If all their models looked like this, I'd probably not hate them so much !

Current Notes: Boo ! 

Rather boring Halloween here – many local businesses were doing Trunk or Treat downtown, so we didn’t have a lot of house-to-house Trick or Treaters this year. Gosh darn the luck, stuck with all this candy !

Moved ‘Flair’, Dearest Son’s half-moon Betta fish today. It’s getting too cold for him in the window, so now he’s in the living room, where we can all see and enjoy his beautiful fins and graceful drift swimming. I need to change his water again. That opens up a bit more space for my doll playsets, but Ginger-kitty now thinks the Country Living  home living room is a perfect place to nap. Darn cat. 

I think I'm gonna keep her...

Current Notes: Is it just me, or is DLaura getting less 'Barbie' and more 'Minnie Mouse' in her pink fashions ? 

Yaaay ! We don’t have cable anymore ! I guess that bill hasn’t been paid – it isn’t ours – and I’ll be happy if it stays gone. I was setting waaaay too much of our day by what was on when. Dearest Son is a bit disappointed, but long as we have internet – that bill is ours – he can easily find something interesting.

DMIL told me not to worry about the blanket project for Neighbor. It was probably more of a way to get to know us a bit more than a request for a perfectly completed project. Still, I feel a need to do it and do it well, so I got the flannel washed and folded. Found some of my own flannel, so I can work out how to get the darn near too-narrow ribbon to work as blanket edging without damaging the good stuff. It’s so soft, so fluffy.

Dearest was digging through his Craft Crate for a project, and I asked if he’d seen those Dollar Tree beads in there. I kept the green, clear, and orange ones, but couldn’t remember if I tossed the pink, blue, and purple ones in the Craft Crate or with the fabric we donated. Yaay – they were in the Crate. Now my MH dolls have new bracelet colors that I don’t have to scrape and drill ! Die-ner DracuLaura is wearing the pink and purple ones in today’s photo. I confess, I’m not terribly fond of the bracelet she was issued wearing. Or her earrings. They’re cute, but they seem designed to catch her hair. 

Coloring Fun !

Kind of boring here, have some fun coloring ! 

Click to make bigger !

The cutest vamp waitress in the world !

 Current Notes: Wish that bone pencil and order pad had come with it !

I love MH packaging. It’s full of great posing and photos, awesome art, and a bunch of logos you can use on other craft projects. This little comic on the side panel of the Die-ner box is just one example. Now, DracuLaura isn’t the healthiest vamp – you can only assume her Die-ner is vegetarian only, or she’d be passed out half the day ! – but that look of exhaustion and the stains on her skirt are just adorable. And I confess, the more time I spend with Die-ner DLaura, the more I want to keep her. She has elegant, smoky makeup, and somehow, her face is like Skulltimate Roller Maze Frankie’s, they both look somehow a bit older without being out of character.

Kind of a standard, boring Monday. I got the new glittery stretch fabric washed, along with the rest of the laundry – washed, dried, and put away. Got the service project flannel  cheap-serged for tomorrow’s wash. Did dishes, and researched ribbon blanket edging… the ribbon Neighbor bought is so cute, but waaay too narrow. I have no idea how I’ll be able to use it, even after ironing it into the necessary shape. And woe betide me if I have to re-stitch anything, it’ll be a mess. I found some flannel scraps in my stash, and I always have ribbon, so at least I can practice before I use the good stuff.

(grin) And I’ve already found uses for the Happy Meal MH buckets. The Frankie one holds my spray bottle of water, all three handles, and the latest snail-mail fabric store ads. DracuLaura’s holding the service project flannel and ribbon, and Clawdeen is keeping up with a bundle of scrap fabric I got off Etsy, and the glitter stretch stuff.

I’m a little disappointed in the scrap fabric bundle. Those scraps are darn near too small to use. I can make a bunch of tight, short skirts, but not much else. It’s my own fault though, the seller didn’t do anything to make me think these were anything but bits and pieces, I just thought they looked bigger in the ad. On the whole, for what I spent, I should have saved my money – most of it was shipping – and bought a local fat quarter or four. I’m hoping Beloved Hubby will be off a bit this weekend, so maybe we can make a quick run to the Hancock’s in CapitolCity, it’s closer ! 

Last Rose of 2013

Current Notes: From my DMIL's beloved front-yard rosebushes. She saw this today, the last rose of 2013. Enjoy !

I’ve been thinking (and the earth trembles !) that part of what’s picking at me like a loose tooth is that I’ve never really established my service project…and that got me into trouble today. One of the neighbors, who’s kindly been helping out DMIL & FIL over the years, came over to address a concern she’s having. I discussed it as best I could without getting too much into other people’s business – believe me, ya’ll, I got enough business that isn’t mine dumped into my lap this week without asking for more – and we chatted a bit.

