Mad at Media

Yesterday, I went to the library to return my books, I just happened to chat with the librarian, he asked me a question that made me really sad & angry. When I told him that I was going on a vacation to India, he asked me if it was ok to take my daughter there & how did I feel about having a daughter. I didn't really understand his questions at first. So I said I am really happy to have a daughter & am looking forward to take her with me. He then told me the reason for asking those questions. He thought that girls were not wished for & many were killed on birth or aborted in India. My colleagues at work have already asked me similar questions and also if there are monkeys in the streets & beggars pulling at your legs in India. Yes there are monkeys & beggars & female infanticide etc etc in India, but it is just like in every other part of the world. There are human beings living everywhere, so things like these bound to happen, but it doesn't mean that in India this is an everyday happening. I'm not angry at these people for asking these questions. They have heard/seen/ read about it somewhere & they just want to know if it's true. I would've done the same thing. But you know what irks me, what makes me really mad, it is the damn media. They always exaggerate on these human interest stories & portray India as a poor, needy country full of monkeys & beggars. Why don't they instead focus on the education level, simplicity of the people, the rich cultural heritage, the warm-hearted, friendly, hospitable people etc etc. Ok, I think I've vented enough, lol.

This sunday we took Maanasa to the playground. She just loves to swing, she was giggling all the time, it was so cute. I was so happy because I'm not very fond of swings but I wanted her to enjoy it. Can't wait to take her to the playground more often. The only problem is she wants to get down from the stroller & crawl around:)
I have to start packing for India trip today. I don't want to leave it till the last minute.

Julie tagged me. Here are the answers to her questions:
Four Jobs I’ve Had :
1) Scientist
2) Research Assistant
3) Teacher
4) Mom

Four Movies I Can Watch Over And Over :
1) Sound of Music
I don't watch much of movies
I'll name 4 of my favorite authors instead
1) John Grisham
2) Robin Cook
3) Donna Leon
4) Maeve Binchy

Four TV Shows I Love To Watch :
I don't watch TV much. Moreover we don't get English channels here.

Four Important things to me :
1) Family
2) Friends
3) Books
4) Scrapbooking:)

Four Tunes That Play In My Head :
1) Jesus Take The Wheel (Carrie Underwood)
2) No Never (Texas Lightning)

Four Favorite Food Dishes :
1) Anything Hot & spicy:)


Four Websites I Visit Daily :
1) Rakscraps
2) Email
3) Blogs
4) samachar.com

Four Digi Designers I like :
Too many, can't name just four:)

Four Favorite Colors :
1) Yellow
2) Purple
3) Pink
4) Black

Four Favorite Kits you want to Scrap with over and over
Many kits of Dani Mogstad, most of Carrie Stephens stuff.

I'm not tagging anyone, if you are reading this, feel free to answer these:)
Before I go, I want to share some more layouts with you all.

Credit:
'Sun Showers' kit by Tania Cordova, available at Scrapdish

Credit:
'Beautiful you' kit by Jen Wilson. TFL.

Credit:
'Baby's first Food' kit by Bella Gypsy designs, available at ACOT. TFL.

Credit:
'Pink Perfection' kit by Tracy Blankenship, soon to be available at Scrappindigikreations and Digital Freebies. The inked edges by Robin Cabana, stitches by Dani Mogstad.

Credit:
This is a scraplift of a paper layout by 24/7 at 2 peas.
'Lotus' mini kit by Becky Vosburg, the flower is from her 'Happy Daisies' kit, available at digishoppe.

Credit:
'Berry Sweet' kit by Jeanine Baechtold, Correen Silke, Rachel Dickson & Robin Cabana, available at Scrapdish.

Credit:
'A Pixie's Poesies Collection' by Becky Vosburg, available at Digishoppe. The poem is by Linda Weisman.
I love this photo of Maanasa. She looks so pretty & grown up, don't you think?

Credit:
I used the 'Berry Sweet' kit by Jeanine Baechtold, Correen Silke, Rachel Dickson & Robin Cabana, available at Scrapdish.

Ok I think I will get on with my packing now.
Have a wonderful day.

If you're happy & you know it, clap your hands.

