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Thursday 31 March 2011

Tees from Matt Spangler

I know I have been promising to post about some of the goodies I have purchased lately but I seem to have been sidetracked along the way. So let me share with you one of my latest treats.

This a treat for someone else... I purchased it at Little Lunarc which is hosted by the same company as our online supply store (Big Cartel).



http://mattspangler.bigcartel.com/product/take-care-japan-charity-shirt
Actually I purchased two of these shirts called Take Care Japan. The artist Matt Spangler is donating his proceeds from the sale of these shirts to the Red Cross for Japanese Disaster Relief. I really like the design, it represents exactly how many of us feel... we want to give Japan a hug and I think the recipients will like them too.
If you like this shirt there are probably (possibly) a few available at Matt's shop, he also has a cute range of kids wear items so click the link under the photo to check it out.

Wednesday 30 March 2011

Apache Energy... a good news story

This blog is about temari and other crafting and while I aim to get back to the core topic I can't let this wonderful news go unreported. So please do indulge me with this post about Japan.


Click to see the video report: http://www.abc.net.au/7.30/content/2011/s3177079.htm#
This report appeared in ABC Australia's 7:30 program on the evening of March 29, 2011. Today I have been notified by a friend who works for Apache Energy about their company's efforts to help out with assisting the many children living in disaster areas in Japan.  This company has donated AUD$150,000 to Save the Children Australia to assist with their work in Japan.


Here is a copy of their email. They have also pledged this to match dollar for dollar any donation more than $30 made by Apache Energy employees to http://www.savethechildren.org.au/ . 
Japan Earthquake Disaster Relief Fund

Tuesday 29 March, 2011


Apache Energy today presented Save the Children Australia with a cheque for $150,000 to the Japan Earthquake Disaster Relief Fund.


Apache Energy’s Australian Managing Director Tom Maher was joined by the Japanese Consulate General Mr Kazuhiko Anzai and Save the Children Australia’s Western Australian State Manager, Glyn Davies for the cheque presentation. Apache Energy has generously supported Save the Children Australia since 2010 across a number of initiatives.


74,000 children were made homeless when giant waves struck the coast of north-eastern Japan after the country was rocked by a 9.0 magnitude earthquake. The incident has been described as the most severe disaster in Japan’s history, and has prompted a rapid relief operation by the country’s government.


Save the Children has been operating in Japan following the devastation of the earthquake and tsunami along the north east coast.


In response to the disaster, Save the Children has established a network of child friendly spaces in the worst affected areas, to assist children most at need. Many children and their families are currently living in evacuation centres, some of which have no electricity or running water.


These are protective play areas that provide children with psychosocial support to help relieve their anxiety, and allow them to spend time with other children in a safe environment. Child Friendly Spaces also give parents much needed time that they can dedicate to finding food sources, work, accommodation and locating other friends and family.


Glyn Davies, Save the Children Australian WA State Manager, said, “With over 90 years of experience in emergency response, we know the long term negative effects that a disaster can leave on children. Without financial help, we simply cannot reach the children fast enough. We thank Apache Energy for their generous support of our Japan Earthquake Disaster Fund, which enables us to provide structured help and care to children in Japan.”

We hear many stories of greed and unethical deeds in the modern corporate arena but it sure is wonderful to see examples of such generosity like this one. I really think these are the type of news stories that need to be included at the start of our nightly news programs. Well done Apache Energy well done!

Tuesday 29 March 2011

Blogoversary Competition reminder

This has been such a busy month that I had almost forgotten about the competition I've been running.

Click here for all the details.

Not sure how to become a follower? Here is a quick visual tutorial.



Remember the competition closes soon and all you need to do is have your avatar in our followers list by the deadline.

Goodness me it's three thirty

It's been a few days since my last post. I have been busy working on a few projects and my real life has been busy. (Happy birthday to my baby brother, you have been an excellent brother for 36 years and I love you to the moon and back.)  

