More Diwali Fun

I wanted to make a layout of this beautiful photo that my dear friend Pratibha gave me of her Diwali celebration. Every year during Diwali, they light up beautiful lamps in their house and take some beautiful photos.
As soon as I saw this photo, it reminded me of this cut file that I had purchased from Studio Calico. It reminded me of rangoli (colorful designs used to decorate the front of Indian homes). I thought this was the perfect photo and perfect cut file.
Here is my layout:

I cut out the circles on a neutral cardstock and backed it with colorful papers. I picked the colors from Pratibha's dress. I had so much fun making this layout. I painted some wood veneer with gold paint and stuck them in the center of each circle. I added some sequins to the circle in the spirit of the festive mood.

Products used for this layout:

• Studio Calico Antiquary kit
• Crate paper Happy day collection
• Crate paper Maggie Holmes collection
• Wood Veneer from Studio Calico

It was a fun layout to make and I feel so happy to have a layout of my friend.
Have a great day!
~Neela

Some Diwali Fun

In India we celebrate Diwali - Festival of Lights in October/November timeframe. People decorate their homes up with beautiful lamps and burst fire crackers. The whole atmosphere in India is extremely festive at this time and kids are so excited to burst the fire crackers. In each neighborhood, friends form groups and burst the crackers together. I have some fun and fond memories of these times growing up.
This year on Diwali day, we lit a few lamps at home and did a photo session with the family. We attended a couple of parties at friends homes with everyone bringing lots of good Indian food and everyone dressed up beautiful Indian attire. My friends had some fireworks with them, so the kids had a good time with that. This was Surya's first time, and he was so excited with fireworks.
Here is my layout that I made with our photo session at home:

The starting point of this layout was a sketch from Studio Calico. It changed quite a bit from there but still has a resemblance to the original sketch.
Products used for this sketch:

• Cut files and gold foil from cutting edge class by Studio Calico
• Gold star Rub ons from Studio Calico Printshop
• Dear Lizzy Lucky Charm Collecion
• Rhinestones from Scrappn' Supplies

I designed the lamps with my Silhouette studio and cut them out with gold foil. It was quite simple. You can download the file from here.
 

An Announcement!!!!

Everyone, I am so excited to be able to announce that I have been selected to be on the design team for Stuck On U Sketches. The group is such a talented and fun set of ladies. I will be designing for their sketch team. This is my first design team assignment ever and I am super excited about this. The sketch contest on their website is twice a month. Swing by the Stuck On U Sketches blog and check out all the wonderful inspiration there.
Have a great day!
~Neela

Cutting Edge Class - Challenge 4

This weeks challenge was to use one of the favorite mediums discussed in the class to create a layout. I used canvas to create my layout this time. It is a fun medium to work with. You can print photos on it, you can mist it and I am going to try to water color it soon. I will keep you posted on how that turns out.
We were provided with the scalloped circle shape in the classroom cut files. I repeated the pattern in silhouette studio and fused a whole bunch of them to create a background for my layout. I then misted it with a grey colored mist. In the class Susan suggested that to adhere the canvas to a cardstock and then cut it so that it is more sturdy. I agree with her, that definitely helped.

And people, this was my first ever sewing project. Both my grandmother and my mom over the years tried to teach me how to use the sewing machine, but I never really got the hang of it. But last week I got my own sewing machine and did a little stitching along the borders of the heart paper. I totally enjoyed doing that. At least this part was easier than I thought. I am going to practice more.

In the center of each circle, I punched out hearts from a red cardstock and stuck them. The red ended up being too bright. So I just water colored them with white with some Inktense pencils. Here is a close up:

 

I used some of my older studio calico kits for the patterned paper, Kelly Purkey white letter stickers, October Afternoon Sprinkler - farmhouse, Silhouette printable cotton canvas for my materials.

 

Have a great day,

~Neela