2016: A year of ups and downs

This morning we woke up to the sad news that Carrie Fisher (Princess Leia) had passed away.  2016 has certainly been a rough year - Brexit, the Australian elections (with more backstabbing and "he said, she said" than usual, and a very volatile senate), the US election, more unexpected celebrity deaths than we can count.  My two cats died within five weeks of each other.  That was really rough.

The Awkward Yeti summed up the
year nicely in this cartoon
(c) Nick Seluk

Personally, 2016 has also been a year of good things - I moved to Brisbane to start work at a new school (which is going well).  Moving to Brisbane has meant I'm closer to two of my brothers and can catch up with them for board-game afternoons more regularly, as well as several old school friends. I was in England when the year started, catching up with old friends. I've been to the theatre several times - so much easier now I live in Brisbane!

This year I went purple, dressed up as Leia for my yongest brother's 21st,
played boardgames, and visited the UK

Fangirl Stitches did well in 2016: I exhibited at three different conventions and met some amazing fellow exhibitors, as well as lots of fellow geeky stitchers.  On that note, I also met Nathan Fillion and John Barrowman, as well as Piper and Leo from Charmed, Tonks and Seamus from Harry Potter, Osgood, Danny and Missy from Doctor Who, and Xena the Warrior Princess.  They signed my cross stitch pieces and all said nice things about them.

Markets and minions - House of Fandom Market Brisbane, Oz Comic Con Melbourne
Oz Comic Con Brisbane, and Supanova Brisbane

My signed cross stitch pieces

I originally sat down this morning to write a post about Carrie Fisher, and about how crappy this year has been from a world-wide stand-point.  But then I looked at my mum's fridge covered in family photos and I stopped to think about it.  I thought about my cousin's baby, born at 24 weeks who is at home now and meeting his adjusted milestones.  I thought about another cousin who gave birth on New Year's Day, and a third who gave birth yesterday (I have 24 first-cousins - it can get confusing).  I thought about my exchange-student brother from Japan whose wife gave birth earlier in the year. I thought about yet another cousin who graduated from High School this year.  I thought about close friends who got married in January, and in April (along with another cousin), and a friend who got engaged a couple of weeks ago. I thought about a cousin and a friend who both (independent of each other) successfully launched (and funded) their first card games on Kickstarter. I bet none of them would say that 2016 was a crappy year.

Every year will have its ups and downs.  Sure, 2016 had a lot of downs, but there were also a lot of highs personally, professionally, and even in the world at large.  2016 will be remembered for the good, as well as for the bad.  I'm going to concentrate on the good, and see the year out with a smile.

Ready to see in the New Year with a bang...
well, a cup of tea and comfy pj's anyway!

Happy Stitching.

Throwback Thursday - 50th Whovian celebrations... and a new pattern!

Back in 2013, Doctor Who celebrated 50 years as one of our favourite fandoms.

There were mixed opinions about the various Anniversary celebrations, but I had an absolute ball.  I was living in England at the time, so had front-row seats to all the events and TV specials and radio specials and displays and all the rest.

One of the things I was most excited about was attending the Doctor Who Official Celebration in London.  It was amazing - I attended panels with Doctors 5, 6, 7, 11, Steven Moffat, and Nicholas Briggs (the voice of the Daleks); saw original costumes and sets from the original and new series; spent far too much money; and met people as crazy as I am.

I also really enjoyed the 50th Anniversay episode, The Day of The Doctor.  I've watched it so many times over the last 20 months I can quote it almost word for word.  having David Tennant and Billy Piper back was unbelievable, and John Hurt is a fantastic addition to the Doctor line up.

Today's new pattern features one of those throw-away lines from the episode that just stick in your head, as well as the three different Tardises (Tardisi?) as they appeared in the episode:

Which One's Mine?

I've also updated the Blink, Birthday and Anniversary card patterns to make them more streamlined, easier to stitch, and in a similar style to my other designs.

And because I'm talking about the 50th Anniversary episode, I can't not share the original pattern I designed for this episode, and one of the original patterns in my Etsy store, The Day of The Doctor:

Happy Stitching!

Turning 30 Whovian style

It was my birthday on Friday :)  I turned 30.

