Bamboozling in Beijing

I was pretty upset when we were stuck in Beijing on our way back home to California from Delhi. The plane could not take off for dense fog and we missed our connecting flight and were stranded for thirty six hours!
The airlines (Air china , though horrible for customer service ) provided for hotel and food and transportation. We took advantage to see Beijing for one day.

It's a very clean, organized city. People are getting quite conscious for going green. Our guide Xiang (Jane) mentioned that one week in March the whole city plant new trees.All the children from the schools, families and businesses get involved. I could see rows of bare branch trees on both sides of the freeways. All the roses are meticulously pruned.

We saw the remnants of the Olympics and the Great Wall of China.
We took a trip to a jade factory and a cloissone place of which I had written in detail in my other web site http://www.Bead-z-mommys-business.com

We were taken to a tea ceremony and came to know that drinking some tea can lower your blood pressure and cholestrol. In fact we did have that tea and it's true we had to go to the bath room much more!!

But I loved the lychee tea the best. It's so sweet smelling.
Beijing is famous for three things said Xiang. Can you guess what?
The great wall - yes she nodded.
The cloisonne works that were only for the rich kings and emperors one day . And the third is the Peking Duck!

Well a taste of this and little taste of that and it was time to go home.
So see, being in Beijing was not so bad after all.

Don't you forget to check out the new jewelry sets I created after my visit to the jade factory.

Autumn Flowers

Autumn flowers for autumn jewelry fashion- yes, that's what I was looking for: asters, chrysanthemums, pansies or may be autumn crocuses. But what I found instead were the leaves and the trees.

All the way from our neighborhood streets in Walnut Creek, California to the tree studded streets in Central Park, New York I found spectacular burst of colors. (I went to visit my daughter, Antara for the Thanksgiving holidays.)

Shades of orange, crimson, sienna, yellow ochre,burnt cinnamom mesmerized me. I couldn't wait to create something with this energetic inspiration. I could not wait for mail order deliveries either, so I went straight to our neighborhood Concord bead store- Just Bead It and bought some fabulous glass leaf beads.

I played with them for awhile, mixed them up with some left over amber teardrops from another project and with gold filled wire I created my autumn necklace and then a pair of matching earrings too. I gave them to Antara.

I was a bit unsure if I did the right thing adding the ambers though I liked the yellow hue it radiated, but Antara said those ambers made it special. I liked the way it fell right under her collar bone and the hollow of her throat. (I chose the length 16'' )

Check my web site Bead-z-mommys-business where I plan to put the instruction about how I made it and other resources.

See, I went to look for autumn flowers, for their form, texture and color to incorporate in my autumn jewelry design, where I found them were in the wholesomeness of the colorful trees. It reminds me of a line from my favorite poet Rabindranath Tagore:

I travel far away to see the mountains and the seas. What I miss to notice is right at my doorway- a drop of dew on a blade of grass.

Down to Business

One fine morning finally I decided to get into business with my jewelry hobby. No, it'll not be in my name, I'd rather name it ALANKARSHILPA. In my language Bengali, (and in Sanskrit too, the ancient sages' language of India) it means the art of ornamenting, making things beautiful.

So, I went to our county clerk's office, paid $30 and filed the fictitious name. They call it DBA (Doing Business As). I had to pay $50 extra to run this auspicious news in local papers for four weeks.

I joined a free small business starters' seminar. There were many fellow starting arts and crafts entrepreneurs. I, being a bit shy (yeh right!) didn't talk much. But from their discussions and stories, came to know that most cities around here donot require a city permit. So I am safe.

Lo and behold! Few months later I received a letter from the city office Hey! you are doing business without telling us? Where is your city permit?

I hurry to the city office. The lady hands me a long form which with many questions asks how much did I sell? "None, nothing so far, Mam.' I reply.
"Well, then you have to pay the higher rate option which is $305. If you anticipate to sell something from $1-$10.000 you pay $23."
"Of course, of course I will, at least by the end of the year... I hope" I gulp.

"Very well, then. Go downstairs and get your Home owners' permit. They may want to visit your residence before granting you .." Oh my!

So I go down, fill up another form which inquires - Are you planning to have clients in your house?
"Yes Sir, I plan to have jewelry home parties sometimes, may be two or three times a year."

"Nope. You can't have a bunch of cars in front of your house. That will be very inconvenient for the neighbors"

"But Sir, my neighbors are my customers and they come any way,...walking."

"I know, I know. You are honest. I like that." He winks through his bifocals.
"But let's pretend no customers. Okay? I'll cross out this part." He grins.
"Are you going to have shipments?"
"Some times may be Sir, Not too much, just one small packet through the postal service " I shake defensively.
"How many times?" He growls.
"Just once in every other month, may be Sir. "
"That's not too bad. But remember no signs, whatsoever. Okay?"
"Yes Sir." I nod like a good girl.

Then with a big thump he strikes the stamp on the paper. APPROVED.
"Sir, Are you going to come to my house?"

"Nay! May be when you have your party only. Good luck." Hay, hay, hay he gives a belly laugh.

I climb upstairs to pay for the city permit, $23, home owners permit $48, "Now where is my City Permit paper?" I demand.

"You have to go to Oakland (30 miles away) and get your Seller's Permit so that you can charge sale tax to your customers. Then come back here again."


Phew!!

Research is everything.You've got to find where you fit into the puzzle.
Mikal Ali.

