Bloomin' Design Studio

Here is a handmade pop-up castle greeting card made by my 5-year old daughter. It is hard to see in the picture, but the roof tops are covered with glitter and so does my dining table. She is all thrilled now that she knows the secret behind pop-up cards. I am sure we will be seeing pop-up cards popping up all over the house. The picture does not show the dimension very well, but the card turned out soooo cute.

Make a pop-up card for someone special. You are sure to see a smile on their face.

Materials used: Cardstock paper, Marker pens, Glitter, Glue, Scissors(used with an adult)

I used caricature style drawing of my family on my new year greeting cards and colored it with water colors. My daughter who will be turning 5 in Feb’09 also distributed her handmade cards to her friends. My daughter’s cards came out great. She also added some glitter to her drawings which is hard to see in the pictures.

Use your creativity and create something today.

The day after thanksgiving is usually refered to as Black Friday. This year at Alton Square Mall, it is going to be called “Green Friday". If you around St. Louis, please check out the Green Gift Bazaar at Alton Square Mall, IL on Nov 28 from 7AM-6PM. I shall be selling numerous eco-friendly products from my store including demonstrations on making some simple items with free patterns to take home. Shoppers are welcome to spend their green on this green friday making purchases at this Green Gift Bazaar .

Here’s a sneak preview of an item made specifically for this show. Can you take a guess at what it is made of? (HINT: Something green)

++++++++ REDUCE ++++++++ REUSE ++++++++ RECYCLE ++++++++

Happy Diwali to everyone! This is the festival of light celebrated for victory of good over evil all over India. The festival falls on Oct 27 and 28 this year. I had to fulfill a few Diwali card orders and hence made many different diwali cards and mailed a few of them to some of my family members. Here are a couple of my cards where the diya/lamp is my ink drawing enhanced with some color and/or glitter. Create and share something on this joyous occasion.

Navrathri also known as Dusshera is a popular festival celebrated all over India for nine nights and 10 days. It is customary in some families in South India to display a golu during Navrathri. Golu is a display of dolls on odd number of steps depicting Hindu mythology. Marapatchi bommai(male and female doll made from marapatchi wood) is a must in a golu. Women and children are invited to see the golu. Women come in traditional silk sarees and girls in their silk skirts adorned with their best jewelry. Some women and children show their vocal talent singing devotional songs. Everyone who comes is given something to take home that will include a prasadam made of lentils with seasoning and may also carry home a small bag of gift which may include a fruit, kumkum, manjal, vethallai, pak and a small gift.

Please come over and see my golu. Hope you enjoy my golu as much as I did creating it. Happy Navrathri to you!

Rice soaked in water for an hour and then ground smoothly was used to draw the kolam.

Flowers from my garden were used to create this kolam at the bottom of my golu.

Full view of the golu.

Marapatchi bommai are the second set of couple from the left in wood that looks black. The sacks were handmade out of burlap and filled with various grains that is typical in a grain merchant store.

The idols of Ganesh displayed here are each made of a different material. Starting from the left,terra cota, Navadaniam(9 different grains), sandalwood, clay, marble, wood and metal.

You can see a couple selling flowers in baskets to offer to god.

“The Twleve Alwars”

The hill was made with paper and glue (paper mache) and the temple with wood.

The wooden dolls in this village are from Kondapalli, Andhra Pradesh. The straw hut and the stick hut were resued from a different project here.

The popcorn and fruit vendors and the fence were handmade with cardboard and paint.

The zoo was created using layers to give some depth due to the space restriction. The first layer starting from the back was the fence with gate drawn on paper. The second layer the tree created with paper. The third layer was the tiger den where the rocks and entrance to the den was also hand drawn and colored. The tiger was placed and then real rocks were added in the front of the tiger. To the left was the gorilla area where the tree was again created with paper and soil was added to the ground. The fourth layer were the elephants on the left and the zebra and giraffe on the right. I used reindeer moss and felt on the ground. The final layer that you can see in the front was the water body which was created using rolled up vellum paper with handdrawn and cut fish, greenary and frogs with a pink flamingo in the back.

The fruit vendors were made with clay and then painted. The clothes stand with hangers were made with wire. All the other shops were also handmade.

Thanks for visiting my humble home to see my golu.