SHOW me the MONEY!!!!

I made my 1st money envelop for Rakshabandhan, which is on 2nd Aug (a Hindu festival for siblings, where sister ties a decorated thread called Rakhi on her brother's wrist, as a symbol of responsibility that she bestows on him to protect her and in return, he showers her with money/gifts/sweets,etc for this homour).

I made this for myself, to it give to my Mom, who will load it with cash and hand it to my younger brother to give it to me. (YES! :-D)

a still of Rakshabandhan

I started by cutting out the shape of the envelop on an orange chart paper. On the front of the envelop, I printed a peacock stencil and then hand cut it. 

On the inside of envelop, I pasted green and golden Chinese silk paper. Before pasting it inside, I spread golden glitter on the backside of the Chinese paper(the side peeping from the peacock).

I choose very Indian festive colors and as peacock is India's national bird and is associated with feminine beauty, it made sense to choose it, instead of any other stencil for the occasion.

And the envelop is ready to be loaded with LOT of CASH!!!

 -May ART be with you©

PSP Gift Bag for SidB

For my 1st month-a-versary with my husband (then boyfriend) in Dec 2010, I didn't want to give him anything personal (watch, shirt, perfume,etc), as we were dating only for a month, so I decided to buy him PSP video games. 

But, as I love wrapping my gift in a special way, I couldn't just hand over the games in regular wrapping, so I created this gift bag for him.

I gave him 3 games - God of War (Ghost of Sparta), Dante's Inferno and Syphon Filter Logan's Shadow (I have no idea what they are about, but his best friend helped me pick them up). 

So I chose the pictures from the video game and made the below image to make the bag with.

I, then colour printed the image and folded it into a bag.  

For the handle, I chose blue, black and white satin ribbon and braided them into a string, punched holes in the bag and tied the string on the inside.

His reaction: He was clearly more intrigued by the games, than the gift bag!!! (Men will never change)

But I am still glad I made it, and I am posting this on his B'day today, to let him know that I appreciate the support he gives for my craft (even though he didn't pay attention to the bag then).

Blissful Birthday SidB.

Till next time crafters, May ART be with you.©  

THANK YOU!

Started on 1st January 2012, my blog ARTiMAGINE is 6 months old today and I couldn't be happier with the progress I have made.


What started, as just an expression of my creativity, a place where I could store my art photos and seldom scribble, is today become an integral part of my life.
Through this blog, I have experienced some brilliant art and creativity. I have been inspired by most artist and encouraged by some.


Today's post is a dedication to some very inspiring artist and bloggers who have made a difference in my life.
In 6 months, I have received love for 33 posts through comments, page views and most importantly my followers.


My 1st comment was from Cliona Larkin from Ireland, for my post Oh so tiny (3D quilled flower pot).

Not only, is she the 1st one to comment, but also the 1st one to follow my blog.

Her blog Night Owl Designs has 99 amazing and unique projects with 22 elaborate tutorials. She has 143 crafters following her. 

Darling Ms.Cliona, thank you very much for your support and encouragement, your tutorials are easy to follow and, make craft with.

The next encouragement came from Helen, her blog Let's create has 525 posts(OMG!!!) with 593 followes and she has been going strong since 2009.

Ms.Helen, thank you for your comment on 'Oh so tiny' got a LEG (3D quilled flower pot stand), it was extremely encouraging for me, you are an inspiration to me and I look forward to your learning from your projects.

My 2nd follower is Sudha Karla from Delhi, India. Her blog Crazy Crafter has some very interesting card ideas, you can buy her cards from the blog itself. She also offers craft supplies through her blog Crazy Crafter-Craft Supplies Shop. She has been blogging since 2009 and has 150 followers with over 33000 page views.
Sudha commented on my mother's day card MY DOC-MOM and Throw your HATs (graduation day gift wrap). 

Sweetest Ms.Sudha, thank you so much for your encouragement. I too wish to set my own craft supplies store one day just like you.

I was the happiest when I received comments from Philippa and Crystal for my post Flying Fish (quilled mobile).

Philippa is clearly one of the most talented crafter's out there, her imagination and desire to create something unique, sets her apart from the rest. Her blog Quillance carries more than 300 of her unique posts and she has 215 followers. 


Crystal's blog Make it easy crafts is a 100% dedicated blog for her tutorials started just 6 months back and she already has 100+ followers learning from her 50+ tutorials that she has shared on her blog. Crystal also commented on my father's day post DADDY COOL!!

Ms.Philippa and Ms.Crystal, thank you both for your generousness, I have learned a great deal from you'll.

My 3rd follower is a group of 3 very interesting people- Ojan, Putri, and Aris  who are

from Indonesia. Their blog OJANTO is a dedicated DIY project blog with more than 70+ 

post and 427 followers. They have been sharing their art since 2010.

Ojan, Putri and Aris, I thank you for inspiring me.

