Sunday...the wee hours.

Hmm probably shouldn't have taken a nap about 3:45 this afternoon...granted in my own defense I had a headache and only planned to sleep for an hour and a half...well needless to say it was 3 hours later when I woke up!!  One of these days I will remember to leave my phone (alarm clock) on the other side of the room! lol

I got up and got started making some pasta salad to go with dinner. Thank goodness I had the forethought to chop all the veg and get it marinating in the dressing before I went and laid down. So all I really had to do was cook the pasta.

 My husband was supposed to be away at a conference this weekend and yesterday my oldest was at his gf's birthday, so I had planned a cook out over our fire pit for me and our younger two.  Unfortunately the wind was too wild last night to safely have an open fire, so we put it off until today. I gather a bit of kindling and got the fire started while the boys gathered more wood.  We roasted hot dogs over the fire and enjoyed them with pasta salad and baked beans.  Then of course we roasted marshmallows!  It was a great way to spend the evening, albeit a bit cold still.  This weather is crazy btw! O_O  We are definitely looking forward to more outdoor cooking this summer!

 I am nearly finished with the 'fancy dinner' or Dinner Date Meal, as I've been calling it.  I finally sat down and said the heck with my fears I'm sculpting these darned lobster tails.  I gotta say I am pretty thrilled with the way it turned out!  The baked potatoes got 'loaded' and this commission is almost complete.  I am also making a basket of garlic bread and a pair of desserts.  I haven't decided exactly what kind of desserts, but I am going to make a selection and then allow my customer to choose her 2 favorites.  In addition to the personal cheesecakes I made earlier this month, I am also making some heart shaped Panna Cottas, some chocolate molten lava cakes as well as a couple of cake slices.  What ever my customer doesn't choose will go into my shop next week.

 This is another commission that I mailed out Saturday morning.  These are some more of those personal cheescakes in Lemon Cherry and Cherry Limeade.  I also created a custom chocolate cupcake in a silver liner with teal fondant frosting with white and silver polka dots.  Oh and we can't forget the blush champagne!  Funny story about this champange...I used nail polish to tint my other wine glasses with no trouble, so when this customer asked for a blush champagne, I went to my polish stash and was thrilled to find the perfect shade!  I coated the glasses like I normally did and waited.  Well about an hour later I went back to add another coat only to discover that this polish was eating through the plastic!!!!  Needless to say I freaked out a bit!  Thankfully once I explained my dilemna to my customer he was more than willing to wait a few more days while I tried to figure out a solution.  Sadly the nail polish glass was a complete fail, but this one turned out perfectly!

 And speaking of FAILS...this was a huge one!  I love fish tanks and have wanted to make one in Barbie scale FOR EVER!!! So when I found these adorable tanks I scooped up a couple and set to work. I knew I wanted them at varying levels in the water and I really really  really wanted to set them in resin.  Well needless to say the whole effort was a fail.  These tanks (which are about 3 inches wide and 2 inches high) used WAY TOO MUCH resin to make them cost effective to sell in my shop as well as making them very heavy which would make shipping prices go up. :-(  So I set it aside for a few days, sculpted some fish of my own and pondered.

<---- This is fish tank version 2.0 and YEAH I am soooo stinking happy it's not even funny! These little fishes are the ones I sculpted and I figured out a way to suspend them in the tank at varying levels and the tank is nice and clear.  My next task will be to create a lid for the tank.  Because you need a lid to keep the cats out right???  (not to mention a lid will disguise the left over glue that won't come off! lol)

The glue on this one is still wet, hence the white ring at the bottom.  But I will hopefully be listing a couple of these in my shop next week!

Hello Bloggy friends!!!  I hope you are all having a good week so far!  My week has been a bit chaotic, but just got so much better! A customer of mine just featured me on her blog and did a review of me and my little doll goodies!  I am just over the moon right now and can't stop smiling! =D

When she received her last order she mentioned that she'd like to do a review and I of course agreed.  And then promptly put it out of my head!  So imagine my surprise and glee when a post about ME showed up in my blogroll!  I happily invite you to go visit Emily at The Toy Box Philosopher!

