Fold card: Napkin fold card

Hi Friends

Sharing a simple napkin fold card that I made recently. For the first time, I have used magnets for sealing the centerpiece.

Do let me know how you liked it.

Crafty Summer Vacation

Recently enrolled little missy for a home summer camp. It was very well organized with unique activities planned for each day.

The kids were welcomed in different ways based on the theme for the day, making them feel extra special:)

Sharing some lovely crafts that Missy created there:

Potato printing on tote bag

Tent for pajama party

Welcome to pajama party!

Butterfly mobile

Down the memory lane on his birthday

Sharing the scrapbook layouts that I created for DH's birthday. I took some of his childhood birthday pics and embellished them. It was loved by all :)

Mungode - Moong daal pakode | Monsoon special Bite size appetizer

Hi Friends

Sharing a yummy snack which is probably prepared in almost every Indian household!

Ingredients

• Dhuli moong daal 1 cup
• Coriander leaves
• Coriander seeds
• Chili powder
• Oil to fry
• Salt to Taste

Method

Soak the moong daal for 4-5 hours drain the water and grind the daal and make a paste. Now add coriander seeds, chili powder salt to taste , garlic paste and mix the batter for few minutes.

Now heat up a frying pan add oil to deep fry, Make marble shape mungode and deep fry on medium heat and free till it turns into brown. Now the yummy tasty and crispy crispy and delicious Mungode is ready to serve

Best taste with Pudina or Coriander green Chutney with a hot cuppa tea!

Pop up flower bouquet card

Hello dear crafty friends. Apologies for being away for such a long time, but I think I am back to my love of blogging!

For the last year I was super busy in a personal excellence training organized by y organization. It is a complete transformation program targeting your inner core beliefs to your behaviour, dreams aspirations. It was awesome to be part of it :)

Taking you to todays card. I made this pop up bouquet card for little missy on her demand when she fell sick last year!

She said when someone is not well, at least they should get a "get well soon" card to cheer them up. So my horses started running!  And then she is so much fascinated by pop ups that a normal card would not be that exciting.  

Do let me know how you liked this card, would love to hear from you after such a looong time!

Exercising the Will Power Muscle!

Like any other muscle in our body, will power is also a muscle, which can be developed with exercise and practice. Once we are in the habit of using it and exercising it, we can use the muscle for other purposes, in other domains of our life too.

From 9 December 2017 till 9 January 2018 I am going to do stretching and Sudarshan Kriya daily. (As a side thought, if I miss the kriya on a day, the target shifts by 2 days. So like I could not do it yesterday, so now I will be doing this exercise till 11th Jan 2018)
Start Date:  9th Dec 2017
End Date: 11th Jan 2018
Affirmation: I do Yoga and Pranayam daily. It makes me "Andar se strong!" Sudarshan Kriya followed by Sahaj Samadhi cleanses my system and removes any toxins.

Making this declaration public will help me keep a track of it and I will love to share my success with you all my friends :)

Easy Christmas card - Cup Cake liner craft

Hi friends

Sharing simple card which we made with cup cake liners. Love the festive colors of this one :)

Love thy self

"I am the master of my fate,
 I am the captain of my soul" 

Beautiful and empowering lines by the great Nelson Mandela. These lines from a poem helped him stay positive and focused in spite of being in jail for 27 years.

Have you noticed that sometimes we shy away from taking certain steps, be it taking on an adventure, grabbing an opportunity to speak in public or something  simple like taking up additional responsibilities at home or work.
Why do you think we do it, despite of wanting to go ahead with it? what is it that paralysis us to take action?
This and many such reflections were a part of my Personal Excellence Journey.

What PE has made me reflect on:

1. "Whether you think you can or think you cant, you are right." - Henry Ford.
What we believe in, becomes true because that is where we focus.
2. I never thought about my inner self, what motivates me, inspires me, how I can harness the forces of nature to work in favor of me!

What PE has taught me:

1. There is a vast reservoir of energy within us in the form of our subconscious mind. It is like a faithful follower. It can be given right instructions so that it helps us to be our best selves.

2. To laugh often and laugh much. To keep the child inside me blossoming and joyful. The amazing laughter club gurus left us holding our stomach and cheeks aching (for having smiled so much after such a long time)

Smile is infectious, you catch it like the flu,
When someone smiled at me today,
I started smiling too.
I passed around the corner
and someone saw my grin.
When he smiled I realized
I'd passed it on to him.
I thought about that smile,
then I realized its worth.
A single smile, just like mine
could travel round the earth.
So, if you feel a smile begin,
don't leave it undetected.
Let's start an epidemic quick,
and get the world infected!

3. Accepting myself fully, completely. I am enough! By accepting I let go of the expectations from myself and others. And then I can choose to act in a certain way, unbounded by the burden of expectations.

How I plan to excel in everything I do:

1. How you do one thing, is how you do everything: I will try to be mindful of my actions and thoughts. Bringing in awareness towards my thoughts an actions is the first step in correcting them so that they help me achieve the larger purpose of my life.

2. Forming my circle of inspiration in the form of people who inspire me, great works of literature, poems, songs. This will help me to remain motivated and inspired in every moment of life.

3. Being a warrior and not getting bogged down by the mundane activities. Trying to find value in every task. Having an empowered mindset rather than a victim mindset.

4. Having positive beliefs and thinking positive thoughts. Whatever we are is a function of our self belief.

 As rightly said by Mahatma Gandhi,

" Your beliefs become your thoughts,
your thoughts become your words,
your words become your actions,
your actions become your habits,
your habits become your values,
your values become your destiny"

 5. Practicing willpower muscle. Yes you read it right, will power is a muscle that can be developed like other muscles that we work on in gym.

6. Living in the present moment. Using all the 5 senses for experiencing something to create a strong bond of love and attention.

Finally quoting again from my favorite, Mandela

" You have a limited time to stay on Earth. You must try and use that period for the purpose of transforming your country (starting from you) into what you desire it to be." 

I am very fortunate to have gotten this chance of being on the Personal Excellence journey. Now after having attended 2 levels of the amazing Personnel Excellence program, I feel like a different person altogether from before I went to PE!

I don't have enough words to thank TCS, Nidhi Raina, Ritu Mam and the amazing PE team for making this transformational journey possible for so many of us!

Last but not the least, I have learnt to love myself unconditionally! :)

Kids play clock using old CD - best out of waste

Hi Friends

Sharing a simple craft made by little miss for her school "Best out of waste" activity. 

We used an old CD and altered it into a little clock with moving dials, so that it can be used to learn the concept of time. Do let me know how you liked our simple creation.

The fastest painting that I ever made!

Hi Friends

Wish you a very happy Diwali again! Do you remember a painting of mine which took 4 years to complete!! I am sure you dont :) You can check it out here. 

And can you believe I completed this painting just in 3 sittings! Right from the inception of the idea to final completion in just 3 days :)

Actually we had a little slot on top of the safety door, I wanted to fill it with something beautiful and that too before Diwali! I used my daughters old canvas for this. Painted with acrylic paints. Drew the Ganeshji image with hands. Later outlined the border and outlines with 3D outliners. Adorned Ganeshji's necklace with colorful stones.

Very happy with the result. Do let me know how you liked our little creation ( Yes little miss had definitely contributed in the painting in her own way, sometimes painting the bells, background and sometimes bugging me ...haha :))

This is where I started!

In progress