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Dorrie's Doll Diaries
Friday, 17 August 2007
C-c-c-changes...
Mood:
 a-ok
Now Playing: "101 Dalmations" - now that he can find his movies, Dearest Son's been watching different ones
Dearest Son's busily playing with old toys. I swear, he thinks I'll toss stuff out when school starts if I haven't seen it out of the toybox in a while ! Actually, I only ditch the broken stuff. I never know what he's gonna want next, so it doesn't do any good to toss toys until he gives them to me to donate. So I don't touch ‘em unless they're truly busted. Got dishes and the kitchen cleaned, and did some laundry. In a few minutes, Son's gonna help me clean up the living room by moving all his toys back to his bedroom, and we'll get ready to go to Granny & Granddad's. Beloved Hubby's working late tonight, but we'll make time for ourselves when he gets home. We never did watch the DVD of Enemy Mine he got from the $5. bin at Mal-Wart last week. Haven't decided what to do tomorrow. All the stuff I'd normally jump on doing tomorrow I can do any day of the week while Son's in school. Really feels weird. The idea of going to Hobby Lobby any time I want to...wow. I know it's only been a few months since school let out for summer, but it seems longer.
Posted by dorriebelle
at 12:01 AM CDT
Thursday, 16 August 2007
Seasons change...(Expose, I think, sang that one)
Mood:
 cool
Now Playing: the clatter-complaints of the dishes I haven't washed yet.
The ‘get up offa yer butt' theme is continuing. Sometimes with humorously painful results. Was getting down to the Sound Cube when - owOW ! I'd managed to boogie on the sharp end of a pin on the Studio floor. It got pretty deep before it hurt ! Gave it some proper first aid, then restarted the song and checked the carpet before bouncin' around some more. Feels weird to have a band-aid on my foot, like I'm constantly stepping on paper. Got my paper project done, too. This is gonna sound weird and uber-frugal, but I do it. Patterns I wanna try get printed out on regular copy paper - usually on the blank sides of sheets we've already used once. It's rare for me to use fresh paper, unless I plan to print pieces on both sides and it won't conflict. I usually end up with large paper scraps. Once I've got a pile of ‘em large enough to annoy me, I cut ‘em down to fit in the scratch paper box I got at a yard sale for a quarter. Yeah, I could easily just buy a pretty new one at Dollar Tree. Or use one of the dozen notebooks I bought beyond cheap during back-to-school sales recently. But for some reason, I get a kick out of reusing a sheet that had a soccer-team formation announcement from Dearest Son's school, printing a pattern on the obverse, sometimes twice with a Barbie pattern, and still having enough to cut a scrap paper sheet from. By the time most paper leaves our house, it's been well-used ! Cancelled XM Radio today. We're just not using it, and with winter coming, I may as well save the few bucks it cost. They were actually pleasant about it, I think it's the best cancellation call I've ever had. I'll miss it now that it's gone, but give me a month, and I'll be annoyed that the radio's still here. Puttered around in the studio some, but didn't really get much done. Mostly just enjoyed being in there. Didn't do any housework either, so it all evens out ! I think, in my lazy, roundabout way, I'm trying to hold on to summer, since a new part of my life is beginning. Dearest Son will be at school all day, without me driving him. It feels so weird to know he's not as dependent on me - I'm happy about it, but a bit sad at the same time. He's excited ! I should be...give me a week or two.
Posted by dorriebelle
at 12:01 AM CDT
Wednesday, 15 August 2007
Today, I got up offa that thang...
Mood:
a-ok
Now Playing: "Hamtaro" - we have two different DVDs, I just don't care enough to see which one 's on.