She mentioned family working in the nearby Big Medical Facility, and I knew she sewed. I asked if she ever sewed for the standard hospital charities (The Linus Project, bereavement blankets, etc.) and the next thing I knew, I had a Hancock Fabrics bag of really expensive flannel and $14. worth of spooled ribbon in my numb fingers. She’d intended to sew some blankets, but never had time, so… (sigh) guess who is ? I hate working with flannel, I’ve never ribbon-edged a blanket in my life, and I have no idea what size I’m supposed to make. I’ve looked up the parameters, and they’re ‘anywhere from twelve inches to twenty-four inches, square’. My intent is to get the fabric cheap-serged, in the wash, sewn up, and returned as blankets and any remaining ribbon to the neighbor as fast as possible, and use the experience to get my neglected project’s rear in gear, maybe establish an hour each day for it.

I know, I know, I’m whining. I should be glad to do this, but I kinda feel negative about it anyway. I mean, I hadn’t said I’d do it before I had the fabric in my hands, so now I feel obligated, and that’s no way to begin a charity project. Maybe showing off what a jerk I can be to the whole internet will shake my being a jerk out of my current moodsphere.

And after that, if anybody asks, I already have a service project – be glad to attend a sew-along for a day, but ongoing ? Can’t do it. 

Saturday at the Maul...

Current Notes: I love these seats ! Poor, tired DracuLaura looks like she could use one.

Click for largeitude. 

Didn’t get to sew today – the friction continues, but there’s not much we can do about it. Beloved Hubby left early, and was gone all day, for about a 10 hour workday. Somewhere between last night and this morning, the shower curtain got ripped off four of the rings, and I can tell ya, that meant the bathroom floor got flooded. With Beloved gone and no convenient Dollar Tree a block or two away, it was up to me to fix it.

It seems silly to put all that effort - take it down, dry it off, measure the torn areas, sew scrap fabric straps to cover the holes, sew the straps over the holes and auger new ones, and put it back up – into a cheap $3. shower curtain, but it was that or risk a slippery bathroom floor, so I did it. Over the years, I’ve used every tape from electrical to duct to fix torn holes on better curtains, but the tape always came off. Don’t know if this will work, but it was worth a try. Never found out who tore it, either.

I also got to play with my new Die-ner. I confess, after the disappointing seating in the Coffin Bean playset, I took my time deciding if I really wanted this one or not. I’m glad I took the leap, ‘cause everything here is awesome ! The chairs are just perfect, and while I’d like the booth to be a bit deeper in the seat, it’s still the right height for most monsters, and the usual detail work is evident here, too. The ‘buttons’ on the booth seat are skullette heads, the spiderweb details on the stool seats are perfect. While I don’t expect to use the counter/ cooktop much, it’s still really awesomely done. On the ‘cook’ side, in addition to themed burners, there’s a suggestion of a stove embossed into the shiny silver plastic, fodder for further imagination.

The closest I can come to a complaint with the Die-ner is that I wish it came with more chairs and actual cooking pieces, like pots and pans, and more food. I had the same ‘more food and pieces, please’ plaint with the Coffin Bean set. I guess Mattel figures you can use Barbie stuff, or what came with the Heath & Abbey set, and there’s always the delight of creating your own, but to me, the ‘life’ in a playset is in the tiny bits and I’d have loved to see what else the design team would have unleashed.

One problem with getting a new, even awesome, playset is that it limits your space for the next ones coming out. Have you seen the art studio (School) and backstage vanity (Frights, Camera, Action !) sets due ? I’m hoping they aren’t as good, because I’m running out of space ! But I’m half in love with the chainsaw and the room screen…

Order up !

Current Notes: Who wants a grilled muenster-cheese sandwich ? 

Go ahead, call me a sucker, easily persuaded especially when not much new has come out and I’m waiting for stuff I’ve wanted for years…but I’ve had my eye on the Die-ner ever since it was announced. I just can’t resist good chairs ! It’s true – I was bitterly disappointed with the ones in the Scaris playset, or I’d have bought that, too. Just too… ornate for me. Over-wrought iron, if you would. And even though I could paint the pieces, the colors they came in put me off as well.

I’m glad I didn’t talk m’self into Scaris, because now, the Die-ner is nearly guilt-free ! I even saved a few bucks on it. Found that the local Mal-Wart had them – for $23.99. Everywhere else, even Mattel’s store website, has ‘em for $30. and up. There’s a second exclusive version that comes with an Operetta, and it’s even from Mal-Wart, but I didn’t much care. I didn’t really want the dolls, just the furniture ! Although DLaura’s dress and shoes are sooo cute…Anyway, since I couldn’t get the site to tell me if the local store had the Die-ner in stock or not, I went ahead and did a ‘site to store’, with the promise it’d be there today.

