Photograpy experiments...(maniacal laugh)

 

Current Mood : Fat and happy.

 

What a nice day ! It's still cloudy and kinda dark outside, all day, but we were together and cozy inside. Made a half-pot of coffee and a can of biscuits, and we watched a RedBox rental - Scooby Doo: The Mystery Begins - with jelly or cheese biscuits for breakfast.

 

Back when I first got Stitch Era Universal, I joined a free raster images site. While I haven't done much with SEU since, I still get ‘hey, new images !!1!' e-mails. Got one today, for painted landscapes that'll work as computer wallpaper. Not exactly my style - sort of inexpert Thomas Kinkaid, and I hate that guy !- but it got me wondering. Could I photograph a doll balanced against the wallpaper on my screen, and get a good shot ?

 

It took a bit, and I had to flood my desk with light to avoid flash-bounce on either the screen or the dolls' eye decals, but it really didn't take any longer to get a good photo that way than it does any other way. All the light pretty much made sure there weren't any shadows, so it doesn't look like she's propped up against a poster. It doesn't give any additional depth, either, but it does give me a few million new free backdrops I can use for photos ! Between that, and finally finding more brick and stone print scrapbook paper, I'm pretty much done hunting for backdrops ! Which is good, since the Lab is rapidly approaching maximum capacity again. (sigh)

 

It's been nice, though, to have a few dolls on my desk to play with. I think I'll keep doing that, just rotate ‘em every week. Normally, I don't like to have my ‘toys' out of the Lab, especially since I'm constantly on Dearest's little butt to keep his picked up. But all these are either brand-new still, or fresh from a second-hand buy, and I was working on ‘em - they hadn't been put away yet. Still, three or four on the desk shouldn't be a problem.

 

Oh, and I'd forgotten to mention that my much-loved and often-worn grey sweatshirt zip-front hoodie jacket was missing when I went to the hall closet for it two weeks ago. Looked all over for it, nothing. I even poked in the ‘embroider this' basket. I was a bit sad, thinking I'd left it somewhere a couple months ago, because it's perfect for Bus Watch on these cool but not yet cold mornings. Beloved Hubby found it for me yesterday - it was in the garage the whole time ! It was like getting it new all over again. It's already been washed and worn, and I'm so happy to have it back. Now, what to embroider on it...

 

Speaking of colder climate adjustments...I was thinking of just when it started to get cooler ‘round here. And then, it came to me. It was the day after I bought the fan for the Lab. It only ran for the one day ! Good thing I saved the box. At least it'll be nice and clean for '10 !

 

Still not sure where the day went. I really didn't do much besides play with dolls and the camera and my guys. We got my favorite fried chicken takeout for dinner from the local place, and I'm almost too stuffed to move ! Hope your day had bluer skies, but was just as cozy as coffee for you !

Saturday...at my desk...I know it wasn't the fourth of July...

 

Current Mood : Satisfied with Saturday

 

You may soon notice that the photos are getting bigger. That's ‘cause I figured out how to post here and on In The Pink  using the same image downloaded and stored only once. Basically, I save it as a ‘Draft' blog entry, view the image link under ‘Properties', and cut/paste it to the board. Then, when it's ready, I can enter the day's text and move it from ‘Draft' to ‘Post' for publishing. Before, I posted the image to a photo album for ITP, then posted it again here. Since the same image would be on my web space twice, I always kept the pictures fairly small. Since I can now use the same posted image both times, I can make it bigger - and still use less web space ! 

 

Only thing I don't like about it is that I usually end up posting to ITP first. But when there's already an image uploaded and ready to go, I'm more likely to keep the blog up to date. 90% of the time I'm a week or a month late, it's due to lack of images. Since I now wanna post photos of my second-hand, playline dolls - especially when ‘everyone' over there seems determined to buy as much as possible and only post photos of the latest and most expensive - it'll end up being a boon all the way around. Who knows, maybe I'm not the only one who isn't into big-dress, big ticket Silkstones and Limited Editions. I doubt I'll ever shake my personal conviction that no matter how expensive and limited they are, dolls are ultimately playthings.

