Oh, plastic green fairy, keep me from getting lockjaw !

 

Current Mood : Still annoyed.

 

Still limping around, but I don't think the puncture is infected or anything. Spent an hour researching tetanus (lockjaw), so now I know if symptoms develop later. But it's hard to even see the 'entry' hole now. Still hurts a little, and feels just a twinge swollen, like someone put a small square of carpeting in my shoe. It's uncomfortable, but not overwhelming pain. Just annoying.

 

Cut Beloved Hubby's hair tonight, something I don't mind doing, but I know I'm not terribly good at. If I don't wanna try, he takes the clippers to it, and gets it shorter than I like. Did OK - I'm far from a beautician, but it looks better this time than last - and looks better cut than long. He was happy with it, so it's all good.

 

It's scorchin' hot, so I've been mostly vegetating. Decided to try embroidering on that thick vinyl remnant I bought a few weeks ago, but it didn't go too well. Without a stabilizer beneath - which would kinda defeat the whole purpose of sewing on clear vinyl in the first place - it rippled and actually bent the vinyl so much, the design was thrown off registry. I may try to iron it flat, but it'll be tricky to get it hot enough to press, but not so hot the vinyl melts. In any case, it was good to experiment. I love embroidering clear vinyl, you can see the bobbin and the whole operation ! And it's not like I can't use clear vinyl in any other craft project - I still wanna experiment with wallets and things !

 

Cute little fairy, too. I wanna put her on a shirt sometime soon. I love choosing colors from the Treasure Chest !  

Roofing nails rank !

 

Current Mood :  Painfully annoyed

Spent on embroidery design set : $8.95

 

Sorry this won't be much of an entry. On the way to return some Redbox DVDs, I stepped on a roofing nail, and it went clear through my shoe and about a quarter-inch deep into my foot. So I'm limping around, and it hurts, and I can't remember when I got my last tetanus shot. On the plus side, Paul Blart : Mall Cop  was pretty good, and while Punisher: War Zone has to be the single most realistically violent movie I've ever seen, for some reason, it ‘fits'. And in that way, it was enjoyable, too. However, Bride Wars got too b*tchy too fast to watch after a half hour, so it doesn't get even my wary approval.

 

And in better news, Beloved Hubby found a new-to-us oven for a great price from some folks who just remodeled, and it works beautifully. We have an oven again ! I can't wait to get back on my feet and make cookies and brownies and cakes ! He made dinner, almost entirely in the oven to test it, and it was so nice...

 

Oh, and I also had some money left from the weekend, so I snagged a half-price embroidery design set before the sale went off. Now that Free-Standing lace is something I can do without too much worry, I'm obsessed with the idea of making gifts with it. So today's purchase got me eight designs that cover Christmas tree ornaments. I can use glass or plastic ornaments, and any thread I choose - and the photos are so lovely. While the air conditioning guy got things started Friday (yaaay !) the AC runs all the time, and it's still kinda sticky. I could use some ‘cool' thoughts, so hopefully, I'll stitch some out soon.

 

Dearest Son has played with his ‘new' Pink Caddy all day long. I got two hugs and a kiss for it. Definitely a good deal for me !

We'll have a party in your Pink Cadillac...

Spent on dolls today ; $6.50

Spent on embroidery and sewing stuff : $1.50

 

While I was almost too lazy to do it, I'm sooo glad I went yard-sailing and to the flea market today ! Yeah, the flea's been going for almost a month straight - I have no idea why, but heck, if the banners are out, I'll go. And on the way home, I  may just stop at a few yard sales...

 

But first, I had a mission. Getting Beloved Hubby breakfast in bed. It's his birthday ! Sneaky guy got up and showered while I was on the quest for Croissanwiches, though. Can't blame him, he has class today, and we kinda slept in after the mess that was Friday night. He wants to design his own shirts still, so embroidering them has been put off ‘til he's home and is interested.

