Hand (Not Mine): "This is My Rifle" Embroidery

I came across this piece when I was trolling my Flickr pools, and I just had to share it. I was intrigued by the caption underneath the photo, the promise of a story, so I checked out Knit-R-Done's blog to find out more about this incredibly detailed embroidery:




Not only has Knit-R-Done made an amazing piece of work, but her prose explaining the meaning of the piece is just breathtaking.

I have to amit, it struck a nerve with me, which is maybe why I loved it so. My thirty-something, family man, brother-in-law joined the Army last year. He's the first member of my family -- blood or extended -- that I know who's joined the military. He's a Lieutenant now, and we're all waiting to see where he's finally going to be stationed after all his specialized training.

It's been an adjustment for me knowing that there's this whole other man inside the goofy guy I once knew...but I know it's nothing compared to the adjustments and sacrifices his wife and kids have gone through. This made me think of my sister-in-law...and honestly understand her a bit more.

Hand: Cake or Death Embroidery

See, I promised I'd post crafts soon! This is the "big project" I've been working on, which I'm really quite proud of it.

This is a quote from Eddie Izzard's "Dress to Kill" stand-up show, which I was originally going to embroider onto an apron. It got a little more involved -- which made me hate the idea of it getting gunked up with batter -- so now it's going in a frame on my kitchen wall.

This is the first semi-original piece I've ever embroidered (as opposed to cross stitch). I designed the piece, drew the cupcake myself, and adapted Sublime Stitching's "Tattoo Your Towels" for the banner and daggers (I changed the design of the dagger handles a bit). It was a lot of fun to stitch!

The piece is roughly six inches tall by seven inches wide, and everything except the banner is filled in with satin stitch or long-short stitch. I'm not entirely thrilled with how the long-short stitching came out, but for my first time trying it, I think it came out okay! I also braved the metallics again to give the daggers a little shine around the edges. All in all, I'm really happy with it.



If you haven't seen Eddie Izzard before, you should definitely check him out. He goes beyond your standard stand-up comedy, mostly because of his amazing storytelling abilities. He can embody any number of characters in the same sketch, just by changing his voice and body posture. It's amazing to watch:

Mind: Jeezy Creezy...

This is how I've felt the past three weeks: like I'm fending off a horde of zombies who are having way too much fun tormenting me.

Hello, yes, I am still alive and well, thanks! It's been a rather full set of weeks, more full than I have wanted, in places.

The biggest time-cruncher was a writing opportunity I took on, but then had to let go as work responsibilities ramped up and I couldn't keep up with the other gig the way they deserved. I'm a bit sad it didn't work out, but at least the increase in responsibilities at my actual job came with a good review and raise in pay. Hooray!

I've also been stitching like crazy on a rather unique piece that I'm hoping to offer up for a silent auction my organization is holding this Sunday (yeep!), and also getting in some Halloween stitching courtesy of Annie Oakleaves' awesome free patterns (the spider is too flippin' cute!). I have some plans for those, so I'll be sharing soon...like, "after the event this Sunday" soon.

Finally, the big news...Everything I Needed to Know About Zombies I Learned from the Movies has been selected for the New York City Independent Horror Film Festival's online short film competition! If we get enough votes in the three-week contest period, our film gets to screen before a premiere feature film! The competition starts on Oct. 24, and I'll post more details when I have 'em. I am excited and nervous and excited again.

This means, though, I've been scurrying around trying to get together my contest package (which is in addition to the package I sent to NYC originally), on top of trying to get the duplication finished (now that the DVD covers are done -- thanks Xander!) and possibly put together a screening. Oy. I wanted to be a filmmaker again why?

Crafts here again soon! I promise!!!

BTW: Photo credit goes to Alexander Kent. That was the zombie actors' celebration once we wrapped the shoot.

Mind: Catching Up

So, my promise to myself to blog here more often all came to naught when I was slammed back-to-back with a hellacious cold and an even more hellacious work week. All is finally calmer, but I feel like I'm sitting in the eye of the storm, waiting for the next wave to hit.

Most of that is my nervous jitters about applying to the NYC Independent Horror Film Festival, who's deadline is right around the corner. My film is finally done, the press packet written, and a cover/sticker image created...now all I have to do is print, package, and send. Wish me luck...this is my first time submitting anything to a real film festival. Fingers crossed.

This is the cover for the DVD, as created by my brother, Xander (who was also our on-set photographer). He's an incredibly talented designer, IMHO, especially since he's still a student. If this is what's he's making now, I can't wait to see what he'll do once he's gotten more training under his belt!

I've sadly had little time for crafting this week, though I did complete a large part of my current "big" embroidery project while trapped on the couch by the sniffles last weekend. I'm so friggin' close to finishing, and it's just sitting there in its hoop, silently mocking me. Maybe I'll get a chance to do some work on it today. At this rate, it's doubtful I'll have my Craftster.org challenge entry ready by the deadline, but I'm not giving up yet!

I also have a big announcement to make (part of my busy-ness this past week), but it's totally deserving of its own post. I'll share very, very soon...and yes, for real soon. Not two-weeks-later soon.