Monday 29 March 2010

Time for Some Real Shopping!

Groceries, that is.

I've organised the envelopes & gift certificates for the competition winners, though a few of the winners still have not yet emailed back with addresses. By now, the gift certificates should be in Inboxes (or not far off). I'll do my postal duties tomorrow.

Craft fair, stash reduction, blah, blah ...
It's really time to grocery shop when one starts stealing sultanas from the cereal box to put in a cake mix! LOL. I've been letting the pantry run down because it seemed overstocked. As with most things I do, I think I over-did it. Easter week has arrived a week earlier than I thought (somewhere since January I changed the date in my head to the weekend after next) & there's not a thing in the house to eat unless we share Lucy & Harry's dog kibble.

The MOTH & I are on our own again for the festive season (which we seem to be doing a lot of, lately). The Crown Prince is off to see his Princess who is over with her family on holidays, in Korea; the Crown Princess & her consort are off to visit HIS parents in Toowoomba; the Living Doll is probably working (she only ever works and sleeps) & the Cadet Princess is, hopefully, eyes glued to the textbooks in order to pass the up-coming uni exams (yeah, right!).

We had a fabulous weekend here at Castle Bliss. The MOTH wants to buy a new car (you can imagine how much quid pro quo mileage of stash I'm going to get out of that!), so he arrived home on Friday afternoon with an A3 Cabriolet to test drive. No, dear readers, we are not buying a car like that, but since the dealer said:

"Take it for a spin!" who was going to argue? We zoomed over to Manly (the seaside) & munched fish & chips before returning topless (car, that is - though next time I will wear a hat to save my face from my hair). It was f-a-n-t-a-s-t-i-c-!

On Saturday, I went to a ladies' breakfast followed by another drive in the car before its return. On Sunday, we finished a last bit of painting and rehung pictures around the house. It took all day, but I now feel that we are 'at home' again. It's a lovely feeling. It also means that apart from a bathroom & the last bit of the roof (we're waiting for fine weather for that job), we're done with renovations for a long, long while. Woo hoo!

Next project: "A Rose Garden" - we have the perfect sunny spot for it.

A bit later this week, my Harry turns two years old. How the time has flown since he was a pup!

I'll take his pic on the big day.

In the meantime, I wish happiness & laughter to one and all,

Felicity

Wednesday 24 March 2010

You Won!



First Prize - $50US gift voucher from 1-2-3 Stitch
Barbara at Barb's Stitches

2nd Prize - $10US gift voucher from 1-2-3 Stitch
Nic at Girl As Mad As Birds

Consolation Prizes
(a gift of something from my stash pile)

Dawn from Crafter's Creations
Meari from Meari's Musings
Tama from Stitching Daze
Sue from Stitching and Life in the Company of Pets
Terri from Threads Through Time
J. Rae from Rae of Sunshine Stitches
Karen from Little Cat Blogs
Lili from Another Cross Stitch Addict
Carol R. from iStitch
Maggie from BlackCountry Wench


Girls, I've tried sending you all an email, can you check your junkmail, please? Send me your snail mail addresses (even if I'm surpposed to already have it) so that I can get something out to you as soon as possible.

Thanks to all 85 participants for being such wonderful sports during the last year. Your encouragement & your friendship through comments, emails and letters has been priceless! I would have loved to give each of you something special during this round of giveaways, but it wasn't possible.

Happiness & laughter to one and all,

Felicity

Tuesday 23 March 2010

Blog Anniversary Today!

Welcome to my cross stitching blog site. It's here that I am going to tell you about the projects I'm working on and all the stash that is part of the enthusiasm of cross stitch.

So said the first entry on my blog in 2006. 4 years later, I'm pleased to say that the stitching and blogging has continued despite interruptions of work, renovation, restoration and travel. Much of the enthusiasm is, thanks dear readers, to your encouragement. I've had a ball! Now, here comes the celebration bit for you.

As way of thanks, I have a giveaway! The competition is only open until midnight AEST (Australian Eastern Standard Time which is to say until midnight GMT+10hrs Brisbane time). It's not a long time, folks.

There are two categories: First prize is a $50 USD gift voucher from 123stitch. To win in this category, you have to have already commented on my blog before yesterday's date AEST. Entry to the draw is automatic. To clarify: if you have contributed to the blog comments any time between 24th March 2009 and 21st March 2010 AEST, then your name is automatically on the list. I’ll collate the entries and get the MOTH to pull a name out of the hat on Saturday, 27th March.

Second prize is a $10 USD gift voucher from 123Stitch for those who read this blog entry today and who enter the draw before midnight (AEST) today. Everyone's name (previous commentators & new friends) goes into this draw. This means that you could win up to $70USD in gift vouchers, but you have to make a comment today.

Spread the news far and wide for the second category, because I'm happily celebrating the anniversary of my blog and my big birthday on the 23rd April.

