Thursday, April 28, 2011

Royal Wedding Eve and My Celebrations

All month long on my website I've been celebrating the Royal Wedding with the best tidbits I can think of, and today I posted my latest: Needlework Royalty and a beautiful wedding dress worn by one of Needlework's Royal Princesses.

My Needlework Posting is the latest of my attempts to move into the future and to date I think it is my tutors' favorite. It is probably a toss up between me rising up out of the back of my personal e-Rolls and this one. In time I am hoping I can do even more with this one, but for now it makes me smile. I enjoyed making it to celebrate my Queenship and the Royal Status of a few of my friends.

So it is the Eve of the Royal Wedding and tomorrow is the Big Day. I suspect many of us will have a great day-long or, depending on how industrious you are, an all-night stitch in in front of the television. I suspect, because of a very bad cold, that I will sleep tonight and Tivo it for tomorrow, so now my final decision: which station do I want to record?

Enjoy the eve and the day.
Gay Ann

Thursday, April 21, 2011

A Week till the Royal Wedding

All month long on my website I have been celebrating the upcoming Royal Wedding.
I confess, it isn't so much for the 'royal' part as it is for the wacky commemoratives and souvenirs that everybody comes up with on such occasions and I have been posting links and photos of them on my website since last January. What people can come up with! Now I see that Dunkin' Donuts has a Royal Wedding Donut in the shape of a heart.

I even made up my own Royal Commemoratives, a sewing case, a geometric, a heart and a series of fobs potentially with 'Diana Rings' at the end of the fobs. The rings are available at very reasonable prices on eBay, but I don't think they are real sapphires and diamonds. At first I was disappointed I didn't get a multi-carat sapphire for $17.95 including postage. Then I thought, mnever mind, as the beads I used in the fobs weren't real sapphires and diamonds either.

During the month I have had three quizzes, one on Famous Wedding Dresses, one on Famous Brides and one on Famous Couples and people have been guessing the answers. An amazing number have guessed most of them. The least known of the celebrities was Couple #1 in the 'Famous Couples' quiz; as an aside, everybody knew Couple #3.

Now I have started gathering Favorite Wedding Dresses. I actually think this exercise has some worth as a design exercise. This morning I started writing a tiny bit about Style. Not High Style or Fashionista Style but a bit of Vintage/Historical Style. Along with others I have been surfing Wedding Dresses for the one I like best. After viewing everybody's selections so far, I must say that my choices aren't very conventional, but that's fine. I will post my choices at the very end.

I still want to do a feature on 'Royal Commemoratives' from the past. I don't have a huge collection of them but as a long time collector of sewing tools, I do have a few and I think they are great fun. I will start posting photos early next week.

In a windup to the wedding, I've saved my favorite bit for the last. MacSoph and I just finished it (it was a joint effort), with much help from my favorite kids at Apple. They all liked it and laughed pretty hard, so I have high hopes it will amuse my website followers. I will post it sometime toward the end of next next week, likely on Wednesday or Thursday.

So there's still a busy time ahead on Queendom Website, followed by an all-nighter. Perhaps. I am thinking, should I stay up all night, or get lots of zzz's and use Tivo. I keep telling myself that's why they invented Tivo.

But then there's the lure of seeing it all in 'Real Time'.

Which? Don't know yet.

Gay Ann

Friday, April 08, 2011

In the Springtime: an Extravaganza.

I have been looking forward to a Springtime Extravaganza on my website since last November. Through the doldrums of winter and into my favorite time of year.

Why my favorite time of year? Because the days grow longer and it is time for strawberries and asparagus. Yummy foods to eat that aren't even bad for you, and longer times to stitch in the natural daylight. Two good reasons, don't you think?

I began my Springtime Extravaganza with a quote: In the Springtime, the only pretty ring time, the birds do sing, hey ding a ding ding, sweet lovers love the spring.

The quote was full of hints about my Springtime Extravaganza, and now the cat is out of the bag.
Yes, the Lord Chamberlain himself has invited Queendom Website and its followers to put on our best tiaras and spiffy pyjamas, set our alarm clocks and watch the Royal Wedding together. If you travel to my website you will find a replica of the actual invitation, just a little reworked for all of us, and a page of crowns, coronets and tiaras appropriate for the occasion, even if the bride herself decides to wear flowers, not a tiara.

The only thing missing from our Extravaganza so far: some special mementos to stitch through the night and into the day as we celebrate with a night-and-day stitch-in on Shining Needle Society. So, behind the scenes I have been stitching stitching away small patterns to commemorate the day. Now it is the eve of my posting them for the first time and I am anxious to see how Queendom Website looks when it all goes live tomorrow morning.

I have been stitching and MacSoph and I have been working away, and I have a couple of proud moments to crow about:
I have a little geometric and guess what: it sparkles! And when it stops sparkling, the viewer can click on it and it will sparkle again.

I have a little sewing case that opens and closes, and on demand opens and closes again.
And my best effort so far: a little heart that revolves and does a bit of magic.

Last month I celebrated my third anniversary of life with both MacSophs (Little MacSoph and MacP.Soph), my two computers. I didn't have time then to celebrate (toooo many deadlines!) but I will take time this month to reflect on how far I've come and how far I still have to go.

Springtime. The season of growth. Time for me to grow and grow. Now, on the eve of my Springtime Extravaganza, I look forward to taking the next step. All day Sunday I go to school again at the Apple Store and I hope to do a bit more. Building blocks they are, one step more toward my fantasy.

So I hope you will visit Queendom Website and see my new building blocks: the geometric that twinkles, the sewing case that opens and closes and the heart that revolves.
They will be up tomorrow morning first thing.

And I hope too that you will join Queendom Website for the Royal Wedding and the celebration in general of the spring.

Gay Ann