So. We got there, picked up my Die-ner, and hit the MH aisle – you know I was gonna. And yes, they did have Die-ners, four of ‘em, on the shelf. For $29.99 ! And these weren’t the special ones, they were identical to what I held in my hands. Glad I went ‘site to store’ !

I also got some stretchy dark blue ‘glittery’ fabric – it was a remnant in the Mal-Wart bin, unlabeled, of course. I got a guesstimated price, which was a bit too high for me, but Beloved Hubby snagged it anyway. Due to some slight friction with DM & FIL, he wasn’t in much of a patient mode. I’m sure I’ll find lots of uses for it ! 

Hundreds of clunky bracelets per bag !

Current Notes: First there was 'bad doll sewing'. Now, there's 'bad doll crafts' ! 

Pass the steak knife, would you ? 

One day closer to Friday ! Hope yours was great !

Fray-checked my next attempt at the camisole, and selected the closest thread match to it, but never got back to actually sewing. Instead I played around with the color-print pages from the Library. Made a magazine from the set I downloaded from FierceGhouls.com, adding a unique back cover cut from an expired fast-food coupon, and a couple pages from a color-printed receipt I had in my wallet. It’s not photographing well tonight, so I’ll try getting a good image tomorrow, in daylight.

I also found a dress pattern on Etsy that I decided to shell the $2. for. I’m hoping to sew tomorrow, too, and let ya know if it’s worth it. Those sleeves look so darn tiny… I also won my doll auction, so she’ll be on the way soon.

Dug through some craft supplies, looking for something – I’ve already forgotten what it was – when I came across the bag of pony beads I bought for DFIL, years ago. The beads on his fringed leather jacket kept coming off, so when I saw those exact same ‘moonlight’ colors, I bought a bag. I have no idea where the jacket is now, he only needed a few of ‘em, but I kept the rest. I’d also snagged a pack of not-quite pony beads at Dollar Tree, to make prescription bottles (a la My Froggy Stuff). Still haven’t gotten to those, but it occurred to me that the beads would make great MH bracelets !

Well, the DTree beads did. Those slipped on the dolls’ wrists, no problem, but the hole in the ‘regulation’ pony beads was a twinge too small. So I grabbed a silver bead and a steak knife still on my desk from my mid-afternoon raw cauliflower snack and started scraping the hole out a bit more. I tried using my X-Acto knife and a pair of scissors, but the knife actually did the best, followed by some pointy kids’ Fiskars scissors. If you have a Dremel, and can keep the bead from flying off, that’d probably work best, but it only took a couple of minutes of work before I got the pony bead hollowed out enough. With that success, I augered a few more, and now the ghouls have six new bracelets that only cost a bit of effort. Well, my finger tips are still a bit tender, but they’ll be fine by tomorrow morning.

What’s bonus neat about the pony beads is that they’re nice and big. If you have the skill, you could easily paint tiny flowers or stripes, or whatever you want on them. Thanks to those ‘treat bag’ packs, I have stickers nearly tiny enough to decorate the beads, too. Howleen has a hollowed out white pony bead with a sticker on one wrist, the semi-transparent green Dollar Tree bead on the other. Yaaay for big and clunky ! 

Twilight time !

Current Notes: New student ! I think she'll fit in, don't you ? 

Lucky ! Beloved Hubby didn’t have to go in ‘til later, so he made sure we got to the Library today. I got my book and some pages printed in vivid color for backdrops – too bad the Library’s ‘we can print x size’ declaration on their web page didn’t match what they could do today. Most of the printouts are too short to get much use, but we’ll see.

I also offered to print a couple pages for Dearest Son – umm. He still likes My Little Pony, and since Equestria Girls, also likes human fan-art versions of the Mane Six. What I didn’t know is that he favors very….well, busty versions of them ! I shouldn’t be surprised, he’s of age for that, but…honestly, Fluttershy ! I knew some of his online image collection was a bit on the hentai side, but still innocent…just wasn’t expecting he’d want printouts of a well-endowed maid version of Rainbow Dash ! Worse still, the computer I was given to use wouldn’t send any of the images to the printer, so the Librarian had to do it for us. Guess which ones were the last to print, so they were right on top ? (cringe)

Although I apologized through my blushes, the Librarian said she’d seen much worse, but I’m willing to bet it wasn’t based on candy-colored toy ponies. I was careful to tuck those under the MH stuff when we checked out our books. Dearest now has them proudly pinned to his bulletin board, and momma needs to just get over it. The images are, after all, still at least 75% innocent…