On Saturday night I went to bed at 3:30am... I hadn't planned to go to bed so late but I was really was into stitching my temari project and hadn't noticed how late it was. Therefore not only did I miss Earth Hour but I kept my light burning until the wee small hours.



I have been making a series which I have called 'Revolution of Thought'. There are two S10's, three C10's and a 32Center temari. Now I need to work out how to display them together to show the progression (evolution) of the design. I am thinking suspended between two discs of acrylic sheeting or an acrylic ledge with cut outs to let the temari rest in sequence. More thought required on that.

I was also making soap, and playing around with embedding. Embedding is where you enclose small items (such as soap pieces or rubber ducks etc) inside a larger block of soap. The soaps are nothing amazingly flash and are just for our own use but I like how they turned out. The photo doesn't show the nice purple mica colour of the main part of soap but never mind. It is really nice to use and we all smell delightful!


TT Kiku stitched temari project

I have been communicating with several friends in Japan this week and they all agree that their country is thankful for all the donations being sent to help Japan and that they are taking comfort in the knowledge that the rest of the world is sharing their pain, sending them love, support and thoughts to those in need. Although it may not be tangible this is providing much needed moral support for all of the Japanese population the knowledge that they know they are not alone in grief at this difficult time.

I know I have felt 'stuck' since March 11, not physically but emotionally numb and frozen. I can only imagine how hard it must be for the people living in Northern Japan if we are feeling so badly here in our safe city so many thousands of miles away. Because I know so many Japanese people and spend a good portion of my day doing and reading about Japanese crafts these events are rarely out of my mind.

Ginny from Temarikai has suggested a really nice idea this week that will be very healing too.

All temari makers learn about the significance of the Chrysanthemum (Kiku) to Japan. This flower is part of the national identity, being a symbol of of longevity and prosperity due to the abundant petals which drop slowly from the flower over an extended period of time. Many books about temari cite a history of women meditating on their needlework and passing their thoughts and wishes into their work. Japanese culture have long held the belief that all thing living and dead contain a spirit and as we make our temari we can help form it's spirit.

So Ginny's idea is to combine these ideas and stitch a Kiku temari for Japan. She has suggested we make a temari for ourselves and as we stitch it, we can follow that legend of a thought with each stitch offered up to those that have been so affected by recent events in Northern Japan.

The suggestion is to make a temari using Uwagake (Chidori) Kagari using any division and marking as long as it has a Kiku flower when completed on at least one pole/center.

Members of TT are invited to share an image of their completed temari in the album. If you would like to see these you'll need to join the TalkTemari Yahoo group.

For those newer to the craft of temari making, visit the TemariKai.com tool kit to see step-by-step photo tutorial on this stitch, and there are also various references to making a Kiku design in How To on TemariKai.com

I will use rice hulls and Cosmo threads to make my temari.

Wednesday 23 March 2011

Kanzashi 2 and 3

Getting a bit adventurous with my second and third kanzashi flowers now by stacking these two flowers together. I planned to make it a necklace but it's to big for me so I changed it into a brooch. I found it very handy for sticking pins into during the temari workshop last weekend. I really like this rounded petal flower shape.


Tomorrow I'm going to try a different type of fold, pointed shaped petals. This weekend is going to be an indoorsy type of weekend. Despite the fact we are in officially almost a month into Autumn, we are expecting 34-36C temperatures for the next 5 days. Our chickens have gone off the lay again due to the heat. So I will be putting their little paddling pool back into the enclosure tomorrow so they can walk around in it and cool themselves down.

I need to make a new mold for yubinuki, something has gone wrong on my old one (I think the spacing of the markings was off so my last few thimbles have been abandoned) I really want to get back to making some thimbles and of course I have my big flower temari sampler that I need to complete - start. I haven't even looked at the March TC project and I am only 1 row into the C10 that was being demonstrated on the TK group this last fortnight.

I think I might disappear under my pile of UFO's if I don't get some of them finished soon.

I turned to first Kanzashi flower into a hair tie. The attachment was a bit dodgy but its cute.

