Current Mood :  Fighting it, 'cause I don't wanna waste another day !

Spent on dolls yesterday : $2.

Sorry this is late, everyone. Nothin' like a huge wave of emotional turmoil to swamp your boat several *&^%ing times in a row, huh ? Deep breaths, in and out. In and out...whoooooosh.

Well, anyway. The lovely doll pictured yesterday is Peace Lilly, or Lilly, for short. I fond her at the ever-popular flea market - seems they set up any time there's nothing else going on at the county fairgrounds. They're due back next weekend, too. Some quick research revealed that she's actually 1999's Rose Barbie, commemorating the miniature rose from Jackson and Perkins dubbed ‘The Barbie Rose', which commemorates Barbie's 40^th anniversary. I could tell from her non-removeable necklace. She came with this lovely dress, and even white strappy shoes. Hard to believe she was a mere buck ! I love her strawberry blonde hair and serene expression. I can use some serenity around here, that's fer sure. I find it amusing to rename a rose-themed doll ‘Lilly'. I'm kinda weird that way.

Her original dress is pretty, but I like the one she's in now. It came with her ! I was originally gonna buy her for just her dress, it really is pretty, but she grew on me. It's a Fashion Avenue - anybody else miss those ? I rarely bought ‘em, ‘cause $5. for a doll dress when I was spending $5. on big-me blouses seemed kinda expensive, but I got most of the ones I really liked. The one Lilly's wearing is from the 1998 party line. Funny that the dress is older than she is !

Most of my FAs are, of course, second-hand. Now that Fashion Fever seems to be the replacement, FAs are more readily available at yard sales and flea markets. They used fragile tulle and organza a lot, so I repair quite a few I find. If you ever need help to ID a FA, or just wanna browse through your memories, check out http://home.comcast.net/~fashionave/ . I always find one or two I'd have really liked to have, and probably would have bought - but I never saw ‘em in the Mal-Warts or TRUs back when they were out.

The photo shows the other things I bought at the flea market. They were in a box of Christmas ornaments, your usual worth-not-much small satin orbs, hard-plastic flocked Santas, and three-legged reindeer. Not even sure why I looked, but the lure of Hiragana script is undeniable for me. I had to know what was in the little boxes.

Lanterns ! Cute, mini Chinese lanterns ! Metal and inexpensive fabric with red tassels. They collapse for storage, and fit flat in the box, but the box is so old, the glue is gone. It unfolds and trickily opens up for display. Whee ! Still haven't gotten the arms open and just-so parallel, and probably never will, but what a great find ! Got ‘em both for a buck. Could have offered 50c and still got ‘em, but I'm happy with my purchases. That's Elphie's hand, of course, and Alfred's doing what rabbits do - chew on things when no one's looking. It'd work for Barbie scale too, it's maybe two inches tall, five if you count hanger and tassel. I also scored a Lucite star that looks great on my Lab doorknob for just a dime.

Only reason we went to the flea again was because Dearest Son earned five coupons and wanted to get his reward there. He bought two more kid meals Star Wars vehicles and an R5D4 action figure so old, it still bore the Kenner logo. No kidding. It was 12 years old ! Evidently, someone somewhere got tired of holding on to ‘em, because R5 was only $4. His card and bubble, very important to a die-hard collector, was in bad shape, but it's not like Dearest cared. I could have spent an hour happily looking at the Kenner script and remembering. I might still !

Ps to Manda - Wow !! Your PJs are super-fine ! I'm gonna have to ask you about the vinegar treatment soon, I'm nearly ready to reroot with that DTree hair. Yours sure do look great ! Shoot, now I really wanna get going on it !

Ps to Michelle - Thanks ! You and Manda help me so much - I wish I could do something special for you both ! If you ever decide to go for a psych degree, mention my name. Dealing with me should get you at least a few extra credit points !  

Posted by dorriebelle at 12:01 AM CST

Updated: Monday, 2 May 2011 11:17 AM CDT

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Current Mood : Going out of my tiny mind...

Sorry I haven't written in a while. Believe it or not, I have posts ready to go, but...ever have a week where you just *know* something's wrong, but you just can't put yer finger on it ? Like some harmony in your mind is off by a mere quasihemidemisemiquaver, but you can't fix it or even identify it ? My insomnia is off the charts, even for me, and I just could not understand why. None of the usual suspect reasons were even remotely in play lately.

Today I found out why when my estranged mother called, dropped a bomb on me and hung up. so I'm kind of strung out today. I'm just gonna call today a bust and get back on the track tomorrow. I'll post all the stuff I have written, and reply to some of your notes.

