On a beautiful paper trail...

One of the many interesting things I found in Jaipur was a wonderful source for hand-made paper. Today I will take you along on an interesting journey of paper that begins with this sack of waste trimmings from the hosiery industry...

...which undergoes a process of shredding+bleaching+dyeing...resulting in this wonderful slush all ready to start its new life as paper...

...but only after the slush  has been flattened out into sheets...

Rolled over to squeeze out extra moisture...

...and further dried by inserting a layer of voile fabric between every two layers of what would soon be ...paper...

...which is then passed through a paper press...

..so it comes out all flat and nice...

..ready to be sorted...

...and stacked up for further processing...

...which is sometimes in the form of screen printing...

 

...to make some beautifully patterned paper ready to be used just like that...or...

...crafted into anything from stationery to bags to lampshades to boxes ( i heard they make curtains too!!)...the possibilties limited only by one's own imagination...

...did I mention boxes?...yes some utterly gorgeous boxes...

...gloriously tree-free and consequently guilt-free beauties ...

 

Easy on the conscience and surely something to make the mother earth smile!! I'll be sharing some more tree-free paper goodies very soon. Have a lovely day!

all images maison marigold

Back home with some amazing finds...

After spending over a week in Jaipur it felt good to be back home. As is obvious, my plan to post regularly during the holiday went kaput ...blame it on the heat..When you spend a couple of hours  in the warehouses and factories with no air conditioning with the mercury averaging 45°C (113°F) outside..you are pretty much gone for the rest of the day..and that is exactly what was happening to me every other day in Jaipur. But I came back loaded with so many goodies that it made all the toiling absolutely worthwhile.

Today I'll share two of my favourite finds from last week...both hand-made!

First, this black marble bowl... carved out of a single block of stone..by a pair of extremely talented hands ..chipping away diligently and artistically..to create this absolute stunner of a piece...

The symmetery of the curves is  breathtaking and believe me when I say that these images don't do it justice...

At 14 inches in diameter and 5 inches deep..it would be the perfect centre- piece for my dining table...

Finally managed to get a picture of the bowl (a full day after posting about it) that best showcases its fabulous form!!

The second find- something I had been looking for well over a year now..an inlaid mirror...and imagine my surprise and delight when I found just the thing...in a beautiful shade of blue...and the best part is that not only did I find the mirror but also a wonderful supplier who would do any inlay design  in custom colors for me..the possibilities make me giddy!!!

A close-up shot of the intricate inlay work...

I'll be sharing the rest of my finds in the next couple of days. Stay tuned..as these are some of the things that I want to make available to all my readers and visitors very soon!!

all images maison marigold

Jaipur- that palace and those bangles...

Weather has been less than kind ever since we stepped foot in Jaipur on monday... with the mercury hovering around 48 degrees Celsius (118 F)..keeping us strictly indoors. Today, however, I decided to brave the heat and venture out for some business-related sourcing as well as some retail therapy...I was sensible enough to wait until six in the evening and by then a few stray drops of rain had also brought with them a faint hope of cooler weather( 'relatively' speaking)...

We drove past the 'Hawa Mahal'...the beautiful 'Palace of winds' ...on our way to my suppliers and even though I have driven past this monument countless number of times in the past it never fails to catch my eye..to me no other building in Jaipur is quite as representative of its title of the 'Pink City'...

After I was through with my meetings..I took my daughter through the numerous lanes and bylanes of the walled city to a non-descript street lined with shops teeming with bangles in every possible color...

Their narrow shelves lined with stack upon stack of gorgeous lac bangles in every hue imaginable...from the soft pastels....

To the brighter deeper pinks, blues, reds and greens...

 

Partially wrapped in old newspapers and journals to give a glimpse of the beauties while keeping the stacks together...

The rainbow colors of the bangles echoing the colored glass in the 'Hawa Mahal' jharokhas( windows) which were lit up when we drove past it again on our way back home...

Some of our spoils of the day...

Something simple and modern for me...

..and some sparklers for Meyha...afterall every little girl must have some glitter...

all images maison marigold

Why don't you...

via icanread


Here's wishing you all a weekend of ' finding magic in the mundane'..simple pleasures, lots of happiness and great memories !!

PS: I am off to Jaipur tomorrow for a week...I'll continue to post regularly..though now with a dash of Pink (city) !!