General Hospi-tale

Craft Project #12

OR

Facebook Craft #1

This is the story of a crazy project and what happened to it after I finished it. It’s kind of a long story, but I promise it’s worth it.

Okay, so, I posted a note on Facebook a while back and I tagged a bunch of people. Anyone who replied would get something made by me, especially for them, in the year 2009. One of the first people who replied was the previously-mentioned Natasha. Now, something you might not know about Natasha is that she’s CRAZY about Rick Springfield. Like, BANANAS. I knew this because I’m a good friend and I pay attention. So I started thinking about ways to work Rick into Natasha’s craft. I thought about getting some custom-printed RS fabric at Spoonflower and making her a tote. But she already HAS a really cute tote that she totes around! Then, I thought about doing a simple silkscreening process that I saw on Martha, but it involved a lot of supplies that they don’t carry at Michael’s.

Finally, I had an insane thought: “I will make her a portrait of Rick. I will make this portrait out of felt and embroidery.” I don’t know where this idea really came from, but I’m always up for teaching myself new crafts and embroidery floss and felt are very economical, so I went with it. I based my portrait on this picture of Rick. I will not bore you with the process, but it was very intense. I art-ified the portrait by making Rick daydream about rescuing cats with Natasha (Natasha is a rescuer of cats). Then I put the whole thing in a shadowbox and gave it to Natasha. I was worried that, even though she is a very dedicated fan of RS, she would find the portrait weird or tacky.

I shouldn’t have worried! She loved it and did not think it was weird at all! This is why we are friends. So, Natasha loved it, but what would Rick think about it? That is not a question I expected to ever know the answer to. But now I do!!!

Read what happened when Rick met his felt twin here. And here is a close-up of the portrait!

To other Facebook people awaiting my crafts: I’m sorry, but your item will not be as amazing as this. It will not unite you with your idol. Please adjust your expectations downward.