WTF Etsy?

I make these cool needlepoint accessories (or at least I think they're cool), and while they are definitely extra, they are also quite useful. I have had them up in my shop for a while but haven't sold a one.  The algorithm or whatever Etsy uses, I guess, is fucked up, because  when I search for my actual items, they never show up, so I'm sure no one is even seeing them. Maybe I'll try another site to sell on.  Etsy sort of sucks for selling.  

 1. Scissors fobs. These are meant for embroidery scissors because they're small and oftentimes go walkabout if you are stitching with a group. Or you lose them in the couch cushions and "find" them with your asshole later. I made a ton of these.

2. Needle threader fobs. I can't see for shit in my old age, and so it's very hard for me to thread needles. I bought a 20 pack of some really simple, really handy threaders, and saw an opportunity to also make fobs for these. This is really handy for the same reason the scissor fobs are. I remember before I made myself one, I was always losing my threader, since it's so tiny. But with a fob, it's much harder to lose!  I made this one to sell but started using it for myself.  I love these things.

3. Stitch pickers- basically these are long pins I stuck a bunch of beads onto. They really help when you need to carefully remove stitches you've messed up on. I love these.

4. Needle Minders. We have already discussed the badassery of the needle minder, and I sort of collect them as well as make my own.

I decided to open up submissions for the holidays. I used to do that and I really loved doing all the stitching, even if it was a lot of work. I haven't done that in a long time, and I had mild success with this sort of thing on Etsy a while back. It was a lot of fun! I did it on my terms as to not get overwhelmed and that worked out really well.  So, we'll see if I get any submissions.  If not, that's okay! (I bet I get zero submissions and then randomly during the year, I get tons.  Like if I don't say specifically "I can do stuff for you!" people hit me up at the worst times..)

This Wheel's On Fire...

I'm sitting here listening to a playlist of MTV's 120 Minutes from 1991.  That means all of these songs are at least 30 years old.  I used to watch 120 Minutes every week- it's how I discovered a lot of the music I still love today.  It's making me really sentimental...

Anyway, I have four WIPs going. FOUR. I usually only have one WIP, because I hate to start another project before finishing another. This is a rarity.

 

The first one is from MamaWitchCrossStitch on Etsy. I love the pattern, but I wish I’d picked another color of aida, because some of the colors don’t really show up. Oh well. I have been working on this a little at a time for like two weeks. It’s going so slow and I kind of wanted to work on something else. It’s TOTALLY me, this is not a reflection on her designs because they are SO cool!  As I type this, I've had a break from this pattern and I will probably pick it back up very soon.

https://www.etsy.com/shop/MamaWitchCrossStitch?ref=simple-shop-header-name&listing_id=1042616322

 I stopped the mushroom rabbit to work on my Absolutely Fabulous piece for my friend. It’s gone pretty quickly. Here's Pats (I need to redo some of the leg stitches), and now I just need to get started on Eddie. The pattern is from 8BitNorthStitch on Etsy.  

https://www.etsy.com/shop/8bitnorthxstitch?ref=simple-shop-header-name&listing_id=920576695

 The third one is emabarssing because it’s been a WIP for like 3 years. It’s the Chopping Mall SAL from The Witchy Stitcher. When I started it, I didn’t have the patience to do it in one big piece, so I thought I’d just do each “store” and frame it separately. This is the first one released in the SAL and I'm actually not super happy with how it's coming along so far, so I'm not sure if I'll scrap it and start over or what.

https://www.etsy.com/shop/WitchyStitcher?ref=simple-shop-header-name&listing_id=1009379392

 

The last one is another face embroidery from Cate Anevski. I have been a HUGE fan of her work for years.  I've done this one before but I wanted to do in another color. I need to redo some of the stitches, but really, I can finish this in no time, do I don't know why I just don't get on with it...

https://www.beeskneesindustries.com/

Keep Stitching Weird

I found an Etsy shop called OddAnaStitch. Her patterns are so interesting. I stitched these up last fall.

I just love odd and unsettling cross stitch patterns... don't you?

So Hygge!

I stitched this one about a year ago. It was a cool and rainy Saturday. One of my FAVORITE things to do when it's cool and rainy out is put on a horror movie, drink some coffee, and do some stitching! Fall is my absolute favorite time of year. I think I was born to be in a cooler climate, because I just love the coziness of fall and winter! In Texas, we only get a short window of cooler weather, and while I was born and raised here, I have never liked that. This one is from an Etsy shop called ALIFERA. Her patterns are wonderfully weird and also very beautiful.

I love her patterns, and I plan to do more for sure.

Malcolm Tucker is My Life Coach

I have A LOT of cross stitching posts to catch up on. Today, I want to show you a couple of pieces inspired by Armando Iannucci's The Thick of It and In the Loop. It's a British show done in 2005 and the move (In the Loop) was done around the same time. It stars Peter Capaldi, whom I adore, Chris Addison, Rebecca Front, and Joanna Scanlan. It's a British policital comedy, and I instantly became a fan of Peter Capaldi's character Malcolm Tucker. He has THE BEST lines. One of them, which Malcolm refers to as "Tucker's Law", was sadly cut out of the show, but I saw it on some outtakes and knew I had to cross stitch it.

Here it is in action, along with my custom Malcolm Tucker Funko Pop figure!

Here are a couple more Malcolm Tucker quotes I've stitched up. Pardon the shoddy framing... I suck at a lot of things.

Loooong Overdue Update and Post

It's been almost 10 years since I posted in this blog. Life happened- we did another big move, I went through a lot of mental health issues (depression and anxiety that had gone undiagnosed and unchecked for YEARS finally caught up with me), I suffered the loss of my sweet cat and of my Grandad (who, if you know me or have read this blog, means the world to me), and I fell into a dark plae and I stopped crafting for a while. Well, I still did stuff but it was really sporadic, and I just stopped blogging and I don't know why. Maybe it's because it's sometimes hard to keep up with. AAAAAANYHOW, all is well with Jonesy, though I'm not longer a Jones. I married my sweet Allen and I decided to take his last name afterall (though I kept Jones as a middle name, because afterall, I am definitely a Jones!). But he still calls me Jonesy, so I am not changing the blog name. We purchased a house in 2015 in Hutto. I never thought I'd move from Austin, but I'm glad we did, because I don't like what Austin has become, and Hutto is much more affordable. What else.. oh, I got laid off from my job at Sears in 2017, worked at this cool company called Build A Sign for a few months and then my old Sears boss begged me to come back, so I did. The pay was good but FUCK that place and fuck her. I could write a fucking Tolkein-length novel about the shit show Sears is. I got furloughed earlier this year, and not trusting Sears, I found another job. The pay is a lot less, but it's better overall. And now you're pretty much caught up. I took some time yesterday and read back over my posts, and my life has changed so much, but one thing remains- I still love cross stitch, embroidery, and crafting in general. I basically do the same stuff, craft-wise. I also don't bake sweets any longer so the food will disappear from future posts, since I would like to just carry on with my crafty stuff. So expect to see some new crafty mediums, pictures of plants, my house, etc! Also, plan to see less obnoxious posts. Well, maybe plan to. Jonesy out!