Giveaway Winner!!!

And the winner of this giveaway is (drumroll please) - is MeRu from MeRu's World!!!!

CONGRATULATIONS MERU!!! :)  Yay!!

People go on and check out her lovely and cheerful blog :)

Meru - Please send me your address at simrand@gmail.com. I will send across the gift :)

All the other participants - thanks a lot for dropping by!!! Hope to see you all in many more giveaways :) I will be back soon with a post on my travels!

Fun at Sanctuarry!!

No I did not make a spelling mistake with the spelling of Sanctuarry!! It is the name of a place where we took N along with our friends last weekend. We were about 8 adults and 4 kids. And boy we had so much fun, it was crazy. The kids loved it thoroughly and so did the adults who became kids :)

If you have been to the Gerry Martin Farm in Bangalore then you can relate Sanctuarry to it, except that Martin Farm has more animals and Sanctuarry had more activity fun stuff to do.

There were sheep, goats, rabbits, roosters, birds, ducks and geese.

One could feed them bundles of leaves and carrot sticks. The children loved doing this :)

 There were bullock carts too.

They have a large open area with lots of trees. And a tree house too - perrrfect for kiddies. They loved going up the stairs and playing with all the stuff inside. 

There is a sand pit and cycles for kids. A few tents are put up all over the place with fun stuff in almost each of them - alphabet floor puzzle in one and sleeping bags and chairs in another.

Some trampolines which are super fun. There were hammocks tied up and swings and charpoys too.... super relaxing and quiet atmosphere.

 And they have loads of other free activities - mind games, table tennis, mini sports series as well as paid stuff. We chose wall painting for kids. It was a paid activity and each kid got a bowl full of colour and big brush. They were made to wear aprons yet they managed to get themselves dirty :) And had a wonderful time painting their own masterpieces on the wall!

And yes for all you foodies out there - there is a Cafe on the go with a limited menu and fresh stuff :) However there is also a full scale menu if you want to pre order stuff.

Ooh and how can I forget the cute lil kiddies bathroom. They have kid sized low stuff in the bathroom so that the li'l ones can use them on their own. The walls outside are painted in nice and bright colours.

 We had an awesome time and plan to go again sometime!!

Sanctuarry is located close to the Forum Value Mall in Whitefield on the opposite side behind Fab India.  See address and other details on their FB page. You can ask them for details about activities, food and timings. It is better to call and go rather than walking in.

If you are googling them make sure you use the double r in the spelling :) 
Let me know if you would like to know more about our experience at Sanctuarry!

Linking this in to Patty's Weekly Party!! Happy Monday!


NOTE - I will be out for almost a month starting today - travelling and visiting relatives (N has a month off from school) so the posts might be infrequent or a quick scribble! But keep visiting and I promise you loads of lovely pictures :)

P.S. - Did you participate in the giveaway sponsored by The Orange Bicycle? Not yet. Go here!! Hurry it is open till 19th Sep only :)

50 Followers Giveaway!!

Here we are with the giveaway details!!

This is a giveaway dedicated to all my followers and readers (lurkers and de-lurkers both).
The Orange Bicycle is sponsoring the gift for this giveaway. Yay!!  I did a feature on them here. Check it out for some visually appetizing stuff.

The Orange Bicycle is giving away
this pair of metal Hippo book ends [for all you book lovers out there and it makes a great gift too] and
a bright and a cheerful Ganesha figurine [perfect for the festival season] 
to one lucky winner!!

Aren't they a cute and peppy pair? I love the colours - blue and yellow!

Thanks to Orange Bicycle for sponsoring and giving away these great gifts :)

Here is what you need to do win this lovely pair!

Very Important Info - This giveaway is open to all readers - bloggers and non-bloggers! You can choose to do any or all of the steps below, as may be applicable.
1 random comment number will be picked up using www.Random.org to decide the winner. Readers from all geographic locations can participate.

