life it is.

At some point, each of us wonders why it is that at some moments we feel flustered, at others we sigh or why it is that something so simple makes us feel like we're on the 9th cloud. Truly through seasons to people enter our lives, and with reason too! We may bicker, we may drown, we may rise.. and some may fall. In this loop we discover that the sunshine won't last always, and raindrops will surf...

ace. At the end of the day, that's just a little mystery of life, we aspire to fulfill our dreams, we wake to give living a joy, and we rise to faith... and to make it be known that each of us has a purpose and always will. Alhamdulillah to such blessings and to so much love! The recent texts, emails, inbox messages, comments and pretty much 'gifts' that I keep receiving are awesome, and undoubtedly His countless blessings upon me! :) Juma' Mubarak everyone. Wishing all of you the life of love, joy and above all.. eman!

Random Little Personal Things.

Varah is actually meant to be pronounced Wara'.
It is Arabic for 'Taqwa'
It is in the Quran.
Mr Burger is my favorite Burger place!
I love roller blading.
I write as a hobby... poetry and prose.
I'm too philosophical for some, or well.. people don't get what I'm writing or saying half the time. :/
I'm very straight forward... I don't like being fake.
Favorite Color: Purple! *hard to believe it's not yellow, right?*
Favorite TV Show: I'll be honest, I don't get time to watch television. I go on for months not watching it.. but when I do.. I love Reba *yes it's old*, The Mentalist, Supernatural, and F.R.I.E.N.D.S.
I'm an anime fan too, Deathnote is my fave!
As for manga, I love Bride of the Water God, Alice 19th and Nana.
Favorite Make Up? Err, I love MAC! Haha. My favorite nail color is probably the only 'Chanel' I own. Alhamdulillah to everything though :)
Where do you get your hijabs? My family travels to Saudi every year, MashaAllah... and my mum gets me beautiful ones on silks and chiffons from there. I love colors and prints, and there are SO many you can get from there. :)
Heels or Flats? MY BALLERINA FLATS!
I have a fetish for shoes. Aldo is the place to be!
Favorite Princess fairytale? Sleeping Beauty. I love Aurora.
Who do you look up to? Personally, My Mum, My Shaykh...
Craftwise? I love the work of Anna Dabrowska, I think Tim Holtz comes up with wicked stuff! And Dyan Reavely is out of this world amazing! I love the work of artist Gustav Klimt from his Golden Era/Age, in textiles and print, there are a lot of illustrators and print artists I adore, but I love the work of Zhandra Rhodes and Vivienne Westwood.
Don't ask me about Pakistani Fashion. *grin* I wear Khaadi... and a lot of linen. I can't wear very formal clothes. I become all antsy and itchy... and I feel like they'll get ruined when I walk or sit... I always get that from my mum.. that my clothes don't last me very long -_-;
Sweet Tooth? BIG Time. I love Mrs Field's Chocolate Chip Cookies, Milano's by Pepperidge Farm and Ice Cream. Who doesn't right?
Food? Major foodie... but not someone that lives to eat. :) I've been raised to appreciate food of all sorts. I'm not one of those that say I don't eat beef, that I don't eat fish.. so forth. I love seafood. Despite living in a country where Zabiha meat is openly available, I still opt for Tuna at Subway. I love shrimps and grilled fish! I could live off that. Pastas aren't so far behind. Desi food means biryani and behari.. with the parathas! But I don't like the idea of driving an hour to get a certain type of food. -_-;
I'm not a coffe or tea person! I don't drink 'chai'... ever.
I love Cherry Coke and Dr Pepper. XD
I use my heat gun to warm Pop Tarts. hehe.
I know that most people say this, that they're not 'neat' crafters... I'm not a neat one either. BUT, I can't stand a messy room. I take out 3 sweeps of my room in a day. To get rid of all the scraps of paper and dust.
When I'm working, the floor is my workspace... and despite everything being scattered for days... I know just where everything is.
My baby sister is my biggest support system.
She's 19 years younger to me.
I've raised her, and she could pass as my own.
She's my best friend.
She inspires me in a million ways!
I love butterflies.
I tend to day dream... like a lot.
My brother and I have the craziest LOL moments.
I find thundershowers soothing.
I love rainbows.
The days I'm sad, I take a piece of paper and write SMILE SUNSHINE all over it, anywhere from a 100-1000 times. When I look at it, I just feel better and forget whatever it is I've been upset about. It's therapy!
I was raised in circumstances that made me grow up before everyone else.
Those circumstances make me WHAT I am today.
My family is my world...
My Firefly comes next.
It really is a journal...
It's been through some rough times, the spine and pages are kinda flimsy now.
I have been an arty one since I was a toddler.
I'm a  memon, only by name. I don't associate with the 'jamaats' or the language... or the 'business' sense... Firefly started as a fluke! I promise.
My teacher refused to accept me as a design student in A levels.
Today I hold a degree in Textile Design.
I had to repeat a few courses at uni... only because I did what I wanted
My advisor never believed in scrapbooking or paper craft...
Today Firefy probably has one of the biggest markets and client base for it.
I love my Rabb, Alhamdulillah.
Whatever I have... am... and aspire to be.. is with His immense Grace and Blessings!

Crafty Question: Acrylic Blocks and Ink

I was asked this several times, and I thought I'd do a post about it for everyone to benefit :)

Hey can you also tell me which inks work best with these clear stamps? and is it necessary to mount them on a block?

You can do a lot of things with them without the block, the block gives you a backing to apply the pressure and make the imprint. :) Otherwise let's say you stamped with your palm or fingers, you'd either miss some areas, or your stamp would move and it would blur. It's great to try for backgrounds and textures, but I'd opt to have an acyrlic block for let's say fine text and sentiments.

As far as the inks go, pigment inks are great and there are MANY brands and makes out there! If you want to use them for everyday stamping with color, pigments are awesome. You need to know what you're wanting to do so you can use the ink accordingly! Pigment inks stay wet longer so they're fab if you want to use clear embossing powder to heat emboss with. Pigment inks, because of their water based composition, they will dwell into the fibers or granules of paper and may bleed or blot.

If you plan to layer with other media, ie want to use paints, color pencils, markers and such for mixed media, you want to go for oil based archival inks, they dry super fast. And as the name suggests, they're good for documenting and are long lasting.

A note, pigment inks will bleed if used with other water based inks. They're great for lighter background surfaces and are not suggested for slick/smooth surfaces such as glass, acrylic, plastic, foil and so forth.

Archival inks, because they dry super fast are great with the above! AND they won't wash out. :)
Hope this helps!
 

Inks, Stains, and other things!

Well, I'm on vacation. Hehe. And this is actually the best retreat as I get to explore and tread on art therapy. As I am not used to feeling idle, I pick up crafty things to do on my own without a brief or requirement from clients, no deadlines... and just an opp to explore different media.

