Feature Pattern Friday - Dear Mr Potter

Welcome to the first ever Feature Pattern Friday!

On Fridays I am going to feature one of the newer patterns from my Etsy store.  The pattern may be a recently added one, or it may be one that has been in the Etsy store for a few months but, for whatever reason, hasn't made it onto my blog.  Or it may be one I just love and want to shout about.

If you follow me on Twitter (@fangirlstitches) you'll notice that each day I feature a random pattern in my feed (and occasionally on Facebook too).  That really is random.  I subscribe to this amazing service called Seller Tools which lets me schedule social media posts, keeping me active on those sites even when I don't have the brain power/energy to post myself.  I have it set to pick a random pattern to post each day, and I enjoy seeing what pattern gets picked and how many people respond.  I love it, and it's generated a number of sales (which I love even more!).

On with Feature Pattern Friday (which in my head is said by a game show announcer - it's a very entertaining place inside my head).

This week's Feature Pattern is the Hogwarts letter and ticket (sold as a pair).

Hogwarts ticket and letter available from Etsy

These patterns were originally a custom request from a lady in Melbourne - she knew a couple of people graduating (I never enquired whether they were going from primary school to high school, finishing high school, graduating from an extra-curriculum activity...) and wanted to stitch them a Hogwarts acceptance letter and ticket as a gift.  I loved the idea and it promptly became a listed pattern rather than a customised one.

My stitched version of the letter

I stitched the pattern myself on parchment-like fabric from Sew It All.  It was a great draw-card at the Melbourne Comic Con last year... until it was sold that is!  I'm planning on re-stitching it at some stage this year - at least, it's only the ever-growing list of to-be-stitched projects.

Happy stitching!

Finding my stitching mojo

I realised towards the end of last year that I had lost my stitching mojo.  I’m not sure whether it was all the work I had done in preparation for the Convention stalls in September and November, or something else, but I wasn’t really doing any stitching.  I wasn’t doing that much designing either.  I mean, I was coming up with ideas and starting patterns for a lot of them, but I wasn’t finalising the patterns and I certainly wasn’t getting any new ones uploaded to Etsy.  I’d come home from work and play on my phone (card games, SimCity Builder, board game style apps) and that was about it.  The stitching bug had vanished.

I’ve gone through periods like this many times over the 19 years since I first learnt to stitch.  Periods of time where I didn’t pick up a needle at all.  Maybe I had been working on a big project and gotten sick of it, maybe I didn’t have any new patterns that were leaping off the shelf shouting “stitching me now”. They’d last 6 months or so (longer if I was doing something else crafty) and then I’d pick up the needle again and start stitching.  I usually replaced stitching with something else – lots of reading (back in the days before I discovered audiobooks, and before they were so readily available) or scrapbooking or other creative pursuits. 

However this was the first time in a long time that one of these “lulls” had taken over, and certainly the first since I’d started designing my own patterns.  As I said earlier it was probably the result of feeling a bit burnt-out, both from Convention prep, and from my full-time job.  I just wasn’t in a productive, crafty mood, and I wasn’t sure how to get back there.

Thankfully, three things happened at the end of year which got me my mojo back:

1. My brother sent me a message asking for a customised pattern
2. A friend had a birthday
3. School holidays started.

I taught my brother (now 29) how to stitch a couple of years ago.  We’re a pretty crafty family (mum quilts, dad does woodwork, my middle brother can paint and draw, I stitch).  The eldest of my three brothers had never really done any handiwork.  He acts and does improv., that’s his creative outlet.  However when he wanted to make a present for his new girlfriend, I taught him to cross stitch so he could stitch a pug dog face.  Since then he’s stitched a couple of my pieces which I’ve done up in kit-form for him (which I love because when we’re at Melbourne conventions I can say “cross-stitch is pretty easy to pick up - I taught my brother here to stitch”).  Before Christmas he sent me a message saying he wanted to stitch a Rocky Horror Picture Show piece for his girlfriend for her birthday (January) and could I design him something.  Which I did, and which re-kindled my desire to design, and finish off pieces (and get them listed!).

Rocky Horror Picture Show cross stitch pattern
available from my Etsy store.

The customised piece stitched by my brother.
He did an amazing job.

A friend had a Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy themed birthday party.  Because she’s a new friend (we met at a couple of Conventions this year as fellow stitchy store-holders), I’ve never made her anything.  Because she’s also crafty, I knew she’d appreciate a hand-made gift.  So I designed, and stitched, her a Hitchhiker's piece (which is also now on Etsy), so some stitching and design mojo was located.

Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy cross stitch
available from my Etsy Store.

The piece I stitched for my friend.

I work as an Occupational Therapist in the state schools.  As a public servant, I’m not entitled to the school holidays (just the regular 4 weeks everyone gets), however I am able to work additional hours to Accrue Days Off.  Between ADO and rec leave I was able to take the 5 weeks of the school holidays off, which meant I was able to stop, sleep, relax and recharge the batteries.  I went home to visit my family for 3 weeks which was lovely.  With nothing else to occupy my time, I was able to sit down with the laptop for hours on end and (finally!) list a whole heap of patterns that had been almost finished for months.  I was able to design a heap of new ones, and I was able to stitch.  So much stitching.  It was bliss.

