we are what we are...

I personally don't watch a lot of television, frankly because I'm too lazy to go to my brother's room and flip through channels, AND because I hardly get time between going to uni, working on orders... and hanging out with my little sister. I love movies, and am fond of music. But it's not the essence of my soul, as in, I can go days without listening to a track and I can Alhamdulillah, have good pace of work with or without a jingle to hum to.

Given that I hardly flip channels and the only thing I do catch glimpses of are the headlines and breaking news developments I happen to come across when sitting with my parents...

And of course, now that we're in this digital realm, all our articles and news updates are available online... even opening Facebook, all you see are threads and series of status updates about how everyone is suffering and how everyone is upset and enraged about the terror in the city and the utter chaos our people are falling to.

Here is what I've observed. In the middle of a fast, when your mind is to control anger, frustration and remember the Exalted Creator, you are posting about the horror tearing across town with such foul words and dirty language. Hmm... whaddia know. This is how we have welcomed our last Ashura, this is how we react to the evil deeds of the misguided, by wasting our hasanat in reacting to their wrong doings in such a manner. Point. 1.

We feel helpless, we want to carry forward on our marches and stand up for our people. We want change. How is creating an event on Facebook going to do so, if all you're doing is clicking 'attending' and logging in from the comfort of your pajamas at 3 pm in the afternoon? Point 2.

Recent controversy, related to tv personalities and scholars. Does everyone honestly think it was worth spending time posting and ranting about someone or his actions? When the least we could have done is maybe did Tauba and sought for protection from being misled? Aren't these signs for us, of that DAY? Our country is in divide, where a Pakistani is thirsting the blood of another Pakistani. It is not for religion, it is not for land. I'm really wondering, what's the purpose? We were warned of such doings... were we not? Point 3.

Everyone is crying out and pleading to the All Forgiving, All Loving Super Power. He has never EVER left us stranded. We have food on our plates, the comfort of our air conditioned homes, cars running smoothly enough for us to commute all across town. But when calamity falls, why is it we turn to Him only then? When we as a people are doing our level best to keep Him and His Beloved along with the values of Islam far from our work place and institutions? Is it not true? You want to take leave for Umrah, you are told to decide whether you want to pursue your education or do ibadah... You want to observe a Holy Day such as Juma tul Widah, you are told, we cannot give a holiday for every occasion, when duely so, our institutions can close due to excess rain, because the city is on fire or someone in some God knows what post was shot and his funeral has taken place but his people want you to mourn for 3 days even though you have no clue what he did, who he was or what exactly we are mourning.

Tomorrow is Yaom e Hazrat Ali... the day of his Shahadah. How many offices are functioning? How many are observing the day in respect. I am not a Shia' Muslim. I'm a Sunni, but that doesn't matter. I strongly, strongly Alhamdulillah believe in love for my Holy Prophet Sallallahu Alaihe Wasallam and His family... And I respect the significance of the day. But I don't get it, I'm utterly confused, when it's okay for people to skip work and play cricket on the streets the day it's raining, when it's okay for students to miss school and hang out with friends or prance on their rooftops in the rain, why is it not okay to stay at home out of respect for such important days of our history? :/

I know this is very different from what I usually post about, but today I just felt I had to. I am a very optimistic person when it comes to the state of my country and the matters of it's people. That we will survive... and we will rise beautiful, strong and free... but I also feel our deeds and actions as a people, our mindset regarding our being in this world and are attitude towards our deen and our Creator all add up to the state we're in. We have strayed, and we need to accept it. Deen wants that which is easy for us. I love how Ramadan is that prep camp, it's supposed to energize us for the remaining year, but funnily enough our battery discharges as soon as Chaand Raat nears. Did you know that that is the night in which all the rewards for ibadah are distributed? How many of us reminded ourselves that we are fasting when someone provoked our anger? Did you? How many of us fought our Nafs when it came to picking faults in our colleague or co worker, Did you?

Life isn't a report card where you get to repeat a course because you flunked. It's fair and final. And you don't know when you'll sit for your exam, best be prepared for it at all times. It is saddening to know that Kaffans are being sold instead of new clothes for coming Eid. Could this beautiful month have more a message for us? Those of us that are safe and Alhamdulilah alive, should be more aware of our actions and deeds, should be more giving, be more kind hearted... and should be more welcoming to fate.

