A most satisfying Friday...ZZZzzzzzzzzzzz....

 

Current Mood : Happy

Current Image Notes :  Here's the second prototype Teacher of the Year jar. You'll see the final version tomorrow - it's already with the new owner !

 

Got lazy last night and only sewed the cat with Dearest Son's teacher's initial, so I had to hop up today and sew cute kitty, and get it all put together. The TOTY candy jar was gonna go to its new home today. I was determined.

 

Cute kitty stitched out adorably, and Beloved Hubby said that one was his fave. You get to see it tomorrow ! But my idea to sew the designs back-to-back met with less than a success. Ugh. Ended up Fray-Checking the edges, and sewing each design to a plain back of the same fabric. Much easier. And this way, she can put the blank sides to use in her own way, and she won't have to see the less-than-pretty backside. Dug in the ribbon and lace stashes and added that, and an hour and a half later, it was done, wrapped, and ready to go.

 

What amazed me, in a detached sort of way, is that changing thread colors is something I can do without thinking, and it only takes about thirty seconds now. I used to dread switching thread colors, because it seemed to take forever to get Brody threaded. Well, getting the thread under the quilting foot is still a pain, since the thread always goes off in some odd direction I can't quite reach, but I'm sure even that will eventually get easier.

 

I also figured out what the forum sewists meant by ‘thread bikinis'. For some odd reason, thread on those narrow little embroidery spools unwinds fast if left alone and unsecured. So many sewists either buy stretchy thread nets, to hold the tails in and the thread secure, or use various other methods to hold it down. I simply used the plastic sleeve that came with the little skinny spools, but I'm sure as the thread decreases, they won't fit very well. So, I've tried using the larger transparent rubber bands that come with new dolls, or stickers applied to the top of the spool. Normally, I'd worry about adhesives gumming up the needle, but the thread that gets tucked under the sticker is the very last bit - which usually gets snipped off, either during threading, or as a thread tail in the embroidery.

 

The kids in Dearest's class were very happy to see me again, and were thrilled to learn that we were doing a craft right after recess. They had an absolute blast making designs for their buttons. Many used collage and tear-art in theirs. One young man colored the background to his button red, then cut a star from the camouflage paper I'd brought. With the star glued to the red, then pinned to his camo-print shirt, it was a startlingly amazing effect. As they were getting ready for the next part of the day, many were attaching their new buttons to their backpacks. (happy smile) And asking me when I'd be back !

 

Our Teacher of the Year loved her candy jar, and immediately started trying the various discs on, and thought it was a stellar idea. She'd never seen one before. Goes to show, what's boring in one neighborhood is exotic in another. By then, though, it was time for me to help clean up and scoot. I was tired - it takes a bit to corral nineteen excited kids enough for even a small project - but I felt great.

 

And the ‘Teacher of the Year' gift is off my to-do list - before the end of the school year ! I'm happy with me... And sleepy as any cat in sunshine. Hope your Friday was special, too.

Busy week, really.

 

Current Mood : Mild excitement.

Current Image Notes : This is what it looks like from the back. Yup, used brown bobbin thread. If you look at something you have embroidered professionally, chances are the bobbin stitches are drawn up even tighter. And you can see my classic 'used dryer sheet' stabilizer ! It was April fresh !

 

Yup, I slept like a brick, except for the two times I woke up and needed the inhaler. (sigh) I hate my asthma.

 

Windy as all heck today, which normally amps my symptoms - all the pollen and dust and cold blowing around - but it wasn't so bad today. I got to hit Hobby Lobby and got all the button pieces I need for tomorrow (and used both coupons I printed out !), as well as some decorative papers for the buttons, so this whole project'll only cost about $6., considering I'm keeping four of the 24 button pieces. Class is only sixteen kids, but I'll take 20 pieces, just in case. The other four are for selfish little me !

 

I also picked up a spool of embroidery thread at 40% off. I needed the light grey for several projects, so it was great to get it on sale. Bought and downloaded a fantastic antique ‘cathedral' radio design yesterday, and I can't wait to stitch it out. Only problem is, it takes about six different shades of brown. I couldn't recall which shades of brown I needed, so either before or after school tomorrow, I'll go back, printout of the design in hand, and use the last of the cash Beloved Hubby gave me. I can has five ! Wheee !

