What a reward !
Now Playing: traffic on a Monday...

 

 

Current Mood : Amazed !

 

I can only assume it is my perfect, blameless, sinless life that rewards me so richly in second-hand finds...(snort) Yeah, right ! But I hit a major score today after dropping off some stuff at the thrift store - wheee !

 

That's right - those two patterns up there were found at the same thrift store I donated to. I go through their patterns every time I'm in, and rarely find anything besides something cool to scan, and even that's rare. But today, I found both of these ! I already have Group A, the one on your right, but I didn't have B. What's even more amazing is that B has a shirt-waist dress. I came darn close to buying a pattern CD that has one - but the CD is $12. ! I got both of these for...are you ready ? 15c each ! Score !!

 

They're a bit rumpled, and I still have to go through them to see if they're complete, but they look to be so. They're dated 1961, making them 47 years old. Wow. Hard to believe that something made of tissue paper has survived that long. The openings on both are deteriorating badly, but each has a unique charm. I love how ‘75c' is ‘starred' out - it really was printed that way - and 60c is printed beside it, on the Group A envelope. Group B bears a "Marshall Field & Company' price sticker that's so faded with age, I can't tell what the price was. And how did a Marshall Field item end up here ?

 

Group B has the ‘Barbie Sewing Book', a brochure that defines most basic sewing terms and procedures so well, that I'm thinking of scanning it for the site. I hate to break copyright rules, but it's not like my scans will deny the original authors any royalties, since you can only buy it used, and it is a huge help, especially to the sewists just starting out. Plus, it's not like I wanna make any money off this- I'm just posting the booklet, not the whole pattern.. I also worried that the ‘Mommy is sure to have lots of fun scraps for you to practice with' tone would bother some folks, but heck. These patterns were basically written for an 8 year old - long as I make that abundantly clear, anybody who has issues with it can just avoid it.

 

Whaddya'll think ? Should I post this as a separate web page ? Or part of the pattern set I'm still working on for new sewists ? Or should I post it at all ? I'd really like your view on it !

'2001', 'Batman' and ancient advertisement references inside !
Now Playing: "Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade" - part of a DVD set we bought

 

 

Current Mood : Lethargic. Zzzzzzzz......

 

Sheesh, I have no idea where today went. Seems like I puttered and played around, then noticed that it was an hour later than we thought it was. I hate Daylight Savings Time. It's just not a good start to the day when you wake up and it's pitch black outside. And your Dearest Son gets on the bus...and it's still pitch black out there. It's a PITA, if ya wanna ask me. Growlmutterwhine.

 

Got some sorting and cleaning done, and found that I had a bunch more stuff that needed to be donated. Fixed a small shelving unit I used to use in the Lab - bought it when I bought my sewing desk, at a yard sale. $3. for both pieces ! - and added it to Donations. Got the Fashion Photo Barbie and the Hilary Duff dolls dressed, so they're ready. Shinobu and Inaba were sitting on a neon-green sofa I never really liked, so now that they're in the gazebo, the sofa went into the bag, too. There was also a bag of Dearest's outgrowns and a sweatshirt I don't like left in the car, so those get dropped off Monday.

 

But the big news isn't doll-related. Not much today is, so I hope you enjoy the Spartan Atlantic ad ! It didn't scan well, and even at full-size, most of the text was unreadable. It's still kind of funny - you can still buy clocks brand-new for $3. these days, but good luck finding women's expanded vinyl suede jackets for that ! Well, whatever ‘expanded vinyl suede' is...

 

Beloved Hubby traded some work for a refrigerator. He trucked it home today. Wow ! It's huge ! It's like standing in front of the monolith from 2001 when I go for a soda. It's a textured black Maytag Plus, with a cavernous freezer and fantastic adjusting shelves. It looks so good in there - and reflected in the black-framed mirror Beloved made last week, it's just wicked cool.

 

Our old fridge went down to the Shop, so Beloved can have cold drinks this Summer. I normally ferry them down m'self, and check on him every hour or so, regardless of season, but now he can get what he wants when he wants it, without waiting on me. I'll make sure to stock it after the grocery run.

 

He's making bat boxes. Colony sized ! His client - same one we got the fridge from - lives in a marshy area, so encouraging bats to come live nearby will help keep the mosquito populations down. Directions came from an agricultural extension office in Wisconsin, if I remember correctly. I scanned ‘em, so Beloved can make us one or two. We have a more-or-less stagnant creek on the back 40, and skeeters were pretty bad last year. I wanted to paint a Bat Signal on ‘em, but the customer wants camouflage. At least I can paint ours the way we want !

