Sweet!

Today's Photo-a-Day prompt was Sweet.  I actually didn't have a picture planned (heck I wasn't even sure what the prompt was at the time) when I took this picture! LOL  Today was my middle son's Christmas Chorus program.  They had a nice little 'reception' before the program with treats and snacks for everyone.  I volunteered to make cookies.


I used a new-to-me recipe for sugar cookies that I found through Pinterest.  It's supposed to make Perfect Cut Out Cookies. I had no desire (or time) to deal with cut out cookies. So I simply used my small dough scoop and then pressed the cookies down with a sugared glass bottom. As the recipe was, I'm not entirely sure that I would use them for cut out cookies, as the dough was VERY soft. BUT that could have been my fault as I think my butter was softened too much when I got started and it did firm up when I chilled it, but I didn't have enough time to let it fully chill.  But for round drop-ish cookies they turned out lovely!  They were light, fluffy and just sweet enough.  I used a can of ready made frosting that I amended with some extra powdered sugar for more body (although I think I should have used more. C'est la vie, hind sight is 20/20)  The cookies were a hit, and not a single one remained at the end of the night! :-)

Photo a Day; Days 8 & 9

Sorry, haven't yet gotten around to finishing the girls tree decorating story.  Been in a bit of a funk worrying about some things I can't really control.  Nothing drastic, just inconveniences really, but they are annoying me.

Oh well, c'est la vie!

I'm gonna cheat a little bit today for the pictures, as I am using pics I took today for both today's photo prompt (Out & About), as well as yesterday's (Someone you Love). 

We had an ice storm come through in the early hours of the morning today, which caused the schools to be delayed 2 hours.  Can't say I mind that at all... love being able to go back to bed for a bit!  We ended up with a layer of ice over everything about 1/4 of an inch thick.  Thankfully the road crews worked really hard and the roads were pretty clear for Donnie to get to work and the boys to get to school.

Once the boys got home from school and did their homework they raced outside to play with their friends.  They quickly discovered that their sleds worked really well on the icy slope.  They had a blast sliding down the hill over and over again! :-)

ugh...

I have done absolutely nothing today. Zip, zilch, nada, nothing! And I don't feel good about it either.  :-(  But it's been on of those days.  Just bleh.  We are on day three of grey dreary, rainy/foggy weather, and it's really bringing my down.  It's hard to want to do anything other than curl up with a mug of something warm and a good book when the weather is like this.  It didn't help matters any that neither Donnie or I slept well last night.  I was woken up last night with a crazy uncomfortable cramp in my big toe...yeah, my big toe. Not fun.  I need to get back into the habit of taking my daily vitamins and walking on the treadmill.  And turning off my computer. And listing things in my shop. And creating things.  Ugh, just ugh. 

Sadly I didn't even get a new picture taken for today's prompt, which is From Where You Live, so I'm pulling one out of the 'archives' for y'all.

I took this shot in late summer from a Look-Out tower in the woods across the street from our house.  We live in the Hudson River Valley area of New York (that would be the Hudson River there in the middle)  This is definitely one of the things I will miss about this area when it is time to move next year.


Gosh just seeing the sunny skies in this picture makes me long of blue skies... I don't even mind if it's cold, I just NEED sunshine!

Well, here's hoping tomorrow will be a brighter, better day! :-)

Day 5 Photo and upcoming etsy shop items

Day 5's photo prompt was Looking Up.  So I decided to go with a shot out my back door looking up into the tree line above the house. The last 2 days have been really foggy... not great for driving but makes for an interesting view.


I never thought  I would find myself saying this, but I'm kind of wishing for some snow.  (If you had asked me if I missed snow, a few years ago I would have said NO quite emphatically too!)  But I find that with Christmas coming up, I would love to see some snow on the ground. Sadly when I checked the 10 day forecast, it doesn't look like any is in the near future.  But I'm holding out hope that we will get some for Christmas!

Starting tomorrow I will begin listing several new items in my etsy shop.  Among the newest are some lovely outfits for the 18" American Girl size dolls.  These pieces are being hand sewn by my mom.  She does the most amazing stitch work I have ever seen!

I am hoping that the pieces will sell well for her!  This is just one of about a half dozen dresses that she has made.  There are also a couple skirts, vests and adorable little capelets!

I'll share more pictures tomorrow!

The girls get a surprise of their own (and Day 4 of the Photo a Day Challenge)

Yesterday I worked on the next phase of my little Christmas tree decorating photo-story.  In this scene, it's the following day and Lena and Nance have finally started to decorate the tree... or they are trying to.

The rest of the story can be seen HERE on my flickr page.

