The Friday Mix ~ Sound Horn Please

Dont you just love Fridays at Colours Dekor?? Or am I pushing my luck.... *wink*.... I love Fridays... coz its the start to my weekends... A week of planning goes into the happenings of my Friday and Saturday... which lantern gets placed where... What new candle setup... I also eagerly wait for someone to blog swap with.... This week I'm blogging at Sound Horn Please.... Have you seen her blog?? Its a young, enthusiastic, for of zest and information.... blog!! I love all her posts.. and the information.. I love the fact that some posts are so so Indian... and so so Filmy or Bollywoodish... *smiles* So hop on to my new favourite blog.... Sound Horn Please... and dont forget to follow!!

Hello to all ardent Colours Dekor readers!! I am Divya and Sound Horn Please is my little space on the internet. As the point of this wonderful thread started by Patty, is to know the blogger and not just the blog better, I guess its time for some unmasking….

Name: Divya Rajan aka Sound Horn Please

Day time occupation: Management Consultant. I spend hours on the phone putting out fires, typing furiously on my smart phone or clacking away hunched over the keyboard.

Night time occupation: Blogger. Spend a few more hours hunched over the keyboard- but to make up for the greyness of my daytime hours… I blog, ogle at the eye candy uploaded by fellow bloggers and replenish my soul a little. Result: An ever burgeoning inspiration folder on my laptop and various moleskines scribbled with my DIY and ‘If I had a blank canvas….’ ideas stacked up on my night stand. I go to sleep a happier person J

Want to know more about my night time activities? Hop over to Sound Horn Please….

I believe anybody willing to kick off their shackles, needs encouragement, some PR and oodles of applause. So, I use SHP as a platform to showcase the work of young creative talent from India trying to make a go for it on their own…. Come meet artists, graphic designers, jewellery designers and even aSari designer selling their unique wares!

Living so far away from India means I love everything India- antique or retro. Blame it on nostalgia and home sickness, but a caricature of Rajanikanth on a mug tugs my heart strings right now ;)

And of course a little bit of me seeps in the form of DIYs and wares that catch my eye!

Patty, Thank you so much for giving me the opportunity to be on Colours Dekor- I’m really really honoured!

Also, a CSN Giveaway is on till Valentine’s Day at SHP- Come take a shot ;)

Here is wishing you a wonderful wonderful weekend!

The Friday Mix ~ The Design Enthusiast

Its blog swap Friday again?? wow!! Today.. I'm blog swapping with Sudha from The Design Enthusiast... I've known Sudha for a long time now.. and always admire how she makes her cozy home gorgeous.... Hop on to see for yourself!! And if you'd like to blog swap with me... email me on torresp27@hotmail.com

Hello everyone, I am Sudha and blog over The Design Enthusiast. Let me start by thanking Patty for the invitation to be a part of Colours Dekor and its wonderful family.

And now a little about me :-)....I am more into design than into decor :-). I started The Design Enthusiast to document my research on how, why and when of design- be it furniture, architecture or say a simple home utility item. I believe in green living and do my best to put serious thought into all the choices I make.

I love to grow vegetables and herbs in my tiny balcony garden (I was not lucky summer '10 though!)

Having moved four times in the last seven years, I could never buy furniture and literally lived out of a suitcase :). It is after landing in the current city we live in, that I could invest some time and money into buying basic furniture. I shop for pre-loved furniture from thrift stores and Craigslist. Working with budget, space and layout and style constraints, furnishing is always an interesting challenge. Having said that, I have bought and sold/given away furniture and that is an on going process for us :-).

This was our living room in 2009

and this in 2010

I have a few DIYs to my credit, here is one of them - A terracota bird bath and feeder. (all made from pre-used items)

Between hunting for a job and cooking, I blog @

and

as well :-). I hope to see you all stopping by my blog(s). Thanks to Patty for letting me share space on her beautiful blog. Live well and live green.

