Terra Cotta Candle Holder

This is one kind of Terra Cotta plate candle holder which I painted (did 4 of them) for my son's school teachers. Painted inside of the pot Dark green and the rim Red (inside and outside of the plate). The outside was painted sandstone color and made green and red stripes and added a flower design.

On the inside I drew a Christmas tree with golden Terra Cotta marker, and wrote Merry Christmas and Happy New year. To add to the Christmas theme, I added glitter on the outside rim of the pot. To finish it I glazed the plate with glitter glaze to give the finishing touch (shine).

Another kind was Terra Cotta Pot candle holder (2 of them) for my daughter's day care teachers. Made a similar concept as my "First Terra Cotta pot painting", but added the glitter on the outside rim of the pot. Painted the inside of the pot RED. Finished the piece with glitter glaze.

For more information on Terra Cotta painting refer to my blog "First Terra Cotta pot painting" .

Embroidary Card - Holly Wreath

Initiated this project to make a card for my son's school teachers. Since I was busy with my baby last year, I could not do something of this kind ( Embroidery on paper) which needed effort and patience.





This card design downloaded from online, pre-pricked the embroidery design with a special piercing tool and pricking pad. Completed the embroidery (Green for the leaves, yellow for the bow each of them with - 2 strands of embroidery thread) and finished off with red dots for border, and wrote Happy 2009 in the center.


Covered the inside of the card (which shows the thread) with another white sheet so it looks clean and nice. Wrote a personal message on the inside of the card.

This gives me a sense of satisfaction and happiness when I can make something personally for each of them to appreciate their work.

For more information on my embroidery project on paper refer to my blog "Embroidery bookmark".

This was one of the craft I did for them.. Refer to the other gift I did for them in my blog "Terra Cotta Candle holder".

Personal Ceramic purse gift

This was personally done for our Friend's daughter who was performing Bharatnatyam (Indian Dance) concert/achievement. This is very tiny gift (amount of effort) compared to the effort the girl put in for her achievement. I wanted to gift her something which she can use.

Again as you know me, I tried out a new technique. This technique was done on a ceramic plate by a staff member in that store. So they taught me how to go about doing this one.

So paint the base white (only once) and the handle, rim and inside of the purse pink (3 times to get a darker color). Then using the other side of the paint brush keep dots (one bigger dot) using one color. Then on top of that bigger dot, keep a little smaller dots (using different size brush) with a different color. Then again a third smaller dot on top of the second dot using a another different color. Fill up the whole purse with this kind of dots. Finished the piece by writing her name.

For more info on my ceramic painting experience refer to this link on "Introduction to ceramic painting" post.

canvas painting - wall Art

To add color to our living room I painted different colors on a canvas (which is already framed). Blocking the white areas with a tape, paint different colors on the bigger shapes as shown and once dried remove the tape. Then bodered the shapes with golden lines with a golden pen and drew spiral designs on each of them. Then on the white areas, made dots with different colors and with black paint made lines to get a design.

This project was actually a trial and error thing, but now this is hanging in our living room , liked and getting appreciated by all our friends who come by want to know,how I went about doing this one.

First Terra Cotta POT Painting

Terra cots Pots :- have come a long way into the crafting world with delightful results. They can be used for candle holders, bells, ornaments, and even angels. You can use any type of stencils or rubber stamps, rub-ons , scrapbook papers, florals, charms, buttons and everything. The book I reffered for my projects are from Micheals store "102 Terra Cotta Projects" by Lenae Gerig.



About my project

This was the second gift given to the teachers during Dec 07 Christmas time. To view the other gift done for the teachers Refer to blog "Dec 07 ceramic gifts for teachers". Designed it as a candle holder and of Christmas theme. Painted the pot green and the rim red. Then did a snowflake design with white pen (terra cotta marker pens) and wrote merry Christmas on them. Painted the inside of the pot black. Sealed with a glaze selear which gives a shiny effect for the pot. In some pot as you can see I have used also the golden pen for the design. Wrote my son's name and the class name under the pot.

The basic tips for working with Terra Cotta pots are

• Sealing :Terra cotta is very porous and requires sealing before painting. Seal with the liquid sealer before painting. This will save time, the amount of paint used to cover the pot and help prevent breaking and chipping.
• Painting your Design : Paint your project with the desired colors and design.
• Seal at the end: After painting your pot, seal again, this will not smear any pen work and give a nice finish. I used a glaze sealer, which gave a shinning effect to it.

