But...I kind of like the number 13...

Current Mood : Content - and in a clean house !

 

Bet ya'll thought I forgot to get a photo of this for ya'll ! I'd meant to do it Wednesday, but that photo of Tiana coloring came out so well, I couldn't resist. I'm considering gluing down the brown vinyl lining, since it's not lying down flat, but I'd actually rather leave as much of the dollhouse original as I can. Part of me is still in love with it, and I still love having it.

 

There's a little 'Happy Meal Anniversary Train' Barbie in front, for scale. I keep hearing contradictory reports about her being recalled - supposedly if she breaks, there's a dangerous metal spike exposed. In any case, I think she's pretty, and grabbed her when I saw her in a yard sale box. She still spins, and is about four inches tall, base and all.

 

Well, today was Dearest Son's big day. We were up early, and I had the living room vacuumed and the hallway, too, right on time. Dearest was so excited, he slept on top of his covers, so he wouldn't need to remake his bed this morning. I covered him with a blanket last night, which he handed me when he awoke, asking me to put it away for him. Beloved Hubby took out the trash for me on his way to work. Before I knew it, it was time for me to grab a shower and get us ready to go pick his friend, "B" , up.

 

It turned out rather anti-climatic. Every chance B got, he was either on the Wii or Beloved's computer, playing games. Dearest would start a movie, or an outside play scenario, and B would go with him...for about ten minutes. Then he'd tell Dearest he needed to go to the bathroom, and once inside or out of his room, B would pick up the Wii controls or restart the computer game, leaving Dearest to wait for him until he got bored.

 

It got kind of frustrating. If I'd wanted Dearest to play alone in his room, I wouldn't have wasted a quarter tank of gas and $6. for their lunches on having B here. I understand that B had his own wants and ideas, but he was barely even trying to play with Dearest. And if there's anything more boring that watching someone else play a video game, I'm not sure what it is. Especially when it's a game Dearest and Beloved played together for months not too long ago. B didn't even eat his lunch, he was too busy with the video gaming. (sigh)

 

I also discovered B has a thing for guns. Even in the video games, he'd only play characters that could wield guns. Only way Dearest got him outside for ten minutes was to load up the Nerf ones, and once the ‘bullets' were shot, B beat a beeline back inside. Didn't even help pick them up. Dearest and I had to. He also emptied Dearest's toyboxes and scattered toys over his room, kept leaving the Wii games and controllers on the floor, something even Dearest doesn't do anymore. I guess I expected B to be tidier, due to his not being Asperger's and his grandmother being blind, but that was my own assumption. A very incorrect one.

 

I swear, next time we have this kid over, it won't be for six hours, and the Wii is gonna be in a closet, locked up with Beloved's computer. Or I'll just take ‘em to a playground, fast-food if necessary. I tried to engage them both, with a noisy board game or making brownies, but B didn't want to, he just wanted to game some more. Not again. Three hours, tops, next time. At least I kept my promise to have B over. Not sure if Dearest is gonna be so excited about having him over any time soon.

 

Once it was time for him to go, I helped put away Dearest's toys, and darn near sang all the way. Goss, I am so mean. But I think I needed this, because now, I know I gotta make the effort to widen Dearest's social circle. Because it'll be a bit before I'm ready to invite B to the house again.

 

Two hours later, Dearest was on his way to his grandparents', and here I am, wondering what to do. I was too worn from the afternoon to have much interest in sewing, and the house was still mostly clean. I have to admit, it's nice to have the place vacuumed ! I think I'm just gonna read and play online for the rest of the night. Tomorrow, though, I'm going out for a while !

You're getting very, very sleepy...

 

Current Mood : House-weary

 

There it is, the sleepy-kitty embroidery I did yesterday. I'm quite pleased with how it turned out, and now, I can go after the blank handkerchiefs I've been hoarding from yard sales and flea markets. Well, at least, I can once I get all the other projects done !

 

No time for such today. It was ‘clean house' day, so I got dishes and the bathroom done. Dearest Son is so excited about his friend's visit tomorrow, he busted his lil' butt and cleaned his room - even made his bed ! It looked so good in there, I actually vacuumed in there. Ran out of time before I could finish the living room, but there should be time to get that done tomorrow morning.

