Rustic Motifs - Product & Website Review

About Rustic Motifs: 

Rustic Motifs is a venture started by two young marketing professionals Avantika Heblikar and Merlin Francis. They design handmade interior decor products, working with the less privileged members of our society and providing them an opportunity to showcase their talent.

The team works with rural artisans, self help groups, women empowerment communities and ensure that their creations get a larger audience and also find market acceptance.

Here is a honest review of Rustic Motifs based on my experience of purchasing a stoneware pottery from Manipur and a kasuti embroidered clutch from Karnataka.

I have based my judgement on the following criteria

1.Page design and layout

2.Variety of products

3.Ease of selection & Product Description

4.Mode of payment

5.shipping & delivery

6.USP

Page design & Layout : The home page of RusticMotifs- Tell tale Designs is simple yet appealing. Neatly designed  and grouped into various categories such as Decor, on sale, product categories, NGO partners, gifting, custom projects and Decor tips.

Some of the products are on the featured list. New arrivals are also listed separately thus simplifying navigation, through the entire site.

Product Range: The product range includes Lights, Furnishings,crockery, bags, mats, Jewelry & stationery. The products under each category is surely impressive, sourced from various places across India. 

RusticMotifs lays emphasis on handcrafted products, showcasing the rich diversity of India

I loved their range of black pottery and mats. Black pottery is a specialty of Nagaland and Manipur. These can be directly kept on fire and oven. Such items have utility as well as decor value. 

Similarly the mats are of various materials like banana fibre, hibiscus, river grass etc.

These are an excellent substitute to plastics and paper. 

At the same time, I would love to see an expansion in their product range. Indian artisans  have more to offer. There are many unexplored corners in our country with untapped potential and I sincerely wish RusticMotifs growth in this area.

Ease Of selection & Product Description:

It is easy to navigate through the entire page and choose the product of your liking.

Once you zero in, on the product, the description is well written.You get a good idea of the origin of the product, material used and the process that each product undergoes to get the unique feel.

Here I chose two items from their site.

1. The black pottery soup/condiment bowl from Manipur.

There is an interesting twist in these products. Though the pottery is from Manipur, the lid is wooden and made in Chennapatna in Karnataka.

BLACK POTTERY WITH WOODEN LID

Serpentine and weather rock is mixed in certain ratios to make the clay for this hand moulded pottery and it is heated for over 10 hours before before giving it the rich black colour which comes from a local plant called Chiron-na.

Also the green coloured wooden lid from Chennapatna uses harmless vegetable dye, free from lead.

Such products give immense satisfaction in the knowledge that in our small way, we are contributing towards a bigger goal of providing sustenance to the local artisans and their craft .

2. Kasuti embroidered clutch

Kasuti simply means kai-hands and suti -cotton indicating handiwork with cotton.

This product is from an NGO Kaicrafts which promotes artisans from North Karnataka.

KASUTI EMBROIDERED CLUTCH

The history of Kasuti dates back to the Chalukya period. Kasuti work is very laborious and intricate. It involves counting of each thread on the cloth and sometimes involves putting up to 5,000 stitches by hand. The patterns are stitched without using knots to ensure that both sides of the  cloth look alike.

Mode of payment: Rusticmotifs employs all well known  and secured methods of payment like credit cards, visa master, maestro & netbanking. Also Cash on Delivery option is  currently available  to  Bangalore customers. 

Payment is safe and hassle free.

Shipping & delivery: The products are free of shipping charges. Also the delivery is carried out within 8 working days, once the order has been placed.

I received my products within 2 days in good condition.

Another thoughtful initiative by RusticMotif, that I ought to mention is that they use only paper and recycled packaging material. It's these little things that go a long way in making the world a better place to live in! 

Unique selling point: The USP of RusticMotifs is that all items are handmade. In today's times of mass production, handcrafted products always stands out.

Rustic Motifs  can also customise products for you if needed in bulk. Have a look at some of the items that they have customised for their clients.

Handpainted kettles customised for Luxury hotels

wooden masks  for a lounge bar in Kerala

Pattachitra art work from Orissa ideal for gifting

Bharini Lamps lending a unique touch to the hotel lobbies.

I truly loved my experience of online shopping with RusticMotifs.

For more info visit them at http://www.rusticmotifs.com

There is a wonderful news for all  my readers. RusticMotifs is offering a 10% discount on all its products starting today. To avail the benefit and get the coupon code, simply drop in a line at sangi_eashwaran@yahoo.co.in or in the comment section of this post.

Handmade- Quilling art work

As the summer approaches, we start making vacation plans. This is the time to relax and have fun . kids are at home, the best part is, alarms are put to rest. Vow! freedom from alarms...am really looking forward to have some fun travelling. But after the travel is done with, comes the challenging part... to keep the children engaged.

Craft, artwork, some hobby like joining a library, reading books this is how we used to spend days as kids. This is how my kids too ! love to spend their free time. Last summer we (daughter dearest and myself) discovered The Art of Quilling.

 Quilled frame made by my daughter

Quilling is described by wiki how as:

The art of quilling, or coiling paper, has been around for centuries--from monks curling gold paper during the Renaissance, to young ladies learning the art during the 19th century. Today, quilling is just as popular as ever. All you will need are the right tools, a little patience, and some creativity.

