House of Jaipur Finds and other Crafty Supplies

The gorgeous wrapping paper from House of Jaipur

Last week I visited the House of Jaipur. It was my first visit to this Tea House and I was blown away! The food was delicious but the deco was definitely a winner in my books. I had their lunch with a special someone and I felt as if I were transported to another world. Adjoining the little eating nooks were rooms filled with even more beautiful finds.

Of course you could purchase any of the items seen while you dined. Vivid hanging cloths, oriental pillows and throws, ornate boxes and jewels, notebooks and gift bags! I love browsing places like that. My only regret was that I forgot my camera at home as the visit was spontaneous.

Anyway the point of this was that I found the most gorgeous "gift- wrapping" paper there. I'm using quotations because that is what they referred to these sheets of paper BUT I think they must have some other "better" purpose. They are too beautiful to be ripped apart when opening gifts!

Tea Strainer

I did see however notebooks, envelopes and gift bags covered in the same, if not similar paper. I thought that was a nice use. Very classy.

From my last post you saw that I made some wrappers for Tea bags. House of Jaipur was one of the recommended places from my tea-drinking friends to pick up some delicious gourmet tea. They sell them loosely however. So I either would have to make my own Tea bags from Coffee filters (because I can't think of anywhere that would sell the cloth tea bags individually in T&T, which could have led to custom heart shaped tea bags) or I could have scratched the entire tea/envelope operation and simply purchased a Tea Strainer or a Tea Ball.

Tea Ball

For some reason, I forgot about those things, even when I do have about 3 "Tea Balls" in my house.

At home we use them around Eid to put cloves and cinnamon in when making our Sawine, to add flavour and keep the cloves out of out bowls when we're ready to eat. Nothing is worse than biting a clove accidentally!

So now I have been educated. lol Those metal things are really for tea! and I can now buy loose tea leaves because I know how to use them. lol

In other news, I had a shopping trip to West Mall and I found my next craft project for Valentine's Day. This big glass jar! I found at a home-goods store while I was looking for coloured cupcake liners.

I'm not going to say what I'm using it for, just in case my Valentine reads this, but those mini-envelopes look like they may have found a home :D I can't wait to fill it up!

My shopping trip also yielded some new patterned paper and tissue paper. Turns out I bought some of the same patterned paper last year for Valentine's Day and only used a tiny portion of it AND I almost bought some kite paper in a fancy design that I had in an unopened pack already! I forgot they existed because they were stored at the bottom of a bag.

My sorted paper pile!

In light of this, I have decided that it is about time that I sort through all my materials and clean up and repack my Arts and Crafts cupboard. I probably haven't touched some of the things in there since I put them in in High School and it is rather dusty! I certainly have the time now and once I start my clinical years, it is rather doubtful that I would be using my supplies with the same frequency as I am now.

Cheers to new projects and a cleaner workspace!

Hand Painted Wooden Earrings & Pillow Box Packaging

I painted some earrings for my friend Cherisse. Cherisse has a cool fun style and after her trip to Haiti, she came back with hand crafted wooden earrings by a local artist. I was not amused :P I told her that if she wanted a piece of wood painted, that she could have checked me. We joked about me desiging a jewellry line for her to wear. I would make it, and she would promote it.

About a year later, I happened upon some plain wooden knob earrings at a steal of a price and bought 3 pairs of earrings with the intent to customise them somehow.

I decided to do an Island themed design for Cherisse based on my Barbados painting. Of course they have different patterns on them because Cherisse is cool like that and loves mismatched earrings.

Barbados/Island inspired hand painted earrings by Shazanna Khan :)

Eventually I would like to do a pair inspired by Van Gogh's "Starry Night" and "The Scream" by Edvard Munch.

