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.