And they arrived!

The lovely lady behind Rainbow Bunting hand delivered the loot today- an owl, an elephant and a customised  item.

Aditi took an instant liking to the aunty and Anush identified the Hungry Caterpillar she had got for us.

Thanks again Shruti for hosting the giveaway and Saritha for your lovely gifts!

Am sure Rainbowbunting is going to have a huge fan following.

Nativity/ Manger Scene

I love this set. You can pick it up at VTI, Chennai or in Kodai at the Khadi shop.

Fine cross stitch done by Andhra ladies, I think Nellore.

And here are some more really cute ones- here, here and this DIY one

Colours

Nice that the colours of all religions come together this festive season.

While on colour, the flower laden trees in Bangalore and the flowers in Delhi are so inviting this season.

Anush got a fab review at school, except for her extreme intolerance towards noise! At home, she is one of the key noise makers...had a casual word with her on this.

Down and Out(ing)

Missed meeting M from Chennai who was visiting Blore since all at home have been rather unwell.

But met two good friends ( both from our alma mater) who dropped by at home. Great to see the kids bond as always.

I went to take a quick peek at the Strand sale and forgot to buy the book I most wanted- one by Sabuda!!

We went to Kala Madhyam at Chitra Kala Parishat . Picked up a variation of Warli called Chittara. Most of the stuff is made up of the regular suspects but some of it was enchanting.

************

Me: Aditi! You love Amma ?

Aditi: Yes

Me:How much?

Aditi: Too much!!

Diwali Streamers

Apart from coluring  a dozen diyas or more, this time Anushka and I worked on a lantern  streamer

And my father had managed to light each one up and it looks really gorgeous at night.
Drop in some evening to see it!!

Card for all seasons

Anushka, like a lot of kids her age, makes cards for all occasions and people.

There are many get well soon, welcome home cards that keep happening at home.

Here are some that I wish to share for Shruti's Arsty Craftsy:

She did these as farewell cards in her Montessori school

She made this one on paintbrush and wanted to print it

She sketched and coloured this herself for Krishnashtami ( inspired by Ghee happy)

She made this for her school for the Ganesh festival

She used blocks we bought outside Bull temple for this

Will post more as I click them.

Happy Teacher's Day!

Here is what Anush made for her teachers using blocks:

I debuted as a story teller last weekend at Monkey Maze in Indira Nagar with Elefunt Tales.

A great experience and hopefully one of many more to come

Had an audience of about 25 kids and some parents

Did some elephant theme stories with a lot of Jeeva pointers sprinkled in and some craft

Cherry on the icing- 2-3 kids wanted me to continue and kept asking me for more crafts!

While on craft we went to this neo-rustic cafe called Chaipatty. Navy and I had opposite opinions on the food there. Pic courtesy Anush:

And here is an interview at ST with the inimitable Jeeva! Don't miss this chance to leave your questions in the comments on the post at ST? She has agreed genrously to respond to them!

Gajavadana!

Happy Ganesh/ Vinayaka Chathurthi! Anush is holding the play clay one she made. Of course the one we bought is not colourful and is a plain clay one.

Ganesh has been the favourite Artnavy family deity. We have slowly stopped collecting idols for want of space and novelty. Time to revive our quest as Navy told me a couple of days back.

The girls had a great time with T Anush's buddy who had come for a sleep over. One of the many fun things they did:

Gyaan Bhandaar

Posting these superfab links here - stuff that bloggers who I have huge regard for have reccomended:

http://mommylabs.gorgeouskarma.com/

http://www.jodogyan.org/home

Am sure you will love them too.