International Temari Appreciation Day

ITAD ... very belated... prize draw

2011-11-26T18:03:00.001+08:00

Goodness me where have the days since ITAD 2011 gone? A month has already whizzed past! Every time I've sat down to post to this blog something else has drawn my attention and wrestled me away from my computer.

I am very sorry that I am so late posting about the winner of this competition. There were several people that made comments or sent messages that asked not to be included in the draw, but for those that wanted to be included in the draw and had submitted their entries by November 11th, I gathered all the entries into the 'hat' to be drawn on the morning of November 12th. Unfortunately on that day my dog died and I was more than a little distracted from all things temari and (even to my own surprise) very weepy too. Then I got asked to participate in a Japanese festival at the last minute which was wonderful and really helped to get me motivated again. We are doing better now that my remaining dog is getting on with life again too (he spent about a week in his bed pining for his brother).

Here is the post I had started writing before real life got in the way.

There were several people that made comments or sent messages who asked not to be included in this draw, I guess you are all lucky enough to have your own set of Cosmo 1-7 already... but thank you for still participating in the ITAD competition even if you didn't want to win a prize.
So here we are now it is time to announce the winner....
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It's Shirley
Congratulations!!!
I will email you so you can choose which volume you'd like and we can organise get you your prize.

ITAD in Kyoto

2011-11-08T18:05:00.000+08:00

Barb Suess sent me this email earlier in the week.

Our group of three intrepid travellers (Glenna, Kathy and me from the US to Japan) spent the day traveling with our JTA sponsor from Kyoto to Uji by train. Then we ate lunch (Japanese, of course) and took a taxi to Sensei Itoh’s home. Her classroom is in her home – a room with seating for about 10 and the walls lined with shelves filled with temari. The day was the first of our temari classes in Japan and it was absolutely wonderful! I mentioned that ITAD was on this day and there were nods of appreciation. I’m not sure our JTA sponsor or Itoh Sensei knew exactly what I meant. But it gave us all a moment to reflect that temari has spread all over the world. Sensei worked with us on a rather difficult pattern and we got it!

Wow what lucky ladies... to spend ITAD in Japan with two Temari Sensei taking a private class.

Temari class with Sensei Itoh

2011-11-05T19:50:00.000+08:00

Barb Suess sent this great pic of herself with Kathy (left), Glenna (right) and Sensei Itoh in Japan during their recent holiday. I bet they were jumping out of their skins at such a wonderful opportunity to stitch temari at a class in Japan.

Click the image to see it a little larger and admire all the temari in the shelves.

Thanks for sharing Barb!

How international was ITAD this year?

2011-11-05T12:00:00.000+08:00

I keep visitor statistics on this blog because I want to know how far the message about International Temari Appreciation Day is travelling around the world.

I would have expected it to spread through the English speaking parts of the world (particularly through Australia, England and USA) but I was surprised to see the list of countries names in the statistics this year.

Have a look for yourself.

I see there is a huge amount of traffic that falls into the 'Unknown Country'* category, so who knows there could be many more countries than those already listed ( a few more at least).

If you are interested you can compare the visits this year with the previous year here.

* This category is for computers whose IP address is kept behind firewalls etc so the location cannot be determined.

Still time win a copy of a Cosmo Temari Book

2011-11-04T13:53:00.000+08:00

There is still time to enter our 2011 ITAD competition to win a copy of a Japanese temari book in the Cosmo series.

Click here to see the competition details

Please do take 5 minutes to enter this competition. I am sure we can all speak volumes of why we love or how we got involved in Temari making. Your entry need not be an epic War and Peace type novel. Just a few lines is all you need, a picture would be nice but also not essential.

* *

(_____)

Beadturtle celebrating ITAD by....

2011-10-23T12:03:00.000+08:00

making teeny temari key rings. So cute! Click over to see them.

In Fremantle celebrating ITAD by....

2011-10-23T11:34:00.002+08:00

Shirley sent me this note about her ITAD activity.

As you noted we have had a cool cloudy day and I wanted to make temari outside also, but made a pact with myself. If I planted out all the pots that have been waiting for such a time as this with showers forecast for several days, then I could spend the remainder of the day finishing off the HHG path that I have been working on. It has been done. I have had a thorough wash, (no dirty hands on my temari!) and I am about to sit down and enjoy playing with the threads. I am ready for a rest!!

