{Freshly Pressed Designs}

I finished a couple of design works this week and last.You like?

Cerrisse was the joint winner of FTLOB and my Launch giveaway.She was so sweet with everything and I especially love that chevron background and the lacy bit at the top.

I also learned a thing or two while creating her design(I go haywire on experimenting..) and as usual every project is a learning experience for me.It was awesome creating something for you,girl! And,excuse us?HOW adorable is her baby?

Check out Briana's super minimalistic design here!She wanted something simple and clean-I actually grow a pair of wings when anyone mentions "minimalism" in design.She was super co-operative about everything too ^_^ and I'm kind of in love with her design.
So, this was my week-designing,happy clients and a bit of studying thrown in for good measure. +Coffee+Good times with Sam+A surprise trip.
Next Design Projects are: Sarah {Custom Design}and Melissa {Giveaway Winner}

Don't you totally want this?

FTLOB is celebrating one year of genuine and rock-solid support in helping our blogs grow.Go enter their giveaway and win a blog overhaul by me!Run! **Open to blogger blogs only.

I knocked myself out with some buttons for FTLOB

For the Love of blogs is celebrating one year of awesomeness and promoting our blogs-it's a great site actually-has some great link-ups and features.I had some free time this week and had lots of fun making some cute buttons for the site and some of their hops :)

image credit

You can vote for my buttons by clicking here and leaving a comment or like it on their Facebook wall here.Thank you so much!

Celeb status and Thursday Ink

When I started blogging 3 years ago I had no idea that it would be such an integral part of my identity.I may not be a writer,but I am a blogger and for now that seems and sounds fulfilling.Blogging has given me an insight into many things that I wouldn't have come across had I merely flipped channels or the pages of a newspaper.Moreover,blogging has given me some amazing friends..you know who you are <3
But to come to the point I've been revolving around,I have ascended to alleged celebrity status(according to me) on Pooja's blog.She featured me on her Wednesday Wonders as first in the series of blogs she loves and wishes to share with her readers-I.Am.Pysched!!Thank you so much Pooja-I'll mix my meanest poison for you :DGuys,head over and show her some love!
Now for something new 

Well,I love tattoos and always admire beautiful body art and so I thought I'd bug  beg  ask around all of you beautiful people around blogville with their equally special tattoos if they'd like to share theirs and the story behind it on my blog.I remember Pooja mentioning hers when I blogged about my second tattoo and lassoed her in ^_^This is going to be a weekly series if I find enough of you awesome people to showcase.Have one and want to share?Shoot me an email at swetablogs[at]gmail.com.Back to the lovely PG.She is this amazingly cool blogger who is from my city(yaay),writes like I believe she converses and has an amazing Life list that she never looses sight of.
Ladies and gents(the wanderers and the regular-thank you Nas )-Pooja from Yellow Roman Candles on her beautiful ink.

Thanks for sharing,Pooja!The ink is just beautiful and I love the positioning :)

A massive update was due but knowing me this is just going to turn into a birthday rant and sufficient bitching

I know I have been around on and off with random posts but nothing really communicative.I probably suffered from the God syndrome-the I can reach you but you can't reach me thing which makes brings down the best of us ;)

Truth be told a lot and not a lot has been going on and even at this point I am hesitant as to whether I should share them here.At times I feel anonymity could have been a blessing but I have put myself out there so much and obviously I enjoy writing and should be able to write what I want on my blog,right?Every girl needs a place to write and I'm not big on diaries,so, this is mine.For one,I really admire those who can really put it all out there,really lay it out-but me,often while taking that road find myself taking 5 backward steps to the measly 1 that I took forward.Ever found yourself doing that?Folded and gone back to sulking?I feel you and you feel me then-in a totally non creepy way.
Firstly, college started for a new term;and I'm in a totally unholy place there and the less spoken about it the better.Think unappreciative teachers,a syllabus that reeks of antiquity(but not in a a delicious way) and a sinking and creaky plank with a one-man foot space-which only means one thing-you never never who's going to kick you off it.Moving on..
Secondly, I turned 21 last week.Which means-nothing really for the whole year-but a day of extreme fun ensued.The phone kept buzzing since midnight and I got my first b'day wish from Gnetch because obviously I turned 21 2 hours before where she lives^_^.
A pictographic representation is as follows..

A day out with my favourite people ^_^

I did not spin a wheel and bring him from the stone age..he has seen a camera before

but this is just how he rolls :D

My best friend and Allan <3

Monkeees!!!

