What a nice week this has been...

 

Current Mood : Friday tired.

Spent on dolls today : $3.

 

Sorry yesterday's entry didn't get posted in time - we kept losing power. Probably due to our lines getting blown around ! Had to retype my entry three times, and darn if it didn't go down again ! So I shut down early and we goofed off to a movie and a pizza last night. Of course, once I was away from the computer, the power didn't flicker once...

 

We were very lucky. Not an hour from here - in an area where Beloved Hubby frequently works - there were fires that damaged over a hundred homes. Nearby states got tornadoes, and there's more dangerous weather coming. Our winds have slowed today, but we're in for a soaked weekend. Fine with me. I'm just glad I had Brody unplugged during our frequent power outages. Some of these surges apparently took out our Wii, so I have to see what's wrong with it this weekend.

 

Got to hit the flea market, and while there were lots more dealers, there was also a ton of more crap. Seriously. One ‘vendor' didn't bother to display anything, he just set stuff out any which-way. Normally, even this wouldn't deter yer dedicated second-hand shopper, who has no problem sifting through boxes and piles, but his stuff was all in trash bags and Mal-Wart sacks tied shut. No way was I diggin' in any of ‘em. Who knows what a bare hand might encounter ?

 

I decided against the copyright-challenged Marilyn Monroe armless and headless ‘dress form' jewelry holder - it was quite ugly. Paint out of line everywhere, and I really don't think she posed her legs like that on the famous subway grate. I smiled when I saw a Talking View Master with some reels, I had one as a kid. It disappeared one day, and if I remember correctly, the entire line was recalled as a fire hazard. Shame, those transparent plastic records on the backs of the reels were pretty cool. But it was about $10. more than I had on me. Ditto the 50s-60s era child's embroidery set, incomplete, it was little more than a box and a square of stamped, stained cotton, but the vendor wanted $12. for it. At least the View-Master was reasonable !

 

Ended up buying Dusty up there from the car set dealer, mostly for her clothes and shoes. Poor thing. Dusty and Princess Leia (and also the 1978 National Velvet doll) share the same body mold, but Dusty came first, and they hadn't quite achieved the right balance of soft vinyl and hard plastic over at Kenner yet - most Dusty and Skye (her African-American friend) dolls suffer severe melting at the neck, arms, and hips. Often you'll see the end-line ‘Trade In Special !' Dusty dolls still in box, with terrible gluey marks at her leg/hip joints, visible from where the melt has adhered to the swimsuit.

 

It was much the same case here - I had to pry the clothes out of the melts, which is pretty darn disgusting when you think about it. This poor girl has great knee clicks, her hair's in good shape, and her face is unmarred at all, but with those melts, she's almost worthless. Her arms and legs don't move at all, and her head is stuck, too. I thought about finding an unwanted Leia and performing a head-swap, but you guys know I could never sacrifice a Leia doll.

 

To many, she's quite an ugly, masculine doll, but I remember her as a product of the times, from when Billie Jean King and Martina Navratilova were challenging how we viewed ‘women's sports' from dainty dalliances that never damaged the manicure to full-out all-or-nothing combat, no genders barred ! And all women wore that shag haircut, no matter how awful it looked on 90% of us. Even the kids. Kinda like that ‘Jennifer Anniston' haircut that 3/5ths of women in the 90s sported, regardless that it usually hung straight and floppy, and was hard to maintain - unless you were JA. We challenged a lot of what the decades before us accepted, and Dusty was a reflection of that.

 

Yeah, she ain't Barbie. She has a thick waist, a modest bust, and flat feet. But she was a choice, and it seems Mattel would rather not have that, now or then. I wish Dusty had weathered better, so I could show her off to future generations, but maybe she was more a product of her times - and was destined to stay there - than I knew.

 

This Dusty is also one of the end-run trade-ins - there's no waist mechanism and her wrists don't bend - even her leg ‘bones' are different colors. You can see via the feet holes (for her sports activity stands) that her right leg mechanism is done in ‘skin' color, and her left is nearly translucent white. I'm wondering if there's some way I can save her. I already know she can't sit, and she's gonna wreck any outfit she wears, but maybe if I make her a bodysuit to absorb as much of the leaking plasticizer as possible...let me give it some thought...

