Rangoli-29

Candies N Toffees

Rangoli is an expression of Indian women's creativity. We express our creativity through our Rangolis, creating new designs to suit the occasions like festivals, seasons, celebrations, moods, emotions etc. So the subject for Rangoli can be anything. It depends on the skill and creativity of the person for creating Rangolis on many topics or themes. These days we are creating new designs based on various modern themes too. I will try to post such ones when ever I can. Some of them, I have created and mostly what I have come across and kept a record of, which every Indian women who is interested in Rangolis does.

Here is one such Rangoli. You can see the candies or toffees wrapped in their wrappers.

This is 13 to 7 dots placed in between like this....

So how do you like it????

Rangoli-28

Lotus Rangoli-I

In India Lotus has a special significance for the Hindus. Since ancient times we Indians have attached special significance to Lotus. For us it is a divine symbol. It denotes purity, detachment from wordy things etc.. This is because though the roots of a lotus plant are firmly planted in the slushy mud at the bottom of the ponds or lakes, its leaves and flowers raise above water, it (Lotus) is unstained and beautiful, remains pure. Similarly there is a saying "Like a droplet on the Lotus leaves"- as the leaves are not wetted by water, the water simply rolls it off. So also a person should be detached from the wordly pleasures and pains but attached to God.

In Sanskrit and Telugu and perhaps many Indian languages the word Padma means Lotus. It has many synonyms like, Ambuja, Neeraja, Pankaja, Jalaja, Saroja, Kamala etc.

Padma or Lotus is divine, auspicious and symbolises Goddess Laksmi-Goddess of Wealth and Prosperity. She is shown either standing or seated in a pink Lotus and also holding Lotus in her hands. Lord Vishnu is known as Padmanabha-a lotus born from his naval  with Lord Bramha on it. Goddess Saraswathi-Goddess of Knowledge and wisdom, is shown as seated in a white lotus.

So we use this a lot in our Rangolis for depicting auspiciousness or happiness, wealth prosperity etc. Its is drawn in different forms and also in combination with other things like conch shells etc. A petal is known as Dala. So we haves sasta dala or six petalled, ashta dala or eight petalled lotus, sahasra dala or thousand (many) petalled  and so on. I am going to post some of the Rangolis on Lotus some at a time.


Lotuses are drawn in different ways in our Rangolis. Here they are....

By using lines

Six petalled lotus

Eight petalled

Many petalled....

Using dots...

Eight petalled

See the angular lines

Here the petals are rounded not sharp as above. I feel this is more beautiful then those above. I have posted many designs in my previous posts, having the lotuses as shown above.

Here it is freely drawn not with help of any lines or dots...So many beautiful designs are drawn this way...I will try to post some of them..But one requires a very steady hand...:)
Here is a lotus Rangoli I am posting....

13 to 1 straight dots...placed like this..

Keep an eye on my blog for more....

Bags N Purses-1

I am fascinated by the various shapes and sizes of Bags and Purses available in India. Various materials, like leather, cloth-cotton silk, synthetic materials, jute, plastic,wood, bamboo, grasses, weeds, threads or cords, beads, are used for making them.

Similarly adornments or embellishments with coloured stones, sea shells, mirror work, coin work, kundans, laces, brocades, Zari thread, painted, embroidery, patch work, applique' work, bead work, crocheted, knitted.......phew the list is endless. I collect for myself or for my mom and my sis. My little niece like me is passionate about these things at such an early age.They also make lovely and useful gifts for our friends and relatives. We women do love accessories that go with our dresses.

The patterns, shapes and sizes too vary. One can have Bags N Purses of ones choice for every need. The colours in which they are available remind me of rainbows.

So here I am going to them with you all that I have collected or come across ...

This is a cotton printed purse. The cloth is thick like that of a canvas. I loved the white colour with red and blue print. The white ribbon was another attraction. We can change the ribbon with other colours -red or blue if we can scour a little and find some of that width. Or we can use satin ribbons, or make our own from strips of fabrics. Just a little creativity. will go a long way.

The cut of the purse is very simple and has no compartments-only a small pocket inside for holding coins. 

This I picked up quite recently. The handles are also made of the same fabric. Its a shoulder length purse. The size is medium and will hold quite a few things we carry. The only disadvantage I feel is it does not have any partitions inside. So we have to dump every thing inside.

There were other colours too-white and black, red and blue and other prints. But I loved this floral one that too at quite a cheap price.

Keep watching for more to come.........