Mama's Day Flowers

Taking a strong variation on a similar theme, I decided to make my Mama an embroidered brooch for Mother's Day. Where my friend gravitated more towards darkness and tentacles, my Mama is definitely in the sunshine and flowers camp.

This, I'm proud to say, is a wholly original design of mine. In English, my mother's name translates to "Daisy," and she has two children. I thought it appropriate to have the two little daisies symbolizing my brother and I. Which flower symbolizes whom is up to debate: I'm older, but he's definitely taller now!

I sketched out some variations on the design on some scrap paper, then transferred the final design using carbon paper (I like the clean lines, transfer pens and pencils tend to bleed). I then stitched the petals and stem using satin stitch, and the centers with tiny French knots.

Again, not a tiny embroidery, but definitely small enough to keep my on my toes, especially with those pesky French knots!

My Mama adored it! She wore it proudly to her Mama's Day outing to The Avengers. 'cuz that's how she rolls.

I've been having a lot of fun with these little pieces of jewelry. Next up, I think I may actually stitch a little something for myself to wear. It'll probably be a combination of darkness and sunshine...just to change things up. Maybe if I'm quick I'll be able to have it done in time for the panel I'm speaking on this weekend (/shameless plug).

Reform School Girl

Thrill-Crazy! Speed-Crazy! Mad-At-The-World Crazy!

Another fun and feisty embroidery, from Sublime Stitching's Mitch O'Connell pack.

A Reminder to the Writer

A little reminder I stitched up to put by my writing desk. Made with Sublime Stitching's Sexy Librarians pattern set (and non-bleeding floss).

I did the majority of the stitching during my downtime in Bangkok this summer. I'm really glad I took it with me. It may sound hokey, but crafting does provide a common bond across language and culture barriers. My host's Thai mother-in-law perked up when she saw me pull out my hoop and thread, and scurried to show me the crochet she was working on. Suddenly, we had something we could "talk" about, even with just smiles and appreciative sounds.

A little tip to crafters traveling internationally: be sure to check the carry-on regulations for all the airports you're connecting to. Though my pretty little gold scissors were okay at SFO, they were confiscated at our connecting flight in Taipei. Oh well.

Tara McPherson Embroidery

I'm doing a little catch-up with the embroidery posts. Though I haven't been sharing, I've still been stitching.

I do most of my stitching while my husband reads to me, and now that the semester's well under way there's lots of evenings spent curled up reading and stitching. Especially since we're currently in book two of George R.R. Martin's A Song of Ice and Fire series. So lots of good books = lots of fun stitching.

This is one I finished back in July. Tara McPherson is one of my favorite visual artists (so much so that I hunted down all 10 issues of the Vertigo comic The Witching, and I have to say, sadly, that her covers were the best part). So, I was over the moon when Sublime Stitching brought her on as a guest artist to make a pattern pack.

I carefully selected my colors, deciding on a rich, jewel-toned palette for this piece. It was a simple enough design, so the colors would really make it pop. It does. I loved how it came out...until I went to wash the finished piece.

You can't tell in very well from the photo, but the colors actually ran. I'd used a batch of no-name floss and the pink and purple bled permanently into the snowy white fabric.

At first, I was crushed. This was my first encounter with floss-color-bleed ruining a piece, and of course it had to be on the Tara McPherson pattern I'd waited so long to stitch.

However, the more I look at it, the more I like the look. It seems appropriate for this figure to have a hazy purple halo and a heart who's color bleeds gently across her chest. Thematically, it works.

I'm still not sure if I'm going to hoop her and add her to the growing wall of stitch, but at least I've come to peace with her.

Moral of this story: check to see if you floss will bleed when you try a new brand. Especially a no-name brand.

Isabela's Fortune

I’ve had poor Isabela here hanging on my wall for nearly two months, staring at me accusingly. With everything that has been going on, though, I just haven’t had time to photograph the poor girl before now.

Why name her Isabela? Well, it’s almost embarrassing to admit, but the pattern bore a striking resemblance to one busty pirate captain from a certain favorite video game. Yup. She’s named after Dragon Age 2’s Isabela.