(Of course this means I need to hunker down and get more goodies in my shop! Thankfully that was my plan for this weekend anyways, so I'll just bump it up to start tomorrow instead!)

  I am steadily working away at several commissions I have on the table right now, but sometimes my brain and my fingers don't want to co-operate so I pull out little things that are either unfinish or well mindless and switch gears a bit to refresh.  I ran into this problem earlier this week so I found this chocolate donut I had made ages ago...it was plain.  Um really, plain chocolate donuts...I think not!  So I slathered on a healthy portion of vanilla frosting and added loads of chocolate shavings!  Much better now! :-)

This is where the 'mindless' bit came in.  I got it in my head that I needed to make a serving dish full of green peas.  So I mixed up a wonderful shade of pea green and set to work rolling 8 billion fresh spring peas! This dish took me about 2 days to do, since I'd roll about an inch worth of clay (which sadly really didn't amount to much) at a time.  But in the end I think it turned out great!

I finally set aside my fear of these steaks for another commission and just sat down and said, "I'm doing them!" In the end they didn't take that long nor did they turn out horrid like I expected them too! (They have since been varnished to show off the grill marks! :-D ) Once I got the steaks finished I realized that the first set of loaded baked potatoes I made back HERE, were too small.  So I made another set and I am much happier with these as well!

Next fear to set aside is the lobster tails that will finish off this dish.  Um yeah, still a little freaked at those! BUT they will get done...eventually!


I am working on some resin goodies right now as well and hopefully will have those to share soon! HUGS!

Hello again, friends...

I haven't really created anything new...was gone last weekend.  My Mother-in-law passed away 3 weeks ago and we traveled home for her memorial service this past weekend.  Mom was an awesome woman and will be deeply missed.  While our trek home was for a somber reason we also were able to spend time with friends and family we haven't seen in ages...some in almost 10 years. Mom would have been thrilled that we had a wonderful time with everyone.

We are home and trying to return to normal...or whatever resembles normal in our house! I prefer the saying, "Normal is only a setting on the dryer!", it seems to suit my family perfectly!

I need to buckle down and get to work on the many commissions I have right now.  I have the fancy dinners (which have the potatoes and green beans and just need the steak and lobster), then I have 2 enchilada platters, a squad of FearLeader uniforms, as well as a custom top and skirt. O_O Eeeep geesh seeing it in print is kinda scary, MUST GET TO WORK!!!

I have been searching for a Holt Hyde ever since I fell in love with Monster High a few months ago...I am seriously kicking myself for not picking him up when they first came out...why couldn't I have adored them from the start!!!  Holt was only released in the first wave of dolls and was fetching upwards of $50 for a new in box doll...used loose dolls were often going for $30!  I missed out on him several time on evilbay.  Early last week I found a listing for a loose Holt AND a Jackson Jekyll (who is his alter ego...Jekyll & Hyde...get it! ;-D)  Well I figured what the heck I'll throw a bid on them, never in a million years figuring I'd win....but I DID!!! And I got BOTH fellas for less than what a Holt alone was going for! And it worked out to roughly original retail on them. So I'm a happy girl.

 They were waiting in the mailbox when we got home and I wasted no time deboxing them and setting them up with their best ghouls. 

I have decided to shake up the pairings as honestly I like the unusual.  I love the juxtaposition of Hot and Cold, so in my mind Holt (whose hair is flames) and Abbey (the daughter of the Abominable Snowman) seemed perfect!   And I was right, I love them together!



(Ok I'm having trouble putting text next to the pics so as much as I hate to...I'll just be captioning the pic. :-( Grrr)


                                                                                

Holt loves running his fingers through Abbey's cool locks.

(Ok weird...)  This is Jackson Jekyll...he's a 'Normie" (normal kid not a monster) or so everyone thinks.  What everyone discovers is that he is actually Holt Hyde too.  At least in the true MH world...in mine, well he's just another guy.  I figured who better to put with a living breathing human being than a zombie! hehehe...BUT don't he and Ghoulia look fantastic together!!!

