B is for Bhārata

Its time for detention at THE ALPHABET CLUB hosted by Chiara .This month's alphabet is B.

Bhārata (भारत)- Sanskrit/ Hindi name of India. A land of over 1.2 billion people, seventh-largest country by area, largest democracy in the world.
Home to Indus Valley Civilization and place of origin of four religions-Hinduism, Buddhism, Jainism, and Sikhism.

A country where around 9 religions are practiced in full faith, 200+ languages and dialects are spoken, food changes as you cross state borders (29 states in India) .

Its where Mighty Himalayas stand tall in the north; fertile Deccan plateau in the centre  and 7,517 km of coastline flanked by the Indian ocean, Bay of Bengal and Arabian Sea.

The Land of Taj Mahal, Ajanta & Ellora Caves, Amer fort, Red fort, India Gate....

Its hard for me to write about my country in a single post so I will add some pictures from my personal collection of the rich natural and cultural diversity of country called India/Bhārata.


 Ajanta & Ellora  Caves- an epitome of Indian rock-cut architecture

Rajasthani folk dance



Thousands of migratory birds like flamingoes fly to sleepy village of Khijadia every year in the month of January

The elephant hill in Western Ghats

Baby Olive Ridley Turtles walking towards the sea just after egg hatching on the Western coast of India

 

The Taj Mahal
 

B- is for Birth Sampler I made for my Nephew. I guess I can use it for all the entries of  TAC, as it has all the alphabets of the English language. Not the best picture though.

I think I will skip the rest of tit bits starting with alphabet B ,which I initially planned to include in this post. Don't want to bore you guys...

Hopping off to blogs of other TACers for some interesting reads.




The Alphabet Club - A is for Aarambh & Asha...

Its the first Saturday of the Month and time to post first entry for the Alphabet Club hosted by Chiara at the Grey Tail.

In June, when Chiara and Jo came up with this idea, I literally jumped on the wagon. I thought this can be a great opportunity to introduce my fellow bloggers to the rich culture of India , my home land; and Kuwait, the country I now call home. Also I can talk about my hobbies such as cross stitch, travel and food using the Alphabets of languages I know (except English): Hindi, Punjabi and Marathi. Hindi is the main language of India and is written in Devanagiri script.

So here is my choice of words :

Aarambh (आरंभ , aa-rum-bh) is a Hindi word for beginning. I chose this word as I feel life is series of beginnings. Birth, first day at school, first day of college, marriage ,moving to a new location... aren't these all small beginnings. Beginnings bring "Asha" .
Asha (आशा , aa-sha) is a Hindi word for Hope. Hope of learning new things at school and College. Hope of a beautiful/life long/secure relationship through marriage.Don't you agree Aarambh and Asha go hand in hand ?

Amritsar ( pronunciation (help·info); Punjabi: ਅੰਮ੍ਰਿਤਸਰ; Punjabi pronunciation: [əmːɾɪt̪səɾ]) : One of my favourite cities in India, it is home to the Harmandir Sahib (commonly known as the Golden Temple), the spiritual and cultural center for the Sikh religion.

Image source:Wikipedia

I like being at Golden temple not because of religious reasons but the calm and peace which surrounds me whenever I'm there. The temple domes may be covered with gold sheets but its the place where people act most selflessly- cleaning shoes of visitors, mopping the floor, cooking food for strangers. The Langar (community kitchen) at the temple serves free food to millions of people from every race, religion, creed everyday.


A traditional local market for buying cloth in Amritsar. Image source:Internet

Not to forget the yummylicious street food available in Amritsar- kulche (naturally fermented flat bread), pinni (a sweet made of roasted lentils), bun tikki (Indian version of burger) and Aabu Challi (corn on the cob roasted in sand).Oh taking about these reminds me of wonderful time spent I had there during childhood.
It's also the best place to buy ethnic Indian attire Salwar kameez.


Oh yes I can also show you a cross stitch related item, I thinks this entry should qualify as the text starts with an "A" ;)

I hope I have not bored you with a long post ....I'm off to check out what other members of the club are up to

Gifted Gorgeousness Overload (April link up post)

Hello Fellas,

I had a fabulous trip to London and have brought back loads of cross stitch supplies.

Those who have read my earlier posts know that I wasn't quite excited about my trip to London which is not the usual me. Travelling and exploring the world is one of my passions.

The fortnight spent in London was full of meeting new people, exploring the historic places of London, its natural beauty and some yummylicious food.

The weather was a bit cold for spring but I loved it, as I'm a winter person.

May be I'll write a separate post about my London experience.

This is the card I made for Mrs. K from whom I bought a few charts .She hasn't received the card yet so I don't know whether she likes it or not.

