Here's Olive !

Current Mood : Witchy ! 

Here’s the green Bratzillaz pack on Olivia – I really like it ! I may take the ‘crest’ buttons off and use them elsewhere, but otherwise, it’s quite nice. The pink set witch hat is sewn to a plastic headband, but the green one has long black ribbon ties. I thought I’d prefer the headband, but it makes the large ribbon bows stand out against gravity. Can fix it by tacking it down further, but the ribbon ties work better at conforming the hat to a doll’s head. Giving serious consideration to removing the pink one from the headband, securing it to ribbon, and using the headband for other sinister purposes. It’s how I roll. Backpack fits on the doll’s shoulders, and isn’t outsized, either. Very nice !

And you can see how well the shoes fit. They may be just a twinge big, but I’d rather have that – can use hosiery with them – than the alternative. I love the green and black shoes. If there’d been no sale on a second set, I’d have bought just this one. The shoes resemble Draculaura’s pink/black ones from her ‘Newspaper Club’ fashion pack, and Abbey’s purple/black repaint clones in her ‘I Love Fashion’ set. So I’m way happy to have a green version !

Got to sew tonight, and opted for a simple holiday dress – a slightly lengthened version of the free-with-purchase ‘Simple A Line’ pattern, from NG Creations’ first set. You may remember it, I had tons of fun customizing it last Christmas. Kept it simple, ‘cause I knew it’d be worn with the other Bratzillaz set for tomorrow’s photo, so ya won’t see most of it anyway. Used the white-on-white holiday print, and it really looks nice. Photo Finish didn’t offer an opinion, and neither did Hoity Toity, so I’ve either shocked them to silence, or I have their approval.

Tomorrow you get photos of a lovely winter water witch !

Oh, and I’m not quite sure how it happened, but I seem to be a sewing guru / mentor on the message board I frequent. It’s not that I’m that good – I know I’m not ! - it’s that I’m often available and always willing to answer questions. I just hope I don’t confuse people worse. I tend to over-explain, or assume everyone’s at my low skill level. I want everyone to start sewing for their dolls, it’s so much fun !

But so is sleep….(yawwwwn)

Photo Finish is a picture-perfect pony !

Current Mood : Shop-dropped

We had a Pringles snack today, and I repurposed the empty cans into My Little Pony castle turrets for Dearest Son’s growing collection of G3 ponies. Paired with an empty brick ramen box, it looks respectably like a castle, with archways, windows, and even a drawbridge. Just glad I had enough construction paper, tape, and a big gold brad to secure the drawbridge door ! He selected the colors, drew the details, and played with it for most of the afternoon. Guess ya never outgrow playin’ with boxes.

Then, Beloved Hubby was home early, so I had to hurry. Thanks to the several-a-day e-mails I’m getting from TRU, I had a lucky combo of a 20% off any one item coupon and a $5. off Member voucher. The coupon was, of course, for today only, and the voucher expires Saturday. So. Time to go Christmas shopping !

I got Dearest’s big gift (shhh – it’s here !) right off, but couldn’t take advantage of the free My Size Barbie, as they were out of stock. Kinda ranks, ‘cause I was gonna donate her. Ah, well. Spent waaay too much time in the MH aisle, considering all they had was two DDG Lagoonas, one Dance Class Lagoona, and one Scaris Clawdeen. And about six million Skull Shores DracuLaura and Ghoulias and a small raft of Ghouls Rule DLaura and Clawdeen dolls. I personally sold two school playsets to curious parents who were relieved to know it’s not just cardboard – and that they didn’t pay the stupid high price I did !  Snagged the Clawdeen to donate.

Caught a buy one-get one half off sale on Bratz, and scored two Bratzillaz accessory packs, for the shoes. Considered a couple Liv wigs, but they’ve returned to full price, so back they went. The ‘Clearance’ section is cleaned out !

From there, it was on to the My Little Pony aisle. Dearest picked out three sets he liked on HasbroToyStore.com, and I found two of ‘em. I also got the one I wanted, and am now the proud owner of my very own miniature Photo Finish fashion photography pony. It is absolutely ridiculous how happy I am about that. Notice what in today’s photo is already deboxed. Yup. Same price as Hasbro, too. Photo Finish came with Hoity Toity, a fashion critic, and Rarity, one of Dearest’s favorites. I felt a bit bad that I’d gone shopping without him, so I gave Rarity to him. He now has three Rarities, each a different size. However, I have miniature pony versions of Anna Wintour and Karl Lagerfeld on my desk, ready to let me know when my sewing goes awry. Watch this for further explanation of why I love Photo Finish !

