Arrghhhhhh!!!! *grin*

I don’t know where I did wrong, but miscounted I did. I checked and checked but still I could not find where my mistake was. Even if I ripped the piece, I wouldn’t know to rip it until which part of the piece. After some thought, I decided to snip off the thread and abandon this piece I started some two weeks back. Such a waste of time and effort (aarrgghhh!!!!), but carrying on with it would not be worth it, and ripping it would only be worthwhile if I rip it until where I changed the colours of the thread. *sigh* I just lost the momentum and mood to proceed with this piece. I might start over with a new colour though, maybe some time later. Maybe also never! LOL!

Anyway, with that piece stashed at a corner, I picked up my beige thread and started on a new piece with a new design, as you can see from the photo. I have combined purple into the piece. I have advanced further since the photo was taken on 26th April. I will put up progress photo of the piece later this weekend. I have to complete this soon as I had ‘unintentionally’ *wink* signed up for the Wish List Exchange currently being organized by BJ at NNC. It is an all craft (because it is not just cross stitch, but patchwork, quilting, crochet, tatting, or any other crafts which your partner wishes for) exchange where what you get in exchange will be different, in most cases, from the item that you will be sending to your assigned partner.

I am going to have a very busy schedule in the office since I foresee a lot of traveling in the next few months, but, heck, for the fun of it, why not, I will join the exchange, if not for anything else, to lend support to the activities organized in the group, for as long as my time permits. I might not be able to join in anymore exchanges come June, so, I think, this will probably be my last exchange until the end of the year. Wish me luck! *wink*

On the cross stitch front, after an almost non-cross stitching activity for close to a month, I started on something small two weeks ago. It is an alphabet taken from the Sajou series freebie which a member at NNC had posted a link at the board some time back. I am not telling what alphabet I am stitching for now, for this is going out to someone when done. *wink* If you can make out the alphabet, then just keep it to yourself, OK? *wink* Ssssshhhhhhhhhhhhh…………*grin*

HAPPY BIRTHDAY, Aiman!

Aahh! It's been a tiring 3 days getting things ready for my son's 7th birthday party. A week before that, I had already started preparing the party packs, and the invitation cards needed to be printed out so that my son can hand deliver them to his classmates in school.

My hubby had earlier suggested that we just have the party at McD, KFC or A&W, but I was not in favour of it because the places where parties can be held were far from home. My hubby then suggested that we cater the food and have it at home but, when we went down the menu, I realised that I am capable of cooking and preparing all the food that we wanted on the menu. It would be such a waste to spend so much on something that I know how to do. So, finally, we agreed that I would cook some of the food, and my sister-in-laws (Eina & Eli) would help prepare one or two more dishes to make up the balance of the menu that we wanted. So, the stage was set......

I took leave on Friday, 20th April, to bake the cake as I would have to frost the cake on Saturday, in between preparing the things to make up the sphagetti sauce, potato salad and garlic bread. I need only have to cook the spaghetti and the sausages come Sunday morning, 22nd April, the day of the party, and the actual date of Aiman's birthday.


Baking the cake, frosting it, and preparing the things to make up the sphagetti sauce, potato salad and garlic bread sounded pretty easy, or so I thought. I have cooked this menu numerous times before when I had a maid, and before my son came into our lives. The last time I cooked up a storm single-handedly was more than 6 years ago, and I was younger and stronger then. I thought I could do it, and I wanted to do it for my son. We did not have any celebration for his birthday last year because just three weeks prior to his birthday, we sent the maid home unexpectedly due to some problems. All plans to have a party went down the drain as we took time to adjust to the new routine without a maid. So, this year, I promised him that we will have one. He was also eager to have his newly found friends from school over for the party.

So, prepare I did for 3 whole days, most of the time on my feet.

The party was on Sunday morning, and I think most of the kids had fun. I had prepared food enough for 20 kids and their parents, making it enough for more than 60 people. Guess what? I learnt something new as a parent. When you have a birthday party for a child and invite his or her school friends, the parents take it that the invitation is only meant for the child, and not for the parents and his/her siblings as well, unless you clearly stated it in the invitation card. I did not know that. Duh!