(sigh) Thanks, everyone. Sorry to be so blasted dramatic and over-personal lately, but I haven't had a bloody choice.

I'll tell you more about Peace Lilly (or just Lilly, for short) tomorrow, I promise. Right now, I just wanna contemplate the solace of the void, or have some cheesecake. Maybe both. (arrrgh !)

Posted by dorriebelle at 10:14 PM CST

Updated: Monday, 2 May 2011 11:17 AM CDT

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Current Mood : Spendthrift !

Spent on dolls today :  $16.08

Well, it's back to the ole grind today - Beloved Hubby went back to work, Dearest Son returned to school. The house seems so quiet...not that I was here for long !

All the errands I couldn't run New Year's Eve got done today, along with some reconnaissance. We decided to return the Lego Star Wars Y-Wing we bought him (PILs bought him the same thing, and gave it to him Christmas Eve...growlmutter) since he'd fallen in love with an even more expensive set, and his birthday's this month. Figured after car payments were made and the recycler got the cans, I'd run over to TRU to check their Lego offerings and then return the Y-wing to Mal-Wart, pick up some groceries.

TRU had less Lego than Mal-Wart ! Shelves were stocked, they just didn't have much Star Wars. They did have an action figure ID wheel, with various Lego ships on the back, so I got that for him as a lark. Then I hit the Barbie and dolls section. Not much in the clearance section, although I do want the My Scene Roller Girl Barbie. Well, mostly her skates and spare outfit, I don't really want the doll. But they're still $10., like they have been since before Thanksgiving, so I'll wait. BTW, did it bother anyone that ‘Rollergirl' was a pron* character in a very adult-themed movie, Boogie Nights ?

I wanted to see the ‘pivotal hybrid' Fashion Fevers. Not bad, I was tempted by a really pretty Raquelle. Clothes were nice, too. But the arms looked like sticks ! No real ‘definition', they were like flesh-colored cylinders with hinges hanging from the shoulders. Come to find out, many Fashion Royalty dolls have similar ‘tube' arms. (sigh) Those bend-wrists, though, are darn tempting ! It's also funny that the boxes are decorated with a single black shoe and pink purse. Get two FF dolls, and ya got a free pair of black slingbacks ! And two more-or-less useless tiny hot pink purses. Even the Ken doll had the shoe and purse decoration. He was cute, but too much like my Christmas beach Ken.

Seeing him reminded me - Keeping Ken showed new guy doll photos, and one had my interest. Evidently there's a Fairytopia CGI movie, and there's a prince character named Carlos. Photos of him in-box on KK made him worth a quick hunt. Here he is on Jef's site - http://www.manbehindthedoll.com/NKNEWS.htm . He was in with the Island Princess line, for some reason, and yow ! Well, you already know I got him from the photos. $9.99, not bad at all, and he has a unique look - always important !

I love his face and hair, sort of a frosted dark brown color, but his costume is lacking. If you're wondering, the wings (dragonfly wings ?) are thin plastic, sewn to the shirt back. They're not at all attached to the doll, and can easily be removed from the shirt. Unfortunately, they shorted his pants again (sigh) and his boots are butt-ugly. It's really a shame, because the pants are well-tailored and have a great ‘feel' to them. His pointed ears are barely noticeable unless you're lookin' right at them, but for some, this may be a deal-breaker. Since I have green girls, catgirls, and ogres around, that doesn't register at Chez Insanity !

He has buff arms, ball-joint shoulders, and gymnast-style elbow joints, along with a pivoting waist under the shirt. His head is strictly right-to-left, but he has those good hip joints, and gymnast-type knees. Only his head is soft vinyl, the rest is rigid plastic. Out of the ‘Prince Eric' knee boots, he can stand unassisted. Very nice, especially for a guy doll under $10.

I was register ready when I noticed a few dozen Hilary Duff Barbies on clearance. Hmm...some good props there, and I liked the shoes and dress...for $4.98 ? OK. I've seen the dress - minus the big red waist bow - on other dolls, and it's nice. Plus, I'm a flat-out sucker for velvet rope props. Got one that didn't have a flaking polka dot at the bustline and I really was ready for the register this time. While waiting my turn, I looked at the included trophy - it's like a silver #1 ponytail Barbie ! Can do a lot with that prop...it's big enough to use with Elphie. And heck, you're doing well to get a single outfit with shoes for $5. these days. Can always donate the doll, once redressed.