Cool, love the colours you chose to use on these ones! Perhaps you also have some future temari inspiration growing in your pots too.

PS see you next week :)

In Russia celebrating ITAD by....

2011-10-23T11:30:00.001+08:00

adding to your online albums.

Inspired by International Temari Appreciation Day this image called Temari Galaxy was added to Ssvetik's Flickr album this week.

What an awesome picture... perhaps you should submit it for the 2012 Temarikai Calendar.

Thanks for sharing!

In Kyoto celebrating ITAD by....

2011-10-22T14:44:00.000+08:00

Barb Suess sent me this note this week.

I will definitely try to get Kathy and Glenna to stitch in public and give away temari in Kyoto. What fun! Will have my video camera out. Don’t enter me in the competition. I’m just doing it for fun!

Wow celebrating ITAD while in Kyoto! Have an excellent time. Hope we get to see lots of photos when you get back from your holiday.

KJ celebrates ITAD by....

2011-10-22T14:30:00.000+08:00

having lunch with my husband at a local Japanese Restaurant where I’ve had my temari balls on display in the past. The owner is from Edo and loves my temari. Then, I will put on my favorite music and spend the balance of the day totally immersing myself into stitching temari and reveling in the experience.

Due to health issues, I haven’t stitched for 4 years, and being able to do so again just thrills me beyond measure. I can’t change the world, but if I can make just 1 person smile when they see a temari ball, I was able to give them an instant of unexpected happiness.

Temari lets me bring a little bit of beauty into my corner of the world that I can share with others.

KJ Wilson

Have an AWESOME day KJ and thanks for sharing! Eat a prawn gyoza for me!

Happy International Temari Appreciation Day 2011.

2011-10-22T14:12:00.000+08:00

Today is October 22nd! And you know what that means right?

Happy International Temari Appreciation Day.

I'd like to give thanks to all my temari mentors and friends for sharing your passion of temari making with me and for guiding, supporting and inspiring me along my own temari journey. I am constantly amazed how our shared love of this wonderful craft has brought so many people together from every corner of the globe.

I find it amazing that a chance encounter with a simply stitched Temari ball at a Steiner School fete several years ago has led to an enduring love of Temari making. I had never before found (and stuck with) a handicraft like I have with this. More amazing is the reality that I had not previously done hand sewing and barely knew the front from the back of the needle. Since that fateful encounter I have stitched on, prepared and wrapped, marked and divided, written patterns or just dreamed and surfed the net about temari for a portion of almost every single day. I even took my temari making supplies when I spent time in hospital.

The weather changed my temari plans for today, in Perth it is cool and overcast to be stitching outdoors.
So instead got out my big stack of temari books and browsed through them. I've looked over my Temari Skills* list and I've planned out some new projects for the coming months. I also wrapped 4 balls in shades of blue (my favourite colour) and read several of my favourite temari related blogs, then spent time working on my temari for a workshop next weekend.

My ITAD temari goal is to make 3 multi-face designs before ITAD 2012. I haven't made a ball with more than 32 centers so I am going to challenge myself to a 42 to start with. For information about multi-face designs see Debi A's temarimathinfo site.

Temari is totally absORBing!

Happy stitching, and enjoy your day! Remember to enter the competition to win a Cosmo Temari book.

*There is a skills checklist made by members of the Temari Challenge group on Yahoo. Not a member? Head over to Yahoo groups and sign up.

Let me think... ok how about an incentive to share your ITAD 2011 story...

2011-10-09T09:00:00.003+08:00

Hi Everyone! I can't quite believe it but there are only 14 days until ITAD 2011.

Scroll down to see competition details

You can celebrate the day by working on your own temari, teaching someone else about temari or maybe even giving some away. Actually there is no end of ways you can celebrate ITAD just let your imagination run wild. Your own celebration can be as simple or elaborate as you wish. Why don't you visit your local Japanese garden (many towns have them) and find a Sunny or shady spot and have a little stitch while reflecting on what you love about temari making, what brought you to it or planning some goals (or projects) for the future.

I think I might spend some time stitching in a local cafe and take along some of my temari (that I am happy to giveaway) and give them to people who show an interest in what I am doing. I also have a 2 day workshop booked for the following weekend 29/30th so that is also part of my plans for celebrating temari day.
Have a think about what you would like to do to celebrate the craft of temari making in your local community.

