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.

Exciting Announcements!

I survived the A-Z challenge for a second year.  This post is nothing to do with that though.  I'm hoping to have some time on Sunday to sit down and reflect on the A-Z Challenge, and write my post sharing my finished pieces, my experiences of the challenge, and my favourite blogs.


My big news is that I'm going to be having a stall at a couple of markets/conventions in the next month - hurray!  I've been busily trying to find where I stashed everything after the move, as well as update and finish-off some new patterns (which I will hopefully have up on Etsy soon) ready for display at the stalls.


Firstly, I will be at the House of Fandom Markets in Brisbane on Saturday 7th May (tomorrow). 

The Fortitude Valley Markets are combining forces with House of Fandom for a huge pop culture & alternative market in the Brunswick St Mall.  Complete with cosplay parade, comic book stalls, kawaii gifts, game traders and more - these markets are set to be an outstanding day of fandom fun.

If you are a Brisbanite, it sounds like it will be a lot of fun and a lot of fantastic hand-made fandom stalls will be there, as well as people selling games, toys, and the POP figurines.


 Secondly - Melbourne, I'm heading your way!  I've just (as in, in the last week) found out that I have been accepted to have a stall at Oz Comic Con!  Melbourne's Oz Comic Con is on 11-12 June - so I've been madly booking flights, organising accommodation, wrangling helpers (the eldest of my 3 brothers) and geeking out over the guest list - John Barrowman (Torchwood) will be there!!!  Just a tad excited.


Thirdly - I'll be back at Brisbane's Oz Comic Con.  That isn't until September, so I have plenty of time to prep and breath before then.


I'm off to finish prepping.


Happy stitching,


Ros

Second Birthday

Like second breakfast, only different!

It's been more than a week since I last blogged (after blogging so regularly for a few weeks I feel really bad) but I've had limited internet over the last week.  Firstly because I was in Brisbane and then because I was travelling for work.  So it is time to play catch-up.

View over the river and South Bank
- taken from the pool at our motel

This weekend I was in Brisbane for my Second Birthday.  (the second celebration for my birthday, not the birthday I turned 2). A few friends (including my parents) and I flew down to Brisbane for a non-sexist-girly weekend.  We were joined by other Brisbane friends throughout the weekend and had an absolute blast.

Chilling out in Brisbane - A, S, K, B and I enjoying the pool.
My brother C and his girlfriend joined us for breakfast on Sunday.

There was shopping, eating, swimming, eating, chats, eating, theatre, and did I mention eating?  In all honesty we didn't eat that much, it just felt like it from the photos!  We visited the Eat Street Markets (so many different types of food and all at reasonable prices - recommend checking it out); went for a Chocolate High Tea at the Stamford (not the best High Tea I've ever been to, but still pretty good if you ignore the "Glass Incident"); found food on Queen St Mall at midnight; and had morning tea at Room With Roses.  Plus breakfasts, that's a fair bit of eating really...

Morning tea at Room with Roses

For the High Tea, we were joined by 4 other friends - two ex-Emerald friends, B's sister-in-law and her sister.  The food was pretty scrumptious, although gluten-free options were limited for K, and the setting was lovely.  The only incident for the day was the Glass Incident.  One of the waiters dropped a tray of wine glasses right behind our table and sent glass shards flying under the feet and chairs of several of our party.  I found out later that several of the glasses hit my friend S which was pretty scary.  Thankfully no-one was hurt and everyone was very apologetic about the incident.  It gave us a story to tell at any rate!

High Tea at the Stamford - me with B's sister-in-law and her sister;
B with ex-Emerald friends, Mum & Dad with M; A, K and S.

The main highlight of the weekend (apart from the High Tea) was going to see Wicked.  This is the fourth time I have seen the show, and I still love it.  The costumes are second to none, the scenery is elaborate, the music is catchy and enjoyable, and the actors are first rate.  I saw the production twice in Melbourne (2008 and 2009) and then in Sydney (also 2009).  I had to stop myself from singing out loud to the music this time!  Two things made this production even more exciting for me: firstly Simon Gallaher was playing the role of the Wizard (my childhood favourite actor), and secondly the people I saw it with.  You see, the first time I saw Wicked I saw it with Mum, the second time I saw Wicked I saw it with S, the third time I saw Wicked I saw it with B.  This time, I saw it with Mum and S and B!

It's a green thing.  A, K, S, B, M, Mum, Dad and I had a very wicked time.

After the show I managed to find a uni friend and fellow EQ OT in the crowd which was very exciting, and we dragged her and her husband off to join us for a very late dinner (we were so over chocolate after the High Tea!).

Very late dinner.  OT friend, her husband, and another
ex-Emerald friend joined us - it was so much fun!

It was a brilliant weekend away.  Unfortunately I didn't organise things well at work and followed my two nights away in Brisbane with two nights away for work.  Good thing Mum and Dad could keep looking after my cats!

Stitching update coming soon (I hope!)

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 Brisbane Stitches & Craft Show

It was one of those last-minute discoveries. Mum (OzzyPip) and I were on the plane, flying to Brisbane for the weekend to see Guys and Dolls. We didn't really have any other plans- catch up with my brothers and a friend or two, maybe do some shopping. Random stuff. Flipping through the on-board magazine (as you do) I got to the What's On section. "Hey mum, we've just missed the... no, wait, the Stitches and Craft show is on this weekend!" Suddenly we knew what we were going to do Saturday.