After lunch, he decided to redo his desk again, so I snagged his Twilight Sparkle doll for a short photo shoot. And I saw Hasbro still does a poor job with hair rooting. I thought my Leia dolls were poorly thatched. Poor Twilight Sparkle up there (the purple one in the middle) has roughly 1/3 of the average rooting of a Barbie, over about twice as big a head. Her two rows of bangs stand straight out like shelves, too, once they’re free of spray starch. Much too short to anchor down, too. Shame, ‘cause she’s actually a pretty doll, although the pony version that comes with her is much better. I’d have bought a Luna like that, but no way am I gonna spring for the ‘Cheerleader Luna’ Hasbro actually made. I’d rather snag a Create A Monster, reroot her, and make my own Luna. Hmmmm….

Yow, I love that suit on her !

Current Notes: Careful, she's a squealer ! Says so right on the package. 

Another quiet morning. Dearest Son’s doing well with his new medicine, and I can still taste McRib on my back molars. We bought extra for Beloved Hubby’s lunch, so hopefully he enjoyed it ! A wasp got in the kitchen, and when it rested on the window, DFIL grabbed it by the wings, threw it down on the floor, and stomped on it. I was astonished – I’d never seen anyone do anything like that before. He just shrugged. Grab it by a wing, he said, it can’t sting you, and you can stun and kill it. Wow.   

Watched 13 Wishes  again – it’s kind of cute, but needs more Ghoulia. Frankly, the cast is so large now, there isn’t much time for more than four characters to do anything or have any substantial dialog, but Mattel and Nerd Corps (animation company) still seem determined to show everybody. Especially the characters with dolls in current release. I still don’t want any of the line’s dolls (unless there’s late releases of Ghoulia or Deuce), but I’m more sympathetic towards Twyla. She wasn’t as withdrawn and shy as her description paints her – she reminded me of Daria, just not quite as acerbically verbal.

I do have a bid on a doll, though. Mostly for her clothes and shoes, but not a six-scale size one. Don’t worry – I’m not restarting the Little Disney Princess collection, although I’d like to. I still miss them. No space for them yet, though.

While digging around online, I found another Wacky Packages MH parody sticker ! They make me proud in an odd way. Enjoy ‘Frankie Dollface’, the daughter of the Godfather. I kinda want to make that suit… it’s funny to me that there’s already a couple of jewelry pieces from Mattel that look like brass knuckles, so we won’t have to craft those. Can borrow the lead pipe from a Clue game...

Happy Birthday, Carrie !

Current Notes: Daughter and Daddy at her birthday beach party. I think she really likes her new landspeeder !

Mc Rib Count (2013 Edition) - 01

Happy, if kind of boring, day. Had lots of housework to do, so I focused on that and stealing a nap. We had a huge storm last night, and while I normally sleep well during those, the lighting strikes – about two a second, it seemed ! – kept flashing me awake. But join me in celebrating Carrie Fisher’s birthday !

Didn’t get to the Library last night, or tonight. Poor Beloved Hubby is working much too hard, and much too late. We did run out for a quick McDinner tonight, though, and I now own all three MH pails. I was surprised to see that the DracuLaura and Clawdeen lids featured different stickers, not just the same Frankie stickers in pink and purple. They were nearly out of Clawdeen purple pails, and a cute little girl admired mine. Her dad, however, couldn’t order her one… so I asked, and we did ! Got her the last one, too ! Her smile, and her dad’s happiness in her surprised joy, will always be among the best gifts I’ve ever received.

Turned out, I had another surprise waiting – Beloved and Dearest Son had thoughtfully rented Monster High : 13 Wishes, without telling me ‘til we got home ! Dinner and a show. What a great night. I really enjoyed my first McRib of the season !

Provided I’m not up all night from another storm, I’m looking forward to sewing tomorrow, and the Library…maybe Wednesday. 

Scares and stars...

Current Notes: Sewing. Still the best way to distract y'self...

Whoah, what a night. We’d barely ordered pizza – and I finished last night’s entry – when Dearest Son went into another seizure. I was in the bathroom when I heard him make an odd sound, and I tore back into the living room, where Beloved Hubby already had him into rescue position, and was cradling him. It looked more violent than usual to me, even though it’s been months since the last one (and years since that one), and longer…when he burbled up blood. I was on the phone to 911 two seconds later.

I admit it, the blood made us both panic. That’s never happened before. Thirty minutes later, he was long out of the seizure, but very tired and sort of out of it, yet a lot more alert than usual, in the ER. Two hours later, we were on our way home, with a prescription, referrals, and pretty much everything we’ve been pushing for ever since his very first seizure, years ago.