I'd love to know what you do to celebrate. You can share your story by emailing me at intltemariday@gmail.com and I'll add it to the ITAD blog (your photos are welcome too.

So here is the incentive to share your celebration.

Send me a short note about your celebration (with or without a photo) and I will randomly select one contributor who will win 1 copy of any volume in the Cosmo Book series. Yes that's right I will give the winner a volume of their choice from the seven books in the Cosmo Book series.

Never owned a Japanese language temari book? Here is your chance to get your hands on one... Missing one of the series? Complete your set with a freebie from me.

I'll even post it to you for free. Yay!!!

Small print: Yep there always has to be a bit of small print.

This is a competition of chance not skill.

The one (1) winner will be drawn at random from all the entries received at the linked address above by midnight Australian WST (+8 GMT) on 11 November 2011.

By entering the competition you agree to have your entry appear on the ITAD website. You don't need to write an epic length entry, 100 words or less is more than fine. How much is 100 words? The section of text above highlighted in pink is just under 100 words - actually there are 92 words to be precise.

The prize is one (1) book from the Cosmo Temari book series written by Ozaki Sensei valued at $20AUD. The book is winners choice subject to availability at the Temari Addict Australia webstore. I will also cover the cost of standard postage to your delivery address no matter where you live on our big planet.

I will need to contact the winner for a mailing address so I can post your prize. If the winner has not contacted me to provide their postal address after 30 days from the prize draw date, there will be a redraw.

Now go get ready to celebrate ITAD 2011.

2011 Competition Updates... Link Winner

2011-08-02T22:00:00.001+08:00

I am pleased to announce that the winner of competition 1 is...

Rod's Jtex Blog

Congratulations, you have won the $15 thread pack from the Temari Addict Australia store.

I can see from this blogs' visitor statistics that there are several traffic sources for visitors to this blog so there have been many more people have been writing about ITAD on the web but only Rod and Debi (TemariTrain of thought) followed the competition guidelines by posting a message to the ITAD blog as their entry. Mr W and I tossed a coin to decide the winner.

Both Rod and Debi's blog have some great suggestions to get you thinking about the possible ways to celebrate International Temari Appreciation Day in you own community when it falls on October 22 this year. I recommend you go and check out their suggestions if you haven't already.

Rod, I'll be in touch about your prize.

ITAD Logo Competition 2011

2011-08-01T22:20:00.001+08:00

And the winner is....

ssvetik

Congratulations on having your temari voted as favourite to become our 2011 ITAD Logo.

And here is the logo.

I will email your certificate.

I have also drawn the other competition... I will announce the winner tomorrow.

2011 Competition Updates

2011-07-28T14:31:00.001+08:00

Just 86 days to go until October 22nd, 2011.

So far I have only seen 1 entry into our competition for the 2011/12 ITAD logo. You can see it here. Time is slipping by so get you needles flying and post your entry before entries close. You can click here to see all the details in case you missed it.

ITAD 22.10.2011 Let the Competitions begin

2011-07-09T14:42:00.003+08:00

Wow hasn't this year just zoomed by!!!

It is just over 100 days until International Temari Appreciation Day 2011. Let's get started by announcing 2 new competitions.

Competition Number 1: Web link and Blog posts
Create a web or blog page about International Temari Appreciation Day 2011 with a link to this blog to win.

We want you to give our craft's special day a shout out so please write a post to let your readers know about ITAD and then make a comment with a link to your page on this post. You can write about what you did to celebrate ITAD last year, what you plan to do to celebrate this year, add a button to your page, suggest your readers enter our new 2011 logo competition at flickr or anything else temari related... just remember to provide a link so your readers can find the ITAD blogspot.

One entrant will win $15 of threads from the Temari Addict Australia Supply Store.

Here's the small print: You can enter more than once, so if you have multiple blogs or web pages you need to make a separate comment on this blog post with a link for each page you wish to enter. You must provide a link to direct readers to the ITAD blog in your page.The prize threads totalling AUD$15 can be chosen from any range but shade selections will be from current stock only so please be aware we may not have all shades available. The winner will be announced on the ITAD blog on July 30th at 6pm. You will need to provide a postal address for delivery of your prize before August 10th or the prize will be re-drawn. All competition times are Western Australian Standard Time.

Competition Number 2: Create a Logo temari

Last year we ran a great competition to create S16 Uwagake Chidori temari to be used for our ITAD logo. The winner's temari from 2010 is featured above in our blog banner.