(I've also set the scene for the introduction of 2 new characters next year! ;-)  I am hoping to be able to purchase a Pukifee next year.  I'm rather enamored with this little cutie named CUPID!

I also want to add a fella to my 1:4 scale family.  I want to go with an Iplehouse sculpt for him as they have some wonderfully mature looking male sculpts. I rather like COLIN with his smile, JOSHUA has a fantastic little smirk, and OWEN has a great brood-y soulful look.  I haven't decided exactly how I want his character to be, so I'm still tossing around between the three!

Today's theme for the December Photo A Day challenge I'm doing is Black and White.  I decided to capture my youngest son, while he was working on his spelling homework.  

(As you might be able to tell, it's not exactly his favorite thing. LOL)

Day 3--- Something you Held

Today's post is going to be a quick one, I promise a longer one tomorrow (including another little photo-story too).

Today's picture prompt was Something you Held.  I had initially planned a different photo for this, but when I decided to take this shot for my photo story, I knew THIS was the one I needed to use!

Abbie has just returned home from her trip to visit her parents and the girls are super excited to see their friend again.  (Even though they are a little bummed that she came home early, and they weren't able to finish decorating the tree.)

As a side note, I am in love with my new Abbie... she is on a resin body that poses very much like Lena does.  I'm hoping to do a comparison post showing the similarities and differences between the 2 bodies.

Also I'd just like to say that I was really stunned that I was able to get all 3 girls standing unassisted in this embrace!  (It was rather nerve-wracking to let them go to take the shots! lol)

Ok, it's late and I need to get to bed, but I promise more tomorrow! HUGS

Gonna try something new

 Like I don't have enough things to do... I'm going to try something new.  A friend of mine shared this list on Facebook, it's for a Photo a Day thing-y.  I don't know where the original list came from, but I thought it would be fun to try.

Since today is the 2nd, I'm just gonna start there, and will try to catch the image from the first another day.

I can't guarantee I'll get them all done, but I'm going to try.  I'd like to do as many of them as I can with dolls, but some might end up me or my family.

So without further ado, here is Day 2!

Today's theme was PEACE. While there are a lot of ideas and visualizations for peace, I decided to do something a little closer to home.
Peace to me (and Nance) is a wonderful comfy blanket, a couple of fuzzy critters and a quiet home.

The lovely blanket was crocheted for me, by the mom of a dear friend of mine in Canada.  Aren't the colors just lovely?

The Girl Plan a Surprise for Abbie

The girls found out that Abbie will be coming home much sooner than expected. She should arrive back home Monday or Tuesday!  =D 

Abbie just loves Christmas, so Lena and Nance decided to surprise her by getting the tree up and the living room all decked out for Christmas! 

 I hope you'll go visit my Flickr page so read their little story! You can find it HERE.

In this picture you can see most of the Living Room set up.  On the left hand side is a large wooden bookshelf that houses the start of an adorable snowman collection!

Then comes the Christmas tree!  I decided I wanted it to be fuller, so I used several packages of 12" long pipe cleaners that are the same style as the branches in the tree.  I also added a stand of battery operated lights.  There are only 20 in the strand, and I might decide to add another strand to it at some point.  But for now I think it'll be fine.

Next up is the fireplace.  This seems to be Snowball kitty's favorite place to hang out! I found this lovely circular wrought iron piece at a local store Friday morning.  It was on clearance for $2!!!!   The mirror is part of a set I found later that day at the thrift shop.  there are about 8-10 mirrors in several different sizes.  Thankfully they are plastic, made from plastic similar to CD's.  And why is this a good thing you ask... well because when I grabbed the one that looked like it fit and peeled off the paper backing (they are self-adhesive) and pressed it in... it went all wonky and fun-house-mirror-y.  The darned thing was like 1/16th of an inch to large!  AND it was wedged in tight so I couldn't pry it back out.  I grabbed one of the smaller extra mirrors and discovered that I could use scissors to carefully trim it down.  So that's what I did. And this time I squeezed out a thick layer of glue and just let it gently rest on top of that.  I didn't attempt to press it down at all! LOL

Also on the fireplace are a pair of silver toned wire trees that I picked up at the Dollar Tree.  They were supposed to be tree ornaments, but I used my wire cutters to trim off the hanging loop at the top, as well as the loop and bell that were at the bottom.  I grabbed a couple of 1/2" wooden blocks, painted them black and drilled a little hole in each one.  Personally I think they look fabulous!

The girls are currently trying to decide whether to decorate the tree in all the cute candy ornaments Abbie has been collecting, or to use the lovely snowflake themed ornaments instead.  they are kind of leaning towards the snowflakes, since snowflakes go nicely with Abbie's snowMAN collection.  Hopefully they will decide tomorrow and get started!

