Summer Blooms

Hi Friends.

We had a few showers and some rainfall during last month. For the past two-three weeks, it is quite hot and sultry. Though we have some clouds blocking the Sun frequently, it is still very hot and no rainfall.

At the onset of the Monsoons, I decided to start overhauling my garden. In fact I had bought some new plants too. 

My first priority was to remove all broken and damaged planters and repot all those plants and and also those plants which have outgrown their containers.

Last week I just started on it as it was very cloudy and cool. I could do repot a dozen or so plants. But after that the Sun is out and temperatures are like that in summer.

Well here is a small glimpse of the blooms during past few days in my garden.

This is the single petaled Jasmine still flowering as the temperatures are hot and apt for it. Their fragrance is unforgettable.

This the double Jasmine flowers. Still in bloom.

This is the mini Hibiscus. The flowers are small but blooms profusely through out the year if proper care is taken of the plant. My plant is still very small and needs nurturing. 

I will post further updates in the coming posts. That is all for now...

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Book Marks - Punch Craft

Hi Friends. 

It is hot and sultry. No rains. So it is like summer again. 

There was a time, when Punch Craft was much in fashion. So I used to buy what all punches I could get my hands on. At that time, online craft shops were not there. So I used to rely on local craft shops. We have very few here and only very few used to sell the punches or other craft materials.

Any way here is one Book Mark I made using Punches. 

These are the Punches I used

Materials Used:

• White Card stock pieces 2
• Yellow Card Stock piece
• Red Card Stock piece
• Punches
• Corner Rounder
• Flat backed pearls in two sizes
• Red and Yellow matching satin ribbons
• Red and Gold Ghungroo 2 each
• Single hole puncher
• Glue

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Book Marks-Simple and Easy

Here is one more book mark which is simple and easy to make. This is how I made it.

• I took an orange coloured textured hand made paper strip which I had it in my scrap paper stash.
• folded it into half , punched the flowers on one side.
• punched a hole in the strips, both front and back ones
• added a dark pink coloured hand made paper in between the folds and glued the folds .
• added the flat bottomed pearls
• made a braid from the wool, strung through the punched hole and knotted each end.

That's all. My book mark was ready.

 This is the front side of the book mark

This is the back side.

Materials Used:

• Textured hand made paper Orange coloured
• Hand made paper dark pink coloured
• Glue
• Flower punch
• Black coloured flat bottomed self adhesive pearls
• Black coloured wool

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Book Marks-Simple and easy

Hi Friends!

Hope you are all doing well. It has been a long time since I posted. nothing new in that these days, isn't it? Well I am recovering slowly but steadily. Still can't sit for long periods and can't type much.

But today, I took some time out for myself to post this. Its cloudy but hot and also sultry.

Anyways. here is a simple book mark very easy to make. I made it long back. I had some hand made paper scrap with me. So I decided to use it to make some book marks. One of them was this. 

• I took a long strip of light green coloured hand made paper and folded into half. 
• Punched holes with a puncher on both the layers.
• Stuck those two layers together

• Then I glued some puffy stickers on the folded book mark.

Then I added a coloured string after wards. Sorry I don't have the final picture as I gave it away to one of my little friends.


Materials used:

• Light green coloured hand made paper strip
• Puffy stickers
• Glue
• Single hole puncher
• Coloured string

Will be posting more. so watch out.

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Summer Garden

Hello Friends. 

You know that Indian Summers are very hot. The temperatures are unbearable sometimes. The peak period in April and May till mid of June are really difficult to manage. 

If you have a small garden with not much big trees for shade, then it it really difficult to manage the smaller plants in pots. I have many causalities during summer in spite of taking proper precautions.

Well this year, I managed to keep the casualty level to bare minimum.

Here are some pics from my garden this summer:

My favorite Bougainvillea. It starts flowering during summer months and continues almost through out the year, since in South India, we have higher temperatures even in winters. I have now left with two colours pink and orange. I want to buy some more colours this year.

A closer look at the blooms here. They flower profusely, if we give them proper food and water.

Here comes the climbing beauty-creeper of bay pink and white roses. They bloom in bunches if allowed to climb properly onto some base. I had them climb my roof at one time and we had so many beautiful bunches of these roses, that many visitors would purposefully visit my house just to look at them. 

As of now, I have them just up on a pole. This season, I will again let them climb onto my roof.

Well this is the summer queen Jasmine. This is the double flower. It has two to three flowers on upon another in a single flower. This flowers less when compared to the ordinary once. But  the size of the flower and its fragrance is really good.

