Small Halloween Sampler

Better late than never I suppose.

Finished a small Halloween sampler based on a couple patterns I managed to created during October.  For those following: that's October project 0, real life 1.  Curse you real life.  Why must you mock me so!

The most fascinating part of this project was utilizing the 22 count Aida cloth.  Holy crap, my eyes!  Patterns were adjusted as they were stitched up.  No overhauls though.  Only minor changes.  I really love how this turned out.  I'm going to try to come up with more Halloween/creepy cute.  I may not have finished the 31 for October but I still have ideas and I want them out of my head!

Images ho!

Finished Halloween Project!
22 Count Painted Aida Cloth, 72h x 66w
Pattern created 2013 © No Robot Studios 

Poison Cupcake Pattern
© No Robot Studios

Poison Cupcake Cross Stitch
22 Count Painted Aida Cloth, 32hx32w
© No Robot Studios

Demon Queen with Sleeping Demon Pattern
© No Robot Studios

Demon Queen with Sleeping Demon Cross Stitch
22 Count Painted Aida Cloth, 32hx32w
© No Robot Studios

Candy Corn Pattern
© No Robot Studios

Candy Corn Cross Stitch
22 Count Painted Aida Cloth, 32hx32w
© No Robot Studios

Sleeping Ball of Fur Pattern
© No Robot Studios

Sleeping Ball of Fur Cross Stitch
22 Count Painted Aida Cloth, 32hx32w
© No Robot Studios

Everyone needs an angle shot of their work!  ^.^

31 Days of Halloween

Halloween is my favorite time of year.  Winter winds blow through town, bringing trick-or-treaters to the door with rosy cheeks and sweet tooth's needing substance.  Love this time of year.  And last night, I had a brilliant idea.

In honor of October, and the climatic end that is Halloween, I'm going to plow through 31 projects.  

Yup.

Did I mention I'm going to try working with 28 Count Evenweave, that need's to be painted...?

The theme I'm working with is Kawaii; mostly because I've never done anything like it so...why not.

Right now, I have 5 out of 31 patterns completed with plans for the other 26.  My days off are going to be insane.  Can't wait!  Here is a preview of one of the images.  Ignore the number in the corner.  It's my way of keeping track of how many I have.  

Ah!  A GHOST!

For the month of October, I'll be posting a pattern a day.  At the end of the week, I'll post progress shots.  See you guys at the beginning of October!  :D

Lollipop Chainsaw Cross Stitch

This was an...interesting project.  First, I dislodged the idea from my brain.  Second, I manipulated virtual stitches until the idea and the screen match.  The hardest part was Juliet's Chainsaw.  I dug through a Google image search and a Lollipop Wiki to find two useful reference shots.  I ping ponged between both images.  Played the game.  Stared at the game case until my virtual stitches aligned with everything.

Once the chainsaw was done, it was about finding the perfect quote.  There.  Were.  So.  Many.  When I heard the rainbow one, then read the full quote...yeah.  Perfection from an amputated head.  Who knew?  I then added the skull found on the cover of the game with two lollipops.  The border was the last bit of this insane puzzle.  Everything I looked at didn't scream at me until I picked up a book at B&N.  There, hidden in the glossy pages, was the border.  It screamed at me.  Loudly.  The pattern was complete.  A celebratory happy dance was needed! 

I tried something new with this project: painted Aida cloth.  I didn't want a black background.  The dislodged idea was against a deep gray.  So, I bought some textile medium, white and black paint and started this fun little project.  

Originally, I wanted this to fit in a 5x7 frame on 22 count Aida cloth.  What a grand delusion that was.  Half way through my stitches, I hated (H.A.T.E.D) my work.  The delusion of having a small work was eating away at the details of Juliet's chainsaw.  I wanted to show off all those captured details.  So I did the most logical thing.  I scraped it.  Pulled out the 16 count Aida, painted it and restarted.  And now for a bit of a derail: somehow, when mixing the paint for a second coat (first coat left A LOT of white spaces) the color came out all glossy.  This didn't seem right so I checked my bottles.  Learn from my mistake: READ YOUR BOTTLE LABEL CARFEULLY.

It dried.  I laughed...a little.  Then grabbed my needle and thread and began to work.  Again.  Everything was going great.  The detail in the chainsaw was coming out as I original anticipated.  The colors were popping wonderfully against the grey.  The last step was the border.  Stitch by stitch it was getting done.  Everything was coming together.  It was looking awesome.

