Keebles World

Thank goodness it is finally over! This has been my most exhausting challenge ever and the hardest one I've ever done. I think next year will take me on an entirely different path (although, I'm pretty sure it will be Disney related). I think my little break in between actually made matters worse because I wanted to do nothing but stitch on Alice and the B's after that (but trust me, definitely my action plan for tonight!). Without further ado, our ending letter...Z. Project #1: Once Upon A Time " Z " is for Z elena/Wicked Witch of the West. I don't think it was too much of a stretch for the Once crew to venture into Oz, after all, Walt Disney has owned the rights to the Oz books for decades. I was not a Wizard of Oz fan as a kid though and the Wicked Witch from the movie still scares the crap out of me to this very day. Zelena's version is a lot less scary (but I think twice as Wicked) and I absolutely got a kick out of the whole Zelena/Regina...

Project #1:  Once Upon A Time " Y " is for Jimin y Cricket/Dr. Archie Hopper.  Granted, it must be very difficult to turn a creature character into a human being, but at least they got lucky with Jiminy.  He's, not only a classic Disney character, but he is the lifelong Disney fan's collective conscience.  I was never a Pinocchio fan, but I've always been a Jiminy fan (even though he is a bug).  I knew who the actor who plays Archie was (I am, after all, a child of the 70's and 80's and I always loved the movie My Science Project) and again, the creators of the show know their stuff because he was perfect to play Jiminy.  We don't see Archie/Jiminy that much on screen, but I'm always glad when he's there (although, if I'm really honest, one of the most boring episodes was Jiminy's backstory).  Storybrooke Archie is best friends with Marco/Geppetto and has a dalmatian named Pongo (who he is hopefully keeping well away from Cruella!...

"X" is always a hard one. Ironically though, both of my X's are the same name, both died tragically, and both followed their leaders unquestionably, they are very much different characters overall. Project #1:  Once Upon A Time " X " is for Feli x , the head "lost boy".  On Once Felix is Pan's right hand.  A bit on the older side for a Lost Boy, he would do anything for Pan, which is what leads to his downfall. Project #2:  Veronica Mars " X " is for Feli x Toombs, the PCH'er that Logan gets accused of murdering at the end of season 1 (but is ultimately exonerated, although the racial tensions in the show very much mirror our current society and it seemed to be a bit of a commentary on it).  I didn't realize how much I did actually like Felix until he died.  It would have been nice if his relationship with Molly Fitzpatrick would have played out.

We've made it to the final week of the challenge (thank goodness!). Congrats to all those that made it and well done to all those that tried but couldn't quite get there. There have been some great challenge topics this year, especially in the cross stitch and Disney-verse. After a horrid week at work, I not only managed to get caught up again, but got my carpets cleaned along with most of the house and had time to stitch on Alice and the B's (but more on them later). Project #1:  Once Upon A Time " W " is for Snow W hite aka Mary Margaret Blanchard.  I have always liked Gennifer Goodwin and I don't think they could have cast Snow better!  I love that they made Snow such a badass (even if Mary Margaret, pre-first curse breakage, was a massive mouse) and I absolutely adore the chemistry between her and Charming (aka, her real life husband, Josh Dallas).  We don't get to see as much of the Snow/Charming romance post-baby as we did before, but I'm...

Project #1: Once Upon A Time " V " is for V ictor Frankenstein aka Dr. Whale. This is another one of those characters that has to "grow" on you. Granted, it took me a while to figure out who Dr. Whale was (and it wasn't revealed in the show until season 2, I don't think). I, like most, was looking for a fairytale counterpart for Whale instead of a literary one even though the Whale-Frankenstein link did occur to me (James Whale was famous for directing the original Frankenstein movie...a bit of trivia I knew simply because I used to play Trivial Pursuit a lot as a kid). I did actually spend quite a bit of time trying to figure out who he was, especially around the time he "hooked up" with Mary Margaret, but I eventually gave up. Boy was I kicking myself when they did reveal him because I did actually know all along. Just goes to show, you should always trust your judgement but you should never underestimate the writers of Once because t...

