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She has combined it with this fun and feminine leather bustier top to give the collection a happy twist.

This is my favourite design from the collection. A vintage scissor print mixed with geometrics and soft colours.

Working on this collection has taught me some important things: 

1. I can work in collaboration with a fellow creative person. The earlier me would have been scared to enter into something like this - because as every creative person knows, creation is an extremely individual process, where the result and therefore the credit is what gives the creative person satisfaction and identity.

2. The value of being open. And the importance of trusting.

3. The value of choosing the right people to work with. I learnt so much from Nisha Sainani, her gentle ways in combination of her persistence is such a unique quality, her capacity to truly multi-task, I saw her helping organise a huge wedding in her family and putting this collection together simultaneously. Without loosing it. Amazing.

I would love to hear what you think of this collection, and to the creative people reading this post, how tough or easy is it for you to work on a creative collaboration. I have really been thinking of this. 

Or actually collaboration of any kind. It involves more people than you and therefore the responsibility at every step is shared. As is the outcome. What has your experience been, I'd love to hear from you.

I'm so excited to finally share the news of an exciting creative collaboration I have been working on. I have designed prints for the fashion label Nisha Sainani for their Spring Summer 2014 Collection called 'Sunshine, Freedom & a little Flower'. Regular followers of this blog know that I am no fashionista, and yet when Nisha, who is a good friend and a designer I respect approached me to design for this collection, i took it up as a challenge, and what an eye opener it has been. Sitting with Nisha Sainani, understanding her vision of her collection, brainstorming, developing the designs together, to imagining whether it will work as an 'all-over' print or as a stand alone- motif on fabric has been a journey of fascination and learning for me. And I will be forever indebted to Nisha for trusting me on this and taking me along on this crazy fun ride.

For now, sharing a few behind the scenes grabs from the prelauch 'look-book' shoot, hot off the press. You will get a hint of some of the colours and the mood of the collection in the few images in this post.

The shoot was at this GORGEOUS studio. So yes, watch this space. More about the shoot, the collection, the launch - coming up next :)

What an experience this past week has been. I'm posting from Dallas (my brother's home) and letting the enormity and simplicity of last week sink in. I have just come back from the most unbelievable evening of my life and I am jet lagged. But I have to make this quick post. There will be many others, because guess who has taken 3 million photographs. This is my 1st time in the U.S. of A and I must warn you, I'm not going to be cool & understated about this. I am just stunned by the cleanliness and orderliness and complete prettiness of all that I have seen of this country so far. And seeing this place maybe begins to help me decode the unbelievable way that Christine Mason Miller functions. She came to pick me up at the airport and took me to her home which was hosting 4 more people who flew in from different places for the book launch. For the next 3 days that I spent with Christine I had the privilege of seeing how everything has a place in her gorgeous home which was an extension of all that I had known of her and her work online. All the groundwork and planning was in place by the time we arrived and I remember what a happy time we had putting the goody bags together. Preplanned, prepared and yet completely ready for all that shows up. It was her vision, clarity and intention that made the Desire to Inspire launch evening the magic that it was.

Because Christine had told so many people that "Vineeta is coming all the way from INDIA" I got an especially warm welcome and was made to feel like the celebrity from India. It was beautiful speaking to the many many people who came for the launch and it felt even more unreal to sign copies for the book owners.

Christine Mason Miller with Jennifer Lee.

I wish I got some more time with the inspiring Pixie Campbell.

This one is not sharp, but it is the only picture I have with Christen Olivarez & i think both of us look happy here :)

Grace Moore

I don't know what is dearer to me from my LA memories, the dinner and discussion I had with Christine & her husband on the night I arrived, or the many conversations I had with Christine at her dining table, meeting and hanging out with Mindy Tsonas and Liz Kalloch (contributors) at Christine's, or meeting the quiet and amazing Maya Stein and Mellissa Piccola. Or laughing non-stop because of the irrepressible Grace Moore and Lisa Occhipinti (do click on the links, because they are each formidable women of substance)
But the one thing I will really take back from my time spent watching Christine is how she makes the improbable possible. And how gracefully and easily she does it. Only she really knows what goes being making the ease possible. But when I see her I know that some day, one day, it will be possible for me & for each one of us; if we have an honest willing heart. And the courage to do its bidding. And that is what the book Desire to Inspire is really about. It has got me to this amazingly beautiful and inspiring country, had me meet and be a guest to someone whom I admired from afar. It has given me the gift of possibility.
All photographs clicked by Justin Davanzo & me.

For sometime now I have been wanting to share a beautiful piece of news with you. I want to speak about Christine Mason Miller, her amazing talent and leadership qualities. I wrote about her and her book Ordinary Sparkling Moments and about being book fairy for the 100 book project sometime back. Christine is back in news with a new book called Desire to Inspire: Using Creative Passion to Transform the world. And to quote Christine "In Desire to Inspire, readers will be introduced to twenty extraordinary women - writers, artists and entrepreneurs - all of whom share a unique example of how they create a meaningful life and, in turn, make a positive impact on the world. The stories and examples explore the roots of their desire to inspire and how they manage to pursue their passions in the midst of all the twists and turns life has given them."
The news is also that yours truly is actually one of these 20 women. When Christine asked me if I will be part of this, I had said yes, without really understanding the magnitude or the magnificence of the women in whose company I would be in. Each of them is a true torchbearer of a new way of living & many directly empower people by coaching, taking workshops and training design entrepreneurs. Do check the FB Desire to Inspire page to see all the contributors. Click on the 'like' button & spread the happy word. The book is now published by North Light Books and available to pre-order from Amazon, (pinch me - this is for real!!) and will be released officially across book stands in November.

Writing this blog has been a journey of inspiration for me and that is the only reason I am part of a beautiful-powerful book like this. I want to thank each one of you who has been reading my blog since I started 4 years back in August, and each of you who joined me me on my journey down the line. I believe it is your good wishes for me which has made this possible.
Needless to say I have pre-ordered my copy and am dying to take a peek into "Desire to Inspire" Do spread the word, check out the pages on Amazon, pre-order the book, or whatever else your heart tells you to do.