Search Results

As an avid self-help book reader, and a strong believer in changing your mindset to change your life, I thought of creating a new blog post series about the self-help books I read and loved. Home Cyn Home being not just a design brand, but also about living your best life, sharing the books that inspired me to kept me going and aiming for the stars just seemed about fitting. I could have started with any books, I read a lot of them, all teaching me valuable lessons along the way (even the ones I didn't finish), but to kickstart the series, I chose the one I read the most recently. The links below are all Amazon Affiliate links by the way, if you click on them and make a purchase, I get paid a commission at no extra cost to you. rich as f*ck - By amanda frances This is the only book that I bought twice...yup...TWICE. I first decided to buy it in the Kindle format, because I was eager to dive in. As soon as I started reading it though, it became clear that it was a book I would need a hard copy of, just so I could go back to the homework pages easily and find highlighted paragraphs faster, so I bought the paperback version a week or so later. Amanda Frances is apparently known as the Money Queen but I never heard of her before that book. The reason I bought this one, is that I have been working really hard for the past 3 years to get to the root of childhood traumas around money and what I am starting to realise now is also a phobia around money and finance. Chrometophobia is the name and it's apparently a common enough phobia. In my case, I know the root of most of it, and I am dedicated to the idea of getting over it. Cue in the self-help books and journaling! Being an entrepreneur and having a fear that goes around money isn't exactly a match made in heaven and I'm more in love with the idea of building my own business and brand and painting the world in bold and colorful tones than I am giving a phobia some rent free space in my life. This book is not the first one I read on the topic of money and changing your mindset around it, but so far I think it's the most impactful. Like all books I tend to read, this one does speak of the law of attraction, but in the more practical and rational way, which would make it a good read for anyone who isn't totally sold on the "woo woo" factor of the LoA. Amanda's message is clear : You are responsible for creating your own reality and how you think affects your life. She drives the point home in each chapters with actionable steps to work toward shifting your mindset and force you to dive deep into your past to uncover self limiting beliefs and change them. Each chapter ends with some homeworks where she asks you to take your journal and answer some of the homework questions, which really are just journaling prompts to get you started. Remember that blog post about journaling for self-growth I wrote a few months back? This book is great book to get you started on working on some self-limiting beliefs you might have about earning or spending money. Her prompts really push you to go deep into introspecting about the beliefs you grew up with and how they still affect you today. Two of the most impactful things in this book which I realised I have to work on are : Getting over the self-limiting mindset of "Either/Or" and move toward a mindset of "Both/and". Interestingly a year before starting to read this book I had written about my needing to stop thinking in terms of "This OR That" and embrace a mindset of "This AND That". A year ago I already realised that I was falling for this pattern out of habit, often settling for things deeply believing I couldn't possibly have both of anything. Reading it in this book was just a shock to my system and a motivation to keep on working on it. We all have minimums and maximums when it comes to money. That one blew my mind big time because I realised that I had been limiting myself big time, thanks to old childhood beliefs, and now I finally have the insight to start healing and set new standards on that front. True to the concept of the law of attraction that says that you can't attract something into your life unless you start raising your frequency to that level, the whole book is explaining it in a more rational way for the skeptics. If you don't believe something is possible, you won't work toward achieving it, so again, it all boils down to changing your mindset and then get working on achieving that goal...KNOWING you can. This book is obviously about money, but the same principle applies to everything else in your life you want to start shifting around All in all, it's a book that makes it to my "Must read list" which is exactly why I'm sharing it here. Loved this blog post and eager to see what book I'll write about next? Subscribe to the Home Cyn Home newsletter, that way you'll never miss an update, and you get cool printable stickers for your journal every months. Simply click on the image below :