Returned the Y-wing and got a few groceries, including some key identifiers. Since our bedroom and the Lab now have locking doors, there's more keys - and those two and the housekey look identical. The nail polish I tried on one is nearly worn off already. Dearest now has his big birthday present, ready to go, and I got some super-cheap candy canes. Well, I'm addicted to peppermint vanilla coffee now. Gotta keep up supplies, and at 22c a box, I might as well do it cheap !

*'pron' is a well-known term used to circumvent safety filters. Switch the o and r around.

Posted by dorriebelle at 12:01 AM CST

Updated: Monday, 2 May 2011 11:16 AM CDT

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Current Mood : tired from domestic bliss

Spent on dolls today : $1.21

I think I know why I had my over-blown tantrum over the PILs moving in with us a few days ago. Had to get mine over with and out of the way so I could be there for Beloved Hubby and MIL. They brought over a load of stuff today, and MIL cried. I was so busy being upset about my life changing due to their issues that I really didn't much consider that their lives are changed, too - and it's probably harder to deal with when it is your decisions and issues that brought you to this. Sure, I was angry at them for the whole upheaval ( still am a bit, if you want the truth), but it's gotta hurt to lose your house. So I ended up comforting her, and later, Beloved.

I don't think things were quite ‘real' for him until today. I was ranting about how hard this was going to be, and he sort of comforted me by saying ‘it'll all work out'. Now he sees some of what we're gonna have to adjust and get used to, and it's hit him that this isn't gonna be all tea, peaches and cooperation. My IL's are nice folks, and I'll be the first to say it, but there's lots of issues here, and we have to learn to deal with ‘em all. It's everyone's faint belief they'll be out of here in a month, but I have to prepare for more and hope for less.

So. Anyway. At least I was over the bulk of my own frustration and anger so that I could be there for them - but it was still so weird, ya know ?

We needed the space, so I took down the holiday décor - not that we had much up to begin with - and got it stored for another year. Made a quick run up to Dollar Tree and Ace Hardware, mostly to get out on my own for a bit. Dearest Son goes back to school tomorrow, and it really could have waited, but I was glad I got a bit of time away from everything. Found boxes of new posters, but only one, a scenic outdoor one, would work  as a doll backdrop. If only I could find a ‘night city' one there ! They also had more ‘lamps' - they're air fresheners, but work great for doll lamps. The new ones have a fluted shade that's just too cool !

While walking past the half-price candy canes and newly unpacked Valentine's items, I figured out six ways to cover a cardboard display box some small jars of Knott's Berry Farm jellies came in. It's a neat box, covering it could easily transform it into a doll closet, display unit, or storefront. Thought of covering the whole thing in Con-tact paper, but that's kinda pricey, and DTree doesn't carry any - unless I wanna cover it in oversize Disney Princess heads or Cars characters, they did have small rolls of shelf paper with those themes. Looked at wrapping paper (nothin' interesting there), tissue paper (several nice patterns, but it'd take numerous sheets to obscure the Knott's logo), scrapbook paper and card stock (I'd need about four packages, and it'd involve a lot of cutting and fitting). Spray paint would probably bubble the thin paper over the cardboard. Decided to make a sort of pattern from recycled school/printer paper, and use that to create a cover in either brown paper-bag stock or fabric from the stash. The ‘shelves' remove, and would help hold whatever I chose in, so I wouldn't have to glue anything or make it permanent. So there's Project #237, the first one of '08 to be put on a back burner !

However, when one project goes to a back burner, another one has to come off. That's where Ace Hardware came in. I've been carrying a hex nut around for about three months, needing a screw to fit it. About two months before that, I bought a small softball trophy with a star-burst backdrop for 25c, intending to use the marble base and stars as either a chair seat and back, or as a ‘modern art' sculpture in the background of a photo. Took it apart to find out that the baseball figure held the thing together ! Not all was lost, I just needed a ¼" screw, yet even adding the nut to my purse and knowing that DTree is immediately adjacent to Ace got me into the store to get the thing !

Got it today. 14c. It fits great, and about all it needs as a chair is a base (nearly anything will do) and a cushion. I could even add a long drape to the cushion to hide the base, if I'm using, say, a soup can. As a sculpture, the same ‘anything goes' will work as a base, too. Art is great that way ! The nice folks at Ace even gave me a free calendar - nothing to write home (or a blog !) about, but it's nice, with plenty of room to note those ‘no school' and family events in. Now I can save the ‘English Gardens' calendar I bought earlier for doll backdrops.