Here is a sample ball made by me

Seeking a beautiful Temari to use as our Logo. The winning Temari will be created and selected by you, the Temari community.

Here are the entry guidelines:

General: Please ensure your submission is a new ball (not previously photographed or shared). The ball must be your own work, however it is not necessary to be an original design, you may take inspiration from a pattern you have seen elsewhere but please provide your design reference. You may enter your ball by adding it to the Flickr site here You will need to make a Flickr account to enter or vote, if you already have a yahoo account this is a quick process. The winner grants the International Temari Appreciation Day coordinator permission to use the image of the winning Temari in a logo representation.
Time: Competition will commence on July 10th 20111 and close at Midnight July 31st 2011 local time. I live in Western Australia so the time here is GMT+8.
Division: S16.
Size: 30cm circumference (+/- 1cm).
Stitch: Uwagake Chidori Kagari (Zig zag over) aka kiku herringbone stitch - specific arrangement of Chidori Kagari where the working thread is taken over the previous rows to create the widening solid "V" shaped wedge, emanating outward from the pole or center point. This stitch arrangement refers to whether all, one, or several previous rows are worked over and around. -definition from Temari Kai tool kit.
Colour: Your choice.
Thread: Use perle, floss etc... it is up to you.
Photography: Please photograph the temari against either a plain black or white background without props. This will allow the image to be cropped into a logo. Ensure your photo is named in an identifiable way. This will ensure you get all the credit for your work.
Voting: Click on the gallery of photos and hit add to faves button just under the picture title. Flickr will automatically keep a tally of how many times each picture has been voted as a favourite. Visit regularly to ensure you don't miss any entries.

The maker of the winning Temari ball will have their work used to create the International Temari Appreciation Day logo for 2011/2012. You will be able to tell your friends with pride that your work has been selected by your peers to be the one to represent our celebration day. You will also receive an acknowledgement certificate featuring the finished logo as a keepsake.

Ladies and Gentlemen....Start Stitching...

ITAD 2010 Celebration Competition

2010-11-03T21:46:00.000+08:00

Our 2010 ITAD celebration competition has now closed. Thanks to everyone that enetered by sharing your love of our craft and celebrating International Temari Appreciation Day. I am pleased to announce the winners of our two prizes.

The first winner was the Gifted Hands Group of Cary, NC, USA. They set up a wonderful library display and had some temari demonstrations too. Your prize is the one featured on the competition post.

The second winner was Rosa from Bundaberg, Qld, Australia. Rosa shared a wonderful story too. Your prize has been kindly donated by Barbara Suess from Kiku Designs.

I will contact you both privately so you can recieve your prizes in the mail.

I hope you both enjoy your prizes.

ITAD 2010 Round Up

2010-11-03T12:22:00.002+08:00

Many people from around the world enjoyed ITAD this year. More than 630 unique visitors to this blog since July. You can see from the list below it was very international.

Place                            Visits            Percentage

Unknown Locations       842                58.31%
United States                 255                17.66%
Netherlands                   102                  7.06%
Australia                          56                  3.88%
Canada                           36                   2.49%
United Kingdom              23                   1.59%
Hong Kong                     21                   1.45%
Austria                            16                   1.11%
Japan                              15                   1.04%
Russian Federation          12                   0.83%
European Union                8                   0.55%
Spain                                7                   0.49%
Italy                                  6                   0.42%
Sweden                            6                   0.42%
Ukraine                            6                   0.42%
Germany                          5                    0.35%
Romania                           4                   0.28%
India                                 3                   0.21%
Chile                                 2                   0.14%
France                              2                   0.14%
Indonesia                          2                   0.14%
Malaysia                           2                   0.14%
Slovakia slovak Republic   2                   0.14%
Belarus                              1                   0.07%
Cyprus                              1                   0.07%
Czech Republic                 1                   0.07%
Hungary                            1                   0.07%
Korea                               1                    0.07%
Mauritius                           1                   0.07%
Morocco                           1                   0.07%
Portugal                           1                   0.07%
South Africa                      1                   0.07%
Switzerland                       1                    0.07%
Taiwan                              1                    0.07%

Thank you to everyone that visited to look and participate in celebrating the fun of temari making. I hope you enjoyed this appreciation day as much as I did.

