Sometimes free stuff is more expensive than it's worth...

 

Current Mood : A bit down...

 

Busy day. Went to see Beloved Hubby's grandmother, she's not doing well. We've been told that for over a month - it's taken me this long to deal with it, get over it, and go visit. Going over would make it real, and I didn't want that, so in my childish manner, I kept finding reasons to not go. This weekend, I sighed and got a grip, and I'm glad I did. I don't like saying early goodbyes, but I'd rather have a bit more time now than regrets later.

 

Helped Beloved Hubby a bit, but ended up taking a mid-morning nap. My insomnia is back. Time to drag out the Wii Fit again. Half-hour of sweats and stretches, and I tend to sleep well. I only stopped to give my back a chance to restore itself, but now I think it's occasional hink-ups have nothing to do with yoga or exercise. I think it may be my bombed-out shoes ! Really should throw those poor worn things away.

 

Got tired of endless ‘buy my design' e-mails from machine embroidery consortiums that said they hosted tons of freebies, all I'd have to do is join their Yahoo group. While it's nice to hear of sales, there's nothing I need, and very few usable (and findable !) freebies. There's a lot more  I want that I'm gonna have to design m'self. So I unsubscribed from eight such groups today, and put two others on ‘mail limited to moderator special messages'. So far, I've had less mail, but one group I'm gonna have to unsub from after all. I've received more ‘special moderator messages' today than I used to get all week from that group. And it's all ‘new set from X seller, buy now' messages, nothing important. Embroidery Billboard, which was the worst of the groups anyway, bungled its last chance. Bye-bye.

 

I also got to ‘read' the free fleece brochure I snagged at Hancock Fabrics when I bought my pattern. It really ranks. You'll get a full-page photo of coat hanger covers, but get wordy directions for other creations with no photos at all, or 1" x 1" icon photos, images too small to even see what the finished item looks like. Especially when the tiny photo includes props. One ‘idea' details how to make a small purse out of a buncha zippers. Cute, and been around a while. Too bad the ‘how to's' simply start - no header, no ‘Zipper Purse' title, it just starts. Leaflet is worse than useless, and I feel cheated for having picked it up. I'll shove it into a Donations bag or something. I'm not even gonna give it space with the useful sewing and craft books. It's that lame.

'Bot wars at Chez Insanity !

 

Current Mood : Sort of sorting out mode.

 

Dearest Son's been playing with ‘Goldie', the figure he got in the FedEx/mail yesterday - it's been fun to see him all imaginative with it. He lined up all his Star Wars spaceships on the Lego table, and it looks like a hangar.

 

I've been kind of avoiding the Lab lately, and just realized today it's because I've let it fall into a mess again. Well, we can't have that ! I got the last of the new-to-me fabric bundled up, cut up the latest pair of outgrown Dearest jeans, and put away various other finds and purchases. It soon got hot in there - no ceiling fan in there, though I'd love to have one, and we haven't had the air conditioner on in over a week now - so I borrowed the small ‘turbo fan' from Dearest's room. I keep hoping to find an oscillating one on sale or at a thrift store, but nothin' yet.

 

Got two separate e-mails from crafting sites, warning me that there were only 95 or 96 days ‘til Christmas. Not sure who's right - and I'm too lazy to check - but Gasp ! either way. Guess that means I'd best step on my Halloween project for Dearest's class. And once we have some funds, I need four yards of fleece for my first attempt at the Snuggie-clone. I already know how I want mine embroidered. And how, if it is easy to sew, to embroider more for gifts. Goss knows how I get a 40% off any fabric purchase coupon from Hancock Fabrics every three or four weeks ! And if I use solid colors and embroider ‘em - instead of buying the licensed prints - they'll be pretty inexpensive. Of course, given that friends and relations have had worse financial ‘09s than us, I doubt I'll need to make very many.

 

Oh, and a few days or a week or so ago, I roared up to Target to look for a green Halloween Kelly doll. Our store hasn't set up much beyond costumes, so when they weren't there or in the Pink Aisle, I figured I'd check again later. I still mean to, but unless the ‘stitches' painted on her forehead come off, I'm not as interested as I was. I know it's silly, but the idea of a little girl doll with a head injury kind of bugs me... happens to real kids all the time, but it's not something I really wanna deal with on my doll shelves.