The cake my Dad made and
decorated for me

I had very mixed emotions about turning 30 - I'm sure many people do.  Part of me was happy or unconcerned, part of me was using it as an excuse for multiple shopping trips, and part of me was totally dreading it.  I was feeling like I hadn't achieved all these things I thought I was supposed to do by 30, feeling like my life didn't have a lot of direction or purpose, that I wasn't sure what the hell I was meant to be doing with my life. 

I got over it (mostly) and life seems to have carried on as normal.

In the end, my 30th was a pretty relaxed affair with work for the day, and then a family dinner to the Chinese restaurant.

On the Saturday we had a bit of a 'do at my parent's place.  It was Doctor Who themed because I am a geek and proud of it.  However for the guests (none of whom are Whovians and very few of whom are into dressing up) I told them it was Time and Space, which meant they could dress as anything from time and/or space.  Most people didn't get into it, a couple wore themed shirts, but a few went right out which was awesome.  The main thing was that I had a lot of fun decorating everything in blue and silver, pulling out every Whovian thing I owned.  I even bought a TARDIS dress especially for the night.

My TARDIS dress

Ancient Greeks and an astronaut dropped in for the night

David Tennant with his TARDIS, Mr Spck and Princess Leah

Whovian decorations on display

The main celebration for my 30th birthday though is this weekend: a few friends (including my parents, who I count as my friends) and I are heading to Brisbane for the weekend.  We're meeting up with some other friends for a High Tea Saturday afternoon, and then some of us are off to QPAC to see Wicked.  This will be the fourth time I've seen Wicked and I am so excited!

In other news...

I've been posting stitching updates on Instagram lately, including a Super Hero Swap I've been involved in, and the Floss Tube Photo A Day challenge.  I'm @FangirlStitches on Instagram so jump on there and follow me.  I'll post a bit of a project update on Blogger too next week.

Happy Stitching!

Oz Comic Con, Veronica Mars, and me

The Oz Comic Con is happening at the moment, with days in Melbourne, Sydney, Perth, Adelaide, and, for the first time ever, Brisbane!!

So I went.

Of course I went. Was there ever any doubt I would? 

With my brother, waiting for one of the Q&As to start

October last year I went to the London MCM Comic Con.  I had so much fun I decided I wanted to go to one in Australia with one or more of my brothers as there was a lot of anime and computer game stuff that they are into and which I don't understand. Found out it was on in Brisbane, gave my brother a ticket for his birthday present (which is in January, so he had a bit of a wait!) and booked my flights.

I had a great time.

In the lead-up when guests where being announced, there weren't any that I was really excited about. There were a couple of people from Stargate coming which was cool, but no one else. Sorry William Shatner - I'm just not a super-duper fan.

Nicholas and Emma in "Buffy the Vampire Slayer".
Image from bbc.co.uk

This all changed about two weeks out (when I realised that I hadn't actually bought tickets, I just thought I had, but it all worked out okay), when I found out that Nicholas Brendon (Xander) and Emma Caulfield (Anya) were going to be guests.  I have loved Buffy The Vampire Slayer since I was a teenager.  The wit, the sheer cleverness of it, plus the great characters... What's not to love? Joss Whedon is a brilliant writer, and Xander was always one of my favourite characters. So I was pretty excited.

The cast of Veronica Mars.
Image from warnerbros.com.au

But not as excited as when I saw that Jason Dohring (Logan), Percy Daggs III (Wallace) and Michael Muhney (Sherif Lamb) were coming to Brisbane. Veronica Mars, people.  Check it out.  Buffy was my high school show.  Veronica Mars was my uni show.  Intrigue, plot, characters, dialogue, one-liners, twists and turns, heartache, plus utter cuteness of the male cast.  I was sad when it was cancelled.  I backed the Kickstarter campaign for the movie.  I waited in anticipation for the movie's release and the book and enjoyed both.  It's not Doctor Who or Discworld, but it's pretty damn good.  And I was very excited to see the cast were coming to Brisbane.

Finn the Human

Oh, and Orlando Bloom was there too.  Quite a coup for Brisbane.  I was excited, but not as much as for Veronica Mars and Buffy. My brother was pretty excited about Orlando. And about the guy from Game of Thrones, Jason Momoa.  I don't watch Game of Thrones, so can't comment.