 

I'm hoping that, once the boys are playing, that I can sew or even just vegetate for a while. If nothing else, I'm getting some French Onion dip to enjoy while they play. I think I've earned it.

 

Sorry it's a short entry, with next to no doll stuff, but the weekend's coming ! Not fast enough, but it's on the way !

Happy Veteran's Day !

 

Current Mood : Sleepily charmed

Spent on doll-type props : $1.08

Beloved Hubby retired early, and Dearest Son was engulfed in a movie after his bath, so I was on my own last night. Since the handkerchiefs I got this weekend were clean, I grabbed one and got to work on it. I wasn't sure how to hoop it, since I wanted to embroider a corner, not the middle, so I went with a double layer of stabilizer and snugged it up tight with just a bit of the handkerchief corner under the hoop. Worked out great ! Didn't even need the spray adhesive. You'll get that photo tomorrow.

 

And that cleared up enough space on Brody's memory to load the ‘right' and ‘left' versions of Joanne's pillowcase designs. Hope to have them tested sometime this week, and the finals ready to mail next week. Sometime in there, I also hope to try that ‘float a layer' thing, make a matching magnet.

 

Every so often, especially when I have to juggle and delete designs, I think about getting a card for Brody instead. He has a card slot, and it'd be easy to transfer designs - I wouldn't have to move him at all. But then I remember I have to have a card reader to connect to the computer, and it'd be about $160. Also that we paid an extra $100. for Brody's exact model, for the USB interface and some other tools, but mostly the USB. And I'm OK with carrying him back and forth for another three to six months.

 

Today was foggy, but another fun day. I got to do the grocery shopping solo, which meant a trip to the thrift. While I was there, an armload of just-packaged dolls got dumped into the bin, but there wasn't much I wanted. I noticed that these dolls were packed two to a baggie, but the price had gone from $3.99 to $4.99.

 

They also had two wicker furniture sets, the kind I normally will always pick up, mostly out of nostalgia. $5.99 for each is a bit higher than I usually go, but I was considering scoring one anyway. One set was painted white, and was the usual set you've seen a few hundred times. The other was dark brown, in a more modern style. I nearly bought it, but realized I literally had no place to store it. That's also why I didn't get the $3.99 My Size Barbie - she was one of the newest ones, yet someone had taken a black Sharpie to her hands and eyes. I could fix it, but I don't want or need another MSB. I think I'm really at or close to full saturation point when it comes to dolls.

 

On to groceries. Didn't find much, but I snapped up the mini-coloring book - with stickers ! - from The Princess and the Frog. Little Tiana is about to color in it for today's image. I was really happy with how well that photo turned out.

 

Once home, Beloved reminded me that it was Veteran's Day, and since he was home, I could have the day to do whatever I liked. Hmm... So I watched two episodes of Miracle Train, plowed my way through half a bag of potato chips and a cream-cheese cinnamon roll (day-old bakery + microwave = delicious on the cheap), posed Tiana for her photo, took an hour and a half nap, and just sort of hung out around the house. I'm also reserving Saturday for a trip to the junk shop and Hancock Fabrics. Like I need more fabric, but the last ad featured a ‘pattern' print I want to see in real life.

 

I can tell the holidays are coming, despite the nice, sunny days - there's craft shows everywhere ! From what I can tell, the only folk who make money from those are the ones running ‘em. Fully half the audience doesn't buy, they're looking for ideas (guilty blush), and about half of the remaining half are just looking around. Heck, there was one this weekend, and it was almost a replay of the last one this summer - fluffy little-girl stuff, and beer-can windchimes.

 

The embroidery booth was there, in their usual well-trafficked territory, but there was a change. Normally, the owners display their huge multi-needle machine prominently, because it's actually kind of fun to watch. (grin) At least, until you have your own ! Anyway, last Saturday, it was tucked in a dim corner, nearly impossible to get to. I wonder if something happened at the last show. Hope not - if my Brody was so expensive, I don't wanna know how much their huge beastie is !

 

Well, it's winding down for the day, and I have a lot of work tomorrow. I hope your day was special, too !

Threads and trains...and bad personal traits.

 

Current Mood : Relaxed and happy.

 

We got to sleep in this morning - I slept for ten hours straight ! My breathing's good, I had a great breakfast, and I'm not in any real pain, just a very minor sinus headache. It's the best morning I've had all week !