 

And while he was gone, so was I. First stop, Flea Market. The usual sellers were there, and, time permitting, we always chat. A new seller wanted to tell me all about various nutrition and vaccination theories regarding autism while I prowled through her basket of Barbies. I selected two, but really wanted three, one for her clothes - could I swap the dresses ? Sure, she said. So, that's how I finally got a plastic ‘shell' bra for my Tyco Ariel dolls - by stretching it to fit the Pilot Barbie I wanted. I've always loved  her short hair. Also scored a Rocker Ken, since the one I have is a bit damaged. Not bad at all for $4.

 

And, for the record, I can now say I've found all the original dolls Mattel reproduced in the ‘My Favorite Doll' series this year - long as I can count that #1 Barbie repro I found -  and all at yard sales and flea markets. I've seen numerous #1 repros, I own a Bubblecut, have several TNTs, Malibus, and Superstars, all purchased at the flea market. Just today, I saw yet another Rocker Barbie, again, at the Flea Market. So I can pretty much buy the originals for a buck or two, when the repros are about $40. Of course, the repros are brand new, with no chews and with pretty, bright clothes, but you know me, I always like the original, especially when it's 1/20^th the price !

 

With those two dolls and a plastic bra tucked firmly into the Barbie purse, I moved on. Chatted with sellers, and found a lovely Sweet 16 Barbie dress - the pink with white dots one - on an 80s Skipper, her hair still in the partially-melted rubber band factory set. If it weren't for the gapping bust, it would have fit her well. Sleeves and snaps were intact, it just needs a wash and some attention to be pretty again. The Sweet 16 was my favorite doll when I was a kid. I got her and a pretty miniature plastic Barbie (probably a cake decoration) and the long-needed Jem belt from the first Jem doll ! It needs a bit of attention too - the decal on the front is coming off, and the back is pink, not white, so it needs a cleaning as well. About all I need now is her stand and microphone, and I'll have found everything that was MIB, one piece at a time. A buck fiddy got me these gems.

 

I thought I'd just go home, ‘cause I didn't have much money left, but I stopped at two sales on the way home anyway. The first one got me a cute stationery set and a fat quarter of gorgeous whale-print fabric for a buck. The second got me... a big pink convertible ! Those who've read this a while may be thinking, "I've seen that car before - doesn't she already have it ? " and I'd say how clever and smart you are. Yes, I do. Got it from the junk shop for $3. a year or two ago. However, the front hood ornament was broken off, and the dashboard stickers were gone. This one has all the candy - and for just a buck ! Since Dearest Son has always semi-envied Mommy's pink convertible, he can have the old one - I've upgraded !

 

For those who think I should give Dearest the better car - pffft. If you saw what he did to that white Bratz car he got for Christmas, the one he wanted sooo much, you'd know why I'm keeping the good one with no conscience-twinges. At all. He'll enjoy playing with either, and this way, I won't cringe when he draws either Herbie or General Lee markings on it with a Sharpie.

 

I also scored eight brand-new blank handkerchiefs to embroider on for another buck, and gained a short history on pow-wow shawls from the seller. She dances. Magnificent shawls - my Brody could do amazing things with them. One had some appliqué shapes on it, and it was her favorite, an acquaintance made it for her, but... it really wasn't that well done. But I'd have no idea how to do the fringe, so it all evens out. Beautiful pieces, though. I was just surprised that they seemed to all be made of polyester. I'd have figured that, for Native American dances and rituals, they'd use natural fabrics. You know what they say about assumptions...

 

By now, I really was broke, and tired. So I headed for home and a big soda. And that's been the big news of the day. Whee ! I can't wait to see Dearest's face when he sees that other pink car is his now !

Hail, the conquering hero(ine) !

 

Current Mood : Exhilaration ! 

Spent on embroidery supplies :  $15.60

 

Whee ! I have conquered glitter thread - and Ultra Solvy and Free Standing Lace, all at once ! Now, if I can just get Beloved Hubby to tell me what he wants on which shirts, I'll be ready for the weekend !

 

Yeah, his birthday is coming up, but he's already bought what he wanted. So I figured I'd stitch him up a few shirts - I'd already bought four when I did groceries this week, and they were waiting, washed and ready. He has lots of ideas, and Alphabet XPress makes it sooo easy, but he hasn't yet decided what words he wants where. He was home early today, so I got to run up to Hancock Fabrics and splurge on some more of those good metallic thread needles (while they're on markdown) and a spool of metallic thread, on Beloved's insistence. He wants me to work with ‘the good stuff'. Five packs of needles and one spool later, I was home, parked in front of Brody, plotting.

