note: I wanted to make something for someone that has done so much for us (my mom and I, and our dog) with taking us from being homeless to having a place to live and given my mom a job caring for her with her cancer treatment. But what can you do for someone that has done far more for you than anyone could ever imagine? The amount this kind lady has done for us, what can I do to show her how much I appreciate what she has done, and bring a smile and maybe some happy tears to her eyes? What I do best...a cross-stitch! But what? It took me over a week to find that perfect something to stitch. First, I had done a Felix the Cat one, but even while stitching it I kept thinking, is this the right piece for her? Sure, I'm sure she would have loved it, just for the thought and work I did even if it may've not been her thing. But, sometimes the thought that counts just isn't enough, because if you are really putting enough thought into it you'll give someone something that speaks to them, that represents who they are, what they like, not just something random.
Dolls! It has to be something doll related. So I got to exploring, hunting down the right NES sprites for just the right picture which I'd have to create piecing them all together. I had taken elements from several games to create a picture that would represent Hello Dolly Nursery (her Youtube name), using the little girl from Gimmick from one of the ending pics with her cuddling Gimmick but removing him from the picture. I put her in front of the toy shop background from River City Ransom, editing out the teddy bears prior to that and changing the colors from purples to pinks (she likes pink, plus the purples were too hard and dark for the feeling of gentleness I wanted to depict). I had put the little boy and girl from the intro of Bubble Bobble 2 into the girl's arms as she is holding them to herself (also changing some of their colors - I reborned them). But I also had to edit one of the girl's hands--so it didn't look like a fleshy lobster claw--so as to look better cuddling her reborn dolls. Still found the picture to be lacking something, spent many days trying to find baby related items in NES games (such as stroller, cradle, crib, and other such things) but with no luck I thought, hell, Laura has a cat, so I hunted down cat sprites, found the purrfect choice with the one from the Uninvited.
And, I stitched on something other than my usual black aida. Black made everything look too hard, too dark and gloomy, and I didn't want to emit sadness in this picture. So I went with tan (or whatever the heck this color aida is called) because it went well with the colors I would be using in my stitches. Originally when I started I had begun with the dolls in the girl's arms, stitched their outlines using black floss, then after stitching the girl's outlines I had done the cat as well, also in black. I wasn't quite pleased with how I knew this would turn out, the black color floss would make the dolls and cat stand out too much, and while I wanted them, especially the dolls being held, to be noticable, I didn't want the girl to be as if she were a background. So, tore out my outlined dolls and cat and started over on them later with another color that would make so everything is in harmony. Soft colors that bring out the tenderness and love that this young girl's dollies bring to her. Also, one dilemma I faced before stitching, while still in the pattern creating mode, was that I was trying to make this girl, Laura herself, hair color as well as the room, and reason for the cat, but settled on it just being a little girl (maybe her inner girl) that happens to have a lot of dolls just like her, as well as a cat too.
Now all I've got to do is get a frame for it and find a time to present it to her. Even though it was a lot of work, total time probably well over 40 hours, somehow I still feel I haven't done enough. Will have to see, her reaction may tell me otherwise. I do hope she will love it. And that she'll stay with us a while longer.
