Use Of Paper Mache Craft For Daily Use And House Decoration

(Guest post by : Ashutosh- Owner  of online handicraft store  www.CraftsandLooms.com)

Paper mache or papier mache is an easy to make art that is used for creating daily utility products and for house decoration as well. Paper mache is created with a combination of paper, water and some other products and it is used for making various objects like house decoration products, key holders, trays, ornaments etc. Paper mache products are designed by skilled artisans with the utilization of waste paper. Vibrant colors are applied to these objects and various shapes are given. Paper mache items look beautiful and they are considered to be great gifting options. 

Some of the products which are too good for gifting :

Buddha statue made of Paper Mache

Jewellery Box made of Paper mache

Jewellery box made of Paper Mache

The artisans make sure that every paper mache item has a great finish, it looks attractive and it comprises of creative use of waste paper. The best way of buying paper mache items is buying them online.  Beautiful key holders and showpieces are available that can serve the utility purpose and they also look great in your house. Paper mache is also an environmentally friendly option for your house instead of using house decoration products made from plastics and composites.

All the paper mache products are delicate and decorative and they depict the artistic zeal and craftsmanship of the artisans. These products can also be used for house decoration for various festivals. 

The Making of Paper Mache products

 The process of making paper mache products is simple but it involves a lot of time because detailed work has to be done on these products to make them durable and beautiful. Creation of paper mache products involves two important steps : ‘sakhtsazi’ (actual production of the products) and ‘naqashi’ (the process of painting the product). The traditional Kashmiri method of making paper mache products starts with soaking waste paper in water for many days until it is disintegrated. After some days, the excess water is drained out from the soaked paper and it is mixed with rice straw, cloth and bonding agents in order to create a pulp. This mixture is then poured into a mould and it is left to set for two or three days. When the mixture is ready, it is cut into two halves and it is glued back again. After this, the base color is applied and it is ready for the artist to paint.

The designs on the paper mache products are printed with a free hand and this is the main reason why they look so explicit. Vibrant colors add to the beauty of the product. At times, metallic paint is used on the paper mache products that provides with an illuminated feel. 

Some unique designs in paper-mache

The paper mache artisans transform a wide range of utility articles into beautiful and magnificent pieces of art. You will be amazed with the way even a simple paper mache key holder adds glory to your house. Paper mache is a unique handmade product that is available at cheap prices and that provides an authentic look to your house. 

 Any handicraft lover would own at least one paper-mache product. You can buy these  online store :

Paper-Mache products

Love , laugh and live the life to the fullest,

-Ranjana

Latest saree designed- with Jamini Roy paintings prints

Now a days digital prints on cloth is a trend. The digital prints are also used in latest designs of sarees. Even I wanted to design a saree with digital prints. Fortunately I found a cloth with prints of Shri Jamini Roy's paintings.
(Shri Jamini Roy was an Indian painted. He brought new style in paintings. He followed folk style. You can read more about Shri Jamini Roy and about his paintings here. )
Here is the cloth I found.Actually  this was a salwar top. I thought with this I can design a saree. It has prints of all the famous paintings of Shri Jamini Roy. Obviously the designer in me was very excited to design a saree with this cloth.

The saree has 4-5  main colors, I had confusion to select the saree color. Anyhow I had decided to use the printed cloth with print as saree border. Mango yellow color  is very prominent , so went ahead with that color as saree. Here is my selection of cloths, Mango yellow jute cotton, and blue and green for the borders:

 

As decided , used the printed cloth as border, cut the cloth into stripes, so that each stripe covers longest print :

And attached it on the border , and on the either side attached the Blue and Green cloth along it. Here is how the saree border looks:

And here is the saree designed, worn by my Chammak challo( I have named the mannequin as Chammak Challo :))

 And the printed cloth was left out, so designed a simple blouse with that.

I liked the final outcome of this design. Hope you also liked. Any other design you can suggest me with the same kind of cloths?

Love , laugh and live the life to the fullest,

-Ranjana

Wood craft of Chittoor-Andhra Pradesh

Wood craft is very ancient craft practiced in India. Though very ancient crafts are practiced in mud (terracotta ),slowly people started using wood because of its durability. I have already shared about the Woodwork of Rajasthan and Wood craft practiced in Coastal Part of Karnataka . Both are entirely different, but both are elegant and very intricate. There are hundreds of varieties of wood work practiced in India, hope to write about all in this blog :-).
In this post sharing about the wood craft of Chittoor- Andhra Pradesh. The wood products crafted in Chittoor varies from small toy to big idols and panels. Majorly its practiced in Kalahasti.The wood required is sourced from nearby forests. The wood is soft and light, and this wood is also used to make toys like kondapalli toys.
The major distinguishing feature of the wood craft of Chottoor from the wood craft of Karnataka is the color. Here you can see the difference:

Wood craft of Karnataka

Wood craft of Chittoor

In wood craft of Chittoor ,after carving the theme on wood, its polished and painted with colors to give life to it. Here are some images of wood craft of Chittoor :

Lets start from this beautifully crafted Pacnhamukhi (5 faceds ) Ganesha Idol. 

 

 Here are some wall panels and wooden idols. You can see the perfect combination of colors have brough life into the idols.
 

 Here is a panel depicting Vishnu Kalyana ( Marriage of Lord Vishnu) , before paints applied:

 Ans , at last not the least my all time favorite idol of  Lord Shri Krishna

 May be its South India or North India, always Indian culture , arts and crafts mesmerize  me. I always love to know about all the crafts of India, also to share with you all. Keep watching this space to know more about Indian crafts.

Love , laugh and live the life to the fullest,

-Ranjana