HP Print Art IndiBlogger Meet - My First

Hardly a fortnight as an Indiblogger and here it was! Invite to a blogger meet. The email reminded me of all the blogger meet posts I had been reading in the past years. Location on the invite-Gurgaon. Great! I knew I could think of attending. Day-Saturday! All the more better, since this was one of those rare days when I had nothing planned. So, I was going!! Sealed.

The invite said- 'Bring along your Family'! I had no idea how these meets were otherwise, but 'family invited' meant I was taking Sanket along. So, both of us, eager and hopeful to win a printer at the event *wink*, reached the venue, Fortune Select Global on MG Road.

Though late by a few minutes, we were lucky not to miss out on anything. The event started with giving out gifts to the guest of honours- the little kids, who were accompanying their parents/sisters/aunts. Then it was a chance for everyone on the floor to try their luck with the game- 'What's behind the number?' I was chosen as the first one to pick a number between 1 through 11. I picked up 7!! What did I win??

This stone!! Yayyy!! No, stones were not the only thing given away. Lucky kids won themselves speakers and headphones and 500 bucks and lot of applause.

This was followed by 'Back to school' regime. We were made to sing 'Old Mc Donald's had a farm...' in groups. Our very own Mr. McDonald had Zebras, Lions, Puppies and Chicks. Surprisingly, the squeaks and squeals of puppies grew into growling and barking that beat the roars of lions, and won them the 'Loudest Animals On Farm' award. However, it was more about having fun than winning. Nice choice of rhyme, I must say. Though not an easy one, none other could have been so interesting.

Next, it was time for Blogger Introduction. Something all of us had been waiting for. While I heard what all the other bloggers had to say, in my head I was preparing my speech, which kept growing larger with each passing minute. But alas! My name did not appear on the screen :( Maybe next time!! And yeah! We had a whole bunch of crazy bloggers, who competed against each other to get the title of 'The Most Crazy Blogger'! From people who visit places only to be able to blog about them to those who have had so many blogs that they have been unable to keep a track of the address to those who wore two different shoes (left-and-right) to the event to those who were JUST crazy!!

It was then the turn of the sponsors. The team from HP introduced us to their hit product, HP InkAdvantage Printers. The cost effectiveness and the ease of having a printer on your study table is sure to impress you. Well, we were! With less than a rupee being spent on a page of print, who wouldn't opt for it rather than running to the market. Cherry on top, 'call-to-get-cartridge' service by HP. Do I need to say anything more? You dial the number, tell the guy on the other side of the phone that you need a cartridge, he gets it delivered right at your footstep in a few hours. You are spoiling us, HP!

The presentation was followed by a small session by crafter and blogger, Karuna. She got some craft supplies and papers that she had printed using her printer at home, and was there to demostrate how interesting crafting can get with all the colorful printouts. She wanted volunteers for the demo and I could not hold myself back. I ran from the last row where I was seated, right upto the table and this is what I made in less than 2 minutes. 

 

Meanwhile, Murtaza won himself a printer for unfolding the childhood mischief. He tweeted about how he was caught as a schoolkid while exchanging tatoos that he got for free with gums, in his school washroom. He sure was the naughtiest among us all. Atleast that's what the printer in his hands said.

The best was definately reserved for the last. The total gathering was divided into 5 groups. Each group was given a theme and party supplies and was asked to set up the Birthday Table. My eyes popped out at the sight of all the craft supplies. Our theme was 'Mermaid' and right from the word go, all 17 of us got to work. Balloons, streamer, bottle tags, glass tags, gift bags with tags, paper plates, napkin, cup cakes, banner, colors, glitters, paper, we had it all and more.

It's not easy for 17 people, most of them meeting each other for the first time, to accomplish a task like that within 30 minutes. The setup changed every millisecond. I kept bottles in one corner of the table, turned my back and came back to see the bottles somewhere else **smile** but it was fun.

We had a nice story to go with our setup. There was an underwater temple, mermaid posters, sea shells, special gift bag for Ariel's buddy Sebastian and more that I fail to recall now. Have a look at the pictures and spot things out for yourself.

People at Work

Table Almost Ready

Mermaid Being Setup

Crafty Hands, Creative Minds

Yeah.. We were ready to be Judged

Aerial View

This setup, ladies and gentlemen, won the first prize in the competition. Yes, 'Mermaid' was adjudged the best among Little Man, Rainbow, Planets and Pirates. The competition was really tough with splendid show of creativity on all the tables but the best stands out, right?? Aaahh, do I have to be modest all the time?? As the prize, each one of us got a wireless mouse.

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Wait a minute, did I say that this competition was the last on the list? No! It was not. Splendid food, from chicken quiche and mutton cutlets to idli-vada-sambhar to ice cream and pudding to tea and coffee was laid on the table for all the bloggers.

And not to forget the t-shirt distribution. Sanket and I were the last ones to collect our t-shirts. Only sizes left were XS and XL. Looking at the size, both of us picked up XS and the t-shirt fits Sanket really well. Wondering how HUGE XL would have been. And pity all the fit gentlemen out there who grabbed Size M.

