Gifts from the Crafty World

          Hi friends, I have been blessed like many of you to have a hobby that not only makes me happy but helps spread a little bit of happiness!! This post is  to share with all of you how generous the crafting community is and to say a big Thank you to each one of you.

Maria [aka Mia ] is a versatile crafter from Greece whom I became friends with recently. She is multi-talented  crafter dabbling in papercrafts, fabric crafts and a loooot of different styles of crafts.Mia has hosted a couple of amazing giveaways recently and I was the  lucky winner of a surprise parcel. I was so stunned to receive this big box of crafty treasure all the way from Greece . It has the most special handmade crafts , the cutest buttons I have seen, gorgeous rhinestones, felt embellishments, beautiful laces ,fabric pieces,beads, stamps and even metal embellishments. Thank you so much Mia....you don't know how happy your kindness has made me feel!!

From Mia

I bet most of you who visit me know Lisa....the mermaid crafter. Hehe yes I do tend to imagine Lisa to be a certain magical beautiful mermaid who is supremely kind and benevolent!! Lisa  not only makes the most beautiful projects but is so generous with spreading kindness by commenting on her friends' blogs. If you are a blogger you will know how precious a comment is! Love you Lisa for who you are!! And Thank you so much for the gorgeous giveaway gifts and special card.

From Lisa

I have a crafty friend , Sharada whom I have been lucky enough to meet a couple of times since she lives in Bangalore too. Recently she came back from an UK trip  and this is what she sent me.Everything handpicked for me including dies... I was speechless!!

From Sharada

         Many of you may remember I had a huge celebration last year when my blog viewership reached 5 million. 16 people won prizes and my blogger friend Priyanka Mathur was the lucky winner of a Big Shot machine!
A couple of months back I was struggling with many things in my life and feeling quite low and then... a huge parcel arrived from Priyanka and cheered me up no end! Money need not buy happiness all the time but yes kindness sure can make someone super happy!!!

From Priyanka

During the same phase when I was feeling blue....here is something special a dear blogger friend Pooja sent me! It made me feel so loved and happy. The power of a little something handmade sure is amazing!!

From Pooja

This year was  difficult for me during multiple phases and I had not been able to  craft or blog and visit all of you as much as I used to and wanted to.But I do treasure each comment, email , message and blog visit ....so much that it is difficult for me to put my gratitude into words and thank you adequately enough!Without perhaps realizing it ,each of you have given me a share of happiness...the most beautiful gift!!! Thank you so much my friends!

PS : Stay tuned!!
I am thinking of a giveaway soon...it wont be as grand as the one I had during my 5 million pageviews celebration....just a personalThank you giveaway for my crafty pals in blogland.

Winnings and Gifts from the Crafty World

Thrills of Crafting!

Before I start sharing new projects in 2016, I want to express how amazing this crafty journey has been for me. I started this blog as a way to chronicle school projects I made for my daughter and to share the occasional cards I made.

         5 years down the lane..this  blog and my blogger friends have come to mean so much to me.It gives me such solace from  life's everyday stresses! Crafting has helped me to make friends outside the healthcare community and my family circle and for someone who is quite private and rather shy it sure means a lot!!

          The utter generosity of the crafting community never ceases to amaze me!And in this post I am sharing some of my winnings and gifts from the crafting community [my last post in the same theme was in November 2015]

Isha

          I won this huge haul of crafty goodies from the generous and immensely talented Isha during her blog giveaway!There are so many goodies that I have not got around to using even a fraction! I have inked up the gorgeous Joy Crafts stamp in this Floral Card!

Ike

           I won the beautiful book with CD during Ike's giveaway. She is an immensely talented crafter and draws so beautifully !! She sent me the cute card and gift all the way from Greece!

Ike

          I loved the cute cat face she drew inside the card...such talent!! And she is such a generous soul she hosts her own Challenge called Ike's world Challenge ..be sure to check it out...you too can win awesome prizes!

Ike

         The crafty world is full of generous loving souls and I won this lovely stamp set and festive washi tapes from the Indian Craft Shop Lulupu [run by the talented and generous Karuna] when I was tagged by my crafty blogger friend Jaya in facebook! I am not very active on facebook and I take this opportunity to thank all the wonderful crafters who keep tagging me to win giveaways along with them!

