Pixel Art Valentines Day Card Tutorial | Legend of Zelda



I love my geeky boyfriend! He truly is the perfect match to my geeky self…
So, this year I wanted to do something nice for him for Valentines Day, and so I made him a Zelda themed, pixel art, pop up card!






And you can make one too - all you need is a printer, a ruler and a scalpel!

Here’s How:

You will find the artwork for the card in pdf format here.



1. Print this file. Note – make sure you have the checkbox “Choose paper source by PDF” selected and the option of “none” for “page scaling” otherwise your page will end up ‘skewiff’ and the fold lines wont line up correctly.

2. Now, grab your ruler and scalpel and cut along the following lines:



3. Then you will need to make fold along these lines:



Just pinch them lightly for now, as when you fold up the card later they will be pressed down properly.

4. Fold you card in half:

5.  Fold your card in half again. To do this, you need to pull down the heart as you go so you don’t end up with a fold across your heart:



You can see how the heart now pops out:


6. I glued both pages together to make it just that little bit more neat. This step is not necessary, I just like how the pages don’t come apart when you open the card:


7. Now all that’s left to do is to write you personal message!

 

And you are done!
I hope they love it :)

Amigurumi Totoro Pattern | My Neighbour Totoro

One of my favorite movies is My Neighbour Totoro. Totoro is the coolest dude ever, and he always makes me laugh whenever I watch him. So what better way to convey my love than to make my very own Totoro?! Actually, I made him for my friend, who introduced me to the movie. He has an awesome collection of My Neighbour Totoro Plushies, and I wanted to add to it.

To share the love, I have written up a pattern for you all. Enjoy!

 My Tororo is made from DK 100% cotton, using a 3.5mm hook.

What you will need:
Yarn/wool in a grey colour
Finer yarn/wool in black
2x black plastic safety eyes ( I used 8mm eyes)
White felt
Stuffing
Crochet hook
Yarn needle

Body (using grey yarn):
R1 -  Create a double loop with 6sc.
R2 - 2sc in each (12st)
R3 - (2sc, sc in next) x6 (18st)
R4 - (2sc, sc in next 2) x6 (24st)
R5 - (2sc, sc in next 3) x6 (30st)
R6-9 - sc in each (30st)
R10 - (2sc, sc in next 4) x6 (36st)
R11 - sc in each (36st)
R12 - (2sc, sc in next 5) x6 (42st)
R13 - sc in each (42st)
R14 - (2sc, sc in next 6) x6 (48st)
R15-18 - sc in each (48st)
R19 - (dec, sc in next 4) x8 (40st)
R20 - (dec, sc in next 3) x8 (32 st)
R21 - (dec, sc in next 2) x8 (24st)

At this point you need to attach the eyes. Cut out 2 small circles of the white felt - a little bigger than the safety eyes. Poke a small hole in the centre of the felt circles and stick the safety eyes through that. Once you have worked out where to place the eyes on Totoro, poke them through the body and secure the back on them. 

R22 - (dec, sc in next) x8 (16st)

Stuff Totoro with the stuffing.

R23 - dec all around (8st)
R24 - sc, sk, fasten off.

Arms (make 2):
R1 -  Create a double loop with 6sc.
R2 - 2sc in each (12st)
R3 - (2sc, sc in next) x6 (18st)
R4-5 - sc in each (18st)
R6 - dec x5, sc in next 8 (13st)
R7 -  sc, dec x2, sc in next 8 (11st)
R8 - sc in each (11st)
Fasten off, leaving a long tail to attach.

Attaching the arms:
The arms are designed so that they sit flush up against his rounded body. They have a shorter underside and a longer front when you flatten them. Using your yarn needle and the tail thread, attach the arms on his sides with slst. You want to place his arms about 3 or 4 rows down from where you placed his eyes.


At this stage you want to attach his belly. Believe me, it will make positioning his nose and whiskers so much easier later on.
To do this, cut out an oval shape in the white felt. I suggest you originally cut out a bigger oval than you think you will need. Place it on his belly and then trim it down to size. You do have to make the bottom of the oval quite flat. Glue the felt into place and allow time to dry.

Using the grey yarn, sew the detail on to his belly using the same technique that you would use to sew on a smile. sew two loose stiches and stitch the two loops in place with a smaller stitch.



Sewing his nose and whiskers:
Grab the black yarn. Attach your whiskers by first pulling your needle through a st where his nose will end up, and tying a knot (the nose will eventually cover up all your knots, so this is a good place to put them!) then simply pull the yarn through the position where you would like his whiskers to be and cut to length. repeat for all his whiskers.

