Monday 15 February 2016

Hello there!!

Hello dear Friends,

Mid-february and my first post of the year....Have you missed me? In case you are wondering where I was until now, I was on my annual vacation to India. I'm lucky to have spent quality time with my family during the vacation. It was a relaxing vacation ...all I did the whole month was wake up late ,chat, sip tea ,eat and sleep.

My mom spoilt me by cooking my favourite Indian recipes and I'm sure I must have gained a few kilos..who cares anyway. Winter is my favourite season of the year and I love everything associated with it..fog,blankets, winter food , sweaters, coats ,waiting for the sun to shine :)

This vacation was special as I got a chance to visit my maternal family homes which was unplanned. I met my uncles,aunts and cousins and had so much fun talking about the times when I used to live with them during my college education.

There were trips to bazaars for shopping for clothes,spices,accessories and specialty items and I somehow restricted the weight to allowed baggage limit.We even managed to watch a movie based on evacuation of Indian migrants from  Kuwait in 1990(knowing that it will be banned here ..lol).

Ok, back to business ...I didn't do much of cross stitching during the vacation. In fact whenever I picked up my needle my mom would say "Are you here to cross stitch or spend time with us"? Ha Ha. She was surprised how come I love cross stitching so much and have chosen it over other crafts she taught me.

Don't worry I still have few things to show for Gifted Gorgeousness SAL. One of my cross stitch friends on facebook proposed to do a swap in October ,however I wasn't confident about international shipping from Kuwait. So I kept delaying to commit for the swap. I agreed for it in Dec, when our annual vacation dates were finalized knowing that I can safely post from India.
This is what I stitched for the birthday swap,February being birth month for both of us .It was so much fun to gather goodies for the package .



The whole package I sent..can you a crochet coaster in the pic? Its my first !!
 Here is what she sent me for the swap. All the things are handmade in this package including the needle minder and scissor fob. We discussed our likes and wishes before committing for the swap ,so we knew what we can add to each other's stash.


My main target for this vacation was to make arrangements so that gifts I have been making reach the recipients. One of those was to be sent to Singapore. After my first plan failed, I posted the cross stitch piece unframed, half halfheartedly to my friend's family in India. I was so happy when my friend contacted me and told that her father has got the piece framed in one day and she will getting the piece next day as her mother was flying to meet her .My joy knew no bounds when she sent me the picture of the piece displayed in her house.

Just before going on vacation, my ex colleague sent me this picture of the framed piece I stitched for him as retirement gift.


The cushion I made for my niece ,which I showed in my last GG post, was well received too.

Seeing our work being appreciated and displayed is the biggest motivation for any crafter..don't you agree.

The second agenda for the vacation was to get hands on handcrafted beauties, made by my mom and granny, which she does not use any more. Success achieved and my house now displays these heirlooms. I will save the pictures for future posts.

We visited many wonderful historical places during our vacation and I'm so thankful to my family for taking out time to take us around.

My post will be incomplete without mention of my nephew who turns 2 in few days. He is growing to be such a adorable kid. He loves to play with people and smiles at you for no reason. The way he snuggles melts my heart.Oh I miss him so much.

I have been trying to catch up on reading blogs ..if you don't see a comment from me,soon it will be there.Thank you for your lovely comments on my last blog post.

I hope you had a good day with your loved ones on Valentine's day. We celebrated it on 13th at home as Sunday is a working day here. I cooked hubby's favourite recipe and exchanged gifts.

Happy Stitching 

22 comments:

  1. I'm glad you had a wonderful holiday. Definitely sounds like lots of quality time was spent. The swap gifts are all so great! And your cross-stitch is lovely. The big framed piece truly is gorgeous. When is your birthday?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I'm glad you liked the swap pieces. My birthday is your birthday +1 ..lol

      Delete
  2. Glad to know you had a great vacation, Mini! Beautiful gifts sent and received. I love the card you made :) and the framed pieces definitely are a good motivation and feeling that the gifts were well received. With whom did you swap? Is she a blogger ? You did not link to anyone so I am not sure.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thanx for the appreciation Preeti. My friend N doesn't have a blog. I met her on one of the cross stitching page on facebook and then became friends because of common interests and she being of Indian descent :).

      Delete
  3. Bharti, your works are beautiful! And you are right - it is such a pleasure to see our handmade projects being cherished by their new owners.
    And I am happy to know you had such a perfect and cozy vacation with your family!