Hi, Michelle and Manda ! I really need to write to you guys !

 

Current Mood : Feelin' pretty !

 

Went to check on the status of Dearest Son's action figure order delivery - and was amazed to learn that FedEx had dropped it off to the Post Office ! What in the world...? Well, I guess they do that when a box can be delivered on Saturday, because they dropped off ‘Goldie' this afternoon. Dearest's gonna be so happy when he sees it tomorrow.

 

Beloved was a bit bored, so we cut my hair this afternoon. Much better ! I hate it when my bangs get in my face, and with Molly-car's window still stuck down, it drove me nuts every time I went out. It's nice and short now, and I love it. Beloved insists I need to find an orange turtleneck sweater and pleated skirt, because I now look like Velma.

 

It's funny, though. I watched the cut locks fall down my front - and felt them down my back ! - and grabbed up a handful of it. So pretty, I thought. The color is still the chocolate brown I wanted so much during my Princess Leia-worshipping days. Sure, there's white strands in it here and there, but it's the color I wanted when I was a kid. I was actually born blonde, it began to darken when I was six. By the time I was a pre-teen, it was a ‘mousy' sandy brown. It struck me as amusing though, that I never think it's pretty until it's cut off of me. I can't appreciate it when it's still part of my head - but I always admire the shorn sections during a trim. 

 

After a quick shower, we ducked out for lunch - and I got my second Barbie Mighty Kids' meal toy. It was one I wanted, #4. a small heart-shaped plastic box with a new-logo decoration on the lid and printed on the fabric part of the ring inside. It's in the picture I used for yesterday - sometimes delaying posting makes for time-slip photos !  The ring now decorates my desk lamp, with the other cupcake decorations. I removed the heart-printed ribbon bow on the box's hinge. Used a seam ripper to unsew the bow, so I now have two strips of ribbon that are about right as suspenders for a doll's skirt. I may stitch that up soon.

Here's what the dress form (from Pink Shopping Barbie) looks like without the skirt !

 

Current Mood : Content

Spent on Embroidery Designs : $6. for an unlimited month's downloads

 

Not much going on today. Looks like it's a ‘stay in' weekend, since the folks we need a check from are gone for the weekend. Oh, well. I got plenty to do, have plenty to enjoy, and there's plenty of work that needs doing ! I'll probably veg out with Beloved Hubby and watch cable, though.

 

DC caught another mouse - outside this time, thank Everything. I think he enjoys the hunt, and he's good at it. He still eats up all his moist and dry foods in the morning when he comes in. He then sleeps all day where it's safe, coming out for attention and snacks occasionally until night comes. We get lots of pleas for head and belly rubs, then he's out until the next morning. I'm thinking that's ‘the good life' for a cat !

 

Since it's one of our legendary ‘lean weekends', I decided to splurge a bit with the funds in PayPal. Paid for a month's membership to the last embroidery site on my list. I now have a month to snag all the goodies on the site, which includes lots of free-standing lace designs and stuff I can customize. Worked on customizing a special design today, using Stitch Era Universal, that'll be fun to stitch up for Dearest Son's class at Christmas. Still need to get off my assets and sew something already.

Pattern hunt - 1 out of 3 ain't bad...

 

Current Mood : Weekend anticipation !

Spent on patterns : $1.07

 

Today was kind of an exercise in futility. Beloved Hubby had a rough morning, and didn't leave until 1pm. It didn't give me much time for my planned pattern hunt, since I have to be back before 3pm, to meet the bus, and it's nearly a half-hour in travel/traffic time. But I wanted to go, so I did.

 

While I remembered to retrieve my charging cell phone, I forgot the list of patterns I wanted - two Simplicity designs on sale at Hobby Lobby, one McCalls on sale at Hancock Fabrics. Oh, well, I'll just look ‘em up there. Um, remind me next time to just go back home for the list. Evidently all three were fairly new, and as such, didn't appear in all the hard-copy pattern catalogs. Even though there were at least two ‘Fall/Winter 2009' books for each company, and a special costumes one, the costume pattern I was interested in wasn't in the specialty book or one of the main books. I was about to call Simplicity when I checked the second book - ah, there it was. Too bad it wasn't in the cabinet. HLobby had two of that pattern, just neither in my size. Well, skittles.

