Tea Time With Erum Kazmi

The Tea time series is back this week with Erum Kazmi. Erum is a friend, fellow "chai" lover, photographer and an extremely talented lady. I featured her exquisite home right here on My Dream Canvas a few years ago. Her home tour is not to be missed!! Erum has great taste. Her style is elegant, classy and understated all at the same time. A winning combination in my opinion :) Her passion for tea is clearly evident in the images below. Tea time at her home looks beautiful! I asked Erum to describe these special moments in her own words!

Take it away Erum.....

"You'll always find three things in my home, chai,  books and flowers.  

Growing up having a cup of chai with breakfast, hurriedly leaving for school was a ritual back home. At night Ammi (Mom) always insisted having a cup of milk but I always argued for chai :)

Later, the love continued through college days as the canteen served the most delicious chai. No matter how horrid the summer was or how tough the exams were, tea was always there to perk up my soul. I truly believe in this idiom, "where there's tea, there's hope". I get up early in the morning just to enjoy my cup of tea in a solitude. A non-tea lover will not get it, the feel is very sublime. My husband shares the same love of chai. He religiously serves me evening Cuppa, so it's actually the cherry on top. 

I've always enjoyed capturing the endless cups of chai over the years in Chai Khana and will ccontinue to do so. Love exploring little cafes/tea shops around the town. Enjoy reading about different types of teas, their stages of preparation, and origins. Whether its the chai, thick with the aroma of boiled milk, streaked with the perfume of cardamom and clove, exotic flavors like youth berry orange blossom, soothing invigorating and rejuvenating ginger tea, time-less classic earl grey or the typical Pakistani dhaba style karak chap, or doodh patti chai :) I'm always ready to capture and gulp it down effortlessly. To me a perfect cup of tea is what we all need end of the day as I'm one of those people who strongly believe and take chai as a stress reliever or re-freshener :) 

Please drop by at my page to enjoy more chai, books and flowers :)"

Last but not the least, my absolute favorite picture of all the images Erum sent me, is the one of a drawing made by her daughter!

In Erum's words" My almost 6 yr old daughter has an obsession with drawing. Just like the way I don't get tired of consuming endless cups of tea, she doesn't get tired of drawing endless tea cups for me :)

I love it.... the little one clearly understands her mom's passion for chai :)

Thank you Erum for sharing your tea time moments with My Dream Canvas. I hope we can share a "cuppa" in person soon :)

Image: Erum Kazmi and subject to copyright!

Daffodils and Tulips

Hello to the new week and to all of you :) My weekend as you can clearly see was filled with Daffodils and Tulips! We drove an hour and a half away from home to see these beauties. What can I say, its become an annual ritual. Every year we think that there is no point seeing it again but there we go again :)

A drive filled with natural beauty and my family is my biggest stress buster! I really enjoy and cherish these outings. These mini breaks are such fun! Many years ago, reading was my stress buster but..... now I have to say its drives like these that make me feel happy and relaxed!

The Skagit Valley in spring has numerous fields covered in a myriad hues. On Saturday there were clouds literally hanging over the flowers. For me they added even more drama to the scene :) Our boots got muddy as we moved through the fields to get closer to the flowers. The kids picked their favorite color and posed for numerous pictures!

A host of golden daffodils............ I could happily live in that barn :)

We stopped at this ice cream place which apart from serving the best ice cream on the planet had a cute little shop selling these gorgeous baskets!!

So what's your stress buster these days?? That one thing that makes you feel happy and relaxed ?

Images: My Dream Canvas

Waterlogue Magic At Home

I wish, I could paint......... sing and dance!! Well, truthfully.....I can't do any of it :) However, I can take numerous pictures and hang them all over my house :) Most of the artwork in my home has been transported here from my parents home!. Then, there are some that I have purchased on my trips.

I have a  blank wall in my bedroom which has been neglected for years. I plan to use my photographs....especially the vignettes from My Dream Canvas and give them this delightful look using the Waterlogue app. What do you think? These are my images presented with a twist :) 

I love using Waterlogue! Have you tried it? Now, I need to find the perfect frames for these images........yay :)

The "Tea series" continues next week and a Giveaway is coming up soon....

Images: My Dream Canvas Painted using Waterlogue

Ganesha's and Suzani's Come Together At The Shop At MDC

I am absolutely delighted when my "finds" are ready to be shipped off to a lovely home! This stunning Ganesha statue was calling out to me on my recent visit to India. Today, I am packing it off to its new home :) My wanderings take me far and near and I love the entire experience!  The beautiful Suzani in the image below was a find in Istanbul. This and a few others will soon be available at the Shop At My Dream Canvas :)

A few more Ganesha statues are available at the store and you can view them HERE!

Thank you for your constant support :)

Images : Shop At My Dream Canvas