Good Mail Day! =D

2 fabulous packages arrived today! I do so love it when packages arrive! And it's even better when it's something you've won. I follow a wonderful blog called Reanna Lily Designs. Jen is a quilter who not only makes gorgeous quilts, but makes quilt patterns too! I myself don't quilt but my mom does so I always like seeing what is going on in the quilting world. Well last week was Jen's birthday...to celebrate she did the gift giving! Every day she held a drawing, with Fridays' drawing being for 12 half-yards cuts of gorgeous fabrics!!!! Well being the fabric-hound that I am, I HAD to enter. I honestly never expected to win though. So imagine my surprise when in my inbox Monday was an email from Jen asking for my home address cause I had won the fabric giveaway!!! Weeeeee =D Well my fabrics arrived today being even more gorgeous in person! I simply cannot wait to get to play with them and create several fabulous goodies with all my pretty new fabrics!
My second awesome package held more fabric; a vintage cheater cloth in tiny prints and gorgeous shades of brown. This will eventually become a quilt of 2 in my mom's quilt shop doll house. From the same seller I purchased a 1999 issue of Barbie Bazaar magaine. Sadly this magazine is no longer being published but I am bidding on a couple lots of mags on ebay. I wish there was a magazine like this being published today. I chuckled at a editorial in it that asked "Now that the internet is here to stay..." This just completely made me giggle. I vaguely remember being in my early 20's around this time and the only time I dealt with computers was at work in the furniture store doing office work. No internet though. And here I am barely 11 years later and I feel weird if I don't check my email every day! We've come a long way, baby!!!

I am currently working on a pair on 1/6th scale pillows using striped material. Hopefully I'll be able to show them off tomorrow. I'm also lengthening a pair of RL curtains for a friends daughter's dorm room. Which reminds me I better get back to that! LOL Have a great weekend y'all!

Bren's Busy Baking!

Bren was sooo very excited when the mail showed up today...a package from Hong Kong! I ordered some more Re-ment dishes of ebay and Brens' chef whites arrived! She had to try them on right away. Ooops didn't realize the pants were capris, but
Bren says they'll be really comfy in the kitchen. Although we are thinking about adding a bit of lace to the hem for a little bit of 'flirt'! Our resident fashion maven Ellie declared that the red scarf would be better suited to tieing back Brens' hair. We both agreed!




After she got into her whites, she flounced off to the kitchen for a marathon baking session! I could hear the mixer going and bowls clattering as Bren sang along to the radio as she worked. She is a rather impressive baker as she got quite a bit accomplished today.
--Scrumptious Nibbles Sampler...Chocolate and vanilla butter cookies, jumbo cream puff, and a key lime tart in chocolate cookie crust. Also on this tray are a couple bars of the gourmet chocolate Bren uses in all of her chocolate dishes.
--5 layer chocolate and yellow checkerboard cake with whipped cream frosting.
--Black Forest Cake with buttercream frosting and homemade cherry filling
--Cream Puffs, Jumbo and MiniBite
--Bren's Famous Rich Dark Chocolate cake with Madagascar Vanilla Bean frosting!

Crafty people are wonderful folks!

So last week, Kathi over at Beautiful Mini Blessings posted a picture of some fabrics she bought at Walmart. Her favorite is a gorgeous teal blue paisley print. I fell in love with it too and asked if she'd consider picking some up for me as our Walmarts have phased out the fabric departments. She agreed and told me the other day that that my fabric was on it's way. So imagine my surprise when this good sized box arrived today. What I found inside simply blew my mind. This box was stuffed to the gills with gorgeous fabrics and trims that Kathi found and put together for me! INCLUDING of course my pretty teal paisley! THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU KATHI!!!

Dress #9---The Halle

You know like Halle-ween! =D
Yeah ok I know it's a bad bad pun, but I couldn't resist! Dress number 9 (...hmm maybe I need to make a little Love Potion too! hehehe) Ok sorry back to the outfit! Dress #9 is an orange and black fringed, plaid wrap-around skirt, with jet crystal 'button'. The matching sweater is black 'knit' material with a decorative jeweled accent at the shoulder. This is actually a bodysuit which allows for the 'tucked in' look. Matching black mules and a Halloween tote bag make this a great ensemble for taking Kelly out trick or treating and then out to dinner or a party with one of the guys afterwards. (hmmmm has Edward taken an interest in Ellie?)

2 posts in one day...