 

That's the funny thing about the doll car-set seller. All her dolls - not in car sets - are $3. If it's an older doll, she's usually too badly wrecked to be worth even that, and the usually-still-pristine newer dolls aren't worth $3. used, either - especially when you can score a brand-new one for $5. or less. She had a cute Malibu Francie, too, but between the wrecked hair, damaged face paint, chewed right hand, and non-bending leg, she just didn't seem worth it. I'd have taken a flyer if I had a replacement Francie body, but I don't.

 

Oh, and here's something cool I can share with you. I'm a member of Dover Publications' ‘Free Sample' club -it's an online freebie, and every Friday, they send you an e-mail link to a page of downloadable samples from their sale coloring books, new graphic design volumes, paper dolls, sticker books, etc. I'll enclose that link to sign up too, if you're interested. And this week, it was just great to be a member ! I got to see their newest ‘Repeatable Textures' book, and it's chock-fulla great stuff to use with dolls. Walls, floors, roofs...all useful images. You even get ‘em as .jpegs on an included CD-Rom. Well worth the $20., in my opinion. There's brick, and tile, and industrial metal, wood, so many goodies. Here's a link to the book - you can read about it, and see the other volumes in the set. The one I'm squeeeeing over is the first one on the page, in green.

 

http://store.doverpublications.com/0486990192.html

 

Today's free sample included that great stone design you see on the cover, on the lowest right corner. Imagine the fun we can have with that ! There were other goodies, like a page from a book of old travel posters. Oooohh.... Here's the ‘join us' link ->

 

http://www.doverpublications.com/sampler1/

 

Imagine that. Me savin' my pennies for something that has nothing to do with machine embroidery  !

 

In other news, I kept the housework thing going with dishes and laundry. It's nearly done - and I got the handkerchiefs from yesterday and Dusty's clothes clean. Only a couple melt-mark spots remain on her spring-time outfit, and there's a minor repair on the pants. The handkerchiefs are perfect, and after a few trials, I'll get them embroidered. It was just kind of a jolt at the flea, to see a pack of three embroidered men's handkerchiefs, with Uncle's initial already on them, for a buck. (sigh) I can only hope me doing the embroidering counts for something. Even if it's a small gift, I hate to give something that's near nothing, ya know ?

Yesterday's chairs - with a Melody !

 

Current Mood : Bemused and befuddled.

Current Image Book : When I was ready to do the chair photos, I thought a doll in them would be nice - and I don't think I ever posted one of Melody before, and I said I would. So, here's Melody, Ariel and Eric's daughter, from Little Mermaid 2: Return to the Sea. She's a rather rare doll, made as a TRU movie-tie-in exclusive by JakksPacific. Since the seller had no idea who she was, I got her in a lot of dolls for less than ten bucks. (smile) I retied her waist bow using a large-eye needle ! One day, I'll find her mermaid tail and pink dress, but MIB, she often sells for around $100. So she's content in Skipper and snug-on-Barbie Fashion Fever selections.

 

Sometimes - and I'm quite sure it comes off here all the time - the world of machine embroidery seems awfully obsessive. If not downright silly. I mean, I have probably nearly 2000 designs and gleefully say right here that I'm spending hours a day looking for more. And when I confess my shame at having more than I'll use in a lifetime, I'm met with, ‘That's all you have ? I admire your restraint !' messages. From the ‘serious' embroiderers. They're not in business or anything - this is just their bag. Amassing more. While there are quite literally thousands of designs out there for free, the ones most of us really like are a bit on the pricey side. Even with sales like the ones I've found, a collection can soon cost in the hundreds of dollars, which doesn't even take into account the search time, or the supplies needed to sew them all.

 

Still, even I was somewhere between amused and insulted when I was offered the Deduper today. Just in case I've downloaded (and presumably paid for ) the same design six or eight times, the Deduper will go through all my files and delete duplicates, even if they're under different names, or still in a zipped file. What's even more shocking to me - besides the $40. price - is that this isn't a brand-new program. Nope. It's been around a bit, today's message was announcing the upgrade.

