NNC is two!

NNC turned TWO on 30th October 2008, but, since many of the members had other prior commitments, we couldn’t have the celebration earlier. And so, it was agreed that we have the celebration cum Anniversary Meet on 7th February 2009.

We started planning the meet since November, with Margaret calling for members wishing to join in the Anniversary Gift Exchange, and Tini calling for Angels to fill in the goodies bags. We also needed to know who was bringing what because the Meet will be Potluck style, so that we won’t end up having 13 dishes of the same thing! LOL! *wink*

We sure had lots of food that my dining table was filled up to the brim! There was Nasi Briyani with all it’s accompaniments from Margaret, Nasi Lemak Kukus from Zarina, pizza from Paul, and a mushroom dish from Usha.

Rose brought banana cake, and Sabariah brought cinnamon roll. There was Rendang from Tini, fruits from Rose and Tini, and the much sought after Cheese Cake from Mel! *grin*

I made Lontong, and there was a dessert of Kuih Talam, which, however, I must apologize because I could not recall who contributed it. Definitely everyone went home with a full tummy! LOL!

We started the Meet with a Show & Tell, though this time around not many brought things to show off. Janet brought her patchwork skirt for us to admire, and Anna brought her lovely crocheted granny square bag for us all to go ooh and aah! LOL!

I thought that the bag looked very much like a top I could wear, though it will be a sexy one LOL!. *grin*

Anna made another one in green for the Anniversary Gift Exchange and I was hoping that I will get lucky enough to get it. *grin* But, the lucky recipient was Sabariah.

Margaret brought along a Mail art, which she had just received, for us all to go green with envy. I did not get a chance to see what was included in the mail art, and it was a pity that I forgot to snap a photo of the lovely Mail art.

I only had my smalls which I ‘showed off’ in my showcase cabinet.

We then filled up our tummies with all the great food spread over the table, before we quickly gathered together for the Plastic Shrink Demo by Mel.

I must thank Mel for all the efforts taken to prepare for the demo as she had printed out pieces of nametags and flower motifs with sayings for everyone. She even brought along her own toaster oven for the demo which was specifically used for crafting.

I had earlier on offered the use of my toaster oven, but, I think, had Mel actually used it, everyone’s nametags will come out with all sorts of funny smells from all the heating of food that I had done in it! LOL!

Everyone got excited to see the plastic shrinking, and then got nervous when it crumpled to almost a ball and excitement again when it opened up flat to reveal the nametag in a ¼ of the original size. *grin*. We were like kindergarten kids full of excitement, but, nothing compared to the excitement that we exuded when we opened up our Anniversary Gifts! LOL!

We had scheduled that we would do the Anniversary Exchange at about 2.00pm, but Sabariah had to go off, and kept pestering us *wink* to have the exchange done earlier. We thought that we would let her have her gift, and we would still wait for 2.00pm before exchanging our gifts, but, the minute Sabariah got her lucky number and gift, it got everyone excited and impatient! LOL!

We took turns to open up our gifts and went ooh and aah each time someone opens up their gifts! LOL! We admired the beauty of each handmade piece, and salute the patience and effort that went into each lovely piece. All our members are so talented!

We are green with envy of everyone and wished that we could have gotten all the gifts to ourselves! LOL!

Thank you, everyone, for taking time to make the handmade gifts. Even Shanny from Switzerland and Diane from the United States sent in their gifts for the exchange. Unfortunately, Lody’s gift did not arrive on time for the Meet to qualify to be drawn for the exchange. I just hope that it will still arrive safely, and soon.

After the Gift Exchange was done with, and the excitement settled down a little bit *grin*, we proceeded with another demo, this time, with Tini doing a demo of her new JANOME 350e.

I think I wasn’t the only one sold by what the machine can do, but, I think Mel was sold too! *wink* Mel is a very talented lady, and I can already see her imagining what she can do with the capabilities of the machine combined with her great talents. Definitely we will see her churning out many more beautiful things!

So, Mel, when do we get to see you buy the machine? *wink*

Our last itinerary for the day was the Lucky Draw, where the gift was graciously sponsored by Tini. Thank you so much, Tini!

And, the lucky person was? ROSE!

We had just joked about it just prior to the draw that Tini, being the sponsor of the gift, would pick out the lucky name, and Rose said that Tini will keep on picking out the names until she picks out her (Rose) name.

Heheh…..Tini didn’t need to pick out that many names…..it was the first name she picked out after she accidentally picked out her own name. *grin*

Rose just sent the right vibes to Tini! LOL! Now, if only I could have sent the right vibes to the Mel who packaged her Anniversary Gift in the biggest box that it became the target of everyone to aim for it! LOL!

We went ooh and aaah again when Rose opened up her gift filled to the brim with such great goodies. It was very nice of Tini to have sponsored it. Thanks, again.

Soon it was time for some of the members to leave, but it was not before everyone helped out to clear the table and wash the dishes. I really appreciate it! It was more than half of my chores done! Thank you, everyone!

Slowly everyone left, but not before everyone picked up their goodie bags which Tini had put together with contributions from members, including Diane who also sent in items all the way from the United States to be put inside the goodie bags. Thank you so much, Diane!

Thank you so much, everyone, for all the goodie contributions. You all sure are Angels, just like what Tini referred to you all as.

After most of the members had left, Tini and Paul stayed on, and so did Usha and her daughter, Sharini. We chatted awhile, and I showed off my hardanger project to Paul who’s trying out his hands at hardanger. I also showed off my unfinished calendar project, and got some ideas on how I should finish off my wrongly sized monthly pieces.

Soon after that, Usha’s nephew arrived to pick her and her daughter up, and Tini and Paul left soon after that to catch a movie.

Overall, it was a good Meet, and I tremendously enjoyed myself. I think I can safely say that so did everyone else too, including Usha’s daughter. There were so much goodies, lots of food, and we had so much fun!

Thank you, everyone for coming to the Meet. A special thank you to Janet for making the trip all the way from Ipoh. I really appreciate it.

A special thank you to Tini for organizing the Goodie bags, and the Lucky Draw. Thank you for the demo of the JANOME. Special thanks too goes to Margaret for organizing the Anniversary Gift Exchange. Thank you to Mel for the Plastic Shrink demo. Thank you to all the Angels who contributed to the goodie bags. THANK YOU, everyone, for all the food!

THANK YOU for coming! I had a great time, and I hope, so did everyone else.