Came home and got buttons and snaps sewn on yesterday's pajamas. It may not seem like much, but I hate doing that - my hand-sewing is amazingly ugly ! - and there's some outfits I've made that are on a doll, but still don't have closures on ‘em yet ! That may be the next thing I do before I get to start another project, finish the ones that are in need of fasteners. It'll keep the wait for the bus in the afternoon from getting too boring. Noticed a small stain on the sleeve of that white sweater I bought Monday, got it and the outfit Malibu was wearing washed. Sweater came out well, as did the tank top, but the green pants are a wash unless I hem ‘em as shorts. Odd brown stains mark the knees, and it simply isn't coming out. Since I'm donating the blonde doll I bought for the sweater, they'll probably get altered to shorts and donated on her. For some reason, I don't like to donate nude dolls.

Posted by dorriebelle at 12:01 AM CST

Updated: Monday, 2 May 2011 11:16 AM CDT

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Current Mood : quietly happy 

I hope you enjoyed the morning of the first day of a whole new year. Beloved Hubby and I made a new anime music video from the Macross section of Robotech and Dolly Parton's  Hard Candy Christmas. It came out well, especially if you're a Lisa Hayes/Hayase Misa fan. I got to enjoy vanilla peppermint coffee while relaxing and looking for certain bits of the series. It's the best way I know to use up leftover candy canes - crush ‘em up and dissolve ‘em in coffee or  hot chocolate. I have to remember not to buy the Dollar Tree candy canes, though - not much flavor, but a lot of sugar.

Believe it or not, editing DVD cartoon footage to fit a song takes several hours. We then did some general puttering, some cleaning, and some ‘in with the new year' stuff we'd been meaning to do for months in '07. I was determined to spend at least part of the first day of a whole new year sewing, but it was evening before I began the pajamas. They're from DebbieFS's Doll Divas pattern - http://members.boardhost.com/DollDivas/msg/archive/1195868542.html - and at the time, I didn't have the pants part. So I used a different pattern already printed out, completely forgetting that it needed a stretch knit, not a woven cotton ! Had to redo all the seams so they'd fit ! They're still pretty tight.

Anyway, as you can see, I still need help with collars, but that'll come with practice. At first, I was a bit curious about my finished article, because the pattern's accompanying photo showed the sleeves at wrist-length, with dropped shoulder seams. Holding the sleeve pattern up to a doll, there's simply no way for it to be that long, even if I used a 1/16" seam, which is difficult for some, darn near impossible for me. The collar on the original photo was much larger, too. But I liked what I had better. The collar looks more in scale, and closer to a set of pajamas I own, and who among us doesn't like it when our doll has something we treasure ?

With the sleeves so short, and the day growing shorter, I decided to sew shorts instead of pants, which worked out well. When I revisited the Doll Divas site, there were new photos and the pants part of the pattern. And the new photos showed the fit and collar I had, so I was relieved. Much as I liked what I made, I was wondering where I'd bunked up to get such a radically different version. And, of course, I left off pockets. I rarely ever sew pockets.

Still have to add buttons - got plenty right here waiting ! - and snaps. I've added ‘sew closures before starting a new project' to the other new resolutions. Doing well on the other one so far. I'm down to two sodas a day. It's embarrassing how much I drank before !

Posted by dorriebelle at 12:01 AM CST

Updated: Monday, 2 May 2011 11:16 AM CDT

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Current Mood : Happy, and much more lighthearted 

Spent on dolls today : $15.32

It never fails - I go for a bit without spending much, or anything at all, and wham ! I spend money like a wild woman ! I'm sending '07 out with a bang !

Dearest Son did better at the flea market than me. He got a snack baggie full of 18 Lego people figures, plus a Lego monkey, still-packaged kids' meal Millennium Falcon and landspeeder toys, a Phantom Menace melmac plate, and another R2D2 action figure that, at first, I thought was identical to the one we got him for Christmas, without the little accessories. Turns out, it's an older model, about ten years older. He's just different enough from the other two R2s squeakin' around here to be extra fun for Son. Score !

I found a four-piece set of that always-available Barbie size wicker furniture - I just can't resist it. I remember having enough allowance for the single chair for Princess Leia as a kid, and saving for the table and loveseat, but it was sold out. A month later, TG&Y was in bankruptcy, and our local store was closed. I bet I've bought pretty much the same chair a dozen times, yet I only have four of ‘em. And now, I have the loveseat and table ! Funny how things work out sometimes.

