I finished my Pokemon square! :)

I stitched this 96x96 square (9,216 total stitches) for the charity Child's Play. Over at spritestitch.com, we're going to make many of these squares from different video games into quilts that we will sell. All the proceeds will go to Child's Play. This was a lot of hard work, but it was worth it!

May challenge entry

The challenge on Sprite Stitch for May was "A Black Mage Holiday." This had two meanings: blackmageheart got to go on a challenge break, and we were going to craft where Black Mage would go on vacation! Here is the description, “We are going to take the month of May to honour not only one of the most iconic images in classic gaming, but also our own favourite lady, the Black Mage! This is going to be a really fun challenge, and maybe just a little bit silly too. Where would Black Mage go on vacation? Let’s take the Mage sprite, and put it in any conceivable scenario. It can be in a video game, or in real life.” I decided to have Black Mage visit Alis in Camineet, from Phantasy Star, since blackmageheart loves it.

2013 Sampler

This is my finished sampler for the April Sprite Stitch event. I'm pretty happy with how it came out. The first three bands were voted for and then randomly picked out of blackmageheart's hat: Mario Kart, DDR, and Journey. The last one was player's choice, and I went with my Pokemon starters. For some reason when I made that, I thought the dimensions were shorter than they were, so to make it work I had to add a few Pokeballs. I actually like it better that way. Everyone's samplers came out differently, and all awesome in their own way. Here's the link to check them out.

Sampler Bands

The  current challenge at Sprite Stitch has been renamed an "event," because there's not going to  be a winner. We are all submitting patterns for bands of a sampler. It's still not completely decided how the bands will be chosen, but when they are we'll have an awesome gaming sampler to stitch together at the same time- a stitch-a-long. I've never done one before, but I think it will be great fun. I have submitted two bands so far, both Pokemon. I'm not that pleased with them because they're not very creative. I want to come up with some exciting ideas. I'm a huge fan of blackwork, but I can't figure out how to translate that into a band yet. Or how to make a pattern of it, besides tediously adding line by line in KG Chart. Here are my two bands:

Anyone is welcome to use these, by the way. 

I'm also working hard to make items to sell on Etsy. A shop in my town has opened up that sells things from local Etsy members. I'm not completely sure that it's worth it, as they buy on wholesale, but either way I want to fill up my Etsy store with new items.

This isn't an "Etsy-worthy" photo, but here is a set of strawberry hairpins that I made:

I need to come up with some cute cards to put them on. I need some branding. I guess I even need a business name. All of the serious crafters that I met at a show last weekend had business cards and tags and seemed very professional. Fortunately, I am married to a graphic designer. I just need to get him to make me stuff! By the way, it's our anniversary this weekend. We will have been married for 5 years. It's also my birthday, and I'll be turning 32. 30 was fine, but it's all these numbers after 30 that I don't like.

So that's all my (mostly) crafting news for now. Thanks for reading. 

I'm a bit behind on my posts, so let's catch up!

Firstly, thank you to everyone who reads my blog. Secondly, I'm sorry that it's been so long since I posted. I  submitted two entries into the Portrait challenge. All the entries in that challenge were amazing; you should go check them out.  Here are my two submissions:

I was very surprised, but I won the contest with Snorlax, and Weedle tied for second place along with two other entries. I really love these two portraits together- tiny Weedle and huge Snorlax. I made up a little story in my head that these two are friends and always together, and on the rare occasions that Snorlax moves, Weedle rides on his shoulder. It's silly but it made me happy. :)
As far as the quilt square for Child's Play goes, blackmageheart helped me find a better and clearer screenshot and she even made the pattern for me. This is the screenshot:

Here it is, zoomed in a bit:

So far I have the characters and the big blue rug stitched. The blues look so pretty together. I'm ready to start tackling the hardwood floor. Here is a WIP shot:

I'll keep the blog updated with WIPs. There is also a new challenge, or "event" at Sprite Stitch, but I'll save that for the next post. I've also been hard at work making things to sell on Etsy, like hairpins and coin purses. Again, I'll leave that for another post.
So, that's what's been going on. Thank you for reading! :)

Stitching in 2013

Here we are, in a new year... though it's really just a number that doesn't mean much. I think that people think that years are longer than they actually are. For instance, "20 years" sounds like such a long time, but in reality it's not that long. It goes by so quickly.
Enough of all that. On to the stitching. I appreciate all of the support I've had on Deviant Art. I now have 102 watchers and 4,000 page views. Woo hoo!
One of the things I'll be stitching this year is a charity square (or two) for the Child's Play charity quilt over at Sprite Stitch. I'll be stitching a scene from Pokemon Heartgold, when you talk to Jasmine in the Olivine Gym.

I'm also participating in the Sprite Stitch challenge for Jan/Feb: Portraits. Here is the description: "As the topic title suggests, this challenge is about portraits. I'm sure most people know what a portrait is, but just in case this is what we want: a crafted picture of a character's face/head (you can include neck and shoulders if you wish). Many games already have character portraits in them, which would be totally fine to submit. As would any cropped image of a character." I don't know who I'm stitching, but I do know that I want to do a ridiculously ornate frame around them.