 

In case Beloved decides what he wants soon, I decided to clear space in Brody's memory for his ideas. So I hooped up some fresh UltraSolvy, using up the last part of a section. Oops. That piece was about a half-inch too narrow. It fit in the hoop OK, but I like to have it extend a bit past its edges, so I can grip it for tightening. So I tore two strips of masking tape, and applied it to the long side edges. Perfect ! Now it was wide enough to snug in the hoop well. I'll have to remember that trick !

 

And I loaded up the brand-new glitter thread, the stuff I just bought. It's almost like tinsel. It feels like it, and bends like it. It's one great big strand of tinsel, on a spool. This made me a bit nervous, but we paid $4.55 for it, may as well get over it and me. Ran a bobbin of 40wt grey thread, since with FSL, Brody does better with it in the bobbin than regular 60 or 70wt bobbin thread.

 

I had a bookmark design from SiCK in Brody's memory, so I figured I'd try that, instead of the sewing machine FSL again. Looking at the printout, I decided to get just the ‘base' (first thread) and the edging (less than half of the second thread), and skip the rest. I'd never done that before either, but in for a penny, in for a pound, I always say !

 

I'd read that some metallic threads need space to ‘unwind' before going into the machine, so many embroiderers suggest letting it unspool a bit in a cup or mug, instead of using the spool pin on the machine. So I tried that. Worked pretty well, but for some reason, the thread broke. So I put it on the pin. Eeesh. Not a good idea. It unspoiled too fast and retwisted itself in little glittery noose-like loops. Luckily, I caught the first one before it went into Brody's inner works ! Put it back in the cup, and watched it like a hawk. No more problems. Guess that's one more tool in the embroidery arsenal, and in permanent residence in the Lab !

 

And there it is, still on the hoop, still stitched onto the UltraSolvy. I cut it off the USolvy, and soaked it, and I wish I could get a better photo. It glimmers and shimmers and looks like tiny beading. I'm very happy with how this one turned out. The remaining USolvy has been bagged, for future recycling efforts. I think I can call this technique a bit closer to ‘conquered' now.

Another loud Thursday at the Library...

Current Mood : Worn

 

Whoo-hoo ! The SiCK site is using a tip I sent, so I got a free set. Chose the remote controlled race cars one that came out in May, for Dearest Son. He loves it, and I'll have all summer to put it on his t-shirts. The cutest thing about the set is a blue-eyed purple and yellow sports car, who has five different ‘poses'. For some reason, I find the idea of stitching out all five, one on several different colors and styles of shirts, and having Dearest wear one every day for his first week of school absolutely hilarious. It's not like this little car is a licensed design or anything - but seeing it five days in a row may have his teacher wondering... probably wondering about his mother's sanity !

 

Not a lot else going on. The library was a complete bust. Today's art activity, gluing feathers and wiggle eyes to a paper lunch bag, was so packed, we couldn't get near the door. And day care centers were there in force. Mostly getting chewed out by librarians - she was really working over one caregiver about bringing 30 kids without a phonecall. About time they stood up for themselves, I just hate that it came to that.

 

Dearest is kinda sensitive to noise, and the kids' library today was literally a wall of sheer sound. He picked out two videos nearly at random, and was ready to go. We did get to tour the pigeon exhibit, though. I didn't know this, but there's a big and devoted group of pigeon racers and breeders in the area, and they had lots for us to see. Dearest even got a pigeon's leg band as a souvenir, and I got to pet one. He coooed at me.

 

Not a lot else going on, so I'm gone. I can still hear kid shrieks... oh, wait. That's the day care center next door. Whew !

 

Glitter falls !

 

Current Mood : Gleeful

Spent on embroidery today : $18.67

 

Have I ever told you that I keep a small screwdriver by my computer desk, so that, after I take an in-the-hoop photo, I can pop the stitching out without taking the hoop back to the Lab ? ‘S true.