 

Well, that's about it for a more-or-less lazy Sunday here. Hope your weekend was lots of fun !

Yard sale season is officially open !
Now Playing: "The Chipmunk Adventure" - Now I really regret buying that DVD...

 

Current Mood : Thrilled !

 

Not a lot happening today - hit a couple yard sales, did a few loads of laundry. I find that I prefer to do laundry over the weekend, while the day care center next door is closed. Now that the weather's getting nicer, everyone wants outside. I had the doors wide open today - Velvet had no interest in going anywhere. She's a smart one, who knows when she's got it good !

 

And you wouldn't believe what I found at the first of two sales I dragged Dearest Son to. It has to be the most perfect curtain in the history of Ever, for the lab. It's sheer, with a yellow-bordered ruffle along the top, sprinkled randomly with pastel stars outlined in stitches. It really is beautiful. It was a bit dingy when I found it, but a quick trip through the washer soon had that fixed. A saucer-sized yellow sun is dead-center, and it rests over the moon and star stained glass piece I have in that window - also purchased at a yard sale.

 

I went to hang it, eager to see it up...when I realized. It's actually a shower curtain ! Instead of a casing pocket for a rod to go through, it has stitched buttonholes for curtain rings. Well, that was no problem. I already had a tension rod from an earlier curtain attempt - the last curtain hung from cup hooks - that could hang from the cup hooks, but what to use for curtain rings ? I didn't wanna go designer on this, and I hate spending $10. so I can use a $1. yard sale find. Then I remembered. I had some jewelry loops, from attempts to make doll jewelry. You can see one of my tries on Elphie, on her page. I'd bought packages of gold and silver, ‘cause they were dirt cheap. Found twelve silver ones the same size, and the curtain was up. Wow. It really is beautiful. Just perfect. The jewelry loops make it easy to draw the curtain to one side, but it really isn't necessary. It lets in most of the light. And while they don't look as good with this curtain as they did with the plain one I had, I hung up the mirror ball ornaments on either end again. What can I say, they're just ‘me'.

 

I had some other finds, too - a souvenir peg doll that looks like a painted dress form, several books including one detailing the history of Disney theme parks, two lampshades for 25c (one is only good as a frame, but the other is now on the living room floor lamp !), a MagnaDoodle for Dearest Son. He picked it out, and it was really cheap because of all the crayon on the screen. Couple swipes with Goof Off on a rag took that away, and it looks nearly new. I also got a cool frame that'll look great in Beloved Hubby's office, once it's the office again. Don't ask me how the PILs are living in their house when their bed and refrigerator (and darn near everything else) is still here !

 

This is the second-to-last (penultimate, if you like to fling the big words around !) newspaper scan. I rather like the idea of a sewing contest, even though I'd be reluctant at first to send anything of mine in. Still, in a culture that births something called ‘hostess pajamas', it makes you wonder why I get such flak at the fabric store for proudly admitting to making doll clothes. Anyway, sorry it's so big, but I thought someone might like to actually read the article, just for fun.

Aaauuugh ! I went shopping again ! Somebody take my car keys away !!
Now Playing: "Reckless Kelly " - much -loved VHS we bought from a rental place
 

Current Mood : Delighted 

I did sew, just a little. Mostly ran a seam up the back of some ruffle-edged elastic (it was in the box o' fabric from last week's yard sale) to make a skirt for the Kennedy My Scene doll I donated. Elastic was too short to be a dress, so I added a strip of stretchy fabric, hemmed and tied at the back, at the top. So she had a rather stylish dress to wear to the thrift store she went to today. I have a real bugaboo about donating nude dolls. Just can't do it. And I've reached the point, after two previous major culls that got donated, that I want to keep what  I have. Sometimes I feel really selfish for all that I have - it's quite a lot ! - but I donate more than I used to, so I assure myself it all works out. Plus, I tend to donate brand-new things, once I've gotten what I wanted out of the package !

