read on for more images..

mixed media for the first time

vanity box for a favorite aunt!

my last sunday at home..! will be moving out to another city for a job next month. so i wanted to make most of this opportunity and work on a box for my aunt who lives there. she is one of the best people in my life and i worked on this project with a lot of love and effort. hope she likes it!

starting with the box, which btw my totally adorable dad made for me. i covered it with paper to provide for a base to work upon and gave added strength to the box.

now moving on the outside. i wanted to make this into a flowery one (she loves flowers!). so i covered it up with a silk cloth in a very light beige color, covering it nicely from all sides.

rakhi greeting cards

one of my favorite things about being an Indian in this tradition of 'Raksha bandhan'. we all fight with and love our siblings and this special day dedicated to all those who share this special, sweet and sacred bond. 

so i set out to make these cards today on a beautiful rainy morning.

paper and my cute little punches!

voila! a card ready to be shipped along with the handmade rakhis that i'll be making in the coming week..

lovely trinket box made with fabric flowers

i love working with fabrics, bits and scraps of it can be seen lying around my craft area all the time. and whenever i find the time, i would sit down and work on making flowers with these fabrics. its good to practice with spare fabric scraps that you can find lying around. for one, you get to work with different kinds of fabrics and get the hang of how to manage them and secondly you can have a great set of unique handmade flowers to use in your projects. which fabric works well with glue gun and where do you need to use your sewing skills, you get a better understanding of it all.

Explosion! Box!

another order for a birthday present which the client wanted to be creative and personalized with pictures and space for messages to their dear friend...oh i soooo love doing this, helping others express their love and feelings.

out of all the options, the client chose to go with an explosion box.

so beginning with the process on this 'hot' sunday morning, the first step was to cut the sides of the box from a mount board. mine measure 7" for the outer box , 6" for the middle one and 5.5" for the smallest box.

mother's day boxes - 2

another set of mother's day boxes

two more boxes for mother's day. i have an amazing time working with fabric. i love to arrange whatever i have rather than getting fixated on a particular type of fabric for my projects. looking to mix and match them in different ways to see which works the best for me.

this here is a round box made in a very different style. the lid was half way made, like a sort of cap on which i added some handmade flowers made using different fabrics and burlap.  

DIY notebook cover

our first ever craft show is coming up in two weeks!!

along with my cousin, we will be bringing some awesome handmade stuff at her college fest at the Punjab University. that folks is one of the oldest universities in India and she is studying to e a lawyer. but just like me, has that creative bug within her which made us team up together for this event. 

today's diy sunday was spent making these awesome diaries/notebooks/journals whatever you wish to call them..

One year of my DIY!

as i complete one year of my DIY fun, i am soooo utterly happy to announce that i am launching my own brand today! all my 'crafty'ness taking shape of an actual entity, it feels really great to see it all happening.and on an auspicious day too.

the idea of CraftWings as a brand had been brewing in my mind from a really long long time. initially i had wanted to start a graphic design company by this name but as time went by i realised i could have a all my creative ventures under the same roof. (please do let me know if this is a bad idea :P) 

hence, here we have CraftWings, a brand that offers handmade cards, handmade accessories and handmade decor items and graphic design. years of searching the internet, reading other similar blgs

since childhood i have loved the idea of crafts, cards and handmade stuff. i remember, back in the late 90's e-cards became a rage and all of a sudden this whole world of cards disappeared. i wish we would once again bring back the times when feelings expressed could be held in your hands and read again and again. and not to mention how lucky i am to have an amazing sister to help me with this (you can read all about it here). she is (fortunately) equally crazy about crafts and as they say two brains are better than one! so, here's one to us and to our future success!

i am not sure which is which, whether the blog has kept me going or i have kept it alive, but i am really happy it opened up a whole new world for me. this is the happiest i have felt in years, but i still need a lot of love and support from everyone. so please guys go through my posts from last year and leave some of your comment love to help me grow this little baby of mine.don't forget to follow us on our Facebook and Instagram for latest news and offers!

another lot of handmade cards

pot-pourri of different cards. you love someone, care about them, want them to get well, want to congratulate them. send a card to show that you care! a small piece of paper saying more than just the words on them...

babies are cute and adorable! so is this card, no?!

you do agree, don't ya?!

some more handmade cards

oh i am loving this!!!!! and all my love to beautiful people who have inspired me via Pinterest. love all you crafters from the bottom of my crafty little heart!