Shutter Love: Thinking of Cochin

Last November, I was in Cochin for the first time. Over the years, I’d heard so much about it, I was dying to experience it. Since I know am going back sometime soon, I didn’t lug my camera around everywhere, I wanted to actually absorb everything sans the viewfinder. Am like that about places, shy about using my camera at first brush. I prefer to see with the human eye, find something that arrests my attention, introduces me to the city, and only then think of using the camera to capture it. Sometimes, I let beautiful things go, not wanting to freeze them in time. Sometimes I regret the decision, most times am happy to have actually seen it.

The sloping roofed houses I saw on Willingdon Island warmed me up to the place. Here are two clicks I liked from my short trip to the beautiful city. Hope you like them too. Tell me, how do you like to remember a city?

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Fun Fashion

Every girl I know can relate to this one. Whenever I need to head out of the house, even if it’s just to the mall, I have to ask anyone who’s around, “What do I wear?”

But I think, someone (an exasperated boyfriend or husband?), somewhere was thinking, “What should I do so I never have to answer that.”

And thanks to this thoughtful person, we now have a nifty lil gadget. I found it on Madewell and it’s so fun, I had a complete blast for 10 minutes. What’s even better, it gives you ideas for smart casual looks that you can easily put together. So, spin it, find a look you like, go fish in your cupboard and step out in style!

Now you can get on to the next question directly, “How do I look?”

Try The Style Spinner here.

 

Infectious Creativity: Desktop Wallpapers

Hi, hope you’ve had a grand weekend. As I was catching up with my blog-trawling, I came across these delightful wallpapers by Elanor Grosch (first found on Jessica’s blog How About Orange). Elanor has 32 illustrations you can download and use here. 

Nothing like a pop of colour and infectious creativity to brighten up the week ahead, eh?

Turquoise Blue Rooms

We tend to move homes at least once a year, thanks to my husband’s line of work. Since we haven’t grown roots in one place, I avoid doing a wall treatment calls for more than putting up decals. My mantra to building a cozy nest is to use fabrics. Since we’ve mostly lived by the sea, I like bringing a bit of it into the home. You can’t go very wrong with a combination of white and turquoise, it always always brightens up spaces. I use accessories in yellows, reds, deeper blues and greens to add pops of colour.

Turquoise is one of my favourite colours, so I was looking for inspiring rooms and palettes with this colour. These interesting ones caught my attention on Pinterest. Do you find a palette here you’d like to use?

Source: thecoolhunter.net via Priyanka on Pinterest

Source: apartmenttherapy.com via Priyanka on Pinterest

Source: sasinteriors.net via Priyanka on Pinterest

 Source: cptnrin.smugmug.com via Priyanka on Pinterest

 Source: houseofturquoise.com via Priyanka on Pinterest

Source: alifesdesign.blogspot.com via Priyanka on Pinterest

Sunday Inspiration

Who needs inspiration on a Sunday right? Well, during the week we tend to get caught up with so many to-do lists, meetings, emails, school projects, pitches, and coffee-tea-smoke breaks that we forget to reflect. Reflect on what we’re doing, where we’re going and whether we are really, truly happy.

The Holstee Manifesto has inspired not just the founders of Holstee, but about 500,000 people who have shared it. Food for thought.

Photo Project – B for Bougainvillea

In continuation with my resolution to do new things everyday, I have learnt to toy around with Picasa. Until recently, I was happy with leaving pictures untouched. But editing is an addiction. I began with just brightening up the image and now am hooked!

I’ve embarked on an ambitious photo project which requires me to click pictures through the month to cover the English alphabet. I first got inspired to do this when I read about it here on Ez’s blog . However, it’s super difficult to find the time or inspiration to click an image a day, what with the crazy demands of a full-time job in advertising. So am doing a couple of letters at a time over the weekends. I don’t know if I will survive through all 26 letters. But here’s a start.

B for Bougainvillea. Orange, pink, red cascades of these abound in India and make any garden pop with colour. This is a shrub that’s on my way to the beach. I’ve been planning to click it for a while now. The first picture is mildly edited. I’ve played around a lot more with the next three, which are versions of the same click. I love the last one, it reminds me of a Japanese garden.

DIY Paper Box

I was wondering what my project for this week’s DIY mood should be, but since am still away from home, and living in a hotel, I had very little access to imaginative craft supplies. The good ole paper box my dad taught me when I was little was perfect. All you need to make this, is a square sheet of paper of your choice, a pair of scissors and some patience!

Spoiler alert: the box is pretty simple to make once you’ve got the hang of it. The multitude of images I’ve put up here shouldn’t mislead you into thinking it’s a complex project. The photos are simply here to help you follow every step in the crafting.

Start off by folding the square sheet diagonally to form a triangle. Now fold one corner of the triangle to create a smaller triangle. Press firmly along the folds to form creases. Next, open the paper, flatten it and fold it into half and finally into a square.

Push out the edges to form a triangle as shown in the first picture below. Repeat the same for the other side of the square. You will end up with a triangle as shown.

Lift one of the bottom corners of the triangle and fold across to meet the top corner. Do the same with the second bottom corner and repeat it on the other side of the paper. Once you have pressed down firmly on all the folds, pull down the free ends of the folds to as shown in the photo.

Open the folds again, to flatten the sheet of paper. Now, pick up a corner and fold across until the tip touches the dot, as shown. Do this for all four corners.

All the folding is now done, the creases formed are guidelines to craft the box. Fold the paper once again diagonally to form a triangle. Using a scissor, cut along the lines marked with crosses in the photo below. Fold across along the other diagonal and cut along lines in a similar fashion.

The next picture has dotted lines along which you will be folding your paper to finally create the box.

Insert the arrows into the slits as shown below and you have your lovely box ready! You can use it to keep your trinkets, or pack favours or simply hand out candy to kids.

You can experiment with patterns, newspaper prints or write a personal message on the box. I hope you enjoy making these for your next gifting occasion.