 

Beloved Hubby had some trouble sleeping last night, so I put him in for a mid-morning nap as soon as I was awake. While Dearest will stay indoors if we're both asleep, neither of us like to both be out of it when he's awake, so only one of us will sleep at a time. Since he was awake, he let me sleep in. He's so sweet ! When I woke, I felt great, so I hoped Beloved would feel better once he got some rest. It's just so difficult to wake him, though.

 

While he crashed - ten minutes after I sent him to bed, he was snoring ! - I did my usual morning puttering while Dearest watched Clone Wars. Cleared off half of my cluttered desk and brought Brody in for new designs. Today was the day to test that ‘Rebel Alliance' design I made for Halloween -  that never got used. I actually have four ‘starbird' designs - a doll-sized one I did by accident, a full-size one, and two big appliqué versions. Loaded up the biggest filled-in one, and also the ‘In The Pink' silhouette. It's identical to the two I pictured here Sunday, it just has the site name aligned with the neck. Gotta test it, too.

 

Hooped up some of the too-narrow cotton. Ya'll are gonna laugh at my cheapness, but here it is, I recycled some of the masking tape that marked the price on the test pillowcases I got from the church sale Saturday. You can see it in the photo. Learned last week that masking tape will extend the fabric just enough for the hoop to grip it well. Done it several times before, always with fresh tape, but this worked well, too. Once masking tape's been stuck to itself, though, it's pretty much useless, but at least this stuff got two good runs.

 

Since you're giggling, here's another example of my bad habits - laziness this time. Whole reason I did a ‘fire girl' version of that Barbiesque appliqué was because I saw that shade of red thread in the Madeira Treasure Chest, and knew I wanted to test my Rebel Alliance Starbird design with it. Reasoned that I could do the Barbie test with it, too, so I ended up picking fabric to go with the thread, instead of the usual other way ‘round. Did two tests with it, without changing thread. Goss, I am so lazy ! 

 

Speaking of lazy, I never removed the last CD-Rom from my ditched attempt to burn an embroidery design back-up. Lazy, pure and simple. But it showed as a viable disk, so just to be a witch to my misbehaving computer today, I dragged the Blog and Musingbook files over to it, and dropped ‘em. Lo and behold, it worked ! Burned ‘em perfectly. So I did the same with Photos. Ding ! Went for broke and dropped in the often-failed machine embroidery designs. It took over two hours, but it worked ! Whew ! I finally have it all backed up. I get nervous when that stuff's built up for a while without being saved off . Not sure what I did wrong then and right now, but I'm happy !

 

With all that done, I decided to turn my attention to Joanne's pillowcases again. As mentioned, and unbeknownst to the group, the final versions will have ‘In The Pink' embroidered at an angle along the bottom of the design. I already did it, but if I flipped the design to face the other way, the letters would be backwards. So I knew I'd have to do an actual ‘left' and ‘right' design. Figured I'd flip the face, then add the words, like I already did.

 

Well. Alphabet XPress is a fantastic program, but when you can angle and shape text, it doesn't retain the size you originally set. One line of text was noticeable larger than the other. Since it was still within my 100mm x 100mm size limit, I liked the bigger one. So I had to redo the first one. Too bad AX won't let me edit once a design has been saved. Had to make a new left-facing one from the start, and try to keep it about the same as the right-faced one. Half hour and four printouts later, one is still just a tiny bit off from the other, but the printouts look fairly close and not bad at all, so I'm gonna say it's all good. Now I just have to delete what I just put in Brody's memory and another design, too, so I can install both for testing before I go for the final.

 

I would erase the non-ITP design, but I wanna try it with a ‘floating' layer first. May even get to that tonight ! Or this weekend. I'm kinda eager to finish this pillowcase project - because I got six more ideas on back burners !

 

As for tonight, I started watching a new anime - so far, so cute ! It's called Miracle Train - you can find out about it and watch it as well, right here. à http://www.crunchyroll.com/media-534920/miracle-train-1/

Swim in the emerald ocean of dreams...

 

Current Mood : Very very sleepy...

Kind of a slow day today, since everyone was ill in some fashion. Beloved Hubby's back and shoulders hurt, and I had a massive headache and didn't sleep last night. It's been quite humid lately, which triggers my asthma. That makes me hit the inhaler, which is basically vaporized speed, so I don't sleep, no matter how much I want to. Dearest Son was just plain hyper-everything.