 

Well, last night, after a delicious and nutritious Subway dinner - I favor the Subway Melt, m'self - we all relaxed in our nice, cool home. Dearest made up lists of Lego and imaginary parts for Herbie, Beloved started in on some of his hobby works, and I decided to go ahead and try embroidery with metallic thread. I had about six spools of various sizes and types, most of which, I have no idea where it came from. That happens when you buy lotsa thread second-hand.

 

So, first up was some thick, almost wire-like silver on a narrow cardboard tube. I have two of those, identical. I tried to use Brody's on-board monogram, and you can see it on the upper left. It seemed to go well, but it doesn't like to go over itself, or move very much. That was as far as I got with the ‘D'. Later efforts, like the bottom center flower, didn't go well at all. I tried another spool, this one of gold. Since you don't see any gold stitching at all in today's picture, that should tell you how it went.

 

I think I bought the gold thread new, to use on cross-stitch projects. It's that wound kind, that's three flyaway strands twisted together, and once it untwists ( like it does if you were stupid enough to touch it), it won't spin back, no matter how you twirl it. It'd take me five minutes to thread the needle - Brody's lever threader didn't work on either the gold or silver threads - and two seconds for the thread to screw up.

 

Clearly, things were not going well. So I decided to change the needle - and yes, it was bent. But I knew, bent, broken, or just plain twisted needle or not, I was not using those multi-strand threads again. Horrible to work with, and that's the truth. I pulled a DMC spool of silver that was also wrapped strands, but the spool itself is just like the ones in my Madeira chest. It too failed. It's the half-circle on the upper right.

 

I was about to give up, figuring Brody simply needed specialty thread I don't have, with my mix-and-match stash. But I noticed that I had three spools - silver, gold, and pink - with intact Coats and Clark labels, and they clearly said ‘embroidery' on ‘em. So I loaded up the silver. I love silver. And the threader lever worked ! Always a good sign when you're starting again.

 

The circle on the bottom left is from that spool. Encouraged by the not-disaster, I did the often-seen heart design. Success ! So now I know - I know what kind of thread I need to use, the tension settings, and the type of designs to use. Whew ! I can embroider with metallic thread ! And the markdown needles work just fine.

 

The wire-like threads and the twist ones got relegated to the regular sewing thread boxes, since they may yet work with KJ. That freed up some space, and I managed to get all the embroidery threads into the Madeira box and the vintage green sewing box, eliminating a smaller box I had with spools that didn't fit anywhere else.

 

Today was great, too. Got to see the Generation of Dreams Barbie today - our Mal-wart had just one. Nice display case, vivid dress. A lot ‘pinker' than I expected, and the photos don't show the silver sequin ‘frames' around some of the Barbie images. Or the half pound of glitter. As for the doll, it looks like the ‘Daria' Model of the Moment stick-figure sway-backed style, and I never liked those dolls. So, while $50. wasn't too dear for a presumably ultra-collectable celebration of Barbie for all of us, I pretty much hated her. She has a sharp, rather unkind face...one could say, just like a real model, or like a #1 Barbie. At one point, I considered ripping her gown for a *real* Barbie - namely Shinobu or a yard-sale sweetie - but $50. is a bit too rich for an overdone second-grade collage of old Barbie catalogs. With sequins, tulle, and glitter.

 

I confess, with 2009 half-gone already, I'm not very impressed with Mattel's celebration of their #1 product. It's all been stuff to buy, not memories or heritage or generations or dreams. Ooh, Barbie make-up for adults - who else could afford $45. for a compact ? It just seemed as though Mattel slapped the same images on any product that wanted a tie-in ( I guess Drain-O and Bounty paper towels were busy) , but forgot about what Barbie means to a lot of people. But then again, maybe it doesn't matter to them, just the register receipts do.

 

Dearest Son got his Lego Power Miners ‘Claw Digger' kit, and he's been happy all day. Beloved Hubby was home early, so I got to go to Hancock Fabrics and spend as much time as I wanted, all by m'self. Got five cards of metallic thread needles, and a refill pack of chalk. So I'm well-stocked on those ! Also a spool of Sulky ‘Holoshimmer' embroidery thread in "Multi-Color Light"- basically a pastel iridescent thread that's predominantly silver. That was at Beloved Hubby's insistence. Even though I can use thread I already own, he wanted me to get a spool of ‘the real stuff', so...