I haven't splurged fully, so I've been sampling and if I like these, I'll probably invest in more colors and what not. This blog post is pretty much a demo and a tutorial. What often happens is we don't know the use or the technicalities of a lot of chemicals and inks we purchase. This is to help you with that so you can eventually invest or consider buying them.

Once you're done reading, do leave your feedback as a comment on the bottom of this post :)
PS: I haven't all my tools and things on me so can't do one on embossing and stamping inks yet. Shall cover those on the next round :) inshaAllah!

 

 

Rule Number ONE... if you don't know the use... do some research... if you're experimental, try one at a time. These inks can eat up our pocket. :P

 

 

Liquid Pearls

These read as dimensional pearlescent paint. The colors for these were gorgeous, and I HAD to buy them. I have no idea what I'll use them for but they're fun to try out, right? :)

 

 

 

I haven't yet gotten the hang of controlling the consistency but here's what they look like on paper.

These would be sweet as little accents on flowers or geometric designs.

 

 

 

The Fad about Distress Inks

 

 

There is a tidal wave in the market for Tim Holtz Distress Inks. They're intended to give your work an aged and distress look, perfect if you're into vintage and mixed media! When I first bought mine, I honestly didn't like it. I thought I was better off using a dried stack of Martha Stewart Inks. A week ago however, I bought one again. To play around with. And I must say, first impressions are never lasting!

 

Ranger produces these distress inks and other amazing products. They have an ink blending tool and the whole shabang. But for, the fix-it crafter I am, I decided to skip the ink blending tool (namely because I packed it away in a suticase) I tried using it without.. and the above is the result I acquired.

 

A lof of you ask me if you can use Distress Inks in inking your stamps or using them while stamping. For this blog post, I actually went ahead and stamped a little butterfly with each distress shade to let you know the result. It is pigment ink, which means it's wet and stays that way for a bit.. but given it's created to give that aged feel, the sponge doesn't quite ink the stamp the way you'd want it to.

 

I have 5 colors I demonstrated with.

 

 

 

The top of the tag is distressing by dabbing my fingers onto the ink pad and patting on to the tag edges. The bottom, as you can see is more intense, is directly brushing the ink pad against the cardstock tag. This isn't the most appropriate way as it just uses up a LOT of ink and becomes too intense for the distressed look. *you can see it in the photo* You can try distressing without inking your fingers by using cotton swabs, the eye shadow sponge swabs, an every day sponge, cotton fluff, or the actual ink blending tools.

 

You can also crinkle and scrunch up your paper and rub over it with the ink the same way for a visual and physical distressed appearance on your projects.

 

For the demo I have used Victorian Velvet, Tea Dye, Wild Honey, Crushed Olive, and Broken China.

 

The tag below is something I played around with using some stamps, archival ink, broken china and wild honey distress inks. The green is where the two over lapped. I didn't use any other sponge or applicator, just smudged with the fingers.

 

 

 

 

Distress Stains

 

Continuing the range of Tim Holtz products, there's also something called Distress Stain. It's ink that

comes in a little bottle with a sponge dabber at the end. I currently bought these two to play around with. For the demo I've used Vintage Photo as I used wild honey for the distressing earlier.

 

 

 

That's teh sponge on top.

 

What you do is, shake up the ink a bit.. squeeze the bottle gently, and the sponge releases some ink.. the more pressure you apply on to the bottle and surface, the more ink there is. For the tag, I've just gone over to create a darker intensity. Squint your eyes and study the tag for a second... you can see a gradation in the color. Because of the amount of ink I've used over it. This is fun to use with embossing and resist inking. You'd get some fab results if you keep playing around. You can also dab it for the distorted effect on the top right.

 

These are available in several colors, not as many as the distress inks though!

 

 

 

Adirondack Inks

 

This is another product by Ranger and Tim Holtz. These are alcohol based inks, which directly tells you that they dry SUPER fast. And they have that nail polish remover smell because of all the ethanol in it! These will bleed and run if you pour spirit, thinner, or nail polish remover over them, as they will mix.

 

I find them interesting to use over plastic. On paper, not so much. They bleed through and dry super fast so you can't really blend them unless you have the hair drier blowing the ink in all directions... they're not really intended for paper to start with. They're used on glass, and other slick surfaces. There's a specialy gloss paper you can use these with to retain all the media properties. Tim Holtz also has those acrylic charms you can use these to ink with. These alcohol based inks are fade resistant and are permanent. 

 

 

 

 

Just playing around here, you can see clearly how much these inks bleed!

 

I tried it on a plastic wrapper, because plastic doesn't absorb ink, and these alcohol based ones just evaporate leaving the pigment stain, this surface allowed some moving around and blending with other colors.

 

 

 

 

 

 

<EDIT>

While Alcohol inks are fab to play around with and use, if you plan on shopping and then bringing them over to Pakistan or any place outside the U.S... you may not be able to. These are highly flammable hence cannot be shipped on air transit due to flight regulation and safety. Same reason why lighters and large quantities of liquids are not permitted on the air craft. As per the Ranger website terms and conditions, it does state they only ship via ground post.

</EDIT>

 

 

 

Patina

Now these inks are also by Ranger, they're super opaque, dry pretty fast... and well, they're intended for metal. I used them for a tag.

 

 

 

For this tag in greens, there's a lot of Patina, and some wild honey distress. The dimensional bits and bobbles are Liquid Pearls, and the gold is actually a stamp embossed in golden archival ink.

 

 

 

Glossy Accents

 





While I have used epoxy resin for my charms and gumdrops, there are alternatives for quick dimensional projects. Glossy accents is a chemical you glaze over your imagery or surface, and it yields a clear gloss coat finish. The longer you let it stay, the harder it gets... but it still has that dent quality. So if you jab a finger nail into it, it will leave a mark. It's nice though if you want to create the glazed and glossed look on your embellishments.

 

I have tried Judikins Diamond Glaze and prefer Glossy Accents over it. The dry time is approximately the same, but I find Diamond Glaze more maleable or 'soft'... 

 

Using it is super easy, you just evenly coat the surface by squeezing the bottle. The Glossy Accent comes through the nozzle. You have to try not to get bubbles, it's pretty neat. :)

 

 

 

Here's how I first tried out Glossy Accents. I punched out a butterfly from a stack of glittered cardstock. Put Glossy Accents over one of them.

 

 

After letting it dry, here's what it looked like :)

 

See the difference? It's that epoxy bubble feel, but it's not resin... it's not hard.

 

To show you how you can embellish your stamped images, I went ahead and stamped this butterfly.

 

Covered it with Glossy Accents, you can see the cloudy glaze.

 

This is a little later, you can see it's drying.

 

You have the dimensional feel there.

Don't touch it no matter how tempting it is! Let it dry a few hours before you poke it. *wink*

 

 

 

I hope this blog post was helpful to most of you.

