The Ikat Deluge!

Remember my weekend in Boston? A trip down Newbury street, Boston's 5th avenue, Ikat assailed me from every display window. Every boutique had Ikat winking at me on a dress, on a cushion, on plates. I come back home and hit the treadmill and opened Elle Decor to be overwhelmed by ads for Ikat rugs and curtains.

 Clockwise from top left: Brunschwig & Fils- silk & cotton fabrics, Gucci butterfly print silk dress, Silk lampshades by Sloane, Urban Outfitters Indigo Chair, Madeline Weinrib cushion covers, Distant Boutique's Vintage Uzbek teapot, Anthropolgie bowls and Gail DeLoach capiz-shell bowl.

{Photo credit for 2010 Elle Decor pictures go to Geoffrey Sokol}

I even saw Ikat cushion covers at Target a few months ago. You know what they say about trends, its no longer haute couture if you see it in your chain stores. Well, take a walk down Manhattan's 5th avenue and Juicy Couture, Gucci, Diane Von Furstenberg et al have all gone Ikat.

Clockwise from top left: Madeline Weinrib velvet cushion covers, ABC Carpet Silk Ethos Rug, Ceylon et Cie Louis XV Style Silk-cotton Armchair, Charlotte Moss Rug for Stark Carpets, Diane Von Furstenberg's famous jersey wrap dress in Ikat, Madeline Weinrib's Silk Ikat clutches and Diane Von Furstenberg's Ikat Kindle cover for Amazon.

Elle Decor wrote an article in '2008' on the Ikat trend alert! Some images from the article below. Though not a fan of wallpapers, I loved the Ilkat wallpaper.

{Photos credit to Elle Decor 2008}

Though I love Ikat to death, it has been a serious Ikat overkill don't you think?

Aarohi Singh: Bangalore Exhibition

Aarohi doesn't need any introduction, but for those of you might have not  paid attention to the desi kitsch wave in the Indian art scene, Aarohi is on top of that wave- riding high! I woke up this morning to the email that she is having an exhibition in Bangalore and regret that I couldn't attend filled my usually happy Friday :(

So instead, I'm writing this post. SHP's B'lore readers, please do go take a peek at her colourful hand-painted baltis, kettles, center tables and trunks and take some home. And for those of you in Madras, B'lore is a 3 hour train ride and its a trip worth making! Details below!

The hot pink of the poster should give you an indication of what's in store for you ;)

For more details of the exhibition and to take a look at Aarohi's unique artwork visit her blog, Art by Aarohi.

Coyote Silver: Dipika Vijay

After 2 laptop crashes, a bout of flu and a crazy rush to fulfill Diwali orders, I present to you- Coyote Silver! Phew!

Dipika Vijay graduated from India's prestigious design school, National Institute of Design (NID) with a graduate degree in 'Lifestyle Accessory Design'. Her entrepreneurial journey started when she wore a self-designed gold neckpiece to a party and was inundated with compliments. All you aspiring designers reading this blog, most designers featured here at SHP write to me with similar stories- so own anything handmade? Flaunt it- never know on where that might lead you ;)

Dipika creates stunning gold and silver jewellery under the label 'Coyote Silver'. She sums up Coyote Silver with the words 'Flamboyant'  'Swank'   'Natkhat'   'Haba Haba'   'Wearable Art'  'Chutzpah'  'Cooler-than-thou'. Now, let me show you that the adjectives are definitely not euphemisms!

My favourite metal- Silver!

Did you know that the Latin root for Gold is Aurum meaning 'Shining Dawn'?

Love LOVE love those Jali design earrings! Don't you?

And if you still have a Diwali hangover, check out these lovely Ganesh diyas? Aren't they the right mix of tradition and modern to celebrate Diwali with?

And, if you are thinking of putting Dipika in a neat box labelled 'Jewellery Designer'... Think again! She also loves working with acrylic. Here are some of her fun coasters!

As I know a lot of you reading this blog have a thing for lotuses and Buddhas, I hope you are drooling.

Dipika also makes gorgeous stirrers, hair pins, trivets (do check out the Roti, Garam Subzi ones) and place mats. You can find them on her blog here. For prices, you can email her at coyote[dot]dipika[at]gmail[dot]com.

I have my eye (rather can't take my eyes off!) one of Dipika's lovelies- Should I? Or shouldn't I?

{Image credit to Dipika Vijay/ Coyote Silver}

Bollywood Cushions: Urban Barn

So many many times I've looked at kitschy cushion covers from some of the talented South Asians I've featured or drooled at similar features on other blogs and sighed wondering why owning one required me to either pay prohibitively for shipping or even worse wait for my next India trip to cart them back *Sigh*

So, you can understand my delight when I found these lovely Bollywood/India themed ones at Urban Barn. which is geographically at least slightly more gettable!

How about some really innovative ones made from jute rice bags? They made me think twice about throwing my rice bags out! I heart everything re-purpose-able and recyclable.

 And of course, these are 'Made in India' and carted here ;)

{Image credit for all products to Urban Barn}

India's own Wax Museum

Sorry, for being away for so long- I was down with a bout of seasonal flu :( Hope it was a great diwali for all of you- I was unable to do any diwali posts thanks to the flu. But, I'm going to go drool over the diwali pics of my fave bloggers right after this post :)

London, Paris and New York might have their Madame Tussauds, but we have our own 'Siddhagiri Gramjivan Wax Museum'! I was pleasantly surprised to discover its existence. It is located in Kaneri; near Kolhapur, Maharashtra. The museum showcases scenes of village life, and take a look at it yourself to see what a fantastic job they've done!

 

Definite drool over that basket of bangles

Village Panchayat

Bidai

Basket weavers

Don't you agree that its a fantastic job? Do visit the Museum's website for images and if in India- directions to get there.

Funk: Anisha Tolani and Roopa Udeshi

Anisha Tolani wrote to me a few weeks ago saying she wanted to surprise her business/creative partner Roopa Udeshi here at SHP. Awww... How could I refuse?!

So here goes....

Anisha and Roopa were batchmates at University and decided to go into partnership to start FUNK- an outlet for their creativity. Anisha paints canvas shoes and braids ear phones and Roopa decorates clutches, laptops and nails (and even the odd umbrella!) As we all know how difficult it is to strike out on our own, kudos to Roopa and Anisha on starting FUNK...

Some of the results of their collaboration-

Like their stuff? Hop onto their Facebook page.