‘A Leisurely Tea’ Illustrated Recipe

While the quarantine has put some restrictions, it has also opened up some blessings – the time flexibility, for instance, to make an elaborate, almost ceremonial tea for mt myself every morning! The recipe is very simple but it certainly is a soul soother amidst all the home schooling.

I have made a complete materials list (with some affiliate links) for you.

Materials:

·       Castell® 9000 Graphite Pencil Design Set – Tin of 12 – #119064

·       Goldfaber Aqua Watercolor Pencils – Tin of 48 – #114648

·       Goldfaber Color Pencils – Tin of 48 – #214748

·       Kneadable Art Eraser – Assorted Colors – #127321

·       Deluxe Water Brush – #770306

·       Creativity for Kids Connector Watercolor Set

Let’s start by looking at the ingredients.

Start with a light sketch of the ingredients using the Castell 9000 pencil 2B on watercolor paper. Nothing needs to be an exact copy of the actual object. It’s more fun to draw them in your own style.

Start coloring the elements with the Goldfaber Aqua Watercolor Pencils.

Blend the colors with a deluxe water brush.

TIP: This water brush is particularly helpful because there’s no spill risk when you are sharing table space with others as I am right now.

Dip your waterbrush in the Connector Paint of your choice and brush letter your recipe title.  

Once the colors are all dry, write the ingredient list and the recipe itself with a Goldfaber Color pencil to finish.

I hope you enjoyed today’s tutorial as much as I enjoyed creating it. Stay well and stay creative!

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A Creative Approach Podcast

Toward the end of 2018, I was interviewed by Karen Poirier-Brode for A Creative Approach Podcast. We talked about life and how it led me to where I am at in my artistic journey. Here’s the link to the page where she highlighted what stood out to her in our conversation –

48: Approaching Art Mindfully for Greater Inspiration with Mou Saha

And you can listen to the podcast episode right here –

Listen to “48: Approaching Art Mindfully for Greater Inspiration with Mou Saha” on Spreaker.

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1 Creative New Year Resolution + 5 Motivators to KEEP it!

Supplies –

The feeling of a fresh start at the beginning of a new year has us making resolutions to make changes in our lives for the better – be it giving up a habit that’s keeping us from our desired goal or building one that nudges us in the right direction little by little.

One of my resolutions this year is to use more of what I already have.

I am approaching it by going through my art supplies, sorting them in categories and taking inventory.

It’s a mixed feeling – excitement when I find something I had completely forgotten about and guilt that I had not yet used it even once so far.

I am doing this one box a day and I am seriously surprised to see that so much of the bulk I had been holding on to is just empty packaging that I simply never took a little time to discard!!!
Yes, the recycle bin has been packed with my flattened boxes the last couple of weeks.

And I am breathing happy in the space that this has opened up and beaming at the new possibilities!

To make my resolution fun to stick to (because we all know that I’ll not do it if it gets boring!), I have connected it with my hand-lettering practice as you can see in the image above.

This way I am –

  • Improving my hand-lettering
  • Getting organized
  • Saving time and sanity by not having to rummage through everything for forever to find ONE thing!
  • Spending wisely by not buying duplicates of what I already have so I can get new things when I want
  • Finding bliss in knowing I am using and enjoying what I have – this feeling is PRICELESS, I tell ya!

Please share your 2019 resolutions and any tips on keeping them throughout the year! You can do so by leaving me a comment to this post.

On a completely different note…
Life Book  extended its Early Bird Discount code till January 14thYou can still save 20% with code LOVEBOMB2019.
Joining a year-long self-paced art course, like Life Book or Wanderlust, sure would be a FUN way to use up some of your art supplies this year, don’t you think?

Because, let’s face it, getting more art supplies IS NOT THE SAME AS making more art.

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Blog Series – Summer Art Journaling June Inspiration Day 5

Welcome to the 5th and final day of my Blog Series – Summer Art Journaling June Inspiration. I am sharing an image of my art journal page, my thoughts behind the page and my supply list.

Sometimes I wish for wings so I can soar above to get a 360 degree view of the bigger picture… I think that would give me a better perspective of me in the context of everything and save me the heartache of realizing too late that all along I HAD ALL I NEEDED INSIDE OF ME.

