Once a hero, always a hero!

When someone special from your childhood comes galloping back into the present, armed with memories of fuzzy afternoons, head swirling adventures and exciting stories, they bring with them waves of happy nostalgia. Especially when that someone is still graced with the illusive status of being 'cool' even after all these years. I'm talking about a childhood hero, who I'm sure has been the highlight of many stolen afternoons, not just for me, but many other kids in the 80's. So when, little Adam's father commissioned me to write and illustrate a special story based on Tintin, the famous teen detective, I jumped at the opportunity to pay a tribute to the evergreen character so many children love and cherish, even today. Here's Adam's version of Tintin, complete with little Snowy at his heels and the famous 'ten thousand thundering typhoons!'

The finished frames for Adam, based on a famous Tintin poster.

 

Mail me on heetal@beetleandbottle if your little one is a Tintin fan,

and we can personalize this story specially for your little detective!

Artnlight: Heetal Dattani's Beetle and Bottle.

I am sooooo happy to start the year on such a beautiful note. Beetle & Bottle has been featured on one of the best design sites ever! For those of you who don't know Vineeta Nair, you have to visit her blog Artnlight. It has been an inspiration to me ever since I laid eyes on her beautiful designs and her inimitable style of presenting her work. To be featured on Artnlight is a huge honor and I can't stop bouncing off the walls since I received her email confirming my feature. Happy reading people...here's to Beetle & Bottle reching out to more people and more kids in the new year! :-)

 Click on the link below to see the entire article. :-)

artnlight: Heetal Dattani's Beetle and Bottle.

Snippets of the feature on Artnlight.

 Click on the link below to see the entire article. :-)

artnlight: Heetal Dattani's Beetle and Bottle.

The Adventurous Astronaut

Just when I had resigned myself to the fact that bed time stories were all for little girls, I was commissioned to design a story for a special little boy, who's big shiny dreams are scattered with stardust. Little Aalyosh is a bright young boy, with a curious mind, always looking to unravel the secrets of twinkling planets and shimmering stars. It's beautiful to watch his bright green eyes light up as he peers through his telescope each night, looking for flying spaceships and green faced aliens that may be hovering outside his bedroom window. One day, when he's a famous astronaut, I'm going to ask him to bring me back some moon-rock from his exciting adventures in outer space! :-)

The  finished frames that add a sparkle to our little Astronaut's room.

Detailing of the astronaut illustration.

The special poem written for Aalyosh.

  Write to me at heetal@beetleandbottle for a personalized story specially for your little astronaut!

Sparkles, Giggles and a Delightful Diwali!

This is a special post to invite the beautiful Angel of Lights to scatter a handful of glowing sparkles into our world. Please welcome Ariana, the shiniest angel of them all. She has been specially designed to spread Diwali cheer amongst little kids and to infuse their new year with a whole lot of giggles, love and light. And if she likes you, she may stay by your bedside and blow sweet, shimmering kisses into your dreams, so that the festival of light never leaves you and you may celebrate it's beauty all year round.
 

Making your own special Diwali Angel is not only easy, but also a lot of fun!

 

 You can attach a string to your Diwali Angel so she may flutter above you, or you could simply place her on a comfortable surface where she may watch over you as you wander off into the land of sleep. 

Please write to me on heetal@beetleandbottle.com for your own special little Diwali Angel. She can come visit you as a pdf, ready to be printed in your own home, or as an indigo print on my favorite shimmery paper. 

The Little Princess

This post is for a special little girl, who lives in the world of sparkling kingdoms and enchanted forests. She imagines herself as a beautiful princess and charms her way out of trouble by flashing her dreamy, angelic smile. Her mother, the Queen, commissioned me to bring to life these beautiful fantasies for our little princess's 8th birthday. I enjoyed getting lost in little Kaavya's world of far away lands, mystical creatures, and magical melodies. I'm sure that these frames will add an extra sparkle to her smile when she sees them on her special day. Happy birthday dear princess...May you always be surrounded by magic, love and laughter.

The Magic Lollipop!

Tadaaaaa! So here it is...the much awaited new story, fresh out of the Beetle & Bottle oven. This is a super special post, for more reasons than one. Not only is it my first commissioned story, but it's also for a friend's niece, Saesha - an angel faced little girl with a sugar sweet smile and a halo of cute curls. From the first moment that I saw little Saesha's picture, I knew I had to paint her as a cherub with crystal wings. Her doting aunt mentioned her sweet tooth and before I knew it, a magic lollipop floated into the story. I was also requested to bring in her favorite cartoon characters, Tom and Jerry. I hope that little Saesha enjoys this story as much as I enjoyed designing it. 

Saesha with her glorious halo of curls

These are the finished frames that are waiting to hang in little Saesha's room 

Once Upon a Time...

This post is for Joshua. The son of a dear friend of mine, little Joshua is a heart stealer. He has the cutest smiles and is always happy to show them off. I love watching my friend read out a story to him. He looks at her with such a serious expression, as though he really understands every word. Sometimes I wonder if he sees himself as part of the story...

And that's when I thought of doing a customized bed time story for little Josh. But instead of a conventional book, that he sometimes finds edible, this one goes up on his wall. So he can look at it while he's nodding off to sleep and carry that charming smile into his dreams.

These are the finished frames. Little Josh loves sneaking a peek at himself, 
and it always makes him smile his toothy smile again.

The Land of Pretend...

This is a story that I wrote and illustrated for my 4 year old niece, Aliya. Aliya is a beautiful little girl with an exceptionally rich  imagination. She keeps wandering off into her world of make believe, where she plays a ballerina one moment and a pianist the next. While she was visiting me in Istanbul, she took my hand one afternoon and allowed me to accompany her on her flight of fantasy. Here's a glimpse of our journey through the beautiful land of 'pretend'.

These frames hold memories of that wonderful afternoon with little Aliya.