Ackworth Friendship Book, Cross Stitch, Jared Padalecki, Jensen Ackles, Misha Collins, Quaker, Round Robin, Round Robins, supernatural, Sydney, With My Needle

Why does this perfect day have to end?

What a way to spend a Sunday … this evening I managed to put the final stitches into part 3 of our Ackworth Friendship Book which is being stitched as a round robin, which means I’ve now halfway through stitching on Nicki’s piece.

Quaker Friendship RR part 3 Nicki's

That in itself is a good achievement at the end of the day, but certainly not what all the excitement is about … Oh no, no, no, it was FAR more exciting than that!!!  No, today was the day that I spent in the company of Jensen Ackles, Jared Padalecki and Misha Collins at the Supernatural Convention … and THAT is the reason I wish it didn’t have to end!!!  I’m still feeling a bit shell-shocked after the whole experience – in a good way! 😀

Supernatural Convention 3

I’ve got oodles of photos, but thought I’d share the experience with you with a select few … well, OK, about a dozen!! 😛

First of all, it was worth going just to get to watch about 5 of the upcoming episodes of Supernatural that haven’t been aired in Australia yet – how awesome to see them up on the huge big theatre screen above the stage!!  Apologies for most of these photos – they were taken in bad lighting from halfway back in the auditorium (although the photo of the big screen below came out suprisingly well!).

Supernatural Convention 1

Then we had chance to ask questions of Misha Collins for an hour – what a superb and fun speaker he is, and a great addition to the show.

Supernatural Convention 2

Afterwards it was time to start getting called for autograph sessions, and I took along my favourite computer wallpaper that I printed off at home, for Jensen Ackles to sign.  After just signing stock standard publicity photos he was apparently really impressed with my photo choice as he hadn’t seen it before, and had to pass it around to his offsiders before signing it … gave a great chance to have a quick chat with him {{insert heavy sigh of dreamy pleasure here}}.

Jensen autograph

After queueing up for an hour in the lunch queue, it was time to head back to the Auditorium where we signed up to buy a copy of the DVD covering the weekend’s events, and had chance to catch one final new episode of Supernatural before we were graced with the presence of Jared Padalecki … this was Katie’s chance to drool heavily, as Jared is her supreme favourite.

Jared 1

Supernatural Convention 4

Next up came my chance to drool and slobber, and I’m sure the reason I felt dehydrated coming home had nothing to do with the fact we hadn’t had a drink all day, but rather that I was sat with my mouth gaping open in awe at seeing Jensen Ackles in the flesh on stage!  {{insert another heavy sigh of dreamy delight}}  Yes, I know, I’m like a love-sick teenager, but I just can’t help myself 😉

Supernatural Convention 6

Supernatural Convention 11

Supernatural Convention 5

Jared and Jensen spoke individually on stage for 1/2 hour each, then we had the pleasure of having the two of them back on stage together, while Jared acted like a child with ADD and the two of them stuffed themselves with Fantales candies.  They did manage to field a few more questions from the audience inbetween clowning around and taking cracks at each other.

Supernatural Convention 8

Supernatural Convention 7

Supernatural Convention 12

The day finished with Misha Collins coming to join them on stage, and Jared and Jensen drew on T-shirts to auction off for charity … at $3,000 a pop I’d say the auction was a huge success, and the Starlight Foundation will be thrilled with the proceeds.

Supernatural Convention 9

Supernatural Convention 10

So, what can I say, aside from “WOW, what an awesome day!!!” – a perfect finish to my fortnight of annual leave … and I’ll definitely be having fun memories for years to come.  Now all we need now is for Channel Ten to pull their fingers out of their proverbial behinds and get Episode 9 onwards onto Australian TV – Misha Collins couldn’t believe we were only up to episode 8, to which he got a thunderous response in agreement from the audience … so, come on Channel Ten, come to the party!!!

