Monthly Archives: February 2015

Crafting

You have not failed this cross-stitch

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I’ll admit I imagined Stephen Amell saying that, oh, a million or so times while I was working on this sucker.

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(It’s the little things, ok?)

So, actually this cross-stitch came to be because A.) Babe loves the show and B.) after this from Xbox, how could I not tackle (another) Arrow cross-stitch?

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So when I set off on this Arrowtastic journey, I thought it was going to take me 7-10 days to finish. Easy as pie, I thought. It might be close to 10k squares, but really, how long could that take?

Oh foolish Jess….when will I be able to count? Or figure out a realistic time frame?  (The answer is, of course, never.)

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The project itself was easy. No major miscounts, no weeping into my pillow at night. So despite the fact it took three times as long as I had anticipated, it was a fun project to do. Although with all the grey, it wasn’t exactly the most vibrant color scheme ever, LOL

10899428_792074107514152_1509511632_nBut, I’m thrilled to pieces with how it turned out. And now it’s onto a little project for my nephew then back to either Rapunzel, Steve, or the Light World. (I love having to make “difficult” decisions like this, LOL)

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Crafting

Got me in stitches!

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I love craft books. There is something magical about seeing these awesome creations that someone has taken the time to create and share with the masses. So, you knew I was so buying my buddy Mollie Johanson’s book: Stitch Love Sweet Creatures Big & Small: Cute Kitties and Cows and Cubs and More…and a Yeti.

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My daughters both grabbed the book when it came in the mail from Barnes and Noble and loved it. The youngest even made a video reviewing the book over at diy.org.

Don’t let her fool you, I made the yeti, but after her 15th take, she was *not* going to record another review. (I told her it was no problem, but the oldest one heckled her a bit, LOL)

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So, yes, I’ve already made the Yeti who is super adorable and really fun and easy to make. The youngest didn’t want it as an ice pack as it was shown in the book, so I just turned in into a plush.

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I have to admit, I was nervous to make it because it had the blanket stitch and I had never tackled that before. I was scared! I find comfort in ALL THINGS CROSS-STITCH!

But, I reached down deep and found bravery. And you know what?

It was horrible.

Just kidding! It was so easy that I was convinced that I was doing it wrong, LOL. But, really, I found a super easy tutorial with pictures and I found myself enjoying it much more than I thought I would.

So, if you are looking for some fun, cute ideas for you (or if you have young ones who know the basics of embroidery), check out Mollie’s book! Super adorable!

Crafting

WIP Wednesday

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So far, 2015 is the year of WIPs. Seriously, I have so many of them and I want to start more. (Something is wrong with me, I know.)

I have three major projects going on right now — Rapunzel, Captain America: The Winter Soldier, and the Light World — and one semi-big project. I tend to work on one until I am sick of it and then bounce to another.

So, for the past week or so I’ve been working on this…

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…which should be done…soonish. I’m hoping it’ll be done by the weekend, but I’m thinking it will probably take the better part of a week.

So far with this bad boy, I haven’t had any issues with it. (Though I am getting tired of ALL THE GREYS, but what can you do?)

And, I’m slowly working on Rapunzel which is enormous. (Sometimes I think the hardest part of capturing a cross-stitch in a picture is that the size of it is often lost.)

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This one is taking a lot more brain power because I’m having to modify the chart SO MUCH. I think the person who made the chart was trying to keep the color count down (or something) which has made for some interesting coloring.

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Yellow (the same yellow used for part of her hair) as skin? Green for other sections of her hair? (The chlorine jokes on IG were priceless, I’ll tell you.)

That coloring madness isn’t happening on my cross-stitch.

I should be bouncing back to Steve soon. I wanted to have it done by the time Age of Ultron came out (heh), but that’s just not happening.

What about you guys? Any WIP magic happening in your home?

Crafting

Philin’ Good…

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Or…not so much.
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(OK, it’s not that bad.)

So, back in December, I set out to make my incredible sissy from another missy a cross-stitching project for Christmas. It didn’t take me long to figure out what I was going to do. (This is a lie. I stressed about it the entire time I was making the mushroom stockings.)

Finally, it came to me. Agent Coulson.

So, I tried a couple of pictures from the show but nothing converted over well on my program. It was too dark. It looked like his face was a giant blob. You get the point. Then, I thought…FUNKO POP FIGURE TIME!

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And the pattern looked beautiful.

But, the cross-stitching part? Was not so beautiful. Maybe it was because I was trying to rush things to get it to her by Christmas (which did not happen, by the way), but I messed up the count so much, it was utterly tragic.

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And I’m not talking about miscounting it by like a couple of squares, ignoring it, and changing the chart so you don’t have to completely undo your work. (Come on, I know I’m not the only one out there who does that, right?) I’m talking about hundreds of squares off by two columns.

What was I thinking? Was I *that* distracted by Barry’s smile?

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Or Oliver working out on the salmon ladder?

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Ahem, regardless of the reason, I messed up BIG TIME and I refused to go back and take all the stitches out which meant it was time for Improv Stitching!

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Overall, it turned out pretty well. Coulson is a little more broad shouldered than I intended, but hey, he’s been working out this season. (That’s my story and I’m sticking with it.)

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Here is the chart if you want to tackle it. It’s a bit beastly, and lots of colors (blame my pattern maker), but if you want to tackle it, I’m not going to stop you. (And hey, maybe send a picture my way so I can see how the pattern SHOULD look like, LOL)

Chart page 1
Chart page 2
Color key

Have fun and as always, happy crafting! 😀 😀