Happily Ever After..!!

We long for the fairytale ending. Of course we do. And who wouldn't? Just like Cinderella, or Rapunzel in Tangled, deep with in us, we still have that reassurance that "it's going to be Ok! Something good is coming!" 

It's because there's hope built on the inside of us. Hope is in our Blood, it's just that sometimes the things of this world try and steal it away. But if you listen, there is a still, small voice cheering you on and encouraging you not to grow only but doing good as well. As I you know all, the seeds we are planting are preparing for us a wonderful harvest!

Your happily ever after is now. God has made everything beautiful in it's own time. He has planted eternity in our hearts, but even so, we can't see the whole scope of His work from beginning to end. 

There is purpose in today. There is joy in today.

You're going to have a fabulous day! I hope the sun shines on you wherever you are!

L0ve :)

Fear/Love?

What are you afraid of? 

Sometimes I found myself in a situation where I had to make a choice. I could have either allowed myself to be shut down everything with fear or I could have bitten the bullet, running full steam ahead into my destiny, defeating fear on the way. Despite what I was feeling, I chose the later.

Do you know that you are loved? Love removes all fear that I feel. When we truly understand and know (that we know what we know) we are loved, there is simply no room for fear. Love,, Not as in 'Oh-my-goodness-i-love-your-outfit’…'wow-i-so-love-your-hair',,this is not at all love actually. I’m talking about true, unconditional no-matter-what-you-do-you-can-never-change-this-love, kinda love.

So what is it that’s holding you back today?Is there a step you need to take that scares you? Someone to call? Something to do? A seed to sow?

Fear holds us. But love releases us. Perfect love casts out all fear. So if we are loved and still in fear then what is the issue?

We must stop being the blockage to the freedom that is ours. So let us throw off all the things that hinder us  and run with confidence and boldness like little kids with the knowledge that there is someone cheering us on and championing us today.

There is nothing to fear !!!

Madhubani Techniques

These days I'm working on my second madhubani painting, so thought to share some method/techniques to make others easy who want to make madhubani painting and also want share my work which still in progress .

It is a very simple art form of painting. You Don’t need any specialized knowledge but just a creative mind and artistic flair.. So go ahead..

Materials Required

•Cloth/Handmade paper
•Trace paper
•Fabric colours(for cloth)
•Poster colours (for paper)
•Black outliner
•Carbon sheet

 Let’s start

Step 1:
Choose a design.

Step 2:
First draw the required pattern on the sheet (handmade paper/cloth) or you can trace the design and copy the design using carbon sheet.

Step3:
If using cloth, using fabric colours and let it dry well.
Use Poster colours for paper.The colours are applied flat with no shading. There is normally a double line drawn for the outlines, with the gap between the lines filled by cross or straight tiny lines. In the linear painting, no colours are applied. Only the outlines are drawn.

Step4:
Draw outlines using the black colour and again leave it to dry for 24 hours.
If applying on cloth iron on the back side of the cloth.

Tips and tricks

1-Choose a design that is colourful !It is often seen that tradionally there are only basic colours used like orange , green and red but you can add colurs like pink, purple, blue to make it more attractive.

2- Choose a design that it is easy to make. 
The design pattern should be simple and clear !

3-Trace the desin well.
If you do not trace it well ,you will definety find yourself in trouble later. You can make improvements in designs like changing the features of face, as it generally seen features in Madhubani are not sharp.

4-Choose a theme.
If you are making more than one painting than choose a theme eg.Krishna-Radha, Ganesha, village scene etc. because each painting has certain meaning or situation

5-Don't limit youself .
If you don't want a painting then you can always make a bookmark, card or table mats with Madhubani and laminate them.

6-Add beautiful Border .
Make sure you have a border . It will add new dimensions to your painting

Reproduction-crime or not??

These days I'm learning paintings and pencil drawing by myself as I'm a self taught person so I majority of times visit the sites take some guideline, tutorial about the Art, Painting, Craft Etc. and apply at home just sake of learning because I do not have spare time to enroll myself in any professional Institute to grab a professional certification or so as a 9-6pm professional.

All the time I’m thinking when I reproduce any piece of painting of any renowned artist that this is not fair I should not do that etc. But no reproduction is not at all crime if you wont do that for commercial purpose you can do that for your own happiness if you can paint like or not like that or if you can't afford any original -highly expensive piece of painting.

Yesterday I visit a blog and read an article about Reproduction of Paintings(I could mention the name but not doing that with regards), they have clearly mentioned there that reproductions of any renowned artist painting which works out as an affordable option.