Beading, Cross Stitch, Finishing, Mill Hill, pinkeeps, Stitching Smalls

Another finish-finish

Oh my goodness, I’ve had this piece of stitching sitting around for years and years … it was a Mill Hill kit that I bought back in the days when I used to stitch on Aida (shows you how long ago that was!) – it was also the first attempt I ever made at beading.  Unfortunately the silver beads have discoloured somewhat, and there were grubby marks on the sides of the fabric from when I used to use a hoop that would never come out … I decided today to finally make something out of it and opted for a pinkeep.  Who would’ve known such a scruffy piece of stitching would look so beautiful made up??!  I was pleasantly surprised with the result – and knew that lovely ribbon trip would come in handy one day! 😀

Here are a few piccies of the resulting piece – I love this one!! 😀

MH pinkeep 1

MH pinkeep 2

MH pinkeep 3

MH pinkeep 4

MH pinkeep 5

MH pinkeep 6

Acorn Needlebook, Christmas Ornaments, Cross Stitch, Finishing, Periwinkle Promises, Prairie Schooler, Works in Progress

Ornament time

Things have been quiet on the stitching front this week – instead I’ve been going to the gym and getting a program organised.  I’ve now got both a cardiovascular program and strength program, and I have to say after doing my strength program yesterday I thought my arms were going to drop off!!!

Today, though, I’ve made a bit of an effort to try turning an ornie or two into an actual ornament – here is my April ornie challenge piece all finished up (I knew those sexy Gingher pinking shears would come in handy one day!!):

Prairie Schooler-Snowy Night ornie

I really love the finished look of this style of finishing, and can definitely see more of these in the future!  In fact, I got straight into it and finished off an ornie that Mum stitched and gave to me while I was home last week.  Here’s that one all nicely finished up:

Mum's PS ornie

As for stitching itself, I only managed to get a tiny bit of stitching done on my Acorn Needlebook last night – the photo is terrible, as there’s no lighting on for it … Two more little bands of long-armed XS, and the start of the backstitched vines and leaves for the centre of the front cover of the needlbook:

Periwinkle Promises-Acorn Needlebook WIP 17Apr09

I’m also putting Winter Queen back on her scroll bars today, and have managed to find and attach my magnifying lens for my Ott-Lite so I can make a second attempt at Nicki’s Quaker RR piece.  Unfortunately with the hours I’d been working, my eyes are really tired in the evenings, so I was struggling to see clearly without straining on the 40ct hand-dyed linen … at least it means if my eyes are tired now, I can use the magnifying lens (never had to use it before, so it will be interesting to see how it works!).

Anyway, back I go to the creative corner … I’m hoping to at least get one more item started on the way to being “finish-finished”, as well as cranking my sewing machine up and learning to use it … 😀

Gotta make the most of it, ‘cos I’m back into work for 6 hours tomorrow, then out all day Sunday drooling over Mr Ackles and Mr Padalecki at the Supernatural Convention – I can’t believe the day has finally rolled around, and we’ll be seeing the stars in the flesh this weekend.  I feel like a teenager all over again LOL 😀

Acorn Needlebook, Christmas Ornaments, Cross Stitch, Finishes, Friends & Family, Home & Family TO BE FIXED, Periwinkle Promises, Prairie Schooler, Smith Family NZ, Travel - New Zealand, Works in Progress

Back to sweltering Sydney

After a whirlwind trip back home to Auckland where I froze my buns off, it’s back to Sydney and the hottest day in the history of April since time began apparently … oh yay, LOL (sorry Zeb, I only got your email when I got home Sunday afternoon, so didn’t get chance to catch up – will definitely give you a holler the next time I come over, though, so we can arrange a meeting!).

It was really lovely to go home again and Dad was happy that I managed to clear out about 2 suitcases full of clothes to go to the Salvation Army plus about half a big wheelie bin full of soon-to-be-shredded papers.  Ah, I so love going home for a holiday haha.  The weather was shocking, so we didn’t get to go sightseeing at all around Auckland – and unfortunately the flights were really full out of Wellington, so at the 11th hour Mum and I cancelled our flights, as it had the potential to be an extremely costly trip … of course we forgot about Easter and school holiday traffic … doh!

I didn’t get too much stitching done, although I did stitch up my April Christmas ornie for the ornie Challenge … and I’ve since started the Acorn Needle Book by Periwinkle Promises, which is a kit I’ve had in my stash for way too many years now.  It’s been really fun doing every stitch except XS so far in this piece, although I’m a bit wary of the upcoming acorn cap completely made up of french knots {{shudder}}.

