Current Mood : Adapting

Thought you might like to see what I'm working on - sorry it isn't dolls !

All the parents got a note from the school - any ‘large prop' costumes are asked to remain at home. Well, shoot. Beloved Hubby was gonna make Dearest Son another foamcore costume, this time a General Lee. He probably still will, just the deadline isn't Wednesday morning.

So I found a long-sleeved yellow shirt while grocery shopping in Dearest's size - $10. ! - and made him a custom name-tag, like the one here. I mean, no one's gonna really know who he is without it. Yellow shirt over blue t-shirt, with jeans and boots doesn't really scream ‘Bo Duke' to anybody but us. Reminds me of the industrial-waste polyester licensed costumes I had as a kid - the ones with the character's name and image printed large on the chest. After all, it's hard to tell if a kid's Sabrina or Cinderella in a Don Post or Collegeville costume !

At least we're getting off fairly cheaply ($10. for the shirt, $1.50 for thrift-store boots) and easily this year. Not a lot of running around lookin' for stuff. Sheriff Woody (Toy Story) would have been much more difficult. Tomorrow, I get to call all the parents - including the ones who volunteered to do this party - and ask them to come and bring stuff. So far, all we have is what we've bought. I'll be so grateful for Wednesday afternoon, say about 3:30...

Between this and six loads of laundry, washed, clotheslined, dried, and sorted, I didn't have much doll time. Played Wii Sports Tennis this morning, and it was actually a minor workout. Seriously considering Wii Fit when it comes out. Tomorrow's gonna be busy, too, and the party's Wednesday, so I'm not counting on much ‘me time' until Thursday. By then, the dishes will overflow the sink again, and the cycle will begin anew...darn it.

Posted by dorriebelle at 12:01 AM CDT

Updated: Monday, 2 May 2011 10:21 AM CDT

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Current Mood : There's something on my...mind.

Don't ask me what the heck I was doing on eBay - the simple answer is that I wanted to look at dolls, but there's other ways to view ‘em without finding something I absolutely must own. But, yeah, I looked and did find something. Fairly rare playset, less than 15 years old. I bid outrageously high - $20. plus $12. shipping and $2. to insure - but got outbid with nine hours still to go. I kept an eye on it, but it closed at $38. plus shipping. Too rich for me !

But it's been so long since I've even bid on anything (much less won) that eBay's new five-star rating still doesn't work for me, as you have to have at least five ratings in it to engage the average. So you won't know who thought poorly of you, I assume. I've only had one win since it started, and I think it's the only thing I've bid on in months, until today. I've come to settle into the ‘if it's something I'm bound to own, I'll find it locally in a yard sale or thrift store. I'm at those enough - I'm surprised I haven't found the Grail yet !' mindset. Plus I have so much stuff already, and so many plans and projects...

So it may surprise you to know that I rather like that blonde doll I bought for her dress Friday. She's missing a few hair plugs in front, but I can transplant reroot from the back, or give her a cool color streak, so that's no big whoop. She has a switch in her back, but her neck is partly broken, so that's probably why it doesn't work. It's too small for her to be Beauty Secrets, but one of her arms doesn't go behind her head, so she has some arm mechanism I haven't researched yet. I thought it'd be easy to clean, redress, and donate her, but that's not the case. I think it's partly because after all my years of ‘I hate SuperStar Barbies - so blonde, perfect, and vacuous !', I've found one who rather needs help.

Her hair, aside from the blank spot, curled well and is a nice honey blonde. I confess, the platinum blondes just aren't my bag of candies ! Not sure yet if I'm transplanting, or going back to Dollar Tree for ‘pretend' kid hair. Gotta go anyway, so far, Dearest Son's party is down to just the other Homeroom Parent and me - the ones who signed up to do it haven't contacted any of us.

(sigh) I swear, next year, I ain't volunteering for nothin' but Book Fair ! My whole week is revolving around Dearest's party. I whine, but it's only because when I sign up to do something, I actually do it ! Hmpft.