Monday 21 March 2011

All for Japan


The great Eastern Earthquake/Tsunmai Fundraiser - Bunbury from notoriousruz on Vimeo.

The video above was made by one of my brother's friends in Bunbury* over the weekend. They had two very successful days of fundraising. Don't they all look gorgeous doing it too?!


This last week has had us all running around and the weekend was filled up too. I ran a two day temari workshop for the South Perth Lace making group. It was really fun the groups is full of such nice ladies, we all natter and stitch and have a wonderful time.  We worked through several designs... hope you all go ok with your homework ladies.

I donated a portion of my earnings from the class fees to the Red Cross for Japan. Without Japan there would be no temari and I'd have a rather large gap in my life to fill up with some other not so interesting pursuit.

Because I was taking a class I couldn't attend the flea market in Karrinyup on Sunday morning but Miho tells me it was very successful. Seth, Miho and the kids worked together with many other volunteers to run the stalls. So many people came to buy our donated goods and many kind people said 'keep the change' and made donations too.  UPDATE:   Miho tells me that they made AUD$8,698.85 in sales and recieved donations to the amount of AUD$15,114 which is a grand total of AUD$23,812.85
Today we spent the day making nut tartlets. Just over 8 cubic litres of them were kneaded and pressed into tins, filled with nuts and caramel sauce then baked until puffed and crispy. Seth is taking them to work to assist with his fundraising activities.


*Bunbury is a larger country centre situated along the coast line about 2 hours south of Perth.

Thursday 17 March 2011

Blush much?!


This newsletter article was pointed out to me by another Mum from my Son's school today. I am glad that the kids like the temari and that the school can find use for them. It was too sad to have so many colourful temari packed in boxes when they could brighten up our community.

Still blushing but I'm glad to have the ability to make something to give.

I am working on more that I will no doubt donate in the future.

Wednesday 16 March 2011

How you can help.

Perth residents are gearing up to help Japan in their time of need. Given our family's long association with Japan we are all keen to help however we can.

Today my brother has set up a red cross site and is aiming to raise $50,000 to get vital supplies into those areas needing help. Here is a screenshot of his site. Every little bit helps out, even if you can only spare a few dollars. 
http://www.redcrossfundraising.org.au/seth_armstrong

Also a group of Japanese volunteers will be attending the swap market at Karrinyup Shopping Center on Sunday, we are all donating various goods to sell and all proceeds will be donated to Red Cross for Japan. The address is 200 Karrinyup Road, Karrinyup. The market will commence at 6:30 am and run until 11:30 am, there will be several volunteers shaking a tin for this cause too. Further information on this activity can be requested from 040 353 0928. Miho will be attending this event and as I cannot attend I will donate some goods including some temari items.

This weekend I am running a private two day temari workshop for a lace makers group in South Perth. I will donate a percentage of my earnings from this weekend to Red Cross for Japan.


I want to challenge you to help out too. 

Sometimes we see images of this type of destruction and become frozen with shock by them.

We wonder what can we do? We all want to help but some people cannot afford to send any money.

Can you make a cup of tea? Yes? I ask you to have a coffee morning, or afternoon tea with your work place or at home with your neighbours and simply ask for a one or two dollar donation... everyone loves home baked goodies and baking off a few trays of cookies or a cake or two from your pantry supplies is a great and inexpensive way to help.

Are you crafty? Yes of course you are. Do you have an Etsy account or other handmade goods selling store site? How about advertising in your listings that until the end of the month you'll donate a portion of your sales (or an entire sale). Make sure to offer the buyers a receipt from the registered charity you are sending the donation to.

Can you organise a free dress day at your kids school or your own work place? Our school has a uniform but on special days they allow the students to come in free dress with a $1 or $2 donation to a named charity. I have also worked for many companies that allow their staff to wear themed outfits on certain days when they give a donation.

Get your thinking caps on and you'll soon find many more ways you can help out within your budget. The most important thing is to make sure you put the DO into donation.