Prairie Schooler-Snowy Night
“Snowy Night” by The Prairie Schooler
from 2008 Just Cross Stitch Ornament issue
stitched on 32ct Merino hand-dyed linen by Countrystitch
with recommended DMC threads

Acorn Needle Book 1
“Acorn Needle Book” kit by Periwinkle Promises – first WIP photo

Acorn Needle Book 2
A bit of rice stitch, satin stitch, double holbein stitch, double back-stitch (or long-armed XS), and finished with a smidge of normal back stitch

Mum and I managed to catch up with my Auntie Trudy (who’s not actually an Aunt, but a family friend that I’ve grown up with in NZ), and it was lovely to see her again.  I came away being spoilt with a lovely blue scarf she knit for me, so I feel very special 🙂

The highlight of the trip (and our final night) was a visit to my fave family, the Smiths … Auntie Heather (again an extremely close family friend that I adore) has known me since I was six weeks old in the UK, and our two families have grown up together when we both emigrated to New Zealand.  There are only a few years difference between the age groups of myself and their two children, Tracey and Carl, and now they both have their own children and we have our own “Granny Smith” (she hates being called that!).  It turned out to be Danial’s birthday during our visit, so we were able to visit on Saturday afternoon/evening on his birthday – it was great fun!  Tracey and Glen live out in the country south of Auckland, and it was great to finally visit their property and play with all the animals.  The only ones I didn’t get to pet were the cows! 😉

Here are a number of photos from our visit – including some very special Easter bunnies, that were part of Danial’s birthday present.

Danial's birthday 2
Danial, Bradley and Heather (with stickers on her forehead compliments of youngest grandchild Danial!)

Danial's birthday 3
Tracey hard at work in the kitchen preparing dinner

Danial's birthday 5
How many men does it take to put together a racing car set? Four, apparently! ;P

Danial's birthday 4
Maybe we should read the instructions, Grandad!

Danial's birthday 7
Easter bunnies country-style

Danial's birthday 8
Awwwww……. Somebunny loves ya Heather!

Danial's birthday 9
The Dragon having a bunny cuddle

Danial's birthday 6
And this bundle of fun I just couldn’t wait to have a cuddle with, I love him to death … poor Dodge got so excited that he kindly peed on my leg … I think that means he likes me! haha – he’s such a soppy soft dog you’ve gotta love him!  This is him begging me to come outside to play with him – I kept leaning out the window to give him a pat! 😀

Danial's birthday 1
And to finish off, here’s the birthday boy with his icecream cake – with Dad (Glen), and the Dragon (Mum)

Now it’s back to the heat of Sydney, and I’m over it already after 48 hours!!  Will summer never end??  Bring on those cooler autumn days with blue skies … keep your pelting rain and humidity!  Oh well, at least I can laze around at home over the next few days indoors … inbetween going to gym sessions each day this week … I’ve finally joined a gym to get my fat A into shape and feel a bit healthier.  Going to the chiropractor all these months has been wonderful, and I’m ready to make a healthy change – going to the gym will hopefully help me reach that goal … I just need to get back into the routine of going regularly before work!

Anyway, I’d better skedaddle and put some laundry washing in while it’s still daylight and the laundry nazis don’t chase me out (we have to be out by 8pm sharp!) … can’t guarantee there’ll be a stitching finish any time soon, as I want to put a few hours into Mirabilia’s Winter Queen (thanks to me joining a UFO challenge group) and also get some decent stitching time into Nicki’s Quaker RR 😀

Look forward to catching up on your blogs over the next few days as well … ah, the joy of still being on holiday!! 😀

Cross Stitch, Finishes, Victoria Sampler

Mini Happy Dance

One more small finish for me for the year – I really enjoyed stitching this one … I was craving some ‘specialty stitches’ and this fit the bill in a small way. Unfortunately they were stitches I’ve already done before, so I didn’t really learn anything new, but it made a nice change to doing all cross stitch! And I just LOVE the colours on this one. It took longer than expected to stitch the top part, but I did manage to put the final stitches into it before midnight last night, so the entire thing was stitched in one day 🙂

VS-Lavender Bag
“Lavender Bag” by The Victoria Sampler
Stitched using kit fabric, threads and beads

VS-Lavender Bag 4

VS-Lavender Bag 2

I’m thinking of trying to finally get acquainted with my new sewing machine later this afternoon if I get time, or on my return from my visit home, so I’m looking forward to finally getting some actual ‘finishing’ done (including the quilted wallhanging of Just Nan’s Evening Star, so it can go to its new loving home).

