Sweet, fun Sunday
Now Playing: the sound of me rippin' up another thrift store cheap find...

 

Current Mood : Numerical logic

 

Today, Dearest Son did his first two doll customizations. He earned a Buzz Lightyear (Toy Story) doll for good behavior at school, and out of curiosity, I examined the new spaceman's feet. Would ‘Andy' be written there ? Nope, but Son's name was ! He also cut the hair of a spare blonde Dollar Tree doll quite short and placed her on a plastic horse, saying she was Woody. Didn't know his favorite cowboy had a bustline, and liked to ride full-body commando, but Son was happy.

 

Found a pair of white shin-high squishy cowboy boots in the shoe collection, and with minor scissor snips to the back, they fit the nearly flat-footed Jessie doll well. I didn't have much to fit her preteen Skipper body - never been a big Skipper fan, she was always the annoying little sister who tells Ken that Barbie was talking to Joe on the phone last night when I was a kid - but I found a Baywatch Barbie shirt that fit, and a slim faux-denim skirt to go with it. I'll probably add a row of lace to the skirt later. Son was a bit disappointed that I didn't have a cowgirl square-dance outfit ready to go in the ‘Barbie Kids' clothing bag, but he was OK with her current ensemble. Jessie got to drive his VW Beetle around, and he was introducing her to other toys, so I think she's been accepted.

 

Luckily I have a few vintage-type Skipper patterns around, and she fit the minidress/blouse I had that came from Teen Sweetheart Skipper. Plus her body mold is dated 1987, so I think she's a Teen Fun Skipper body with an original head.

 

Checked TRU and Mal-Wart while we were out - still no Enchanted Robert dolls. Kinda ranks, because Target.com has ‘em in stock, and they're liberally sprinkled throughout eBay. I'll get mine eventually. At least he's not an exclusive anywhere. Not to mention, I gotta slow my spending down. Winter's coming.

 

Not that it stopped me from buying two 50c nighties at the thrift store today. Four sets of tiny black buckles - yaaay ! Plus black stretch lace, elastic, sequins, beads, a bow, a pearl decoration, and some cool fabric. Not bad for a buck, but I've really gotta curtail even the cheap spending...eventually.

 

I'm beginning to tighten up the site. When I first got it, I'd take a doll photo, post it via Tripod's image storage, then use their image interface to resize it for a web page. If the photo was 1250 by 900 and took up 1.2MB of space, I could resize it on Tripod so it'd be smaller on the site - but it'd still take up the enormous amount of space. So I went through every photo on all the doll pages and made sure that all the images were either posted at the actual size, or I resized it in PaintShopPro and posted it again. Took two hours - Elphie's got lotsa photos - but I reclaimed a MB of space ! And some of the images, frankly, really needed editing. Some still do, darn it. Today, I hope to go through the rest of the site and do the same.

 

It made me curious about it all, so I thought it out. Going from 20mb to 1Gb is a large leap. So I looked up the byte<kilobyte<megabyte<gigabyte chart, went into File Manager for some numbers, and did the math. This might all be wrong, I darn near failed algebra in high school, but this is what I got. I'm using 16.1 of my currently available 20mb. Average image on the current site is 40kb, and there's nearly 250 of ‘em. Average text on a page (not including photos) is 71kb, and the blog is nearly half a meg by itself. With 34 pages on my site, that's 353kb, or about .35mb a page. Plus the blog, which is .436mb. When I upgrade to the GB, subtracting twice the current amount for the blog, and taking out what I already have up, I could possibly have over two thousand more pages - with pictures - and still not use all that space. Wow.

 

I just love having something to look forward to !

Fun with new stuff !
Now Playing: Wii Play - "Tanks", still the daddy-and-son favorite

Today's Mood : Havin' a Coke and a smile !

 

What a fun day today was ! I got to update the website a bit, and play with the new acquisitions. Photos of yesterday's major haul are on the main page, and this is the only place you'll see the Coke machine tin. I forgot to add it to the photo shoot, and was too lazy to set it all up again. Plus, the pictures were huge enough as it was ! Found out that only one Meg had these earrings - the semi-rare ‘Legend of Love' set. And I went and broke one of ‘em. Hope I can fix it.

 

And don't worry about me finding her a licensed Hercules companion. I'm not much on his body sculpt, so I figure a nice, thoughtful Ken will do nicely ! I've learned the hard way that divorcing a doll from its namesake and image is harder than I thought (Phoebus, Rosie O' Donnell, and Milo could tell you that, too).