I did these around Oct/ Nov 2012 so I am a bit late in posting, but only because I recently finished making the packaging for the earrings. (Yes! I am going all out. lol) I used natural materials like Hemp, recycled paper and wooden beads on some brownish scrapbook paper to give it an island feel. I also love the combo of navy blue and brown/cream. I highlighted some parts of the packaging with some gold acrylic paint to give a slight sheen and add some more interest to the brown packaging. Here's a look below:

Buttons are my new favourite decorating accessory! :D All in all I really enjoyed making these packaging that I have been doing lately. I'm thinking to mail out some to some friends abroad (and in T&T) if I have time to make some. lol So in the mean time, message me your mailing addresses (at shazanna@gmail.com)  if you would like to own your very own SK Creation. I'm not making promises, but you never know ;) You may get something in your mailbox one day.

EDIT: I finally remembered the name for these boxes. They are called Pillow Boxes.

Valentine's Day Crafts: Mini-envelopes/ Tea bags

I've been shopping around for creative ideas for Valentine's Day for a little while now. I'm going on a little family vacation and returning home on Valentine's Day itself, so I thought it would be nice to leave little presents for my Valentine to open while I'm away. One interesting find that inspired me was from Design.Wash.Rinse.Repeat.com with Valentine's Day Tea Tags (with printables). I thought I would design my own tea tags and individual tea bag wrappers.

The wrappers/ mini-envelopes were really simple to make and here is how you can too :)

Gather up your equipment and materials: Ruler, Scissors, Pencil, White Glue, a few Sheets of construction paper.

Step 1: The template!

I first made a template out of pink construction paper. I drew a rectangle the size of the tea bag that I wanted and added some flaps to it that were long enough to reach each other to glue together. Just glue along the edges and leave one flap "unglued".

As you can see above I made a tester to check the sizing. (I was still free styling the design)

After you finalise your template design, use your template and outline its shape unto some scrapbook paper (or any other paper of your choice). Cut out your pattern. Scour where your folds would be, by running a scissors along those lines. Fold your mini envelope and glue the flaps into place.

You should have a completed mini-envelope! The next step is to decorate.

Cutting out the squares

I designed some tags on my computer  saying "Be Mine" and cut them out. My original thought was to include some cute sayings, ("you suit me to the tea" or "orange you glad to be mine" for orange flavored tea) BUT THEN! I found some free vector graphics at Vector Graphics Blog. The 3 x 3 squares with little hearts on them were adorable and were just the right size for my envelopes. Also I thought the black and white theme seemed more masculine and perfect for a guy for valentine's.

After you cut them out, the next step is to simply stick them onto your envelope as seen below. I chose to take mine a step further.

Sequins, buttons and embroidery thread. Extra embellishing!

Because of the squares had a sort of stitched look to them, I decided to use red thread and some sequins to add a little dimension to my hearts. I also dug up some old white buttons and white embroidering thread.

Lots of careful hand stitching later, I came up with the following:

Ta-da!

Turns out that my Valentine is more of a coffee person than tea and I think the final products look too nice for a mere tea bag. I think I'll be using them with cute notes instead. I have just the container for them!

The great thing about this envelope-template design is that you can adapt it to make bigger envelopes. So custom greeting card envelopes, or gift envelopes for jewellery and other small gifts, or even at this size- gift tags!

I hope you all were extra inspired by these! I tried to keep it simple on the design to help out some friends of mine, but feel free to leave a comment below if you have any questions or if you were extra inspired to make some of your own.

Happy crafting :)

What have I been up too?

Well my goals for finishing my other pieces have been thrown out of the window!

 My Mom is a Biology/Agri Science Teacher so I have been busy helping her with one of her projects. Thankfully, she happens to need drawings and diagrams which I have been happy to do as well.

Forgive the obnoxiously large copyright! But as the project is under wraps still, I don't want my images being used without my permission. Isn't there a way to remove the right click option from my images on the blog?