 

And I took a bit of time to play today. Decided not to keep the brunette doll I got from last week's yard sale - her eyes just looked weird to me. So I dressed her and added her to the bag - and played with the two Pilots, Tiana, Glam TaN, and today's girl, since they were on my desk anyway.

 

The doll in today's photo has a sort of interesting story. I wasn't going to keep her at all - she was in the ‘trade' bag for weeks. Her blonde ponytail in that cotton-candy fiber was unremarkable, and her SuperStar face I'd seen a million times. In fact, back in my earliest days of ‘collecting' (i.e., playing as an ‘adult'), the SuperStar face was held in near total disdain by most other adult fans, and it was worse if she had bent arms and big eyes. It was a sort of backlash, since Mattel wasn't using many other faces back in the 80s and early 90s, at the dawn of the recognized adult collector. If it was in wide use and had at any time been within line-of-sight of a child's toybox, the adults seemed to sniff down their noses at it - unless it was vintage. SuperStar's ubiquity and playline origin was really working against her.

 

I actually left a board after the members all agreed that the ‘big eyed' dolls were awful and ugly and not worth having. Um...darn near all mine were playline, used, sold within the last five years, and usually all three, including having big pretty anime eyes. It was nice to have different faces, but I didn't quite understand why suddenly everyone loathed 90% of dolls out there at the moment. Anyway, I had plenty of blonde SuperStars already, so this one went into the ‘trade' bag - where Beloved Hubby dug her out and tattooed her ! She has a flower on her right shoulder and a heart with stars on her hip. No way could I give her away now ! But I hadn't really done anything with her, either. So today, I got her hair all brushed out, and took her photo about a dozen times, ‘til I got it right. It doesn't show the glitter stuck seemingly permanently on her legs. Tiana has the same thing, from her lily pad-themed issue gown.

 

Scrubbing and soaping didn't help much, and the idea of picking it off flake by flake seemed like a long, boring job. So I tried lifting it off with regular ole Scotch tape. That worked ! Took a while, but it all came off. I guess I shouldn't be surprised, since she's Glitter Beach Barbie. She even came with a bottle of glitter lotion. But I always figured that most of the lotion ended up on the girls who owned her, not so much on the doll. I'm not even sure consumer-level body glitter even existed in 1992, outside of costume and adult shops.

 

It's been cool here for the last week or so, and I'm happy to record that the heat's working fine. After all the fuss with the air conditioning this summer, I was a bit concerned. Yesterday, it only got up to 58 degrees, but it was a comfy 70 in here !

 

Yum ! DFIL brought us sandwiches from where he works, and we chatted a bit. Grandmother's on pain meds, the kind that absorb through the skin, so that was a relief to hear. It's the medicines other than pain relief she's not having to deal with anymore. DFIL says she's slipping away, and last night was calling for her husband, who passed nearly a decade ago. I'd like to believe that, wherever we go after we depart, we're with our loved ones who've gone before.

Gray skies are clearing up... but it was still a lousy day for yard sales !

 

Current Mood : Relaxed

Current Image Notes : I decided to keep both my Barbie Pilots, after all. Today you get to see the 1997 version, who came with navy luggage to match her uniform, with the zippy pink trim. She's modeling one of the few finds of the day, being a yard sale treasure herself ! 

Spent on cardstock and backdrops : $4.

 

Busy morning today, too. I stupidly let my imagination roam when I read the words ‘vintage toys' in a Craigslist.com ad for a yard sale, and soon after Dearest Son and Beloved Hubby left, I was on my way. You probably heard the sigh I released when I got there - I'd been to their sale last year, and bought one doll for her dress, that was all. Guess the ‘we just moved here from Chicago' was also BS, and I should have known. Who moves, then gets rid of stuff ? Very few folks.

 

It wasn't just the same house - it was the same stuff from the last sale, too. Same sticky creepy-headed Baby Alive from 2007, same plastic barware, same blankets and clothes. Oh, well. I still scored two huge decks of scrapbooking cardstock, and some brick and stone patterned papers, all for $4. I can quit stocking cardstock now... I've already used some, as a backdrop in today's photo. The only ‘vintage' toys I saw were some battered, paint-stripped Hot Wheels that probably anyone could find after a short dig in a good municipal playground sand box.