Of Penpals and Presents

Hi Everyone,

It's me Lena. Mom snapped this picture of me while I was writing this blog post earlier, so I thought it would be fun to include. (sorry the pic is kinda bad, Mom used her phone instead of her camera.)

I wanted to introduce you to a friend of mine... her name is Raine, and her and her mom have a blog over at April's Sea of Dolly Sweetness.  Raine is the girl that Mom made that adorable Hello Kitty outfit for last month.  And if you think I looked cute in it, you HAVE got to see Raine in it!  It's just perfect for her!

Raine and I have decided to become penpals, so every now and again she and I will write to each other through our blogs.  I do hope you'll go check out her blog!

Lena

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Hi Raine,

Hope you are doing good.  I'm doing pretty good here, it's been a pj kind of day around our house.  It's been cold and windy here the last few days. What's it like at your place?  Mom says you and your Mom don't live too far from us, so maybe we can get together sometime in the Spring!

Mom went out this morning while we were all sleeping to pick up some Christmas presents.  She won't tell me what she got me, but I hope she got me something fun.  My human brothers got Nintendo 3DS's last year... that might be fun.  Or maybe Mom will get me a sewing machine, or some new books... heck I would even be happy with some new shoes! LOL  Is there anything you're hoping to get for Christmas?

Oh, well, Mom just called and asked me to come help pick out the decorations for the living room, so I better go.  Have a good night and good weekend!

Lena

Leaving the kitchen and heading to the living room

For about 2 months now, I've known I wanted to decorate a scene for my 16" girls for Christmas.  I LOVE Christmas and really enjoy decorating my own house and couldn't wait to set up a room for the girls.  While I love my kitchen diorama, and have scene several lovely decorated kitchens... I wanted to do something more. I decided to do a living room scene! After I made the Trick or Treat Baskets for Halloween, I thought it would be fun to make filled stockings for Christmas!  (of which I have made absolutely zero)  But I realized that I needed somewhere to display those for shots for my shop, hence the desire for a fireplace.  I finished that yesterday morning and got started right away on the next piece of furniture...a loveseat!

 While I didn't really use a pattern for this piece, I did use some knowledge I have from using the book Dolls' House Furniture. The book is written for making 1:12th scale miniatures, but I've scaled up the patterns in it for 1:6th scale and now 1:4 scale.  Sometimes the measurements need  adjusted, but that is why I always make paper models first.  Since I've made several pieces in this style in Barbie size, I kind of just winged it with this piece.  I started off by recycling a shipping box I got earlier this year as the base.  The seats are made from some packing foam that was in a cabinet I bought.  The sides and back are made from 1/2" foam core board.  I used a combination of glue and straight pins to keep in secure.  It is now a permanent piece of 1:4 scale furniture in my stash! :-)  I added 2 matchign back pillows I sewed as well as the white one, which I bought earlier this year.  I had intended to put feet on it, but forgot to take them into account when I made the seat cushions.  So the feet would have made the loveseat way too high so I decided to sip them. *shrugs*

I packed up all the furniture from the kitchen, and started setting up the girls' living room.  I've used the wooden shelving unit I had in the kitchen again here, but this time I turned it so it is standing upright.

The tree stands 18" tall and was purchased at Hobby Lobby.  I hope to start decorating it next week.  Of course there is the fireplace I made in the center of the room.  I haven't decided exactly what I'm going to do with all the open wall space in the room, but I am thinking about possible a decent sized framed mirror and maybe a large wreath.  Then of course I plan on decorating the mantle and adding some Christmas decor to the shelves in the wall piece too.  My other decorating dilemma will be what to put inside the fireplace.  I have 2 options right now.... a stack of 'logs' cut from branches that are the right scale. or I could make several candles in what ever color I decide on and do something like the rooms in this LINK.

Farewells and Fireplaces

Monday was kind of a sad day here as Lena, Lily, Nance and I said good bye to Abbie.  She's headed off for a little vacation, but will be back next month feeling better than ever!  (I actually sold my Plaid to Meet You Ellowyne Wilde doll to a wonderful gal in Minnesota, but Abbie is being reshelled onto a lovely Decadent Daydreams Ellowyne Wilde body that has nearly the same posing ability that Lena does!  She should be here sometime before Christmas!!! =D)

Abbie and I did one last photoshoot before she headed out on her trip.  This was the last shot we did and I like to think that she is contemplating her future!  :-)

I miss her already and can't wait for her to get back from her vacation!

(BTW I actually finished the PJ's!  I put tiny green buttons on the front of the top.  I used snaps inside for the actual closing though.)