Consolation prizes are available to those who have made comment before today (as yet to be determined). I've got some stash that I will never stitch so I’ll the anniversary as a method of giving it away.

Saturday 20 March 2010

Pictorial Update: Week 11, 2010


Family Gathering!


Feeling short!


The Crown Princess


The Living Doll


Angels Afghan by Joan Elliott


Time Out

Happiness & laughter to one and all,

Felicity

Wednesday 17 March 2010

Lá Fhéile Pádraig

We're doing family dinner tonight to celebrate! I'm of 3/4-and-a-bit Irish origin (I have a great grandfather and his ancestors from Yorkshire in England - hence my very English surname - and set of great great grandparents from Newfoundland, so that 'waters me down' a bit). My family was also Catholic, so during my childhood we always celebrated St Paddy's Day bigtime!

The celebrations abruptly stopped when I married my first husband who was of Chinese origin. My celt origins were ignored totally because Chinese seemed so much more 'exotic'. To be fair, I think this partly also because I prefer Chinese cooking to potatoes and sausages. I loathe sausages of any sort and no experimental cooking is ever going to change this fact! Potatoes are more my thing than rice.

The MOTH, like my first husband, ignores that he's probably as much Irish as I am, yet celebrates that he has two ancestors of Welsh origin on his father's side (hence his Welsh surname). Too bad! The 82,425 people of Welsh origin in Australia are of probably of the same origins as St Patrick, anyway.

It's time to start celebrating the Celt in us, again! Tonight's about the Reid, the Duffy, the Hodgkinson, the Collidge and the Griffin in us! I've tried out a few recipes and settled on Guiness stew, stuffed mushrooms, fresh beans and mashed potato and a long walk after it (LOL). The Living Doll is doing her version of something Irish for dessert (which will be interesting considering she works in a British pub). The crown princess and her half English consort (his father was born in England) are looking after the drinks for the evening.

May you never lie, steal, cheat or drink.
But if you must lie, lie in each other's arms.
If you must steal, steal kisses.
If you must cheat, cheat death.
And if you must drink, drink with us, your friends.

Felicity

Saturday 6 March 2010

Colour

I'm in the process of choosing colours for a new project.
I need two which complement each other...



Colours are chosen very carefully in design,
due to the attachment of emotion and tone that they carry.


Red - Energy, passion and attention.
Blue – Associated with trust, security, stability and peace.
Green – Freshness, growth, vitality, calm, wealth, prestige
Yellow – Light, optimism, motivation, warmth, positive
Purple – Sophistication, royalty, sentimentality, mystery, spirituality
Pink – Energy, fun, youth, excitement, affection, romance, sentimentality
Orange – Fun, vitality, youth, health, exuberance.
Brown - wholesomeness and earthiness. While it might be considered a little on the dull side, it also represents steadfastness, simplicity, friendliness, dependability, and health.
Black – Power, class, seriousness, drama, sophistication, boldness
White – Purity, peace, cleanliness, freshness


Which colours suit your creativity and inspire you?

Colour Relationships
In addition to understanding colour meanings, it helps with mixing and matching colours to know the relationship of adjacent, harmonizing, contrasting, and complementary colours.

Adjacent or harmonizing colours appear next to each other on the colour wheel. Harmonizing colours often work well together but if too close in value they can appear washed out or not have enough contrast. A harmonizing trio could be something like blue, light blue, and cyan or perhaps red, orange, and yellow.

Contrasting colours are separated from each other by other colours -- they come from different segments of the colour wheel. The further apart, the more the contrast. Red (from the warm half of the colour wheel) contrasts with green and blue (from the cool half of the colour wheel). Shades of purple contrast with shades of green.
Contrasting colours that are directly opposite each other on the colour wheel may be described as clashing colours.
Despite the name, colours that clash are not always a bad combination if used carefully.
They provide great contrast and high visibility.

Complementary colours are on opposite sides of the colour wheel - they are each half of a pair of contrasting colours. For example, blue is a complementary colour to yellow. Green is complementary to purple and magenta. A pair of complementary colours printed side by side can sometimes cause visual vibration (clash) making them a less than desirable combination. However, separate them on the page with other colours and they can work together. Note the spelling. These are not complimentary colours. They don't always flatter (compliment) one another but they do complete (complement) each other.

Cool Colour Meanings (calming): Blue, Green, Turquoise, Silver
Warm Colour Meanings (exciting): Red, Pink, Yellow, Gold, Orange
Mixed Cool/Warm Colour Meanings: Purple, Lavender, Green, Turquoise
Neutral Colour Meanings (unifying): Brown, Beige, Ivory, Gray, Black, White

Tuesday 2 March 2010

Time Out - Update No. 6


The quick stitching is done, so progress reports are fewer in number.
Even so, it's still a fun stitch!