Wednesday 18 September 2013

Flower Power!


I am and always will be utterly obsessed with flowers my entire life!!! 

Big flowers... Small flowers..... pinks and reds or blues and violets.... I love them all!! and anyone who knows me knows this of me.... that you give me a flower i'll put it in my hair!!!!






Friday 13 September 2013

A for Alishka!!!

I have always been in love with my name!

alishka...!!

it means "more brilliant than jewellery" 

Now how pretty is that?!! It's a Sanskrit name, my dad put two words together and came up with it...

I was always so proud of the fact that my name was so unique.... no one had it.... except my dad's friends daughter.... He loved my name and me.... so when he had a little girl he told my dad he would be using my name!!!

Then there was this uncle in my family from the other side... who also named another niece of his alishka, but unfortunately told her family that the name meant a bee!!! poor thing.... she has such a pretty name and she says "it means a bee!!"

Recently a friend asked me if she could name her baby, if it was a girl, alishka and I very gladly said yes!! She sent me a picture of her baby girl who is just adorable!!!

So personally i know three alishkas which isn't so bad until i decided to google and search for alishka on facebook...... DISASTER!!!

The number of alishka's that exist is crazy!! There are russian alishkas, middle eastern alishkas, african alishkas, north european alishkas..... but the maddest is when the search results came up boys called alishka!!!

That was just way too heartbreaking!!!

A few days ago a friend of mine liked this page "The Happy Page" (yes lots like my own page: Happy People.... bet they cursed us for taking the name!!) speaking of which they sketch these amazing "happiness is......" sketches for people.... and this friend of mine who also has a lovely unique name put this up:


how true i say!!!!

well narcissistic as i am... on Pinterest I have this entire board dedicated to... no not me... but in a way to me... to beautifully illustrated "A"s 













Ha ha ha!!! wasn't that fun?!!!!!

I guess as many alishkas there are in the world those many fonts are available too!!!



Thursday 12 September 2013

Zentangle!

I love doodling right.... have always done it.... but recently i came across a really cute term "zentangle" its an art from which is free flowing and easy to do. Its basically an offshoot of doodling....

What I got out of it was that its different from your regular doodling since in that you eventually create a form....







how pretty is that?!!

SO now here is my version!!






I don't think the following qualify as zentangles.... but they are kinda pretty!!!








I love sketching doodling zentangling!!!

its the most relaxing thing in the world!!!





Wednesday 11 September 2013

Front and Back of the Camera!!!

So every fifth person I meet today is a photographer... professional, amateur.... doesn't matter.... they are photographers!!! Like a few years ago it was cool to be a dj, today its cool to be a photographer and if you're a travel photographer Oh My God!!! you're the uber cool, part of the hip lot i say!!

And keeping in mind this day and age of "selfies", here are some "uber cool" images of cameras and the ones behind them!!



from here


from here


from here


from here

Monday 9 September 2013

Working with a baby...

Working with a baby is not easy. It takes immense organisational skills and the ability to switch plans at the last moment!! 

Especially if your baby is still little, as in not old enough to go to play school. Then there are very limited ways to work!!! 

1. Preferably try working from home. 
If you have the luxury of starting your own little business, nothing like it!  Like starting some online shopping portal, or making jewellery or baking cupcakes... Things where you have the freedom of taking on as many orders as you want. Or if your work mainly involves being online, you could always ask your employee if for a year or two you can work from home, as long as you are meeting your targets it could work. 

2. Involve grandparents! 
There are no better baby sitters than grandparents. They will love the baby and look after him with a lot more care and attention than a maid or ayya. Plus the joy of spending time with their grandchild is incomparable. Trust them more, let them handle the baby their way... Lay down a basic ground rule of meals and sleep timings... But then just let them be.... They did grow you and your husband after all!!! 

3. Schedule your day but keep it open! 
Sounds funny but it's the way it is... Despite all your planning and arranging for everything to keep the bumling occupied for a few hours... He could suddenly decide he wants something else! So if you have planned on his sleep time to finish up some work chances are he will wake up just then!! Don't get annoyed... Accept it.. The sooner you do the easier it will be to deal with it!! 

4. When you are out you are out...
When you have to leave town for work or even be out the whole day... Then shut down all thoughts of the baby (I know you're thinking easier said than done!!)  During meetings, no thinking has he eaten? has he slept? Is he still coughing? Did the maalishwalli come in time? Don't go calling your in laws or parents who he is with every hour, or message them asking for updates. Three forms of communication in the day, that's it. Two calls one sms!!! Morning, afternoon and evening. 

5. Don't hide your baby! 
If you are on a call and your baby screams out its ok... Don't shout at them and if they need your attention simply tell the person on the phone that you are a working mommy, could you call them back? Some people may think you are unprofessional but the smart ones will respect you more. 

6. Take breaks...
Not only to feed or change the baby, but to play with him. Every two hours or so, put everything aside and just give him all your attention for twenty minutes. He'll be so happy... That he won't bother you for the next hour or two while your working! 

7. Work smart.
If your baby goes to play school, finish all your outdoor work and meetings in that time span. You can easily send out your emails or do your online research at night, so that that is more free time during the day for the baby. (Like more often than not, all my blogging happens once my baby and hubby are knocked out!!)  

8. Put the baby to work!!
As he gets bigger get him to join you at work hours. If you have to work on the computer get him to sit with you and draw on his papers. If you bake all the better make him your food taster!!! That way he won't feel like you are not spending time and you won't die of guilt! 

These are all I got for now. Some thanks to a little experience the others just common sense!! But most importantly I think you have to remember not to feel guilty... It's a useless emotion that has a capability to stick to you and grow like a virus!! 

That's why I always feel like when you decide to have a baby it's a big decision, well getting back to work is the next big decision. Don't get pressured by other mothers who get back in three months or  feel guilty seeing mothers who never get back to work... It's your decision.. And whatever you choose it's good... It's tough initially but if you push thru the first six months you are good to go!!! 

And remember nothing is permanent right? So if you start work and it doesn't suit you just drop it... Let it go.. It's ok! 


DIY Gift Wrapping!!!

While working on our Happy People DIY DAY research I was able to finally work on a few qucik DIY projects!!

One of the first things that came to my mind was how I was always looking for cute wrapping paper for gifts.

So I decided to just make me some!! I'm sure most of you remember my last attempt at making gift wrapping paper? The rubber stamp one?

Strange as this may seem but I seem to have posted this twice!!! ha ha ha!! Here is post one and here is post two!! The first was in sept 2011 and the second in april 2012..... I need a better system!!!



Anyhow!! here is a new one.... (i'm so going to put a reminder that I put this up!!!)

Well, to create this one you also need to use the stamping technique, but minus carving the stamp!! (which I have to admit is kinda tedious, also by now the ready to use stamps available in the market makes making your own stamps a little silly!!!)

For this DIY you need bare minimum material:














So there you go.... a new fun and easy home made gift wrapping paper!!