Last night I made the hearth for the fireplace.  I took a piece of 1/2" think foam core board and cut it to size.  I then carved a bit off the edges to give it that chipped edge that slate so often has.  I then coated it with the paint I used for the fireplace interior.  (It's called Micaceous Iron Oxide from Golden Acrylics and it's a very thick bodied charcoal colored paint that has very fine granules of Mica in it giving it not only a slight shimmer but a light texture as well.)  After it dried I glued the fireplace to the base and weighted it down to dry.

This morning while pondering what to use for  the mantle, I noticed that the shelves in my CD cabinet were almost the perfect size. (Thankfully I had a couple extras! lol)  So I painted the raw edges and once those were dry I glued the mantle in place.  It's currently drying. :-)  I've started the next phase of my living room build by starting on the loveseat. More recycling being done here with more cardboard boxes, packing foam blocks and even some thin flexible foam sheets as padding.  No in-progress shots as well it doesn't really look like anything yet! LOL

Almost time to light the fire!!!

Yesterday I decided to set aside the case of The Fears I had and get to painting!
What are The Fears, you ask?  Well it's that feeling you get when you find yourself asking things like; What if I mess it up? What if it turns out horrible? What if I don't know what I'm doing?   The Fears are also known as What If Syndrome. And I think it's something that many artists deal with. Especially when trying something new.  But I decided last night that, this fireplace is only cardboard.  Worst case scenario I find a new box and start over.  So I mixed up a cream colored paint and painted the entire fireplace with is. I wanted to lighten up the original color of the egg cartons as well as cover up and writing.  Adding the paint also softened up the 'rocks' which allowed me to use a couple different blunt tipped tools to soften the edges of the rocks and add in a few subtle details.

I left it dry over night and this morning did the actual rock painting.  I used a palette of 5 different colors: cream, sage green, light tan, charcoal and a metallic beige.  I used a cheap brush that I dempened, then just started to pounce on the various colors.  I didn't clean my brush out.  If a spot was too dark I added more cream and tan. If it looked too light I added just a touch of black and green.  All in all it was actually pretty easy to do, and I am thrilled with the result!  I let that dry and then painted the inside of the fireplace with a rich charcoal color. 

Next step... the hearth!  I think I'm going to try for a slate look!

Shuffling along

It's weird, but every time I finish one commission I feel the need to take a few days off and just do nothing.  After I shipped out the Christmas tree from my last post, I did just that. I read and played silly Facebook games and watched tv.  But I think it was Wednesday I decided to get back to work.  Granted I'm not really working on the things I should be working in (i.e. photographing and listing loads and loads of doll clothes) But, eh, at least I was doing something productive. LOL

This outfit here is a culmination of several different 'experiments'.  The denim skirt was actually one of the first things I ever sewed in 1:4 scale... back in like March I think. The little white clutch I made with from scraps from the shoulder bag I made for the Hello Kitty commission. I simply folded the piece in 3rds, did a blanket stitch along the sides, pinked the top edge and added a snap. (Which I then covered up with a decorative charm-thing.
The Sweater is made from a toddler's leg warmer I found at the dollar spot at Target.  The piece didn't exactly turn out like I had planned, but thankfully it turned out better! =D
 Last but certainly not least are Lena's new shoes!  I found a tutorial online for making duct tape Toms for the American Girl sized dolls.  I simply resized the technique and used some wide satin ribbon that I added adhesive to the back to create fabric 'tape'.  I still need to refine the technique, but I think they turned out really cute!  I think I'll call them Dee's!

  My most recent project has been a fireplace for the girls up-coming living room set. I have been thinking about getting this Journey Girls Ski Lodge set from Toys R Us ever since I saw it.  From the 'compaints' I saw about it being too small for AG dolls, I realized that it really would be the perfect size for the 1:4 scale girls.  And at just $40 it really is a good deal.  I was all set to have my husband pick it up for me last week, but our TRU was out of it.  So I decided to get my craftiness going and just make my own! (and since I'm saving to buy my resin Ellowyne Wilde next month, that is probably a GOOD thing! LOL) 

I found this box among the stuff waiting to go out to the recycle bin, and after a little online research, decided that it was the perfect size for a rustic fireplace.   I had to finish up a couple of commissions before I could get started on it, but Thursday I was finally ready to get going.  The first thing I did was decide how large I wanted the opening for the actual fireplace to be. Once I did that I cut an X through that area and folded back the top and side pieces.  The bottom I completely removed.  I then used another large box I bad to cut out a long strip of cardboard that would fit inside that area and glued that in place.