To treat our readers at Life as the Firefly Girl Blog, I'm going to give away one bottle of Glossy Accents! To be counted in the draw, just leave your feedback on the post by commenting below :)

 

Shudders.

Watching all the disaster updates gives me shudders. May Allah Kareem keep us all from harm and have utmost mercy on those struggling or undergoing hard times. We may not have waves and water flooding our roads at this point, but seeing this is enough to awaken the fear of Allah Kareem's wrath and remind us of His utmost Mercy on us all. He sends those sometimes, to test His believing ones, and awaken the eman in His sleeping ones. He loves us beyond any bond or relationship, and He does not abandon His creations. Tawakkal Allah, all the way. He writes the Master Plan! Ya Rabb call us to Your faith, before You call us to You. Keep safe all our loved ones, and free all our brothers and sisters across the globe of their distress and grief! Ameen.

 

I believe that we often bring these calamities upon ourselves, maybe if we respected our faith more, or spent more time doing ibadah instead of maybe wasting our days... we could keep away these misfortunes. We are responsible for all ills that come our way... it may be something as metaphoric as immodesty or lack of adab in the way we dress... or the culture we may adopt forgetting the principles of our Eman... and drinking nights to glamor and worldly gains. I'm not a perfect Muslim, but I believe if ever our city begins to burn or violence spreads.. we're responsible for it to some extent. It is His great favor that things could be worse... Alhamdulillah Alhamulillah Alhamdulillah. To all that is, and all that has ever been!

role playing games.

_ fate...
You know how when you're playing an RPG? And you go down a route, or gather this many 'coins'... or find that certain elixer or talk to that certain village person.. it's like every move you make in the game actually has a purpose... or an outcome. I recall that from the days my brother and I used to spend HOURS playing Final Fantasy X. You go down road A, you will end up at destination A, and later on in the game, everything will be linked to what you encountered at road A. The same way you take road B, all things you further witness or face will mount to destination B.

Like an RPG (Role Playing Game), I believe that choices we make have alternate endings written in our book of fate above. Yes, nothing happens without the will of Allah Kareem, but we have been given minds to think, and hearts to feel... we do take decisions with faith in our Rabb, but it is our doings that bring on further deeds or misfortunes. All good things that come are from Him, all ills are our own doings.

So when someone distraught and in dismay sighs and says God willed for this to happen, this is that point in the RPG, where you use that antedote you found in the forest... to renew your faith.. to turn to Him, to turn to His commands, to turn to His deen. Some times Allah Kareem takes away everything that you hold dear, to call you closer to Him. There is khair in everything, Alhamdulillah. Had an accident? Car got scratches, windshield cracked? Alhamdulillah, things could have been worse! That windhield could have shattered glass injurying everyone with deep cuts and wounds. Fell sick? Had an injury? Alhamdulillah! The illness could have been fatal, the injury could have been life altering! Have a job you hate? Have a boss you loathe? Have customers you can't tolerate? It could be worse... you could have no job at all, you could have a boss that cheats you out of your pay, and you might not have customers at all...

Alhamdulillah. Alhamdulillah Alhamdulillah.

The Workshop and Student Projects!

It's kinda funny, the feedback that means most to me is actually the outcome of projects my students and workshop attendees take on :) It's overwhelming to meet with so many different people with only one thing in common, a drive to craft. It's rewarding Alhamdulillah. And here's what some of them came up with :)

Each attendee was provided with a 6x6 piece of paper from the Prima Marketing Inc Fairy Belle Collection. There was another coordinating sheet, a border, 2 mulberry roses, and an ornate die cut shape. They were to take these kits and use them to create a card or a project layout. Adding other elements, inks, stamps, etc was completely their discretion.

I wanted the projects to reflect the though process these guys put through and how studying a bit of placement and design helps. :)

This one is by Sundus. She cut out the silhuette of the floral corner, and utilized the butterflies as add ons. She added sentiments on remaining paper and used the coordinating paper as a background... The border below is inverted but does the job. Good effort kiddo! Love the precision. You've even balanced out the elementsand aligned everything.

 

This one is by Jaihan at the Pearlbox. *waves* She used a tan/mustard base, embossed the background, and distressed it to show the embossing. The background is the coordinating paper, and like Sundus, her project also has the silhuette cut out. Hers is however more evident with the orientation. She topped the isle with a little distressing, her sentiment, the flowers and a pearl drop. The ornate border has been distressed. Good Job. I personally love the sentiment label.. it turned out great with the roses.Needs some more value contrast, but looks great :) Jaihan created this as a card, which was loved and adored by the recepient. *thumbs up!*

 

This was Falak's project. Now for me, her attending the workshop as a cake crafter was pretty cool. And when she said what she learned at the workshop completely applied to what she did at home, it made me smile ear to ear! Alhamdulilah :)

She went a step fruther, and applied the embossing at home technique with laces she found lying around the house. She made her own paper rosettes with one of my tutorials and added adorable butterflies for dimension. She tried creating interest in the project by creating layers. Which is fab. There's bling too! We need a little work on which elements coordinate and match, but I am VERY happy to see you apply everything you learned that day :) Great Job Falak!

 

These projects have been carried out by the workshop attendees on their own. As initial projects, these are awesome! Makes me feel better as an instructor, and makes me super proud of them for grasping 3 hours of non stop craft talk! hehe.

 

The rest still need to submit their projects. Will add them as edits later :)

 

Contemplations, Confessions and a little Crying it out.

Every news clipping features the beautiful captures from the Hajjis performing their duties as Muslims. It's beautiful, completely breath taking, and watching these photographs takes me back 6 years. When the entire family performed Hajj e Akbar.

I sadly don't recall all the experiences, because I was 'young' at that time, the same way I feel I gained more at Haazri this year than I did ever before. I do recall two things very clearly. ONE. When I was on mount Arafat with all other pilgrims, crying out their hearts, and requesting the Almighty with their pleas... I had made a special prayer, which I see unfold bit by bit today. Nearly 6 years later. and TWO when I sat and sketched the minaret of Masjid e Nabawi. When I went back this year, the sketch I had showed how much the architecture had altered!

I have slipped and skid so many times, yet Allah Kareem's vast Mercy brings me back to stand, on my two feet, with a drive to create, and an innate need to create good or happy. I don't know if it's to make up for lost years or just to stay close to Him and His path. Whichever the scenario, I am still gauging, I am blessed. Recent weeks, have been a little turbular for me.

Every hospital visit to Nani has been freaky. I panic really quickly. And I'm very sentimental. I'm not at all brave. And more recently my dad. He works a lot. He's worked a lot all the time. But he's given me a lot... and the most important thing he has worked to provide me with is the Degree I slaved 4 years over.

