Winter, we are done with you!

Winter has been hanging on and on around here.  We get a couple spring-like days, and then we're back to snow.   It's been good from a flooding perspective, as the Spring Melt has been more gradual than usual....but we are universally fed up with the grey and cold!  LOL

I've been battling the greyness with colour:









Here's a couple links for you:
1)  Antique Lilac has been doing a lovely series on doll photography that is worth checking out!
2)  The Postmans' Knock has a 2-part set of tutorials for various handlettering styles. (Pt 1,  Pt 2)

We've got some sunshine out there today, and we're up around 0 degrees, so me?  I'm going to drop everything and head outside for a walk.  :D

Because Spring is sort-of, eventually, really-truly, just-around-the-corner!  :D

A Bit Of Random

It's been hovering at about 2 degrees C for the last several days.  It is wonderful! (Not so wonderful as the man in shorts I saw yesterday thinks it is, obviously, but pretty awesome!).  This morning I can see patches of sidewalk, which makes walking to work much easier. 

The sun is even out!  The Weather Forecasters keep warning us it isn't going to last and isn't really Spring, but no one is listening.  It is ABOVE ZERO.

Life is good.  :D

Here's a few things I've been enjoying lately:
Elvie Studio  - Prettiest journaling ever.  I would love to be able to do that! 

The Postman's Knock - I mentioned this the other day, but it is worth another mention.  Calligraphy and some neat tutorials.  I've used this one twice, most recently to decorate the envelope of my sister's birthday card. :D  It turned out pretty good, and considering my lack of artistic talent, that is exciting!  LOL

Many Small Friends has been doing a series on sewing with knits that seems really helpful! 

Open House Miniatures  has the most amazing printable version of a McLoughlin Folding Doll House.  I think this would be really neat for the dolls.  (Just a note, I found the site slow to load.  Hopefully a temporary thing.)

Miniature Gardens/Fairy Garden..... They are so charming! (And would be so perfect for dolls!)

I'm working away on a little blue Pukifee blanket right now, doll-wise, and saving egg cartons for my second attempt at the brick wall for Parker' clock-tower attic. 

I didn't like the way the first one came out after the grouting.  It's perfectly usable, but not quite what I'm looking for.  So this time the steps will be slightly different:

1. Cut out all the bricks!
2. Paint all the bricks while unattached to wall!
3.  Place grout on the wall.... (which is just a piece of cardstock, that then gets attached to the "actual" back wall.)
4.  Set painted bricks in place!

I found that I just lost too much of the brick texture when the grouting was the last step.  I did a little test, and I think the new order should do the trick.  Two of the three necessary egg cartons have been collected.  :)

Little bit of progress?

That whole "making time to do the things I love" resolution is harder to keep than you'd think.  LOL  But Thursday night I cast on a pattern I'd wanted to try:

This is the Rainbow variation of Kristin Maw's "House Sweater for Littlefee" pattern. It's actually done now, and being blocked.  It didn't take very long, even with me making a couple minor errors along the way (peril of working on something in the evening).

Yesterday I finished off the bricks for the back wall of Parker's attic, and today I gave it the first coat of paint.  I'm not too sure if I like it yet, but we'll see what it looks like after the next coat, which should add more depth.  I figure if I don't like it when it's done, I'll give it a "whitewashed" look with the white paint!

I do love the texture of the bricks - the egg carton does a great job of mimicking real bricks from that point of view!

The pictures are courtesy of my brand-new second-hand iPod Touch.  LOL That is, new to me!  I've been using my old iPod Nano for the last...erm...wow, must be about 12 years?  It was back in that day when all an MP3 Player did was play music.  I'm having a lot of fun playing with this fancy new version!  I don't have a "smart phone", but the iPod Touch seems to do pretty much everything but phone calls. ^_^

Building a wardrobe...

Around the regular tasks, I took some time to work on fun doll things this weekend.  Mostly, of course, stuff for Parker.