Tuesday 15 March 2011

Live NHK updates in English

NHK in English live broadcasts on
http://www.ustream.tv/channel/7497266



Live video chat by Ustream

My first Kanzashi flower

What is Kanzashi? Basically it is a hair accessory. Hana Kanzashi is a Floral Kanzashi.


My friend Louise gave me this beautiful one that she purchased at a craft show at Christmas (I gave her a silk Yubinuki bead necklace that I made). I was instantly fascinated by them and did some research on the Internet, I got a Kanzashi book from the Library this week - it is such a popular title and I ordered it in early January - I've already ordered a copy from Amazon.

Like temari the art of making Kanzashi is at risk of dying out as the masters are older and many no longer take on new apprentices. Thank goodness for folk who take an interest in these older creative pursuits and strive to breathe new life into them.

I love that I can use fabric scraps and old buttons or beads to make them. Yet another reason I am so glad I keep all the little offcuts when I am working.


When I meet people and they ask me what I 'do' I always tell them I make Japanese craft and supplies. This wasn't always strictly true (I used to only make temari) but these days I think there is much more truth to that broad statement... Temari, Yubinuki, Kanzashi... let's face it Japanese crafting has got me hooked.

Monday 14 March 2011

Handbags... just hanging around

This week I made two cute little handbags for my Mum. The fabrics were left overs from four cushion covers I had made for my Mum to pass along to her friend's daughter. I also had made the young girl a fabric covered journal with the scraps, and still had just a little left over. The fabric is from Ikea.

I took photos before I gave the first two bags to my Mum but the pictures were too dodgy so I had to make another one for this post. Actually this one isn't quite so cute, but that is probably because it was made with the last little scraps of these fabrics so the flap fabric wasn't so cute. I think I will give it to my Mum to go along with the other two.



They really are tiny, my son is being helpful by holding it so you can see the scale. My own hand just barely goes through the handle loop.

I think the set is totally adorable and they are filled with scented goodies so they can hang around and make the place smell lovely.

I really need to find a few more hours in the day... maybe I should stop sleeping altogether.

Sunday 13 March 2011

Latest C10



The first of my jewel coloured bases stitched up. I am experimenting more with my recent C10 patterns. I like the way that various colours alter the outcome of the temari.

Saturday 12 March 2011

Is it luck or something else?

I am sure there isn't anyone who hasn't heard the news of the Japanese Earthquake and Tsunami this week. Overnight there was a large Earthquake in Niigata prefecture where my sister in laws elderly grandparents and other relavites live.

My Sister in Law, regular readers know how much we all adore our Miho, grew up in Tokyo and when initial reports were broadcast we heard that the roof collapsed on school graduation hall with maybe 600 people inside. Oh my goodness, Miho's Mother is a school teacher there and my first hope and prayer was that she was safe and not involved. Luckily for our family it was not her school, but today when I visited Miho and Seth's home, after watching the always gorgeous Miss D's swim class, Seth was looking at pictures of the earthquake destruction on the Internet. He had discovered this morning that it was actually the graduation hall for the school he was working at when he lived in Japan, many people were injured and 2 people died. If Seth and Miho had not come back to Australia to live my brother would have been underneath that large pile of rubble that used to be a ceiling in that hall. He pointed out in the picture how the layout would be and where the various classes would be seated for the ceremony. I felt a sharp icicle of fear when he pointed to an area and said "There! See right there that's where my students and I would have been sitting." He told me that his very good friend (also a teacher at this school) is safe but he doesn't know about all the other coworkers and students. I really do hope they are all safe.
I thank my lucky stars that my only sibling, my brother and his wonderful wife and gorgeous kids are here with us.

I know that temari makers, become temari makers through an affiliation with Japan, living there, having family there etc or we make many friends as we continue our temari Journey.

There are many in our community still desperate to make contact with friends and loved ones in Japan. I hope you can receive happy and comforting news soon. My thoughts are with you all and we continue to hope and pray you and the people of Japan.