BTW I plan to start on guy clothes really soon too, because I have 2 guys in their swim trunks and one in a horrendous pair of purple striped pants!!!! My fellas need decent clothes for sure!!!!

She likes him for his "BRAAAAAAINS!!!"

Deuce, ah poor Deuce, poor poor playa Deuce.  Sadly he's all alone and it doesn't look like Frankie or Lagoona are interesting in changing that!  BUT as soon as I find her...there is a pretty little Parisian gargoyle who is looking to 'rock' his world! heeheehee...yeah I know it was weak, but it is what it is! LOL

Clawd and Lala...the only MH couple I kept together. Why, because they are so stinking cute together!!!

Four of my 5 couples.  Left to right.  Holt and Abbey, Ghoulia and  Jackson, Nefera and her 'normie' Ken, and Gil and Cleo.

Gil and Cleo were what started my need to mix things up.  (Cleo and Deuce are supposed to be a couple as are Gil & Lagoona) But Cleo and Gil were the 1st 2 MH figures I got so I put them together.  And well she is a desert princess and he is a river monster. (dry-wet...opposites attract!)  Again I just love this pairing, I think they work really well together!

Gil and his best ghoul, Cleo

I did a post on Nefera and Ken  earlier this month. Again I love the mash-up of a seemingly stuck up monster princess (She is Cleo's older sister) and a 'commoner'.  Yet again I think these 2 are perfect for each other!


The last picture is of all my monsters together. All total I have 14 (not counting Ken)  There are a few others that I want, but other than Deuce's ghoul, none are OMG-I-MUST-GET-THEM important! I am planning to move the tote up there and set up a permanent 'home' for them.  At least this way they can be on display and not stuck in a box!

Oh I guess I completely forgot to mention Gris, she's there on the left side with Clawdeen, who is wearing red. These 2 gals are best of friends and do everything together! :-)

Today I feel very blessed!

The more involved I become in the fashion doll 'world' the more I realize what an amazing bunch of people they are. Just like I discovered when I started doing 1/12th scale miniatures as even back when I first got into polymer clay...these bunches of people are some of the coolest people out there!

My business has begun to really pick up and I have commissions coming in left and right.  Yes several of them are for trades rather than money, but honestly that thrills me just as much as seeing the balance of my Paypal account rise.  (Heck maybe even more so, because it means that someone else sees my items just as valuable as currency!)

I finally finished sewing the 4th 'sample' shirt for a customer. She was having trouble deciding on a fabric for her custom shirt so I offered to whip up a couple of quick tops.  Almost a week later, (thank goodness for patient people!) I finally got them all done.  I'm not sure where I went wrong with the pattern, but it was, well wrong!  So these 4 tops that I should have been able to knock out in a couple hours took several DAYS!  But in the end I ended up with 4 tops that will go into my shop next week as well as photographs that better depict the fabrics. (My camera hates blues and purples for some reason and they NEVER come out true to color.  However once I turn the flat fabric into wearable doll clothing the camera doesn't seem to have as much trouble.

 Of course as I was dressing my gals in their new tops I realized I was shy a skirt too...so I whipped up a quick black satin skirt too!  So without further ado, here is Blue Me Away...the new Mix n Match Top collection! =D

This is Gris wearing the last one I created today.  I decided to make the top go under the bust instead of across it.  I used some similarly colored satin ribbon to make the bust area.  I gathered the wide ribbon into toga-style straps for a little extra detailing.  It closes in the back with a single snap.

Thankfully the sun came back out so I was able to get some decent shots of the girls out in the rocks in my backyard.  Gris is wearing a denim skirt I made too.  Although this one won't make it  into my shop a variation of it will.  I used some black grosgrain ribbon down the sides for interest.

Ghoulia is my next model.  She is wearing a lilac and blue wood-grain patterned top.  This was the first one I made and realized there was a problem. With this one I added the matching under-bust ribbons and the bow at the back.  I also used a small metal O-ring and some chain for the straps.  I think it's edgy, yet soft and sophisticated.