---
take care an luv

sudha

The Friday Mix ~ Papyrus

Have you been waiting for Friday??? to visit a new blog... make a new friend?? The Friday Mix today... features the very creative... Iniyaal from Papyrus... I admire people who follow their passions.. in whatever little way... so I truly admire Iniyaal... and her hand made book marks can be found in all the books I'm currently reading... If you'd like to be part of the Friday Mix, please email me on torresp27@hotmail.com

I am Iniyaal and I sell eco-friendly bookmarks and decor items. I am an engineer working full time as a Business Intelligence architect. Apart from that, I draw, paint, shoot pictures, stitch, craft, read and write. I love creating anything and everything, from aprons to greeting cards. Being lazy from as long as I can remember, creativity is an excuse that I give for keeping away from professional training in arts

My bookmarks are available at my Etsy shop, “Papyrus“, and my blog at “Papyrus ~ Handmade heaven“. Bookmarks can be interesting and artistic, both between the pages of a book and on your desk as a display item. Here is a glimpse into my li’l shop.

A tulip blooming between pages:

Decoupaged and painted Wild flowers bookmark:

Red hearts bookmark for valentines day:

#

Desk top display – Love birds and Shakespeare:

Like what you see? Peep into my Etsy shop or Papyrus for more and buy what you like.

I also blog at “Art, Beauty, Society“. It is more of a photo journal of my love for wild nature and village life. Featured here are photographic Nature trails that open the door to new discoveries and learnings. Like these beautiful tea estates.. the lure of which has led mankind to wipe out acres of massive forests.

Here comes my other big time favourite… Indian villages. Villages are a world on their own, many aspects of which are fascinating. We can happily learn a lot from rurual lifestyle and fuse it into our busy urban lives.

Wondered why villages have the largest share of happy old aged people..? A physically active, mentally peaceful and environmentally pure lifestyle is the best way to lead a long happy life like this smiling granny.

Hope you enjoyed the photos and bookmarks. Would love to see you over at Papyrus. Do drop by for a visit.

The Friday Mix ~ The Key Bunch

Hello my lovelies.... Today I am blog swapping with my oldest blogger buddy... ~ Sharon!! I love to see blogs that have
original ideas, pictures of real peoples homes, a little bit of clutter and lots
of love and character... The Key Bunch has all this and a lot more - from home tours, to DIYs, to creative ideas,
to simply 'indian' or ethnic make overs... Hop on to the Key Bunch.. I can guarantee you'll love
it.. If you'd like to blog swap with me, email me on torresp27@hotmail.com

Hi everyone! This is my very first blog swap and I am delighted that it's happening with Patty's blog, as I find her posts hugely inspirational, fun and packed with creativity!

I am Sharon, and I co-blog at The Keybunch with Rekha. Our blog began as a creative outlet - we were working together on a technically-heavy project, and needed something creative to add that balance to our lives. Those early days were fun - working out the details, choosing a name and putting our first few posts together!

I am a freelance writer, a mom to my 4 and a half year old little girl Johanna, and mom-to-be of a new little one whose ETA is sometime end of April 2011:) I live in Pune, but a bit of my heart is always in Mangalore - my hometown, and the source of one of my biggest passions - old Mangalorean architecture. They are such an obsession, that on trips there you will always find me heading out to photograph one of those old beauties. Here's a pic of one of those fab Mangalore houses!

Pic courtesy Sanath Shetty. See more pics of these lovely homes here

As you can see, my home too is quite inspired by old world Mangalore, and I hope to do more soon.

Interior design is a great outlet. I love changing things around my humble home - we moved in around 10 months back, and our home is still work-in-progress, but I enjoy the slowness of it all!

We economize a lot because we want our home to grow with us, and not be a display of expensive things. The painted lantern above is an example.

Also, when we moved in we didn't know what to do with our Godrej steel cabinet (I can see so many of you nodding your heads in agreement; yes most Indian homes have one of these monstrosities!).

I thought I would give it a simple makeover, and this is what it looks like now - still so obviously a Godrej, but with splashes of orange!

I am a huge fan of Warli, and these are some of the things around my house that profess my love for it!

At The Keybunch we love to feature creative people who have defied the odds to get where they are, interesting decor stores, art techniques, real people's homes, and our theme for the new year will be freshness, just like this bit of beach freshly washed by the evening tides.

Notice the little birds? They are enjoying the freshness too

The Keybunch has also enjoyed hosting some really successful blog parties over the last few months. We are on a sabbatical, but don't be surprised if you do hear a carnival announcement from us soon...and when that comes to you, you will join in the party, won't you?

Finally, I have to tell you that despite my interest in decor, I really think a home should be comfortable, and filled with simple things. It's the simple things that bring us joy - a calendar gifted at New Year from a loved one, a pile of books, and some bursts of color, a simple arrangement of roses leftover from an anniversary bouquet....they mean the world to me!

