Tag Archives: cross stitching

Crafting

That Craft That Came From the Moon

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Or rather, crafts.

The Destiny beta came and went. I surprised myself and Babe by actually playing it myself rather than sticking to the vicarious gamer role that I embrace with pride. I was able to play with my sister from another mister and prove that I really have no skills as a FPS player. (I kept looking for the Starman so I could become invincible, maybe that is only available in the full version of the game?)  But, honestly, I had a lot of fun playing it. Mostly because I liked to dress up my character and use that space magic.

And did I mention that I actually went to the moon so that Babe could get the special–

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Oh wait…this is a crafting blog, isn’t it?

Anyway, one of the things that was revealed during the Beta was the Iron Banner. People got decked out in some killer threads. I mean, check out the fierceness.

I had picked up some felt banners over at Jo-Ann about a week earlier and knew what I had to do.

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I made a shoddy template and set to tracing it over to some adhesive felt.

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It was…ok. But, as you can see from the picture, I drew the pattern on the front rather than to back and no amount of bleach was going to get those marks off. (Believe me, I tried.)

So, I set it aside for a couple of days. Then, awesomeness popped up on my Twitter timeline, courtesy of Hedge. His masterful artwork gave me a bit of detail that was missing from the original lo-res image I used to make the original template.

(Lo-res Destiny images + me = nOTP)

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I redrew the template (on the backside of the felt) and set to work.

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Ta da! Overall, I was thrilled with the way this ended up turning out. I’m pretty sure I’m going to do something like this for the Christmas cards I’m sending out this year.

My other craft, however, continues to haunts me. *insert rimshot*

The other craft is a Ghost that I made for my buddy, Alan’s, birthday. I made 3 (ok, like 6) different versions of the Ghost pattern and let the power of the people (aka Twitter) decide which one looks best.

Then, I set to work on the little guy.

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It started off pretty well. I felt confident and unstoppable! This Ghost was going to look so perfect, people would expect for Peter Dinklage’s voice to start talking from the fabric.

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Then, the trouble started. I needed to tweak the pattern, I miscounted squares (thrice), I had to exchange a color because you couldn’t tell the difference between the other color, and then there were the broken threads that were so totally symbolic of my broken spirit.

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I cried and wept. (OK, I more like pouted and fought the urge to throw the project in a bonfire.)  And then, I dusted myself off because we crafters are a tough breed.  I pushed through and finally finished the bad boy.

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YAY! IT WAS DONE! ALL THE STRESS WAS OVER! WHAT COULD POSSIBLY GO WRONG?

*cue the happy dance*

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Oh foolish Jess, when will you learn that when it comes to Destiny projects, something can always go wrong? So, apparently, when I was moving the cross-stitch from my big giant hoop to the hoop that would be its permanent home, I flipped it on its side. WHO DOES THAT? If I hadn’t been in the car, I would have been headdesking for hours.

Now let’s remember I already trimmed the fabric so there’s nothing for me to grab to tighten it. But I thought since I didn’t glue it down (I never do.) and was really careful, I might be able to spin the top hoop (carefully) so the right position.

Spoiler alert: I managed to do it.

But now that I’m thinking about it, I’m not sure that I didn’t put it completely upside down. Um, I guess I’ll have to wait for it to show up at Alan’s. Seriously guys, why does Destiny hate cross-stitching? And most importantly, when am I going to learn that Destiny hates cross-stitching?

Now it’s back to the Dark World. 11k squares in 26 days. I should have this sucker done.

Crafting, Gaming

Nintendo Entertainment (Cross)-Stitch

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Another day, another thing to distract me from my self-imposed deadline for finishing the Dark World geeky pattern to give to the internet.

This time I’m going back to my gaming roots — the good ol’, blow the game cartridge when it won’t work, Mario-lovin’, Duck Huntin’ NES. Although I think that the N64 is my favorite Nintendo system of all time (I can hear some gamers crying and shouting in disbelief right now.) it was the NES that pulled me into the world of gaming.