I did all the drawings by hand and added colour and ink with watercolours. Then I scanned, and touched them up a bit on my laptop. Now I'm wondering, if it would have been easier to have done them all on my laptop? Hmmmmm....... I like the outcome though when I draw them by hand :)

So this is one topic done.... but I've heard talks of me doing 5 more topics for her! :O 

Decorative Eggs

Ostrich @ the farm

Me feeding the birds :D

In 2008, my family and I went to the beautiful island of Curacao for a vacation. There, we took an amazing tour of an Ostrich farm. At the farm, they featured intricate wood carved statues and lovely Ostrich eggs that were used in very ingenious ways. 

My mom and I brought a plain egg home with the intention of one day painting it ourselves like the ones selling at the gift shop. We never did. We never really knew where to begin with the design I suppose.

Our Ostrich Egg in a tea cup

Then yesterday my neighbour came over and brought her gorgeous creations over.She got the idea from the Ukranian Easter Eggs, called Psyanka. After which she ordered her Ostrich Egg and dyes online and did the following.

My Neighbour's Ostrich Egg painted with egg dyes

Larger Ostrich Egg and 3 Goose Eggs

Goose Eggs

I was blown away by how beautiful they were. They were too amazing to not share! Maybe our Ostrich egg will be getting a facelift sometime soon

Mt Hope Sketches #2

Some of you may recall my previous Mt Hope sketches post, where I posted one of my sketches of Mt Hope and my progress as I turned it into a painting. I did do a few more other sketches and this year I started work on another one of those sketches.

Reference Image and preliminary sketch

Current WIP!

The challenges with these pieces for me was mixing the right colours. The paint colours of Mt Hope....leave much to be desired (lol) I am not even sure what you would call some of the shades that you can see in the reference image.

I am not totally pleased with my progress in the above piece. Hopefully as I continue to work on it, things will improve!

Thoughts?

You can look at the following post to see more photos of the EWMSC by clicking HERE

Quick Sketch: Heliconia

Yesterday, I sat in my hammock and decided to do a quick sketch of one of my Mom's Heliconia flower arrangements that I saw resting on a ledge nearby.

This small sketch was done in my art journal and I ended up adding colour with my watercolour paintbox.

It was good practise as I feel a bit rusty in my painting and so I've decided to do more of these quick sketches.

It was also quite fun working from a hammock!

New WIP progress- Lilies

I got some beautiful lilies for Christmas and could not help myself. Still a WIP. It was such a treasure to see all the buds gradually open every day and to go to bed at night with the scent of lilies :) They unfortunately perished this week but I took enough photos to finish it out. 

Here's a look at some photos of my prelim work.

I started working on this on Boxing Day and then again one day in the new year.

I am working on a few other pieces simultaneously so this seemed to have taken a back seat. I have also restarted my "one sketch a day project" for my art journal. I am trying to squeeze as much as I can into my holidays and oh its alot! But so much fun to try! I've decided to set goals though. This and the rest of paintings that I have been working on must be done by Sunday. Let's hope that my deadlines keep me in check!

Year in Review Timeline

Year in Review Timeline (2010), Digital Art.

Here's a little something I did a few years back to bring in the new year. A timeline capturing some of the important memories of 2010.

2012 was an interesting year. As is to be expected, it was filled with life's usual ups and downs, and some life changing events. Great ones and not so good ones. While I cannot say with certainty that if the opportunity ever arose to change something about the year that I would not take it because it is a tempting prospect,  I can safely say that I appreciate ALL the experiences I have had over the year as it has helped me forge a new path and added richness to my life. I am a firm believer of the saying, "Everything happens for a reason" and in retrospect, my so called "negative" life events, actually turned out for the best.

