May your 2010 be Blue Screen free !

 

Current Mood : Sleepy...

 

Today was off to an unforgettable start when I sat down, still yawning, to my much-loved and nearly-always-in-use computer...and he made ominous clicking sounds. There was a pattern to them - two, then six clicks, then two again, then six. I could swear that, for some reason, the hard drive just wasn't accessing. But my monitor showed the morning normal stuff.

 

About ten seconds later, I got a Blue Screen of Death ^TM, and even before I finished reading about my kernel problems, ‘puter restarted himself. He verified his PMI data for so long, I wondered if he'd locked up, but then he flashed a black screen. Which told me I had a complete system failure, and asked me to insert the system disc, and press enter.

 

Took me a few minutes, but I found the recovery disc Beloved Hubby made a year or two ago, and loaded it, and a short, tense eternity later, I was back to where I was when the day began. I was kinda proud of me for doing the right thing, without making a panicky call to Beloved. While I waited for ‘puter to do what he was gonna do, I pulled some old discs from the collection - old programs I'll never use, stuff Dearest Son has long since outgrown, drivers for printers I thought we included when we donated them years ago. The still-useable disks will get donated, the rest were trashed. I also arranged a stack of backups that date from 2002 to last month, and reorganized the general disc storage drawer. All the programs together, all the photo discs united, all the backups in one area.

 

And the recovery disc now has its own spot, in a box instead of an envelope, stored in a location I can find immediately. Hope I don't need it again any time soon.

 

Couple years ago, I bought the flashy Fashion Fever jewelry box when a flea market table reduced it to half-price. Mostly because I loved the dress form that adorned the top. I still have the bracelet, too. Anyway, once I discovered the dress form easily popped off, the kinda chintzy box portion got relegated to the desk, although it's only use has been to boost the container I keep my prescriptions in.

 

With that drawer torn up, I reclaimed the box, and it's now in the Lab again, where it'll eventually become some sort of storage. After I paint it. Even though it's only about three years old, the back has faded to a peachy yellow.

 

Cleared off my desk, and we kinda~sorta cheated and had McDinner. When you don't go there twice a week, it's amazingly tasty when you do get to indulge ! Since dinner took no time, I got to work on Dearest Son's ‘Lego Master' t-shirt afterwards. And that's today's image. Remembered to move the design up a bit, so it's not in the middle of his chest, but now I think I should have gone even higher. 

 

I do not like it. Most of the colors were stitched twice, the design was simply too sparse with just one layer. Even with that, I still had quite a bit of touch-up with the red and black fine-point Sharpies. I guess I shouldn't be surprised, since the Lego logo was a free design from one of the now dead-links Chinese sites - I added the 'Master' part m'self -  but I was hoping. Hmm. I can see a few more threads that need clipping, but I've already affixed the stitch shield, so all it really needs now is a quick spin through the washer, to get rid of those green chalk marks. Maybe one day I won't need to draw so many reference points, but they work for me right now !

 

And, since he's back into Wall-e, I may try to stitch out that ‘BnL' logo I digitized a few months back. Never worked it, because he wasn't interested anymore. Now that he is, I may as well use it - and add to the gifts he can unwrap Friday. I got plenty of shirts to work with...

 

Beloved thought I did a fantastic job on his shirt, and began work on a project for me - he's getting back into AirSoft, and I can digitize and stitch the patches for him. He's happily doing the artwork, and so far, so complicated. So I guess the ‘Learn manual design and digitizing on Stitch Era Universal' resolution will be happening fairly soon !  

 

Monday, Monday...

 

Current Mood : slightly loopy

Current Image Notes : Here's a representation of Dearest Son's soon-to-be embroidered shirt design - colors are waaaay off, though. 

 

Went through the Barbie clothes a bit, and decided to go ahead and add Dori's Alliance Starbird photo to the main site today, even though I certainly didn't sew pants or a skirt for it. I have tons of pants, shorts, skirts - you name it - for my dolls. But no one but me and Dori have an embroidered Barbie-size blouse with a bootleg LucasFilm design on it !