Lulupu

          I dont purchase  a lot of craft supplies online but I am in no way a frugal crafter...I spend like crazy in physical stores and during sales! Recently crafter and store owner Maninder had a tempting sale at her craft shop Rainbowkraftykari and look at the goodies she sent me as a gift for a small purchase I made from her! Thank you so much Maninder!

Maninder Kaur

    If you are an Indian crafter you must have come across the utterly talented Mansi Gupta. She creates the most amazing 3 D flowers and has a way with dies and stamps which can literally take your breath away!
        And here is the "droolworthy" card I got from Mansi!!

Mansi Gupta

       A couple of us crafty bloggers from my city of Bangalore try to meet up every couple of months..sometimes we have fun swaps too. I got this beautiful mini-album from Remya!

Remya

        This was the first time I had got my hands on a mini album though I have seen many online. It was fascinating to see the little book unfold as you can see in the picture below.....awesome isnt it!

Remya

             Some time back I had written a review about the amazing Artistry Inkpads ...that post was wonderfully received by the crafting community and I was so pleasantly surprised when the owner of the company Shilpa Kenia sent me more gorgeous inkpads to play with...Thank you so much Shilpa....I love your products !

Shilpa Kenia

            There are crafters for whom many of us have a deep respect for and whose creations we marvel over. Papercrafting and the love of recycling and making interactive cards  forged a mutual love between myself and the immensely talented Pooja who surprised me with this gorgeous New Year Card...Thank you so much Pooja...my kiddo was so thrilled to see her name too inside the card!!

Pooja

            Many of you may be familiar with the popular Unstampabelles Challenge hosted by the generous Susan. I love her Challenge and I was lucky enough to win this gorgeous embossing folder for participating in the Sun theme Challenge ! Susan also sent me a beautiful handmade card all the way from Australia...Thank you so much Susan...I so loved the design and the wonderful coloring on your card!I will treasure this for life!

Susan Unstampabelles

           The paper crafting community in India is very small and there are hardly a handful of stamps being manufactured in India. Most craft supplies are imported from the USA and other countries making papercrafting an expensive hobby. I like to encourage local entrepreneurs in the field in whatever small way I can ! I was lucky enough to win this beautiful stamp which is made in India under the banner Peek a boo designs and designed by Vidushi Saraf.

Vidushi Peek a boo Designs

Wish you all success Vidushi.

Sudha Kalra

        Some crafty friends go back a long way....my friend Sudha Kalra whom I have  known in blogland for close to 5 yrs sent me this cute penguin tag/ ornament and some lovely embossing tools ! I have an obsession with crafty tools and Sudha correctly guessed I would love this set which is one of the popular items in her craft shop. I will soon post a formal review of these beauties!

Winnie and Walter

           In October during the World Card Making Day week I went on a wild card making spree and was lucky enough to win a 50 dollar voucher from Winnie and Walter.I wish to Thank  my blogger buddies Hussena and Paru who helped me as otherwise I would have wasted on shipping charges without knowing Winnie and Walter generously give free international shipping on winnings! Along with the goodies I ordered I got some gorgeous sequins and this sweet handwritten note ! Dont you just love a company who takes the trouble to write a handwritten note!

Winnie and Walter

          December 2015 was particularly memorable for me as I got to meet a dear crafter friend Priya Sivaraj and spend hours chatting to her and shopping at her shop in Chennai.I was so touched by her hospitality  ...she went to all the trouble to cook a grand lunch for me and drove me around in peak traffic hours [ which is a big deal considering the kind of traffic we have in our big Indian cities!]

Priya Sivaraj

          As a parting gift Priya gifted me a big set of Akashiya Sai watercolor brush pens , gorgeous huge tubes of puffy paint [ for my daughter!] and the longest scale I have ever seen!I was speechless !

From Rajni Chawla

         On Christmas eve  I got to meet and spend hours with one of the most talented and popular crafters in India.....literally a Crafty Goddess if I may say so !Rajni Chawla is so hugely popular and in demand in the  crafting circuit that she travels several times a year to different cities in India to conduct workshops in a wide variety of papercrafting techniques!

