Ahhhh...

 Feels good to breath...a nice sigh of relief!  I over came the dreaded Karmic Phrases and completed my Barbie bolero/shrug!

 I did end up making one more 'alteration after I took these pictures and then forgot to take new ones before I packaged up the box yesterday.  I added some black velvet ribbon to the cuffs.

I think that little touch really finished off the bolero/shrug.  For as much trouble as this piece gave me, I am jut thrilled with the way it turned out.  This piece (and the other 3 dresses) also made me start on a few more Barbie sized pieces as well.  I've got about 6 dresses that have been prepped and ready to sew ever since we moved back in December...almost a year now!  Um, crap...they've been prepped since our household goods were packed in October!!!

 The first one is about 85% of the way finished...I need to sew the hem, the back seam and then add a snap.  So hopefully I will be able to share that one tomorrow.

While I really LOVE sewing for Monster High, I truly do enjoy sewing for Barbie as well.  Once of my goals for 2013 is to sew for BOTH dolls equally.

This weeks goals will be:

1. finish the Barbie dress
2. list 10 items in my shop
3. sculpt a dragon (commission)
4. design & sew a Glam Hotel/Vacation outfit (commission)
5. complete Parisian Picnic with Monster High Theme

Which includes:

• bunch of grapes
• baguettes
• Skree! cheese (round of Brie)
• Muckarons from Clawduree (play on macarons from LaDuree)
• Spark-ing Cider bottle
• as well as 3 filled glasses
• And painting a custom picnic basket

So I've got 5 things to do this week... I REALLY want to accomplish them!

 Since I finished my Barbie commission late Saturday I decided to do a little goofing off on Sunday.

I found a tutorial on youtube for a 1/12th scale artist's easel...it's really cool and can't wait to find my tiny drill bits so I can make one for 1/6th (playscale) size.  I've decided that my Lagoona Blue (monster high) mer-gal is an artist and would really enjoy having a studio!  (Plus it gives me a reason to make a bunch of cool art supplies!) 

Sorry got sidetracked...at the end of the easel video the artist shows how she makes miniature paint brushes out of toothpicks...well wouldn't you know I have 2 boxes of toothpicks sitting in my desk right at my fingertips.

So I grabbed a few and followed along, then created a couple of different shaped brushes too! Then I remembered another tutorial I had seen somewhere to make colored pencils from toothpicks!  So I grabbed my handy dandy Sharpie markers and set to making a lovely set of 15 colors!  For this first set I made:  red, pink, orange, yellow, 2 shades of green, turquoise, dk blue, purple, black, brown, white and the 3 main metallics: silver, gold and copper.                          Each pencil is about 1.25 inches long (32-38mm) I varied the length on them a bit as I wanted them to look like they've been sharpened and ready to use!

I have already started creating more as I plan to add these to my shop this week! The original set still needs a coat of gloss on the 'skin' part of the pencil, to not only protect the color but to give it a little shine and also help protect against possible splinters!

I have not decided how I am going to package these... at the moment loose is my biggest option as the containers I have them in are rement pieces and on the pricey side.  I am going to look and see if I can find any printable boxes for colored pencils, but I am honestly not sure I want to go that route. I am also considering checking out the travel sized products at the store for clear caps of the right diameter. (I can always cut them down if they are too tall.  I'm in need of hairspray any ways... lol

See y'all tomorrow, hopefully with more goodies to share!