Pretty much had to get off my butt today - ‘meet his teacher' night is tomorrow, and that's when most parents turn in the requested supplies. We had most of it, but not all, since we didn't know which school he'd be attending until Monday. Bought the wrong scissors, too. So it had to be done today, as tonight and tomorrow, the ‘school supplies' aisles will be utter disaster. Parents who can't shop ‘til this weekend will be seriously shocked at how beaten up those aisles are. Heck, it was pretty bad at 8:45 this morning. After I had to wait for a mom/daughter team to go through ever.single.folder.and.notebook for the ‘look' they wanted - and, of course, this takes the entire aisle, both sides, to accomplish - I got almost everything he needs. But not the ‘ 4 blue, two pocket brad fastener folders'. Mal-Wart was sold completely out of all colors. Well, they had a few, but they looked as though they'd barely survived last year's tour of duty. Not enough, and not blue. So we got the groceries and hit Albertson's, which is now Homeland. They had ‘em. Cheap, too, just not quite as cheap as M-W. I was so happy just to have it done, I would have paid double. But a buck for all four was nice. Still, when you have to hit three or more stores to find the list stuff, it's a bit much. I don't mind getting what Dearest Son will need, it's not even that much money. I just get tired of every year having to hunt some items down like a bloodhound. Luckily my doll shopping has trained me well for this. It's just not as much fun. Got home and proceeded to round my rump some more. This time, with chips ! But I knew I'd soon have the ‘cicada shell' feeling again if I didn't do something. Dishes and laundry were right out (grin), so I decided to download some music from Napster onto the MP3 and go clean the studio. With some new tunes flowing out of the Sound Cube, I got patterns sorted and stored, loose doll clothes put away, and the sewing table cleaned up. I then went after the Fashion Fever sets. While I'd opened the one Gabrielle was in and one of the fashion sets, most of the clothes for those two and one other fashion-only set were still attached to the packaging. I hadn't even opened the red/white/blue/gold one. Not sure why I do that. Even when I'm pretty sure I'm keeping some new doll goodie, I often don't open it right away. Oh, well. At least they all got opened today ! Got it all stored, too. It felt really nice, like a gift all over again, to de-box everything. There was one outfit from Gabrielle's set I really didn't like. Actually, I liked the minidress, but the open-back hood just didn't look right to me. I almost didn't buy that set because of it. It looked OK on a doll - I saw it on the Fashion Fever doll group - but I knew it wasn't anything I really wanted. So, when I deboxed, I put it aside with the purses that don't open. No kidding. One, a cute little gold and black box of a purse, even had a hinge and a clasp, but it was molded or glued shut. I normally stuff ‘em in a baggie and donate ‘em. Went to pick up the dress along with the purse donation, but I looked at it a bit more. Yeah, I wasn't much on the big "8" on the front, and the curly script said ‘Barbie' and something, I couldn't read it. But the skirt was asymmetrical, and the fabric was really nice. I like asymmetrical stuff. I started to wonder... Yup. Hood was sewn on separately, not part of a seam or hem. Well, in that case... The hood detached easily, but it was holding the hem down. Nothing a few hand-stitches won't fix. About ten minutes later, I had a dress I liked much better. It mostly fits my Scooby Doo ‘Velma', but it doesn't close all the way in the back. Not much of a surprise, it didn't close in the back in the packaging either. The little thin plastic body form was also too big for it. Velma's almost too big - and she has the 1997 Teen Skipper body ! Wasn't sure what to do with the hood. It had a seam already, and a hem. Too short for a scarf or even a good headband. On a whim, I sewed the new raw edges together, and folded it into a shape. Voila ! Coordinating hat. It's still mostly just an irregularly-shaped tube, so I can configure it differently later. Velma's using the star on the door to the Studio as a photo backdrop. It's just a cardboard star box lid, spray-painted silver. Her hair's more red than this, too. Out of the package, Velma's hair is like concrete. A warm wash eliminated the heavy spray, but also some of the darker color. She actually looks more like a Molly Ringwald doll, but she's still Velma to me !
Posted by dorriebelle
at 7:12 PM CDT
Updated: Monday, 2 May 2011 10:02 AM CDT
Tuesday, 14 August 2007
Feelin' like a cicada shell - dry, useless, and weird-lookin'...
Mood:
 down
Now Playing: Ironically enough, Dearest Son's chosen "Toy Story".
Kind of in a ‘down' mode. Not sure what's wrong with me, just can't seem to get off my ever-expanding rear. Most of the things I've forced myself to do or try this week haven't worked for squat, so I'm a bit reluctant on doing or trying anything else. Ordinarily, I'd treat myself to a new piece of fabric or somesuch, as inspiration to do something anyway, but I can't even get up the interest for that. And I already have more than I'll ever want, use, or need already. (sigh) Oh, I'll shake this off and be fine tomorrow, but if I ignore it, it gets worse. So I'll wallow in it today and get it over with. Urgh.