 

Man, the ‘bendy' body Poison Ivy  has really is weird. It doesn't even bend well. I had to fight to get Ivy to sit, and still, she doesn't so much sit as leans. Yup, the legs aren't jointed - it's all solid ‘bendy'. Plus it feels weird. Like a not-squishy Stretch Armstrong. I can understand why the ‘bend and flex' body went the way of all flesh, perhaps a bit earlier than Mattel hoped. Soon as I find a standard body to fit her skin tone, she's getting swapped out. Probably the reason Harley Quinn was a standard-body doll wasn't due to negative consumer reaction to the bendy body, it was that tinting the rubbery ‘skin' red and black proved too difficult.

 

I'm gonna try to keep the website running as-is as long as I can. Winter's our hardest season, and Tripod doesn't do yearly billing. I hate to add another monthly bill unless I really need to. But once I upgrade, it'll be nice - I won't have to worry about space anymore, I can have a photo album and link images remotely, and you won't have to put up with their cheeseball ads anymore. The cheapest plan gives me 1GB of space, compared to the going-fast 20MB I'm using for free. I may just tuck a year's worth of payments in PayPal, plus the sign-up fee, and let Tripod tap that instead of a credit card. Beloved and I will have to chat about that later.

 

Turned in the old black and color inkjets to Office Max, and got $12. off a new black one. Shame they don't do the inkjet = ream of paper anymore, but at least I got a discount off my next few hundred pattern printouts. I've already selected what'll get sewn tomorrow...

 

<yawn> But that's a nearly a whole day away. G'night !

Flea market frenzy !
Now Playing: Wii Play - 'Laser Hockey' for Beloved Hubby

 

Today's mood : so happy 

 

Well, that $20. I told Beloved Hubby that I didn't need to take to the flea market sure got gone in a hurry ! But I got some great stuff ! Six nearly-new dolls, a houseful of doll furniture, carpeting, and props - and I came home with change. Sure, it was only a buck and a quarter, but just one of those dolls cost somebody else more than I paid for all this stuff, so I'm excited !

 

I'll write all this up tomorrow, but I got the Jessie (Toy Story 2) doll, the Poison Ivy one, a Rockers ‘Derek', a lovely AA My First Princess, first series Happy Family Midge, and Megara (Hercules). They were all just a buck each, dressed. I've cleaned everyone, and brushed hair until my wrists hurt, but you all know I had a great time. I got carpet that'll look great under the Friend Ship airplane, and a Coke tin that looks like a bottle vending machine. The furniture included the much-wanted My Scene fireplace, nursery window (it'll eventually become a window seat), along with several bookcases, tables, and desks.

 

For now, though, I'm wiped out, and need to sleep. I'll make sure to post photos on the main site tomorrow ! I'm going through image storage space again fast, so I have to think about what to do about the site soon.

Not a Pokemon fan, but I understand Psyduck...
Now Playing: blessed, beautiful silence...

 

Today's Mood : My head hurts...

 

Ironically, I've had a massive sinus headache all day. I finally have the time and will together, and I go to sleep last night, ready to sew as soon as the bus' turn signal fades from view, but I wake up and my body hurts. At least the laundry got put away, the dishes were washed, and during a lull, I cleaned the sinks and toilets and mirrors. Beloved Hubby installed new lights in the main bathroom, and they're so glamorous ! But it left a real mess behind. All taken care of now !

 

So about all I did today was rest and putter. Mostly in the Studio. Added the latest washed fabric to the bins where they belong, and swore again to not buy more. Same with the three recently scanned patterns. Beloved knew my head hurt, so we got McDinner. He's so sweet.

 

I'm hoping to feel better tomorrow, as the flea market's back in town. I still haven't decided if I'm getting the Toy Story 2 Jessie doll, but I probably will snag the Poison Ivy doll - she's still in her original costume, but her lime-green fishnet hosiery needs a resew in the back seam of her left leg. And you know how much I enjoy a dig through a bin of dolls !

 

If my head will cooperate, at least...

Maybe I'll get to sew tomorrow...
Now Playing: Wii Play - 'Cow Racing', for Dearest Son

 

Current Mood : Flighty 

I always kind of liked Winx, a kind of Sailor Moon-meets-Harry Potter cartoon series for girls. It was cute and pretty, had some romantic elements, some fantasy and lots of ‘believe in yourself', and everything was color-coded. The ‘you can do anything' message was well-received, but like a lot of folks past the age of twelve, I wondered why the empowering rhetoric had to be delivered in butt-duster skirts and FM boots. I'd have gone for the dolls, but their impossibly long legs (yes, proportionally longer and thinner than Barbie's) did not encourage sewing efforts.

