Shalini's Sewing Space

It has been years since I've done any digital scrapbooking. I've been wanting to get started on Aanya's photobooks but had't had a chance to start making the layouts yet. I started looking at my old kits tonight and in no time I had these 2 layouts done. Not bad for 1 night!!   Kit: Diamante Simply You, quote from JM BeautiesOfNature The quote reads 'Carry laughter with you wherever you go' but you can't really see it in this size.   Kit: MCO Sweet June kit These pictures are from today!! I only have about 8 years worth of pictures to catch up on now LOL!!!

I made something for me! It's the Nettie top from closet case patterns. Love it! Instructions were very clear and fit is awesome! I'm planning another one that should be sewn this week. I have a few days off this week so I've got projects lined up now that I am excited to sew again!!

Feeling pretty good this morning. I've been trying to get this extra weight off and making it half way through feels amazing. I have lost 15lbs! I feel like I can make it to the end! I've never lost this much weight before. It has taken a long time but initially I wasn't as strict about it. Since last 2 - 2.5 months I have been more focused on weight loss and am seeing great results. Hopefully the next 15 will go faster. Here's what I'm doing that is working. I will write it here so if I get back to being unmotivated or start gaining, I have a record of what works for me. No sugar or artificial sweeteners. This means no soda of any kind, no sweetener in tea, no desserts except occasional treat. Occasional drinks are ok too. Green tea 3 times a day. Reduced intake of wheat products. This includes pasta, pizza, breads, etc. I initially made whole wheat substitutions for refined flour but found it still makes me bloated and hang on to the weight. As long as I reduc

Girish and Mehul are going to India next week but Aanya and I are staying home. It was my decision to not go this year as it's so expensive to go consecutive years but just about now I'm kicking myself. We plan to go next year as a family and hopefully stars will align for my little sister's wedding at the same time. Fingers, toes, and everything else crossed! I will miss them so much..I'm already dreading the next 2 weeks. I have filled my Netflix queue with all the chick flicks I want to watch while he's away. He always makes fun of my selection in movies. I will be sure to go in great detail with him on the phone while he's away and he will have to listen. Haha. Sweet revenge. No pics today. I added a sidebar nails slideshow that I will update periodically. I'm not 100% happy with the way the blog looks currently. It has been so long since I updated the template html. I will need to figure it out again. Also might make up a banner if I fe

I've been a little obsessed with nails lately. It's largely due to youtube. There's so many awesome ideas to try out it's hard to decide which ones first. Every night Aanya and I sit down and watch a few (or more) nail videos and talk about which ones we like the most. Polka dots and flowers win pretty much every time. Add glitter and you've got a true winner! We're both such girly girls. My friends used to tell me I very much needed a daughter and how much fun it could be. A little bit of pink was way overdue in this house. When we went for the 20wk u/s I was so beyond happy to find out we were having a girl. I would have been happy either way and had fully prepared myself for another boy but we were thrilled it was a girl. Mehul and Aanya get along well and have enough in common to keep each other busy. Life is good! On to the nails :)  First there were wraps. I had another one before this but don't have a picture of it. It's Jamberry . These wraps

DD's birthday was this week. I made this dress for her. Pattern is Maggie's First Crush by Foo Foo threads. She also had her ballet recital past weekend. Here she is in her costume!

And so ends another year and a great new year begins. We had a great time celebrating the winter holidays at Orlando. Kids had a blast at the Magic Kingdom, Epcot, Legoland and Universals's Islands of Adventure. I loved the Wizarding World of Harry Potter the most :) Big Fangirl here hehe I had a great sewing year as well. My 52 things list kept me going all year. I really like this format and will do it again this year. In the end, I ended up completing 71 sewing projects instead of the planned 52! Less knitting and quilting got done than 2012 but that's ok. Aanya still fits into the things I made her that year. She's such a skinny minny. This year the goal is to do some more quilts and to make something for DH. He's never had anything sewn by me and that has to change now! Another goal is to make more things for me whether knitted or sewn. I really like carrying my handmade stuff around and it inspires me to create more. A quick review of some of my favorite thi