 

So we kind of took it easy. Since there were only three loads of laundry, I got those done - mostly because I wanted to test the stitch-outs. They did OK, but one is barely hanging on, so I know to be careful on the next one in that spot. It's about all I can do.

 

I've heard several times that the new Billions of Dreams Barbie was on sale at some Mal-Wart stores for $25., and was that price at Malwart.com, too. Verified the online price, and thought about getting one. I'd have to order it, because our store still wants $35. for the Star Trek dolls clearanced at everyone else's stores at $17. a month ago. But when I really thought about it, I didn't like the doll, wasn't much on the glitter-and-sequined pink puffy gown, and the display box probably wouldn't come in handy for much. Even at half-price, it didn't seem to be such a big value for me. I liked the ‘collage' print, but the glitter and sequins just seemed to be too much, and huge ballgowns... well, I'm never much on those, really.

 

Beloved Hubby said I could order or buy one, no problem this week, but I just couldn't push m'self into it. So I returned to BarbieCollector.com and checked that silk scarf - was it still in stock ? At ten inches wide and five feet long, and the same print as the doll dress, I'd have plenty of fabric to make my own versions with... and it was only $29. Hmmm...

 

With shipping, it'd be $37., which seemed a bit much - until I found a promo code for free shipping ! So I got it for $29. after all ! Yaaay ! Should be here in about a week of business days or so. Heck, at five feet long, I'll probably have enough fabric for several Barbie dresses and still have a fun scarf to wear. I've had very limited experience with sewing silk, but I'm sure I can do it. After all, I've sewn lining nylon, and that stuff's slick !

 

After that, I decided to contribute to Blue Monday on In The Pink, and get a photo of my Malibu Mermaid - both the doll and the outfit rescued from the Flea Market this weekend. It took 22 tries, and I still don't like the background, but isn't she pretty ?  I swear, no two of my scavenged Malibus look alike. Some have much larger eyes than others.

 

As you can guess, today I'm really tired. I took an hour-long nap, but I can barely keep awake. Hope tomorrow is better for everyone !

I think I'd call them 'Sugar' and 'Spice' !

 

Current Mood : Hungry, actually. 

 

I had so much fun last night, picking fabrics to go in the dollhouse. I ended up lining it with some slick brown vinyl I've had for ages instead - I'd thought of donating or just plain ditching the stuff, so I was glad to finally use it. It's just a bit too thick for doll shoes. Anyway, I really like it, and you'll get the updated photo sometime this week, I promise. I didn't even have to cram it, it's nowhere near stuffed. It took about what was in the milk crate, too. Yaaay !

 

With that done, I didn't want to leave the rest of the weekend's acquisitions sitting around either - so I dressed dolls, put embroidery practice fabrics in the laundry, stored the ‘ready to wear' doll clothes and isolated the ones needing cleaning or repair, and emptied the dollar bag. It occurred to me that I hadn't gone through the patterns bag I bought, so that was next.

 

I figured the stack of hand-drawn cutout pieces went with the Cabbage Patch Kids Butterick #5358 pattern, for a fluffy dress. Peeked into the envelope - nope. There were the full directions, and all eight original pieces, right there. Well, then. What were all these pieces ? I pulled a stapled set of photocopied directions out of the bag and alphabetized the pieces - they went together. But there was no indication of the source of copies. Figured from the size and the Butterick that they were probably also for CPK dolls, and started researching there.

 

OK. The ‘vintage' Xavier Roberts "Little People" (the precursors to the mass-produced CPKs) books had the same groovy-70s font. With no pictures to go by, it was only a matter of elimination. There ! The pieces and directions were from Xavier Roberts Presents Cabbage Patch Kids Designer Clothes, published by craft giant Plaid in 1984. It featured 25 outfits, with pieces A to EE. And I had the full set.

 

Dug around on eBay and soon had photos to go with all the outfits. Saved ‘em off to computer, and trimmed the legal-size copied pages to fit in the Ziploc bag with the pattern pieces. That left just a few other bits, and they were charming. A small card from Fisher-Price, apologizing for the delay in shipping the My Friend doll pattern - along with the pattern itself ! It was a nightgown for the Jenny doll, and tucked inside was The Fisher-Price Dolls Book of Values, dated 1983. Lest you think F-P was extolling attributes of thrift, loyalty, and punctuality, I feel I should tell you that it was a small catalog of My Friend accessories, along with Baby Soft Sounds, Bundle Up Baby, and My Sleepy Baby promos, with an order form on the back. The line art is adorable. I need to scan it.

