Meet Jenny !

 

Current Mood : Happy !

Current Image Notes : You may remember the Battat AG-clone I bought from the Boy Scouts' flea market last month. Her hair had been cut and was terribly snarled, so I conditioned, cut and permed it - and then I made her a simple halter top from the leftover denim that was part of an infant skirt. Well, here she is ! This is Jenny.

 

And we're slowly getting back on schedule. With 30 to 40 mph winds rattling the windows in the casings, Beloved was not getting on a ladder this morning, so he's home today. The Dumpster for the Shop was delivered, and it's where you can't get to it unless ya mean it. I've been kinda worried about sudden sofas appearing in there. We've already had to deal with similar, if smaller-scale, happenstance.

 

Scrubbed a layer of dirt off the SuperStar Malibu's face, and now her head matches her neck much better. I'd kinda been wanting the ‘My Favorite Doll' SuperStar, but not obsessively so, and now that "Miassa's" here (what can I say, ya'll - they name themselves !) it's pretty much gone away.

 

In Brody news, today I learned that all of KJ's feet - even the ruffler ! - will work with him, too. Score ! While Brody comes with about ten of his own that I've never owned before, the KJ had a couple of unique ones, too. And it's great that I can switch back and forth. That's a bonus I wasn't expecting. I also learned that the elastic strap on Brody's equipment box (the embroidery platform takes the space where a tray of such items would normally go) is great for securing that screwdriver you forgot to put away, until you have to open the box again. Brother thinks of everything...

 

Except where their videos wandered off to. I've been reading their old newsletters, and while most of the design and image links work, the History of Brother series has vanished. Darn. I kinda wanted to hear about that. Evidently, they really were founded by brothers, with a sewing machine they wanted to name ‘Sister', but that name was already taken.

 

Yesterday I downloaded a free font manipulator, and it's fun, but it only works with their proprietary fonts - they answered me today - and once you've saved a design, there's no going back and editing it. If something's wrong, you get to do it all over again. On the plus side, it'll print out a correct scale version of your design, so you can see if it fits on paper before committing it to thread and fabric.

 

It only saves in a format Brody just barely acknowledges, but as it turns out, when I pulled it up in Pulse's Ambassador, it saved as my preferred format ! Yup, Ambassador can convert the files, too. Wow. I've really lucked out with the ME freebies ! I'm hoping to try a stitch-out tomorrow. If it works, I can cross something's that's been bugging me since Christmas off the ole ‘to do' list.

 

You're gonna laugh, but what I want this to work so much for, is a canning-jar-lid insert for Dearest Son's teacher. She got Teacher of the Year, and I've been meaning to make something personal to commemorate the event, but until I scored Fonts Plus, I didn't know how. And for some reason, I just can't make myself cross-stitch it.

 

When funds are snug, what I've been known to do is pull down one of the new Mason pint jars I keep for gift emergencies, and fill it with candy. I'll cross-stitch a design to fit between the lid and the collar, and sew some eyelet lace and ribbon to go around the outside of the collar. Materials and candy total only about two bucks, and that's with good candy.

 

But now, I have Brody, so I'm hoping to make this lid decoration double-sided, with a ‘Teacher of the Year' stitch-out on one side and either a cute cat - her favorite - or her initial on the other. Initials are easy, but I have some documents listing her first name starting with a ‘Y', others with a ‘J'. I hate to ask which it is, but I'm not sure if there's time and funds right now for the thread and the cat design that I'd really like to work out for her. But that's the beauty of the candy jar lid project - I can always make more and give them to her later !

 

I just gotta get off my round rump, though - or the school year will be over before I can get it done !

Who's got the (new !) button ?

 

Current Mood : Still lazy !

Current Image Notes: Here's the experimental bobbin, experimental bobbin thread, experimental thread stand, experimental knit fabric, experimental stitch-out design star I made yesterday. Now, it's a 2 1/2" button ! These plastic pop-aparts are only about $2. for four, but if you buy a bag of 12 and use Hobby Lobby's frequent 40% off coupons, they're dirt cheap ! And if you get tired of the design, they pop apart again for a new design. They come in several sizes, in the kids' crafts sections. Gonna share this one with the embroidery forum, too. But you get it first !

 

Another kinda goof-off day. Dearest Son saw the end of Spring Break facing him and has been sorta touchy all day. When the hand broke off his Wall-E figure for the second time this week, he had a meltdown. So we looked up replacements. The figure I thought was kinda overpriced at $8.50 at Christmas '08 was beyond ridiculous on eBay at $20. plus $10. shipping - and even more on Amazon Marketplace !