Now I’m off into the office for an hour or two to check my emails, and make a quick phone call to Tucson and Los Angeles if I need to … fingers crossed, though, they’ve got things sorted in my absence now the Manager is back in the office!

Christmas Ornaments, Cross Stitch, Finishes, Threads Through Time, Works in Progress

Joy to the World

I managed to put the final stitches into my Christmas ornie last night:

Threads Through Time-Joy to the World
“Joy to the World” by Threads Through Time
from 2001 Just Cross Stitch ornie magazine
Stitched on 32ct white Lugana
using recommended DMC

And today started a new quick project – Lavender Bag by The Victoria Sampler (sorry, it’s a bad photo!):

VS-Lavender Bag WIP 03Apr09

Hopefully I’ll get chance to finish off the stitching tonight, as there isn’t a great deal more left to stitch, and no more bands with loads of colour changes 🙂

Christmas Ornaments, Cross Stitch, Home & Family TO BE FIXED, Stash, Works in Progress

Yay, I have a car that locks!

What a relief that is to finally have a car with locking functionality once again – my heart’s been skipping a beat every time I walk out of the apartment block and the work carpark to see if my car is still there!

Anyhoo, a bit of tweaking with the electrics, a major service overhaul with 2 new ‘belts’ and a CV cover, and 4 brand spanking new tyres … and $1100 later … and my car is like a new model all over again.  I still think it’s a heap of scrap metal, but at least it’s more pleasurable to drive now! LOL.

The joy of being stuck at the mechanics 1 1/2 hours away from home, and being in the middle of an industrial area, means nothing to do but sit on a chair in the corner of a wee office, listen to an audiobook until the iPod battery runs out, and do a teensy bit of stitching … doesn’t get much better than that really (OK, if we’re to be totally truthful, I guess sitting in my own stitching recliner in front of Supernatural on TV with a glass of vino to help keep down the internal humidity would be better … but hey, beggars can’t be choosers!).

I managed to quickly dive into the Craft Depot at Pennant Hills seeing as I wasn’t very far away on the way home, and picked up a couple of fabrics … and lo and behold the weather may change tomorrow, so expect snow and blizzards … I came out with a couple of finishing fabrics and not a single ONE was blue!!!  {{swoon}}

Fabric stash 02Apr09

Anyway, enough waffling … time to go sit in front of the TV and catch up on this week’s programmes with that well-earned glass of vino … I’ll leave you with today’s tiny bit of stitching effort (sorry, I forgot to use the flash, so it’s a crappy dark photo that even the editing software doesn’t want to play with!). 

Joy to the World WIP 02Apr09

In fact, before I sit in front of the TV I think I’ll drag out my EGA Correspondence class booklets – I’m getting a serious urge to start something that is “new” and that will teach me something … or perhaps I should drag out one of my old WIP’s with challenging stitches on them … hmmm, decisions, decisions … 😉

Ackworth Friendship Book, Cross Stitch, Food, Quaker, Round Robin, Round Robins, With My Needle, Works in Progress

A bit of Quaker

I finally managed to put the final stitches into Part 2 of my Quaker RR:

Quaker RR Part 2

And here’s a comparison of mine and Nickis pieces hanging out together this evening – this photo is quite deceiving, as Nicki’s piece is quite a bit smaller than mine, I should take a photo of them side by side properly so you can see the difference, it’s awesome!:

Quaker RR twins

Then I started part 3, which is part 1 of 2 that I’m stitching on Nicki’s RR.  I have to admit I struggled a bit stitching this tonight, as the fabric’s high count is really hard to see … thank goodness for my Ott-Lite, or I don’t think I would be attempting it!  It will look really pretty once it’s stitched, though … it just might take me a bit longer than normal to stitch it! 😉

Nicki's Quaker RR 1

The highlight for me this weekend was having my ex-flatmate up to stay for the night in Sydney.  She flew off overseas this morning, but before she went we managed to have a great day out yesterday.  We drove out to Bondi Junction, which is a first for me – the Westfield shopping centre out there is awesome!  I totally fell in love with Norton St Grocers, and filled my basket up with wonderful fresh and healthy produce … thankfully my basket was too full by the time we came across the deli section, so I couldn’t stock up on non-healthy options … but, I’ll be back LOL.