Lately him being tired or stressed leads to him not feeling too great. And it bugs me. Because he's not here, but MILES away. So it's not like you can walk in and check on him every few hours. So for me, the timing of my travels, the upcoming 'vacation' fell into place perfectly... after 6 years of one prayer. SubhanAllah. It honestly struck me a little while ago. Nearly 3 weeks ago, my dad and I spoke about some changes we were going to make... some AWESOME things we hope to accomplish inshaAllah. When I reflected on the conversation and where it was headed, it kept taking me back to a prayer I made... not just back in March when we went for Umra, but 6 years ago, around the same time of the year, while we were away for Haj. It's one of those overwhelming and moving experiences, a miracle coming into light sort of tale. It brings me to this yet again, Allah Kareem writes the Master Plan. Some things may take time... but nothing worth it comes easy or quick! It's drop by drop that makes a vessel overflow.

I wish we can go back to this setting. To set things straight, to make amends. To repent. And to promise that we will renew our faith and cleanse our souls. People often sit back and think, one Haj is enough, one Haj is Fard on every sane, Muslim adult that can afford it. Doing it more than once is cleansing your soul with the pious intention. The same for Umra. Often you hear people say, Umra has been done, let's go to Europe now, or let's explore Australia... the truth is, every journey of pilgrimage refreshes and renews our faith. The vibes from the Holy Courts, the energy of the sacred places, and of course, the goodness and purity of the blessed cities especially, do create a change and stir forces within our souls. I went through an odd cleansing when I was in Saudi earlier this year. I was sick in bed for nearly 10 days. I used to cough and vomit water. Night and Day. Would remain in fever and chills. It wasn't just me being sick physically, it was a cleansing... you know, how illnesses are a way to wash your sins by the Grace of Allah Kareem. We need these 'vacations' from the world to be back on track, focused on our faiths.

Anyhow, Hajj Mubarak and a very Happy Eid ul Adha to all our brothers and sisters around the globe :) May Allah Kareem accept our sacrifices. Ooooh! This is my first year doing Qurbani by myself! Super exciting. Alhamdulillah! The goats are in the garden baaaaing away. I feel kinda sad, but that's the good thing right? You're supposed to be attached to your animal before you sacrifice it? Isn't it? I hope and pray I can keep this up inshaAllah every year. Lots of things to be thankful for... imagine if were were in the times of our ancestors... or the Holy Prophet Sallallahu Alaihe Wasallam? We'd care or be more considerate over the well being of our family and friends alongside our eman, than our egos and possessions. May Allah Kareem guide us all.

Labayk Allah Humma Labayk! *inshaAllah once again when He calls me.
While this beautiful year, 2012 nears it's closure and so does our Hijri Calendar... here's a series of events that make everything all the more special for ME. The Firefly Girl and ME, Varah Musavvir :)

January 2012, trip to the States. This time NEW YORK! The awesomest days ever, seeing all the art galleries, checking out all the museums, and drooling over all the beautiful things I had always read about in books. Alhamdulillah!

March 2012, conducted the first ever Ultimate Crafter's Workshops, in two sessions. 32 students. A project for awareness, and other great crafty things. ALL in National Crafts Month. Firefly was approved for retail by international manufacturers this year! We turned two and had the most amazing celebrations! MashaAllah.

April 2012, Haazri. After almost 5 years, I visited the holy lands and was blessed to be called to the courts of Rasool Allah Sallallahu Alaihe Wasallam and then traveled to the Haram, for Umra. The best holiday ever.

May 2012, The Wedding. I tied the knot with my best friend, my husband, my companion. The first wedding for my generation in the family... and pretty perfect one for that! Alhamdulillah!

June 2012, I got to see a place I had never imagined living in... I saw Hong Kong. My new home. The moveeee.  :)

July 2012, Visa was up, and Firefly was back in Pakistan as promised!

August 2012, Then it was Ramadan. And we put our heart and soul into the 99 Project. MashaAllah, the most response we've ever received on a piece at Firefly. Days of research, edits, designing, and labor. Fruitful, and perfectly rewarding. Allah Kareem, please be pleased with me.

September 2012, Firefly launched the Crafters' Guild and coined the Crafter's Expo for Pakistan in Karachi. Over 2300 visitors. 6 hours of amazement for crafters, hobbyists, craft enthusiasts friends and family. Alhamdulillah! I launched Jugnoo & Junoon this month too... a new project for those who grew up with Firefly, and have a taste for accessories with that touch of funk! *wink*

October 2012, Firefly traveled to Islamabad to share the crafty passion and conducted the Ultimate Crafter's Workshop Series. A milestone. Big time! MashaAllah. We also did a mini exhibit for our friends and fans in Islamabad. That's not all! Firefly officially registered as a company this month too! SubhanAllah, what a year of happenings. :) All grown up is it? This is also the time for Eid ul Adha, when I'm pitching in for my own part of Qurbani Alhamdulilah! :))

Duas please :) The Firefly Girl sends out lots of love and HEAPS of happy wishes for all of you!

At the end of the day, I often get asked, why Firefly... a Firefly glows wherever it goes. It creates its own light in the darkest of places. This Firefly is no different. :) Smile Sunshine!

PS: we crossed 9000 today.
PSS: someone asked me for an autograph. I don't know what to do! O_o

Heroes.

Every person's parents are his/her role models or people they look up to. Not everyone needs to know your life's past or the treasures of your tomorrow to gauge that your parents matter and make you and your world what it is. You've taught me to keep going. And I find encouragement to be and do what I do everyday from you! My parents have given me the best of both worlds Alhamdulillah... I wouldn't be the strong, determined or optimistic person I am without them in my life! 


On a side note, it may not appear so every day, but Papa, you are my hero. And I love you!

The Firefly Girl

My name is not 'The Firefly Girl' it is Varah, Varah Musavvir. No the last name is not something I chose or use as a designer. Hehe, people ask me that all the time. It's something I was born with. My great grandfather used it as his pen name, he used to write. I guess that's where I get my wordsmith streak from, and the Musavvir just comes as a feat of my name. Varah means taqwa, taqwa is eman and is mentioned in the Holy Quran. I get asked often what 'Wara' means.. and there you go. That's what it is.

I am 24 years old, married, a hijabi, love bandanas and manga, am a die hard crafter, I love doodling, my skill is in my drawing... sketches, I love to paint when it rains, and I have a fancy for thundershowers. I love flowers and butterflies, because they remind of the beautiful little things, the frail things, and the simple things that turn life around. I am the least patient person in the world, and the work I do trains me well. I graduated in December 2011 with a Bachelors in Textile Design. My major is print, printmaking was my minor... which is why you see that certain color language, pattern and that collage like feel in most of my work. I have lived here in Pakistan due to my studies and am a resident abroad. Hence my travel throughout the year. I was born in Pakistan, and have been raised as a  Muslim Pakistani. I am not a perfect person. I don't claim to me. But I'm on that little walk... following my faith. Every day learning more about the 'Master Plan'. Can't say Alhamdulilah enough to everything I have! :)

I started Firefly in 2010, during spring break. I was emptying out my wallet and getting rid of receipts and things when I saw a wallet greeting card I had purchased from Hobby Lobby and my student council ID together. I randomly did a doodle and tried making one for myself... at that time, pocket money was Rs 1500. and I spent about Rs 700 to get my first few wallet cards made. The Wallet Cards for greetings and inspirational messages have been around forever! But MashaALLAH, they received attention and spread like smiles they carry within them over time.

