Times to Treasure Photo Gifts Service

Times to Treasure Photo Gifts Service

Overwhelmed

My dear Family and Friends,

I owe each one of you a HUGE and heartfelt "thank you". I mean it.

Yesterday was my birthday. Completion of my 32nd summer on this blue heaven. (Yeah I know, I don't look like 32.

And yeah again, I do count “summers” not "Sawan" as they do in Hindi. You can take a beach bum out of Goa but you cannot take the summers out of her...)

My day started with a very sweet birthday wish from my loving husband at  midnight on the day before.

Morning came with the announcement from Princess Diya - "Aaj mumma ka birthday hai, isiliye mein school nahi jaunga!". This followed by the chorus "Happy Birthday, Chachiji" by my nieces and nephew.

The whole day my cell phone kept ringing. (and I smiled each time I picked it.).

My Gmail overflowed with notifications from facebook when people all over the world left messages. (and I smiled each time I checked the unread mails.).

Went to the temple and was greeted by a whole new picture of My Kanhaji on the wall. It was as if he dressed specially for my birthday. I was mesmerized. ("Beauty lies in the eyes of beholder...", heard somewhere?)

Then we went to get treat items for dinner party at home. When we came  back, another surprise awaited us. The kids had arranged a mouth watering pineapple cake, candles that said "32" and even balloons....

We had a blast.

I know this was one of the most memorable birthdays I ever had. Thanks for each one of you for making it so special for me...

I know I’ve been going through rough times these last few months. It was as if my Kanhaji was flooding my day with happiness, making each of you as an instrument of His wish in communicating to me that happy days are just starting. I was overwhelmed.

Love you all, can’t thank you enough…

Sincerely,
~Varada

(oh my sentimental? me? I must be really getting 32-ish…whatever…)

Why God made roses?

Each day of our existence brings new challenges, new pressures, new problems – some real, some imagined.

This is not only true for people, but for nature as well.

Look at the rose bush. It just can’t help having all those thorns, can it? But does it crib about it? Whine? Complain?

No…

It dares to reach out and grow roses! Give fragrance, spread beauty !!

May be God wanted to us to take a leaf out of the rose bush’s book and learn to give happiness under all circumstances.

Your thoughts?

Two more...

In my article "Winter glitter", I had mentioned about two more earring pairs that I had made. Here they are...

Lemon yellow + green with a bold hint of copper
Sparkling white stones + tiny blue rings

Enjoy!!!

Winter glitter

One of the best things I indulged in during my vacation was jewelry creation. A couple simple findings (the ones shown below) teamed up with beads gave flow to my creative juices. Here are pix for you… :)

First came two different earrings of same set of green+orange beads:

I visited two of my nieces – fun-loving teenagers, during my visit to Gujarat. These are the bracelets I prepared for them as my personal gift.

I was carrying a lovely pink dress along on my trip, so this was the pair to go along with it:

Ms. Diya wanted her own pair of “aa-ha”, so put together these for my little one:

Hmmm… What a great way to spend time… :)

Hope you liked these as much as I enjoyed making them…

p.s. There are two more which I need to photograph and post here. May be tomorrow…? Keep watching this space for more…

Happy working!

I am back …

So, I have been absent from the e-world lately. Friends have been receiving “Out-of-office” mails in reply to their forwards. No new posts on my blogs. Well, I have been “vacationing”. :)

I had been feeling quite drained, tired and all such things. My husband and daughter had been complaining of not getting enough of “me-time”. So during the year end season, I decided to take all my accumulated leaves and spent 3 weeks with my folks.

Week 1: Lazed around. Celebrated the third birthday of my dear little princess Diya.
Week 2: Went to Baroda (Gujarat) at my sis-in-law’s place.
Week 3: Went to Mahesana and from there to Dwarika, Nageshwaram and Somnath.

Sort of religious trip mostly, but this silver cloud had a gray lining to it – my husband’s aunt passed away. She was a dear old lady with a sweet disposition, kind words and smiles for everyone she met. :( So we did spend 2~3 days paying our condolences, meeting with her children and grand children, generally helping out the grieving family to cope up. Apart from all this I also indulged in things I enjoy doing – cooked, made jewelry, sewed, read books.

There’s so much to tell you that one post will not be sufficient. Therefore, I’ve decided to write each piece as a separate one so I can take you back into a time which I enjoyed very much.

Hope you enjoy reading about it :)

10 min. stress-buster…

It's 6.20 PM.

You are in office.

You have a client call that starts at 6.30 PM and goes on till 8.00 PM or even later.

You have a dear husband and a naughty 3-yr-old waiting for you at home.

