Stitchy Giveaway: And We Have A Winner!

I am SO sorry it took this long, but work has been crazy (rather it takes time for me to get used to working until 23:15 - and be at home around 1 am) and I have lacked energy big time (and I actually am dead certain that I do suffer of hypothyroidism after all, but that's for a later rant).

And the lucky winner is.... Maestro, drumroll please...

Lady Fortuna draw the winning comment and it is entry numer one

which means that Jenna was out lucky winner!

Congratulations Jenna, I hope the email has already arrived and you enjoy your newly acquired design stash (needleroll, biscornu, fob and pincushion).

And now it's laundry time. Then some stitching (mom's Valentine's Day gift (which is going to be gorgeous) - by the way, we have our 18 month anniversary then ) and enjoying time off.

Stitched Mail Art Contest!

Good news folks! Violarium organizes a stitched mail art competition, which is open to everyone!

Here are the basics, you can find more information from here:

Envelopes must be made of fabric designed for cross stitching - that is linen, evenweave, aida or similar. Other fabrics (like cotton fabrics) may be used only to embellish or line the envelope. All kinds of embroidery stitches may be used to decorate, but most of them must be cross stitches. The address may be cross stitched or back stitched or embroided with other stitches. Also different embellishments (buttons etc.) may be added.

Please write your name, postal address and e-mail address (or phone number) in a piece of paper and put it inside the envelope. Make sure that the envelope is closed well, you can secure it by small stitches for example.

You may participate with one or several envelopes. There's no fixed theme, therefore you may stitch on the envelope any motifs you like.

- - -

Envelopes arriving to Violarium by March 29th participate in both categories. Envelopes arriving to Violarium after March 29th, but by April 14th participate in public voting. The winners of both categories will be announced on April 28th, 2009.

The best bit is that you can win by stitching and voting so check for the details from above link.

(By the way, I am one of the judges.  )

Ideas needed! (Stashy goodness for inspiration!)

I would like to register myself a personal domain as I have enough™ space in my hosting account to have a personal site there too. And I need some help with the domain name as I can't figure out anything relatively short and suitable. (Only idea I have is http://life-stitching-the-universe-and-everything.com/ and I'd like to have some more.)

So, let your creative juices flow, leave a comment with your suggestion(s) and your email address... if I choose one of your suggestions, or use one of them as an inspiration, there's small stashy suprise coming to your way (as long as you dare to give me your snail mail address when I ask for it).
You have two weeks to give the suggestions (until 14th of July, 23:59 (11:59 PM), GMT+3).

NOTE: It doesn't have to be stitching related, but if you can add that to it it's welcomed. Go with personality, hobbies, addictions... just plain odd things. *grin* Nothing with my first name, last name can be used. *evil grin*

ONLY comments with email address apply for stashy goodness.

Stashy give away!

Stitch Pink has a giveaway of Little House Needleworks' "Where there's life, there's hope" chart, Crescent Colours floss needed for it and a piece of Zweigart's 28 count Belfast to stitch it on! Only thing you need to do to is to go and leave a comment. How's that for easy?

Something for your inner knitter...

Cass Knits! has a droolworthy giveaway of a copy of 'Glamour Knits At Home', which is, based on it's yummy looking cover, something to drool over even if you weren't a knitter (or if you are a bad knitter like I am (i.e. knows a bunch, but can't concentrate long enough to actually prove it)).

Want a chance? Go and comment! Right now! Shoo!

SBQ: A Good Companion

Today’s absolutely magnificent

Stitching Bloggers' Question

was suggested by yours truly and is:

What is your favorite past time while stitching? Do you just enjoy silence, listen to music/audiobooks or do you “watch” TV/ movies? Do you have specific favorites you listen to/ watch while stitching?

I came up with this question while watching The Negotiator for the dozenth time while stitching as I find the movie absolutely wonderful stitching companion.

