Fun Friday with my Fellas !

Current Mood : Now I'm all sleepy...

Current Image Notes : Click on it if it's too tiny to read. It's soo cute ! You'll read it Abbey's voice, I can almost guarantee it ! 

Lots of fun today, too. I got to sleep in a bit, but got our bedroom nice and tidy in plenty of time to watch our DVD of Despicable Me with Dearest Son before Beloved Hubby came home from school for lunch. His work appointment got cancelled, and the big test on Monday got pushed to Wednesday, so he was spoilin' for some 'us' time. I enjoyed a hearty noodle lunch, as did Dearest, and once Beloved was done with his leftover chili and rice, we were off !

Dearest wanted to see Daddy's school, so we toured it. Even I didn't know it was that big ! We hit the GoodWill nearby, where Dearest scored a car he liked, Beloved found a near-perfect copy of the Pictionary game, and I pulled part of a Barbie house from a pile of toys, with a small kitchen on one side, and a living room setup on the other. Date on the bottom read 2007, and by holding up a bagged Bratz doll next to it, I figured it was the usual 'just an inch too short for Barbie' scale, which would mean it would fit with Monster High fairly well. Oddly, each 'find' was $1.99. I always like it when I'm not the 'big spender', ya know ?

Researched my find once we were back, and using the 2007 date on the bottom, I narrowed it to the modular Barbie 'My House' setup. Kinda wish I'd found the rest of it, I always liked the door and windows on that set. Of course, I had tons of other Barbie stuffs back then, and didn't realize how much I liked it until Mattel had already moved on to an over-pink version, lightly revised. At least I didn't find that one. Mine's mostly cream and lavender, with some green. Taped to it (using maybe four yards of packing tape) in a baggie were two disassembled kitchen chairs and a blue teacup. Luckily, I was gonna replace the 'Barbie' TV screen with an MST3K one, or some other in-joke. 

We also went back to the place with the 29c/oz 'Make your own yogurt sundae' place, and I darn near went overboard with cherries, strawberries, walnuts, almonds, and whipped cream. But it was those tiny cheesecake bits that almost did me in. I'm still tunneling through a turbo sugar rush from those things !

Surprisingly, though, I didn't crash. Instead, I hauled up the MH underbed storage box and put some new tidbits away, and pulled out all my lockers. It occurred to me earlier this week that, now that the shelf is straight, I can use them for backdrop in photos ! I have six - soon to be eight, thanks to Deborah ! - so I made it happen. Very nice. I have 'the guys' leaning on 'em, hangin' out.

Oh, and when I went to get some shoes for SS Ghoulia, I discovered something fun. Remember how I raved that Abbey's 'Snowboarding Club' boots had holes in the soles, so her snowboard pretty much doubled as a stand ? Well, her white boots have the same holes ! Yeah, I should have expected that - they're the same shoes, just with different paint jobs ! - but it still made me sigh with happy for a few seconds. I was also glad to get some cluttery things out of the way. I also filed a buncha papers, and discovered some prescription label stickers were attached to some old prescription warning sheets. Gleefully tore those off so they'd fit a smaller file, and stashed 'em. They'll be perfect to label all the cut-pieces for that MH box I still wanna make !

And after much deliberation, SS Ghoulia - broken arm and all - is now in that little nook in my Arena. I was gonna bring back Classroom Ghoulia, but decided I could always swap them, or any other doll, out later. So. Am happy.

Hope you are, too !

Go Team !

Current Mood : Disjointed

Song You Forgot : Shoop, Salt N Pepa

Winter is the big season for machine embroidery freebies. Seems like half my mail (that isn't spam from AARP and others concerned about my weight and male potency) contains links to free designs and sales to encourage my money to get spent over there. Thing is, we bought about $200. worth of designs the first year we got Brody, my embroidery machine, and spent maybe $20. a year after that. Last year was maybe half that, probably less. Since most sites don't have the kind of fangirl copyright violations I really like stitching up, it seemed to make more sense to design and rip off my own, and save the few bucks I spend on others' works for really spectacular versions of antique dress forms. I am such a sucker for those.