I naturally thought that a child would definitely be accompanied by at least one adult. I, for one, wouldn't just drop off my son at someone's house and just go off shopping or something. I would want to make sure that I am there in case he wanted food or drinks or needed to go to the toilet, something like that. Who is going to keep an eye on my son while the host is busy entertaining the other guests? Okay, so you say that I am overly protective of my son? Who wouldn't, in this time of day when kids go missing within split seconds at the blink of an eye. But, more so why I wouldn't just drop off my son and go shopping is so that my son wouldn't bother the host should he needed anything.

Well, that was what had happened at my son's birthday party on Sunday. Not that I am complaining that I was suddenly put to take care of 10 of my son's school friends (the rest were cousins who came with their parents. Phew! LOL!), don't get me wrong. If I had known that the parents were just going to drop of their kids I would have better prepared myself for it (mentally and physically) and not be suddenly swarmed with kids asking for water, not that water, this water, not that food but this food, no, I gotta go to the toilet NOW!! LOL!

It was choas for a while, while I got over my shock! LOL! I could have handled the situation better if I have had time to divide the responsibilities with my hubby - who takes care of kids wanting to go to the loo, who gives out the drinks, who looks after the kids who wants to eat, but fussy about the food laid out on the table, and wants something else! LOL! It sure was an eye opening experience for me! Duh! *grin*

So, this is the trend now these days, huh? When your child is invited to a party, unless it is stated that you, the parents, are invited too, you are expected to just drop off the child and go for a much needed honeymoon! LOL!

I am glad to have my sister, Lin, to take care of the games (Musical Chair, Passing The Parcel, Maze Puzzle & Stick the Elephant Trunk), while my brother, Ayis, was the music director for the Musical Chair & Passing The Parcel. Thank you to Eina for the Mee Hoon Siam (Fried Siamese Mee) and the sandwiches, Eli for the chicken fingers, and Kak La for the lovely chicken pies. A BIG Thank You to my hubby for taking care of the kids where he can (I think he was just as flustered too, but he was more calm than I was! LOL!), and of course for organising the tables and chairs and blowing up the balloons and putting them up.

A HUGE BIG HUG to my son, AIMAN! HAPPY BIRTHDAY, SAYANG! We LOVE YOU VERY VERY MUCH!!! We hope that you have had a great 7th birthday party. The next one, God wiling, is going to be at McD, KFC or A & W! LOL! *wink*

BTW, did I tell you that we have so much food left over, that we will be eating sphagetti and Mee Hoon Siam for the next ONE WEEK? LOL! *wink*

and another thing..... the kids were more eager to see who gets the car on the cake than who wants to eat the cake! LOL! *wink*

My feet is killing me........................

Work-in-Progress Report

It's Work-in-Progress Report Week again at NNC this week. I have not been doing any cross stithing in the last 3 weeks, prefering to try out some crochet patterns instead, two of which I have completed earlier and have put up photos of the pieces.

My star project has taken a back seat as I try my hands out at crocheting using yet another variegated thread, this time in combinations of off-white, pink and yellow. It is looking only slightly better then the one I did using the pink and off-white variegated thread in that, the blotches of colours are not so blotchy.....well, kind of! LOL!

However, this time around I am having problems of the piece curling up as I crochet the piece. I did not experience this when I was doing my two earlier pieces. Janet suggest that I either spray block it and rip it apart. What? Rip it apart? Oh dear! I am about a quarter way done, and simply `sayang' to rip it apart. The photo shown here was taken yesterday. Since then, I had completed another 5 more rounds/rows, so, you can see, I have advanced quite a lot.

I tried ironing it tonight and it looks like it can hold it's shape. I think I will go ahead and finish this piece, and at the end of it, I will spray block it as shown here at this blog (http://grannyalong.blogspot.com/2007/04/how-to-spray-block.html) put up by Mel. Thanks, Mel! Thanks to Janet too for her suggestions.

BTW, here is a small coaster I made for Margaret as a token of appreciation for hosting the Library Day at her house on 31 March. Thanks, Margaret! Can we do more of this? *wink*

The coaster is nothing great, really, but, it was an attempt at trying something small and different. I just hope that Margaret will find some use for it.