Maanasa is learning new things every day:) She's been babbling non-stop for the past couple of days. Today she clapped for the first time . When I told her to clap for appa(dad), she clapped immediately. I was crying(lol), the first time she clapped. She wants to stand all the time now, I think she wants to practice her new-found skill to perfection. I think another tooth is coming out because she was a little restless & cranky yesterday night & she's been biting everything in sight the whole day today. But she wouldn't allow me to take a look.
I love reading & one thing that I miss sorely here in Switzerland is a library. We do have a library in my town here, but it has a very limited selection of english books. Today I went to the library & to my dismay, found out that I've finished reading about 60% of the books there. I can read German, but its still not the same as reading english books.I think I'm going to start a library here, Sriram says that I have enough books to start a huge library anyway:) I might seriously think about this after I'm back from India.
I'm really excited about my trip to India, but I'm a little scared too, because it is so hot there. It is about 40 deg. Maanasa is not used to so much heat, she sweats here in Switzerland at 24 deg, lol. I'm not sure about what to take with me. I'll probably take some diapers, but I don't think I'm going to use them all day, I'll probably buy some cloth diapers, I think they are the best for the hot weather. I'm planning to start Maanasa with some of our staple food like rice, lentils etc, once we are there. We are taking the travel cot with us, as she's used to sleeping in her own cot here. I'm just overwhelmed to think about how much stuff I've to carry. Maybe I'm going overboard, but it is her first time there & as it is she's going to face a lot of new things, so I'm being a little careful in taking a lot of things with me. But we can carry upto 70kgs, so I think I can manage.
Ok, some more layouts:

Credit:
'Beyond Safari' kit by Bella Gypsy Designs, available at ACOT

I did this for the Journalling inspiration challenge at RAKSCRAPS. The pretty flowers & blings are from the Jeweled Petals set from Mrs.Schmuck, the background paper is from her Periwinkle & more kit.


Credit:
'Doodled Spring' by SaraAmarie, available at 3Scrapateers

Credit:
'Major Bedhead' kit by Becky Vosburg, available at Digishoppe.

It's been a long time....

I've been totally neglecting my blog. There are no specific reasons for not blogging other than plain lazziness.
We went to Locarno, which is in the Italian part of Switzerland for May 1st long weekend. The trip was great. Maanasa enjoyed it very well. The weather was super, not too hot, not too cold, just right. I love the italian side of Switzerland. Somehow it reminds me of India, I think it's the weather(warm), the food (hot) & the people (loud).

I had made lots of plans for the NSD on saturday. I even told dh that I'll be occupied the whole day & he immediately offered to take care of Maanasa, the whole day. I wanted to buy some stuff on awesome sales, but I was so tired & I just slept for 2 hours on saturday afternoon. After that I didn't really feel like using my computer, something was definitely wrong with me, lol.

Maanasa is growing up fast. She has a 2 tooth now, one in the bottom & one in the top. She dances to music. It is so cute to watch her swaying her hips & clapping to music. She is trying to walk, holding on to a support & she just loves to play with the computer, lol. I have a hard time trying to keep her away from it. Do you think I should start training her young:)
We are going to India on a 4 weeks holiday. I'm so excited about it. But I'm a little scared as well, as it's going to be really hot, especially for Maanasa. It is her first visit, We'll be celebrating Maanasa's birthday there. My grandmothers, my brothers, my FIL & other friends have not yet seen Maanasa. So they are excited too. There are 2 more weeks to go & I can't wait.
I've been scrapping like crazy. Here are my layouts:
I'm CT member for Rose Farver. Her designs are awesome. She sells at Digishoppe.This is my AAM page for her.

I used the 'SOTB March Mega kit' by Rose Farver.

I used 'Something Sweet' kit by Rose Farver, available at Digishoppe.

'Baby Your a Star' kit by Rose Farver, available at Digishoppe.


Credits: Eclectic joy kit by SaraAmarie, available at 3 scrapateers.

Credit:
'Real Simple' kit by Becky Vosburg, available at the digishoppe, Stitches are from her 'Sweetsformysweetie' kit, Overlay from her'Antique Chic' kit.

Credit: 'Crayons' kit by Bella Gypsy Designs


Credit: 'Gracie's Garden - Forget Me Nots' kit by Amy Knepper, available at Scrapdish

All Girl kit by Bella Gypsy Designs, available at ACOT.

