Colorful and Amazing India!

My husband and I recently returned from a life changing trip to Jaipur, India. 

We went on an Arts and Crafts journey with Craftours and met some amazing people! I wanted to share a bit here with all of you. 

Would we go back to India? That would be a resounding YES!!

This is my all time favorite photo and experience while I was in India - meeting all of these beautiful people in a small village outside of Jaipur!

NOTE: 

LOTS of photos, so get yourself a cup of Masala Chai and sit back and enjoy!

TEXTILES!

 We went to this awesome place and learned how to do Kantha embroidery. I have finished my piece and plan to turn it into a pillow. 

These are my two helpers who showed me how to do the embroidery.

BLOCK PRINTING!

This gentleman made me a couple of small elephant prints in two colors.

Can you imagine having all of these blocks for printing? 

Printing with mud and sawdust...

Indigo dyeing...

Gorgeous prints...

I was amazed at how they did these overall prints.

He is carving a wood block...

And here is the one I printed!

PAPER!

We visited a paper factory...

Look, they made my color!!

RANGOLI!

We learned how to paint with colored sand, rice and flowers! 

I LOVE the colors!!!

Here is my practice one - it only looks "good" where I used a stencil, the rest looked like a preschooler did it, LOL!

We visited an orphanage and I fell in love with these beautiful children! The boy in red painted this and all of them are so proud of him!!

THREAD JEWELRY!

We learned how to make necklaces with threads, holding one end wrapped around our big toes!

Look - I did it!

JEWELRY/GEM CUTTING!

CARPET WEAVING!

POTTERY!

We each got to paint a piece, they glazed and fired them overnight and brought them to the hotel.

For you mixed media fans out there, yes that is Gwen LaFleur! I was thrilled to meet her in person!!

HENNA PAINTING!

THIS!! This has been on my bucket list and I was so excited to finally do this! The artist was amazingly talented - love it!!

This is how it looks after the henna flakes off.

CLOTHING!

This gentleman helped us to choose our fabrics and clothing styles. Tailors work overnight to make your outfit and bring it to the hotel the next night - I was amazed!

Michael's new shirt, and my silk outfit. ( I also got a cotton outfit)

I had the pleasure of chatting with this young lady each day at our hotel about life in India.

FLOWERS!

Gorgeous marigold necklaces for the day we rode the elephants.

I was drawn to India by the beautiful colors and I was not disappointed. 

After I got home, this is the collage I made inspired by colors and textures I experienced on my awesome journey. You can read more about it here.

Artist Trading Cards Inspired by India

I've been working on some ATC's for a Christmas Ornament exchange with some art friends, and I knew I wanted to use some of my wood block prints I brought back from my trip to India. I also ordered some fabulous India inspired mixed media items from Gwen LaFluer that are just perfect for these, including the sari silk ribbon to hang them from the tree!

First, let me share a few photos from my adventure to India this fall, so you can see where I am getting some of my inspiration. I fell in love with the country and people and highly recommend that you go if the chance arises!

   

   

      

    

COLOR! GLORIOUS COLOR!!

I started out with deli paper, my gelli plate, blue, orange and gold paints, and started printing patterns with my block prints. I tried ink with the blocks, but found that my DecoArt premium acrylics work beautifully to get a nice print. 

I mixed gold in with the orange and blue to get a nice metallic sheen.

I started with a layer of gold on the hardboard ATC's on both sides.

Next, I cut out designs from the deli paper and adhered them with the DecouPage.

I rubbed gold paint around the edges mainly, on both the back and front.

Then, I had so much fun going through the gorgeous ribbons and baubles from India! I also cut out and added peacock feathers that my order from Gwen was wrapped up in.

Fronts...

Backs....

I am hoping all that glitter really picks up the lights on the Christmas tree. 

Thanks for stopping by!!

Maura