 

I kept seeing a set of figurines - not action figures - up for bids, and they had several characters he loves but never had . Wall-E and Eve, of course, but also MO, a Steward, and some other bots. $30. with free shipping, but not bad for six characters. I saw one with a ‘Disney Store Exclusive' label, and decided to go to the source.

 

Bingo ! At DisneyStore.com, there was a spring sale. 2 character sets for $20., or $12.50 each. $5. shipping. So there's one on the way to Dearest, for less than $20. delivered. He's so excited. And we're happy he's getting something he really wants and I saved us $10.+ in the bargain !

 

Aside from takeout Chinese for dinner, that was the big excitement for the day. If you find yourself over at Forbes.com, there's some 50^th Anniversary Barbie stories and slideshows. Here's an overview, start clickin' here -

http://www.forbes.com/2009/03/05/barbie-doll-anniversary-business_barbie_land.html

 

They want Barbie stories - despite having a wealth of one-paragraph sketches from the famous and numerous celebrities - so consider sending yours. You know me, when it's expected that everyone will send a happy pink unicorn rainbow story, I gotta send my clouds-gathering one.

 

Downloaded a free font tool from a machine embroidery site, and it's lots of fun to play with. There's only one problem - I think it, like the Embird one, only works with a proprietary subset of purchasable fonts. The FAQ skitters all around that point, and never really says ‘yes' or ‘no'. So I asked. We'll see if I get an answer later this week. But even if it's that limited, the three fonts it came with are great, and I can do a lot with ‘em with the software.

 

And another weekend ends. Hope yours was fun, too ! 

Another lovely Ariel...

 

Current Mood : Contented

Current Image Notes : Here's Ariel II, in the Belle dress that I bought the Cinderella doll for yesterday. Whew ! Did I drop enough DP names in that sentence to be confusing ?

 

Awoke to the surprising news that I'd won a free embroidery set of my choice from Designs by SiCK, for the tip I'd sent in a couple weeks ago. Since I only had two left on the ‘want' list, I got the one least likely to be on sale anytime soon (it's a winter themed one) and it's already downloaded and stored. I'm still racking up points over there, and having spent about $30. on designs from that site alone, I'm on a ‘no cash money' spending moratorium on machine embroidery designs. The other set I like has a Mother's Day theme, so I'm holding out for it to go on sale, and then I'll use up some of my points stash. Wheee !

 

Speaking of embroidery, I finished writing the Newbie Learning Series, numbers 1 through 7. The first one was barely begun, the second was just an outline. I'll post the lot to Somewhere That's Crafty, once I figure out how I want it. I'm thinking of publishing a paragraph on the lead page, then offering a click-through for the rest. And having the whole thing from a separate ‘Machine Embroidery' heading. Just not sure how to do that yet...

 

 Lucky #7 is based on today's simple experiment, which finally revealed to me why I seem to be the only person on the planet using spool thread in his/her embroidery efforts. Despite the fact that I'd used this spool on two other projects, today, I found two snarls and an odd lump in the thread itself, which broke while stitching and put Brody off the correct tension. It was bad enough I was trying the cone-thread bobbins for the first time and trying stretchy knit fabric for the first time, too. And a new needle.

 

Happily, the small star I stitched still looks good. All the snarling and breaks are on the back, and I remembered to back the needle up when the thread broke, so there's no blank spots. So, in short, embroidery thread is expensive ‘cause it can't have those imperfect bits. KJ would have plowed right through those - and probably has in the past - but Brody's a bit more finely tuned.

 

I'm just glad I've had him unplugged the last few days. Manual sez I'm supposed to unplug him whenever I'm not actively sewing. Road construction down the street has made our power flicker several times yesterday and today, and Wednesday, it was off for three hours. We all took naps while waiting for it to be restored. Ordinarily, I'd blame it on weather, but yesterday was sunny and clear. Today's cloudy, but nowhere near as windy as is usual. So I think someone's hitting a cable somewhere. Wish they'd quit it.

 

Speaking of things forgotten, I also scored a sixth-scale Aladdin during yesterday's yard sale blitz. I see that I didn't add him to the list. I'm not sure which one he is, he has a striped blue and gold fez that I may try to paint black to blend in with his hair. Just not much on fezzes. He's a good lookin' guy, regardless - Jasmine should be pleased. He came to Chez Insanity wearing a "My First Ken" ballet top, no pants, with a vest and Ken jacket/shirt rubber-banded to him. The ballet shirt is too badly laddered and picked in the back to keep, so I'll just find an all-new outfit for him.