Until I reached for my 603 bobbin.  It was empty and I still had four hearts to go.  It was also 3am and I don't do Wal-Mart at 3am.  I laughed again, with a few tears of WTF.  In the morning I went to Wal-Mart, praying to Cthulhu that they had my color (the selection at my local Wal-Mart is a sad state).  Did another happy dance when I saw the color I needed.  I grabbed two things of floss and a frame, went home and completed my project.

And so, here be my completed project:

Finished Project!  WOOT!
16 Count Painted Aida, 173h x 120w, 10x13
Lollipop Chainsaw published by Kadokawa Games and Warner Bros. Interactive Entertainment.

Up-close of the heart border:

Close up of the heart border.  Backstitching! WHOOHOO!

Closer detail of the chainsaw:

It's all about Juliet's Chainsaw...and Rainbows.

Caged Heart Project

I realized.  I never posted about this little completed pattern.  Whoops.  My bad.

Anyways, this was a thought bubble that popped into my head around Valentine's Day.  Then it wouldn't leave until I finished working out the pattern.  There was also a DIVA moment when it declared it would not be a RED heart.  No, no, no.  It demanded to be different.

Don't tell the pattern, but I really like the blue and black together.  It was a good fit.  :D

Completed Pattern
Caged Heart (working title)
© No Robot Studios 2013

© No Robot Studios 2013

If you are interested in the pattern, send me a note or comment.  Please do NOT sell this pattern or claim it as your own.  I will find you, come into your home and take something of yours to sell to strangers and claim it as my own.  

Lollipop Chainsaw - Beta Cross Stitch

Finishing touches completed for my Lollipop Chainsaw cross stitch (beta version).  This one has been bouncing around demanding attention, but it's attention span was erratic hence why it took almost 5 months to complete the pattern.  

It's also gone through various cosmetic updates too, which I'm sure, didn't help the delay.  Now to find some aida cloth...which will be an adventure since all I have locally is Wal-Mart.  Time to experience internet craft stores.  Not looking forward to this.

Why can't we have something other than Wal-Mart here...

Idea from Lollipop Chainsaw which belongs to Kadokawa Games & Warner Bros Interactive Entertainment.
Please do not post this with out giving proper credit.

Skaggie Style

Finished another project.  It's my favorite graffiti tag from Borderlands.  

This took about two weeks in between packing, moving from one state to another and unpacking.  The part that drove me insane was the word 'Skaggie'; felt like a never ending word. 

Fun Facts:
2 Colors
22ct White Aida Cloth
147 x 206 stitches

Coming Soon: Skagg invasion of the refrigerator.  May or may not include a BADASS! :D

Borderlands, Skaggs and Moxxie © Gearbox & 2K Games.

Minimalism Challenge - A God's Psyche

Another entry for the minimalism challenge at Sprite Stitch:

Another cookie to the correct guess for what game this is.

In the background was She Devil and Trading Places, up to the point where Eddie Murphy's character bumps into Dan Aykroyd's character.  

Making this one and Little Sister pretty.  Both are soaking in a nice cold bath.  I'll post framed versions once I find some.

Minimalism Challenge - Little Sister

The challenge for March at Sprite Stitch was minimalism.  Here is my entry:

Guess the game?  Winner gets a cookie...or some ADAM from an angel...

EDIT: Took about one sit through of 2008 BBC production of Sense & Sensibility...this is how I time...otherwise I'd have no clue.

A New Challenger Approaches!

The first time I picked up a needle and thread I was stuck in a van, traveling down for a family wedding.  Cross-stitching in a moving vehicle is not recommended but it does make time pass fairly quick.

Fast forward about a week later.

I'm home with my completed work...I think it was a teddy bear holding a flower with a bee but don't quote me.  The bug didn't stick though.  There were not a lot of kits that I called out to me, begging me to buy them so they could be freed from the tyranny of their identical siblings.  The one ironic compliant back then was the selection in the store for kits(this has not changed and neither has the selection as I always spy familiar kits in the stores with a new shade of lipstick on.)

Fast forward a few years...perhaps a decade and I have another kit in my possession...sadly more influenced by friends at the time then passion, but I still have that kit and it doesn't care that it's in a cabinet, neglected and partially done.  It's happy to be off the shelf with that nagging sibling that compares her gold standard to the rest of the masses.

Press the fast forward button again (not so many years this time).  I've got more thread than I know what to do with and lets not talk about the bubbles; the wonderous thoughts that take over my brain and always when I'm working on something else.  If I could burst them with q-tips I'd be a happy girl but no.  They demand attention.

Attentive and responsive attention.

No shiny red ball will deter them from there speeding train through my thoughts.

And I won't complain.  I only wish they had come so many years earlier.

Sharing my passions, which include but are not limited to: movies and literature, comics (print and online), video games, crafty things and cross-stitch are a few of the things I'll share with you.