I know that all of these girls have the exact same body, but there is just something about Ghoulia...she is just a natural model.  I got the best shots from her!

This fabric is the one my customer chose, so there will be a new top from this being made next week.

Next up is sweet Frankie, wearing a pale blue and gold top. This material has some beautiful fans printed on it and the design is outlined in gold.  I chose a complimentary gold ribbon to create the criss-crossing straps. This one closes with a hook n eye in the back.  This top would be perfect for a winged monster!

Frankie also wears the quick skirt I sewed up.  Of course it wasn't until I had 2 of the 4 seams sewn that I realized I forgot to change the thread in my sewing machine! OOOPS! lol

Hook n Eye closure

 Abbey...I just adore this girl, both her character in the cartoon and as a figure.  She is very honest, up-front and often comes across as being abrupt.  But this girl pulls no punches and I adore that about her.

This is my favorite fabric of the 4, so be prepared to see it again soon! ;-)


The last photo is one of all 4 girls together.  This pic started out as just a way for my customer to compare the fabrics side by side, but I just love this shot!

Ghoul Power!

Twas a lovely Saturday

 Today started out running errands.  Off to the post office to mail out FIVE packages =D, only to discovered that this office closes at noon on Saturdays unlike the 2pm I'm used to at our old post office.  Missed it by 'that much'! LOL  Oh well, I'll head out first thing Monday morning.  Oooh was super excited as 3 of those packages were international too.  With 2 of them being my 1st (and 2nd) packages being sent to Australia!

After that I headed to the store here on Post to pick up some empty plastic eggs since my 7 and 10 yr old sons requested an egg hunt tomorrow.  Thankfully I already had some I had planned to put their jelly beans in, because the store had NO empty eggs and only a couple bags of the pre-filled ones!  I think I have a total of 3 dozen eggs to hide tomorrow.

 Spent the rest of the afternoon sewing and sculpting.  I finished the loaded baked potatoes! These have a light drizzle of melted butter, a sprinkling of shredded cheddar cheese, some crispy crumbled bacon, a scoop of sour cream and some sliced green onions!

I am thoroughly pleased with how these came out and will definitely be making more of these.  I am contemplating doing a "Buffet" line in my shop.  It would have various individual food items to pick and choose from that would allow the customer to make up their own plated dishes.  Not sure about that, but the idea really appeals to me.

I LOVE cheesecake...it's one of my favorite desserts not only to eat but to make as well.  I have a recipe that is nearly fool-proof and I make it every couple of months.  So I was cruising Pinterest the other day and came across some mini cheesecakes made in cupcake papers...I got to thinking about using my cupcake mold to make mini cheesecakes.

YAY!  It works and I think they are adorable!  This one is topped with some peach slices I made last year.  I love how they have the reddish blush in the center that fresh peaches have!  Man, I'm really gonna miss fresh peaches like we got in GA!

Next up I decided to do some diced strawberries for toppings.  (I really need to master the making of the strawberry cane, but each time I make them, they look really weird and not strawberry-ish enough)  But I think this turned out pretty good.  I wish now that I had cut the clay before I baked it so I could have rounded and softened the edges a bit.  Although looking at the actual piece sitting here on my laptop (from about a foot away) it actually looks pretty good. So I won't stress...too much! LOL

This is Sophie, my LIV doll, holding the cool tank I found at the dollar store...there is a spot under the lid that has those water absorbing beads that grow...you're supposed to fill the tank with water and the beads drop down and fill the tank with color.

I'm hoping to be able to remove the lid and turn it into a fashion doll sized fish tank! 

A couple hours ago, our youngest 2 sons and I dyed Easter eggs.  This year we did things a little different.  I decided to make my own dye using food coloring.  It worked but honestly I think I stick with the Paas kits! lol  Although being boys, my two guys actually liked the dingy greyed out colors I ended up with.  The youngest came through a few days ago while I was browsing Pinterest, (yeah I do that a lot! LOL) and saw the crackled deviled eggs and couldn't figure out how they were made.
I promised him I'd show him.  SO after I mixed up the colors I showed them how to gently tap the eggs to get the cracks...um can we say that gentle was NOT used when they did it! LOL  But you know what, so far those crackled eggs are the coolest ones in the bunch!

