Catching you up on some New Patterns

I mentioned in my previous blog post that I've released a lot of new patterns over my recent 8 month blogging hiatus.  I thought I'd try and catch you up on a few of them.

In celebration of the new Star Wars film, there is the Episode VII: The Force Awakens line-up:

Available from www.fangirlstitches.etsy.com

 Continuing in the Star Wars theme,  is the Star Wars character alphabet, featuring 26 of my favourite characters from the franchise (or the-only-character-that-starts-with-that-letter).

Available from www.fangirlstitches.etsy.com

This pattern was originally designed before the release of The Force Awakens.  Tonight I have released the Force Awakens additional letters!  Now when you purchase the Star Wars Alphabet, you receive a second pattern featuring 5 alternative letters for the main characters of the new film.

If you've already purchased the original Star Wars alphabet, don't worry - send me an email with proof of purchase and I'll send you the updated pattern FREE OF CHARGE!!

Happy Stitching!

Ros

So it's been awhile...

It's been awhile.

8 months to be exact.

A combination of burn-out and life just getting really really really busy.

So much has happened that I haven't told you about.  So much has happened I can't remember (ordinary day-to-day stuff).  But the highlights:

- I had a stall at Oz Comic Con in Brisbane.  It was awesome!  I met so many fellow crafters and fellow geeks, gave away a lot of business cards and sold a lot of patterns. I had a fantastic weekend and am planning on doing it again this year.

My stall at Oz Comic Con, and the Ravenclaw costumes my brother and I wore

- On that note, I met Evana Lynch!  Luna Lovegood from Harry Potter.  Very cool.

Yes, she's holding my stitched Luna

- My friend and I went to the UK and Ireland for 5 weeks over Christmas.  We hit England, Ireland (North and South), Scotland and Wales.  We drove more kilometres than I can count and had an awesome time.  We visited the Harry Potter studio, made tin soldiers, and learnt about tasting whiskey.  So much fun.

Inside a snow globe, and having fun at the Lepricorn Museum in Dublin

- I've released a heap of new patterns, and spent a lot of time stitching up a storm.  I've kept Instagram and Facebook pretty up-to-date with that side of things.  If you haven't visited Fangirl Stitches on Etsy for awhile, it's probably worth a look - lots of new movie and TV show tie-ins ;)

- I also applied for (and received) a transfer.  I found out 7 days before school finished for the year, and 9 days before I flew out of the country for 5 weeks.  I got back from the UK 2 days before I started at my new school - it's an interesting experience trying to settle into a new job while you're still experiencing severe jet-lag!

Skimbles and Eevee "helping" me pack

So at the moment I'm house-hunting and sleeping in the spare-room in my Brisbane-based brothers' unit.  I'm commuting 45 minutes each way which is a shock to the system when you're used to a 2 minute trip!  But I'm enjoying the new challenges of a new job.  And hopefully soon I will have a more permanent place to live and can bring my fur-babies down to live with me (as soon as I can find somewhere pet-friendly that is - not an easy task in Brisbane, it turns out).

Because we always need more photos of my babies

Which will mean more time for stitching and blogging - stay tuned!

Choose your faction - it's a new pattern!

It took me a while to discover the Divergent book series.  If you've read my 2015 Reading Challenge post, you'll know the story.  If not, let me share it again:

I avoided this series for a long time, book and film.  Some people were describing it as "the new Twilight" (which I refuse to read) and others were describing it as a poor copy of The Hunger Games (which I loved, so I didn't want to read a poor copy of it).  My housemate Bek had bought the book earlier this year and was telling me how much she'd enjoyed reading it.  Note: Bek doesn't read.  She just doesn't.  I can probably count the number of books she's read on my fingers.  For her to a) have actually read the book and b) enjoyed it made me think "I have to read this book".  I borrowed it off her and read it in about two days.  Great concept - a bit Hunger Games meets Brave New World.  The rest of the series has been added to my 'to read' list.

I've since read the second in the series, and watched the first film.  I'm still playing catch-up, however that didn't stop me designing a Divergent cross stitch pattern or 3.

I chose the wrong fabric colour so the white writing only shows up
in certain light/angles.  Whoops.

I went a couple of ways with this new pattern: there's a male and female version, and a combined version. To make things even more interesting, I've done this pattern in two different styles: the standard pixel style, and the more realistic style with quarter stitches, as seen in the Once Upon A Time pattern, so you can choose your favourite.

Male and Female Divergent factions - pixel-style

Male and Female Divergent factions - with quarter stitches

Combined Factions - Pixel style

Combined Factions - with quarter stitches

Happy stitching!

Throwback Thursday - 50th Whovian celebrations... and a new pattern!

Back in 2013, Doctor Who celebrated 50 years as one of our favourite fandoms.

There were mixed opinions about the various Anniversary celebrations, but I had an absolute ball.  I was living in England at the time, so had front-row seats to all the events and TV specials and radio specials and displays and all the rest.

One of the things I was most excited about was attending the Doctor Who Official Celebration in London.  It was amazing - I attended panels with Doctors 5, 6, 7, 11, Steven Moffat, and Nicholas Briggs (the voice of the Daleks); saw original costumes and sets from the original and new series; spent far too much money; and met people as crazy as I am.

I also really enjoyed the 50th Anniversay episode, The Day of The Doctor.  I've watched it so many times over the last 20 months I can quote it almost word for word.  having David Tennant and Billy Piper back was unbelievable, and John Hurt is a fantastic addition to the Doctor line up.

Today's new pattern features one of those throw-away lines from the episode that just stick in your head, as well as the three different Tardises (Tardisi?) as they appeared in the episode:

Which One's Mine?

I've also updated the Blink, Birthday and Anniversary card patterns to make them more streamlined, easier to stitch, and in a similar style to my other designs.

And because I'm talking about the 50th Anniversary episode, I can't not share the original pattern I designed for this episode, and one of the original patterns in my Etsy store, The Day of The Doctor:

Happy Stitching!

WIP Wednesday

It's Wednesday which means it's time to update you all on my latest work in progress (WIP).

This is where I got to last week:

And tonight's progress puts me here:

"Rose Garden" 14 count aida from Sew It All

Hopefully it's becoming more obvious what it's of :)

I still need to work out the letter colouring as my original choice (green) I think will blend too much with some of the characters.  I'm going to wait until the rest of the characters are finished before I stitch the letters so I'll make the colour decision then.

Back to the stitching... if I can dislodge the cat who has decided to sit on my arms while I type!

Managed to free my arms so I could get a face shot - isn't he cute?

Happy stitching!