Why leave the lil ones behind?

Have been working on creating some fun bag tags for the young mommies and thought of showcasing them. These tags can be personalized to the extent of having your young one's name or even favourite character imprinted on them. Flaunt these on the diaper bags to make a statement, or latch them to the school bags for easy identification. Guess can leave the tags to do the rest of talking :)

From the times of Indus ...

'Earthiness', would be quite an ideal theme for the post today and that entwined with a touch of fusion, is really what I intend to bring alive.

Personally, earthy tones are my favourite and a sneak peek into my wardrobe would be a good reflection of that. I think they superbly compliment the already gorgeous Indian complexion. Infuse this with the perfect accessories and you are home, that’s really what I have in store for you today.

Each piece presented below is a unique fusion, a celebration of 'earthiness', be it through 'maati' (literally earth), wood, jute, or even brass and glass to create that, ‘this surely belongs to me' piece. The rest is for all to see…

Red n Black jhumkis with a touch of dull gold

The show stopper in hues of blue and gold

  

 P.S. These pieces are available in multiple colours and you know what you need to do to get one J

Of Shoes & Bags

My title quite gives it away. This post is partly due to my own obsession for shoes and bags and am sure most of you women can relate to this. 

I am perpetually dying to have the latest shoes/bags and I guess it's a talent women are born with - to always be able to find an ideal attire to fit them in. Actually, there’s no such thing as a perfect shoe or maybe even a perfect bag, but it always seems like it when it’s nicely perched in the window display, until of course the new batch arrives.

Needless to say, with every purchase, comes the undying hope of being unique (I mean would you like being spotted flaunting the same shoe/ bag at a do? Am not so sure). And that’s where I step in…

Personalized to the T, these hand painted bags and shoes are surely designed to complement your style quotient. Catch a glimpse while here :)

Oh and we even got some for the new mommies - the perfect diaper bags 

It certainly can't get more personalized. So you up for flaunting em yet?

Tailormade

The one thing I was certain about when I kick started ‘A Dash of Bling’ was the end result I wished to achieve – a long lasting memory in the mind of the person who received the surprise.

A surprise for me isn’t about startling someone by shouting out ‘surprise’ from your hiding. Nor is it only about sneaking in the birthday cake at 12 at night (guess these are passé now…). It is so much more than that. It is an experience that can be created over a few minutes, hours or even days. And that’s precisely the attempt here – to offer tailored surprises.

A tailor made surprise however, would more often than not fall flat if done without identifying that ‘wow factor’ for the recipient, which, needless to say, varies from person to person. Working closely with the host of the surprise, the attempt is to try and gather interesting anecdotes (through pictures, conversations over coffee etc etc) and then working around a customized plan for them.

The surprise package could vary from being an audio visual, a personalized poster for their room, shot glasses with either personalized/ funky messages to something completely unimaginable like sharing a private moment watching a movie with their favourite drinks and food (in this case you can get the experience in the confines of your house). Did I mention, it could even include planning a surprise getaway? Ummm, so what are you waiting for? J

Oh and one last thing, all this is done without overlooking that devil which is in the details ;)

p.s. got quite a few funky customized gift ideas, so do lookout for them in my next few posts.

Tagged

At 'A Dash of Bling', the attempt is to continually challenge ourselves to get you a perfect melange of the familiar but yet unexpectedly out of the ordinary. 

Got Cake?

Cakes are the panacea for any do one can think of; birthdays, surprises, farewell parties or to just satiate any sinful indulgence. It's the one thing that is promptly introduced to us by our folks on our first birthday and from what I have seen in my first birthday pix, mine sure looked mouth watering (that's also cause it was chocolate, need I say more?)and thankfully not over stuffed with butter icing.

I remember attending all those birthday parties as a kid; the hero of our evening, the one we all waited for, was always the ‘Birthday Cake’. Often inspired from our favourite cartoon characters ‘Tom and Jerry’, ‘Donald Duck', these excessively creamy sponge cakes (which seem almost apologetically basic now) did the trick of fascinating us. All of this was mostly ordered from our favorite cake shop, Monginis in Bombay. I guess they were the only cake shop back then even flaunting a brand name and logo. Not sure though if they still exist or if they still manage to sell their rose inspired pink cakes... Would surely be interesting to find that out.