1) Leave a comment on this post and that will automatically be counted as one entry. However if you do not wish to participate in the giveaway but just leave a comment, please mention that in your comment to allow the others a fair chance.
2) Write a post on your blog about this giveaway and spread the message. Let me know via a 2nd comment here with the link to the post on your blog - that will be counted as a 2nd entry. Leave a separate comment about the blog post to increase your chances in the lucky draw.
3) Show some love on your Facebook profile to further your chances of winning. Let your friends on FB know about this giveaway. Leave a separate comment here letting me know that you have done so and that will be counted as your 3rd entry.
4) You do not have to be a follower to participate, but if you like my blog and stuff that I write about, please follow! I would be very happy :)

The giveaway is open till 19th September 2011 . I will announce the winners within a day or two after that.

All the best to all of you!! Hurry up and leave a comment.

Linking in to Patty's Weekly Story! Happy Monday :)

The Orange Bicycle

Do you like kitsch, funky and unique stuff? Do you like gazing at colourful, cute little things for hours together? Would you like to browse through stuff that is quirky yet functional and beautiful to look at? And all of this from the millions of lovely artists our country has?
Then you have to, have to, drop in at The Orange Bicycle!!

Giveaway Alert! Details in this post 

This place, buzzing with creativity, is located in a quiet by-lane in Indiranagar. And if you have been through my blog, you'll know that I love it! They have products from a whole lot of artists from all over India. The result is a pretty-to-look-at place with beautiful, inspiring and creative works of art.

Here is a peek into one of my all-time favourite stores and some of the products they sell.

The fun store signage!

You enter the store and you get to see this gorgeous chandelier.

Funky earrings anyone?

Cute little ceramic oil bottles with their own cork stoppers.

The good 'ol chai ki glassy as tea light candle holders.

Orange. Bicycle. Bag. One that I would love to get my hands on :)

Some more light love - the colours are so attractive.

Aren't these cycles adorable?? A collectors dream come true!

This wall art is for all Tintin lovers, including me.

How about this quirky hook hangar? Reminds me of trucks on the state highway.

Cushions - A perfect blend of modern and traditional.

A commode ashtray. Can it get weirder than this?

Cute metal hippo book ends and a bright and yellow mini Ganesha.

Purses, clutches and wallets in all sites and colours.

And for all you outdoor, garden enthusiasts they have some pretty stuff.

Beautiful garden lights.

Lovely planters and greens for sale.

Something for everyone, choose your favourite planter!

So Bangaloreans, if you haven't been here already, hop on and get there. You'll love it!!

And now for the giveaway news -
I am very happy to announce that The Orange Bicycle will be sponsoring the next giveaway at Simz Corner!!! :))
Thanks guys, you know we love your store!! Sending loads of luck your way. 

One lucky winner will get a gift from TOB. What's the giveaway gift? You've seen it already. It is in one of the pictures above. Guesses? Will announce the giveaway rules and details in the next post.
Have a great weekend!!

Linking in to Tanya's Tea-Time Thursday party.

Store Details
The Orange Bicycle 
House No : 3353, 5th Cross 
12th "A" Main ,HAL 2nd Stage 
Indiranagar, Bangalore-560038 

Email: riders@theorangebicycle.in 

Tel: 080 41255242 

50 followers and a giveaway!!

Yay!! Thank you all my lovely followers, readers and commenters :) I love hearing from you. Your thoughts, opinions or just a "hello" means a lot. 

And so on this historic occasion [a li'l melodrama is always fun, ain't it?] I will be having a giveaway. Yippee!! I know, I love giveaways.
This one will be dedicated to all my followers and one lucky person shall receive a gift from a place that I LOVE LOVE LOVE! [Take a guess people].

Keep watching this space for more on the giveaway. Coming soon!!

Image via Google Images

Giveaway winners!!

I am so sorry folks for the delay in announcing the winners. Had been caught up with family.

But without further ado here they are - 2 wonderful winners of my giveaway  (in no particular order) - Aparna, Nisha

CONGRATULATIONS!!! 
Ladies hurry up and send me your addresses at simrand@gmail.com.
Have a lovely week ahead!!

Mosaic love

This weekend was a hectic one!
My in-laws are visiting and they wanted to see the Iskcon temple. So we made the trip on Saturday.
We were visited by monkeys (Yes!!) at home. Thankfully no one was hurt but we all were in shock for a few minutes. Monkeys have descended onto our apartment complex from I don't know where and have been surprising people with home visits via the balcony!
Attended a birthday party on Saturday night.
Met up an old colleague from the US for lunch on Sunday at Ebony on MG Road. I have fond memories of the place and always like most of their food.