But now that it's been well over six months since I even plugged Brody in, I don't see me buying any designs at all this year. I don't even know why I downloaded those seven or eight freebies this morning, other than they were nice and they were free. I don't know when or where I'd use them, but in case I need three more interpretations of Christmas trees, snowflakes with birds wearing scarves, or a "<3 " heart inna curly speech bubble, I'm ready to go !

I really need to embroider something. Just...not today.

Not sure what's holding me back - I had all day, nearly. Just had to put some clean laundry away before it got mixed up with dirty and I ended up having to wash it all again, and cleaned up our room today. Gonna do dishes later. But I let the afternoon go, wondering why I still feel so blocked.

This 'thinking' thing is gonna kill me, I just know it.

Don't we all think of swimwear in January ? Part II !

Current Mood : Beachy ! 

Whoo-hoo ! What a great day ! As you can see, Abbey's swimsuit arrived - rrrowr ! It really is amazing. In Abbey's packaging description, it mentions that the ice crystal necklace she wears keeps her at a comfortable temperature without freezing less artic-enthused students. So I leave it on her all the time, even though Cleo's info says she has to keep parts of herself 'under wraps' constantly, I haven't put those bandage-pieces back on her yet. What can I say, I'm inconsistent.

Anyway. I really do have more vivid purple shoes for the Monster High ghouls, but they simply didn't look right with the outfit this time. So I went with the semi-translucent lavender. It's great when you can take a half hour and try on a dozen or so shoes on a doll 'til you find the 'right' ones. Abbey's issue necklace doesn't quite sit right with the tie-halter of the swimsuit - at least that's what I thought. As it turns out, the suit has the cutest little tiny crystal sewn to it already ! So if you wanted, you could assume that crystal and the necklace do the same thing, and take it off. You know I did ! Also, from photos, I assumed that the waistband of her little wrap/sarong was simply white elastic. Nope - it's fun fur ! Yet another thing indicated in her 'monster style' info/bio. And her swimsuit print, which sort of looks like yer often-seen tropical flowers design, is really snowflakes ! Wow. Lot of attention to detail here - it's wonderful, and I love it !

Before long I started thinking - which is probably why it suddenly got so cold around here. Wonder what the temperature is in H*ll ? Anyway. These are tiny little things that impress the heck out of me. A little bit of plastic, a thin strip of fur - not much, and almost effortless to include. But it does indicate Mattel going a bit out of its way to really 'plus' everything. This truly impresses me, and it hits me. If Mattel can do this for a fledgling line of dolls, why can't they do it for Barbie ? And, since clearly they can, why aren't they ?

Well, 'cause they don't have to. Mattel's got us former and current Barbie fans not only used to less and less from them, but sort of expecting such. Thin dresses with a nice print on only the front side. Fashion packs with no accessories when even Dollar Store doll clothes include cheap-jack shoes and semi-useable and in-scale cosmetics. We're used to crap tactics because we haven't seen much else in a long, long time, and we long-time collectors / fans know the bar will probably be set lower long before it gets reset higher. Probably eventually, we'll see the same shrug-off attitude applied to Monster High...but for now, nearly every tiny thing made for MH is plussed and well-imagined.

Even non-MH fans have noticed. When someone posts another adorable photo of the latest doll and all the tiny things that make him/her special, the Barbie communities sigh and weaken a bit. THIS is what's missing from Barbie ! This is what she needs besides more 'princess, ballerina, and PC-friendly career' stuff. It's nice, and I'm sure it sells, but right now, is there anything more boring than Barbie ? Has anything truly new come out for her - that isn't tech, and can be used with yer standard $5. swimsuit doll - lately ?

I just wish sometimes that Barbie was still special. Let's face it, it's much easier to find shoes for every outfit for her !

Organization...or Enjoying Your Hoard

Current Mood : Better...at least it's not 'better getta bucket' ! 

Still in a rather weird place, health-wise. I'm not really sick, but I'm not anywhere near the top of my game either. So I'm riding it out. Watched a buncha movies, ate a lot of rice, read all but one library book, and that one'll be done tomorrow night at the latest, if I feel the same way then.

