Let it snow

Too early to be thinking about snow? I know! For the past few days I have been working on some holiday themed illustrations and thus the festive mood! It all stared with the Santa Claus illustration (I talked about it here) and now I have ornaments, cardinals, sledges and snowmen occupying my mind. 

Believe it or not, Christmas is lurking round the corner :)

Let it snow, available for purchase here.

Apples

Whoo-hoo! It's apple picking season! At the beginning of fall, Tarun and I like to pack a picnic lunch and head out for some apple-picking mayhem at our favorite Orchard. While we wait for the hay ride to arrive we browse through the shops, sample their fall deserts and drink lots of apple cider (what can I say, Linvilla has the best Cider around!). Once into the orchard we savor the fall sunshine, smell the wildflowers and fill our buckets with perfectly ripened apples. There is something heavenly about biting into a ripe apple plucked straight from the tree!

Once home we look forward to drinking lots of fresh pressed Apple Ginger Juice. Here is my favorite recipe.

Do you love apple picking? What do you do with all your apple loot?  

Apples, available for purchase here. 

The Debonair Lion

Hello everyone! I'm so excited to share today's illustration with you all!! It's a very handsome Lion - all dressed up and ready for a night out. 

It all started a few days ago at the mall. While walking out of the food court I crossed paths with a gentleman with the most gorgeous beard and moustache! He was a cross between Santa (because of his snow white beard and moustache)  and Lion ( because of his piercing eyes and walk). We walked away in different directions but his face stayed with me, metamorphosing from a human to a human like lion to a serious Santa Claus. Needless to say I couldn't focus on anything else that day. 

I started working on both the Lion and Santa versions that evening. I finished the lion first and the serious Santa should be done in a day or so too!

What do you think?

The Debonair Lion, available for purchase here.

Onions

Happy almost October! How are you all on this beautiful day? I'm taking in the beautiful beginnings of fall and enjoying working on new series of illustrations. Remember the Get going Illustration? I'm working on a bunch of illustrations along the same lines. I love working with messages :)

The other day, while chopping onions for Pulao (a rice dish) I found some bulbs that were sprouting. It happens ever so often. I get a bag from the store and before I can use them all, some would start sprouting these cute little green spikes. I usually just cut the spikes out and use the onion. This time however, I gathered the sprouting onions and headed towards my desk to draw. I'm pleased with how it turned out.

Onions, available for purchase here.

I hope your weekend is full of fun and laughter : )

Trust the wisdom of the heart

Sorry for the prolonged absence. It's been a busy week! Every spare moment was spent doing -back from vacation stuff-  cleaning, laundry, ironing, restocking the fridge & pantry. 

Now to today's illustration - As you can see, I love incorporating positive and encouraging messages in my illustrations. This wisdom of the heart message came from a Yogi Tea bag - all yogi teas comes with little nuggets of wisdom (See another related illustration I did a while back here). I think we all could use a gentle reminder to listen to our hearts.  

I hope you all have a fabulous weekend! We are going to stay in as much as we can, enjoy the rain and relax.

Trust the wisdom of the heart, available for purchase here.

Snow globe - Je T'aime

I have something magical to share with you today - A Snow Globe! Like most people I love holding the Snow Globe - with it's own tiny universe - in my hand and shaking it up to watch the snow flakes drift down in a elegant dance to an unseen rhythm. There is something very peaceful almost idyllic about it.  

I drew this Snow Globe in a bright yellow base with a Je T'aime ('I love you' in french) inscribed on it and a little bunny (holding a snow drop) inside it.  I put a little bunny in coz I missed Bunny Bee so much during our vacation. Her soft fur, thorough licks and the boundless energy. I love her so much!

Here is a very easy to follow tutorial for creating your very own real life snow globes from canning jars and such. 

Snow Globe - Je T'aime, available for purchase here

Cherry

With summer in it's final chapters I'm savoring the last batch of sweet juicy cherries - It's one of my favorite fruits and I always have a ton of them in my fridge all summer long. It sweetens my summer like no other!

Cherries trigger a lot of happy memories from when I was a child. I must have been 2 or 3 and it was my Aunt's (mom's younger sister) wedding. All I remember from the day are the boxes and boxes of cherries I ate, the red juice that dripped down my face staining my 'good' clothes and the pits I swallowed in my eagerness to eat. I couldn’t get enough of cherries then, and I can’t get enough now. And I'm OK with that :)

I like my cherries fresh from the bowl. How do you like yours?  

Cherry, available for purchase here.

Enjoy and have a wonderful weekend :)