Stitches and Craft Show Brisbane 2013

The Brisbane Stitches & Craft Show 2013 is less than a week away & it's going to be HUGE! We have been prepping lots of new kits, cutting & folding new fabrics and packaging up bag hardware for weeks and we cannot wait for the Show to start.

We have to admit it, we've been holding out on you. There are brand new Alexander Henry Pinup Boys that we are launching exclusively at the Stitches & Craft Show. Check out these bad boys, vampires and werewolves reminiscent of a certain book series! They are so hilariously campy cute we just had to get them in for you.

Ready for Action | Wranglers | October Moon (exclusive to Craft Show)

The Ready for Action Firemen and our ever popular Wrangler Cowboys from Alexander Henry will also be back on the stand.

White Rabbit Cushion Kits (exclusive to Craft Show) | Paint the Roses Red 150mm Poppet Purse Kit | Tuxedo 300mm Snap Purse Kit

We have loads of kits / projects ready to go including the best Steampunk White Rabbit ever to grace a cushion. We were inspired to create a bit of an Alice in Wonderland theme with our purse samples and we've made up the cutest Poppet Purse kit - Paint the Roses Red. The Queen of Hearts would love it.

We are also super excited because we will be right next door to Funky Friends Factory. We have made up fabric kits for a heap of Pauline's awesome toy designs, here is a small sneak peek of our newest kits.

Raff Giraffe | Zebra | Wodger the Wombat

The Brisbane Stitches & Craft Show runs from March 21-24 and is open daily from 10am - 4.30pm. More information on the show can be found on their website. 

Unfortunately we can't be in two places at once so we will be closing our showroom while we set up and attend the show. We will be closed from Sunday 17th March and will reopen on Tuesday 26th March. We are still taking online orders and will do our best to keep out delivery times as fast as possible.

If you go to the show make sure you stop by Stand E09 and say hi :)

- Ky and Cloud

Thanks to everyone who voted

Squee came 16 out of 93 entries, thank you to everyone who voted. We should have our sample print of Count Squeecular next week, we will sew him up ASAP and show him off.

- Ky

Ghastly Bats Now Available

Ghastly Bats from Alexander Henry has arrived in store.

Hand drawn by Phillip De Leon (co-owner of Alexander Henry Fabrics) these fabrics are part of the Ghastlies Halloween range. We have more designs from this range on order and they are scheduled for delivery in August.

Cloud has demanded that I make her a circle skirt or fifties dress out of this fabric. I told her she can make it herself. I'd better supervise though because Cloud has had mixed results with clothes making. Rabbits are fine. Clothes, not so much :P

Like all Alexander Henry products this fabric is of a very high quality and can be used for dressmaking, craft, quilting... anything you can think of really.

Ky

Wishlist Wednesday

Continuing with the vampire/true love forever theme, here are some awesome products to die for.

A cute little vampire bat flutters into your bedroom window, but is he as harmless as he looks?

Batling Pin Brooch - Purple Red by Static White's Stitchery

Suddenly an ominous shadow appears on your wall, who's there?

Nosferatu Shadow Vinyl Wall Art Graphic Horror Vampire by PillBoxDesigns

The next thing you know there is a creepy dead guy proclaiming you as his long lost love and offering you his heart. Hopefully not quite this literally.

I GIVE YOU MY HEART... by Midnitemuse

How will the story end?
With a broken heart...

Sutured heart necklace sterling silver by idlehandsdesigns

in a bloody mess...

Red/Silver Glitter Blood choker Necklace Extra Drippy-Dark by Von Erickson

...or married happily ever after?

Cirque De Noir black and white veil by Sisters Of The Moon

Ky

The Vampire Novel - A Roundup

Once upon a time you had to search high and low for a vampire novel but now days you can't turn around without tripping over a new angsty teen romance vampire novel. Honestly they have popped up overnight like mushrooms. My theory is that after a certain vampire saga (I read the first two novels and could not bring myself to continue) was published and became very successful all of the publishers went, "Wow! Vampires = Money!" so they went back through the files and found every vampire novel that had ever been rejected and published them all at once. The genre is now all but ruined for me, so I am going to reminisce about the old days of vampire novels (not that I necessarily liked all of these either).

The Vampire Diaries
by L. J. Smith
This was one of the first vampire series I discovered way back in high school (over 10 years ago now). It is your typical girl meets vampire/s love triangle story. Back in high school I thought this was the most awesome series ever but I'm too scared to read it again now as I am pretty sure that I will find it quite bad.

Anno Dracula
by Kim Newman
What if Van Helsing and co had failed and Dracula had survived to run amok in London? Well this novel explains, in particularly gory detail, what happens next. Vampirism is running rampant through London and Jack the Ripper is preying on Vampire prostitutes. I've read this many times and really enjoyed it, I will have to read it again soon and see if it lives up to my memory.



Sookie Stackhouse Mysteries
by Charlaine Harris
I found these 3 or 4 years ago when I was looking for a book to read on a holiday I was about to take. It was definitely a new take on the vampire novel for me and I have since read all of the books in the series many, many times and I have all of the audio books. I have read/listened to them so many times that I am now starting to get disturbed by the amount of violence Ms Harris likes to inflict on her main character. I mean honestly how many times can one woman be beaten up, raped, and almost killed?

Queen Betsy Series
By Mary Janice Davidson
Very funny series though not much substance. I love the character of Betsy, she is sassy and won't take crap from anyone. Her description of her boss and workplace is just classic. Unfortunately the books tend to be on the Mills and Boon side with the author trying to find flimsy excuses to have steamy sex scenes. I love the cover art.

Anita Blake Vampire Hunter Series
By Laurell K. Hamilton
I cannot stand Anita Blake, she is not likeable in any way. She has a chip on her shoulder. I mean I know she's short but that is no excuse. All she seems to do is run into a situation, then antagonise everyone so that they get annoyed enough at her to attack so that she can righteously slay them. I read the first book and didn't find anything worthy of continuing with the series.

So in closing I would have to say that although I love a good vampire novel they are few and far between. Maybe I have read too many and become jaded. Or I could just be fussy.

Ky