Right now I'm finishing up a Transformers t-shirt for my son. I told him I would stitch anything he wanted, and he picked Bumblebee. It's his head from the original TV show.
I want to work on more necklaces too. I think the next one I do may be Jigglypuff.
I've also been made an official blogger on Sprite Stitch, so occasionally you may see a post from me. I have the task of "Sunday Roundup" on the second Sunday of each month, where I do an update of what's going on in the forums, including who won the challenge for the previous month.
Okay, so that's what I've got going on. Thanks for reading! 

Cute Pichu onesie!

My baby girl outgrew her 12 month Pikachu onesie, so I decided to make her a new Pokemon onesie. She's 2 now and therefore has opinions, and she wanted Pichu. On a pink onesie of course.

Here is a close-up of Pichu:

I used waste canvas. I'm happy with how this came out. :)

Super Kitty to the Rescue!

I made this from a pattern I bought on Etsy. It was so ridiculously cute I just couldn't resist. I changed the colors up a little.
The pattern is by xiaoxiao zheng. [link]

December Challenge: Villains.... Char Char Char!

The challenge for December on Sprite Stitch is villains, and even though I know not a lot of people are familiar with Mobile Suit Gundam (not people that I know anyway), my husband is totally into it and I've seen quite a bit of if it. My favorite character is Char Aznable. I found a great sprite of him from an arcade game from 1993. Here he is:

There is a great quote to describe Char from hardcoregaming101.net:

"Char Aznable is arguably the most iconic anime character in history. He's idolized and quoted in Japan in much the same way people in America idolize and quote Darth Vader. Known as the infamous Red Comet, Char remains Amuro's rival from the One Year War until last Neo Zeon War 14 years later. He believes that Newtypes are the next evolutionary step for mankind, and that they should inherit the universe." 

I know that it's very unlikely that I will win this challenge since not a lot of people are familiar with Gundam, but I'm okay with that. It was fun to make, I love how it came out, and my husband thinks it's "awesome." ;)
And as a bonus, here is the awesome Char song.

A Pixelated Me!

Sprite Stitch had some mini challenges, and one of them was to pixelate yourself. My husband helped me, and this was the final result:

I'm really happy with how it came out. I think it's cute. :)
My friend blackmageheart thinks that it looks like I'm holding up a little cake, but it's actually supposed to be a stitching hoop. :D

2012 Mini Swap... What I sent to msstitcher

When msstitcher listed her favorite games, and I saw Dune, I thought for sure that I would make something Dune related. My husband wanted me to do an embroidery of Sting as Feyd. You know, this iconic image:

But..... I wasn't really up to stitching that. ;)
Then I noticed that one of her other favorite things is Lord of the Rings, and she's been working on a giant map of Middle Earth for a long time. So I decided to stitch something that I've been wanting to stitch for a while, the door to Moria:

So, here it is:

I also had the perfect frame for it. Msstitcher lives in England, so this made the postage much more expensive, but I think it was worth it. This is the best photo I could get. In real life the frame is very pretty and a bit more red:

I still had to include something from Dune though. So here is the card I sent her:

The artwork isn't mine of course, but it's pretty awesome, and msstitcher loved it too.
She says that my Moria door is proudly displayed in her home. Here is a quote from her blog: "I received the best swap gift last week. I genuinely could not have chosen a better hand made gift for myself." This is very gratifying. It makes the whole swap process worth it. :) Here is a link to her blog, btw.
I also received some lovely complements on the tiny Elvish stitching. That was definitely the most challenging part of this project, but I'm glad I pushed myself to do it. This is one of those projects that looks much better in person than in photos, which is very frustrating. But overall, I think it was successful. 

2012 Mini Swap- What I Received from Petitcat

I participated in the Sprite Stitch Mini Swap, and received these amazing gifts from Petitcat!!!  Yes, everything arrived in tact.  Because I've been in the middle of moving, it's taken me a bit to take the photos, but here they are!

I'm going to quote from her letter a bit to help explain everything. First is her inventory list:
honey jar with pika-bee
dragon potholders
Pikachu colored cup holder
Star Trek place-mats
Danish marzipan chocolate
Here is a closeup of the Pika-bee jar:

Petitcat says that the jar with the Pika-bee cover on it is wild flower honey from her local farmers market, and that there is a guy who makes it himself and that it's good quality. I love honey! It's so sweet (pun intended) that you sent it to me and thought to make the cover. I love Pikachu  and I have a major affinity for bees. In fact, I have a silver necklace with a small bee charm that I never take off.
On to more gifts! Here is a closeup of one of the dragons from the potholders:

Here is Petitcat's description: "The dragon potholders pattern is from a book with patterns from the Middle Ages, and I just liked it so much. The dragon is from the 13th century, so it's old, but it's one of my favorites. (I have a soft spot for really old stuff.)"

The potholders are so cool!  They are so well made too. Did you sew the potholder part too? It's so professional. And the dragons are beautifully stitched. 

