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Saturday 29 October 2011

Nearly finished the flowers!

I know, it actually doesn't look like much, but this is a big step for me, I've nearly finished the evil flowers on this section, which means that my love of this piece has returned, because that's the bit that I really don't like working on. You can almost see this page taking shape, so it's a start!
I actually want to make a bit of an apology today. I'm not commenting on people's blogs at the moment. My computer is going through a bit of a tempremental phase (I think it's telling me that it's going to break soon - must remember to back everythin up!) whenever I try to open a second page then it keeps freezing my computer, so I am reading most people's blogs I think, but I'm always worrying that clicking another link to comment will be the one that causes the freeze! I'm debating gettin a tablet for internet browsing, but I'm undecided at the moment, so generally I'm just potterin along.
Also, I may go a bit quiet through out November. I've signed up for NaNoWriMo (National Novel Writin Month), which means that I'm meant to try and write 50 000 words in November. To be honest, I'm not convinced that I can see it happening. But if by some fluke it does, if I disappear, that's why!

Thursday 27 October 2011

Tusal of the month

Here's the latest (very blurry) update.

Happy stitching!

Saturday 22 October 2011

Little Angel update

I know, not the most original of titles this week!
Here it is, two colours in, but I'm not sure about the shading thus far. It doesn't look right somehow.
I'm hoping that another couple of colours will even it out a bit!

Hope everyone's having a fun weekend!

Monday 17 October 2011

Internation Hermit & Stitch and Parking

I've made another attempt at parking, and I'm actually getting along with it a lot better this time... and I've created the beginning of some small mushrooms (it's not a very good picture, but they're there, honest!).
I didn't get as much done this weekend as I was hoping to, but I've achieved a row and a black smush, so that's not bad!
Hope everyone else had a good Hermit and Stitch, I'm off to  check out everyone elses stitching!

Saturday 15 October 2011

Return of the Evil Flowers - The Evil Flowers Strike Back

For some reason that I can't quite fathom the colours haven't come out on this quite as well as I would have liked, but then I also didn't get as much stitching done on this as I would have liked, so perhaps it's just one of those weeks!
You can see the beginning of the next set of evil little flowers (hence the title) down the right hand side, and that's mostly what I've been working on this week, along with a little bit of the fur trim on her cloak.
International Hermit and Stitch again this weekend (it seems to have come round really fast this month. Is everyone joining in? I've got a few plans for today but hopefully that will also involve some stitching time, and I haven't got much planned for tomorrow yet, so hopefully so progress will be achieved. Dragon Rider is coming out again, I've only got half a page left to finish the first column, so I'm keen to work on that and try and achieve it, start to give me an idea of the size of a completed HAED. Unfortunately the latest Terry Pratchett novel also arrived today, so there's a chance that I'm going to get distracted from my stitching by that.
In other news it was my birthday on Thursday so I had a day off, and Ben took me out to lunch (local pub/restaurant called the Pine Marten, really nice), and we went to see the Three Musketeers in the evening at the cinema. I'm getting behind in my reviews, but I might try and get round to posting a review of that this weekend when I want a break for squinting at 25 count. And what did I get for my birthday? Ben got me a purple ukulele! It currently sounds like I'm torturing cute furry animals when I try to play it, but I'm going to try and play it (well practice chords at the moment) a little each day until it stops sounding like the torture of cute furry animals, and starts sounding like something that vaguely resembles music.
Have a fun weekend all, and enjoy the stitchathon if you're joining in!

DrumChasers

Better late then never, I said last Sautrday that I was going to put this post up, and I'm only just getting round to it now. Lazy, that's what I am, just lazy. Also increidibly disorganised and forgetful!

Anyway, I said last week that I'd been to see an incredible show called DrumChasers which is touring at the moment, unfortunately just coming to the end of it's tour actually, so this may not be massively relevant to many of you, but I do suggest keeping an eye out in case it comes somewhere near you. I believe that it will be heading to Holland (I think) soon, and also that there are plans to head to London at some point.