 

From there, it was off to Dearest's school, to drop off his doctor's note and Thursday folder that I'd forgotten. By then, the pharmacy was open, and I picked up his prescription and ordered mine. $136. later, I was on the way to the Flea Market, feeling very lucky that Dearest's wasn't as expensive as I'd feared. I also added two $9. inhalers to my usual order, since my bedside one felt light last night, and I wanted a backup one in Beloved's truck. With the exception of the single expensive prescription, I'm well-stocked for winter, since I take advantage of the 90-day supply for $10. on the three I can ! Sure, it only saves us $24. a year, but that's a week of feeling luxuriously spoiled for me ! 

 

This week, it takes even less. The flea market was, in a single word, depressing. Brenda, the doll seller I often trade with, didn't have anything I wanted, so I left my dolls in Molly-car. She can't really give me cash for them, especially on slow weekends like this one, so when there's nothing I like, it doesn't do either of us any good to initiate a trade. Maybe next month. I found old VHS tapes of Stripes (for me, I'm a huge Harold Ramis fan), Night of the Comet (for Beloved, it's one of his few favorites we don't already have), and Return to Neverland (for Dearest, of course- he really loved it when we rented it a few weeks ago) for a couple bucks, and got heck out of there. There were maybe ten or fifteen booths, and probably more sellers than shoppers. Most of the booths didn't have sellers manning them, they were so bored, they were wandering around, too.

 

Beloved was home for lunch, always a treat, and he gladly tucked the spare inhaler away in his truck, just in case. A few hours later, Dearest was home, and he took his double-dose of meds like a trooper, declaring that it was only halfway rank. And, as for the rest of the evening, we goofed off together.

 

What a nice Friday ! Hope yours was good !

 

Thanks, ya'll !

 

 

Current Mood : Tired but perking up a bit.

Current Image Notes : Here's ‘toddler Tiana', yesterday's new acquisition. Isn't she adorable ? Her hair is so much fun - I made the little Leia-like bun on the left in about five seconds by simply brushing her curls over my fingers. On the right, her out-of-box hair. She comes with a cute little crown and a pretty green crown-and-frog themed hairbrush.

 

Thanks, everyone - your messages helped me make a bit of sense out of yesterday, and I really, really appreciate it. While I'm still dizzy and confused, maybe I'm not quite as selfish as I thought, that the dolls and play satisfied a need for all of us. Forgot to mention that Beloved Hubby's newest tattoo machine arrived, so we all had something new, just for ourselves. And I think we needed that, separately and together. And ‘Operation' was fun, even if Dearest Son's driving me nuts with its ‘new, improved' sound effects today.  We've already picked out our next game, Scrabble's "Slam" card deck. Surprisingly, a deck of cards is nearly as much as the ‘Operation' game.

 

And I have another confession. I just wasn't bonding with ‘Aramina', the Barbie and the Three Musketeers doll I got Saturday. It was very sweet of Dearest Son to pick her out for me, but between the big dress, the blue-green painted legs, and the unremarkable face, it just wasn't happening. I kinda knew when I didn't debox her right away, like I did with Princess Tiana. She went back to TRU when I got little-girl Tiana, a doll I really wanted. I'd have snagged her Saturday, but they were in an entry display instead of over in the DPrincess section. Heck, the fashion doll version was in with the Barbie dolls, not with the DPs either. What can I say, our TRU tries...

 

After numerous phone calls and three messages since Tuesday, we finally got an appointment for Dearest Son at the nurse-practitioner's office. So he was home today, since it was right after lunch, and with a note, it'd be an excused absence for a whole day, and he needed some rest. After having some trouble reading the old glass thermometer, we bought a digital one, but never duplicated the 101-degree reading Dearest had at school. In fact, his temp never got above 99-even. Still, he's been coughing for weeks, and while the cough syrup helps, it should be gone by now. So should the congestion in his chest. Time for medical intervention.

