Current Mood : Sleepy, with dishpan hands.
Current Image Notes : Here's the cover from 'Barbie in Japan', so that if you ever see it, you know to grab it ! I swear, the illustrated directions here, in Japanese, are better than some I have in 'plain' English.
I had a run of good news today. A doll gown I've been trying to identify for months has revealed itself to be 2001's 'Magic Jewel' Barbie - turns out, I've had the Ken (from a yard sale) and the park swing playset (from a K-Mart) for years without realizing they were connected. Originally, she came with color change plastic jewelry strips that could be used to decorate her pink and blue gown, or worn as kid bracelets, but the two times I've ended up with the gown, the wrap and bracelets were long gone. Finally, that's solved. Not a biggie, but I'm always glad to finally have stuff like that resolved.
Also, I found that, while digging in the Lab closet, I hadn't donated the doll wig after all ! Years and years ago, I found a pretty dark brunette wig at Hobby Lobby, in the markdown section. While it showed an American Girl-type clone modeling it on the packaging, and I didn't have one then, I bought it anyway. Figured that, for $1.50, I could use it for reroots, and the bag was torn enough to tell that it was good quality doll hair. Turned out, it fit the My Size Barbies quite well. But, since I really hadn't touched it except to move it out of the way, I thought I'd donated it - I know I meant to. But I must've forgotten, because there it was ! Great ! I've been trying to figure out how to buy another for Patti Playpal, once she's restored. The wigs I found were much higher than a buck-fifty. Now I don't have to worry about it anymore !
Last night, I updated the website with both new dresses pictured here yesterday and Tuesday, and moved some other stuff around. Only one of the 'Ten Recent Updates' is still dated '2008' ! Now I really need to sew something, so I can get that off there ! :)
And I noticed that the red 'leaf' dress on Bopsy is very similar to the one I made for Janet years ago. Janet's pattern came from a book commonly called Barbie in Japan, but I dunno what the real title is, since the whole thing's in Japanese. Anyway, I compared the two patterns - it's no wonder the freebie pattern gaps at the top. The Japanese one is much better designed. Truth be told, I'll probably toss the unidentifiable pattern, since I already have a better one. No sense altering it either - I couldn't give the altered mystery one away knowing it was flawed, and I can't violate the author's rights by distributing the better Japanese one. Ranks, but I'm glad I realized it before I poured hours into altering the other one.
I also ran into something else I usually meet head-on in spring - the classic, 'If I can afford to buy it, I could make it myself even cheaper'. Thanks to Dearest Son's Back to the Future car-love, I have some eBay Bucks to spend. Not much, but it'd be nice to have a small discount on something. Problem is, the stuff I can afford to buy, I can make. I can even see how it's made, and I know which of 20+ patterns I could use to replicate it. So I think my Bucks will expire, but that's fine. At least it wasn't much !
Finally caught up on the dishes. So tomorrow, I can hop up on the laundry. Never ends, does it ?