I also found another Malibu PJ. Her face has a bad ink stain, but her body was in good shape. Few months ago, I bought a set of Malibus, and one Barbie had a wrecked body. Bought PJ and ‘re-headed' Barbie, so now I have two Malibu Barbies, one Malibu PJ, and a spare MPJ head. I still intend to reroot one of the Barbies as a brunette, but now I can still have the blonde of my youth, too !  I found a Malibu Ken at another booth, and considered him, but someone had given him an ear-piercing, and the green was already spreading. It was (shudder) fuzzy around the earring. He also had very loose joints and paint (possibly white-out) splashes. And that high-white grin that's somewhere between ‘sleazebag' and ‘village idiot' that I've never really liked.

The Malibu seller is my old ally/nemesis with the car sets. Aggravatingly, she had a brunette New Ken, who'd be a nice brother to the blonde beach New Ken I got for Christmas, but he was in a blah plastic car for $14. Even the usually car-obsessed Son wasn't interested in it. And I can buy the dude new for $15. So I might later. Found a plastic ‘oil drum' in a dime box -  probably from an action figure set - that might get used if I ever do the ‘used car lot' photos I imagine ! Or in a ‘struggling artist' loft as a table base.

Ran some errands, including the donations - a box of kid videotapes and a few outgrown but in good shape clothes. Outgrowns in bad shape end up in the Lab ! The thrift store connected to the donation drop is where I hit it big ! Found a doll pale enough to work as a body donor to the Casey head I've had for a couple months, and another wearing a super-cool sweater. That sweater came from ‘So Excellent Earrings Summer', from the Cali Girl line, and it's just gorgeous !

Housewares had a cute sort of window waiting for me, and in Toys, a My Scene Vespa. It's missing the matching helmet, seat belt, rear-view mirrors, and kickstand, but for $2., I can't complain much ! From research, I learned that the seat also opens for storage. Cool ! Older dolls don't quite sit right on it, but the flex-hips newer ones look great driving it.

Books held an American Girl paper doll set (Molly, 1944) that I snagged because it had two nice backdrops in it, and it was super-cheap. And sometimes, paper dolls can be fun. This set had all sorts of historical details and a small storybook. A 50c grab bin had the pink ‘mannequin in a box' glitter shaker thingie I've seen before. What the heck. It'd be a fun display, I could use it in photos or a store diorama, and I sort of have a mannequin collection going. What's the old saying, ‘More than two's a collection' ?

I sometimes think that the other reason I love to thrift stuff is because I really get a kick out of the research. I couldn't get the mannequin box open, the dial wouldn't turn, and there was no visible hinge. So off to Google we go ! Soon found out through trial and error using variations of ‘Barbie', ‘beads', ‘2001', ‘glitter', and ‘shaker' that I had the main selling point of "Bead ‘n Beauty Barbie" in my curious hands. The set came with a doll and clothes that kids could customize with the also-included double-sided stickers. Once applied, they'd go on the mannequin to get beaded/glittered in one of three colors. Sort of a fashion ‘Shake ‘n Bake'. 

Of course, all my glitter beads were mixed together, but Mattel, bless ‘em, still had a PDF of the directions on their website. (http://service.mattel.com/instruction_sheets/52745.pdf)  A quick reseating of the chamber, and it aligned so I could dial it to the ‘unlocked' position and access the mannequin. Could be useful - especially if I ever wanna glitter something up without making the Lab look like Christmas. I still have quite a bit of glitter left from those snowflakes !  And it'd easily work as a store display window. It also had a purse and bag stand so owners could glitter those up, but it wasn't included with mine. I'll have to see if the mannequin post will fit into a doll stand, ‘cause it'd be nice to have the versatility.

It's kind of embarrassing that I needed a PDF to figure it out, but I'm just glad it was there. Came home, head-swapped the dolls - they're in the photo above - and played a bit. I like the blue blouse Malibu's wearing, it's nearly the same color as her issue swimsuit. Found a couple of spots on the sweater that'll need cleaning. Beloved Hubby made the front doors and designed the hinges for my dollhouse, and says he'll get those on, and probably start the windows tomorrow. Wheee !

While cleaning the office area yesterday, I found the old bottle of Bondini gel. It's so light, I figured it was empty, but just in case...I fetched down the black Barbie case I got last month and squeeeeeezed heck out of the bottle. There were just a few drops left, but it was enough to repair the broken handle. All right ! Much better than the yards of surgical tape that was there, and it looks so much happier now that the handle's back in one piece. I've used it three times now, to fix doll plastic stuff - this, a split railing on a doll playset, and a playset table, and it's worked all three times. Beloved used most of the bottle on a General Lee model for Dearest. Car was flimsy and came apart, but not where the glue was !