Here are details of this piece.

I had a great chance to meet a cross stticher "in person" while I was in London. A while ago, Ms. G posted on WOCS page that she wanted to give away some 18 ct aida . I jumped on to the opportunity and told her that I will be in London shortly and can collect it from her. After a few interactions, she kindly agreed to come down to my hotel. It was lovely to meet her and her son. We talked about cultures, food and the world. This is what she gifted me :

These are the charts I bought from Mrs. K :

Some goodies from Mrs. K:

Ms. G overwhelmed me by sending a lot of magazines, needles and 14 ct.aida, the second time.

Sorry for the flash :(

I plan to stitch Pretty Little London from the latest issue of Cross stitch Crazy some time soon

Few pics from my trip




Chapel at the Windsor Castle



Tower Bridge

One of the exhibits at British Museum



Wouldn't this make a beautiful cross stitch design? Exhibit at National Gallery

I have stitched only once during last 15 days and I'm surely not feeling bad about it ;)

Kuwait has been hit by a series of sandstorms. The one on Sunday, the day I came back, was the worst I have seen till now. I got a little scared and poor DH had to seal close every possible source of air / dust.
Hope I get some stitchy time today after 3 days of consecutive cleaning. I'm planning to complete my fractal since now I have got the colors which were missing.


What have you been guys upto?

Gifted Gorgeousness SAL Feb Update

A foreword before I show you my entry for the SAL.

I discovered about Stich ALongs (SAL) in the month of July 2014 when I joined a wonderful cross stitch group on facebook.

I instantly liked the concept and was more pleased to know that in this age of internet ,its possible to have virtual SALs sitting at your home with cross stitchers all over the world...Isn't that fantastic?

I'm hosting a HAED SAL on my FB group now for first timers like me and big HAED fans...

So I came across Jo's stitching blog and learnt about this SAL on the last day of January(Link available on the right hand side bar of my blog) ..and loved the idea. It suits me a lot because I'm going to stitch for my friends and family for next few years.


As I have told you that I have repicked cross stitching after a gap of 10years..i have a lot to catch up.

My personal stitching goals for 2015 is to stitch at least 3 medium/big size pieces gifts for my besties.

The Gifted Gorgeousness SAL will help me achieve my goals and inspire me to be more generous ...wink wink.
Thank you Jo for hosting the SAL and allowing me to join.


So here is my entry for the month of February.

I have stitched this birthday card for my gorgeous talented friend who is also about to start her own craft business.

I will be giving this card to her when I meet on 20th after 5 long years...I missed you love.


Hope she likes it (and hope she doesn't visit my blog before I give this to her...let it be a surprise, please GOD)

Started on : 6-Feb-2015
Finished on: 13-Feb-2015
Stitched on:14 count white Aida
Floss used :Anchor
Designer: Emma Congdon
Pattern source: Cross Stitch Collection, Sept 2014
Number of colors: 9
Stitch count:50H*50W
Type of stitches: Full cross stitch, back stitch
Number of strands used :2 for Full cross stitches,2 for back stitch

I had to substitute few colors as I didn't have all the colors listed in the original design.

P.S. This is the first time ever I have stitched a card.

Yay another first!!

I'm not sure if there is a word to describe the excitement of doing a thing/activity for the first time.
'firsts' always excite me...be it the first car ride,first view of the sea or first salary in new job. personally, I feel that firsts are an assurance to ourselves that life has much more to offer than we what see in our daily life.
Someone very rightly said everyday is a new learning. I try to achieve this in my professional as well as personal life.
I have already talked about my wonderful cross stitch group on fb.im always learning something  new about the art of cross stitching because of this group.
I wanted to make a personalized gift for my new born nephew since he was born and learnt about birth samplers on the group. I think they are a beautiful way to capture arrival of new baby.
here are pictures of the birth sampler I made for my nephew and the family loved it. I have made few changes to the design: I have stitched birth time instead of birth weight and changed the font to a simpler one as the original one had backstitching(I'm still not good at BS).

Started on : 5-Sep -2014
Finished on: 22-Oct -2014
Stitched on:14 count white Aida
Floss used :Anchor
Designer: Anchor design studio
Pattern source: Cross stitch collection, Sept 2014
Number of colors: 19
Stitch count:214H*144W
Type of stitches: Full cross stitch, back stitch, half stitch, french knot
Number of strands used :2 for Full cross stitches,1 for back stitch,3/2/1 for half stitch

I used the loop method to start the thread for the first time....thank you Pat Carson for the tip.
I also serged the fabric to prevent fraying.

This is my first birth sampler for the first member of new generation of my family :) .The cherry on the cake is..the only French knot in the design was made by my MIL..