Handmade Happiness

Thursday, 17 April 2014

Buster Bunny

We just recently got a pet rabbit called Buster. We have had him 2 weeks and he is already firmly part of the family! I wanted to make some Easter cards, and thought that Buster might feature, so I spent a couple of hours yesterday drawing him using my Bamboo graphics tablet…this is the knew member of the family.

Buster is a mini-lop, but he only 'lops' on one side. My friend Rosie says that particular feature is called a helicopter, kind of cute we think!

So I printed off some copies of my drawing onto card and then mounted them onto a coloured background card and then onto a 5" X 5" blank card. Using a swirly die which I the chopped up into small 'plant' pieces, I created some foliage, and a little something for Buster to chew…he does like to do that :-)

Finished with some flowers, butterflies, dragonflies and a little glitter…they are now ready for an Easter greeting for those we love but may not see this holiday.

Hope you have a happy and blessed Easter time.

Tuesday, 28 January 2014

Hearts and Flowers

St Valentines day, The 14th of February is fast approaching, so I have spent some time in the last couple of days thinking about hearts and flowers. If you have been reading my posts over the last few months, you will know that I have a liking for simple black and white. Either by creating black and white line drawings, or by paper cutting, I like making things where colour is minimised and pattern and form are everything. I started my hearts and flowers theme along these lines.

Hearts and Flowers by Karen Mehta

Once the drawing was finished I wanted to experiment with some colour but keep the original black and white. To do this I scanned the drawing into my computer and then used some software with my graphics tablet to add colour.

Hearts and Flowers 1 by Karen Mehta

Hearts and Flowers 2 by Karen Mehta

Here are two variations created in this way, and I have altered the size and shape of the background to allow for different greetings card dimensions. Who will you be making Valentines greeting for?

Thursday, 23 January 2014

Paper Cutting (2)

Hi All,
So in my first post this year I am picking up again with paper cutting. I have been sorting through my work, and took a piece I cut a few years back to be framed. It took around 100 hours to produce so it seemed wrong to hide it away. This is a big deal for me! Although I make all these things, I sometimes feel self-conscious about my work, and often when I finish something, it just gets put away and never sees the light of day again. So taking the finished cut to the framers means definitely taking the step of hanging or or selling it, not sure which. So here it is in all its framed glory… it's called English Orchard.

English Orchard by Karen Mehta

I have taken a couple of close-up pictures, so hopefully you can see that in the framing process we have sandwiched the cut between two pieces of glass. Its not immediately obvious from a distance, but up closer you can see a subtle shadow that is cast by the cut onto the mount board, I really like the effect.

I'll be cutting some more in the next few weeks, I love the simplicity of colour and intricacy of form in the finished designs.

Monday, 23 December 2013

Paper Cutting

The big problem with being an enthusiastic crafter is the amount of space and storage it takes up. There are some crafts however that can produce really pleasing results that require very little in the way of equipment and space. All you need is time and patience. I'm talking about the amazing art of paper cutting. There are so many styles and versions of this craft, but I got the bug in Switzerland where I was lucky enough to visit some exhibitions of work by current artists. It was a feast for my eyes! So much detail and skill I had to have a go. This was my first attempt. A really simple cut it took a few hours to draw and cut, but it was a great opportunity to learn how to handle the paper and the scissors and get a result I was happy with.

Paper Cut, Karen Mehta 2004

My old faithful paper cutting scissors

The only special equipment I use are paper cutting scissors that I bought in Switzerland, and paper which is black one side and white the other. Scissors are easily available on the web now, and many paper cutting artists use a variety of craft knives, scalpels and cutting mats to achieve their finished designs. If you take a look on google you will find all kinds of resources. I however like to use scissors. It is simple and portable - I can cut a design on a plane, train, sitting by the pool on holiday, or on the sofa at home watching TV. The white backing on the paper allows you to draw your design and then follow your pencil marks with the scissors. The picture below shows how the design started out with some of the pencil lines still visible on the back, along with some parts of the design which I did not cut. They were a bit too intricate for a first time exercise!

Pencil design is still visible

The other thing this picture shows is that the image started life folded in half. This is a real help as you know that as you cut through the two layers, you are creating a symmetrical image - this is far less demanding on your drawing skills than doing the whole thing free hand. In Switzerland they call the art Scherenshnitte. If you google this and look at the images you will be amazed at what can be achieved with paper and scissors. Have a go…doing one will make you brave and you will want to try again. My second cut was a mixture of folk art designs, flowers and a spiders web. It took about 40 hours, but I was pleased with the results. I have been cutting ever since!

Paper Cut Karen Mehta 2004

Monday, 9 December 2013

Christmas Came Early!

My husband got back from a two week business trip to India this weekend, it was great to have him home, I really missed him :-D He has many gifts and talents, but confidence with colour and all things crafty are not on the list, so I was doubly amazed, surprised, touched and very very happy when he produced this pile of 100% cotton fabric from his case for me!

This is a lovely fine, tightly woven cotton fabric often used to make sari blouses and this little pile is all mine! So now I'm dreaming about what I can do with it…so many possibilities…so many colours…no doubt they will make an appearance in a later blog :-)

What would you do with this lovely stash, it would be great to hear from you! Bye for now

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Monday, 2 December 2013

Tools of the Trade - Watercolours

Nesting Robin by Karen Mehta

I thought it would be a good contrast with my last 'tools of the trade' blog to look at my watercolours this time round - back to real world painting instead of the world of electronic media and art. My favourite 'go to' watercolour set is a Winsor & Newton Cotman 24 half pan set. I love its practical design and versatility, it works for me inside or out and about.

There are lots of different manufacturers of watercolour out there, but I have settled with this Winsor and Newton product. This is a good set, but it is not in their top end artist quality watercolours the Cotman range is a notch below that. It is however more affordable, and more widely available too, which means it's easier to go out and pick up refills or extra pans.

You can get the Cotman range as solid pans or as tubes, but I like to keep mostly to pans as I prefer them outside - they are just easier to manage. Tubes really come in to their own if you want to colour wash larger areas, or you are looking for very dense colour. If I was water colour painting for many hours in a week I'm sure my views would develop faster and the greater range of colour in the artists selection would become very attractive, as well as some other benefits of tubes that are less obvious to me now. But for the time being I'm really happy with what I've got.

So what are the deciding factors for me?
- I wanted a good quality paint with a good selection of colour for a reasonable price
- I wanted flexibility in where I painted so the design of the box and palette was also important
- The box needed to be robust but light
- When open and ready to use it had to feel balanced in one hand

You may find that if you go through a similar process you will end up with a different product and manufacturer - this is just what works for me…Happy painting!

Friday, 29 November 2013

Winter Camel

I tried something new today. I created a polyvore account. It's a great web based tool a bit like Pinterest but different…I think it has the potential to be a bit addictive. It allows you to create sets with collections of images from the thousands and thousands they have available, as well as load images of your own.
To try it out, I created a set bases around camel coats.(Always had a soft spot for them!)
This is the result. I think it has great potential for promoting The Moon And The Sun, if I take some time and work on my photography. Worth a try I think!
If you are interested in trying it out click here…POLYVORE