He's trying so hard to make sure I'm OK and comfortable with the new situation. He also bought a locking doorknob for the Lab, which I'm grateful for, but it reminds me of how terrible I am, so I feel rather bad about it. Yes, I did want the lock. I'm petty, selfish, and mean, but he already knows all that, and still loves me. Still makes me feel like a jerk, but he's willing to do what he can to make this easier for everyone. I'm housecleaning and getting rid of stuff, hoping that helps. So far, it's all been good for me, except for the whining and wailing.  I'm glad I had a few days to get over myself.

Tomorrow, Dearest and I tackle his bedroom. It's a jungle and a zoo in there ! But I feel better about stuff, and it's never a good idea to clean a room angry.

Thanks again for the encouragement and for listening. I do get wound up and frustrated easily - I wish I was Bugs Bunny, but I'm really Daffy ! - so I may start volunteering at first, and then go for the payin' gigs. Beloved says it's fine if I don't go back to work, but I can't sit around at home !

In a few days, though, I can lock myself in the Lab...(evil grin)

Posted by dorriebelle at 9:48 PM CST

Updated: Monday, 2 May 2011 11:16 AM CDT

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Current Mood : Resigned with a twinge of bitter

I've had some time to let yesterday's turn of events sink in. Still not terribly happy about the whole thing, and if you call me a spoiled brat for that, well, I wouldn't blame you, and I'd agree that I'm a big one. I was kind of enjoying the life I had, but that's pretty much gone for the foreseeable future.

Still, even the worst possible events can provide a good challenge, and lead to good things. A job would help my self-esteem and we can sure use the cash. Just don't remember who my supervisor was the last time I worked - it was in 2000, I think - and I'm kind of hard-pressed these days to provide a reference I'm not related to. My hermit ways always bite me in my big butt.

I just feel like I'm letting their situation dictate my life, and I resent the #ell out of that. And I feel like I have to leave my own home because I can't stand being in the same room with folks who mope around, complain endlessly, and spend 90% of their waking hours watching television. Boy, is life gonna rank for them here. No cable. At the same time, I have to make sure I'm the one who gets Dearest Son ready for school, and I have to be here when he gets home. This is gonna make that job thing kind of hard to find. Wish I could find some volunteering that pays !  

We moved furniture today - Beloved Hubby's closet now houses the computer desk, and our clothes are crammed in mine. We also put a locking mechanism on our door. We have reasons, but it would be unkind to go into them. I'm sure I haven't given you a very good impression of them, which is bad of me, but right now, I just can't get past myself to tell you how wonderful they can be. I know it's not fair, but right now, if I start getting into what's fair, I'll be here all night, and it won't have anything to do with dolls.

I appreciate your tolerance. I'll get back to dolls Monday, I promise. For one thing, there's a flea market tomorrow and Tuesday, for some reason. I also have recycling to turn in, a donation drop (Dearest's outgrown so much this year !), and a few errands to run.  Since Dearest's home from school until Thursday, I have company !  After that, I have an unholy amount of cleaning to do before next weekend. At least I'll finally get some stuff done.

Tuesday, we go pick up some applications. Wish me luck !

 Ps - sorry I don't have those new images up. We're trying to figure out the best way to connect the printer/fax when the computer's on one end of the room and the phone line's on the other. No printer = no scanner. I knew I should have done those last week !

Posted by dorriebelle at 10:22 PM CST

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Current Mood : Undefinable. Read on for details. 

(sigh) Well, I feel better...physically, at least. I just...oh, #ell, I'm just gonna say it. I'm tired of having to stop and consider what even the cat will think when I do what I have to, and darn it, I'm tired of playing pussyfoot to spare everyone else and pushing how I feel aside. This is my blasted blog, I'm gonna say what I think, and be darned with whoever reads it what don't like it ! These folks have made their business my business, pretty much against my will, and if I wanna blog about it, they can go...deal with it.

The big ‘family disaster' a few weeks ago was my M&FIL's deal. They've lost their house. Well, haven't lost it, it'll just have someone else living there in a few weeks. Longer if the new owners fix the electrical systems before they move in. Anyway, where they're going and what they're doing is what's been so unsolved. They haven't decided yet. One wants an apartment in town, the other wants a travel trailer out in the woods. Big problem is, if they can't pay a mortgage, how the ^%$# are they gonna pay for either ?