The cast are mostly unknown. The only exception being Stephen Fry who I suspect most people will have heard of, however he wasn't there. A voice over of a narrator was pre-recorded and played in the right places. The narrator explains what is happening and gives you a bit of history on the plot because, apart from a couple of lines from Mr Bennett there's little to no dialogue.
To give you a vauge idea of what DrumChasers is think of a percussion show (something along the line of Stomp but with drums and percussion instruments in feet - there's an entire routine played on the triangle!) with a Romeo and Juliet style plot with warring factions and star crossed lovers and that's pretty much a run down of what the show is, but it doesn't really do justice to the sheer joy and power of the show as a whole. I have to admit to not being able to play any form of musical instrument, but that doesn't mean that I can't see talent in others, and these guys were incredibly talented. It absolutely amazed me the sort of beautiful noises that could come out of instruments that is basically someone hitting an object with a stick. It made me completely fall in love with Xylophones and Glockenspiels (sp?), they make such a beautiful noise.
The show takes places in the backstage of a theatre where the caretaker (Mr Bennett played by Jack Warner) is tidying up. I think the entire audience fell in love with Mr Bennett, he was brilliant, and his plot arc was very dramatic! As he's tidying there are some odd noises and the DrumChasers invade the theatre.
The first DrumChaser that you really see is Weckl (Rachel Stone), who practically speaking isn't actually a DrumChaser, but I'm not going to get that involved in that detail here. First and foremost, I want her hat, it was brillant. Weckl is the force that keeps the two warring factions apart, through the use of two lightsabre esq weapons (and yes, you can buy replica in the foyer - there were a lot of happy kids there). Weckl didn't get as involved in the percussive performances as some of the other performers, but she was a beautiful dancer was was fabulous to watch, giving a macabre but sensous performance, and her fascination when she inspected Mr Bennett when she first saw him was a joy to watch. She also leads the audience in some percussive clapping of their own at the end. Yes, there is audience participation, but don't worry, it isn't scary and you won't be dragged up on stage, but you'll be amazed, even you can be involved in making lovely percussion noises through only the use of clapping.
The second performance that caught my eye was Buddy played by Simon Morgan-Thomas. Buddy was one half of the love story and is a character who is relentless in his determination to bring the two factions together.There is a charm in his depiction of a young man in love for the first time, not quite sure how to act to impress her, his efforts hampered by the warring groups who don’t want to see love across the divide, and it's a beautiful moment when, rather than presenting his love with a bunch of flowers he presents her with a bunch of drum sticks tied with a ribbon. He was also the only cast member to come out into the audience at the end of the performance, drawing smiles (if also a little nervous laughter, especially from us) from all that he approached. Again, another dramatic arc that had the audience on the edge of their seats at the end.
Finally you have to mention Gene & Jansen, performed by Amy Kelly and Roger Chapman, who are very much the comedy duo of the ensemble. They are the trouble makers of the group and responsible for the two funniest routines in the show. One of thses is a brilliant UV sequence. I did theatre when I was (a lot) younger and logically speaking I knew how the UV sequence was done, most people will but, despite the fact that we were sat on the front row, I still couldn't actually see it being done, and it was such fun to watch.
Another routine that I loved was when they decide to steal tambourines of Mr Bennett because they're fascinated by the noise they make. It's a wonderfully playful routine where the tambourines are passed round the stage in an elaborate game of piggy in the middle while Mr Bennett trys to chase after them to get them back.
Overall, as you can probably tell, I loved this show and have been enthusing to anyone who will sit still for long enough (people are starting to avoid me). It was fun and imaginiative, and really high energy. Suitable for all the family there were families with young kids who were fascinated by the noise and colours to groups like ourselves who just sat there open mouthed at some on the sounds and routines created. If it comes near you, I really do recommend going to see it becuase it was just such fun.
The web address if you want to see their tour dates etc is www.drumchasers.co.uk
There's also a trailer on the site! And a shop - personally I'm hoping that they'll add a dvd eventually

Sunday 9 October 2011

Whoop Whoop!

