Ode to Harry Potter

It was the summer of 2001, my first working in Denali. I had brought Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone in my small stack of books to read that summer. I read it quickly and loved it so much. I immediately fell in love with the world that J.K. Rowling had created and with the characters that inhabited it. I let a friend borrow that book that summer and she also became an instant fan--so much so that the next time she could get to town, she bought the rest of the Harry Potter books that were out at the time. We both read them voraciously. We were hooked. Such began my love affair with Harry Potter. That winter of 2001 I was living in Colorado and the Sorcerer's Stone movie came out. I was so excited! I bought some Bertie Bott's to snack on while waiting in line to get in. The movie was magical. Colby watched that movie with me and we've seen all the other movies in the theater together. It's just something we do. He's never read the books but he does enjoy the movies. Now that the last movie is out, I feel a sense of loss. I've spent the last 10 years with these characters--that's longer than most things. What will I do now that it's truly over? (I secretly hope that Rowling will write some stories about Harry's parents) At least there's plenty of craftiness to look at. Here's some of my uber-faves I've found.  I myself have stitched this Leaky Cauldron piece for my friend from that summer in Alaska 10 years ago and I recently received these kick-ass pieces in a swap.

  I will miss you Harry. 

This  lovely stitched quote from Dumbledore by shaebay.  I love the words with this frame.  A beautifully simple piece.  She's also stitched this this and this.

A few years back there was a Potterpuff craze (cross between Harry Potter characters with big Powerpuff Girls eyes).  I don't remember where it all started--some site, but they are so adorable.  spike_fan has stitched up several examples including my favorite--Remus Lupin. See others here, here and here.

 ofenjen made this stunning quilt!  42 squares of Harry Potter love.  Here re some of my favorite blocks.

The Flying Car

Hagrid's Hut

A Dementor

Beautiful Hedwig

This wonderful cross stitch of the dark mark by bombastitch, 

There's tons more stuff out there.  People are wild about Potter--the true mark of something great, is when folks make things based on it--in my opinion.  So---so long for now Harry--until we meet again in the pages of my books.

Ode to my childhood cartoons

I was reminiscing with my sister about old cartoons we used to watch when we were kids.  We started combing through YouTube looking at all the ones we remembered; Transformers, He-Man, Snorks, She-Ra, Animaniacs and the list goes on.   We had a blast just looking at all of them—some of them I had forgotten about—Mr. T anyone?  I have actually been re-watching Jem on Hub and it’s been really interesting watching it again.  They just don’t make cartoons like they used to.  So I thought I’d see what craftiness is out there for all those good cartoons I grew up with.   

A rocking Pizazz amigurami from chubbyninjcrafts.  She was in the band Misfits--arch enemies of Jem and the Holograms.  She's got a bad attitude but this little crocheted cutie almost makes her seem sweet (but don't be fooled, she will try to blow you up as evidenced in the carton).  You can get Roxy and Stormer to complete the band! 

You can fulfill your dream of finally being She-Ra Princes of Power with this wonderful handmade costume by tonyagergely.  How rad is this!!  I could totally rock this on Halloween---or on a Tuesday---whatever.

Another crocheted goodie--you can buy this pattern for All-Star Snork from erinscull and make your own cutie.  I have watched the Snorks as an adult and it doesn't quite translate to adulthood--it was much better when I was a kid.  

OK I wasn't a young child when I watched Animaniacs but so what.  This cartoon is so good that I just loved it, even as a teen--I would totally watch it today and I don't care who knows it.  This fabulous Brain cross stitch by PuzzlingPeach rocks my world!  The best things about Animaniacs were the all the different characters they had and Pinky and The Brain were no exception.  I also came across this super cute crochet Wakko doll from BunnieBard--she even includes the pattern so you can stitch this up yourself!  I also totally want these magnets!

Care Bears were everywhere in the 80's and what's not to love--I mean seriously--they were just too cute.  Micheleleigh stitched up this super cute design!  She also did this one.  I'm also pretty sure I want this for work badge and this cake for my next birthday.

The Smurfs were great and so it this sweet cross stitch of Smurfette by helby.  Also, what kid wouldn't look adorable in this?  I would also take this cake for my next birthday.  I love this cross stitch of Grouchy Smurf.

The Beetlejuice cartoon was awesome!  This is a great machine embroidered patch by Neither Sparky.   If I had pierced ears I totally rock these and I sorts love this Lydia Deetz cham.

Well that's about it for now I guess--I may have to do a part 2 to this to look up even more cartoon awesomeness.  I'm so glad that I refuse to truly grow up becuase I  still get so much enjoyment out of these cartoons. Just pure joy really.  So I'm going to leave with a few truly outrageous videos. 

And by the way...What's your favorite cartoon? 