Monkee also sang a song and precisely midnight.Best B'day surprise ever!!

A close second would be..

Remember this? *shudders* Dad and I have been having lengthy discussions as to whether I should upgrade my desktop or go mobile and we settled on the latter.We also spat and shook and decided that a purchase be made around September.So I basically  jumped out of my pants when he announced on The Day that we were going to get mine that very second-car key already looped around his pinkie.

Ha!It feels so Sex and the City typing a blog post on this shiny,sexay thang.And BOY is it fast!Love it how I can go Locomotor  with this to the coffee shop.Yes,I'm going to be a bit obnoxious about it for sometime.I was sent late to the party,remember?I'm allowed to preen and pimp out shamelessly.Or so I say!

Thirdly..

click image to enlarge

I finally sorted things out with the bank.Red Door Designs would be open for business in a couple of weeks!!FINALLY!I can wreck your blogs and concentrate on writing my own,ha!Lots of Giveaways,Premades and discounts to come.Stay tuned! 
Birthday rant-Check.Bitching-Check.MAN!That feels good.

Digital Extension- or how my gadgets echo my personality

  ..not by Dan Brown,but by me.

This is the story of a little girl who got lost in the woods one day and stumbled upon the world of gadgets.It wasn't a gingerbread house and she hasn't encountered any witches so far,but it has been a fascinating journey to say the least.
That little girl is me(where "little" is open for debate)

To introduce myself,I prefer sign language and brandishing a few crazy pictures to give you an idea of my heightened mojo because I can talk about  anything in the world with non-sensical allusions,except myself.For a pseudo,selfrespecting narcissist-that is a hurdle. I don't have a time machine that would speak for itself- that I parley with King Tut on weekends and go Desi on apparels with Gandhi and have coffee on one of those Boston tea-parties.Yet I try,and this is me trying.

I’ll be there for you( whether you like it or not)
I’ll be there for you to reckon with-online.2pm,2am.4pm,5:30 am. My misleading statements may hoodwink you into thinking that I’ll be a valuable addition to one of those Outsourcing units .It may or maynot be so-I'm mostly leaning towards maynot. I feel as if I’m missing a limb or all if  the dreaded “connection failure” dialogue boxes pop up-truth be told I have a strip of sorbitrates within arms reach for emergencies such as these.So I decided to cut loose and get myself a smart phone.

My Nokia E-5 is not an i-phone and I’m only 30k richer in the bank accounts (for now-that’something I don’t remember having 30k..)My networking jobs are done with élan and ease.I’m notified of new tweets or emails on my homescreen.Facebook and Twitter are just a few pattering of buttons away on the trusted Snaptu.Texting is so much easier and less tiring with the QWERTY keypad.Hell,I could go on without seeing my friends for weeks,yet I must leave my digital signature imprinted on them-and in this my phone is stuck to me like walls to Spiderman’s thumbpad.

Also,remember what phones were originally made for?Talking.Yea.I’m the passive aggressive caller.The first words that Alexander Graham Bell spoke into the phone(and et voila!it worked) was “Please come Watson, I need you!”(pun unintended,ofcourse)-yea I’ll do that to you if I have your number and we are kinda close.You can do that to me too.

I tunes
If you were born in the nineties,or survived it-you must have had walkman,right?A sony one most likely.I did,too.AA bateries and fluffy earphones were my personal nirvana-whether on train rides or on the treadmill(fat kid,yo!).
I buffered the whole Cd-man era and landed up with an ipod 4g.Elcectric blue and sleek,a mixture of rounded and sharp edges-it is me all the way.
The Show off
Everybody does that right?Especially if you’re thirteen.I couldn’t complete a single game without a cheat,yet for a brief time I rejoiced having  Gameboy Advance to tote around.However for a change,I did get to the end of NFS underground and Castlevania on this.Woohoo.
Not to mention my killer instincts while I brought down ducks on T.V,with vengeance!Duck hunt anyone?

T-200 Cyborg father(I could only be kidding,but you never know)
This one is a valuable inheritance,folks.
I’m pretty sure the man never sleeps.He is the last to go to bed and the first up.Has the heart rate of a 25 year old and at 55 not a single grey.He is the exact antipode of my lazy junk-food eating self.I’m pretty sure I’d be snowed by  30 and dead by 35.Macbeth and Banquo folks-extension of my personality in a grotesque,intimidating way.