Big thanks to Michelle for ID'ing the ‘leather' jacket as Tariq's, a luscious hunk of stud tartare from Integrity Toys' Janay 2004 ‘Fashion Insider' line. She thoughtfully included a link - it's in the "Reply" beneath the 10/26 entry. Yup, that's it, all right. All I ever saw were two of the Janay girls. Tariq, I'd have bought ! Appreciate it, Michelle ! I had a hard time finding out that Janay = Integrity = Jason Wu, even on the Integrity website, but I enjoyed the chase !

It's kind of shameful, but I don't know squadoo about Integrity, except that they were founded on the premise that ethnic dolls made by yer big-box toymakers don't look ethnic. My ignorance is mostly because I don't like Fashion Royalty, and when their own site doesn't acknowledge the lower-price-point Janays, like they're ashamed of ‘em or something, I have no reason to linger.

FR's are nice, but to me they seem rather haughty and very expensive - I don't care who's designing them and their apparel, or if they're hand-crafted by just one person from a blend of starlight, titanium, and 24k gold, spun inside a web of high-grade emeralds, $600. for a doll who can wear Barbie clothes is ridiculous ! - so I'm kinda shut out of their world. But darn near every sixth-scale chat board is overrun with ‘em. I guess their extreme luxury and disdainful faces appeal to an audience I'm just not a member of. Still, I laugh my big butt off when someone dresses one in a $2. Fashion Fever outfit from Mal-Wart !

I'm glad there's something out there for everyone ! It's entirely possible I've never seen 'the' FR for me, but chances are, I couldn' t afford her if I did ! :)

Posted by dorriebelle at 12:01 AM CDT

Updated: Monday, 2 May 2011 10:21 AM CDT

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Current Mood : Buoyant

 Spent on fabric today : $1.25

Spent on general makin'-Dorrie-happy : $5.

Went out to yard sales today, after helping Beloved Hubby a bit this morning. I found butter-soft leather samples at one sale for 25c each. Bought the green one I liked, and a bagload of fabric for a buck. The rotating color globe light was a big $2. I'm about one lighting effect away from having my own disco...

I got it all home and Beloved Hubby wanted more of that leather. So I went back and bought ‘em out for another $3.75. Not sure what he wanted with that many leather samples, but I can think of lots to do with just a few ! Also found out why the disco color ball thingie was only $2. It'd get stuck and stop about twice a revolution. So we took it apart - only four screws, where's the challenge ? - and found that a plastic gear had warped and was sticking. Filed it down and put it back together - works fine now ! With this and the mirror ball, Dearest Son's class is gonna have a disco Halloween party Wednesday !

Another sale netted me the boombox for $3. It works just fine, but the tape ‘record' function doesn't at all. At least it plays tapes, CDs and the radio. Great sound. Went through the fabric bag - lots of Christmas scraps and tiny prints. Some plaids and itty-bitty houndstooth fabric. Also some too-large florals, a huge tapestry floral, and a set of wrecked white curtains. Hmmm...

Posted by dorriebelle at 12:01 AM CDT

Updated: Monday, 2 May 2011 10:21 AM CDT

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Spent on dolls today : $8.

Current Mood : Exhausted (and feeling a bit ripped off for payin' what I did for that stuff)

Busy day today. It was Dearest Son's field trip day to the pumpkin farm, and I was volunteering. Beloved decided to come along, and that made it more fun ! Another class didn't have enough parents, so ‘Dallas', a sweet little girl, toured with us. There was a hay ride, a corn maze, hay bales to jump in, plastic irrigation tubes to slide down, bicycles to ride, goats, calves, chickens, ducks and bunnies to feed and pet, plus pumpkins to select. Whew ! 

And, for a little while, I had a daughter. Dallas was such a sweet, happy girl. I really enjoyed getting to know her a bit. It's a shame her parents had to miss this. I'm truly one of the lucky ones.

