Etsy Saskatchewan
  • Home
  • Events
  • Blog
  • FAQ
  • Contact

Featured Member - Wayne Balion from Stitched Pixels

5/14/2015

0 Comments

 
Picture
Kirby Framed Cross Stitch
Introduce yourself: Hello! I am Wayne Balion from Saskatoon.  I have a degree in Computer Engineering, my day job is web development/programming, and my craft is cross stitching. My awesome wife is very supportive of my craft, primarily assisting me at the various expos and shows that we attend to sell my products.
PictureBlastoise (Pokemon) Cross Stitch Pattern
 What's your shop's name? StitchedPixelsEmbr

What do you make/sell? How do you make it? I cross stitch video game and pop culture characters. I sell framed pieces that I’ve completed, as well as selling cross stitching starter packs, cross stitch patterns, and necklaces. I design all of the patterns myself and aim to stay as accurate to the original designs as possible. All of my finished pieces are hand-sewn and can take 20+ hours to complete. The starter packs are also hand-assembled and include everything (except scissors) for anyone to pick up and start cross stitching. I sew all of my designs at least once to verify my colour selections before selling them (either as a pattern or starter pack).

How long has your Etsy shop been open?  My shop has been open since May 2012 but has been more active in the last year or so. My early years had very few products available which I have been able to expand in recent years.
How long have you been doing your craft? Hard to say… I want to say about 22 years, as I learned at a young age. I have been doing the current style/designs since 2012.
How did you get started? I started cross stitching as a kid, either learning from summer camp or my grandmother (hard to remember… it was a long time ago). My early work was all traditional Ukrainian designs due to my heritage. I had a bit of a hiatus through high school but picked it up again near the end of my university degree. The idea to cross stitch video game characters came to me while I was working on sewing house rules for web comic artist Danielle Corsetto (Girls With Slingshots). Thinking of how video game sprite pixels would translate well to cross stitches, I designed my first pattern, Charizard, the same day I delivered the house rules to Danielle. After completing Charizard, I continued making Pokemon characters before branching out into other video game characters, mainly from Nintendo games.
Picture
1-Up Mushroom (Super Mario) Cross Stitched Necklace
 Where can people find you online?
Website: http://www.stitchedpixels.ca
Instagram: http://instagram.com/StitchedPixels
Facebook: http://facebook.com/StitchedPixels
Twitter: http://twitter.com/StitchedPixels
What do you like about selling on Etsy?  Etsy is a great place to have your products found on a global scale. I often thought about selling directly through my website but I find that people search for my kind of work a lot on Etsy. There is also the community of like-minded crafters that you can ask questions and/or get help with problems if needed. Even though I haven’t directly met anyone yet, I look forward to meeting other members of the Etsy Saskatchewan team!
PicturePolice Box Cross Stitch Starter Pack
What brought you to Etsy?
Trying to find an online marketplace for my items, Etsy came to mind and since it was (almost) free, I gave it a shot.

What's been your best Etsy experience?
Selling my items across the world. The first time I got an order from Australia, I nearly jumped in surprise. In retrospect, I shouldn’t have been as surprised as it was a digital download of one of my patterns, but still very cool.

Is there anything else you would like to share with us about your shop or yourself?

I take commission requests, as there are such a variety of game characters I could make and sometimes I have a hard time choosing.  Also, I can do custom starter packs for any of my patterns.

Picture
Michelangelo (TMNT) Cross Stitch Pattern
Picture
Ramona Flowers (Scott Pilgrim) Cross Stitch Pattern
Picture
Metroid Cross Stitch Pattern
0 Comments

    Archives

    November 2021
    October 2020
    February 2019
    September 2018
    April 2018
    March 2018
    February 2018
    December 2017
    November 2017
    October 2017
    September 2017
    August 2017
    May 2017
    March 2017
    February 2017
    January 2017
    December 2016
    November 2016
    October 2016
    September 2016
    August 2016
    July 2016
    June 2016
    May 2016
    April 2016
    March 2016
    February 2016
    January 2016
    December 2015
    November 2015
    August 2015
    July 2015
    June 2015
    May 2015
    April 2015
    March 2015
    February 2015

    Categories

    All
    Amigurumi
    Antler
    Art
    Baby
    Bath
    Bath & Body
    Candles
    Cards
    Ceramic
    Colouring
    Concrete
    Crochet
    Doodle
    Everything Else
    Fabric
    Featured Member
    Fibre
    Fine Art
    Games
    Gemstones
    Gift Bags
    Gift Tags
    Handspun
    Jewellery
    Jewlery
    Kanzashi
    Kids
    Knitting
    Leather
    Made In Canada
    Painted Signs
    Paper
    Party
    Polymer Clay
    Pottery
    Purses
    Reproductions
    Rug Hooking
    Soap
    Team Challenge
    Toys
    Watercolour Painting
    Wood
    Wool
    Zen Tangle

    RSS Feed

Powered by Create your own unique website with customizable templates.
  • Home
  • Events
  • Blog
  • FAQ
  • Contact