And now for something a little different... Happy Easter and an update on my life.

Happy Easter everyone!

I'm a bit late with my greeting, given that it is 10:30 pm on Easter Sunday, but better late than never.

I've had a very family-oriented weekend this weekend.  My youngest brother S is home for the week (mid-semester holidays) so I've been visiting my parents a bit to catch up with him.

We had a very board-game-oriented Easter.  S brought Ticket To Ride and Munchkin home with him, so we've had several rounds of both.  So far S has managed to win one round of Munchkin, and been soundly flogged in every game of Ticket to Ride.  He's got about 3 days left to try and win a game.  Yes, I'm gloating.  I'll stop.

I haven't done any cross stitching since about lunch time on Saturday.  I've managed to sustain a cross-stitch-related injury - strained a muscle (or several) around my shoulder blade.  I think it's an RSI (repetitive strain injury) from a day and half of solid stitching.  It may also be related to lots of computer time at work, but since I haven't been on the computer any more than usual, I'm going to have to go with the cross stitch.  I took a break from stitching today, got Mum and S to massage my shoulder with deep heat, and have been using a heat pack most of the afternoon.  I've got a massage booked for Tuesday so hopefully that will sort it out because....

On Friday I fly to Malaysia for the week!

I lived in Malaysia for 11 months in 2003 on a student exchange program.  I've been back several times since, including once with Mum in 2007.  This time Dad is coming too (as well as mum).  The three of us are driving to Brisbane (10 hours, providing nothing goes wrong!), then flying to K.L.  We don't have any real plans apart from trying to catch up with my host family (who I haven't been able to warn we are coming because I can't find their contact details) and doing a bit of site-seeing.  I'm not sure what internet access I'll have so I'm busily trying to pre-write and schedule my A to Z blog posts for the 8 days we are going to be away.

Dad and I also have to remember to pick up our passports in Brisbane.  About a week ago we realised that a) Dad's passport expired 3 years ago and b) mine was going to expire 10 days after we got back.  Not really the 6 month leeway you are meant to have!  We managed to get the forms filled in, photos taken, and everything signed and submitted last Monday.  We then paid the extra "please process this NOW" fee for a 48-hour turn around (once it got to Brisbane, which would take a day or two) and said we wanted to pick it up down there because with only 7 business days left before we flew out, we weren't going to take any chances!  Someone said to us "oh well, you can claim the trip on your travel insurance if it doesn't arrive in time" but I'm pretty sure our travel insurance doesn't cover stupidity (which, let's face it, this was)!

At any rate, we have both since received an email to say that the passports have been processed and are ready to collect, so that's good.  Now I just need to find time to pack, in amongst everything else!

Hopefully I'll also find some time for some more stitching too, once my shoulder is better.

Happy stitching!

D is for Don't and Draco

A to Z Challenge - D

D is for "Don't Blink"

This quote is related to the quote from A (Angels have the phone box) and also comes from the episode Blink.  This is another one of those quotes that would be listed in the top 10 sayings of Doctor Who, as well as a list of rules Whovians live by.  I've already explained my love of the episode Blink in the blog post about "A".  What I didn't mention in that post is that the quote "Angels have the phone box" became my house-mate-at-the-time's favourite saying, except that she would say "The angels have my blue box"... so much so that I turned it into a cross stitch for her as a Christmas/going away present when I moved out.  

On another note: I originally designed this pattern back in 2013, and now "Don't blink" could easily be replaced by "Don't breath" and "Don't think" leading many Whovians to ask "well, what can we do then?"

The cross stitch I made for my house mate, based on her favourite quote.
I ran out of time to add the weeping angels.

D is for Draco Malfoy

Draco started off as the stereotypical school bully, surrounded by even more stereotypical henchmen Crabbe and Goyle.  He was the type of smarmy, spoilt, know-it-all teenage boy I wanted to slap all the way through high school, so I was cheering loudly when Hermione punched him in the nose in Prisoner of Azkaban.  However, I loved the way that his character grew and became more 3-dimensional with all those "layers" I was talking about earlier.  One of the things I love most about JK Rowlings' writing is her character development - moving them from the stereotypical into the complex. And kudos to Tom Felton who played him with such conviction in the films.  This was a character that I grew to not so much like as respect.

