Crafturday

I know the picture quality could have been much better.The mural has a hefty frame work and is double nailed to the wall. Clueless about how to click a picture nailed high to the wall and with a mirror background which reflects. Now that all the excuses are said,( which can be expected for almost 50 pictures, since its all dated at least 5 years back.)Starting with being thankful to the guru who taught me,let me mention few things about this mural. Materials Used: Glass 4mm thickness-24*24" A zoomed picture of  any God/Goddesses Colour pencil-Yelow Acrylic colours Craft Clay Kundan stones- Tear drop,Round -25 each Fevicol Method: Draw the outline of the selected picture using a colour pencil.Plan on the places where clay shapes can be used. Preferably use the clay for the jewelry and colour it. Stick decorative stones over the clay shapes after the paint dries. Await till the work gets dried. Clean the glass perfectly and paint the face.Acrylic colour dries fa

Ceramic bowl painting techniques sounds easy with simple tricks.All we need is a ceramic paint kit and a few items that can be pulled instantly at our home. Materials: Single color ceramic bowls Ceramic paint kit-No bake required Round tip brush-2 The rest of the things could be gathered at home and will be mentioned i the methods. Method: Technique 1: Pour some paint of 3 colors in a palette. Draw the desired outline with a colour pencil. Use a Q-Tip and start dipping and painting along the outlines. Technique 2: Draw an outline on a strip of paper for a uniform repetition and cut it into a strip. Tape the strip and draw the outline. Fill and outline the design. Technique 3: Load enough paint and squeeze the paint on the rim of the bowl and allow it to drip. Repeat with as many number of shades as required. Multi colour effect can be attained when the next colour drips and mixes naturally over the previous colour while it is wet. Technique 4: Mask the bow

For those who aren't very familiar with the freehand and other techniques in ceramic painting this  mosaic inspired fish design comes in with out a challenge.All we need majorly is a tile of your choice that is available.Choose any light color to make it more attractive and it leaves us with more imagination in the choice of colors. This art work could be framed, plastered onto a rough wall like a collage work and most importantly leaves us with a choice of fixing it anywhere without a necessity of safeguarding it much like a glass although this too is a object that could brittle. Materials: Ceramic Paint kit Brushes- Flat brush can be avoided at a beginner level. Palette Method: Draw the outlines using a pencil.Using a normal pencil is of great advantage as erasing is much easier without leaving any marks behind. Now the only task left behind is making small squares out of the brush. Playing with light and dark of a single colour gives a good depth to an

Materials: Ceramic paint-Black Brush-0 size Pencil Note: Choose a plain color mug other than white if you decide on doing free-strokes with a single color. Decide on the design first by selecting a sketch or by drawing it on a paper before actually doing it on the mug directly.

If we decide on having small samples for the summer classes for the kids these are the perfect projects for them. Preparation: Samples had been made from kulfi(ice cream) pots. Soak pots in water and scrape well using emery sheet.Leave it to dry. Coat the surface with white all surface acrylic paint. Method: On top of the white coat paint your desired colours and leave it to dry.Match the instructions and pictures from top left to the sequence as follows. Type 1: Paint a color in abstract shapes and while its wet, drop few paint strokes and use a tooth pick to give a camouflage effect. Use 3d glitter to finish the outline. Type 2: Draw outlines of flowers with colour pencil and just fill i with bright shades. Type 3: Apply crackle medium and a coat of paint over it. Leave it to dry and the medium will do its wonders.Outline with 3d liner. Type 4: Use any craft clay available, sprinkle enough talcum powder and roll the dough on a polythene sheet or any non greasy s

This is one of the most frequently made piece for the beginner level mural art.A bold move with the children level too. I would suggest any 3 or 4 techniques of shapes to be incorporate. The center piece could be a readily available object or a mirror. This was shared by an interior design graduate to a dear friend. Shapes used: Leaf, Flower, Cord Background texturing Chips-To fill the area of your desire Acrylic colors for beginners and Oil for the experts. Varnish Board- Decide the size according to the center piece. Fevicol Ceramic powder Colours-Burnt Sienna,Metallic shades of red and green and gold

Ingredients: Butter-115 gm Sugar-200 gm Egg Yolks-2 Fresh Orange juice-1tbsp Grated Rind of 1 large Orange Plain flour-200gm Cornflour-1 tbsp Salt- ⅟2  tsp BP-1tsp Method: With an electric mixer, cream the butter and sugar until light and fluffy.Add the yolks, orange juice and rind,and continue beating to blend. Set aside. In another bowl, sift together the flour, cornflour, salt and baking powder.Add to the butter mixture and stir until it forms a dough. Wrap the dough in grease proof paper and refrigerate for 2 hours. Preheat the oven to 190  C. Grease 2 baking sheets. Roll spoonfuls of the dough into the balls and place 1"-2" (2.5-5 cm) apart on the prepared sheets. Press down with a fork to  flatten. Bake  util golden brown ,8- 10 mins. With  a metal palette knife transfer to a rack to cool. Note: Recipe source written by Carole Clements. Makes 30 if the dough is in the size of a big Amla.

Although I started with daisies, Alstroemeria  is the first flower in which an image was used as a reference to understand the flower's composition.  Reference:  Google image

Ingredients: Mango-Scrapped 11/2 cups Green chilli-4 sliced Small onion-1/4 cup Sesame seeds-1tsp Urad Dhal-2tsp Bengal Gram-1tbsp Curry Leaves-hand full Cooked rice -2 cups Sesame Oil Salt to taste Method: Fry sesame seeds,urad dhal,begal gram in oil and wait till the seeds pop. Now saute onions, green chilli, curry leaves . Add mango,saute in medium flame and add salt. Finally add the cooked rice and mix well.