As the Holy Nights descend upon us, I request each person who has read this to say a sincere prayer for our people. Not just those who have lost their lives, but for ourselves, that Allah Kareem, make us strong in our faith, strengthen our Eman, and make our deeds of those who shall enter Paradise... and make this month of immense Blessing and Mercy a turning point for us all. Cleanse our hearts, and purify our souls. Make the storms hovering over rain finally, washing away all that which is dark and devious. 


PS, I just had smile shine upon my face... read the last paragraph, and heard thunder. :)
Smile Sunshine...

We have nothing to lose, as all that is ours belongs to Him. Our joys, our pride... our existence, our everything. I am not here preaching. :) I'm just here posting the ramblings I've had exhausted within my head in recent days.

I am very very grateful to Allah Kareem to have been able to accomplish a few things I tend to miss or delay every year. I hope everyone took a thing or two beneficial by visiting the Firefly page this Ramadan. I've received several beautiful emails this month and one of them was for Makkah Shareef! What a lucky soul...

Please forgive me for my shortcomings, and keep Firefly as well as the Firefly-Girl in your lovely duas.

Just Because, this made me smile.

Dear Varah Baji
[Firefly Girl;) ]


Oh well, i needed a case instead. Still thank you very much Varah Baji for your cooperation, though i know you are very busy these days. And for taking out your time :) I really appreciate it! =) And again I'd like to say that I just really loved your work!! it's just of my type, funky and fun! :D May GOD bless you and your work always! :) Surely in the future I'd love to order from you as your work is irresstible!;) But for now, I'd like to cancel my order as you don't have the correct thing of my need:) Still, I'D LOVE TO MEET YOU ONE DAY TOO! ^_^

Thank you! :)
Love,
Alisha.
PS: I'll phrase your words for you: Smile Sunshine! <3 :D


Ramadan Kareem everyone :) May this month bring all it's beautiful noor, to illuminate our hearts, and enrich our souls with the strongest Eman! Keep the Firefly Girl in your duas. And KESC too! :)

Congratulations to Tanya and Tamim, who have finally received their Save the Dates. I pray for the most beautiful life ahead for you two. May you always have each other and live the happily ever after everyone dreams of and learns from in fairytales. Ek tha Raja, Ek thi Rani...

A special wave to Komal Riz, who's the patientest woman EVER with her order. Luck has it that it gets delayed due to light flux OR errors in process. Sorry!

A hello to Amna Hanif, who's anxiously waiting for special tags that need to travel with her.

A big smile out to Amna Iqbal, who probably thought Firefly will drive her crazy with her keychains. It's so awesome, she waited and waited. WAITED and waited... and now she wants more of em. hehe. SubhanAllah!

I want to mention Fatima Hamdani, one of the many younger Firefly fans out there who write to me and write to the world. She blogs you know! Thanks for always adding those little sparkly bits of life in our randomest google chat convos kiddo. :)

Alina, who's working for a cause... This is her message for anyone and EVERYONE who reads it:
We as Ronaq-e-Qainaat are arranging a GRAND iftari THIS friday for over 300 to 400 people and children in collaboration with Payaam's trust....Please if ANYONE is interested in contributing for this noble cause.....contact me ASAP....!! Donate GENEROUSLY....!! CONTACT: rqainaat@gmail.com
*Do mention you saw this at the Firefly-Girl blog* :)


Sonya, dude... you just love the luggage tags. :) She and her family as well as friends abroad have ordered uncountable luggage tags, in fact, she's the reason I started making them. Lots of love your way. I  hope you recover really soon from your little ankle, foot.. chronic.. injury thing. :) x

Cookie baji, you've moved away and I have a feeling I'm going to miss out on those heartfelt cupcakes... Lots of duas for your new beginning at the other side of the world. Hope the tags travel with you always... <3


My ESP partner, C-ster. My little bro, Nivy. I miss you. I miss our packaging plant sitting in our pj's wrapping God knows how many star boxes stuffed with Skittles. I do know you're off to great things and inshaALLAH you will find all the success in the world, and baad mein too :) Love you!

I want to say thank you to my other half, Z.A. in HK... you've been such a great help and so so supportive from A to Z of everything I ever do. From the surprise package over the weekend, to the research you took on since I didn't have time, and for helping me put together the Ramadan series... bubba, thank you. :) You're Mr Awesome (MASHAALLAH!) and I can completely rely on you to upload stuff for me when my internet likes to be  meanie. :) JazakAllah!