 

Yeah, I know. It's silly to say I don't like the Barbie for her abundance of glitter when I go out of my way to get the shiniest, most iridescent thread I can find ! But I am my inconsistancies ! 

 

Well, that was today. Hope yours was good, too !

"No pleasure, no rapture, no exquisite sin greater... than central air." - Dogma

 

Current Mood : Happy...and cool ! 

 

Got a call from our landlord this morning - repair person should be here this afternoon to look at the A/C. What a relief. It was 88 degrees at noon today, so I knew we were in for another scorcher.

 

And you know how I am - it just won't do for some stranger to see that we're messy and I'm lazy about cleaning it. So I excavated and vacuumed the living room, straightened up the hallway and got it vacuumed, shoved around clean and dirty laundry, took out trash, gathered all the dishes sinkside in the kitchen, hauled in the box fan from the garage, and got it set up in the Office. The smaller fan that was in there went to Dearest Son's bedroom last night, since all the screens on his windows are in tatters. Didn't want him to be bug-bait, but his room was stifling without windows or a fan. All before noon. Which is more than I did all day yesterday. Back of my hair was soaked from the exertion.

 

Got the last of the alphabets downloaded from that site I'm subbed to until early next month. Gosh, what a job ! But I have over 100 letter styles in numerous sizes to use on my projects, so I'm happy. Reason I joined that site - besides the sale ! - was because nearly all of theirs are in several sizes. Alphabet XPress can bend, size, and shape letters, but only the ones it came with. Since I'm more or less using individual letters as images in it, it doesn't manipulate them at all. So I need lots of sizes to make some of my ideas work.

 

I've about given up on SophieSew, that free digitizing program I was learning. Primarily because there's no ‘undo' button, no way to redo or start again when a mistake is made. Just too frustrating, especially since my drawing skills are just slightly above ‘kindergartener'. Plus, between Alphabet XPress and the finally-working Explorations Resizer, I can about do what I want. And I had a major success today.

 

One of the designs I wanted to make is simple and silly, and is therefore totally ‘me'. Basically, it's a heart with a ring around it, like it's a planet. And I was blown away when I found a very similar design in the Chinese freebie site, and grabbed it. It wasn't until the next day that I found out that its cheesy text ("You Send Me / Right Out Of This World !") made it too big for Brody to download, much less stitch. I shrugged, then started with SophieSew, in hopes of making mine anyway, but from scratch. Which, so far, has gone nowhere.

 

Well, just for giggles today - and to take my mind off the heat - I pulled up Resizer and opened up the Chinese file, which I named ‘planet'. I'd already set Resizer up for my hoop, so it showed exactly where I'd have to trim it. Too bad I couldn't figure out how. It's nowhere near as easy and intuitive as Alphabet XPress. I was about to start looking for the elusive Help file, when I figured I'd better save first. It asked if I was sure, since the design was bigger than the input hoop size. I agreed - then it asked if I'd like to delete everything outside the hoop ! I made sure to center the design, and while a bit of the wording was left, that wasn't a problem, I could just skip that stitch step. Resizer saved it ... and took all the wording off ! Whoo-hoo ! I have the design I wanted now ! Can't wait to stitch it out.

 

And the repair person was here ! Chewed wires, possibly from rodents. Beloved says he'll get some foam insulation that's poison to anything that eats it, and spray around the wiring. I could feel it getting cooler in here. It's 92 degrees outside, and a comfy 87 within, and he just left about a half-hour ago. Even DC, sprawled under my chair, seems to be more comfortable in his fur. I celebrated with a late lunch of leftovers. There's only one second-go-round meal left in the fridge now.

 

So it's been an excellent day ! Dearest Son is all excited about tomorrow, when we'll go grocery shopping. He's already picked out the Lego Power Miners set he wants, and it's affordable. I hope it's there. I can't think of anything I want from Mal-Wart, ‘cause I already got it all !