Firefly the name, is what I always called my journal. I write like a mad person when I go into my contemplative mode. I have a lot of thoughts. Several of them none quite read... and it's okay! They don't need to. The journal now looks like an aged diary because all the pages are scattered and the cover is actually coming apart from the spine. -_-; I write in it a lot less now because my thoughts, my inspirations, they all surface in the form of things at the Firefly page or over here at the blog. So when I say Firefly roots from my journal, I'm not kidding! All the designs, orders, crafted pieces... they come from life inspired occasions, relationships... and sentiments! There's a lot of that now, in other business pages and places. Which is great Alhamdulilah!

I love to craft and am blessed to be honored with such a task that works to spread smiles and create that extra dose of 'happy' in people's lives... what I fail to understand though is why my right as a human becomes erased. Like you, him, her, them... I do have days when I'm unwell. Like this past weekend and now. I have weird sleep because I'm in fever and freezing all night. Like you, him, her, them... I have family, that can fall sick, be admitted to the hospital, or be in need of my time. Like, you, him, her, them... I deserve the same respect I try to offer everyone. Everyone finds it funny or kind of bold that I put up a doodle in full sarcasm, I don't find anything to laugh about. It's the truth. When someone has put up all the information, made all prices, procedures, queries and things available, and works round the clock to make ends meet, how is it that people come around saying sorry to say, crap like was too busy to ready, or don't have time to read. How can you then expect one person who's dealing with hundreds of others to READ through queries and questions and respond back RIGHT away when you haven't the time to value their efforts or work? And mind you, this tops the charts especially when it says 'orders are closed'.

No matter how many times I receive queries or questions like this in my inbox:
How do I order?
Can the photobook be embellished?
What's the size of this?
Can the mini album be bigger?
I want something like this: *reference image of something manufactured in crazy methods and techniques in a factory or a mill*
I want a keychain.
Are the cushions printed?
What is the price of this?

I still sit and take time out to reply to the queries, share the how to order procedures, the price charts or the different bits and bobbles of info that would clarify things for my customers.

If it says orders are closed, not responding back at the moment, what might one infer from this? It's actually sad that the crazy pseudo religious fanatics freak out about us moving forward as a nation, when we can't even take out a minute to read pieces of information that can help us process orders faster, reply to queries quicker, or speed up payment procedures. NO.... it has to be the long way around, cause people don't have 'time'...

So my question to you, to him, to her, to them is... if one person can not pull out time to read info for their needs, how can someone pull out time to read or respond back to hundreds over night?

1 person emails 1 person. Super simple.
100 people email 1 person. Super easy.
1 person replies back to 100 people.. a task, that is managed Alhamdulilah.

What I further do not understand, how is an update reminding everyone about order processing and procedures classified as whining? I also fail to see the point in how every one likes to drop by like Simon from American Idol or Judge Judy from court tv to criticize someone on their beliefs, their values or them as people when they know nothing about me, where I'm from, what I do. And if you're judging me based on my work and nothing beyond that... here's a light bulb idea. Would someone with a conviction towards hate, anger, pessimism and negativity come out with things that are whimsical, bright, happy, vibrant, colorful or positive? Sounds out of logic if you ask me.

Firefly became what it is because of all the people that supported it. Firefly remains what it is because there's one person, giving up her personal time to create and craft or give to people who wish for a little sunshine. Do not bring money into this, because I don't see a castle I've built for myself, nor have I invested in millions of dollars worth of shares in the stock market. I work slow and with a heart to keep giving. I'm not crazy about raking in money, but Alhamdulillah I have enough to invest back into Firefly in the form of crafting supplies or newer projects. I love what I do, and could not be more blessed by Allah Kareem to take this forward. I do not have a mummy daddy fund backing my Firefly, they gave me the best gift ever, my education. What I do with it, is up to me. I'm hoping that within the next year my travel reduces a bit, so I can commit myself to work somewhere or develop my work as a Textile Designer, but til then the ball is rolling... and it's going well MashaAllah!

Here's what I do at Firefly
Those designs, tag lines, whimsical doodles, watermarked pieces of information, the charts, the photographs... they are all put together by ME. ONE person. The doodles and designs, are NEVER googled images.. doodling is easy.. scanning, illustrating and making them work is another ball game.

The handcrafted pieces that you see put together all pretty in the albums. It wasn't just a paper, uhu and some flowers that made it what it is.. it's called time, layering, design... it takes a bit to put it together. I didn't make it out of a DIY kit.. I worked on it, from scratch.

When orders are placed, it's not just oh have a fixed design, just send to processing, it's 6-10 hours of work to set all illustrations, designs, customized requests to send to the printer. Labeling, numbering, making sure the right image goes front and back, tags, and so forth!

When the order is ready at processing, it is picked up and checked for errors. By me, one person.

When orders come home, they're photographed, and packed, by me. One Person.

When you have a special request for colors or materials, I go shopping... to get just the right shade.. one person.

So when you opt for courier and need these treats delivered, we pack and label, drag ourselves to the courier offi despite being under the weather.  Oh wait, there are also those times when we don't have courier addresses to post to. :/

There are also added pressures from you know, the riots in the city, electricity  family emergencies and your requirements for delivery time.

Don't meant to keep going but there's also that, making sure payments are received factor. Our work at Firefly goes in batches. And we can't send out 1 item at a time. :/

What else do I do?
I am working on developing the Crafters' Guild, to facilitate other crafters and crafty fans!
I run a brand of bags and fashion accessories called Jugnoo & Junoon
I give workshops and classes to create an awareness about Crafting in general and the techniques and tools one can use to work with them. It's a proper class.. I teach... we do demos. We discuss. We study and we learn.
I am also an authorized retailer for Scrapbooking Supplies in Pakistan


So before we hit the 9,000 number. I just wanted to let you, him, her and them know a bit more about me. Before taking up assumptions or calling me names, you know. Alhamdulilah, I was raised well enough not to resort to that in replies :) just get the facts on right. And if you want to talk, walk in my shoes first. They're not your typical size 8. If you'd like to borrow a pair, learn to respect someone and their work, and the efforts they put into it, things will unravel and you'll be on that journey with them in  no time.