 

The other pattern they had, but what I most wanted it for - an ironing board cover - required ‘thermal fleece'. What the heck is thermal fleece ? I could find garments made with the stuff, but not any of the actual fabric. Hmpft. While I was still at HLobby, I pulled up the McCall's book, and had a similar experience with the Snuggie pattern. It was in one book, but not the other. And I found a sewing room pattern set that included an ironing board cover made from regular ole cotton fabric in there, too. So, we were off to Hancock's, with a new list ! But first...

 

All the metalworks were half-off. And I found two lovely treasures. One was a small pink dress form much like my larger one, and the other was a bank in the shape of an antique ‘cathedral-style' radio, maybe half the size of the real thing. Couldn't get the radio/bank with the cash I had, but I could get the dress form. Stood in one of the two open checkout lines behind three young ladies - each wearing three shirts, knee-high Ugg-type boots, and skirts and shorts that'd have Sailor Moon constantly tugging down. I've never really understood the ‘butt ruffle' skirt, but wearing it as part of a cold-weather outfit really befuddles my obviously fashion challenged mind. If you need three long-sleeved shirts and winter boots to be comfortable, put on some blasted pants already !

 

I had the dress form in my hand when I realized that one cashier was having check acceptance problems, and the one I was in line for was still awaiting a price check three customers up. I realized that I didn't really want the dress form I had, I liked it mostly because I could have it. So I put it down and walked out. Time was running thin, and I don't need to buy stuff because I have a few bucks.

 

Got to Hancock's, where they actually did have the Snuggie pattern. Just not the ironing board one. Oh, well. At least I got the one I most wanted. The others - a costume and organizational items - I can always get later. Really, though I should be able to make a pattern for an ironing board cover on my own. Only thing wrong with the one I have is that the foam underlayer is rippled and won't lie flat. Hasn't since I bought the darn thing. Everything I iron on it picks up those ridges. I think I'm gonna soak it and try to iron it flat. If that doesn't work, I'll take it apart and either resew it so the foam is seated better, or use it as a pattern for the next one. So it looks like I was saved from overspending by understocking ! 

 

But I think I'll have enough to get the radio bank - what I really want ! - Saturday, before the sale ends.

Pink recycling !

 

Current Mood : Well-fed and relaxed

Spent on doll stuff : $1.07

Spent on craft stuff : $3.58

 

I mailed off the dressform / pink shopping Barbie doll to Australia Friday - and rediscovered her box this morning. I'd originally kept the doll boxed, thinking I'd mail her that way, but shipping to Down Under meant there were numerous size restrictions to packages. So I had to debox. As it turns out, it's all good - there's a lot I can do with the empty box. I'll be set for bookmarks for a while !

 

Today was one of Dearest Son's auxiliary teachers' last day. Just found out last night. Not really enough time to make anything nice, since I had grocery and errand runs this morning, and I was falling asleep at 6pm. Decided to buy some flowers at Mal-Wart, and use one of the cleaned yard-sale vase finds from this summer. Too bad all the M-W flowers were in sad shape. Seriously. Every last bunch, bouquet, or bundle was wilted or just plain tired. I'd about given up on the idea - it's a lean week anyway - when I saw a nice heart-shaped candy dish, for just $1. That sent me back to the candy aisle for Hershey's miniatures. Even with a length of trimmed scarf-like fabric holding them in, the heart only held about 2/3 of the bag. I tied it shut, wrote a card, and hopped back into Molly-car and drove to the school for drop-off. Hope she likes it. I know Beloved Hubby and Dearest Son will enjoy the ‘leftover' candy bars !

