A thank-you-giveaway!

Hello beautiful people!

Here are some happy updates from Feb-so-far...

I designed an ad for my shop that went up on craftcult.com all of last week;

a very popular place for almost all Etsians to hang out,

browse through interesting picks,

check the heart-o-matic

and even promote their items!

The shop sales crossed 100 in Feb and, that too, in my birthday week !

The shop-hearts crossed 250 and the blog now has

192 lovely readers who follow the posts.

I have been slightly laid back (to put it mildly) in 2008-09

so far as the listings were concerned.

That is not a bad thing considering the fact that I focussed more on the painting,

slightly more than the shop make-over, promotion and stuff like that.

So far as tending to my shop goes, all that will change this year

...the new banner and new listings are only a part of that change-for-the-better.

I love operating through Etsy for of many reasons,

one of them being a format and some unique features

that are so helpful for the buyers as well as the sellers.

The option of leaving a feedback on a shop being one of them.

A great way to learn how your clients feel about your product

and a great reference point for future prospective collectors.

If you are an Etsian, I would highly recommend making full use of this feature;

it is the best way you can encourage a seller, thank a buyer,

highlight the positives and even upload an appreciation photo!!

I love to see photos of my artwork from

the homes and creative spaces of my wonderful collectors

and I want to thank all of you who have been so kind as to share with me the same.

Recently, I received this photograph in my Etsy mail:

I love the way the print had been matted and mounted.

I could not resist requesting Judy, the collector,

to send a snap of her with the framed print if possible.

In this photo: Judy with her grand-children and the framed 'Naani's Lullaby print.

I was really touched when I saw your photo Judy,

there is so much love in this capture.

I felt really bad for having given you the trouble,

for any inconvenience that this may have caused,

but I can't tell you how much I will treasure this.

Thank you for your love and kindness.

Now, as promised in my previous post, I have a give-away for you my readers!

It is a print of my 'Lalita Sundari' painting on A4 archival paper

(watermarks will not appear on the print)!

To enter the draw, enter your name and a comment after this post.

You have time until next Sunday, 28 Feb, 8 pm Geneva time, best of luck!

I will announce the winner, take your address and ship this print out soon after!

Thank you for all the birthday wishes!

***Comments are now closed , I'll announce the winner later today***

Turning 31!

Hello beautiful people!! How are you enjoying the love season?

It was my birthday on the 14th, I turned 31 this year!

My eldest sis, brother-in-law and darling niece visited us from Oxford over the weekend; it was so much fun! I am the youngest of us three sisters and reasonably younger to both of them to have always been pampered silly. I vividly remember the day before each of my birthdays; my sisters would act so funny, huddle up, go into our grandmother's room to be talking to each other in hushed tones, give me a silly smile if I bumped into them, wait for me to go off to bed; only to secretly prepare the prettiest birthday tray for me with hand-drawn cards and goodies.

This is what my birthday tray looked like this year....a darling red pull, a bag of MAC goodies and the prettiest hand-drawn birthday card from my niece....to name a few.

They call me 'Tota' at home (tota in Bengali means parrot):))

It was a beautifully bright and warm day.....

we had a sumptuous Cantonese lunch at a restaurant overlooking lake Geneva,

followed by a visit to the Musée d'ethnographie de Genève

to see 'Le regard de Kannon' or the 'Kannon's gaze' exhibition. The show was sublime, the budhhist chants would go off in the hall every time we turned the prayer wheels installation.

The 'Kannon' has such a powerful and awe-inspiring form; the statuetes, the ancient Japanese thangkas, the Buddhist artefacts collected from all over the world and the prayers in the background and completely transformed the energy of the show.

It felt like we were in a Buddhist monastery in Tibet.

A generous sprinkling of La Durée macarons made the Valentine's experience complete!

Moving on, here is an interview that I did recently with creative writer Barnali Saha

based in Nashville; it was published in the online magazine 'Palki'(Bengali for palanquin).

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Thank you Barnali, Kausik and the Palki team for doing this!

I am off now you guys, I have some printing and shipping to do tomorrow morning!

Stay tuned for a give-away in my next post!

**Love and hugs and big thanks to each one of you for making last year so precious**

New Etsy shop banner

Here is my new banner for the Etsy shop you guys!

Of course it is busy and over the top...that's just the way I like it!

I am going to work harder on the shop this year;

changing the banner was a first step.....

hop over to see how it looks on the shop page and check out my new prints listings!

Also, a big thank you for all the support on the IP violation matter

(on facebook and here on my previous post).

I am going to go through with the legal procedure, will keep you all posted.

Have a great week ahead!

xxHUGSxx