I am always amazed at the patience required with peyote stitch beading. I could never do that. I would throw everything across the room, swearing. This ring by Flickr-er sallaevilincarnate is awesome. Because some days, you just need a 1up.
I’m here to shake my fist at ya’ll and tell you to get off my lawn as I reminisce about how amazing Buffy the Vampire Slayer was. WeeLittleStitches offers a variety of fantastic cross-stitch patterns that traverse all genres of geek. In fact, it was hard for me to select which one to feature in this post (I was really close to Golden Girls because dang, that was a good show) but it is really, really hard to beat Buffy (yes, including 6th season…I don’t get the hate!). Important note- Dawn has been left out. Heh!
As promised, I come bearing geekiness as gleaned from Mr X Stitch at the Stitch and Craft show…
I am, frankly amazed (and a little appalled) at myself for never having come across Lord Libidan before. His work is amazing – generally centered around video games, and packed full of original, interesting ideas.
The Transformers, sewn onto plastic canvas, actually transform. Oh yes. There’s Jetfire & Optimus Prime (as seen here) who of course become a plane and a truck respectively – and also a couple of tapes; Ratbat & Laserbeak, which will fit into the soon-to-come Soundwave/tapedesk. I love that they are based on the original toys, not the new versions – tres retro chic. And (this is the best bit) all of the patterns are all available from his Etsy Shop. Huzzah!
This Pokemon image is stitched stereoscopically – so if you put on red & blue 3D glasses (great fashion choice, btw) it pops out at you. Excuse me while I cry at the awesomeness.
This manbroiderer may not really be a lord, but I agree with him; he should be.
Bright and early yesterday morning I headed off to the 2012 Stitch and Craft show in Kensington. To be honest, it was much the same as these things tend to be – the big fairs never seem to have their finger on the crafting pulse, and the embroidery area was particularly unaware of the modern craft movement. But tucked away in a corner, behind the cross-stitched Winnie-the-Poohs and past the Jo Verso samplers was a lost gem – Mr X Stitch‘s stand. Pushing my way past all the middle-englanders fighting over ”bargain” pastel shades of thread had been worth it for the chance to meet one of my crafting idols.
I got snaps of of truly awesome pieces of stitched art that I will share with you in my regular slot on Tuesday (if i can hold off that long. This stuff is gold – cyclops robots, raver tigers, QRs and Mondrian graffiti is just the start), but I just wanted to stick my head through the door and let anyone in the London area know to head down and say hello to Mr X – he’s lovely; very friendly, funny and upbeat (and rather tasty-looking). Plus he has biscuits.
Elsewhere in the show, the quilts exhibition is well worth a browse as there are a few interesting nuggets, and the knitted village is… unexpected. Though I didn’t have time for any of the workshops there are some good ones on offer. Even if you don’t want to sign up to a proper class, lots of stalls were doing demos, or had staff more than happy to explain how particular pieces were made. It’s a good excuse to get out and about this weekend.
The works In the above image are (clockwise from top): Kanye by Crapestry, X-Stitch Robot 7 by Eliot BK, QR Code by Crapestry, Rokit by Mr X Stitch
Stitch and Craft 2012 at Kensington Olympia 2, this weekend
Yo dawgs, I heard you liked crafted geekery. So I found you a hand-needle-felted QR code die that, when rolled and then scanned, resolves to between one and six six-sided dice (1d6 to 6d6) being “rolled,” via random.org. So you could geek while you geek.
…
OK, maybe that meme’s played out.
…
Seriously, though, I can’t begin to express how pleased and impressed this craft makes me! First of all, my forays into needle felting were both unsuccessful and physically painful (I wish I were joking), and, second, just cross-stitching one QR code was sufficiently challenging that I promised myself I’d never do it again. There was some pretty serious time and dedication invested in this craft, which I found on Shannon Henry’s Flickr stream, via, of course, Pinterest. She describes it as a “meta die,” which makes sense, right? I wonder (but not enough to do the math myself) if it has the same distribution as a d36.
Anyway, hats off to one very geeky, very talented lady!
As you might have realized, Valentine’s Day is fast approaching. Perhaps you are planning on celebrating with that certain someone…or perhaps you’re ignoring the event entirely (it’s okay, it’s a sham holiday largely designed to promote the sale of greeting cards). Either way, you might want to get a gift, either for said certain someone or for yourself (because this is the fun part of being an adult—you get to buy yourself things). So why not take the standard Valentine’s trope of jewelry and skew it just a little bit? See how good your Valentine’s sense of humor really is.
Roses are red…and so is blood. So, if you and/or your beloved are fans of any of those vampire shows out there (whatever, I only count Buffy), the Twilight movies (Bah! Vampires don’t sparkle), or have an overall appreciation for general guts ‘n’ gore, consider some of these options. (Note: There are plenty of vial-of-faux-blood necklaces out there, but I’m choosing to ignore them. I just don’t find them that compelling. If that’s your thing, trust me—you can find them in spades. You don’t need my help.)
So La Fille du Consul’s Tour de Cou Sanglant necklace was my original inspiration for the post. Saw it years ago, couldn’t figure out how to actually purchase one, so I wound up making two (one for myself, one for a friend) on my own. ‘Twas a snap. I made a wire armature, surrounded it with clay, baked it, painted it, painted it again, glossed it, stitched on ribbon ties. Et voilà! The hardest part was waiting for the paint to dry between coats. Wish I could post a picture of my handmade version, but my necklace is currently packed up with the rest of my belongings and being intercontinentally shipped.
Since I first stumbled across that delightfully bloody, drippy necklace, I’ve found numerous iterations of the same idea. Here’s Trashglam’s acrylic version and Art for a Home’s basic Blood Drip Necklace and Extra-Bloody Necklace. VonErickson’s Laboratory features entire sections of the shop devoted to dripping necklaces and bracelets and gruesome gash necklaces.
If you prefer something a little less overtly gory and more elaborately Victorian, how about Fable & Fury’s Vampire Blood Drip Statement Necklace? It’s made of red powder-coated stainless steel and it’s fabulously ornate.
Oh, and if beading is more up your alley, don’t worry—you have plenty of options there, too. First up is Weirdly Cute’s Slasher Victim Necklace, followed by House of D’s Axolotl Gill/Blood Drop Necklace.
For those who want something subtle yet suggestive (Is it supposed to look like blood? Is it not? Intriguing….), here are two excellent options: QuirkyOak’s Gothic Choker Necklace and Lily Lady Blue’s True Blood Siam Red Lariat.
My favorite entry in the relatively subtle category is Weirdly Cute’s Vampire Victim Necklace, which properly conveys that freshly-bitten look.
Finally, we have a rather unusual ring to add to the list of bloody beautiful jewelry: Jane D’Arensbourg’s Drops of Blood Glass Knuckle Duster. I’m not gonna lie—in the already unconventional genre of blood-themed jewelry, that’s still a pretty unexpected piece. But, again, it’s also pretty fantastic. So buy it for yourself, give it to your Valentine…just don’t use it to propose.