    ReplyDelete
  4. Wow Bharti! Your craft and dedication for cross stitching has always been an inspiration. Glad I read your post today as it reminded me of a feeling I had almost forgotten...my love for winters! Many thanks! Keep blogging!

    ReplyDelete
  5. Thanks for taking part in GG this month. You were missed when you were on holiday! But I am glad you had such a lovely time. It's always nice to catch up with the extended family.
    Your exchange looks great, so many thoughtful gifts. I'm so pleased that the Singapore piece arrived safely and has been framed already.

    ReplyDelete
  6. Lovely exchange gifts both sent and received.
    The framed piece is beautiful with the many colors that pop. Your friend's father found the perfect frame for that.
    Your retirement piece is stunning. What a generous gift for your work friend.
    Sounds like you enjoyed your vacation. Your mom's comment made me laugh.

    ReplyDelete
  7. Beautiful exchange pieces and stitching on your part. So nice that your recipients enjoyed everything so much and it was received safely.

    ReplyDelete
  8. I have been wondering where you were Mini! You vacation sounds heavenly!! I am really looking forward to seeing the handmade treasures from your Mom and Grandmother. I have a soft spot for things my family has handmade :) Your stitching looks beautiful framed! And great swaps you and your friend had. So happy you are back!!

    ReplyDelete
  9. I enjoyed reading your blog. Your projects are so pretty - I love the colours.

    ReplyDelete
  10. This comment has been removed by the author.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies

    1. Well done.God gifted you this art.Keep going and spread to world.

      Delete
  11. Beautiful work you done dear Bharti...SO glad to see your collection n specially your swap gifts .I like quiet crossstichers at work :) good to now you spent your holidays with your family.keep it up.Excited to see your future posts specially made by your mom.

    ReplyDelete
  12. What beautiful gifts you stitched, and received too. The piece that went to Singapore is stunning.
    You left some comments on my blog but I'm unable to reply as you are a no-comment reply blogger. Please know I appreciate all your comments even so!

    ReplyDelete
  13. You seemed to have had a great time when visiting family and catching up on everything. And a very successful exchange you had with your FB friend. You exchanged some very pretty handmade pieces.
    The gifts you stitched and framed are awesome.

    ReplyDelete
  14. How nice that you had such an enjoyable visit to India, Mini... My co-worker will be going there next week as she is married to a man from India. They try to go over once a year to visit his family--it is SUCH a long trip from the United States!

    Love your exchange--beautiful gifts both given and received :) And the piece that your friend's father had framed is incredible!

    ReplyDelete
  15. Sounds like you had a wonderful holiday back in India. How wonderful to be able to catch up with all your family and to be spoilt by your mum!
    Love your exchange... gorgeous gifts both sent and received! Amazing finishes - I love the colours in the one you sent to Singapore
    Hugs xx
    PS: thank you for the comments on my blog - I can't reply to you directly as you come into my inbox as a no reply commenter :o(

    ReplyDelete
  16. What a fun trip! I think cross-stitch is a good craft to do and still visit with people! You can talk and listen while keeping your hands busy. :) And it looks like you had a fun exchange for your birthdays (Happy Birthday!).

    Your retirement stitchy gift is truly stunning! I agree, it is very nice to have gift recipients enjoy the hard work. I am often anxious about giving homemade gifts (other than food) since it is sometimes hard to judge people's likes. :)

    ReplyDelete
  17. Thank You for this lovely blog post -I really liked to read about your trip to India. All the stitched pieces are lovely and you recieved a beautifull SWAP. Thank You for the commenting my blog.

    ReplyDelete
  18. Welcome back Mini!

    Lovely swap with some great finishes. I see you're living up to your resolution to try different finishing techniques. And I spy a familiar little coin purse slipped into the package you sent out :P

    So happy your gifts were well received. The framing is perfect for the Singapore piece and you already know I was in awe of the sunflowers. Great work!

    ReplyDelete
  19. What a lovely holliday and a beautiful swap :)
    Really nice that people treasure your hand made piece
    Look forward to see your next wip :)
    Xx from Holland

    ReplyDelete

Hi, it's me!!

Hello Blog world, Its been two years since I posted on this blog, not sure if anyone follows me now.  Its a new year, best time to start /re...