 

It's easy to find Winx coloring pages online, although I never saw a coloring book, and the biggest collection of them was on a French site. Snagged a couple I liked and merrily went about changing the one I'm using for ‘Flighty' above. She had a belly-baring blouse, complete with bust marks and a navel, as well as sky-high heels. I removed the shirt's hem and the belly button, erased the ‘b**bs straining against fabric' lines, and took about two inches of heel off the shoes. So now she has a dress and flatter boots. It's sort of empowering to me, changing it the way I'd have rather seen it, but it's rather sad that I had to.

 

Dashed into Ross while I was out running errands. Surprisingly, they had a Winx doll playset that included a sofa, cheval mirror, coffee table, and open wardrobe. And a few dozen tiny vanity-type props. It was only $7., but I decided against it. I'd have to alter the mirror - it has an image of the lead characters in it - and the sofa's too low for anyone besides a Kelly doll to use. Liked the wardrobe, though.

 

Still no time for sewing. I'm nearly caught up on housework, though, and establishing Dearest Son's new schedule. We were doing his homework in the morning, but it was always rushed, and often I didn't read directions clearly. So now it's tucked in to before I start dinner. Keeping to a schedule is a real boon to Asperger's kids.

 

Wish I could keep a sewing schedule. I'd go to bed, but there's four loads of sorted laundry on it ! (sigh)

Tuesdays. How I hate them...
Now Playing: "Herbie Rides Again" - Dearest Son's DVD rental

 

Today's Mood : Searching 

 

Dearest Son had another seizure today. I was about six inches away from him this time. It was less severe than the first - or I reacted better, possibly - and he recovered quickly. Still kept him home today, just in case. His doctor's getting a referral to a pediatric neurologist, and kicking some butt about the never-analyzed EEG.

 

So I didn't get any sewing done. But we did yesterday's and today's homework, and I taught him how to color on the computer, using PaintShopPro. I think he already does something similar at his grandparents', but I still had to teach him a bit. He soon mastered finding colors in the palette, using the mouse wheel to enlarge/shrink the image, and the all-important ‘undo' key. He did two Hamtaro images before he got bored with it, but I'm proud of his computer savvy.

 

He's emerging as a reader - turns out, he can read already ! Sure, it's your basic three letter words like ‘cat, mat, sat', etc., but we all started with that. I figured he was memorizing, but his teacher says she quizzed the whole class, and in a way that no child can memorize, and Son did just fine. I'm so happy !

 

I puttered around with the image you have tonight - it occurred to me that I could make my own ‘mood' avatars with the coloring pages. Since the Tripod one is seriously lacking in it's smiley list, I might as well do my own. Besides, I hate using ‘lazy' when I mean ‘exhausted' and ‘chilled out' when I'm relaxing. This way, I can have fun making brunette Ariels and Jasmines and Cinderellas, and use them, too. I altered the one tonight, too, it used to have an image of Prince Eric in the heart-shape. I thought it expressed ‘longing' pretty well, maybe ‘dreaming' and 'yearning', as well. Since I'm in a sort of seeking mode, it's appropriate for that, too.

 

Gosh, I hope tomorrow is normal and boring !

Why do I do such bizarre things sometimes...?
Mood:  lazy
Now Playing: a very loud car visiting the too-close-at-times 7-11.
 

I also don't know why I spent two hours downloading coloring pages from websites tonight. Then spending another hour editing an anime mermaid's hair from ‘not on this planet' long to ‘somebody's momma' short. 

 

It was silly. I was still hunting on my mystery guy doll's origin - more later - when I found a site with coloring pages and a click-to-color interface. I was soon dissatisfied with the available palette and the fact that some spots remained white, no matter how careful I was clicking colors into it. So I copy/pasted the ones I liked and used PaintShopPro to color - much better ! In PSP, I could enlarge the picture and get at those tiny spots. And get a few million more colors.

 

Sifting through the Sailor Moon images, I saw one that looked like Molly/Naru, but in a sailor costume, not the school uniform. It was an edited Sailor Venus, but it got me thinking...if someone could alter that, maybe so could I, on any image I chose. So I downloaded all the ones I liked, and soon had quite a selection. Even found some Dearest Son might like to color, and he could use the computer skill practice.