Supplies*:

Sizzix Bigz Die w/Texture Fades – Layered Dragonfly

Faber-Castell Design Memory Craft Gelatos Mix and Match Set – Iridescents

Faber-Castell Design Memory Craft PITT Artist Pens Lettering Set – Modern

Faber-Castell Design Memory Craft Stamper’s Big Brush Pen – BLACK

Faber-Castell Design Memory Craft Texture Luxe Texture Paste – Gold

Faber-Castell Design Memory Craft Gel Medium

Faber-Castell Design Memory Craft Gesso

Faber-Castell Design Memory Craft Whipped Spackle

Faber-Castell Design Memory Craft Mixed Media Stencils – Graphics

Tim Holtz Idea-ology Big Chat Spiral Bound Sticker Book

Other: Watercolor paper, paint brush, water cup, paper towel, cardboard, fabric, plastic, sewing machine, thread

*Some are affiliate links. All contents, words and images are copyright of Mou Saha.

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Blog Series – Summer Art Journaling June Inspiration Day 4

Welcome to my Blog Series – Summer Art Journaling June Inspiration Day 4. I am sharing an image of my art journal page, my thoughts behind the page and my supply list.

Sometimes, on the surface, things look the same old, same old. But nothing could be farther from the truth than thinking that things are static. There’s a transformation happening far beneath the surface. It just hasn’t manifested itself yet. Sometimes, you need to dive deeper to get a glimpse of the mystery that will manifest someday.

Supplies*:

Sizzix Bigz Die – Sand & Sea

Faber-Castell Design Memory Craft Gelatos Mix and Match Set

Iridescents

Manhattan

Faber-Castell Design Memory Craft PITT Artist Pens Lettering Set – Mandala Art

Faber-Castell Design Memory Craft Stamper’s Big Brush Pen – BLACK

Faber-Castell Design Memory Craft Gel Medium 

Faber-Castell Design Memory Craft Gesso

Faber-Castell Design Memory Craft Whipped Spackle

Other: Watercolor paper, paint brush, water cup, paper towel, sewing machine, thread

*Some are affiliate links. All contents, words and images are copyright of Mou Saha.

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Blog Series – Summer Art Journaling June Inspiration Day 3

Welcome to my Blog Series – Summer Art Journaling June Inspiration Day 3. I am sharing an image of my art journal page, my thoughts behind the page and my supply list.

Sometimes, I’m simply physically tired because ‘artist’ is not my only role in life. I’m a mother and a wife among other things, each of which is demanding and fulfilling in it’s own way. At times, when I really want to drop everything and create, I still have to do laundry, dishes, make lunches, clean up after the dog, offer emotional support to my teenage daughter, hear my tween son vent about unfairness and push my three-year-old in the swing. All of these make me who I am AND contribute to my art. It has taught me to cherish the most valuable thing – TIME – with others and with self.

Supplies*:

Sizzix Bigz Die – Tea Time

Faber-Castell Design Memory Craft Gelatos Mix and Match Set Iridescents

Faber-Castell Design Memory Craft PITT Artist Pens Lettering Set – Modern

Primary

Faber-Castell Design Memory Craft Stamper’s Big Brush Pen – BLACK

Faber-Castell Design Memory Craft Gel Medium

Faber-Castell Design Memory Craft Gesso

Other: Watercolor paper, paint brush, water cup, paper towel, sewing machine thread

*Some are affiliate links. All contents, words and images are copyright of Mou Saha.

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Blog Series – Summer Art Journaling June Inspiration Day 1

Welcome to my Blog Series – Summer Art Journaling June Inspiration Day 1. I am sharing an image of my art journal page, my thoughts behind the page and my supply list.

Sometimes for me, creativity flows in abundance and sometimes it’s a tiny trickle. Whatever it is, I have learned to embrace it and wait for the next tide to come in. 

Supplies*:

Sizzix Bigz Die – Pipeline

Faber-Castell Design Memory Craft Gelatos Mix and Match Set

Metallics 

Iridescents

Faber-Castell Design Memory Craft Texture Luxe Texture Paste – Gold

Faber-Castell Design Memory Craft Gel Medium

Faber-Castell Design Memory Craft PITT Artist Pens Lettering Set – Modern 

Faber-Castell Design Memory Craft Stamper’s Big White Pen

Other: Watercolor paper, paint brush, water cup, paper towel

*Some are affiliate links. All contents, words and images are copyright of Mou Saha.

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Where there’s a will…

Toward the end of 2017, I got an email from Jamie Ridler and Meghan Genge. They had a wonderful plan. They were reaching out to artists to send encouragement to fellow artists who sometimes lose their way (don’t we all?). These notes of encouragement were to be send as emails at no cost to anyone who signed up. It was called Love Letters from Trail Makers and I was invited to create a Love Letter.

