Matching Matching

My little miss is suddenly all grown up. She wants to match all her dresses with mine. I find this immensely cute and adorable!! We both have a blue and white polka dotted pajamas and whenever we wear it together she is like ,"Mamma and me, matching matching!". And when we are in the same color tops/t-shirts she is soo very excited.

So imagine her excitement when we bought the same type of footwear!! She was alllll smiles and insisted i buy one like her's.

These are the traditional Jaipuri Joothis.You can find more information about this wonderful and colorful state of Rajasthan here. It is very famous in India and can be worn to give a very casual or a very chic look with Indian clothes and fabrics.

Here we are together! I do love the look of her sandals.

 

Some more fabric for getting them sewed into pajamas. Hopefully i can learn sewing very soon....

Started on another crochet project. This is actually a place-mat design as per Ravelry. But i am going to do more rows and columns to make it into a television drape. My mom selected this design after she feel in love with it. And i had fallen in love with this pattern a long time before :)

It is very delicate and pretty, but oh sooo very fiddly. It is definitely not going to get over in a week's time. 

We may be getting some rain in this part of the world today.. I do hope so it does rain and everyone does love the monsoon right. Best time to tuck in hot hot samosas and tea! Here's hoping for rain and all the good eating it brings along..

Tribal Art

A city can be famous for various industries which thrive in it - be it fashion, finance, films, food, the people, tourism - so on and so forth. But in India, in the state of Karnataka, there lies a city known as Channapatna which is solely on the map for its wooden toys! This city's toys are so famous that indeed there would be no child in Karnataka who has grown up without playing with these toys :) The toys are wooden, completely non-toxic, even the colors are vegetable dyes. You can find more information here and here.

 

Equally famous is the tribal art known as Warli Paintings from central India. These paintings are very attractive and can light up any wall or room.  I purchased a cute looking time piece inspired by this art.

Closer home, my Little Miss has been very busy painting on her own. A first of sorts, a look at her collection :)



What fun we will have if she also gets creative with time and age!

I also have been quite happy with my hooky progress made on the granny stripe blanket. Have completed 48 stripes that it 96 rows and colorfully, happily, hookily smiling at it :))

Here's my "on-his-own" infant, who was just soo recently not even able to sit. Now he is almost walking all over the house, climbing, pulling and being as active as a bee!! Here he is in various stages of pulling off the blanket for himself ;)

This is when i actually get some time, when the little ones are sleeping and time is still with me. The Me time. A rarity in this part of the world. But hey! no complains - I am enjoying every minute of this journey with all the wonderful art and hook to keep me company....

Putani Express

One of my fondest memories of Bangalore is visiting the Cubbon Park as a child. This used to be one of the favorite destinations for a school picnic and also a must do during summer holidays!

But the Park now is just a shadow of its former glory. It really needs some clean up. We took the boat ride and i was actually shocked to see that even the ride was allowed. One thing India needs is cleaning up. Otherwise we would have nothing to give to our children. I remember how fresh and inviting this park used to be.

The Toy Train aptly named "Putani Express" -,Putani meaning little or tiny, is made just for the tiny tots.The little miss had a fantastic time on it!!! :Fantasticccc - in her own words. Here she is after the ride, closing all the gates of the train.

 

Trying my best to get shots which can make up for my Nikon. Yellow flowers and floating balloons :)

Ended the day with a string of balloons - color, fun, sun, sand, boating, train, slide, more slide, swing and loads of fun in the sun.

Also a peak into the craft supplies I purchased the other day. It was not a very good day for shopping as the yarn guy in my favorite shop was out of stock and promised me more in the following week. Here's hoping for some more color then.

 Cannot resist flowers even though i have loads of punches

 Stickers for my scrap book which i think will forever be a WIP.

 These are zip pouches which when zipped up transforms into pouches, they are really cute and available at Staples.

One wall decor i could not resist buying. Kinda fits my job description to the T.

And some quilling papers.
Here you go, craft for me and fun for my girl. Hope you all are having as much as crafty fun as possible.

Past Forward - Part 2

Its been a busy week with visiting friends and family. Having a great time, eating yummy home food, long talks with people who really mean to me. Blissful holiday i must say!!

Coming back to my previous paintings, the below one is "Fall Wonder" in which I have tried to capture the colors of Fall through my favorite Maple leaves.

The best part of this painting is the paper on which it is done, handmade recycled white sheet. We get a lot of such fantastic paper in Bangalore, India and at a very good price.

 

Glass painting also had captured my attention for a while. Would love to resume it. Only thing is glass painting is not a good choice for people with small children. If your painting drops the whole house is covered in glass shreds!!

 

At this stage i really truly am missing my Nikon. What a click it would have been with it!!! Sigh!!!

Quilling also is a really fun thing to do. Best part of this is it gets over real quick. You can make amazing things with it like photo frames, pen stands, wall decor, scrap booking, cards and the list is endless..

My crochet hook has been busy with my granny-stripe blanket. Am on my 34th stripe now. I am waiting to reach the end as i have a good plan for the border ;)

Today me and my girl are visiting the local craft market. Will be back with loads of snaps and hopefully some good stash!!

Day out with my girl

 

Weather in Bangalore seems like a stranger to me. What used to be a rainy pleasant month has turned into a scorching ,blazing and energy sapping one. It becomes difficult to even think of venturing out before evening.The good part of the day is best spent in the comforts of our home, indoors where everyone is happy and the AC is buzzing away. Before in this city AC's were considered an unnecessary item just crowding up the wall. Now it is more of a must-have in all homes.

Commercially also the city has expanded beyond imagination. A new destination in town seems to be the ORION Mall situated in the heart of the city. Overlooking the famed ISKON temple this integrated township is truly international in its standard. The apartments, clubhouse, shopping mall, school, hospital and offices all in the same compound offers a truly excellent living facility. You can find more information about this here.

A peek into the ORION mall here. I was presently surprised to see ZARA and felt as if i was back in Hong Kong. Even the store layouts were similar.

One good thing about this mall is its vast spaces. Or maybe because i visited it during a week day and more than 70% of the stores still need to open shop here, i found it very spacious.

 A view from outside.

 A view of the artificial lake flanked by the apartments and World Trade Centre- the tallest building in the city.

 Trying to get Little Miss to pose. Was not possible without the onlookers.

 The cafeteria is really cool, its has an earthly feel to it.

She found the water inside the glass wall really amazing. Was asking me where the water is disappearing!!

Sitting outside after a good walk on the water-front.

Well it was a day well spent, maybe next time there would be more shops opened. It truly is a great place to live in though..If banker gets a job in this city i know where i want my letters sent to :)