Brothers, Sisters....its Bhai Tikka!

Today I went to Kumar's house (my leather sample maker), he had invited me to his daughter Alisha's Bhai Tika ceremony with her younger brother and cousin.

Alisha performed this ceremony to her two 'brothers' including putting dots of the brightly coloured powder paste and a mixture of dry rice and red powder, on their foreheads.  They had big plates of food gifts and incense which she gave them, as well as garlands they wore around their neck.

It was beautifully colourful and great to see them perform it in their own home, I was greatful to be part of it!

"The last day of Tihar is Bhai Tika, when sisters put tika on foreheads of brothers, to ensure long life, and thank them for the protection they give.  When the sisters give the tika, the brothers give gifts or money in return. A special garland is made for the brothers out of a flower that wilts after a couple of months, symbolizing the sister's prayer for her brother's long life."

Kumar also gave me some brightly coloured lights that look like flowers with smily faces on! And they flash in different ways - be great to decorate my flat!

Cycling back, I noticed that lots of people had also performed the ceremony already this morning, with the noticeable coloured dots tikka and the flower garlands.  Most families seem to go to each other's houses throughout the day, so different family members can perform the ceremony to each other.  Kumar and his family were going to his sister's house south of the city, so he could perform the ceremony with her. Seems like a good way for families to catch up!

Happy Bhai Tikka!

 

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Dancing in the Streets! Happy Tihar!

Its festival season here in Nepal at the moment! Great atmosphere but hard to get work done as there are endless holidays and festivities during October.

Tihar is a five day Nepali festival incorporating the Hindu Festival of Divali.  Lots of houses and business premises are covered with little lights, it looks so festive! Reminds me of Christmas in the UK!

In the markets and bazaars across town, there has been a flurry of activity, everyone buying decorations for their home and supplies for the puja ceremonies.  The bussle of people and amazing colours was a lot more fun to watch than a christmas rush on Oxford Street for sure!

Yesterday was Laxmi Puja where the Goddess of Wealth, Laxmi is celebrated. Walking through the neighbourhood I am living in, every family had lit candles and made Rangoli decorative designs infront of their houses and businesses, on the street, to welcome prosperity and wellbeing.

Every-one was celebrating in their houses and on the streets, with kids going from house to house to play music and dance, traditionally asking for money and sweets for their performance. Looked like more fun than halloween!

Happy Tihar every-one!

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Our first AURA QUE collaboration for ethical products with Jobs Australia

AURA QUE has recently worked with Jobs Australia, creating gift products with their logo for their National Conference in Brisbane: 12-14th October 2011.

"Jobs Australia supports and represents the interests of non-profit employment and related service organisations that exist to achieve a fair and equitable Australia.

Jobs Australia is the national peak body for nonprofit organisations that assist unemployed people to get and keep jobs. The network helps members to make the most effective use of their resources and promotes the needs of unemployed people for the services and support that will help them to participate fully in society."

Thanks to Jen Mercer and all at Jobs Australia for this opportunity; looking forward to working with you again!

Here are some pictures from the production - we just managed to get it finished before the Dashain festival in Nepal, thank goodness!

See the full gallery on Posterous

Meera, the production manager, distributing cut cloth to the women for stitching the cotton bags.

Working out the correct colours with pantone references for the hand screen-printed Jobs Australia logo.

Various products samples, including cotton bag, and leather gifts such as notebook designs and travel wallet.

For any companies or organisations wishing to have cotton, leather or paper products with their logo and design, AURA QUE would love to work with you on designs and liase directly with our producers to make the best product for you!  Please get in touch: info@auraque.com

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Time off to trek to the Himalaya!

With the festival of Dashain in full flow, I decided to make the most of the week holiday and escape to the mountains to trek to the Annapurna Base Camp with friends that were visiting me in Nepal.  I had done the trek nearly 9 years before on my first visit to Nepal.  It was great to see the mountains and escape from the city....

These are two pictures from my trek in early 2003, getting to Base Camp in the snow.....

Breakfast looking out at the Himalaya....

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Kathmandu Fashion Parade.....

Last week, AURA QUE took part in the Kathmandu Fashion Parade to promote fashion products made in Nepal. It was a good opportunity to promote our products to a local audience, along side other Nepalese designers! Though there were techincal glitches and a power cut, Nepali style, we were pleased to be part of the first edition of this event!

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As written in Republica (national newspaper in Nepal) by Shitu Rajbhandari:

"The accessories showcased by Aura Que were interesting, to say the least, and impressive for the fact that they were all made in Nepal. Through her collection, Laura Queening showed the potential our fashion industry has within the country."

Nice one!!

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Settling into Kathmandu....with a fashion show and earthquake

So I arrived back in Kathmandu on Friday morning, straight to the factories to sort out some stock with my producers and working out the logistics of the Kathmandu Fashion Parade that AURA QUE was part of on Saturday night in the capital.

It was great to show our products to a local audience, and we got a good response from people in Kathmandu, which was really reassuring! I wiill put up pics as soon as i get them!