Project #1: Once Upon A Time " U " is for U rsula.  Ursula is rather new to the Once family (although she was in an earlier episode and was impersonated by Regina to trick Ariel, but that's a different story).  She's one of the Queens of Darkness, comprised of Maleficent and Cruella (I would have loved to have seen Maleficent on this chart, but alas, there was just no room for her).  The way they changed up her beginnings actually didn't bother me as much as the others (her back story is a heck of a lot more along the lines of Ariel than anything with loosing her singing voice and all) and adding Poseidon as her father was also an interesting twist.  Again, Hook has a hand in her back story as well (I swear that pirate really gets around).  I don't want to give too many spoilers for those that haven't seen this season yet, but I'm a bit confused about her...if villains aren't supposed to get their happy endings, how has she seemingly managed h...

You have no idea how grateful I am that there are several single characters in this final row of Project #1!  As much as I love the duality of the characters, stitching two characters can sometimes be too much after a 12 hour work day.  I just have to keep thinking about how great these will look when they are finished. Project #1: Once Upon A Time " T " is for T inker Bell, aka Tink.  Although she is now in Storybrooke, because she came after the curse, she is herself and no Storybrooke name is necessary.  Although I'm not actually a huge Tink fan in general (I lean more towards Vidia), I'm glad to see how well they've humanized her in Once, maybe more so than any of the other characters.  She's really not at all like the Tink we all know...I always saw her as a spoiled little brat susceptible to temper tantrums when she didn't get her way.  But in the Once version, she was punished by the Blue Fairy and got her wings taken away (because she used Pix...

Project #1: Once Upon A Time " S " is for the Genie/Magic Mirror/ S idney Glass (and he even pulls duty as the Troll Mirror from The Snow Queen fable).  Sidney is one of those characters that has multiple monikers throughout the series. Snow's father finds a Genie's bottle and releases him, but because the King is so content with his life, he uses one of his wishes to free the Genie and gives the other to the Genie to use as he sees fit.  Well, as per usual, magic corrupts and the Genie ends up falling in love with Regina who tricks him into killing the King.  Once the Genie discovers she had no intention of being with him, he uses his wish to "be with her always", but "magic always comes with a price" and he ends up trapped in her mirrors for all eternity.  Storybrooke Sidney, although out of his glass (but ironically that's his surname), still does Regina's every bidding, even though she burns him more than once.  He ends up locked...

I'm not sure about you guys, but I'm getting really tired.  But we're getting close to the end, so hopefully we can all hang on just a bit longer.  I'm stitching like mad to get caught back up after my weekend "escape", so here's hoping I have a Once post to show tomorrow! Project #1: Once Upon A Time " R " is for R ed Riding Hood/ R uby.  I have to admit that I wasn't a fan of Red or Ruby for a while, but she did eventually grow on me (even though she's been absent for about a season and a half).  Red was a bit too "sweet" with her squeaky voice and Ruby was just a bit too slutty with her extremely short-shorts and crop tops.  I think when she stood up for Snow to her wolf family is what turned me around about her because I too believe that blood isn't always thicker than water and family takes on all forms.  Maybe someday Red/Ruby will be back because it would be nice to see her find her true love (since she killed he...

Project #1: Once Upon A Time " Q " is for the Evil Q ueen, aka Regina Mills.  I never watched Lost so I didn't know who Lana Parilla was, but I swear she was born to play the Evil Queen!  Regina is the caster of the first curse (the dark curse) in an attempt to remove all the happy endings in the Enchanted Forest (which would subsequently allow her to have her happy ending, or so she thinks).  She enjoyed the overall miserableness in Storybrooke for a while, but she eventually decides she's lonely and needs a child.  After trying to steal one and failing miserably (which comes back to bite her in the end), she enlists the help of Rumple to acquire a baby to adopt (which just happens to be Henry, the savior's son).  Was it fate or Rumple's intervention that picked Henry?  It was never said, so we might never know how Rumple came across Henry, but he didn't know that Henry was Baelfire's son (although he may have known he was the Savior's son).  R...