I also showed them the psuedo-Pysanky eggs method using a white crayon.  They weren't as impressed with that. lol  My middle son (in the blue) liked the idea of double and triple dipping the eggs to get shades of color. His favorite color is green, so he did the 2nd one from the left in the above picture.  It's 3 shades of green!

Here they are acting like they were going to drop the boxes of eggs!  Silly silly boys!

Well now that they are in bed I need to play Easter Bunny and get their baskets filled.  Sending every one warm wishes for a fun and blessed Easter!

Sewing Machine...

That's me...I'm a sewing machine.  No I didn't magically transform into one, but I'm sewing like a machine!  I am so happy about it too!  It takes soooo much less time to whip up an item of doll clothes by machine than it does by hand! I wanted to sew this past weekend and finally got around to clearing space on my desk for my machine. I even got my pieces prepped and ready, only to pull out my machine and discover that my power cord was NOT in the case! Um seriously...why would I NOT pack the power cord in the travel case!!!  Ok not a big deal, it's got to be in one of the boxes in my studio!  Um no, ok how about the garage. Negative!  The storage shed?  Yea, not there either.  Master bedroom, hall closet, closet of doom... (Don't ask1 LOL  It's a weird smallish square room that is little more than 3 feet in either direction! o_0) No, no and no...seriously where on earth did it go?  Heck for that matter where are my Sharpie markers and the rest of my clay tools that were in a pen caddy, and where is all that ribbon that I de-spooled and put into individual baggies.  Ah crap, it would appear I am missing at least one whole box of belongings!  And since I KNOW it didn't get loaded onto the moving truck, since we inventoried EVERY single box that came OFF the truck, that means this box is either in out camper in OH or at the dump! DAMN!
   Thankfully my aunt found the cord I needed for a good price on ebay, AND it turned out the shipper is out of the town my husband works in!  So instead of taking 4 days to ship I had my new cord in 2!!! So here are the beginning fruits of my sewing machine labor!

"Oh Hello there!"

I've been using this Create a Monster gal as my working model for a while now.  I bought her honestly only because working about the basic dolls hair was beginning to annoy me.  Since these CAM dolls wear wigs this seemed like a perfect solution!

Turns out I am LOVING this gal, whom I have decided to call Gris.  (you know french or spanish for grey {or gray! lol} ) I have also decided that although Mattel bills her as being a werewolf (her ears clip into the wig like barrettes), she is now an alien.  

"Look at the cute Bunny!"

Today was gorgeous out so Gris and I headed outside for a photo shoot! I tried to get her to wear jeans but she said a true model could work in anything!  And work she did!  (after she got done investigating the bunnies! =D)

The denim skirt is just a simple stretch denim skirt. The top, oh the top...Last night this thing gave me no end of trouble.  I prepped and cut out the pieces, it's a simple 3 piece pattern: front, right and left. Sew the sides to the front then to the closure.

  Well I don't know what or where it went wrong, but if I stitched closed the lower portion of the top, it wouldn't fit over her hips, but if I left it unsewn and did velcro or snap it stuck out like a reverse baby belly or a weird bustle!!!  Ok so what to do, what to do?  I know I'll trim it straight and add some corset style lacings. I know I have some Picot ribbon somewhere that will be perfect to hold the 'lacing' ribbon.  Well you remember that missing box...with all the baggies of ribbon.  Yeah THAT's were all my picot ribbon is. :-( Crap...now what...oooh I found some silver chain, I could always sew that to the edges and weave through that.  *try the top again on Gris, What's this the edges almost meet! This means no room for lacing...* Double crap, back to the drawing board.

In my search for the picot I managed to find 2 pieces of blue ribbons that matched the fabric PERFECTLY...