        I think whatever adjective I use to describe Rajni Chawla's work will fall short as her work is breathtakingly beautiful  and mesmerising!My photograph of the wonderful works of art she gifted me and my daughter doesnt capture a fraction of their true beauty.

With Rajni Chawla

       Thank you so much Rajni ji for accepting my invitation to come home for dinner!!It was amazing meeting you in person and talking to you!

         The seasoned crafter will agree that our crafting community abounds in similar stories  about the  crafting world...the thrill of winning a challenge or giveaway, receiving a RAK, meeting a crafty friend or craft celebrity!
        And if you are a newbie crafter, I hope my post gladdens your heart to know you have entered the beautiful world of crafting where friendships are formed across the oceans and where a little wisp of paper or a tiny golden sequin can bring a smile to a weary heart! 

Winnings and Gifts from the Crafty Community !

From Di of Pixie's Playground

        Hi friends at the outset itself let me warn you not to feel jealous.....I am posting this not to make you envious but to re iterate just how generous the crafting community is and to express my gratitude to the crafting community as the year comes to an end!

       I have been blogging for more than 5 years and the generosity of the crafting community and bloggers especially never ceases to amaze me!

Let me shout a big Thank you to...

• Di from Pixie's Snippets Playground : Di hosts weekly Linky party at her site and she takes the trouble to single-handedly visit each crafter and leaves such encouraging words on their posts. She selects and features super gorgeous projects each week and always has some amazing prize on offer . You have to tell her if you want to win a prize that week or not.....I confess I unashamedly want to win a prize each week!! The super gorgeous Sizzix stamp- die set shown above was a prize I won during her 200th Challenge celebration!! And I sooo loved the cute card she sent me...I am a big sucker for handmade cards!! I urge you to link up your creations each week to Di's Playground...its one of the most friendly Challenge sites in blogland!
• Monika Reek

From Monika Reek

         Monika is a crafty blogger just like you and me and I was simply blown away when just like that ,she sent  me all the gorgeous papers, sparkly beads, 3 d decoupage image sets, embossed cards and the icing of the lot...a handmade card featuring a beautiful beautiful embossed butterfly! My husband brought home this parcel and we were going to go out to see the latest James Bond flick "Spectre" ....but all I was interested was in drooling over each little thing in her parcel....I think my crafty friends can identify! 

       Ooh girl I dont know if you are crazy or not to take the trouble to send me all this stuff all the way from Germany but big big hugs!!

• Karuna of Lulupu Craft Store

From Lulupu

         Paper crafting is a budding industry in India and Karuna 's passion for crafting made her open her craft store Lulupu.She so generously sponsors and hosts monthly Challenge and I was voted winner in the 3 D Challenge  with my 3 D pinning pop up ball. The picture shows the beautiful prize she sent me!! Thank you so much Karuna for providing Indian crafters with a platform to showcase our Paper-crafting skills and encouraging us to excel!

• Devika of Kukies Basket

From Devika

      Devika is a blogger friend who also started a craft store to help fill the lacunae in getting craft material in India. She writes long eloquent letters to me and is super good for my ego as she praises me like anything!! I was so touched when one day a parcel arrived with all the lovely die cuts shown above....I am hoarding each bit like crazy as I cant bring myself to use them up!!And yeah she said some of them are for my daughter but wicked lady that I am I am grinning that my daughter has forgotten about these beauties!!...that way I get to hoard them longer!

• Diana of DL Art

From Diana of DL Art

          Diana hosts an extremely popular linky party each month in addition to RAK's and weekly themed Challenges on her blog. She also has a shop selling cute gorgeous crafty items. She so generously sent me all these stuff when I was lucky enough to win her linky party one month. I urge you to link up your creations at Diana's site...she is one of the most friendliest souls in blogland and now has a bunch of equally friendly DT many of whom are my friends!

