Friday 11 March 2011

Friday mumblilng

I have finally finished the flower basket.  You may be wondering about the smudge at the bottom.  It is not a stain.  I put the smudge there to make my signing stitch obscure.  Yes, a signing stitch.  We sign the embroidery in the same way we sign the calligraphy in Japan.

Thank you for your kind welcome back comments and e-mails.  I am still trying to catch up with the correspondence and will take some more time to get back to you.  As for the monthly challenge idea, I am not entirely sure if it works, but I have decided I will give it a try, at least once.  The main concern is that restricting to one design may result in excluding some people who are not up to the design.  I thought about it for a few days and I realized that I was not sure how exactly the monthly challenge works.  Is it like "can you figure it out?" and I only give you the finished one and the participants will try to see if they could reproduce the design by themselves, or I choose the design and give the instruction, too?  I need more of your opinions here.

Some of you may remember that I considered changing the currency at my shop at Etsy.  The foreign currency exchange rate is relatively stable at the moment but it may fluctuate drastically again without warning and setting the currency at the shop as the denomination of the country I live can save the trouble of repricing the merchandise whenever the currency rate fluctuates, or rather save me from feeling guilt by increasing the price.  So, finally I have went ahead and changed it to Japanese Yen.  At a glance it looks the same as before, but once you opened the product page, the price is shown in YEN than US Dollars.  I apologize for the inconvenience caused but I have to protect myself you understand.

Lastly, as you may have already known, we were hit by the big earthquake and tsunami this afternoon.  The most affected area is north-east of Japan and luckily the area we live are not affected and all my family are safe.  I have been watching TV from the moment the earthquake hit and the damage toll just keeps increasing. ... ... ...  The earthquake itself was big with a lot of aftershocks, but it is tsunami that is devastating.  Please note that I am speaking in the present tense.  Tsunami is still rushing to the Northern coasts, over 10meters high.  It may take a few days until we knew the final number, but it looks grim even now... ... ...

13 comments:

  1. I was wondering were did you live, so I went to your blog and was happy to hear that you were safe, sorry about all the disaster :(

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  2. I am following the news about the earthquake and tsunami this morning. I am very, very glad to hear that you are safe. I am so sorry to hear of the devastation.

    On a happier note, your flower basket is absolutely stunning in the photograph. It must be amazing in person where you can see the detail and texture of the stitches. You do beautiful work.

    Last thought on thimble challenge, I think it would be best to include instructions for how to do the design so as to include the most people. I am always up for trying to figure it out on my own, but I don't know if others are. I am sure that however you set it up it will be fine.

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  3. Hi Chloe Patricia,

    I couldn't remember exactly where you live and I was wondering if you were affected by the earthquake. My sister in law's family live in Tokyo, hard to make contact but I hope they are all safe.

    Your flower basket is lovely. Your Sensei must be very happy with your work.

    Best wishes from Australia

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  4. The flower basket is just stunning - so light and airy.

    I'm glad to hear you and your family are safe! Thought of you right away when I saw the news this morning.

    Best regards,
    Mary Corbet

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  5. May you and your people be safe from this devastating earthquake.

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  6. I've been thinking of you Chloe Patricia, and I'm happy to know you are safe. I am praying for families and for the people affected.
    Jane

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  7. We've been watching horrified at the news from your country. SO glad to hear you are safe.
    Beautiful embroidery!

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  8. I'm so glad to hear that you and your family are OK. The pictures we have seen on UK TV look truly horrific and my heart goes out to everyone in Japan. As if the earthquake and tsunami are not devastating enough, now there is the news of the explosion at the nuclear reactors. I know its small comfort but you are all in my thoughts and prayers.

    Your flower basket is stunning - your embroidery is always simply amazing!

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  9. I hope that you and your family continue to remain safe over these next few days. My husband and I were traveling through the northwest coast of California and visited the coastline. The tsunami has hit there with some damage to their ports. I understand now why there were tsunami signs along the road.
    Your embroidery is perfection. So glad to have you back blogging.

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  10. Very pleased to hear that you and your family are safe and well.

    On a lighter note, your Flower Basket is beautiful.

    Best wishes

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  11. the pictures and bad news are making me speechless.
    I hope, you and your family STAY well.

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  12. Your flower basket is an amazing work!

    I'm happy you and your family are well, images on TV are really shocking and my heart and prayers go to all the people in Japan who are facing this terrible disaster.

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  13. Hi Chloe Patricia,

    Also wanted to chime in and say it's good to hear you are well, and to see you online again.

    On the thimble challenge, I'd agree with Debi. Figuring things out is fun, but would be quite a barrier. I wonder if people would be interested in a thimble exchange as part of the challenge?

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