 

Their Easter stuff was half-off, so I bought a package of plastic Easter eggs - in white. This way, after Dearest Son eats up the jellybeans and candy, he can have a fleet of EVEs ! Poor Wall-E is gonna find himself surrounded soon. Dearest's done that before, decorated plastic eggs with a Sharpie to resemble Wall-E character EVE, so I thought it'd be fun to give him a bunch to play with. For 33c, it'll be cheap fun, too. We already have a surplus of white pipe cleaners from last year's yard sale booty, to use for arms. And you know me, any excuse to have jellybeans in the house...

 

I decided to stitch out the ‘Teacher of the Year' design again, in primary color variegated thread. The yellows didn't show up much, so I touched ‘em up a bit with a colored pencil. Once I add a few hand-stitched stars, I'm gonna sew the variegated ones together, so she has a color choice, then stitch out her initial and a cute cat design I also got yesterday, sew those together. That'll give her four choices to display. I should have it finished by tomorrow, so I can drop it off while I'm over there. Already loaded the outgrown clothes for the nurse into Molly, so I don't forget.

 

(giggle) Given the two cat designs I'm stitching out for his teacher, I'll have embroidered every day this week, since Sunday ! I've had a lot of fun, and learned quite a bit, too. Yesterday, the bobbin thread ran out again, and I learned that, if I just stop Brody to add another filled one, I don't have to recount or resew, or start from scratch with the ‘add stitches' button. He'll start right from where I hit the ‘stop' button ! It's only when I have to wind a bobbin I have to start from scratch - and I don't have to do that anymore, since I can use KJ as a bobbin-winder when I need to. It's just sooo cool !

 

While I learned last week that using the cone thread was OK for Brody's bobbins, I forgot how to wind them, even with the thread stand Beloved Hubby built for me. I made two that were terrible ! You know what I forgot ? That even when using the thread stand, I have to use that little peg to wind bobbins, just like I do when I wind ‘em from regular spool thread. Going straight from cone to bobbin makes a terrible mess !

 

I'm really looking forward to tomorrow. Hope you are, too !

Busy day here, too.

 

Current Mood : Sleepy as a pigeon with its head under its wing. 

 

Phone calls day. The Dumpster didn't get picked up last Thursday, so I had to call, make sure we were on for tomorrow. Turns out, ‘Dumpster Day' is on Tuesday - which I already knew, since that's when I hear them getting emptied every week at the day care center next door and the liquor store / 7-11 across the street. The nice young lady on the phones has no idea why I was asked what day I wanted. Pick up day is Tuesday.

 

Well, nuts. That's two weeks it won't get picked up. She said they'd come by today if I could open the gates, they were locked Tuesday, she noted. Yeah, that's ‘cause there was a horse in there. I took a deep breath, the key, and a jacket and went to it. Those gates are heavy. But I got it done, and wheezingly took out some house trash while I was over there. Couple hours later, just as promised, it was dumped. Wheee ! I wonder if the sound made the day care center and the 7-11 flinch ? Let the horse-tenant know the date got moved to Tuesday, which works better for her. It's all good.

 

While I waited for Dearest Son's bus, I took out some more trash and locked the gates back. It's much easier to close them ! I also had occasion to call our landlord, nothing major, but she wants to do a walkthrough sometime soon. She should have done so in February, she said, but she's bottle-feeding a mom-abandoned calf, and that does take up a woman's time ! Yikes. I gotta get off my butt and clean up this place, or she'll evict us !

 

To that end, I at least got the living room cleaned and vacuumed today. And Dearest Son's day got a bit more structured - while I do my afternoon cleaning, he had to work on his room for an hour. It'll take about a week or so to get it so he can walk in there. I don't dare go in without shoes. Darn sharp Lego.

