who is she ?

Pin It now!

Couple of days back, Carollyn shared her Gamayun bird lady here, and mistook my avatar image as one, since only thumb nail images can be seen. This post shares larger images of some of my old artwork. It was my ink phase in card-making – mid-80s to early 90s. This is all original work. Hope you like it.

Silhouette In Ink

Love to doodle when idle, when waiting?

No art materials at hand ?

What about only a pen and a paper ?!

I like to doodle. I like to recycle.
Combining both interests, I made these simple cards from materials that you can find in any office, or have in your own purse. A pen & a paper !!! Let imagination do the rest.

Materials I used (everything can be changed as per what is available) :
Manila Folder (or stock paper), cut to desired size.
Ball point pen(s) - (yes, I'm old generation ;-p)
Pencil, if required, for initial sketch.

These are cards made from manila folders with a semi-soft beautiful texture when seen for real. A kind of handmade paper appeal.
I have used Ball-point pens - red & black - to color the designs, taking care to keep the strokes in the same direction.
There is an actual richness & depth of colour that may not come through, especially after so many decades !

I had this idea of creating my own brand of handmade cards and my logo read “Reaching Out” from this black silhouette. 

Many of friends and family received diverse handmade cards for several years and some well-meaning, overenthusiastic friends even bought some !

It all started with this tiny card / card topper (barely 1.5 x 2 inches):

Fluttering Dreams

"Fluttering Dreams" was initially titled "Reaching Out" ; this card is a visual representation of the logo that I use on all my cards & was on my online profile till very recently.

Shimmering Night

This is another quick card I made on an idle night. It measures less than 2x3 inches.

You know the strips that get left out when we cut stock paper or any large paper into cards? These little cards/card toppers/tags were made from those leftover strips, folded.

Notice how the strokes seem to form an enlarging circle from the center ?

TIP : Trick to good ball point pen coloring is to keep your strokes in the same direction, and maintain even & steady pressure while coloring. However, if shading is desired, then alter pressure to get lighter or darker zones. 

Expectant Love

This one in red, measures <3"x5"

In 2011 I had shared 4 of these card toppers on a site. That’s when I went on a christening spree. Collectively, I would title them "Reaching Out" - each image seems to show some kind of reaching out.

You may notice the minimalism and some symbolism. I enjoy adding some meaning to artwork.

Lightly sketch with pencil (or directly with pen) and outline with pen. 

I prefer to erase the pencil marks before continuing further

Leaning Daisies

Decide on the curvature you want for the background.

Make concentric arcs/strokes at regular distance in the chosen direction.

Choose small areas or blocks (between 2 arcs) to fill in at a time. This helps ensure evenness & control direction. It is important to keep direction constant.

Maintain even and steady pressure while filling in.

Gradually cover in the entire background.

Add any necessary details within the image.

Your silhouette ink profile is ready !

This last close-up is the one I am now using as my profile (3"x4.5") :

Shy Blossoms (or Hidden Blossoms?)

She could be a bride. (too old now!)

She could be a shy person. (nyaaah! Are you kidding me?!)

She could be someone who wishes to remain anonymous.

She could be one who enjoys working behind the ‘screen’, spreading joy – someone who loves Nature and enjoys sharing.

You tell me who you think she is ?! :-D 

Continuing on the topic of ink, here's one last card.

This is not a silhouette and neither does it use ball pens. 

I've used stippling with a fountain pen, using red & black inks.

Swaying Acorns

And a close-up … It measures less than 3”x4” ...

When I made this, I didn't even know the term was 'stippling'.

What I like about this ink art technique is that one can make it Any time & Any where - all it requires is a paper & pen !

I’ve even double-folded A4 sheets and sketched on top. Those were quite well-received at the place I worked. Unfortunately, I don’t have any of those designs – mostly freehand flowers, twigs, etc.

Have a great day :-)

lighting up the sky !

Pin It now!

Wishing everybody a very happy diwali 

& a prosperous new year

The brown text below are active links to images, etc. Click on them....