All thanks to my cousin who gifted a quilling earrings- making set to my daughter.This got us really hooked on to it. It is not at all difficult but what is required is a lot of patience, basic craft skill and some ideas.
To get a basic idea do visit http://www.wikihow.com/Do-Quilling. They have explained the process clearly and in a very simple manner.

earrings for all age groups

mix &  match with any outfit

little embellishments make it interesting!

Jhumkis for traditional wear

Not only jewelry, one can think of various options. This was such a hit. We gifted it among our family & friends. since this was handmade, it was much appreciated too!

 Likewise we decorated a gift envelope.

 Greeting cards made by quilling is another great idea. You can make bookmarks, keychains....the list is endless.
Finally our new home desperately needed a number board. So there you go! A day's effort and a handmade board was ready.

In various shades of pink!

quilling is a real fun and engaging craft. various colour combinations, different patterns all make it so unique. 


Also, I want to introduce (probably you would have already heard about her!) all of you to this amazing lady Vaishali Rastogi. Have a look at her facebook page here. She has wonderful talent and  hands of gold... if I may say so !


Did you enjoy this post? do let me know.So what are your plans this vacations? There is immense satisfaction in handmade work. 

I read a quote recently which goes this way...HAPPINESS IS HANDMADE

                                      

Happiness is in...creating a happy home

Being Creative, thinking out of the box is such a fun thing. Portico Bed & Bath Products has come up with this exciting range of Happiness products. The tote bag, bedspreads & cushions. They have the happiness messages on them, which is sure to tickle your funny bone.

Now the challenge is to test your creative skills and give a twist to these products. This is what I have come up with.


Happiness is in...blooms

The Tote bag is not restricted to shopping only. Here I have used it to highlight the wall. The tote bag makes a style statement. Place some artificial or real flowers. Hang it on your entrance wall. It is sure to make your visitors smile!

  Happiness is in saying it with flowers!

 Happiness is… going green!

The cushion can be teamed up with pretty greens to lend a unique touch to the home decor. Happiness is in pairing simple objects together, creating a classy look!

 Happiness is… amid nature

Also peep into http://porticoindia.com/fashion@home/happiness-isyour-creativity/ for creative inputs from other bloggers

This Valentine's day,say it with flowers

Valentine's is a time to express yourself and the best way would be to say it with flowers.

Make a statement with floral decor. Read more on this at:

 http://porticoindia.com/fashion@home/valentines-day-say-flowers/

Gorgeous right? Believe me, there are in numerous styling options. Hop on to the link mentioned above, implement them at your home and win hearts.

Happy Valentine day!


Pic courtesy: Pinterest

2nd post on Srilanka...of Handicrafts & Souvenirs

Srilanka is famous for various handicraft products and there are pockets where in you can actually experience the process of its making. One such is the Ambalangoda mask factory.

Ambalangoda is a coastal town renowned for wooden masks and puppets, one of the specialties of Srilanka. Ambalangoda houses a mask museum where in you can catch a glimpse into the tradition of arts and crafts .These masks are hand carved with intricate designs and painted in vibrant shades.

orange, yellow black...the colours make for a pretty picture

Due to time constraint we could not visit the museum but all around Srilanka you can spot these masks.Most of the images are from the Government run handicraft shop Laksala. which is another must visit for the shopper in you.

An eye catching piece 

The Govt. Emporium

Variety of masks

Next that tops my list is the variety of Bamboo and Reed products that they have on offer.When we were driving to Kandy we  had a stretch of shops selling these amazing products. Ofcourse wanted to buy so many things but had to satisfy myself with a few of them that are proudly displayed in my home. Have a peek.

A bamboo bull

My daughter...copy cat!

The little one...equally enjoying

aren't these lovely?

Lovely sight

loved the colour combo

makes for a pretty sight

Batik products comes next in the list, though I found them a bit on the expensive side. In almost all the hotels we stayed, had a good collection of these. Apart from framing options you can find them used extensively in shirts, skirts and sarong( Srilanka's most worn garment)

heart warming

A procession in progress

Srilanka as you may be aware is also popular for Ceylon Tea and spices. Cinnamon being the most shopped for. A pot pourri arrangement of cinnmaon sticks giving out a light aroma was much appreciated in one of the hotels we stayed. At the same time I realized that too much of the aroma is also capable of bringing about a headache so the trick lies in controlling the same.


To be in Srilanka and not hear the famous Noritake and Dankotuwa Porcelain is impossible.

Also last in my list is the Ratnapura gem factory.Sighting a beauty can be, by no means, be harmful. Even if you are in no mood to buy, have a look. Rubies and Sapphires are well known in this region. As far as we were concerned, a gentleman, owner of  an antique shop in Gall was courteous and gave us a good history of the mining and the collection found there.

Just like the wooden masks, other wooden artifacts are also equally famous.Some more pics for eye candy. Here you go...

A fisher man

loved the age old look....

peacocks and horses...what more to ask for

I loved sharing this post with all of you. It was good to go down the memory lane and relive the days spent there. Hope you liked reading it too!.