 

I should have known, this happens nearly every year about this time - sinus infection. Which is also why the cough medicine worked on the symptoms but didn't resolve the illness. We got a prescription and a note for school, and were on our way. With Uncle gone from us, and Grandmother fading, Dearest's home for the weekend, so I'll have a bit of fun tomorrow, while he's at school. I'm hoping that Brenda has some great new finds I can trade her for ! If not, it can always wait ‘til next month.

 

Right now, though, it's pouring down rain. (sigh) Don't think I'm gonna hit any yard sales tomorrow. They've probably been washed away !

I may have overdone the 'play every day' thing...

 

Current Mood : Mad scientist-y. And very tired.

Current Image Notes : Here's a 'Then and Now' Barbie head on a 'Glam' Fashionista body. I like it !

 

Today was even worse than I thought it'd be. Dearest Son's meeting was a mental minefield, one of our ill senior family members is no longer with us, I'm dizzy and nauseous, and despite it all, I'm happy because I got two new dolls. Goss, I am so self-centered...

 

Dearest's meeting wasn't good. Basically, it's pretty apparent that Teacher resents every extra minute she has to spend with him, and she's pretty much given up. I know that he's an extra challenge, but watching her weave her head back and forth on her neck like a hypnotic cobra while she defended herself against nothing - truly, all I'd said was an apology for being late (they'd moved the start time, but AGAIN forgot to tell me) - pretty much told me that Beloved Hubby's conclusion was correct. I also found out he'd been given a multitude of tests, and he's not doing well this year. I think I know part of the reason why. And why his spelling words are actually easier than the ones he had in first grade. (sigh)

 

I came home upset, and Beloved set up an appointment to speak with the principal, who wasn't at the meeting. And he confirmed that Teacher did, in fact, lie to us about not getting permission for the field trip. Teacher'd spoken to the principal with her concerns two days before, but she didn't know that Teacher never bothered to contact us until just before departure - and the crap about ‘no time for permission slips' was just that, crap. He also said I'd been ambushed and put on the defensive about today's meeting, where again, we were the last to be notified about changes. Principal was unaware of the details, but said she'd make sure that future decisions would include us, and in a timely fashion. First time for everything this year, I thought.

 

Want a laugh ? Teacher made absolutely sure we got his delayed Thursday folder today. Because tomorrow's photo day. And we don't wanna miss that ! What if we didn't have an order form ?! Horrors ! We might miss out on yet another money-making opportunity for the school, and get more blurry, hurried images that we paid for in advance and can't return. Who'd want to miss out on all that ?

 

So I left the meeting feeling pretty low. I'd already done the grocery run and found the ‘Glam' Fashionista Barbie, and swapped her outsized head for the one on the ‘Then and Now' Barbie I got from Target a few weeks ago. That's her, in today's image. It's funny how it's very nearly the same head, even the same makeup, but Glam's is noticeably larger. I put the unused Glam head on the belly-button body and added her to the Flea Market trade bag. I like TaN's sidelong glance and smaller head with the updated body much better, and have no use for the Glam head on the belly-button body. I also got the two Pilot dolls in the same space and selected one. I'll probably pull one more doll for the trade bag, to make it an even 20. I'd been happy with my Franken-dolly, but today wasn't quite done with turning into ash yet.

 

We found out this afternoon that Uncle went into a coma Monday, and slipped from it later that day. The service is tomorrow, but the burial will be in another state. I'm not even sure if I can go to the service, since shortly after lunch, Dearest's school called. He had a fever, so he may be home tomorrow. We also found out that Grandmother is off all medication now, and is pretty much stuck in bed until her time comes. This I do not understand, since we know she's been in pain for some time, so... it's not our decision to make, but I still don't understand it.

 

So, with all this going on, what do we do ? Since Beloved was home when the school called, we picked him up, and went to TRU. Got a copy of ‘Operation' for game night, and I snagged the toddler Tiana. You'll see her photos soon - her hair is a delight to play with. And she's very pretty. With the Tiana I bought this weekend, we got a special gift, a pretend Snow White baking set. A bit too feminine for Dearest, he wasn't interested, so I put it away for Toys for Tots' bins later.