 

That done, I decided to research my dollhouse a bit more, this time using online scans of old Christmas ‘Wish Book' catalogs. Never found what I was looking for, but seeing that as late as 1973, all Lego sets fit on one page was astounding. Poked through some 50s books, too, and seeing Toys Before Barbie was enough to make my head spin. Nothin' but baby dolls, baby carriages, kitchen sets, and stuffed animals, and a few ‘Dolls Too Nice To Touch'. I started feeling sorry for those kids. Sure, I played with baby dolls back in the 70s - Baby Go Bye Bye, Kissing Thumbellina, and my life-size Baby Dear clone the year I pined for Baby Crissy - but I really preferred Barbie. She was simply more interesting, and capable of more imaginative scenarios than ‘Baby cries' and ‘Baby needs food/diaper/medicine'. 

 

We spent several hours house-cleaning, and I even got the neglected dishes caught up. Time to play ! I had some ideas about the ‘crowned Barbie' appliqué, how to make it smoother and more durable. During the first trial, the lavender one, I learned that the final satin stitch row is very narrow, and doesn't cover the edges of the appliqué fabric like most others do. So bits stick out, and it looks awful. Luckily, it doesn't show in the photos.

 

So I thought, what if I applied Fray-Check to the appliqué edges once I cut ‘em, and cut them as close as possible ? It'd keep the edges cleaner, and if I cut ‘em close, hopefully the final stitches would cover them better. So I pulled out a fabric scrap, hooped some more white cotton, flipped the design to face the other way, and went for it. I was a bit worried, because I never heard of anyone using F-C on machine embroidery - it's very combustible. Would the rapid stitching friction cause it to ignite ? Or would it gum up the needle ?

 

Neither. It worked very well, but it turned out, I cut the appliqué ‘flame' fabric a bit too close. While de-linting after the cut-out, some pulled away from the tack-down stitches. Shoot. I smoothed it down with the F-C, and let it dry for 15 minutes. And then I remembered - it does two sets of tack-down stitches before it starts the final satin row. The pulled-up places were soon sewed back down securely, and no loose bits showed through the stitches. Success !

 

But not quite. Once again, some of the flame fabric was too close to the edges, and might pull out later. So I applied another row of F-C, this time, inside the stitches. It's holding quite well. Tomorrow, both test stitch-outs go in every load of laundry, wash and dry, to make sure it won't pull free. If it survives, I'll go ahead this week and stitch up Joanne's pillowcases. I may do one more test, this time with the ‘In The Pink' lettering, and possibly again, for an attempt to ‘float' a layer of heavy stabilizer, for a magnet.

 

But it was a really great day, and I got a lot done. I'm ready for bed and a good night's sleep ! Hope your weekend was as fun !

Today, there was a theme...

 

Current Mood : Thrilled !

Spent on dolls and...stuff : $8.

 

Today must've been ‘Change What You Don't Like' day, because that's about what I did with this lovely Saturday. Started things off briskly by going through my downloaded embroidery designs and re-sorting and re-organizing them. Y'see, when I first got Brody and a buncha designs, I didn't really know enough yet to organize them efficiently. And when a simple design of a cat can go under ‘Cats', ‘AnimalsBirdsBugs', ‘Appliqué', ‘FreeStandingLace', ‘Holidays : Halloween', ‘Redwork',  "Minis', or even ‘Misc.SinglesAndSets' depending, you can see how quickly finding a design can take longer than stitching it.

 

So, with my months of experience under an ever-larger belt, I streamlined the whole thing, and looked through the individual folders to make sure everything is where it belongs. It took a while, but it's much easier to go through, and should be easier to find specific pieces. I'm now content with my machine embroidery designs filing system.