Project #1: Once Upon A Time " P " is for P eter Pan/Malcolm aka Rumple's father.  They hinted that Rumple spent some time in Neverland as a boy and it was obvious he was scared of Pan (and Rumple isn't scared of anybody).  Malcolm, a selfish waster of a father, forsakes his son to regain his youth, thus becoming Pan.  I do have to admit, it was a twist I didn't see coming at all!  But, like all magic, it comes with a price and Pan can't stay young forever.  He needs the heart of the truest believer (aka Henry) to rejuvenate the magic of Neverland, but more importantly, himself.  Although the Pan premise was quite intriguing, that entire half season was probably the most boring of them all simply because a lot of the scenes were basically the Charmings, Regina, and Hook wandering around the jungles of Neverland looking for Henry and fighting amongst themselves.  Granted, it did set up some important backstories and provided the framework for the w...

Project #1: Once Upon A Time " O " is for Pinocchi o /August Booth.  Granted, it's a bit of a stretch with the "O", but "P" was needed for another character (and you can't have a Once alphabet without August!).  I wasn't a fan of August at first and, like most, I initially thought he was Baelfire grown up, but I eventually figured out who he was before it was revealed (and I'm glad, because I thought my powers of perception were slipping).  Pinocchio was charged with protecting baby Emma when she came though the magical tree into our world (long story involving a very deceptive and selfish Geppetto), but it didn't take long for his curious, often self-destructive, ways to interfere and he left her alone and abandoned in an orphanage.  Once adult Emma arrived in Storybrooke though, his past catches up with him and he starts turning to wood again (because he didn't follow the Blue Fairy's advice) which sets him on a quest to ...

Project #1: Once Upon A Time " N " is for N eal Cassidy, aka Baelfire.  Baelfire is the son of Rumple, the father of Henry, and ex-boyfriend to Emma. He was under Hook's care for a while in Neverland and even spent a bit of time living with Wendy and the Darlings.  Neal was a pretty tragic character and, despite my love of the Emma/Hook relationship, I kind of secretly wished she would have ended up with Neal, but alas, it wasn't meant to be.  Whether or not he will be back is debatable, but there is always a chance he could come back (death never seems to be final on Once). Project #2:  Veronica Mars " N " is for Eli "Weevil" N avarro was head of the PCH Bike Club (for a while).  Veronica could pretty much make her career on doing nothing but getting Eli out of trouble, but he always has her back when she needs it.  They are friends, although it's a strange friendship without a lot of trust (at least on her side).

Project #1: Once Upon A Time " M " is for Henry M ills. Since Robin Hood hogged the "H", then Henry gets "M" for his adoptive surname. Little Henry started it all after being given a fairy tale book by his teacher Mary Margaret. He quickly realized who his adoptive mother actually was and went on a quest to find his birth mother, Emma. So, that makes Henry the son of Emma and Neal, adoptive son of Regina, biological grand-child of Snow, Charming, and Rumple, and adoptive grand-child to Henry (his namesake) and Cora. He would also be the biological great-grandson to Peter Pan. By association, he's the step-grandson of Belle and possible soon step-son to Hook (which would also be his almost step-grandfather since he ran off with Rumple's first wife, Milah who was Neal's mother), which I guess also means he's the possible soon adoptive step-son of Robin Hood. Henry has the most interwoven family tree of them all! He was under the ...

Project #1: Once Upon A Time " L " is for Grumpy/ L eroy.  I don't think they could have done a better casting job if they tried...Lee Arenberg was perfect!  Grumpy wasn't always Grumpy, he was initially named Dreamy.  He fell in love with a bumbling fairy named Nova (Sister Astrid in Storybrooke), but peer pressure and Dreamy's insecurities split them up and he subsequently lost all hope in love and became Grumpy.  He has always been a strong supporter of Snow and even, on occasion, gave Belle that little extra oomph to go and follow her dreams (so maybe the Dreamy inside him isn't lost after all).  Leroy isn't that far of a stretch from Grumpy (well, except for the rampant alcoholism). Project #2:  Veronica Mars " L " is for L ily Kane, best (dead) friend to Veronica in series 1, sister to Duncan, first love of Logan (and I use the term loosely because I think he was more obsessed with her than in love with her and I question his feelin...