 Yesterday I grabbed out the stash of cardboard egg carton lids that I have been saving for months. (I wasn't sure what I was going to use them on but thanks to this AWESOME blog, I knew they were perfect for making stone effects.

I did a little research online to get some inspiration for Fieldstone Fireplaces and came up with a design I was happy with.  I have spent the last 2 days (off and on) cutting and gluing on these fake stones.  My husband oh so helpfully pointed out that the wording kind of spoils the looks. *rolling my eyes, even though I knew he was kidding*  I'm totally finished with the front and one of the sides and once I finish this post I'll go back and finish the final side.  Tomorrow I will start painting and detailing the egg cartons to hopefully make them look like stone.  God willing I won't screw up the paint job!  I plan to make a cherry wood mantle and a faux slate hearth.  I think I will paint the inside black and cut some 'logs' from from small branches from the backyard.  I hope to have the girls fireplace finished by Monday or Tuesday, so that I can get started on their furniture! A fireplace isn't much good unless you have someplace to cozy up and enjoy it! :-)

Geesh, November is halfway over already!

Does anyone else think it's crazy that there are just 7 weeks left in 2013? This past year has just flown by, and each passing day seems to move faster and faster still. *sigh*

Well enough lamenting, back to your regularly scheduled programming.

A couple of blog-posts ago I promised to share the link to these fun scarves I have available in my shop.  I forgot. :-(  Sorry.  But better late than never I suppose.  You can find this lovely version along with 9 others in my shop HERE . 

They are 18" long and each version is a lovely array of shades and colors.  (and at just $2 a piece they are a steal! =D)

This afternoon I finished up, and shipped of the Barbie Christmas tree I've been working on for the past few days.  The tree stands about 13" tall and features ornaments in burgundy, blue, purple and gold (with some crystal ones thrown in for extra sparkle).  I sculpted a large gold star from polymer clay for the tree topper.  I also added a few subtle threads of gold tinsel.  The tree skirt is a lovely rich dark burgundy with a touch of gold trim.  I also added 8 wrapped packages in various sizes for under the tree.

My friend lives here in New York, so she will get her tree tomorrow.  I hope she likes it as much in person as she did in the pictures.  It actually looks much prettier in person as for some reason my camera hates purples. *shrugs*

I have several additional projects that I need to be working on, but can't seem to gather the energy to do so right now.  So I'm going to tend my virtual farm, then go read a book until Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. comes on. 

I'll catch up with y'all tomorrow!

Deborah

Howdy

Hey y'all it's Lena,

Mom's been really busy finishing up on several different projects and hasn't had time to update the blog this past week, so I figured I'd leave her virtual farm alone and come chat with everyone here!

Last week, we had our first snow of the year.  It was really pretty, I've never seen snow before.  Mom and Dad grumbled a bit, but my human brothers were super excited.  I wanted to go out and play, but Mom said she was too busy to take me, and the boys just wanted to play and wouldn't be able to keep an eye on me. (Stinks having little brothers who are so much bigger than me!) The temperatures started warming up and the snow started to disappear the next day.  I hated to act like a brat, but I really wanted to go outside and see the snow in person.  I was kind of bad and told Mom that I was going outside even if that meant I had to climb up tot he top of her work desk to get into my box of clothes for a jacket.  Well, I guess it worked because Mom set aside what she was working on to take me outside!

We bundled up nice and warm and headed out.  The snow was pretty much just in the shaded areas by that point, and my brothers said it wasn't good for much of anything any more.  But I liked it!  It was cold for sure, but so neat!  When we came inside mom ordered me a hat and a pair of mittens.  They are being hand made just for me, all the way in RUSSIA!!!  How cool is that!

Mom made us all some nice hot tea to warm us up.  The snow is now all gone, as a matter of fact it has warmed up quite a bit.  The weather has been kind of weird. But Mom promises that there WILL be more snow, and like my little brothers, I just can't wait!

The big project mom has been working on is a Barbie doll sized Christmas tree for a friend of hers.  It's coming along really nicely.

It's done in shades of purple, blue and burgundy, with gold accents.  Mom added some clear crystals to make it sparkle.

Today she added pretty gold tinsel strands and made a gold star tree topper for it.  She says she'll get some good shots tomorrow.

She still has to sew the tree skirt and wrap up some presents to go under the tree, but Mom said she plans to mail this out tomorrow.

Her next project is to make a fireplace for me and the girls.  She said that will have to be a break-time project as my human Gramma (Mom's mom) has been sewing clothes for the 18" American Girl style dolls and Mom is going to add them to her shop for Gramma. So she has to do photos for each outfit.  Oh and Mom say's she needs to photograph several outfits for me and the others girls to sell those too.  Looks like mom still doesn't have much free time, but I think she kind of likes it that way! lol

Well, I've chatted here enough for now I think.
Catch y'all later,
Lena

Man was I busy today!