My Comic Con costume

I enjoyed Oz Comic Con. I loved looking at the costumes and admiring the cosplay.  I enjoyed wandering around the stalls and checking out the games and merch for sale.  Bought my brother's Christmas and birthday presents. I had fun chatting to other fans and getting the chance to wear my Harry Potter cloak.

I really enjoyed attending the Q&As with Michael Muhney, Percy Daggs III, and Jason Dohring. So much fun.

Percy and Michael's Q&A

But the major Fangirl, squeal-enticing, shaking-so-I-couldn't-sit-down moments: having a photo with the three Veronica Mars boys.

With Percy, Michael and Jason

Oh and one with Emma Caulfield and Nicholas Brendon.

With Emma and Nicholas

My brother went back on Sunday for a photo with Orlando Bloom and to listen to the Q&A with Jason Momoa. I had to fly back home. Downside of living in a small town in Central Queensland.

With Orlando Bloom!

But I got to hug Percy, Michael and Jason, so it all works out I guess!

Some more pics from our adventure:

My brother's Comic Con buys

I'm now a toy!

Facing off against the Black Knight
(Monty Python's Holy Grail)

My other brother posing

Finn and I in line

How do you finish up a day at Comic Con?
With Magic the Gathering and dodgy cartoons of course!

Happy Stitching and Geeking!!

The New Doctor

Have you seen the recent costume reveal for the new Doctor, Peter Capaldi?  The 12th, 13th, or 14th Doctor, depending on your counting system:

• 12th Doctor if you don't count John Hurt's Doctor - he didn't call himself the Doctor during that regeneration, and had also been called The War Doctor so that the other Doctors didn't have to be re-numbered
• 13th Doctor if you do count John Hurt (who was a pretty awesome Doctor if you ask me)
• 14th Doctor if you include the 2nd regeneration for David Tennant

I quite like the new Doctor's costume.  Very refined, simple, but with a hint of colour.  Some people have been comparing it to John Pertewi's outfit, while others have been complaining that there is nothing "distinctive" about it.  

Photo from drwho-online.co.uk

Personally, I like it.  I enjoyed Matt Smith's "bowties are cool", Tennant's long flowing trench coat, and who could forget the 4th Doctor's scarf; however sometimes I think costume designers can go overboard trying to be "cool" or "different" or "distinctive", remember the 6th Doctor's technicolour dreamcoat?  Sometimes simple, elegant and classic is the best.

Past Doctor costumes from The Day of The Doctor cross stitch pattern, available from Fangirl Stitches

As Peter Capaldi himself has said "He's woven the future from the cloth of the past.  Simple, stark, and back to basics.  No frills, no scarf, no messing, just 100% Rebel Time Lord." (bbc.co.uk)

Now who could argue with that?

I'm really looking forward to Capaldi's era as the Doctor.  While David Tennant stole my heart, and I'll always have a soft spot for Chris Ecclesten, Matt Smith irritated me most of the time.  He did grow on me towards the end, and he did have some spectacular moments, particularly during the 50th and every story with River; however I spent most of his tenure wishing for Tennant to come back!  I'm also hoping Capaldi helps improve Clara for me, who I personally don't like.  I'm over the whole companion-has-a-crush-on-the-Doctor storylines.  I think that's why I didn't really like Amy Pond either.  And why I miss Rory and Donna. 

I'm getting off topic.  As I said, I'm looking forward to Capaldi's era.  I'm looking forward to a bit of gravitas, and maybe a little bit of "acting like grown-ups".  I'd have enjoyed some more of John Hurt too (Big Finish audios perhaps?).  Ooo, I'm also looking forward to his voice - will he be Scottish or English?  Or maybe Northern?  Providing he's not Essex, we're all good.

I'm also really looking forward to some new monsters, new quotes, and to designing new cross stitch patterns for the Rebel Time Lord.

It Is Defended cross stitch pattern from Fangirl Stitches

What do you think of Capaldi's outfit?  What's your favourite Doctor Who moment?  What would you like to see in cross stitch?

Happy Stitching!