• Marianne Designs

  

  From Marianne

  If you enjoy die cutting I am sure you have come across dies by Marianne designs! This very generous company sponsors several Challenges around blogland and I won the  2 gorgeous die sets shown above when I was voted winner for my 3 D chariot at the Marianne Design Divas Challenge 
• Pamelia Johnson

From Pamelia

          Pamelia is someone I am literally in awe of....her mixed media creations are simply mind-blowing...one can sit and stare at every inch of her creations so be sure to drop by her blog if you havent! The lovely stuff you see above were won during her generous giveaway and she sent me all these stuff all the way from Canada! Pamelia is so generous is sharing her crafty secrets and I looove that she comments on her blogger friends blogs and encourages us no end....Thank you so much Pamelia !

•  PoppyStamps

From Poppy Stamps

       I love dies and always drool over the gorgeous die cuts my fellow crafters  use. In India we only have access to buy the limited variety of dies the handful of sellers here sell so it was dreamy to win gorgeous Poppystamps dies which are not available in India ! I won the  dies shown above in 3 separate occasions...twice during new release hops and once as a lucky winner during the poppystamps monthly Challenge .I also want to specially thank Poppy stamps DT Jeanne Jachna for seamlessly coordinating sending me the prize all the way to India all 3 times!

• ModSquad Challenges and Designs by Ryn

Designs by Ryn

         I was lucky enough to win the gorgeous rubber stamps designed by Ryn when I took part in the ModSquad Challenges. I had been debating buying Ryn's stamps are they are so popular now but since I am not confident about whether I could do justice to her beautiful designs I had resisted...it was such a thrill when a couple of weeks later I won her stamps and the icing on the cake was when she personally emailed me!! Oooh it was like being contacted by a celebrity....if you know what I mean!!

         I urge you to play at ModSquad Challenges...they have unique Challenges and the DT do take care to visit your blog and choose top 3s and they have gorgeous prizes on offer too!

•  Scrapping4fun Challenge and Pooja

From Scrapping4Fun

          Now this present has a story which you may find heartwarming ! Like most bloggers I too have blogger friends I regularly visit and one day I casually visited my talented blogger pal Pooja and noticed her creation had been shortlisted at Scrappin4fun Challenges and needed "votes" to win. Well I do love to support my blogger friends in whatever small way and so yes I went ahead and voted for her! Later I came to know that I had won a prize just for voting!! How cool is that and quite crazy! I confess when the prize arrived in the mail with a "Swiss postage" I had a hard time recollecting why I was sent it till I read the note attached!

• Stamplorations

From Stamplorations

        I was lucky enough to win this gorgeous stamp set designed by my blogger friend Deepti [ she actuallydesigns her own stamp line...isnt that amazing!]from the Stamplorations blog. And I loved the fact that the owner of the shop Shery took the extra trouble to add a hand written note...isnt that sweet!Thank you so much Shery!

• Shalini Mittal of Crafters Corner

From Shalini

          I worked as DT for Shalini for more than a year and she is such a generous soul. She has sent little and not so little gifts to not only me but to my daughter so many times! Thank you so much Shalini...I should have posted this long time back!! Shalini sent my little girl the adorable ladybug bag and beautiful kingfisher compact mirror! My daughter still takes it to her school to show off whenever she gets a chance!

From Shalini

Yes apart from my regular monthly DT packages  I have been lucky to get beautiful crafty toys in my mail  from Shalini's Crafters Corner!

From Shalini

Shalini would send gifts not only during festivals but also when she returned from a trip abroad and also if she specially loved a DT post...Thank you so much Shalini once again!

• Shilpa Kenia  of Shilpi

  

  From Shilpi

            Now this little gift is something which is very exciting for me...I recently came to know that an Indian company Shilpi has launched its own line of ink pads with some pretty neat and unique features. I merely congratulated the artist- owner Shilpa on facebook and lo she messages me she would send me some samples to try out! Woo hoo...cant wait to try them out!
• Vishakha Mittal

From Vishakha

           Facebook is a time stealer but yes sometimes you can chance upon some fun crafty events on FB ! Vishakha is a crafter + seller who recently posted on FB if anyone was interested in working with some metal embellishments. A couple of wonderful crafters recommended  my name and I told her I was up to a Challenge ! Well I am somewhat ashamed to say she sent me these lovely things nearly 2wks back but I am yet to really use them...love them too much and feel they need to be showcased in a worthwhile project which I am yet to complete!