 

After Beloved Hubby picked me up for lunch, I got a bit restless. Decided to return to the Flea Market, poke around some more. It's kinda hard to sift through a bin of Barbie clothes when Dearest Son is eagerly tugging you elsewhere ! Plus, there's more sellers on Saturday. Snagged a few Mattel outfits and two pair of flat shoes - including a set of ballerina slippers, with slots for ribbon ! Yaaay ! I'd been wanting some of those. I snagged a Mulan outfit, a Barbie mermaid costume, the purple-and-white teddy from 1990s ‘Fashion Play Barbie', and a vintage blue windbreaker from Ken's ‘Yachtsman' set, dating to 1962. That was about it for the Flea this week.

 

Hit two yard sales that had folded, but the sellers neglected to remove their signs. Decided to visit Dollar Tree, since the finger-skateboard stairway I bought last week came with a sticker proclaiming that the rails were underneath. Mine didn't have rails. So I wanted to check. But on the way, a church's parking lot was hosting what looked to be a good-size sale, and what the heck.

 

Found a jacket for Dearest, and the organizers handed me a Mal-Wart-type sack. Closing time - anything I could cram in there was a buck. Fill it up ! Well, then ! I quickly found the toys and circled a two-story tin dollhouse. It seemed so familiar. Not nearly big enough for Barbie, and very dirty and rusty, with the inside walls missing, it still seemed to call to me. Earlier, I'd admired photos of how some folk had used old dollhouses to hold fabric or papers - here was my chance to do the same ! Secretly, I'd been eyeing them when they turned up, but they were always shoebox-sized, usually rusty...and the seller still wanted $20. Vintage toys, don'cha know.

 

Another organizer asked if I wanted it, she'd put it aside for me. I agreed. She handed some new arrivals bags and started my way...and a swarm of little girls suddenly pounced on ‘my' dollhouse ! The organizer and I glanced at each other awkwardly as I stood there. Neither of us really spoke their language, so there wasn't much we could do. After a long minute, someone called them away, but they didn't go willingly. Kinda felt like crap when they so clearly wanted it, but they didn't take it with them, and I never actually saw the parental units, just heard them. So they may have been told no - it really wasn't in good shape, and I'd be a bit nervous about giving today's active kids a rusty metal dollhouse m'self, but I still felt a twinge of guilt.

 

But it wasn't enough to keep me from picking it up and asking her to hold it for me anyway. I quickly stuffed my bag with the jacket, a hardback copy of Stephen King's Skeleton Crew, four pillowcases and four yellow handkerchiefs for embroidery practice, a display easel, a small Christmas gift box, a hand towel, and a ziplock bag of doll patterns. All this cost me the princely sum of...$2. And they even carried my stuff to Molly-car. I tipped my ‘personal shopper' a buck, for kicks.

 

At Dollar Tree, I found my rails at the bottom of the bin, and told the cashier what I was doing, which they were fine with. I was so excited, the stairway was already out of my mind as I reversed Molly out of my parking space. My idea was to dump the milk crates of bundled fabric off the cabinet, and use the dollhouse to store it instead. I could clean it up well, line the semi-rusty floor with shelf gripper, and it'd be much more visually interesting than yet another milk crate. Plus, dollhouse ! I can swear I played with a similar one, before we moved and all but the Barbies were left behind. I was very pleased with me.

 

Beloved Hubby took one look at it and shook his head, even as I explained what I'd do with it. But he had an idea for me. He had a solution that would keep it from rusting more, all I'd have to do is sand the worst of the rust, then don gloves to apply it with an old rag. He had to admit, though, that a dollhouse holding fabric was much more ‘theme' with the Lab than a milk crate.

 

However... my idea actually had me moving two milk crates of fabric off the cabinet. Um, there's only one. And that won't nearly clear the space I'll need for the dollhouse. I forgot I moved the Barbie Country Living Home to the second crate's space a few months ago. Hrf. My eyes cast around the room for possibilities - and lit on the cutting table. Back of it is still cluttered with a Little Mermaid yard-sale lamp find, a paper crescent lamp (thrift store) and my radio/CD player. I didn't like how it looked, but never figured out how to change it.

 

Well, now I had an idea. Slid the milk crate of fabric from the cabinet to the floor. Moved the CD player to the cabinet, in the just-opened space. Relocated the never-used Ariel lamp to my bedside table. Placed the moon on top of a nearby fabric crate tower - it looks cute next to the doll case - and wove the on/off switch through the side of the top crate, so it wouldn't vanish. Once I got the dollhouse in place, I'd have instant access to material, in the perfect place ! I could hardly wait for the dollhouse to dry. While cleaning it, I discovered that it was a Wolverine dollhouse, made in Arkansas, and the zip code dated it to probably the early 60s. I looked it up, and found several online - and also that Marx tin dollhouses are nearly identical. I still have to research that one.