Now for his nose. Start by sewing a horizontal stitch in the centre of where you would like the nose to be. Then simply add stitches to the top and bottom until you are happy with the size.


Ears (make 2):
R1 - Create a double loop with 3sc.
R2 - 2sc, sc in next 2 (4st)
R3 - 2sc, sc in next 3 (5st)
R4 - 2sc, sc in next 4 (6st)
R5 - (2sc, sc in next 2) x2 (8st)
R6-7 - sc in each (8st)
R8 - (dec, sc in next 2) x2 (6st)

Attaching the ears:
Flatten the ears like you did with the arms. What is great about yarm is its flexibility - play around with the ears, pulling and tugging at points until you get a good shape. Then simply attach them to the top of his head using your yarn needle and slst.



Tail:
To make the tail, use the same patterm as the arms. However this time instead of flattening it out, stuff it a little so the tail end puffs out. Attach to his back with your yarn needle and slst.

And your done! Now you have your very own little Totoro. I had so much fun making this little guy, and in the end my friend loved it to. He ended up putting him in his work van!




Plush Wall-Nut Doorstop | Plants vs Zombies

It is finished!!!
Did you guess that it would be a Plush Wall-Nut from the sneak preview??? oh you did, did you?... Clever little monkey!



Standing at 22cm tall and 17cm wide, this rice filled plushie is the perfect answer for all your zombie repelling door stopping needs. He is filled with a combo of rice and stuffing, with a zip on the bottom for easy washing, if need be (zombie fighting is a dirty business). Easy to make and fairly inexpensive, you can make your own at home in no time.

Full Tutorial including sewing patterns to come, stay tuned!!


What will this be??? Sneak Peak...


Can you guess what this next creation will be?
I have been busy working away at my next project... and although not an amigurumi, I assure you it will be just as easy to make and just as awesome!

All I have are the facial features to go... How will it turn out? Stay tuned to find out :)

Cross Stitch Mushroom & Bubblun | Super Mario & Bubble Bobble

Hooray for Cross Stitch!!!

I decided to give this craft a go after seeing so many awesome nerdy cross stitch patterns out there - zelda, portal, pac-man - you name it, someone has created a cross stitch pattern on it!

I started off on a simple one for my first attempt, a nice Mario mushroom. Then I got a tad more adventurous and started a Bubblun from Bubble Bobble.

The only difficulty I had was that I decided to use some 3 ply crochet cotton I had lying around instead of buying some embroidery thread (like I probably should have). The end result turned out the same, however it was a pain in the you know what to work with, as the cotton kept snapping due to the friction of pulling it through the cloth. Lesson learnt I suppose....

I can't wait to start my next cross stitch project, I am totally inspired by this 'the cake is a lie' cross stitch by pixel8bit:


Or this cute-as Zelda cross stitch by Sidewalk08:

Amigurumi White Rabbit | Alice in Wonderland

Hi Everyone :)
I hope you all had a fantastic Christmas and New Year!

I just wanted to share with you my White Rabbit character I made just before Christmas (yes, it has taken me this long to get around to uploading it - busy, busy, busy!)


During December I was in a pantomime production of Alice in Wonderland where I was lucky enough to play the best character in the show - The Queen of Hearts :) OFF WITH HER HEAD!!! ... ahem...

So whilst performing in this awesome production, inspiration struck and I got to work making my first Alice in Wonderland Amigurumi character - The White Rabbit! I'm hoping to make a set of characters - The Mad Hatter, The Caterpillar, Alice... and of course The Queen!

This one was made entirley out of dk cotton yarn, and although it is much more time consuming to work with (mainly due to the friction cotton creates compared to acrylic), the end result is far more clean, with the stitches really defined and less fuzz around the edges!

He does have a little round tail, you just can't see it in these photos :(

Amigurumi Cacti | Great Stocking Stuffers for Xmas!

Greetings fellow Crochetists/Cactorians :)

I just wanted to share with you my awesome discovery at the Kalamunda Markets this month!
I made a set of amigurumi cacti to sell at our stall (where we usually sell real cacti and succulents) and they were a huge hit! Completely sold out!

Many jokes flew around the place about how these cacti are guaranteed 'unkillable' (until one customer said "I have 3 children. I wouldn't say guaranteed un-killable if I were you!") .

Then one customer mentioned how these would make great stocking stuffers for Christmas. What a great idea! They are easy to make, they look great, and are so much cheaper (and healthier) than filling stockings to the brim with chocolate!

So I know what everyone in my family is getting this Christmas!