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I dominated some games — SMB 2 and 3, Contra, Maniac Mansion, I wondered around aimlessly in others — Legend of Zelda was a little advanced for an 9 year old Jess, and I convinced myself others were there only for the purpose of *not* being beaten — TMNT, Paperboy, Gauntlet.

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But I didn’t care how difficult they were, I loved (and love) gaming. I watched the Super Mario Bros show *cough*OK, I still do*cough*, begged my mom to buy Nintendo cereal, and I carried that love to the present day.

So, I figured it was time to pay a little homage to my gaming roots.

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Awesome, no?

I haven’t had time to stitch it up myself, (A little thing called the Dark World map has consumed my life.) but it’s a small project — you should easily be able to get to done by a weekend. So enjoy the gaming nostalgia.

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Like always, if you decide to tackle the project, let me know! Tag me on Twitter or IG if you post there (I’m @craftinggeek at both.) or drop a comment.

Happy crafting!

Crafting

Whoever wields this pattern, if he be worthy…

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Shall have a cute, 8-bit finished cross-stitch of Thor.

My oldest came up to me and wanted me to make her a little pattern of Thor for her to cross-stitch. (Excuse me a moment while I shed a Crafting Mama tear that my young one wants to cross-stitch.) I went online and looked for Thor 8-bit pictures. She picked out this one, but wanted me to modify it a bit (mostly, that he has his mouth and beard).

So, I set to work and came up with this:

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Small and sweet — perfect for a little project for someone who lurves Thor. So, go, cross-stitch and have fun making awesome! 😀 😀

Crafting

Clowning Around

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So, back in October I started working on a couple of Mario cross-stitching charts. That was when I foolishly thought that I would have the Dark World done and the Halo: CEA cover almost finished within the first half of the year. And while I haven’t given up on making a Mario sampler, I have come to realize that unless someone in my family asks me to make a Bowser in his Koopa Clown Car as a gift, I’m never going to make this sucker for myself.

So you, fellow geeky gamers, get to have a chart that, when finished, will instill fear into the heart of every Toad in all of the Mushroom Kingdom.

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If you listen closely, you can almost hear Princess Peach screaming for a certain plumber to save her.

On a 14-count Aida cloth, he should end up being about 4×6, perfect for framing to make any room instantly look 597% more geeky. To save the pictures to your hard drive, just right click the pictures.

Bowser Chart Page 1
Bowser Chart Page 2
Bowser Color Chart

And if anyone does finish it, I would love to see it! You can always reach me on Twitter (@craftinggeek) or tag me on IG (again, @craftinggeek).

As always, happy crafting!

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Crafting

Supply drop

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I don’t know about you, but sometimes finding the right size AIDA cloth is tough (especially for larger projects), but I found this seller on Etsy who has reasonably priced AIDA cloth cut in large sizes. For example, a piece that’s 20.5″x18″ is $3.50 plus $2 in shipping — dude, I paid $12.99 for my piece of AIDA cloth for the Dark World map.

Linkage to cheap AIDA cloth — whee!

The only word of caution is that it is on black cloth. So if you hate to stitch on dark fabric, this isn’t the deal for you. But, if you can handle the black, you should snag some up.

Crafting, Gaming

The Cross Stitch of Doom (Week 1)

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So, like a character in a book an author writes, my crafting projects tend to name themselves. Sometimes it takes a while for them to introduce themselves to me, but, after spending time with them, they all give me *something* to call them.

I’d like to introduce you to The Cross Stitch of Doom (or TCSOD). (Yeah, I know right now it doesn’t look like much. But, when it’s finished it will be quite a Legendary feel to it.)

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I can’t remember a time that a cross stitch has given me so much grief within such a short period of time. Messed up on the count. Used the wrong color. Head, meet desk.

Every person who cross stitches know undoing work is just par for the course, but considering that this sucker has 65k+ squares, hitting a snag at about square #300 is tear-inducing.

The (insane) plan is to have this finished by the time by sister’s wedding rolls around. The plan is also to maintain my sanity, so we’ll see how it goes.