Namaste Bhamsa

Hello everyone :)
To all the Australians who are reading my blog, how was your Australia day?
From reading everyone's status updates on Facebook, some had a great one and others- not so great.
Here, the 26th of January is India's Independence Day. I don't know if it has any connections to it being Australia Day aswell... but there you go, a little bit of interesting information.

I also don't know if it has any connection with having a million friends and relatives come visit and stay for days on end...???
It started with 1 friend of Ajay's coming to say hello, then 2, then 4, then there was a whole room full of huge Indian men.
Aah....ok....so I'm going to hide in my room tonight.
Poor Ajay didn't even invite anyone, but here in India you must entertain your guests even if you want to scream "Ok guys, it's time to get the $@*& out now!"
It was like this for 48hours solid.
Loud...very loud.
I spent a lot of time bored in my room refreshing my Facebook page to see if anything had changed in the last 30seconds.
However, I did meet one little boy who I would like to introduce you to. His nickname is Bhamsa, he is 2 years old and super cute. A lot of the people here in Rajasthan go by their nickname instead of their real name. Hence why you sometimes hear people asking "What is your good name??" As in, "What is your real name?"
Small Indian kids are so freakin' cute. I don't know if its the fact that they speak a different language, the black eyeliner, the immaculately gelled hair, or if its the crazy outfits their parents dress them in. All I know is that Bhamsa rocked.
While I was hiding in my room I was sometimes kept entertained by Bhamsa, showing him all the dogs and cats on the "little tv" that is my laptop.

Bhamsa and Ajay. Bhamsa wears kajal (black herbal eyeliner) around his eyes to prevent eye ailments and a dot on his forehead to protect him from the evil eye and people's ill-wishes.

Looking at the dogs and cats on the computer.

When asked to laugh. 

Breakin' out some groovy moves.

So that is my new best friend Bhamsa. I'm glad his Papa rocked up unexpectedly, otherwise I wouldn't have met such a rockin' little boy.
Happy Australia Day and Happy Indian Independence Day.
Mum, when you come to visit we are going to go hangout in Bhamsa ok? 

Tassels Ahoy!

Good evening everyone :)
Today I am in total rest mode. Well, as much as possible without being sick (touch wood). We had another big one yesterday, but let me tell all of you that the search for silk tassels is finally over.
The day started early (as usual) but we didn't get to our destination until 4 hours after we had hoped (as usual).
We jumped on the bus which took us close to 5 hours in total, had a over priced lunch, hired an auto-rickshaw that drove us around in search of our favourite tassel-selling old man.
Not knowing the name of the shop or street it was like trying to find a needle in a haystack.
When I spotted him, both Ajay and I sighed with relief, and when we asked if he had tassels in stock, there was another sigh of relief! Hallelujah!
Thank you to our favourite tassel-selling old man! You have no idea how much we love you! I also thank you for the only English words you know "Wan...hun-tred...cullars".
Whooohooo!

Mission complete. Now for another 5 hour bus ride home.

This is what blood, sweat, tears and 362 silk tassels looks like.
http://www.etsy.com/shop/LilacSkinDesigns

Goodmorning! Rise and Shine!!

It's close to 10.30am and I'm still unable to get out of bed. My whole body is aching, and I am starving!
Yesterday was a very very very long day for us. We woke up at 8 and didn't get home until 1am that night.
We hired a car and went on a fabric buying spree. Although it's very hard work and takes a lot of time, getting to our favourite shop is definitely worth it.
I am soooooo pleased with the fabrics we found there yesterday, the new kaftans will be amazing! and all you lovely ladies out there will feel like absolute goddesses!!! My excitement is bubbling over (on the inside).

Here's some pics of the day.

Here we are at the start of the day, looking fresh and ready for a long day ahead.

I get incredibly car sick. Cold drink alert! This is the "city boy in the village" look :)

This is a regular cargo truck here in India. I absolutely love them. Crazy and extremely drunk drivers, they are actually extremely dangerous but they all have these wonderful paintings on the back of them, and some even have tinsel and tassels hanging around the windscreen. We took this photo because it says Horn Please Ajay!

What are the chances of seeing 2 ???

How many villagers can you fit in a truck?

I think he knows the answer.

We finally arrive at the  showroom. After choosing a million different wonderful patterns it's time to get cutting.

Ajay- "Put this one here, and that one there, 9 metres of this, 6 metres of that, make sure there's no faults..." :)

The florally goodness is starting to pile up.

Work is done. Let's go.

The floor after we were finished.

This is the counter at the showroom. I literally DREAM of the day when I have my own Lilac Skin shop and it has a front counter EXACTLY like this. I'm totally in love with it's retro, silver and musk pink tackiness!

The day doesn't end there. We have to search the market for tassels. We go up and down the lanes.  Each lane is dedicated to a million versions of the one item. The sari lane, the sari trim and border lane, the pooja (anything needed for a Hindu prayer) lane, the men's suiting lane and the lane that confused me the most was the traditional leather shoes and huge flat screen TV lane. I couldn't see the connection between the two, but that's India for you.

