Event Report: Free Comic Book Day 2008
Free Comic Book Day at Dragons Keep is always fun, and this year we had a great ensemble of talent. Chad, Mandy, Kevin, JJ, Dave and I had a good time talking, sketching, and committing commerce. Spider-Man himself dropped by for a bit (he even signed a few comics as “Your Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man”).
My only complaint… Smart Howard never even checked into the building. I did a bunch of sketches, but didn’t have the brain space to tackle anything complex. Chad, meanwhile, knocked down some GORGEOUS sketch cards, inked AND colored. It was pretty humbling.
A couple of interesting merchandise ideas reared their heads. The most amusing: Schlock cross-stitch patterns. They’d be cheap as nothing to print, but kind of a pain to design. Question: would YOU pay $10 for a nice cross-stitch pattern (you stitch it yourself) of one of the SHoHEPirates Rules with an illustration?
Following the event, Kevin Wasden, Chad Hardin and I went out to eat, and I ate too much. Good friends, good conversation, good sushi, good times…
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May 4th, 2008 at 10:41 am
take your image overlay it with a grid matching the count of the fabric (number of threads per inch think pixels only bigger 14-20 is about average IIRC) my mother used to use a transparent sheet with a grid pattern for this but you should be able to do it in a graphics program easily enough the results can be a bit blocky but it’s cheaper than buying a program to do it for you
matching schlock to a DMC thread color would have to be challenging
juenger1701
May 4th, 2008 at 12:29 pm
Schlock Cross-stitch patterns? [bounce] I WANT ONE! [/bounce]
May 4th, 2008 at 12:38 pm
A cross-stitch conversion program need not be expensive. The trick is to get on that is a year old or more. Check out ArcaMax.com and the other online sites that sell discounted software and I’m sure you’ll find something. The changes from year to year are so minor as to be negligible. As for color matching, most of the thread makers (DMC, Coats and Clark, etc.) will send you a color card which you can match to your inks. Explain that what you want will make profits for BOTH of your companies and I’m sure they’ll send what you need.
Now, I make my own charts with graph paper. It’s tedious, but doable. I will do this for you if other methods fail - you just need to contact me. Half, quarter,and three-quarter stitches avoid some of the blocky results.
May 4th, 2008 at 1:14 pm
Check for discount cross stitch conversion software at planetCDRom.com or ArcaMax.com. It will be last year’s version, but the changes from year to year are negligible. DMC and Coats and Clark should be willing to send you thread pallets to match to your ink colors, especially if you explain that what you do means profits for both of your companies. One quarter, half, and three quarter stitches eliminate much of the blockiness of old-fashioned designs. If all else fails, I design my own patterns on graph paper and will do the same for Sgt Schlock. You need only contact me.
May 4th, 2008 at 3:48 pm
I would totally pay for schlock cross-stitch patterns…. I’ve got tons of linen and aida burning a hole in my bookshelf.
May 4th, 2008 at 7:12 pm
Okay, I downloaded a trial version of PMC Stitch Creator. Here are my observations:
1) Good GRIEF! Five stitches per centimeter is pretty grainy…
2) This is a great piece of software. I can tell already that I’ll be spending money to get this thing off the ground.
3) Artwork will need to be uber-simple in order to look good. That’s okay. I can do simple…
May 4th, 2008 at 8:12 pm
Any chance on us getting an RSS feed anytime soon? True, we do know exactly when you’re updating, but at the moment this is the only blog/webcomic I follow that I don’t use an RSS feed to track.
It’s a little more… headspace… to check this site as well as bloglines. Gotta wonder if any new visitors are deciding not to keep reading that would be kept for a few extra days (long enough to get hooked) with a feed.
May 4th, 2008 at 8:15 pm
I’d buy it. Granted, I’m the type of person who wants to make science-themed cross-stitch samplers for my office. (Then again, that might be the target market.)
May 4th, 2008 at 10:43 pm
I wouldn’t. And where are the black Rules T-Shirts? :)
May 4th, 2008 at 11:19 pm
Ah yes, the “Rules”.
Howard, don’t forget about the pointy sticks…
May 5th, 2008 at 2:26 am
juenger: From what I’ve seen on the net, maybe using the “blending” threads? Start with olive, and blend in gray….
whoa, hang on; google-fu gave me http://yarntree.com/075dmcolors.jpg
—and maybe #3052 for base, with #3053 for highlights & #3051 for shading? Hm. May already be OUT there! Not sure how old this color chart is, but still…..
May 5th, 2008 at 5:13 am
… you think 5 stitches/cm is pixelated, try 5/inch (yeah, I do gross point). I’d have gone for 472 for the base.
Some of the better cross stitch software does graphic to pattern conversions, but it tends to need tweeking afterwrds. (I’ve used PC-CrossStitch myself)
May 5th, 2008 at 6:14 am
Hell yes! $20, even.
May 5th, 2008 at 9:34 pm
I already have someone that I want to buy a cross stitch pattern for here in town. They’d love it.
May 8th, 2008 at 8:58 am
While I’m in the middle of a fairly big project and thus wouldn’t necessarily buy a cross stitch pattern right away, it is certainly something I’d consider for my next project.
Also, aida (the fabric made for cross stitching) doesn’t come in a 5 stitches/cm spacing (that works out to about a 12 or 13 count). It comes in 11, 14, 16, & 18 count (the count equates how many stitches per inch) so if the program you’re using is setting 5 stitches to the inch on your picture, then the image will be reduced in size when stitched (except on 11 count fabric).
If you can, team up with some one local who can stitch the patterns (or at least parts of them) you create for you to test them out. At least until you get the hang of things. Nothing beats looking at the finished product to decide whether you’ve got it right. I’d volunteer, but I’m no where near local to Utah (I live in Maine).