I modeled the color scheme after the character’s, and even went so far as to add the little labret piercing under her lip. Yes, I'm a geek. What's new?

She was made using Sew Lovely Embroidery’s Mad Ink pattern set, which I think may be my favorite pattern pack ever.

It was a pretty straight-forward piece, all done with back stitch, with a little satin stitch and a few French knots to make it interesting. The most experimental I got was to tweed the floss (mixing navy blue and turquoise) to give her kerchief the illusion of pattern.


I painted her hoop a nice turquoise to match, which looks really neat hanging next to the purple one for my glow-in-the-dark Calavera (also from the same Sew Lovely pack). I’m envisioning a whole wall filled with colorful-hooped embroideries and cross stitching. It’s pretty well on its way!

Embroidered Dice Bag

I managed to squeeze in a bit of crafting before I got taken out by the double-whammy of Con and cold. The Professor’s birthday was at the end of March, and he had been dropping hints that he needed a new bag to hold his gaming dice. I was more than happy to oblige!

This was the perfect excuse to break out the brand-spankin’ new sewing machine my Mama gave me as an early birthday present. I don’t know why I hadn’t given it a run sooner! It’s truly a thing of beauty:




It’s a computerized machine, which is a light year leap from the antique Featherweight I’d been struggling with for months. Though I still love the old girl dearly, there’s really nothing like a sewing machine that is wholly and completely yours to bond with.

It only took me a couple hours to fully put together the bag, which is made from up-cycled denim from a pair of torn jeans. The embroidered emblem is the symbol of the Codex of Ultimate Wisdom, from the old Ultima computer games. It’s a game that the Professor loved as a child, and I thought it’d be appropriate for a dice bag.




He truly loved it. It was nice to finally be able to craft something just for him that he’d actually enjoy and use, as opposed to the knit scarves I keep trying to hoist off on him!

I'm really looking forward to tackling some other sewing projects, and learning some new skills. Is it too ambitious to think I can sew a sundress by summertime?

Stitch & Craft Show, March 17-20

Okay, I know I've kept you all in mad suspense. You ask yourself, "what the heck is this news that she promised to tell us, then disappeared for three weeks?" Finally dear readers, I can share.

Two of my stitched pieces are showing at the Stitch & Craft Show in London this weekend!

Han Solo and Nibbler are a proud part of Mr. X Stitch's entourage at the show, and will appear on a wall o' awesome needlework.

This not only marks my needlework's first international showing, but its first live showing in general. I feel quite honored, and only wish I could travel to London to see the exhibit with my own eyes. Jamie (a.k.a. Mr. X Stitch) has promised pictures of the event, so as soon as I have 'em I'll share.

I'm so excited! If any of my U.K. readers are planning to go, please take a picture for me!

"Don't Puke" Cross Stitch

It's a rainy Saturday afternoon on a holiday weekend. Which means curling up under blankets with steaming mugs of coffee and pan dulce. Mmmm.

I mentioned in my last post that my friend Dana and I had successfully completed year two of our annual craft swap. I showed you the awesome hat she crocheted me, but I didn't show you what I sent her.




Dana requested a piece similar to one she'd seen posted on Apartment Therapy's tour of Liv and Jeff's Long Beach home.



After trying to figure out if the pattern was available, I contacted Liv at her blog, A Lovely Little Life, who told me she'd designed it herself.

I figured this was a good chance to make a custom one for Dana, so I asked her to pick her font and color scheme. The border I adapted from my copy of Donna Kooler's 555 Fabulous Cross-Stitch Patterns.




The result? A uniquely Dana cross stitch, ready to tell her cats to keep their hairballs to themselves.

I'm thrilled to announce that the week she got the swap package, she got an even more special delivery: she gave birth to her first child! Big congrats to her and her amazing husband Justin on the birth of their beautiful baby boy.

What's next on my crafting plate? I have another couple of geeky embroidery projects transferred and ready to stitch, plus a cross stitch pattern I'm developing. I'm really excited by it, but it's taking longer than I thought! I also have another couple of cool craft-related announcements to make later, but right now I've gotta keep things under wraps to not jinx anything. I promise I'll tell soon.