Wishing you happiness in your stitching until next time,
Rebecca

Progressive Temari Project 2010 - Free Pattern

2010-10-26T10:24:00.000+08:00

One of the activities I imagined up for ITAD was a progressive stitch along project. The goal was to add one step at a time, with a different person adding each new step. I put the call out for participants on the Temari Challenge list and we had 7 participants sign up: Rod B, Kristy S, Laura B, Rebecca from Perth, Kat from IL, Barb S and Debi A. We decided to keep the project cheap and cheerful by describing the colours as well as giving the product codes, doing this allowed everyone to choose the best option from their own stash.

Here is the pattern for the temari we designed together.

Debi's completed temari

Step 1: Rod suggested:

Base size: 30cm Mari colour: off-white/cream

Step 2: Kristy suggested:

C8 division, marked in pale gold. Nordic Gold ND1

Step 3: Laura suggested:
Using 2 colors of green 240 and 859 Anchor Perle #5 (the colors are a medium olive color and a lighter mint julep-y color), locate the 6 part triangles and stitch a sakasa uwagake triangle. To do this begin stitching 1/2 way point (between the side and the center) on the short lines. You will stitch 6 rows beginning with the darker green and alternating colours with each row, ending with the lighter green. This will give a corner border to each of the squares. If you are unfamiliar with this stitch you can read about how to stitch it on
temarikai.

Step 4: Rebecca suggested:
Using a puplish blue 791 DMC Perle #5 stitch two interlocking rows of Uwagake Chidori Kagari around the six 8-part squares to form a 4 petal shape. The outer points are stitched on the short lines just outside the square (at the 4part diamond) and inner points are stitched 1.25cm from the center on the long lines. Make the first row with slightly loose tension. On the second row drop the inner points down by stitching at 1.75cm from the pole. This will result in a 5mm straight stitch at the center. If you are unfamiliar with this stitch you can read about how to stitch it on temarikai. I recommend numbering each of the six centers so they are stitched in the same sequence on each row.

Step 5: Kat suggested:
Add another 3 rounds, this time in maroon, on the Uwagake Chidori Kagari, previously started in dark blue. In this case, I did one round around each center, noting the order as I went, then the second round in the same order as the first, the third round same way.

Step 6: Barb suggested:
Add one more row to the 4 petal Kiku herringbone design in medium blue, Anchor 129.

Step 7: Debi suggested:

Add a starburst in the negative space of the four petaled flowers. Use the bluish/purple color that Rebecca suggested to make a starburst with long stitches that fill up the space and follow the contours created by the point overlaps. I kept mine rather sparse with only 8 stitches (or 16 points to the starburst). To tie the colors together add a small X stitch over the center using the blue from Barb's row.

I must say a huge thank you to everyone who joined in on this project. The temari we made together is gorgeous. It was really fun... maybe we can do this again sometime.

Rosa's 10 year service call

2010-10-24T21:09:00.000+08:00

Ten years ago Rosa fromBundaberg, Australia, spent 9 weeks in Scotland when her mother had an accident while holidaying there. Almost every day she made a temari and gave it away. The temari pictured above was given to the lady in the bed opposite her mother’s while she was in a ward and not in Intensive Care. The lady lived in Leichester (England) was also on holidays in Scotland when she hurt her back. In September this year Rosa and her husband called to see the lady in Leichester and she bought out the ball. The hanging cord had come loose and she had not hung it up for some years. Rosa mended it for her and back it went on her lounge door handle. Rosa said "It was lovely to be able to make a house call to repair it after 10 years."

Temari can be an amazing gift of friendship (and also an excellent way to make new friends).

Thanks for sharing this story Rosa.

Update from Tiny's Exhibition in The Netherlands

2010-10-24T21:04:00.000+08:00

This photo is from my exhibition which opened on 22 October. This is Mrs Tegelberg, who is a representative from the Japanese garden in Den Helder. After the opening She received a temari in the ITAD design.

This is a small overview of a nice corner and 3 you see to small boxes decorating with temari on a background. I used 30 black boxes decorated with different extra decoration, like a picture, some nuts and beans and also some with origami . See Tiny's website for more information and photographs.

Thanks Tiny for making this wonderful exhibition for temari to celebrate ITAD.

Today is International Temari Appreciation Day!!

