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Friday 30 March 2012

New Cosmo Thread Colours

I know I have been promising to extend the colour range of Cosmo threads, but it has proven more difficult than I had anticipated. Also while researching these threads (and their availablilty in Australia) I discovered that the only other seller I could find had their retail price for these threads listed at $4.00 per skein... makes mine a bargain at only $2.70 each.

Good news is that I have begun ordering new colours and the first lot has just arrived. I will be increasing the range by 20 colours each time I order and we should eventually extend to the full palette of Cosmo Pearl 5 threads.

Here are the new colours.


I've got 8 other colours on back order which wont arrive until May :( but these colours add depth to the current range because they include the in between colours... essential for making those shaded temari.

I've added them to the store. Go over and check them out.

Gotta run, happing stitching

Friday 23 March 2012

I said I'd be back

A few weeks ago while I was surfing the Internet I found a great idea for displaying my temari. Unfortunately I could not find the same thing in real life... but I didn't give up, I just filed the idea away knowing that at some stage I'd revisit it.

Last week my Mum and I took a day trip to York, while there we visited a small emporium called The Dogs Bollocks*. Browsing through the tiny stores we began talking to one of the shopkeepers who overheard me talking to Mum about the display idea I had. The lady exclaimed that she was sure another store had what I wanted but today that store was closed. She suggested I look through the window and see if I could spot the item.  I could just make out the shape through the glass and decided it looked interesting enough to make another trip to York when the store was open.

Today I made that trip. It was well worth it. I took up a little bag of temari to see how they looked. I think they look great... so I purchased two units. Here is a pic of one.

The lady that helped me last week was very surprised to see me back today... I guess most people that say they'll come back just don't do it.
These shadowboxes are made in York and are designed to hang on the wall (I guess) but these are sturdy enough to sit on a table, I could also lie them on the side and attach a hook with command adhesive to the underside of the shelves so temari could be suspended.

* The Dogs Bollocks (literal translation of bollocks is testicles) is a very informal and somewhat crass way of saying something is really awesome as in "... is the dogs bollocks!" Other more polite slang for expressing this would be The Cats Pajamas, or The Bees Knees.

Tuesday 20 March 2012

Sculpture by the Sea

I've got lots to share but not much time to write about it but here is a quick post filled with pictures. Enjoy!

Last Saturday I had a girls day out with my buddy Louise. We had lunch in Cottesloe and window shopped (and also actually shopped) in some of the stores before heading down to Cottesloe Beach to see Sculpture by the Sea.

Here are some of the pieces that caught my eye. Scroll down to see something surprisingly temari-ish.

Giant Chimney (check out the 'bricks') and Archway

Left and Top by Japanese artists. Look at the seagulls admiring themselves.

This nest is so cool, I want to crawl into it. Look at the splash from the tap

Tails and the awesome shimmering wave

Australian birds on oars, the seagull thinks "meh". Love the lyrebird in front
I can't help thinking that huge one must have been a nightmare to wrap

This sculpture says it all... what a thrill to live in this great place

We had an awesome day, bumped into a few friends along the beach, got plenty of sand between our toes and enjoyed a freezing lemon slushie which was so good to eat in heat. I was exhausted by the end of the day but it was so enjoyable.

Sunday 11 March 2012

11.3.2011... progress and hope one year later.

If today was your last day how would you spend it? A sombre question isn't it? This is one of those questions many avoid asking and some have trouble answering. I know in Western Society we tend to get caught up with things and possessions, in a disaster event it must be very sad to lose things acquired over a life time but there could be no worse tragedy than the loss of the people you love. 


http://www.thetsunamiandthecherryblossom.com/
This week marks one year since the Tohoku Quake disaster in Japan. For many thousands of people this was their last day. If not for the regular community disaster drills many thousands more would have perished. Photographic images and footage of this event, even viewed 12 months later still seem surreal

We have had our Japanese flag flying high this week but today we have lowered it to half mast out of respect for those lost, and for all those survivors that continue working towards finding a new normal despite the challenges they still face. 


Here is a selection of links you can visit to see the progress of moving toward the new normal in Tohoku. As I looked at these pictures I was amazed at the progress that has been made in 12 short months. It is a testament to the fortitude of the Japanese population that they could do so much in such a short space of time.
Slide photos of March 2011 and Jan/Feb 2012
Now and then Images of Tohoku



And here are some activities happening around Australia and elsewhere (maybe in your area) this week to mark this event and raise money for the Tohoku area.


Big Bento Lunch - Most Australian States 
Friendship, The Sun Will Always Rise Concert - British Columbia
One Year Later: Shaken But Never BrokenVancouver
Rise Japan - Northern California
Remembering Fukushima - Perth, Western Australia... The Hinata Gallery Cafe group will be there.
Japan Day - Canterbury NZ


There are many activities planned all around the world, check in your area to see how you can get involved. If you can't make it to a local event, please just pause, to keep a thought for all those caught up in this and other natural disasters that have occurred recently around the world.


Best wishes to you.

