Monday, November 15, 2010

Rangoli-59

Friends here are some simple Rangolis. I am posting one today. It is a Rangoli square in shape-5 X 5. Further it can be extended as we like.
This is Ashtadala Padmam or eight petalled  Lotus. Single motif. This is how I developed it 





So try these designs. These are easy and simple. You can try something new with the same motif.



Saturday, November 13, 2010

Rangoli-58


Ready made Rangolis

Technology has reached nook and corners of our lives. Sometimes we cannot imagine how much its influence on our lives is. So many things have been made easy for us. Rangoli is also  one of them. Ready to use or ready made Rangolis or sticker Rangolis are much in use. Those who cannot draw Rangolis or when there is no time to draw Rangolis like for some special Pooja or Marriages or ceremonies and we want to decorate our houses for some special occasions but don't have much time or energy, then Sticker Rangolis are the  answer. They are cheap and easy to use.

Just take a look.


These are available in square and round shapes and various sizes. We also have long ones that can be used as borders. Various designs like the one above which is Chain Rangoli or known as Melika Muggu in Telugu  is complicated and very intricate, other traditional designs like Kalash (Holy Pot), Swastika, Lotus, Shankh (Conch Shells), Peacocks, other birds, animals, floral designs and free hand designs are available. Some are very colourful.

If you look at the above design it is very big one if we actually draw it with hand. It looks so small here-that is compressed. Try drawing it on paper or floor and see. It will come out as a big design no matter how carefully we draw it. 

Any way to use it all we have to do is clean the surface where we want to stick it. Then remove the paper at the back and just stick it carefully with out any wrinkles. The yellow colour you see is the colour of the paper at the back which has to be removed before use. Actually when we remove it, it is see through or transparent. So when we stick it, it looks as if we have drawn it, unless one looks at it carefully. 

The advantages of this are:
  • They look beautiful and colourful
  • Its cheap. The price depends on the size-starting from Rs 5
  • Its easy to use does not take much time or effort.
  • Because of its transparent background, it looks as if drawn/painted on the surface unless one looks at it very closely
  • It keeps for long
  • One can clean it with a cloth or wash it gently but should not be scrubbed
However it has disadvantages too:
  • One has to be careful while sticking it. Any wrinkles or sticking it askew cannot be corrected
  • Dirt gets collect around and under its edges which is difficult to clean. So after some time it looks dirty. 
  • After some time the edges come off the surface and cannot be again stuck. It starts peeling of in places. Specially if it is used in heavy traffic areas.
  • It is very difficult to remove. At least I have not been successful in removing it. When we try to remove it, it will come of in strips leaving some parts behind. Its real hard work to remove it off completely
This is how it looks after some time. But don't worry, it keeps good for a considerable period of time.

But all in all, people use it because its easy to use.

Oh by the way those who are using it, can tell me how to remove it easily. Any tips in this regard are welcome please. I have a problem in removing them cleanly and completely off the surface. I would be thankful to you if you can kindly share some tips with me.



Thursday, November 11, 2010

They are back ...

Aha! My mom says that fashion is cyclical in nature. That is what was once a fashion some time back may go out of fashion. But it will again come back. For example the puffed sleeves for blouses were very much in fashion during late 60s. It came back into fashion after a gap. When the movie Devdas was released again puff sleeves became a rage since our beauty queen Aishwarya wore it in that movie.

Any way my mom's theory is correct. Remember the Velvet blouses? They were in fashion some time back-10 years or 15 years/ I don't remember. But now they are back with a bang. They are easy to wear ready-made, easy to wash and quite soft. They are available in all dark colours of pink, red blue green etc. But now they are also available in light shades of pink, Henna green, Sky blue etc. Apart from that they are also available in prints. 

They can be teamed with many a sari as they are plain. If we are bored with the plain look we can always stitch, beads, gold thread, sequins, mirrors, silk or metallic threads. I brought a plain black one. Let us see i plan to use gold thread and gold sequins for embroidering on it.

Here is a glimpse of the plain blouse.
It was very difficult for me to photograph it because of its shine. So perhaps you cannot see the cut properly. I will try to take one more shot and post. I chose black since it goes well with many coloured saris.


Keep watching my blog..going to post more on latest ...