Who is your favourite Harry Potter character?

Happy stitching!

C is for Coolness and Cedric

A to Z Challenge - C

C is for "Bowties are Cool"

According to Matt Smith's Doctor, anything he wears is cool: hats, bowties, stetsens (I apologise for the spelling!), fezes, you get the picture (and yes I realise hat-type items are 3 of the 4 things I listed!).  In the original cross stitch pattern, this one actually says "It's so cool" which is another thing he says, however the person I am making this cross stitch for listed "Bowties are cool" as one of their favourite quotes so I changed it.  Like "Bad Wolf", "bowties are cool" has become one of the most iconic sayings of New Who.  A fez and a bowtie mean Matt Smith, in the same way that the paper 3D glasses have become David Tennant.  I think Peter Capaldi should just be represented by a pair of bushy eyebrows.

Thoughts: should there be a hyphen between 'bow' and 'ties'?
I think it looks okay but spell-check disagrees...

C is for Cedric Digory

*spoiler alert if you haven't read/watched Goblet of Fire*

I'm not a Robert Patterson fangirl.  I've never seen/read Twilight.  I didn't drool over Cedric Digory in the films.  In fact I didn't particularly even like him in the film - he was just such a nothing character; a bit self-centred but otherwise nothing much.  I liked him more in the book.  You got a better sense of his conflict over Harry being chosen "as well" and the battle between wanting to win vs wanting to pay Harry back (I mean in a positive way).  I remember back before I first read Goblet of Fire, there was an interview with JK Rowling where she said "a well loved character will die" in the book.  I felt kind of cheated that it was Cedric.  He wasn't a well loved character for the reader.  First time I think I've felt cheated that a character's death in a book wasn't more significant.

For a character I don't overly like, that's a fairly long description!

Remember to check back in to see the progress of my alphabet stitch :)

Happy stitching!

B is for Bad Wolf and Bellatrix

A to Z Challenge - B

B is for "Bad Wolf"
The saying that repeated and re-appeared throughout season 1 of the New Who series.  The saying that became synonomus with Rose Tyler, that was used to indicate her presence or her link to the Doctor (Bad Wolf Bay in Norway where the Doctor crossed betweenthe parallel universes, the message Rose gives to Donna to warn the Doctor).  Billie Piper's character in the 50th anniversary episode was known as Bad Wolf.  Basically, in any blog/article/cross stitch pattern about famous/top/important Doctor Who quotes, Bad Wolf has to be near the top of the list.

Here's a bonus picture for you - Bad Wolf as played by Billie Piper in the 50th anniversary in cross stitch :)

B is for Bellatrix Lestrange
I have to admit - in the books, I didn't take a liking to Bellatrix.  Not that you could take a liking to someone so completely evil and unlikable, but the character didn't have a lot of depth.  She hated non-pure wizards and loved Voldermort.  That's about it.  She was married in the books (did you know that?) but her husband doesn't get much of a look in.  I liked Narcissa so much more - she at least had a purpose and a motivation.  However, I absolutely adore Helena Bonham Carter's portrayal of her.  Bonham Carter is so good at being evil and insane and disturbing; and is such a mesmerising actor.  She's also very good at being good (Queen in "The King's Speech").  Her dress and hair are amazingly wild and creative in the movies - I hope I've done them justice.

Remember to check back in to follow the progress of my cross stitch ;) 

Happy Stitching!

A lovely year of finishes - April

First note to those visiting: this isn't any entry for the A-Z blog challenge.  That's either the post just before this one or just after :)

Instead, this is my post about my WIP for the A Lovely Year of Finishes project.

For April I thought I could use my project from the A-Z challenge (which I will finish in April!), but instead I've chosen to work on The Wesley Family cross stitch.  It's going to be a gift for another craft swap I'm involved in - the Hogwarts Swap or #hogwartsswap2015.

I'm going to be stitching it on pale blue 28 count aida using DMC threads.  I'll be posting updates on my instagram feed (@fangirlstitches), to keep this blog mostly focused around the A-Z challenge project.