Reproductions of paintings done by famous artists have always been a popular choice with people looking at dressing their walls.  One of the major reasons this is so much in vogue is because it is an affordable form of art. It costs only a fraction of the original. Obviously, there is little or no investment value from a financial angle in such paintings, but they have an immense decorative value.

After all, how many people can afford a Picasso, Van Gogh, Rembrandt or a Raja Ravi Verma. In such cases there are three options - an offset print on paper, a digital print on canvas, or an oil reproduction. An offset print which is usually done on paper often tends to look tacky, and is not a good idea for dressing the interiors of residences.  Small offices or low-budget reception areas tend to put these on their walls, and it is one way to add colour to drab walls. Digital prints of paintings on canvas by Raja Ravi Verma and Haldenkar  are very popular and have the advantage that these are available in various sizes. Being digitally reproduced, the colours and tonal  values are matched closely with the original and give a similar look and feel as the original work. The prices also begin from somewhere around Rs.3000 or so, and therefore work out as an extremely affordable option. ‘Glow of Hope’ (also called Lady with the Lamp) a painting by aldenkar always seems to be well in demand. Similarly, Raja Ravi Verma’s paintings are also much sought after. To reproduce these paintings in the digital format there are copyright and legal issues involved, and one should buy only from a reputed source. The good thing is that these can be printed on demand, and in the size that you want. Digital prints are of much better quality now, with better quality inks that last longer.

An oil reproduction is a wonderful way to enjoy a work of art by a famous artist. Unfortunately, oil reproductions are also fraught with issues, as fake art is a huge problem in the world of art. Therefore,  be aware that there could be legalities involved and ensure you buy from a gallery that has copyrights in place. Reproductions are available from prices as low as Rs 1,000 to Rs 10,000 or more, so go ahead and own a work of art.

Encourage Yourself!!

Its about to complete a year that I’ve started Shailla’z Diary but I never been so regular on it. I’m here to overcome my depression in life and trying to improve my writing skill too, because I read somewhere when you are enable to share your grief with anyone then better you write about it or something about good.

I really do not know that anyone in that time I’ve started this page read my column , really not, aah!!

I would glad that I atleast can make a single person on this earth smile through my writing. Hope for the BEST.

I’m really happy for my writing and a little bit nervous about the PRICKERS or criticism. Actually, a person who is very Near & Dear to me (very well aware about my writing) and I recently were talking about the writing a story for a ‘Online Writing Competition’ and then she was asking about Shailla’z Diary’s Link. I was excited or bit curious too to know that someone really wants to read (after so long even when she is pretty much aware) or just to check, how could I write.

And I was pretty shocked to know her opinion that I should stop writing is just OK OK. Ahhh..!! But why should I stop. Just a sake of a very good friend's opinion, NEVER....

Yes, I’m a first timer not at all a professional writer then how could be I'm perfect. I had always loved writing as small paragraph, poems, notes etc. (very secretly) but never took this as much serious but I just really want to improve myself now (I don't think so that writing is a very bad IDEA and should rethink about this).

I surely believe that everyone face some criticism for whatever they do but if you receives numbers of LIKES that means you are doing not that bad, infact one day , someday  you will achieve your GOAL.

My Father always said one thing that you should take these kind of PRIKERS/ CRITICISM very positive or serious ( obviously in the positive manner) because they gives you a chance to improve. And I always remember that words.

Sometimes it is very hard to know who is actually reading, so please let me know and I really wanting some sort of encouragement. Feedbacks also will welcome always and thankful to you all. That I know it’s is difficult sometimes, juggling the different things life throws at us, but you we all are doing an amazing job in own life. Sometimes it feel like nothing is getting done and no progress is being made but let me tell you…We are making Progress, We’re moving forward day by day and We’re Growing!!

Recently I’ve read an article about CRITICISM and how to tackle with them. Some really important wats to cope up with these kinds of situations are:

• 1   Think from where these criticism are coming. If they are coming from any well educated or senior person than you should think about it and learn from it as we do not always do the right thing. So every criticism might not be just to put down.
• 2.       We must know how to recognize a Put Down. If any comment make you really upset and your are pretty down then think again and again about the whole and try to improve yourself.
• 3.       Criticism (negative one) generally comes from who are themselves a good for nothing or big looser and most of time they never get happy with life and get envy when someone else is achieving something.
• 4.       We often start believing in the put downs and get upset which affects our beautiful life. So just don’t.

  So take a look back at your life this time last year and be encouraged, you are closer to your dreams than ever before and you are going to have a great day today!!