I started gluing down bricks for the back wall of Parker's attic.  I swear I thought I was being really consistent with the size I cut them till I started gluing them down!  I'm consoling myself that it's an old, abandoned clock tower...how great could the brick work be anyway?!

I did the finishing on Parker's sweaters - sleeves knit, blocking, ends woven in, buttons and snaps sewn on.  Then I gathered her little pile of clothing together to admire what she has, and got an idea:

Nothing new needed to be purchased for this, much to my glee. The foamcore is left over from when I cut down the walls of her attic.  The dowel, t-pins, and wire were in the craft bin, obviously purchased for some abandoned project in the past.  LOL

I need to make a little basket or something to hold her socks down there at the bottom. I saw a great one someone had made from Aida, and I believe I have some of that in the craft bin as well.

I've got two sewn dresses in progress for her, but ran out of time to finish them.  I've also got one knitted dress in progress.  After that though, I think I really need to focus on more socks, a couple skirts...then maybe a coat.

I think half the fun of this project is finding ways to use up the odd stash of craft supplies I've accumulated over the years.  ;)

Last Day of Vacation, First Day of 2015

I've really enjoyed my vacation.  Aside from spending time with friends and family, I've had time to work on all the things I've been hoping to have time for. :)

There's been some progress on Parker's Attic.... (plus a sneak peek of Parker herself, since her horns arrived!)

 

 

And I made some progress on her wardrobe...

   

And I had time to take doll pictures....

 

As well as a bunch of other tasks, such as doing clean-out of the doll stuff, and re-organizing it. ;)

There's even been time for people size knitting, reading, watching the first few episodes of "The Librarians" (completely fun!), heading outside into the cold for brisk walks when the grey weather gets a bit much.  I even had time to go buy new pillows for my bed, which I've been meaning to do for about five months. That might have backfired though, because I slept in this morning I was so comfortable! LOL

I'm back to work tomorrow, but I'm going to try to make more time in 2015 to work on all the things I love.

Pictures Would Be Helpful...

But I haven't got any right now. 

The "stovepipe" for Parker's attic has had the first coat of black paint, and I'm pretty happy with how it looks so far!  I'm hoping to have time Sunday afternoon to do another coat.  I cut up a lot more craft sticks for the floor, and I took apart a clementine crate and a coaster to use to make her a table and chairs/bench.

Taking stuff apart is kind of fun.  I don't really have the right kind of tools for anything, so I was just prying things apart with a craft knife.  The main thing is that it worked!

I've been waiting on an opening on a commission list to get some horns made for Parker (at which point she can make her debut), and today one opened up so I grabbed it! 

I've been working on a little sweater for her at lunch (yay for small enough to be portable projects!), based on Wovenflame's One button cardigan pattern.  I'm trying for long sleeves, as this is to go over a little sleeveless dress I sewed for her.

I'm not sure what it is about some dolls, but they seem to come with an inbuilt "colour scheme" or preference for me.  Samara, for example, is rarely in anything other than pink or white.  Kipling seems to wind up in either the brightest of bright colours or neutrals.  Cairo seems to wear colours that are often coded as "boys" colours.   Kipling and Cairo share some outfits, but not so much Samara.

This new character, Parker, appears to dress entirely in black, white, shades of grey, with the occasional shot of blue.  Rainbow socks will not be appearing on her I guess!  LOL

Parker's Attic

Otherwise known as the Very Slow Project:

This is where I am so far.  Not far, as you can see!  I'm done her bed!  It was a little crate something came in, and I sewed (rather badly) a mattress for it, re-used a little pillow I'd sewn in the past, and her blanket is done now as well! :)

Today I printed out the Clock-Window, and cut the hole for it in the back wall.  It looks a bit weird right now because you can see the outside parts - that back wall will eventually hopefully be brick, and only the circular part of the clock face will show.  That's what the egg carton is for;  making the bricks!