Time to check out. After a ten-minute wait in line – only two registers were open, and the place was, at 4pm, humid with humanity on a bone-dry day – the registers won’t scan my coupons, so I have to bundle it all to the service desk and wait in that line. Arrrgh. Wait another ten minutes, and…they still don’t scan. Poor cashier tried over and over until management hit two keys, and we were done. Success ! Still, I felt like the world’s worst Extreme Couponer – the clueless one that’s trying to get away with something, always right in front of you in line. Apologized to everyone and applied lavish praise on my way out into the clean air. Whew.

Got the bags split up into what I could take inside and what had to be left in Venus-diesel, covered up the huge box with the blanket I’d sneaked in this morning, and headed home, swearing to avoid the place until January, at the earliest. That sound you hear is déjà vu, not irony. I may or may not have voiced similar sentiments in past holiday seasons. So there.

Part of me really wanted the Fashion Style Luna – much cuter in person than in photos ! -  but I was already spending for the Bratzillaz shoes, and don’t have much space for more toys. Plus, I’m gonna try to make a stuffed Luna, and if she works, I won’t need a plastic one !

Right now, though, what I want most is a nap ! And some cheese…and ginger ale ! 

Good Morning, Rochelle !

Current Mood : So sleepy...

Well, my trade partner can rest assured that her beds are on the way. It was so odd, though. I used Priority Mail tape all over it, and told the cashier I wanted to mail it Priority. He quoted me a price much lower than I’d seen online, and I even verified it was Priority Shipping – he said it was. The tracking ticket says ‘Priority’, but my receipt says ‘Parcel’. I was hoping she’d have it by Friday, but again, my receipt says Tuesday. Now I’m hoping like heck it even gets there with the confusion.

But heck, I insured it, it’s done, I’m gonna just hope for the best and move on. It’ll probably be Saturday before she mails HooDude, if I’m lucky. I finally ‘heard’ my green MH doll’s name – the blank faced one from the Create A Monster Lab that I bought used a few weeks ago. It’s Olivia. Olivia Green. What can I say, it suits her.

And, out of a bit of boredom, I opened one of the four Dollar Tree Barbie-size doll outfit packages I bought Monday. It was the one with a purple t-shirt, sun-print pants, and a glitter-dot lavender minidress. While it was the dress that sold it, I kinda liked the pants, too, so I spent roughly an hour and a half remaking them. Yeah, it would have taken me about a half an hour to sew them from scratch, but I’ve never seen this cute print before in stores. Plus, it cured my boredom !  Removed the Velcro closure, removed the top hem and resewed it as a casing, and gave her elastic-waist pants. I had to redo the inseam and back seam anyway, as both were coming apart inside. Lotta work, but came out quite nicely, I think.

The purple shirt is a total write-off. I spent at least another half-hour trying to iron it, only to have it go right back to ‘wad’ when I took it off the ironing board. Plus, it really was too cheaply made out of cheap fabric to really spend much time on salvaging it. Seriously, I’ve seen Air Mail paper thicker than this shirt. No hems anywhere, a snag on the neckline, and poorly sewn…eh. If the wrinkles had ironed out at all – which they didn’t, and I had that iron as high as it would go, even spray starch didn’t help – I might have played with doing something with it. As it is now, I’d be embarrassed to even donate it. So it’ll probably go in the trash.

So I cleared something else off my desk. Robecca’s shirt is a leftover – I wanted to try another hoodie during Boyfiends Week, but cut the shirt part with short sleeves instead of long. I know sleeveless and short sleeved hoodies are popular, but that wasn’t what I wanted to make. So I recut the shirt and slid the miscut off to the side. I figured, the pants look like pajamas, why don’t I sew the shirt as an oversize tee, with orange thread ? Sewed it just like I did for the guys, but used a half-inch seam allowance for the underarm/side seams. Reused the pants’ Velcro ™, along with a longer strip of fresh stuff, to close in the back. It’s open a little to accommodate her wings.