Here is my mudda Nandivardhanam. It flowers profusely and is used for puja. It gives off a very mild sweet fragrance.

Watch on for more on my blog....

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Easy to make Simple Birthday Card

Hi there!

Hope you are all doing well. Its very hot and sultry here. Though, monsoon had entered India we still don't have much rainfall in my place. I am waiting for the first few showers to revamp my garden.

My new batch of students are here. We have started our classes way back in May. But because of Eid, we had very few classes. Now after the Eid, we are on with our classes, full fledged. But boy, this climate hot and humid is really a bother.

Ok, enough of my ranting now. Today I am going to post a very simple Birthday Card.

It was very simple card to make. Also I like simple and easy cards. I want the background space free and not cluttered or decked up with this and that which makes cards look very crowded and over decked. 

I folded an A4 sized Ivory card stock into half. I had some stickers with me which were gifted by a friend long back. One day, while checking on my stash, I unearthed a bunch of these stickers. So I used them along with the plaid Washi tape in pink colour to match the flowers. Then, I stamped on the sentiment using black ink. 

Well my stamping ability is almost zero. I need to experiment with it. But they are so messy. So though I have so many ideas and projects going on in my mind, I don't have the energy or time to put them into action.

One of these days, I do need to. Because, I have so many cards lying around all done, accept for stamping.

Here is the list of materials, I have used.

Materials Used:

Ivory card stock A4 size
3D Stickers of Vase and the Flower
Plaid Washi tape
Sentiment stamp
Black  Inks
Dimensional tape and glue.


So Until next time...Hope I can post frequently...


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Birthday Card

Hi Friends!

How are you all ? Hope you are doing well.

I have been busy with my students ; the last and concluding part of the academic year. They were all writing their final exams. Now we are waiting for their results.

It is very hot here and temperatures are on the rise. I am busy with summer camps. This year I have cut down to much less time in the camps as I cannot sit for long. 

But I promised to teach in the camp run by an NGO. There are so many children participating in the camp, who come from families who cannot afford to spend money on education in private schools. Some of the children are so bright and eager to learn that it motivates all of us to teach them, interact with them and guide them. Even if they learn just one percent, we all will be happy.

I am also waiting for my next batch of students for the new academic year.

Well I have been making some cards and other small things to give away to my students. I will try to post them. Only thing is I cannot sit for long nor can I type for long.

But I am first posting those cards and other paper crafts which I made in 2016/2017 when I had only punches and other few craft tools with me.

Here is one card I made - a simple birth day card.

I have used, a off white  textured and glittered A4 size card stock folded into half as base. It is not so clear in my photo. I used purple coloured metallic card with the border design punched out using border punch. 

I added a 3D sticker of the bouquet and few stars punched out of purple and gold metallic paper, using star punch. Then added some gold coloured flat pearls in the center of the stars. I printed the sentiment stamp on to the small card stock. Since it was textured, the stamping was not clear. So I touched up with a purple glitter pen and dabbed some distress ink on to the edges of the card.

Glued some stars shapes on to the envelope as well.

Materials Used:

Off white, textured glitter card stock A4 size

Purple and Gold Metallic paper

Star Border Punch

Star Punch

Bouquet Sticker 

Sentiment Stamp and Purple Pigment Ink

Golden Turmeric Distress Ink

Purple Glitter Gel Pen

Glue and dimensional foam adhesive

This was a simple card very easy to make...Watch out for more...

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Congratulations to Mirabai Chanu !

I was just watching Mirabai Chanu in the CWG-2018. What a performance! It was great watching her lifting those weights so effortlessly. What a proud moment to see that an Indian woman left other competitors far behind. 

Congratulations to her, She won us two Gold Medals on the first day. 

Wishing her all the best and many more such achievements....

Now our sports persons are doing better and better in international events. This is what we Indians have been longing to see for so long.

Wishing our Indian team at CWG 2018 all the best in the coming events.

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Greetings

Hi Friends!

Belated Greetings to all those who celebrated their New Year on 18th of this month. Hope you all celebrated it well.

We also celebrated Ugadi-our New Year on that day. It was cloudy and rained a little, a day before and on the New Year Day. So it was pleasant. We enjoyed the day, listening to all the Panchanga recitals and other programmes specially aired for the day. The highlight of-course  was the nail biting finish of the T20 match final between India and Bangladesh. 