Posted by dorriebelle
at 7:05 PM CDT
Monday, 13 August 2007
Toy news, not much doll news
Mood:
 blue
Now Playing: "Hamtaro" - Dearest Son found his old DVDs when I cleaned his bookcase
More domestic life, less doll. Since school starts up next week, that'll change. I'm kind of sad, kind of happy. We didn't get to slide in to his old school, he'll be going to a new one. Drat. But they have his bus all arranged - and it's not a Special Needs one - and their aptitude test scores are some of the highest in the county. I'm selfishly happy about not having to sit in a roasting/freezing car five hours a week, and not having to battle morning traffic, but I'll miss the interaction I had with his teachers and classmates. I'll have to see what volunteering I can find there. In other news, I'm sure you've heard about Mattel's latest recall - > http://www.wfaa.com/sharedcontent/dws/wfaa/latestnews/stories/wfaa070814_wz_toyrecall.327c31ed.html Shorthand, it's for magnets in Batman and One Piece action figures, Puppy Day Care figures, nearly every Polly Pocket playset made in the last two or three years, and some of the ‘Barbie and Tanner' doll-and-dog sets, and for lead paint on one lone Cars figure, namely Sarge. Ironically, Sarge is one of the few we don't have. Dearest Son just wasn't interested in him much, and generic 'Hot Wheels' jeeps he already had stood in just fine if you asked him about it. Article is fully linked to better details, especially if you have any of these toys and need info about what to do. I never liked the ‘Barbie and Tanner' set. It just seemed weird, and this is coming from a woman who had no squicks about the ‘Growing-Up Skipper' doll she had as a kid. Then or now. Again, succinctly, the plastic dog ‘eats' food Barbie gives him, then ‘craps' out the same nuggets from the other end. Barbie picks up the leavings with a magnetic scooper, presumably to put back in the "dog food" box, or Tanner's bowl. (shudder) The scooper was modified later in production, but Mattel wants to make sure kids don't eat more than one of these magnets - nobody wants a repeat of the Magnetix fiasco. Not something Mattel was responsible for, but better safe than sorry. Especially when you're already having trouble getting kids to want toys over electronics these days. In related toy news, the co-owner and top exec of Lee Der, the Chinese factory recently banned from exporting toys due to their involvement in earlier lead paint recalls was reported dead from a suicide today. Something to think about when perusing the aisles at Mal-Wart. ‘Just toys' indeed. http://www.wfaa.com/sharedcontent/dws/wfaa/latestnews/stories/wfaa070812_mo_taintedproducts.2b6ddacf.html
Posted by dorriebelle
at 12:01 AM CDT
Updated: Tuesday, 14 August 2007 1:55 PM CDT
Sunday, 12 August 2007
Why my dolls rarely wear lacey stuff.
Mood:
 irritated
Now Playing: "Science Rock" - yup, the old 'Schoolhouse Rock' shorts, on VHS from the flea mkt.
Today I tried the first of the ‘Agatha Heterodyne' outfits - her underwear. Simple enough, right ! It's basically a lace-edged crop top and knee-length pants. Button-up front on the top, faux drawstring waistband on the pant(aloon)s. I have at least six different patterns I could use for it, ranging from Simplicity and Vogue, to the free patterns Emby Quinn has on her site (See Links on the main site), to Doll Shop Deluxe. Probably only take an hour, hour and a half to sew the base garments, then a bit more time to add the lace. If you'd like to see what I'm aiming for, here's a link * -> http://www.girlgeniusonline.com/comic.php?date=20030507 Pfegh. The lace. That's the big stumper that has stomped me. I altered the Emby Quinn patterns and got a decent approximation of the top. Neckline wasn't as low as Agatha's, but I figured adding the lace would help. I kept the back closure - fit better that way - but added a simple tuck-pleat to the front, for a closure illusion. Not bad at all ! But then, the lace. The ()^%$#*+<@!> ing lace. Went through the whole ‘lace and ribbon' stash container - it's about the size of two milk crates, and a bit deeper, packed full - and didn't' find lace small enough. Found some that might work, but it wasn't gathered. So I gathered it. Attached it to the neckline and found out something fairly important... There IS NO lace small or narrow enough to fit on the top the way it does in the darn images. If it's large enough to ruffle or sew, it's too big and out of scale. It'd have to be about 1/8" wide to be in scale, probably smaller, and sewing it on, even by hand, would be difficult. Then getting it in the right place...feh. It just won't work. I could do it easily in human scale, possibly even with some fussing and cursing in Elphie's scale. But 1/6 scale, I just don't have the skill. I don't know if it even *can* be done, by anyone. So. What I'll probably end up doing is re-making the top again (it didn't take long) and using the stretch-stitch function to add a row of blanket stitching to the neckline, arms, waist, and knees. It'll give the illusion of lace without being actual lace. Since the garments are while, using cream off-white thread on top and a light grey in the bobbin will probably give me the look I want. Later, it's shown in pink, but I think a darker pink (and the grey beneath) will still work. Gosh knows I couldn't get the lace to. Shoot. And I thought I was starting out simple... *Umm, sorry about the linkage. You might well wonder why I don't just enclose a quick scan of it, especially since I still have Volume 1 from the library. I'm still kind of wondering myself. What it gets down to is this - I respect the work. And I don't own the book, much less have permission to share the image. Yeah, that never stopped me before, but in this case, it is. I just can't do it. Hence the link. I'm not trying to push anyone into reading Girl Genius, but I simply can't cut/paste it like I normally would. (sigh) This ‘respect' thing is making my life more difficult than it used to be...