Funny aside - there were so many kids and families visiting, they trucked in pumpkins ! No joke, they came in these HUGE boxes with Autumn graphics on the sides, just like what you'd see at your local Mal-Wart. Just on flatbed trucks, not linoleum floors. For all I know, they were grown there and were picked to sell, but it was kind of funny to watch the big, strappin' guys unload the things into a pumpkin patch.

Beloved picked me a luscious yellow pumpkin flower - it was like a cross between a tulip and a hibiscus. Bees appreciated it too, but that was no big deal. I like bees.

We got back to school about an hour and a half before day's end, and Dearest was now sick and tired and wanted to go home with us. He almost cried in the hallway. We hoped he'd be OK, and I told him I'd take him to the flea market if he stayed and came home  on the bus. With Dearest, you have to be specific, or his idea of meeting his end of the promise would be that he stayed five minutes longer than we did.

His teacher later told me he'd had a fine afternoon, and not even two minutes after we left, he was chattering away with classmates. Man, that kid knows how to play us ! As promised, we hit the flea down the street as soon as he got off the bus. He selected a large die-cast truck, a replica of a 30s-era pickup. Also a blonde PlaySkool dollhouse father figure wearing a yellow shirt. To him, that was Bo Duke !

I got the stuff in the photo. I think I kinda got ripped off a bit, as that cost $8. ! I know, it's cheaper than buying Bratz shoes new, and I got quite a bit for $8., but I didn't think it'd be over $5. ! Anyway, there's several new pairs of footwear for Lila Gamboldt, the Catwalk Kitty who can wear Bratz and My Scene shoes, a nice vinyl jacket (anybody know where that's from ? no tag), a tiny ‘Berry Cute' Ginger Snap doll from a Strawberry Shortcake playset, a trophy with a car on top, a Supergirl lunchbox (that'll become a MST3K lunchbox soon), the boots for the ‘Poison Ivy' doll I bought last month, a broken-neck SuperStar Barbie wearing a pretty green Christmas dress, a blue and white peasant dress (more later) and the pink dress from ‘Perfect Prom' Maxie. 

If you look up the Prom Maxie, you'll notice that there's fluffy sleeves on her dress that aren't on mine. One was so badly torn and frayed, I couldn't save it. So I took it off, and the other looked silly on its own, so it came off too. I hate doing that, when one's just fine, but it really did look unbalanced otherwise. It's funny that I never noticed this dress before, especially when I've bought from this seller on numerous occasions.

It may be that, a few weeks ago, I posted a photo of Maxie friend Ashley on a doll board. You've seen her before, several times on the main site. Immediately, someone commented that she was the ugliest doll he'd ever seen and looked like a zombie. I exercised extreme restraint and didn't comment that there's lots of dolls I don't like, but I know to keep my mouth shut around those who clearly love them. However, I let slip that this is possibly why more people don't post, and pushed the opinionated loudmouth out of my mind. Rest of the board trounced him thoroughly, so I'm not as nice as you might think. I rather enjoyed reading those comments ! But I think that had something to do with me suddenly noticing the availability of an official Maxie-line dress that's probably been rolling around for a month or two. I still think he's a jerk, but I don't have time or space in my mind for his issues.

The peasant dress I thought belonged to a Mattel Lucy Ricardo doll, the ‘Stompin' the Grapes' one. It even had a specialty tag. Turns out, the light in that barnlike structure isn't good. It is a Lucy doll outfit, it's just not by Mattel. It's a Madame Alexander doll's outfit. It was gathered up at the front and back, like Lucille Ball's in the episode, but I fixed that, and washed out some stains and wear. Much better ! It's a bit loose on Barbie-scale dolls, but fits, and looks especially nice on Lila. I'll have to take a picture of my doll clothes' washing machine, it's probably the same one you have. An empty 3lb butter container with a lid. Oh, and another photo of Lila wearing the dress.