The goal is to complete this project buying as little as I can. So far it is kind of fun trying to think of what I can re-use to create the items I want.

I'm really pleased with the way the Curio thread from Knitpicks worked out for Parker's blanket, it's very light and crisp, and has a pretty good "drape" to it.  It's usually intended for use with crochet, rather than knitting.

Parker herself is still a work-in-progress, so she won't be appearing in photographs just yet...

I guess Pinterest is addictive?

So I've spent a couple more lunch breaks playing on Pinterest.

I have some ideas for the Pukifee wardrobe (though frankly, they have a lot of clothes and are low priority!  LOL)



And then I thought...if I had unlimited skills and time, what sort of things would I make for the dolls?



Apparently, I would make a bedroom for Claire, a bedroom with three beds for the Pukifee, a living room, a dining room, and a kitchen.

I should get right on with the skill development!

These pinboards have been fun to put together, and they are definitely inspiring me.  I did a swatch for a sweater for Emily last night (this totally does not count as starting something new before I finish the two items I swore I would finish before starting something new  ::shifty eyes:: ), and I think I can straight up use DWD Free Pattern #8 for it as a base. I'm basing it on this one, but making it with raglan sleeves.  Because I hate sewing in sleeves.

P.S.  BJD cat is IN my city as of an hour ago.  Should be home today or tomorrow then! :)

An Assortment Of Random Things

Still waiting on my BJD Cat.  Actually, the tracking shows that it was processed in Russia on Nov 28th, and there have been absolutely no updates since.  I'm trying not to worry.  Maybe there was a holiday in Russia and so it didn't go anywhere?  Or perhaps they missed scanning it a couple times and it will suddenly update that it has arrived in Canada.  I should look up Russian holidays.

No news on Claire's body being shipped yet, either.  I guess Fairyland just got overrun during all the events they've been running.  It looks like they are going to have another, smaller, one this year as well!

In more cheerful news, I had so much fun putting together a pinterest board of inspiration for Claire's clothing for 2014, that I made one for Emily as well.

A neat thing:  See the perfect 1/4 scale fireplace at Debrah's Daily Dish.  If you scroll back through the entries, you'll see it's origins.  Mostly made from things you'd have around the house!  I would never have thought of egg carton as good brick material, but it looks really great!

Also fascinating, this tutorial to make a bow and arrows, from Antique Lilac.

I'm torn on my doll plans for 2014 - on the one hand, I'd like to make living room furniture, so I have another "room" to work with for the dolls.  On the other hand, I really want to focus on making clothing for Claire, and maybe a few patterns for Littlefee.  Someday when I am retired, I will have copious time and not need to prioritize!  (Or, you know, my list will expand and I will still have more projects than time. LOL)

Anybody else have a Doll Goal for 2014?

Plans, Plans, and More Plans

It's not long till the last weekend of November now. That's when I get to put up my Christmas decorations and delight in Christmas as much as I like.  I try to limit it to just the one month, in order to not annoy my family members into rising up and killing me.  ;)

It is my favourite holiday! 

My Christmas shopping is done, but I still have cookie baking, present exchange with a friend, small people to take to see Frozen in the theatre, and if the snow stays on the ground, we've got plans for tobogganing!  Various familial visits to make.  And of course there is the actual Christmas Day - few things are more fun than watching small children opening their presents.

I've got the dolls's tree all ready to go again this year, and I want do do lots of doll pictures like I did last year, as it was so much fun. The challenge will be not repeating things! Now if my BJD cat should arrive, I am totally set...Cats and Christmas are a hilarious combination to begin with.



I want to make all sorts of little things to be presents to open, rather than last year where I just wrapped up existing props.  I want to do a milk and cookies for Santa picture, most definitely!  If the weather cooperates, I'd love to do some outdoor shots in the snow.

...I wonder if I could do gingerbread houses out of craft foam?  I think I have more plans than I have time! :D

Make Your Own Stairs...