If you are able please make a donation to help at Redcross.

Friday 11 March 2011

Unexpected surprise

Yesterday when I returned from doing volunteer Math Goals testing for my son's 4th grade class my husband handed me a package that had arrived while I was out. See 'when you do good you get good'! My Mum is right on that one.
Kristy's gift temari to me
The package was from Kristy in Qld. The moment I touched the package (before I even shook it or squeezed it) I knew what was inside. There were three spools of surface wrap thread that I had admired on the beautiful ball she'd sent to me at Christmas. What a darling you are Kristy! Thank you so much for thinking of me and taking the time to post me some of this gorgeous thread. I love it!



My hands were already aching because I had re-made three temari in the last 36 hours (two C10s and a S12 and I still have a couple to go), and although I should have had a rest tonight I found a yarn wrapped temari and I couldn't resist covering it in this beautiful coloured thread. The of course I wanted to stitch it, something simple, but I wasn't sure what.



I reviewed all my old temari in boxes recently before donating a bunch of them to my son's school, and one part of a pattern stuck in my mind. The green layer from the Mema is a Star ball that I purchased form Barb Suess a couple of years ago. So I decided to try to work out the green layer from the ball (which is always displayed in my lounge room). When I was done with that part of the pattern I added some 6 point star bursts (Matsuba) to fill in the open areas. When I finished my temari I sat back and thought gee that is pretty neat, and an original design too. Well yes and no, it is original in the sense that I altered a design and added my own embellishments but actually I realised that there was a ball pattern out there that is strikingly similar. I got Barb's blog update about her Echo Star class beginning tomorrow and took a visit over to her Esty site. I discovered that Barb beat me to it and she sells the pattern on Esty but when I compare the images side by side they are actually different. Just goes to show you can't claim something as an original design too easily in temari making.

Northern Japan Earthquake including Updates

My girlfriend Louise (from Christchurch) has just called to tell me there has been a 8.7 earthquake in North Eastern Japan, and an up to 10 metre tsunami has inundated some of the coastal areas. Oh my goodness!

Miho's family lives in Tokyo, Odaiba and Chiba have caught fire, a massive tsunami has hit Sendai, 4 million people are without power. We are all very scared for her family and friends and for the friends we have all made in Japan.

The JTA is located in Tokyo and we are praying for everyone to be safe. Japan does have regular community disaster drills and we pray that this will help limit injuries and fatalities.

Please join me in praying for the country of Japan and her citizens.

10pm WST Update: Miho has finally got a message from Her Mother and Sister, they are both safe, Miho's Father and Grandmother can't be contacted yet. My good friend's sister (who lives in Yokohama) is also safe so we have some blessings in our circle. Yokohama is close to the JTA museum.
I know that Japan is one of the most disaster prepared countries in the world, I know that Japanese people are calm and efficient when disasters occur I hope that all your preparations can save many of your country men and women.

Please keep praying with me for Japan and her citizens.

11pm WST Update: Miho's Parents, Sister and Grandmother are all safe and sound. We couldn't be more grateful for such welcome news.

Please keep praying with me for Japan and her citizens.

If you are able to assist with a donation please visit Redcross.

Wednesday 9 March 2011

Books glorious books

I got my big order from Japan today! Yatta! So exciting. I spent a while this morning adding them to the supply store. There are 6 new books that I have added to the range we carry and all out of stock items are now back in stock.

What's new? I'm glad you asked.

In the $30 book range there are four new titles:


There is also a new addition to the $25 book range (left image) and $40 book range (right image)

Some of these titles can be difficult to get outside of Japan, and many of them never appear on eBay so I am very proud to be able to offer these for sale. Check out our store for more details.