Slippers. If this is gonna be pajamas, she’s gonna need slippers. I remembered some that’d come with a couple Mattel-made Barbie pajamas a long time ago – basically a strip of fabric sewn to a thin bit of oval vinyl. Like this, check out the third image. I’d bought a lavender nightie in hopes the simple slippers would fit another doll, and was surprised to see they hadn’t been turned so that the seam was on the inside. So I did it. They barely fit, but it gave me an idea about 20 years later. Dug until I found some mid-weight sew-in interfacing scraps from my machine embroidery days, and traced my fitting doll’s foot.

Five trials later, I had a workable pair, but not as good as I like. Gotta work on the toe part. Should only take a couple more versions before I get it right, and I’ll have something to share ! For now, though, I colored the strap part with one of Beloved’s highlighters, turned it so the seam is inside, and she’s got matching slippers from scraps !

Too tired to work on the glittery lavender dress. But I had some fun draping and fitting it to another doll, so I don’t regret that dollar ! Gonna watch something and wait for Beloved to come in from work. Hope you got to have some fun today, too ! 

My new 'Dude !

Current Mood : Relieved !

Woke up this morning to the sight of a beautiful Anjou pear on my nightstand. Beloved Hubby got it for me, saying he knew I’d love it. It was delicious !

And my beds / HooDude swap is back on ! He looks fantastic (there he is !), and we’ve traded addresses, so today, I made sure both beds were all extra-clean and nice, dusted those hard-to-reach bits, bagged up all the tiny props, and got it all cushioned well for the trip. Only one problem. Not a single box in this house was big enough. Not even the one my craft trolley came in, it was too thin and didn’t double well.

So I told my swap partner I couldn’t mail off today, but should tomorrow. There’s a great box store in town, but between FIL’s minor surgery and Beloved’s classes, Dearest Son and I weren’t going anywhere. At least, not until Beloved came home. It was too late for the post office, but the box shop was still open, so in short, I have a perfect, new box for the beds. They’ll go off tomorrow, and hopefully HooDude will be on his way to me. He’s a lot easier to ship !

It’s funny. HooDude alone has brought as little as $35. on eBay, but right now, the only solo ‘Dude is a hundred bucks. Heck, for that, you might be able to score the two San Diego Comic Con-exclusive dolls – Scarah and HooDude – if you can catch one soon. Prices on stuff like that always go up the closer you get to Christmas. In a way, I’ll have spent about $50. to $60. on mine. $40. for the two beds, and about $20. to ship ! At least it’s only a few bucks in ‘now’ cash.

I got a look at Dance Class Lagoona’s ‘ballet slippers’ and really wasn’t impressed. So I tried to make shoes again. Total fail ! Not sure how I made those ugly mustard-yellow ones back in ’10, but it sure as heck wasn’t using the pattern I saved. Yikes.

Realized I didn’t have it in me tonight to really create new shoe patterns, and instead erased the paint from the other Toralei fashion shoe and repainted it. My fingers are numb, but the job’s no longer only half done ! I regret that I didn’t get to use Alrunia’s awesome tip – nail polish remover, then adhesive remover – but we never got near a craft, auto, or general merchandise store tonight.

Oh, and good news ! I lost six pounds ! Hopped on the scale to get a guesstimate of the box weight, and, wow ! Guess sewing instead of foraging (and sticking to the 1 glass of soda / 2 glasses of water plan) is paying off. We’ll have to see if it still works once I get anywhere near a grocery store – I want Pringles, and Goldfish crackers, and big dill pickles, and gouda cheese, and rice crackers, and chips with dip, and a ham sandwich, and…

My new craft trolley is well-stocked ! With help from DTree...

Current Mood : Picky

We got to go to Dollar Tree today ! I had so much fun just looking at everything ! Ours finally had the two-packs of doll clothes in stock, and I got the ones I liked most. Evidently, they sell pretty well, there were only two ‘pins’ of them, and neither was full. It’s official – those plastic I-shaped barbs must be the cheapest way possible to attach anything, the doll clothes were lousy with ‘em. I noticed two pieces still attached to the cardboard but torn by them in the store, and was pretty careful picking out the ones I bought. Yes, I am snooty even about doll clothes that come in a two-pack for a buck.