 

Unfortunately, today I went shopping. Started out innocently enough, Hobby Lobby had a 40% off coupon on their website, and I wanted another portfolio envelope to store backdrop posters. The one I had, bought originally to store My Size Barbie patterns, was just about an inch too short, which made the posters ripple a bit. Not good. But since a bigger one was less than $7., and I had a coupon, I didn't feel too bad about getting another. The old one now holds smaller backdrops - calendar pages, mini posters, doll packaging inserts.

 

They were also having a 99c sale on McCall's patterns. Nothing new for dolls - or at least, dolls I own - but they did have a pattern for my size that I liked. While there's little danger of the HLobby pattern book tables being swamped, it happened so frequently at Hancock Fabrics, I developed a habit for reviewing the online pattern books, and just taking the number to the store.

 

Got there, and had a fun time looking at all the seasonal décor, checking out the markdown and clearance stuff, enjoying the miniatures and dollhouses, and thinking about what I'd like to do with the next 40% off coupon. Got the portfolio envelope and pattern, and ran smack into it when I was picking through the row of fabric remnants.

 

It must've been overflow from the furniture section. There were several pieces over there, all with the ‘30% Off !" tags prominently displayed, like a species identifier. I barely gave it a cursory glance...until I saw the miniature wrought iron and wood gazebo. Hmmm...

 

Dug out the retractable tape measure I carry in my purse at all times - for just such emergencies, although I bought mine at this particular HLobby - and found that the distance from the wood-slat floor to the center was 12 inches. Oh, darn it. I was right. It was within scale. Rather small, it wouldn't hold but two dolls (possibly three) seated, or maybe four if they all stood, but very charming.

 

Ended up walking around the store for another half hour, trying to take my mind off the little gazebo. It was cute ! It was on sale for 30% off ! But it was $21.95, and I'd just bought two dolls not even twenty-four hours previously. Why in the world was I so entranced with this thing ? I even snagged a hollow-plastic ‘fashion doll' from the crochet section, to check for scale. Oh, was that ever a bad move. Now that I could see a doll in it, I just wanted it more ! I could see Shinobu and Inaba in it, playing with their son and a toy cat or two. (sigh)

 

Well, long, drag-azz story later, the envelope, the pattern, and a gazebo went home with me. Thanks to the coupon, all my indulgences came to $21.85. I knew Beloved Hubby wouldn't mind - if he'd have been there, I wouldn't have walked around trying to forget it, we'd have been at the register with it - but I still felt bad for indulging myself so.

 

But it didn't last. Got home and cleared a counter top in the Lab - it had misc. stuff piled on it that needed clearing anyway - and set up a small diorama with the painted-last-week grill set. So I now have a small place to play, and the most lovely gazebo. I used to have a Mattel-made pink plastic one, but I love this one more. By the time I got everything settled (move one thing in the Lab, and you're shuffling other things for hours), Beloved and Dearest Son were home, and I never took photos. There just wasn't time, and Beloved had the camera today. ‘S OK. It's there for as long as I want it to be, and since it still makes me happy to look at it, it'll be there for quite some time.

 

Oh, and the PILs have moved out, but so far have only taken their microwave oven with them. All their stuff is still here, but they'll be staying at their house, presumably from now on. Whooop ! Their room is trashed - I'm gonna have to go in there and at least get rid of the food and dirty dishes - but I'm still happy !

 

PostScript - Beloved bought a gorgeous orange digital camera tonight, so he can have one with him all the time, mostly for his work website. You can guess that I don't feel nearly so guilty about my spending spree now ! And you'd  be soooo right...

Did anybody here order a cat ?
Now Playing: Dukes of Hazzard Season Two - dunno which episode.
 Current Mood : Feline fine ! 

Spent on dolls and fabric today : $12.36

Had to make a shopping run today - so it's all Velvet's fault ! Late last night, I heard a cat yowling, and wondered how the PIL's over-needy cat got outside. Went to let him in, and it was a whole different cat ! I'd seen her before, snuggled up in the horses' hay bin, but she always streaked off. Not tonight ! She purrrrred and yowled, and let us know she was so very, very hungry - and then, most appreciative for the light snack. She hated to ask, it was so horribly rude of her, but did we have any more ?

 

So, please welcome Miss Velvet to Chez Insanity ! She's still a kitten, sweet and pretty, full of whiskers and purrs. She's also mostly birdlike bones, but we'll have her Maine Coon-like figure fattened up in no time. It's possible she was in heat - hence the yowling - so we may receive the gift that keeps on giving soon. Kittens. She'll be seeing a vet in the next week or two, so we'll know then.

