Friday, February 7, 2014

5 Adorable Valentine Printables











I shall wrap up for the week with these cute valentine printables that you can download and print for free! Also, I'd like to thank you all for stopping by my blog and leaving sweet comments. I hope you enjoyed your week with me here as much as I did :) Have a great weekend!
xoxo,
Shivani

P.S.: You can join me on Bloglovin' and Facebook.

DIY: Owl Be Your Valentine Card





Laura is a London based designer who is also the author of this craft blog where she shares wonderful free tutorials, tips and tricks. She recently created this diy project that'll help you make your own "owl always love you" card that's ideal to give to your sweetheart on valentine's day or your anniversary. The card can be made using paper or felt, I personally like felt version better as it gives the flat surface more depth and dimension.

Get the step by step instructions and print the templates for making the card from here.

Owl Love You Cake Pops + Printable Tags






Valentine's day is only a week ago, and I have many more fun crafts, freebies, tutorials and recipes to share with you all. Today's first valentine-themed feature is this prefect tutorial by Karyn of Pint Sized Baker on how to make "owl love you" cake pops. It's a fun project to involve kids in assembling the star sprinkles for feet, heart candies for wings, you find the entire tutorial here. Also, there are "owl be yours" and "guess whooo loves you" tags that are free to download and to decorate your pops with.

Thursday, February 6, 2014

Cute Bento Box





Make lunch fun for your little ones with these cute bento boxes by CuteZcute. These two tier bento boxes are made with food safe material in Japan and come with an elastic strap to keep the compartments together during transport. Another great feature is the top tier that doubles as a bowl! They are available in three animal designs - owl, panda and penguin. You can pick your favorite from here.

Anthropologie: Pillows



Last night, I got lost at pillows section at Anthropologie and discovered two lovely collections. Exotic Avian collection designed by one of my favorite artists Michelle Morin comes in 3 gorgeous designs- "owl", "necks" and "stork".



Amour is by a Parisian artist Florence Balducci featuring the pillows in lovely black and white prints of owls, birds and flowers. 

Wednesday, February 5, 2014

Mister Finch - Textile Artist From a Fairytale World














Mister Finch needs no introduction, his work has been featured on many online magazines and blogs. I wrote a post on his amazing textile creatures a while ago and ever since then I've become (like many of you) an admirer of his work. When I recently visited his website for some eye candy, I came across some of his new 'fairytale creatures' constructed using recycled materials with the same unmatched intricate detailing we all recognize in his work.

"It’s a joy to hunt for things for my work…the lost, found and forgotten all have places in what I make. Most of my pieces use recycled materials, not only as an ethical statement, but I believe they add more authenticity and charm. A story sewn in, woven in."













Take a look at his portfolio for his creations and for updates on his new work, you can follow him on Facebook.

Mia Jafari


Owl Cocktail Dress from Oisea de Paradis


Owl Blouse from Oisea de Paradis


Daywatch Owl & Nightwatch Owl

Iran born fashion designer Mia Jafari is presently working from London specializes in screen printed handmade silk scarves and brightly colored dresses. Her limited edition collection Oisea de Paradis is inspired by 1950s Cartier birds of paradise brooches - is filled with exquisite birds, animals and owls. The patterns on her dresses are created by her own amazing use of the “digi-broidery” technique where Iranian embroidery is combined with her actual hand painting and digital prints. 

The above shown multicolored owl dress, owl cocktail dress, bird of paradise dress and knit wear can be found on her website.

Tuesday, February 4, 2014

Cardboard Masterpieces by Ali Golzad









Ali Golzad is an artist and designer born in Iran and is currently working from Texas. He uses discarded cardboard to create eye catching pieces that are often inspired by well-known personalities, nature, and the real world issues like hunger and war.

My choice of material, corrugated cardboard, to create bas-relief portraits of displaced children in their native habitats, reflects their unseen status. Like corrugated cardboard, the twenty million (referring to twenty million children victim of armed conflicts) are everywhere yet invisible.

I have struggled with my material to create images that are highly emotional. The three-dimensional shapes of the eyes, noses and mouths, the wrinkled clothing, and the shapes of the hands and arms, outlined with Sharpie-lines, are a result of my struggle with the cardboard to capture the empathy we would have for any enslaved people.

Before seeing Golzad's work, I would have never imagined that it's possible to make feather on an owl's body, dog-hair and face wrinkles with cardboard. I admire his art and the strong message behind each of his pieces. Visit his website to know how he started making these cardboard sculptures and to see more of his work.


Kiu from 'Invisible People'







DIY: Owl String Art



I love string art, and I was thrilled to find this tutorial by Amber on how make valentine's day owl string art. This is a creative and a super simple craft that requires only a few things - a wood plaque, paint, some nails, and string. It doesn't scream valentine's day, and is sweet enough to decorate with this holiday season or display all year round. You can find the complete tutorial and instructions with images here

Valentine's Day iPhone Wallpaper





Get these Valentine's day themed wallpapers for your iPhone now! The whimsical collection includes three cute designs - owl, bear and mice. To download the one you want and for instructions on how to save it as your desktop wallpaper click here.

Monday, February 3, 2014

Fobots: Found Object Robots



Amy Flynn is an artist from Raleigh, North Carolina  who makes 'Fobots' - found object robots from old billiard balls, faucets, blades, vintage tins, keys and handles, springs etc. 

“My first Fobot was made from junk in our basement — mainly the original doorbell to our house, built in 1920."




She hunts for the junk at flea markets, and starts mixing and matching different arms, legs, heads etc. This part can take anywhere from minutes to months to complete. She carefully solders and bolts them to give them each a unique personality. Each Fobot is numbered, with a copper plate on its back bearing the word "FOBOT".

Artist's statement: "Hallmark of my work is that every piece is a little wonky, with one eye bigger than the other, mismatched arms and legs, stuff like that. Symmetry is boring. I have a favorite quote that reads "We like our friends for their virtues, but we love them for their flaws". I think it makes my robots more endearing, more human."




If you like to learn more about her work then you can read her interview on E-junkie.com or see her Fobots that are available for purchase on her online store here.

Valentine Owl Printables













Happy February everyone! Today I have more fun valentine printables for you from a website, I just recently stumbled across, called Kids Can Have Fun. They have tons of valentine's day themed goodies for everyone in your life from daughter, son, mother, father, teachers, friends to grandparents in cute designs such as owl, hamster, monkey etc. 

I selected some of the printables to share with you here. How cute is that owl-shaped card! (at the top). Make sure you stop by their website for cards, labels, tags, note pads, coloring pages and more.