Tag: needlepoint

Posted on

Seeing Spot Colors for DAY 1 of Gothtober!

We are LAUNCHED!

By the skin of our teeth no less, and with a few glitches here and there, but hey: The calendar is here! Big thanks to our programmer, Jesse, wooooo!

So already we have a fabulous project in store for you, visit Gothtober.com and click on DAY 1, you’ll have opportunity to download a needlepoint pattern for you all the way from Louisiana! Nicole LaBranche, a graphic designer for film and TV, who also  runs Spot Colors, a shop in New Orleans, makes needlepoint patterns for the 21st century. If you are frightened of clowns eating you in the night, maybe this needlepoint will ensure that you’ll never sleep again. Who could forget the menacing and utterly terrible Pennywise the Clown?

Nicole made this Pennywise pattern especially for Gothtober, she’s been so busy with her shop and freelance projects, she hasn’t had a moment to actually sit down and stitch Pennywise, but that’s where YOU come in! If you sew this creepiest of clowns, will you send us a photo? Nightmares made REAL!

Why Pennywise? Why needle point? Here’s what Nicole had to say about it:

I grew up with my grandmother, mom, and aunts all crafting around me and so I was taught early on how to cross stitch.  I res-erected that knowledge about a year ago when my mom gave me and my sister all her old supplies. I wanted to combine graphic design and cross stitch and I wanted to make more modern designs.  I just started making my own patterns and kits but I am loving it and I think they are getting better and more fun as I get into the swing of it.  The Pennywise Clown is a hand drawn illustration, drawn by me, I think he came out really cute and I got my inspiration from my sister and her love (and almost obsession) with Stephen King novels.

This October 17th-19th Nicole will have a booth set up at the Fear Fete Horror Festival in Biloxi, Mississippi which she’s very excited about.  As for her store, she has lots of cute and unique halloween handmade items and gifts.  So if you’re in the area, go check it out, lots of gee gaws for your hee haws.

Posted on

A Gloriously Bleak Needlepoint for Gothtober Day 3

Decorate your lair or crypt with this dainty and ornate cross stitch design!

From world famous internationally known and celebrated graphic designer for film and television comes Dianne Chadwick’s excellent downtrodden and hopelessly gloomy needlepoint project! Is your mausoleum feeling too cheery? Are lighthearted and gleeful sentiments seeping into your sarcophagus? Well banish the warmth and joy once and for all with this absolutely capricious and morosely lovely craft project! This wonderful design contains a “down home sophistication” with its swirls that harken back to a more ornate time period, while also staying focused on the important things like skulls, crows and bats.
We made sure to launch it on the Calendar on the 3rd, to give you plenty of time to download the pattern by clicking on Pumpkin #3 on The Gothtober Countdown Calendar, then geting your supplies and sewing your heart out before Halloween!

We’ve even given you enough time to make this if you’ve never done needlepoint before. Now is a swell time to try a new hobby, start today! AND if you want to see more of Ms. Chadwick’s awesome Halloween-oriented art, take yourself to October Shadows on October 13th Mountain View Mausoleum, 2300 N. Marengo Avenue in Altadena, CA 91001 It’s a big fat showcase of artists from the worlds of fine art, comics, film, TV and animation! The show will run each Saturday and Sunday from 10am – 3pm through November 3rd.

And, speaking of Halloween, it’s time to start thinking about your Halloween costume! Have you been brainstorming? While you sit and work on your needlepoint, have a conversation with yourself about what you’re going to wear at all those costume parades you’re sure to march in this autumn.

The hot ticket predictions (According to the National Costume Prognostication Society) you’ll be seeing this October 2012  will be (of course) Obama and Romney lookalikes, followed by PSY, the Korean Rapper who hit the big time with “Gangam Style” and you’ll probably see a lot of Lady Gagas, Nicki Manajs or Kim Kardashians. If you’re looking for big cash at the costume ball, avoid these, they’ll already be everywhere. Of course, if you’re going to rock Gangam Style, show up with the entire cast of characters (or even just the dude in yellow with the bowl cut) from the video and blow everyone away with your awesome dance moves. Bring 12 blowing fans to make it authentic!

It is also a fact that pet owners nationwide spend about $370 million on costumes for their furry friends. If you have somehow gotten yourself embroiled in a high stakes pet costume contest: steer away from the hot dog, devil or pumpkin, as those are the most popular. Go for robot, taco or “Alpine Girl” and you’ll have more luck.

Anyway, get back to your “Gloom Sweet Gloom” needlepoint, and we’ll discuss this more later…