 

Anyway, we'd given most of Tuna and Domino's stuff to the PILs, so I had to make a run to Mal-Wart today, for litter, dry food, a flea collar, and dishes. I figured, if I went to the high-side one, I may as well visit the TRU across the street (and over the highway, down the access road, and past the overpass). Y'know, since I was in the area anyway...

 

Not much new, or much beyond what Mal-Wart's had for a while. They had the Grease Rizzo doll, but no Speed Racer. They had some markdown dolls, so I ferried a few back and forth from the sale rack to the price checker. Found a row of Madison My Scene Roller Girls dolls, on final clearance for $5. Not bad, but the only one I still wanted from that line was Kennedy, mostly for the skates and her second dress - I loved the anime-style girl on it. Looks like Shinobu ! Picked through and scored the last Kennedy. Whoo-hoo ! If I score any more cash in the next week or two, I may go back for Madison. I love their skates !

 

Dug around some more, and found a bashed-box Red Carpet Glam Hilary Duff. Yup, I already bought this doll last year, but I liked her silver Barbie trophy and the velvet rope poles. Plus, I sorta have a tiny pick on the spot where I removed the red bow on the first one's dress. Scanned that one, too. $2.50, I'd have another set ! Cool ! I'm now well-stocked with doll skates, velvet rope stanchions, and awards. Next time I have the big Roller Figure Skating Championships in here, I've got all I need ! Well, I'll get better ropes for the stanchions...and thanks to Hilary's ridiculously long red wraps, I've got plenty of red carpet !

 

In case you ever wonder about velvet rope poles, I got my info from thecrowdcontroller.com, wherein we can all learn the proper names for such things, as well as the fact that real-life economy stanchions, without a rope or anything, weigh 25 pounds and run $83. each, plus shipping. A rolling cart to store your stanchions runs $699. If your curiosity isn't yet sated, check ‘em out.

 

Scored all the kitty stuff, and nothing new at Mal-Wart on the high side, either. Found a great faux-second-sleeve Cars shirt for Dearest Son on markdown for $3. They also had his beloved Lego Star Wars shirt in the next size up for the same price. I'm seriously considering getting it. He'd wear that Lego shirt every day if I let him ! He may actually wear this one out before outgrowing it. But he is notoriously mercurial in his passions, so by the time he fit the larger size, he may not like Lego anymore.

 

Naaah, who am I kidding ? Beloved Hubby enjoys putting those sets together with him just as much as Dearest does. Lego is never completely out of vogue once it's in yer life. I just wish it wasn't so painful when I step on the *&^%t.

 

As if two new dolls - and a new cat ! - weren't treat enough, I found the most lovely fabric remnant. It's hard to describe, but I'll try. It's a cream-colored stretch knit that looks like diamond-shaped embroidered smocking in tiny rows, but it's all the same cream color. I may make a simple tube dress to show it off. Got a yard for $2.

 

After all that, it was lunch time. In a spirit of penance for my wild spending spree, I came home and had leftovers. Plus, I was out of money ! At least there's no more leftovers...left.

 

Not much else going on. Dearest and Beloved have picked out paint colors, and his room will probably be done by the weekend. Beloved wanted to use up the joint compound (mud) so he textured the bathroom and half the hallway. I wonder what's getting painted next...

 

Hopefully, I get to sew tomorrow ! Wheeee !

Tomorrow, we'll return to the old newspaper images. Promise !

Suitably happy...
Now Playing: "The Chipmunk Adventure" - I knew I'd regret buying that DVD...
 

Current Mood : Still happy !

 

Perhaps inspired by how well the Lab turned out, Dearest Son announced yesterday that he was ready to get his room painted. Well, we still had some mud left from texturing my space, doing his room next could use that up. So Beloved Hubby told him that if he cleaned his room today, he'd texture it tonight and get it painted this week. Dearest got off the bus, and went straight to his room, started pickin' up Lego. You'd think he was tired of his soft pink walls or something...

 

No kidding. His room really is pink. We offered to paint it before we moved in last year, but he didn't want to pick out a new color, said it didn't matter to him. And really, it doesn't - to him, his room is where his clothes and toys are stored when they're not with him or in the living room. But I think he's growing into having his own opinions now !