Terrible pictures but it was insanely crazy! Tassels where are yoooooouuuu????!!!
No tassels. We came home tassel-less...the search continues...

The end product and a sneak peak at how beautiful the kaftans will be. Stay tuned :)
http://www.etsy.com/shop/LilacSkinDesigns

11.15am, time to get out of bed.

Busy busy...

Holy guacamole!
What a day! Kaftans are walking out the door today! It's fantastic! I know that they are beautiful but now I think people are starting to see how great they are as well! Not to mention my very good friend Kirsten who bought a couple then suggested to ALL of her friends. Thank you Kirsten you are amazing and always wonderfully encouraging!
I have been folding, packing, writing notes, hand stitching calico bags (the Indian version of a post-pak or jiffy bag) then double and triple checking addresses! Parcels already to be taken to the post office tomorrow!! Yippee!!!
Not to mention, as I was happily stitching the calico bags what should jump through my window and run around my room?? A crazy and very naughty little monkey!!!
Every evening around 4 or 5 the wild monkeys move from one side of town (from where they were eating fruit all day and sitting in the sun) to the other (where they sleep). This is normal, but for the last 3 days I have been visited by this other very little and different species of monkey. We think he is a pet that is on the loose. He keeps coming by my balcony. The first time he sucked on the window, the second time he bent over and showed me his bottom (3 times) and today he ventured indoors!
As I screamed "AJAY!!!! THE NAUGHTY MONKEY IS IN OUR ROOOOOOOM!!!!!" and hid in the bathroom, he rummaged around in my jewellery then just in time climbed up the vine as Ajay come bearing an 8 foot long pool squeegee or as we call it 'the big wiper'.

Ladies please stay tuned in to my etsy store, kaftans are going like hot cakes at the moment but there are more coming! Tomorrow Ajay and I are making the venture to get more beautiful fabric and get the creations on the roll again.

Speak soon,
Alicia

I live in a field of marigolds

To purchase this amazing handmade Lilac Skin gypsy necklace, please follow the link to my online store.
http://www.etsy.com/shop/LilacSkinDesigns

Tim and Kate's Photoshoot

I have had just the most wonderful day today!
I am totally warm with a fuzzy feeling of creativity, excitement and joy.

I have a couple of friends from Australia staying in our hotel at the moment. Well, we didn't really know each other when they arrived. They were actually friends of friends and through the wonders of the internet they came to stay with us.
Kate and Tim arrived from the Jaipur bus a few days ago. They very friendly as most Aussies are. Kate is a  stylist and Tim is a photographer.
After getting to know them a bit better and after I had told them that practically ANYTHING is possible here in India, they confronted me with the idea of doing a photo shoot in the desert.
What a great idea.
Things like this here take a lot of phone calls, contacts, plan changes and A LOT of patience.
Things don't run by clockwork in India like they do in Australia and I'm sure in many other western countries, but in the end it was a total blast.
After considering who will be a good model Kate decided (if it was possible) to use a gypsy.

The gypsies who live here in Pushkar are genuine born and bred gypsies. They live  in the desert on the outskirts of town in shacks made from a combination of tents, old fabric, found bricks, mud and tree branches as fences.
The gypsies from Pushkar are stationary. Although usually nomadic, families of gypsies have decided to call Pushkar home. They depend solely on tourism for their income and because Pushkar is a popular hot spot for tourists, it is simpler and smarter to live here permanently.
During the day you will find the girls in the market doing henna on the hands of tourists for a donation or selling anklets and in the evening they will usually be performing their traditional dance and music at functions or as the entertainment on a camel safari. To me the gypsies are extremely beautiful, fascinating and of course a bit tricky, as I'm sure all gypsies are! :)

We managed to find a girl named Moria who was happy to be the model.
We had decided that Ajay's cousin farm about 30mins outside Pushkar would be the best location. Fairly isolated, not many passers-by and a great scenery. Kate and Tim were happy. Finally it was all working out.

It was great for me to see them in action. It looked so incredibly easy for them. Kate would throw an old lace skirt, a thick knitted jumper from the early 90's and thick gold fabric rings as bangles (normally used as a cushion between the large heavy water pot called a 'matka' and a woman's head) on Moria and have it look amazing.
I was extremely impressed and very inspired.

 Gypsy camp

 Stylist Kate and our friend Cecelia

 Ajay just chilling and watching all the action

 Ajay and I. We both look a bit weird.

 Near by villagers.

 The cutest puppies in the world.

 The gorgeous Moria

 Tim at work.

 Outfit change.

 The villagers had no clue as to what was going on.

 Ajay just chilling....again.

Yay!!! Home time!

I just want to say that a big thank you to Tim and Kate for the great day.
Thank you to Cecelia for bringing Moria, and supervising.
Moria for being a wonderful model, even when things I'm sure seemed very very strange to her and for being a good sport and most of all, Ajay for organising everything for Tim and Kate.

These photos are just my photos of the day in action. These are not the final images. Tim's are a million times more beautiful than this! :)