 

It took a lot of shuffling, and dragging stuff out just to put it back ten minutes later, but I moved everything, and tested my CD player. One of the speakers wasn't working. Not a lot for that, besides wire testing, and after a bit of wiggling ‘em around, it works. Tucked power cords behind moved boxes and such, and noted that not only was the calendar still on October, but the clock was still an hour off.

 

But once everything was more-or-less restored, I got to place the dollhouse in its new location. It actually takes a bit less space than the lamps and CD set did. That's today's photo, of course - I still have to line it and fill it with fabric. The one I saw years ago had the fabric folded flat, but I may leave it rolled up, for kicks. I turned on my moon lamp and basked for a bit. Much better. I'd been meaning to do something with that cutting table for over a year, and now, I really like what I did.

 

Guess I was just waiting for one crucial element. An old, rusty Wolverine dollhouse !

 

Flea and flu...

 

Current Mood : Happy tired. 

Spent on dolls : $3.50

 

Busy day again. Dearest Son and I got flu shots, drove his best friend's family around to get theirs, went to the Flea Market, cleaned up our finds, wore out the local Burger King's play area, and got ready to visit Granny and Grand-dad for the weekend. Whew !

 

We had a short school day today and headed out to the Flea Market. Brenda, my normal doll supply connection, said she simply had too many dolls already, so I'll find out week after next if she wants to do a trade then. She didn't have anything I wanted this week anyway.

 

But I still bought doll stuff. One of my other favorite booths had several finds ! I immediately spotted another vintage Alan, but he was $10., and I already have one. They offered me him, two Ideal Tammy dolls, a vintage but generic case in pieces, and a handful of mismatched Barbie and no-name clothes for $30. I much preferred the dollar table - where I soon snatched up another Malibu Barbie. I am such a total sucker for those ! She wore a gold bikini top (from Sun Sensation Barbie, 1991) and a green tulle-lined skirt (probably from the ‘94 redhead Cut and Style Barbie), inside out. I also grabbed a nude 90s Hasbro Han Solo, and a nude Beverly Hills 90210 Brenda doll. While I've never been much for the show, the character, or the actress, I always thought the doll was pretty, so it was nice to find her so inexpensively. Oh, and I also found a blue and cream geometric Barbie sweater, from the ‘Made In China' toy company, 50c.

 

Dearest made a Barbie find of his own - a somewhat worn Barbie airplane ! Not like my old one, but the newer blue one, with sound effects. It's missing just about everything it can be missing - chairs, speaker, cart, props, tail, all gone. But the day / night windows still work, it rolls well, both wings, all the storage doors and the ‘steering wheel' are still intact, the engine sounds are cool, and that's all he needed ! While I scrubbed dolls, he went after his dusty airplane, peeling off Bratz stickers and wiping down everything. With that done, he liberated a pair of seats from a doll car his grandparents gave him, and now, they're plane seats. He mostly moves cargo, though. A small stuffed Stuart Little pilots, and he transported several other stuffed animals and Star Wars figures from his bedroom to the living room and points beyond.

 

After a quick lunch, we departed to pick up his best friend, his grandmother, and youngest brother, and left for the Health Dept. for the flu shots. It took remarkably little time. Once he saw me get the shot, Dearest had no problem getting his. Since the inhaled version is known to trigger seizures, he had to have the shot, but he took it like a Jedi. In a month, he has to have another, darn it.

 

Since his friend's family didn't have to be straight home afterwards, we took the boys to BKing, and let them run around for an hour. Friend's grandmother asked if I could take her home, pick up Friend's other brother, and take her to Mal-Wart, but I was kinda tired, and Beloved Hubby was due home, so I more or less begged off. As it was, we were only home for an hour before Grand-dad arrived.

 

But the kids have off next Friday, for parent-teacher meetings. Since Friend's grandmother will have all four of her grandchildren that day, we volunteered to pick up Friend for a while, host him at our house. Maybe now, I can get Dearest to help me keep the place picked up !