And, of course, I LOVE the Star Trek com badges.  

Thank you so much for everything, petitcat!!!!!!!!!  

My Amazing Swap Gifts from Blackmageheart, and My Thank You Gifts in Return

I should have posted this a while ago. This is what I received in a group shot:

I got the most amazing Harvest Moon display set that you can possibly imagine. Everything is stitched! The time that must have gone into this is mind-boggling. Here is a closeup.

Not only is everything stitched on BOTH sides, she also made the little plots of land 3D so that the fruits and vegetables can stand up. The 3D house is soooo cute. Jack, the cow, the chickens, the chicks, the duck, and the ducklings are all attached to pence coins, which throws in some international flair.

She also stitched a lot of my favorite Pokemon!!!  (Piplup, Turtwig, Squirtle, Slowpoke, Bellossom, Pikachu, Chikorita, Wooper, Celebi, and Raichu. I'm a sucker for cuteness.)

She made me a cute tea pouch, with earl grey tea inside. This is, of course, a reference to one of the best shows ever made- Star Trek:The Next Generation.
She also included some delicious chocolate, and two cute cards. One is an awesome Mucha-style Erica (my favorite Pokemon trainer) card. The other card is from her little girl. It's super cute.

Since I got totally spoiled, I felt I just had to make thank you gifts. Here is the first one:

This is a screenshot from one of BMH's favorite game series, Phantasy Star. (It is much straighter in real life than it appears in the picture.)

I also made her a TNG badge necklace, based on the pattern I made. I also threw in a great postcard of Riker and a couple original TNG trading cards.

And so, the 2012 Sprite Stitch Big Swap was really fun and I'm so glad I participated! :D

'Allo! Worm from Labyrinth embroidery... and more swap goodies!

Somehow I forgot to post this! I participated in the big swap at Sprite Stitch in the spring/early summer. I was assigned to make gifts for boochocoboom, and one of her favorite movies is Labyrinth. It's also my husband's favorite movie, and he immediately thought of the cute worm that says "'Allo!" I made a line drawing of him on cream fabric and stitched him up. He is framed in a 9" hoop, to give you an idea of his size. The stitches are all pretty simple, mostly backstitch, brick stitch, and satin stitch.
I also made boochocoboom a necklace with a "boo" a "choco" (a chocobo) and a "boom" (a bob-omb.)
Then, since all stitchers need a needlebook, I made her a Sprite Stitch felt needlebook in purple, one of her favorite colors.
But what did I receive? Only some AMAZING gifts from blackmageheart. I will reveal more details in the post to follow. :D

Pikachu Evolution Necklace Set

Squee! Every stage of Pikachu's evolution is soooo cute!
These are handmade, by me, Pichu, Pikachu, and Raichu cross-stitched necklaces. They are on 18" black velvet cords. They are stitched on plastic canvas, so they are very durable. The backs are covered in soft felt. Pikachu measures 2" tall, from top of the ear to bottom of the head.
Cute, fun, and awesome! Take your adorable Pokemon everywhere you go. 
Interested in having a different Pokemon on a necklace? Send me a message and we'll make it happen.
Save money by buying them all in this set! If you're only interested in one, check my other listings.
Thank you for looking! :) 

 https://www.etsy.com/listing/108814024/pokemon-cute-pichu-pikachu-raichu

Picard and Riker facepalm embroidery

Oh, the famous facepalm meme. Why not have it in embroidery form? This piece will be in the Bear & Bird gallery show "Sew Nerdy." Thanks for looking.
(And, "Make it sew!)
Click for large view.

Fry and Leela cross stitch

I just finished this cross stitch of Fry and Leela from Futurama. I made the pattern myself. This piece will be in the upcoming Bear and Bird gallery show called "Sew Nerdy." (link: http://www.bearandbird.com/shows/sew-nerdy/ )

AAAAdventure Time! necklaces

My newest nerdy necklace creations: Finn and Jake from Adventure Time! These would be adorable as best friend necklaces, or just added to your necklace collection. I plan on making several more Finns, each with a different facial expression, and probably a variety of Jakes as well. See them in my Etsy shop. There are more Adventure Time necklaces to come: Lumpy Space Princess, Princess Bubblegum, Lady Rainicorn, a worm, the snail.... the list goes on. Stay tuned!

King Boo stitched necklace

This was another Deviant Art commission, again for sale to everyone in my Etsy store. The interesting thing about this piece is how challenging making the pattern was. King Boo is from newer, 3D Mario games, instead of the retro Mario games. The older games use 8 bit or 16 bit sprites, which are easy to convert into cross stitch patterns. After a lot of work, I was able to make the 3D Mario Boo look as though it could have been from an older game. I am pleased with the outcome. :)

More Pokemon Necklaces!

Three more Pokemon necklaces: Eevee, Piplup, and Umbreon. They are all for sale in my Etsy store. The listings also have details, such as sizes. The Umbreon was initially a commission for someone on Deviant Art, but it is so popular that I decided to make more. :D