Redesigning

My husband had bought this millefiori(as a set) about a decade ago during one of his official trips to Milan. I have not worn it for long. Now I have changed the design to my liking and hope to wear it more often.

Dragon Mart.......Through the designer's eye.

Cheap Chinese stuff...thats what many  think of the place. My husband hates to go there! Distance form the city and the layout puts him off. And moreover he does not find the stuff interesting as the electronics and other hardwares and of not so good quality. Never the less you can find bargains if you have a keen eye.
Yesterday I had to get my daughter's school uniform from the newly appointed dealers. They have their warehouse just behind Dragon Mart...so after the uniform purchases were done.I had the whole day to browse the place(since my daughter is back only at 4:30) for the first time!

Some wonderful lighting for ceilings....they are real steals! And what more? You can bargain even further!

These wooden & board carves can be painted....used for paneling, cladding on various surfaces and do so much more! See how Caitlin Wilson an e-designer has used it in one of her project here(spend so much time to find this link...saw it long back).  

Image 1- design tiles for powder/bath rooms...will  surely give a luxurious look! Image 2- marble inlay for walls, floors, ceilings and even tables! Image 3- pebble and shells in resin tiles...will definitely pep up bathrooms. 

Interesting marble art for walls! Saw it in front of a marble art shop.

 Sunburst  mirrors sure to add shine to any room or foyer. Speaking of it check out  Caitlin's love for these here, here & here. In fact one of them is the same design as in her Dubai home.

Love the golden wooden brackets which I think can be used as book stoppers if not for their real use.

For green tea lovers. Chinese earthen, porcelain and cast iron tea sets. 

Beads galore! 

These masks though not in comparison with the Venetian ones, are cheap alternatives for great themed parties. The Halloween pencil props are great give aways.  

These are not from China but from Turkey. These lovely candy holders are my favorite!

Asian Popart

You must check out these Asian inspired Pop Art by Ketna Patel who resides in Singapore. She does pop on almost anything....furnitures, accessories, carpets...and so on. Her work is mostly based on simple street kitsh with a riot of colours. Her work on clothes is high end.... haute couture! You will love her work esp. her projects ...(.'Rupee Room', 'Nano' are my favorites)in her blog...over here.

All images from here.

It's South Indian tee!

Check these cool Tamil & Mallu tees from Dy/Dx. I think they are very suuuuper!

A Thousand words...

This is my contribution for Colours Dekor's new series ' A Thousand words'.

 My love for fridge magnets! Specially these ones with some great messages.....pun intended! :-D

The giraffe bookmark made by my daughter. Love collecting bookmarks as well.

 Cards exchanged between my husband & me from the time of our engagement .....; Some Tinkles & Archies from my childhood; From my grandfather's trunk....cards, account registers, stamp papers, horoscope on palm leaves and even one of his passports!

 Finally this is were all the design magazines used for reference goes.

Note: To enlarge click on the images.

It is window art this time.

Love these ladies at the window by Subhamita Dinda. Similar to one's by Santhana Krishnan's art on doors, these are more into portraits of women.

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Window Shopping....!

Oh! See what I found while window shopping! Absolutely adorable stuff from Plumo!

Treasure troves at the Blue Souq.

The Blue Souq(market/bazaar in Arabic) in Sharjah is not the traditional souqs you see in this part of the world. It is more of a shopping center mostly catering to the middle class Arab, African...Asian crowd. The building by itself is an architectural splendor. It's a good example of Islamic Architecture with beautifully designed blue tiles decorating its exteriors and so the name. I think I need to do a separate post on it in my other blog. :-)

In the souq one can find anything from clothes to electronics, gold to cosmetics...and so on. My visit was mainly for what all tourist visit the place, the antique, silver and handicrafts shops located in the first floor. Could not cover much because of lack of time but the 2-3 shops that I visited were enough to take me back again! My.... they were treasure troves in true sense! All the stuff from western & central Asia, middle east and the Indian subcontinent. The antiques were amazing! Have a look at them....

A,D- antique sculptures unearthed; C- an antique kettle; B- this looked like the tea bag box that Rajee had posted in the tea party which she hosted...here 

A&B head gears at war and at peace;C&E suzanis;D Afghani jewelry.

Silver wonders from all over!

Antique kitchen 

A&B swords as old as the Mughal era!; C&D daggers with carved ivory handles! 

A&B antique medallions; C antique Rolex and pocket watches. 

Coins from every era! Note the special silver coin with Saddam Hussain's head in pic A

A- the lovely lapis lazuli vases as tall as my daughter! B- antique gold jewelry.

      

Happy Mother's Day

Few works of the Greatest Artist of all times Leonardo Da Vinci. He was brought up by his father who took his custody soon after his birth and his mother moved on with her life else where. Maybe that is why we get to see such beautiful depictions from a person who yearned 'Mother's Love'!