 

While on my way to the weekly grocery hunt, I stopped off at the thrift. Spent 99c on a bag of what looked like ‘Build-A-Bear' shoes, including a pair of adjustable skates. Like the old-fashioned metal ones, they adjust to fit over a doll / bear shoe. That was worth a buck, so I snagged it and a black glittery plastic plate (69c). Once home, I found the bag contained bear shoes - five of ‘em. Not pairs. Just five single shoes. The skates were the only pair in there. If I'd bought ‘em for bear shoes, I'd have been ticked. Not sure whether to re-donate them to the same thrift, or just toss ‘em.

 

There were some baby doll clothes, too small to fit any of my dolls, and a pretty bear sweater. It had at least three holes in it, but I was able to find the torn yarn ends and tie ‘em back together. With the ends tucked through to the wrong side, even I have a hard time telling where the holes were. And it fits Princess Dorrie, so I'm happy. There was also some sort of cape or collar that Dearest Son claimed for his plush dogs. Not bad for a buck !

 

Ran my errands, including some returns and some exchanges. If I'd had more time, I'd have gone by Hobby Lobby, since they're having a 99c Simplicity pattern sale this week. But I'll be out tomorrow for the Hancock Fabrics McCall's 99c sale anyway, so I'll go then.

 

Oh, and I also scored some silicone sealant, in the paint area's glue section, for a bit under $3.50. Ever since I read the directions for making yer own tear-sheet notepads, I've wanted to try it. You can buy padding medium, but HLobby didn't have it. Goss knows I got tons of scrap paper from Dearest's school to use up. Heck, if I get good at ‘padding' it, I can probably donate some notepads. Directions here ->  http://www.skiptomylou.org/2009/09/09/how-to-make-a-notepad/  .

 

Dishes and Wesleys...

 

Current Mood : Satisfied 

Kinda busy day today. Beloved Hubby went off to work this morning due to a break in the clouds - we're not really due to be out of the wet until Thursday. But he was able to complete a short job and it turns out that his clients have an Asperger's son, too. They got to talking, and, long story short, Beloved brought home a h-u-g-e Lego table for Dearest Son ! He sort of already had one (a coffee table), but this was made for Lego. Also train sets. It's very nice, and easily twice the size of the coffee table. We got it cleaned up and ready to go before Dearest got home from school, and he was mightily impressed ! We also have a coffee table again, and room to use it.

 

I had the living room nice and clean already, so after we were done with Dearest's table, I did some reorganization m'self. Decided to store KJ, my standard sewing machine, in the hall cabinet with the thread boxes, instead of on top of the computer hutch. Hutch isn't really stable, and KJ's pretty heavy, so it's better to move him. Taking up KJ's hutch space is the Scene-A-Rama, along with a Priority Mail box recycled to hold the diorama triptych and the scrapbooking pages. So now I can pull it down when I wanna do pictures.

 

Today's photo demonstrates why I really like the MAD stands. It's darn near invisible when the doll's angled well. I'm glad I got them.

 

"Goldie", Dearest Son's recently-ordered action figure, has shipped. Should be here Monday. He's so excited. I was bored enough Sunday - after catching up on the seriously backdated entries here - to look up Clone Wars on favorite time-waster TV Tropes ( http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/HomePage )Even Roger Ebert agrees with me, annoyance-in-a-tube-top Ahsoka is a Wesley. A 'Wesley' is a younger character, kid-friendly, always involved in the middle of the main plot, and is always right. Named, of course, for the Star Trek : Next Generation character with similar characteristics. Can be confused with ‘The Scrappy' named for the obnoxious Scrappy-Doo character. A Wesley is considered worse than a Scrappy, because the Wesley pushes more favored characters to the background in every episode, and Wesleys seem to be omnipotent stand-ins for their writers, like a Mary Sue in your favorite fanfiction work. Both are generally hated by everyone but their writers and their target demographic.

 

I was surprised to learn that I wasn't the only one who loathed the Ahsoka character, I figured it was just my snotty nature automatically rejecting the uber-cute girl who's perfect. Goss knows I did that enough in high school...

 

Did an hour's worth of dishes - yup, everything I washed last week's dirty again. I tried to keep them done up, but, well, weekend. I swear, it's darn near impossible to keep dishes or laundry done for long at Chez Insanity !

Then and Now Barbie - she looks much better without those pink earrings !

