Loved making this custom "Our Family" wall art with Paper Quilling for a wonderful customer. We had been thinking of offering our popular Owl ornaments framed in a wall art for quite some time and this custom order gave us an opportunity to bring one of our ideas to reality. Our favorite part of this art is the cute little birdhouse. It just ties the sentiment with the art. The heart in the birdhouse represents the love between family members that makes a house a HOME.

We also tried a  new browser based tool to give customers an idea of how the Wall Art will look in different settings. The tool is WallApp and is really easy to use. We wish it could let us scale the art to exact dimensions and hope that feature will be added soon. Nevertheless it is a great tool.

Here is another photo we created using the same tool:

It is a great tool to imagine how the wall art will look in multiple themed decor.

As you can see we spent some time playing around with the tool.
Let us know if you use any other similar tool and what you think about this one. Have a great rest of the week you all !

Tiny Tales and Short Stories

A lot has happened in last year in my life. We moved to a new home, new school for my son, new neighbors and new friends. The most pleasant change has been the arrival of our baby boy, a little brother for my elder son.

When Seattle Handmade  announced the Tiny Tales and Short Stories challenge I knew what I will be making. This is the first time I tried three dimensional quilling and I learned a lot during the process. 

Participating local artists from all over the Puget Sound were challenged to create a TINY work of art; no larger than 6” with an accompanying story so SMALL, it can be told in less than 200 words. 

The art work of 17 artists was revealed in an open-to-the-public artist’s reception at the fabulous Stunningly Strange Gallery during the Edmond's Art Walk, Thursday August 21, 2014.

All artwork will continue to be available for purchase through September 17th at the gallery. 


I will be posting the pictures of the show and stunning work of fellow artists soon.

Here is a picture of  my art work and the story.  

“My Little Brother”

When I turned four last year, Mommy told me I was going to be a big brother soon. I made big plans of playing baseball and soccer with you. I was ready to teach you everything I knew and be the best big brother. 

The day you were born, I was very excited to bring you home from the hospital. You were so tiny and beautiful but when you came home, it was too hard to share Mommy and Daddy with you.  You could not play baseball or soccer with me and you kept sleeping most of the time.  I wished you would go back to Mommy’s tummy but that did not happen either.

You are a little older now. I love it when you hold my finger and smile at me. I love it when I sing for you and you stop crying.  I enjoy playing baby games with you and am so happy when you come to pick me up at school.

 Most of all I am proud being your big brother.

Welcome to this world my little brother! Welcome to our family!

14 Canvas Art Project - Sneak Peek

 Here is a sneak peak of our project for Seattle Handmade's challenge.

I have been trying to finish the project as soon as I can. I am so excited to meet my baby boy. This project has become very special for me. It will always remind me of the time I was eagerly waiting for his arrival. The project is almost ready and I will be submitting it before the deadline. Very proud of myself :)

14 Canvas Art Project - The Progress

Here I am in my third trimester and I decide to participate in Seattle Handmade's  14 Canvas Challenge :). I was not sure earlier if it was a good decision but with my parents visiting from India (yay!) and my need for distraction from the usual discomfort of third trimester , I think  I should be able to finish my project.  My due date is just two weeks before the Artist's reception. I hope get to attend the event in person. Keeping my fingers crossed !


I picked up the 12" x 12" canvas from the organizers, started working on it to make the base of my project and am learning a lot in the process.

I had never glued card stock on canvas and had to figure out a way so the base paper does not wilt. I also wanted the binding medium to be acid-free. After doing a lot of research on internet I learned that I could use Acrylic Gel Medium to bind paper on canvas.  Here is a tutorial that I found useful.

I used Liquitex Brand gel medium and it worked out great.  First I painted the edges of canvas with gold acrylic paint. Then I covered entire canvas with a thin layer of Liquitex gel medium and then laid the scrapbook paper on canvas.  Then I used  a  roller brayer to even out any kinks / air bubbles.

 
Then I applied the gel medium on paper again to get the brush stroke effect.

Since the show opens in May,  I can not post pictures of the actual artwork but will keep posting the sneak peeks!

Keep creating :)

The 14 Canvas Project by Seattle Handmade

I  am so excited to represent Navanka Creations  in Seattle Handmade's Creative Challenge, the 14 Canvas Project! They have distributed 14 identical canvases to 14 different local artists with only one requirement. The canvas must be used in it's entirety in the final piece; whether it's whole, manipulated, or even deconstructed.