Posted by dorriebelle at 12:01 AM CDT

Updated: Monday, 2 May 2011 10:20 AM CDT

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Current Mood : Puttin' on the big girl...well, shoes, I guess...

Spent on dolls today : $1.94

Sorry, everyone. Today I had to deal with stuff I've been putting off for months. About the only doll-related thing I did today was pretty bad of me. I've been eyeing a men's shirt on markdown at Dollar General, and today it was 90% off. So I paid 80c for this brand-new, plus-sized shirt that I'm gonna cut up for doll clothes. Like I need more fabric. It's a nice print, though. Doubt the price would go any lower, too.

Also found a lip gloss inside a miniature gallon paint bucket, complete with matching flat, wide house-painting type brush. It's about Elphie sized, but I bet it could work for Barbies. I'll have to take some photos later. Still no Enchanted Robert dolls, and about the only places I haven't checked are non-franchised eateries and Laundromats. If I get another PineCone survey, I'll probably just order the bloke and be done with it.

Anyway, I'm about wiped out from it all, as putting on those ‘big girl' panties still takes a lot outta me. At least it's done, and begun. Beloved Hubby was sympathetic, and ordered Chinese. Isn't he the best ? (happy sigh)

Posted by dorriebelle at 10:40 PM CDT

Updated: Monday, 2 May 2011 10:20 AM CDT

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Current Mood : Denim blue

The noble denim jumper, purchased at a yard sale as part of a ‘stuff a bag for a buck', is nearly depleted. It made three pair of male doll jeans (at varying levels of success), a Jem two-piece dress, part of a 60s-era dress, and half of a pair of shorts before selflessly sacrificing its largest parts for a belt. Dearest Son needed one this morning for his robe - it's pajama day at school - and when I couldn't find the red/white/blue plaid matching one, I quickly whipped up a denim sash from the jumper. Took me longer to cut out than sew, but that's typical. It would have taken me longer to launch a more in-depth search for the original one. Beloved Hubby complemented me with ‘It's good to have a well-stashed seamstress in the house !'.

Got another look at the castle in the morning light. It's not too bad, and I dearly love the floors. We picked up some paint catalogs at the hobby shop this morning, and as soon as I find what I like, we'll probably start with the hand-painting.

Beloved also took me to Lowe's, to pick out some elements of the dollhouse he's making me. We found a leather-texture painted panel that'll make a great wall, and the textured plastic for windows was pretty inexpensive. I'm gonna have an awesome dollhouse for Christmas !

But right now, I'm more involved with Halloween. I volunteered to be Homeroom Parent because I'm really lousy at planning parties. It was a way to duck out of staking out a party to participate in. Guess what ? Yup. Homeroom parents supervise *all* of the parties, year round. <sigh> Man, if there's one thing I hate, it's getting off my butt to motivate everyone else off theirs.

Posted by dorriebelle at 12:01 AM CDT

Updated: Monday, 2 May 2011 10:20 AM CDT

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Current Mood : Frustrated and aggravated. Plus, I hate paint. 

Installed the former map chest in the Studio today. It was much too heavy for me to lift - heck, even Beloved needed a hand cart to get it inside - but I could nudge and slide it. So I used my hips and soon had it in place. Never doubt the power of  your hips when it comes time to get something you want done ! All the patterns are in place, and there's cards taped to the shelves detailing what's where. Moved some fabric around, since the new pattern cabinet takes less space than what it replaced. Didn't gain much room (nowhere near what I'll need when the dollhouse comes up here !), but every inch is used somewhere !

Otherwise, ugh, what a day. Please, don't talk to me about paint today. Seems like every time I picked up a can and approached the castle with it, I screwed up, big time. The off-white made more of the previously applied stuff crackle, and it ran like anything. And even I have a hard time telling the difference between the colors. I am so ready for this *&^^%%$#*$ ing thing to be done and finished already ! Instead, it's even more messed up, and I am sooo tired of dueling with it.

