Ohhh and here are my cookies

My new muffin tray at work!!! :-)


I baked these for the kids... Aaryan and 2 others who will be joining us for New Year.

Cheers,
Smita.

I'm on the top of the world...!!!

Yay yay yay!!!!
'I'm on the top of the world looking down on creation and the only explanation I can' give...
is that I baked my first ever flawless cupcakes!!!!! Touch wood... :-) I am so happy today that I hardly have words to explain what I am feeling. And whom should I thank for this... well, my dear Mamma!! She found the muffin tray I had been looking for all over Mumbai for the last one year. And she bought it for me. Isn't that sweet. Mamma, you are the best!

I have been doing a lot of baking for our New Year party tomorrow. I made some cookies yesterday with cute glaze icing on them (even Mamma thought they looked nice), I made some tart shells this morning (will be filling them up with strawberry glaze while serving) and now these cupcakes. (Pictures coming up in this post). Even burnt my finger while taking out the tray from the hot oven... boo hoo... but actually I don't mind!

My little treasures:

The card my brothers-in-law made for my birthday:

My birthday cake (hmm... yummy):

The card that Vineet gave me (made by yours truly):

And my little boy on Christmas day:

Happy New Year!!!

Love,

Smita.

My birthday

Yesterday was my birthday and I had an awesome time... I love receiving gifts and I literally received loads :-). Vineet gave me stuff that I absolutely adore... some from Body Shop and a superb perfume!! Clothes from Mamma n Papa, Mom-in-law and from the kids at home.

And then the actual indulgence... I went to the biggest Hobby Ideas store here- the one at Mahalaxmi. I shopped till I dropped, literally. Bought stamps, patterned papers, a scoring tool, markers, a border punch... I literally had a bag full of card-making stuff. Waiting to use them. Guess it will first be on Aaryan's birthday card. I am planning to try a waterfall card. I did try one last week, there were some mistakes that I want to correct this time around.

The best part of my birthday were some of the cards. Vineet ordered a card (yes, I made my own birthday card) and he paid me 6 times the decided amount for the card :-); Amit and Sumit (my brothers-in-law) made a super card on behalf of all the kids at home. I loved the other card that Vineet bought too. The cake was a yummy strawberry n chocolate cake... Lunch was at Bombay Blues and dinner at Aromas of China. I bought Aaryan a magnetic Doodle Pro-like slate that I had been long dying to buy for him. All in all, I had a super day.

Will post the pictures later...

Merry Christmas!!!!

Hello everyone,
It is almost Christmas day here in India, so let me wish everyone a Merry Merry Christmas and a beautiful new year. I love the end of December and the first weeks of Jan... because of the festive mood everywhere and because of Papa's, Richa's, Aaryan's, and my birthdays. It is so much fun to have all our birthdays in each week...

Well, coming to my card. Yet again a card for this week's 2S4U sketch (Kazan's sketch # 16). It was a beautiful sketch this week. I, for once, immediately knew what I wanted to do, but wasn't too sure. I have made this card for our friends' wedding. It is their third anniversary and they have a beautiful 4 month old baby boy. I have tried to capture what each year signifies, in this card. Well, this is ofcourse my interpretation!!

For the circles, I have used thin laces from miscellaneous sources... I made concentric circles on a piece of cardstock for each of them. The buttons are from a local store.. the big button is again from my mom's stock... and the heart shaped sequins are from Hobby Ideas. The mauve and green cardstocks are from a pad of metallic sheets. That's about it I guess. Pardon my handwriting but since we don't get too many stamps and chipboard or other lettering here, I have to include handwritten stuff (in my handwriting tres terrible!)...

Cheers,

Smita.

It has been really long...

Hi all,
Finally I am back online actively; and I've finally created a card. I thought I would not be able to even think creatively for a long long time after this break of a month and a half.

Anyway, here's the card for Laura's sketch # 15. I made this one for my dad. It is Papa's birthday on the 21st and we will be visiting him then. I was almost sure I would end up not making a card for him if I had procrastinated any more. But as I mentioned earlier, time is flying these days. With Aaryan in school now, I don't know when my day begins and when it ends. It is just too hectic for now.

More about the card. I used glossy cardstock as the base. The blue and green cardstocks are part of the metallic sheets Chirag (my sister's husband) got for me from the US (A C Moore, I believe). He got me the loveliest collection of papers, and I am so grateful to him for that. I didn't try to keep the card too masculine simply because I wanted to add the daughter's touch to it, so I have generously used lace (from my mom's old collection) and glitter and rhinestones. The green buttons and the twine are from local craft stores; the bigger buttons from mom's stock again; the silver squares are from the Hobby Ideas store here and so is the sentiment. I kind of like the card and so did everyone at home. Just hoping that Papa doesn't see it before the 21st. :-)

Cheers,

Smita.

Home at last!!!

Hi all,

I am finally back home. Yes, after a very very long trip to Kolkata... The trip was wonderful, I must say. Mixed emotions and feelings... I had been waiting very long for Richa's wedding... and now it is almost 3 weeks since then and she is miles away in the US. Time either crawls or just whizzes past; there is no middle path!! We were all very busy throughout last month-first, in preparation for the wedding and then, in attending other weddings.

Richa looked like a princess on her wedding day! Really! Attaching a snap of theirs along with this post, so you'll know how serious I am. Richa, I miss you a lot... though we mostly talked on the phone!

And there is something more I have to share... Chirag got me this superb set of papers for card making!! I am so thrilled with the sheets that I don't know what to do with them :-) Hoping to get down to card making soon.

Aaryan has just started going to school this week. I am looking forward to loads of fun with him and his talks about school... but when will my little one speak!!!!!! God! Nobody is more anxious about it than I am... but he is attempting now, and I guess that is a positive sign. I am also looking forward to packing great food in his tiffin box, but the guy doesn't eat a thing!! :-( Aaryan... eat so that Mamma is inspired to cook :-)!!!