 

The idea that this is a necessary product just lays me out flat. If folks have that many blasted designs, you'd think they'd also have a decent category tree in place, set by and designed by the person who uses it. The religious sewist may have several folders under an ‘Angels' subheading, like ‘lace angels', ‘fill angels', ‘Scripture angels', ‘quilt angels', ‘FSL angels', etc., while I have one folder for ‘Fairies and Wings'. It makes things much easier to find, and you know where you tend to put stuff. But anybody who seriously need a deduper may wanna consider easing up on all those downloads instead ! I pretty much know exactly what I have - and I enjoy looking through all the folders every so often, just to remind me of what I've already got. Having to shell another $40. to get rid of stuff I either paid for or spent time downloading seems so ridiculous to me... but for there to be an upgrade, there probably was/is demand. (sigh)

 

Anyway... this morning's work was to run to a nearby town to pick up the plate and title for ‘Bonnie', the blue truck we bought that DFIL is using right now. Hopefully, we'll get her back later this month, because his vehicle's going in for service. I wasn't looking forward to it, even though I'd be driving past the junk shop, because I didn't have written directions. Sure, I'd been there, but just once, and Beloved was driving, so I wasn't paying strict attention. I was just hoping I'd find the place.

 

I did. Got it done and stopped by the junk shop on the way home. Same dolls as last time, nothing I wanted. No new fabric, either - but I did score a package of six nice handkerchiefs. I'll probably embroider some roses and initials on them, pass them along to Uncle and Aunt. They've done so much for us.

 

Did a bleach laundry load and got the new napkins in there. Those were a bad deal, sort of. The first one looked nice, but the rest had stains and I didn't notice the jacquard Fleur-de-Lis design. Paired with the heavy border, any embroidery on them would just look overdone, and the bleach bath didn't take all the stains out either. So, it looks like I have a nice new set of kitchen towels. Or plain napkins. At least I learned this time, and I carefully examined the handkerchiefs before I bought them. No real stains, but they could use a wash.

 

Believe this or not - despite the 80-degrees and sunny day we had, I had to put the laundry in the dryer. The 30 to 40 mph winds blew whatever I put up down ! And often across the backyard, which meant I had to wash it again. Even a heavy bedspread flapped over my head on the line. I also got the living room picked back up this afternoon, all I need to do now is vacuum, but right now, I'm wiped out !

I got something else I've wanted...I just kinda wanted them human-sized...

Current Mood : Tired, but happy.

Spent on Doll Furniture : $1.08

 

You're gonna laugh, but I got the thumb-screw from Brother today, to replace the stripped one in my embroidery hoop. The box it came in - yup, it was a box ! - was big enough to hold six hoops, stacked, and UPS delivered it. I kinda felt bad bugging them about it, so if I strip it again (which is probable, I tend to over-tighten), I'll just hie m'self over to Ace. All that for just one little thumb-screw...

 

Had to run a quick errand for Beloved Hubby this morning, and I found a new thrift store. They're very nice, but don't have much stock yet. I think next time I'm out, they'll get whatever I can cram into Molly's trunk. Found two small metal chairs that used to be planters, but are perfectly in scale for Barbie and co. They reminded me so much of the metal chairs on Grandma S's porch, I had to get them. A cushion can hide the seat hole easily, and they have the same sort of weather-beaten look to them. I remember how the metal legs gave just enough to allow a bit of gentle rocking. I'd love to find those again !

 

Today was bathroom cleaning day, and boy, was that a job ! Took over an hour, and I'm still not done - the tub and walls and floor-scrubbing will have to happen later. But I got all the toys and trash and clothes out of there, and got the counter and toilet clean, and the floor swept. Much better ! I've come to figure out that an hour of housework before noon, another before Dearest Son comes home, and another about an hour after he's home is about right for me. I'm not worn out, I get lots of breaks to do fun stuff, and I'm catching up on the cleaning. Of course, while I'm busting butt on dishes and the bathroom, the living room's a mess and the laundry's piling up, but there's not much anybody can do about that ! Once I get to where things are easier to maintain, I can do more with less time. Right now, it's ‘wreckage recovery' more than routine housework.

 

I was kinda tired, but still had nearly an hour before I had to start bus-watching. So I put the new screw to good use, and re-hooped the wide white ribbon I had out. I really should have ironed it before I sewed on it, but I'm lazy and impatient. The first heart came out nice - in regular thread, too ! - so I decided to do a second. I wrote down the positioning numbers on Brody's screen, and positioned the needle for a new heart just above. Came out well... but was there space for a third heart ? I'm just glad I was sort-of paying attention in Algebra, otherwise adding together negative and positive numbers would have thrown me. Luckily, it's easy to figure that, if Heart #1 is at -1.44 and Heart #2 is at +.20, I should try to get the third at +1.64. Too bad I ran out of hoop, and had to put #3 at +1.44 ! So it looks a bit off, but I tried sequential designs today !

