#9: Dollops of love for your little one!

Women are known to multi-task. Meet Mariam Noronha, who juggles the roles between that of a teacher, blogger, freelance writer, artist, designer, an avid crafter and the owner of Dollops of Sunshine. “In one word, I’m a maverick!” she says.

Mariam, already MA in Commerce, is currently working towards completion of her Doctoral thesis. “Currently I teach Commerce and Management to under graduate students. I have worked as a freelance writer for over 6 years now, and that stint includes various genres of writing such as fiction, travel and web content development. I began blogging professionally over 2 years ago. I own and manage a blog called TheOneOfAKindPreneur that is about unique and custom-made businesses. Besides that, I write for a number of business blogs based out of Asia, Europe and Canada and also on the Indian social media scenario for SocialSamosa,” she shares.

Mariam has always loved creative pursuits. She dabbles in calligraphy, water-colours, one stroke painting, doodling and crochet. “I love colours and creating hand-made products gives me a lot of satisfaction. Designing hand-painted home decor, kids’ apparel and products is something I have begun enjoying in the last one year,” she adds.

Dollops of Sunshine started out as a Facebook page where Mariam used to share (not sell) pictures of her hand-painted trays, cards, lamps, table mats etc. Always having enjoyed crochet, last year she came up with the idea to create some fun crochet designs for babies. “I discussed this with my friend Abida Khan (an avid crafter herself) who immediately appreciated the idea. So both of us discussed this idea, over a cup of tea. Eventually that led to creation of a small collection of hats and booties for babies. Our first batch of designs sold out in just 3 days and soon we had people asking us to do more!” she quips.

As far as inspiration goes, it was more about giving vent to their creative side while creating designs that are colourful, fun and different. It was about getting out there, and making a difference with hand-made goodness. Far from being a commercial venture Dollops of Sunshine is about taking crochet designs for kids, to another level.

“My job as a teacher and a writer allows me to touch many lives. That is the exciting part of it. But as a designer, every day comes with new possibilities, more inspiration, loads of colour and lots to look forward to,” she elaborates.

In less than a year they have received a lot of appreciation and love from people. Dollops of Sunshine work towards adding a bucket full of happiness to the lives of babies and of course their mothers. “When people write in and say ‘We love your work’, or ‘I picked 15 pairs of DOS booties because I didn’t want to let any design go’ these things cannot be equated with money. The love and appreciation people have shown, is truly amazing. Everyone wants a piece of sunshine and we couldn’t ask for more. God has been very kind,” she shares.

Ask about what she has in store for the future, Mariam says, “It is too early to tell. The web has truly empowered people and Indian design too has truly come off age.  Vibrant Indian brands are filling up the web with their work that can be genuinely appreciated. But for us, the journey has just begun!”