Monday 7 March 2011

Meet the new girls... aka last girls to join our flock

Well we got our last two chickens last Saturday. They are blue or green egg laying Auracanas more or less. We have a pure black one... which Mr W has named Vegemite, and a lavender/silky cross which is... well... lavender coloured I guess. The lavender one has had 4 names so far: Lavi, Laverne (but no one would change the black ones name to Shirley to match and when I thought about it having chickens named Laverne and Shirley would really show my age), Toast (because vegemite goes with toast) but the name that seems to have stuck is Toto. Why Toto? Because the silky mama has passed on her double backwards facing toe to our chicken so she has two toes back there... as in Toetoe. That's it for buying chickens because we have officially run out of good names to call them. Here is a picture.


They are living in the tractor for now... I did try Vegemite out in the coop but in a nanosecond Itchy and Scratchy were pecking her all over and as I reopened the door Vegemite raced under it and jumped up into my arms for protection. I had to give her a gentle hug for about 10 minutes until she settled down again. When did I become the chicken hugging woman??? I wouldn't dream of putting them altogether again for at least a month. But we might try Andy and Lusia with them and move Itchy and Scratchy into the tractor.

Because of the heat our two laying hens have stopped providing us with their yummy eggs. I am hopeful that they will begin laying again soon. How bad is it to have 6 hens in the back yard and still need to go to the grocery store to buy eggs?!! With any luck we will have 20 or more eggs a week from our 6 girls when they are all old enough to lay (in the not too distant future)

Whiteman Park Picnic

Today we had a family picnic at Whiteman Park. It was simply wonderful. The weather was perfect, sunny and warm but with a gentle cool breeze.

I caught up with my girlfriend Louise too.** Everyone brought such delicious things to eat, there were three types of salads and two homemade dressings to go on them, several types of sausages, breads, fruits, cakes and danish pastries too. The little kids all took a ride on the train and we waved like mad things as the kids went past. Mr W and his Poppy B went on the tram and then Mr W introduced himself to another group who were playing cricket*** with their kids because he couldn't wait for all the Dads in our group to finish their afternoon siestas.

When all the men had recharged their batteries we had a game of cricket, which Louise and I agree is not a good idea in Sandals, and then the boys also had a game of Aussie Rules Football*. There is a paddling pool at the park so most of the little ones had a nice slash about in the water. Then they dried off and had scooter races and played in the jungle gym for hours.

We are so lucky to be able to have such a lovely day together with family and good friends (that we consider part of our family). Luckily DH had the day off work today so he was able to come along too, which was wonderful because he drove home and Mr W and I had a little snooze in the car. What a happy, busy day.

**Louise is my friend who was in Christchurch during the recent quakes. She showed me all her pictures taken on her trip. Truly amazing images of roads shifted sideways by 4 metres, and her sister's house that looked like a bomb has gone off inside it. She had loads of pictures from the day before the Feb 22 quake which showed many buildings braced up and being repaired from the Sept 4th quake last year.

* Aussie Rules Football (AFL) is our national  (winter) pastime. Played on an oval shaped field, with a similarly shaped ball. 

Click the link above to find out more about AFL and see a video of some game time action. The players wear no protective gear (other than a mouth guard) and a really good match can even get me off my chair, shouting at the TV and waving my scarf in the air.

*** Cricket is our national (summer) pastime. Although more people seem to watch it than play it. Interestingly, it is played on the same field as AFL. Matches (or tests as they are called) can go on for many many many days. A one day match or a limited overs match can be interesting to watch, but I prefer to tape it and then fast forward through a 5 day match in about 30 minutes... or catch the highlights in the sports news. Sorry cricket lovers... on the upside, this game does move slowly enough to be able to stitch temari without ever stabbing yourself with the needle.

Saturday 5 March 2011

Temari Addict Australia 2nd Blogoversary


Wow two years of writing this blog! I can't quite believe it. We have had more than 23,000 visits here. Thanks to everyone for spending some of your day reading our blog, we hope you enjoy seeing what is happening.


Follow and WIN

We want you to show the world that you are also a temari addict!

To celebrate our blog's 2nd Anniversary we are asking you to PUBLICLY follow us by clicking on the FOLLOWERS button in the bar on the left of the screen and selecting the 'follow publicly' option.