Warli-First Attempt

Warli are the largest scheduled tribes found along the outskirts of Maharashtra-Gujarat. Warli paintings unlike other art forms of this sub-continent, depicts social life of Varlis. Women folks are the main artists. In the book 'The painted World of the Warlis' by Yashodhara Dalmia claimed that the Warlis carry on the tradition stretching back to 2500 or 3000 BCE.

They have their own animistic belief, life, customs and tradition as a result of accuturation they have adopted many Hindu Beliefs. They are made on mud walls in white color made out rice and glue basically with bamboo stick gnawed at the end to be used as a brush. There are basically using few main symbols like 'circle' as Moon & Sun, 'Triangle' as  in mountains , hills and main men-women figure and last but not the least 'Square' as in a field.

The Warlis speak an unwritten Varli language which belong to the southern zone of the Indo-Aryan langauges and the Union Territories of Dadra &  Nagar Haveli and Daman & Diu.

Here is my first attempt with poster colors on handmade paper. I have done this very lazily since a week but turned very beautifully. I guess so....

Start yout day like this!!

The Way You Start Your Day Can Affect Your Whole Day. Begin with a Smile, Calmness of Emotions & Heart Filled With Gratitude...or Thoda Bhagwaan ka Naam Bhi Le Lo..!!

Pic Courtsy: Shailla'z Drawing Book

Monday Thought

 Lovely thoughts to start another week.  This made me feel really nice. Hope you too have a nice start to your Monday morning.

Madhubani..!!

This is my first attempt for the traditional art called as Madhubani and I'm loving it.

Madhubani painting has been done traditionally by the women of villages around the present town of Madhubani (the literal meaning of which is forests of honey) and other areas of Mithila. The painting was traditionally done on freshly plastered mud wall of huts, but now it is also done on cloth, hand-made paper and canvas .

I've tries this on hand made paper with Acrylic colors. This is very laborious work to do.

As Madhubani painting has remained confined to a region and the skills have been passed from mother to daughter on through centuries, the content and the style have largely remained the same. Many painters these days have developed their style and painting on different themes and are trying to contemporise this art.
Madhubani paintings also use two dimensional imagery, and the colors used are derived from plants. nowadays many painters use artificial colors like poster, acrylic and oil colors as their medium.
Madhubani paintings mostly depict nature and Hindu religious motifs, and the themes generally revolve around Hindu deities like Krishna, Ram, Shiva, Durga, Lakshmi, Vishnu and Saraswati. Natural objects like the sun, the moon, are also widely painted, along with scenes from the royal court and social events like weddings. Generally no space is left empty; the gaps are filled by paintings of flowers, animals, birds, and even geometric designs.

Hope you all like this.

Surprise

How cute is this? 

It's so true though! Every day should be our favourite day.

And guess what? Something exciting and significant is going to happen to YOU today! There has never before been a day like today and there never will be again. Are you ready for it? 

Keep your eyes open wherever you go, because today is a day of  surprises!


Happy Surprise..!!
Love :)

Dussehra'2013

Dussehra is a mojor Hindu festival that celebrates the victory of good over evil. On this day, Lord Rama defeated and killed the demon, “Ravan”.

Now, I’m telling you a brief history about this famous event:

It’s said that in ancient times there was a great King known as Lord “Rama”. During his absence from the country with his wife Goddess “Sita” and younger brother “Laxman” used to live in forest. But one day a demon king  ”Ravan” when Lord Rama & brother were not at home, by forge means, took away Sita with him. This made Lord Rama angry and in order to kill that demon, he attacked Ravan. After a long bettle, finally Lord Rama save Goddess Sita. And the day he killed Ravan is marked as DUSSHRA.

From every that day, Dussehra is being celebrated with great devotion, happiness and joy and among major Hindu Festivals.

Dussehra is celebrated every year on 10^th day of the bright half (Shukla paksha) of the month of ashvin and the date would be acoording to Hindu calendar.

During this day, the replica of demon King Ravan is made and then burnt, so ad to signify his destruction. All over of the country, RamLeela ( a famous play depicting the Ramayana Story) is performed. People generally make and distribute several types of sweets and other stuff as this day is considered very auspicious and people also buy different types of electronic or new products during this day.