Monday 5 March 2012

Happy Blogoversary Today


Today is the 3rd anniversary of this blog. I can't quite believe it has been 3 years since I started writing here, wow the time flies fast. I made this little picture below to say something to all you lovely folk that have visited this blog over the years (especially those that come back every post to see what new mad thing I am up to).


But then I thought about all of the kind folk that not only read my blog but also link back to it from their own webpages... the words above didn't seem enough so I made this picture.


I really do appreciate that you choose to take time out of your day and use it to visit my little world. Thanks for all the comments (I read them all and try to respond to most) and emails you send.



Thursday 1 March 2012

Domain Gallery Purchase

As promised here is the post about my purchase at Domain Gallery. If you've read this blog for a while you would have seen images of my temari storage vases. If not you can see them here. The wider one (purchased from IKEA) is gorgeous and I know that several of you have gone on to invest a few from your own temari.

I have completely filled up these vases and need to get some more storage for temari. I had considered a shadow box unit like this one that I saw on a furoshiki blog recently (I even emailed to ask where they got it). But when I walked into Domain Gallery I found the perfect solution.


This bowl is absolutely H-U-G-E. I can't find my tape measures at the moment but I can tell you I tried to guesstimate its' circumference by giving it a big hug and my fingers weren't even close to touching together. This means it is more than 1.5 metres around.

The glass platter I used on top of my IKEA vase just fits onto the top of this bowl so it is sealed from dust. At the store they had the bowls filled with balls - revolting rattan ones  (perhaps revolting is too strong a word so let's just say boring). 

The best thing is...

I have so much more room for storing new temari!!!!

When I want to change the display I can rotate the bowl or just put my arm into it and swirl the temari all around.

Oh the disappointment! But hooray for surprises!

Today we had our car booked in for servicing. The dealership's service centre is too far away to walk home, they had no courtesy cars available and I am too cheap to pay for 2 taxi rides so I planned to settle in the customer lounge to spend a few hours stitching on my current temari project. What a great idea, a block of several hours devoted (guilt free) to temari stitching.

I packed my supplies into my little project bag and after school drop off I headed to the service centre... Sometime later I plopped down into a sofa and opened my bag. I pulled out the pattern page, the temari and threads and felt around for the tekobari case (where I stash a few needles when travelling) in the bottom of the bag.

Uh Oh!!! Where the heck was it??? I knew I picked the case up off the coffee table this morning, I was fairly sure I put it into the bag and seeing as the bag is free from holes I can only conclude that the tekobari case (and therefore my needles) are on the floor in my lounge room.

Dang it! I could've cried! My planned pleasant stitching activity had been substituted with watching ridiculous morning television... with Larry Emdur. Ugh! This show is rated 1 star (abysmal) In the mean time the other two customers in the waiting room were engrossed in reading Narnia and the West Australia newspaper. Boo hoo hoo!!! That is like pouring salt in the wound.

I would have gone for a walk down to the commercial centre a few kilometres away but I was wearing heels and had forgotten to apply sunscreen so I was quite certain I'd be burnt to a crisp by the time I walked back. I did have a bus pass, but I almost always get lost when I catch a bus. I was bored! Bored!! Bored!!! Not even hearing that Prince Charles and Camilla are annoyed with each other and living apart or Larry's gaffe about Angelina Jolie to one of her friends (who was a guest on his show today) cheered me up. If only I'd organised a back up activity... my Learning Japanese on Nintendo DS, or my latest Dexter (Jeff Lindsay) book.

After a while I did begin handwriting this post and I noticed that my writing has become quite disgusting over the last few years. Thank goodness for the pen and paper though.

My primary school teacher would not be amused.
Just as I was wishing a fairy godmother would come and rescue me from my boredom, my phone rang. It was my Mum, telling me she had come to spend some time with me... and she was just outside dealership. Awesome! I'd been spared from my boredom... I just needed to walk from Nissan service centre to the main road, then down the hill to where she was parked... outside the Mitsubishi caryard. LOL, I love you Mum!

We went to Spotlight, some furniture stores (including Domain Gallery - see what I purchased in my next post), Howard's Storage and a kitchenware store.

In the kitchenware store we discussed what we planned to do for our combined ??th birthday this year. We've decided on a grand tea party. Clattering about in the baking pan section I found a $20 Whoopie pie/Macaron pan that I had my eye on. I didn't buy it, I had already purchased something special at the discounted price of $80 at Domain Gallery. We wandered around and Mum got 2 sets of 5 plastic boxes  for about $12 per set. As we left we saw another display of the Whoopie pie pans and some recipe books on special. I picked up a pan and argued with my self about buying it on special for $15, Mum offered to buy me a cookbook if I was going to buy a pan but I said there are plenty of free recipes on the net so she got me the pan instead. 


I did try to pay for it (I've learned not to argue though because I rarely win the 'who will pay' argument) and we sealed the deal by deciding I'd bake some goodies for everyone with the pan and I'd buy us lunch. We headed to the little restaurant I went to earlier in the week . It was lovely, Mum had a small Teriyaki Chicken Bento and I had a small Ebi (Prawn) Katsu Bento. 

Before we knew it the service centre called to say my car was ready to be collected, Mum had to make the trip back home and I had to head to school for early pick up.