Hi everybody, it's me Lena. Mom's busy reading blogs and tending her virtual farm..
(HEYYYY  I'm also editing YOUR pictures!!!)
Ooops, Sorry Mom, didn't realize you were reading over my shoulder.
 (mutter mutter mutter)
Any ways...where was I?  Oh yeah, Mom's working so I thought I would take over tonight's blog post.  Mom is still waiting on the buttons and zippers she ordered to get here, so she decided to take the product photos for some super cute scarves she's going to put into her shop.  I of course was drafted to be the model... (DRAFTED!!! You offered! mutter mutter mutter)

Well... um, regardless of how it happened I spent a good 2 hours trying on different scarves, tying unique knots and posing for over 100 pictures!!!  It's actually pretty cool to see how many different ways to tie a scarf!

This is one of the 10 different colorways that Mom will be offering, hopefully tomorrow.  It's called Deep in the Forest.  It's a lovely blend of Autumnal colors.  It fades from copper, to rust to a rich black.

Each scarf is 18" (45cm) long, so it's great to wrap all different ways.  This one we wrapped in a simple loop, then twirled the ends through the loop.  So chic!

We decided to call this one Peanut Butter & Jelly.  It's got 2 shades of purples that fade into a rich brown.  Sadly Mom says her camera hates purples, as we had a hard time really capturing this colorway.

This one we tied using an image we found on Pinterest . It looks kind of complicated, but it was actually pretty easy.  With the 3 colors in the scarf, this method almost looks braided!

Mom said that in tomorrow's blog post, she'll share a link for the new scarves!

Y'all have a great night!

Lena

Hello Kitty set is almost DONE!

 Actually, aside from the zipper for the hoodie, the set IS done!  Today I made up the shoulder bag, as well as a few pieces of jewelry to match the outfit.  I created the shoulder bag from a strip of soft white leatherette.  I basically just folded it into uneven thirds, sewed up the sides, then sewed a diagonal strip across the bottom corners to create an rectangular base. (I just followed the instructions on this site HERE but in miniature) Once I turned it right side out I sewed a snap for closure, added a strap and embellished with a Hello Kitty image, pale blue Cat's Eye oval stone and a soft blue Swarovski crystal charm.  (Note to self, and anyone else who wants to make one of these... I highly recommend sewing on the snap that goes on the body of the bag before sewing the sides up!  It was a bit of a pain trying to sew inside the bag! LOL

And here is a close-up of the bag.  I was really surprised at how easily the leatherette sewed up!  My machine had no trouble with it at all, heck I didn't even need to put a different needle in!

Lena has already asked me to make her one (or three of these!)  I have a large quantity of this material, so I want to see if there is a way to dye it to allow me several color options without having to buy more.

*Update* What can I say, I'm easily distracted... I just tried to color a scrap of the leatherette with Sharpie markers and alcohol inks... both methods seem to work!  I'm going to let it dry over night, then I'll give them a coat of some kind of sealer and see what happens! :-)  I love experimenting!

I'm so excited for the friend that I'm making this outfit for... her first Minifee arrived today!  She actually got the same sculpt as Lena, but her girl looks totally different! :-)  It's neat how just by having a different person paint the same sculpt you get a totally unique look!

We've decided that the two girls are going to be penpals, so that should be fun!  Lena asked if I could make Raine (that's her name, isn't it pretty?) a Welcome Home present.  I of course agreed.  I grabbed out my elastic thread and box of beads, and put together these little stretchy bracelets.  I think they are so cute!!!

Our last gift to Raine, is this pretty little necklace. I used a small pale blue Swarovski crystal for the drop. (It actually matches the one on her shoulder bag, and now that I think about it, looks like of like a rain-drop... perfect for a girl names Raine! =D

I forgot to check the mail today, so I am hoping that either the buttons I ordered or the zippers will be here.  I'd like to get Raine's outfit in the mail on Tuesday!  Guess we shall see.

Since I can't do anything more on this outfit until the zipper arrives, I think tomorrow I'll start working on my next commission... a 12" tall miniature decorated Christmas tree!

Stay tuned for progress on that too!

Took a little break fom sewing today

Since I am waiting on the zipper for the Hello Kitty hoodie, I decided to take a break from sewing today and just play with some of the things I purchased recently.

