We’re always experimenting on new concepts / motifs for hand embroidery . Reminiscing about electronics class in college led to the idea of expressing circuit board through hand embroidery .

‘Are your products made in India ?’ asked a client recently . Assured her that ALL our products are made in this awesome country. She went on to explain that the reason for her query was that the fabrics we use and the quality of workmanship was unlike anything she had seen from India ( she sources a fair volume of products from India since the past several years).

We’re happy of course to know that the quality has been recognized and appreciated. Especially since the products in question were handcrafted. At the same time there’s a desire that India should be known for high quality. And that in the not so distant future an international buyer must look at a mediocre product and say ‘I can’t believe this was made in India - a country which produces impeccable quality’

Wishing you a magnificent year ahead !

When contemporary design , passion and traditional craft  meet - it makes for some awesome results . Like this delightful paper mache vases with mehendi designs on them.

Matsya is partnering with women artisans in Ghaziabad , Uttar Pradesh to develop products .Graphic design has been beautifully combined with traditional mehendi motifs to create unusual fusion objects of art.

For companies that truly have a vision of being global , the expansion of human minds and hearts is more than geographic expansion..A global business is a business - whether worldwide or not - that has a vision of questing toward wholeness - for itself, for the people within it, for the world at large.

Barbara Shipka

Few days ago we had to include a CD in a courier to a client . We normally buy the CD packs i.e without individual covers because the cover is normally plastic.

Inspiration and enthusiasm came together to create a CD cover from wood free paper . On which a print of the SoulQuest Tree was pasted on one side . The other side was adorned by a hand embroidered paisley. After seeing the end result we solemnly swear to always make customized CD covers.

This idea can be adapted creatively on a variety of packaging - envelopes , gift packs. You can paint them , use cut outs from magazines , add cloth cut to shapes , buttons , lace . A whole range of items in your home and office can be used for it.

Ingredients for DIY -

- desire to create something unique

- willingness to experiment

- imagination

- glue

- odds n ends

Do experiment n share your ideas with us.

Have a creative week-end

Renowned Dutch designer Richard Hutten’s Book Desk was created as part of his Layers’ furniture series, comprised of designs where the construction process remains transparent.

“A book is all about layers of meaning,” Hutten comments.  “Design is not only about beautiful forms, but also about the stories an object can tell.” The handmade limited edition furniture designs reveal traces of rough manual work.

“The title of the show, Layers, refers to the fact that each of the pieces is built in layers, each in its own way, which also has to be read as a statement, a plea for more depth in the design world,” explains the artist.

via Greenmuze

The Ocean is the underlying basis for every wave (2008)

” I create large geometric configurations from carefully folded and stacked second-hand clothing.  These structures take the form of wedges, columns, walls and enclosures, typically weighing between five hundred pounds and two tons.  Smaller pieces directly interact with the surrounding architecture.  Larger works create discrete environments.

As clothing wears, fades, stains and stretches it becomes an intimate record of our physical presence.  It traces the edge of the body, defining the boundary between the individual and the outside world.

The clothing used for these works is folded to exact dimensions and attention is paid to the ordering of the garments.  For example, the sequence can relate to the way we layer the clothing we wear or the clothing can be sorted by color, gender or by the order that it was received.  Individual components are often connected together with shirt sleeves, pant legs and belts forming bridge-like appendages.

For me, the process of folding and stacking the individual garments adds a layer of meaning to the finished piece.  When I come across a dress with a hand-sewn repair, or a coat with a name written inside the collar, the work starts to feel like a collective portrait.  As the layers of clothing accumulate, the individual garments are compressed into a single mass, a symbolic gesture that explores the conflicted space between society and the individual, between the self and the outside world.”

Superbly creative works of art by Derick Melander.