I think you know where this is headed. Yup. They decided today that they were gonna come live with us ! Oh, joy ! This may end up better than the fearsome thoughts running through my head - five people in one house, with one paycheck and a small disability payment - but right now, I'm scared, upset, angry, and weary. Basically, they've worn out their welcome in the one other place they could have gone, so they're coming here. I don't know if I want to cry, scream, destroy something, or b$tch-slap somebody. Most of the drama on Christmas eve was related to this. So, goodbye nice weekend, hello dealing with a ton of crap that isn't even mine.

And I started looking for a job today. Beloved Hubby's worried - my various med conditions will make it difficult to either find a job or keep one, and he's concerned it'll shorten my lifespan. But I can't stay here all day with them, we were rather financially squeezed before all this, and I know d@mn well neither of them's getting a job. They're hoping Social Security comes through for them. I'm freakin' prayin' for it ! They're scared to death that if they find a quarter on the sidewalk, it'll jeopardize SocSec. So they're not doing squat but sit and worry over it. Somehow, this also translated into them not payin' the mortgage for five months, and I'd love to know what they did with their disability checks, but I'm afraid of the answer.

This is probably where my insomnia's been coming from, and why I can't focus on crap. Generally, I only sew when I'm happy, and I've been fearing this since a week or two before Christmas. We spent most of today moving our stuff, to give them the office space, which has a small bathroom. I'll have to go through ‘their' new space to do laundry, but it's the best we can do.

Anyway, I have a lot to do before they get here. They're moving their bedroom next weekend. Including my bedframe, a much-loved wedding present. I asked for it back a few months ago, but MIL pouted. We also get to have a family meeting, which I'm really sooooooo looking forward to. I hate setting down rules like they're teenagers, but they've already demonstrated shocking irresponsibility, and I'm just trying to protect MY family. Not them. Not anymore. I'll be as respectful as I can while they're here, but I will not be talked down to by someone who pays cable before mortgage. I don't care how old they are, if we're having to shove our lives aside to make sure their butts aren't out in the snow, the least they can do is go by the house rules. And I already know they're not gonna like three of ‘em...

Sorry. I'm transferring and projecting my anger and frustration. I need to put it somewhere else. Can ya'll be patient with me for a few (hopefully) weeks ? It's gonna be a rough adjustment ! I don't know how other cultures do it - I figure I'll be found walking naked down the middle of the road humming to myself within two months...

That, or I'll be spending a lot more time with my dolls !

Posted by dorriebelle at 12:01 AM CST

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Current Mood : not good. 

Ugh. I feel like crap. I think I'm just gonna go lie down. I haven't done squat today, anyway. Puttered around in the Lab for a bit, cut more scrap paper. Found piles of it when I cleaned. If folks didn't mind the printing on the other side, we wouldn't have to buy paper - we get plenty of it delivered weekly from Dearest Son's school.

Hope your day went better than mine...

Posted by dorriebelle at 12:01 AM CST

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Current Mood : Ticked Off 

I may have solved one of my own personal ‘great mysteries that frustrate me' by sheer chance. This is gonna sound stupid, but you're probably used to it from me by now.

Moving along. When I first ‘got into' dolls, I had to accept that I was an adult who not only wanted to play with dolls but actually did, and that would get me labeled as ‘weird' in others' eyes. Decided I didn't care. While weeding my psyche of stuff that pulled up easily, I also pushed myself through my fear of sewing. While I'd had minor successes with people-sized projects before, there were many more total failures, and everyone I spoke with recoiled in horror when I mentioned sewing Barbie-scale clothes. People I respected for their skills and flair in sewing looked at me with expressions ranging from repulsion to naked curiosity, like an anthropologist who'd stumbled on a new clutch of mammals to study, possibly dissect. 

Why would I want to do that ? Didn't I know Barbie clothes were impossible to sew ? Tiny, frustrating, aggravating. Why bother when even Dollar Tree had doll clothes to buy instead ! So many times I heard, "I tried that. Once. Now I know why Barbie clothes are expensive - but they're cheap to me now, since buying ‘em means I never have to sew those PITAs ever again !". It was both discouraging and encouraging at the same time. Few patterns existed, and the few I found looked like directions to craft my own scale model of the Space Shuttle, functional engines and all. Out of fabric, bailing wire, and something called elastic thread. Scary.  

I soon discovered the ‘why' - I couldn't find what I wanted to buy, so it was up to me to craft my own style - and also the ‘how'. Easier patterns existed, for pretty much any doll,  it's just that most interested new sewists had given up, and left it to the really fiddly-bit folks. Fiddly-bit patterns were around, but if I wanted to start simple, I'd have to hunt for stuff to grow on. Nothing against detail-oriented folks, I wish I was one. But I needed to start with something less challenging than a two-foot wide ballgown made with fishing wire and silk and 63 pattern pieces !