Vintage Vogue
To pick up on the history strain,to be tongue in cheek and with a sub-sandwich with satire sauce in hand,let me tell you Skippy,I'm a history nerd.I positively weep with pleasure and am besotted with dusty old magnanimous world-changing events.
Treaty of Versailles?1919.My Ram? 1 Gb DDR.
Pearl harbour?7 December 1941 (ironically the day my parents got married 40 years later...hmm.)
My processor?3 Ghz..single core!
Eichman!Roschman!
Windows Xp!Sp 3!
Get the drift?I'm a good person to have under an invisibility cloak or on wire on a history exam(tsk! ).But heavy core push-me-down-heave-ho-digital lifting?Not enough protein shake.

Au contraire, I remember having a computer in the house for as long as I can remember.My dad had one of those gargantuan floppy booting ones in the late-eighties to early nineties.Later on we moved to one booting a windows 95 and I remember fighting with dad to play Minesweeper (scoff!?don't!) or that pixelly Prince of Persia thing.Our home was one of the firsts to get one of those crackling dial-up VSNL connections in the city .I played spongebob and barbie flash games and bumped up the telephone bill, and when dad upgraded to a broadband connection I’m pretty sure I threw a party.
On a serious note dad’s old lenses are kind of a treasure trove.If you’re a photography geek you’ll appreciate the value of film cameras , 55mm micro nikkor and a  slightly different 70-210 zoom lens and the lot-all back from the 80’s alive,kicking,wooing.
There’s a mixture of old-school and  rambunctious farsightedness in me and instances such as these allow me to reflect how, even if on coincidence,my personality dictates and wraps my head around the things I use.
A Picture is a Thousand Words or The Pathological Picture taker

..And with two cameras strapped to my hip,it becomes a whole lot easier.
My first digital camera ( not counting the two meg one on my old Nokia n-70) is the Canon point and shoot-it gets the job done at a party or wildfire outings with friends.But if you’re int aesthetics like me,a DSLR is all the way to go.
I have been shooting some with my dad’s old Nikon f3,but I lack the patience of clicking,waiting and then being totally shocked at how bad the pictures turned out.I’d rather see it right then.Since I’m just learning the ropes and am majorly impatient,digital was the way to go.So, early this year dad got me an entry level DSLR a NIKON(ofcourse) D3100.

And it was a good buy ,for,in a Nikon you can use lenses from far back in the 50s since they haven’t changed their mount (the ring where the lenses make themselves comfy).And,like my Nikon,old and new, you won’t find elements of radicle change in me.Whimsical on other accounts,but not on my outlook or the way I see the world.Change if  be,must be gradual, easy to deal with and logical.Those are the fixed elements in me and it feels good when you have something in hand which reflects your personality.

This post is written for Indiblogger's Change is Easy  contest sponsored by Dell Inspiron Laptops.Change is easy?Dell makes it seem so,in a practical enough way with oodles of oppurtunity to personalise.Human beings are multidimensional and the Change is Easy line of laptops reflects that very strain in everyone.It reflects your individuality.It shows how alike you can or want to be.It's the Dr.Jekyll and Mr. Hyde of modern technology with much less toxic and much more fascinating consequences.

What do your gadgets say about you?

{30 Days of Truth}-Day 1: All that hate

“Man is least himself when he talks in his own person. Give him a mask, and he will tell you the truth.”-Oscar WildeI don't know whether it would have been easier with a mask,or with me speaking out of a hole in a cardboard box-but it certainly is more convenient than trying to gather people to make them hear what I have to say-because that isn't just fair-everybody has eggs to fry and a boss to face.Would have made me look bad if I missed out that I lack the courage as well. I can have it easy.I have a blog-it's where I can be Bare Naked Lady if I want to be.I want to be.Lately I have been struggling to come up with quality blog foo and my writing as well.I think it it has a lot to do with what I'm studying in college-or more importantly the way we are being taught to think.But that's for another day. If you can't do something on your own,you need a push and the 30 Days of Truth seemed like a nice writing prompt that I've been observing around blogtown for a while.Here's the list. Though I won't be able to complete them in 30 days of succession, but I do mean to see them through the end.     “All truths are easy to understand once they are discovered; the point is to discover them.”            -Galileo.

Fill in the Blank Friday

So I have been chasing Fridays and and timezones so I could do one of these..Angie always has hers meticulously up - the Wee bit Wednesdays and the Fill in the Blank Fridays and I always come across them when it's past midnight here.Timezone's a bitch.So today,instead of my usual afternoon Dexter therapy I decided to riffle through my favourite blogs and partake in spreading what is known as a blog infection or meme.