Some things I'm thankful for/learnt over the past year: Old friends and family. Reconnecting with old schoolmates. Meeting new people. Making new friendships. New opportunities and challenges with my hobbies and academics. The opportunity to plan Mt Hope's first art exhibtion featuring artwork from staff and students. A renewed effort to make time for my Art. Becoming a member of Art Society of T&T. Organising Staff- Student Cricket Matches. Satisfaction in my choice of my field of study. Winning a football tournament with my team at school. Thursday evening football "sweats". Unexpected happy moments and rewards from unlikely sources. Time spent with loved ones and that they're still alive. Being able to make the best out of a terrible situation. Forgiveness. My own limits and when to say no.

I am not a huge fan of New Year Resolutions but I do have some realistic goals that I would like to achieve this year along the lines of improving my academics, art and most importantly myself. If I had to sum up my aspirations for the year, it would be: Eat healthy, Live right, Be humble, Learn More, Be a better person.

A special thank you to my blog readers. Your support means a lot to me. When I started this blog in July 2012, I never expected that much people to really read it. This blog has become much more than an outlet and a way to keep track of my progress with my art. I really do hope that you continue to enjoy the content and continue reading :)

I sincerely wish you all a year filled with happiness and success! All the best for the new year!

Christmas Crafts- Cards

After my Christmas Gift Box Craft, I had some extra materials and some 5x7 precut greeting cards so I decided to make some Christmas cards for 2 special people in my life that I didn't give Sayada's Trini Greeting cards. They were quite easy to make and the process can be used throughout the year.

Here's a glance at what I made below.

Card (Right): Red Decorative Napkin, Gold Reindeer Gift Paper, Gold Ribbon, Red Foil Poinsettia Sticker
Card (Left): Red Decorative Napkin, Gold Christmas Gift Paper, Gold Glitter, Gold Decorative Studs

I wanted to spice up the envelopes as well so I used one of the red foil stickers that I used on the card to embellish the envelope

Seasons Greetings!

From my home to yours...Merry Christmas!

Christmas Crafts (Tutorial?)

This year I was looking for a new way to wrap some presents, and when my mom bought some gorgeous metallic gift paper, I knew I had to attempt a gift box. The paper was so beautiful. I couldn't resist using it in some craft project. 

The following is a basic overview of how to go about making your own.

So firstly is gathering the materials. I used pretty complementary gift paper, some cloth ribbon from last year's gift wrapping that matched the gift paper, a red decorative napkin, some Elmer's white glue and an old perfume gift box.

Materials: Gift paper, Burgundy Cloth Ribbon, Red Decorative Napkin

Once I sorted out all my materials, I used the cover as a guide and cut the gift paper with enough excess to also cover the sides as well as to fold into the other side of the box. This ensures that the edges of the box had a nice classy finish.

Ideally, you should cut a large piece of your main background paper (in my case, Gift Paper #1) and cover your box first with it and then cut your decorative piece (GP #3) and stick over it. (See next photo below) I personally did not do that because I didn't want to waste the gift paper that would have been hidden by GP #3. 

I was however very careful as to where I added the glue on the box to stick the paper. I only put on the edges of the box, where there would be an overlap of gift paper and in a few choice spots. This is my personal preference when using liquid glue to get a smooth finish on the surface of the box. I find that sometimes the same pattern that you apply the glue in, ends up showing up through the paper when you stick it. 

Next I stuck a piece of the burgundy cloth ribbon to add some texture and contrast to the gold gift papers. Later on, after completing the entire box, I decided to use some gold studs that I had been dying to use for some extra embellishments and to hide some of the glue stains that seeped through the ribbon.

Wrapping the cover and where to place the materials.

For the bottom half of the box, I opted to use the gift paper with the most gold tones in it to cover the bottom part of the box. It was the least fussy of all the gift papers and would not detract from the cover.

I was averaging the size of the gift paper with the box as guide and because I was not measuring it to the exact proportions of the box with my handy ruler (laziness on my part), I ended up with the paper in the inside lip of the box being at different lengths. I was not too worried because I already planned to line the box. 

