Sanwada Dharmasena

Products: if you’re looking for absolutely beautiful and painstakingly handmade Christmas or greeting cards, check out Butterfly Wishes by Sanwada Dharmasena on Instagram or drop in at her stall at the Sapumal Foundation Christmas Sale on Sunday (24).

This Christmas season marks Sanwada’s debut in selling her cards, which have thus far only been gifted to family and friends on special occasions.

Butterfly Wishes is a dream that became a reality given Sanwada’s inherent love for crafting. “The idea of creating something that eventually looked beautiful at the end is very satisfying,” said Sanwada, explaining why she puts in countless hours carefully crafting these beautiful cards.

In fact, her friends and family close to her who have been the recipients of these handmade cards over the years have welcomed them with a lot of appreciation and admiration and repeatedly urged her to start selling them.

“They have always said that I should make more and sell them, so you could say that I finally decided to do it,” she said, outlining her reasons for finally taking the leap with a stall at the sale on Sunday.

“A lot of love has gone into making each and every one of them and I truly hope that people will love my cards enough to purchase them,” she added.

The love and care that goes into making them certainly shows in every single Butterfly Wishes card, which is a one-woman operation, with Sanwada personally handling every aspect – from coming up with the ideas, sourcing the materials, and creating the cards.

Products that will be available at the sale include birthday cards, belated birthday cards, money cards, just because cards, thank you cards, thinking of you cards, and Christmas cards.

Any of the cards that are available on the Butterfly Wishes Insta page can also be reordered for a limited time. As for customisation of the cards, all of them are blank inside, which enables people to write their own sentiments and personalise them.

Sanwada is also in the process of making wedding cards with a money flap so that people don’t have to give gifts in envelopes, which will certainly be very well received.

The Sapumal Foundation sale, featuring close to 30 vendors, will take place at the Sapumal Foundation at 32/4, Barnes Place, Colombo 7, from 10.30 a.m. to 6 p.m. Entrance is free.

Drop in early and stock up on these beautiful cards which will add a touch of elegance and warmth to any occasion.

Production: ‘Pathini’, a dance theatre production exploring the struggles, strength, and resilience of brown women, will go on the boards tomorrow (23) at 7 p.m. at the Panibharatha Theatre, University of the Visual and Performing Arts, Colombo.

Presented by Vibe Dance Academy, ‘Pathini’ pledges to explore “the layered experiences of womanhood in brown culture – the perseverance, courage, and spirit that emerge in the face of adversity”.

Conceptualised, choreographed, and directed by Sandarangi Perera, ‘Pathini’ combines commercial, Kandyan, and Bharatanatyam dance styles with speech, text, and film.

Tickets are available on tickets.lk

Produce: EasyVeg is the place to turn to if you want to save time spent on meal prep and eat healthier effortlessly.

I first heard about EasyVeg on the YouTube channel ‘Kaleidoscope with Savithri Rodrigo’, immediately asked Savithri for the details, and messaged EasyVeg co-founder Shamila Wickramathilake, keen to try out the prepped veggies.

It was hard to decide on what to order the first time I saw the list – there’s just about everything available, including leafy greens! There are veggie combinations for fried rice, salads, or boiling as well.

I was so glad to see my first order when it arrived: All the vegetables were cleaned well, cut neatly, and presented in separate containers.

The list goes out on Thursdays, orders are accepted until Friday evening, and processing and delivery is done on weekends. Some 200 boxes go out each week, each personally supervised by Shamila.

Tip: EasyVeg offers two seafood varieties too – prawns and cuttlefish. Check out EasyVeg on Facebook or contact 0716 086 853 for more information.