 

What do you do to clear off your mind from the building up stress?

Having found myself in such situation more often than I would have liked lately, I decided to take charge and do something different …

I grabbed a marker and monopolized the whiteboard for the next 10 mins…

 

Here’s the outcome…

Had to leave it unfinished due to my meeting, but was I glad of the outcome? You bet!!!

 

Enjoy!!!

"Sparks on ice" and other weekend work

I created a lovely jewellery set this weekend.

Red and white earrings and bracelet. Passion and Purity interwoven in a delicate design.

Here's is the matching necklace.

Check out the little dangle at the back end where there is the hook.

This pendant ties it all together:

I would like to name this piece as of understated elegance as "Sparks on ice", because that's what it looks like. Doesn't it? :)

Another small everyday piece I made was this pair of earrings:

Cute, na? :)

Cindrella

House on the rock

Boat

Two new earrings

I like making jewellery, my way of expressing the essence of someone else. My pieces may not be very very professional looking, but they speak what I feel about the person I make them for.

Like these earring here, they are for Sally - a kind lady who is warm and welcoming like the soft pink pearl; fresh and delicate like the green swaroski crystals.








This pair on the right is for Sumana, another sweet lady - open minded, caring, truly empathetic and Indian. I feel very lucky to have met her. Don't these earring speak for themselves?

New pair of earrings

A few findings + a very small saw toothed plier + cool beads + some creativity = New pair of earrings. :)

Away-close

When you are around, I take you for granted. Asking more than what you give, giving less than what I should.

It's the distance like this between us that makes me realize the importance that you have earned in my life. I feel more close to you while I am away. My moments are filled with your thoughts, your presence.

As in, do you remember, I asked you to make my collar proper while I was wearing my coat? Well, it was not because I could not do it. Or the way I tucked in your shirt? Neither was this because I thought you needed help. Well, I was just trying to collect that proximity in my thoughts.....

At times like these when I have to be away from you longer than I can stand, this saved proximity is helping me reach out to you - in my thoughts and dreams.

I am so glad to have you in my life....

Too much crowd inside me....

Sometime I get too noisy. Without uttering a word. It's not the words spoken out loud which create this noise. It's those silent thoughts within myself. Simply too many things - "I should do ....", "I have got to..." and the list seems endless. Flowing like a noisy little brooke, calling attention to every (in)audible minute.

At such times I long for you. Not to quiten those voices. Not to sort out the chaos. Not to find peace. No, I don't need your help.. Nor your support.. I am strong enough to lift my baggage.

What I want is to be quite... With u... "Together" in our silence...

Diya's birthday blast

It's been 2 years since she came in my life and she has turned it all upside down.
* I wake up at 5.45 a.m. (even on Sundays) because she wants her "boo" (milk bottle).
* I come to office and often think about how she must be doing in her (play-)school.
* I go home and get no time even to freshen up when I am bombarded by "dodi" "dodi" "dodi".. meaning that she wants to be picked up...
* I can't join office conferences from home like I used to due to the chaos she makes with her "baat de-do..." (meaning she wants to speak on the phone)...

But in spite of all these I simply love my adorable little daughter
* Every evening her eyes tell me that she missed me...
* Her hugs convey to me love like never before...
* Her sorry is the cutest in the whole big world...
* Her tear filled eyes break my heart...
* Her smile lights up my days....

So, for such an irresistibly loving daughter I had to choose a birthday gift. :) She turned 2 a few weeks ago, the 15th. Here's what we got for her...
1. A bright pink sweater
2. A crayons box
3. A stunning yellow T-shirt with a red colored Dora on it (which she had liked a couple of days earlier)
4. Another tee with Mickey and friends celebrating Halloween on it
5. A yo-yo type ball which glows with multi-coloured lights when she bangs it with her tiny hands
6. A pencil box with ducks and piggies on it
7. A kithen set where she can cook "happa and chai" (bread and tea) for all of us
8. Lots and lots of baloons....

Boy, was she happy!!!! She loved the celebrations through and through. And me? I loved her smile through and through :)

My new pair of earrings...

My new pair.. I made these and fell in love with them... I am wearing them today with Saree (Indian traditional dress) ..

I know I know,... I am being a show-off... :)

Red and gold earrings

Its festival season in India and Diwali (the festival of lights) is just round the corner.

I just finished making a pair of earrings for one of my special friends to wear with her red and gold dress which she's bought for this occasion.

Hope she enjoys wearing this lovely pair....

White chandelier earrings

One of my friends sold me this idea of making something in white... only white... Here is the outcome... :)