I found these fantastic cloches last week at Walmart.  They originally had little figurines of the boys from the group One Direction in them. (and I only know that because that's what the tag said! LOL) They were supposed to be key chain thing-a-ma-bobs, as there was a plastic loop attached to a key ring at the top.  The cloches stand about 2 1/4" (about 60mm) tall.  I sawed off the loop and sanded the top smooth.  I removed the little guys (who were thankfully loose inside) and then went through my Christmas miniatures.  I found a 6 pack of the snowmen figurines, but didn't want to do just those. (I only have 5 of the cloches...for now.)
I found this tiny little tree, I removed the large wooden base and created a new one from polymer clay.  I plan to decorate it with tiny beads and tiny wrapped gifts underneath. For the other ones I plan to make at least one tiny gingerbread house, and maybe a couple of even tinier glitter houses.  I promise to share the finished pieces once I get them done!

Next on my list for this weekend is a fireplace for the girls.  I found this granola bar box in the recycle bin and thought it would be the perfect height. Since I don't own a fireplace, I went searching the net for an image of a woman standing in front of a fireplace. I found this one. I think once I get a small hearth under it and a nice mantel on top it will be the perfect height. I plan to use egg cartons to create fake fieldstone... at least I think fieldstone is the right term.  I want my fireplace to look something like this one HERE.

I hope to get this done sometime within the next week, as I really want to set up a living room scene for the girls that I can decorate for Christmas!!!

(Oh btw, that is a new top Lena is wearing too.  I just used my regular t-shirt pattern, made it a little longer and cheated a bit on the neckline, but sewing a neat bit of trim over the edge rather than turning it under.)

My last bit of fun, is this neat gif I made using 2 pictures I took of an owl transfer I did on a new shirt for Lena.  I didn't realize that the image was Glow in the Dark, until I was getting ready for bed!  I just had to snap a picture!


So let's see, tomorrow I am going to sew up the shoulder bag that goes with the Hello Kitty outfit, then sew up the 4 t-shirts I have laid out and ready, sew the snaps on the red Christmas PJ set I made a few weeks ago (that I am waiting on buttons for) and also frost the 1:4 scale chocolate cupcakes I made today.  I need to decide on some kind of Christmas-y decoration for them.

Then if I get all of those things done, I'll get started on the girls fireplace!

Hope you all have a great Saturday!

Hello Kitty Commission nearly complete

Yesterday and today I worked on 2 of the last 3 components for the Hello Kitty commission.  The white tee, and cat eared hoodie.

I started with the t-shirt... I've made them several times before so I wasn't too worried about the actual construction.  The part I was concerned about was the image transfer.  I knew from past experience that the method I use can be somewhat finicky, so I asked my friend to choose at least 3 images that way I could start with her 'least' favorite and work up to the one she liked best.  Theoretically, by the time I started on the one she liked best, I'd have the technique down perfect.  Well wouldn't you know, the first 2 transferred perfectly and the third one (the fave) rolled up on itself, making it completely unusable!!!  Dang nabbit!!
Thankfully my friend is a doll and said that since the above image was her number 2 choice it would work just fine, rather than me trying to track down another image!

This morning I got up bright and early and started working on the kitty eared hoodie.  I've never made anything like this before, so I was a bit concerned. But aside from a couple small hiccups (um I sewed the hood together inside out! LOL) this pieces actually went together pretty fast.  I honestly didn't even follow the written instructions that came with the pattern. The main body is essentially the same pattern I use for my t-shirts just in reverse.  I lined the hood and inner ears with the same material I used for the socks I made so the whole thing coordinates.  I purchased a thin weight sweatshirt to use and decided to cut off the cuffs from the full sized sweatshirt to make the cuffs for this one. AND I totally LOVE the way it came out.

Lena loves it too, and has already demanded I make one for her (minus the ears though. ;-) lol).  Thankfully I have more than enough material to make her one too... I think hers will have a rich purple lining though.  This one is just waiting on the zipper that is in the mail to arrive and it will be completely finished!

Just a quick peek at the hood when it's down.  This sweatshirt is SO fluffy!!!!  I think I'm going to need to go out and buy a rainbow of sweatshirts to make a bunch of hoodies! =D

A quick shot of Lena in the hoodie.  I love the way this pic came out!  I adore my gorgeous girl!

Latest BJD Commission

Last month a friend asked me to recreate an outfit for her incoming Minifee for her.  The outfit to the left is the one she's asked me to make a version of.  This outfit was originally for Delilah Noir, who is about the same height as a Minifee, but a good bit slimmer, so her clothes don't always fit well on the MNFs.  She also asked me to do it in blue rather than pink. 