 

But anyway, that was the high point of my day. Computer coloring. At http://www.thedollpalace.com/coloring-pages/ .

 

I have a strong lead on who my mystery Adam is. He might be Prince Phillip ! There's an eBay auction ending in two days for a ballet-themed Sleeping Beauty and Prince Phillip set, a Disney Store exclusive that resembles my doll enigma. Hands are palms-to-side on both, but the photo's quite blurry, and doesn't really show his hair. Since there's no reason for me to bid on the set, I wouldn't feel right asking the seller for more photos. Further research has yet to yield results, but I feel as though I'm on the right track.

 

Right now, though, I'm more tired than anything else. G'night !

Paint fumes, maybe.
Mood:  a-ok
Now Playing: "Casino Royale" - violent, but the best Bond film I've ever seen ! DVD rental.
 

Reading over, I'm not sure where Friday's words came from. It's true that the main reason I don't visit doll chat boards very often is because I grow weary of the ‘Look what I got today' stuff, and the ‘I'm gonna pre-order these twelve things, how about ya'll', and that doesn't even count the ‘Isn't absolutely everything X Company makes the best in the universe ?' hype. Sometimes I think various doll/toy companies infiltrate boards to pump up interest, but then I feel cynical for thinking such things.

 

Bear with me - this'll be short. I'm still kind of wiped out from Saturday. Dearest Son's school asked parents to come by yesterday, help repaint the US map on the playground. Well, Beloved Hubby's a pro, so this volunteer opportunity was right up his alley. If turnout was as thin for this as it was for photo day, every person was necessary. We went.

 

Only to be told that Big Phone Co. had sent over about 20 staff members, and THEY were gonna do the map, not us inadequate parents. We could amuse ourselves by painting everything else. I know, I know - sounds petty to be ticked by this, but the little paper they sent home four times just mentioned the map. So when we get there, being told otherwise was kind of a short slap.

 

But ya'll don't know my Beloved. While the 20 Big Phone people, the 10 Hardware Co. folks and the 5 PTA members (and a grand total of 10 parents, not including us) stood around because no one knew what to do, Beloved handed me a scraper out of his tool bag and we tore up the old paint on the swing set, monkey bars, baseball backstop, and soccer goals. It was kind of rough going, because we were scraping off at least three years of paint that had never been properly primed before. If supermodels get stared at more than us, I don't know how they put up with it. I saw at least five women who never bent a knee except to sit their butts down with another soda or unidentifiable treat within their well-marked cups from the Starbucks across town.

 

At least I got a good workout. After some upper-arm conditioning (otherwise known as scraping) for two or three hours, we switched off to other arm exercises (also known as painting) for another three. Yup. We were there from 8am until after 1pm, and maybe took about 30 minutes in breaks. It wasn't too bad, and the principal and the PTA Prez did come talk to us, but Big Phone seemed to avoid us like a plague of work. The Hardware Co. folks were wonderful...but we still kinda felt banished by the rest of the PTA and the other parents. So we busted azz, because it felt better than getting upset over it.  

 

In the end, it all got painted. Frankly, the map looks like crap, and maybe in six months, the playground stuff will, too. But our playground looked 200% better. Two little girls came over while we were working, and their Mom told them to be careful around wet paint. After all, we were repainting it all for them. One girl looked at me and Beloved, and her eyes went wide. ‘For us ?' she asked. ‘Of course,' I told her. Her eyes shone. ‘Thank you !' burst out of her, and she ran off to play. So yeah, it was worth it. We were quite well rewarded.

 

Dunno if I overdid it or not, but my stomach's all ticked off. So I'm gonna go lie down. And know that some things I do matter.

Who, who ? Who ? Who ?
Mood:  a-ok
Now Playing: "Who Are You ?" - The Who, from the Sound Cube
 

Sorry about yesterday's entry - I get like that every so often. Y'know, I got more enjoyment from the folks who bought the yard-saled Star Wars goodies than I ever got out of owning the actual stuff. Just wish I'd saved the cash instead of spending it so frantically back then, but that's youth for ya !

 

Despite all of yesterday's meanderings about enjoying instead of buying, I went to a flea market today. Didn't buy much, even though there were lots of fairly recent dolls I've thought about acquiring before. Megara (Hercules) is quite a pretty doll, and if she's still there next week - yeah, for some reason, the same flea market group will be around Friday - I'll probably grab her. Her face just seemed rather sharp in person. Also, I'm not sure if Dearest Son would want a Jesse (Toy Story 2) fashion doll - out of costume, her hair was sort of messy, but there was no doubt who she was !

