December Arte Fair
It's been crazy busy last few days......with the general holiday season, the UAE National day and the Muharam holiday ..etc. It's just been a mad rush.

The Arte Fair was on for two days this time 11th and 12th of December. We met some really wonderful people and saw all kinds of different handmade things. It was pure joy to see so many beautiful crafts and crafters together. It's amazing that people are so creative and talented - all in all a wonderful experience and total inspiration!
Here are some pictures of our craft booth at the December Arte Fair. It was great fun to set up , display and the best part- seeing people appreciate the work we put into crocheted objects.






And more pictures of the different things on display. And a cute little baby girl who is wearing a hairband I made.

A wonderful Giveaway - Check it out!
This is an amazing and generous give away by Scrapcollector . Do check out the blog candy here . These goodies look so tempting.... The last date to enter is 10th Dec.

Happy 39 th National Day - UAE !
This post was supposed to come yesterday but I guess Blogger too was enjoying the National Day like the rest of us and was totally off duty. Here is what I had made with my latest craft - Quilling.



Yes, I have been trying different things and paper craft has been real fun. Quilling is turning out to be one of the fovourites.Who would have thought twirling paper would create wonderful intricate and beautiful peices. I have a lot to learn yet but I'm enjoying the process way too much. So as you can imagine I'm surrounded with strips and coils of colourful paper.

On the go Pouch
As I've mentioned before I'm trying out all kinds of crafts and enjoying myself thoroughly. Maybe crafters are a blessed kind of people who can find a whole world of crafts and be so happy content with it anytime.
I've been trying my hand at sewing lately. I'm happy with the progress so far.I have been trying different projects and these are a few pouches I made for the craft fair.








I love how these have turned out.They are roomy enough to keep the basic cosmetics and fit in most purses. I have been using mine for the last couple of months and am happy to see that they are pretty practical. Actually, I use it more like an 'easy to change bags accessory'. I just put in all my essentials in it and whenever I need to change bags I don't have to keep organizing things ...just put the pouch in the Purse I intend to carry for the day. For some one like me who is a Bag / Purse lover I keep changing them according to outfits:) and these are so handy to save time.

Pink Ice Booties
I'm so totally crazy about this pink right now....talk about being hooked onto something! I've actually put it at the back of the closet and taken up other colors to work with.
These booties are the last project with pink thread. They are for my neighbor's pretty little baby girl.




I made a few more pocket tissue covers for Arte Craft Fair in different colors ( notice- no pink ? ) These were very well appreciated and a lot of people bought it for gifts. I'm planning on making more in other colors. Something Christmassy maybe ....

All in pink
A few pretty pink tissue covers for a baby shower. I just love how they look all together in a basket.

UAE NATIONAL DAY - Flowers and Flags
Its not yet the day ....the National Day is 2nd of December. But I'm showing my collection for the event. There are different hair accessories and brooches etc. These are a few of the pictures. The remaining can be seen in this Album. I'm making these for custom orders and and so happy to say that I'm getting more orders too.












Yes, ofcourse, there are crocheted ones as well. Those pictures will be uploaded soon too. Just gearing up for the Arte Fair this friday. So much to be done ...so little time. Same story goes on and on .....

Amazing Blog give-aways for Paper Crafts and more!

Since I'm trying out various different crafts I come across such gorgeous blogs and really generous and amazing giveaways. It would be a crime not to share these links are these blogs have some truly beautiful work of paper arts.
As you would have known by now that we don't really get craft supplies out here these blog candies and give aways are my dream for now. Things like stamps, die cuts, pretty punches and different papers and the works are not even seen out here. Do check out these blogs and their amazing works.

Scrap with Stacy - giveaway ends on 31st October 2010



http://tiddlyinks.blogspot.com/2010/10/blog-candy-continued.html - Give away ends on 4th November 2010




Sentiments 4 you giveaway end on 31st October 2010.





The Stamping Boutique winners announced on 20th November 2010.

Stir- fry Squids
On a cooking spree these days besides the bag fever. This is a recipe I whipped up after having a stir fry sqid dish at a restaurant recently. It was well received and praised to no end but I think it will not be a regular dish ....too much of coconut and butter !!! And I have to watch my weight , health , nutrition ....etc.

Squid marinated in {salt, soy sauce, ginger-garlic paste, vinegar, red chilly powder} and stir-fried in butter / olive oil - your choice. Keep aside.



The grated coconut and finely diced onion being well roasted with a little butter, green chilly and curry leaves in a kadhai.



Then added the squids into the above mixture and stirred around for a while( abt 10 mins) ....no water to be added. Garnish with chopped coriander leaves.




And Voila ! Here you go ...easy-peasy yummy treat all ready !



It's a quick and easy recipe ...as you can see I'm no good at writing recipes. I just whipped up this one and had to share.

And More....
Told you these are addictive! Just a couple of more book covers. I've added a matching pansy bookmark to the blue and yellow one. These make such cute little gifts.I was wondering if my son will approve of these as gifts for his teachers....he can be very choosy for an 8 year old!






I'm going to make some more of these ...so many colours and ideas. I love these small and quick projects.

