|
|
|
Dorrie's Doll Diaries
Tuesday, 7 October 2008
Dorrie calling . . . anybody home?
Now Playing: coughing and the clothes dryer
Well, I'm back, sort of. Guess it goes without saying that I've been horribly sick for a while. I kept up with writing, but I haven't had the energy to fight Tripod to post it all. Plus, my car, the sweet, always-a-joy Molly is down right now, and as of Saturday, so is my computer... that holds all those other entries. I'm on a borrowed laptop for the time being. All the computer needs is another UPS, all Molly needs is oil and a tune-up, but even minor things have to wait for fundage. I'll post what I can, and catch up ASAP. Just wanted to let ya'll know I'm not dead (yet !) and it's been a busy month or so since last I updated this thing. In the meanwhile, allow me to give you something to ponder... http://cgi.ebay.com/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=350104103661 This is an auction for a 'Fashion Fever' Barbie "Hits 2 Go" music cartridge, that presumably goes with other proprietary players Mattel sells. The first track is the teen anthem, The First Cut Is The Deepest. A tune I'm sure everyone wants their eight year old to know by heart...
Posted by dorriebelle
at 9:12 AM CDT
Updated: Monday, 2 May 2011 11:29 PM CDT
Monday, 6 October 2008
Blah Monday... but at least I'm breathing !
Current Mood : quiet Current Image Notes : This is my current desktop. I just love it. Read about it on Fark, but I can't afford even a print. So, like when I was a kid, I save a copy of it instead. Computer just makes it easier to see ! If Duran Duran ever does trance or Star Wars music, here's the cover art, ready to go ! If the world seemed quieter this morning, it was because I woke up with no voice today. Some time and cold applesauce soon soothed my poor throat, but it really reminded me that I haven't been taking care of my voice in quite some time. Goss, how I used to... ah, youthful vanity. Kind of a boring day. With all the ‘finds' cleared from Molly's trunk box, I wasn't sure what to do while waiting for Dearest Son's bus. I hate to just sit around. So I swept the neglected porch and sidewalk. Much better ! I swear, last week, when Beloved Hubby got a package, I was rather embarrassed that the mail carrier saw our neglected doorway. My new cell phone arrived a few days ago, and I'm absolutely paranoid about it. I can't even toss laundry into the hamper without checking where it is. It really is nice. I love the brushed aluminum housing and the perfect green color... Picked up the items Beloved requested for Molly's oil change. He told me he'd get the tune-up stuff. Whoo-hoo ! I may have her back this weekend !! Other than that, not a lot going on. Grocery shopping tomorrow, and I hope to score some cool yarn. I'm really having fun with my Knit Magic !
Posted by dorriebelle
at 12:01 AM CDT
Updated: Monday, 2 May 2011 11:28 PM CDT
Sunday, 5 October 2008
Whargarblearrghble...(cough)(ahem) Hiya !
Current Mood : awe. And ow. Current Image Notes : Not mine, but I love this image... It's been an incredible few weeks ! I've scored stuff I'd about given up on, mostly due to price. I've found an old friend and Dearest's class just loves me. It's hard to belive how wonderful it's all going, and I'm still in a kind of shock. That or my cold's getting worse. All I wanna do is sleep ! It helps that my computer UPS is DOA. It kept going off last night, for no reason, and its shrill alarm at 3am is not something anyone wanted more of. It does that every so often, about every month or so. Then as now, we shut it off and went back to sleep. Only today, it won't click back on. Just keeps clicking back off. I guess we shouldn't be surprised, it was a barely functioning PITA three years ago. So now we're down to Beloved Hubby's laptop until we can shuck another $130. for another UPS. I'm about ready to bag it and just get a really good - and much cheaper - surge suppressor instead. That we can do later this week - right now, we're diesel-broke. The parts came in and Beloved's truck is fixed ! Alleluia !! With that done, he finally had time to look at Molly. At first, nothing appeared wrong. She's just horribly loud... Oh ! Well. One of her spark plug wires popped out - with the plug still attached ! Reattached, she's her usually only slightly noisy self. But Beloved wants to change her oil and give her a tune-up before she goes back to being mine again. Here's hoping for next week ! It's nice that I'll have the small truck as a vehicle this week, but I miss my Molly-chan ! Got to play with the Barbie Knit Hits machine. It makes the same funky tube dresses I remember. And I can easily dress donated dolls now ! Haven't quite mastered ‘panels' on it, my first attempt was pretty awful. Skipped stitches and threads that didn't catch... it looked like I'd been torturing a volleyball net ! Clearly more practice (and yarn) is necessary. Aaarh. Ahem. My throat's getting sore. And I'm still coughing up gunk. I think I'll catch an early night's sleep, since the guys around here already are...
