Queer Beanie 2011

"It was a dark and stormy night" as we all hurried into the warmth and light of The Carrington's Library where the fire was burning bright. The room was warm and the tables covered with clever and creative beanies waiting to be judged in the 2011 Queer Beanie competition.

The Queer Beanie competition is run in conjunction with the Blue Mountains PinkFest and the long standing Winter Magic festival.

 

The entries and winners in this years Queer Beanie 2011 competition were once again, fabulous, creative, innovative and outright queer! Images and a video of the evening can be found below.

We had knitted, felted, quilted, macrame and crocheted entries from beginners through to skilled and long term crafters and all of them are amazing!

We also had a prize winning hat on display, made by milliner Christine Yarker. The hat to the right was a winner of bentArt 2011.

Our wonderful sponsors were there to hand out prizes and to judge the competition, Angela Lougheed of Spirit of Health and Wellbeing, Angela Zadro-Jones of Jasper Cat Designs, Lorna McKenzie of Offbeat Ceremonies and The Tailor's Apprentice and Mark Jarvis of The Carrington, who provided our warm and comfortable venue.

We had an unexpected celebrity, Simon Marnie of ABC Radio 702. Simon got right into the spirit of things and invited me for an interview next morning in his live coverage of the Winter Magic Festival.

and the winners are ....

Queer ~ Intermediate ~ Tracey C ~ Valfreyja

Reduce Reuse Recycle ~ Advanced ~ Angela Z-D ~ Bruce

Reduce Reuse Recycle ~ Beginner ~ Amy B ~ Macrame Dream

Classic ~ Intermediate ~ Kathleen M ~ Carousel

Queer ~ Advanced ~Lorna M ~ Queer Bouquet

Queer ~ Beginner ~ Julie B ~ Three Sisters

Classic ~ Advanced ~ Lynn B ~ Cherry Goosebumps

Classic ~ Judges Prize ~ Susan R ~ Family Beanie

Winter Magic 2011 ~ celebrating the winter solstice

Winter Magic is the Blue Mountains winter solstice celebration, we celebrate the middle of winter with a festival of dress-up, drumming, food, parade, bands and many more events. Its wonderfully Pagan and a delightful way to celebrate the turning of the Wheel of the Year.

The 2011 celebration was no exception, the weather was perfect, winter sunshine poured down, the wind was minimal and the enthusiasm was high, here are my some of my photos from the day.

Adventure weddings

You bushwalk, rock climb, canyon, canoe, explore caves, or cycle tour as often as you can, you love the wilderness and want to celebrate your wedding vows away from the “Madding Crowd” incorporating your favourite activity.

I am a bush walker, cyclist and sustainability campaigner who would love to work with you to create a ceremony that rejoices in your particular way of living lightly on the earth. Marking your marriage is important and you need someone who is as passionate about the outdoors as you, I bring my passion and knowledge of wilderness and celebration to your ceremony.

I am willing and able to walk into wilderness areas with you to celebrate your marriage vows. I am happy to indulge in activities I haven’t done before and will do anything that is legal, safe and at the same ability as your guests.

If you have guests that can’t get to the wilderness with us, Offbeat Ceremonies can create two ceremonies to cater for everyone’s abilities.