Found the semi-transparent orange plastic pony beads I need to make doll-size prescription bottles (you can watch how here, at the 3:14 mark, part of the ‘How To Make a Doll Robe’ tutorial from My Froggy Stuff), because I think Ghoulia may be slightly anemic. DLaura usually is. Even scored the AAA batteries we need for a small desk lamp. It’s hard to see black stitches on black fabric at my desk most days (and all nights), so recent rip-outs have been difficult to an almost migraine degree. Not anymore !  

And speaking of headaches, my MH beds / HooDude swap is not going well. I wrote her this morning, saying I’d need her address to mail the beds off tomorrow – when you’re a one-vehicle family, ya gotta make the most out of a trip – but she’s not written back yet. She’s been on the board, at three different times I know of, but hasn’t posted since Saturday. I don’t think she’s aware that the ‘stats’ shows logins and posts, with the exact times. In any case, she has ‘til tomorrow night, then I’m listing ‘em on eBay and getting it over with. I’d think maybe there’s a glitch or something, but my messages to another member on the same board are going through just fine. Plus, since I told her I’d mail them today (my original plan), anyone would figure I’d need an address, since we never traded before. If she needs more time, she’s just gotta say so, but this vanishing act is kinda tickin’ me off. Even the HooDude I was keeping my eye on got bought today. I swear, with all this hassle, it almost seems like it’s destined for me to make my own ‘Dude !

Lest you think I spent the whole day shopping – even I can’t spend more than an hour or two at DTree ! – I did some crafty work, too. Dug out the shoes that came with Toralei’s fashion, and got them prepped to be remade. I considered just cutting off the orange part, but you know me, I never do anything the easy way. It took me two episodes of Jerico (Beloved Hubby’s choice) to get the orange paint off the ‘kerchief’ part of her open-toe wedgies. As with Operetta’s fashion shoes, that paint was on to stay ! I swear, Toralei’s were more work, with less color in a smaller space, than Operetta’s. I only got one done, but my arm hurts.

Although Deborah reminded me that I could just paint over, fact is, I wanted the orange gone, and I’m too cheap to pay for black paint. I still haven’t bought the brown to finish Operetta’s. And as an all-black shoe, the wrinkles look weird and out of place. Considered buying white glitter paint next time I’m at Mal-Wart or a craft shop, but then I remembered – I had those DTree glitter pens in the family Craft Crate !

I soon had it on much too thick, but I dried it upside down for runoff, and it doesn’t look too bad. Hasn’t scratched off either. I figured, after they rolled around in the shoe box for a while, they’d be de-glittered, since it flaked right off when I tested it on the orange paint part. Yet the one I’ve completed has been surprisingly durable. I’m gonna let my arm rest tomorrow, then do the other shoe Wednesday.

I’m also happy ‘cause the new lamp works – it made taking a photo of Robecca’s feet much easier – and I found that ‘Frame’ sheet of scrapbook paper so quickly, now that it’s right at my hip in the bookcase ! Yaaay ! 

Craft trolley !

Current Mood : Happy !

Yaaay ! I got to do a little shopping today ! Beloved Hubby sold his textbooks and we had a little spree, all three of us. I hit Hancock Fabrics for the Velcro ™, Fray-Check, elastic, interfacing, and a couple super-cheap remnants I needed – and a ten-drawer storage trolley ! I’ve been wanting one for years, and this was the cheapest I’ve ever seen it. And that was before the coupons ! The super-sweet, absolutely wonderful cashier scanned the ones I printed, then a couple she had, and I paid far less than I thought. I think my Fray-Check twin-pack was about $3.50 when she was done !

Once  home with our new goodies, I was soon in a rearranging mood. Assembled the trolley in about ten minutes – free allen wrench ! – and got to work emptying a bookcase shelf. I’d been using it to store backdrops, in the hopes that it’d be a sort of photo studio, but I could never get enough light in there. What light I got bounced around crazily, and I could never get a good photo, no matter what backdrop or shade I used. If I cleared out the stuff that’s sat in there barely used since we moved here, I could space out my overcrowded dolls a bit.