SO I tied a bow  out of some of it, and sewed another set of strips around the front under the bust area and then sewed one snap over that to one side and the other to the matching side with the bow covering it. Since I still loved the idea of the chain I used it to make some edgy straps!

I started out making this top to show a potential customer how this fabric would look, since for some reason my camera HATES tacking pictures accurately of flat fabric. I figured if the customer didn't decide to buy one of these (In addition to the piece she is commissioning) I could always sell them in my shop.  Well what should have been a simple top became drama I at that point late last night was more worried about simply making it look like the top fit correctly!  But after all was said and done I think this top will go in my shop after all! =D

  The other thing I created last night was this adorable set of purple floral knee high socks.  These are also for a customer.  An awesome amazing customer whose MH closet actually has multiple D-Lightful Designs in it! :-)  He is the customer how commissioned the cool teal and black striped outfit here!  My outfit was supposed to match a pair of knee socks he ordered online. Only when his knee socks finally arrived they were WAY too big!!! (THIS picture shows my Barbie sized Mini-ME...{eep who needs her on blog post!} wearing another pair of supposed MH knee socks!) So I offered to make a pair for him. My customer decided he would rather have solid black ones instead of the stripes though.  Well I had to draft my own pattern and decided to use this material as my practice material. BTW they came from a pair of clearanced baby tights! LOVE that!  The pattern worked perfectly and is really easy to sew. I'd share the pattern, but honestly the pattern piece looks decidedly like a portion of the male anatomy! Eeep! O_O  (Of course if you are interested in a MH knee-high sock pattern let me know and I'll email it too you! ;-D)

Since then I have made my customers black knee highs and started on a second 'sample' fabric top as well as another denim skirt.  Hmm what else do I have in the works...more Barbie/Monster High sized foods including: loaded baked potatoes, green beans, steak, lobster tails, green enchilada platters with rice and beans and um I think picnic foods as well as tea party foods. On the fashion side there are a few more 'sample' tops, a couple more skirts, Fear Squad uniforms and a fun concept/twist on tea party wear!  Thankfully all of my customers have said to take my time and such so these will be spread out over the next month or so.

A bit of sad news, which if we are friends on FB you already know, but my husbands mom passed away rather suddenly last week. I was blessed with an amazing MIL who I will always treasure.  While it hurts that she is gone I take comfort in knowing all the suffering she dealt with over the last 10 years is gone and she is whole and happy once more! LOVE YOU MOM <3  Because of that I will be gone most of next week as we travel home for her memorial service.  I hate the reason for going home, but it will be nice to see our families.  Sadly we don't get to go home very often as it is so expensive. But we are definitely going to stay in better contact with our families and try to make it home as often as we can! Please remember to hug your parents or call them if you can. They can be gone before you get a chance!!!!

   

Shoe-be-do-be-do

I promised some better pics of Nefera's shoes and I wanted to make sure I did. (Granted yes technically I didn't post about them on Tuesday like I planned, but hey I'm still up so for me it's still tomorrow! ;-) lol)

Mattel has really hit it out of the park with the Monster High shoes...they are amazing and intricate and stunning.  But honestly I think Nefera's are by far the best yet! Being the daughter of the Mummy she is of Egyptian descent and therefore snakes are a big part of her detailing.  She actually has several of them in her Accessories from her belt, to her necklace and earrings.  But oh my my my her shoes!!!

 From the front they have almost an Art Deco feel. Done in gold and black with touches of coral and teal.  They are very pretty from the front but not anything super special.

(I love how there is an actual Right and Left shoe!)

Well Hello there!  Turn to the side and things start to get more interesting. Platforms seem to be the norm with these ghouls and Nefera would wear nothing less either it seems.  The back portion that wraps around the heel seems to follow the Art Deco trend.  But there is where 'safe' stops...the girl is walking on COBRAS!!!!  Teal blue COBRAS!!!  Now I don't even like snakes, but holy moly I'd LOVE to rock a pair of shoes like these!!!

