I'm on a Trip :)

I'm off on a ten day trip to attend my brother-in-law's elaborate wedding celebrations in Delhi. As much as I'm looking forward to meeting the extended family, the falling temperatures are really worrying me. Hopefully the Sun Gods shall be gracious and shine all week :) I snapped this picture while still putting my things together. All these pouches and bags help me stay extremely organised while I'm on the go. I managed to sew a case for my mac last minute and it turned out just perfect. I'll soon make these for the shop once I'm back at the studio. 

I hope you're happy with the sale in the shop and piling on all the gifts you've been eyeing for a while. The sale is still on till I get back, but am going to have to halt shipping starting today. You can however still keep shopping. I'll resume shipping from Thursday, 11th of December. Lots of you have sent in emails and personal messages saying how much you loved your presents. If you're reading this post, you know who you are :) I always dream about how my creations live in your homes. 

I'll be missing in action for the next ten days, but once I'm back you'll soon see a longish post full of wedding pictures :) Y'all have a great weekend!

See you soon, byees!!

Runa

Handmade Woollies from the Mountains :

As a kiddos, my Mum made sure we had a wardrobe overflowing with handmades. Right from slips to blazers were all sewn by her and my Grand mum added to our woollies collection annually. Till we were in Nairobi, hand knitted goodies came along from India through anyone visiting, but once we came to live with our grandparents, a month before the winter season began, Grandma, Aunts, neighbours all sat down with their colourful balls of yarn with endless cups of chai on cots in the front yard. All I heard were things like cables, needle sizes, buttons and pattern magazines. I remember Mum helping me knit my first muffler in grade six. Casting on the stitches and then ten rows of knit followed by ten rows of purl. Was such an achievement I wore proudly to school every winter thereafter :) Boarding school in the hills meant six sweaters, a blazer and an overcoat all in the same colour and once we shifted out to study and work in warmer places, no more woollies were needed. But Mum always made sure she picked up handmade knits from the annual Kumaoni Fair, where women from the hills set up a handmade market to sell their creations. 

I got these last winter from the fair. 

And this lovely cardigan the year before that. I added mismatched buttons for colour. Look how neatly finished those rows of twisted cables are!

This year, its wedding time in the family and I'm travelling to the wintery north of the country after over a decade. The thought of chilly winds and foggy days is really making me nervous. To add to my limited woollens collection I picked up a lovely hand knitted muffler and socks online from itokri. itokri is my trusted market store where I can pick up genuine handmade products and fabrics. Nitin Pamnani and his wife are doing such a wonderful job of bringing local handmade to people like us. 

Look at this gorgeous gorgeous hand knitted baby! Oh I cannot wait to wrap this around me. 

Its amazing how these socks fit me like a glove. And they're so soft and warm on the feet. 

The muffler even has the name of the lovely lady that knitted it. I can so picture Bimla Devi up in the mountains, sitting in the sun working away her needles. I love the idea of how handmade products have lived a life in the creator's home and then leave for a place far to start a new life :) If you'd like to get some of these woollies for yourself, go pay itokri a visit. These handmade products sell under the brandname of Kilmora. Get yourself some handknitted love this winter or stock up on your Christmas gifts and of course don't forget to tell me what you got eh :) Now I need to dive into packing my bags for the wedding or the poor Mister will have to deal with the cranky me ;-) See you soon. 

This post is solely based on my personal opinions about itokri and I have in no way been compensated monetarily or otherwise for my views. 

Thanks so much for reading!!

Luvs,

Runa

We Are So Good Together!

Dear Sweetheart,

Being together with you has taught me so much about being alive! You're younger, but much wiser. I love how you grab me in the middle of an argument and say "I love you" and make me fall in love with you all over again :) Its tough to be with the hot headed, fickle minded Me that I am. In the past ten years, I've learned so much, both about "Me" and "Us". 

Ten years..... naah! Doesn't seem like yesterday...it does seem like a looong time, but in a good way. Our wedding day was far from perfect and a distant memory now, but I knew I was marrying my love. Each day thereon you have filled my life with love I never imagined. I fell in love not only with your patience, gentleness and sincerity but your genuine heart and giving soul. Somehow you've made me feel like the luckiest girl alive. Now, as your wife, I promise to always be in love with you like I am today. I'm looking forward to us taking the day off from work today, simply to enjoy each other’s company and be reminded of how thankful we are to have found each other. 

Happy Anniversary My Love!

PS - You're awesome with the grocery stocking and cleaning up after dinner ;-))  

U-m-m-a-a-s! 

New Website Y'all!

YAY!! I have new website..tralallaaaa... I'm sure some of you've noticed the new look eh? I even have a new logo :) Well I've had it for a while, but now I have a whole website to match it. I'm so blessed to have a supportive man in my life who's as excited about making a new website as I am to start a new sewing project every week. So as the Mister says, I now have a "responsive" website. Oh yes! And it does mean that the designing is done is such a way that no matter what device you use, say a tablet, a mobile phone or a desktop, the website adapts accordingly. Now how fabulous is that! I'm so happy my website is homemade!! 