Since I wasn't moving around much, I figured I may as well do some sorting. I've been meaning to do something about the underbed box o' Monster High delights for a while, no time like the present. And I needed a distraction. The underbed box was stuffed full - too full ! - of darn near everything. DracuLaura's coffin bed, Lagoona's Hydration Station, a box of props, a Sailor Moon softside lunchbag of shoes, and *all* the clothes. And we all know that anytime anything is packed that tight, ya can't find anything. Clearly, something needed to be done.

I played with several ideas, while I played with the clothes and props, and got the ComicCon MH totebag down, sorted through all the random bits it contained. Hmm...How was I gonna do this...? In the end, I decided to keep the bed and hydration station, along with the box of props. all the stands, and all the paper bits (diaries, leaflets, booklets, etc.) in the underbed box. All the clothes and the lunchbag of shoes went into the MH totebag, and lemme tell ya, it's getting close to full already ! Still to come : sewing a Velcro (tm) closure on it, soon.

I stored the damaged DLaura in the underbed box, too, after slipping her into the 'hospital gown' dress. It was bad enough I was semi-abandoning her, I didn't need to leave her naked, too. The green of it made me think of one of the first things I ever made for the ghouls, a floral blouse and denim skirt edged in green thread to match. The hem on that blouse was so horrible, I'd covered it with green ribbon, which amazingly looks like a design choice instead of a cover-up. Since Abbey still needed something new to wear, I found that and put it on her, with some matching green sandals. It wasn't until later that I realized that she was wearing strappy sandals with what looked like a cold-weather outfit, but I adapted the story to mention they were her first experience with such a shoe type, and she didn't quite see the fashion faux pas, so darn it, she was gonna wear what she really, really liked ! I can rationalize anything.

So, aside from the day - possibly this weekend - when I dump everything out of the tote bag to sew a closure, everything's put away for now. And I gotta confess this : even when I had all of Barbie's clothes arranged in the cubby set Beloved Hubby made me, I still really loved to dump it all on the floor and sort through the wealth of clothes until something - or some doll ! - spoke to me. So I think the totebag is gonna work out just fine. Plus, with the way it was, I wasn't using any of it at all, so the totebag is an improvement. 

We're #6 !

Current Mood : Sleepy again

Super-quiet day, no med appointments, no real work done. I was still kinda tired, and read for a while, did some dishes - tomorrow's Laundry Day, wheee.

So about all I really have to yammer on about is an article on how there's no 'must-have' toy of 2011. According to the New York Times article, retailers are so scared of getting stuck with stock, they haven't bought much beyond classics like board games, and even those are more expensive than before. While some things are hard to find, nothing's a 'must have'. A similar Time article parrotted most of the NY Times one, going on to wail that they almost miss the Tickle Me Elmo / Cabbage Patch Kids crazes. I'm sure the author of that article misses chariot races, too - didn't people get hurt trying to get those things, not too long ago ?

On the plus side, the 'Dead Tired' MH dolls did get listed on the Time 'Top Toys of 2011'  article - we're number 6 !

http://www.time.com/time/specials/packages/article/0,28804,2101344_2100678_2100672,00.html  . Of course, I'm wondering where Time was in 2010 - shoot, half their 'top toys' list from that list, I've never seen. Oh, I saw those nightmarish Sing-A-Ma-Jigs...(shuddder) For some reason, their mouths creep me out !

Plus, there's also today's webisode, featured in tonight's image ! It really was cute, and I now have a peek at what to make for Abbey's nightwear. Those slippers are gonna be a pain, though.

One thing that's funny about it. I used to study cartoons and animation as a hobby, so I'm used to seeing things flicker from frame to frame. Just as Abbey tells Cleo that she's lost, Abbey blinks - and her eyes get bigger and darker, for a fraction of a second. Like her eyes dilated ! Just like what happens to most humans when they see a baby or kitten - or win a game ! So funny...

Abbey really likes trees, and didn't mind posing at all !

Current Mood : Really, really tired.

I was thinking about my actions Monday night. When I got Gil. (happy sigh) Without even thinking, I pushed Starlight's keys in Beloved Hubby's hands, taking for granted he'd drive. Thing is, I can drive. I have a license and everything, and it's valid. I even know where my glasses are. And I sincerely doubt that my excitement would have impaired me that much. So I'm not sure why I simply didn't drive m'self. I think I'm so used to Beloved behind the wheel that I don't consider taking it m'self anymore. Well. Now that I'm aware of the behavior, I can change it. I need to drive !