BTW, to all those who were there, how did your t-shirt fit you?

This was a round-up of the event. I have barely been able to capture all the fun we had, here in this post. Not to forget the giggles and loud laughs that I could not include here. You have to be there to feel it. We did not carry our camera and were too awestuck by all the crazy fun things happening around us to take some from our iPhones but I now know all the do's and dont's for the next meet.

Hope to see you next time, if you are an IndiBlogger. Hope to be able to introduce myself and my blog. Hope to win more prizes. Hope to have fun. Hope to make new friends in the next meet.

 C'Ya...

Rishan's Birthday Banner

Remember we talked about it here.

The challenge I set for myself was to make the banner as different as possible from the one made for Aarush. That meant minimal or no use of Green-Yellow-Red, a new font and no circles. I knew I was using blue as the base and that shape was not very difficult to zero-in on. However, I did get stuck with the problem- it's-lacking-some-bling-and-lustre unless I thought of using the shiny, red wrapping paper for alphabets. And the ribbon just added to the fun. 

Tip if you want to cut those flimsy wrapping papers into shapes/letter - Cut the desired shape on a relatively thicker paper, may be you can  pull a sheet from your note book or the standard ones used in printers. Stick the cut out well on the wrapping paper. Let it dry. You may now cut the wrapping paper. What the other sheet does is to stop your scissors from running wildly on the flimsy wrapping sheet. You know what I mean, right?

Judgement Time : How different do you think are the two banners from each other?

On the cards to blog about is the Indiblogger meet I attended today. It was my first ever blogger meet and the experience was A-W-E-S-O-M-E. Will write more about it, along with pictures and details very shortly.

Hope you guys are having a fun weekend.

Mine has been spectacular so far!! Sunday to go...

Also at The Weekly Story, Making The World Cuter Monday, Craftastic Monday Link Party, Mad Skills Party, Market Yourself Monday, Nifty Thrifty Tuesday, Motivate Me Monday, More Merrier Monday, Creative Blogger's Party, Get Schooled Saturday, Weekend Wrap-up Party

May Masala

You hav'ta pat my back for posting this while traveling. I am sure to see myself as a sincere blogger after this post. Last day of May and here are the pictures!

Last day of May is not JUST the last day of May for our family. We celebrate this adorable, little cutie pie's First Birthday today! Happy Birthday, Rishan!! Sending all my love and wishes to you.

By now, I am assuming, that ya'll know that my nephews, Aarush and Rishan, along with their parents, visited us last month. With two active kids in house, the five adults always had to be on their toes. Only break, when the duo fell off to sleep, both at the same time :)

Easy and elegant! It took me hardly a minute to make this tag. Yet, I like how it looks. Ribbon and a piece of paper is all that is needed. Quick, isn't it?

Drawing inspiration. Always. Everywhere.

Found this on the interest. Saved to make sure I cover them all. How many can you tick-off from the list?

Random click from meeting room, heavily edited to get this as the final result.

This post does not follow the standard monthly photo log formatting because it's being drafted through the Blogger app for iPhone. Please pardon typos and poor formatting. I promise to fix it all as soon as I get back to my keyboard. **Update- Done!**

Welcome June! Let's see what've you got for us!

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Sad Demise of our Bloggy Friend

As a daily ritual, my day at work started with checking the emails. I quickly scanned through them all before rushing for a meeting. Came back to go through the ones that I had left unopened in round one, usually the ones from Training, HR, Admin and likes.

While rolling eyes over the subject lines, I found one that read 'Benevolent Fund for the family of....' (My thoughts- 'Ah, another sad demise'!) Late Emreen Xavier (My thoughts- 'I know that name'.) Of course I knew that name from blogland. Even before I could think any further, I had opened that email and there was a picture of the departed soul.

My worst fear came to life. It WAS Emreen of Liven Things Up!!

It was so hard for me to accept the news. Just a couple of days back, I had seen her comment on one of the blogs and had quickly hopped over to her's to let her know that I was glad to be visiting Liven Things Up again after long.

All this while I did not know that we worked for the same company (different cities though). I do not know her beyond what she shared on her blog, which is not much. I do not know what the cause of death was. All I know is that it is very unfortunate to lose somebody like her. A lot of us will miss her visits to our blogs and her lovely comments. I have some myself. Her creative ideas have gone with her leaving behind only memories.

May she rest in peace!!

Never Thought I'd Get There

Get 'there'! 

Where?

To the world of Digital Art.

I have stated time and again that I am an orthodox artist. I'd rather mess around with paints and in the process, get my hands and surroundings dirty than go the digital way. I settle in for photo editing results that the basic softwares provide than to spend time on Photoshop. Conventional has been my style all throughout.

Until...

One fine morning, as a part of my daily waking up regime, I was checking Facebook updates and I saw a very beautiful artwork done by one of my friends. The description said it was DIGITAL!! I knew that I was not going in that direction but could not help asking about the app used. 'Inspire for iPad' was the answer. The app was downloaded in no time and there I was, exploring it. Within a few minutes, I knew I was not made to use it. 

Did not think of using it AGAIN until today. 

Started off with a very basic Rothko pattern.