Yep I just had to show off the new jackets I bought today! (Oh yeah and the Liv outfit that Ellie is modeling too!)
1. Liv jeans and lacey top. The jeans are a tad too short, I am thinking about adding a 'cuff' of brown suede (since the stiching is brown) The top is also a pain to get on as the Liv dolls must have slightly narrower hips than Barbies do. BUT once on it's really cute! The purse and dog bowl are Liv, the shoes, sunglasses & chihuahua are Barbie.
2.& 2a. Yellow Houndstooth hooded jacket
3. Coral 'puffy' parka, with 'fur' trim. I like the asymetrical collar, but want to tack down the right side.
4. Camo Nehru style jacket. I LOVE the hot pink trim with the camo
5. Aqua Short Flare Trench. Possibly my favorite, my sister informed me that she wants THIS jacket in HER size!!! LOL

Ooops I did it again...

Ok so after the craft supply haul the other day I really hadn't intended to buy anything else this month. BUT...then I hit one of our local Walmarts. And FOUND a TON of Barbie/1:6th scale stuff on clearance! The gorgeous red-haired basics doll was $7, normally $20, the Basics accessories in black and gold (with chihuahua) was only $4 again regular $20! The Taylor Swift 'directors' chairs were only $2 a piece so I bought all 4 figuring I can replace the glittery pink fabric. (Of course getting them home I discovered that they are REALLY unsturdy, sooo I will have to see what I can do to stabilize them!) The Liv pack with the pinky striped scarf was $1!!!! The other Liv items came from Toyrus as they were running a promotion that if you bought $30 in Liv items you got the Gift Shop playset free!!! (retails for $20) I love the way the Liv items work with Barbie so I snagged up the adorable coats as well as the lacey denim outfit!

Last but not least is the Harumika fashion design sets. This is an intriguing concept where you take 'sheets' of fabric and fold, drape and then tuck into a specially designed slot in the back of the Mannequin! I got the large set for $8 and the smaller one for $3. The thing I like is one, the mannequin, and 2 all the pre-made belts and such. I think this is gonna be alot of fun to play with! It seems that these items are not clearanced at ALL Walmart stores as I checked 2 others and these items were still full price! *sigh* Oh well!

Dress #8---The Roxie

I found the plaid ribbon the other day at Hobby Lobby and knew it was meant to be a skirt. Since it wasn't wide enough to make the entire thing from it I used it as an accent on a fitted black skirt. The tee shirt came from Big Lots and is a scrapbook embellishment. It took a little alteration to make it fit though. For one it was constructed like a real tee...but the neck opening doesn't stretch. So I sliced it up the back and added a bit more black t-shirt material to each side and added velcro. Now it fits properly and is removeable! The shoes are from my first Fashionista doll (now Bren) and the satchel is from the Liv line of dolls. It also had a camouflage jacket, but that'll wind up with something else I'm sure1 LOL
I think I am going to try making her a Music Theory text book to go in her satchel since it opens.

Craft Store Finds and Latest Creations

I am very lucky when it comes to craft supplies...I live in a major city where I have not 1 but 3 different craft stores as well as 3 fabric stores (I just discovered 2 online yesterday!) I LOVE it, granted my wallet doesn't always love it, but we have come to terms with our disagreements! LOL Over the last week I have visted each of the craft stores and my favorite (for the moment) fabric shop. Wanna seem my goodies???

First up is fabric. I thought I had kept them seperated, but guess not...so these came from Joann's and Hancock Fabrics. The top row 1st and 4th fabrics are going to become an over the door hanging doll storage bag. 2,6,7 & 8 in that same rose are destined for doll bedding, with 3 becoming holiday pillows and 5, 9 and 10 becoming doll clothes. The second row will all become doll clothes...I am planning to dye my own cotton with the tye-dye kits below! =D Most of the bottom row is destined for bedding of some kind although the mottled reds might become clothing.
I got these tye-dye kits for around $5 each (they hold enough dye to color 8 shirts!) Plus buying them pushed me into the coupons bracket at the time which gave me $10 off my entire order! =D There are 9 different colors and 18 packets total. So watch for some dye work eventually!
These items came from yesterday's shopping trip. I hadn't intended to go, but a friend asked me to go with her...how could I refuse???? Not to mention I discovered that morning that I DID infact need to go! More fabric, yes I know I have a problem! BUT I like my 'problem' =D The 'standing' halloween fabric will become mini tote bags, pillows and possibly even a quilt! The rest will become doll items in one form or another. The red floral on the left I think will make a great sofa. The flocked spiderweb fabric will become part of a witches costume, the black and orange plaid a fun Halloween pleated skirt, #5 & #7 (the paisleys) are going to become dresses. My niece just bought this gorgeous dress that featured a very large paisley print and I want to recreate it in Barbie size! The far right fabric with the very LARGE paisley is actually going to become a RL size pillow for my living room. It's currently decorated in Sage Green and Burgundy, but I'm tired of the 'red' sooo I am going to slowly slide over into Sage Green, Aqua and Brown. The pink and black plaid ribbon will become another fun pleated mini skirt! The colorful jars in the back are Crushed Velvet Flocking by Doodlebug Design Inc. They came from Hobby Lobby and are the most amazing flocks I've ever used! And the colors are brilliant and there is a ton of flock in these little bitty jars!
Saturday when my son and I went out we stopped at JoAnn's I bought these gorgeous laces (I lOVE the one that is 3 layers!) I also got some Ceramcoat paint kits (although once I got them home I discovered WHY they were clearanced. Half of the paint is dried up! Does anone have any good ideas for reviving it?) I also picked up these 3 packs of ATC (artist trading card) blanks. I want to try my hand at some modern art in miniature! And I figured what the heck they were only a dollar! Oh yes and some hot pink ribbon...that way I won't have a repeat of the ribbon fiasco from last week! LOL
Next stop was Target. My sister was there a couple days earlier and told me about the ribon packs in their Dollar section...I got 6 packs which will become belts, trim and bag handles. I also grabbed the set of 'inchie' stamps figuring they'd make great designs on polymer clay pendants! And the flameless votives are going to be for polymer clay candle holders!
My last craft store stop was Michael's, I think I hit the jackpot here!!! Everything I bought was either clearanced or on sale! The back row has painting boards (which appear to be gessoed chipboard, these will either be moer mini paintings or as bases for furniture) Artists Chalk and mini canvases with easels. These 3 items were only $10!!! Gotta love a good sale! the next row is a gold finish paint, brass model paint and pale pink crackle paint. Oil Pastels, a velvet remnant and more pink ribbon make up row 2.
In the 3rd row/2nd picture are a bag of blonde doll hair which I plan to try dyeing, a multi heart punch for flowers, color diffusing paper (????---I am planning to try painting these and using it to make flowers) and some chipboard octagons. I also found a set of LONG cording needles with make threading tiny elastic and drawstrings soooo very easy! Everything in these 2 pics cost me less than $30!!!!! (I am a happy crafter! =D)

