Crafting and Barbies

Two fundamental things about me:

I have had Barbie dolls since before I was two years old. They were a stable part of my childhood long past the age many kids played with dolls.
I grew up doing crafts. My mom and grandma taught me to cross stitch, needlepoint, and knit (although I have long ago forgotten that particular craft). I don't sit still and if I'm watching TV there's a good chance I have a needle and a project in my lap. (okay, let's be honest, it's 2023, there are definite evenings it's a mindless puzzle game on my tablet.)

Which means that while I have extra time on my hands I took the opportunity to combine those two aspects and created two Barbie cross stitch patterns this fall

Both projects are smaller than 4" square and are perfect for a crafter who has never done cross stitch. They're simple and can be finished in a short amount of time. But they also are quintissential to today's Barbie love and the resurgence of attention because of the movie.

I put together an Etsy store to sell digital downloads of the pattern and have spent many hours since around Thanksgiving getting the right color of floss, stitching the patterns, and figuring out how to finish them. Mom helped me pick out the perfect Barbie pink and she found the round hoop for the Barbie lover project.

Then I started playing with - and fighting with - Etsy. Let's just say, I appreciate they have a copyright policy but:

No one else follows it. There is SOOOO much Barbie content on the page that if anything that is Mattel adjacent is inappropriate then they need to do a very large sweep of the platform
The items I created I built from scratch. I am not wholesale trying to rip off Mattel.
I am such small potatoes that I can't imagine anyone making a small cross stitch pattern would run afoul of the Barbie/Mattel legal team.

Anyway....

If you are looking for a light, fun, silly cross stitch pattern, check out my etsy shop here: https://www.etsy.com/shop/TheNostalgicStitcher

While it's still quiet I have a few other projects up my sleeve. I would like to add at least a couple more items before the end of they year, but we'll see.

Comments

Time to Let Go

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Barbie goes to France

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Barbie @ the Design Museum in London

In December I had the chance to visit the Design Museum in London for their Barbie Exhibit. I had purchased tickets nine months earlier when I knew I was going to be in the city for the holidays. I took a boomer and a tween (Grandma and granddaughter) with me to see the show. Both are deeply lovely individuals, but neither are big on Barbies. Grandma had just missed the Barbie trend as a girl and granddaughter is firmly in the Harry Potter world. Seeing the exhibit through their eyes, and answering their questions, gave me a better insight into the day than if I'd attended with die-hard Barbie lovers. First, the exhibit is beautiful! No wonder, considering it was put on by the Design Museum. The layout, the colors, and the flow of the space were gorgeous. The rich, vibrant tones that back up every room allowed the artifacts on display to sing, without feeling overwhelmed by an onslaught of Barbie pink. The ability to focus on specific individual dolls while still telling a collec...

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