This is dedicated to every crafter, every home based business, and every individual that deals with such all the time on a daily basis. This is not a rant, it's a piece of written information, which I hope you read :) All Firefly fans, you know you're loved. If you weren't, I don't think anyone would work as much as or as hard as the person behind it does... if I'm not crafting for you, I have plenty of photos and events to craft or scrapbook with for myself... I'd still be crafting. I owe a lot to my fans, they keep me going. But I hope after reading this, you know that I'm not that pink bunny that runs on Energizer batteries. I'm a person. :) Love and Duas.

Smile Sunshine!

The Crafter's Expo, and a dream called Life

So everyone has pretty much been holding their breath waiting for my post on the very first Crafter's Expo we held last Sunday at Royal Rodale. Alhamdulillah, the event turned out to be a phenomenal achievement, and MashaAllah is a milestone, not just for me, but my country, and my crafty friends! I've always wanted to attend scrapbooking fairs and things in the U.S... but for some reason or another my travel plans are bonkers and I can't quite make it to any of them. I skipped out Maya Road's Mixed Media workshops to I could be here to host the Crafter's Expo under the Crafters' Guild.

The Guild, was formulated to facilitate crafts and crafters of all backgrounds... it's a platform that I've taken up to promote crafting to the next level with inshaAllah. As of now, we're working on developing the website, to get the listing going, we're also forming the The Guild Team, which is our design team! :D We get to put together fun projects every month for our members to take inspiration from and learn new techniques and things with. Members only content though.

Nearing the expo date, we gave our scrapbooking goodies a new home. MashaAllah we're authorized retailers for scrapbooking products in Pakistan. A Cloud 9 kinda feeling if you ask me! On the day of the expo, I launched Jugnoo & Junoon. A grown up Firefly for our fans that grew up with us... I was in my 3rd year of university when Firefly began. Today I'm a Textile Designer, a graduate, a married young woman! Just because we grow up, doesn't quite mean our tastes and palette have to. I came up with Jugnoo & Junoon to cater to our necessities for work, our evening ensembles and of course, our day to day accessories. Jugnoo & Junoon will be developing collections for accessories such as bags and scarves... and the occasional tunics and tops. inshaAllah. We debuted our first collection of clutches in jewel colors at the expo. It's been a week and we're pretty much sold out. MASHAALLAH.
There's so much happening in this realm, that I cannot find ways to thank my Rabb for His countless favors and abundance of blessings. Alhamdulillah!

Looking back now, thinking about what the Crafter's Expo began with, as a small stall after my workshop... grew into an event that brought people from all over Karachi to visit. We had over 2000 visitors on Sunday at Royal Rodale. So many of them specifically came looking for me. It was pretty neat interacting with a lot of people who actually took interest in finding out more about the Guild and the Expo itself. That's colossal! At the end we had over 55 vendors. Two of them participated from Lahore and Faislabad. One of them, Shereen Aunty from Many Happy Returns actually came to Karachi FOR the expo... That was amazing. Gave it the real expo feel! We had paper crafts, suppliers, party planning and favors, gifts and greetings, lamps, clay work, handmade accessories and jewelry, home textiles and handicrafts!

What topped this 'Sun-dae' was the fact that Die Cuts with a View and Graphic 45 had send us paper stacks to give away and use specifically for the event. How cool is that?! MashaAllah, we came up to par with international events of the sort to be able to acquire such favors, don't you think?
What marvels me is the support I've had from everyone throughout the whole expo prep and execution process. MashaAllah, our country is full of talented and dedicated people. So  many of them exhibited for the very first time. I feel over the moon elated when they tell me their experience was fab or the response they received was amazing. It makes me take a breath of relief that Alhamdulillah, we worked hard to promote this, and it worked. :)

It's going to take a little bit of time to make people understand the value of crafts or the concept of crafting in general, going to pursue that through the Crafters' Guild inshaAllah. :) I may not reside here 12 months of the year, but here's my promise inshaAllah. Firefly and the Crafters' Guild will work on an expo every year, so Karachi, Expo 2013 is inshaAllah a feat we're working on. God willing. :) Super excited!!!

The venue, the crowd, the set up, the format. Everything worked. It was the first time and MashaAllah we got it right. I'm going to post my thank you's and a few 'vendor' notes so that all can follow up. Thank you Karachi for visiting us. And thank you to all the Crafters that took a leap with me on this. No one had the slightest idea this would be what it is. Allah Kareem is awesome.. and life is just as beautiful as we make it :)

http://blogs.tribune.com.pk/story/14147/karachi-crafter%E2%80%99s-expo-pakistanis-are-a-talented-bunch/#comments

We were featured in a blog by Priyank Pahuja at the Tribune :) worth a read everybody!

I request you all to keep Firefly, me the Firefly Girl and my family in your kind duas. We need them lately as my nani has been in the hospital :) She's recovering but it'll be a bit til she's a 100%.

Til a day before the expo, everything was disoriented for me. I had no bed to sleep on as every where I stepped there was inventory, packing, wrapping or something or another. I had actually left my inventory at home on the day of the expo. -_-; The floor plan I issued the venue was pretty well followed except for our Hall One, which was a disaster when I walked in that morning. We gave booth numbers to all our vendors... we issued badges/passes for all of them. Our event backdrop never went up :( but oh well, our wall of crafty thoughts was awesome!

My thoughts on The Expo, the day after:

Allahu Akbar.. all praise is to Him Alhamdulillah! What an out of this world experience!!! In a state of Euphoria at this point...For every person that said Congratulations or Thank.you... I want to remind everyone that this event would be nothing but a dream without amazingly talented people being on board. I thank each of you that participated for leaping forward with me on working towards an event of this magnitude not just for crafts, but Pakistan. I am humbled by the love, support and overall appreciation.

I want to send out thank yous to Hera, Erum, Noveen, Anaum and Ghazal Api for being with me when this idea was just a little hatchling... I want to thank my biggest support system ever, my husband Zaiq for believing in my whimsical adventures and being there for me round the clock. My parents, aunt and uncle for bearing with the madness. My baby sister for being my little assistant... My brother Ali who leaves for abroad on Tuesday and dedicated his time to Firefly. My sister Sheena for putting in her day off to help out! Nivy I missed you heaps during this one month! My printer, uncle thank you SO much! Ahmed Ilyas, for working out our bags for Jugnoo & Junoon. Saud, for working so hard on getting cushions done for launch time. Royal Rodale management for being so so accommodating and cooperative. My best friends, for coming out to see me and be ng th me! A big big thank you to my volunteers, my super stars. This bunch of young people did an outstanding job! Namely Sabita and Rabbiya along with Iqra and Ramsha's group of friends. Rahat Bhai, thank you for looking into matters for the last ten days and helping me out all the way! My photographers, Rija, Fahad, Shaykh Yusuf, Wahaj at HocusFocus and Nadeem Bhai!