I also clicked these beauties that I picked up from The Orange Bicycle some weekends back. I fell in love with these mosaic pots that a local organisation from Mysore makes. And the super lazy person that I am I told the lady there I wanted some plants with least amount of maintenance. She gave me two cacti! :)

Here are the latest additions to my green dekor.

And in case you still haven't participated, my 100th post giveaway is still on till 28th June End Of Day. Hurry up and leave your comments on that post!!

Linking this in to Weekend Wrap Up on Colours Dekor.

UPDATED - I learnt recently that these mosaic pots and other very beautiful planters available at The Orange Bicycle are from Green Essence. Check more of their stuff out! Its fun, colourful and modern!

100th Post Giveaway!!

Hello!!!!!
I am back after a 2 week break and I have goodies for you :)
I promised here about the giveaway for my 100th post. And so not 1 but 2 lucky winners will get lovely gifts!!

The 2 lucky people will get one each of these handmade beauties to keep all their cosmetics while on the move!

These are handmade travel pouches made by Kanika Bahl of Anek Designs. I picked them up from one of my favourite stores in Bangalore - The Orange Bicycle. The bags are beautiful to look at and practical too.

I loved the vibrant green and magenta-maroonish cloth exteriors. There is a plastic lining inside to protect the cloth. Just the perfect size to keep all your trinkets, make up stuff and jewellery. So participate in the giveaway to get the artistic, beautiful and practical travel companion!

Here is what you need to do to win these beauties -

1) Leave a comment on this post and that will automatically be counted as one entry. However if you do not wish to participate in the giveaway but just leave a comment, please mention that in your comment to allow the others a fair chance.
2) Blog about this giveaway and spread the message. Let me know via a 2nd comment here with the link to the post on your blog - that will be counted as a 2nd entry. Leave a separate comment about the blog post to increase your chances in the lucky draw.
3) You do not have to be a follower to participate but if you like my blog please follow! I would be so happy :)
4) 2 random comment numbers will be picked up using www.Random.org to decide the 2 winners.
5) Readers from all geographic locations can participate.

The giveaway is open till 28th June, 2011. I will announce the winners within a day or two after that.

Hurry up and try your luck to grab these bags!!

Edited to add - Sending this to Patty's Weekend Wrap Up to spread the word :)

My 100th post! Bird wall art - Tutorial

Yay!! This is my 100th post and it feels great writing it :) Wait, lemme quickly check the fact again before I make an announcement in error..... Yes it is! I am so HAPPY. When I started the blog I couldn't have imagined today and now that I am here I feel inspired and all the more eager to reach the next milestones :)
And the announcement - Keep a look out for the 100th post giveaway coming soon!!

For this post you can enjoy these birdies sitting on trees.

I was very inspired by Becca from Blue Cricket Design. She made this bird wall art here. Check it out, it even has a video of her TV interview explaining the process. I have been trying to attempt this since ages and finally could complete it last week. My guest bedroom walls were bare and with family coming down for a visit it was the perfect time to get this done.

The raw materials used are - 2 canvases of the same size (mine were 11x14), fevicol, permanent markers in black - one thin to outline and one thick tipped to fill in, a pencil, the local yellow pages directory (which was free by the way) and printed bird images off the internet.

I chose the pages from a yellow pages telephone directory. Like Becca suggests you can choose any material - newspaper, pages from an old book, scrapbook paper, gift wrapping paper etc. Let your imagination go wild!
I started with mixing 1 part of fevicol with 1.5 parts water. You can thin it out further if it seems too thick. Thin is easy to spread with a brush.  Next I tore out random pages out of the telephone directory and spread the fevicol mixture on one side with a brush. Then I stuck the pages on the canvas in any shape and manner that you want to. Random is good. Overlap, overlay and cover the sides of the canvas too.
Once both the canvases were done I kept them overnight to let them dry out completely.

The next day I started with drawing branches on the canvas freehand with pencil. Make sure that you continue the branch from one canvas to the other to get the illusion of one single branch across. Once the branches were done I outlined them with the thin marker.

Then filled them in with the thicker marker.

