Madhubani painting

 Madhubani is a district of North Bihar, a place where art and crafts have reached its stage of excellence. This part of the country is renowned for wall paintings,floor paintings, canvas painting and decorative crafts like wooden toys, Pottery toys and papier-mache products. Madhubani painting is an emblematic expression of day-to-day experiences and beliefs. As such, symbolism, simplicity and beauty hold them together in a single school of traditional art. The symbols that these Maithili painters use have their specific meanings as,for instance, fish symbolize fertility, procreation and good luck, peacocks are associated with romantic love and religion, and serpents are the divine protectors. Characterized by vibrant use of colour, underlying symbolism and traditional geometric patterns supporting the main theme, the Indian folk art form of Madhubani succeeded in creating a place for itself in the international house of fame and is

now recognized worldwide. Thematically, Madhubani paintings are mostly based on religion and mythology. (source google)

I have always been enchanted by this art and wanted to give it a try. I found lovely inspiration in google and pinterest and tips and tutorials shared by crazy lassi really helped.

Some of the pictures while making this:

Do let me know how you liked my humble attempt. Thanks for stopping by.

Sending this tohttp://www.creativejewishmom.com/2015/10/w-1.html

Pottery | Handmade diya for Diwali | Clay diya for Diwali

Handmade pottery diya - clay diya for diwali

Hi Friends

Sharing a lovely work by little miss and me. Yes it is our pottery attempt last year for Diwali. Do you rememebr our earlier pottery attempt? You can check it here. I confess it did not get easier at second attempt! This is no easy task :) Miss S and me made this clay pot.Loved it to the core.Then when it got fully dry,gave it two coats of acrylic red color and later I made the rural design with yellow paint.We used a wax candle inside this to get the lovely aura.Do let me know how you liked our handmade diya.Thanks for stopping by.

 

 Before painting.

Handmade pottery diya - clay diya for diwali

Sending this to 

http://www.creativejewishmom.com/2015/10/w-1.html

Ma Durga Rangoli

Isn't this gorgeous!  Could not stop myself from sharing this.  It is a rangoli for the ongoing navratri festival , made by  one of my neighbors. 

You are wonderful in every way!

Hi friends. .sharing with you a card I made for the hop to stop. It is a blog hop for the cause to stop domestic violence. 

So many people silently suffer from domestic violence day in and out.  Sometimes they do not have an option to escape. .other times they just need a little push..motivation to change things and be free. Through my card..just want to assure then that they do not deserve any of the violence that they are subject to. .They are wonderful in every way. .and only they can change the situation they are in...hope to Kindle their souls so that they have the courage to start a new leaf of life. 

I created this beautiful quilled humming bird for the family frame of mine. But then the bird was looking too big in it..hence decided to use it in some other project.  Little miss totally loves birds..and I have to make sure there is pink and purple color in the bird ;)

Sending this to

http://damselofdistressedcards.blogspot.ca/2015/10/the-hop-to-stop.html?m=1

http://beyondgrey.blogspot.co.uk/2015/10/bgc72-anything-goes.html?m=1

http://www.creativejewishmom.com/2015/10/wheels

http://indianquillingchallenge.blogspot.in/2015/10/iqcg21-make-it-festive.html?m=1

http://cutiepiechallenge.blogspot.in/2015/10/challenge-92-pretty-in-pink.html?m=1

http://eclecticellapu.blogspot.in/2015/10/october-challenge.html?m=0

http://inkspirationalchallenges.blogspot.co.uk/2015/10/challenge-93-word-prompt-glow.html?m=1

http://starstampz.blogspot.com.es/2015/10/add-sentiment-challenge.html?m=1

http://alwaysplayingwithpaper.blogspot.in/2015/10/the-challenge-45-sketch.html?m=1

The Art of Living experience

Recently attended the first course of the Art of living – Happiness program which is conducted under the divine blessings of Shri Shri Ravi Shankar Gurudevji. This is indeed a gem of a program which should be attended by each and everyone who wants to gain a better understanding of self or just be happy! You could have n number of reasons to attend it or no reason at all.. But I feel at the end it will be worth while.

It has brought such a peace and tranquillity in mind, which is very difficult to even imagine in this busy and stressful lives of ours.