Now, to stitch, and enjoy the patter of rain on the window.

Oh, Lydia the Queen of Tattoo

Lydia oh Lydia, say have you met Lydia,
Lydia, the Tattooed Lady.

She has eyes that folks adore so,

And a torso even more so.

She once swept an Admiral clear off his feet.
The ships on her hips made his heart skip a beat.

Okay, maybe you can't see the ships on her hips. But you get the gist of it!
This is probably the most colorful piece I've every stitched. She's made from the Circus Palooza pattern from Sew Lovely Embroidery, which is chock-full of other beautifully creepy designs.
Most of the design was done with a simple backstitch, though I did improvise some stitching on the more delicate work. The beads I added for a touch of texture and sparkle, reminiscent of retro showgirl costumes.
The color palette for her outfit was loosely based on Laffing Sal's, who, though not sporting any visible tattoos, is the symbol for all things weird, wacky, and side-show for this Bay Area girl. (Next time you're in San Francisco, visit the Musee Mecanique. It's free, fun, and educational.)
Next up on my project plate? I'm going back to my cross stitchin' roots, and testing out a new crafting skill thanks to my mom-in-law: crochet!
[Lyrics used above are from Lydia the Tattooed Lady, sung by Groucho Marx. Quite fitting, no?]

The Mystery of the Glowing Calavera

Okay, so maybe it's not much of a mystery. I took some nifty glow-in-the-dark floss, a scrap of fabric from a pair of torn trousers, and an awesome pattern from Sew Lovely.





The results? A spooky-yet-festive embroidery, perfect for scaring your spouse in the middle of the night.

Seriously. Wouldn't it freak you out to wake up to this?



Boo!

Tee hee. I'm mean.

Futurama has me in stitches

Sometimes I fear we are cute...

Continuing on my sci-fi stitching kick after the Adventures of Rocketgirl, I decided to turn my embroidery needle to something a little simpler, a little softer, a little...cuter.

Behold, Lord Nibbler the Nibblonian from Futurama!

He may not look very regal in this pose, but make no mistake, he'll vaporize you with his kitten-class attack ship (unless you can fight him off with a folding chair).

His likes include devouring hams (and live animals) whole, being scratched behind the ears, and messing with the space/time continuum. His dislikes include intergalactic pet pageants, flying brains, and high-velocity mail.
He's stitched up with back stitch, satin stitch, long-and-short stitch, and french knots. Click the picture for a closer look. He stands (well, sits) around three inches tall, and is mounted in a four-inch frame.
I wish I could take credit for the stuffed ham in the first picture, but alas, I am not that crafty a sewer. That delicious-looking plushy is from Sweet Meats, which gets extra points for wrapping their fuzzy creations in deli paper.

I'm contemplating more Futurama-themed stitching projects, since the art style lends itself so well to it. I have an image of a scuttling Zoidberg that would make an interesting piece, as well as some funny Bender pictures. We'll see, though. I'm 1/3 of the way through an involved Dia de los Muertos embroidery project I would like to finish by the end of the month, and then the holidays loom near. Which I'm so not thinking about right now, not with Halloween around the corner!

The Adventures of Rocketgirl, Vol. 1

It's been a while since I've dug my needle into some real embroidery. I've been getting my crafty ya-yas mostly through knitting, and even that I've kind of slowed down with lately. There's something about a warm summer day that discourages one from curling up with a skein of fuzzy yarn...or doing much of anything beyond lying in front of the fan serial-reading trashy vampire novels.

But then my pals at Sublime Stitching announced their Combo Contest, challenging stitchers to mash up three or more SS patterns. If there's one thing you'll learn about me from reading this blog, is that there's nothing like a contest to get me off my duff and get me creating! It's not the thought of winning that drives me, it's the participation, and mostly, the deadline. This was perfect.

