Mood:
on fireNow Playing: "Robots" - Son 'rediscovered' it again after I bought a 'rail spinner' similar to a prop in it.
Have no idea why it took me so darn long to get going today. Seems like I could come up with endless reasons to keep my rear firmly ensconced in this chair all day. Eventually, however, I did get up offa that thing, but about all I did was dishes.
I updated the home page, slightly. Changed ‘July' to ‘August', and deleted references to July 4th in Aylene's ‘front porch' photo. Added a link to Studio Foglio's Girl Genius just beneath it. It's one of the reasons I had for parking my butt in this chair for so long ! Beloved Hubby and I read today's new strip this morning, and from there, I toured the sketchbook. That was good for numerous laughs ! If you tried to access GG from the last link I gave, I'm sorry. I'm an idiot, and gave the wrong address.
Try this one ->
http://www.girlgeniusonline.com/ . It works !
And yes, I am working on a GG-inspired costume for one lucky doll. I just have to pick which outfit I like best - that I can possibly make. I could easily do the underwear she keeps finding herself in during most of the earliest chapters, so I may start with that. Just for giggles.
Speaking of giggles, I did manage to price the stuffing I'll need for that magazine pattern penguin I was planning on making for Dearest Son. $6. Hmpft. I can *buy* a licensed Mumbles (Happy Feet) for $8. that isn't much smaller. And it dances ! Still, I'd like to make him something besides Thomas the Tank Engine blankets and Cars pillows. You know, something that isn't bedding. The stuff I've made him so far has turned out nice, and he's certainly enjoyed it all, but ya can't take ‘em on car trips to Dollar Tree or really show ‘em off to friends. He's still into penguins, so I hunted for penguin patterns that don't require multiple bundles of stuffing. Kind of a 'pocket penguin' of sorts.
About the only freebie one online seems to be the Linux penguin - > http://www.free-penguin.org/#dow , which is cute, and at around 12 to 14 inches tall, about the right size. But isn't what I want. Plus, it doesn't say how much stuffing is needed. Toured other web sites, and found one featuring interesting scans of various patterns from Japanese women's magazines. One in particular got my attention - it was for a purse and glasses case with an adorable miniature penguin as an appliqué. It got me thinking... so if you had a chill race up your spine about 9:45 Central tonight, it was probably the universe recoiling in horror at the idea of me thinking. Sorry.
About five minutes later, inspired by the appliqué, I sketched out a simple pattern. It would work pretty well in felt, and less than half a bag of dollar-store cotton balls would easily stuff his five-inch tall body. Nothing amazing, but even my pathetic sketch - I can't draw for love or money, or even both - held a sort of charm. He'd be small enough to be cute, quick enough to make so that when he invariably gets wrecked, I won't be upset, simple enough to experiment with, and endearing enough for Son. A quick check of the beyond well-stocked stash revealed that I already had everything - orange (beak, feet), white (belly, eyes), and black (body, flippers, and tail) felt, a large and rather old sack of cotton balls, a black Sharpie pen, and plenty of thread. I could even use some of the fabric that made Baby Ariel's outfit yesterday for Macaroni penguin hair. Macaronis are Son's favorite.
It's funny how I have it all. The orange felt is leftover from attempts at making Crissy doll shoes, the white is from my old craft supplies, purchased about ten years ago, and the black is from a Hobby Lobby sale during Christmas - I picked up a sheet of black to round out the '10 for $1.' rainbow I was buying. I even have glittery black felt, from an after-holiday markdown. Only paid 4c a sheet for those ! So I may well make a ‘disco' penguin, once I get the first one done for Son ! I also still have some red sparkle, left from the Christmas I made stockings for Son's preschool class. There may be some really flashy birds around here in the coming days...
Tomorrow's a busy day, though, so we'll see how it goes. I may well have photos of penguins for you ! I'd offer you the pattern, but once you see it, you can easily make your own. Goss knows it couldn't be difficult if I came up with it !