Pincushion Exchange and Garden Card Swap

Aahh! Finally these two exchanges are done with! Well, almost! The Garden Card Swap came to a close when all the participants managed to send out their cards on time. I almost thought I could not make it, the usual excuse being that all of a sudden my schedule at work got quite hectic. But, I still managed to get it done. I made a commitment when I signed up for the exchange, so, I am responsible to mail it out on time, no matter what the consequences were, unless it is a family emergency, which, of course, takes precedence over anything and everything else.

So, here is my card which I mailed out to Ying, who also happens to be the organiser for this exchange. Thanks, Ying! I mentioned in my earlier posting that this is actually not my normal style, but, never the less, I am happy with the result. It is something new, which I probably might not have tried out if not for the exchange.

Next is the Pincushion Exchange which was supposed to come to a close by now, but, due to some members not being able to mail out on time, some for health reasons, others for reasons only known to them, it is still not yet completed. I hope I can close this exchange soon when all the participants have received their PCEs. It is 'stressing me out' when an exchange cannot be completed within a certain period of time! LOL! *wink*

Anyway, above is the PCE I made for Niesa in Sarawak, and here is the PCE I received from Radha. A really nice pice by Radha. Love the teddy bear that came along with it! She told me that the teddy can also be turned into a pincushion, not that I want to poke pins into the little guy though! LOL!

What a disappoinment!

Even for someone who is tone deaf, I noticed that the music arrangement for last night's Akademi Fantasia's 5th Concert was a BIG letdown.

After last week's impressive concert, it was diappointing to watch last night's concert, and I blame it on the music arrangement. I think the kids worked hard to get into the songs, to have a feel for the songs. They got out of the comfort zone to take up Ogy's challenge and to try something new. I congratulate them for trying, despite this being a competition where you don't take risks. The music arrangemments were so bad, that all the critics could see were that the kids could not sing or could not carry the songs well.

The critics failed to see that the kids could dance and sing at the same time. That the kids could act while they sing their songs. If their singing failed them, their acting and dancing pretty much made up for it. Okay, so this is a singing competition, so the kids should concentrate on their singing first before they go into acting and dancing. But, is it really just a singing competition? I think not. If it is, than why have the diaries where the kids are exposed to the pubic everyday for them to be scrutinized and critisized for everything that they do or do not do?

Yes, it would be a sorry case if the winner emerged as one who cannot sing, but has the good looks. I am not expecting Dafi to win if he does not improve on his singing, and I have said before that Dafi cannot sing, but, last night, he did a good job of dancing effortlessly while singing. That, you have to give him credit. The dance steps were well coordinated, and his moves were cute! So, OK, he's cute *wink*, but, he has improved, and he tried. Give him that credit at least.

I must also salute him for being able to take the hash critics against him weekly very well. He took it in his stride, him being only 19, and worked to improve. He just haven't got the songs that is his genre. Maybe this coming week? I can't say the same about Aizat, other than simply that he thinks that he is great! Is he really? Did the audience really boooed him last night?

Another sorry case of bad music arrangement, I think Heliza did a good job of acting while singing, but, again, all the critics could see was that her acting took away her focus on her singing. She probbaly did not sing as well as the previous weeks, but, neither was she doing an act in previous concerts. She did something different. She got out of her comfort zone, and tried acting while singing. What did she get for her efforts? Harsh critics for not spending enough time polishing up her singing, but spending too much time acting. If I were Cikgu Fatimah Abu Bakar, I would have been embarassed, for she was the one that had put Heliza up for the acting, and she (Cikgu Fatimah) did a good job of it. I would give Cikgu Fatimah credit for being able to get Heliza to act while singing. For, if not because of the acting, it would have been just a dull song, what with such a bad music arrangement.

I have never been impressed with Shawal, but, him singing a dangdut song this week, I looked forward to his performance last night. I thought his dance steps were entertaining, though I expected more aggresive moves, but, it was worth given credit. However, again, he was critisized for concentrating too much on the dance steps, and not on polishing his singing. Hey! Don't the critics get it? Blame it on the music arrangement! It made the songs sung by the kids a BIG disappointment!

Even Ebi, who I looked forward to perform, was disappointing, though this song made famous by Broery Marantika, could have been one of the killer songs for the night. This song is not Ebi's genre, and the bad music arrangement simply made it worst. Even Candy was not spared the bad music arrangement, her being a consistent performer each week.