I was about five seconds and two centimeters from pitching the whole sorry mess out the door when Beloved Hubby offered some help. I really wanted to just pick up a can of spray paint and have something OK look spectacular, you know ? I also wanted it done in a week. Neither were gonna happen, though. He told me that even he would have problems in such tight areas with notoriously hard to control spray cans, so it's no wonder I was frustrated and upset.

He proposed that we kind of start over. Paint the floors with the Fusion I already had, then repaint the walls by hand. With paintbrushes. He'd help, and I'd have the control I needed for some of the smaller areas. I'm a bit nervous about it - I mean, paint over it again ? There must be eight or ten coats on some of it already ! But since the alternative is dumping it, and I've come this far already, I may as well take the chance. Can always afford to learn something, too.

So there's a new entry on the ‘This Old Palace' page, and I'm seriously considering a wine cooler so I can calm down. Got to go with Beloved to Dollar Tree today - nothing new, but I got some stuff for Dearest Son's Halloween party. And it's always nice to look around when you don't need anything. Friday is Dearest's trip to the pumpkin farm, and yes, I'm helping out with that. It occurs to me that there may be a reason I stare into space when not much else is going on...

Posted by dorriebelle at 9:24 PM CDT

Updated: Monday, 2 May 2011 10:20 AM CDT

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Current Mood : Wiped out, but happy

Spent on dolls today : $2.58 

Sorry for the repeat image - at least this time, the background is different ! It's the box liner for Chelsea, the My Scene RollerGirl I bought Saturday, photographed and resized. I'm getting better at digital image layering, bit by bit ! 

Usual busy Monday. Picked up a cheap can of off-white spray paint for the castle. I figure the bottom floor needs more light, since most of it's overshadowed by the floors of the second story. Maybe an off-white instead of a beige would give it that. No time to play with it, though. Went grocery shopping this morning, had a parent/teacher meeting with Dearest Son's instructor this afternoon, and Beloved Hubby needed help with wiring the cargo trailer with lights.

But this morning, he got the map chest inside ! It was still wet, so I'll let it dry and move it tomorrow. Today, I got it all cleaned up and wiped down. Darn mud dauber wasps had nests all through that trailer, and my soon-to-be pattern cabinet was no exception. Yesterday's rain loosened it, but it didn't fall off when Beloved hauled it up here. Luckily, all the nests were long vacant.

No Enchanted doll this time, either. Not even at TRU. I'm about to give up and order one from Target.com, and get it over with. I already have $10. from PineCone Research surveys...

You'd think with so little to want, I'd be sewing like crazy. Especially once I get the map chest installed. But I keep finding myself reading the same sites over and over. I'm still in a stupor, evidently.

Maybe some paint fumes tomorrow will shake me up...

Posted by dorriebelle at 12:01 AM CDT

Updated: Monday, 2 May 2011 10:18 AM CDT

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Current Mood : sleepy after a good workout.

Beloved Hubby needed help with the cargo trailer today, so that took up a good chunk of the day. Boy, what a mess that thing was in ! We got the map chest unbolted from the walls when we took the walls down, but unfortunately, it began to rain before we could get it inside. That thing weighs a ton ! So it's gonna sit and get rinsed by rain, and Beloved'll bring it in tomorrow. He was planning on buying a dolly cart anyway, and this'll need one to get inside.

Not much else going on. Tidied up the studio a bit in anticipation. I know where it'll go, and which patterns will go in what drawers. Hope to replace the drawer pulls soon. If it's anything like the rest of what we found in the trailer, the ones on it now were was bits and pieces of leftover from various projects or give-aways.