I dug around in my hoard of patterns, and after a day or two came up with a concept that made my fingers itch to stitch. Inspired by my recent obsession with Futurama (what took me so long, anyway?) and my old love of Reading Rainbow, "The Adventures of Rocketgirl, Vol. 1" made it's way into the world stitch by stitch.



And I do mean stitches: backstitch, satin stitch, stem stitch, split stitch, French knot, as well as some funky, random fill stitch I used for the egg-shaped planet.



I have to say, my favorite bit out of the whole piece is the librarian. I'm super-proud of how her hair turned out. She reminds me of Amber Von Tussle from the OG Hairspray...but in a nice way.



I also love the colorful stack of books in her arm:



And her dainty little shoes:



I ended up using six different patterns in all: "Sexy Librarians", "Spaced Out", "Tara McPherson" (stars), "Craft Pad" (planet), "Lucha Libre" (lightning bolts), and "Chinatown" (cloud puff). I also played a lot with variegated floss, which added some nice effects to the more "natural" elements (stars, planet, lightning bolt).

Although I didn't win the contest, I feel like I got something really important out of it: a reminder of just how much fun embroidery can be (cue inspirational music). I've already begun working on a little non-SS stitching project to keep stoking this crafty fire, and I feel like I'm finding my groove again. It's a really good feeling to have.

In Unrelated News
Thanks to Jeff over at Craziest Gadgets for featuring my cookies as part of his review on the Star Wars cookie cutters. Not to mention, for the rallying call for a bona-fide Death Star cookie cutter. If there's one thing we know for sure about the Star Wars franchise, is that they'll make it if enough people ask for it. Just look at the phenomenon that is the Tauntaun sleeping bag.

Halloween, in a Nutshell

For many folks, Christmas is the busiest holiday of the year. The baking, the decorating, the company, the spiritual observance, the activities, etc. For me, it's the Halloween/Samhain season, and this year's was a non-stop, action-packed, three week period filled with friends, food, theater, film, games, and so much more.

Let's recap some of the highlights, shall we?

Exhibit A: "At the Opera Tonight..."

The festivities began the weekend before Halloween, with a weekend trip to the state capital for the Sacramento Horror Film Festival. This was purely a pleasure trip (I hadn't submitted my film this year) to see a screening of Repo! The Genetic Opera, with cast and creators in attendance.

It was a great evening (though it was preceded by a nauseatingly bad pre-show), complete with shadow cast performances, audience participation, and a lively Q&A with Terrance Zdunich (co-creator/"Graverobber"), Darren Smith (co-creator/"Opera Maestro"), Alisa Burket ("Henchwoman 1"), and Andreja Punkris ("Henchwoman 2").

I waited in line to get autographs from them all, and was quite pleased that I didn't make an ass of myself. I usually tend to put my foot in my mouth when meeting artists or celebrities, so this was a step up!

Exhibit B: "Holy Sugar Cookies, Batman!"

Like I mentioned before, baking is integral to my Halloween season. And when I bake...I BAKE:

In one evening, I made over 100 sugar cookies in 3 different colors of dough and flavors of sugar topping: orange leaves and pumpkins with real Wisconsin maple sugar on top, white ghosts and bones with vanilla sugar, and purple-black cats and witches with purple sugar.

I think, out of all the cookies this year, I am most proud of my Batman cookies:

You see, my video game of the season was Batman: Arkham Asylum, and I had to commemorate the occasion in cookie dough. *nods seriously*

The reason for so many cookies? I made enough to ship to friends and family, share with co-workers, take as my contribution to a play-reading/potluck party, and have enough left over for my own guests at a Rock Band party. Even with all that, we still didn't finish the last cookie until two days ago.

Exhibit C: Making Halloween

Of course, what Halloween is complete without crafts?

I didn't have much time, but I did manage to get a little stitching in:

This wee ghostie was made using a free Annie Oakleaves pattern I snagged last year. I made him using back, satin, and long-and short stitches.

I tried to finish a little friend for him:

But I didn't quite make it. Perhaps next year!

Now it's time to switch gears. Though my favorite holiday is over, there's still two big, special events right around the corner. That being said, I'm looking forward to a couple of weeks of mellow-time before we kick back into holiday mode!