 

And now I know that satin-type ribbon needs a heavier stabilizer behind it. You can't really tell from the photo, but the design pulled the ribbon a bit out of shape, and it's puckering, too. Well, live and learn, and enjoy a new bookmark ! I think it's pretty and very spring-like, it's just too bad I finished Memoirs of a Geisha last night...

 

What I did with the bulk of the day, well, it'll probably make you laugh again. Y'see, even though I probably have about 2000 embroidery designs already, I'm forever on the hunt for more. But I have to like them. I don't just grab up everything that's free or a buck or two. With as many designs as I already have, I can be picky-selective about anything new.

 

So when I found a site that offered a new design for free every ten minutes, I looked in their catalog and found a lot to like ! And I also found another site that offered different designs, a freebie every ten minutes, too, and a third that gave away a whole set every three hours. I went through them all, writing down the sets and pieces I liked, then hit those sites in the morning, and continued on ‘refresh' when I thought of it. Scored a few, but not many. For some reason, all three sites are on an angel kick right now - nearly everything's had wings on it for the last week.

 

Of course, there's a membership you can buy to get everything all at once, no waiting. But I didn't know if that was for just one site, or all three. During my hunt, I found a fourth site that had some of the same designs, available free all the time. So I snagged those, and crossed them off the list (which spanned two Steno-size notebook pages, mostly single designs).

 

Today, I visited the main site, and took careful note of the sets the $5./month membership bought access to - and saw every last one of the designs I wanted somewhere. So, next time I have a few bucks and a long weekend, I'll join up, and snag it all. Luckily, it's not one of those automatic renewal sites, either. Only reason I'm not doing it now is because I feel rather glutted with what I already have. I mean, I haven't even had time to put that roller skate I bought yesterday on Brody. And I just burned a back-up CD last week ! So it can wait a week or so.

 

But it's odd, not to have a hunt or something like it going on. It seems strange now, to not keep an eye on the clock, and refresh a website every few minutes, or half-hour. Maybe now I can get off my butt, away from the monitor, and get some fun done ! It's easy when you have everything...

I got something I've wanted !

 

Current Mood : Delighted !

Spent on Machine Embroidery : $8. (but I saved $31. !)

 

Not a lot going on today. Got some more dishes done, puttered in the Lab. Tidied up our bedroom a bit. I hate housework.

 

Had a few more errands to run, so I did them today. There's a kind of competition among the gas stations here, about ethanol vs. non-ethanol. I kinda used whatever was cheaper, but as it was pointed out to me when we got her back, Molly's a high-performance car. She did very well on higher octane last month, so today when she needed gas, I figured I'd get it while I was in town. Much as I love the 7-11 across the street, they're very slow about lowering prices, and only a bit slow about raising ‘em.

 

I thought she had nearly a quarter-tank, but that was before yesterday's errands and a quick dinner run - so I ended up pulling into the next available gas station. Their higher octane was the same price as 7-11's, so I pulled in. Turned out, this was a no-ethanol station - and they're usually 10c/gal more expensive. The cashier was more than willing to tell me how much my Molly's turbo engine would love his gas, and would probably get more miles per gallon.

 

He may actually be right. Molly was pretty sprightly today. She was ready to go-go-GO ! Too bad we were just doing banking, with side trips to GoodWill and Dollar Tree !

 

GoodWill didn't have anything of interest this time, and it's really junky-looking in there now. If it wasn't for Easter being Sunday, I wouldn't have found anything at Dollar Tree, either. But Dearest Son's basket is more or less done - with a chocolate bunny, and EVE-to-be eggs filled with bubble-gum eggs, jellybeans, and small candy bars. I haven't yet sewn the basket for him - I was hoping to find Wall-E fabric - so I may use another basket, or just a box. At his age, he's not picky, he just wants the candy.

 

One of my errands was a deposit, so I could buy the $25. roller skate design I've been wanting since Brody was in transit. It finally went on sale for $8., and once the money cleared, it was mine ! So I was really surprised when I went to seal the deal, and the site said my purchase entitled me to two more designs, free ! Wow ! I got a cat looking at the sun through a window - but I'm gonna stitch it as the moon instead - and a cute sewing machine. So I got $39. worth of new designs for just $8. ! Sometimes, I don't even go looking for the really great sales, they find me !