2010-10-22T18:38:00.000+08:00

Happy International Temari Appreciation Day!! Happy International Temari Appreciation Day!! Happy International Temari Appreciation Day!! Happy International Temari Appreciation Day!! Happy International Temari Appreciation Day!! Happy International Temari Appreciation Day!! Happy International Temari Appreciation Day!! Happy International Temari Appreciation Day!! Happy International Temari Appreciation Day!! Happy International Temari Appreciation Day!! Happy International Temari Appreciation Day!! Happy International Temari Appreciation Day!! Happy International Temari Appreciation Day!! Happy International Temari Appreciation Day!! Happy International Temari Appreciation Day!! Happy International Temari Appreciation Day!! Happy International Temari Appreciation Day!! Happy International Temari Appreciation Day!! Happy International Temari Appreciation Day!! Happy International Temari Appreciation Day!! Happy International Temari Appreciation Day!! Happy International Temari Appreciation Day!! Happy International Temari Appreciation Day!! Happy International Temari Appreciation Day!! Happy International Temari Appreciation Day!! Happy International Temari Appreciation Day!! Happy International Temari Appreciation Day!! Happy International Temari Appreciation Day!! Happy International Temari Appreciation Day!! Happy International Temari Appreciation Day!! Happy International Temari Appreciation Day!! Happy International Temari Appreciation Day!!

A spotlight on Temari in Queensland

2010-10-21T13:41:00.001+08:00

Kristy from Queensland, Australia, works in a museum, and has kindly organised a small display for ITAD. Part of this museum showcases fading heritage trades like blacksmithing, leadlighting, silversmithing, felting etc... At one time the art of Temari making almost faded away too but thanks to the support of a growing number of temari makers around the world, those old skills are being learned by new generations of people everywhere.

Kristy has also provided her local craft shop some temari leaflets, started writing her own blog, and will also help three ladies try out temari. Kristy told me "ITAD was a great idea and really gave me the ooomph to push the temari out there in ways I hadn't thought of before".

Go to the Flickr site to see Kristy's photos.

Congratulations Kristy and thank you for sharing temari making.

Temari Exhibition in The Netherlands

2010-10-15T21:12:00.001+08:00

Tiny has made an exhibition of temari making at a gallery near Den Helder. It opens on October 22 and includes Tiny's own temari and those of students from Tiny's hometown. The name of the gallery is called Galerie-Potterie 't Tiende Kind. Look a this beautiful poster Tiny has to promote the show.

Tiny will take some photos of the exhibition when it commences. They will be at Tiny's website, here is the link. Thank you to Tiny and your students for making such a wonderful event for International Temari Appreciation Day.

Gifted Hands Shares the Art of Temari

2010-10-15T10:33:00.001+08:00

This photo shows the Temari display that our local EGA chapter, Gifted Hands of Cary, set up for one of our local libraries in North Carolina, USA. We will be giving a Temari demonstration, actually showing how to create a Temari, at the same library on Oct. 30th. Our group is Gifted Hands of Cary which is a chapter of Embroidery Guild of America.

Thank you to Jeannie's group for sharing the love of temari making for International Temari Appreciation Day.

ITAD is just 2 weeks away... here is a cool competition to celebrate.

2010-10-09T18:53:00.002+08:00

Goodness where did the entire month of August go? For that matter what happened to September?? I just don't know where the last 6 weeks have gone! Today I am announcing a giveaway competition for everyone celebrating ITAD 2010. We want to know how you celebrate ITAD.

Here are the entry guidelines:

General: Take a photo of whatever temari celebration you do on (or during the week of) ITAD. Upload your photo and a caption description just a few sentences long to the flickr group or email it directly to me at this place [intl.temari.day(at)gmail.com] The entries will be added to the ITAD blog so by entering you grant the International Temari Appreciation Day coordinator permission to use the image and text in your entry.
Time: Competition will commence on October 15 2010 and close at Midnight October 31st 2010 local time. I live in Western Australia so the time here is GMT+8. Note I have opened this competition a bit earlier than the date originally specified (22nd Oct). So if your plans are already in place please send your entry now.

Photography: Please ensure you have permission of any individuals in your photograph as they will be published on this blog. Ensure your photo is named in an identifiable way. This will ensure you get all the credit for it.
Caption: Please tell us what you did and where you were. No long essays needed just a few sentences, no more than 100 words. This can be in English or your own language if you would prefer. I can always translate your text if necessary.
Prize: A little parcel of 7 DMC perle 5 and 3 Kreinick braid threads, one card of 3 needles and a JTA V-ruler will be posted to the winner. Here is a picture of the giveaway.