I heard about the course long time back and thought will do it one day. After marriage my sister in law, who is a ardent follower of Shri Shri, recommended that me and my husband do this course. Finally got an opportunity when we heard that the beginner course is being conducted  very near to where we stay. Really didn’t want to miss this chance! And I am so glad we didn’t :)

The course stared on the day of my birthday and I thought this is the best birthday gift I could ever get. Waking up at 5 in the morning, feeling the fresh morning breeze, meeting  Jayaram Bhat Guruji, other participants and facilitators , there was something pious and positive about everything. During the course, we were guided on how to do the stretches for  all the body parts, pranayam (3 stage and basrika).We were guided on performing the sudarshan kriya, meditation. Have never felt anything like this before.  While doing the sudarshan kriya and meditation, there are moments when you just loose all sense of the world, you feel one with the source, it’s simply amazing!

There were also some games where we were taught how to live in the present. We observed that we were so happy when we live in the present instead of drooling in the past or worrying about the future. Just like children, they are happy because they live in the moment. Also creativity thrives only in the present moment. We cannot be creative thinking about past or future. Its the now that makes our mind think creatively.


The sessions started with asking some of the most basic questions in our life, like what is it that we want from life, what will give us happiness.

The questions are very basic but we hardly think about them. We all want to be happy, but we never sit down and think what will make us happy. How can we contribute towards happiness of others. We worry all the time, but we rarely sit down and write what is it that we are worried about. Discussing these in the course and hearing other perspective, adds so much to ourselves, our thinking, which remains unexplored most of the time. Adding to it the vast knowledge that Jayaram guruji shared with us, made for an unforgettable experience.

Some takeaways from the course that I would like to mention:

1.       We all have ego. Should it be there?
a.       It should be there, but in the right proportion. It should be like salt in food. Too less won’t make the food taste good and too much will make it inedible! How nice a comparison! And it makes perfect sense!

2.       We all greet each other with “Jai Gurudev”. Jai means victory. Guru is the enlightened one. Why do we need to pray victory for him. He does not need it.
a.       There are two mann in each one of us, bada mann and chota mann. Chota mann always seeks comfort and will try to do things which are easier or comfortable. Bada mann knows what is good for you. So even if that thing may cause temporary pain, bada mann will ask you to do it. Often we ignore the bada mann and listen to our chota mann. Bada mann is also called guru. Hence by saying jai gurudev, we wish each other that let the bada mann within you win. Love the explanation!

3.       You can attain happiness when you do selfless service and sadhana. You feel a sense of fulfilment when you do anything for someone without expecting anything in return.

4.       You are not alone anytime. Just as you trust your mom/dad with anything, you share your problem with them and feel lighter, similarly guruji and the art of living family is always there with you. You can leave your worries with him and be happy :)

I feel really fortunate to be associated now with such a wonderful community. Also feel proud that it is made in India :)

Not limiting the entire experience of 6 days in one post, will come back again with some more learnings from the program.

Have you also experienced art of living? Do share your thoughts, views.

Endless card - anniversary card

Hi friends

Sharing a card today..its called endless card. I found the technique very fascinating as it will keep curious souls wondering at least for some time :)

You just turn the flaps of the card and it will form interesting designs something like a kaleidoscope! and you can go on turning the flaps endlessly :)

I used some yummy pattern paper and some cute stickers and cut outs to make the card. Hubby dear could not believe that I made it, he thought it is store bought. Receiving such a nice compliment from him and since he was insisting so much, i did not give it to the people i made it for, and it is still with me ;)

Sending this to
http://simplypapercraftsforalloccassions.blogspot.co.uk/2015/09/challenge-14.html?m=1

http://aeiheartuchallenge.blogspot.in/2015/10/challenge-29think-pink.html?m=1

http://inkyimpressionschallenges.blogspot.ca/2015/09/iic-274-dots-stripes.html?m=1

http://inkychicks.blogspot.it/2015/09/challenge-57-think-pink.html?m=1

http://dreamvalleychallenges.blogspot.ca/2015/09/challenge-116-recipe.html?m=1

http://www.simonsaysstampblog.com/wednesdaychallenge/

http://avenue613.blogspot.in/2015/10/challenge-144-anything-goes-or-use-pink.html?m=16

http://beyondgrey.blogspot.co.uk/2015/10/bgc72-anything-goes.html?m=1

http://cutiepiechallenge.blogspot.in/2015/10/challenge-92-pretty-in-pink.html?m=1