Dec 07 Christmas Gifts for teachers

CERAMIC MUG

Have been doing lot of ceramic projects, but did not find the time to upload them in my blog. I guess with 2 kids just life circles around them and we hardly get time to update.

Coming to the picture on the left was given to my son's school teachers (preschool class ) (did 2 of them same type). This was tough one as you had to mark each row and paint different colors (3 times to get that intensity). Then the black design was done with a stamp with the black paint done only once. Under the mug wrote the teachers names in black paint and the class name.

The picture (purple and yellow) on to your right was given to his music teacher. This also you had to mark the columns and paint them alternatively purple and yellow 3 times. Once they are dried, made the white design (love sign) and wrote "live, Love and laugh" on each column.


For more info on my ceramic painting experience refer to this link on "Introduction to ceramic painting" post.
To view the other gift done for the teachers Refer to the blog "first Terra Cotta pot painting"

Star Ceramic Gift Box

This is again another ceramic project of mine, made it as a gift for my sister in law. The inside and outer cover is dark green and the base of the box is white. With contrast of green and white flower design.

This star gift box can also be used as a gift during valentines day, or birthdays. Indeed it was a nice gift for my sister in law.

For more info on my ceramic painting experience refer to this link on "Introduction to ceramic painting" post.

WindMill for my Son's bday party gift

Did this windmill as one of the items of goody bag for my son's 3rd bday party in his Montesoori school. All the kids and the teachers loved this idea.

Purchased the windmill craft kit from a craft store online, manually had to fold them and make the windmill (with the instructions given ) and color and paint them according to our taste. Since he was learning ABCs and 123, decided to print A B C... Z on one side and color the front side with crayons, and glitter paint.


Manually doing 42 (only 30 needed for school but did some extra ones for him to play and to give the neighboring kids) was a challenge as I was really getting tired with my second pregnancy and was in due in 2 months. So getting sleep itself was a challenge but worth all the effort I put into this. My son loved them.

Embroidary BookMark

Initiated this project with the interest of expanding my Embroidery skills from cloth to paper to make something useful for my son’s teachers 2006 christmas gifts.

Well the effort and time is very minimal compared to their dedication, patience, efforts put to make my son’s day happy and memorable at school.

Purchased the supplies and design online , pre-pricked the embroidery design with a special piercing tool and pricking pad. Completed the embroidery and came up with my own ideas to finish it off with red ribbon for border, and glued some blue heart beads for the flower for the Front and beautified the back of the bookmark personalizing each teachers name and 2 teacher quotes as a part of inspiration for them .

This gives me a sense of satisfaction and happiness when I can make something personally for each of to appreciate their work.

All my efforts were worth it and rewarded when all the teachers loved it and were very surprised that I actually tried this out for the first time specially for them.

Paper Clay Magnets - new project

This is entirely a new project for experimentation with paper clay. This project I've made is to create custom magnets. Refered a book from library for the procedure ( Micheals book- arts and crafts with paper).

Purchased the paper clay from a craft store, mold the clay following the directions given in the pacakge. Using a clay cutter, cut out different shapes (I had a star clay cutter and a round clay cutter. I decided to use these 2 designs.).

Then you smooth the individual pieces, remove any rough edges with just by wetting your hand with water. Take care not to wet the pieces too much. Then allow it to dry overnight or may be 2 days. Then paint the pieces individually. Finish off by glazing it for the shine (the photo with glazed effect is not attached for clarity purposes).

Then you buy magnets which you get in any craft store, and you can stick at the back of these pieces and use them as custom made magenets.

They suggested this as a gift for any kids, with their name, which they can use to hang things on the regrigirator.

A Ceramic plate ( memory gift )

With a whole lot of confidence with Ceramic painting and this being my 5th piece I wanted to make something really special and personal for my brother-in-law and wife for their 1st wedding Anniversary gift in August of 2006.

Fetched this design online which depicts an Indian Wedding where the ceremony is essentially a Vedic Yagna (fire-sacrifice). By law and by tradition, no Hindu marriage is deemed complete unless in the presence of Sacred Fire, seven encirclements have been made around it by bride and the groom together.

They loved this piece too and it makes my effort and inspiration well worth it.

Ceramic Mug Painting

Hurray to this piece as it got me back into exploring my creative talents after 3 years of break for various reason – work , home kid, huzzy buzzy life style .

Well when I am getting back I still wanted to try out something new in Ceramic Painting - Etching and Sponging.