Thank you to Handmade Memories for sending heaps of wishes and offering gifts for the draw. Thank you to Many Happy Returns that flew in from Faislabad to participate at this event! Thank you to Craftaholics and Fancies & Flutters for being ever ready to participate in Karachi!

I cannot leave out the 2000+ visitors and fans! It was wonderful finally meeting so many of you!!! Thank you for coming with your loved ones. :) especially Shahrain and her family who visited us from Hyderabad!

This Crafter's Expo was the first... And mashaAllah it was great! We hope to carry it forward every year! InshaAllah. Congratulations Pakistan... At the end of the day it really isn't about a match won. We have tons of victories to celebrate... Like yesterday... When over 50 crafters united on one platform to share with the world what they are most passionate about, when international manufacturers sent items for an expo of this sort! Thank you Kelly at Graphic45 and Ashlee & Chuck at Die Cuts with a view!

The Firefly Girl and her journal thank everyone for a chapter to muse and write about. Alhamdulillah! This is all due to prayers of my Shaykh and the Great Favor of Allah Subhanau Ta'la upon all of us. May Allah Kareem grant barakah to all, and may He give us the hidaya to promote good and be a means to support efforts of all deserving.

Love,
Varah Musavvir
The Firefly Girl
(Founder of The Crafters' Guild & Organizer of Crafter's Expo Pakistan)

My fabulous participants:

Kaghaz Kay Karnamay

Simplicity by Sumaiya Yahya

Zee-Handmade With Love

Rung and Craft Bug

Butter Cup Creations & Baker's Studio

Cartolina

Many Happy Returns

Glitters & Swirls

All That Sparkle

Phulwari Crafts

Creative Party Favours

Favors & More

A Craft Greetings

SAJ Design Store & Candyz Creation

Fizy's Art & Arty Crafty

FLO

Life. Twinkles & The Junkyard

Ain Crafts

Everything That's Creative

Ghazal Pirzada Creative Studios

Glitz

Just Things

Whipering Emo-tee’s

Art Aesthetics

Tints and Flints

Cocoon

Artel by Bina Ali

Sadia's Clay Jewelry

Be Exclusive

Lil Lady Bug

United Youth of Pakistan

Orange Tree

Special Children's Educational Institute

Sanki King

Handmade & Madiha Raza Accessories

La Maison by Atikeha Adnan

Thardeep Rural Development Program

Adorn

Al Falah Village Embroidery

Wes Malhaar

Mingle Mangle

Rainbows Hair Accessories

Flutters & Fancies & Craftaholics

Artesenia

Shine with Zaini's Creations

Kapra by Fawad Beyg

Love in a Basket

Ayesha-Nimra

3Footwear

Rangeen & Zaa’s Collection

The Wall of Crafty Thoughts

Sallallahu Alaihe Wasallam!

My Aaqa Muhammad Sallallahu Alaihe Wasallam, when abused, insulted or schemed against always remained calm and at peace. Instead of hurling his deeds to the non believing, he prayed for their Hidaya. Yes, every individual has the right and shall greatly stand up for our Beautiful Prophet Sallallahu Alaihe Wasallam... but if the unbelieving men and women cannot hear, see or believe in what you do, creating horror, igniting flames, destroying property or invoking terror won't alter even a millimeter of their belief. Make dua. And don't invite shaytaan either. Recite Durood o Salaam. Allah Kareem will always take care of matters related to His Beloved and His Beloved's people. ♥

I haven't had time to spend online, nor have I even read or researched on what's happening. I have heard though there's a film being made and it's not so nice. Someone commented once, that they have seen people booted, suited... come into complete jalaal when they hear anything upsetting or against the Prophet Sallallahu Alaihe Wasallam, I commented, when you say you would give all you have for him, why would you not defend him? If any of the stupid riots are making a difference physically, emotionally or mentally to the people behind this, then GREAT! If not... then no use hurling anger which the culprits would have no care about.

We all love him and respect him in our beliefs, our own ways. Some more than others, some a little differently... Allah Kareem knows best. And Aaqa Muhammad knows what is in the hearts of His Ummati. Maybe a call to Durood? a little more every day? When you greet someone with Salaam, you are replied and responded to. Rasool Allah Sallallahu Alaihe Wasallam responds to every Salaam sent his way! SubhanAllah.

Thank you Allah Subhana u Ta'la!

Dear Allahu Rabbi,
You have granted me all that I need, and all that I am is with utmost praise and gratitude to You. Alhamdulillah! You rid me of misfortune, and you grant me joy and success with countless blessings. No matter of mine goes unresolved and all praise is to You and to Your Beloved Sallallahu Alaihe Wasallam. Please rid my company of malice, and make me be among the truthful and righteous. Please continue to grant me means to impact lives, that call to Your praise. Thank You Allah Subhana u Ta'la for everything.. The great, the not so great, and the undeniable, could-have-been-worse-but-thank-Allah Kareem-it's not-kind of things! ♥ Alhamdulillah! & Ameen. -Varah

 

Types of Firefly Customers

Our customers, and our fans keep us going. This is for a little bit of humor and honesty, no offense intended. Which one are you? ♥

The type of Customers we come across...

_ URGENT! You have a dire need to request an urgent order from Firefly, but when you find out it cannot be done, your date required actually finds leverage, the flight gets delayed, or the event gets postponed. (Thank you for 

giving our work this importance you guys :D)

_ You don't like writing emails, and you need our phone number to discuss your order (BUT, we manage to sort out your order and deliver it as you like minus the phone call)

_ You place an order with specific requirements and for some reason or another your luck has your order delayed, you wish to withdraw your order, not just once, but thrice... you don't though! And when your order finally reaches your hands, you're in bliss and cannot stop smiling because Alhamdulillah! it's awesomeeee!

_ You have placed an order giving a us a 3 month window, BUT you'd like to know updates on it every 2 days... Your right to! It's for the biggest occasion in your life :)

_ You LOVE shopping with us during our specials. Everyone is on a budget, and we respect that, saving even Rs 10 adds up when you make lengthy purchases. So whether it's 20% off, 40% off, buy 2 get the 3rd free, We're happy we can cater to that for you through our promotions and special discounts :)

_ You've had a request awesome enough to launch it's one product category/album (Photobooks, Luggage tags, Photo Panels)

_ You've never ordered from us, but we chit chat on and off about how you're doing, what uni life is like or how you wish to accomplish so much one day. ♥ best feeling ever!

Thank you for giving us constant projects to work on, new genres to cater to and of course, letting us know what our potential really is. Celebrating 100's of smiles every day! The forecast is whimsical with a chance of rainbows! :) ♥

Upcoming Upcoming!

MashaAllah!

Things for us are shaping really well in terms of crafting and scrapbooking. Back in March, I jokingly told my parents that within 6 months I would like to conduct workshops in other cities... I realized it the other night that it really shaped out that way. I am inshaAllah traveling to the cities of Lahore and Islamabad for the Ultimate Crafter's Workshops there. I'm VERY excited about it. Alhamdulillah.