Here's mine today..So here's how I'm gonna do it-There are blanks.I'm gonna fill them up.And,today is,uh,Friday.Steal it and hop on over to Lauren's blog to link up!

Sundry Sunday thoughts

I have exams and too many thoughts and as usual it's hard for them to contain themselves.To wait.till the worst is over.So, here are the little and not-so-little somethings running through my head.

Source via We♥it

Ty and Gnetchy.This is For you.And Shre,my bestfriend since childhood(who never reads my blog unless I ask her to-I wonder what she's afraid of finding here :P)-though we have never been apart,yet.I'm grateful for your presence in my life.All of you.*Squish*
*****

Fabulous,I've heard.

Epiphany upon epiphany.

Can't wait to finish the former and move on to the latter.No,not because Eat,Pray,Love sucks,quite the contrary(pfft!)-but because a)I haven't finished a book in a LONG time and I would REALLY love to get back into the habit of reading the last word of a book and b)I've heard the latter is FABULOUS.

*****

My tattoo ideas. I'll be getting the Eye of Horus( middle one) first-probably next week!I want all of them at once!But I guess the pain (and expenses) would be too much to bear. A Tattoo post would be coming up soon :) Check out Ria's cute inspirations here.
*****
And You.You don't know who you are,of course.

..And thank God for that.

Whats on your mind?
All Pictures Courtesy Google Images and We♥it,edited in Picnik

Random Update#1

 ^^ That always works when you can't think of a title I guess..
Don't you just have an OVERLOAD of ideas when you have SO MUCH TO DO?That's right.Exam time.Ding ding. But right now all I want to do isWatch Sex and the City All over again!(It's my guilty pleasure and source of sassy quotes)
From one of the very first episodes:
"Welcome to the age of un-innocence.Nobody has breakfast at Tiffany's and affairs to remember.Instead,we have breakfast at 7am and affairs we try to forget as quickly as possible"{Carrie} And going deep..don't slow down..
“The only thing that I have ever successfully made in the kitchen is a mess. And several little fires." {Carrie} Yep,been there.
“I will never be the woman with the perfect hair, who can wear white and not spill on it.”{Carrie}Troodat.
"Honey,men cheat and dogs lick their balls for one reason-because they can"{Samantha}
 I don't really believe that-and it and it totally dindingdings the very PC part of my brain..But hey-you can't please everyoneespecially the ones who broke your heart But,It's fun!
What was to be a{updates} random post turned into my SATC groupie post<---bad dog!..but no more!(for now)
Resume updates.
Hell-isn't sleep just directly proportional to the proximity of exams?Me hates.
I got two shiny trophies(blog awards) recently and can't wait to pass them on! :)Thanks Lynn and Purplemoonbeam!
{^^thats some hotness right there!-Check them out!}
I'm not overly in love with exams-they are tolerable-as long as I'm prepared ha!But I took a fleeting moment to do my round Around the World,anyway.

Go play!Back on your blogs after the 21st!Miss me.{please?}

Project Do Me

My Project 365 is on hold-till I get a better camera,or my motivation,time,creativity and peace of mind back.However,Kymmy and Audrey Hepburn both  believe that happy girls are the prettiest girls.I couldn't agree more.Hence Project Do Me

 My Daily goals:

• Increase my intake of fruits and veggies.
• Spend at least 15 minutes on taking care of my skin
• Put in an hour of studying every day,if not more.(how is this making me happy?Well,this completes my syllabus in time and prevents me from becoming a complete wreck on the night before the exam.Pre-planning rawks.rawr.)
• Read at least 10 pages of a book.I hate leaving books incomplete..and lately I have been doing too much of that![Wind up your forearm and Popeye punch me,no seriously.]
• 30 minutes on the treadmill,without fail.A good workout always leaves me with a lot of energy to battle it out through the day.
• Stop thinking about what could have been.Accept that I had a lot of love to give,and I did.I did my best.Breathe,Heal,Learn to Love.

My Weekly Goals:

• Call up my best friend at least once a week.Ever since she and I went to different colleges,the phone calls have diminished.Studies,assignments, classes,separate social circles etc have encroached,However,I still feel that deep connection within me.And I have to let her know that she floats my boat.
• Take at least 2 new photos.
• Have a fruits only diet once.
• Make atleast  3 blog posts.
• Read and comment on all the blogs I follow.
• Have a pizza free week.

My Monthly Goals:

• Finish at least two books.
• Aim at losing 4 kgs per month.That makes it 1 kg per week.
• Write at least two short stories or poems.
• Watch at least 3 foreign movies.