I'm with the Totoro...

Current Mood : Sleepy

Current Image Notes : This is 'Sleepy Totoro', a sort of forest-spirit of Japan. This one in particular starred in 'Our Neighbor Totoro' - doesn't he look so relaxed and comfy ? 

 

Got all the trash out to the Dumpster - tomorrow's pick-up day. And I called Brother about my hoop, and went to Mal-Wart about my inhalers. Kind of a busy day !

 

Brother was upset to hear of my hoop troubles, and apologized several times for the inconvenience. They put a new screw in the mail to me today, so I should have it Wednesday or Thursday. It's coming from Tennessee.

 

Mal-Wart said I could use the $9. inhalers, it was the same medicine. There's just one small catch -  the $9. ones only have 64 doses. Still, it's cheaper per use than the $42. 200-dose one, so I got two. Should be OK for a while. I've only taken two hits since I discovered the last one missing. It's windy, but the weather's warming, and it's dry - I've learned that I react badly to humidity and deep cold. So things are improving !

Dropped off Dearest Son's snack to school while I was out, and no one's seen or turned in a red inhaler. Oh, well. Got some paperwork for the latest fundraiser turned in (sigh) and I'm glad that's over. They only have about six weeks of school left, so I'm hoping that was the last big push. I still wonder where all this cash goes.

 

Got some housework done, and I've fought the urge to nap all day. I was thinking of lying down when I discovered the bathroom needed plunging, so there went that. Tomorrow, I have a small bank errand to run, so while I'm out, I'll turn in library books and probably hit Dollar Tree and GoodWill. I was surprised to learn that jellybeans - even the non-name-brand kind - have gotten expensive. Oh, you can still find classic hollow chocolate-flavored-wax Easter bunnies for a buck, but jellybeans have gone waaaay up. So I'm gonna see what DTree has. Plus, I haven't been to GWill in a week !

 

Too lazy to even think of a title...

 

Current Mood : Lazy

Spent on crafts yesterday :  $12.39

 

Played a couple of Wall-E mini-games with Dearest Son this afternoon. Yup. It's official. I still rank at video games, even if they are on a computer !

 

We goofed most of the day away, which was nice. I went to embroider on a ribbon - it's on the ‘things to try with Brody' list, since I've seen it on so many sites - but it looks like the hoop he came with really is gone. The screw is completely stripped at one spot, and Beloved Hubby says his tap and die set (often used to ‘regrind' a screw's threads) aren't nearly small enough for this job. So tomorrow, I get to call Brother, ask them if they can send me new screws, and if that doesn't work, I get to see if I can find something similar at Ace Hardware or Lowe's.

 

You'd think I'd just use the other hoop, the one I've barely touched since we bought it, but for some reason, being unable to use the original one just bummed me out, and I ended up not sewing anything. Weak, I know. I just need to get over m'self sometimes.

 

Not a lot else going on. Someone basted the SiCK forums with about 300 ‘thanks for sharing' messages last night, on threads that've been quiet for months. No kidding, just one person, just one line, over and over. I know, because I get notification in my e-mail, and suddenly I had two dozen ‘thanks for sharing' notes from threads I'd written and ones I'd replied to, for no real reason, other than this person evidently wants the points, bad. I hope the moderators noticed and cut her off, but I don't know how to politely say, ‘Could you tell this person to stop saying the same thing over and over in every message she finds ?'. I mean, it's pretty obvious what she's doing, when the entire subheading has her name after every last topic, but I guess our mods are slow. I got three more this morning.

 

Since there's not much else going on, I'm off to bed. Hope your weekend was as relaxing as mine !

 

What a nice Saturday...

 

Current Mood : Happily sleepy

Current Image Notes : Here's the final TOTY jar, filled with candy ! And there's the four discs included. I'm happy with it, and I think she is, too. 

 

Spring's definitely here - the winds are up to 40mph, and the monsoon period seems to have passed. And it's yard sale time ! As usual, most of yer huge ‘six family' sales are in other towns, but there were several to choose from here, and I hit two today. The first one wasn't much, but what can I say, looking around someone else's yard and garage for goodies is fun whether I find anything or not ! And with all the good finds last year, it's harder to get me to buy stuff, with all that's already at home.