 

It's a good thing I've about sworn off machine embroidery websites. Or I wouldn't have had any time for fun today. I got to watch Revenge of the Nerds with lunch today, a freebie from Hulu.com, with a booze ad every 15 - 20 minutes. Watched the last episode of Last Scandal yesterday. Phfff, cable. Who needs that ? The $35. a month we pay for DSL gives us plenty of entertainment. That and my much-loved Mp3 player - I hate washing dishes, but the music makes it bearable. I just wrap it with a bit of plastic, since water will kill it.

 

Did a stitch-out of the Teacher of the Year design I plotted. Came out pretty well in the pastels. I'm thinking I'll do one in the primary variegated thread, then sew ‘em together, so the design's reversible. Then do a second set with her initial - it is a Y, after all - and a pretty kitty I have downloaded. That way, she'll have a choice as to what design she'd like for the jar to show. I'm doing a craft project with Dearest's class Friday, so I need to pick up parts tomorrow, and finish up her jar. I got some of Dearest's outgrown clothes ready to donate to the school nurse, too, and there's more to sort through tomorrow. I also need to do dishes. And...

 

Man works from sun to setting sun,

But Woman's work is never done !

 

Gonna sleep well tonight ! Hope you do, too !

Stitchin' and whining, always a fun way to while away an afternoon....

 

Current Mood : Soft pastel-like

 

Here it is, the Embroidery That Must Not Be Named. This would probably get me kicked off the SiCK forums, and possibly most other ME ones. But honestly, I'm kinda getting tired of them anyway. It's not that the folks aren't nice anymore - they're still really kind and helpful - it's just that between the religious signatures and the ‘we must help the owner again !' stuff, I'm getting tired.

 

Yeah, the SiCK owner-guy posted that he owes $62,000. in taxes (Canadian or US $, I don't know - the site's Canada-based), so he put everything on sale and added a bit of desperation to the place. I'm kind of surprised there isn't more butt kissing, like there was when he upped prices and slashed points, but the ‘help meeeee' message is still there (in two days, it's gone to $66,000.), and I'm getting tired of wondering why I don't feel sympathy for someone when I've spent more money on his site than any other. I'm sure he's a wonderful fella, but when I got folks preaching at me for even thinking of buying the ‘600 Disney designs for $40 ‘ discs off eBay (not that I have $40. right now anyway), and saying each small ‘free' design costs the provider at least $50. and probably more, well, I get tired of feeling guilty for enjoying what's out there.

 

And for this guy, much-loved fella that he is, clearly can't manage his business very well. I have, from various ‘hunts' and giveaways, amassed six pieces of various ten-piece design sets, for free. This doesn't encourage me to buy the set, when I already have over half of it. Much as I enjoy the hunt and the freebies, sometimes it seems like it's all he has to offer. And if he's intent on giving away the store, there's not a lot I can do. I spent as much there as I could, and there's literally nothing there I want. I spent over two hours there, trying to use my points, just to be done with the place, and I couldn't find anything I wanted, even when it's free.

 

Besides, every hour I spend there is an hour I have to find somewhere else, to actually sew something or clean up this mess around here. I don't need to bust my butt to earn points to buy stuff I don't want. I needed yet another wake-up call, and there it was.

 

Still working on laundry. Got four loads washed, dried, and sorted yesterday, and two more washed, including all the new fabric bits, hope to at least get the rest clean today. The laundry room is kind of tacked on past the back door, and I honestly believe the deck Beloved Hubby built last year was done better that it was. The window rattles in the frame - it's truly just a pane of glass in a metal sash. The least little breeze pushes it around, and I got tired of it today, so I literally stuffed a sock in it. One of Dearest Son's, damaged, shoved between the frame and the glass. Still rattles, but it's not that constant annoying tap-tap-tap all the time.

 

I rearranged all four thread boxes - the top one is embroidery-hopeful spools, the second is small spools, the other two are arranged by color. It kinda bites that I'm gonna be buying more thread when I already have this much, but when it's the wrong kind, there isn't much that can be done about it. Besides, I still have KJ to sew with, so it's not like three boxes of thread are a total waste. Oh, and guess what I found when I finally got all of KJ's bobbins together ? I'd been using two of Brody's type bobbins, years before I got Brody ! They probably came in a lot of thread, and they worked, so I used ‘em. That reminds me, I need to wind more for some stitch-outs I wanna do...