 

It's embarrassing that the site's last update was January 30, 2009. Almost a year's gone by without me really sewing anything. Not sure what I'll sew this week, but I already know I'll be embroidering Dearest Son's much delayed ‘LEGO Master' t-shirt tonight or tomorrow for his birthday this weekend. We're celebrating early, since DFIL has Friday off. And I remembered to call and change the pick-up date of his chocolate Garfield cake.

 

And, right after Lycos took its payment out of Checking for my site, I got a paying survey from Pinecone. (sigh) Oh, well. I'll probably spend the $3. they deposit in my PayPal account in the next day or three on that new dress form embroidery design I've been wanting over on Urban Threads, and host a mild hope that maybe one day, they'll draw my name in their monthly $500. contest. I have two entries this time ! And the same usual lack of luck when it comes to lotteries and drawings. Frankly, if I have to pay to play, I don't. I can do a lot with the dollar I don't spend on the PowerWhatever, and even more with the $2. I don't spend on a scratch-off sample of hopelessness. Of course, that's just me - I'm sure the play is worth it if you win occasionally !

 

I'm really trying to not buy any more embroidery designs this year - at least, not buy them with ‘family' funds (i.e., what's in Checking at any given moment). Small funds from occasional eBay or Craigslist sales and Pinecone, OK, but ideally, I'd like to not buy any at all. I really went nuts with them last year, possibly understandable since it was my first year with Brody, but it's past time to reign that in. So far, so good, I haven't bought any at all, but I've downloaded three or four freebies. Digitizing companies have been offering some very nice free designs, to drum up sales, since before Christmas. I try not to take advantage of them all, just the ones I'd gladly pay for !

 

Oh, all right. I've downloaded six. Since the year started. Hmft.

 

Watched the new episode of Hoarders tonight. Some of these can just about make me cry. I've about given up on Clean House. If there's a new season, I'll probably watch it again, but I've seen most of the episodes numerous times. And it does get annoying after a while.

 

I sometimes think my frantic week of Lab work was partially - or even mainly - to prove to myself I'm not a hoarder, a shopaholic, or a packrat. And that I don't need to keep everything for that specter known as Justin Case.

Winter always kicks my round butt...

 

Current Mood : Hurting

Current Image Notes : I'm now out of the DP images I've held on to if I needed one. Guess I gotta get some photos taken, and soon !

 

Since my ear's hurt all day, like a drill's been digging in the same place for twelve hours, I'm thinking the high-pressure weather system's returning. Or something. Actually, we're expecting highs in the mid-50s by mid-week, so I don't know what's going on with my upper respiratory system. I just know I go through this every winter, and if I'm lucky, I don't end up in the Emergency Room, gasping like a freshly-caught fish.

 

Beloved Hubby locked our front and back doors tonight, remarking that our age of innocence seems to be over. We had a break-in at the Shop (not a part of the house, but close behind it) and the horse-supplies last night. Only reason we knew was that the nice lady who sublets the horse-space from us asked if we'd seen her ‘poop cart'. We hadn't, but she found it soon after asking - just outside the back gates, with our wheelbarrow, loaded with every hand-tool that could be lifted by one person, from the Shop. We can only assume the nightly police drive-by startled the perps, and they took off without their ill-gotten gains. Since the police cruiser often parks at the 7-11 for anywhere from ten minutes to nearly an hour, it's probably our luck that the thieves don't know about things my insomnia showed me years ago.

 

Oddly, last night, I was in bed early, soundly asleep. I didn't even hear them break the window of that inoperative truck DFIL has parked back there. Not sure if they tried to hot-wire it or they only wanted the stereo, but the dash is all torn up. Luckily, we'd gone out to the 7-11 ourselves last night, or Bonnie-truck, the small Chevy that we all say belongs to Dearest Son, would have probably been damaged or stolen as well. She has no stereo, but does work. We took her for a snack run about two hours before I crashed, and it moved her from the backyard/Shop lot to the front house driveway. And we're beyond lucky that all the tools - including some of the horse-supplies and tack - were left behind.