 

Once home, Dearest went straight back to his plane and played ‘til Grand-dad called. I'd call that $5. well-spent ! He packed it with his other toys, and couldn't wait to show it off when DFIL arrived. As I got a kiss goodbye (and one for Daddy, who hadn't made it home yet), I got a bonus hug and a sweet ‘thanks for today, Momma'.

 

Yes. I will move the universe for this child. 

Who'd have thought I just needed sleep ?

 

Current Mood : Sleepy again - zzzzzzzz....

 

I feel much better today. Was in bed a bit after 10pm, and didn't wake up ‘til 4:30 this morning. Which would normally be my wake-up time, with Daylight Savings and Dearest Son in school. I kept falling asleep and waking back up until 7am. Didn't get a lot of work done because I was wheezing a bit, but Dearest's class went as scheduled, and I got some of the dishes done.

 

Burned another coaster in the continuing effort to back up my machine embroidery designs. It stops soon after it starts, then just sits there for hours. Very frustrating.

 

Got the big box o' misc. stuff put away. Stored the ‘landscape' pieces from the Habitat for Humanity yard sale in one of the hanging doll cases, where I can get to them. Claimed the empty milk crate for Dearest's school stuff, and got it loaded up. Decided to keep the ‘Talk With Me Barbie' computer desk and chair on my desk, and rotate a new doll in the seat every week. I get to enjoy a doll, but she's not in the way, and it's kind of fun to look over and see him or her ‘online' with me.

 

Discovered a hole in one of Dearest's shirts, and I'd thought to put an embroidery design over it - the design and the stabilizer would cover the hole, especially after I Fray-Checked the edges. But it's low on the shirt, and not many designs really look good on anyone's belly. So I did the Fray-Check part, then sewed a star-shaped patch over it. While watching Penguins of Madagascar on Nickelodeon. Dearest was in the shower. Beloved Hubby and I both love the penguins ! Much as I don't really enjoy mending much, it's not so bad with a fun TV show.

 

Oh, and I found out that the flea market's back this weekend ! It's not on the schedule ‘til the 20^th, but I know the owner - whenever he can get the fairgrounds, he'll arrange a sale. Not sure if I'll go tomorrow with Dearest or wait ‘til I can go alone Saturday. Hopefully I can trade the dolls this time. Wish me luck !

Woke up loopy, goin' back to bed.

 

Current Mood : Still looped. 

 

Woke up today dazed and confused. I've been light-headed and a bit dizzy all day. Not sure why. I felt a little better after I napped on the sofa this afternoon, so maybe I just need more rest. Once Dearest Son is asleep, I'm gonna go crash. I don't care if Joel Hodgson (Mystery Science Theater 3000) and Harold Ramis (Ghostbusters, Stripes,  feature director) are discussing guy stuff and how much they love nerd girls, with Nicole Kidman and Carrie Fisher, who love to chat about their favorite dolls and agree on tape that brunettes are sexiest of all the women, I'll set it to tape and go to bed anyway. What can I say, at one point of my life, I've had crushes on all four of ‘em. But I am that worn out.

 

Somehow managed to drag m'self through the day anyway - and believe me, ‘drag' is the optimum verb here. Did Dearest's Chez Insanity school, cooked two meals, washed some dishes, ran some errands that Beloved didn't. He was home today, working on Big Red, his diesel-sweetie truck. I don't think he realized how awful I felt, but moaning about it wasn't gonna get me through, so I didn't whine much.

 

Tried to back up a few things, but ended up locking up my system five times and burning enough raw material for four more coasters. I'll do a complete restart tomorrow and try again. Kinda frustrated, since each effort took about an hour, from disk formatting to endless waiting for the burn to move, to trying to get the computer back from an endless loop of ‘program not responding'.

 

I gotta confess, I'm now addicted to Sudoku puzzles. I'd seen ‘em, of course, but never tried one, because, you know, numbers. I figured each one had its own rules, and they'd be a lot more difficult. So I didn't learn how to work one until I showed Dearest how to, and now I enjoy the challenge. The cheap ‘Kappa' Christmas-themed book of ‘em I bought at Dollar Tree had me all cocky, so I found a website, and chose a ‘medium' difficulty one. An hour later, I was stumped, and guessed. I got it right, but after learning that the normal time to finish that one was 26 minutes, I kinda felt humbled.

 

Well, it's bedtime. Hope your day was a lot less dizzy !