Applied some layers to it.

And then decided to finally test myself. 

After a lot of smudging and coloring, this is what makes me believe that may be digital can be my cup-of-'coffee' (I don't drink tea!)

Happy to be exploring this new area. Hope I have more to share down the line.

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About the app, I won't say it gives you exactly what you want but doesn't hand made art has the same story! Art is all about evolving and for that, the app is perfect. The ease of use can be developed ONLY after reading the details about the tools. Thankfully, these instructions are short and don't bore you to sleep. 

I used the free version of the app and am really wondering what all features does the pro have. Free was just fine for me. Except! Except that I would have liked more number of possible 'undos', option to add text, so that I do not have to switch to a different app and the basic geometrical shapes. 

What is your style? Conventional or Digital? 

Any more suggestions for apps or softwares, anyone?

Also at Weekend Bloggy Reading,
 Get Schooled Saturday,  
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Handmade Cards This Year

There are never really enough posts here on Kreative Korner. When I started off at the beginning of the month with 3 posts in 8 days, I was taken by surprise myself and thought - 'We might just have a storm  of posts this month' but that was not to be. I did go on a break. Break only from blogging, otherwise I was very busy.

Two more-adorable-than-naughty nephews kept everyone in the house on their toes and that too very willingly. Traveled to a city new to me. Dressed up with all my heart to be a part of a party, where I knew not even 10% of the people :) Came to terms with the loss of a very dear family member. Went out for an all girls shopping evening. Watched IPL matches on and off. Stayed off work for 4 consecutive days (that does include two days of weekend). Stayed awake for hours worrying about out-of-sight parents' ill health. Found an exciting work-out regime (but could not follow it more than thrice *wink* ) Tried to gear up myself to face the rising temperature but the more I try, the more difficult it gets!

Amidst all this, I did get a chance to grab some paper, glue and scissors to make Rishan's b'day banner but I'll hold myself from sharing the pictures until after the party. Meanwhile, I can show ya'll the cards that I made for my sister-in-law & brother-in-law's wedding anniversary and the latter's birthday.

When I was picking up the paint chips from the hardware store, 

mom-dad & Sanket wanted to know where was I going to use them. 

I had no answer back then but now I HAVE!! :)

Paint chips punched for this card.

With this one, I did not know where to start from but the pattern just evolved.

Paper rolled-out to form 3D candles. 

Like that font? I do.

Green sheet is from a brochure :)

Re-use rocks!!

So far, so good!

I have been able to send out handmade cards to family members on their special days.

Happy being able to stick to the resolution :)

By the way, I just watched my favorite team win the eliminator to qualify for the 'Qualifiers' :D 

Go Rajasthan goooo... 

Anybody of you following the IPL? Which team are you backing?

Also at Weekend Bloggy Reading, Get Schooled Saturday,
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Tanya Appreciation Day, is it?

So, you read the title of the post and are here to know what is so special about today? Nothing much for those of you, who are showered with appreciations and pats on back every now and then. But for someone like me, for whom even a teeny-tiny "good job" is worth a lot of riches, today was indeed special.

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First on, I received an email from a fellow blogger, Mamta from Desi By Nature and in the 200-250 word email, she had only good to say. Woohoo... I am overwhelmed!! Mamta, if you are reading this (and I'll make sure that you do ;) ), thank you so much for the message. It was heartwarming. I am not sure, if the people around me are lucky to have me in their lives or not but I know for sure that I am truly blessed! And the cherry on top are the appreciative and supportive gang of girls (and a couple of boys) I have found here in blogland. So, thank you!! **Smiles**

Quoting Mamta:

Reading posts on your mom dad friends husband.. make the readers relate to the blog and creates an emotional bond. Your blog has everything a person needs on such a portal, fun, ideas, relations, advises !

Second for the day was a text message from a friend... and boom boom, this one was again a token of appreciation. Though, I am yet to find out why that message was sent to me TODAY, I'd still like to thank the sender, one who walks around with a golden heart. A gem of a person!

And then there were the ones that came in different forms- the cobbler trusting me with his hard earned money, the tailor honoring my request, the demanding boutique owner put to shame for asking unjustifiable amount, the electrician made to realize his mistake, client recognizing the efforts and a bicker with hubs ;)

You know, with me 'Appreciation is Always Appreciated' and we talked about it here.

Aaahhh.... I am loving it :)

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On a very different note... I was a part of a funeral today! 

A colleague's father met with an accident yesterday and expired late in night. 

I had never met this gentleman. Did not know his name until the funeral but I had tears in my eyes. More for those who are left behind. His son and my colleague, who is hardly affected by the bigs-and-smalls at work, was seen shattered. I know the only memory his grand kids, who are not even out of there toddler years, would have of him would be through photographs. And I dare not say that I understand what his wife must be going through!

They say- women's strength is beyond comparison. I say, what Hindu men are made to do at funerals is the most courageous thing to do. I know my dad did 'it'. I know my husband did 'it'. Both at very young age. I can hardly imagine the rush of emotions. 

Some rituals are beyond my understanding!!

image via

Today cannot be summed up in a single word because today was quite an experience!