 

I also decided to clean the bobbin race on Brody. That's the sole maintenance I have to do on him. No oiling or nothin'. Only took about fifteen minutes, and that's with consulting the manual every thirty seconds. It's impressive how much lint was in there. I'm surprised he stitched as well as he did lately, ‘cause it's the first time I cleaned him ! Rolled up into a ball, the lint's the size of a baby pea. Most of it was under the bobbin case. The reason most folks give for not using other off-market products in their embroidery machines is fear of lint. Um, it took me maybe five minutes to clean mine, when you take off all the manual study. I'll just clean it after each project, and it should be fine. Not like I'm embroidering a six-foot-wide tapestry here. Think I'll invest in a can of air, keep it in the Lab. Should help.

 

The cover that Brody came with is nice, but with KJ in the dining area, I leave his embroidery platform attached. And the cover doesn't come near to protecting that ! So, until I find another way to store the platform, I've got the whole thing draped with a large piece of fabric. It's really dusty around here, and it's better than no cover at all.

 

Once he was nice and clean, I wanted to stitch. So, I pulled out the variegated pastel thread I bought years ago and pulled up a downloaded version of my name. Never sewed that before, just my initial that one time. Evidently, I put the bobbin race back together very well - no snags or snarls at all. But I seriously lack putting-the-needle-back-in skills, because it fell out while it was stitching. Twice. I'm astonished that the needle didn't break or even bend, it kept trying to sew without it. Now I know that finger tightening isn't enough, I need to use the screwdriver Brody came with to get it in there good.

 

Had to back up a bit because of the missed stitches, and it was then I noticed that I hadn't ever tried the resize functions, or the flip/mirror. So once my name was done - with no thread changes, it didn't take long, and even looked pretty good in the soft pastels - I did it again, at the bottom of the hoop, shrinking it a bit. Came out pretty well, but it skipped a few stitches for no real reason - maybe resizing it did something to the design. After that, I pulled up Beloved's name, moved it to the top of the hoop, and flipped it, so it stitched upside down. Fun to watch ! Of course, his came out the best, since I hadn't resized it, and no needles sprang free. And I remembered once it was done that he said he hated that font. Oh, well.

 

What makes it funnier is that I used a rag. Literally. It was an old navy-blue t-shirt that was recycled as a cleaning rag, and it went through the wash today. One side had bits of paint on it, but the ‘wrong' side didn't, so I used that. Now I know I can embroider on knits - thick ones like sweatpants, or thin ones like t-shirts. Wheee !

Thread tales...

Current Mood : Wiped out !  

 

Started today off well - found six new designs on a machine embroidery website I liked, and snagged ‘em for free. There was about 20 I liked, actually, so I bookmarked it for later. Man, they really know what they're doing when they offer freebies, don't they ?

 

No danger of me buying any, though - with all the vehicle shuffling and weather this month, we're pretty broke right now. S'Ok, there's food in the pantry and enough for Dearest Son's school lunch, so it's not bad at all. I get to return to my volunteer work this week, so I got plenty to do, and half a gas tank to do it with. Not sure if I'm reading or doing craft work with the kids Friday - but if it's crafts, I gotta squeeze a bit out of checking for those badge pieces. Luckily, there's a 40% off coupon to Hobby Lobby this week !

 

Last night, I went through my thread stocks. And I was utterly confused. Most sites say embroidery weight thread is best for Brody. Something even the manual dances around - it doesn't suggest a weight or type, other than ‘embroidery', and even then, it's merely suggested in the ‘learn to use your new machine' pages, and nowhere else, not even in the embroidery section. Well, I used it on Wall-e, and it didn't "fill" nearly as well as regular ole spool thread. Cheap thread may have lumps or burrs in it, but there is such a thing as good quality spool thread. Even I can tell a difference between the four-spool pack at Dollar Tree and the nicer $2. thread in something as small as doll clothes. Ease of use, shine, etc. Mostly judgment calls, really. So, wouldn't it be OK to use spool stuff if it's the right weight ?