Events on Sunday night were less fun, with an earthquake hitting the capital Kathmandu.  Thought the epi-centre was on the Nepal/Sikkim border in the East at a scale of 6.8, repercussions were felt through India, Nepal and Tibet. See the bbc coverage:

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-south-asia-14965598

I was in my rented apartment at 6.30pm last night and heard lots of locals screaming (mainly in the higher buildings) and then for a good 30 seconds or more, could see the walls and floor shaking - it was like being on a boat, you couldnt remain standing still. It was actually pretty scary as i had no idea what if anything, I could or should do!!

Luckily the damage has been minimal considering the scale, though there has been some casualties in various places.  In a way, hopefully it will make people more aware of the dangers of imminent earthquakes in Nepal, and there will be a lot more preparation to ensure less damage in the future.  I hope so!!

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The new AURA QUE Autumn/Winter 2011 Collection is available now!

After months of preparation in Nepal, the AURA QUE Autumn/Winter Collection is now in the UK and available to purchase! We have our classic bag range which now combines our soft buffalo leather with handknitted banana yarn in tonal colours of black, brown and grey.  The popular neck scarves with leather tabs are available in plain coloured cable or a variety of stripes, and the Jogi Shopper has been made in a thick cotton drill, with matching purses. Take a look!

We are excited to show our new collection and hope you all like it! Until 15th September, we are offering all customers a 10% discount - enter the code HIMALAYA into the online checkout to receive your discount.

Until stocks last, we are also offering a free matching purse for all jogi bag orders, or a free small leather goods item for all leather bags orders (over £70).

See the full gallery on Posterous

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Winding up to leave Nepal, but still had time for a visit to Kumar's house!

So its been a hectic few weeks before I left Nepal - getting the new samples finished to show buyers, as well our Autumn/Winter production that wiill be available shortly! It is always a mad rush before I come back to the UK, and it is stressful to try and do things fast in Nepal for sure!

But I had promised Kumar, the sample maker at NLT Leather factory, that I would meet his family again before I left.  So on the Saturday before I left, I went to visit them at their house down near the river in Tripureshwor. Cor blimey his kids seemed to have grown up since I last saw them in December. 

Alina has just finished college and joined an adminstrative training course, hoping to get a job at the end of it, and Alish seems to have grown a couple of extra foot, but is still as shy as before! As it is the beginning of the festival season, Alina had a go at the mendhi on the palm of my hand - all the women have these beautiful designs in henna on their hands and feet - she drew a beautiful design so fast, it was impressive!

I had a random meal that Kumar had asked his wife Usha to make for me - a weird mixture of all the different food he knows i like - roti, vegetables, coconut rice pudding and yoghurt curd, washed down with some bright orange Fanta (hey, I know it is so wrong, but when you are hot and sweaty, a bit of sugary fizz is the best 'pick me up'!).  Also, Kumar still can't get his head round the fact that I don't eat meat....

I had got Alish a stunt kite thing from UK, as I had heard that last Dashain (festival in Sept/October) he was obsessed with kite flying. I was worried that maybe at 14 yrs old he had grown out of it, but Kumar said the next day at work, that his son was so excited about the kite - so I am well happy! Looking forward to see it in action when I am back in October.  For Alina, I gave her one of the bag samples me and Kumar had been working on - last time I was there, I saw that she was using one of my very old first samples that Kumar had repaired and fixed for her (it looked a sorry state!), so I wanted her to have a good sample that her father had made!

Lovely people, I am glad I went before I left Nepal!

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Maithil Art in progress at Sana Hastakala....

Sana Hastakala, the fair trade producer group that makes our Jogi Bag Range, are having a refurbishment in their showroom and shop in Kathmandu.  Over the last week when I have been popping in about my new samples, Nepali women from Janakpur have been painting these amazing designs on all the walls.

I asked the team at Sana Hastakala about the paintings, and they are all traditional Maithil art designs, depicting familiar Nepalese scenes. So I bought this book about the Janakpur Women's Development Centre in South Nepal, which describes the tradition as such:

"The paintings are rooted in traditions which Maithil women have passed down through generations.  On the occasion of marriage or festivals such as Deepawali, Maithil women paint lively designs on the mud walls of their houses....In monsoon season the paintings fase or wash away". 

It was the Janakpur Women's Development Centre that helped these talented women to transfer their wall designs to paper.  Now the designs are seen on a range of products such as coasters, fabric hangings, book covers, furniture and boxes etc, which are also sold at the Sana Hastakala shop.

Its great that they are promoting this craft, and the women have been labouring over the designs all week - I can't wait to see how they look when finished!

Also, it has given me thoughts for initial inspiration for print designs for AURA QUE - I should make a trip to Janakpur next time to check it out....

 

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All you need to make you smile on the way to work in the morning.....an elephant walking down the streets of Kathmandu

So of course you see elephants in Chitwan in the National Park in the South of Nepal, but I didnt expect to see an elephant on my cycle to the factory this morning!! That was a first for me - only in Kathmandu....

Good thing, cos it definitely made me smile!

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