I prefer music, movies and TV series as a stitching companion because silence has the bad habit to distract me (you can easily deduce my current health from my Last.FM profile: if I don't listen music I am probably quite sick).

Lately I have noticed that movies/ TV series provide me with better level of concentration because they have the noise and the motion, which keeps my brains nicely distracted (no, I don't watch them in terms of watching, but I see the movement on the upper part of my field of vision).
I do also love to listen audiobooks or music, either from my desktop computer (which is at the moment out of order as its power went while I was at my mother's - note: it was turned off when that happened), laptop or from Last.FM (my profile for curious, you can also find my personal radio station from there *wink, wink*. I actually also have stitching tunes tag in there..).

In general my favourite stitching companions are House M.D, The Negotiator, Dexter, Black Adders (I, II, III, IV season), Exorcist: The Beginning (I honestly do think that that is the best of the Exorcist movies) and various Last.FM's tag radios.

By the way, The Competition is open only until 1st of February so remember to take part. *wink*

Evil Enabling

By the way, are you aware that Ellen Maurer-Stroh is having a sampler SAL during 2008 and provides the pattern for free, as monthly installments?
You aren't? Then click here and start collecting. ^^

And while you are there, try to crack the safe. If you get the combination right your stash will benefit from it.

Lady Periphaeria cross posts

"For the understandable reason of having health problems (and then I got a trainee position which has meant even less time for designing or stitching) new designs have been nowhere to be seen.
I DO miss launching the new designs and therefore I decided to leave the current Design-In-Progresses be in the DIP pile and concentrate on a completely new set.

That seemed to be a good idea as the urge has come back and I am eagerly awaiting to be able to launch new designs during the first months of the coming year. (One reason for this urge is that I have been inspired by someone and my creative juices are slowly starting to flow.)

And to give myself yet another incentive to reach my goal I will thereby announce a competition!

The spiel goes like this....

1. How to join?:
   The only thing you have to do is to join Periphaeria Designs' mailing list and have your hopes high! If you already subscribe to the newsletter you don't have to do absolutely anything. It won't get easier than that!
2. The Prize:
   One of each of the designs to be published in the next launch. (In *.pdf format.)
3. The competition runs...:
   From now to February 1st and the lucky winner will be announced in Valentine's Day, 14th of February, when I will send the winner an email.
   IF I don't receive a reply from the winner within one week new name will be drawn, so use such an email address you read frequently to ensure to get your possible winnings in due course.

It is THAT simple and everyone has as good probability to win than the other stitcher as I will use an impartial Lady Fortuna, Random.Org, to choose the number of the winner (all the newsletter subscribers have a subscriber number and that will be used as your lottery ticket).

Feel free to spread the word (with link to this entry) to your stitching friends, in blogs and on forums.
I keep my thumbs up for every one of you! "

Halloween SAL competition is up!

Do you want to have a chance to win some new stash?

Good. Then I recommend that you read this article at the Independent Needlework News and take your chance by voting.

...You ask what there is to win…? Loads of lovely stash, more details in this entry.

Ship ahoy!

When I woke up yesterday I heard that Deb has received my payment for Freddy: Auspicious Argosy.
It took three weeks for the parcel to get from UK to US, but it finally got there - just in time as I'd have emailed Sewandso regarding it in Monday.

And when it comes to Frederick the Literate... Leena and I have reached a preliminary agreement upon SALling with Freddy in next year (we haven't set any dates yet, just the startng year - as we a re both loaded with projects at the moment) (I think I need to designate one weekend of every month as a SAL Weekend as I seem to need some control over myself... one day for Egyptian Sampler, one day for Freddy) if anyone has the design in their to-do list we'd love to have you stitching with us! Just email me.

Close to an end

As unbelievable as it is I have only three days of my traineeship left... though it is only the first training period. I have few "proximity days" (those will be sheer bliss: six hour days of leisure after actually working my ass off for eight hours a day) and then I am back to the $COMPANY for seven weeks - and who knows, maybe they notice that they simply can't function without me during that time...