So, nothing bad without some good, but we’re just now starting to calm down. As for him, Dearest is normal and active, like nothing’s happened. But he’s learned to swallow pills – something he couldn’t do last week ! – and is taking today easy. We have a lot of appointments coming up, and hopefully, they’ll be helpful. We still have no idea what the trigger is, or even if there is one. And it turns out, seizures don’t cause bleeding. It’s normally from a bitten tongue or cheek, but none of us could find a scrape in his mouth anywhere.

I was so happy Dearest came home with us. I wasn’t sure how we’d have handled him being admitted. DMIL stashed the pizza in the fridge, which we ate in a sort of odd party mood. I still feel both safe and scared.

So I had to ditch out of that. And Camisole 2.5 was looking pretty good. While Dearest napped, I stitched it out, and even broke in one of the new blue thread spools. Well, there it is. It’s almost right. Still a bit big, but I like it to be a little loose. Can always install darts for a more snug fit later. Remembered to measure the ribbon straps this time, but forgot to sew them in ‘til last. Covers up part of the Velcro ™ in the back, which isn’t improving the fit here. Next time I sew it up – Camisole 2.6 – I’ll write down the sequence of directions, and scan it if the trim I gave the working pattern, well, works. Then I can share it ! That’s been my goal all along.

For now, though, we’re waiting for Beloved to come home. Yes, he worked today, a half-day, once he felt fairly confident Dearest wasn’t gonna seize again. I’m hoping to lure him to McD’s. Want another MH bucket ! 

Shiny things... gosh, I love 'em !

Current Notes: This is the Mikasa crystal candlestick DMIL gave me. I love it ! One day, I'll own the other to the set, and the matching vase, but for now, it definitely adds a sparkle to some French shoes ! (GNO Rochelle's, to be precise !)

Today I read something so outrageous, I got off my round, lazy butt and did something. Thing is, I actually asked for that crap in my e-mail box, but I never thought… anyway, suffice to say I no longer subscribe to Liberty Jane Clothing’s e-mailed garbage. I was simply too inert to cancel it before, even though I really had no use for American Girl –size patterns. Well, today’s little note included the usual ‘these patterns are stupid expensive, and these ready-made doll clothes cost more than most of what’s in your closet (up to and including your wedding gown)’, nothing really that offensive. To be honest, I’m kind of surprised I put up with it this long, I hate companies who creed ‘make more money by selling fewer things and more exclusivity (and often snobbery)’ and always have.  Until I got to the part where they proudly draw attention to their latest outfit-only OOAK Euro auction, showing the authentic Coach logo on a tiny purse.

“love it, of course a doll needs a coach purse too” – Um, what ? I realize it’s only a potential consumer’s comment, but for the company to trumpet it so proudly… means they’re part of the problem, and have no issues with that. They hint that the doll’s branded purse comes from a cut-up ‘real’ one. I’m all for enjoying dolls within the limits of yer budget, but it just hit me as consumerism gone nuts – like the Barbie dolls with $50K diamond and platinum dresses – and I don’t need or want that crap in my in-box. Maybe I’m a reverse snob, but I can pick and choose what resides in my brain, and designer purses for dolls (I don’t even like them for people !) get no space.

I’m sorry. Fact is, I’ve been very bitter these past few weeks, and to avoid infecting you with it, I’ve just not written at all. There’s no real reason for me to be bitter, in fact, things are going much better than usual. But there it is. I’m snarky and short tempered, which is kind of a default setting for me anyway, but it’s a lot more brutal lately. I’ve been trying to keep my snark to m’self these days, with DM and DFIL around, and doubly so since Dearest Son picks up on it, and I think it’s now bursting out of my seams. I need to find a place to go be snarky where it won’t hurt anybody. Maybe a coffee shop…? Is there a time and date for ‘open mike bitter rants’ anywhere local?

At least the day wasn’t a total loss. I finally got all the color printing I want to do at the Library formatted and loaded on a USB drive, like they said I should, and it’s waiting for our next trip. Should be soon, as the book I’ve been waiting for is now waiting on hold for me. Yeah, it sounds silly, but I’ve been meaning to get those images ready for *months*, and actually getting it done is a bit of a lift.

While I was at it, I backed up my musings, my patterns, my embroidery designs, and my photos. I need a bigger USB drive ! But at least it’s done. I haven’t backed those up since April ! 

Yaay ! The new Apple Cabin Foods ad is in !

Current Notes: Darn turts ! How do they work ?!

Nothin' goin' on, so here's some fun !

Current Notes: I don't know why this is so darn funny to me, but it is ! 

Don't care about what the calendar says - it's Fall here !

Current Notes: Brrrrrrr !