 

Well, good luck finding that info out. Most of my wooden spools had the weight on ‘em, when there was a label still intact. And most of it is ‘50'. But modern polyester thread seems to have no weight designation at all. Even when ya go to their websites, it doesn't really say, unless a thread is cotton or specialty, what weight it is. Just says ‘all purpose', which really doesn't tell you much.

 

I gathered the ones I could tell would work on Brody, and boxed the ‘good' spool thread separately. Still not sure what the difference really is. It took me twenty minutes of hunting before I finally found a site that laid it out - smaller number weight = heavier thread. It's often suggested to use a lighter thread in the bobbin than on the top, to pull the stitches under a bit, so the bobbin thread won't show. So a bobbin often has 60wt (light) thread in it, and the top thread is 30 to 40 (heavier). And since most cotton threads are 50wt, they're probably too heavy for embroidery. Too bad even the Coats website won't tell me what size/weight/whatever their general-purpose Dual Duty threads are. I got a ton of that stuff !

 

So, with all that behind me, I think I'll try to use some Dual Duty on the next stitch-out, see if it creates any problems. If it works, I have a wealth of supplies already, and I can get more for about $2. for twice as much thread as what's on a $5. embroidery spool.

 

And here's a funny epilogue. Hancock Fabrics is having a 40% off sale on Coats & Clark thread this week. Entire stock. Excludes embroidery thread. LOL !

 

Case Wall #2 and Wall-E, too.

 

Current Mood : Sleepy-happy

 

Busy day, even if it was just fun little things. I got both Folding Pretty houses together and took the phone / lantern off the Spring Break one and put it on my nice one. Mine had the phone and lantern, but it was missing the handset. I also appropriated the faucet for the bathtub, and the oven rack. Yep, I paid $5. to get a doll phone, a doll faucet, and an oven rack. But I'm happy with my house now - I hated how incomplete the phone looked - so it was worth the five bucks. It's still missing a weather vane, a bird perch, the door wreath (this I don't care about), the grill rack, and the windowsill / lamp assembly, but now that the phone's fixed, I'm happy.

 

Only problem is, I hate to get rid of the donor one. All last year I wanted a Folding Pretty house, and scored one fairly late in the year. Now I have two. I really should let go of the parts donor, but the closest I've gotten is dumping it in Molly's trunk, since there's not much room for it in the Lab. Give me a week, and I'll be ready to donate it. Dunno why I'm being so greedy lately.

 

Used the snowflake stitch-out to make Brody's USB cable bag, and when I couldn't find a good, recent picture of Beloved Hubby and Dearest Son, decided to continue with the narcissistic theme of the Lab and put the ‘crowned D' stitch-out into the newly cleaned sewing machine frame. It actually looks pretty good there !

 

After I cheap-serged the latest few new pieces of fabric - tomorrow's laundry day ! - I decided to make a little sewing kit for the KJ machine. I already had a small box from Dearest's Wall-E figurine set, so I filled it with scissors, a loaded pincushion, the bobbin box, some thread, and the little cat-themed bag I can use for thread and sewing trash. It drapes over the chair next to mine very well, and comes in handy. Fits on top of the fridge, out of the way.

 

After lunch (and later dinner - those Pizza Hut Panormous things are HUGE, we still have leftovers !), I got a bit bored with the computer, and my guys were napping. So I decided to embroider a bit. I'd intended to do at least a Wall-E stitch-out this weekend, so that was on the agenda. Took me a while to find some leftover sweatpants material, though - I used a lot as rags while it was just sitting around. It came out pretty well for being a bootleg and a freebie ! Dearest watched it sew out, near the end, and was entranced, with both the process and the final result. Beloved even came in and watched a bit, asked a few questions. I'm just glad I had the right colors - I used the embroidery thread on this one. It's not as ‘filling' as regular thread, but I'm sure it tastes great (80s beer jokes, from a darn-near alcohol-phobe).