Posted by dorriebelle
at 12:01 AM CDT
Updated: Monday, 2 May 2011 11:28 PM CDT
Saturday, 4 October 2008
The biggest dress form *ever*...
Current Mood : Beyond stunned Spent on sewing : $7.50 Another big yard sale weekend ‘round here. A sale on nearly every block ! However, with two major scores already, and a steadily worsening cold, was I really gonna go out to look for more ? Well, yeah. A little. I wanted to hit one sale I'd seen while Beloved and I were out running early errands, and I still wanted to be out for a bit, since I'd been cooped up all week. So, off I went. And I lucked into something so amazing, I'm still not sure how to look on it. The first sale got me a cute tote box, but was otherwise uninteresting. I got lost following signs to one sale when I found another, down a one-way dirt road. So down I go, thinking I'd poke around a bit and then split. But then I saw something. A wire dress form - and it was already clearly big enough for my size ! I circled it twice - you don't see these very often. It's basically coated wire that bends, forming a shape over the owner's, so it could fit nearly anyone. And it rested on a telescoping pole stand. Now, I know regular ‘dial style' dress forms are expensive. Double the price if your size is above US12, and add about $60. to ship. This one wasn't like that - it wasn't covered over with current colored fabric...but it could fit me. I remembered the $8. in my wallet and the random change in the truck. Yikes. Well, I had some cash in Checking, so I asked. Amazingly, she just wanted it gone. $7.50. MINE ! "Catherine" was carefully loaded into the truck's passenger seat and borne home. Wow. I got the biggest dress form in the collection yet - and for less than the one I got at Hancock Fabrics ! Beloved, working at the Shop, was similarly stunned. We gave it a quick air-compressor dusting, then unsnapped it apart and started fitting it to me. Yes ! It took a bit of stretching, but it does fit, and now I have a dress form all my own. I never thought I would - I mean, it's pretty rare for me to sew clothes that don't have to allow for pull strings or gimmick levers. So I kinda wanted one for some time, but it never got beyond just lookin'. Especially when shipping alone was more than I could ever spend ! But, wow, there she is. Catherine - the name of the seller, too - rests in my closet, since there's no room in the Lab and no real display area in our bedroom. I still get a thrill just looking at her. Oh, and I bought a Jasmine LDP online today. Mostly for her lovely purple harem costume. Yeah, I'm a bit disappointed in m'self, but I gave it much thought and didn't overspend my long-ago limit. Shipping and all came to less than $17. total. And it's done. I have all the LDP stuff I want, save for what I make.
Posted by dorriebelle
at 12:01 AM CDT
Updated: Monday, 2 May 2011 11:28 PM CDT
Friday, 3 October 2008
Magic...Knit magic, or Knit Hits, depending on the era !