 

And, my apologies for taking so long to post. I'd been writing off and on that first week, but before I knew it, it was Dearest Son's Spring Break, and that wreaks havoc with my schedule, every year. Thanks for reading when I come back !

I Loooove having my Molly back !

 

Current Mood : Happy !

Spent on dolls today : $16.

 

It was Yard Sale City on my way today ! I'd promised to take Dearest Son to the big McD's PlayPlace across town for lunch, after we ran a few errands. I made a major miscalculation on my part and we drove past the Fairgrounds - and he wanted to go to the advertised Flea Market, first thing.

 

Once inside, he immediately fell in love with a Dodge Charger replica. I didn't quite have enough on me at the time, a trip to the bank had been our first scheduled stop until this detour. All Dearest knew was that he was in love, and I know from experience that his affections, once given, are very rarely subject to any distractions. So we hit the bank, and I'd intended to circle back to the Flea after lunch. But Dearest surprised me by saying he wanted the Charger more than he wanted McDs, so we went back for it. He was happy.

 

So was I. I'd found a SuperStar Malibu doll, in an Oscar De La Renta gown. I'd always sort of wanted one of these hybrids ! She has the deep tan of a Malibu, but the SuperStar face and arms, although these are straight, they're clearly not the same ones my other Malibus have. Three solid knee clicks, with butt markings that read Hong Kong. Her dress is in great shape, no snags, but possibly a bit faded. Still lovely. I need to find a half-snap and reattach it, and it's missing the cape and shoes, but for a buck, I'm still counting m'self fortunate.

 

From there, we got videos returned and books turned in, and we passed three yard sales, one of which I wanted to attend, based on their ad on Craigslist. But we stopped at the closest one first, which was a bust. The second one I've been to before - last year, I bought the Tracey wedding doll and several Barbie bits and some books from her, and she was one of the places where I'd turned down a LDP Ariel.

 

Today, she was swimming in dolls. Her daughter and a friend are saving for a Wii or Playstation, her Mom wasn't sure. In any case, there were loads of good finds. Dearest located a pink Vespa that was perfect for his Stuart Little stuffed animal, along with a couple intriguing books. I soon found a brunette Battat AG clone (yaaay !) in just-out-of-box shape, a talking Cinderella doll just like my Belle one, a LDP Cinderella in a Belle dress I'd been hoping to find, a silver sewing machine picture frame, and another Folding Pretty House that had several pieces mine was missing. She even tossed in a tote bag ! Yeah, I spent $20. there, but I was very happy !

 

She had lots others - a basket of Kelly and Happy Meal Madame Alexanders, some real MAlexanders, a Toni clone, numerous Barbie-scale and smaller horses, some 80s Rocker Barbies, and playset accessories, but I had already spent a bit over my self-imposed limit for the day, and I really wasn't as interested in all that as I was in what I got ! Dearest told me he'd gladly take Cinderella off my hands, once I got her redressed. So I found a cute little dress for her, and I think she's Bindi now.

 

And we're out for a bit. Hope your weekend is as much of a whirlwind as you want it to be !

Zzzzzzzz.......

 

Current Mood : Lighter...

 

Felt a bit better today, so I tore up the space-fabric duvet cover I bought in last year's yard sales and made a slipcover for the back of my computer chair, and a pillowcase for the seat cushion. Much better. I always hated how the fabric slipped and slid. Now, it's shaped to fit the chair, with a few easily removed stitches should I end up with another one, and it ain't going anywhere, except the washer.

 

And it makes me happier than I'd have thought to have KJ, my old sewing machine, up and working in the dining area. Haven't gone near Brody all week, but I kinda figured that'd happen, with Dearest Son home all week. I just don't get as much done.

 

Tonight, we visited the DIL's, and retrieved the Blazer, so we can work on it here. I'll be so glad when Beloved doesn't have to worry about it anymore. I'm sure DFIL feels the same !

 

Although I rented it twice, I never quite got around to watching 21 Grams until I saw it on Hulu.com tonight. So I'm kinda depressed. I'd heard the '21 grams' theory as fact (the difference in weight between a live body and a dead one is exactly 21 grams), so I was a bit disappointed to learn it's a fallacy. The movie doesn't say that, but some of the reviews do.

 

So I'm sort of in a mood. Maybe my soul's a lightweight...

Ugh day...

 

Current Mood : Not well.