I hope ASTRO would bring back Sham Kamimaze who has done such a wonderful job in the music arragement for the past 4 seasons to do the music arrangement for the rest of the concerts for this season, instead of leaving everything to Roslan Aziz. It is obvious from 3 concerts already that when Roslan 'meddles' with the music arrangement, the concert turns out a disappointment.

Really, ASTRO, please WAKE UP!!!

*Note: all photos were taken from Akademi Fantasia's official website at http://www.astro.com.my/akademi_fantasia/v5/

Time for a happy dance!

Yeap! It's been quite a productive weekend, stitching wise, well, rather, crocheting wise. I managed to complete both pieces of the crochet pieces, and I am happy to say that both turned out quite nice, even though with different effects.


The one in pink variegated is kind of sweet. My only wish is that the variegated could have been more subtly instead of in blotches. It won't be my last attempt at using variagated though. I can't, I have 4 balls to finish! LOL!

This second piece is a combination of pink and off-white, though I think the colour in the photo does not show it up too well. I used DMC Traditions size 10, colour 5746 combined with WINA, colour 902. I really like the feel of the DMC thread. Really nice and soft to work with, making your end product very nice to the touch. The WINA is rather rough, but, combined it with DMC, the end result is really nice. I am going to try more of this combination with other patterns in the future.

BTW, the variegated is MINLON POLLY colour 288, for those interested to try out the thread, to see fo ryourself the effects.

On another note, here is a photo of the crochet pieces Usha did for me which she sent with the Garden Card Swap. I now have matching crochet pieces, 3 lovely pieces in all, all crocheted by Usha. Thanks, Usha!

He's got my vote! *wink*

heheh.....after watching last night's concert, Ebi's got my vote (yeah! Like as if I am voting! LOL!)!

Wow, that was a great performance by Ebi! I really enjoyed it, especially when he jumped off the stage and landed beautifully in front of Ogy! LOL! I did not notice him before this except for last week, like I said, I was impressed with his rendition of Mawi's Al-Jannah. Not an easy song to sing, that one, but he carried it well in his own style.

I saw that his ratings went up tremendously (43% was it?) after his performance and his placing went straight up to number one, pushing even the crowd favourite Dafi aside with only a 10% vote! I think the young girls are smitten by the fact that he won 1st runner up in a manhunt competition or something like that! *wink* I was smiten, not by his looks, but definitely, by his good performance last night. I will be looking out for him in the next concert and the next and the next! *wink* Hopefully he will have the holding power to last till the finals.

I was kind of surprised though with those who got eliminated last night. I had thought that Fatin and Noni would last at least another 2 or 3 concerts before being eliminated. But, because last night, 3 students were eliminated all at once, it would have been difficult to actually predict who's going out. Only I thought it would have been either Mila or Dekna, since there were nothing really outstanding about both of them, not that the others, with the exception of Ebi, has got anything outstanding to show off anyway.

Well, that's reality TV for you. You get shocked by the results, and these young Malaysians can sometimes shock you by whom they vote for, and this is not necessarily for their talent.

Have you seen him?

My heart cries for the little boy Yin that has gone missing while accompanying his dad shopping at Sogo, Jalan Tuanku Abdul Rahman, Kuala Lumpur, a week ago. He is only 5-years old. I am most certain that his family, especially his mom and dad, are having sleepless nights thinking about him, wondering where he is, and praying for his save return. I am most certain 1001 things are running through their minds, wondering if he is okay, if someone had taken him, if he is somewhere wandering in the streets, hungry and helpless, wondering why mom and dad has not come for him.

The Weekend Mail today showed a clipping of the video footage of him walking confidently out of the shopping complex, and it has reduced his mom to tears. It has reduced me to tears. His mom had said that Yin is a quiet, reserved child and does not talk much, so it was shocking to see him stroll out of the shopping complex confidently. It was out of character for him, she said.

I pray that Yin is safe, and I pray that he will soon be reunited with his family. May he be protected from any harm. May a kind soul find him and return him to his family who cries for him. Amin.

If anyone out there have seen him, do contact the numbers listed above with his photo which was taken from the poster Malay Mail is distributing in their efforts to help find Yin.

Say what?

He is the current principal of Akademi Fantasia Season 5. He just called Mawi a fluke. He is labelled by some in the entertainment industry as a perfectionist. I am talking about Roslan Aziz. He was featured in today’s Weekend Mail because of his recent remark of Mawi.