Once the branches were all done I placed the bird images at different places and traced the outlines. For the bird images I googled birds on the internet and printed them out. You can also stick the images onto a harder paper like card stock and cut along the outline. This will make it easier to transfer onto the canvas.
Then I filled in the birds and added the details like leaves and small branches. After this I coloured in the images one last time to ensure an even colour.

It looks lovely on the guest room walls, haven't been able to take pictures of that yet. But here are some more pictures. I already got some great reviews from the guests :)

Linking this in to Patty's Weekend Wrap Up!

Giveaway at P&P and sales all around

Hello folks!
Happy Friday - seriously I LOVE Fridays!! :) They make me happy and excited.
So here's to make you feel better too - Gagan at Of peacocks and paisleys is hosting a giveaway. CSN stores will give away a $45 gift card, which can be used anywhere on their site, in any of their 200+ stores. The giveaway is open to U.S./Canadian residents. Residents of other continents may still enter for a loved one in the U.S./Canada.
This giveaway is only open a week so hurry up now and hop on to her blog.

And for folks in India - Crossword bookstores start their Clearance sale today. They will have up to 80% off so lets go book shopping.

Have a great weekend!!

A lovely lovely giveaway at P&P

GB of "Of peacocks and paisleys....." is having a fabulous giveaway. I have not won any giveaways yet but still love 'em!
CSN stores will give a $45 gift certificate (no strings attached!) to a Peacocks & Paisley reader. CSN carries a gamut of merchandise...from children's luggage to tealight holders.
Giveaway open to U.S./Canadian residents. Residents of other continents---You may still enter for a loved one in the U.S./Canada. The winner will be announced on December 1st, just in time for the holidays!

So go ahead and send your entries. 
Happy Monday - Didn't I just brighten your Monday? :)

By The Water Cooler - our love story

It was my first out-of-the-country-trip for work. I went on an assignment to Los Angeles for my now ex-employer. I was enjoying the whole experience of being independent, being overseas and doing the onsite-offshore work thing.
                                                                                It must have been a few weeks into my trip when I was working late one evening. One of my team leads walked into my cubicle with a sheaf of papers in hand. I didn't work with him directly - we were on separate projects.

He - "I want to talk to you about something".
Me - "Yes, tell me."
He - "Not here, lets go to a conference room."

I was slightly perplexed about why would he want to talk to me. Then I noticed the set of papers in his hand - they belonged to a project I had worked on a few weeks back when I just landed in LA. The launch hadn't gone all that well and there were a few bugs found post launch.
             My mind started working frantically - he was going to tell me to pull my socks up. I should have been more dilligent about my work instead of being so happy to be in the US of A. I followed him; my head bowed down, my heart pounding like a hammer, twidling my thumbs. As luck would have it the conference rooms were all booked so we walked past them one after the other. He said "Lets use the dining area." I went numb thinking "Oh shoot! Now I'll be reprimanded in front of everyone!"
                                                           Thankfully there was no one in the dining area at that hour. We sat down - me as far away from him as possible. I am sure anyone within 5 feet could hear my heart beating. He started speaking " Since the last 15 days...." and I wished I could hide somewhere. Ofcourse I had been having fun since the last 15 days - trips to malls, lunch at a new place everyday, weekend trips with friends, work was the last thing on my mind.
                          ".....I have been feeling very differently about you. I like you." Wait a minute!!! Whaat! This is not what he was supposed to say. I sat gaping at him. I couldn't utter a word for about a minute, seemed like ages that time. He continued on with what was his version of proposing to me :))
I was relieved at first that this wasn't about me not working properly et all. Then came in the happy-in-my-heart feeling!

What happened after that is another story altogether (and maybe another post) but eventually we are together now with a very active 2 year old! Even today when I think of that day I end up smiling.
Our love story started literally by the water cooler ;)

***************************************************
This is my entry to Parul Sharma's "By The Water Cooler" contest.  Check out the link for a sneak peek into what her new book is all about!

Sweet treat & giveaway

Inspired by Smita from Little Food Junction I made this card for N's teachers at school.
They loved it and both of us had loads of fun making it :)



BTW, Smita is celebrating Hundred Thousand hits on her blog with a giveaway! 

Check out her amazing creations and try your luck at winning a very artistic prize.