coLoUrAma

One of my favourite "thing to do" as a textile design student was picking colour combinations for prints, weaves etc. The coLoUrAma series will publish latest colour combos that have caught my eye. Thanks to my friend Carina who has inspired me into this series with her daily colour palettes!
Bonus for fellow designers and crafters will be that I will be giving colour combinations in different number of colours with Pantone numbers (matched to corel draw palette) as well :)

My first one is this spectrum of colours I created for my Design Brochure, which I am in love with at the moment.

Packaging Design... Naturally

My mom made some green pepper pickles recently. The sight of a few twigs of the dark green pepper corn got me thinking. Here's what they looked like fresh from the creeper.

The neat and compact way in which each pepper corn was arranged got me thinking about nature's package designs. So, here are a couple more natural things which come in neat packages which are user friendly and keep the product safe as well.

1. Pomegranate - with the ruby like arils, each a different shape and size, yet fitted into a neat jacket.

picture source: http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Pomegranate_close_up.jpg

2. Corn on the cob

This one always made me wonder, right from when I was a kid. Yet another of nature's special designs.

picture source : http://myrawliciouslife.com/mrl/?cat=4

3. Bee nest/ hive

The honeycomb structure is another wonder in terms of design for the compactness and tesselation property.

To list a couple of others:

• Grapes
• Custard Apple
• Orange

These were the small thoughts in my small brain :D In my search for more on what package design experts thought, I came across this informative article in Package Design Magazine -http://www.packagedesignmag.com/issues/2007.12/nature.shtml.

Colourtrippin' by Carl Savio

I recently discovered this blog by Carl Savio and really wanted to share with those of you who haven't seen it yet! You have to see it to understand what I am talking about. The work's great and with a touch of humour. Here's a sample of the designer's latest magic with clay.

They married despite great parental and societal pressure.

But little Myrtle, is living proof that it was all worth it.

Enjoy!

INDULGE!

Indulge, a new fashion brand is having it's first exhibition at Kolkatta this month. The brand is being launched by one my dear friends. Apart from the fact that she is my friend, she is a designer with a great sense of style and elan.

The brand offers a whole lot of women's wear ranging from dresses (be it for the day, a date or a black tie event) to corporate wear and skirts (yes! peplum shaped ones too:) Here's the details of the event, for those of you who may want to be there and catch it.

Venue : Ice Skating Grounds, Kolkatta
Date : 29th September to 1st October






p.s : you may get in touch with the designer for bespoke designs.

A sunday at Thekkemadom, Kochi

A typical summer vacation during my childhood days reminds me of my grandma's place in Kochi, Kerala. The home is one among many houses belonging to the traditional Agrahaaram (a tiny street near the temple with houses on both sides, somewhat like a very organised and compact colony) called Thekkemadom.

A courtyard full of kids playing all through the day and night and a backyard filled with not so juicy, yet attractive mangoes and and shoeflower blooming all around fills my mind as I look back with nostalgia at those endless days of fun with my cousins. Through blurred memories of heat rashes I clearly remember the "shower 2 shower" powder that was puffed all over me before it was good night:)

While the world moves ahead at a pace almost as fast as light, I place a comma and let this home and its lifestyle take me a couple of years back in time. As you can see for yourself, some of the things I have photographed are very ancient and I am sure carry antique value :D

So, here's a peek into a home, more than a century old which remains classic despite all the transformations it has undergone through the years!

Furniture, devices etc.

Kitchen and backyard

A pot in the backyard to boil water for bath and one of those stoves which uses all combustible waste as fuel!(believe it or not, with a well functioning electric water heater, my grandma still uses this stove and pot:)


The stone grinder and the mortar and pestle which have seen better days before the advent of the mixer grinder. The third picture is that of a manual coconut dessicator which most south indian families still use.


The arivaal used to break coconuts in half safely posted behind the pestle in the backyard.

from kitchen to backyard.

one of the best drainage systems ever which runs right along the whole backyard to the main stream drain.

Leaves. Waste. Brooms.

betel leaf vine in the backyard.

Some fresh betel leaves


Through the foliage


Footprints.

Print Factory

It is time for some pretty prints I see around me everyday. These are different pieces of fabric lying around at home, calling at me to make something with them :) I collected five pieces, out of which I matched two pairs since they coordinated very well in terms of design and colour. The single Indian motifs can be downloaded* and used for rerprint or embroidery too!

*(click once and open the picture in new window and then right click and save as)

Granny Square Blanket

After almost a month of crocheting I managed to finish this granny square blanket. I used up some of the squares I made for practise as well.

I used six colours in all. I liked the idea of making a blanket with squares of different sizes and planned for a pretty big project. Eventually this is what I managed to make with available yarn. I used four grannies for the center, each with 6 lines of DC.

Then I joined another line of smaller grannies with just 3 rows of DC and then extended it lengthwise with some chevron pattern of my own and a few lines of the remaining colours. Here's what it looks like finally!

This is a close up view of the centre four grannies and the chevron pattern.