Colour Exchange

Recently I participated in a colour exchange that was organised by a message board member at 123 stitch. My partner was Amy in the U.S.A and her favourite colour is blue. Mine, of course, was pink! Here's what I sent to Amy:

* A patterned piece of fabric

* A magnetic snow globe that you add your own photo to

* A notebook

* A candle

* A packet of beads

* A pair of buttons

* A body sponge

* Do-it-yourself earing kit

* An insulated bottle cover

Here's what Amy sent to me:

* A polka dot photo frame

* A cupcake photo frame

* A couple of stamps 

* An ink pad

* Cupcake holder

* 10 skeins of thread

* Printed ribbon

* A cross stitch chart

and all the items came in a pretty box :-)

A Fantastic Day of Karate

DS & I went to the final karate tournament before the Nationals yesterday. I wasn't sure whether to go or not as it was a long way from home, but it turns out it was very worthwhile. We hit the road just after 6am, with a breakfast pit stop along the way. The trip was very easy and we made it in no time.

It was quite a small tournament, with only 3 mats in operation. However, there turned out to be about 12 kids in his kata so he got a chance to practise his new ones a few times as there were 4 rounds. He went on to win! He also went into the 10-12 year age group for some extra practise and came 2nd, losing to another state team member. Just before his kumite event, it was announced that Jols (a martial arts equipment supplier) would give the winner of his age group a new Adidas gi, which DS was excited about and used as incentive to win the event with a perfect head kick in the final round. Jols also supplied place getters with a free drink bottle. I even bought DS a new t-shirt and myself a hoodie, so all up a great day!

I even dreamt he won kata, and won kumite 2-1 against a kid called Lochlain. There's a Lochlain he usually comes up against in Melbourne tournaments (who wasn't there) but funnily enough, the boy he beat (3-1) was a Lochlain too! I also dreamt I had to do a kata against another mum, but thankfully that part didn't come true. 2 out of 3 ain't bad!

Video Game Blog

This is my son's blog, with video game reviews. He's looking to get some more followers so feel free to spread the word. Get your kids to check it out too :-)
my-video-games.blogspot.com

A Whinge & a W(h)ine about Tiger

The airway that is, not the animal. Although riding a real life tiger to Queensland sounds almost more appealing right about now. For those that don't know, Tiger Airways have been grounded for at least a week by CASA (Civil Aviation Safety Authority) due to a couple of safety breaches. There's talk of them never recovering (their domestic flights have run at a loss since they started up here in Australia), and the bans lasting longer than the week. I even read in the newspaper that their CEO sold his shares in the company last week. A sign of little faith?

Anyway, I am therefore in limbo. Thankfully our flights aren't for a few weeks, but still, I kind of like the thought of everything being set in stone and that my life wouldn't hang in the balance for a karate tournament. I don't even want to fly with them anymore, but short of writing off several hundred dollars of tickets, or praying they cancel the flights with a full refund (which they are currently doing for those "flying" this week), then I don't have a lot of choice. Let's just hope they don't declare bankruptcy before then, or I won't see a single cent of the money we paid them.

Even after I bought the tickets, I said never again to flying with Tiger. Now this.

First Finish in (what seems like) Forever

Yet again, it seems like decades since I had a finish to show. I chose this one because it looked "easy", and I thought I could whip it up in no time. Sadly, that was not to be. I had to do my fair share of frogging, because apparently I was "blinded by the white" (Get it? You know that song by Manfred Mann? Ha ha, I'm too funny. Aren't I?) around the letter squares. You'd think I'd learn the first time, but no, I think on 3 out of the 4 squares I started stitching the pink right up against the burgandy colour. Doh!
Here it is:

• Name of the design is "Assisi Love Squared".
• Chart is a freebie from Kincavel Krosses.
• Fabric is a 28 count white off cut.
• Thread is DMC #3326 & #3328.
• Stitch count is 65 x 63.  
• Started on May 17th 2011.
• Completed on June 29th 2011.  I'm not sure what this will become or what I'll do with it. Maybe a little pillow or wall hanging?

Fabric Trade

I recently traded some fabric with Joni from the 123stitch message board. It's been ages since I traded and not bought outright. We both had no clue what was a good trade, but in the end we worked out a system that we both were pleased with. I have no clue what fabric is worth, I'm really useless! I ended up with 3 large pieces of my favourite fabric (monaco -hand dyed by the now defunct Enchanted Fabrics - RIP) as well as a gift voucher to spend at 123 stitch. Joni ended up with several smaller cuts of different fabric. Here's what I got:

Now to make myself stitch on it and not just admire it!