Talk to me Tuesday: Me

This video is really quite long, but possibly one of my most favorite ones because you can see me at my best (or rather, me being completely me - stumbling over words, forgetting certain words entirely, dropping stuff, and talking to my computer).





Things mentioned:

's etsy shop

Sewhooked.org

My flickr

Crafty Monday: Alternative Frames

Ever since I started cross stitching I've become a bit of a frame junkie. It doesn't matter what kind of a store I'm in, chances are they'll have frames, and I'll be drawn to them. I love all sorts of frames. Corny frames, plastic frames, metal frames, really giant elaborate frames, teeny tiny frames, and of course, wacky themed frames.



Sure, most embroidery is wonderful when left in the hoop, but I think a special frame for a cross stitch or embroidery really makes the design something amazing. This weekend I finished two projects that took regular frames and made them into something new. The first was actually inspired directly from the quote that is stitched onto it. The quote is from Dr. Horrible's Sing Along Blog.

Captain Hammer says to Dr. Horrible (while choking him), "It's curtains for you, Dr. Horrible. Lacy, gently wafting curtains." I don't know exactly how I came up with the idea other than the usual, "Wouldn't it be funny if..." and the stitch was done. But of course, it wasn't that easy. The finished stitch was bigger than the frame I had purchased for it. I went to the store again and had to buy a new frame as well as new curtains (and I'm glad I did, my original ones were not as awesome).

The second idea I got just came to me randomly. I was wandering the aisles of Hobby Lobby and was in the wooden items section. I saw a frame and thought to myself, "Wow, that looks like an etch a sketch, wouldn't it be funny if..." Sadly, I didn't buy the frame at the time because it was broken. Every time I went to Hobby Lobby for the next month, the kind of frame I wanted was warped, broken, or didn't look that great. Finally I went last week and found one that was in good condition. I started painting, putting together the discs for the white knobs, and stitched some doodles on gray fabric. So my etch-a-sketch embroidery was born!

I'm pretty proud of both of my projects, and would love to do more cool looking frames. Right now, I'm considering making a few of the Etch-A-Sketch frames to be sold on etsy, so others can make their own doodles.

more photos can be found on my flickr

Talk to Me Tuesday: Excitement

Eeek, I completely spaced on posting this here. I had technical problems that did not get fixed until late Wednesday night, so I spaced posting this here.



Things Mentioned:

Newspaper scan

Movie Magic scan

Dinosaur Cross Stitch

Cloud Embroidery

Skelefishy Embroidery

Urban Threads

Craft Monday: A new kind of craft!

For the last week I've had an idea for a nifty project, but the bad part is that the project needs to be embroidered. Since I've been cross stitching for a while, I decided I might as well tackle embroidery (plus, I've seen some gorgeous projects that have also nudged me towards trying it). The first thing I decided to stitch was the outline of the grumpy storm cloud on my twitter background.

I think he turned out really nice. The eyes and the rain drops are french knots (which I have used several times after learning how in the Owl Punch Needle) while the cloud, mouth, and lightning bolt are all done with the stem stitch.


Today I decided to do a really cute pattern from Urban Threads - the Skelefishy. I thought it was cute and simple. Because I still don't have transfer paper or proper embroidery supplies, I just used a light blue colored pencil to draw the design onto the fabric. The fishy was done with a backstitch, but somehow I couldn't keep the stitches the same length. I still need to learn a few more stitch types before I can continue on with my fun project idea, but I am looking forward to it.

Detail Shots

Talk to Me Tuesday: Ugly Hats and Meh

The feeling of meh continues in this video.

Crafty Monday: The Great Stitch Drought of ‘09

Everyone hits slumps now and then, and I seem to be in one right now. I have a lot of fun projects that I want to be stitching, but I haven’t been able to pick up my hoop for over a week. When I get ready to stitch, I just don’t feel like it.

Meh

Talk to Me Tuesday (On Wednesday)

Zombies have invaded Talk to Me Tuesday, and of course, I didn't find out about it until Wednesday.