Jamie and I came to know each other after my first Creativebug Facebook Live class and she interviewed me for her podcast Creative Living with Jamie. When this invitation came, I didn’t know what to say in words. I wondered what would I tell myself when I get stuck. So I created a visual message: Trust your imagination! When I started creating this blog post about my location sketching, I began to think that maybe my story could make sense to someone and encourage her or him to hang in there, creatively speaking. Mine is an everyday kinda story of a girl who grew up in a traditional Indian family, fulfilling her parents’ expectations and then her husband’s and all along remained attached to a simple hobby of drawing which no one took seriously. Read on and maybe you’ll resonate.

There was a time when I was about 8 or 9 and I drew everything in sight in my homemade sketchbooks. No blank piece of paper was safe if I could get my hands on a pencil, pen or any mark making device! I was not shy and I had no care about what other people thought of my drawings. People carried cameras and I carried my sketchbooks. I sat and I drew. Hours would pass by and I would keep filling the pages of my drawing books.

Then there was the time when I was 13 or 14 and I was shy to sit and draw in public. I restricted myself to drawing what I could see through the windows and balcony of our flat in the city. That shyness evaporated when I visited my grandma in the country and the change of scene was invigorating. My aunt would complain to my mom that I brought with me so few clothes. There was no space in the suitcase after I filled it with all the drawing paper I could fit.

As time went on, life got busier and busier. In my 20s, it was no longer possible to set time aside for reading, sketching and the like. It was not possible to keep drawing without making all the new people in my life – my husband, in-laws, new friends through my husband feel downright ignored. And then bags had to be packed with diapers, several changes of baby clothing, food and more. There was no more space for sketchbooks. Life had expanded in fascinating ways and even though there was no time to sketch, the amazing experiences were marinating inside while waiting to find the thread back to the surface.

Before long, the babies grew up to be children and there were many commutes to places for them to learn to swim, dance, do martial arts, make things in STEM club and there was waiting. It was BEAUTIFUL – pockets of time that were solely mine on most days and right there was the other end of that lost thread. As I packed for the kids, I packed a bag for myself as well with just the basics – a journal, a pen and a water bottle.

As travel became a requirement for my work, I took a sketchbook along and I drew at the airport, on the plane, in the taxi, on the go. I narrowed my essentials down to a no-objection-from-anyone-content-and-size and I resumed sketching on location, aware and unaware of my surroundings at the same time.

I take my time to draw. I don’t always finish on location. I take pictures with my phone for reference if I have to. But I carry on. When I can, I listen to audio books while I sketch. I try to find ways to do all the things that I can’t not do without neglecting everything I must do.

And I don’t judge myself. Or compare with others. They are where they are and I am where I am. That is that.

Some drawings turn out okay, many don’t. I am happy for doing it. And that in itself feels like a gift – the gift of creative expression.

Here are some sketches I did on location.

If you resonate with my story or feel that it inspired you in any way, leave me a comment.

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New Coloring Book: At the Beach

When we lived in Florida, I didn’t think I could miss summer… ever! But when we moved north, I found cold weather for most of the year. Even though we have pretty beaches here too, the drive is longer and the water much colder. All of a sudden summer days and our trips to the beaches became a lot more precious to me. 

As I washed sand off the beach toys, I felt that soon this summer too will be a thing of the past and we can only hold on to its memories. And I wanted to re-live these moments and cherish the fond memories we made. To do so, I compiled my drawings inspired by our beach vacations – things we saw, things we shopped for, things we did, and created a coloring book named At the Beach
 
At the Beach is a printable coloring book of fond beach memories. It includes a fun collection of 30 hand-drawn images that bring back memories of carefree sun-soothed, surf-soaked beach vacations. Plus, there’s a bonus section of inspiration to help you bring the black-and-white pen drawings to life in full color!

In this coloring book, you’ll find cute flip flops, stylish swimsuits, the dyed woven straw beach bag with raffia fringes which we ended up not buying as it wasn’t big enough, the rose colored sun glasses I bought at St. Maarten and many more. At the Beach will surely help you re-live YOUR beach vacations and enjoy the special summer memories a while longer.

I’ll email you the printable PDF within 24 hours of purchase. No shipping fee, no waiting for the mail to step into coloring bliss!

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