And so I found my stitching mojo again.  I have finished so many new pieces over the last couple of months.  I have listed so many new patterns I’m going to have to re-print my Convention catalogues.  More importantly, I want to stitch.  Yes I still spend time playing on my phone (my mother got me addicted to PokemonGo over Christmas) but I’m also spending at least an hour (or 2 or 3) each night stitching, and I’m feeling happy and relaxed again. 

Now to work on my social media mojo… but that’s a whole other story.

Happy Stitching!

Nostalgic Cross Stitch patterns

Christmases at home always make me feel nostalgic.  I remember Christmases spent building cubby houses, watching DVDs (or videos), building marble racing tracks (which my parents had way more fun doing than us kids) and reading new books.  I'm a big one for Christmas traditions, and as my sibblings and I got older I began to long for the gold ol' days - back when my brothers enjoyed the Christmas preparations as much as I did, and joined in, back when everything felt magical and special.  I guess everyone goes through that stage as they get older, hit their teenage years where the magic of Christmas doesn't feel quite real anymore.  It does come back though, and I still find Christmas a magical, fun, traditional time, although not quite in the same way I did when I was 7 or 8.

Christmas nostalgia reminds me of my childhood and the things I enjoyed as a child - the TV shows and the music and the movies and the books I loved.  Which is probably why my latest cross stitch patterns feature these things.

Firstly there is The Incredibles.  I was a teenager when this movie came out, but I loved it immensely and it is still my favourite Disney Pixar film.  I'm always sad that there was only one of them.

The Incredibles, now available on Etsy

Then there are The Rugrats.  Lil and Phil were always my favourites.  In fact, there are two versions of The Rugrats patterns.  Firstly there is Tommy and his Friends, ready for mischief and adventure:

Rugrats now available on Etsy

The second pattern features all of the Rugrats families.  Stitch the whole pattern, or for a quicker project, why not stitch an individual family?

Rugrats Families, now available on Etsy

I hope you are all enjoying the holidays, however you are spending them.

Happy stitching!

2016: A year of ups and downs

This morning we woke up to the sad news that Carrie Fisher (Princess Leia) had passed away.  2016 has certainly been a rough year - Brexit, the Australian elections (with more backstabbing and "he said, she said" than usual, and a very volatile senate), the US election, more unexpected celebrity deaths than we can count.  My two cats died within five weeks of each other.  That was really rough.

The Awkward Yeti summed up the
year nicely in this cartoon
(c) Nick Seluk

Personally, 2016 has also been a year of good things - I moved to Brisbane to start work at a new school (which is going well).  Moving to Brisbane has meant I'm closer to two of my brothers and can catch up with them for board-game afternoons more regularly, as well as several old school friends. I was in England when the year started, catching up with old friends. I've been to the theatre several times - so much easier now I live in Brisbane!

This year I went purple, dressed up as Leia for my yongest brother's 21st,
played boardgames, and visited the UK

Fangirl Stitches did well in 2016: I exhibited at three different conventions and met some amazing fellow exhibitors, as well as lots of fellow geeky stitchers.  On that note, I also met Nathan Fillion and John Barrowman, as well as Piper and Leo from Charmed, Tonks and Seamus from Harry Potter, Osgood, Danny and Missy from Doctor Who, and Xena the Warrior Princess.  They signed my cross stitch pieces and all said nice things about them.

Markets and minions - House of Fandom Market Brisbane, Oz Comic Con Melbourne
Oz Comic Con Brisbane, and Supanova Brisbane

My signed cross stitch pieces

I originally sat down this morning to write a post about Carrie Fisher, and about how crappy this year has been from a world-wide stand-point.  But then I looked at my mum's fridge covered in family photos and I stopped to think about it.  I thought about my cousin's baby, born at 24 weeks who is at home now and meeting his adjusted milestones.  I thought about another cousin who gave birth on New Year's Day, and a third who gave birth yesterday (I have 24 first-cousins - it can get confusing).  I thought about my exchange-student brother from Japan whose wife gave birth earlier in the year. I thought about yet another cousin who graduated from High School this year.  I thought about close friends who got married in January, and in April (along with another cousin), and a friend who got engaged a couple of weeks ago. I thought about a cousin and a friend who both (independent of each other) successfully launched (and funded) their first card games on Kickstarter. I bet none of them would say that 2016 was a crappy year.

Every year will have its ups and downs.  Sure, 2016 had a lot of downs, but there were also a lot of highs personally, professionally, and even in the world at large.  2016 will be remembered for the good, as well as for the bad.  I'm going to concentrate on the good, and see the year out with a smile.

Ready to see in the New Year with a bang...
well, a cup of tea and comfy pj's anyway!

Happy Stitching.

How do they rise up? The Glorious 25th May

Truth! Justice! Freedom! Reasonably-Priced Love! A Hard Boiled Egg!

Once again it is the 25th May, when we celebrate all things Pratchett.  I wrote a blog about the importance of the 25th May, and my impressions of the book it comes from, Night Watch, this time last year.  You can find that blog post here: Truth, Justice, Freedom, Reasonably-priced Love, and a Hard Boiled Egg.

Even more important, there's a free pattern in that blog post, featuring the 25th May battle cry and sprigs of lilac.  Don't forget to check it out.

Happy Stitching!