Many of you may have noticed the hype about the Crafter's Expo as well... It's something VERY spontaneous I thought about on my way from Nani's the other night. I came home and put it up on Facebook and within 24 hours the inbox was flooded with queries. MashaAllah! It's an effort altogether to bring all crafters together as a community and to give young people a REAL opportunity for exposure. I have been in situations myself where I paid over Rs 3000 for a stall and did not even make a sale worth Rs 700... ouch that does bite. Especially when your overall investment is way more than Rs 3000... and more like 10k! There are plenty of means of promoting one's work and business, but this expo is to hang out, have fun, exhibit, share, and celebrate the passion behind crafting that's within every one of us Alhamdulillah! I feel the expo is shaping out well, and I am really glad we are not limiting the craft booths to the the whole 'end of workshop 20 minutes' thing. This allows more visitors, more time, and of course more exposure.

We are having someone who's been crafting for over a decade now, and she's coming from out of town, JUST for this! We have friends in Lahore and Islamabad sending their work over to use so we can exhibit for them this time around. Working on an info booth for all merchants and services who may not be 'crafty' completely, but can contribute none the less. We have supplies for scrapbook fans as well as bake-a-holics. We have NGO's and we have our traditional handicrafts. MashaAllah again, this is one of the greatest favors of Allah Kareem upon me and I cannot even begin to describe this feeling. He is the master planner and I am utterly grateful to Him, for giving me the hidaya and the strength to take this on :)

Collaboration

Life.Twinkles by Hera Khoso and Glitter & Swirls by Erum Tasneem are my two biggest support systems for the workshops and now the expo. They are so so talented and at the same time so very cooperative and lively to work with. It's great having friends you haven't really interacted with outside the virtual world become such an integral part of what you do. Erum is working with me for the layout kits and mini album adventure. And Hera is working every day to come up with new ways for crafters to utilize her lovely products. :) Keep it up ladies, and thank you for being with me. It means heaps and I am hoping this turns out to be one of the sweetest collabs and experiences ever inshaAllah :)

More news! More news! Graphic 45.

I'm sure the paper crafters are familiar with Graphic 45. We were authorized in March to be their retailers here, and Alhamdulillah! They're even supporting us on this Crafter's Expo. :) I got in touch with them on Thursday, and today, Sunday, their donation/sponsorship is on its way to Pakistan for the expo! This is how things actually function abroad. I hop around my time between the U.S... and it's home to expos and retreats of these sorts. I felt so bummed not attending them in January. I traveled to New York instead for the Textile Trade Shows. In any case. The email reads On the Boardwalk, 12x12 Paper. And yall know me, I have to give some away! :D When you attend the expo, I'll be crafting with this beautiful paper stack, with a demo every hour. I'll be gifting away ONE, via Facebook, ONE at the Expo, and TWO at the upcoming Lahore and Islamabad workshops. The great thing about these paper pads is they're on cardstock, and come with die cut shapes and borders. So it's like a kit ready to use :) Their retail is often 19.99.. but of course if we ship them here, they'd cost about 27-30 US. Dollars.

I'm waiting til Tuesday, as it's labor day weekend abroad to hear back from others I have been in touch with before :) Let's see if we get more brands on board. DCVW is interested as well.

Upcoming Goodies for Purchases

These are some of the items I am ordering this week for our November trip. inshaAllah :) every time I've tried there's been an on off hikmat in my savings being put to use elsewhere. But all is great when Allah Kareem writes the Masterplan :)

I am starting off with Prima, as their stuff has been getting sold out really quickly. A lot of the flowers are gorgeous, but because they're costly, I'm going with things we don't really find here... ie the paper! From their collections, I did like Ruby Violet and Doodle Deux, but I feel they don't sell as well as the other vintage/pretty collections. Basic Grey and Graphic 45 are next. Bo Bunny I'm actually debating on at this time. :) Let's make dua all shapes well. I have spoken to some shops in Karachi if they would be interested in stocking, they'd like to see samples of the products, so let's seeeee. Pakistan is slowly going towards a change, and Alhamdulillah to that! :)

Anyhow, these are the items in my cart at the moment at Prima.
The 6x6 Paper Stacks are 48 pages and after shipping, and what not will be Rs 1500.
I'm sorry to those who were expecting less :( these are bulky when bought in multiples.
The 12x12 papers are cardstock, double sided. Rs 150 each.
The trinkets/flowers and things will be between Rs 500 and Rs 700.

At the end of the day I believe these are pretty neat prices given all this stuff is from abroad and getting it here to be available locally has some costs involved.

I hope you all enjoy these and take your work and your passion to a new level :) <3

These are cute right?

Gorgeous prints... would be a lot of fun for cardmaking!

These below are from the Fairy Belle collection, the blog features this collection, too! :)

Lovely cling stamps to use with the Fairy Belle Collection :)

Notecards to coordinate :)

3D Embellisments

There are some flowers and trinkets I am ordering as well :) Hope you guys like these! 

Crafter's Guild and Membership!Developing the Crafter's Guild, the Expo is part of it :)
You are invited to sign up and become a member for some of these yummy reasons:
-you are going to be issued the official Crafter’s Guild Card.
-10% off on your classes with Firefly *not entitled to the September/October Sessions*
-10% discounts on your Craft Bin Purchases.
-Free sittings at crafting seminars and talks *in your city*
-No expiration

Why would you want one?

• This is the only 'crafter's club/membership' of its kind in Pakistan!

• We like to travel, and when we do, we love sharing what we get to know or see through our workshops/classes abroad.

• We would like to invite other crafty folk to share what they know as well at our meet and greets. :)

• Firefly is also the only brand in Pakistan affiliated with manufacturers abroad for direct distribution/retail of their products. Which means, we get them from them directly, rather than from crafting stores.

• Have a new technique you want to learn? Maybe need some inspiration? We're going to get together and do that! Members only events.

• Either in person, or on Ustream.

• We're rounding up our favorite projects, our favorite products, upcoming releases and what not!

• We hope to send sampler crafting supplies in the mail to some of you as often as we get hold of them. :)

• Crafter's Guild Members also get sneak peaks on items we're ordering before we launch them unto the page, so if you want to save a few pieces of the upcoming craft bin, you can! :)

• We'll be circulating fun 'crafty' updates, with a tips and tricks panel every month in the form of an E-Newsletter.

The Crafter’s Guild is also working towards the annual Crafter’s Expo, the first one starting in Karachi at the end of September to bring together crafters of all kinds on one platform to inspire, exhibit, share and create as a community


Okay, that's a lot of crafty fun! Alhamdulillah. :) Thanks for being with Firefly and me. It means heaps.
Love. Smile Sunshine!