There was not much blooming of Neem. So I had tough time getting hold of the Neem flowers. Raw mangoes were also very costly and small in size. Some how I managed to get hold of them in the end. The Ugadi Chutney came out very well.

Now slowly the day temperatures are increasing. But what is surprising is that it is a bit chilly early in the morning. 

Plus Two exams are over. Xth class students are writing the finals. During first week of April other classes will have their exams. So I am still busy with my students.

All of you take care...Will be back with you...

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Cute Kittens

Hi Friends!

Hope you are all doing well. It is spring time here. Winter is giving way to summer. So Though pleasant the day temperatures are slowly rising.

Well I am recovering slowly. So there is some progress and hope.

Now it is nearing exam time for all students. Every one is busy, completing the last few lessons and preparing for exams during the next two months. So I am busy 24X7, answering their queries and clearing their doubts.  You know the benefits of the advanced technology. The kids today know how  to use  it to their benefit. So they are connected to one another and teachers like us. I try my best to clear their doubts as soon as possible no matter what the time is. 

Though I am busy with the present students, I need to prepare for the new batch. I am excited as usual, but this time around, I want to introduce new methods of teaching and also teaching aids and see how useful they are to me and my students. There is always scope for improvements, isn't it?

Oh, by the way here are some pics of  three cute kittens. My garden and shed seems to be favorite for the cats to keep their young ones safe and cosy.

We have an old sink lying around. I thought instead of throwing it away, I will use it as a planter. But before I could do so, these little ones, made it as their play ground.

The boldest one entered it to inspect it and found a convenient spot to take a nap. Then slowly other two followed.

Since I was clicking them they were looking up at me. They love the spot and play there. But if I venture any where near them, they just rush off. So I couldn't take more pics.

That is all for now. We are cleaning our house. Lots of  stuff which we don't use at all or use very rarely. So it is time now to throw it all away.

I also need to shape up my garden in next few days as summer is at our door step. Thus time around, we are expecting, blazing heat. So we have to be prepared for that...

Keep an eye on my blog...

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Revamping My Blog

Good Morning.

Friends, I am revamping my blog. As it may take some time for me to complete it, please bear with me.

If you find anything that is amiss or needs to be changed or attended to, which I might have missed, please do tell me. Your suggestions for improving the blog are always helpful and much appreciated.

Thanks a lot.

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Sham Bonsai

Hi friends, Hope you are all doing well.

I am here after a long long time. I have had a lot of things happening which why I could not be in touch with you.

For the past three months I have been in bed most of the time.  I am slowly recovering but it is not easy-can't sit for long and can't type, can't walk much. So I am mostly at home, doing nothing. What pinches me most is that I cannot pursue  any of my crafts. It is frustrating and boring to just lay in bed and do nothing.

Time seems to be flying. How 2017 turned into 2018 I cannot remember. Already February is approaching. 

Like all New years, this year too I had a long list of resolutions, Dos and Don'ts. One of them being be in touch with you and post frequently. But due to my health conditions, I have to give  priority to getting well as soon as possible. Please pray for me. I know you will and your best wishes are always with me. 

Thanks a lot for your support and motivation. You have always been my strength and my motivation.

Somehow today, I decided I will make a start. Well here I am.

Here is a little experiment of mine, I attempted before I fell ill. I call it as sham bonsai, as the plants are not really bonsai. That is what I think. I don't know whether I am correct or not as I don't know the name of the plants.

These are two plants I picked up long back on one of my visits to nursery. I don't know what their name is. May be they are used as hedge plants. I tried searching on net but was not successful. 

If any one of you know please let me know.

When I saw these plants, I realised that I could with a little effort, I could make them look like bonsai. So I left them in their growth posts for a few weeks and then changed them into bonsai trays.

These plants don't require much care - just water, a little bit of nutrients and a little pruning. I have left them in the open where they can get sunlight at least for one hour  daily. 

Here I placed a figurine of Shirdi Sai Baba. It is completely sealed off in an acrylic dome. So no problem with water.

Here are the two small doll houses I found, while cleaning one of the trunk boxes with my collections of dolls. Some of my collection made of wood or fabric was entirely eaten away by termites. Some were damaged beyond repair.

These houses were also completely covered with mud built by termites. I scraped it off, washed in water. You can see they make a perfect match for the plant.

 Here is one more way I tried with the houses and figurine.

Take a closer look at the house. It is made up of thin Decolam sheets glued together. The sheets were damaged, curled and were beyond repair. So, I took some photo graphs and threw them away. I felt sad but then, we have to make way for some new things.