Children love Dussehra & Diwali (since the childhood its is also a favorite festival of mine) because of many reasons like holidays(major one), sweets, gifts, new cloths etc. and the most important reason they can do unlimited fun and frolic and they simply love it when wicked Ravana is burnt up. Once my brother(when he was a kid) asked me, "Why do they have to burn Ravana every year?" For a moment he had me stumped. We have to burn Ravana every year because  he is the symbol of evil in the world. It needs to be cleared out every year. Just as we clean our houses every day. We need to clean our hearts  and minds once a year at least. Then you can truly enjoy a beautiful Diwali full of a joy and new hopes and wishes.

For this cleansing we celebrate Navratras before Dussehra every year. Nine days of fasting and pooja.

How many people know What are these Navratras. These are nine days where we celebrate the killing of demons by our goddesses. The only difference is that these demons are  not outside but within us. They complicate our lives, bring misery, spoil relationships, and breed unhappiness. Who are these demons? They are anger, greed, ego, lies, confusion, desires, selfishness, etc. After we have killed all these demons within us we become  pure and clean enough  to enjoy the destruction of evil as Ravana is put to the flames. During Navratras  we also pray to the goddesses Lakshmi, Saraswati and Parvati. To give us knowledge,wisdom, peace and bliss.

These nine days are celebrated differently in different states of India. In North India we celebrate with Fasting, Pooja and worshipping little girls 'Kanjak'. In western India it is with Garba or dancing. In Bengal, beautiful Idols of the Devi are put up and Durga pooja is performed. Then these are immersed in water on the 10th day. In some states Ram Leela is Enacted from the Ramayana with Ram killing Ravana on the tenth day.

So people have fun and celebrate this good period of the year, but remember  its significance. Ravana signifies the demons who live within us. Every time we do something wrong or bad, every time we are wicked and take someone else's things we are enacting a Ravana like act. Remember Ravana was a highly educated and intelligent man.So just Intelligence and good education is not enough to make us good people. For that you have to cleanse your heart of the bad thoughts in your mind. You will be surprised how good you feel and how happy your life will be. Actually we don't realize it but all our troubles are mostly created by our wrong thoughts  and desires and deeds. Once you follow the rules laid down by Mother Nature and elders you will find life becomes very easy,simple and good.

Durga Puja'2013

According to Hindu Mythology, the Holy Trinity of Gods- Brahma, Vishnu and Shiva created the divine Goddess Durga to defeat the demon Mahisasur. Durga Puja, literally means worship of Goddess Durga is celebrated over a period of six days observed as Mahalaya, Shashthi, Maha Saptami, Maha Ashtami and Bijoya Dashami. The fastival is an extremely social and theatrical event. Drama, dance & cultural performances are widely held. Food is a huge part of festival and street stalls blossom all over the city.
On the occasion of Mahalaya, the Goddess Durga is invited to decsend to the earth. The eyes are drawn on the idols of Goddess on this day, in an auspicious ritual called Chokkhu Dann. After the idols of Goddess Durga have been installed, a ritual is performed to invoke her holy presense into them. On Shashthi, the Divine Mother arrives to the mortal world from her heavenly abode. This is the eve of the puja, accompanied by her children and unveilling the face of the idol is the main ritual. Saptami is the firts day of DURGA PUJA.
Day two begins with a recital of sanskrit hymns, as thousands of devotees offered Anjali to the Goddess. Maha Navami is the concluding the day of Durga Puja and a grand send-off is arranged for the Goddess on BIjoya Dashami.
A BHOG or lunch offering is arranged at most Pandals for the public, free of cost, during Saptami, Ashtami and Navami. In the evenings, a number of cultural programs are organised.

I've visited a pandal in Chitranjan Park, New Delhi for some real feel of Delhi's Durga Puja, hordes of happy faces dressed up in brand new clothes, the area wafting with pleasing Bengali sounds, & a lively atmosphere was there.

I enjoyed a lot.

A Quick Tip For Your Nail

Add some shimmer to your nails:

1. Apply a transparent/same color base coat on your nails.
2. Let it dry completely and then dip it in the shimmer.
3. Again apply a transparent coat over the shimmer and Let nails dry completely again.
4. Repeat this activity once again.
5. Clean the sides and you ready to dazzle with shimmer on your nails.

Smile

There's a Smile Right Under your Nose..Use It..!!

Love :)

Lord Ganesha

Ganesha — the elephant-deity riding a mouse — has become one of the commonest mnemonics for anything associated with Hinduism. This not only suggests the importance of Ganesha, but also shows how popular and pervasive this deity is in the minds of the masses.