7-1 Kolam:4 7-1 Kolam: 3 7-4(Vertical) Kolam:2 7-3 Dots Kolam:1

Small Neli Kolam: 2 Small Neli Kolam: 1

This design is adapted from a book on Punjabi Designs. Through out the design, herring bone is the only stitch implemented. Materials Used: Anchor hand Embroidery Skeins 0888-Green 089-Rose 0882-Peach Reference for the embroidery stitch: Herring Bone Design Source: Embroidery Designs By Nirmala Mistry

A repainted old ceramic photo frame. Materials Used: Black Enamel Paint Acrylic Paint Metallic Acrylic Paint Crackle Medium Brush A photo suitable to the size of the frame

Ingredients: Tomato-3 Ginger garlic paste-1tbsp Curry Leaves Corriander leaves Cumin seeds Red chili-2 Method 1: In a thick batter instead of diluting it with water, grind the above ingredients in mixer grinder and add to batter. Method 2: Before grinding the soaked rise for Dosa batter, do the following. Keep the tomatoes aside and grind the rest. After 5 mins add in the chopped tomatoes too. When the tomatoes are juicy now go ahead with the soaked rice for making the dosa batter.

A thai clay flower effort with the variety "Bird of paradise".

Stick a textured sheet over the bottle till the shape tappers. Wind the remaining portion with a woolen thread of your choice. Make sure its randomly glued at some places to make it intact. Decorate with fancy buttons.

Ingredients: Raw Rice-3cup Idly Rice-1 cup Steamed Rice-1 cup Urad Dhal-3/4th cup Coconut-1 cup Batter: Soak Raw rice, Idly rice, Urad Dhal alltogether for minimum 4 hours. Grind coconut separately in mixer jar. Add steamed rice in the grinder and keep it on for few seconds. Strain the soaked items and add it in 3 portions. Once the batter is almost ready finally add salt as required,coconut paste and grind. Leave it over night for best results and to avoid using any products for fermentation. In the morning stir the batter properly and add enough water to have a gravy consistency. The consistency helps a lot in getting a thin appam. Once the appam pan is hot pour a scoop of batter in the center, hold the pan on both sides and tilt as required to make the batter move in circles. Close the lid and cook. Note : Do not spread the batter with the scoop in the pan. To make egg appam beat the egg with salt aside, leave the appam to be half

Araitha Sundal Kulambu Ingredients : Onions -4 Sundal-2 cups Tomato-2 Ginger-1/2 inch Garlic- 8 cloves Green chilli-3 Corriander Curry leaves Mustard Seeds Salt Oil Chicken Masala-3tbsp Water- 750ml Prep: Thinly slice the onions. Soak and boil the Sundal. Chop the tomatoes. Crush the ginger and garlic Grind 1/2 cup of boiled sundal into a thick paste.Add water if necessary. Method: Add oil to the pan. Add and wait till the mustard seeds pop. Now wait till the onions,chilli and curry leaves are cooked. Once the crushed ginger and garlic's raw smell vanishes put tomato and sprinkle some salt and close the lid. After the oil comes apart and tomatoes are well cooked add chicken masala, mix well. Pour water along with salt and sundal. Once it comes to the boiling state add the sundal paste. Again leave it to boiling state and add corriander leaves. Note: Serves well with Appam.

At my home we identify this dish as thakkali kathrikai kadainthathu. For those who twists their head for brinjal, this is the only dish back at home where they dint realize it has brinjal added to it. Although this dish is pressure cooked by many, I prefer the authentic way of doing it in a pot or a vessel and smash/blend with the wooden blending stick or an electric blender. Serves :3 Ingredients : Sesame oil Cumin seeds Dried Red chilli -3 Small onions- a handful Turmeric powder Salt to taste Water Tomato-5(cut into pieces) Brinjal-3(finely chopped) Coriander leaves Prep : Cut tomatoes into small pieces.Finely chop brinjals and add it to water to avoid discoloration. Method : Heat the pot and pour sesame oil. Saute cumin seeds ,onions and redchillies. Now add tomatoes, brinjals, turmeric powder and salt to taste. Pour a glass of water. Close the pot with a lid and allow it to boil. Once its cooked drain the liquid in a separate bowl. Ble

Finish the white colored designs first.This will favor an idea to balance the counts

4-2 dots downwards Align the center and place a set (4-2 dots) and finish placing the dots at the either sides accordingly.

Materials required for the baby's blanket: Anchor hand embroidery threads Black -2 skeins White-1 skein 0225-lightgreen-3skeins 0255-dull green-1 skein 0923-bright green-1 skein 4985-sap green-1 skein 0882-pink-1skein Crewel needle no 6 Cutter Embroidery Ring 5inch diameter Yellow Matty cloth 1/2 meter Yellow cotton material 1/2 meter-pre washed Green piping material-1/4 meter Design Source: Anchor Needle and Thread Magazine Memoirs-A collector's delight issue Page81 &109 Points to note: The black color thread work was finished first and that favored in building up the design. Matty cloth was hand washed after the completion of the embroidery. The preshrunk materials were bounded by piping together.

This design was a quickie in a day or two amidst my regular chores. An elegant cotton batik saree should definitely be acknowledged with a simple hand embroidered cotton blouse. Now this goes into my mom's wardrobe not mine! Materials used: Yellow carbon paper Design sheet Embroidery Hoop 5inches dia Scissor Anchor hand embroidery skein 0127 -1skein Crewel needle no 6 Method applied: 3strands Chain Stitch Laisy Daisy Open Chain stitch. Refer for stitches: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chain_stitch https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gl6Bj7IePx8 http://www.embroidery.rocksea.org/stitch/chain-stitch/open-chain-stitch/