I used a thick decorative napkin that I cut with 1 cm in excess on all sizes. I ended up folding the excess behind to make the napkin to size and this I thought was a much nicer surface than a cut edge to line the box. (Kind of like why you hem clothes) I also put the glue on the excess that was folded back so that if any glue seeped through, it was not visible.

Underneath of Box and lined inside.

When the entire box was properly covered, I checked to see if I wanted any extra embellishments to enhance it, e.g. glitter, sequins, stamps, etc. In my case, I simply used some gold studs on the burgundy ribbon. My roommate once picked off all the gold studs from a shirt she bought for a presentation to make it more professional. We didn't know what to do with them at the time, but 2 years later, they finally had a use!

After I filled the box with my gifts, I used the remaining Burgundy cloth ribbon to tie a beautiful bow.

Finished box (without the embellishments)

And that's how you make a very pretty gift box!

Merry Christmas everyone. Hope you all get extra creative this year :)

Going Local- Where to go?

I have been a bad blogger! No, I did not abandon the blog. I've simply been busy studying for my final exams. I originally thought ahead and I had tons of posts in drafts/ started to write new posts as certain art events I enjoyed came up, but I just could not find the time to finish them. Thankfully Monday was my last exam. I am ecstatic about that because I can finally finish some of those posts AND I can now enjoy the Christmas season as well as my holidays before I have to return to school.

Now, sometime ago I saw the following photo circulating on Facebook about buying local.

The message resonates with me because there are so many talented individuals who create and sell amazing products in T&T. Why should we purchase products from international companies when we have people producing the same equivalent? We should be supporting our own economy and by extension the environment. (Save the environment by reducing shipping? )

Personally I know that it is difficult to sometimes to buy local, when stores are rarely stocked with local things, you have no clue as to where you can purchase the things you want or you are not a fan of the quality.
Most artists/ artisans do not operate out of a physical store. The exorbitant rental fees to have a store at the mall are enough of a deterrent. The few that do end up finding places to sell their work, end up charging highly priced goods that the average person i.e. me- student on a budget cannot afford.

So where do you go? Over the last few years, I've heard about monthly markets and to be quite honest I never paid much attention to them because I never expected much. When I was younger, I went to plant shows and expos with my parents so I thought they were all the same run of the mill kind of thing- Plants, bottled jam, pepper sauce, fudge and red mango (that I could buy at the parlor nearby to my home) in unattractive packaging. 

It was not until last year when I saw a local artist whose artwork I enjoyed, advertised an event called Bits and Pieces that I began to feel more receptive to the idea. Then earlier this year I was able to  attend the Mango Festival at the UWI Field Station.

It of course featured Mangoes and Mango byproducts, but it also featured the crafts of local small businesses. I was able to sample delicacies, admire beautifully made products as well as be thoroughly entertained by the live renditions of folk songs.

 Here are some photos of my purchases that day.

Juices and Chutney's from Mangos.
I bought a bottle for Mango smoothies and baking

Mango Spa Products

Rodco Home Essentials- An amazing company that makes amazing body products from natural sources. The classiest
by far of all that I saw that day. 

Isis Designs- Gorgeous hand crafted jewellry that caters to you. If anything goes wrong you can always contact the designer to repair it!

Marisha Williams Designs for lovely natural cards made of quality materials and Event Essentials- I loved their recycle paper, which was perfect for my crafting needs and were unique as they had designs stamped into them.
Extra points to both for being eco-friendly. 

What I loved about the Mango Festival was that I was able to meet the owners themselves. For instance, the kind owner of Rodco Home Products. I was able to speak with her about her company and what she offered, including beautifully packaged body washes, creams, body butters and soaps all made at her home. I always wondered about the process and after speaking with her I was told that I could perhaps in the future organise a tour. Something I would not mind paying for.

Some "markets"/ events to consider if you're looking to go local in the future:
1. The Ultimate Epicurean and Boutique Market

2. Bits and Pieces-A yearly event for Christmas shopping

3. Upmarket-A monthly food market also including local artists, etc

4. The Monthly Arts Market- Lookout for their Three Day Shopping Extravaganza starting from Friday 21st to Sunday 23rd Dec.