Ode to "Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind"

Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind is my favorite movie.  It has a wonderful cast and the writing is perfect.  It's a little quirky, but that just adds to the charm.  At it's core, it is the perfect love story. The main characters, Clementine and Joel (played wonderfully by Kate Winslet and Jim Carrey) are in a relationship that has taken a turn for the worse.  In their anger and hurt they both erase their memories of each other, which is where the delightful quirkiness comes to play.   We travel with Joel through the erasing process and relive his memories of Clementine and their relationship--from how they first met, to the special moments they shared. Some are so absolutely touching that I cry every time.  It is through this loss that they both truly realize their love is real and, in the end, they find each other again.  What more can you ask for in the perfect love story. I thought I'd see if there are any other fans out there, perhaps getting a little creative--so here's what I found.

I am in love with this paper doll of Clementine by claudiavarosio.  It comes with her orange sweatshirt and her ever changing hair colors.   Way too cute.

This lovely pillow by schinders with the phrase "Meet Me in Montauk" a very significant line in the movie.  You may remember this pillow that I received from her in a swap.  She rocks!  Check out her blog, too.

When I first saw this piece by theawkwardunicorn a couple years ago, I fell in love immediately.  This line, "Please let me keep this memory-just this one" resonated so deeply with me.  It's a perfect stitching the way the letters seem to fade away, just like the memory that was being erased, though Joel was trying so desperately to hold on to it.  Just wonderful. 

This lovely necklace by enamor is based on the necklace Joel was going to give to Joel.  He bought it at a flea market because she's the type of girl that likes unique things.  This is super cute. 

I first saw this piece in a MrXStitch post.  This is a movie poster created by Ezgi Genç.  It's a wonderful representation of the frozen river scene.  I love the little Clementine and Joel.  Super cute. 

I hope you were inspired by these wonderful pieces.  I love when a movie inspires creativity.  That is the true mark of something special, when fans start creating things based on their favorite movie or show or band or whatever.  Here's my favorite scene from the movie ( I could only find this one) and also the music theme by the wonderful Jon Brion. I love the music in the movie too, and had planned on walking down the aisle to the theme before my disk messed up and I had to pick a new one last minute.  But I imagined it in my head and it was beautiful. 

Ode to John Hughes

I have seen some of John Hughes's movies at least 50 times.  They are so wonderful; filled with love, sadness and hilarity.  But for me, they speak to the truths of being a teenager.  As a teen you will love someone that doesn't love you back, struggle with finding independence from your parents, rebel against stereotypes, make mistakes and be so miserable sometimes that even you can't stand yourself.  Hughes had such a wonderful way of capturing these truths in my favorites of his movies--Pretty In Pink, The Breakfast Club, Sixteen Candles, Some Kind of Wonderful and Ferris Bueller's Day Off. I thought I'd look around for fellow Hughes lovers and see what some folks have created.

"Some Kind of Wonderful Yarn Art" by BrandyLynnandPaul

This amazing cross stitch pattern of the Pretty In Pink cast by weelittlestitches

You can also get the Breakfast Club pattern

"Neomaxizoomdweebie" by bombastitch

"Breakfast Club Vampires" by paghababian

"Ferris Bueller You're my Hero" embroidery by alwaysinspired

"Try A Little Tenderness (Duckie)" by Jessica Deahl 

Duckie is one of my favorite characters.

"The Donger" print by KRUSTYstuff

Judd Nelson in The Breakfast Club watercolor by alliefraley

Another favorite character and Colby and I share and common fondness of John. We quote him often.  Luckily someone has put together the best of John Bender for us all to enjoy.

Ode to The Big Lebowski

I really can't tell you how many times I've watched this movie---lots---and I never get tired of it and laugh hysterically every time. If you've never seen it, then you obviously have no taste and need to be bludgeoned, but anyway. The absurdity of this movie and it's characters is why I love it--I mean the main character is an unemployed bowler with an affinity for jelly shoes. The other characters are just as fantastic--Walter (who can get you a toe), Donnie (I am the walrus), Marge (do you like coitus), Jesus (don't f*ck with him), the Nihilists (we believe in nothing), Mr. Lebowski (grown men do cry)--the list goes on. It has so many great lines that can be used in everyday life ( I often use, "I'm staying, I'm finishing my coffee" for no real reason). There have been some amazing craftiness going on in the name of The Dude so I thought I'd share a few. *Note: I'm sure this has been done a thousand times--but oh well



These awesome prints by retrowhale



This amazing cross stitch by DefiantDamsel. I want this SO bad.



Another fantastic cross stitch by gillyweed25 with an awesome Walter quote.



The Dude in perler beads!! Seriously--how amazing is this??


ohbabytee's stencil of Walter on a onesie just tears me up! It is so hilarious.



This absolutely hilarious toe. I can just hear Walter saying "You want a toe, I can get you a toe---with green nail polish!"



This is a great embroidered Walter Sobchak by craftymcgee How great is this??



Follow that up with this amazing embroidery of the dream sequence with The Dude and Maude by mafiosagrrl She also has done a stellar Jesus embroidery.

I've been inspired to make something for His Dudeness---not sure what yet. So go watch the movie right now--even if you've seen it before and just remember, all the Dude ever wanted was his rug back.