 

Found another Midge, this one using the Diva mold. May snag her, so I have the three ‘main Midge faces' all together. She's a pretty doll. Also found a ‘Cool Times' Steffie-faced Midge - her legs weren't quite as bad as my Cali's, but I like the ‘California Dream' hair and eye colors better. There were also several blonde Maxie dolls, but I already have the one doll in that Hasbro line that I wanted. I'm also reconsidering that Poison Ivy doll - her costume was torn, but I could fix that...

 

Dug through some doll clothing of about the same vintage, but it was too hot to go through thoroughly. Most of it was torn and worn out, so I made the dealer an offer on the whole shoe-storage size box. Nope. Fine with me - it was evidently too low an offer for her and I know it was a bit high for someone who makes her own darn doll stuff, so it was a good thing I was refused. But her booth partner (husband ?) thought she should have taken me up on it, and they were squabbling about it when I paid for what I did buy.

 

This guy. He's a mystery. At first, I thought he was a Disney Beauty and the Beast Prince, but his hair doesn't look cut, and Prince Adam (that's what one of the licensing approved books calls him) usually has a ponytail. Beloved Hubby thought he was a blonde using an Aladdin head-mold, and he may be right, but darn if I can find an image of a blonde Al. And most of them are close-mouthed. Plus, most Disney Princes are dark-haired, and in dolls, that normally equals molded hair, not rooted.

 

Despite several hours of searching, I still don't know who he is. Or even who made him. His head reads ‘© Disney/Made in China' and his back has an embossed rectangle that also proclaims his country of origin. But that's it for his markings. I think he's possibly a Disney Store exclusive, which would mean he's probably a Simba doll, but it's odd that he's not maker- marked at all.

 

He has soft arms - not hollow, just rubbery, instead of rigid like Tony's -  that pose, like a bendy doll's. No joint, it just bends, and the palms are to the side. Nice muscular arms ! His legs have four strong clicks at the knee, and he can wear Ken clothes. His ankles seem thicker than Ken's though. Clearly, he's not Mattel, but I can't find a similar one despite hours of searching. Guess I'll just enjoy him ! It's not everyday you can buy an enigma for a buck !

Just today, right here on this planet...
Mood:  quizzical
Now Playing: "Cars" - for the Wii, with Beloved and Dearest playing
 

Guess I'm reminiscing a bit. Beloved Hubby was home today, so I didn't get near the Studio - but I got to spend time with him, and the sewing machine will be there Monday. Never get near the place on weekends, either  !

 

Hit a Star Wars site, and most of it was stories about new figures, playsets, Lego, and various other stripes of collectables as they become available. Bear in mind, this was a SW-themed *news* site, not a toy distributorship. But like dolls, it's all about buying and selling and owning now, not so much remembering and creating and enjoying. About the eighth time I read ‘this variant will be in roughly 1 of 1000 shipped boxes, so good luck and happy hunting for the complete set !' I had enough. I don't really do that much anymore. Artificially created ‘collectables' and me have gone our separate ways. About all I want these days is a wide-release Enchanted guy (mostly because of the brand-new head sculpt and his clothes) doll and a video chair for the living room. Dearest Son keeps loading the sofa with Transformers and Cars characters, rendering it unloungeable.

 

But there was a time I'd have run my wide rump off, seeking, searching, hunting feverishly for a $5. miniature of a character I didn't even like - possibly didn't even know - just so I could say I found it. I thought it was fun. And now I wonder why. I ditched most of my Star Wars stuff dirt cheap to an overjoyed younger generation at a yard sale. A few special things I kept, like my Leia doll, but most of what I held on to were memories, before Episode I, when I loved perhaps differently than I do now.

 

I don't know when things changed, exactly. Was it when I could let go of all I so voraciously hoarded, because I had a better idea of what truly mattered ? Or was it leaving the theater after Phantom Menace, wondering just what the (*&^ we'd just paid $30. and stayed up all night to see exactly was ?

 

I think maybe the fangirl grew up, and realized that plotting and negotiating the twists and turns of her own life was better than fantasizing and frantically shopping in a simultaneous attempt to validate the choice and plug the holes the fantasies opened. It's tough to be a woman - even one that still plays with dolls and kind of wants to play Disney Princess : Enchanted Journey on the Wii - but the rewards are much richer than anything gained by chasing after Limited Editions and For Display Only artifacts.