 

Second sale was great. I scored a great windbreaker jacket that's a bit lighter than my sweatsuit-fabric hoodie, so it's about perfect for these sunny days that'd be perfectly warm without the fierce winds cooling things off. It's blue with yellow, sprinkled with a star print and an antique ‘moon and sun' design, all nylon with a knit lining. It even fits me !

 

I also scored two nice wooden frames, and three small bundles of pretty stationery. One set of cards will be perfect to hold and give small pieces of embroidery, and I've already used one of the frames (more later). I picked up the nice linen napkins - 6 for $1. - but now I see that several are stained and they may be a bit too heavy for the embroidery project I was considering for Aunt Sue.

Rummaging around in boxes provided me a cool plastic cookie container, with those space-age 60s asterisks and a green lid, an Elphie-sized porcelain piggy bank, and a Barbie Swan Lake pocket folder that'll be perfect to store my embroidery print outs and notes. Got it all, from jacket to folder, for just $3. It's no wonder I miss yard sale season so much, when I get good deals like those ! Even the napkins are still a decent deal.

 

Since I was in the area anyway, I hit Big Lots again, this time with the antique radio stitch guide print-out. Snagged three shades of brown thread and a nice cream, all at 40% off. And I just couldn't resist the Pelleon Peltex - a very firm interfacing - at 25% off, so I got a yard of it, too. Peltex is often used for fabric bowls and other projects that require an almost-cardboard like layer, but has to remain washable. I'm thinking it'll be great for refrigerator magnets and other embroidery projects, too.

 

Only problem with it was that it was a brand new bolt, still in the plastic wrap, but one corner'd gotten torn and dirty. They didn't have an open bolt, just this one. I kinda hated to buy it like that, and even if I bought a half-yard, it'd be there. Well, with good positioning, I could probably cut it away... But I was lucky. The nice lady who was slowly being overwhelmed at the cutting table - I'd evidently arrived just before Rush Hour in Fabrics - saw it, and cut it off, set it aside. She then cut and labeled my yard, and then tossed in the rejected strip, saying maybe I could use most of it. Wow ! I thanked her profusely - I hadn't asked, thinking they'd need to save the damaged bit for accounting or somesuch. But it was so nice of her ! I not only got the Peltex on sale, but I got over a quarter-yard extra, for free !

 

While I'd intended to stay out for a bit longer, Beloved Hubby needed directions, so I headed home. It'd been a great shopping day, and I hadn't overspent and had to drag a buncha stuff in. I unpacked the yard sale goodies, and located one of the earliest designs I made. After I failed at initials - something I haven't yet attempted again - I decided to stitch out a small heart that came with Brody. It came out so pretty, I wasn't sure what to do with it. I thought to give it to Beloved, since he already has my real heart !

 

But it looked so plain and small on the big piece of fabric. So I rehooped it, and decided to sew a shield shape around it. The shields - also a part of Brody's original designs - were what made him an easy sell to Beloved to begin with. He liked all three, and could easily imagine making use of them.

 

I didn't know anything of positioning or centering, so predictably, the heart looks quite a bit off-center in the shield. But I decided to give it to him anyway, telling him he'll always have my off-center heart. He folded it and propped it on the bookends on his desk. I decided to frame it using one of today's yard sale finds, but it would look rather small in the frame by itself. Minutes later, with Embroidery Fonts Plus (you know I love the freebies !), I had words added to Brody, and they were being stitched out below the shield. In dark green. It says, simply, ‘You'll Always Hold / My Off-Center Heart !'. I had it ironed and framed before he got home. It's now hanging over his desk. You get to see it tomorrow.

 

The rest of the day, we just sort of goofed off, watched various shows on our computers, and ate junk food. It was a really nice day ! On the downside, I may have broken my embroidery hoop, the one that came with Brody, but it's probably just a stripped nut or somesuch. Beloved says he'll look at it, and if that's it, it's an easy fix after a trip to Ace Hardware or Lowe's. It just doesn't tighten the way it used to - it slips back out. Since the hoop is basically two pieces of Lexan-like nylon-plastic, from the look of it, and the screw and nuts, it must be the screw. I've only broken Lexan-type stuff once, and that was my first Badge-A-Minit press. And there's barely even usage scratches on the plastic parts. Here's hoping !

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 !