Hand: Lovely Little Lovebirds

I've been in love with Sublime Stitching's "Dutch-Russian" set since it was released, though it took me a few months to cave and buy the pattern.

"But I already have so many patterns!" Practical me said.

"But wouldn't this look just lovely hanging in your kitchen?" Craft Addict me piped in slyly.

This argument went on (and often does when a new project requires new materials not found in my ample stash of supplies) and (as usual) Craft Addict won.

I'm very glad she did. This was a serious joy to stitch. I love the design so much I stitched it on both ends of the tea towel. There's something so happy about the bright colors and twisting vines, and the pretty little lovebirds. It even got a nod on Sublime Stitching's Twitter. Hell to the yeah.

**********

As if my dialogue between Practical me and Craft Addict me weren't enough, I truly think I have a sort of odd split personality thing going on. On the one side I love and make horror movies, obsess over freaky microbrews, and play violent video games. On the other...there's the monkey quilt-in-progress, stitched tea-drinking bunnies, and the whole pink cake obsession. Weird.

Speaking of those bunnies, I was thrilled to see one of my Black Apple stitches get a nod on You Can Call Me Chris, alongside some other wonderful stitching. I seriously love those baby onesies. Which again...falls into "weird" for me. Me? Onesies? WTF?

Hand: My Idea of an "Easy" Embroidery Swap

Though I told myself I wasn't going to take part in another Craftster.org swap for a while, I couldn't resist when I saw the Embroider Me to Sleep Pillowcase Swap. I've never taken part in a straight-up stitchin' swap, and I'd never tried embroidering on pillowcases. So, naturally I had to do it!

It was designed to be a mellow, low-pressure swap. Just a pair of pillowcases, maybe an add-on, if you felt like it. Just some relaxing stitching.

Uh huh. This is me we're talking about. I can complicate anything. And I mean anything. Including what was supposed to be a mellow crafting swap.

My lovely swap partner, Melyssa_Marie, had a good list of things she loved, and would be fun to stitch. What stood out to me was her adoration of Dia de los Muertos sugar skulls. Since I'd been sitting on Sublime Stitching's "Dia de los Muertos" pattern set for nearly a year, I jumped at the chance to stitch up some festive calavera-themed pillowcases:



Six skulls and four flowers. A pair of eco-friendly bamboo pillowcases. Nine different colors of floss. 64 hand-sewn sequins. And 12 cheesy-ass episodes of Xena: The Warrior Princess. That's what went into this project.

Easy!





I was actually sad to send these away, I was so proud of them. But, the thing I forget in the heat of creating for a swap is that I get something in return...and I was not disappointed when I tore into my package from Melyssa_Marie:



She stitched me a pair of lovely custom-designed pillowcases inspired by -- wait for it -- the tissue paper flowers used to decorate Dia de los Muertos altars. What's that people say about great minds thinking alike?



I truly love the color composition and the clean simplicity of the lines. So unlike my own stitching style. They're made all the more awesome by Mel having designed them herself. I am very happy indeed.

So, now I return to my swapping hiatus. I have a big project that's been put on the backburner for the swap that I want to make some headway on, and a new cross stitch quote my fingers have been itchin' to stitch. I'm hoping for a creative, stress-free summer, and hopefully this'll be the ticket.

Hand: Lucky Cat Apron

Though my Dad's Steal Your Face got delayed in delivery by the car crash, oddly enough, the crash was the reason I was able to make this sweet little Lucky Cat apron for my sister-in-law.

You see, my sis-in-law also lives in SoCal. I'd bought the Sublime Stitching "I Heart Sushi" pattern months before her birthday in December, with the intent of stitching it up before we headed down for our Xmas/Yule/New Year's holiday. Alas, in all the holiday commotion, I'd run out of time to stitch up her gift. I ended up buying her some things -- handmade and cute, true -- but I was disappointed I wasn't going to get a chance to make her this apron for another year.

Then, the crash, and I suddenly found myself with a couple weeks of "free" time when I was pretty much trapped on a couch healing up. It was the perfect time to stitch, and actually kinda helped me normalize again. Stitching adorable Japanese food and Lucky Cats will do that to you, I suppose.