 

So it's all locked up now, and Beloved spent the better part of the day exploring security options - lights, alarms, whole schmear. Not much I can do, and my guys won't let me out of the house, since it's still very cold. The police came by, took a report, and did all they could, out in the cold, but there's not much there for them. Beloved thinks it was probably kids who'd cased the place earlier, but spooked before they could pawn or sell the tools. I'm hoping that's all it was, too. Dearest is really nervous, so we put fresh batteries in his flashlight, saying the beam would scare off any robbers. It seems to have helped him remain a bit calmer than before.

 

Otherwise, it was a standard boring Sunday. I re-re-re-re-measured Princess Leia for Doll Shop Deluxe, and the resulting blouse looks really strange. Not sure if or when I'll ever sew it. I'll probably look up one of the patterns I've already used for Leia and use it. I still want her to have that ‘Starbird' shirt ! I tried the finished one on Tiana (Princess and the Frog), and it fits her, too. I also discovered that her legs and the edge of the castle floor where she was sitting are not reacting well with each other. So I redressed her,

since the dolls sitting with her are not affected. They're wearing pants, though. And now, so is Tiana.

 

And once I make Muse Dori a matching skirt or pair of pants, I'll add the ‘Alliance Starbird' shirt to the website's Home page. I'd do it now, since I need to update it from ‘Happy 2009' anyway, but I like for my featured dolls to have a complete outfit that I've made.

 

Of course, I could just crop the photo to just show the shirt...

I sewed !!

 

Current Mood : Much better ! 

 

The weather didn't improve much, but I'm breathing a lot easier. I'm still taking it easy, but I could move around a lot easier today. I hate being an invalid.

 

I'm still reefing on my success in the Lab cleanout...but it's sooo easy to back-slide. I subscribe to Simplicity patterns' online updates, so they sent me an e-mailed link to the latest patterns for Spring 2010 on their site. I was immediately taken with #2454, a reprint for sixteen and eighteen inch dolls. Fluffy dresses, vintage car coats...so sweet. Hey ! I have both - Timey and Dottie are considered sixteen-inch dolls that border on vintage, and I have the two Our Generation Battat dolls (Debbie and Jenny) on the eighteen-inch side of the design. Hmmm...

 

And, guess what ? Hobby Lobby's got a sale on Simplicity patterns - 99c ! Ends today, of course...I started planning on hopping in the shower, heading over about 2 or 3 this afternoon. I could check out the 90% off sale on whatever's left over from Christmas, peek at the fabrics, print out the 40% off coupon...

 

But I didn't. One, we're broke. Two, once I got a really good look at the pattern, I realize I already have it, about a dozen times over. Yes, it's nice that it's a reprint and I love those particular looks. But between Doll Shop Deluxe and the craft tote crammed full of other commercial patterns, I just don't need it. I have it, over and over, in every possible size.

 

What I want to buy isn't a pattern. It's getting off the computer and getting into the Lab. It's taking a breath and picking up the scissors, hoping that everything works. It's waking up in the morning and buzzing through Dearest Son's homeschooling and my housework, because once that's all done, I can go work on my latest, and I simply can't wait. It's taking 32 photos of a single doll in a new creation, because flash bounces off eye decals or it's dark when I finished, but I so want to share what I did here.

 

Can't buy it. Gotta do it. If I could buy it for 99c, we'd be even more broke than we are - I'd stock up and have packets of it ready to go, all the time ! Since there's no real cost but a mental adjustment - sort of a brain-goose - it's easy to forget how special it is when I'm in that particular zone. But I think I'm on my way back to it.

 

I'd also thought to hit the Flea Market today. Last week, I found star-printed wrapping paper, but didn't buy it. Today it occurred to me that it'd work to cover up some of the scraped shelves on my new desk. But I decided against that when I remembered I have tons of scrapbooking paper that also has stars on it, and I still own parsecs of fabric. Much of which has stars on it, too. So I decided to stay home.

 

And sew. I was careful, and did well staying in the seam allowances - I was a bit worried that I'd lost the knack after a year of not sewing, but it was still there. I'm not sure where I went wrong, since the pattern I cut out was for Princess Leia, but it only fits belly-button Barbies and smaller dolls. 'Blue Muse' Dori is modeling for us today - Hi, Dori ! Heck, it worked, though ! I have now embroidered a design specifically for dolls - and while it may not have turned out exactly how I wanted, it works, and looks OK. Can do better on the next one, though. Will improve the next one.

