joojoo

Home sweet home

2012-05-15T14:12:00.001-04:00

My new watercolor painting. I especially painted this as a house warming gift.

You can buy the print of this illustration in my Etsy shop here.

Illustration Friday: Heights

2012-04-25T11:06:00.002-04:00

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

2012-04-16T11:14:00.001-04:00

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

2012-04-13T12:58:00.000-04:00

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

2012-04-10T11:28:00.001-04:00

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.

My new business cards

2012-04-09T13:32:00.000-04:00

I designed myself a new business card. It has a really simple design but looks great with some added details like the hole on top and the baker's twin.

You are my sunshine

2012-04-08T16:24:00.004-04:00

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

2012-04-06T16:53:00.000-04:00

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

Hope you're having a lovely Easter weekend ♥

How to hollow out eggs

2012-04-05T11:23:00.008-04:00

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

2012-04-03T16:55:00.013-04:00

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

2012-03-23T18:01:00.005-04:00

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!

Polymer clay guys

2012-03-14T14:28:00.003-04:00

Hello lovelies! I had promised to show you the little figurines of some of

my animal alphabet guys! Finally I took their photos.

And here they are: Lobstie, MouMou and Narwie

They are made of polymer clay and I've added some details with acrylic paints.

Never give up!

2012-03-07T13:42:00.005-05:00

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

2012-02-29T12:20:00.005-05:00

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!

Snails 15/33 & 16/33

2012-02-25T09:52:00.007-05:00

Snails 15 and 16 out of 33.

Acrylic paint on polymer clay + Natural yellow Cuban snail shell + Natural land snail shell

I thought you may like to see some "In progress" photos.

I always outline with a pencil and then start painting with acrylics.

* The yellow shell was a gift from my brother Ali, a souvenir from Cuba.

Thank you Ali! :o)

Love is in the air

2012-02-13T07:48:00.005-05:00

This time I've created a jewelry display + Digital collage.

Since tomorrow is Valentine's Day I thought it's a perfect time

for the color category of fuchsia, ruby and pink as they represent

love and passion, and I called this collection

"Love is in the air".

You can find all of them in my jewelry shop now.

Hope you enjoy and Happy Valentine's Day everyone ♥ (in advance!)

Colorful room

2012-02-07T09:40:00.003-05:00

A few photos of my work space.

I use Washi tapes for the packaging of my jewelry and prints

and also for decorating my business cards.

I love their lovely pastel colors.

You can buy them online here and in many other places.

My Colored pencils and new Japanese watercolors that I found in downtown Toronto.

I'm very happy with the quality and wide color variety of these watercolors.

They are from a brand called Holbein.

Polymer clay figurines of my "Animal Alphabet Project".

Soon I'll show you 3 new guys that I made this Saturday.

And will continue doing the rest of watercolor animals! I know..I'm slow ;)

"The Good Ol' Menstrual Cycle" poster.

I got it from a cute website called

"I heart Guts". It's all about internal organs and anatomy.

Check out their shop here.

Jewelry collage . Coral

2012-01-31T12:51:00.004-05:00

Here is my jewelry collage for the colors "Peach" and "Coral".

The jewelry pieces are now available in my shop.

Happiness Apple

2012-01-28T17:04:00.003-05:00

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

2012-01-25T12:39:00.004-05:00

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

2012-01-23T12:19:00.006-05:00

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

Jewelry collage . Yellow

2012-01-16T10:20:00.007-05:00

Since I divided my new jewelry into color categories, I felt like presenting them

in a creative way, like a combination of my doodles/papercuts and the jewelry

pieces. And I LOVE it! Can't wait to make the next color setting!

These days I'm in love with the color yellow!

It makes me dream of sunny days, lemonade, sweet mangoes, ...oh boy I miss summer again!

You can find all of these pieces in my Etsy shop.

New babies in my garden

2012-01-15T08:45:00.005-05:00

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!

Lemon blossoms

2012-01-14T13:24:00.003-05:00

I was working on some blossom branches, I use them for my jewelry photos.

This one is for lemon blossoms.

For making them I've used:

Polymer clay, Swarovski rhinestones, green paper and a natural branch.

I am working on some yellow jewelry right now, will show them to you soon.

Enjoy your weekend! xo

Sketchbook

2012-01-02T11:46:00.005-05:00

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.