 

Came home, Beloved went back to work, and I made a simple snack plate for Dearest, and put him on the sofa. Deboxed Tiana, and played for a little bit while he napped. With everything going on - death, illness, bills, education, fear, confusion, and despair - I noticed that Tiana's shoes had crowns on the toes and frogs on the soles, and her hair is wonderful. I managed to get the Glam earrings into TaN's smaller earholes, and tried to swap bodies with other dolls, but the ivory skin tone for ‘My Melody' and ‘Hello Kitty' dolls don't match any of the Fashionista's. I brushed hair, swapped clothes, found shoes, and took photos.

 

I played.

 

Then, when Beloved came home, we played more. Together. ‘Operation' now makes more obnoxious sounds beyond the buzz, the game now doesn't involve cards or play money, and Dearest is surprisingly dexterous with those tweezers. I ‘read' a coloring book to him tonight, making up voices and comments for a book with no words. Anakin is convinced that he's better looking than Obi-Wan, but Obi thinks his arms are his best feature and his lightsaber is bigger, and Yoda can still kick everyone's Jedi butt. And if you rub three battle-droids together, you might have enough intelligence to turn on a vacuum cleaner, and clone soldiers love to pose for family pictures. Or Heismann trophies.

 

Maybe I'm as selfish as I think I am, maybe I'm doing everything wrong. But I hope that our son knows that, no matter what his teacher thinks or what the school does, we're on his side. Always. And that life always goes on.

Tiana in purple...

 

Current Mood : Rainy

 

It was still raining when Dearest Son got on the bus, but we had a brief few hours of daylight this afternoon. So I gathered the Nerf projectiles and ran a deposit to the bank. I barely got Molly-car back in the garage before it sprinkled a bit then stopped. I'll be so glad when monsoon season is over. Had a raging sinus headache this morning, and only a nap dulled it somewhat.

 

Tiana has a fortune for you ! It says, "Tomorrow your creative side will shine for th with exceptiona ideas." I hope that for you all week !

 

Got quite a bit done. Washed dishes, patched one of my shirts, cleaned off my desk and filed a few dozen papers, harvested more Nerf, and ran some Fray-Check along the completely raw edges of Tiana's ‘lily pad' dress. I know I shouldn't expect more from Mattel, but a complete cheap-out on the back and an unfinished hem just screams at me.

 

Tomorrow's gonna be busy, too. Soon as Dearest's on the bus, I'm gonna run up and do the grocery shopping. Then, we have his IEP meeting at 10am, and what's next is up to Beloved Hubby. If he can't come to the meeting, I'll probably hit a thrift or two. If he can, we may go to lunch together. So I wanna keep my options open.

 

For now though, my headache's coming back, and I am so blessed sleepy...

 

A celebration of lazy...

 

Current Mood : Laziness incarnate, that's me. 

 

 

It was still raining this morning, so Beloved Hubby was home today. And, after getting Dearest Son off to school, I did the ultimate lazy thing - and went back to bed. I can't believe how much ( or how well !) I slept !

                       

The rest of the day wasn't much of an improvement. We mostly sat around and watched TV. I'm still not sure where the day went, since before I knew it, it was time for Bus Watch, and Dearest was home. And I'm about ready to go back to bed.

 

I'm thinking of getting a ‘Glam' Fashionista next week. Not because I really want that particular doll or outfit, but because her skin tone matches my "Then and Now" Barbie, and I'd love to have another fully-articulated doll, since playing with Miss Sassy has been a lot of fun. Might as well give TaN the most up-to-date body !

 

I'm also considering adding the Princess and the Frog toddler Tiana doll. From the photos I've seen, she looks much like the Playmates "Little Disney Princess" dolls, but Tiana's from Mattel. According to TRU.com, there's one at our local store, so I may have to swing by and check ‘em out. If Mal-Wart doesn't have her, that is !

 

Here's the $11. 'basic' Tiana - she redresses beautifully ! Her box is amazing, the trellis is a design of frogs and lily pads, with hidden Mickey Mouse heads. In fact, we used it as a quick primer to product marketing and design packaging for Dearest. Like his momma, he loves studying how things are designed and packaged for sale.

 

Well, not much to blog on today, except my extreme laziness. Hope your day was more productive !