She loves sushi, and used to work in a Japanese restaurant in Santa Cruz. Also, she LOVES cats, so I thought this would be a good marriage of the two.



I was able to give it to her when I went to visit SoCal a couple weeks ago, and she adored it. Oddly enough...shortly after giving it to her, both she and her boyfriend had some very good luck come their way in the form of raises and new jobs. I'm not taking any credit for their success, but y'know... a Lucky Cat is a Lucky Cat!

Hand: What a long, strange stitch it's been

Soooo, this is a piece I've actually had completed since December of last year. There's a reason why I haven't been able to share it before now, which has been killing me, since I've been sooooo proud of it!

This was/is my Dad's Xmas gift, for Xmas '08. He's a huge Grateful Dead fan, but an even bigger fan of handmade gifts. This -- thanks to a suggestion from my brother -- was indeed the perfect gift for my Dad. A stitched version of Steal Your Face.



It took me about a month to complete. It's about 6 inches in diameter, and done completely with satin stitching and long-and-short stitching.



I wasn't done with it when Xmas came, but the way things worked out the husband and I were going to spend the holiday with his parents in Humboldt, and then go down to San Diego for New Years' with my folks. I planned to finish "Stealy" over the holiday, then give it to Dad in SoCal, all clean, stretched, and wrapped...

...then we got into the car crash.

When they towed the car away to the impound yard, they took all the luggage and gifts and such away. Though we had an Xbox and all our clothes in the shattered trunk, sitting in the Humboldt County rain, I kept thinking of poor "Stealy." I really thought he was gone.

Luckily, again, he survived perfectly (as well as all my embroidery stuff), and I was able to give him to my Dad on New Year's Eve. Though the piece was wrinkled, unframed, unwrapped, the look on his face was priceless.

Skip forward to two weeks ago, when I finally made it to SoCal to see the family. At last, I was able to wash, iron, and frame "Stealy" for Dad...and after five months, I can say he's complete. Really, it's been a long, strange trip with this piece, and much as I love it, I'm glad it's over. Now he can hang on a wall and be chill, as he was meant to be.

Hand: Swapety Swaps (Image Heavy)

As I mentioned before, I've been crafting like crazy the past few weeks, but haven't been able to share my projects since they were all part of one swap or another. Well, swaps are finally concluded, and now I can share both my creations and the lovely stuff I received in kind!

First, my most recent (and I think favorite) swap with my old friend Dana, The Geek Girl Friday. I stitched her a Black Apple Bunny (from the Sublime Stitching pattern):





And she custom made me a gorgeous set of mosaic cupcake coasters!





Here's a detail of my favorite one:





Personally, I think I got the better end of this deal. Mosaic is still a mystery to me as a craft, and to see such a cute design in glass is just amazing!

The other swap I was a part of was the Ultimate Whedonverse Swap on Craftster.org. It was a lot of fun, but I admit I find the whole "point system" a little stressful.

I made many crafty little things for my partner, all inspired by Buffy the Vampire Slayer (which was her favorite of the Whedon canons).





The big thing was a cross stitch I designed with a quote from Anya, the former vengeance demon who found herself winning in the "Game of Life" boardgame.





But, I have to say my favorite was my Spike-inspired pincushion with Slayer-stake quilting pins:





The quote is from the musical "Once More with Feeling" episode: "If my heart could beat, it would break my chest, but I can see you're unimpressed." What I really love is that it's in glow-in-the-dark thread, which I thought was very appropriate for a vampire's heart (which was based off Sublime Stitching's "Vital Organs" pattern set).

In return, my partner (craftster KCFirecracker) made me the most spiffy Firefly-inspired spats:





She also made me the most lovely pillow case I will ever own:





It's a beautiful applique based off my favorite cover of BtVS season 8. Check out the source image:



I love the texture so much:





It's been a swap-happy couple months, but I think it's time for a little break. My fingers have been itching for some bigger, more involved projects, and I have something in mind that may just fit the bill.