 But what the hell, I am not here trying to suggest we fit in Monginis into your surprise or gift package, I promise. What I plan to offer today is by now am guessing, quite evident – yep, they are drool worthy sinful cakes but made to match your craziest imagination. 

Handcuffed for life now - for a hen's party

Designer cakes are a rage these days and rightly so. These cakes have huge potential of making an event seem special by just their sheer presence. Needless to say, their potential of adding to an occasion, the missing spark can't be undermined. Hope these give you a glimpse of what I can offer...

Time to open the Bubbly - celebrating 25 years

Show me the money - what better wishes for the hub?

Clearly while mentioning those, I can’t dare to miss out on the delectable cupcakes which make for perfect sidekicks for most occasions. That too without compromising on their visual appeal.

 

And if any of the above is too fancy to handle, then you could dig into some fresh fruit cuffins. A cross between cupcakes and muffins, these delightful treats are available in exciting flavours of apple cinnamon, blueberry, strawberry, to name a few (these cupcakes are currently available Bombay only). 

Fresh Fruit, Apple Cinnamon Cuffin

Double Chocolate Cuffin 

Hoping I have left you drawing up your list of excuses to shout out for one of these :)

The seeds were planted...

Speaking of planning surprises, here's what I often hear people say, 'I wish I had thought of it earlier', 'how would I put all these ideas together', 'such an elaborate idea would be too expensive', 'I would love to, but it's just beyond me...' etc etc. And then there’s me who can write a blog on it. I love throwing surprises for people. I constantly look out for opportunities to plan a surprise for something as basic as a birthday to planning an entire cocktail evening. 

My sister in law is a film journalist by profession, an outcome of her obsession for anything Bollywood. Her job entails mingling with the who's who of the industry, so obviously when she was getting married, I decided to draw inspiration from her obsession. I planned a Bollywood style premier night for her. It would have the works, red carpet, paparazzi, box office counter with entry tickets, larger than life billboards, cutouts, a sheela ki jawani stage amongst others. And there would be only one star – her.

The evening turned out to be grander than expected and of course reassured me that this passion had potential. Here is the evidence :)



The husband to be requesting for an autograph while the paparazzi click away

 

The priceless reaction



The 'Rab ne bana di jodi' inspired billboard



The much spoken about popcorn table centers

The billboard featuring the stars of the evening 

 

Posing with the camerman cut-out with the clapboard
highlighting the event in the background

The film strips on either sides of the stage to add to the effect

A bollywood night would have been incomplete without all the naach gaana and of course a film which the premier was being held for.

Doing this was a lot of fun but the reactions it evoked, was the icing on the cake. More later...

The Hub's Birthday

My hub was in love with the show 'Family Guy' and of course his favourite character being, the little baby with a big mission - Stewie. One would often spot him impersonating the 'crazy stewie manner of talking' and of course there would be no missing out on a single episode. Naturally, that became my inspiration for his birthday gifts. 

To add to this, I got a caricature of us done to bring alive the humour we shared in our relationship and of course bunged in the must have balloons. All this, set up in a hotel room which I had secretly booked for us to enjoy a quiet little get away over the weekend :) 

There's a surprise for you....

Feeling loved is perhaps one of the most amazing feelings in the world. It's that love for seeing the person in front of me in sheer delight that made me plan surprises. Every surprise planned till date unfolded with itself a new feeling of fulfillment that came with making them feel what they truly were; the most special people in my life. My blog will take you through a journey showcasing some of these. 

Recognizing the positive reactions from people over some of my ideas is what finally motivated me to give 'planning surprises for others' a shot. The attempt is to bridge the gap between your wanting to make your loved one feel extra special and the means of doing so. Right from surprises to personalized gifts, to concepts, I hope to be able to help you create a distinct memory for the one who matters the most :).