Little Hayaati. My darling little mithi. Api loves you so so much. I will always be beside you, to teach you how to use the light table, to teach you how to hammer holes to make a notebook, to teach you how to use the cricut paper cutter, and of course, help you use glitter glue to color all your beautiful drawings for Z and me. In no time you'll have your own Skype ID. hehe. Billy, you are growing up so quickly and so soon, KG2! That's big now. MashaAllah. Can't wait til you're old enough to start Firefly orders with your Jaan.

The electricity may be unstable, there may be chances of error while processing, the samples I gave for metallic embellishments may have come out all wrong, people may have abandoned their orders... but Alhamdulillah... the forecast is whimsical, with a chance of rainbows!

Thank you everybody, we crossed 2500 today. :)

Lots of Love. Smile Sunshine.

The story of summer...

The last 2 months of my life and that of Firefly have been nothing less than extraordinary. I received the charming news of having a pending grade for my mini thesis. Which meant I do it again. My topic was irrelevant. I was upset, stressed, an utterly utterly shattered. Because I had put a lot into it.

I had to travel. As I am a resident abroad. That was a concern. I escaped for two weeks, mentally I was focused on all that needed to be done. A topic needed to be decided, prep work had to be conducted. It was madness! I had two internships to deal with. One which is still lingering. And then... there's Firefly.

For those who know the story of Firefly, they know it's from the pages of my journal... the real Firefly. I haven't written in it since March of last year, around the same time I started the whimsical forecast. It means heart and soul, and this summer has increased my passion for it.

It roots from emotions, which are no longer just mine, but those I share with friends and now the world. It's core is based on our sentiments and our life's experiences. I get asked so often, how do you find time. Trust me. The half an hour I work on Firefly is my break. It relaxes me to craft something. It sets me at ease to work with inspiration to doodle or create something whimsical and bright.

This summer has tested these emotions to an extent where I've tried pulling myself together stronger. One after another, external factors such as, electricity, violent conditions in the city, and random glitches during printing and color control have added to a splurge of orders that have a) been delayed, b) been mixed up, c) been uncollected.

There are several that turn to the page and write beautiful wordings and excited emails. And I keep having to say I shall respond soon. It's not because I haven't the interest. But it's because one after another, I'm STILL trying to resolve orders. Things have been super duper tough this summer because of the factors above.

I used to be able to deliver urgent orders within a day. Now they can't make it in 3. Normal processing time would be 3 days. Now it's 10 to 15 days... Because one job itself takes forever, and if there are any errors like last week's lot.. it goes for reprocessing.

So for every person who is slightly apprehensive or trying figure out what Firefly is upto, please know that it's very much aglow :) It is still trying to resolve matters and surface with all issues rectified inshaALLAH.

Firefly runs on prayers. And Alhamdulillah, I have several of them. I had the craziest week this week. I hadn't been sleeping. I would be in uni til midnight printing. I had a jury on Thursday. Midst all the craziness and stress, I've developed a sort of leg pain. And man, having it ten minutes before jury did not help! I smelled like deep heat spray. I would sit and smell that iodex smell while waiting :/ not to mention, the heat the medication creates. Felt like something was on fire!

Anyhow. You all would be pleased to know that with your sweet messages filled with prayers and good luck, I did well :) Alhamdulillah! I realized my own potential. The entire project was unsupervised. It felt great receiving constructive criticism on design. And it made me realize that my creative energy is mashaALLAH very much alive and kicking. :) I am so so lucky to have my parents and relatives stand by me and support me so thoroughly. They've been so patient of my tantrums and chaotic-stress-induced moods. Alhamdulillah! And Mr Awesome, goodness. He had been the most stressed along with me. But MashaALLAH, Zaiq we've sailed through this too :) All set for mission graduation and mission 2012 ;)

So hang tight everybody, all orders are still processing and reprocessing TIL all glitches are fixed and you receive exactly what you with for. And a request, if you place an order, and by sheer luck, it gets ready in time, please don't disappear on it. That's one reason why I am not taking new orders til old ones are sorted and collected.

In the recent weeks I've had so many Firefly fans disappear on things they've ordered. All I need is an email out of courtesy mentioning please save my order, I shall collect it soon. I am discarding several of them this week. I also implemented the new payment policy because of this.

Once again, apologies to those who've had the bad luck of having their orders delayed or reprocessed more than once. And a big thank you,seriously, my sincere gratitude to every one who has been super super supportive and patient. At the end of the day, nothing makes me smile more than having to know, Firefly brought a smile to someone's face.