 

I helped, and we just about had the toyboxes and his two-ton bed moved into the center of the room when Beloved came home. He's texturing the walls now, and I just love to watch. It's like all the mistakes of the room - marker scribbles, weird curtain hardware, random staples, broken switchplates, and ugly wall colors - vanish under the joint compound. It's soon a blank canvas, fresh and clean and waiting.

 

Made my thrift store circuit today. It was like a comedy routine from Steven Wright - "I donate to BadWill. They buy good stuff, break it, then sell it to poor people." There seriously wasn't much to be had. Same chipped, broken stuff that's been there since January. At least someone's buying the ‘collector' porcelain dolls. One GWill had about 30 of ‘em at one point. Aside from checking their shoes, clothes, and wigs for existing dolls, I barely look at ‘em.

 

For my part, I finally decided to just hang up a sheer panel for curtains in the Lab. I really enjoy watching the sun rise from the window in there, and didn't want it obscured much. Dug in the stash and found the perfect material - cream sheer with gold stars ! - but I only had about 1/8^th of a yard of it. Oh, well. Hunted some more and found some old curtain panels, one white, one a yellowish cream. The white was in sad shape, torn and pilled. So I re-hemmed the cream one, and hung it from cup hooks screwed into the walls just above the window. Added grommets to the top sides, slid ‘em onto the cup hooks, and I had curtains. For that extra touch that means so much, I got the two graduated disco-ball Christmas ornaments I bought from Dollar Tree back in '06, and hung one on each side. It dips just a bit in the center, but I like it like that.

 

And, aside from a bit more work (storing doll clothes and fabric, sorting through a basket of misc.), the Lab is as done as I can get it right now. I have to keep it tidy these days, because a mess means I can't move in here ! Had to lay out and measure the curtain sheers in our bedroom, ‘cause there wasn't room enough in here. I'll probably miss having the computer in here when it gets moved back, but it'll be great to have the space and hang up my artworks !

BIG news today !
Now Playing: mine own joy...
 

Current Mood : Tired and Sleepy, yet so very happy...

Current Image Notes : Some satin I bought for pennies at a yard sale last year was wrapped round random newspaper pages from 1967 ! I scanned a few of the ads, and here's the first one. Aside from the hair and gloves, this outfit woudn't look much out of place today.

 

The big news is THEY'RE LEAVING ! Yup, my PILs somehow got their mortgage refinanced, and as soon as they get a letter from their long-suffering bank, they're moving back into their house. Glory Halleluiah ! Could be a week, could be at month's end, but they won't be here come April, so I'm damn near dancing in the streets ! I imagine they're suitably overjoyed as well. I'm probably a real witch to live with.

 

Main problem right now is that they can't make the truck payments, and we can't anymore. So it'll probably go back to the dealer later this month. I'm just glad mine's paid off already. They're already talking about getting loads of cash from a reverse mortgage in a few years...just one more responsibility dodge, if  ya ask me. I'll be happy to not be included in their increasingly bizarre financial decisions once again.

 

Was reading one of the doll boards out of semi-boredom. There's just not enough time on laundry day to do much doll-related. Besides wash all that yard sale fabric I cheap-serged ! It was so pretty to have so many different colors waving in the wind on the clothesline. Anyway. Two folks were selling their rare Holy Grail-type ultra-status $$$ dolls because they have financial reversals - I think one was medical, the others was pre-orders for more dolls. It made me chortle a bit, and cough uncomfortably a bit. That's one of the good things about buyin' most of your stuff used - heck, all my dolls together probably wouldn't bring $100. But, hey, if you have the money, spend it the way you choose. It's when you don't have the money that you're in trouble. And much as I love mine, no doll is worth courting money woes. The idea that someone paid more than $500. for a $150. Barbie-size doll set, and hopes to sell it for $500. staggers me.

 

Of course, right now, I don't have a ‘Holy Grail'. There's stuff I'd like to have, but nothing convinces me I'd be happier with it than without it. About all I'm looking for is a doll case that sells for more used than it did new, and it's not even vintage - it's from the late 80s. Plus $10. to ship it means I'm hoping like heck to find one locally during yard sale season. And I have to keep telling myself that it's just for a display, I don't need it right now. Yet I still go to eBay, and look...

Does it count as sewing if all I did was cheap-serge the new stuff ?
Now Playing: local radio, for weather updates.
 

 

Current Mood : Fabric and sewing machine dazed.