 

Still, the embroidery thread stitched out a lot smoother, with no snarls or pulls, and the sheen is gorgeous. Too bad all I have are yer eight basic colors, white, black, and a medium grey. According to Brody's manual, 40wt. thread is preferred, so I'm gonna go through all my thread - yes, all four boxes ! - and pull any thread labeled ‘40' I find. Then, I'll wait for Hancock Fabric's next big thread or notions sale, and get some fill-in colors. I need at least a light and a dark grey that I know of...

 

I'm thinking tomorrow, while clothes wash and dry, I'll test stitch the Teacher of the Year design, and the bootleg Barbie appliqué design I bought. I'd do it tonight, it's still early, but it took me over an hour to stitch out Wall-E, and cut all the jump threads. Brody is jealous even of the thread, so I can't take my eyes off him, lest he snarl. So my eyes are a bit strained, because I barely even blinked for that hour.

 

Plus, the Wall-E design required nine thread changes, and seven colors. I admit, I've been sticking to one or two color designs, ‘cause I'm lazy. But seeing Dearest's joy and delight, well, I'll just hafta get off my round rump more often, huh ?

Lab work !

 

Current Mood : Tired, but pleased.

 

Current Image Notes : While I didn’t change much on this part of the Great Wall O’ Cases, but there’s a lotta dangly stuff since the last time I posted a photo of it. Two more walls, coming up !

Discovered that I was, once again, avoiding the Lab due to the clutter and guilt about not even taking the dolls I bought over Spring Break out of the tote I took ‘em to Molly in. And Thursday’s lucky find Barbie case made three more since I installed the last ones, taking up limited floor space.

 

Well, that won’t fly. I got too much to do in there to avoid my Lab. Plus, we had an inch of snow when I woke up, and it was still snowing. I wasn’t going much of anywhere today anyway. The option was housecleaning, more online zoning, or having some fun in the Lab.

 

You know what won, and it sure as all heck wasn’t the dishes ! I started simply, looking for the plyers to take off the mini-notebook keychains, so I could get those pieces stored. Before long, I was moving furniture in there, so I could shuffle and redo the Great Wall o’ Cases ™ with the latest acquisitions.

 

What a job that was ! First, I decided to put the narrowest two – the Barbie Goes Travellin’ one and the Little Mermaid suitcase – over the window, which had been blank space. To do that, I had to move the sewing desk and take down the curtains. And get the stepladder, and find nails and cup hooks.

 

Once done, though, they looked natural up there. I was lucky, and they spaced well. Hung the Quick Curl Boutique (aka Shinobu’s Sewing Room) where the Travellin’ one was, and moved the DP calendar – which had been under the Mermaid case - so I could put the 70s double case I won off eBay last month in its place. Then, I took down the 50^th Anniversary tote bag (‘When you look this good, nobody cares if you’re plastic’) and hung up the newest Princess one. The tote went over the doorknob to the Lab.

 

From there, I redid pattern storage since I had so many new ones lying around. Got Aladdin (now Jaedin) dressed, and introduced Jenny to Debbie (my favorite cousin, and the real Jenny’s sister), the brunette Battat I finally liberated from the yard sale tote bag. Also got the Interactive Cinderella out, and she’s very pretty, but needs new batteries if I want to hear her voice. It’s probably just like Isabella’s (Interactive Belle). Her hair’s still in the factory set.

 

All that done, so was the day. The snow had completely melted by the time I was done with the cases, so we went out for chips, but that was the big outing of the day. Fine with me – I got a lot done, and had fun !

Whimsical Friday

 

Current Mood : Still lazy

Current Image Notes : I just thought this was pretty. She looks so much like my friend Greta, from high school.

 

I guess being petty pays off your karma - the few pieces I wanted the last two SiCK embroidery sets for came up, as either freebies or hunt rewards, so quite literally, there's nothing I want there. But I do like the forums. Nice folks, very patient.

 

Was reading one thread, and one writer mentioned that her machine embroidery designs file said she had over 75,000 files ! Wow. Well, mine says I have 3,930 files, so I counted and I have 1,369 actual designs. The rest of the files are .jpgs, stitch guides, directions, and such. This is considered an extremely small collection, and to the group shows nearly unbelievable restraint, but to me, it's huge, and I'll probably never use it all, even if I never download another design.