The Lord of Success

The son of Shiva and Parvati, Ganesha has an elephantine countenance with a curved trunk and big ears, and a huge pot-bellied body of a human being. He is the Lord of success and destroyer of evils and obstacles. He is also worshipped as the god of education, knowledge, wisdom and wealth. In fact, Ganesha is one of the five prime Hindu deities (Brahma, Vishnu, Shiva and Durga being the other four) whose idolatry is glorified as the panchayatana puja.

And Now I wish to introduce my own Ganesha with you all people...here we go.....

Making of Ganesha...

And This is my colorful..Cute..Ganesha..!!!

What I Like

I Decided to add most of my own art, because it inspires me and reminds me to keep creating. You should be able to know what kind  of art you'd enjoii looking at everyday. So, yes, i will be looking at Kid's face on a daily basis...Oh Well, They're gorgeous right??

These are from My "Excuse the mess..Kids are making  Memories" series..Stay tune.. :)

Everybody  who thinks life is complicated hold up your hands.

Being Sick..just stinks.

Counts your rainbows..not your thunderstorms.

You make me smile all over my face.

L0ve :)

Don't Loose Hope!!

How cute is this little Guy? I Love him.

I've completed this yesterday night. Isn't he cute?

Yes He Is.

Well here is Thursday today and very exciting it is. So today's  challenges are:

1. Find some pretty paper.

2. Find nice pen too.

3. Write a list of five things you're believing to happen in your life.

4. Stick them to back of your bathroom door.

5. Pray over then and declare them coming to pass each day this week.

Our words are powerful. Our tongue either brings sadness or happiness. We must  guard  our mouth,what comes out of them shapes our Life/world. So let us declare the things in our heart with an attitude of true thankfulness this time. And out words of life we try  truly  see things begin to shift.

And I just saw this pic and thought it was the perfect inspiration to end today's writing.

Happy Day Ahead Everyone!!

Anger

Few years back, I decided I had enough.  I wasn’t happy with my job, my relationships kept falling apart, I was angry and resentful, and generally speaking, my life just wasn’t turning out the way I wanted.  Things weren’t going at all the way I expected life to be going, and I didn’t understand why.

I had plenty of things to blame, though.  If you would have asked me then, I would have blamed lots of people were responsible for every issues.  I might have blamed those who I thought wronged me, or the my relationship that went bad.  I might also have pinned responsibility on the way I was raised or the way I was treated by others growing up.  The one place I wasn’t pointing at was myself.

Gradually it turns out it wasn’t about laying blame or pointing at anyone for responsibility as to how I got where I was.  What I realized was that all the blame and all the responsibility just didn’t matter.  I could blame and complain all I wanted, but that wasn’t going to get me anywhere, and at this stage in my life, I really wanted to get somewhere!

So in a single moment I made a decision.  That no matter what it takes, no matter what circumstances or obstacles got in my way. I was going to turn things around.  In other words, I accepted responsibility from that moment forward, and the decision was made up in my mind, that my life was going to get better.  I remember that moment of decision as strongly and as clearly as the day I made it.  The feeling has never left.

The one big obstacle for me to overcome, which I didn’t realize back then, was that I had a difficult time believing in myself.  That part frustrated me for a long time, but eventually I was able to work on that and develop a belief in myself, which is something I see as key to taking control of your life.

I guess I had to go through it all myself in order to find my own true purpose in life which is to help others in achieving their own highest potentials.  We all have so much power within, to not only improve the quality of our lives, but to make our lives extraordinary.

Believe in yourself always and do whatever you want to do.

Up..Up..& Up

What is it about hot air balloons that are so magical? Whenever I see them in the sky, I always have the same childlike reaction. 

It doesn't matter how many times I have seen them gliding through the air, they never cease to create such a sense of awe and delight.

Floating majestically through the air, a wonderful sense of  hope and expectation arises as the sun appears, declaring the miracle of a new day.

It's funny, I always thought hot air balloons went up before dawn for the sole purpose of seeing the sunrise. This is true, however there is another reason. They need cool, stable winds to fly, and directly after sunrise is the best time for this. 

Another amazing thing is that hot air balloon pilots are not permitted to directly steer the balloon. The only thing they can determine is the height at which the balloon flies, and then.. they must let the wind do all the work. 

What a beautiful analogy this is. Sometimes our circumstances might not look right, the mountains may appear huge, everything around us might be dark and cold, and at times it may look like we can't even get off the ground; but just as hot air balloon pilots follow the guidance of the wind, things can tend to be a lot easier for us if we simply take a step back and...take a deep breathe.

Have the best day today knowing that you are amazing. And that you are equipped for every good work. So be encouraged... this is your season of soaring!

Enjoii every moment..!!