Current Image Notes : I bought the dressed bear on the left for $2. at a flea market about two weekends ago, hoping the pink sweater and maybe the shoes would fit Timey and Dottie. As you can see, everything fit ! Didn't have to alter a thing, just wash the socks. The shoes are rather big on her, but it's barely noticeable. Not bad- a whole outfit from undies to crinoline to scarf for $2. - and I get to donate the still-ponytailed bear ! 

 

Rushed and did grocery shopping early, to avoid the ice and snow storm headed our way. The ‘storm' lasted about two hours, and then the roads were clear and dry. (sigh) I could have taken my time...hit a thrift store or something...

 

At least I took the time to look at dolls for a bit. The Mal-Wart markdown section had a Pearl Birthstone Barbie for an amazing $9. price...and her dress really is lovely. Brunette, too. But I still don't really like her. And now that I can do lace overlay myself, I can't justify paying even $9. for her clothes. Back in January, I'd have given spending the cash serious thought ! And here's the real truth : Words can't express how hard my teeth grind every time I see the tiara'd purse-size dog that comes with that line. I can forgive a doll for lookin' like Paris Hilton. I can't forgive a doll for livin' like her. So, no sale.

 

Ours also has several ‘Top Model Barbie' dolls for a mere $13., but again, there's not enough there for me. I can make most of her outfit, and the doll just isn't ‘me' enough to justify trying to find space for one more girl on the shelves. Besides, I've been on a bit of a buying spree already, I need to slow down. As you can probably imagine, I'm runnin' out of space in the Lab already !

 

Especially with that box of fabric and other goodies I bought this weekend ! Sat down to cheap-serge it - it's been in storage a while, so it all needs a good washing - and I'm still not done, two hours later. At least it's down to two big pieces now. Most of the pieces are stretchy knits, and I noticed, to my surprise, that the edges I'd just ‘serged' weren't ruffling. You know, that ‘lettuce edging' that was so popular a few centuries ago ? It comes from pulling and stretching the fabric as it's being sewn. You could see it a lot on sweatshirt cuffs, way back when sweatshirts were so over-decorated, they were almost formal wear. I've tried like heck to not do that when I'm sewing knits, but sometimes it just happens. Well, I guess I've finally developed the touch for it, because only one piece ruffled, and that's because there was so much of the stuff, it pooled in my lap, and the weight pulled it a bit. Guess there's something to be said for doing a big project all at once !

 

I got about a yard and a half of emerald-green costume satin - stiff and scratchy, but beautiful. Also some super-thin brown lining material, several sheer pieces, and about four bits of ‘illusion fabric' - the stuff that looks nude on costumes and things. It's super-stretchy, like swimsuit fabric. Some of the pieces have huge patterns, but that's why there's My Size Barbies here ! Heck, that really big floral one would look OK on Crissy, if I used a simple design pattern.

 

Well, I'm gonna cheap serge that last piece and head for bed. How was your day ?

Happy 1000th Blog Entry ! Wouldn't have done it without ya !
Now Playing: "The Chipmunk Adventure" - my animation-as-art fave, now Dearest Son's, for different reasons.

 

 

Current Mood : A tired kind of satisfied

Current Image Notes : This photo shows the final sage-green wall color the best. It was taken to show how a thrift store bear's outfit fit Timey perfectly. You get that photo tomorrow ! I also have an official 'Walk Of Fame' star, thanks to my BFF's 1989 birthday gift, and a silver cardboard star box top spray-painted.

 

Not really a ‘big day', just a satisfying one with lots of puttering. I got to spend most of it in my Lab, emptying the random bags of stuff, finding places for things in cabinets and cubbyholes that are already pretty packed, and sorting the rest. There's still some drifts of odd miscellany, but it's not much, and I'll have to clean it before I can sew. So that won't be there much longer !

 

Tomorrow, I get to cheap-serge all the fabric in the yard sale box, get it ready for the ever-present laundry. It'll feel sooo good to sew something, even if it is just zig-zagging. Cleaned up the yard sale plunder from the living room. The porcelain doll who bravely sacrificed her wig for Leia's twin sister also saw her dress get fitted to Growing Up Skipper. It was a bit short on the Teen Skipper body doll I have. Just have to attach snaps, probably while I'm waiting for Dearest Son's bus tomorrow afternoon. Friday I got so bored waiting for him that I cleaned up the yard !