Hope you like them.

I will try my best to post.

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A Teeny Weeny Grasshopper

Hi Friends!

Hope you are doing well and enjoying . 

I am back after a long time. Was not feeling well and had lot of of other things to attend to. Didn't have the strength  or time for blog.

It is either very hot and humid here or raining heavily- either way it is difficult to cope with. Yesterday, we had a heavy downpour. It was sudden and so much rain accompanied by those ear shattering thunders.

Within no time entire city was heavily flooded. Luckily we got back power after an initial cut of half an hour.  We had to struggle in the rain to clear the drain holes constantly as the rain and winds dumped garden debris chocking the flow of water near drain covers. Oh Boy we just saw it in time or else our house would have been flooded with water. 

It rained steadily and heavily there after for nearly 3-4 hours and thereafter less heavily but still lot of rain.  More rain foretasted today and tomorrow also.

Well enough of my ranting. 

I wanted to share with you this teeny weeny Grasshopper. Just look at it. I caught it on my camera just few days back when I was chatting with my plants early in the morning.

It was just so tiny and so cute. I find all babies cute-human, animals birds or insects. don't you? Look at its eyes. I think it was dozing off. I am not sure whether it was just born or  may be few days old. 

It is first time I saw anything so tiny. 

Do you know what a baby Grasshopper is known as? Well I didn't. So I googled it. It is known as a "

"Nymph".  

Well the word nymph  brings to my mind an image of a beautiful maiden, roaming around the woods and sitting by rivulets or such things. :) Imagine a baby Grasshopper being called Nymph. 

Well it is slightly drizzling here and heavily overcast. we are bracing ourselves for another downpour.

Bye for now. Keep an eye on my blog. Got lot to share; provided there are no power cuts and my net connection works...

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Greetings To You All

Hi Friends!

Been away for so long.

Just peeped in to say HI!

Wishing You All a Very Happy Dassehra.

Wishing you Health, Wealth and Happiness.

I really Miss you all....Will be back soon....

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Design Your Bindis - 4

Bindi - The Forehead Art - Part 14

Hello Friends !

Here are some more simple Bindi designs for you to try.

Hope you like them...

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Hello There

Hi Guys. Been away for long time. 

Annual (final) Exams are going on for the children. My niece completed her exams on 16th. Xth class exams are going on. Many of my students need my guidance. So I have to be available 24X7 on Whatsapp. Technology has many advantages too, which the present generation knows how to use.

Since Maths is one subject which is mostly hated and feared, I have to be available to my students, to help then with their last minute preparations. I have a tough time convincing, cajoling and what not so that my students do well in their math exam. Inspite of our  hard work, they still are nervous about this particular subject. I am not able to completely take away their fear for math. Xth being board exams, students and parents are both nervous. So I am busy most of the time.

Well I also start my summer sessions and next academic sessions from now itself. So there is so much work, enrolling new batch, interacting with parents and so on. 

So am not able to post much. 

Here the summer heat is raising day by day. We are preparing for our New Year next week. Money is again a problem as most ATMs don't have cash since last month or so. It is once again like in de-monetisation time. So we are spending every paisa with much care and only if absolutely necessary. 

See You all soon....Hope you are doing well and preparing for the summer holidays and travel.

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Fairy Birthday Card

Fairies and Castle in Clouds

Yes Fairies and a Castle in the clouds - that is what one of my little friend wanted in the birthday card. So she chose the elements and I helped her make the card.

I am always making and creating things in urgency with not much time on hands to plan or think of some creative elements. So I end up creating simple and easy ones.

I used a slightly textured, baby pink card stock , A4 size as base. After folding it, I glued on the blue glitter self adhesive tape.

Then added the fairy stickers and the castle. These were self adhesive 3D stickers. I stamped the Happy Birthday sentiment using blue stamping ink onto a piece of pink card stock with rounded corners. The edges were touched up with pink stamping ink using cotton swabs. This was glued on to the card using double sided dimensional tape.

Then A bit of cotton was fluffed up and added as clouds near the castle, to give a feeling that the castle was somewhere in the skies beyond the clouds. The card was finished within half an hour under the stern supervision of the little one.

The little one's favorite colours were blue and pink -it is quite obvious from the above :) but they are my favorite colours too.

My little friend was happy and elated withe the card. Shhhhh! The card was created by the little one...I only guided her. 

Hope you too like the card.

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