Current Mood : nostalgic surprise Spent on dolls and crafts today : $2. Beloved Hubby arranged work for his Shop this morning, so I could keep my promise to read to Dearest's class today. How sweet ! However, I took slight advantage of it and hit a yard sale on the way home. What can I say - I just can't resist ! Not much there, really - but I still scored a real find. A small hand-cranked knitting machine, just like the ‘Knit Magic' I had as a kid ! Except the box for this one was covered in a certain shade of pink, with dolls all around. This was ‘Barbie's Knit Hits', and it's clear purple with lime green accents, but otherwise nearly identical to my original yellow and orange one. Had one not too long ago, about 2001, but I donated it when we moved. I'd always rather liked it, and while I've seen ‘em at Hobby Lobby, it just wasn't $20. worth of nostalgia, ya know ? But here was one for $2. It spun easily, and what the heck. No directions, but I remembered enough from years of pink and red tube dresses to use it. And yes, back in the 70s, I thought pink and red looked great together. Well, remember, I'm using a yellow and orange machine... This one had a Mattel logo lever with a P on one side and a T on the other. That was new. Engaging the P seemed to stop it from completing the circuit. Hmm. Less than a minute later, I had saved a PDF file of the directions to this exact machine to my Patterns folder. Goss, I love the internet ! Seems the P stands for ‘panels', as this version makes flat pieces, not just tubes. Interesting... Too bad I didn't have much time to play. I cut and bundled the last of the new cut pieces from Molly's trunk just as Dearest Son arrived home. Beloved was home about ten minutes later. It wasn't long before Dearest left for his grandparents', and Beloved wanted to shop a bit. After a lovely dinner out, I got the latest Doll Reader, mostly for the lovely photos of the latest Tonner Oz witches. Wow. Elphie's ‘Witchcraft' gown is gorgeous, but waaay beyond my meager means. I like having a great photo of it, though. Just wish they'd used the big photo on that, instead of another big-azz fluffy blue ballgown on Glinda. (growlmutter) I'm still not sure what to make of the ballerina witches. Yup, there's ballet-themed dolls of Elphie, Glinda, and Dorothy. Dorothy, frankly, looks kinda silly in a gingham tutu with sparkly red toe shoes. Glinda, naturally, has a flowing romantic pink tutu that drapes to the floor. Elphie's is short, slightly bristling, and black. She strongly resembles Princess Krahe. I wonder if someone over at Tonner is a Princess Tutu fan... There's also a cute dress pattern for a 10-inch doll in this issue. I may increase it for the LDPs. Gotta scan it first, though. And this issue further proves my theory that no general doll magazine can go an entire issue without devoting at least one page to Shirley Temple and her dolls. I know interest in her is always high, but speaking as someone free of the enchantment, it gets pretty tiresome to always find an article about her and her dolls in every. Single. Issue. Of . Every. Single. Doll. Magazine. Hoping to find playtime with the Knit Hits device tomorrow. It's lucky for me that it came with some yarn, even though it's an amazingly garish Christmas skein. What little yarn I had around here got used up in fabric bundling and kitten play !
Posted by dorriebelle
at 12:01 AM CDT
Updated: Monday, 2 May 2011 11:27 PM CDT
Thursday, 2 October 2008
I gotta say it... Truly Outrageous !