Soooo what have I done with my loot you might ask? well not too much really. I had company most of yesterday so I really didn't get too much done. BUT a few months back I got a commission for some Sesame Street/Muppets characters. Big Bird and Kermit were the first 2 finished. I still have Elmo and Miss Piggy to go. BB was the reason I needed to go to Hobby Lobby yesterday as I discovered that my yellow flock was more of an ochre rather than a true yellow. BUT he looks amazing so far. I have a little bit more 'finishing' touches on him, but he is otherwise complete and YES he is adorably fuzzy! Kermit was a bit of a challenge as I wasn't sure how to pose him, with those long spindly froggy legs. In my research I found a pic of Kermie sitting much like I posed him. And I figure since his new home will be a 1/12th scale toy shop, this is a reasonable shelf-sitting pose! Kermit sits just under an inch tall and BB sits almost 1.25 inches tall.
I also pulled out one of the mini canvases and played around a bit. The canvases are 2 inches square, so I figured they'd be a good size for a large sized modern painting in 1/12th scale. or a cute smaller pic in Barbie size. The easles are rather chunky for 1/12th scale and too short for barbie scale, but I am able to figure out the mechanics of how they work so I hope to make some more with better scaling. I used turquoise blue, trail tan and silver on a black background for my 'Circles' picture. I am very happy with the way it turned out although I think I might need to go over the outlines in black pen to cover up my pencil lines. ooops, newbie painter mistake! lol Hope you enjoy!

Dress #7---The Deb

Ellie models my latest piece. A classic LBD! Classic black satin is demure yet sexy. Comes with matching silver shoes, hand crafted purse and necklace.

My twisted sense of humor & Ellie channels her inner rock star.

Ok so my sense of humor is incredibly twisted sometimes...I rerooted the red heads hair a while back. I used a vintage doll whose neck had broken...to fix her I wired in a wooden bead. I glue the wire in place and twised it in tight. Well I must not have twisted it as tight as I thought as i noticed her head was rather loose. So I re-removed her head and tightened the wire and glued the bead onto the neck joint. Since I couldn't replace the head until the glue dried I decided to 'have a little fun' with the dolls. My 16yr old son is amused by the poseability of the Fashionista dolls and always chuckles at the way they can be posed. Sooo I set up this little scene for him to find. He likes to come in and ask 'Whatcha doing?' since these gals sit on an eye level shelf I figured that if I mentioned I had to fix her he was sure to look! OH I wish I could have recorded his expression!!! It was priceless! =D
I spent yesterday out with my oldest son, (I'm gonna take 1 son out every month for some US time! =D) We hit the mall and then saw The Expendables (excellent movie BTW!!!) While out shopping I found this fabulous 'leather' jacket and tank top. They are for the Liv brand dolls but fit the Barbies perfectly! I found on ebay this great Fedora, boots and purse. Ellie modeled them for me, although she was complaining that she has no full length pant or leggings to wear under the boots. (so guess who'll be making some soon? lol)

Dress 6 -- The Traelyn

She asked for purple and long...sooo the Traelyn was born. I also added a little darker shade of purple paint as well as some purple glitter to the 'wrap' panels. A silver 'chain' necklace, clutch purse and black and purple strappy pumps completes this ensemble. I hope you enjoy!

