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!