Posted by dorriebelle
at 12:01 AM CDT
Updated: Monday, 13 August 2007 11:54 AM CDT
Saturday, 11 August 2007
Clumsy Saturday
Mood:
 accident prone
Now Playing: "A Mighty Wind" - cheep VHS flea-market find, brand-new tape !
Not a lot going on, doll-wise. About all I got done today were minor errands. Dropped off a donation to GoodWill, returned library DVDs, mailed bills off, hit a couple yard sales. Not much out there this week, but if I had major scores every week, we'd be even more broke ! So it's nice that I tend to find stuff only once or twice a month, when I'm lucky. Helped Beloved Hubby load up some stuff - and cracked my knee on the new ball-hitch on his truck. Oh, well. That bruise will go nicely with the one a few inches higher, gained from one of the branches I hauled Thursday bouncing at my tugging, then suddenly giving way - straight to my leg. It's been a clumsy day - I saw some currency floating on a breeze, and hopped out to retrieve it. Hit my arm on that (*^% automatic seat belt slider...for a lousy dollar bill. Maybe there's a reason a chunk of me refuses to go near the sewing machine today...
Posted by dorriebelle
at 12:01 AM CDT
Friday, 10 August 2007
Two new dolls - and one's vintage !
Mood:
 happy
Now Playing: "Jay and Silent Bob Strike Back" - another flea find on super-cheap VHS !
It's unbelievable ! We went to the flea market to get ‘Cali', the Midge doll I've yammered about all week...and what did I see in the passenger seat of one of the ‘car sets' ? Yup ! A bare-chested vintage Allan ! I couldn't believe it. I've nearly bid on him several times on eBay, just didn't want to pay exorbitant shipping on the ones I could afford. He was part of one of the ‘car sets' as I mentioned - the seller wanted $14. for him, a generic Mackie-faced blonde Barbie, and a semi-wrecked Mattel Jeep. I asked if she'd consider selling him separately, but she was reluctant. Oh, well. Dearest Son had found a bus in her booth he wanted, and I picked up ‘my' Cali, and she asked what I'd be willing to pay for Allan. I offered her $10. for him, Cali, and the bus, and she was happy with that. Whee ! No other vintage dolls - not even repros - were in evidence. One thing that bothered me was how dirty his arms were. I know vintage dolls tend to have ivory torsos with darker limbs - so often, the dolls are as many colors as there are pieces. I contented myself with knowing he'd get a good scrub-down as soon as we got home. But for right that moment, there was a whole flea-market to tour ! Son got ‘Schoolhouse Rock' tapes, and our VHS collection gained A Mighty Wind and Jay and Silent Bob Strike Back - all for just 50c each ! A few other minor finds, and we were gone. And Allan got well-bathed. You can only imagine the dirt that came off him with some warm water, a toothbrush, and stale baking soda. Some spots - deep in his ears and in the corner of his left eye - never did come clean, but not from lack of effort. He cleaned up very well, and seems to have the exact same body as the vintage #2 Ken I found at a junk shop. Straight legs and the same...umm, hips. He has some hair rubs, a slight spot missing in his right eyebrow, a spot of white paint at the crown of his head, and his right hand has a bit of chew to it. You can see it a bit in the photo. But it's barely noticeable. Now that he's nice and clean, he looks so cute ! He seems to have only been in production for a year, although he was sold for several. For the best info about Allan - or pretty much any other male doll, made by any toy manufacturer - visit Keeping Ken ! Here's his page on Allan -> http://www.manbehindthedoll.com/ALLAN.htm . Take off the /ALLAN.htm for the home page, there's lots to see. I figured I could tell if my new Midge was ‘California Dream' or ‘Cool Times' - the