Up until the age of 19 or so, I just used to fold the corners of books down. People would criticise me for it, but it's my book, and I like when they look loved. Then I started going to the library regular, and started using bookmarks. I have a couple before then, but it was around this time that I realised I could cross stitch bookmarks, and my collection started to take off.
Unfortunately, I suck at picture taking, but this is one of the first bookmarks I cross stitched. Plus a dollar bill. It cost 66p, which is a fair price for a bookmark, and those things are pretty interesting when you're used to pounds.
Anyway, the cross-stitched bookmark. The figures are from the first Final Fantasy game, as filtered through 8 Bit Theater (which I hadn't read at the time). Pixelated images are incredibly easy to cross stitch, since they're basically exactly the same thing - images made up of small squares. Anything 8-bit can basically be cross-stitched as is.
I went with the 8-Bit Theatre images purely because I prefered that version of the White Mage. I later read it, and it was pretty good.
More cross-stitch. My beloved Deis, again, copied directly from her 8-bit existence, with lettering from a cross-stitch book I have around here somewhere. The other one, the 'K' was a gift from a friend's mother. She has since succumbed to bowel cancer, so it's a little special.
I did use the Deis sprite to make Cloud, Tifa, and Aeris sprites, but I've since switched computers and lost the file. It's a shame, because they came out really well. Speaking of Final Fantasy, I also had a bookmark in blue-green mako colours which had Aeris in a large font, and, underneath, "You're the slum drunk!", but I managed to drop it outside one day and I never found it again. I might make another version some day. I've also made a konami code bookmark for a friend's birthday, and I'm tempted to make myself one of those again. I love Kirby Krackle's song about it.
Here's the last of my cross-stitched bookmarks.
Not very fancy, and not my favourite. While I can't imagine Squall or Rinoa with anyone else, I find Selphie and Irvine's relationship more interesting, and, if we swap games, Alice and Yuri more so than that. It was fun to experiment with the final fantasy font, though. I'd change the 'Q' to make it one row wider than it is, but other than that, I'm very happy with how the letters came out.
When I design my own bookmarks or other cross-stitch patterns, I generally just draw them onto squared paper. I've been working on a Sookie Stackhouse bookmark, but it's hard to get the fanged smirk looking the way I want. I'm tempted to make a 'Griever' bookmark, copying the griever symbol in freehand embroidery, and then writing the name vertically, rather like my Deis bookmark. I'll keep that in mind next time I feel like sewing something.
Finally, my non-homemade bookmarks. These are mostly magnetic mini-bookmarks, which I find rather lovely. I have crime and horror. Also a few metal petals, but I don't use them often because I find that they tend to mangle the pages a bit.
Unfortunately, I suck at picture taking, but this is one of the first bookmarks I cross stitched. Plus a dollar bill. It cost 66p, which is a fair price for a bookmark, and those things are pretty interesting when you're used to pounds.
Anyway, the cross-stitched bookmark. The figures are from the first Final Fantasy game, as filtered through 8 Bit Theater (which I hadn't read at the time). Pixelated images are incredibly easy to cross stitch, since they're basically exactly the same thing - images made up of small squares. Anything 8-bit can basically be cross-stitched as is.
I went with the 8-Bit Theatre images purely because I prefered that version of the White Mage. I later read it, and it was pretty good.
I did use the Deis sprite to make Cloud, Tifa, and Aeris sprites, but I've since switched computers and lost the file. It's a shame, because they came out really well. Speaking of Final Fantasy, I also had a bookmark in blue-green mako colours which had Aeris in a large font, and, underneath, "You're the slum drunk!", but I managed to drop it outside one day and I never found it again. I might make another version some day. I've also made a konami code bookmark for a friend's birthday, and I'm tempted to make myself one of those again. I love Kirby Krackle's song about it.
Here's the last of my cross-stitched bookmarks.
Not very fancy, and not my favourite. While I can't imagine Squall or Rinoa with anyone else, I find Selphie and Irvine's relationship more interesting, and, if we swap games, Alice and Yuri more so than that. It was fun to experiment with the final fantasy font, though. I'd change the 'Q' to make it one row wider than it is, but other than that, I'm very happy with how the letters came out.
When I design my own bookmarks or other cross-stitch patterns, I generally just draw them onto squared paper. I've been working on a Sookie Stackhouse bookmark, but it's hard to get the fanged smirk looking the way I want. I'm tempted to make a 'Griever' bookmark, copying the griever symbol in freehand embroidery, and then writing the name vertically, rather like my Deis bookmark. I'll keep that in mind next time I feel like sewing something.
Finally, my non-homemade bookmarks. These are mostly magnetic mini-bookmarks, which I find rather lovely. I have crime and horror. Also a few metal petals, but I don't use them often because I find that they tend to mangle the pages a bit.
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