Bullet Journalling, or the art of flexible planning has been around for quite a few years now, and I've been keeping one since 2017 on top of keeping a personal journal on the side. Journalling in India had had its challenge in the early days because there wasn't a whole lot of options when it came to notebooks, and my first BuJo was a basic ruled notebook, at the default of anything else being available in a price range I could then afford. India took a bit of time to wake up to the dotted grid notebook concept that makes keeping a bullet journal a whole lot easier, especially if you are into making cute spreads and trackers. The first Dotted Grid Journal I had was one from the brand "MyPaperclip" (affiliate link) which doesn't seem to exist anymore. Back then that notebook set me about 800 rupees and it was actually quite expensive for what it was. The cover wasn't really sturdy, the paper was your average paper, but it was the first dotted grid notebook that wasn't imported and sold at a king's ransom price on Amazon. Over the years, the bullet journal options multiplied in India and I've tried quite a few. Here are 5 popular brands/type available in India, for all budget, out of which I tried 3 for multiple purposes and heard nothing but good things about the other two. Some of the links below are Amazon affiliate links, if you click on them and buy anything, I get paid a commission at no extra costs to you. If you read this blog from outside India, Leuchtturm and Archer & Olive are available worldwide, so the review can still help you make your choice for your next journal. Matrikas Signature This notebook made in India comes in two covers style : Signature Marvel with a rough paper texture and Signature Elite with a smooth vegan leather, both are hard cover journals and they have the exact same number of page and quality of paper inside. Both come in a variety of colors and are by far the most budget friendly and value for money dotted grid journals on the market. If you are a beginner, this is the BuJo you've been looking for! It has 248 NUMBERED dotted pages, and 3 pages of Index at the beginning of the journal which is quite impressive as far as number of pages go in any notebook. You can really go nuts with BuJo spreads and trackers without fear of running out of space too quickly. I used mine to fit a whole year the both time I used these. It also come with a few pages of stickers to use in your journal, and a folio pocket at the back. The stickers are pretty basic and not really to my taste but I used a few of them, so not a total loss. The Matrikas Marvel which you can see in the picture above went through a LOT of abuse in 2020 (pretty much like all of us) and it was the year I did the most complex spread with half pages, and folds and used tons of stickers and washi tape, by the end of the year, the cover had bends and creases and a lot of stains because of it's rough paper texture but the binding held. The paper in it is 80gsm and it doesn't bleed with most pens, except Stabilo Highlighter and a few blue, purple and red brush pens, those are pigmented to bleed through a lot of different papers, no matter the brand of pens. The favourite thing I had about those 2 journals was the fact they had 3 bookmarks, that's the highest number I've ever seen in a journal. leuchtturm 1917 Chances are you've heard of this brand and have been looking at them on Amazon but been repelled by the high price tag. That is because for some reasons, the sellers on Amazon pumped up the price a great deal. If you want to get your hand on a Leuchtturm, and you totally should, the best way to do so in India is also a way that support a great small business entirely dedicated to BuJo supplies : Bigger Dreams Co. There is a reason why Leuchtturms have been popular for years. They have 251 pages of silky smooth 80gsm paper with a finish that prevents the ink from your pens to sink through and bleed, which most 80gsm paper doesn't do. This one can even take some light watercolor as long as you don't use too much water. It has more pages than the Matrikas, with the same paper thickness but the book looks a lot less bulky and it's glossy cover can be wiped clean easily and seems a bit less bendable than the Matrikas Marvel in particular. I haven't used Leuchtturm for my Bullet Journal, but have one for my personal self-growth journal and I LOVE it, so much so I bought another one to keep track of my earnings and spendings. Leuchtturms are also available with thicker 120gsm paper for those who prefer using a lot of paint in their journal, again, available with Bigger Dreams Co. in India. archer & olive The Rolls Royces of the Bujo world! These notebooks need no introduction to those in the journalling world, they are best known for their super thick 160 gsm paper whcih can take a LOT of "abuse" without bleeding. From experience only 2 types of markers will bleed through that paper : Stabilo Boss highlighters (go figure) and Copic markers, but then alcohol based markers bleed through ANY paper and they are definitely not your standard BuJo supplies anyway. In India, those are available only in two places : Bigger Dreams Co. Though they have not restocked the brand in over a year. And Paper Planning and More which is another small business dedicated to bring you the best bullet journal supplies from around the world in India. There is no way to soften the blow, Archer & Olive notebooks are expensive, so I would never recommend it to