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Earlier this year I decided to sit down and do some elements for a series of ditzy patterns.
I cut some stock for the base designs, decided to go with watercolor and ink for them, and then made a list of elements I wanted each set to contain, this resulted in a fish dtizy , a chicken ditzy , a pond ditzy , and a Celestial Ditzy .
Then I started working on them. One element in particular satisfied me perfectly, I felt like it had come out really, really well. Which isn't to say I was unhappy with the others, it was just this one was exactly how I wanted it to be, there wasn't a thing I would change or a tiny mistake screaming at me in a voice only I could hear from it.
And that was this
I mean, look at that happy face! How could you not love it?
I went about getting it ready for various things, both as part of its' ditzy set and as a stand alone work. People seemed to like it, Then my friend from ArtFire, Gail Pither, who is the needle genius behind Cross Stitch Cards, suggested this design would make a fantastic cross-stitch pattern. My sister had already been yammering at me to make a cross stitch pattern of "SnowBot", so I thought,
"This is a good idea and if it works, maybe I can shut my sister up about "SnowBot"."
However the big hurdle for me, was: cross stitch is not my "thing". I like it, I think it's pretty and admire the handiwork of it, but I just don't do it. I sew, I make lace, but other needle arts have never really grabbed my attention, so my understanding of the ins and outs is EXTREMELY limited to what I have forced myself to politely listen to my best friend, Pinki, babble about (in much the same way she forces herself to listen to me ramble about art). So Gail was a bolt of fantastic out of the blue. She very kindly answered my excessively stupid questions, and did an amazing amount of patient work and tinkering (which I paid her for, 'cause (let's all say it together people) "it's not a fucking hobby™") and turned my design into a test pattern.
I sent the test pattern to my sister and said "Do this, or SnowBot gets it right between the rivets!" (or something like that... I may have been more polite about it, I can't recall now...)
So as you can see here
She Did.
I sent Gail her notes and the pictures of the finished piece and from here she again worked some secret magic I am convinced she alone possesses and should be worshiped like a goddess for, and went over the pattern to adjust it for issues my sister came across.
Then because neither Gail or myself had the forethought to discuss it before we did the actual work, we discussed how to sell it and settled on me paying her for the pattern work and just offering it for digital download on The Craft Star.
So here's where it gets fun, I turned on the coordinating fabrics in the last batch of spoonflower proofs
Just the sun in a repeat on a sky blue field
The sun the moon the earth and the stars on a dark blue field
So fabrics can be had for making pillow backs or whatever to coordinate with the cross stitch. fabrics start at around 15$ a yard depending on amount and type of fabric. (or if you can work it smaller, 8" x 8" swatches of fabric are 5$ a piece, not really sure if that's a thing you can do with cross stitch, make it smaller or larger, but I am pretty sure if I ask Pinki again to try and explain it to me, she will stab me in the eyeball with a knitting needle)
So leaving the land of needle work and back to my native hearth of pretty pictures... I also have this design on various items on zazzle, including
Celestial Ditzy Canvas Bag by amyelyseneer
And on redbubble we have
Stickers:
Tees in sizes from baby to grown-up 3xl
Framed prints
Also there's posters and cards, too at those links.
And for all that (phew!) There's the original design, which is hand painted watercolor on 140 lb cold press watercolor paper. The painting is 4" x 4" and ready for framing, and available here.
So check it all out and make sure to visit Cross Stitch Cards to see just how fabulous Gail is.
