Mandalas for relaxation

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Mandalas, meaning “circles” in Sanskrit, are known to boost the immune system, by reducing the stress, activating the brain stem, imaginative thinking and connecting with our emotions.

How emotions are linked to Mandala?

I always used to think that Mandala is very complex as it has so many concentric circles and the precision while drawing should be followed. I was so hesitant at the beginning to give it a try as I had assumed that this will induce stress instead of relaxation. When I started drawing patterns and colouring them with different shades of black, I realised that I could create patterns using strokes and it was really satisfying.

Your mood decides the pattern and how intricate the design is. The Mandala art internalises the unconscious emotions within us.

If you observe further, Mandalas go from the centre outwards. The colors and shapes indicate our sub-conscious thinking. Thereby, we are connecting with ourselves, rebuilding and freeing us from inhibitions.

My daughter and I recently started creating a few Mandala designs of our own. Thus far, it has been a very relaxing and refreshing activity during these prolonged periods of being at home.

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Try it out and share your thoughts 🙂

Regards,

Sriranjini

Spread Good Vibes

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Hello all,

Trust this finds you and your loved ones safe and healthy.

Neurological studies emphasize the magic of 21 days – repeating a routine for 21 days makes it a habit; well, repeating the same routine for 90 days makes it a permanent habit. With close to 3 months of staying at home, I am certain everyone would have developed some “new” positive habits and routines, that otherwise wouldn’t have been possible – be it exercising or doing yoga in the morning or just sipping hot coffee with a book in the evening. I can think of one habit that has silently crept in to all our lives (definitely mine) – hope. The hope that the pandemic situation will improve and life will approach “normal”.

A famous leader once said – “Everything that is done in the world is done by hope”.

I would like to express my gratitude to our community helpers, without whose sacrifice and tireless work, we would not have been able to fight this pandemic.

With hope, gratitude and prayers, here is a typography that I quilled during the lockdown to “Spread Good Vibes”

Thanks for your support.

– Sriranjini

Beautiful Quilling

I developed a penchant for quilled jewellery and learnt several ideas from this wonderful book – “Beautiful Quilling”(Step-by-Step) by Diane Boden-Crane (Author), Judy Cardinal (Author), Jane Jenkins (Author), Janet Wilson(Author), Diane Crane (Author). My heartfelt thanks to them 🙂

The patterns are very good and lots of pictures that clearly explain the concept. The templates for the patterns are very helpful and come in handy when we have to make the cards in short notice.

I make birthday cards to be handed over by my kids when they attend their friends’ birthday parties. I quill these cards based on their friends’ interests and my kids write a few lines about their friends. This makes my children feel good when giving and for their friends when receiving.

 

Quilling workshop at Snehadhara foundation

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The workshop was fun-filled and packed with loads of creativity among the kids and adults. The newspaper quilled craft was introduced to the group. The session started with warm-up songs and introducing newspaper as the main medium for the craft.

The kids with special needs understood the concept of rolling the paper and tried rolling the newspaper to strips. It was wonderful to see the excitement and the focus that they exhibited while learning the technique. It was not easy for them to do on their own initially but with support they were able to roll the newspaper into strips. 

When the rolled strips were handed over to them and were asked of them to shape into coils, some were able to do it on their own while the others accomplished it with some support. The creativity that the support group and rest of the regular children showed was mind-blowing. These kids were asked to roll out different shapes from the newspaper strips and glue together to form an artefact. Hairband, necklace, anklet, binocular, spectacles, table coasters,  face, kumkum holder, chariot etc. were created out of newspaper quilling.

pipilika session

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The group was so fascinated about their own creations and with regular practice their motor skills will improve further and they will be able to create different artefacts by combining different shaped quilled coils.  

 

Happy Diwali

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Diwali or Deepavali is the Hindu festival of lights. Diwali is traditionally celebrated by lighting diyas and candles, praying to Goddess Lakshmi and Lord Ganesha, bursting crackers and meeting friends and family to exchange Diwali greetings and gifts.

The quilling of the candle light holder, the bird shaped holder and the Ganesha were completed using newspaper/magazines.

Newspaper quilled candle holder:

Collage_Newspaper quilling

Newspaper quilled bird shaped holder:

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Jewellery adds beauty to the festivities and hence the quilled Jhumka.

Newspaper_Bird

Here’s hoping that the divine lights of Diwali bring peace, prosperity and good health.

Happy Diwali !!!

Diwali_wishes1

The current month theme in IQCG is Festive/Holiday. I have posted the above creations for your inspiration.

IQCG Challenge#41

Create anything with Festive/ Holiday theme – it may be colours or anything that fits the theme and add quilling to your project.
Pls follow the guidelines/challenges rules as mentioned in the link.
Happy Quilling!