Draw: One winner will be selected at random from all the entries received before the competition closing time.

Here's a sample entry. I have used an old photo from my other blog and just added a few sentences about it underneath. The are about 60 words which is more than enough:

This is a plum blossom tree in my front garden in Perth, Australia. A few months ago (back in the winter) we had an unusually warm and sunny day so I decided to dress up this bare tree with some temari balls. Lots of neighbours walked past and wondered what I was doing. I had a great time and I love this photo. By Rebecca from Perth

66 days to go.

2010-08-17T23:00:00.000+08:00

Tiny from The Netherlands is organising an exhibition on the 22 of October which will show case temari made by Tiny and students in Den Helder. The name of the gallery is “het tiende kind” and is situated near Tiny's home town. See Tiny's website in the links right or here.

If you are planning a special event which you would like to let everyone know about please contact me and I will post a note about it.

New Blog header

2010-08-03T14:27:00.000+08:00

If you visit the blogsite you will see the lovely new logo placed in the new header. I am not a computer programmer at all so this took me hours to do on two different computers (believe it or not). I almost cried at one point, but 1/2 a block of chocolate later and 1/3 a bag of chips I do feel much better... and a bit sick too. The title on the jpg image illustrated my frustration today... it is called "last last last chance.jpg"

Note to self: take off a piece of chocolate and put the rest of the block away (far away) because I've discovered I subconsiously eat when I'm concertrating too hard. Either that or a pixie ate the rest of my chocolate.

Here is the new logo

2010-08-03T09:02:00.003+08:00

Congratulations again to the winner! Thanks again to everyone that entered or voted on a temari in this competition. I am working on the certificate for our winner now.

ITAD Logo comptition... We have a winner

2010-07-31T12:45:00.000+08:00

The logo competition ended overnight and the votes have been counted. There were 11 beautiful entries altogether. All were stunning, but two did not meet the competition criteria for stitch type so these were excluded from the voting tally. Most people added 2 views of their temari so I added the votes together to get a total.

Here is the vote tally with Flick ID:
ID                    Votes
temari.addict        3
rosaoz                 1
komusume-Rita    3
ssvetik                4
Harvest_basket    1
Christy Rogers     1
Temari Debi         2
wklager               3
Temari by Artful   2
Total Votes        20

So our winner is ssvetik! Congratulations! Thank you to everyone that entered the the logo competition. We will run it again next year.

Ssvetik, please email me intl.temari.day(at)gmail.com so I can send you the winners certificate.

Now time to plan your activities for October 22. What are you planning?

ITAD Logo Competition Update.

2010-07-11T22:30:00.002+08:00

Only 103 days to go until our first ever International Temari Appreciation Day is celebrated. Are you planning something yet?

It didn't take long but the International Temari Appreciation Day name has somehow been morphed (due to my laziness) to ITAD in all my communications. With all the emails, posts here and over at my Temari Addict Australia blog I was wondering just when RSI would set in, so in the interests of preserving my time and wrists I have shortened the name to an acronym. Unfortunately it looks like something from the apple computer company, but I assure you that if you read ITAD in one of my posts it will relate to International Temari Appreciation Day. (I think an iTad might be an apple nanosecond or a tiny apple... and definitely be something cool my son would bug me for.)

So far I have been told that several people are just beginning to stitch their entries for the logo competition and if you visit the Flickr group you will find several entries have already been submitted there. I wonder how many different versions we will see of the S16 ball? The entries so far are really lovely. Keep up the good work ladies and gentlemen. Remember to vote too.

Logo Design Competition 2010

2010-07-01T00:00:00.004+08:00

Here is a sample ball made by me

Seeking a beautiful Temari to use as our Logo. The winning Temari will be created and selected by you, the Temari community.