Current Mood : Overwhelmed ! Beloved Hubby was home early, and he could tell I was restless. So at his urging, I got to pay a visit to Community Thrift. Not much new - scored a couple replacement Happy Meal Cars toys for Dearest Son. Most of his are shot from heavy play. There were bundles of doll clothes in with the Barbie bins this week, but they were wedged and crammed into snack-size baggies, nearly impossible to tell what was in there, much less what shape it was in. I already got a boxload of doll clothes to repair, don't need to shell out $2. for more ! I went over the also-small bags of shoes and accessories, though. One set tempted, as I know that Fashion Fever shoe style fits some of my flatter-feet dolls, but I didn't much care for the pinky-purple color. I have a bag of shoes to paint around here somewhere... No new dolls either. Mostly blondes I've seen there for a while. There is a Hasbro Jem, possibly first season, from the pink metallic dress and shiny waffle-weave hosiery. Unfortunately, her bright pink and white blonde hair completely obscured her face, and the other two dolls squashed in there with her were also wedged up tightly. Plus, I already have a Jem doll, bought from a DAV thrift waaaay back in 1999. Even thinking about her makes my mind play her theme song... When I bought my Jem, I'd thought to piece together her ensemble, much the way I did the Fashion Plates. A find here, a bit there, a staggering avalanche of amazingly good luck suddenly one day. My Jem wore her hosiery under a Barbie dress, but I soon had her ‘Jerrica' striped one and her ‘Jem' pink dress from yard sales. I'd found the ‘Winning is Everything' and ‘Sophisticated Lady' outfits still on their cards in a junk shop, and bought them in hopes Lisa Hayes (Robotech) could wear her shoes. Nope. Waaaaaay too big for Lisa ! But it meant that my '99 Jem would have a wardrobe available since 1990 ! I'd kinda lost track of getting all'a Jem's stuff. Never really got past the dresses, and since I had pairs of pink and blue shoes from the outfits, even if the weren't the right pink and blue shoes, they were fine by me. Later I found her and Synergy strappy sandals on eBay, and discovered that clearanced ‘Beauty Cutie' boots fit and looked great, too. Plus, Jem accessories like shoes and clothes, tend to go for much more than the doll ! So I contented m'self for sewing Jem, Rio, and Synergy new stuff, and making new finds. Anyway, it hit me on my final store circuit. I hadn't checked any of the baggies for Jem stuff. Worth a shot, at least. Since they had the doll... A quick dig didn't find anything. Rats. But since I was down there, maybe this Jem's dress was better than my Jem's dress... And I bought her bag on the spot. A closer look showed that she not only had the pink dress and stockings, but she also came with the Jerrica dress and hat ! And both the metallic pink and turquoise shoes ! Those alone were sooo worth the $3.99 on the bag ! Once home, I also found myself the proud owner of her hair pick, her bracelet (complete with pink stone), and a doll with the ‘starcap' earrings ! I'd never seen one of those before ! My Jem just had the red-bulb earrings. How cool !! I also found out why they'd gone to such trouble to obscure her face. Her hair was amazingly vivid. Her hands were near-perfect, and her arm and leg joints clicked like a new doll. Her clothes and shoes were also near-box bright. But her pretty close-mouthed face bore several purple marks, on her cheek, the tip of her nose, her upper lip, and her chin. Also a chunk of her bottom lip paint was gone. Well, shoot. That was a shame. But I already have zit cream ! I got her cleaned up and started treatment. Here's hoping ! And no, my Jem is not now homeless. With her fair hair, she's Jerrica ! Now all I need is the belt, the sunglasses, the stand, the cassette, the box...
Posted by dorriebelle
at 12:01 AM CDT
Updated: Monday, 2 May 2011 11:27 PM CDT
Wednesday, 1 October 2008
On the move...
Current Image Notes : This is from a website that mocked roadside memorials, and allowed you to make your own. Enjoy my creepy October surprise ! Welcome to October ! Now that I'm feeling a bit better, I've gone and caught cold. I think. It's hard to tell, since I've had that ‘gunk in my lungs' feeling for nearly a month already. Beloved Hubby ordered truck parts today. Hopefully we'll have his diesel up and running this weekend. He hasn't had the time to look at Molly yet, but I'm sure he will soon. I know he hates it when I nag. On a whim - and to avoid actual housework - I decided to sort out a box of fabric I haven't touched in months. And there went two hours of today. But I gained some more space for the fabric bundles, because the box was fulla people clothes ‘finds' from last year's various second-hand venues ! (sigh) Just when I was finishing up with this year's, too... But it wasn't so bad. About half were already cut up, and of the remaining untouched half, I donated most of it. Cut some up for rags. In the end, Community Thrift will gain a sack of clothes (some of which came from there in the first place !), my rag box increased a bit, the fabric box is better organized, and today, just as I completed cutting the last garment from Molly's trunk, I added eight more. (heavier sigh) But at least I knew not to cut up any more dark blue velvet !