 

Oogh. We are definitely into the monsoon season around here, and that plays h#ll with my sinuses. I am not a well woman today. Hope to catch you tomorrow, all I've done all day is watch the Law & Order second season DVDs we rented last Friday. Ugh. I can only image how much more ill I'd be if we'd rented Special Victims Unit episodes by mistake...

New fabric !

 

Current Mood : In motion

Spent on fabric and pattern today : $3.16

 

Was just everywhere today ! Last time I was in Hancock Fabrics, I found a lovely print of women's clothes, almost fashion mannequin-like, and small enough to use as at least the skirt on some Barbie clothes. But at $7./yd, I was able to put it back. Until I found my expires-Wednesday Hancock's ad, which includes a 40% off any one fabric cutting coupon ! So I was there today, and scored a half yard. Wouldn't you know it, there's a white on black version of the same fabric - the piece I got today is black on white. Oh, well. When one ad expires, another's soon to arrive ! I also scored yet another American Girl clone pattern, since McCalls' were on sale for 99c. This one has a trench coat ! Looked it up yesterday - that's why the photo's there.

 

I swear, all the whining I was doing about there being no new doll patterns except for AG dolls... is true, but I've sure bought a bunch of ‘em. Shoot, last month, I was on one of my Holy Doll Crusades to find a brunette ‘My Disney Girl' doll, but those things are almost as expensive as AGs ! Even the bidding on $22. Battat ‘Our Generation' Target dolls gets stupid, with used ones going for over $15. plus shipping. Ridiculous. So I had to let it go. Besides, with yard sale season just starting...

 

The question could be asked, ‘If they're $22. brand-new, Dorrie, why don'tcha just buy one ? ‘ and it's a good question, too. Answer is, our store has an abundance of blondes and redheads and lovely AA girls. I've yet to see a brunette one. Otherwise, I'd stay the heck away from eBay, they're a trap !

 

I confess, I haven't been checking Craigslist.org like I used to. But with Molly down, it was just frustrating myself for no reason. But I'm seeing ads for yard sales in the bigger cities, so yard sale season will soon bloom. I can't wait for this year !

 

Since Salvation Army's in the same strip, I stopped, but it was its usual waste-of-time self. I don't know why I still bother. I also hit the ‘turned the lights off on us' thrift for the first time since - wow. You'd think they'd have had a few donations since then, especially since I haven't been there in over a month, but it was almost exactly the same. Same dolls and stuff, same clothes - next to no toys or misc. stuff, books still neglected on the same shelves, and the small-toy grab bag rack was so depleted, it was shoved into the back, three baggies still clinging hopefully to it. Sad. Evidently, I'm not the only one who has issues with that store.

 

Ran my errands, did groceries, came home. And looked up ‘china marker removal'. Turns out that a regular rubber eraser does the trick, and it did. Ariel II's arm is ink-free, and with a bit of water, it even rubbed off the paint mark. I'll have to remember that trick !

Cry for the dolls...

 

Current Mood : Lazy

Spent on dolls today : $1.07

 

Dearest Son and I sort of spun around the house, and once Beloved Hubby was home, we played video games and just enjoyed the day. Then, DFIL came by to pick Dearest up ‘til Wednesday morning - yes, he just came home Sunday morning, but the pizza delivery business is a cruel one, the schedules even more so. We'll have Dearest to ourselves this weekend, too. Hopefully, I'll be able to get him back on schedule.

 

Next thing I knew, we were headed to the City, to check out a potential parts vehicle for DFIL's truck. Fine with me, we took Molly-car and made a night of it. I even got to visit a thrift store, and found a near-desperate Ariel Little Disney Princess doll. Poor thing. She was nude, her hair still had the tiny red rubber band in it, but it was tangled, and she was depressingly dirty. Of course, I already have a butchered-hair LDP Ariel, and have turned down several potential replacements, but this one just needed me. All else failed, I reasoned, I could do a head-swap with my wrecked-hair doll, and donate the other. It was all fooling m'self, I just wanted this one. And I'm probably keeping my original Ariel, I'll just reroot her. So there.

 

Turned out, Ariel II cleaned up pretty well, except for a spot that looks like paint, and the china marker that was used for her price marking. Unfortunately, the mark was on her arm instead of, say, her sole or butt. (sigh) I saw lots of unfortunate dolls at that thrift. Several Battat AG-clones, one with freckles so dark, they looked like moles on her dark tanned ‘skin', contrasting oddly with her near-white blonde hair, a Meritus AG clone that had even worse hair than the Battats I've seen, and numerous other baby and todder dolls, including two LDP Cinderellas. Poor things.