How neat is this tutorial, here, for making stairs/staircases for dolls?

I tend to fail (badly) at working with foamcore.  I'm not sure if it's my inability to draw a straight line  or my inability to cut in a straight line.  Combination of both, maybe? 

But those stairs rather make me want to give it another try....there are also some truly amazing kitchens and bathrooms made in a similar fashion at the site.   In fact, just go to the tutorials section and admire!  :)

It seems to be all 1:6 scale, which doesn't work for me since the "adults" are 1:4 scale, but it does look very adaptable.   And really, making stairs looks like an awful lot of fun....  Even making a kitchen looks do-able when you see someone else doing it!

Labour Day...

Today is Labour Day, so I have an extra day off work.  Three days in a row, hurrah!  The weather here has been rain, rain, and then some more rain just to be sure we got the message that summer is over, so I'm spending this day as I've spent the last two:  catching up on little jobs that have been put off.

I've replaced a hook on the bathroom door, fixed the screen in the dining room window, made a header for my blog (finally!), and re-organized the front hall closet.

Much more fun, I'm continuing to work on Claire's craft room, which includes painting some scrapbook embellishments that look like picture frames.  I've been meaning to get around to that one for years.



I pulled out my fabric scraps I've been saving, and wrapped them around bits of balsa wood and cardboard to fill one of the drawers of Claire's craft table with fabric.  A lot of the time my first idea for things like this does not work out...but this time it did! The fabric drawer looks exactly the way I wanted it to.



You have to imagine Claire going around to all the fabric shops and convincing them to donate fabric that didn't sell even on the discount table, so that is how she gets them still wrapped on the cardboard!  LOL

I started working on the first prototype pattern of what I've been calling "the Wabi-sabi dress" in my head.  The edges on all the ruffles are left to fray, thus the name. I envy those people who do the math, chart out the pattern, and have it turn out the way it should the first try, but I am definitely not one of them.  Also, muslin is not the best fabric for making doll sized double-fold bias tape.  It'll work, though!

P.S.  This may very well be the most awesome ball-jointed cat in the history of ball-jointed cats.  Seriously.  Check out her whole photostream!  <3

Why I Love the Doll Collecting Hobby

1.  The dolls!  

I have mostly BJD, and they solve a frustration I'd had since early childhood...realistic posing!  I have no idea why the posing limitations always bothered me, but they did, and my Fairyland dolls are pretty much perfect. :D

There's such variety, and even the same sculpt, with the same faceup, usually looks very different from one owner to the next.  It is endlessly fascinating to me...

2.  I get to use a whole bunch of other hobbies in conjunction with this one.
   
I love knitting, and sewing, and crafting in general...  I can use a lot of these skills to make things for my dolls, and while I'm no expert at any craft, my skills have vastly improved since I started making things for the dolls.   I mean, I did a dress with a lace skirt the other week!  Lace!  A couple years ago, I would have probably just assumed it was too hard.

I've learned tons about how clothing is put together and how to make something without a pattern when necessary.  I still prefer using patterns, but I feel like I can at least try to come up with something when I can't find a pattern these days!

And photography....my family and friends tend to dislike pictures of themselves once they hit about 10, so they become reluctant to pose!  The dolls are always happy to pose (and so cooperative about it, too!), and there are people who are amused enough to look at them for fun. 

3.  The people!

It's lovely to have like-minded people who get excited over a new doll, outfit, photoshoot, or a wig!  And my Flickr friends, blogs I read, and DoA are a constant source of inspiration and admiration.  There are so many people doing such awesome things with their dolls, and it always makes me want to learn more!

It's also been good for me...I'm not good at New People.  I worry that I might be bothering people or intruding, but I'm much braver about commenting.  Okay, yes, I still dither over every comment I leave, no matter how inoffensive, but I do leave comments!  LOL 

While there are always a few bad apples, the people I've come across in this hobby have been a higher than average concentration of very kind and generous people.  I love that. :)