 

 

Here's my fully-customized pretty green girl !

Current Mood : Wheee !

 

Rain began around 1am this morning, luckily, I'd tucked Molly-car into the garage in time. I'll be so glad when we get her stuck window fixed.

 

Another busy doll-day. With the all-day rain, it was good to stay indoors and play ! There's Nerf bullets all underfoot, but that's OK - there's also tons of doll stuff there, too.

 

Went through the doll clothes I scored Friday. I already had many pieces - they were part of a four-outfit Fashion Fever set I bought back in April '07. I'm glad my photos get date-stamped. That means I can customize these ! Already removed the lace belt from the denim Capri pants, and I'm gonna take some ribbon off a blouse that's already a bit busy without it and the bow.

 

I was mostly digging through them to re-dress The Princess and The Frog's Princess Tiana - deboxed her today. Used a gentle fingernail to scrape most of the glittery eye shadow off. No idea why nearly every Mattel doll made these days has huge glitter-flake eye makeup, it's annoying. Powdered glitter is available and it's just as shiny, and less obvious and out of scale. Redressed her in a pretty purple party dress from Friday's lot, and posed her seated. Very lovely doll, with a gorgeous darker skin tone. She has your standard non-twist-waist belly-button body, so she can cross her legs almost naturally. I love her bright smile ! Shame the ‘lily pad' design of her dress is front-only. I hate it when Mattel cheaps out, too.

 

I was super-careful with her deboxing, and soon had the plastic front removed, and the head cushion cardboard taken out. Took a few photos with Pilot Barbie in Tiana's box shell, and doctored it a bit in PaintShopPro - now it looks like Pilot is standing in front of a cardboard display / photo op for the movie. May have to post that photo later... and if I wanna do a series of images, doctor the box itself, instead of the resultant images.

 

Rest of the day, we just goofed off. What a nice weekend !

 

New Doll Saturday !

 

Current Mood : Overwhelmed with new dolls !

 

Busy day, doll-wise. Forgot to mention that yesterday, I took Halloween Kayla's - the green Kelly -  hair down, since the little bun looked awfully formal for a kid. Boy, was her hair a mess ! Must've been a million different lengths, part brown and mostly black, part of it had that awful ‘cotton candy' texture, and all of it was crunchy with starch. Brushing it and even washing it still left it unmanageable. So I boil-permed it this morning, and cut it. You'll get to see the finished version tomorrow. I like her much better now !

 

Beloved Hubby decided he wanted to have a backyard Nerf war, so we were off to TRU. Dearest Son found a TRU-exclusive Clone Wars ship he fell in love with, and we got two rapid-fire Nerf guns that are tons of fun to play with - and they're even easy to reload. We've been shooting darn near everything all day !

 

I found that the Princess and the Frog dolls are out ! Target had a DPrincess set out last month with a Princess Tiana included, but it was $60. for all seven dolls. Not a bad value, but not what I wanted. For a while, it was the only way to obtain Tiana. Now TRU has the same doll on her own, and she was only $12. So I snagged one. Very pretty ! Dearest Son picked out one of the Barbie and the Three Musketeers dolls from a stand-alone display and handed it to me, saying he wanted me to have one from the ads. Yes, there's at least one Barbie ad during Clone Wars every day.  Beloved thought it was cute, and perhaps unsurprisingly, it's the very one of the four I'd have picked out, so she came home, too.

 

It was ‘Moxie Girls' day there, too, so I got stickers, a ‘fortune teller' folding sheet, and Dearest got candy. Even if I don't like the dolls, I always like doll stickers !

 

And once home, there was a box on the porch. The return address was unfamiliar, so I thought it was more product testing, a sample this time. Nope. This was Dearest's Pink Ticket prize - a doll ! She's today's image. A pretty princess that I'm saying is dressed well for this month's costume theme, Halloween.  He said I could have her, since he got a new Clone ship to play with. I think I'll display her for a while, since I already have two to debox !

 

We spent the rest of the day firing and dodging Nerf, napping, and watching Monsters vs. Aliens, which was kinda cute. The 3-D Bob's Big Break featurette gave Beloved a roaring headache. But for Dearest, who'd never seen 3-D glasses before, it was an amazement.

