POKÉFAN: “First and foremost, these fellas are based off pixel art designs by the amazing @butterberrycafe on Tumblr. Aren't they just adorable?? Please check out their other spritework, also! (I wonder if Haunter feels left out? I should make him, too...)"

POKÉFAN: “I've been getting back into cross stitching recently, mostly because I found that I've been mindlessly scrolling scrolling scrolling on my phone so much. That's obviously horrible, so I've been trying to replace that with a different habit -- normally, I'd opt for reading, but it's difficult to concentrate when someone else is watching TV in the same room, y'know? Thus, cross stitching."

POKÉFAN: “I actually had another cross stitch project I was working on, but I forgot about it and it's just been rotting in a drawer for, like, two years. And frankly, I just don't have much of an attachment to it, at all. But making tiny cross stitches? They're cute and small, fairly quick to complete -- it's like collecting achievement badges! Certainly feels more fulfilling than doomscrolling, ohoho!"

POKÉFAN: “Those guys were done on plastic canvas -- Sirithre has an article talking about some of the different uses for it and other logistics, like how many threads to use, etc up on her site! It's quite rigid, so you can use it to make pins and dollhouses and things like little Minecraft cows, which is all well and cool... but, in-line with my stationery obsession, the real game-changer here has come with my recent discovery of perforated paper!"

POKÉFAN: “This was just a proof of concept using little leftover scraps from other projects. It may be small but it does, at least, confirm that perforated paper is, in fact, paper and can be glued to other things rather nicely... which means you can use it for bookbinding and box-making! (Technically, I've seen people use regular aida for this sort of thing as well, but... I don't know, I just have an aversion to stitching on actual fabric for some reason. I'm fine with normal sewing, but the hoop -- it just unsettles me and I'd prefer to avoid it, if at all possible.)"

POKÉFAN: “Anyway! I think the art from the GBC Trading Card games is so cool and I've been wanting to cross stitch it for a while now, but I was a little worried because it's rather big (64 by 48, compared to the 20 by 20's above) and I didn't know what I'd do with it when I was done... but now: I could make a little box out of it!"

POKÉFAN: “Of course, I haven't actually decided on a certain sprite to stitch yet, let alone any other details about this alleged box... Maybe I'll store some dice and mini playing cards in it, as a little TTRPG kit? Or maybe my old Gameboy? Hmm, come back another day and maybe I've have something worked out by then..."

POKÉFAN: “Oh! But, you probably want some cross stitching resources, not just to hear a random woman rambling on about her possible future projects, huh? For smaller designs, like @butterberrycafe's small pixels above, you can pretty much just copy them from the image, no problem. Sites like braceletbook are also quite helpful, especially because they separate each pixel and tell you the overall size of the sprite. I found the butterfly pattern I used on that box on there!"

POKÉFAN: “If you're making something much bigger than 20 by 20 pixels, you'd probably want an actual pattern to work from, though. It's humbling how difficult it apparently is to count to ten -- don't make it even harder for yourself! People sell patterns on Etsy, of course, but also, you can adapt sprites from Spriter's Resource or take something you've made yourself, pop it into Floss Cross, and you're ready to go! (You could also just throw any old image through there, but your mileage may vary...)"

POKÉFAN: “Hmm, let's see, what else? I really don't have much experience stitching at all, but it seems like it's a really good idea to swatch your colors on the fabric (or whatever other material you're using) to make sure they actually go together, or, most importantly, that they contrast nicely. Holding the skeins or bobbins side by side is one thing, but the colors can often look different when actually stitched, so be careful! And happy stitching!"