A toot!! & a few other things

I was super excited & thrilled to get an email from Amy Knepper inviting me to be on her fabulous CT. She sells at Scrapdish & Digichick
I love her designs & I'm always stalking her blog, lol. I'm so happy to be working with the very talented Tracy, Robin, Melinda, Mish, Emily,Cathy, Audra & Cass (hope I've not left out anyone).
I'm so angry right now. I was supposed to have a job interview, this morning, it is for a part-time teaching job at an international school nearby. I had spoken with the principal twice over the phone & we agreed on the date & time, a month ago. So today, my husband stayed at home to take care of Maanasa when I'm gone. I got everything ready, printed out my CV etc etc & reached there on time to find the principal away, no one knows where she is & finally a nice lady found me waiting in the reception, so she tried to call the principal over her mobile, which is promptly switched off. Finally she reached & found out that the lady had sent me a mail a couple of days ago, asking me to call before I come. I didn't get any emails from her, I come home & check my bulk folder, there it was, but it was sent only yesterday evening & not a couple of days back & it says about how sorry she was for not being able to offer me a job right now. I was so mad & I just want to call her & say that she should've atleast called me yesterday to tell me about it rather than sending an email in the last minute & expecting me to check my email all the time. I'm not so mad at not getting the job, it is ok, I don't really need the job, in fact, I was a little hesitant abour applying for it, in the first place, it is just her attitude, the rudeness and perfectly unprofessional behavior that makes me mad.
Moving onto more pleasant things, like scrapbooking, lol.
I resigned from Bella Gypsy designs, Lena & Tabatha are really nice girls & I'll be missing working for them.
I have lots of layouts to share:

Credit:
I've listed the words she says so far. Amma means mom & appa means dad in our language,mum mum is for food, bow bow is dog, she also says Thitha- it's a nickname for my friend's daughter, but she uses it to call all little girls & boys, lol.
I used Merkeley's Glitter Rope & Inked Tickets available at Digiscrapping.biz.

Credit:
Dark coffee kit by Merkeley, the ric rac is from her 'A love for Ribbons' & the binder clip is from her 'Binder clip punched text'collection, available at Digiscrappinbiz. TFL.


Credit:
'Cool Summer Mega Pack' by Lyndsay Riches available at PDW.


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SaraAmarie's 'Quiet Reflections', available at 3 Scrapateers.


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'Meadow Walk Kit', by Krista Mettler, available at Scrapdish.

Credit:
Merkeley's Dark Coffee kit for the background paper,the brad & the the journaling tag, the photo corners are from her 'Glass Flowers' kit, the clips are from her 'Binder Clip patterns' collection & the glitter rope from her 'Glitter Ropes' collection. Everything is available at Digiscrappinbiz.

Credit:
My first Lo for Amy's CT. Amy Knepper's Young & Carefree Kit, available at the digichick.

Credit:
Merkeley's 'Glass Flowers' kit, available at Digiscrappinbiz.

Credit:
'Floral fresh' kit & 'Kraft paper Dates series' by Lyndsay Riches, available at PDW.

Exciting stuff

Nothing really exciting, but can't think of an appropriate title,lol. So I've not even going to talk about how long it's been since my last post, lol. Maanasa is 14 months old now & she says about 12 words, she runs everywhere, she doesn't want to sit in her stroller, so that makes going out a bit difficult, not that I want to go out in this horrible weather. It's been raining since 2 weeks & it's so cold, the central heating is not yet on & we are freezing.
In digiscrapping news, I'm CT member of Lyndsay Riches, I'm so excited about it. She has some fab. stuff at PDW. Go check it out.
I love the 'Praise Game' at DST. Lots of people get to see your LO's & you get lots of comments too:) So I sign up for it whenever I upload a LO & the actual rules are that you comment the LO of the person before you, but I try to comment on everyone who has signed up. It's great fun. I love to see everyone's layouts & get inspired. So my favorite folder is filling up so fast.
A few layouts:


Credit:
'Fresh summer evening' kit SaraAmarie, available at 3 scrapateers.

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'Cherished' by Tracy Blankenship, available at Scrappingdigicreations & Digital Freebies. I just love this kit, especially the alphas.

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'Merkeley's Dark Coffee kit' available at Digiscrappinbiz


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'Belle Princesse' page set & element set by Correen Silke, available at Scrapdish.

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'Sarah Lynn Bella Byte', by Bella Gypsy designs,available at ACOT.The sketch template is by Kimberly Geswein.

Mommy Brag & a toot.

It was really hot here, so I was not able to take Maanasa for afternoon walks, I hate to be inside the house the whole day. It drives both of us crazy. Thank God, it was a little less warm today & I took her to the nearby park. She wanted to walk in the grass, it was so cute to see her walking a few steps, falling down, getting up again, turning & seeing if I'm looking & repeating the same thing again, lol. She has started repeating words. She says cap, bye bye, car, mam mam (means food), teddy (her lovie), thitha (an abbreviated version of my friend's dd's name), bow bow(dog), amma(mom), appa(dad) & shoe. My girl is totally obsessed with shoes. She can play with them for hours, lol. If I try to take them away from her, she screams bloody murder. The moment she sees Sriram entering into the house in the evenings, she squeals with delight & babbles something that sounds like a welcome note:) for a few minutes, that just melts his heart.She loves to dance, the minute she hears a music her body starts swaying & she really enjoys it so much. I'll see if I can upload a video of her dancing.

Credit:
I used 'A lovely mess of doodles' & 'My Funny Valentines' kits by Tracy Blankenship, available at Scrappingdigikreations & Digital Freebies.