Another update a day later, this isn't like me at all. But I've finished the page, which makes me very happy, so I thought I'd share that happiness with all my lovely followers in blog land!
Two pages done, I can't even remember how many more to go, possibly 12 full and 7 half pages to go, but it's only another half page before I've finished the first column, and if I've remembered that right that means I'm nearly (ish) one seventh of the way through!
But anyway, I love it! I love the difference that filling in all those little white gaps makes! I still love the castle, but now I've got a tree that I love as well, so all is good in my stitching world!
So now I'm debating what to work on next, I ought to go back to working on the birth sampler, but I don't really want to. I do love this and am very tempted to go straight onto working on the next page, but it's also a long time since I worked on Winter's Majesty, and I am feeling bad for neglecting it, and I've been neglecting Lance & Gwen for even longer and also quite fancy picking that up again. Hmmm, decisions decisions!

And review for DrumChasers will still follow, I'm still composing!

Saturday 8 October 2011

So near and yet so far!

I meant to finish this page this week, but it didn't quite happen. However I did manage to finish all the confetti so all that's left for this page is the black now, so hopefully should be finished in the next couple of days.
I'm loving the castle! As per usual when you've got your nose three inches away from it you can't really see what's developing. Now that I look at the picture I can see the shading and the shape of the castle when it was just a bit of a grey shmush when I was working on it!

I have a question... I set myself targets to finish by the end of the year, and unless some kind of miracle happens, I'm not going to achieve them so, what do I do?
Do I pick one or two to concentrate on so that I can achieve some of my targets and let some others fall by the wayside
OR
Do I continue to work on each of them and get each one closer to where I was aiming to be?
I've got one that I've got to finish, the birth sampler needs to be finished by the end of the year because you can't ask a little dude to wait to be born, but other than that I've got no time limits to work to.

I will actually do a second post later, I went to see the incredible DrumChasers last night because I knew someone who was in it, so I've promised that I'll put a review together for them, so second post to follow! Hope everyone has a good weekend and that the rugby fans aren't shouting at the TV as much as Ben is!

Saturday 1 October 2011

The start of Little Angel

Here's my first week on Little Angel. Seeing as I actually haven't had much time to work on it I'm quite happy with how much I've done and how fast it's stitching up. Despite the fact that I've done one and a half colours you can clearly see the picture taking shape, how often can you say that?
This is one of those projects that I know will look great when it's finished, but it's not really to my taste so there is an element of knowing that I have to work on it, as oppossed to wanting to. But as I say, it seems to be stitching quite quickly so hopefully it shouldn't be too much of a struggle to get it finished in time (as long as she's roughly on her due date, early January).
I started a second job yesterday (like my life isn't full enough), so I'm now waitressing at a local little restaurant two evenings a week, which is a bit of a catch twenty-two, because it means that I'll have more money to spend on my hobby (for the first time since being an undergrad I'll be being paid weekly and in cash - it's a bit like having pocket money again), but I'll have less time to work on the hobby. Although the money is going to be used for other things as well. I also have a couple of days off coming up in the next couple of weeks which will involve some stitching time. Off this coming Wednesday on a random day off, the following Thursday for my birthday (woo hoo, I'm such a kid, still get massively excited about my birthday) and then Ben's away for a conference that weekend as well, so a bit of a stitching marathon will (hopefully) happen in the next few weeks.
So what to work on next? The rotation has crumbled a bit in the last few weeks so I'm pretty much picking up whatever I want to work on for a week until I wor out what I'm going to have as my rotation. Was putting Little Angel away last night and debating what to work on next and as my brain was fried from an 8 hour office day then a 4 hour waitress shift I decided Ben could decide instead.
Me: What shall I work on next?
Him: (Surprisingly decided and almost excited) Dragon Rider!
Me: Is that because that's the only one you can name?
Him: (sounding insulted) No, you like Dragon Rider, you're working on the baby one as well.
All pretty true really, I do like Dragon Rider, and am generally referring to Little Angel as 'the baby one' myself. Anyway, England/Scotland rugby match has just started, so I'm off to stitch through that while Ben watches it and gets far to over excited for this time in the morning!