a newbie or someone that is having a more utilitarian approach to bullet journalling. These are meant for those who like their journal to be artsy and creative and use a lot of mediums, including paint. I've used them as a self-growth journal in 2020, a BuJo in 2021 and this year I'm keeping it in their Blackout book. I might not use an A&O as a BuJo again, but might definitely use them as art journals, they are pretty much meant for that type of heavy duty journaling with their strong binding and quality thick paper. dingbats This is one brand that the bullet journal community raves about but I am yet to try, I thought I'd add it to the list because they are widely available on Amazon, on Bigger Dreams and Paper Planning and More. They are marketed as an eco-friendly brand of journal that are all vegan, recyclable and degradable. The journals have 100gsm acid-free paper and 192 pages. The notebook is designed for bullet journalling with index pages, and future log pages at the beginning. the jotting dots This is the latest brand on the block, made in India and one I am yet to try and probably will try as an art journal soon. They have a wide range of notebooks with think paper : 120, 160 and 190 gsm, and they are available in several sizes including square, B5, and A5. Right now they are available on their own website : The Jotting Dots or at Bigger Dreams Co. These could be an excellent alternative to Archer & Olive in India because they have the same thickness of paper, and are a lot more budget friendly. On their website, they also sell watercolors and washi tape that are worth checking. If you liked this blog post, please take a minute to share it with your friends, and sign up for the Home Cyn Home newsletter to never miss an update and get cool printables every months. Simply click on the picture below :

In today's art story, let's talk about how inspiration can strike you like lightening and get you to jump off the sofa and straight to your desk and iPad to create right away. This is exactly how this bird of paradise illustration and matching pattern came to exist in the first place after mindlessly scrolling on Instagram. It all started in June 2021, back then birds of paradise flowers aka heliconia were starting to pop in my Instagram feed more regularly, fo some reason, all the artists I follow were having a serious case of tropical vibe fever and in the world of tropical flowers, the two that stand out the most are hibiscus flowers and heliconias/lobster claws/bird of paradise. Living in a tropical region myself, I probably wasn't as "struck" as most artists living under colder latitudes and those flowers are pretty common all around me and I didn't particularly felt compelled to draw them. That changed when on a lazy evening, while enjoying the monsoon rain, lounging on my sofa, feet up on the coffee table, I was scrolling through my Instagram feed and came across this picture from the ModCloth account (yes I follow them). It was a pretty abstract pattern that kind of looked like birds of paradise, and had all the colors you usually find on that stunning tropical flower and for some reason it gave me a jolt of instant creativity. Suddenly I had to get off the sofa, get out of lazy evening mode, grab my iPad and start creating a bird of paradise design right away! I knew right away that it had to be a pattern, so I drew all the elements separately. To assemble them later in not only the pattern you see on the right, but also created the "bouquet" you see in the sticker picture above. I normally don't draw anything past 6pm, I leave evenings for either conducting my art classes or do something relaxing for myself, but that day, the compulsion to draw was way too intense. If I hadn't read "Big Magic" by Elizabeth Gilbert (it's an Amazon affiliate link), I would have found it weird. But, I knew better, that book has introduced me to the notion that ideas are body-less entities that roam the earth in search of a creative person that can give them a physical form. In her book Elizabeth Gilbert explains how an idea for a book stuck with her for a while, then left her, only to find out while casually chatting with Ann Patchett that the novel's idea that left her found it's way to Ann without them knowing each other before, or having shared notes. She also mentioned that sometimes ideas need to visit several persons all at once and that it's probably how trends come to be and how big discoveries that advance the human race are made. To me it was clear that the Bird of paradise art/pattern idea had made the round in the artist and surface designer community around that time, and that it probably wanted me to join but that it hadn't found the right trigger until that Mod Cloth picture. It was the point at wich I went for "Ohhh bird of paradises are everywhere" to "I MUST draw a bird of paradise pattern...RIGHT AWAY" That evening I spent a couple of hours getting it drawn and ready to turn into a pattern and went straight to bed, knowing that the instant I would wake up the next morning I would export all my made in Procreate elements straight into Photoshop to turn it into the pattern it was meant to me. And this is exactly what I did, I woke up at my