So after the Christmas Day church service with Surya Kala, as I was away from home, and had the day off, my friend and I set about constructing and decorating a gingerbread house that my family had given me.....ok, a bit of a random activity but it felt very festive (with Home Alone on HBO in the background!).

After I finished my masterpiece, i didnt know what to do with all that gingerbread, icing and candy, so I took it into the NLT leather factory between christmas and new year (as I was managing the AURA QUE production whilst their production manager was away to visit his family in the village of Gorkha). And no, i didn't cycle to the factory that day, with the house balanced on the back, I took a taxi....

So all the guys in the factory seemed amused at what i had brought it, and it took me a while to explain during the 11 o'clock tea break, that i wanted them to 'destroy' the house, and eat it.....

Above: Kumar

Above: Man Bahadur

But they soon got the hang of it and as I passed it around, they all grabbed a handful!

Above: Manchu

Above: Bhim and Shyam

My lovely sample making team

From left to right: Man Bahadur, Kumar, Shanti and Manchu.

And the funniest thing was, when i left half the house on the side, and told all the guys in the main room of the factory to come and take what they wanted.....I left the room for 5 minutes, no less, and then it was ALL GONE!! Must have tasted good :)

Happy Christmas x

Wishing you all a Happy New Year and best wishes for 2011!!!

I have a feeling its going to be a great year for us all!!

At AURA QUE, we are offering 20% discount off ALL stock in our online boutique - please use discount code 'JAN2011' at the check out! Remember we give free UK delivery, as well as for international orders over £100.

On New Years Day, instead of the usual family activities, I went on a trip to visit our Jacquard woven fabric producer outside the Kathmandu Valley in Nepal.

This fabric in the striped black/white design that I chose, has been really popular with buyers and customers alike, so I wanted to find out how this fabric was produced.

The cotton yarn is woven onto spindles (see below) using a variety of home made devices!

The geometric patterns are created with a series of metal plates with holes punched into them.  Each plate makes up a series of lines of the pattern, so when they are linked together in different combinations, they make up the various patterns.  Its a really complicated process!

Once the right combination of plates have been secured together, and the loom has been set up, the shuttle is pulled side to side to build up the fabric.  The cloth is made by hand, so is a time consuming job!

AURA QUE will be looking at developing some new geometric designs, as well as a variety of colourful options for our summer collection - look out for them!