only two Midge dolls bearing the ‘Steffie' face I so adore ! - by her earrings. Nope. ‘Cali' here doesn't have ‘em. But going by her green eye color (CT appears blue), I think I got a California Dream girl. Nice as the ‘Diva' head mold is, I'll always love a Steffie-faced Midge ! Her legs were worse than I thought, specked all over with small white circles. But, heck, with the dress I have her in, the other dolls will probably assume it's patterned hosiery. Since there's not much I can do about it outside PaintShopPro, I'm not about to let it bother me. Her poor hair has been in a ponytail so long, it's bent. Still, it's nice and soft, a beautiful color. It'll ease down eventually. So, now that there's new dolls around, I'd best get back to the challenge of sewing for ‘em, right ? :)
Posted by dorriebelle
at 4:08 PM CDT
Thursday, 9 August 2007
Conversations and consternations...
Mood:
 lazy
Now Playing: "One More Time" - Daft Punk, on the MP3 player. Speaker-cube loves it, too !
Phil Foglio wrote me back, saying he'd love to see Girl Genius dolls, when I had time to make them. Well, if that isn't a challenge, I don't know what is ! I was talking with Beloved Hubby about it this morning - and this is actual dialog : Me : So I was thinking of starting with her underwear. It's simple, and she certainly finds herself in it in public often enough ! (grin) BH : Well, at least in the first book. Me : You sound somewhat disappointed about that. BH : Heck yeah, I am ! It looked so cute ! So now it remains to find a doll I think is Agatha-worthy, then print out a simple crop top and pantalettes pattern that I can do a lace-up on. Not difficult, especially if I go with a faux-lace. Unfortunately, that's about it for dolls again today. But the laundry's all put away, dishes are done, and all the floors are clean - even under the sofas. First vacuum of the month is *always* ‘under and behind the sofas' time ! I also had time to move the branches Beloved chain-sawed to the backyard. I left ‘em in the front, in a driveway pile, anticipating the yard waste crew to be by tomorrow for pick-up. I even called to see what the rules regarding were. Hmpft. They barely pick up kindling, much less the big monster limbs we got ! So we made other plans. Now, if I can just figure out why my arms hurt...
Posted by dorriebelle
at 12:01 AM CDT
Wednesday, 8 August 2007
A day without dolls - didn't happen today, but it was close !
Mood:
a-ok
Now Playing: crickets - they put me to sleep, but sound like an alarm clock to Beloved...
Nothin' at all doll-related today. I mean, nothin'. Closest I came to doll-time was the ten minutes I spent perusing eBay during lunch. Closest I got to the Studio was going in there to turn on the MP3 player/cube speaker, so Dearest Son could watch it while I listened. What took all day ? BATHROOM CLEANING ! Nearly three hours of it. But the bathtub and the shower are so clean, you could eat off ‘em. I could turn off lights in those rooms, ‘cause everything was so sparkly clean. I haven't been able to give them a really good cleaning since I got sick, and lemme tell you, for all the sanitary plumbing in a bathroom, it gets the worst the quickest. I trust I need elaborate no further. Tuna liked my cleaning efforts so much, she drank from the toilet instead of her bowl, which held bottled drinking water. Cats ! Dearest Son loves ‘Macaroni'. Played with him all day, inventing Lego cars for him to drive, and inviting him to have dinner with the family. He tore open the tail seam so he could use him as a puppet, but that's OK. Long as he enjoys his not-perfect penguin, I'm happy. And my ‘scrubbing arm' hurts. Beddy-bye for me ! With two ibuprofen, please.
Posted by dorriebelle
at 12:01 AM CDT
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