Turns out the friend we were going to catch up with, a friend from home visiting her daughter in Brisbane, had had the same discovery on her flight down a couple of days earlier. The things you discover in in-flight magazines!  So a quick change of plans and we met up at the fair instead. :)

Mum and I are now back in our motel room with very tired feet, much heavier bags and considerably lighter wallets.

I was very impressed with the range of stalls and the types of crafts catered for. I went to a couple of different craft fairs while I was living in England, which were considerably larger (but we are comparing Brisbane and London here!), but seemed to have a lot of the same stuff repeated at every third stall. Where as the Brisbane one had a good variety of quilting supplies and fabrics, appliqué, beading, cross stitch, card making, scrapbooking, teddy bear workshops, dress making, the list goes on.  The other thing I really liked was that there were a lot of supplies and equipment shops- OttLites, hoops, needles etc. Not as much cross stitch fabric as I would have liked (hardly any) but given that it was in Brisbane and covering so many crafts- I guess I can't have everything! 

Mum and I were rather restrained, and didn't buy as much as we could have. She has a rule that she's not allowed to buy any quilting fabric unless it's for a specific project. I have a rule that I'm not allowed to buy any more patterns - I have so many in my "want to stitch" pile and now I'm designing my own the pile is growing ever larger! At any rate between us we managed to stick to our rules (almost- I bought one pattern) and spent a lot of time admiring instead.

Not that Mum could spend too much money. We landed in Brisbane only to discover she'd left her wallet behind... at home... in another bag! So I'm paying for the weekend and she's paying me back at a later date!

Despite all this, I did manage to make a few purchases:

- A folding task OttLite lamp for my desk for those fiddly finishing tasks and sewing when I'm not near my large floor lamp.

- A mini LED light for stitching on the go (plane, backseat in the car)

- Sew Many Memories by Sue Hill Designs- my one pattern purchase (many others were patted and admired). This will eventually (when stitched) be for Mum. She loves the old Singer sewing machines, and pointed out and admired (loudly) the design while we were walking around so it won't be a surprise!

- QSnap frames in 11" and 6". I love these frames: they are so easy to hold, stretch the fabric nicely, don't leave as many marks as hoops, and don't tend to squish your stitches as much. Mum bought me an 11" frame years ago (8 or 10) and I've used it so much the clips have eventually worn out (currently held together with duct tape!). The 6" one will be great for my smaller projects. 

- I also bought some beads for cards and purple paper clips!

Mum managed to buy an A1 size quilting mat that we then had to lug around for the afternoon! Fortunately we ran into another ex-home-town friend who had her car and could drop us off at the motel with all our bags. Negotiating the buses with the mat would have been interesting!

All in all a very fun, last-minute, stitchy day.

Happy Stitching!!

A Spectacular Doctor Who

OzzyPip (Mum) and I at the Doctor Who Symphonic Spectacular

This weekend Mum and I went to the Doctor Who Symphonic Spectacular in Brisbane.  And it was Spectacular!  The Queensland Symphonic Orchestra and the Brisbane Chorale were joined by Peter Davison (the 5th Doctor) and Ben Foster (the official Doctor Who conductor) for an evening of awesome Doctor Who music, much of it by Murray Gold, from the last 50 years of Who.

The Doctor Who Symphonic Spectacular!

Basically it was the BBC Proms, but in Brisbane... and with that all important Australian twist.  But maybe that was just the atmosphere.

It's Peter Davison.  Shhh, don't mention the cricket!

I love the music from Doctor Who.  It is just so powerful and uplifting and emotional - when you are in tears just listening to the music, you know it must be good.
However I think my favourite thing from the weekend was the crowd.  I was at the Excel for the Doctor Who 50th Celebration weekend.  I was in Ireland for the Irish Discworld Convention.  I was back at the Excel for London Comic-Con.  And while those were all powerful atmospheres, there was something uniquely relaxed, uniquely friendly, uniquely Australian about the atmosphere and the crowd in Brisbane this weekend.

Vampire ladies from Venice, and a Cyberman listen to the Doctor's warning

Maybe it's because we don't get that many events of this calibre in Brisbane.  Maybe it's because we don't get that many geeky events, let alone ones with a Doctor Who theme.  Maybe it's because not only are we Australian, but we're Queenslanders.

"The conductor is over-acting, the conductor is over-acting"

Or maybe it's just that I became sappy and sentimental while living in the UK.  That's always a possibility.

Sylurians in the audience

But it was a very relaxed and friendly evening.  And so much fun!  Daleks, and Cybermen, and Sylurians, and Jadoon, and Silence, and Wheeping Angels, and the faceless men, and a few others I didn't recognise.  Powerful music, brilliantly conducted.  Peter Davison was charming, the video clips were moving, and the video message from Tom Baker was very Tom Baker-ish.

My jewellery for the weekend.

If you get the chance to see it in New Zealand, go!  Otherwise you'll just have to wait until the BBC decide to send it back on tour.

Oh, and for your chance to win a pair of Tardis earrings, as shown above, head over to my Facebook page and like the appropriate post!

Happy Stitching!