It’s gotten downright cold here ! I actually had to close the doors and windows for the first time since we moved. Perfect weather for my long-sleeved Halloween shirt ! And my first cuppa Pumpkin Spice cappuccino from 7-11. I love autumn, even if it does make me indolent and lazy.

It’s also normally where I find m’self most content. Like right now. Wouldn’t mind going to a fabric or craft store, or just out for a bit, but there’s really nothing I want right now. None of the dolls I’m interested in are due out ‘til next month at the earliest, few of their Mattel-made clothes / shoes / accessories still enchant me enough to want to buy them, I’m still under a tidal wave of ‘just moved it’ fabric, and even the books I want are on order from the Library. If I had money, I’d be saving a ton of it !

Oh, and the trend may continue. In neither of the comic conventions were any upcoming Ghoulia dolls shown – just more of the same ‘same characters in new clothes and hair’ and a few new characters that, with the exception of Slow-Moe and Clawdia, I’m not really interested in. I sometimes think I mostly bought Catty Noir to keep m’self interested. Honestly, I was more excited about the Happy Meal pails – and Life in the Dreamhouse Raquelle – than I was about Noir.

Looks like the trick is remaining interested, even during the ‘off’ season…

Here we sew again !

Current Notes: I'm sewing again - and it's a DB original ! 

If there’s one thing I learned last week, when I didn’t write at all, it’s that I have to make time for it. And if I just sit down and start, no matter how boring I believe my day is, I can always think up something to meander on about.

I completely missed the New York City comic convention, where some new dolls have been shown… mostly because again, I’m not interested in any of them. Oh, I rather like Elissabat’s dress, but it’ll either be a much simpler version by the time it hits shelves, or it’ll be an expensive exclusive. Pretty doll, too, even if she does look a *lot* like DracuLaura to me. Either way, we’ll have to wait and see.

(grin) I’ve done enough surveys to bank enough to pay for Slow Moe… if I find him for the projected shelf price of $15. So far, all I’ve seen of him is a MH magazine graphic and some cheesy rip-off ‘pre sale’ auctions on eBay. Prices on those are as ridiculous as the sales themselves !

And, as usual when I start whining about money, I suddenly got an urge to make something. It’s taken me years to connect those two events ! I decided to try the revised camisole pattern I’m making, version 2.0. The first one was too big around, armholes (‘armscryes’) were too far to the back and too large – in short, total FAIL ! But it’s a jump-off point, so I took the fails and redrew the design with them in mind. And, as you can see, 2.0 isn’t that bad. I’m using fabric I’m tired of, whatever thread’s in the machine, recycled Velcro ™, and ribbon scraps from other projects, which is why it doesn’t look as good as it could. Plus, I’m really not good with strap placement, especially having them hang equally. I’ve got next to no experience with it. But I’ll be more careful with 2.5 ! I might actually keep 2.5…

Version 2 has a big similarity with 1 – it’s still too big, in the front and all around again – so some trimming to 2.0 might just be all it needs. You’d think that something so small, so simple would be so easy, but I guess everything worth trying needs some trial and error to be its best. 

I think October is just gonna be 'one of those months'...

Current Notes: Side panel from the Tapefitti box. I love it, and wish Mattel would use it more often !

Happy Columbus Day ! Or ‘random day for banks and stuff to be closed’ for most of the rest of us. DFIL checked the mail four times before I reminded him. I hate to correct anybody when it’s gonna be embarrassing…

Kind of a boring day. Did dishes and prowled through my library books. We went to another ‘games day’ at the Library Thursday, so I have some new ones ! Too bad the sewing ones weren’t too useful. Oh, and speaking of ‘not useful’, I sent for the ‘secret to sewing doll clothes’ video from this place. The ‘big secret’ was to sew flat, i.e., sew hems on items before they’re sleeves and pant legs. You know, something most of us have done without thinking for years. Heck, follow the directions on most commercial patterns, and they all pretty much tell ya the same thing. She’s since offered me Secrets #2 and #3, but I think I’ll pass. You can buy her whole package for just under $50. – which includes eight easy American Girl patterns !

I decided to try to make my own pattern, for a simple MH camisole. First attempt didn’t go well. Armscryes are too big and too much towards the back, and it was too big everywhere else, too. For something so simple, I’m not having as easy a time with it as I thought I would ! 

I has a bucket !

Current Notes : Yaaay !
Click for biggerness !

I am sooo enjoying our cooler weather. But I still haven’t successfully led m’self to the sewing machine yet, even though I have a surplus of inspiration. I’m not sure, but I think it’s an ongoing ‘seasons change’ mental shift, I tend to have a touch of melancholy and find m’self skipping through Memory Lane at the drop of a floppy hat. Shouldn’t preclude my sewing, but it’s getting harder and harder to face my machine most mornings.