usual 5-ish am and went straight to my laptop to continue working on it. And then, it was straight to my Society6 shop. If I remember well, I couldn't eat breakfast or do anything else until that was done. Some body-less ideas are oddly persistent and determined to come to life aren't they? This one was in a hurry to be born and out in the world like no other ideas that visited me, including the groovy rickshaw. The bird of paradise pattern isn't as widely popular as the rickshaw in terms of sales, but ultimately, that is not what ideas really aim at, an idea just want to get into the physical world, what happens afterward is not in anybody's control. What is clear is that this tropical flower idea really wanted my attention and really wanted me to commit to bringing it to life, for what reason? I'll never know, but I know it needed me to give it a form. That's what we artists and designers do. Did you like this art story? make sure you subscribe to my newsletter so that you never miss a blog post. Simply click on the image below to sign up :

Once upon a time, a girl started a blog on a platform called blogger, it was back in 2004 and it was a time when blogs were kind of online diaries about their daily lives. In 2013 said blog became Home Cyn Home and became more lifestyle focused before this girl decided to turn it into a design brand. This is when Home Cyn Home, the blogspot blog became confusing and many attempts to clean it up failed. As sentimental as this girl was, the old blog had to go, it outgrew its purpose and it led to not being able to grow a clear audience that was in line with the brand's core value. A clean slate is what this girl needed for her whole branding, and approach, so, she moved everything to a new platform to start afresh. With no glitches, broken bits and confusing off topic posts. If you followed Home Cyn Home from the old platform, welcome to the new one! We are still decorating around here and the smell of fresh paint is still in the air, but don't let that stop you from having a seat and grabbing a cup of tea. The new blog will be more targeted on Home Cyn Home's designs updated, journalling tips, and how to live you best life, high in color. Home Cyn Home's tag line is after all "Be bold and colorful" and it's all about living a fun, colorful life. After all, life is too short to live in boring greys. Do not forget to subscribe for all websites and blog updates. You'll get access to a member only page on the website which gives you access to cool new printables every months.

It's official! Several of my designs are now featured on Deny Designs and I could not be more excited for this! Deny Design is Society6's sister site, but exclusively deal in whole sale with wholesale partners signed up with them so this is not somewhere the general public can by from directly, but chances are you've hear from some of their partners : Urban Outfitters, Target, Nordstrom and Anthropologie to name just a few of the big names. So being part of the Deny Design family is really a big deal for me as you can imagine. My artist gallery there will keep on growing, and for now, they curated all of my Diwali designs, because the festive season is fast approaching and I'm stoked to report they also chose to feature two of my favourite designs in the initial gallery: This Scandinavian style spiky Christmas tree in a minimalist black, white and gold palette which I created last December and instantly fell in love with. One of the reason I love it so much is that unlike many of my other Christmas designs it's timeless, can be added to any Christmas decor because it's neutral enough to not clash with a bolder and more colorful Holidays theme decor, and last but not least, you can easily keep it around in your post Holidays decor. You know, that time when it becomes embarrassing (or rather frowned upon by certain people) to have a Christmas tree still standing in your living room. You can still keep some Christmas alive well into February with this cute pattern, because it has a log cabin kind of vibe about it. The other design that has been my favourite for a while is the pink flamingo pattern : It's pink, it's tropical, it's fun...enough said and that was the design I picked as my Apple watch band back in January, so seeing it being picked among hundreds of designs by Deny, is super special to me really. Fun fact about it, I painted those flamingoes in 2017 or 2018 when I just started selling on Society, and I revisited it in January this year by combining it with a digitally drawn bird of paradise flower and green leaves. If you look close enough, you will see the flower elements appearing as light pink on the pink background. Layering elements in a pattern is something I enjoy doing. Since Deny Design exclusively does wholesale, they only deal with partners registered with them, if you are a retailer, or know someone who would be interested in selling those designs on Deny's product in their shop, you must fill their form first to register with them. If you are an individual customer interested in buying one product just for yourself, Deny Design has those on Society6 and all of the designs above and more, are available out of my own Society6 shop.