Bag it- 10


In the meanwhile , the bag making continues. This is one big bag that can fit way too many things- even my 14" laptop along with the usual bag stuff. The best part is that it happens to be pretty light considering the size of it.
As for the other crafts , I'm working on loads of flowers. Will post pictures soon.

Crocheted Book cover



Taking a break from big projects that I'm working on right now. These book covers are quick and easy to make. Just whipped them up with any colours and designs and it's impossible to stop at just one. There are two more of these on my hooks right now.
I'm also trying to polish my sewing skills which at the moment are probably close to nil. I can manage to sew in neat straight lines so far. Lets see how much I learn of this but I'd love to try. I'm so inspired by all the beautiful sewing projects made by my friends online.

Bag it - 9 ! Lacy Flower Bag

Like I was saying the last time , more and more bags are turning out by my hooks!I'm crocheting loads of other stuff too but the bags get done before anything else! I have been crocheting for as long as I can remember and the dear hubby has accepted the hook as a natural extension to my arm ( that's what he calls it).





This bag has been on my ever growing ' to make ' list for a long time now. With all the various distractions it always got side lined and the prospect of weaving in so many ends was terrifying. Well finally, I mustered the guts and plunged in. Yes there are a whole lot of ends to weave in and that part is no fun.It was so tiresome that I needed a little change - I thought a little matching coin bag would go so well with it.
I've been trying around other crafts too too much inspiration out there not to give a try to the various crafts. The funniest reaction was from the hubbs, when he saw me ot crocheting for 2-3 days , he was shocked and thought I was giving up crochet to pursue other interests....he actually tried to convince me that crochet and I had a strange unbreakable bond. My son wanted to ry out the new stuff with me but soon got bored of it all- except for the paper quilling - he loved that! We have a few paper quilling projects going on too and a little sewing as well....So I guess I'm turning out to be a multi-crafter after all. I've always found this word strangely fascinating....

Bag it 8 ! Shimmering Lilac Elegance



Another evening bag off my hooks. I love the look of this bag and it is big enough to carry all the girly essentials, I think. I hope to display it during the craft fair next month.
The thing I like about this bag is that it is very verstaile. It would go with most black outfits and it would looks great with Abaya as well. I'm still in the bag mode ...seems like it is an obsession. Does this happen to you ....like you try to sleep and all these wonderful bag ideas and designs keep you wide awake and excited? This is like an every night story for days now ....
But I'm making different things as well. I'll blog about it soon.

Other crafts - QUILLING.

*** Warning : Picture heavy post ***

I had long forgotten the beautiful art of paper quilling. Luckily I met this very talented lady, Amna Al Fardh , who was promoting this craft. Looking at her gorgeous works I was absolutely hooked on.
I was so inspired with her beautiful projects that I just had to learn this once more.I had tried it sometime back but because we do not get the supplies locally and lack of beautiful coloured paper discouraged me from pursuing this elegant craft.
These are some of my very first attempts. Nothing great yet, but I enjoyed making these pieces. When I was surfing online I came across such wonderful resources , tutorials and projects. It would be a crime not to try it out.
This Quilled Snowflake tutorial was very helpful. This is my first attempt at quilling.



And some of the other things I've been playing around with. Maybe I'll use this on my son's scrap book.













And then finally this poppy flower. This was my second quilling project. I found this amazing tutorial by Inna Dorman ,which was very helpful. She has some amazing creations in her site- truly talented. My ' to make ' list is growing by the minute.
I just love poppy flowers ...they are my favourite flowers to make even though I've never seen a real one all my life! Now Roses are what I get to see most and I'm not much of a rose person ..... Find them pretty but not really fond of the smell.
Anyways, here is it is ! I have to seriously take some better pictures.

Bag it - 7 Shimmering Beige
Looks like lately I've been working on so many bags. It's like every night I get haunted by ideas for bags , designs, patterns, colours etc. Or else, how to improve a particular style or pattern. Seriously, I have another bag to show in this post.





This one is very similar to the Silver Bag I had made sometime back with just a few modifications and a shoulder strap added. And ofcourse the rose with gold trim added for the bling factor !

Bag it - 6 Shimmering Black Elegance

Hello after a short break. Yes, I'm back from my 'little ' vacation. It seems more like a dream. Anyways, still settling down into normal routine and finding it so boring.
And ofcourse catching up with various wips and different crafts. I'm having a good time learning new stuff too.
Here is the latest FO to show off!





I guess one of the most common accessory with every girl is a black bag. Yes , I have yet another bag to show :). What can I say ....it's a crazy bag mode. It looks like all I'm doing id making bags. There are two more going on at the moment ....will post when done.But for now lets focus on this one.
It's done in shimmering black and gold thread. I like the look of the crocheted fabric. This bag is surely much better to look at in person than in these pictures. I know my photography skills are way off from any decent level but in this case I think it's the black that makes it difficult to capture a good picture. I've always found it difficult to get any decent picture of my projects in black.
I'm thinking of more stuff in this thread and combo. Loads of ideas but lets see what materializes.

Granny the great








Yes,'The Granny Square' strikes again. It is often the simplest patterns that make the look of really pretty things. I fell in love with the little granny pouches I saw online and couldn't resist making some myself. I love the fact that these are so simple and yet very functional. They work great as business card holders, jewellery pouches, even little goody bags.