Dress 5-The Rachel

I started this one last night and finished it just after dinner. I had a few stutter steps along the way, but for the most part it went together very easily. This combo was inspired by my sister who owns a dress almost identical to it. The way the pattern shows it it almost appears like a country girls dress...NOT my version! =D Stylish and glamourous is The Rachel. (I've decided to name my pieces for the folks who either suggest styles, colors or inspire me in some way! So if you want a Fashion Doll dress/outfit named after you...give me some ideas! =D)

The Rachel will come with the dress, a pair of black pumps, black satin purse and maybe another accessory. (gotta check with my sister and see what she thinks! lol)I've added a pick of my Sees-ter in HER dress...I think my version is pretty spot on!?!?!?!?

Dresses 3 and 4

Ok so sorry I'm a little behind, but I will admit dress 3 gave me the run around. (if we are friends on facebook you've probably already read this stuff. lol Feel free to scroll down to something new.)

So back to dress 3...I initially planned on making this great lime greem dress trimmed in black lace and ribbon. Something along the lines of Lola's dress from back here. BUT I wouldn't find my gathered black lace. (which now that I think about it, I think I used up ON Lola! Whoops) Since I had already cut out and started sewing the lime green fabric I decided to just paint it with daisies. You know a cool handpainted dress. Um ok first off I really had NO CLUE just how long it would take me to paint an entire dress with simple 5 petal daisies. Let's just say i was very glad I started painting at the top! LOL I got bored with the flowers about halfway down the bustline, it was just taking way too long. But I perservered and painted dow to the waist. I wanted to making a hot pink belt to coordinate with the centers of the daisies. BUT could I find any solid hot pink ribbon in my stash...NO, tons of sheer ribbon but no hot pink solid. So I thought...oooooh I'll just use some of my alcohol inks and dye some white...well I wet the ribbon, added a few drops of the right color ink and added the ribbon. I smooshed it around in the baggie I was using. I even popped it into the microwave to set the dye. Well needless to say when I rinsed off the excess dye, my hot pink was a lovely shade of PALE!!! ARGH. Next brainstorm...friendship bracelets. I made them all the time as a tween and young teen. Easy Peasy. 90 minutes later I realized I had made the very same mistake I would often make as a girl. My embroidery floss was too short. it ended up about 3/4 of an inch to short for me to use! Just wanting to finish the *@&#&$ dress grabbed some white ribbon that was sitting on my desk and sewed/glued it in place. AND DANGED IF IT DOESN'T LOOK PERFECT!!!! (That annoyed me btw!)
Today I made a little shoulder bag to match. Bren came out of the kitchen to model it for me. She says it's perfect for wearing to the farmer's market while she looks for fresh ingredients for her cafe. (Cafe...hmm...last I heard it was just a bakery?!?!? Oh well. )

Before finishing my little bag this morning I took the kiddos to school and started my walking regime. (ok so it was really just a 30 minute walk around the neighborhood, but I did set a pretty brisk pace and worked up a good sweat!) I'm very proud of me and am actually looking forward to working out tomorrow too. I think I am going to see about hitting the pool to swim some laps.

Ok back to the Sweat Shop (I mean sewing room/craft area) I set to work on another dress using the same pattern as the green one. I had envisioned red satin trimmed in FLAT black lace, like an overlay. But for some reason I grabbed a chunk of red suede instead. I didn't like the idea of lace over the suede like I was seeing in my head, so I found some hand crocheted white lace. (atleast it LOOKS hand crocheted!) Once I saw them together I knew...Santa Baby! This one went together a good bit easier. Ellie is back from her break and is showing off this fun, flirty holiday number.

Dress number 2...

Finished!!! I'm not entirely happy with it, it's rather 'gappy' at the top. HOWEVER I am trying to keep reminding myself that these clothes are intend for children to play with. SO it's better that they be a little loose for little fingers to have an easier time with. I did deviate from the original pattern by adding the front vertical 'darts' and I added a strip of velcro down the length of the back. That way the dress opens completely. I also added the ruffle of lace at the bottom. Oh and the underbust detail was supposed to be a thin ribbon tied in a bow. (I think they put WAY too many bows on Babs' clothes!!! LOL) I LOVE the overall look of this piece. I have added a pair of platform strappy sandals. I am thinking about making a bag to go with this ensemble, but not sure what kind or what color. I don't really want to make a matching bag, but the outfit needs something more. The grey outfit I finished yesterday will be sold as follows: pink tank, hat and shoes and grey vest and skirt. See my dilemma...the sheath dress needs more!
BTW MARSHA....Does the fabric look familiar????? =D