Here are the participating artists (including yours truly);
· Amrita Singh – http://navankacreations.etsy.com/
·Darien Waggoner – http://dariendesign.com/
·Heidi Kappes-Belinsky – http://maxandcopost.com/
·Jenni Kane – local knitter
·Jenny Chang – http://thepaintedmenagerie.etsy.com/
·KB VanHorn – http://kokoleo.com/
·Kelly Affleck – http://tomato-tomato.com/
·Kimberly Smith – http://stirboutique.com/
·Lois Gaylord – http://loisgaylord.com/
·Mallory Milke – http://mayhemhere.etsy.com/
·Samantha Yang – http://cargocollective.com/samanthayang
·Shelley McElhiney – http://samsstuff-samsstuff.blogspot.com/
·Marina Lesnikova – http://marinarly.etsy.com/
·Mary Clymer – http://facebook.com/happydelusions

All pieces will hang at Luther's Table in Renton for the month of May. Mark your calendars for the art opening on Saturday, May 10th at 7:00 pm and check out the final pieces!

Come out and enjoy the works of these talented artists, enjoy some live music, and have a bite to eat - all in one place. See you there and I am off to think what I should do with My Canvas!

Custom Favor Tags for Bridal Shower

I made these Bridal Shower Favor tags as a custom order for a friend who is organizing the bridal shower for her friend. The color theme for the bridal shower is green and pink. Loved making these cute little lacy wedding gowns. It took quite some time to decide the perfect shade of green for tags.  I was surprised to see how many shades of green paper I had in stock!

 

The wedding gown itself is hand cut from a pearlized white card stock. Then I added rhinestones for the right amount of bling. I made 25 of these favor tags. It was quite time consuming to add the rhinestones one by one.  Imagine gluing  75 rhinestones to make these wedding dresses.  But the result was totally worth it.

 

Here is another picture of the bridal shower favor tags. This is the first order I made at my studio ( still getting organized) in our new home. Hope the bride loves the tags and the guests love their favors :).  Getting to be part of  an important and happy occasion in someone's life and making it little extra special for them...that is the payback of the handmade business. And we totally love it !!

Custom Favor Tags for Ladies High Tea

I made these favor tags as a custom order for a friend who needed them for a Ladies Tea Party she was organizing. As soon as she told me that she was planning to give tea bags in a mason jar as favors, I knew I had to make tea cups on the tags.

First I thought of quilling the tea cups but then saw this elegant floral print paper and felt they were perfect for cute little teacups. And then I added buntings. It was the most time taking task to add these little triangles for 30 tags but I feel it made the tag extra special. Added baker twine instead of ribbon as I felt they went better with the theme.

 I was making these while packing for moving to our new home. It was super hectic and tiring trying to pack an entire house in boxes :) .  Making these gave me the much needed break I needed .We have moved now and almost unpacked. I just set up my computer yesterday and thought about sharing these cute little tags with you all.

 This is a picture of the tags tied to the mason jars filled with tea bags .  The tea party was super fun and the best part is I got to keep one of these cute favors. 

P.S. If you like these or want something similar then you can request custom item at our shop Navanka Creations.

Teacher's Appreciation Week

Just thought of sharing one of our creations that I made as custom order for a friend. She wanted to give it as a gift to her daughter's teachers. This week being Teacher's Appreciation week , I thought it would be a perfect time to share . 

Red apple signifies the trust between students and their mentors. It is an old tradition, custom, moral value and the epitome of what a teacher-student relationship should be like.
 
I believe teacher's are the biggest influence on our children after their parents. My son loves going to his preschool and the biggest reason for that is his loving teachers. At various stages of lives we all have learned so many things from our teachers and I truly believe they deserve all the appreciation for the great work they do in transforming lives of children and making learning a positive experience.


My friend loved these Apple Ornaments. They were  very well received by the teachers too. Its also possible to inscribe kids name and the year to make it more personalized. They come neatly packed in a gift box . They are great gift for Teacher's Appreciation Day as well as for holiday season.

Buddha Wall Art with Paper Quilling

Created by : Amrita Singh  Copyright : Navanka Creations

“Believe nothing, no matter where you read it, or who said it, no matter if I have said it, unless it agrees with your own reason and your own common sense.”
― Gautama Buddha

I have always been intrigued by the sayings of Lord Buddha. They seem so logical. As a child, we grew up reading various stories about Lord Buddha. There is so much to learn from his teachings. His association with India where he attained enlightenment makes it extra special for us. We used to refer him as Siddhartha Gautam Buddha. He was a sage from ancient Shakya republic on whose teachings Buddhism was founded.  Buddha means the Awakened one. For more on Gautam Buddha you can read http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Buddha.

 I have been meaning to create wall art depicting the serene expression of Lord Buddha in meditation. I was inspired by  a lot of paintings and wall art and finally sketched a design for my work.The most important task was to get the expression right. I am really glad and feel that I succeeded to some extent. I hope this Buddha wall art brings peace, harmony and sense of enlightenment wherever it is placed.