Etching : if you notice the red and green area in the mugs, you can see a design which has been etched. Initially paint the color yellow (2 times) as the base coat, and painted red or green respectively (2 times) on top of the yellow area. After the paint has dried, draw the desired design and etch the design (by scraping out the paint very finely so that yellow paint below the red/green area is visible). Be careful only to remove the red/green paint and not the yellow paint from the design.


Sponging : Alternating to the red and green , a new technique was tried out scalled sponging - Using a sponge you wet the sponge with yellow paint and keep pressing little by little on the mug. On top of the yellow paint (on the sponging area), you wet the sponge with brown color and did the sponging again. Sponging should be done only once.


For more info on my ceramic painting refer to this link on "Introduction to ceramic painting" post.

Ceramic plate Painting

In Year 2002, I did a ceramic plate for my mom as a gift. I took a picture of it this year when I was at her place.

I bought a book from Micheals craft shop which had this design for a ceramic plate. So traced this design on this plate and I had to go 2 sittings or more to complete this piece. I think this is my family's favourite one.

For more info on my ceramic painting refer to this link on "Introduction to ceramic painting" post.

Goody bag for my son's bday party

Utilised my creative talent to make his day special for him. I personally created a goody bag in addition to other gifts and activities I had organised for his 2nd birthday party (held on 04/29/06).

About the BAG : A 3 dimensional bag made of foam (punched and tied with ribbon). Enhanced it with eyes and mouth and attached a ribbon as a handle to the bag. The bag, the goody stuff inside were not only admired and loved by all, but appreciated for every inch of effort.

About party Actvities: Initially each kid was asked to sit on the table and do some coloring. Gave the kids a blank bookmark and asked them to draw what they like and write "happy mother's day" and their names on it. Each kid at the end of the party handed the bookmark to their mom which indeed turned out to be a big surprise for the moms.

Introduction to Ceramic Painting

Brief Introduction
hmm where should I begin ..... I was working in a software company near Race street San Jose, CA. Close to my office was a place called Petroglyph (A ceramic painting shop) . This is how this shop works. You choose a piece and pay for the piece and the studio fee (where you can sit for hours and paint using their paint, brushes, designs). Then after we finish painting, we give them our piece and they finish our piece with baking and glazing and give it back to us. I was just attracted to this place and knew I need would give it a try,

First Tile Painting
I did this tile painting, simple border and flower because I was on the learning process. I traced this design and painted. The only mistake I did with this one is adding water and painting. But well, only by mistakes you will learn right ??

When you actually paint, the colors appear very differently to what the actual color will be. So choosing the colors initially was bit hard for me. After I complete my painting, I give them my piece for finishing and glazing. Then you can pick it up the day its ready for pickup.



Second Tile Painting
My twin sister was in town the year 2001 December. So I took her to this place and we spent the whole day doing this design.

This is indeed a nice memory for us. Till today we talk about this piece.

My First Cross Stitch Work

During our younger days, because of the complexity and time consuming process never tried cross stitch work. In my mind I assumed it was hardest of all projects. But when I was at home after marriage (had lot of time) wanted to try out new things, decided to give this one a try.

Got this book from a library where this design was done on a cloth and attached to a wooden tray and the top of the tray was finished with a glass. But since I did not have the materials to accomplish, I just tried out this design on a cross stitch cloth. When I was in India for a vacation in 2001, I got it laminated and decided not to do framing so that its different.

So this is my first cross stitch project, and completed it successfully. I think given the time I will try more of cross stitch if I come across anything appealing to me.

Needle work Embroidary

As I mentioned in my description, always tried needle work hand embroidary when I was young in school and also during our holidays. Over the years because of college studies, and work never got time to try out these crafts in many years. But guess what, time comes for everything they say..

In June 1999 got married and came to the US. Intially I was staying at home and so I had lot of spare time in my hand and wanted to do something creative. I had some embroidary threads from India , went to the santa clara library and picked some books which had good designs. This is one of them.

I had to learn only one stitch which is the trellis stitch -inside of the flower. But other than this stitch, I knew practically all the stitches and it was a matter of practice and it was done.

I also tried the framing on my own. I went to Aaron brothers and got the green frame, and a thick white board which they use for framing. So I put my yellow cloth on the white board, stretched the cloth so that there are no creases visible and taped it at the back. Then put the whole thing inside the frame sealed it. This piece is hung in our living room area. I should not forget to add, my husband did help me with the framing part. We both did this part of the project together even though its not a great deal.

Till today, everbody coming home looks at this and appreciates it.