Friday 2 May 2008

Annoucement Mega-Post

evening all,

this post has been a few days in the making, partly because i have had interruptions, partly because i wanted to tell donnie one of the announcements before i told the rest of blogland and thirdly i have been creating (some successful, some success with lots of unpicking and others boy the humidity here screwed it up).

okay announcement number one

i finally got round to drawing the ct giveaway late on tuesday. mil only came to my palace once so it was difficult to organise a draw. besides when i asked her to do the honours she suggested that ct herself make the draw. i spent most of tuesday trying to get the monkey child to do it. i failed. i even tried her 'letterbox' (hem old shoe box with a slit cut out the top). one guesses that ct anticipated what i wanted but was toying with me. so i moved to plan b, s. i grabbed the first thing i could think of (my mouldy hat) and the hand went in and
the winner is..
three sneaky bugs is the winner. s suggested that i should also send something to my purple crayon and i'm a ginger monkey as there were only 3 people who guessed. oh anna i need your address.

announcement number two

i like the ct suggestions: cute tush (three sneaky bugs); cutie toes (i'm a ginger monkey) and cautionary tale (my purple crayon)... but peeps you were way off. if you read this blog post, i did mention that ct is a REALLY unpc nickname. happy (my dear father), gave coined this nickname before ct was born and before we knew she was a boy or girl. s and i had massive fights over name. we both agreed that ct needed a name that would sound the same or similar in english and japanese. we also agreed no middle names (not a tradition in either of our families'), it was the name we were at loggerheads at. i liked the name ben but for those of you who speak japanese um you probably have heard of the benjo (not the polietest of terms for the loo), but have you heard of benki (toilet seat) or daiben (number 2)?? well that's what the name conjured up for s. i have taught many an awesome ben so i NEEDED this name for my little boy (um i was soooo wrong). for girls i liked hannah (spelt hana) because it is similar to my name. not a goer with mr cliche. one day after a huge spat over names and s stormed out in anger, happy rang. i cried down the phone line to happy about it. he said leave it to him and he might have a helpful suggestion. he did later (the same day or the next one cannot remember), ct. ct = chicken teriyaki. happy's reasoning chicken teriyaki sounds the similar in english and japanese (he is correct there), exists in australia and japan and is something that i love. because chicken teriyaki was a mouthful, um it got contracted to ct. so my delightful daughter's nickname is my favourite japanese dish. one day i will tell her this story and let her decide what ct stands for. ct has nothing to do with the little girl's initials. they're ny. so peeps i can say i love ny....
trust me
announcement number three
i'm behind of memes. i sat out of the this is... my ideal dinner party guest list. seeing that we had to decide only 6 people and we are missing friends and family in australia, we couldn't decide on 6. but the one for the 28th of april, i can do.
favourite books
these are my favourite books. the lion, the witch and the wardrobe by c.s. lewis was a childhood favourite. i read the book so often by the time i was 13, i could quote whole sections... actually i loved the whole series. first read when i was 8 turning 9 and i am struggling my way through the series in japanese for the first time (fits and starts people). the other, origami omnibus by kunihiko kasahara has been the backbone of many an origami session in my pre mummy days. i like the mathematical approach the book takes.

announcement four
a week on and my studio is still a bomb site. umm it looked better on wednesday when i took the pictures.
April 30
the side view: clothes sewing blouse in progress; shorts cut out and fabric waiting to be cut out. i never did get anything finished for the outlaw visit. (give me time to write about that. i need to think about what and how to write about as she has access to some fine english speakers. it was 95% positive. sooooo much better than the last, just a few gripes....)
april 30
view two of the sheers for a mobile i am making. i am on a mobile bent. i see ideas everywhere. the weather is happering progress on this one. i need a relatively unhumid day (snort) for the pva/water mix to set nicely (and getting the mix right has been trial and error).
april 30
final view is ct's messenger bag. look closely and you will see why i have classed it as a failure. picky may be but it is me. oh the pieces are being loved to bits so may be i need to get it finished real soon.

announcement five
the whole shebang
i have finally sewn a garment with a collar and sleeves. only taken more than 30 years. why have i avoided them like the hand foot and mouth disease (too common here)?? not so hard. it did take me 5 hours of finding the instructions and the picture of the collar not making sense to me (stitching and unripping as well) for me to think about the picture spatially and do it my way (and it so worked). the pattern is newlook 6407. not difficult just the brain not understanding the instructions. the pattern writers and my brain are not on the same wave length. note to self, coat hanger photos are not so fab.

announcement six
murphy arrived at his new home and was loved. so i made a mountain out of a mole hill over the size. oh, smoothpebble, the lunch box is indeed an obento box. i saw it at daiso and they have very masculine ones that i am sure the young men and your partner in crime would like.

announcement seven
probably the biggest for me. i am opening an etsy store on the 25th of june this year. why? it is 6 calendar months before christmas and i do not think i could get my act together before then.

i have a custom order for a baby activity quilt. oh, i made a play quilt for one of the mums that i get on with at playgroup (baby due today and she was at playgroup. i guess if nothing is happening and you have an extremely active 1 1/2 year old, would you stay at home??) and someone saw it and decided that their friend needed one two. so i need to get cracking... if you want to know what else i have been up to. go to flickr. i still need to post about the outlaws, table and chair loving and the fact i have been secret squirrelled!!

5 comments:

painted fish studio said...

yay on the etsy shop! yay the lunch box is loved! yay to your new shirt! and the ct story still makes me laugh....

have a wonderful weekend!

Anna - Three Sneaky Bugs said...

Too funny! All of it. I would never have guess chicken teriyaki, especially for such a sweetie. I'm very psyched about winning and will email you my address soon. What a fabulous lunch box, with thoughtful treats included. I really must check out this bento world. BTW - your studio looks better than my entire house right now. Lastly - Yay!! on the etsy!!! Can't wait to see what you put up for sale.

Unknown said...

yay yay yay on etsy shop, and to the shirt - well done, I am so impressed. I am sooooo not surprised the lunch bag is loved - it's AMAZING.
chicken teryaki - oh, that is so funny! Poor kid (but yum - I love chicken teryaki)

Maureen Reynolds said...

Whew!! Congrats on the etsy shop.

What a busy time you've had!

claudia said...

Wonderful news...an Etsy shop. WOW!!!
I hope that you will have a lot of fun during that great adventure :)