Crafts Month Inspiration Week ONE

Salaam everybody!

I love the craftiness in my newsfeed over at Facebook lately. :) It's amazing to see something bring so many people together... their passion is commendable.

I wanted to dedicate this post to all the Crafty folk who contributed to the Week One's Craft Inspiration Challenge :) Theme was Spring and the challenge was to incorporate a handmade flower :)

If I missed you, please tag Firefly on Facebook and I'll add you. :)

Please visit their pages and give them valuable feedback on their projects. And of course, please share this post with your friends. Congrats on being featured over at our blog this week! :) <3

Happy Crafting! Smile Sunshine. :)

 

Okay, so Noveen at All that Sparkle *waves* does beautiful work with damask. And she pieced this lovely piece together for our week one.

 

Aqsa at Art-esthetics is unbelievably talented and does amazing work with flowers. HANDMADE flowers. The colors here remind me of Zephyr from Prima, and they look so fresh and full of 'Spring' :) Love it!

The girls at Cartolina do such adorable little pieces with quilling. This is their project for week one.

 

Khadija at D's Creations put together this little card with some cute flowers :)

 

This was my bit for the weekly inspiration. It was actually a request by a client based off our 'sunshine' mini album theme. The colors here are so fresh and vibrant, I could stare at the yellow all day. Hehe. The background is from Prima's Sunkissed Collection. The damask has been embossed and distressed. The ornate frames are die cut and sentiments stamped. I was pressed for time so didn't assemble a handmade flower, I used one that I bought from a recent craft shop, made by artisans in cottage scale industries. The card is 5x7 inches in size approximately.

 

This was Faiza's project for Fizy's Art. Love her purple flower. Super pretty!

Anaum has a thing for files and folders.. and this one is super love! I love her flowers on here. Check out For Love Of!

I am in love with flowers... and Floral Art by Rida did this gorgeous piece! So so pretty! MashaAllah!!

Ghazal Pirzada Creative Studios did this SUPER fun sunflower set for prop set up! How cute is that?!

ET, my friend at Glitter & Swirls makes me want to cry every time I look at her work. For me, she is the Queen of Cards. Don't yall agree? her work is always very detailed, perfectly composed and looks like something you'd want to buy just to put up on your wall if not give away! Check out this beautiful piece with the perfect colors by Glitter & Swirls!

Amina at Handmade Memories pieced together a heartwarming gift tag using Graphic45's paper collection isnpired by Spring. I love vintage, I love G45 and I love this girl's work for this week's inspiration! Please visit her work and give her some appreciation! :)

You cannot expect anything less than adorable and heartfelt by Injela at Spectrum, it's all about colors. She pieced together this wall hanging for Spring! Her flowers look so cuuuute!

 

Wajiha, at Kaghaz kay Karnamay makes GORGEOUS paper... handmade paper! And this is nothing less than that!

Sabahat from Limelight Favors did such a CUTE project for Spring! Check out these party favors!

 

How pretty is this wreath? it's by Moam. Truly, lighten up your home!

 

LOVE the colors for this mini put together by Paper Madness. SO fresh, SO spring! I love the flowers.

Jaihan, whom I had the pleasure of meeting with in Islamabad put together this Tag. I LOVE it. Check out Pearl.Box :) Very spring!

 

This card was pieced together by Madeeha from Rangeen. I love the flowers :)

VERY spring! another piece by Madeeha!

 

Rubab does some lovely work! And this is no exception! I LOVE the flowers she's pieced on here :) They truly speak spring! Visit RB's Craft Bin

Kanza at Spring did this little piece for her bit of week one's inspiration :)

Violetta's spring inspired basket of kisses. :) super yummy and sweet! :)

 

 

 Phew! Done with Week One Shares :) Hope you guys enjoyed week one's projects! <3

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

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!