I used black quilling strips with golden edges. The golden edges really make the art look more grand. It took a lot of rolling to finish his hair but the effort was surely worth it. Luckily I found a frame that goes perfectly with the golden edges of paper strips used in the art. The face of lord Buddha measures around 4.5" x 6" . The frame is 11" X 14" with an 8 " x 10" opening.

This Buddha Wall Art is available for purchase at our etsy shop Navanka Creations . For more details on this art click here 

 All our art work is created in our smoke-free home studio in USA. Originals and images are subject to copyright © Navanka Creations. This artwork may not be reproduced or used for commercial interests without our written permission.

Rainbow in Clouds - Personalized Paper Quilling Typography Name Wall Art for Child's Room

 I have been traveling so much in last few months that creating has taken a back seat. Just thought of sharing this project I made a while back. Its for a friend's nephew. She wanted to give him something handmade for his  Mundan ceremony . I thought this Personalized wall art with his name in quilling would be a gift that can be cherished for years to come.

"Jai" in Hindi means glory and triumph. "Rainbow in clouds"  in my interpretation of the name and hence I chose to use Rainbow colors for the name. I used beehive technique by Susan for the clouds.   Here is a close-up of the project.

 Hope all of you are having a great weekend. I am loving mine with beautiful sun outside and a sleeping toddler at home giving me a chance to blog after a long time :).

Happy crafting!

Paper Quilling Typography for Children's Room

Created by : Amrita Singh

I made this for a friend's son's Birthday. He turned four this year. His parents requested for no gifts for the party. Initially I  planned to make a birthday card with his name in quilled typography. I thought that would be a meaningful gift and being handmade rather than store bought would respect the no gifts request from the parents too ;). But while making the project I changed my mind and framed it so if they wish they can display it in his room.

His name is "Avi ". In our native language Hindi it means Sun and Air.  I tried to include the colors Orange Red and Yellow to signify the brightness of Sun and a cool blue as background with a few scrolls between the individual letters to signify "Air".  I added a sun over the letter "I" using special quilling strips with golden edge. I tried the bee hive technique invented by Susan  for the first time and it sure was fun.

The letters measure almost 2.5 " in height. The finished design is 5 " x 7" approx and is framed in a 8" x 10" matted frame. Here is another photograph of the finished project.

I would love to get your feedback/ comments. They definitely make my skies brighter here in Seattle :).

Happy Valentine's Day

Created By : Nimisha Singh

Just thought to share one of our lovely creation, heart shape box with paper quilled Royal Flower on the eve of Valentine's Day.This paper mache box was created with lots of love. It was hand painted and then decorated with paper quilling. Paper quilled royal flower adds elegance to the the box. Seems the box is just waiting to be filled with lots of lovely chocolates or a surprise gift. It is one of the many boxes I created for our Craft Fair in November.




We wish all our readers a very happy Valentine's Day. We do celebrate this lovely occasion with lots of love and chocolates and of course lots of Valentine's day craft. In fact this year, since my 4 year old daughter is in preschool seems we will be celebrating it for the entire week.

Beautiful coasters with paper quilling in colors of rainbow

Created by : Amrita Singh

I love rainbows. They are one of the nature's creations that bring a smile on every one's face regardless of age. Somehow they also remind me of my childhood and care free days of summer.

It took more than 100 quilling strips and quite a while of rolling I would say to finish these coasters :) . I did follow the rainbow colors sequence inside out ... remembered my childhood days and how we used the acronym VIBGYOR  to remember the rainbow colors in sequence.

 It was also part of a challenge in one of  ETSY teams, ETSY paper's  rainbow challenge. Its a group of very talented people and it was fun to see various rainbow creations.

Here's a beautiful poem ...enjoy and have a Happy Day!

God is the greatest artist
To whom no one can compare,
Streaking sunsets very beautiful,
Painting rainbows in the air.

Brushing green the hillside scene,
Blotting blue the sky above,
Splashing flowers 'cross the ground beneath,
Shading white clouds with His glove.

Of the wonders God has made
There is none that is so fair
As the smile He paints upon your face
When you realize He's there.

                        - Udiah

P.s.  : These were featured on craft gawker. Yay!
 

Welcome Baby Girl Card with Paper Quilling

Created by : Nimisha Singh

It is always wonderful to create unique greeting cards for New Parents or Expectant Parents. I am sure this card will bring smile on the face of the recepients.I loved making this cute paper quilling card to welcome a Baby Girl. The quilled Baby stroller, beautiful pink feet, baby bottle, and a cute yellow duck make this a perfect baby card.

This handmade paper quilling card is a gift in itself. Many recipients choose to frame it in a shadow box and use as a keepsake for baby’s room décor.

I had given a similar card to one of my friends and their appreciation inspired putting this on our online Etsy Shop.