Unfortunately, I didn't learn that until *after* I'd bought a few dozen doll pattern books off eBay, Half.com, Amazon, and various local used book enterprises. And it wasn't long before easier patterns came back into craft stores - everything's on its own cycle, I think. Most of the books were designed to create fiddly-bit type stuff, but a few simpler books came my way. They rarely had anything in the scale I had or wanted, but information is rarely wasted.

One of the first books I bought was Sewing for 20^th Century Dolls, Vol. II, by Johanna Gast Anderton. I thought this book would be perfect. Found a place selling it at half the $25. cover price, and it listed designs in dozens of sizes - Crissy, in fact, was featured on the cover.  Since I already knew I'd have more than just Barbie dolls (yeah, at one point, I was gonna be Barbie Only), I was sure there'd be plenty in there for me to use. Reviews were favorable, so I bought it.

And ended up so frustrated and upset, I darn near tossed the sewing machine into the Dumpster ! The pattern for the pretty madras-plaid sundress that Crissy wore on the cover simply Did. Not. Fit. Crissy. No matter how many times I sewed it, traced, it, reworked it. Nothing I did worked. The directions were minimal at best - I really needed more sewing experience under my belt, but the book said it was for all skill levels - yet following them to the letter or freestyling it made no difference. Studied the cover photo for hours, probably. Even researched it like the nerd I am, constantly searching for any image of that dress in any Crissy reference. Johanna said it was tagged, but I never found it anywhere but on the cover of her book. Since Crissy was crammed into ‘little sister' Velvet shoes, I scoured Velvet clothes resources, too. Nope. Not made by Ideal or any known clone doll or doll clothes manufacturer. At any size. I even looked up other dolls about the same size, to see if it was by Ideal, but made for another doll. Nada.

Darn thing gave me headaches, and once, a blasted nightmare. Really. I think the last time I tried it, I increased it to 130%, and it sort of worked, but not really. I gave up on it. Pretty much the whole book, too - if that pattern didn't work, why waste more time futzing with more ? If she can't get this one right, what are the chances that she screwed up with others ? Anderton didn't even get Crissy's shoes right. I let it go, because I was tired of being upset about it. She may be a legendary doll artist (it says so in her book), but to me, she was either lousy at pattern drafting, or pretty much a fraud.

Well, I couldn't sleep or focus on much tonight - I've had insomnia issues since I was eight  - so I idly trawled eBay to look at dolls. And there it was. A mostly yellow madras-plaid sundress. In a pile of Barbie dolls and clothes. Grabbed my book. Yup. That's the same dress. Even the buttons matched. I snagged the image, and ran some quick comparisons in PaintShopPro. The dress would fit a Barbie, from shoulder to waist. But the waist was simply too big for that scale. While the dress is high-waisted on Crissy, there is no way a Crissy dress should come close to fitting a Barbie. Crissy's eighteen inches tall ! Her clothes don't even fit Elphie !

Ms. Anderton notes that she came by that dress on a Crissy, and it was tagged. I have no idea how, it sure wasn't For Crissy by Ideal. If that was the case, it'd be on Beth's superlative site ( http://crissyandbeth.com/ ) or in her reference book. Now, supposedly, she used the dress that came on the doll to draft the pattern. But why is the doll on the cover wearing the exact same dress - right down to the buttons ! - as what I found tonight, instead of a new creation by the author ? If I was selling a book of my patterns, or just one pattern, there'd be a photo of at least one of my sewing test drafts on it ! Not a photo of the original dress I copied, but images of what I actually sewed, using my pattern. I now wonder if all the ‘copies' shown on the cover are the original outfits the dolls came in, not finished reproductions the author herself sewed to test her own blinkin' patterns ! If that's the case, how does anyone know if any of ‘em fit ? And how does that dress fit Crissy on the cover, but the pattern not fit at all ? I thought it was my lack of skill, but now I'm starting to wonder if it wasn't my skills that were lacking here.

The mystery isn't completely solved yet - I wrote the seller and asked if the dress had a tag or anything - but when I think of how close I came to giving up a much-enjoyed hobby - or, more accurately, never really even starting it -  because of *her* drafting failures...arrrgh ! It's been a minor burr at the back of my mind for years, and by sheer chance, I find out it's probably not only not a Crissy dress, but not even something the author herself even sewed to test her own pattern !

Unbe-freakin'-lievable.

Posted by dorriebelle at 12:01 AM CST

Updated: Monday, 2 May 2011 11:15 AM CDT

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