Firefly is going to keep glowing inshaALLAH, and will not be curbing into any of the negativity. :) Remember, the forecast is whimsical with a chance of rainbows!

Much love to everyone. Smile Sunshine!
Stay tuned. Lots of magic in store for the coming month inshaAllah!

Dear Allah Mian,

I need my miracle this week. Please?

Drawing 101-Part 1

Admission at the Valley comin up in August! And we all know what that means.. how do we prepare for it? If you're thinking there's a code book with precise information on how to ace the admission test, sorry to burst your bubble but there kinda isn't. It's all in your hands... well.. in your sketching & your intellect... and of course, help from Allah Kareem's Divine decree! So for those of you who are wondering where to run to for admission prep courses and crash drawing courses... here are some things you can do on your own to learn or improve drawing skills. They're really simple exercises that basically free up your hand and give you better control over line quality.

Sorry in advance, the photos are disaster-some, I think it's time we got one of those cool looking thingies with the goggle like eyes on the front... *DSLR* hehe. 

First up... invest in a sketchbook that will NOT run out on you. OR get a bunch of them that you won't mind sifting through to record your progress. 

You will need an HB pencil. You are not going to use a clutchy-mechanical pencil for your practice! And you will hide away all erasers in the house or eat them if you're afraid you'll find them in little nooks and drawers.

If you want to be cool, you can buy the Derwent or Faber-Castelle variety... but if you just want to learn how to draw lines, you can use a Mono brand or Staedler if you REALLY want to encourage the drawing enthusiast within :)

Have a small cup of popcorn to keep your hunger from distracting you. Nibble a few kernels when  you need a break :)

Hold your pencil, 3/4-1" away from the nip. Begin at one end of the sketch paper and draw a line all the way to the other end. 

Your line will warp and go down, up.. curve or just disappear. Don't panic. You'll do it again. And again. And again... and again... and again. For an entire FOUR minutes. EVERYDAY. :) So you'll get better. You'll see your hand get used to it. Used to stretchin all the way across. One little tip. Keep your eye on the end point. NOT the line you're drawing. You are SURE to make it straight that way!

Keep at it.. fill up the page.. or two.. or few. Four minutes of lines. One end to the other. Getting better?

Round Two.

We now spend four minutes... drawing ellipses. You are not trying to make it perfect... you're just rotating your wrist... in a swivel motion and creating these elliptical forms. You keep at it. Practice. Make larger ones so that your hand adjusts to the movement and your wrist get accustomed to strange angles without you jerking or having odd lines or limitations.

Round Three. You will practice line fluidity and control line strength. Practice drawing straight lines from one end to another, BUT increase the pressure as you move your hand across. You'll see the line darken. Loosen your pressure.. it'll go light again. Keep at it. Practice darks and lights within your lines. That's another four minutes.

Round Four. Pick your favorite canned, bottled, or boxed product. Spend time observing the container and begin drawing the basic shape. Let's say a square or a rectangle. If it's a jar... start drawing ellipses within an upright rectangle.. you'll see form come through. Four minutes on this.

You know that popcorn you've been keepin handy? Have a couple of munches... now pick up one popped fluff... and stare at it. Don't think of it as a piece of popcorn. Squint a little... Do you see a shape? Do you see a silhouette? Whatever it is, draw it out. Through scribbles, lines, pattern, illustration... express what you see. Spend four minutes doing this... keep the popped kernel in front of you. NOTE: you are not replicating the popcorn fluff. You are observing what you see, and applying your creative imagination and what pours out of it :) 

Hope this gave you a kick start... 20 minutes. Every day. Whether you're in the car... in the loo... in front of the tv... anywhere. Stay tuned for Part 2! 

Love.

overbusyworkingcrazyhourstiredofied

Well, there you go. I have a new word...
Alhamdulillah. I just finished up my dissertation submission packet... you know, the softcopy-hardcopy deal. I think the solar eclipse is showing its affects early... delays and glitches galore today! Wrong alignment, ink finishing, light going in the middle of printing... no light at the printer's. I am slightly upset about the loadshedding business here. I feel so bad, my luggage tags didn't get back in time for someone who was traveling. *sad face* There's behtri in all things... I'm positive of that! Can't put things on process fearing the whole job will get ruined.. and that's pretty expensive material right there.

