cross stitch lockets

Inspired by a conversation over in the Phat Quarter stitchery group on Flickr, I decided to try making cross stitch lockets! I found some small, plain lockets at a local bead store that are about the size of a dime and set to work! I used the smallest aida cloth that I had and adapted some designs to fit (these are SMALL - the total height is 11 stitches, the widest part is 7 stitches) which was a fun challenge.

I found a pattern for a parakeet to use for Kate, plus a "K" monogram that was simple enough to fit in the tiny space. I took a picture next to a penny for comparison.


I forgot to take a picture of the completed locket until after I gave it to Kate -- at the end of a very messy dinner (mmm!) and I took pictures on the messy table (the red arrow is pointing to me, next to the word "slob").


And Kate immediately added it to the necklace that she was wearing (another parakeet finding that I bought. *cough* I guess I need some new gift ideas).





I also made a second locket for Bridget (beefranck) that is en route to Beefranck World Headquarters and, of course, I forgot to take a picture of that one completed. Curses! Spoiler: if you look closely at the top picture, you'll see a B and an F which... you know... ahem...

. : * ~ * : . _ . : * ~ * : . _ . : * ~ * : .
Interested in owning a piece like this? Check out my Etsy shopor email me for a custom order!. : * ~ * : . _ . : * ~ * : . _ . : * ~ * : .

Stitch dot painting

I was very excited to receive this commission request from some fine folks over at the MiceChat message boards. It seems some friends on the boards were having a Secret Santa swap and one of the Santas commissioned me to make a gift for their swap partner. I contacted the recipient to ask which character they wanted me to pick and she chose Stitch. I'd never painted Stitch before and I really had fun painting him!

The background color is "raspberry" (the pictures look a little darker, like red) and it looks nice against the light blue background and the contrasting blues on Stitch's body.

I worked from an image selected by the recipient, which displayed Stitch's cute little stubby tail, which really is adorable.

I hope she likes it!









. : * ~ * : . _ . : * ~ * : . _ . : * ~ * : .
Interested in owning a piece like this? Check out my Etsy shopor email me for a custom order!. : * ~ * : . _ . : * ~ * : . _ . : * ~ * : .

Merry X-stitchmas everyone!

For our holiday cards this year, I cross stitched Ryan and myself (plus our grey kitty, Ruckus) and a holiday greeting. I meant to make it bigger but didn't pay attention (as per usual) to the size of the weave and ended up choosing the smallest aida cloth they make. The total height of the piece is less than 3 inches. I had originally intended on covering the entire piece with holiday flotsam - candy canes, wreaths, trees, etc. but I was running out of time so there's just the one piece of mistletoe. Oh well!

Happy holidays everyone!


. : * ~ * : . _ . : * ~ * : . _ . : * ~ * : .
Interested in owning a piece like this? Check out my Etsy shopor email me for a custom order!. : * ~ * : . _ . : * ~ * : . _ . : * ~ * : .

Big Ethel dot painting

I received a commission order recently to paint Big Ethel from the Archie Comics as a holiday gift. I've never painted an Archie character before and this was a lot of fun! My customer chose the image and the color scheme and I worked quickly to get it done and sent so that it could get to its intended recipient -- I hope she likes it!

I had to take pictures in my office, under fluorescent lights, so the colors aren't 100% true. The background dots of yellow are actually a light, buttery yellow (but look dark and slightly neon in these pics).







. : * ~ * : . _ . : * ~ * : . _ . : * ~ * : .
Interested in owning a piece like this? Check out my Etsy shopor email me for a custom order!. : * ~ * : . _ . : * ~ * : . _ . : * ~ * : .

Hatbox Ghost embroidery

If you're as big of a fan of Disney's Haunted Mansion as I am, then you're probably already familiar with the Hatbox Ghost. If not, you can read the entire backstory here on wikipedia. In a nutshell: it was an animatronic figure that was developed for the Haunted Mansion but never used. This grim grinning ghost holds a spooky hatbox in his left hand and as riders pass by, his head disappears from his body and into the box. Very cool! Bonus for us Disney geeks: the Hatbox Ghost is supposed to make a grand appearance in 2010! Back to the mansion attic where he belongs!

Mr. Hatbox Ghost (or HBG, as he's sometimes known) is a fan favorite (as witnessed by the auction of a replica figure crafted by Kevin Kidney and Jody Daily - seen below - at the D23 convention where it sold for nearly $10,000!) and he has been lurking for decades and been brought back to life via Twitter!




I love HBG's snarky sense of humor (and indignation!) and have struck up something of a friendship - if you can call electronic exchanges with a corpse a friendship - and so on my vacation, I decided to whip up an embroidery piece of dear old Hattie.


Me, stitching by the pool

He stands about 2.5" tall and is embroidered in satin stitch. The white features (face, hands, hatbox) are glow-in-the-dark thread to give him an otherworldly glow.

Once I got home, I sent it off to the Hatbox Ghost himself, care of his dusty old attic.

I haven't decided if I'll make more of these or not, but if I do, they'll be listed in my etsy shop for all you Mansion Fans to find!



. : * ~ * : . _ . : * ~ * : . _ . : * ~ * : .
Interested in owning a piece like this? Check out my Etsy shopor email me for a custom order!. : * ~ * : . _ . : * ~ * : . _ . : * ~ * : .