Got to look at the new Haute Doll and Fashion Doll Quarterly issues. One had a pattern in Elphie's size, but it was for Ellowyne and much too girly for our green girl. Well, it wasn't so much ‘girly' ruffles and lace - that I can skip - but the design itself suggested that someone not yet into their later teens would best suit it. No real darts or anything a woman's figure would need to fit well. The other had a pattern for SD13, which is about Elphie's size, but it wasn't anything I didn't already have. There was much ink involving ball-jointed dolls, like the SD13, but I'm simply not into it. Also not sure why there's suddenly tons of paper dolls within the issues, but it probably makes other readers very happy. Again, not my bag.

(snort) That coming from a woman with three magnetic paper dolls on the fridge !

Posted by dorriebelle at 12:01 AM CDT

Updated: Monday, 2 May 2011 10:18 AM CDT

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Current Mood : Daydreamy 

Spent on dolls today : $2.14

I guess the Happy Meal miniature "My Scene" doll I got last week was a sign or something. Because I bought the Chelsea ‘Roller Girl' doll today. I just couldn't resist ! She was on markdown for $9.99. Then there was a 30% off all Barbie dolls sale. And I had five $1. TRU coupons from the McD's "Monopoly" game. Ya can use five of those coupons on one purchase, so she was only $2.14, when everything was said and done and spent. Sweet !

It's kind of sad the "MS" line is going out on this. The packaging was fairly easy to open, and I only needed scissors to cut threads and plastic. The skates are just adorable, and the outfit, while a bit too skin-baring for my taste, is useable with other pieces and nicely detailed. There was even a second outfit - a cute cartoon character dress - included, that, for some reason, I never noticed before.

Of course, I had to get Chelsea. Between the green outfit and skates, and star-themed jewelry and sunglasses, there was no other choice for me ! I think the brown hair/green eyes thing wasn't even a consideration - but it was nice that it was all there in one package ! Shame the sale ended today. Not like we could eat five more large fries in one day anyway.

Just not sure if I'm keeping her. She looks so different from the other dolls. And she also skirts the edge of having that p*rn-star mouth I don't like. Her eyes are more wide open on the box packaging than the doll's actually are, so she sort of looks as though she's getting a lot more out of skating than I ever did !

They also had the Hillary Duff doll. She was already on markdown for $6.98. Minus the discount, she was less than $5., so with my coupons, she was free. But I could easily make her dress, I already had most of her props, and I didn't like the doll itself. I've seen several Fashion Royalty dolls wearing her dress, with the waist bow removed. It's a simple dress, though. Thought about getting a Fashion Fever outfit - they're $5.95 there - but my dolls just don't need more clothes. Heck, they don't really need the ones I make for ‘em, but I love doing it !

It was a shame the discount was for dolls alone - I'd have probably bought the Island Princess playset instead, since it'd have been less than $10. with the coupons.  Mostly for the screen. It has cutesy animals on it as-packaged, but I could fix that right quickly. The shape is unusual and versatile. But $20.99 was a bit much. There's also a version with a doll included, for about $10. more. Here's the one I liked -

http://www.toysrus.com/product/prodpop.jsp?LargeImageURL=http%3A//TRUS.imageg.net/graphics/product_images/pTRU1-3586191dt.jpg&displayTab=enh&productId=2647195&totCount=0

I could easily pop out that cardboard, replace it with some plain white paper, and be happy. Or use scrapbooking paper for a decorator touch. Not sure what I'd do with the vanity and monkey, but I'm getting fairly handy with a spray paint can these days...

Planned on touching up the castle today, but never got to it. We had a guest, my Beloved Hubby's brother, today. He's the one who gave me Harley Quinn for Christmas a couple years ago. They played pool, and I agreed to do some sewing for him. Not entirely sure how I'm gonna do this, but it's more a matter of ‘gear down and just do it' than anything else.

Tomorrow, I'm helping Beloved clean out the cargo trailer. That means I get the map chest ! It'll be so great for storing my print-out patterns. I can't wait !

Posted by dorriebelle at 12:01 AM CDT

Updated: Monday, 2 May 2011 10:19 AM CDT

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