 

Hope your day was good, and you have something special to look forward to !

Lightning bugs and lightboxes...

 

Current Mood : Hot !

Current Image Notes : Here's a simple design I made in Alphabet XPress, while I was learning how to use the skew, stretch, curve, and move buttons. I can stitch that up, anytime ! I love that program, and I can't wait to buy it !

 

Sorry I bailed on ya'll Sunday and this weekend - I posted the photo, and then came back later, and the site wouldn't take my password ! Maybe it had something to do with the storm, I don't know, but it works now. And I got Molly-car inside in time.

 

If I thought I was lazy this weekend, today was just plain ridiculous. Beloved Hubby made me promise to turn on the A/C, and by 11am, it was over 82 degrees, inside and out. No breezes either. So I shut all the doors, sealed up all the windows, shut down the whole-house fan, and turned on the glory of Central Air Conditioning.

 

Two hours later, it was 86 degrees inside. I jiggled with the a/c fan, checked the thermostat, stood over the vents. When I felt anything, it was just room temperature air blowing around feebly, and nothing more. I could hear it running, though. Another hour, and it was 89 in here. I bagged it, opened everything back up. Landlord says she'll try to get someone here tomorrow. Last year, the daycare center had the same problem. Maybe we alternate years ?

 

Forgot to mention that yesterday, I signed up for a month's membership at an embroidery site that specializes in alphabets and fonts. Normally, it's $15. for a month to download anything and everything you like, but they had a sale, and with Alphabet XPress, I could use as many different letter styles as I liked, so it made sense. Ponied up my $10. and soon had my passcode. It was kinda late yesterday, so I only got about 30 alphabet sets, most in three different sizes. Today I got about 50. That was some solid work ! Not like the last time I joined a pay-site and had everything I wanted in three hours ! It'll probably take me another day or two to get the rest. There's about 20 more I want - and no, I'm not taking everything, just about half, really - and they come out with new ones on Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays. Today's new Firecracker one is very cool. Things are gonna get a lot more creative around here soon...

 

Since Beloved Hubby had the lightbox he made me - scavenged doctor's office x-ray chart viewer from an office renovation a year or two ago - out for some sketch-work, I used it to plot out that big ‘three designs into one' embroidery I'm gonna do. I love that lightbox. Much easier to use than a window on a sunny day, or a lamp under a piece of glass. It comes in handy for my stuff, his stuff, and now that Dearest Son knows what it is, he likes to use it to trace images from his books. I now know about how it'll look if I align it right, and where the exact center of the whole piece is. Here's hoping.

 

Oh, and I saw lightning bugs tonight, in the backyard. Dearest Son has consumed nearly all of the gallon-and-a-half fridge container of Kool-Ade I made Friday morning. Yeah, I think Summer's here.

I made a fish ! Well, a picture of a fish, at least...

 

Current Mood : Excited ! 

 

Whoo-hoo ! One of the last ‘basic' tasks on my Brody list was ‘stitch on a towel', since everyone knows you can make nice, personalized gifts when you have an embroidery machine. It's not that hard - I can say that now that I've had a successful trial, but I kept putting it off and not doing it, until today. And even then, I kinda cheated, I used a washcloth and mostly recycled supplies. We had the whole-house fan on again today, and I can't hear Dearest Son when he bathes when it's running. Luckily, my Lab is directly across from the bathroom, so I can sew while he enjoys a nice tub soak.

 

And, given a half hour in there, minimum, I finally decided to ‘just do it'. Mostly because I wasn't in a mood to clean in there again. Hooping up the very thick beige washcloth was the hardest part. I reused some half-used stabilizer and the water-soluble stabilizer (WSS) I messed up during my very first foray into free-standing lace, back in February ! I figured, even if it didn't go well, at least I used up some stray supplies.

 

But, nope, even in my opinion, it did pretty well. The Ultra Solvy WSS washed out, and the recycled, torn-away bits of tearaway stabilizer in the back held up, so all's well that ends well. It needs to be machine washed again, since the fish area's still kinda starchy from the WSS, but I like the finished item, and it stitched up fast. The yellow insert shows what the designer had in mind - more of a rainbow fish. I made it a goldfish because 1)I'm lazy and didn't wanna change thread seven times on such a quick design, and 2) I'm very, very lazy in general.