My post P.E.E. (Easter Egg) was liked by none other than Susanne. More than 100 crafters follow her blog AV Susanne, where she shares cool ideas and tutorials. You can buy her work from her shop on the blog. Started in 2010, she has over 130 posts to share.

She also commented on So Cracking(eggshell pendant).

Ms.Susanne, I truly enjoy your work and am thankful for your encouragement.

My most popular post is Paper GEMS (water colour paper pendants) and was appreciated by the most popular Doctor cum Crafter - Dr. Sonia S V from Banglore, India, who also is a follower of my blog.

Her DIY projects, tutorial and recycling projects are unique, easy to make and beautiful.

She has more than 800 followers, who are inspired by more 250 projects shared her blog Cards, Crafts and Kids Projects.

She is a ball of energy with juggling work, kids, home and craft!!!

Dr. Sonia, I wish I could be half as multi taskers as you are. Thank you for following my blog and inspiring me with your craft.

She also liked my posts - My DOC-MOM & Throw your HATs.

Paper GEMs was also enjoyed by Khadija, her blog Creative Mind is a treasure of recycled projects and tutorials. I call her the Queen of Recycling! She started in 2010 and has over 1000 followers(Phew!) with over 250 projects shared.

Ms.Khadija, I always turn to your blog for "easy to make at home" projects.

I believe the biggest compliment I received as a crafter is when Neli started following my blog. Her blog Neli qulling is filled with innovative quilling technique and most gorgeous quilled flower card I have ever seen. I call her the official Queen of Quilling!
She has more than 300 projects on her blog and over 260 followers.

Ms. Neli, its an honor to have you as a follower.

My 1st mother's day card - ||| MOMMY RETURNS ||| was liked by Jessica Okui from California and Suganthi from Chennai, India.

Jessica's blog Zakka Life is an extraordinary place to learn and find ideas for your projects. Started in 2007, she has more than 760 unique posts to share with her 6846 readers.
Her two boys are the cutest EVER!!!!
Suganthi's blog DAYDREAMS carries some of the most intricate quilling projects I have seen so far. She started in 2009 and has over 450 followers drooling over her 160+ quilling projects which also include step by step tutorials.

Jessica and Suganthi, I have lots to learn from you'll. Both mothers of 2 boys and exceptionally talented ladies. I, thank you for encouraging me.

Another one of my follower's Aureliaeugenia liked my JIG-SAW pendant. She has been bloging since 2011 on her blog Idei si Creatii Quilling and brings a very interesting angle to quilling. She has more than 600 post and has 77 followers enjoying her craft.

Ms. Aurelia, thank you for encouraging me, I enjoy your taste in craft.

Iza, from Ireland gave me love on my father's day project - DADDY COOL and mother's day card MY DOC-MOM, she is also my 7th follower.

Her blog Szalonaisa's Wonderland is a treasure of quilled cards. She has 140 followers, loving every bit of the 125 cards she has shared. She also enjoys photography and her cards and photographs are on sale on her blog.

Ms.Iza, its a pleasure knowing you and enjoying your very creative art. Thank You for encouraging me.

My latest follower is Cristina from Romania, her blog Fun Quilling by Cristina is a power house of enticing quilled projects. She started in 2010 and has 161 followers following her 120+ projects. 

Ms.Cristina, I enjoy your witty sense of craft. Thank You for encouraging me.

One of my favorite post - Playmate is back!!! didn't find many admirers(may be due to its X rated nature), but very talented  Yvonne from Singapore showered me with love by commenting on post and leaving me a little tip too.

Her blog Do more with less, shares more than 900 posts and she has been blogging since 2009. Her tutorials and tips are very helpful, and that's what attracts more than 450 followers to her blog.

Ms.Yvonne, thank you for inspiring me.

Some of my craft that didn't receive comments, but crafters viewed them are:
-My 1st post BAGoHOLIC (brocket cloth bags) 

-Love Love Jr.B (Valentine's Day card)

-Origami Shirt Gift Warpping

-Personalized ( personalized gift wrapping paper)

-Its all about being safe (IRIS and quilling card)

-Happy (Naughty) Easter

-TWO is better than ONE (3d decoupage and IRIS)

-Under the Cowl (batman themed gift wrap)

-Paper Whiskey Crowns

Apart from my this blog, I also blog on wordpress under the same name ARTiMAGINE, its a replica of this blog and has 19 wonderful followers.
I can also be found on Twitter, (currently I  have 16 followers) and Facebook, which was created 15 days back.


So, in all 6 months, 33 posts, 43 followers, 4 platforms to share my art on. 


I'm happy with my progress, but I have a long longggggggg way to go!!!!


Till we meet again, May ART be with you.

DADDY COOL!!!!

I am almost in time to share my Father's day craft with you. 
I have been crazy busy, making gifts for my dad, my dad-in-law(DIL), and couple of my friend's dads.