Tonight I really enjoyed the fresh figs I’d bought yesterday … I can’t believe the difference between dried and fresh figs – fresh figs rock!!! 😀

Fresh figs

Cross Stitch, Stash, Wishlist

Stash arriving any day now …

I received my receipt in the mail today from Needlecraft Corner, which means my parcel should be arriving any day now!  Sorry Mum it was too late to add some Floss-away bags for you 😦

Here’s the list of goodies coming to Australia very very soon from my personal birthday splurge (from left to right, top to bottom):

  1. January Box & finishing Kit – Cherished Stitches
  2. Cirque des Carreaux – Ink Circles
  3. Scissors By Any Other Name – The Cat’s Whiskers
  4. Victorian Memories Chaise Lounge – The Cat’s Whiskers
  5. Rhapsody in Red part 3 – Sampler Cove
  6. Rhapsody in Red part 4 – Sampler Cove
  7. Rhapsody in Red part 2 – Sampler Cove
  8. Quaker Motif Sewing Kit – Fancy Work

Cherished Stitches-January Box Ink Circles-cirque des carreaux The Cat's Whiskers-Scissors by any other name The Cats Whiskers-Victorian Memories Chaise Lounge sampler cove-rhapsody in red part 3 Sampler Cove-Rhapsody in Red 4 Sampler Cove-Rhapsody in Red 2 Fancy Work-Quaker_Motif_Sewing_Kit 

Along with the charts, I also have the following on their way:

  1. 1 skein of Gloriana silk (Grannie Smith Green)
  2. 1 spool of Kreinik #4 Braid (684)
  3. 8 packets of Mill Hill beads
  4. 3 packets of Mill Hill treasures
  5. Juniper WDW Felt (for WMN’s Quaker Turtles)
  6. 1 skein of WDW #5 perle cotton
    Phew!! 😀

Of course there’s still plenty more still on the wishlist – and just to prove a stitcher can never truly have enough stash, I’ve recently added the following beauties to the list.  Thank goodness there wasn’t too much to tempt me at Nashville this year!!  And those things that did tempt me are already on their way here (The Cat’s Whiskers and Cherished Stitches pieces above) … although I wish I’d known about the latest two LHN designs below when I’d placed my order, or they would have been smack bang on the order list too! … oh well, the year is young ;P

Once again from left to right, top to bottom, the details are:

  1. Travelling Stitcher – LHN
  2. Sunflower Inn – LHN (I ADORE this one!)
  3. It’s Cold Outside – Blue Ribbon Designs
  4. She Sells Seashells – CCN
  5. Lavender Blossoms Biscornu – Sweetheart Tree
  6. Lavender Blossoms Fob – Sweetheart Tree
  7. Cupcakes Glorious Cupcakes – The Cat’s Whiskers
  8. Simply Christmas Tree – Whispered by the Wind
  9. Beach Cottage – CCN
  10. Bayside Bungalows – CCN
  11. Fruits of the Harvest – The Cat’s Whiskers

LHN-Traveling Stitcher LHN-Sunflower Inn Blue Ribbon Designs-It's Cold Outside CCN-She Sells Seashells Sweetheart Tree-Lavender Blossoms Biscornu Sweetheart Tree-Lavender Blossoms Fob The Cats Whiskers-Cupcakes Glorious Cupcakes Whispered by the Wind-Simply Christmas Tree CCN-Beach Cottage CCN-Bayside Bungalows The Cat's Whiskers-Fruits of the Harvest

Yep, there’s no hope for me!! 😛

And seeing as I have no new stitching to show off yet (although I’m about halfway through my March ornie for the Xmas ornie challenge), I thought you might enjoy the eye candy as much as I did 😀