Credit:
I took this photo of dd today. I can't believe that she's 13 months old now & she can walk, She looks so grown up in this picture I used Jeanine Baechtold's 'Essence' kit available at computerscrapbook.com.

Credit:
I used 'Indian summer' kit by Bella Gypsy Designs, available at ACOT.

Oh, I almost forgot this. I won the 'scraplift the Queens' contest at Simply clean Digiscraps', yay. I scraplifted Melany & Jen.
Here are their LO's:
Jen's LO
Melany's LO
Here are mine:

Credits:
Everything from different kits by Melany Violette
Brads, background paper from 'Call me blue'
Yellow Background paper & yellow bow & staple from My Sunshine
Ribbon & Alphas from 'Color Me Happy'

Credit:
I used Melany Violette's 'Sweet as cotton candy' kit, the flowers & heart are from her 'Lovies' & one background paper is from her 'Pastelspetals&paisleys'.
Can't wait to spend my GC:)

My little girl started walking, yay..........

Ok, finally got some time to update my poor, neglected blog. Maanasa started walking on friday. She's been holding onto things & walking for quite some time, but on friday she started walking on her own. She was so much excited about it, she couldn't stop smiling, she
would take a few tentative steps, turn & look at me & smile & then continue again, this little girl of mine is a real charmer:)
It's been 3 weeks since we moved into our new apartment,but we're still not done with the unpacking. At this rate, it's going to take a year,lol.
Here are some more LO's:

Credit:
I used Jeanine Baechtold's 'Essence' kit available at computerscrapbook.com.

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I used the 'Spring Break' kit by Bella Gypsy Designs, available at ACOT.

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I used 'Notebook Fun'& 'Binder Clips Punched Text' by Merkeley Designs at Digiscrappin.

Why o Why?

I don't know why I keep applying for CT's. No, that's not true, I know why, I think I'm craving for recognition. I know that I scrap to preserve & cherish memories etc etc, but I also look forward to having fun, getting recognized by the other scrapper's out there & more than all that, to find out if I'm good enough. Every time I get a reject email, I get a little depressed & decide not to apply again, but the next time, I apply again. Hmm... I don't know when this is going to stop.
I'm already in some fabulous CT's & I'm quite happy about being in them. So I think I'll stop applying for time being. Of course, I'm waiting to get reject emails from 2 more, lol. I think I'll stop looking at the ads in just digitals, do you think I can do it, lol.
Ok, some new layouts:
Credits:

I used Becky Vosburg's Little Miz Beauregarde Paper pack & element, available at PlainDigital Wrapper.

Credit:
I love this photo of my dd & dh. I used Robin Cabana's 'Flair - paper pack & elements', available at Scrapdish.

My dd is such a happy child, we are really lucky

Credit:
My dd's first bath, at the hospital, she is 1 day old in this picture, I can't believe that she's now 13 months old ):I used 'Faded Laundry Bella Byte', by Bella Gypsy Designs, available at ACOT.

Credit:
My dd at 6 months. I used SaraAmarie's One Frog Two Frog Green Frog Blue Frog available at 3 Scrapateers. TFL.

Credit:
I used the 'Refresh' kit by Rose Farver, available at Plain Digital Wrapper(PDW). The flowers were cut out from the background papers, the background paper is recolored to match the picture.TFL.

Digipick of the day.

I'm super excited. My 'Explore' LO was the digipick of the day. When Fiona mailed me about it this morning, I couldn't stop jumping up & down. I'm even more happy about it because I used Tracy's 'Creative expression' kit for this LO.

Credit:
Creative Expression kit by Tracy Blankenship, available at Scrappindigikreations and digital freebies.
All of us are down with cold, cough, head ache. I'm not able to sit & scrap for a long time. I'm very frustrated about it. I've not been able to properly scrap since May. I went on vacation, then I had to shift to our new apartment, now this cold & cough. Hopefully I should be able to catch up next week.

Credit:
Mrs. Schmuck's 'Schweet Schtuff ' - elements & paper pack, available at Scrapdish

Bad Blogger

I've been a bad blogger. So did you miss me??, lol, I think hardly anyone reads my blog. Life has been pretty hectic of late. We had a great vacation. It was really hot, about 40-43 deg.,Maanasa enjoyed herself despite the heat. We didn't take her out much, inside the house it is air conditioned, so it was ok. Maanasa was born on the 9th of June, but we normally celebrate birthdays we celebrated her first birthday on May 31st with about 70 of our relatives & friends. Maanasa was so cooperative, she didn't trouble us at all during the flight & didn't suffer from any jet lag.
After coming back from India, we had to shift to our new apartment in 1 week's time. It's been a week since we shifted, but we have not unpacked completely, I think it's going to take 2 more weeks. With Maanasa, it is next to impossible for me to unpack during the day, she has become so active. She is talking all the time, only thing is I don't understand her language,lol. She walks holding onto something & took about 7,8 steps on her own. I'm waiting for her to start walking. Well, not really, I have mixed emotions about it. She's growing up so fast & I want her to remain as my baby for longer.
I'm so excited. I've bought PSCS2 & I also bought a wacom before I left for holidays. I can't wait to play with it. I've been slacking on my CT work. I'm trying to work on it now, I think I'll catch up in a week.
Finally, some new layouts for you:


Credit:
Sara Amarie's 'Fresh Summer Morning' kit, available at 3 scrapateers.


Credit:
Cocoa Pop Kit' by Rose Farver, available at Digishoppe.


Credit:
Mrs. Schmuck's 'Schweet Schtuff ' - elements & paper pack, available at Scrapdish.

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

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'Beautiful you' kit by Jen Wilson. TFL.

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

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'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.

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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.

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

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'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

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