It has been a while since I really posted anything over here.
What an irony the main reason of starting this blog was to showcase reuse/recycle and  I haven't posted anything on that topic so far.

The thing is that my life has been a whirlwind lately. I am moving to a new place in the same city. While the excitement of relocation is there, the thought of setting up a new place is giving me jitters.
I have a lot of ideas for my home decor and putting all of them in entirety would be a challenge. At present I am working on a lot of ideas so by the time we move to our new place, my hands should be full with a lot of upcycled goodies.

A couple of weeks ago, while roaming around aimlessly in the nearby market I found a street hawker selling melamine crockery. On a whim I picked by a bright yellow coloured tray for Rs. 30. I decided to use it as my papier-mache tray mould. After trying my luck with paper mache tray mould (Post on that later) I decided to give the melamine tray a makeover. I initially wanted to decorate the tray with some vintage paper and resin. I couldn't find resin anywhere here... ( Does anyone know where to find resin in Delhi?). Finally I decided to do something different

I was quite intrigued with the Sgraffito technique a couple of weeks ago and decided to use it for the tray makeover.

The Revamped Tray

Interested? Read On..

Total Time  : 30 Minutes
Materials Required

1. Melamine Tray/ Ceramic Tray / Any Old tray
2. Acrylic colours ( I have used my Daler Rowney set for this one)
3. Varnish Spray

I forgot to take the original photo..

1. First of all colour your Melamine tray with a thick coat of white acrylic.
The enamel paints work perfectly as well but takes a little longer to dry. The acrylic paints tend to crack up on plastic whereas the enamel paints don't crack up. Paint the cracked up area again.
I left the edge as Yellow as I wanted to give some contrast.
Tip: Use a flat brush and go for longer strokes initially and then smaller towards the end. It will give it a rich finish

2. Once dried, spray the Varnish on the plate. I sprayed it thrice it give it a rich and glossy look.

3. Paint abstract, geometric patterns with black acrylic paint. Please note that it doesn't have to be a perfect pattern :). Once dried please spray the varnish again.

4. I somehow was craving for a red tray so I painted the yellow edges to Crimson :) and sprayed the varnish again.


And TaDa it is ready!

Tips: 
** The tray can be used for serving since it is varnished already even if the water spills it will not get spoilt.
** Use it to spruce up a quiet corner

I can already picture this tray in the quiet corner lending colour to the décor..
Hope you liked it..
Ciao..

The second post took a while to come. Frankly I am still struggling with a lot of my craft projects.

The other day I was talking to my friend Gunj. She is quite talented. I like her random sketching. She also introduced me to the concept of Urban Sketchers .

Frankly I had this idea somewhere in my head. To dig out all the cool scenic photos that I have collected over a period of time and then a freehand drawing/sketch of those photos.
Somehow my illustrations didn't turn out to be so exciting. I quiet wondered over that. It was quiet disheartening.

I had exactly 2 conversations which made me realize why my illustrations weren't exciting.
All this while I was trying to copy the techniques. I didn't invest any time in developing my technique. So I asked people what they did with their illustrations and without thinking I tried to copy their formula and of course it didn't work for me.  So now I am trying and experimenting with different things to somehow turn those illustrations exciting. I want something which is works for me no matter how quirky it is.

So, my advise to you'll is to go, play and get dirty. This will not only help you in figuring out what is your style but also will give you an opportunity to develop a unique style. You will end up with a lot of dirty pages initially. Take it in your stride you will figure out things eventually.

On Illustrations: It is a great way to utilize your time while sitting alone in coffee shops.. You observe and you doodle.

This is not my first post and this is not my first blog either.
I have been writing about random things, sometimes fictional mostly true on this space for the past 6 years.

Then why this blog?
Time and again I talk about giving it back to the society. While there are 1000 ways to give it back to the society the idea of reusing and recycling is closest to my heart.

We live in an era of convenience. The spending power has increased in my part of the world and sometimes it is just convenient to dump things and buy new ones.
Why dump things when you can reuse, recycle, refashion, upcycle or whatever the jargon is these days?  It will lead to less wastage. I come from the times when wearing hand me downs from my cousins was cool. There was something special about it. It connected us in an unspoken way.

I am not against spending money but I am against dumping things too quickly. Also, I don't like to spend money where my first reaction is "Oh, I could have made that at home".

I was always an avid crafter but recently I have become an active one.
I came back to India last year and since then I am on that "great job hunt". I decided to use my free time to pursue my hobbies and I realized that I had so many ideas. I actually have started thinking in terms of reuse, recycle, refashion. I have created some really nice things. It gives me a great satisfaction.

Of course, Pinterest has been a great source of inspiration for me and so have been many other people. The main ones are MG ( Meanie Greenie) and Gunj.
Gunj and I share our common love for crafts and I keep taking her guidance in my projects.

So, It has been hell of a long post. Lets create beautiful things.. Your comments are welcome and looking forward to them.
You will find a mish mash of arts and crafts here. Feel free to get in touch with me..
Ciao..