5. dr!nk's December Art Sale at Dr!nk's Wine Bar- The premise for the artists is that if you have art to sell, you simply bring it in and sell your work. Also it's at a Wine Bar so you can expect good drinks and music as you peruse the art that you want to buy in a casual setting.

The lovely thing about all of these markets is that you find gems of items amongst the plethora of art, craft, jewellery and gourmet food items, AND you also learn about different services offered that you may need to use for your next gift-giving event. The admission is usually free to these markets and that's great as it helps make the events more accessible to the public. It's a plus for the small business owner as for a small fee they can set up their own booth and market their wares to the public while making a profit. It's a win-win situation for all those involved.

Anyway I urge everyone, if you have the option to buy a local product please do! Our local communities need our support to continue the amazing work that they are doing. As this is a topic dear to me, perhaps in my next post I'll write more about local gift options for Christmas.

Remember....Go Local!

Travel Sketches #1: Barbados Seascape

In 2007, my family and I visited the beautiful island of Barbados. As is my custom on these trips to the small islands, I packed my small Reeves Sketch Book, Watersoluble pencils, Paints and Brushes. Vacations are meant for relaxing, and nothing relaxes me more than time spent with art. Also sometimes a good book on the beach is not enough. On this particular trip, I carried a canvas board, having only discovered them a few months before and was dying to try it out.

What stood out to me the most on my trip were the beautiful blue beaches of Barbados. I swear, if I had to choose another island to live on Barbados would be the clear winner. I remember falling in love with Port St Charles, and fantasying of living in one of the homes where I could open my back door and step onto my boat or take a dive into the ocean.

The following is the painting that I started while in Barbados that I ended up finishing in T&T from the postcard I bought. I unfortunately do not remember which beach this was! I think at the time settled on doing this seascape, because it was a breathtaking view and the process was unfamiliar to me. I always wanted to capture the different shades the ocean turns when light reflects off of it but I thought it to be completely outside of my comfort zone so this piece was a personal challenge for the holidays.

Barbados Seascape (2007), Acrylic on Canvas Board. © 2012 Shazanna Khan

Doodle in the Sand: Quinam Beach

I visited Quinam Beach on the South Coast of Trinidad in August. It was such a beautiful day and the sky was gorgeous. The sand had such an interesting quality to it- lots of clay if you removed the top layer of it. I had fun playing with it. :) The following is one of my creations.

My drawing in the sand of a view from the South Coast of T&T

One of my uncles was a big fan of this beach. I didn't understand the allure until I went myself. The last time I visited I was a child and I barely remembered it at all. It exceeded my expectations. After a lovely cool drive through a forest reserve with trees towering on either size to get to the beach, the calm waves gently crashing on the shore beckoned to me. I knew I had to take a dip. Trinidad is such a beautiful place!

Because of the time of day and slightly cloudy skies, the weather was perfect and the shores were not crowded with only a few other families having a similar idea to us as well. The beach facilities were redone in recent years and the beach and environs were well maintained. Also the drive as I mentioned before was relaxing on smooth well paved roads.  No potholes!! I don't think many people know this and usually have a negative image of Quinam. Though on that day, I can't say I minded. It was like having your own personal stretch of paradise, which may have been spoilt with a high influx of people.

It was nice to simply lounge in the water and relax with waves gently lapping around you as you stared out into the horizon, catching a glimpse of South America if you looked hard enough, or if you looked inland at the tall towering cliffs overgrown with vegetation, from your seat at the lovely rock pools only visible at low tide. Some parts were so untouched from man-made influence, that I pictured how it must have looked when Christopher Columbus first saw the 3 Sisters/ Trinity Hills. Did this area look the same as it had back then?

Some photos of my brother and uncle catching up on life together.