Here are the entry guidelines:

General: Please ensure your submission is a new ball (not previously photographed or shared). The ball must be your own work, however it is not necessary to be an original design, you may take inspiration from a pattern you have seen elsewhere but please provide your design reference. You may enter your ball by adding it to the Flickr site here You will need to make a Flickr account to enter or vote, if you already have a yahoo account this is a quick process. The winner grants the International Temari Appreciation Day coordinator permission to use the image of the winning Temari in a logo representation.
Time: Competition will commence on July 1st 2010 and close at Midnight July 30th 2010 local time. I live in Western Australia so the time here is GMT+8.
Division: S16.
Size: 30cm circumference (+/- 1cm).
Stitch: Uwagake Chidori Kagari (Zig zag over) aka kiku herringbone stitch - specific arrangement of Chidori Kagari where the working thread is taken over the previous rows to create the widening solid "V" shaped wedge, emanating outward from the pole or center point. This stitch arrangement refers to whether all, one, or several previous rows are worked over and around. - definition from Temari Kai tool kit.
Colour: Your choice.
Thread: Use perle, floss etc... it is up to you.
Photography: Please photograph the temari against either a plain black or white background without props. This will allow the image to be cropped into a logo. Ensure your photo is named in an identifiable way. This will ensure you get all the credit for your work.
Voting: Click on the gallery of photos and hit add to faves button just under the picture title. Flickr will automatically keep a tally of how many times each picture has been voted as a favourite. Visit regularly to ensure you don't miss any entries.

The maker of the winning Temari ball will have their work used to create the International Temari Appreciation Day logo for 2010/2011. You will be able to tell your friends with pride that your work has been selected by your peers to be the one to represent our celebration day. You will also receive an acknowledgement certificate featuring the finished logo as a keepsake.

Ladies and Gentlemen....Start Stitching...

Temari Day Logo Competiton Begins Tomorrow

2010-06-30T16:23:00.000+08:00

The temari day logo competition will begin tomorrow. Look out for all the details which will be posted in about 6 hours.

115 Days until the first International Temari Appreciation Day

2010-06-29T10:40:00.000+08:00

The title says it all. Only 115 Days until the first ever International Temari Appreciation Day is celebrated on October 22, 2010.

It has been suggested that we have an open call for a special temari to use as our official icon for this year. I think it is an awesome idea. So a competition will run from July 1st until July 30th. More details will be posted on July 1st.

Blog and webpage button

2010-06-09T08:28:00.001+08:00

I have made this little link button which you can use on your web page to advise your readers that you are participating in International Temari Appreciation Day.

I am clearly not the most awesome diagramer but if you can also see that it is a C10 I'm good enough.

Unfortunately I can't add the html codes here for you to copy to your page but please feel free to email me to get the codes so you can add the button in your side bar.

Also if you would like your webpage to be listed in the participants section of this blog please let me know.

How to celebrate

2010-06-08T12:42:00.001+08:00

How could we celebrate International Temari Appreciation Day?

So far these are the ideas put forward by many kind contributors:
• Organise an exhibition at your local library or arts center.
• Host a local stitching day.
• Share temari making with someone new.
• Show your first temari (mine is scary) and your newest.
• Share a story about how you learned about temari.
• Share/swap your temari with another temari maker.
• Mention it on your blog/website (if you have one... with a special project).
• Do a give away via blog or website
• Open a Flick'r group for the month so users can upload a special temari appreciation design they made (Do a give away drawing there too, like Chloe Patricia does.)
• Run a special stitching challenge on Yahoo groups for that month, planning on revealing the finished results on the designated day
• Design a display for your LNS

Do you have a different/even better idea that you are just busting to share? I'm sure you do. Please share it by commenting below.

I am happy to coordinate/sponsor the day. I know several English speaking temari makers throughout Australia, USA, England, Canada etc but I'd also love to get the Japanese, French, Dutch, Greek, Russian temari makers (and any other country that makes temari) in on an international celebration too. Any ideas how to make it a truly global celebration?

If you have any ideas please leave a message... don't worry you won’t be volunteering for anything you don't want to do just by leaving a message. Love to hear from you all if you have any thoughts.

Thank you to every one who has submitted an idea so far.

Welcome to our new site.

2010-06-08T09:49:00.002+08:00

Welcome to the official information site for International Temari Appreciation Day. If you love making Japanese Temari Balls this site is for you.

Last week I proposed to hold an annual celebration day for Temari. I put the idea out and received many messages of support from around the globe.

After doing some research I discovered there were only 6 dates that are not currently holidays anywhere in the world (so far as I am aware) so one of these would be great for an international celebration date for Temari making/appreciation. After proposing these dates the feedback seems to be that October 22 is the day most people would prefer to celebrate our craft.

I am currently in the process of having our day listed on earth calendar.