Illustration Friday: Heights

My Entry for this week's Illustration Friday challenge: "Heights".

 I did this painting with watercolors on white paper and added

 the dark blue sky digitally in Photoshop for the art print.
*This print is now available in my Etsy shop.

Sketchbook

 

Sketchbook time! Here are some new pages from my sketchbook, inspired by childhood nostalgia:

 The cat on top is the character of a cartoon called "Flower Stories" that we used to watch when

we were kids. (Thanks to my lovely sis Azadeh for the link ♥)

 The stamp on top right corner is the cover of a TinTin book in Japanese! How cute is that!

Although we used to read them in Persian ;) I was in love with all of TinTin stories.

They still bring back sweet childhood memories.

Two new prints in the shop

I finally added the print of these two watercolor birdies to my Etsy shop.

I used a piece of fabric for the mat of the tattooed bird.

Love the texture and delicate contrast with the white paper.

Hope you have a lovely weekend ♥

My ceramic collection

I have collected a lot of small ceramic dishes during years.

 Many of them were gifts and some I bought myself.

 I use them for storing small objects and for taking my jewelry photos.

 Some of these are made in Japan, some made in China

 and a few are from Iran.

You are my sunshine

Here is the finished painting. I did this illustration on white watercolor paper and added the
 grey background digitally in Photoshop.

   {    8.5x11"   }

Archival print of this illustration is available for purchase in my Etsy shop.

Work in progress

A new watercolor painting that I'm working on today. 

Hope you're having a lovely Easter weekend  ♥

How to hollow out eggs

I always hollow out my eggs so I can treasure them for many years.

There is a very good tutorial here in eHow website that you can refer to.

I prefer to insert in the needle just about 5mm in the shell and not more to

prevent the shell from cracking. I make a few more holes very close to the

first one to create a larger hole and I repeat the process for the other end of the egg.

Blow the egg out as this tutorial says.

Or if you have a rubber ear syringe just do as Martha Stewart.

Make some colorful water with food coloring and a bit of vinegar.

I have used this recipe from Martha Stewart.

for a perfect submerge and to prevent your eggs from floating on the surface you need to

fill them with water. I used a medical syringe myself.

The best way to dry the eggs is to make a drying rack like this.

Voilà! Now you have perfectly dyed eggs!

Quail eggs

Yesterday I dyed some little quail eggs.

The eggs are tiny and cute and fit perfectly in my little bird nest.

Here they usually sell these eggs in Asian supermarkets.

~

*The big feather was sent by my lovely friend Montse, from Mexico! xo

I'll show you some photos from the dying process in the next post, so...stay tuned!

My precious grandma

Happy Persian New Year everyone.

I'm a bit late because my precious grandma passed away a few hours before the new year.

I miss her so much but I'm sure she's in a better place now.

Spring is now here and I get to meet my old friends again.

They all sing very cute songs and I can't tell which one sings better!

Never give up!

I had started painting this illustration some time in September and

at that time my health situation was so bad that I left it unfinished.

I originally wanted to encourage myself with this quote "Never give up".

And now I really believe in it.

I just finished it last weekend :o)

~

Watercolor and colored pencils on 8.5" x 11" Hot-Pressed Fabriano paper

I asked my husband Suma to take a photo of me next to a table lamp.

It helped me with the lighting of the illustration!

You can purchase the archival print of this illustration in my Etsy print shop!

Instagram

A while ago my sister told me about a cool photo sharing application called "Instagram",

and since then, I'm hooked!

It has lovely filters and crops your images into a square shape, like Polaroid photos.

It's compatible with iPhone, iPad and iPod Touch.

Here are some of my Instagram photos.

You can follow me here too!

Happiness Apple

I bought this apple from a Chinese supermarket in Toronto called "Hong Tai".

I have no idea how they created the Chinese word effect on the fruit?

Maybe with a sticker and exposure to sunlight? Do have any ideas?

I am not a big fan of apples, but this one was extremely delicious it changed my

mind about apples! I asked my husband Suma to ask his Chinese colleagues about

the word on the apple and they said it means "Happiness"! So sweet!

Ring holder

This is how I organize my rings using an over sized

pincushion and some vintage decorative pins.

~

This pretty peach pincushion is handmade by my talented friend Ginny.

She is a ceramic artist and makes adorable fruit pincushions too.

You can visit her pretty shop here.

The cute piggy pins are from an Etsy vintage shop called "EverySkimo"

which is always filled with eye-candy.

Hope you have a lovely day dear friends ♥

Happy Chinese New Year

Happy Chinese New Year everyone!

I hope year of the dragon brings you happiness, health and all the good things!

Here in Toronto you'll see pretty Asian lanterns and New Year greetings everywhere.

I love how multicultural this city is.

I've used:

Sakura Micron 005 in black

HB pencil

colored pencils

watercolors . Gold gouache

Stamp

Some persimmon beads I've made for earrings

&

My beloved persimmon teapot

New babies in my garden

A few new succulents are added to my windowsill garden.

Today is very cold in Toronto (Now it's -15°C)

Can you see the frost on the window?

This one looks so pretty from the top :)

And I love the gorgeous color of this one very much!

Sketchbook

New pages of my sketchbook.

Inspired by Chiquita fruit label

&

Persian fish tiles.

~

I have my own Persian fish tile, I bought it a few years ago
from Tirgan Iranian Festival in Toronto.

Merry Christmas

This time my sketchbook is inspired by the Christmas season.

...

~

Wishing all of you a very joyous Christmas!!

Big hugs!
♥

Tattoo!

Sweet Bianca from Brazil has tattooed my "Invisible Crown" illustration.

Isn't it cute?

♥

I also wanted to thank you for all the lovely comments that you've left
for the two previous posts. I really enjoyed reading about your favorite
fruits, and I'm going to find the recommended ones,
of course if I can find them in Toronto :D

Heart shaped fruit

A few days ago I found this cute heart shaped fruit that I had never seen before!

I fell in love with its cuteness and unique texture.

It's called "Cherimoya".

It has a velvety and very delicate flesh inside with big and hard seeds

and so sweet and yummy!

I want to grow the seeds, but the seeds may not like the cold weather of Canada,

But it's worth trying!

~

What are your favorite fruits?