 

Hmf. Decided to try a cut-and-fold on the Leia pattern, on paper, and there's no way it would have fit, unless I used a knit fabric. Guess I need to double-check my settings on Doll Shop Deluxe. (sigh) Makes me wonder how I made all those other Leia outfits...

 

Well, back to ye olde drawing boarde !

I feel like two Dwarves that didn't make the Disney cut.

 

Current Mood : Wheezy and Dizzy

 

Sorry everyone. I've been engaged in a full-out battle with asthma for control of my lungs for the past few days, and if I don't take a bit of a break, it's not gonna go well for me. I'm barely able to cross a room without wheezing. I'm going to rest up as much as possible, see if tomorrow goes better. The weather's improving, and my symptoms are often tied to that, so I'm hoping.

 

I'm sure I'll be fine, so don't worry. Just gonna rest up, and hope.

 

Lab and laundry...

 

Current Mood : Pleased with Self. 

 

Actually got a bit busy today, and had some fun in the Lab ! Leia's future blouse is all cut out and Fray-Checked, waiting for me to sew it, hopefully tomorrow. It was just too edgy today to sew.

 

I guess being stuck inside for several days in a row is taking a bit of a toll. Dearest Son seemed determined to be as noisy as possible today, and DC was a ruckus on his own. He caught two mice and appeared to be having the time of his life hunting ‘em down. Beloved Hubby's reworking his business web site, so he was kind of insular - I kept having to remind him to eat.

 

Anyway, I did some minor tidying while I was in the Lab, and tried to find which shoes fit the Tiffany Taylor dolls. Some soft slippers I made for Crissy fit, but Tiff has high-heeled feet, so nothing else worked. So I'll probably need to draft an original pattern for her. I also found the blue ‘belt' bracelet I got from a 50c table at the Flea Market last month - I bought it for the rhinestone star slide charms, but the belt fits Tiff ! It just needed a couple new holes for a better fit. Luckily for me, Brody came with an eyelet awl, so it was just tap, tap, tap on the cutting board, and I had three perfect holes, exactly where I needed ‘em. I also discovered that she can fit the clothes I made for Aria, the 15-inch ‘teen Ariel' doll I bought a couple years ago. They're just a bit short on Tiffany. So I'll probably do a measurement set for her on Doll Shop Deluxe - but Aria's will work for now.

 

I also went through a ‘loose paper' tray I set up to contain...well, loose stuff. It came inside the craft tote that is now packed full of doll patterns, and I mean, it's full ! Too full for the tray. So. I filed some papers, re-hung some displaced stars, put some doll shoes where they belong, and set up the Angel Barbie next to the crescent moon lamp, which also used a Mattel Collectables stand I had...well, standing around. I'd managed to stuff all the other Mattel stands inside the Coca-Cola machine tin - you know, the one behind Megara, third from the bottom on this page -> https://dorriebelle.tripod.com/id20.html  The MAD stands are in use always, those never get stored. I just love ‘em.

 

I also decided to move the ‘Room With A View' set I got shortly after Elphie moved in, and store it in the closet. Since the prop storage for Barbies has gone waaaay down, there's room for it now ! And it clears a space for Beast to sit while I'm sewing. RWV was on top of the fabric storage bin, but since it's in the closet, Beast can lounge there now. He actually looks rather happy there.

 

And I actually did some housework. With temperatures below freezing tonight and tomorrow night, I got all the laundry together and sorted, and split it in halves. Did half tonight, and the rest'll be done tomorrow. Since that little ‘no water' scare the day after Christmas, we've been a bit hyper, so we've left faucets dripping, and held laundry ‘til the night, so warm water and dryer heat can help keep the pipes from freezing. It's funny that we're all worried about it now, since for the past two winters, we hadn't done squat different, and had no issues at all.

 

Who wants a bento ?

 

Current Mood : Still lazy.

Current Image Notes : Claire invites you to have a Japanese bento box lunch when you fly her airline ! This is one of the erasers I bought yesterday, and it's nearly perfectly in scale. I've seen the dish part in green on ITP, so I'm hoping to snag a couple more in the next week or three. Soon, you'll see Elphie with one (or more !) of the erasers that's more her size.