 

Luckily, though, I'm always looking. I found out that Ambassador, a design viewer freebie program, also creates and prints out a stitch guide. Wow. It shows what colors you need for which parts, and what order the design will ask for them in. I'm hoping to do a stitch out (a trial run) of the Wall-E I snagged last week while Dearest Son is at his grandparents', and add it to his favorite hoodie jacket when he comes home.

 

Stayed home today with Beloved Hubby - we're expecting snow tomorrow, but it's raining right now. Ugh. Good thing I have a new obsession. It's a Korean soap opera called The Last Scandal or My Life's Last Scandal, or some permutation of those two. I'm watching it on Crunchyroll.com, and I can't stop thinking about Sunny, and Jaedin, and her husband, who needs a clue by four delivered via freight train, but it won't knock the jerk outta him anytime soon. I thought I'd watch an episode or two, and it just wouldn't engage me, but I've watched eight hours of it ! I should be grateful there's only sixteen hour-or-so long episodes, or I wouldn't be getting any sleep.

 

Next male doll that crosses my path is gonna be named Jaedin !

How does a duck obtain a ponytail ? I'm seriously curious...

 

Current Mood : Happy with new stuff

Current Image Notes : This is a towel available via DisneyShopping.com - we got a catalog in Dearest Son's Wall-E figurine set today. Ummm, since when does Daisy have a ponytail ? How can she ? Is it made of feathers ? I always thought the back of her head had a, well... a d.a. style !

 

Sorry to pull another vanishing act on ya'll. It got to be time to post today's entry, and there wasn't one, and I lazily went to sleep. Told you guys how lazy and selfish I am !

 

Today was nice, though. I got to hit GoodWill and Dollar Tree, got some goodies. GoodWill had a shell-shaped baking tin, with eight shell impressions. I'm hoping to use it to melt crayons into fun shapes. I'm not sure why I want to do that, but I do - I've been looking at candy molds online for days. 50c.

 

Then, I found a six-inch-tall fireplace, still in the Hobby Lobby packaging. Ordinarily, I'd use it with Playscale dolls, but the mantle makes it look too small for them. However, it looks really cute with the half-sized Disney Dancing Princess dolls ! I'll probably find a good fire image to scale and print out, glue in the back.

 

But the big find - to me, anyway ! - was a Barbie case ! Oh, it wasn't anything rare or really special, but I really like it. The side folds down to form a table and benches, with a mirror insert. I just love it when a case is also a playset. The front has a Barbie princess photo on a cartoon backdrop design. 1989, too. I gladly shelled the $1. for that !

 

Dollar Tree was fun, but they really haven't had much new in a while. Scored some chalk for Dearest Son's board he's beginning to use again, and some shampoo for him. Beloved Hubby's been needing another Ace bandage, so I picked up two, and the corn chips he likes from there. I snagged a set of four mini-notebook keychains with Disney Princess designs - they're about Elphie-sized. I'll take off the keychains later, put them with the rest for the big Christmas project.

 

I also found a small manicure set, complete with another pair of manicure scissors. So I snagged it. What the heck. Can always use another nail clipper around here, and the scissors are always good to have as a backup. I lost the ones I just bought for about a week, under some papers.

 

Ya'll know I'm lazy and selfish, right ? Well, I'm also petty. Here's the latest example. Earlier this month, Dearest's school asked for everyone to send in those General Mills' box tops, soup labels, and Pure Life water bottle labels, so they can send ‘em off and get the rewards. So I finally got off my big ole butt during Spring Break and got the bundle I had ready for donation.

 

That's not quite the petty part. Today, Dearest brought home a slip of paper thanking everyone for sending ‘em in, and the other side noted which teacher's class, by grade, was in the lead for most turned in. Amazingly, it's his class ! So I embraced my petty, and tore through the house, upending boxes and snatching labels off stuff we haven't consumed yet. Because I want his class to...I don't know, it's not like they win anything, I think. If his class was second or third, I'd have gone to bed an hour earlier. But since he was in the lead, I busted butt. And there's another bag full of hopefully enough to put them over the top when the promotion ends with March.