New Layouts

I can't believe that it's been more than 10 days since my last entry. Maanasa is getting naughtier & naughtier. She wants to stand up holding onto somthing & she knows which button to press on the computer to switch it off ):
I have lots of new layouts to share. I used the 'Spring Thingz' mega kit by Krista Mettler, Melissa Goerke & Jen Reed for the first 4 layouts. This awesome kit is available at scrapdish.


I don't know why I took this photo, but I love the way she is concentrating on what she's doing & those cute, little toes peeking.


I love this photo of Maanasa. She looks very cute. I used the 'Razzleberry kit' by Bella Gypsy designs for this one.

This is for AAM page for Tracy. I used her 'Masala Chai' kit, available at Scrappingdigikreations & Digital Freebies.

These 2 layouts are for CT assignment for SaraAmarie. I used her 'Mae Happiness' kit available at 3 Scrapateers. I love the purple/yellow combination in this kit & I had the perfect pictures to scrap:)


This one is for the Mom's advice mini album. I used the ' RAKSCRAPS Anniversary' kit available at Scrapdish.

A very huge toot & some layouts.

I'm so......... happy & excited. I couldn't stop smiling. I got into scrapdish CT. I was checking my email every hour to see if if I had a mail from Robin. I screamed with joy, when I just read her mail aloud to my hubby just now. I can't wait to start working with the awesome designers at scrapdish.
I've had a horrible couple of days. All of us had the stomach flu & it was really bad. I just couldn't get up for 2 days. Thankfully, dh got it a day later than me, so we were able to somehow manage Maanasa. We are fully recovered now, but I'm still very weak. I've 7 layouts to share with you all.
Since I'm always behind the camera, I don't have many photos of me & Maanasa. so though I don't like this photo much, I decided to scrap it.
I used the 'Precious Gift-Pregnancy' kit by SaraAmarie.
'Cheesecake' kit by Bella Gypsy designs.

Ok, I decided to scrap the ultrasound pictures of Maanasa finally, lol. I used the




This one is for the Mom's advice album. I'm so enjoying doing this mini album. Thanks Tania. I used 'Gurly' kit by Carrie Stephens, available at Fishscraps.

I love this photo of Maanasa. I think that she looks very cute I used the 'Antique Chic' kit by Becky Vosburg.

Maanasa normally enjoys bath time so much, but on this particular day, she was very cranky, so I had to take a picture I used the 'Canvas flowers' kit by Christine Schultz.

I did this one for sketch challenge at Gotta Pixel. I used the 'Berry Jam' kit by Dani Mogstad, the background is from 'Eternal hope kit' by Theresa Hernandez & the doodle from Angie Briggs.

Have a great day.

2 New Layouts & CT

We went away for the weekend with a few close friends, to a beautiful place called 'Amden'. We had a great time there. The guest house was very nice, with a state of art kitchen. So we had a fun time cooking our dinner. But there was a snow storm on saturday night & we were not able to move our car. After trying for an hour & a half, we finally left from there.
I got into Sara Amarie's CT. Here is the announcement in her blog.
She sells at 3 scrapateers. When I saw the CT call, I just clicked on her shop link to take a look as I'd never heard of her till then. I saw some beautiful stuff,so I decided to apply, but I didn't think I would get it though. I'm so excited now & I can't wait to scrap with her kits.
Here are 2 more pages for the Mom's advice mini album. I love the layouts I've done for this mini album so far.
I used Amy Knepper's 'Happy go lucky' kit for the first page. The colors of the kit matches her jammies so well.

I used Dani Mogstad's 'Berry jam' & 'So Diva' kit & the cute roses are from Anita Sterigou.

Peek-a-boo & cow girl charm.

I love this photo of Maanasa. She was playing peek-a-boo with me. Her cot is next to ours. Sometimes she wakes up really early in the mornings, like 6 a.m:), if I still feel a little sleepy, I just keep talking to her, playing with her for a few more minutes till I force myself to wake up. This particular morning, we were playing peek-a-boo & she was very very cute, I just had to get the camera:)

I used the 'Lemon Meringue' kit by Bella Gysy designs.
As soon as I saw the 'Cutest cowgirl' kit by Tracy, I was searching & searching for photos in my folder. Unfortunately I couldn't find any, so I used a stock photo from the net. This kit is too cute. I love it.

Tonight I'm going for a theater performance with my german class friends. The play is in swiss german, so I'm not really sure how much of it I can understand, but our German teacher is also going to be there, so it'll be fun.