But there’s lots else to be happy about. I got my bucket ! Beloved Hubby wanted to hit McD’s tonight, and even though I knew the MH Happy Meal wasn’t due to start ‘ til Friday, I figured I could plot a weekend trip, too. Just in case, though, I asked – nope, they had Batman toys. So I was really surprised when I saw stacks of blue pails in the DriveThru ! Turns out, they’d run out of Wizard of Oz toys and were substituting the next toys early. Yaay ! I got them to sell me a food-free one (I’d already ordered an adult meal), and a second one when Dearest Son piped up that he wanted one for ‘stuff’.

They’re pretty cute – this store only had Frankie – and while I wish they either had real lids or fit margarine tub lids (too small), I really like mine. It’s quite cute ! This is the ‘main’ one out of the three I wanted, but now I’m looking forward to seeing what’s on the other sides of DracuLaura’s pink one and Clawdeen’s purple one ! Stickers are the same for all three, just in matching background colors, though.

Dearest was disappointed in the stickers. I have to admit, they are pretty generic. My bucket had two sets of ‘em ! On the reverse, there’s some sort of Halloween ‘bouncing ball’ game app, and they make a point of saying it’s free to download, and has no in-game purchases. These days, that’s fairly important !

Now, what am I gonna do with my new bucket…? 

Still a total sucker for dress forms.

Current Notes : I have plenty of tape now...

I had time to spend playing with my dolls today – and it really put ‘the move’ to the test ! Raquelle’s new stuff was cluttering up my desk, and at risk of being lost, and I also needed to fix up the Barbie shelves. So I pulled out the ‘Barbie Bin’, the white plastic storage box I keep all their clothes, shoes, and other accessories in. It hadn’t been touched since I shoved it in the bedroom closet shortly after we moved all our stuff. Still had the masking tape I used to make sure the lid didn’t fly away on it, as well as some mud and dirt from its open-air transport. Decided to take care of that, too.

Once cleaned, I opened it and located the shoes – in a reclaimed plastic kids’ school box. Several of the sixth scale dolls had lost one or both shoes during the move, and while they were nicely displayed, some were barefoot. Kind of spoils the presentation, ya know ? I must have six different sized feet among them, and that’s just the girls ! It took about half an hour to locate shoes that’d fit both feet and outfit. I also got my old Robotech Rick Hunter doll back from Dearest Son – barefoot and bare-chested. I got him properly outfitted as well. Then I brushed hair, dusted, and shifted poses a bit. Much better !

I also opened the Tapefitti MH Fashion Design package today. There it is, in today’s photo. I fully admit that 90% of the appeal was the dress form – may paint it black later, that pink is eye-searing – but even with various discounts, it was rather pricey for what it is. Which is, namely, a buncha tape, a chintzy tape cutter, patterns, some stickers, and a sticker-pushing spatula. Basically, what yer supposed to do is apply tape strips to the back side of the paper pattern, cut it out, and use more, less decorative tape to secure seams and attach it to the dress form or MH doll of your choice. The 15 included patterns – two to a character, except for Spectra’s one – are either Beginner or Expert level, and if you plan to use them, I’d get photocopies or scans first, so you can use the same designs more than once. It’s a cute idea, and I confess, I wonder if I can adapt a few of the patterns to use with fabric. I’ll probably try later, for kicks.

If you’re intrigued, and the broken MH doll you’re using as a dress form just isn’t cutting it anymore, you may want to snag one for yourself. It’s a Target exclusive, and I found mine in the MH aisle, not the kids’ crafts one. Twenny bucks. Not yet on the website. Happy hunting !

One day, I'll have to buy some red carpet...

Current Notes : I'm so glad Raquelle is here ! She's so much fun ! 

I was surprised how often I had to remind m’self not to tug Raquelle’s hands from her wrists – I know the new Barbie joints don’t work that way, but I’m so used to the MH ones… I’m also surprised at how much I wanna sew something for her ! Maybe she’s the kick in the pants I’ve been needing.

Still didn’t sew, though. Instead, I took advantage of a nap and an odd sort of window in the bedroom – it’s like a large window seat, just too high to sit or relax in. But it’s about right to store all my playsets, from the Barbie Friendship Airplane to the Monster High School, and Beloved Hubby was the first one to put them there ! Since he still doesn’t object, I arranged them there later, along with Flair, the Half-Moon Betta fish, but today decided to start playing with them !

I opened the Barbie Country Living Home and set it up – now my ‘main’ dolls have a place to live and have friends over ! Right now, Shinobu and Inaba are sitting at the dining room table, talking after dinner, while son Michio is watching TV in the living room. Yeah, kinda simple – I used only furniture that was stored inside the house to set it up, but I can always expand later. I can actually get to the props box without heavy lifting or clutting up half the bedroom – whenever I want ! Right now, I just like to see them there, instead of propped up somewhere.