To know more about starting a business please check out my entries on Business or Hobby and Working from Home at
Bead-z-mommys-business.com
Do you have such stories to share. Then please put it in the comment post. Wish you all the best- Dita.

November 4, 2008- a historical day

Today is a special day in the history of the U.S. , also for the whole world. It's almost midnight, so before the date turns I rush to post my blog.

America has a new president, who happens to be black.

It's a special day because we, the majority of the nation were anxiously waiting for this moment for a long long time. I'll remember my friend's son asking his daddy to loan him some money so that he can contribute to Obama's campaign.

I'll remember the lady whom I saw in the T.V. in Hillary Clinton's campaign. She came to vote for Hillary, but her nine year old son begs mom to vote for Obama. He has read Obama's blogs, his propositions and promises- but poor thing cannot vote yet. Mom confesses her dilemma. with tears in her eyes.

Ann Cooper , the 106 year old black lady had seen enough drama through the whole century. She had no right to vote one day, as she is a black woman. Today she came to vote, to see a black son as the president of the nation.

What is it that moved us so much in this event? It happens every four years any way. I think it is because we all relate with him deeply some how, some where. The President always mentions that the struggle is ours, the victory is ours, the failure or success will depend on us, not just him- but us.

This involvement somehow empowers you. You feel energized to do the things you do best- do the best you can, no less than that.

Today, America feels a gush of warm blood inside, ready to make a change. Let's change. Change for better.

Yes we can.

Diwali wishes and big sale in my etsy store.

I am having a big sale in my etsy store alankarshilpa.etsy.com All items are free of shipping charge. Ten percent of the sale will be donated to women for women project.This is a Diwali Sale.



Diwali is a big festival in India - where I come from originally. It'll happen on the new moon night this month. The whole nation, the cities, rural people in villages, all will get ready to clean up and start with new things. My mom used to get busy getting rid of clutter and old worn out things.The house might be painted, or washed, we'd get new things to wear and oh there would be food of course. Great food of my childhood.

We'd make the clay lamps ready to light our verandas, electric string lights would go on wrapping the tree branches and so, children would light phooljhuris which can be literally translated as "flower-lights" and all kinds of fire cracker will take away all the evilness and ignorance out of the darkness and fill up with light sparks.

This is the time when we wish each other health and happiness. And that is what I want to pass on to you too.

Birth of a jewelry website

A new website for my jewelry artist friends is born recently- named
Bead-z-mommys-business.com
The purpose of it is three folded:

1. It should help fellow jewelry artists like my self who are passionate about beading

2. Nurture the mommy aspect. Using the skill of beading we want to involve our children in learning something new, or as a mom learn something new about their world. We want to leave a legacy incorporating our beading wisdom!

3.Provide resources, ideas and strategies to be successful in running the home jewelry business

As I was creating it I was thinking of the young mothers like my sister Mou in India, my daughter Antara, who is going to be a mom soon and the many moms I became friends with, while I was a Montessori teacher for twenty years.

I am a bit techno challenged. I have come a long way since last July. Now I am getting more and more easy with blogging and all that.

Hey, Google blogging is much easier for me but I had no concept of web designing. I came to this reference of SBI and with their help this new web child is born.

Well, SBI is great and they have really kept their promise when they talk about over delivering. But there is an amazing amount of content to digest. It took me a couple of months to kind of understand and eventually launch the site.

I highly recommend SBI for its helpfulness. Whenever I am stuck I posted my problem in the forum and within 24 hours I got some help.

So now you know why I was so, so late in my blogging or uploading my stuff in the etsy store.
Do visit Bead-z-mommys-business.com for there are two or three new jewelry patterns and quite a bit of info for the mommy part. Please be patient, the web site is just new born, in very delicate stage. It will become strong, and purposeful, I assure. Just come to visit it like a loving aunt or uncle or with your grandmotherly/fatherly charm. See ya- Dita.

An Awesome Art Work

It was the first Tuesday of the month and the De Young Museum in San Francisco is free to general public that day of each month. Nina, my daughter asked if I'd like to go see the glass art exhibition by D.Chihuly there.

I always love free stuff and going to the city from our suburban Walnut Creek is a treat to me. So I jumped at her invitation.

I had no idea that Chihuly's art work is so awesome. I knew it would be great but not to this extent. It surpassed all my imagination and expectations. Now I don't have any appropriate word in my vocabulary that can justify the depth, beauty and the greatness of the artist and his art.

The very first image that I'll remember is a bowl of fruits. Here the bowl is even bigger than my dining table that can sit six people. The size of the apple was may be 2 feet in diameter. And it is not just the size but the softness and suppleness he created in those glass fruits, that is just amazing.

We went to several rooms full of extremely gorgeous art work. Sometimes they are like in a valley of gigantic icicles, at another point an illusion of sea creatures under the ocean - radiating electric lights or something like that.

I am aware how difficult the process of creating glass art could be.I had seen a few demonstrations in Murano when I visited Italy few years ago. So, what Chihuly had done with only eye (unfortunately he lost one ) is really incredible.

Somewhere I read that art transcends. It can have the spiritual power that scaffolds you to a higher plane. It does not happen very often but quality art does have that power.

And I felt that after I came back home. The images resonated inside me and I had to open my box of beads.I found a few glass beads from Murano.

Perhaps I'll make something beautiful tomorrow.

P.S. Check my etsy store at alankarshilpa.etsy.com. There are some new ones uploaded.