 

Still on the table are ‘sewing with metallic thread' and ‘joining unrelated designs to make one big one', and I hope to get to those this week. I guess it goes without saying I never got to the doll clothes. (sigh) I've gotta get out of my lazy summer ways before I end up wasting another season !

 

It was a real scorcher today, but we still kept up with the fans, since it wasn't affecting my breathing or anything. But I can see us having to use the A/C soon. If it weren't for the fast-approaching thunderstorm that's cooling things down, it'd probably be on right now !

Slow Saturday.

 

Current Mood : Tummyache - so I'm bellyachin'. 

Spent on sewing stuff : $6.46

Spent on doll stuff : $5.

Current Image Notes : Here's what the frame and five of the cards from the Barbie 'iDesign' series look like together. I really hate the 'pets in purses' thing, so I'm gonna say ole Raq won a stuffed toy cat on the Boardwalk that afternoon. 

 

A beautiful, bright day, and a yard sale on nearly every corner. You'd think I'd be going insane. Nope. I'm relaxing at home, thinking of my next machine embroidery exploits with Brody, watching an old Mystery Science Theater 3000 episode, eating some junky leftovers. A good day, just not what I expected.

 

I actually did go out for a bit, but my tummy started up again, so I wasn't out long. Hit two yard sales (nothin') and the Flea Market. Spent $5. there, on a small plastic Betty Boop baby doll for DFIL, the tutu ‘Ballerina Ariel' wore on a damaged no-name Barbie-sized doll, another Madame Alexander Happy Meal doll (Minnie Mouse this time), another no-identity six-inch doll wearing a Kelly Halloween dress I liked, a pair of pink Barbie flats, and a shirt and jeans to fit a Ken doll. $5. total.

 

The Kelly outfit gave me an idea. It's a bit big on the six-inch doll, but mostly fits. So, it looks like Kelly clothes fit the Musical Princess dolls, too. Cool !

 

From there, I made my way to Hancock Fabrics, having made up my mind to try sewing with some of this metallic thread I've had around for a few centuries. I've read over and over that metallic thread requires specialty needles, for even regular sewing, not just embroidery. Since I had none of these magic wand needles, I figured I'd pick up a pack.

 

Once there, I noticed there'd been a few changes. Most of the miscellaneous bits on the ‘gadget wall' were gone. And there was only one brand of sewing machine needles - well, there actually were two, but you had to stoop and hunt for anything that wasn't Schmetz. And those bad boys were $6. for four ‘metallic thread' needles ! Wow. A quick check of the new sales ad (mine is probably still in the mailbox) showed that needles go on a 50% off sale Thursday, so I'd just come back then. In the meanwhile, there was lots of fabric and stuff for me to pick through !

 

And, on the other side of the store, I found what remained of the gadget wall. 60% off. Guess they're getting rid of a lot of stuff. Found a pen-like chalk marker that was sure to come in handy with the next big embroidery project - unifying three four-inch designs into one big design. Since Brody simply won't upload anything bigger than four inches, I'd have to match them by measuring, marking, and eyeballing it. The chalk pen, with white ‘leads' and a box of various colored ones, would surely help. Plus, $4. was a pretty good deal, a lot better than the original $10. ! It even came with a sharpener.

 

And I found metallic thread needles ! These were from Metalfil, one of several brands Hancock's is ditching. With the markdown, they were only $2. for five. A quick comparison showed that the Schmetz eyes were just a millimeter or two bigger, but I figured I'd try the Metafil this upcoming week. If they were good, I'd buy the lot. If not, I'd come by Thursday and pick up sale Schmetz. No real loss either way.

 

No fabric this time, but I had plenty of time to look, touch, and price. Heck, I still have washed, dried material I haven't put away yet, so getting more was just beyond right now. Plus, I didn't see anything I wanted.

 

Beloved Hubby's taking a class this month and next every Saturday, so I took a nap. I really should have sewed, but I just wasn't in a mood for it. But sometime between now and next Thursday, I gotta try some shiny stitching !