Moving my dolls from the nightstand freed up that space, so I moved books off the floor and on the stand, where I can reach them easier. And since Beloved found the tablet stand, I moved that to the living room, where I might actually use it ! So I had a fun sort of day – and I’m looking forward to more doll time soon ! 

Raquelle moves from 'Dreamhouse' to 'Chez Insanity' in one easy shop !

Current Notes : Whoo-hoo ! New doll - and she's awesome ! Out of package, her hair has some brown to it, too. 

Ahh…I feel better now. Not sure if I just needed a break, or if the shopping trip did the trick. I kinda hate to pin my elevated mood on crass commerce, but . . .   shiny new things ! Yaaay !

I finally made up my mind. Yes, I still wanted Life in the Dreamhouse Raquelle. Have since I first saw that quirked smile months ago. Problem was, I couldn’t find her anywhere. Somehow, though, I never felt that ‘gotta drive everywhere, check every usual haunt and hole in the wall retail shop in case they might have it, then go home and scream at scalpers on online stores and eBay for somehow buying ‘my’ doll, and writhe in jealousy over every person who said he/she just strolled in to Mal-Wart and got theirs’ paranoid obsession I’ve had for darn near every Monster High doll I’ve ever decided to want. I figured Barbies would be around a bit longer – and I was right. I found that the local Tar-zhay had Raqs listed as ‘in stock’, and since her product number and stock number were different from Dreamhouse Barbie, it might actually be accurate. Plus, thanks to the move, I had a “10% off everything” coupon. Oh, yeah…

So I was disappointed when I got to the decimated Pink Aisle. They hardly had anything ! A couple of 2-pack Dreamhouse sets, a wedding pack, some mermaids, buncha princesses, the usual…but some digging and diving revealed one lonely Racquelle, languishing behind and beneath some other more generic Barbie dolls. Mine !

Then I rounded the aisle. Yup. Four more on the endcap. (sigh) Since they all had gorgeous eyes, I went for the best hairline rooting pattern, and I finally had my Raquelle. And she was on sale for only a dollar more than she was shown as costing on the website ! Victory !

On the next aisle, I found the Tapefitti MH Fashion Design kit, something I’d only seen once on eBay – a Target exclusive. It’s not even on the website. Basically, you make doll clothes with tape. Right. Despite its ridiculous price, I bought it, and you‘ll see it soon. It’s about twice that on eBay, and I really wanted that dress form !

I also had good luck at the Dollar Spot. Scored the Ghoulia dry erase board and a DracuLaura one (Dearest Son’s choice), a Ghoulia & Cleo ‘Beauty and Brains’ notepad, and 20 small boxes of tiny MH water tattoos. There’s four in a box, and each one will easily fit on your thumbnail. I’ve seen them for years, mostly on eBay, so I was thrilled to snag my own for just $3., instead of $3. a set ! Not sure what I’m gonna do with the other 16 boxes though… I may actually give some of them out for Halloween !

Dearest Son’s My Little Pony interest rekindled when I rented Equestria Girls this week from TRU’s new streaming venture. Worked pretty well, but my discount code didn’t go through – when I asked about it, they refunded the whole price ! Still feel a bit guilty about that. Anyway, it’s on Netflix and is airing on the Hub channel soon, and is actually a pretty good movie. I enjoyed it, and want to watch it again. So, when confronted with half a gondola of MLP and three weeks of saved allowance, he didn’t stand a chance. He snagged the deluxe Twilight Sparkle EG doll, and said I could borrow her for a few photos. I really love the pony that comes with her, and wish they’d make one of Princess Luna in that style. The EG Luna doll is a TRU exclusive, part of a 5-pack, and I’m just not interested. If Hasbro’d done a version of her like the one they did of Celestia, maybe…but Tween Cheerleader Luna just isn’t cutting it for me. I’m considering, after a photo shoot with Twilight and some MH ghouls, adding a Rarity to my collection…

I kinda felt I deserved the splurge, because I did DM & DFIL’s dishes. DFIL hasn’t been feeling well, and we were running out of forks – DFIL keeps dishes in the Garpartment ‘til he can get to them – so I volunteered to wash ‘em up. Yikes. What I thought was maybe a week’s worth turned into a two and a half hour marathon of scrubbing and soaking. Whooh. And I hate washing dishes ! But it needed doing, so I did it. And felt ultimately justified in buying all that stuff.

So there. It’s gonna be funny to watch me try to justify a trip to McD’s next week for those MH Happy Meal pails…