• Sharada of HappyMomentz

  

  From Sharada

            Sharada is a sweet blogger friend I have had the pleasure to meet in person several times since we stay in the same city! She made this cute shaker card for me and gifted my daughter the beautiful plaque shown below. We have a small group of paper-crafters who meet up once in a while and Sharada almost always takes the initiative to get us all together!

From Sharada

• Anuja

  

  From Anuja

             Anuja is another crafter friend whom I have met in real life a couple of times. We both share the passion of crafting with different materials and not just paper. Recently during a crafters meet Anuja was kind enough to gift this cute little handmade paper purse to my daughter...this is so cool..it has 2 pockets inside to hold papers, crayons and any other knick knacks a little girl may need! And she even monogrammed it for my daughter! Thank you so much Anuja....you dont know how happy it made my little girl!
• Bangalore Crafters

  

  Bangalore Crafters

           And I am leaving you with a "group selfie" we took during a crafters meet at Bangalore. That is Anuja at the top left holding the camera, the one in red top below her is Remya. The blue blouse smiley one is Sharada.Behind Sharada are Rupa, Pooja, Mary Antonia Raj, Tanvi and Jaya in that order! The little head is my daughter's and on the right hand lower corner is me !
       And to all my readers and blogger friends....Thank you so much  for all the wonderful visits and comments you leave on my blog....it means so much to me!

The Generosity of the Craft Community !

           I am constantly amazed at the generosity of the Crafting Community. Not only have I experienced this  generosity and love several times since I started this blog but I have seen many crafters from all around the world blog about gifts, cards and other gifts other crafters send them! 

           Well why did I go all philosophical ..... Its 2 stories!
I have been lucky to be associated with the owner of the largest Craft Supply Store in India, Itsy Bitsy for quite some time now.I did a few Guest DT posts for Itsy Bitsy  in 2013-14 [Stamping Basics, Mod Podge Tips,Easy Paper Basket, DIY Shadow Box, Castle Box and Card] and whenever Itsy Bitsy opens a new store in India, Rashmi , Itsy Bitsy's owner makes it a point to call me and have a chat!
           Recently Itsy Bitsy opened its 15th Store in India at Bangalore's Shopping hub Commercial Street and Rashmi called me to have an informal chat! While speaking to her I told her my current crafty obsession was clay and especially the expensive "Thai clay". I was so surprised and my heart literally swelled up when this parcel arrived at my doorstep a few days later!

4 packets of high quality Thai Clay and my favorite Thai Paper!
I am yet to open the Thai clay she sent me but here is a project I had earlier made with Thai Clay from Itsy Bitsy : Clay Plumeria

Thai Clay flowers

And you may have seen me using cream Thai paper as a photography backdrop to many of my projects but here is a Fairy land Pop Up card in which I  used the lovely Thai Paper to form the "straw " ground in fairy land!

Fairy Land Pop Up card

Such a sweet gesture and when I mailed her to thank her she told me it was just a token of appreciation for my "passion and enthusiasm for crafts" !! Thank you so much Rashmi and may the Craft Community grow in bounds and leaps!

Made by Esvee for me!

           Generosity comes not only in giving physical gifts...I enjoy connecting with and forming friendships with other crafters in blogland and whenever a favorite crafter doesnt blog for some time I do miss them!  Recently I visited the extremely versatile and multi-talented crafter Esvee 's blog and casually enquired if all was well with her.
          A few days later...this post is what shows up on my dashboard  titled " Flowers with Thanks to Dr Sonia" I was so touched I nearly cried and I think only a blogger could really understand the feeling !!
          We all know how tough it is to be a young mother and still manage to have a little bit of time for yourself so if you have a moment to spare please do drop by Esvee's blog  Dainty Delights and give her a bit of blog love !
        As bloggers I am sure you will agree one of the most precious gifts in blogland is an encouraging comment!

Please Do share your heartwarming experiences in blogland or in the craft community too...it will be so wonderful to read everyone's story!