 

 

Current Mood : Slightly bleh

 

Interesting morning. It was going as usual when Dearest Son asked me, "What's DC got in his mouth ?". Um, it was a small field mouse. Small, grey...and not dead. DC had a merry time chasing, catching, then releasing the hapless rodent before chasing and catching him again, over and over. And I thought the living room was wrecked from the weekend before DC fetched in prey. Poor valiant mouse. I still have to clean up the last of him from the bathroom floor of Beloved Hubby's Studio.

 

It's still raining. On the plus side, we've had the air conditioner off for three days straight, but on the negative, Beloved Hubby can't quite finish his current job, but it's been nice to have him home. At least he gets to enjoy the cable !

 

Oh, and as expected, I didn't win the In The Pink Midge contest. Knew I wouldn't. I just won a prize package from Joanne, and some of the more oblique jabs I made at Barbie and some Barbie fans that I made in the story were either too pointed or maybe slanted too much the wrong way for comfort. Thing is, they were mine, and I made ‘em. It wouldn't be a writing of mine if it didn't have those. Maybe I'll post the thing as a secret link, if anyone wants to read two and a half pages of my meanderings.

Catch-up Sunday
Current Mood : Sleepy

 

 

Quiet Sunday. Decided to visit McD's for lunch, and after reviewing the latest Barbie toys online (http://www.happymeal.com/en_US/standalone.html?s=GirlIntro&swfH=450&swfW=772&bs=GirlToys&swf=/en_US/swf3/sections/toys/girlintro/intropreloader.swf&bgc=%23000000&ID=#GirlIntro ) went for a girl Mighty Kids meal. I got the one I wanted, too ! The memo-pad purse-book, with two sheets of stickers. It looks great in my Barbie purse ! And some of the stickers are so tiny, I think they're doll-sized.

 

We ended up ordering the Clone Wars action figure - the R2D2 clone called ‘Goldie' - from Hasbro online. It's just not available anywhere near here. And since it'd cost us $15. no matter where we went, from eBay to collector shops, we may as well go to the source. Kinda ranks to pay twice as much for the thing because of shipping, but I'm also grateful it's not so super-rare, we're shelling out $30. At least it's only a ‘week' of savings for Dearest Son. We're thinking of going to an allowance for him, probably by month's end.

 

Even after sitting out all night to dry, the ‘I Still Play With' re-framed piece still has glue streaks. And some spots on the cardstock didn't fade, either. Not much I can do about the streaks, but I covered the spots with a Barbie skate and a sticker. It's hanging up now, at least until I do it again. From a distance, it doesn't look too bad...

Saturday belongs to Midge...

 

Current Mood : A bit upset at my attempt at a re-frame...

  

Decided to enter an In The Pink contest, mostly because it's Midge-centric. The prize was a vintage blonde one, too. Anyone who wanted to had a choice of naming the Happy Family Midge's baby, photograph or describe their favorite Midge, or write a story describing where she was between 1967 and 1987. I decided to take the photo I'd always meant to - one with each Midge I had. The first Midge, the California Fun 80s Midge, and the 90s Happy Family Midge. And there it is. And yes, they're on the Scene-A-Rama stage, with the ‘starburst' paper I bought Friday.

 

But, even though it took 27 photos before I liked the result, I still wanted to tell a story. So I did. I tried to keep it short, but it sprawled over two and a half Word pages. I really enjoyed writing it. I don't stand a snowball's chance of winning, but I enjoyed the mental activity, and I'm proud of both my story and my photo. Truth be told, it took me longer to get the photo right than it took me to write the story. Contest ends tomorrow, and the winner's announced on Monday, but I'm not worried about it, I know I didn't win. I already got what I wanted out of it.

 

I also re-framed the ‘I Still Play' stitch-out - and totally screwed it up. The Gorilla Glue soaked through the fabric and didn't dry clear. The streaks are still there, and it's been over twelve hours. At least the cardstock matt looks pretty good. Guess I'll redo it sometime. From scratch.

 

It's rained all weekend, so I haven't been out much. Went along with Beloved Hubby on a job bid, and we went out for taco salads. So it's been a good weekend to me !