Just not today. Did dishes, which necessitates cleaning the kitchen, since no one else does it when they do dishes. You know, the usual - wipe down the counters, clean the range surface, scrape the microwave type stuff. So an hour's worth of plate-scrubbing is actually about two and a half hours total. And I take breaks, because my oxygen hose doesn't reach to the kitchen sink, so I have to clean without it. So I'm wiped out, but it's much too early to turn in. Plus, I took an impromptu nap already, right here in my Arena chair. So I really have no reason to be as wiped out as I am...but I am.

Managed to stir around enough to cut out the pattern pieces for that ruffled-collar jacket in Simplicity #1955 - view D. Decided to go with the familiar 'star field' fabric, since it'll probably look good on nearly everybody. Leaned towards Abbey wearing it first, though. May make the matching skirt (view H or I) tomorrow, after my appointment.

Yup, got another one. But, except for another diabetes class I haven't been contacted about yet, that should be it for the month. Whew ! Tomorrow's just a follow-up to the one I had on the 18th - two images of 'the girls' didn't come out, so I gotta get squeezed again. (sigh) Not looking forward to it, but it's not so bad. Just hate having to do it twice.

Beloved came home and went straight to sleep after a light supper, and Dearest is happily occupied in his Wii Bakugan game. Time to sew ! But... I really didn't want to. I most wanted to go to sleep, but with the naps and slow day, and the fact that it was simply too early to crash. Even though now, my tummy was starting to churn up a bit. (sigh)

Still, I pushed through, and started on that jacket I've wanted ever since I've seen a similar one in Tabitha's (MeLoveGangrels) Flickr photostream. Got the fabric cut and ironed, had the directions up and the sewing surface primed, lowered the presser foot to take that first stitch...when my light suddenly flared and went out.

Well, shoot. KJ's very important light bulb blew. No mistaking it, when I swung that part of the head open, there it was, dark and silent. Can you even sew without that light right at the needle, precisely where you need it ? Yeah, but it ain't easy at 9pm, in a house already known for its cavelike darkness. Experimented with a mini-flashlight and some masking tape, but ended up just using it when I needed, by holding it in my teeth or under my chin.

So. I made the jacket, but it's nowhere near as awesome as Tabitha's. Had to redo the underarm seams several times to get it right, and it still doesn't 'hang' right at the shoulders. Not even parallel on both sides, either. I really should have tried the non-ruffled collar version first, since I *always* have trouble with collars, but if I'm gonna push myself to sew with minimal light and a slightly achy tummy, I'm gonna make something I like !

So. Maybe I'll try it again in a few days. Right now, though, I get to go to bed !

Now, I just have to work on the props for "Velcro Fly"...

Current Mood : Ultra-silly

Today was so much fun ! Beloved Hubby was off, so we slept in, and went to Former Town to run a few errands. Finally got the 'not keeping' DVDs traded to Hastings, and scored $27. ! Not too shabby. Nothing new in their Monster High section - well, they had new-to-them stuff, although it was all merch I already had - but they did have Agatha H. and the Airship City, a novelization of Phil and Kaja Foglio's Girl Genius web comic. While it's been kinda slow for the last year or so, I'm still mostly devoted to it, and had been looking for the book since it was published in January. Even though it's a text version of the same story I've read online, I liked the style and decided to snag it. It covers from the start of the webcomic to the escape from Castle Wulfenbach, the aforementioned Airship City. Looking forward to digging in.

Dearest Son found some Bakugan books, one graphic, one text, and Beloved scored a study guide to higher mathematics, a subject he feels weakest in. With his upcoming education - he'll start in January - anything that'll make him feel more confident and positive is a good thing. I also found two novels in the Used section, on markdown, 2 for 99c. Of course, they rang up as $6.99 each, even with all the marker lines and Markdown stickers. Equally of course, I brought it up to the cashier, who fixed it. Hmpft.