 

At Beloved Hubby's insistence, I completed the Wall of Awards - basically, I hung up some old diplomas and stuff on a short bare wall in the Lab. I know I should be more proud of my few accomplishments, but frankly, I worked harder to pay off my college degree than I did earning it. The ‘Best Wishes' plaque from my old Army unit has more of a place of honor, along with a honor society parchment, mostly because I darn near worshipped its faculty advisor, Mr. Tuck.

 

The still-bare wall over the computer will eventually house some artworks various artists have done for me. There's a sketch Hubby did for our first anniversary, a drawing of Shinobu from Steven Bennett - who actually worked on the Urusei Yatsura anime in Japan. I got to know 'Unca Steve' very well in my anime convention days. A nice sketch from a comic artist a friend knew I'd like, and a sketch a co-worker gave me round out my art collection. I gotta wait until the computer desk is moved before I hang 'em.

 

Also hung up an old, old photo of Shinobu, wearing ‘Suburban Shopper'. Image is so old, it was taken with a fixed-focus 35mm film camera. That meant I had to be 3 feet away from her for the picture to be in focus, so any detail is lost. She's sitting in a tree, with the sky as blue as her dress, her limp buckram hat at a slightly windblown angle on her head. About a month after the photos were printed, we bought our first digital camera - an Olympus, with a then-amazing resolution of 1.8 megapixels. Dearest Son still uses it, although a tumble from the kitchen counter knocked something that obscures about a third of the left side of the shot. But he feels like a big guy, having his own camera, and not a Fisher-Price toy, either !

 

Anyway, it's been a nice, non-stressful day. I'm still amazed at how well the paint job on the barbecue looks, and it's really rare for me to be this happy over one of my own efforts ! Hope your day was really nice, too.

 

PS to Michelle - I've been known to apply masking tape over stickers, but in a weird way. I apply it non-sticky side down over the stickers, then cover over that with a strip with the adhesive facing down. In other words, it's sticker -dry side of tape 1-sticky side of tape 1- sticky side of tape 2 - dry side of tape 2. It's kind of hard to explain. Lemme work something up and add it to the page. Pictures often explain things better than words !

Cars, paint, and a beautiful day...so happy...
Now Playing: Robotech: Macross - 'Bye Bye Mars'

 

Current Mood : Joyful

Current Image Notes : Beloved didn't wanna be in the photo, so you just get his hand. But isn't that green just gorgeous ?  I've got a photo showing it off ready to go tomorrow - from the computer desk that's also now in the Lab, at least temporarily.

 

What a great day ! I got to go to two yard sales, painted the patio furniture, paid off my car loan, and found my favorite dip somewhere besides the 7-11 across the street !

 

First things first - I've always promised you'll see the new stuff here first. So today, I took photos while painting the ‘Barbie Barbecue' and made up a web page. Can you guess what color it is now ? It sure ain't pink anymore ! Here's the direct link -> https://dorriebelle.tripod.com/id42.html . Basically, I took it apart as much as possible, taped off the silver part of the grill, spray painted it, let it dry for an hour, then took the final photo. Michelle, it's really easy, you just have to develop your touch when you're just starting out. Don't even have to sand anything, if you're using Fusion, just a quick wipe-down with paint thinner/mineral spirits. If I can do it, so can you ! But try painting some stuff that you don't care much about first. I wrecked a few pieces and had to scrub paint off ‘em before I got the hang of it.

 

Yard sales were kind of hit and miss. No Barbie stuff at all, unless you count the porcelain doll who sacrificed her pageboy wig for a bald Leia (from a long-ago thrift store, not my childhood one !), her shoes for Princess Fiona, and her dress for Teen Skipper. Not bad for a buck ! I also got a bag of trim and ribbon for another dollar, and a small box of fabric - including some stretch velvet ! - for another buck. Baby Chrissy got a blue velvet dress and Beloved Hubby got a nice orange sweater, too. The other sale was a total bust, and the one advertised nearby just wasn't there. Oh, well. It's not like I needed more stuff to put away !

 

Lightning Molly is mine, all mine - but I have to wait for papers and such ‘til Monday. But I'm so very  happy. She's the finest car I've ever driven, and knowing she's mine now is a joy.

 

So it's been a busy day ! FIL says he's treating us to sub sandwiches, so there's something to look forward to. Leia looks so cute in her wig, and I really like my not-pink barbecue now. I just hope I can stay awake for dinner !