I've been working on it off and on for a couple of weeks now, as I had to search for the right plaid for the skirt, as well as a light blue striped knit for the sock and the lining of the hoodie.  Not to mention needing to find a hoodie pattern! LOL

Thankfully I was able to find all of the pieces I needed. I found several different plaids and this one is the one my friend chose.  I just love the bright colors!  The skirt took me a few days, as initially I traced and began cutting out the skirt pieces in the wrong fabric! LOL  I actually traced it out wrong 3 times, as the first skirt pattern I traced was too long, then when I traced out one that was the right length, I realized that I was using the wrong pattern too!  It was at that point that I realized that now I had the pattern/style right, but was using the wrong fabric! *facepalm* So eventually there will be 3 additional plaid skirts for my Minifee.

I also ended up tacking down the pleats on the skirt as it flipped out way too much.  Thankfully my friend loved that detail as well.

The pale blue lace is attached to a simple knit tube underskirt.  That way it can be interchanged later with other colors if my friends wants too.

I had originally planned to us a thicker striped, slightly darker blue knit for the stockings and hoodie lining, but the amount I had of that material was not enough to do both items.  So I went searching for another lightweight blue knit material. These are re-purposed from a pair of baby leggings.  They are subtle in photographs, but a bit more bold in person.  I think they are super cute!

Up next, I'll start on a white t-shirt which will have an adorable Hello Kitty image on it.  Once that is complete I will start on the white hooded sweatshirt.


The last thing I will create for that outfit is the shoulder bag which will also have a Hello Kitty image on it. :-)

Hello November

And here we are already into the 11th month! Does any one else feel like the year has just flown by? Yesterday was Halloween and the the boys and I did our annual trek around the neighborhood for candy.  My youngest son decided to be a knight and the middle one a mad scientist.

Hunter's mad scientist costume was made using an adult white button down, that I pinned open to look like collars, then I chalked the heck out of the front to make it look like an experiment blew up.  His beaker is the bottom of a spray bottle that I topped with a soda bottle cap.  On the cap I glued some fiber-fil to look like smoke.  Donnie cut open a large glow stick and poured it inside.  It made his beaker glow really neatly all night long!  Using a TON of hairspray and half a can of white hair spray we slicked back and spiked up his hair.  Last but not least was a pair of glow in the dark glasses. :-)

Bradley's knight was a mix of hand made and store bought. We found his breastplate, gauntlets and the small shield at the Dollar Tree.  I bought him a dark grey sweatsuit and a nerf sword.  We added 2 long thin orange glow sticks to either side of the sword to make it glow.  The red cardboard shield was a prop that Hunter used several years ago in a school play he was a part of.  I adhered the small plastic shield to the center of the cardboard one to give his shield a bit more of a presence.

I know he's not smiling here, but B-man LOVED his costume, and as you can see in the next picture, really enjoyed striking a knightly pose! :-)

 

We walked around our entire housing area and ended up with a rather large haul of candy! :-)I look forward to baking with and nibbling on the candy for quite a while to come!

Peacocks and pants...

Well actually peacock pants is a more apt title, but... *shrugs* I took these pictures on Tuesday and had planned to blog about them yesterday, but wouldn't you know the card reader in my laptop decided to go on strike!!!  I couldn't get the pics off my memory card. :-(  I thought I was going to have to buy an external card reader just to be able to get the pictures, but late last night the card reader decided to go ahead and let me have my pictures!  (Although I think I might go ahead and pick up an external reader any ways.  This is the 2nd time this has happened in the last few months.)

I bought this fabric about 2 years ago, when I decided to decorate our living room with a peacock theme.  But I honestly had no CLUE what to make with it.  Thankfully though Lena realized it would be perfect for a pair of lounge pants for her!  And well, I couldn't agree more! Instead of an elastic waistband like I did on the Christmas pair, I added navy blue eyelets and a bright green sparkly drawstring.
While I love the look of the drawstring, there is something to be said about the ease of elastic.  I am thinking I might combine the 2 in the next pair I make.

The weather has started getting colder here in NY, and the trees are all bursting into a riot of glorious colors.  Lena decided it would be nice to enjoy her morning hot chocolate at the window by the back patio.

(That reminds me I SO need to take care of my garden pots and get them ready for Winter...which will be here before we know it!)

I just love this shot of Lena...she just looks so pensive.  I am so glad I finally got a BJD, she just makes me happy every time I see her! (Thanks for the nudge, Ban! ;-) )

Here's Lena hanging out by the patio window, drinking her hot chocolate.

After I took all the pictures above I realized that the sun coming in through the window didn't really showcase the bright colors of her lounge pants, so we moved over to this little corner... MUCH BETTER.

Lena loves her comfy pants and so do I!  (Heck I'd love a pair of these for myself!)