 

There was a good-sized Bag O' Barbies in the display case, but $17. was a bit much, and I couldn't see very much - just several Princess-themed ones and a Blaine guy. Beloved offered to get it for me if I wanted it, but I felt bad enough getting another doll as it was ! I hoped the others would find better homes than they left.

 

Sometimes being a doll hobbyist is a bit depressing...

Dearest's home !

 

Current Mood : Loopy

 

With Dearest Son home from his grandparents', it's like Spring Break is starting up in earnest. I'm having trouble remembering that I don't have to be up at 5am for a shower, nor do I need to coordinate a grocery run and mailbox drop (Nielsen books) with Beloved Hubby. Lot has changed in a few days !

 

I'm a bit late getting my Nielsen books in the mail. Shoulda mailed ‘em Friday. With us turning off the TV back in '05 or so, it didn't take much to fill them out. And now I can spend the $5. they gave me in earnest... like I haven't been spending more than that lately !

 

Looked up the directions for the Jr. Monopoly DPrincess game - it's only supposed to have 24 castles and four stands, so I probably got two or more sets combined. I should wash ‘em up, and use ‘em to top cupcakes at Dearest's next school party.

 

Got tired of the '08 yard sale space-fabric duvet cover falling off my computer chair and tangling in the wheels, so I pinned it together and figured out where to cut and sew it so that one piece will cozy around the chair's back, and won't fall to the sides, and the rest will hold the cushions in the chair's seat, and also won't fall. I'll probably sew it tomorrow - I'm kind of loopy today, and don't trust my sewing capabilities.

Beloved made me a thread stand !

Current Mood : Thrilled

 

Today, Beloved Hubby discovered the magic of instant video rental online. He's been wanting to see a film he enjoyed back in the 80s, and no video stores around here have it. Surprisingly, Amazon.com did, and it could be downloaded for a week's ‘rental' for $2.99, or ‘purchased' as a download for $9.99. We rented it, and we actually have access for a month, for some reason. Either way, we enjoyed it quite a bit !

 

As we watched, I kept remembering this ad where a traveler is checking into a middle-of-nowhere hotel. He asks what's on TV, and the bored desk clerk says, ‘Every movie, ever made, in every language'. Stunned, he asks is that possible, and it cuts to the company's logo. Wow, but are we ever close to that !

 

Oh, hey ! I found it ! Qwest, from 1999.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UZ9qcp6Lcno .

 

It's funny that half the comments on that say we're getting closer to that ideal, the other half say the promise is still decades away.

 

Anyway. Molly-chan now has sparkling new tires, and she handles like a Formula-1 racecar, or at least, how I imagine one does. Did you know there's such a thing as Hot Wheels brand rims ? It's true ! Mattel's licensed ‘em. And the ones the tire place had on display look just like the ones on real HWheels toys. Goss knows, I've picked up enough of Dearest Son's to know. I rather liked the idea of tooling around on HW rims, like I'm driving a tiny toy car. Just not enough to fork over for ‘em. Molly came with star-shaped Mazda ones I really like, so she still has those. According to the salesman I spoke with - he gave me a shiny new tire gauge for my glove box - they're quite popular, and have been out for a while. There's a new model every year or so. Imagine that !

 

Once home, we just kinda relaxed for the balance of the day. I cleaned up from yesterday's patch/sewing job on Dearest's pants, and Beloved asked to see the directions for the thread stand. Y'see, Hancock Fabrics puts these huge thread cones on sale for $2. every so often, and a year or two ago, I bought one, figuring that I'd be set for white thread - the color I run out of most often - for a while. Unfortunately, the cone was too big for KJ, my old mechanical machine, and I never got ‘round to buying a stand. It also seemed kinda silly to shell out $8. for a plastic stand to use up a $2. purchase.

 

And Brody is even pickier about the thread sizes he can use, so I studied the thread stands out there for sale, and found them ridiculously simple. Found illustrated directions to make yer own on Instructables.com - http://www.instructables.com/id/Thread-Stand-for-Sewing-Machines/  and asked if I could borrow a few tools. Well, Beloved got a bit bored and ended up making it for me while I retrieved my prescriptions - and it works perfectly ! Empty, it looks like a minimalist sculpture, and the thread part can tuck under KJ's cover between uses, so it won't get dusty. Used it to wind a bobbin for Brody, and I hope to test that out Monday. I've heard cone thread is thinner, so we'll have to see if it can work. And if using KJ as a big SideWinder (a $30. bobbin winder device) for Brody will work, too.