Here's to a happy me! :)

source via we <3 heart it

Repapering my walls

My E-walls that is.I finally got around to change things around on this blog and come up with a new design(which you're now seeing LIVE!)I'm not too excited with the menu bar(edit:I added images,but  its still under construction),so I'm looking to change it to something classy/snazzy but nothing over the top.We'll see.

I LOVE playing around with new looks,and though this might change in a few months,I'm satisfied the way it turned out.Once upon a time I wanted to make a part-time career option  out of it-but never got around to setting it up.However,if you need help-feel free to holler.I'm not a pro-most of the time I end up turning a mango into a goose(Whatever you do have a Test blog handy-makes it easier to turn the goose back into a mango)-but it's always exciting to try new things (except cuisine-I have a phobia,but that's for another day!)


Love it?Hate it?


Here's for the grabbing!

<center><a href="http://thereddoor-blog.blogspot.com" target="_blank"><img alt="Manic Mother" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg-nAnLPF6-BbU068DuZSOirulMfK1y8wdVFZ8nEvYqwwlY4usYgtr15d_BiIjmsbLK6q7vwsvSWwY0w7hD1K_PfDIgUfaLuww1awpqBzHLr6l8jDZLC0Tenezl3lnrviwLRt1pU5z0Y3cx/"/></a></center>

Tell me where I can grab yours!
(gee that sounds soo dirrrty) *wink*

Omg LUST: Giveaway On Elf:A Family blog :)

I came across this amazing site a few days ago while I started following Leigh Ashley's Blog.And I immediately fell in love with the pieces on her Etsy store Barberry and Lace.You just have to see it to believe it,womenfolk.Since I don't shop online(you guessed it!I'm Oliver asks for more) I was bummed.LIKE,super bummity bummed.And then I came across this giveaway onElf:A Family BlogAnd I HAD to enter.You know why?Cos,I'm absolutely in love with these adorable pieces. 

I really hope I win! :)Not winning would kill me,really.haha.Go enter!

Tres,Dos,Uno

Number One:

I don’t know what kind of a shopper I am.But I know this..I’m definitely not a good one.To my credit,I only go shopping when I need things.Clothes.Makeup.Accessorries.

To my discredit..I need those OFTEN.I think the word is want,for want of a proper word.Want.Ye.

And when I roll the cart...

I’m definitely not presenting an inspiring picture,but somehow I feel,putting myself out here makes me more creditable. Muttering resolutions like rolling prayer beads certainly hasn’t helped me in any way,and like I said I’m not good with resolutions.I do better with challenges.

So here’s what I’d like to do

 over at  Travel Babbles starting next Monday.

Project Do Me[;)] involves setting goals that make you happy-daily,weekly,monthly,yearly.Kudos to Kymmy for the inspiring post and the sassy name ;)

The little things make you soar,

The little things take the floor..

 Number two:

Any ordinary day starts out with two resolutions.Actually three.1)I get to poop on time2)I shouldn’t,shouldn’t SHOULDN’T even think about caloriegenous food3)That I wouldn’t have to open my purse except while paying the bus fare.And I donot know WHY I feel the inexplicable need to pay everybody’s bus/tube/cab fare when we are travelling together. Even strangers’.Creepy?I think so too.

Adorable old man?

May I pay your bus fare?

Cute kid?

May I pay your bus fare?

Cute guy?

May I jump your bones?

Uh,Nevermind.

Point is,I’m not good with money.I get paid first day of the month,and almost by the middle of it I’m broke.It’s a good thing I live with a my parents(I can’t believe I said that,but I did!pat me) or I’d have to resort to eating frothing year old milk or mildew.

Number three:

I’m travelling the world.You can too.

So,doc,may I pay your bus fare?

A little note of thanks

To my beautiful friends Tyla and Gnetchy for bringing me back to something I enjoy so much.I shouldbe bringing out a festive procession/float for them.With Disney princesses and all.And maybe even vodka and Aladin...(smackeroo!)..But I just have a lousy photo.hmp

I REALLY do!

Sorry for the crappy photo quality..my cam's drained of batteries and my phone camera doesnot perform well under low light.So I resorted to my webcam.Ever faithful.With LED lights.Cool beans?ha.
As for the devices they employed...

BWAHAHAHA

Artwork by Gnetchy :)

How could I not?

One of the few reasons for which I'm thankful to 2010.

Love you guys.Forever,and for always.