 

Still getting back into our ‘business as usual' schedule. I swear, I've forgotten most of it in the last two or three weeks.

 

Puppy Friday is still getting used to housebreaking. And he's found the Castle full of dolls darn near irresistible. Last week, he carried two dolls off ! Luckily, I caught him before either were damaged, but between the occasional puppy puddles and doll theft, he's banned from the Lab for the time being. While I could just close the door, I like for my Lab to be open, and the hall gets a lot of light from the Lab window. I'd been blocking Friday's entry with a cardboard triptych - a sale purchase from Hobby Lobby I haven't used yet - but DC likes to knock it down and lie on it. And it's getting fur and claw marks, too.

 

I figured out a better way after I knocked everything off my door trying to squeeze in without taking the barrier down last night. Even after moving the cabinet into Dearest Son's room and using two of the former-fabric-storage milk crates in it for toy storage, I had two crates and two larger containers left over. Plus, the crates were in the way of my closet doors, which was annoying. Still, since Friday can't jump very high... I found that both could block the door well enough from Friday, but it was easy for me to step over ‘em. And they were heavy enough that puppy power couldn't just push past them. I can even use them to temporarily hold stuff I've brought in that I don't have time to put away yet. Cool ! We'll see what DC thinks of them later this week, since he can easily jump over. I think our kitty likes the newly opened space in there as much as I do.

 

I'm hoping to get in there tonight and sew for a while. Right now, I'd be happy just to get the Leia blouse cut out and Fray-Checked. I've been horribly lazy lately. With Friday loving trash-can exploration, I cleaned out under the sink to store the can there - only to find out that a pipe will block any but the smallest boudoir-tiny trash can from the space. So I redid the cleaning supply storage instead, and got rid of four huge pickle jars. I think keeping two is plenty.

 

Beloved Hubby pointed out to me that he knows when I'm a bit worried about money. I save and wash everything - glass jars that held spaghetti sauce, plastic trays that sold pastries, and every box that comes in the mail. I wasn't even aware I was doing that, so it felt good to toss out stuff I wasn't ever gonna use, and not feel like I need to save everything, just in case. It's not like Monte Hall is gonna burst in the door and offer me $100. for every empty pickle jar I have under the sink !

Bye-bye clutter-bags !

 

Current Mood : Relieved and happy 

Spent on doll food (erasers) : $2.16

 

It took some huffing and puffing, and nearly an hour, but all the stuff I pulled from the Lab has gone on to its next phase - beginning at the GoodWill Donation Center. I decided on them since their Donation Center is staffed, and I'd need help getting all that stuff out of Molly-car. I got winded twice getting it all back there in the first place !

 

But once I arrived, the sweet staff had her backseat emptied of all those bags - even the huge, mega-heavy fabric one - at warp-speed. It's like I barely had her parked before it was time to drive on. They offered me a tax receipt, but it was enough that they took it all, and passed on it. I happily head for home, my shoulders and Molly's backseat much lighter.

 

After a quick break, it was time to go grocery shopping. Did some banking, picked up my prescription, and Dearest Son and I got to tour the after-Christmas markdown toy section. Sadly, all the Battle Force Five stuff he loves was there, but he got to pick out the middle-size Saber vehicle. Didn't see any Barbies or doll stuff I wanted, which was OK, considering all I'd just donated. And, contrary to what I said yesterday, I bought two rolls of wrapping paper - I just can't refuse 140 feet for $1.28 ! 

 

We also toured the semi-restocked regular toy section - I saw the Pat Benatar, Barbara Streisand, Blondie, and Goldie Hawn dolls, as well as the Russian doll of the world, the repro career line, Peaches and Cream, and a few others. Again, nothing ‘OMG ! I MUST own this !!' from Mattel. I did, however, find the food-shaped erasers that've been shown on In The Pink, they were right on the endcap. Like someone knew these could double as doll props.

 

I got two sets for a buck each - one had a small pizza, a wedge of pizza, a sausage in a bun with lettuce, and a sandwich, and the other had a Japanese bento box lunch, a small pot, and two frying pans, one with a flower-shaped fried egg, the other with more sausages and green beans. I may go back for the dessert one and the soda, burger, and fries one, but since half of each package is in Barbie scale, half is in Elphie sizes, I tried to get the most for the minimum. I'd really like at least one more bento box, too. But with Dearest, I didn't have a lot of time to look, either.

