A huge thanks to everyone who entered my contest over the past two weeks! I have so many fantastic ideas now, it’s hard to know where to start… I have 2 new patterns in the works already, and plenty more ideas percolating. I’d love to make all the suggestions, but that may be a little ambitious!

The winner of a free pattern (randomly chosen using a clever Excel formula) is… thegothicl! Congratulations – I’ve sent you an e-mail with details so you can choose your prize.

And as a runner-up prize for all the other entrants, here’s a sneak peek at one of the new patterns I’m developing:

Thanks again to everyone who entered, and don’t forget to sign up for my mailing list if you’d like to be notified whenever a new Craftybits @ PlanetJune.com pattern is released 🙂

I try to stay away from much personal stuff on this blog, but I’ve been tagged by Kari for the “6 weird things” meme, so here’s a little dose of my weirdness.

RULES: People who get tagged need to write a blog post of 6 weird things about them as well as state this rule clearly. In the end, you need to choose 6 people to be tagged and list their names.

1. When I was in primary school, we always used to try to peel our satsumas/tangerines/small-orange-type-things so the peel would come off in one piece, for good luck. There was even more luck to be acquired if the fruit had 10 segments. I still try to peel them in one piece and *always* count the segments. Hey, a little extra luck can’t hurt, can it?
    
2. I am left-handed, but use my computer mouse right-handed. It wasn’t until I got carpal tunnel in my right wrist that I learned to mouse left-handed. So now I am just about mouse-ambidextrous (although I still prefer to use my right hand when my wrist is up to it). Luckily, I crochet left-handed…
    
3. When I exercise, my pulse goes very high. VERY high. Around 200 bpm. I’ve had tests for it but they haven’t been able to find anything wrong with me.
    
4. I like to eat frozen vegetables… while they are still frozen. Peas, green beans, or sweetcorn; my sister and I have always eaten them that way. Put them in a bowl and eat them as a snack – it’s also healthier than a bowl of peanuts. Sometimes my teeth are too sensitive to eat a whole bowlful these days, but I still always grab an extra handful to eat while I’m cooking the rest.
    
5. I am insanely competitive and can’t stand to lose. But I also feel terrible whenever I win – I know how badly I feel when I lose, and I don’t want to make anyone else feel that way. So I try to stay away from competitive games and situations because I always feel bad, whatever the outcome.
    
6. I love playing adventure games on the PC and all sorts of games on Nintendo Game Boy. I have owned a Game Boy since the original black and white version, and I’ve upgraded to almost every iteration since then: Pocket, Color, Advance, and now Micro.  When I bought my original one I couldn’t afford any extra games, so I am a Tetris master and can probably still run through Super Mario Land with my eyes closed.

And that’s my six! It was disturbingly easy to get there… 

Tagging time: I nominate Mia, Rina, Mindy, Claire, and I have 2 more spots up for grabs – let me know if you want to be tagged for this one too!

Want to win the pattern of your choice from the PlanetJune.com online store? Just comment on this post with your ideas for future Fuzzy Friends patterns. What would be cute? What are your favourite animals? Let me know in the comments!

One entrant will be randomly selected to win a pattern of their choice from my store!

The Rules:

1. One entry per person – please submit all your ideas in one comment.
2. Repeat suggestions are good! I’d like to know what would be most popular, so if someone has already suggested your favourites, please cast your vote for them too.
3. The winner will receive their choice of Fuzzy Friends crochet pattern, which may be redeemed immediately, or at a later date, when more patterns are available.
4. Contest closing date:  March 10th, 2007, 10am EST. One winner will be randomly selected. The winner’s name will be published at www.planetjune.com/blog

I have been challenging myself to enter the whiplash contest on whipup every month:

• I crocheted a bag in July (bags)
• I refashioned a skirt into a dress in August (wardrobe surgery)
• I crocheted a hat in September (hats)
• I made a bracelet in October (accessories)

Every month I take the theme and then figure out something I can do with it to challenge myself and to create something I like. I’m sure if I made different things I would have a better chance of winning, but that’s not the reason why I enter.

But here is November’s brief:

“NOVEMBER is officially ALT CRAFT month – Non-traditional crafts with an edge
Use of alternative materials with traditional techniques or traditional materials with original patterns”

I have been thinking it over for 2 weeks and I cannot think of anything I could make that would fit into this category. And then it came to me: I am not alternative. And maybe that’s okay – I make up my own designs and patterns, so my work is not entirely traditional or derivative. I’ve seen some amazing alt-craft projects on craftster etc, but I admire them without wanting to do something similar. I like the things I make, and I don’t want to put time and effort into making something that doesn’t “fit” with me.   

Maybe I’m not alone in this… There are suspiciously few entries this month (only 5 at the time of writing) – a lot less than usual. Maybe everyone is too busy, or leaving it to the last minute, but maybe there are others who feel the same as me.

Kudos to the folks at whipup for creating whiplash and the amount of crafty brilliance it generates each month. I’m not criticizing their choice of theme. I just wonder: is ‘alternative’ now the only way to be cool? Have I just pigeonholed myself into the ‘unhip’ corner? I am proud of my work the way it is and I don’t want to feel pressurized to change my style (even though the pressure is probably all in my head).

And that’s why I’m not going to enter whiplash this month.

This week I’ve been ‘crafting’ my website. I’ve added a pop-out menu throughout the whole planetjune site, and made the new Craftybits Gallery. It’s database-driven so all my projects are viewable by category. Yay me!

The whiplash bag competition results are have finally been announced and, although I didn’t win, my crochet and satin evening bag got a special mention in the ‘Skill’ category! I really didn’t expect to win, especially after seeing the quality of some of the other entries, so this is a real confidence booster for me.

Here’s my almost-winning design:

Congrats to the winners and thanks to the Whip up panel for noticing me.

The WIP Friday meme is spreading around craftblogville and I’m thinking it’s a great way to introduce you to a range of what I do. Here are some of my “in progress” projects: 

Before we moved to Canada, a very sweet loved-up pair of doves used to sit on our garden wall in Durham. I took a photo of them and converted it into a cross stitch pattern. At 10 inches wide, the completed piece will be composed of 25,000 cross stitches… I split the pattern into three vertical panels to make it easier to work with, and, as you can see, I’m about 1/3 through the second panel, so I still have a long way to go.

I am crocheting this afghan and so far I have completed 26 of the 63 squares. My third block colour will be a mid-blue and I am going to finish the afghan with navy blue borders between the squares. This is really a winter project, so I’m probably going to put the box of squares away until the weather starts getting colder again!

I know they look like funny yellow ghosts at the moment, but they are going to be part of my polymer clay fridge magnet series. When the wings (shown in pic), beaks (on right of pic) and feet (still to make) are attached, they’ll look a lot better (I hope!). Bottom right of the picture are some backfilled clay tiles I’ve been experimenting with. I think they look cool (especially the bottom one), but not sure what I’ll do with them yet.

I just started playing with origami. This was originally going to be a mobile, but now I’m not really sure what do to with it. When I’ve figured it out, I have some prettier origami papers to try out as well.

There are more things that I’m working on too (painting, sewing, beading… I like variety), but this post is probably long enough already, so I’ll call it a day for now.