A perfectionist, you say? Hmmm…….if he is so much a pecfectionist, how come this season I have yet to see any real talents in any of the AF5 kids? He said that he has personally chosen each and every kid that made it into the Akademi. So, now we know what his standards of perfections are, huh?

Tonight is already going to be the 4th concert. I have yet to see who among the 13 left can actually make the cut to be in the finals, what more the winner. So far, all the kids have only mediocre talents.

Dafi? He’s cute, no doubt *wink*, but…….. hmm…., sorry folks, I don’t believe he can sing. He’s been lucky so far, his songs have been pretty easy ones. Fatin? Maybe. It depends on the songs that she gets.

Candy? A maybe too. So far, she’s been one of those who have been getting good comment from the critics, including from over-dramatizing queen, Ogy. Shawal? He’s okay. Too full of himself, though.

Ebi’s okay. If there is someone that I want to vote for (not that I am voting! LOL!), he’s getting my vote after his good rendition of Mawi’s (I am not even a fan of Mawi! Oops! My mom’s gonna get mad with me! LOL! *wink*) song last week.

Dekna? Mediocre talent too. So are the rest, although I see some talents in Heliza. I really can’t say who can make it to the finals, or who I hope can make it, because sometimes the young voters’ tastes can shock you! LOL!

In the previous seasons, I can pretty much guess who will make it to the finals, or, at least I have a favourite who I cheer on weekly, and this is not necessarily because of their looks. I think they have genuine talents.

In Season 1, although I am no fan of Vince, but I could see that he’s got talent, and definitely, he’s got strong female fans, my sister included. LOL! I was cheering on for Rosmah, Khai & Sahri. In Season 2, I was cheering on for Bob, Kaer, Zahid, Farah, and Adam, who all made it to the finals.

Come Season 3, I was all out cheering for Kefli! Yup, he’s cute! *wink* But, that boy has got lots to polish on his talent. I have seen him sing live the song 'RATU’, popularized by Awie of Wings, and I was impressed! That boy can actually sing! Remember his great rendition of BERHENTI BERHARAP? He was clearly a winner that night, for sure! I was also cheering on for Marsha, Amylea, Akma and Zarina, although only Marsha and Amylea made it to the finals.

In Season 4, I was impressed with Haziq’s unique vocals, and was strongly hoping that besides him, Farhan would walk away with the car. Alas, they both lost out to Faizal’s mediocre talent because he (Faizal) has got strong voters from the young females who was charmed by his simple and humble ways.

Tonite, again, I hope to be shocked with some great talents. *wink* Shall we see just how a perfectionist Roslan Aziz really is tonight?

*Note: all photos were taken from Akademi Fantasia's official website at http://www.astro.com.my/akademi_fantasia/v5/

An experiment................

I know I should be going back to work on my Star Project, but, somehow today, I just wanted to try out the variagated crochet thread I bought at Haby's when I met up with Linda & Lillie 2 weeks ago.

I actually started on it last nite, but after doing 12 rows, I felt that the I did not achieve the effect I expected. I thought it would turn out something like the effect Faizon had on her tatting pieces. You know, the way the colours kind of subtly change? I like that but, unfortunately I could not achieve that effect with crochet, although the piece looks nice, sweet, in fact! *wink*

It could be either because the colour variations in the thread that I bought is not as nice as the ones Faizon bought, or, my expectations was simply too high! But, actually, by looking at the thread on its own, the colour variations are really sweet! It goes from off-white to light pink to dark. I thought that my doily would have the same effect. Unfortunately, it turned out in patches of off-white, dark pink, and light pink. The colours does not change subtly, but rather abruptly. Nevertheless, it is still a nice piece, if I can say so myself! LOL!

Anyway, not satisfied, I stopped at the 12th row, and this morning I started the same pattern, but using two different colours of thread - off white & pink. I stopped at the 12th row too just to see the effects to compare. I think this 2nd piece still does not exactly have what I had in mind, but, I still like the way it turned out.

I took photos of both pieces, but, I think the photos do not do justice to the nice colour variations of the threads. You can't quite compare the different effects the different threads give. I will snap more photos when I finish both pieces. Hopefully the next time, the photos will look better.