It's been wonderful blogging all these years and getting to know all you lovely people... and I know this appearance on Colours Dekor will put me in touch with many more of you. I look forward to connecting, and I look forward to another great year of shared decor ideas!

Don't forget to hop over to The Keybunch now to see what Pats has to say on our blog!

The Friday Mix

I simply love Fridays… as it’s my weekend!! And weekends are a great time to meet old friends or make new ones… *smiles* Hence The Friday Mix is a simple blog swap… I’m blogging at Kamini’s Saffron & Silk today and she will be blogging at Colours Dekor. Would you like to blog swap with me?? Please email me on torresp27@hotmail.com

Hi to all you blog readers! Patty here has asked me to swap blogs with her today....have never blog-swapped before, so this is a first for me, and hopefully not the last!!!!!

I don't know about you, but when I read someone's blog, I always try to picture the blogger in my head...and wish I could know more about them as a person....who they are, what they do, their family info etc etc......I feel it just makes the blog more enjoyable. So assuming you feel the same way - let's start with introductions......my name is Kamini of Saffron and Silk, I am a mother of a 30 year old and am fast approaching that ripe old age of 50 which I used to think was the "prime of life", but when I see all you young bloggers out there, I feel ancient!!!! But like they say age is only a number (I always wonder who this "they" is?), but I am digressing. Back to me. I am an Interior Designer by profession, worked in the US in the retail sector for 10 years - a little bit of boat/marine design, a lot of commercial design and the last 4 years at Starbucks Coffee Company in Seattle, designing their Southwest California stores while imbibing huge quantities of their coffee during work hours!

Here is a pic of the store I designed in Marina Del Rey in California.....

After 23 years in Seattle, I moved to India in 2006 to take care of my in-laws but do not practice design professionally any more. So after mulling it over for a few months and to fill that design void, I started this design blog about 10 months ago. It started more as a place to record things that I find beauty in, as a hobby to while away time...but it has now become an all consuming, all pervading force...I live and breathe S&S.....my schedule revolves around my blog posts and my 6' x 6' study space is my home - what I call my blog spot!!! And yes, I'll admit it, I am a obsessive nagging neat freak.........much better than I was 10 years ago, but I still have an OCD about neatness!

So when S&S isn't taking up my time, I paint! I am an artist in a continuous state of learning, and sometimes feel I will never get to that "hallowed" place where I feel I know everything there is to know about the art of painting!!!! I am fond of oil paints probably because they are so forgiving, watercolors are my biggest nemesis and dry pastels and charcoals are what I use for a quick, easy, instant gratification, afternoon painting session!

Some of my favorite artists are - Deepa Vedpathak, Vishal Misra, Vrindavan Solanki, Jiaur Rahman - whose paintings I love and try to recreate.
When I am not blogging or painting I am most probably gardening. I am also a bit of a health freak........so I am trying to grow as many organic veggies as possible in the backyard! It was downright impossible at first, but slowly things are beginning to grow. I love yoga/pilates and chances are that everyday between the hours of 5pm and 6pm I am sun salutating or pranayaming or am in some twisted asana pose in yoga class!!!

Ummmm....let's see what else? I love dogs, all breeds, all colors, all sizes, but my absolute favorite breeds are dachshunds and beagles. I have 2 daschunds, Lucy and Junglee....funny, clownish, affectionate creatures who sleep on my bed and keep my toes warm and snore all night! And as much of a neat freak that I am, I don't mind that they leave dog hair on the bed and wet paw prints on the floor!!! I have yet to figure that out...

Here is a recent pic of them in some ridiculous Santa hats!

I still dabble in design a bit, doing small fun projects for friends and a lot of unnecessary large projects at home. I love orange - orange orange, deep orange, light orange, burnt orange...anything! But lately I am feeling the pull of turquoise blue and deep pink, colors I laughed at a few years ago....?

So when I am not doing any of the above, I am probably reading or cooking, both hobbies I enjoy!

So there you have it....a little bit about me that I hope will make it more fun and enjoyable when you read my blog. Thanks Patty...this was way too much fun!

Hope you’ll hop on to Saffron & Silk… and be as inspired by Kamini as I am!! And if you want
to join the Friday Mix and blog
swap with me… email me on torresp27@hotmail.com