We couldn't decide on lunch, having had a late breakfast, so we ended up with convenience store hot dogs and soda. It's not often you can feed a family of three for five bucks, and it isn't widely advised, but it certainly was tasty ! Got misplaced library books turned in, and headed to another strip mall - Goodwill was in that one !

(sigh) But we didn't find anything. It was crowded and busy and messy, and frankly, depressing. Ever go to a thrift store where even the books are broken ? By now I was a little tired and we still had a few groceries to score and some RedBox to turn in (btw, Everything Must Go is also kinda depressing), so we headed home. I was about to fall asleep !

I got a few chapters into Happiness Sold Separately, one of the markdown Hastings books, before I crashed for a solid two-hour nap. Played with Abbey Bominable for a while, and tested 'Physical Deaducation' Ghoulia's glued-yesterday arm. Seems to be holding OK, but I'm really timid around it. Don't want to break it again !

Toralei Stripe, the MH orange cat-girl, has been listed on ToysRUs.com, and was even marked as 'in stock' for a short while, according to folk at the LiveJournal group. Unfortunately, there are either sooo many people trying to get her, or the site itself was buggy for a short while after she appeared, because it crashed completely for a half hour or so. Then, when the dust settled, everyone who'd managed to click on it found their shopping carts empty and a reset to 'out of stock'. Not surprisingly, this upset a lot of people.

 While it may be hard to believe that MH fans managed to scuttle a big-company website, I can believe that's exactly what happened. I felt bad for everyone who had one, I sorta went through the same thing with the K-Mart site a few days ago. Luckily that had a happy-for-me ending, and I hope that for everyone here, too. 

OMG ! Abbey !! And Toralei, too !

Current Mood : Delighted and dizzy !

(laugh) It never fails. Few days after I post a photo of my 'complete' Fearleading team, the very next webisode shows Ghoulia suited up and...well, Fearing. I kinda wanted to get her a uniform anyway...and now I'm sort of torn. Since I'd also like one for Lagoona, should I go for another Fearleader Set (I can use Amazon 'book sold' money !) or snag two or three outfits and start scritching stitch decals ? I'm not really sure yet. Cash-wise, it's $43. vs $27., which is sort of compelling - and I'll get more megaphones ! As for why I'd possibly need three uniforms...

Well, you've seen the photo. Acting on the advice of Tanz_Fanatika from the LiveJournal Monster High site, I called up our local Justice! store. It's a girls' clothing and accessory shop, filled with so much pink and bright, you'll swear it's raining glitter. There's one not five miles from here, and in the mall where we lived before the move to CapitalCity. They gladly checked for me, and while they were happy to put Abbey Bominable away for me, they didn't have any Gil dolls. Oh, well.

Messaged Beloved, who was looking forward to a short day, and he advised me to be dressed and ready, he was on the way home within the hour ! Lucky !! And, as it turned out, they had just one lonely Toralei. I'm still on the fence about her. But it's easier to return a doll than to find one again in this line, so we went ahead and snagged her.

Took her up to the counter, and...oh, no ! There was a Spectra Vondergeist doll, with a big yellow "HOLD" tag taped to her. Oh, shoot - had I asked for the wrong doll somehow ? Nope. That was someone else's. My Abbey was backstage ! Wheee ! Since everything in the store was 40% off, the two dolls total were a bit over $38. Awesome !

Got home and deboxed Abbey. She is wonderful ! Bit of hair shed, but her glittery skin is just so, all over, and her pet wooly mammoth Shiver has the most impish grin ! Have you seen the tiny skullie-head key that dangles from her purse ? Amazing detail for something so small. I briefly thought of getting her 'Snowboard Club' outfit, but then I remembered - the pants are only knee-length, we have plenty of boots already, and I can find a snowboard in Barbie props somewhere. No, if I'm gonna waste money, it'll be on more Fearleader outfits, natch !

So. That leaves only Gil left on my wish list. And yes, I checked the Justice! in FormerCity. She said they didn't have any left. Arrgh ! Oh, well. For a doll that got nearly $130. by himself last week, when there were fewer than a dozen listed, there's pages of him available now, and $50. Buy It Now 'auctions' are being ignored. Evidently there's lots of Gils coming out, maybe even here eventually.

Ah, Gil...Someday...