Here we have a close up on the amazing amount of detail that went into the HEEL of her SHOES!  Let's bear in mind that the cobras are barely an inch (25mm) tall!  The scales are fantastic and heck there is even a bump in the open mouth for a tongue!  The only this that could have made these better would have been jewels in the snakes eyes...but I think I can handle that!

Now my only hope is that Mattel will release some fashion packs for Nefera that include shoes, (since she can't wear the same sized shoes as the other ghouls).  But if not I KNOW that she can rock these amazing shoes with whatever she chooses to wear!

No excuses, just life

I'd love to be able to blog daily...I just can't seem to find the energy or the desire to do it. :-(  I like blogging actually, I really do. Heck I like WRITING too, but for some reason I just can't manage to write on my blog daily.  Geesh, lately I can't even do it weekly!  But such is life!  I read my blog-roll every day and love seeing what everyone else is doing. 

 I was at Target a couple weeks ago looking for a 9-square bookshelf. (It'll be for my fabric) =D Of course they were out of the shelf, but shock of all shocks they actually had almost a dozen Monster High dolls in stock!  That was the fullest shelf I'd seen since before Christmas!  Aside from this one single solitary Nefera they had nothing I was interested in.  Honestly I wasn't even sure I was interested IN Nefera, but I carried her around with me lest someone ELSE decide they had to have her!   Well she was a great price so I brought her home with me, and boy am I glad!  I am completely in love with her!!!  Her outfit is gorgeous, although her 'skirt' is so short her bum shows!!!  Hence the brown leggings she's wearing!

She is a tad bit taller than the other Monster High dolls and has larger feet (which is annoying as that means she can't share shoes with her sister or the other ghouls: -( But HER shoes are OMG amazing!) I'll try to post pics of those tomorrow!

I decided that Nefera was too pretty to be single...she strikes me as the type to always have a man on her arm. Since I had an extra 2010 Harley Ken lying around I figured I'd try them together! LOVE THEM!

Nefera might be self absorbed, demanding, a tad narcissistic, but underneath it she is loyal and loving...to those she deems worthy! And while Ken adores her and makes it appear he worships the ground she walks on, Ken is no push-over.  Who'd have thought a "normie" would be perfect for Nefera!

While I'm not normally a fan of unusual shades of lipstick, this regal teal is stunning on Nefera! I am still debating on cleaning up her lower lip to bring the paint more up to the natural lip line.

She has gorgeous lavender eyes that remind me of  Liz Taylor. Hmm I wonder if it's a coincidence since one of Liz's most iconic roles was that of Cleopatra!  Either way with her luscious shimmery sun-kissed skin, fabulous make-up and stunning eyes Nefera has quickly become my favorite!

I definitely need to finish my sculpting and sewing commissions as I desperately want to build some furniture that is more properly scaled to both the Monster High and Barbie dolls!  I love this chaise, but honestly any doll over about 8 inches looks silly on it! (Not to mention Nefera said pink is NOT her color AT all!!!)

 My latest bout of insanity (as my oldest child says) involved sculpting miniature Peeps, both Bunny and Chick versions.  I have since molded them to allow for quicker production. Ironically the bunny was more of a hassle to sculpt than the chick!

In hand...Playscale/Barbie sized palm

I have been commissioned to do a fancy meal for two, for my friend April over at April's Sea of Barbie Sweetness. Dinner will start with a 'yet to be determined' appetizer, then a green salad (shown half way down the page HERE.) Then we move onto the main course.  It will feature bacon wrapped filet mignon, a broiled lobster tail, green beans almondine, and a loaded baked potato. I started the potatoes today and it's a multi-step process but I am loving the way they look so far!

Here are the spuds naked with a colored pencil for scale.  The potatoes will get dressed with a light drizzle of melted butter, a sprinkled of cheddar cheese, a lovely crumble of crispy bacon, a dollop of sour cream and a smattering of chives!  They are proving to be labor intensive, but I am absolutely loving how they are looking.  Hopefully I won't mess them up at any stage of the dressing!

So that's what I've been up to, in a nut shell.  See y'all soon...hopefully! ;-)