Beauty - Layout

Hurray!!!! Maanasa has started sitting.
I participated in Scrrapper's spotlight contest at RAKSCRAPS. I scraplifted Leila's 'The only Beauty' layout. She has some swesome stuff in her gallery, loads of inspiration.
Her gallery is awesome. Lots & lots of inspiration there. Check it out.
Here is my version of the layout.

The background paper is from 'Beautiful You' kit Jen Wilson, the flowers are freebie from scrap kitchen, Stitching from 'Simply Stitching' by Christine Nash & 'Bull's Eye' stitches by Anita Stergiou.

A very special Layout

I have a bad cold since yesterday. I'm trying not to go near Maanasa. Dh stayed home today to take care of her:) & I was happily scrapping the whole day.
This layout is very special to me for a couple of reasons. This is my first layout in PSE 4.0. I think I'm going to buy it at the end of the trial period. I love it, especially the drop shadows. I was never satisfied with drop shadows in DIP, probably I didn't know how to use them better.
I was browsing through several quotes to use with this photo & then suddenly thought about attempting to write a (very)small poem. So here it is:
When I knew that you were going to come in June
I was over the moon.
After confirming that you were a little girl, my pearl
I didn't even stop to think
I went & bought everything in pink.
I love you my little baby,
For you are a part of me.
All my love, my hope & dream for you
May all of them come true.
It is nothing spectacular, but it is special because this is my first poem, if you could call it that:)I never thought about scrapping this photo, but I was reorganizing my photos & just came across this, I was crying looking at these teeny weeny socks & onsies, thinking about my pregnancy & about how tiny my little girl was once. Even when I was pregnant, I knew that she would be a very sweet child, I was never sick for even a day. Now, she never troubles me,
always smiles even as soon as she wakes up. I love this baby of mine.
I used Tracy Blankenships's 'Madeline Rose' for this layout. I'm in love with this kit. It is absolutely beautiful.

Another layout I did yesterday using the 'Apple Crisp' kit by Bella Gypsy designs available at ACOT.

It is a part of their Coffee Shop Collection. It is awesome. I can't wait to play with the the other kits in this collection.

My 100th Layout & 5000 posts at RAKSCRAPS:)

I'm so excited because I've hit 5000 posts at RAKSCRAPS. I love this place. The people are very friendly & always ready to help. I've made quite a few friends here. This place really RAKS:) I've another LO from Mom's mini album to share with you. This one is extra special because it's my 100th layout. YES MY 100th LAYOUT & I did this using 'Shine' kit by Bella Gypsy. I love this kit. I think I'll be using this again for another page soon.

I've downloaded the free trial version of Photoshop elements 4.0, can't wait to play with it. I think I'm going to like it a lot. I've applied for another CT & I really really want to get it. I'm keeping my fingers crossed. Let us see:)
I've entered a few of my rectangle layouts for Ginger's 'Are you too Square' contest. There are some fabulous layouts here. You can check it out here.
Maanasa is 3 days old in this photo. She is/was such a well behaved baby. She never cries much, slept through the night from 4 months, a very contended & happy baby. I'm so lucky & blessed to have her.

I used 'Sweets for my sweetie' kit by Becky Vosburg available at digishoppe. The colors of the kit match those of Maanasa's dress perfectly:)

A few layouts

Here is LO using Tracy's 'Little Gentlemen', available at
Scrappindigikreations & Digital Freebies. The colors of the kit were perfect for this photo.

It's snowing outside & it is just the perfect weather to sit & scrap:) But unfortunately Maanasa doesn't think so:) She is becoming more & more active & naughty & I just have to watch her carefully all the time.

Maanasa loves to watch Baby Einstein & Old Mc.Donald DVD's. She loves the songs & concentrates totally. She usually crosses her legs when lying down, it looks too cute:) How can I not scrap a page with this cute photo. So, here is the page. I used 'Bohemian Luxe' kit by Bella Gypsy designs, the flower is from 'Edible flowers' by scrap kitchen & the doodle is from 'Sassy Girl' kit by Bette Duganitz.

Ok, the last one. This one is for the 'Mom's Advice mini album' at RAKSCRAPS. This is a fun project, I can't wait to do the rest of it. This week's quote is "Don't put that in your mouth, you don't know where it's been!" & I had the perfect photos to use. I used the 'Canvas Flowers' kit by Christine Schultz.


Have a wonderful day:)