This wasn’t how I had intended to post. I was hoping to tat a few more diyas besides this prototype and share the pattern alongside. Haven’t been able to keep my focus on anything, including tatting, and before time slips away to a lengthy year-long wait, I decided to do a bit of MS Paint jugglery and post as is.

To me, the main attraction, the charm of Diwali or Deepavali ("festival of lights") is the diya (clay lamp) with it’s mesmerizing flame, and the rangoli. My favorite motif for Diwali greeting cards was always the diya. 

Used to spend hours making colourful dry powder rangoli, using freehand designs that I came up with each year. Once sis & I even did a Krishn & Radha theme. 

Many communities use ground rice flour paste – all white or with a touch of colour added to the design.

I’ve tried to imitate the wet kolam in this collaged pic. 

The white tatting is part of a new snowflake I have designed (still trying to get the stitchcount, etc. right) to share later.

This diya doodle prototype is pretty tiny – 1”x1¼” and uses 2 thread sizes.

The mistakes are glaringly visible in the pic :-( 

I had ideas to make it simpler to tat, but have only been able to do the diya again, before shelving all my tatting, etc. for  a while.

A string of diyas is also called a deepmala - garland of lights! 

Can you see a larger diya symbolism in this arrangement?

The mustard oil or ghee used in the diyas actually served to keep away mosquitoes and purify the air. There are tons of environmental, seasonal, social, &/or health reasons for the traditions enshrined in festivals. Over time, they either become dogmatic, or simply blind, meaningless gestures. Other influences take over, as well. For instance, it is so much easier, cheaper, durable and practical to use strings of fairy lights than the cumbersomeness of diyas, especially on a windy night !

I love the brilliant fireworks that light up the sky, too. 

(now, if only they make those ghastly sounds & pollute the air!). 

Yes, that's my Crinoline Doily glowing around ;-)

I hope to share the Craftree butterfly pattern in next post.

happy tatting always :-)

fluorescent candy

Pin It now!

For all sweet-tooth tatters, my serving of a neon-isc candy treat. Hope you enjoy the slow release of flavors ;-p

continuing from 'truly serpentine' 

Crinoline Doily

Hamigyeong (tattingweed)

Most of the details have already been accounted for in the previous post, including graphics of how the work progresses, a few tips, and my working notes. Keeping my promise of few words ....

Love the multiple patterns and shapes that jump out ….

This is the same pic, with swirling wheel effect, as the lead in previous post, against a black background.

Finished size – 7½”. From clover point to point - 7¾” ALL IN ONE PASS !!!

Threads - Anchor crochet cotton size 50 black; Anchor Embroidery 4615 – 1335 2 strands.

Techniques I used : 2 shuttle tatting, directional tatting, reverse stitch, split rings, self-closing mock rings, thrown/floating rings, folded chain, reverse join, up & down picot joins, split ring join.

Personalized colour placement required some additional callisthenic  

If the graphics in my previous post scared anybody, Hamigyeong shares a simpler and smaller Little Butterflycoaster/doily with the pattern inked here. It is like a precursor to the larger and more complex Crinoline, both conforming to the same basic principles.

I don’t particularly like too much open space in a doily, preferring them a bit dense. And if the chains were shorter in this one, it might have been that much simpler to work with. But I enjoyed Every Single Moment of it. And I absolutely love the clean lines without picots ! 

How simple rings and chains can be meshed together ! Brilliant designing !!! Of course, one needs one’s wits around while working this. It is not your everyday relax-and-tat pattern, thus making it so much more special. It does, however, follow a logical sequence and stitch-count which becomes easier at the 3^rd quadrant stage (for me).

I hadn’t realized that Hamigyeong (aka tattingweed) is the author of the currently popular book “Tatting Lace With Your Life” ! Check out her beautiful work on Instagram . She also goes by the name of  Fireweed Plains. This is her gorgeous working of the Crinoline doily that got me ‘shuttled’ immediately. (I didn’t have this link earlier). Of course the timing was just right - it has helped me further in my TWoT series.

 Many many thanks to Hamigyeong for sharing her brilliant design !

happy tatting :-)