Well since Mysti has received her gift (talk about fast, posted it off yesterday and she got it today!) I can finally share photos and info about my most recent cross stitch finish Mysti’s birthday is coming up soon, and I wanted to stitch something small and pretty for her that she could use while stitching. I settled on Just Nan’s design ‘Winter Violets.’ This was a limited edition Whimzi release at the Nashville 2009 show; but instead of using the recommended floss colours, I changed the colours up a little to make it more bright and cheerful (plus the B5200 was blending...

I am always humbled when complete strangers take the time to do something nice for me, even more so when friends and loved ones do it. People are busy, have their own concerns and worries, so for them to take a little time out to remember me and think about me is always very very special. So this post is me wanting to thank two people. First of all Marie and her team at ABC Stitch Therapy. Soon after being made redundant they were the first people I contacted in terms of sourcing some of the Just Nan cross stitch designs I desperately wanted. Not only did they deliver, they far exceeded my...

Manga Cross Stitch by Helen McCarthy I am often reminded of how small a world it is. Helen McCarthy is the author of several excellent books on anime & manga; and her book ‘Anime! A Beginner’s Guide to Japanese Animation’ was one of the first books on anime I ever bought, almost 16 years ago while I was living in England. At the same time I bought several books of hers and have always appreciated her tireless work at promoting anime and manga back in a time when it was still very much a niche thing in the Western world. So when she recently commented on my blog, I knew I had to write...

Today was the NZ Flickr Meetup group’s city walk here in Auckland, and I had every intention of going despite feeling exceptionally anti-social; but family has a funny way of stopping even the best laid of plans. Thankfully they didn’t need me for the evening, so I was able to attend the dinner of a friend and fellow LJer/cross stitcher Cytrix; then catch the Star Trek movie at the IMAX. We ate at a place called Monsoon Poon, and as much as I would dearly love to say I enjoyed it, I just didn’t. The food was sub-standard considering what we paid. It just didn’t zing or do...

Old news but re-posting anyway as this is most exciting for myself and fellow friends who are on Twitter… and if you’ve never heard of Twitter, get upto speed! Vodafone New Zealand has signed an agreement with Twitter allowing customers to send updates to and receive TXT notifications from the ever popular messaging network used to share and discover what’s happening – right now. Only Vodafone customers are able to use this service in New Zealand. Vodafone customers will be able to receive TXT messages from people they choose to follow via TXT on Twitter and send messages to a short...