On March 31st 2011 a random draw of all our listed followers will take place and we will send the winner a cool prize pack. Three 50m cards of KYO rayon thread, one 22.8m card of Rainbow Gallery Nordic Gold metallic thread and one JTA V-Ruler. This prize is valued over $20AUD. You can see colour samples of these lovely threads here.



Now here's the small print: There will be one prize drawn on 31 March 2011. Participants can only enter the draw by being a listed public follower of the Temari Addict Australia blog, this means your Avatar must appear in the followers list no later than midnight Australian WST on 30.3.11. The draw will be random and the winner will be announced on the blog at which time the winner must email their postal address details to temari.addict@gmail.com. The judges decision will be final. The winner's first name and country will be announced in a blog post but no other data will be kept or published. The colour of the prize pack may be as pictured but the winner can choose any 3 KYO colours and any 1 Nordic Gold colour from the samples in our store - subject to availability (see the link above).

Friday 4 March 2011

10 more temari... bases

This last week has absolutely zoomed by. How can it be Friday tomorrow already?

We are right back into all our routines now... for me that means wake up, feed family, get dressed, pack lunches, take W to school, listen to morning reading with W's classmates, come home, check and feed the chickens, feed and hug the dogs, make sure all feathered furred and finned animals have enough water, water the pot plants, wash the dishes, put on a load of washing, wonder how that fly got into the house, feed the pond fish, collect chicken eggs, make sure the tractor chickens are in the shade and then finally start doing what I actually want  to do.

So what did I actually want to do today? Did you really need to ask? You know me by now... of course the answers was make temari.

Uh oh, small problem, where has all my pre-wrapped bases gone? Could I have really stitched them all up? Unbelievably the answer is yes. So I had a mari wrapping party today. I wrapped ten 30cm bases in all sorts of 'jewel' colours. There is turquoise blue, ruby red, amethyst purple, aquamarine blue, citrine yellow, pink diamond, pearl white, peridot green, magenta sapphire and brown jasper. You can see from the photo I am very much intent on breaking with my usual colour persuasions. I like to see the plain bases in the bowl.



I also found two small bases that were wrapped in dark blue and black yarn so I covered them in navy blue thread... so I made 12 temari bases today.

Tuesday 1 March 2011

Thimble (Yubinuki) instructions from a photo

Debi has written another excellent post on how she works out yubinuki patterns from a photograph. I encourage you to visit her Temari Train of Thought blog to read it.

Love your work as always Debi!

New Zealand Earthquake Update

Christchurch New Zealand is still searching for missing citizens and trying to start cleaning up since the quake last week. These people are doing it really tough and it is estimated that more than one third of all the buildings in the quake zone will need to be demolished.

Image from dailytelegraph.com.au

I have added the vertical red line in the photo above of the Hotel Grand Chancellor so you can see how far off from vertical that it is. Many believe that this building will fall down, many believe that if this happens it could trigger another quake.

Image from News.com

Since September 4th 2010 there have been more than 5,000 earthquakes and aftershocks, look at the map here to see them. Select sticky dots in the display options. It is difficult to absorb that number, but there have also been more than 250 aftershocks just in the last week. This really brings what the city's residents have been dealing with into very sharp focus.

Image from News.com

I am so glad that my friend Louise and her family have remained safe, as I mentioned in a previous post she was in Christchurch visiting her family. At the time of the quake last Tuesday, Louise was planning to head out shopping with a friend and maybe take a ride on the gondola. Just the day before she had been touring around many of the areas that are now destroyed.

Thankfully Louise managed to get back to her adopted home here in Perth, but I know she had very mixed feelings about leaving her actual home back in New Zealand. I am hoping we will catch up over the coming weekend.

Yesterday the New Zealand government launched an appeal to raise funds to help rebuild the city of Christchurch. If you can help please visit the link to donate to the Christchurch Earthquake appeal.