Anyhow, emails are caught up. Man, Alhamdulillah... thanks Sonya! You were a good friend pushing me to do the luggage tags. :) I had been putting off doing something on that size for a long long time, and the luggage tags are the summer's in thing. *Well duh, people are traveling, they need em* I traveled with Musavvir tags myself this summer. And I must say, it DID make identifying my luggage on the baggage carousel. :D Eureka! Ribbons always worked, too... but these just look like you actually cared about doing something for your travel needs before hand instead of half an hour before the plane took off. :P No offense. Personally tried and tested.

I began my internship yesterday... which ended up being an off... and today was an official start. :) It was awesome. I'm working with a Rural Development Program. We strive to give livelihood to village craftsmen and artisans through innovation for their existing crafts. Which is actually important to our culture and heritage! We help sustain their traditions... well.. we give them a little spark :) So I'm really psyched about the next two weeks designing and intervening. We sorted through some stuff today for an upcoming exhibition in Dhaka. It was amazing to see what a few colors can do design... some of the embroideries and block prints were LOVELY.

I finally found inspiration for my Mini Thesis... Gustav Klimts fabulous work. The wheels are churning Alhamdulillah.. looking forward to having substantial development by this weekend inshaALLAH! Make dua for me everybody. I really really need it. :)

Shab-e-Miraj coming up. Please forgive me for any shortcomings or anything I may have said or done to upset you. I'm serious... things happen, life changes. May Allah Kareem keep everyone wrapped in His Grace and keep everyone happy and blessed. :)

2k and going!

MashaALLAH, we made the 2000. :) Allah Kareem is Supreme! He is AWESOME :D Not because of the number, but because all these people I keep meeting have turned out to be individuals with whom I've quite a bit in common! Alhamdulillah!


So to celebrate, I had posted that the 20th person would get a 5 pocket tag-album... a disaster this has been. I've decided, I will give out random gifts or not announce such things because I've come across people who've gone and dwelled into petty issues. If I see your comment is the 19th, or another person's the 20th, that IS what I will go by. Emailing me about 'previous' experiences... which I honestly have let gone of is really strange. I felt really hurt to receive such an email this morning. With comments such as
"cuz of the previous things that took place btw us! mujhey tumhare competition main part lena hi nai chahiye tha".  Frankly, I don't even recall what happened to the 'previous' things... it was mis-communication. And I believe I did pretty well letting it go! What was the point of bringing this up NOW?


This never even crossed my mind! And I would be fair over what's right... I do NOT hold things against people... well.. spammers yes. They get banned.:/ But this was just sad for me. I was gifting the tagbook to celebrate. Not sit there to read such things... OR have people count the comment number they have JUST to win it... Jeez. Firefly is about genuine sentiments, I will not be holding such give-aways anymore. Or not like this anyway.


Anyhow. This aside, I'd still like to congratulate Rida Rohail... she's the 20th PERSON to comment :) So Rida gets to pick out the theme to a 5 pocket tagbook... the metal wordings don't count, as well... they're slightly out there. ;)


I am holding a special for tagbooks til August 15th. :) This means the 5 pocket which is for 900, is down to 800. And the 1200 pocket page is down to 1000. Metal wording tag albums remain 1200 and 1500.


I have some fun chipboad albums I'll be playing around with inshaALLAH. Limited pieces, but that's what makes everything awesome. :D lots of new goodies to embellish with and nifty new tools to make work awesome. Alhamdulillah. :) Today is work day. So getting started on all those tagbooks I had booked while away. :) 


I did an inventory yesterday at about 4 am of all the patterned paper I have. SubhanAllah, I have over 500 patterns and designs. hehe... Planning to utilize them to the fullest now that they're all organized. :) New paper stacks to craft with, too!


Did I mention? the Scrapper Session Kits include goodies by EK Success (K&Company), Scrappy Cat, as well as American Crafts. I use the above products in all my scrapbooking and crafting projects! Love em to bits :) Other faves, although I was unable to sneak into the kits, are the Paper Studio and DCWV. Their stuff is out of this world. REALLY. Their paper especially. Love Paper Studio's ribbons and embellishments. Die Cuts With a View have paper stacks that are beautiful. And the range is so extensive! Paper Studio's slightly less heavy on the pocket in comparison to DCWV... but there are smart ways to shop for em. ;) Those who've enrolled themselves in the Scrapper Sessions will learn all about it. :D