Month: July 2015

Hot air balloon at Goreme

On By Aruna TalapatraIn craftLeave a comment

Yesterday, we woke up at 4am for a hot-air balloon ride over Goreme in Cappadocia – a dreamy slice from Central Turkey. Volcanic eruptions created this surreal moonscape: the lava flows formed tuff rock, which wind and rain sculpted into sinuous valleys with curvy cliff faces and pointy fairy chimneys. Cappadocians chiselled homes in the soft rock, paving the way for cave-dwelling hippies and today’s boutique fairy-chimney hotels.

Back at the hotel, a little sleepy and tired I drew a scene on one of our trusty canvas square. After a short nap, Nadia colored it.

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Here’s the final version.

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I did not pack any paints on this trip. Nadia is missing painting a lot, she mentions it from time to time. Crayons and markers are all she can use for this trip. She is looking forward to some painting once back home 🙂

Have a great week.

Cheers,

Aruna

Weave a rug

On By Aruna TalapatraIn craftLeave a comment

Turkish carpets are hand woven in Anatolia. We saw a lot of beautiful carpets. This one that Nadia is lying on is $18,000…

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To give Nadia an idea of how a carpet is woven we did this simple craft at our hotel today afternoon, while Nayeem had a hammam appointment. I took a sheet of paper and folded it in half. Then I cut lines into the paper almost till the end. Meanwhile, Nadia cut several strips out of other colored paper.

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Once we were ready, I showed Nadia how to weave one strip. She finished up the rest.

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Here’s our finished, woven piece of carpet. It does put into perspective the effort and talent involved in producing a full size beautiful carpet doesn’t it?

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Have a great week.

Cheers,

Aruna

Dr. A. P. J. Abdul Kalam (Kalam dadu as Nadia says)

On By Aruna TalapatraIn craft, science1 Comment

My favorite quote by the great Dr. APJ Adbul Kalam – “If a country is to be corruption free and become a nation of beautiful minds, I strongly feel there are three key societal members who can make a difference. They are the father, the mother and the teacher.”

I strongly agree with this…the mother, father and the teacher are such important elements in a child’s outlook in life.

We took some time while driving to Ankara to tell Nadia a little bit about Dr. APJ Abdul Kalam. She asked – “Is he watching me from the sky now?” (reference Lion King, Mufasa). That’s what Nadia knows about death now, that people who die watch and guide us from the sky. I believe that too. I am sure in moments of quiet, we can hear them guiding us.

At the hotel in Ankara we made a small drawing as a tribute to Dr. APJ Abdul Kalam. Same as usual, I drew and Nadia colored.

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We did not have any white paint, so Nadia used toothpaste to add some white in his hair.

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Have a great week.

Cheers,

Aruna

Puppet dolls

On By Aruna TalapatraIn craftLeave a comment

A few weeks back, we started out with these puppet dolls. I drew, Nadia cut and colored. We then cut two small holes for her fingers to go through.

This week, while walking the bazaars here in Turkey we saw a lot of dolls…really cute. Back at the hotel, I drew these dolls on some index cards and Nadia colored them. I packed a few craft items for this trip (what is the world coming to :-)…crayons, paper, a pair of scissors etc.

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Here are our Turkish puppet dolls, made in Turkey.

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Have a great week.

Cheers,

Aruna

Turkish tiles

On By Aruna TalapatraIn craft2 Comments

Oh Istanbul…how gorgeous you are! We are having a great time here. Here’s a picture from our day today.

 The art of Turkish tiles and ceramics occupies a place of prominence in the history of Islamic art. Its roots can be traced at least as far back as the Uighurs of the 8th and 9th centuries.

Last week we painted a Turkish tile. I drew a design (found online) on a square of canvas and Nadia colored it.

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Here’s the final version. I am very impressed at how pretty it turned out. Good work kiddo!

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Getting introduced to the beautiful architecture and intricate, delicate designs at the beautiful blue mosque…what a great exposure for a child.

Have a great week.

Cheers,

Aruna

The Blue Mosque

On By Aruna TalapatraIn craftLeave a comment

We are leaving for Turkey today…vacation…yay! All week, we have been talking about the geography, food, people and art of Turkey.

Here’s our rendition of the whirling dervish dancer along with the blue mosque we created last night. I drew the design on a piece of canvas.

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And Nadia colored…she used markers (or sketch pens as I am used to calling them). Here she is putting her finishing touches…

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Here’s the finished version.

 

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Looking forward to some great photography while in Turkey with my Fujifilm XT1!

Have a great week.

Cheers,

Aruna

Fun with clothespins

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Nadia borrowed my clothespins today to make some cool animals. We cut out a zebra and a giraffe. Nadia colored them.

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Using clothespins for legs, the zebra and the giraffe took a walk.

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We then drew and cut a shark and a hippopotamus. Here’s the shark eating a fish…

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The hippo is getting his teeth done.

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Have a great week ahead.

Cheers,

Aruna

Paint me an airplane

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Busy evening today…swimming, dinner and then bedtime. However now Nadia is quite addicted to…as she calls it “activities”. So here’s a quick one.

We put a clothespin and 3 popsicle sticks together to create an airplane.

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Nadia then painted the wings red and the body blue.

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She only had 5 minutes to play with it, on her way to bed.

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Have a great night.

Cheers,

Aruna

Wings for a butterfly

On By Aruna TalapatraIn craftLeave a comment

What started out as a fairy ended up being a butterfly. Monday evening calls for a quick, 20 minute session. What better way to spend it, other than painting, sticking and cutting? Here’s Nadia painting a peg, which will be the body of the butterfly.

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She then cut the wings out of paper and we drew little stars on them. We also made a paper dress and stuck it around her.

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Here’s the final version. Nadia was super excited and had a cool pretend story about her cute butterfly.

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Lately, I have been keeping all of Nadia’s lovely creations stacked up in a box. Today, we re-arranged and made a special corner for it. I am so proud of her creations 🙂

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Good night.

Cheers,

Aruna