Posted by dorriebelle
at 12:01 AM CDT
Updated: Monday, 2 May 2011 11:27 PM CDT
Tuesday, 30 September 2008
I'm normally in love with September...but this year, bye-bye already !
Finishing up laundry day. Got the two new fabrics washed, along with the ‘flags' and ‘lavender gingham' print ones washed, dried, and bundled. At this point, I'm not only really tired of fabric and tearing garments apart, I'm about ready for yard sale season to end, so more of the same doesn't follow me home anymore ! Seriously, my Lab is a mess again, since I don't know where to put all this stuff. Yet I so enjoy going out and looking for more. It makes no sense. I'm down to the last three items in the ‘tear people clothes apart for fabric and fun' box, and the thought of being done with it by week's end fills me with glee. Glee, I tell you, glee ! Yeah, I've been in a mood all day. Sorry. At least everything save what we're wearing has been washed. I probably won't do laundry again until Friday, or Monday. By then, I'll have this put away, and we'll have generated another seven or eight loads...
Posted by dorriebelle
at 12:01 AM CDT
Updated: Monday, 2 May 2011 11:26 PM CDT
Monday, 29 September 2008
I hate 'one working vehicle' weeks...
Urgh. It's laundry day, and also ‘we're down to one working vehicle' day. Lemme tell ya, there's a huge difference in deciding not to go anywhere and not being able to go anywhere. Got six pieces of clothing cut down to useable bits while waiting outside. Not just for Dearest Son's bus, but also spotting for Beloved Hubby as he worked on his truck. It makes me nervous when he's under two-plus tons of steel, supported by what looks like a couple soda bottles and a metal accordion. So when he's working on vehicles, I'm normally out there with him, cell phone at the ready, just in case. During today's adventures, a local tire consortium was set to do an alignment on Beloved's diesel. They refused, saying the ball joint would have to be replaced first. A repair that'd cost over $400., including a single $130. part. Beloved came home. The part, from the dealer, is less than $60., and they deliver. Beloved's a fairly good shade-tree mechanic - he's taken care of my brakes numerous times, and is good with fuel pumps and radiators - so he decided to take on the repair himself. We got the part, but found out that two seals were beyond repair. Since the consortium never removed the tire, they didn't know, so the repair probably would have gone over $600., as the seals are $50. each. And, you know, they have to charge twice that for parts, minimum. We have to order the seals, so his truck is down. And my Molly still is. She needs a new clutch. At least we have a working truck for work, but it means grocery shopping's gonna be late this week. While the big diesel was down, he had a look at Molly and the grey truck. Grey truck also needed a new part, so he got that taken care of, and as a test drive, we got milkshakes. Dinner was rather late for us (I'd fed Dearest earlier), so we just had soup. I'll be so happy when Molly's back up. I really miss her ! And the box in her trunk has about six pieces of clothing left. Somebody slap me if I ever buy any more people clothes for doll clothes fabric again !
Posted by dorriebelle
at 12:01 AM CDT
Updated: Monday, 2 May 2011 11:26 PM CDT
Sunday, 28 September 2008
Just a quick note...
After yesterday being 100% amazing, today couldn't possibly match it. So I just kinda loafed around, got the donation ready for pick-up (three bags and still going), and redid the Lab a bit. The cat hide-a-way cube I got from a yard sale weekend ago is now in here, so DC and Jack occasionally rework what's on the floor for me. I made sure to get all the ribbon and trims stored, and got out the spare thread box. The grab-bag of thread I got yesterday darn near filled it ! Glad I bought it when I saw it at GoodWill. I've been kinda kicking myself for it, thinking I'd never again buy thread, so I wouldn't need it - but I couldn't resist paying 50c for a duplicate of something I paid nearly $6. for already.
Posted by dorriebelle
at 12:01 AM CDT
Updated: Monday, 2 May 2011 11:25 PM CDT
Newer | Latest | Older
|
|