So, here is the 1st one, its for my DIL, its a 3D decoupage picture that I created, it captures various moments that dad's and son's share, like shaving, fishing, playing guitar, cycling, sports, graduation and the largest black and white picture is of a baby holding his dad's finger and it says "everything I owe, is to you dad..."; my husband will be giving this, I hope my DIL likes it.
Its not framed yet, as my DIL isn't in town and I have time to get it framed (thanks GOD for that!!)

The next two are for my friends's dad's, the 1st one is a folding desktop card.
It carries the a large polaroid photo, which in turn has 4 different polaroid photos, which shows a boy holding his dad's hand and over looking the horizon. The card says "In all life's shades, you are still with me...HAPPY FATHER's DAY". The same picture is on the backside as well. 
The idea to create this photo came from the word "POP" and I decided to do a POP art card with Polaroid effect.

The next is a pin up card, which is made as a fusion between a comic photo and film strip and shows superman, batman and spider-man on one side of the balance scale and DAD on the other side, over weighing all of them. Its says "YOU ARE MY SUPERHERO...HAPPY FATHER'S DAY"

And the last one is for my dad. Its a 5x7" card, that shows dad clown fish looking out for daughter clown fish. It says "thanks for looking out for me..happy dad's day!!!"

My dad of course loved his card, I am awaiting the reactions of others.

oxoxoxoxooxoxoxoxooxoxoxoxo

Self Rating - 9.5/10

Status - I have never made so many projects in such limited time, and I made each of them from scratch, including creating the images for the projects, hence I am very happy with the outcome.

                                                                                                 -May ART be with you©

Throw your HATs

My younger brother, Vikram graduated from Business School last month, and just last week was the Graduation Ceremony.


For this occasion, I wanted to gift him something special and more importantly, I wanted to wrap it in college/graduation themed gift wrap.


So, keeping in mind the theme, I gift wrapped the gift I got him (Boston Legal All Seasons DVD pack) in this wrapping.


Its a black paper Graduation Hat.

I started by making a box with a lid for the DVD pack. Its a regular box made by wrapping the paper around the pack.

The HAT is made of the same paper, I used a square piece of paper (almost double the size of the box's base) and scored it along the black dotted line and folded and pasted the paper along the white dotted line to make a smaller square piece.

Once the lid of the HAT was dried, I hand made the blue tassel with some spare satin string available at home (will show how I made it in my future post) and pasted it with the help of plastic black button.

And, its done!!!

xoxoxooxoxoxoxooxoxoxo

Self Rating - 8/10
Status - My brother loved it, but tore it off immediately to get his DVD's out!! I am glad I had taken few photographs earlier at home.

So, go ahead and give this gift wrapping a try, its easy to make and is super cool.

Let me know if you need any help making it, by either mailing me on nishthartimagine@gmail.com or leave your query in the comments. 

So, till next time, Adios!!!!

                                                                                                 -May ART be with you©

PAPER WHISKY CROWNS!!!

Yesterday was my best friend's theme b'day party, the theme was "funky head and eye wear". 

The minute I heard about the theme, I was reminded of Inna's quilled owl mask that she made for her daughters, and how inspired I was to make something on my own to wear to a party.

The idea stemmed from my love for Scotch and that I consider myself KING (yes, not queen). So, I combined the two and made these Paper Whisky Crowns for myself (pink) and my husband (green).

I started by picking up images of some of my favorite Scotch, a Whisky glass(with the rocks!) and to add ZING to the crown, I added a silhouette of a pole dancer.

Here are the crowns laid flat.

I grouped all the images together and used coloring tools to give them green and pink tint.

Here is the image I made before adding the tint.

Now comes the printing part, if I had printed the image without any image on the back, the backside would have been white and would have spoilt the look, so I inverted the image and pasted it below the original one. Take a look at the picture below to understand what I did

Once the images was ready, I color printed the them (2 copies of each) and hand cut the extra black and white part of the paper.

I managed to take one picture of the process of cutting, here it is. You can see that, I have only cut the top of the images till the next one starts and not gone all the way down.

Once the images were cut, I folded the below image (image with inverted Scotch names) and pasted it behind the main image (the one with actual names). 

As mentioned earlier, I took 2 copies of each image, so now to make one long single piece, I pasted them together and punched a hole on either sides and added a woolen black string, to use it to tie the crowns.

Take a look at some close ups 

Finally, the whole deal paid off, as I got the biggest compliment ever! My friends didn't believe that I made these crowns. MISSION ACCOMPLISHED!!!!

That's us at the party with our PAPER WHISKY CROWNS!!!

xoxoxoxooxoxoxoxoxoox

Self Rating - 9/10
Status - Overjoyed by the response received from my friends and my husband.


As, Im so happy with the outcome, I am sharing the image with you'll (without the watermark). So feel free to download it, color it as per your choice and flaunt your crowns!!!!  Let me know if you need any help making it.

I would love to see pictures of you'll wearing the crowns, so please share them with me. You may mail them on nishthartimagine@gmail.com or leave them as links in comments to this post.


Also feel free to share any other crown ideas that you may have.


Till next time, PARTY HARD!!!! 

      -May ART be with you©