Pixel Hobby Star Wars Stormtrooper

While browsing through the forums of my favorite crafting website - www.spritestitch.com - I came across a thread for a craft I had never heard of called Pixel Hobby. I was intrigued, so I pulled up the US website for them - www.pixelhobby-usa.com - and started to look into it.

It looked remarkably easy! And there are so many shades of color that you can make almost anything at all. I bought the supplies that I needed for a project I had in mind. It was so easy to do that I started thinking of other things I could make with it. On the website, there is a place to download some software that will make the pattern out of an imported picture, so there is no limit to what you can make.

 I started browsing through pictures trying to find the right one to strike my fancy. Finally, one did. My boyfriend, now fiance, is a huge Star Wars fanboy, so this was the perfect project for me to make for him. I bought all the supplies and started working diligently on my gift.

I didn't tell him what I was making, only that it was a gift and he would see it once I had it completed. This project takes up 16 baseplates, so I could work on it right in front of him and he had no idea what I was making.  Here is a picture of one of the plates as I was working on it:

Finally, after working on this for about a month, I had completed it. I took the plates and assembled them to show my fiance. He loved it! It did turn out pretty awesome. He wouldn't let me put away the plates for the rest of the day so he could look at them from time to time.

I still have to mount the plates onto some kind of board and I'm thinking of framing it, but for now, here it is.

It is truly awesome. The picture doesn't do it justice. It even looks 3 dimensional like you can reach out and feel the contours of the helmet.
Hope you like it!

Mario Tissue-Box Cover

While packing for a vacation to Las Vegas, I came to the conclusion that my current craft projects would not be good to take with me on a plane. The chain-mail belt would be too heavy, and my Pixel Hobby project isn't very portable. I had to quickly come up with something that I could carry around with me, but wouldn't be too heavy or take up too much space.

I started looking online for some inspiration. I came across a picture of a plastic canvas Super Mario tissue box cover. Aha! It was perfect. I already had some yarn from making the huge Mario latch-hook, so I needed very little in supplies. After a quick trip to the hobby store, I was good to go!

I started while in the airport, waiting to board the plane. I worked during the flight and got this far by the time we were there.

While there I grabbed some time here and there to relax and work on it. I didn't get much done at the time, but -hey- I was in Vegas on vacation!

When I got home, I ended up setting it aside while I started working on another project for my fiance. After a couple weeks, I came back to it and started working again.

While reading on some forums, I noticed that someone had the idea to take pictures every 2 hours of their project. I tried to do that, too.

I couldn't keep track of time very well, though.

Then, I finally finished it all and put it together. It ended up so cute! I'm toying with the idea of creating more patterns for other characters possibly from other games as well. If I do end up making it, I will be sure to post it up here!

My almost-finished belt

I love doing so many different crafts. When I find a new project, I get so excited motivated to work on that project. There is just one problem with that: I usually am either in the middle of a project at the time.
All my enthusiasm goes toward this new craft or project, and so I end up putting aside what I have been working on in order to move on to the new thing. I love starting crafts, but I usually have problems finishing them. Having finished my Mario latch-hook is honestly a miracle. Even then, I ended up setting it aside a few weeks in the middle then had to force myself to finish it.

After finishing Mario, I was browsing one of my now-favorite sites for crafting ideas, http://www.spritestitch.com/, and I came across a MegaMan chainmail inlay tapestry. Oh, Wow! It was totally awesome. I started getting more ideas in my head for more crafts and projects.
I began the research period of learning how to make chainmail. I found a few very awesome sites that were chock full of information and ideas and one in particular that has excellent tutorials on not only the tools and how to create the rings, but there were great step-by-step tutorials on more weaves than I will ever make in my lifetime.
To try out this new (to me) craft, I followed the advice in one of these tutorials and went to a local hardware store. I bought some basic inexpensive tools and some wire with which to begin making my own rings with.

Once I got home, I immediately began making coils and then cutting them into rings. Once I had a medium sized pile, I then started another pile of rings that were already closed.

It took me a little while to get the hang of it, trying to connect the rings in the right way and in the right place to get the weave pattern. At this point, I was just trying it out, but I didn't want to waste all this effort that I was putting into this first project, so I needed to think of something to make with it.
After scouring the forums on things I could make with the limited supplies that I had, I came across the idea for a belt. Now, I'm not really one who wears belts a lot, but this sounded perfect, especially since the sample I had made so far was already the perfect width.

Once the belt started getting longer and longer, I started thinking about what I could use for the buckle. I went to a local craft store, but I wasn't happy with the few options that they had. One day, though, I was working on my belt outside in a public area and a woman came up and began speaking with me about my project. She suggested that I look at a thrift store for an old, used belt and take the buckle from it. I felt stupid. This was such a wonderful (and cheap) suggestion that I almost felt dumb for not thinking of it myself.

I now have most of my belt done, I have the buckle ready to go, and I even looked up the steps on how to put larger rings in the middle for the belt buckle to attach to.
But, unfortunately, my enthusiasm started to wane...
I'm stuck at this point for now. I'm sure I'll go back to it and finish, but for now I'm working on bigger and better things!