The website still needs a few things here and there, but for now I'm really happy with the way its turned out. Honestly I've argued and made the Mister almost bang his head against the wall all of last week explaining to him how I didn't want the usual website rules to apply to mine. I wanted to work purely on instinct and how I like things to work as an online shopper. So if you feel you're getting stuck somewhere while using the website, just throw in a line here and I'll get the Mister to do the changes :) 
Okaye so how about I tell you some of the features that I like the most about the website apart from the colours, which are my favourite, I miss using some fushia in here, but I think I'll figure a way to get it in here soon. Lets start with the navigation bar on the top. It's nice and neat and more so because I've clubbed various categories into broader ones. So now you don't have to scroll down till the end to see all the categories. They're all there on the top. They neatly drop down to show you the various sub - categories. 

Once you've clicked on a product that you like, you can see its detailed description with pictures of the product from various angles.

Once the product is added in the cart it's easy peasy thereafter. No registering, no log in, fill in the address details, make the payment using any options and your order is placed. 

Here's the coolest feature - tracking your order. 

Using the order details sent in the shipping mail - you can track the whereabouts of your shipment. 

Information on care for your handmade present and links you can use to know more about me and the work are on the top of the Home page. 

All in all, the website's turned out very easy to use and clutter free. What I need to improve on is my pictures :( I do put in a a lot of hard work but, I seem to goof up with the white background. It looks more grey than white! I'm watching tons of picture taking tutorials in my free time :) 

Let me know how you like the new look, I'd love to hear from you. Oh yes, I worked on my logo with some very helpful people at Hatchwise. I ran a design contest for a month and while working with freelance artists available on Hatchwise, we came up with a logo most suited to my work. 

I'm really excited about this milestone! Hope you guys have a great time shopping :) 

Luvs,

Runa 

A Happy Store Hidden in Powai:

I spotted Freedomtree online a couple of months ago while looking for fabrics to shop for. I picked up a few fabrics online and was very happy with what I got. Ever since I'd been hoping and planning to see their store in Bandra, but just never got about doing it and wallah! I notice on Facebook one evening that they've opened a store in Powai, which is a fifteen minute drive from home. This treasure of a shop is hidden in a residential building, adjacent to a school and so you won't find it that easy, but call the staff up at the store and they'll come till outside to get you. The first thing that strikes you is colour and that's what got me there in the first place. I'd drooled on their online store for weeks and had such a lovely time picking up colourful ceramics. Here's a peek at the store. Pardon the quality, I was only carrying my phone camera :)

There's tons to choose from. Cushions, furniture, poofs, table linen, quilts, dohars, crockery, rugs, bakeware and lamps and shades too.

I picked up some colourful ceramics and the mustard rug at the back. The staff manning the store, Sumit and Shekhar are utmost patient and helpful. The store closes early so make sure you get in by 7. They'll keep it open till you're looking around. I'm in love with the mustards and yellows and absolutely fell for the rug. The furniture is neat and compact and they'll happily customise it in the wood and colour of your choice. Fabrics weren't in stock, but they'll have it here soon. 

Here's the fabric I bought a couple of months ago from their online store.

I've used some for a Wristlet Wallet and a Convertible Clutch Bag. I adore the red and orange fabric. Its upholstery weight fabric and can be used for a variety of projects.

I love the simplicity of the store. The colours speak for themselves. I hope to keep going back for more. If you're looking for something different for your homes, you should definitely make a visit here. Don't forget to tell me how it went eh :) Thankyou for the patient read people. Have a great weekend!

Runa 

My Marking Pen Fiasco :(

Remember my earlier post about my trip to the Bernina Center? Well I was all praise for all the goodies I spent a fortune on and then boom! Look what happened to the pen after using it for a bucket bag :((

The pen first stopped working and then leaked dry. I first reached out to Mr. Gupta, Bernina Creative Center, asking him for help. He washed his hands off saying "This is an off the shelf product and cannot be repaired or fixed" He later refused to reply to my request for a replacement. The PRYM Customer Care Department, Malaysia, wrote back to me repeating what Mr. Gupta said. On asking for what happens to defective products, Mr. LeeTing from Malaysia was curt in saying they would replace the pen "For Once Only" if I'd personally go get it. There was no way I was spending half a day driving across town and back, spending triple the amount on fuel to get a replacement. They could've easily posted it across and charged me for postage. I am so so disappointed and upset with this attitude shown to me. I did see this coming from Mr. Gupta though. I am promptly striking this store and the products its sells off my sewing supplies store list! I never ever want to go back there! I hope you guys have a better shopping experience if you do at all decide to make a trip here!