 

Petty, petty Mommy.

 

Or maybe I just have a grudge...

 

Current Mood : Moody

Current Image Notes : When asked 'Pirate or Ninja' once, my answer came without thinking...

It's weird having your own Dumpster. I don't have to worry about having the trash can out on the curb by the right time anymore - and now that I have one, I have zero interest in diving into it ! We spent about an hour this afternoon, loading it with Shop trash for tomorrow's pick-up. It'll probably be about two months before we obliterate the pile completely, but we're already making a dent !

 

You may laugh at me, but when I did groceries yesterday, I bought those spiraly lightbulbs that are so expensive. I'm used to paying 88c for four, not $6. ! But if the claims on the box are halfway accurate, it's a good investment. Kitchen bulb blew today, and we replaced ‘em with the swirly kind, and it's great light. My cooking still ranks, but now I can see it very well !

 

Hauled Brody in for new design downloading. That's one thing - with Brody, I have to keep my desk clean, or clean it off at least once a week !  Ironically, I found a great freebie design download site last night - on the SiCK forums, of all places. I must've scored a dozen great car designs (and left a hundred more), eight dress forms, five sewing machines, three frames, and a bunch of small, neat designs for all of us and some projects I have in mind.

 

And this is what's kinda on my mind. Two of the designs I scored late last night were clearly owned by Disney. I knew it, and d/l'ed ‘em anyhow. I even bought a Betty Boop one for DFIL that was so cheap, it must've been pirated. If I breathed a word about it on the SiCK forums, I'd get a lecture if the denizens were feeling generous, ostracized if they were feeling their oats that morning. I know some of the nice folk there digitize for cash and maybe even a living, and I don't fault them for being in favor of copyright protection. But...

 

When a rights holder will only release designs on a crappy machine that has a reputation for poor performance that doesn't even last a year when similarly priced ones from the same company pound the drums like the Energizer Bunny for at least five times that long - and additional patterns only work on the crap machines and are $60. for twelve designs (six of which are things like seashells and roses) on a proprietary card, well, it's hard to say, Why, sure, I'll jump through all your hoops ! I love you sooo much, I want to stand guard over your properties, too, for free,  and will gladly settle for overpriced junk and deal with frustration and ruined garments to obtain a hint of the Mouse.

 

And the one lecture I read on the forums gave me pause, but didn't stop me. No, I don't need Disney Princess / Cars / imagery designs. I don't need a $500. sewing machine either, if you wanna know the truth about it. All I need is in this house, but if Diz could charge for air, they probably would. I completely understand copyright usage, but there needs to be a more level playing ground if they don't want piracy. Too bad they don't seem to care.

 

I would gladly pay a fair rate for legally obtained designs if they would make them available ! $40. for ten designs - half specific, half generic - I would consider... if they worked on Brody, or any other machine I cared to use. But they don't wanna do that, so if I can get dozens of them from a Soviet site for $2. each, well, I just might. It's not like I'm depriving Diz of the cash - they don't make the product available for me to use, at any price. There's so much confusion over what they do have available, I've yet to see two sites agree if the cards work on non-D-series machines or not.

 

 I'd much rather pay them for a quality product, but they choose to not market one. I can either do it myself, or pay someone else. Diz already makes darn few clothing items in my size, so they're not losing that income. It's not like I can put their characters to wicked purposes - when was the last time you saw thick embroidery on fishnets ? Or a negligee ? And designs aren't easy to change, it'd be simpler to create a new one than alter a commercial version. So that fret is somewhat blunted. Honestly, it's easier to get a tattoo of characters behaving badly, or a poster. Rule 34. 

 

It's like they licensed the D-series machines just so they didn't have to do anything further. And I really doubt many companies would dare go into full-scale production with Diz designs if they were more readily available. There's still laws against paying for one license but giving out copies to the whole plant and strangers on the street.

 

I guess I'm just disappointed that more companies aren't granting licenses. There could be so many great ideas here but it's like everyone's scared. Maybe I just wanna justify paying a small sum for something I wanted that's pirated. And that's something I have to deal with every time I wear or use what I made.

 

I think I can handle it.