At first, I stuffed the scrapbook pages and props into the new trolley, but that didn’t work. Easily half my papers were 12“ x 12”, just slightly too wide for the drawers. I could stack ‘em on top, but they’d get dusty and wrinkled. Well, shoot. Had fun filling up the other removable shelves with the new fabric, the scrap box, and the stuff I bought to make my own HooDude, since I may still have to do that. Haven’t heard from my swap partner, not even her address, since she offered. That’s the second time someone’s asked if I still have the beds, and I haven’t heard from ‘em since I replied. And all I’ve said is, yes, I still have them, and I’ll be glad to answer any other questions. (sigh)

Wanna know what’s funny ? I wanted to go to Hancock’s so bad, because the felt from Hobby Lobby I bought seemed so thin. Three guesses what kind of felt Hancock’s had !

Anyway, I rethought some of my storage and redid a shelf under my desk – and now all the papers are right at my elbow ! I thought about getting a magazine holder for the smaller ones, but I’d found my binder fulla document protectors, and used that instead. Back when I still had the Lab, I used document protectors to organized used pattern printouts, but soon had so many, it was easier to just print off new than dig through all the old. I ditched the patterns in the big move two years ago, when I sold/gave away most of the dolls they went to. However, document protectors are like many other office supplies, you can always use ‘em later, so I threaded them into an old binder and shoved it in a box with the other papers, envelopes, and such. Glad I did !

Split my dolls into the new shelf space, and everyone looks happier. I also moved some small craft things into the trolley drawers, but left two empty, for ongoing projects. Like that dress I was supposed to sew today…(embarrassed blush) 

‘Barbie Style’, ‘MH Style’…I’m starting to think it’s all the same, just different in the details.

Current Mood : Delighted !

Ya'll aren't surprised to learn I've owned this since 1991 -
or that I've given at least four more copies as gifts,
are you ? 

Sent out a ‘flyer’ of sorts on the MH message board, wondering if anyone wanted to trade a HooDude for the DracuLaura and Frankie beds. It’ll cost a bit of change to mail ‘em, but they weren’t getting any leads on Craigslist, and the Dude was bringing $80. to $120. on eBay by himself, which is only gonna climb higher the closer Christmas gets, so, well… Since each part of the equation was pricey and in demand, it didn’t seem so ridiculous.

And less than an hour later, I had a potential trade ! She hasn’t written back yet, but if things go well, I could have HooDude by mid-December. And it’ll only cost me shipping. Beloved Hubby got paid earlier than expected, so he put a few bucks aside for me. Yaay !

Tried to figure out what to sew next – I finally got tired of the UltraSuede. Well, the paisley at least. About all I have left to make out of it that I haven’t already is a long skirt, pants, and stuff for the guys. So I wanted to give it a rest, but thanks to staying up late with Beloved, I needed rest, too. Caught a quick nap before we headed out to get a new battery for Venus-Diesel. She’s needed one (diesels her size use two) for about six months, and it’s been hard budgeting for it, but worth it now that we don’t have to worry ‘will she start ?’ each time we shut off her ignition. We even got a pro-rate on the malfunctioning one, plus the core charge discount, so it was a little less than we planned. Tomorrow, on Beloved’s day off, we’re ordering pizza for supper !

For tonight though, while he worked, I strolled Etsy for ideas. Wish I had the funds to buy some of the neat dresses Tabitha’s been making ! She sells as ‘moonsight68’ there, and I can tell ya’ll from owning some of her pieces, they are exquisitely crafted. Same for Deborah’s delightful doll food – her cupcakes and cookies make me hungry every time I see them ! Ever have to hide food from yourself ? Ever have to hide doll food ? (grin) I’m hoping I can snag some MH-style candy canes when she restocks ‘dlsarmywife’ soon !

It didn’t take long before I found an MH dress I really liked – and didn’t have a pattern to make m’self. In fact…I couldn’t tell how it was made, except beautifully. Very vintage Barbie style, with a snug bodice and swirling skirt. Hmmm. Barbie. I dug in my vast treasury of digital patterns for Babs and co., and found it. Hrf. Might be easier to buy one and take it apart ! But I’d hate to undo someone else's craft, and it’d be money spent I’d really rather apply elsewhere – when I have it. So, I resized the pattern, and I’ll try it tomorrow. I’m still sleepy, and (sigh) we were able to reactivate Netflix, too – I found a show I like.

Have you seen Once Upon A Time…?