There are quite a lot of people reinventing the craft of cross stitch and needlepoint. You've got your "Subversive Cross Stitch," of course. And there are loads of fans who are creating fanart in cross stitch form, like this amazing Supernatural fanart cross stitch.
Personally, I have suddenly fallen head over heels for the idea of altered cross stitch. You take a regular cross stitch kit, but then you alter it just a little bit. For example, by adding swear words. Or changing that adorable kitty into a death's head. It's basically like Bedazzling, except more awesome.
For the beginner, obviously the first thing you need to do is learn how to cross stitch. I have been assured that this is not a difficult skill. (But then again, don't they always say that?) Apparently if you buy a basic cross stitch kit at the store, it will usually come with instructions inside for beginners.
The next task is to choose what you want to alter. You will probably want to purchase a whole kit if you can; it saves you having to buy all the supplies individually. Be aware of the difference between "counted cross stitch" and "stamped cross stitch."
Stamped cross stitch is where they stamp the design on a sheet of fabric, and then you add stitching to parts of it. This means that if you wanted to alter the saying, but the saying is stamped on the fabric (as it often is with this kind of cross stitch) then you are out of luck.
Counted cross stitch is a little more difficult to do, since you have to follow a pattern (instead of just stitching over the colors stamped on the fabric). But counted cross stitch lets you alter the design to your heart's content.
Image courtesy Flickr/Ryan D. Riley
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