 

Haven't deboxed either of the dolls yet, since it's been a kinda busy day. Not sure who's gonna get opened first, Tiana or Musketeer Aramina, who says she's a poet and an adventurer on her box. Wanna take pictures first, so it'll probably be tomorrow. Those clear plastic box faces bounce flash around somethin' fierce.

Yard Sale Fun Friday !

 

Current Mood : Sleepy, fat, and happy !

Spent on dolls and Barbie etc. : $5.25

Spent on kid shoes for the My Size girls : $2.

Spent on toys for Dearest Son : $1.

Spent on a small stuffed star with brown eyes : 10c

Current Image Notes : Here's a scan of the back of my new green girl's box. Now you know what the whole line looks like, and what 'Kayla' looks like with her little scar. Mattel seems to be scar-obsessed - look at that poor kitty drawing on the side ! 

 

Since Dearest Son will be with us this weekend - Beloved Hubby's grandmother isn't doing well - so I adjusted my plans a bit. I'd intended to stay in and sew, but instead went out for a bit, and hit five yard sales. Only bought stuff at two, but one was a fantastic haul !

 

Among lots of toys, I found a Winnie-the-Pooh photo storage box with Barbies and clothes inside. There was some sort of baglike thing under it, and that had the price - $5. The sellers told me that the ‘bag' was actually a doll tent, and it was included. Intriguing, since one of the few doll things I don't have is a tent. Had the plastic 70s one as a kid, though. They held the lot for me while I looked around a bit more. That was it for the doll stuff, although there were many more goodies ! The Deluxe Spirograph looked like fun, and seemed complete with box, so for 75c, that came along, too. A neat Cars vehicle storage/racetrack also looked near-new, so it, and a neat Barbie makeup bag was added to my pile - 25c each. To finish things off, I found a small pillow-like star with brown eyes. Turned out to be a NeoPets Happy Meal toy, very cute, for a dime. Wheee !

 

The other three sales didn't have much, and the final got me two pair of toddler shoes for the My Size girls for a buck each - pink ballerina bow flats, and cute white sandals. Like they don't already have more shoes than me !

 

Once home - with the lunch special at the Chinese place I like ! - I went through the doll goodies. Wow, what a haul ! I retuned the Pooh box to the sellers to sell again, not being much on the silly old bear, so they bagged it all for me. That box had been packed fulla goodies. Brought home three nearly-new Barbie dolls, 30 items of clothing, 5 pair of shoes, a single pink glitter pump, four purses, a makeup case, two suitcases, three teacups, a teapot, a plate, a ‘book', two ‘cd' boxes, a compact, a water bottle, flowers, a brush, the tent, and two matching slumber bags.

 

Of the dolls, I already know one blonde is going with the Flea Market group. I found that she's a Fashion Fever - most of her clothes were in the box, too - with a blue butterfly tattoo on her left cheek. Not sure about the Pilot Barbie. I already have one, and this one's pink hair streaks washed out, so I doubt I'll keep both Pilots. The Raquelle brunette will probably stay. They're both fantastic dolls - just wish I could get Raquelle's hair color on the Pilot doll's head, in her style !

 

Dearest loved both toys I got him. I tried out the Deluxe Spirograph - just to make sure it works, of course ! - and found it vastly superior to the one I played with as a kid. Back then, pins held the loose ‘frames' to paper while the gears drew the design inside and outside of it. And it always, always slipped, at least for me. Usually at the very end of an especially nice design. This one is a lot more limited - there's only three ‘frames' with seven gears - but it's easier to use, and doesn't involve pins and cardboard. It's a lot more stable, and doesn't slide at all.

 

He played off and on with both while we waited for the Clone Wars : Rise of the Bounty Hunters debut episode. Beloved and I agreed, it was much more violent, with several on-camera scenes of torture, than the previous series. He commented the only thing missing was blood - and then, there was a preview of the next episode. Yup, blood. Just ‘cause it's green doesn't mean it isn't still a bit intense for kids. I'm not at all enthusiastic about the rest of the season.