 

Groceries seemed to take forever. Some guy on a motorized cart looked dead at us and rammed into our cart, too. Arrgh. Didn't even apologize, the creep. I hope one of his eggs got broken. But we got what we needed, and some treats. Plus, Dearest got to pick out his birthday cake, in our usual ‘look through the kids' cake catalog' fashion. That particular Mal-Wart has made his cake every year since 2002. This year, it's Garfield and Odie on a chocolate cake with whipped frosting. Yum.

 

Once home, I basked in the happy, with a can of Pringles and a glass of cold soda. I felt so good that I kept the baking powder out and used it to make a nice (and super-easy) peach cobbler that even now is cooling for after-dinner consumption.

 

Tuesday is usually a ‘bleh' day at Chez Insanity - but I liked this one !

 

Y'know, I'm gonna have to do something if I wanna write anything here...

 

Current Mood : Lazy but busy

 

Well, holidays are officially over, thank Everything, and it's back to everyday life. As glad as I am that Christmas is now Christmas Past, I'm always a little wistful those last few days up until the first Monday of the new year.

 

But even that's gone now, and it's business as usual. I even avoided most After-Christmas sales this year, from the simple expedient of being broke. And I just don't need to store that much wrapping paper for 364 days. In fact, business is sooo back to usual here, I didn't do anything !

 

Well, not nothing, I got half the dishes done, and cooked, and we finally got the broken dresser out of the hallway. I am so happy for that. Having busted furniture in the house makes me feel a lot poorer than I actually am ! I guess what I should say is that I didn't venture out of the house for anything but trash-hauling. I have to go out into the world tomorrow, I need a prescription refill, so here's hoping I ditch that huge pile of donations at the same time. I still can't believe I had all that in the Lab last month. If, for some reason, I had to put it all back in there, I don't think I could.

 

Printed off a Doll Shop Deluxe semi-fitted shirt pattern for Leia, and it looks like I can use the Rebel Alliance ‘Starbird' design I stitched up last night. It'll just be kinda large. I'm hoping to have some time to work on it tomorrow, after a grocery/prescription run, a donations drop, and dishes. Got a busy day planned Tuesday.

 

Hope your first full week of 2010 is going well ! Thanks again for all the encouragement and notes !

Farewell to Crap

 

Current Mood : Relieved - DC is back home ! 

 

Busy day, even though I didn't really do much. It took some shuffling, but I got the repro radio placed and plugged in. It didn't look right where I originally had it, and it took a while to get it where it looked good and had an outlet. But it's done, and I get great reception in there ! 

 

Getting that done made me wonder about Brody. I haven't embroidered anything in weeks, and hadn't even plugged him in on the new desk yet. I really didn't know if he had enough room for the embroidery carriage/deck to move, but for some reason, I was really nervous about trying. I mean, if he didn't work on the new desk...

 

Turned out to be another of my useless worries. Brody's just fine on the desk ! True, I worked a smaller design, but I had the ‘adjust' menu run through the four-by-four window, and the hoop didn't bump anything, so it should be fine.

 

And now I know that the doll-size Rebel Alliance logo only takes about five minutes to stitch out ! Yup, I did that one, and hope to turn it into a Leia shirt this week. I may have to resize the design, since the one I stitched today looks almost too big for Barbie-scale clothes. I'll print out a semi-fitted blouse for Leia in Doll Shop Deluxe, see if I can get it to work.

 

Helped Dearest Son clean out his closet and store toys in his new cabinet. The one that used to be in my Lab. He really likes it, and I am sooo happy we can Dumpster the broken dresser. The drawer set that was a nightstand in our bedroom now holds his socks and such, and needed the closet space I helped clear out. Later this week, we're going through the toy boxes for a deep cleaning.

 

I'm hoping to dump all the donations off tomorrow. So there's the final picture ! One mega-bag of fabric, a big bag of props, a sack of fabric scraps, and seven more bags of misc. - everything from posters to park benches. I just hope GoodWill will take it all.