LEWTZ

So, I got a lovely new doll - er, action figure - who will be introduced next post. In the mean time, have Annabel showing off that which she claimed for her own...



A new bracelet from jewelry findings



Spring's hottest fashion accessory?



Probably so.



Maybe not the chainmail though.



And you know...



I don't think the helm quite fits.

2 New Dresses

Cell phone camera pictures again... I'm pining for the SLR.









This red ruffle dress was made from the ribbon off of a Godiva chocolate assortment ($6 for a normally $25 dollar holiday gift box? I'll take it!), and a bit of a white sock. You can see a bit of one of the sites I play on in the background (hooray virtual puppies and kitties).





This is what she was photographed in earlier... it's actually 2 pieces, the skirt and then an embroidered tube dress underneath, cinched with a bit of ribbon to give it some form. A nice summery outfit, too bad summer is so far away!

New Lipstick

Pining for the digital SLR, too...



I switched Annabel's lipstick around. The other - real human lipstick from E.L.F. - had nearly completely worn off, and left behind a bit of a gummy mess. So I wiped it off and went at it with a Lyra Aquacolor crayon. It's a brighter, more pinkish color and I had a lot of the same issues as before - 'aquacolor' means 'wipes right off if you try to paint the sealant over it'...

But it looks better, after 3 coats of crayon/sealant. :)

Silly comic thing...

Hello, Goodbye...

...as in, Hello from Emory instead of home -



as this cell phone picture from my dorm can attest. It's cold and blustery out there but so far my classes seem to be going well!

That's the good news...

The bad news is that the good camera is at home. Tomorrow I am trooping to the library to see if they have a setup for doing digital photography, however, if not, image quality will be... well, about as good as that picture of me above.

So with the wind sort of out of my sails, pictures may be few. All as well since I need to study. If I get really desperate for detail, I'll just SCAN Annabel...

But until then - 2 pictures from when I was still at home, and more from before.



Look! She can stand up in those shoes! (shamelessly stolen from another doll...)



I don't really like that top that much but oh well.

And from before...





This gazing globe was sent off in a trade but it sure was fun to snap a few pictures of it beforehand.

Sweaterdress from a sock - again

The tights are also new but, well, a little tight. I want to do another pair that are more like bloomers - loose. :)
...and here's the sock where it all came from. :)

Fun With Accessories!

Between cleaning out my room and knowing that my days at home are limited, I've gone a little crazy photographing. Most of these little accessories came from digging out things in my room.

Purse made by me - also the sweater - but the jacket is shamelessly stolen from Hayley, one of the Juku Couture girls.
What's that in the bag...?
Why, My Little Ponies, of course!
She is rather pleased with her collection. Also with her boots. (Shamelessly stolen from a Juku Couture gal.)
If I ever feel that I'm really good at working small-scale and painting, I will repaint this to look like one of the Odeco dolls.
MINTS! I have no idea what to do with this tin. It's not even the right size. But it sure is cute! It's a tiny clawfoot tub, how can you not love it!
Pie: an essential vitamin.
And finally, just a little portrait.

Goodbye, Sarah

Being into dolls isn't exactly a new thing for me. This is Sarah, my American Girl Doll that I got in about 4th grade.

Truthfully, she's the first big thing I have ever saved up for in my life. It's strange to realize you're about to give up the first Big Thing that you've ever gotten. I had her and I loved her, like any young girl would, but in retrospect I have a few reasons for being happy to see her go. Looking back I can see that I got her mostly to play with my best friend at the time, who, in that hindsight, wasn't such great of a friend at all. Being able to look at her and realize that, wait, those feelings of being excluded and upset were perfectly valid, makes them run a little afresh. Not a pleasant feeling.

But at the same time, it's giving up a major figure of my childhood...

...Yet I'm taking comfort in the fact that I'm not giving up on the hobby. My love for the hobby is very much renewed. I'm planning, if there's enough money, to perhaps save up for a digital SLR of my own so I can continue providing nice photographs, if not a lovely 60 cm satyr doll.

So goodbye, Sarah. It's hard to see you go, but you need to find a happier home.

New favourite pictures!

Enjoying the good camera at home while it lasts!

Silvery Stuff - fun with premo!

So, I am the remarkable combination of disorganized and scatterbrained. So much so that it's possible for me to go shopping in my own room! I found some Sculpey Premo in silver (and in white), and played around with the silver today.

So, I made - a twisty bracelet, hilts for some swords which are looking unfortunately like overgrown kitchen knives. And then on the other side, a fancy clasp for a cloak and the start of a necklace. The clasp I'd like to use on a cloak, either silver or dark green - I'm not sure - then trim it with this craft rabbit fur we have kicking around that's silver-grey.

No, Annabel isn't doing the robot. She's showing off all of her new bracelets! That's sort of the 'wrong side' of the twisty bracelet. The others are just really simple bangles.

And there's the best side of the twisty bracelet.

I've also been hacking at a coca-cola can for some light silvery stuff for some pretty light metalsmithy. So far not much success but I haven't been going at it with much of a plan, haha.

Pink And Blue Buttons Outfit (and wrap skirt)

Ignore the state of my coffee table, if you would... I need to make a stand, instead of propping Annabel up against my bottle of leave-in conditioner when I want her to be standing. >>;

So, this wrap skirt is another failure of making a circle skirt. But oddly, I quite like the results. I'm thinking of just making some wrap skirts (with heart-button closures) out of at least 2 more types of cloth. I have a lovely pink-green print, and a yellow print, and I'd like wrap skirts of those two, I think. I cut a template out of a paper plate and once I figured out that the arc wasn't quite right, I just went, "oh well, I'll cut out 2 pieces and join them together". Rather cute, all in all.

My first whole outfit!! I feel very accomplished. Well - no shoes - but still! Well... The Fashionista barbie brown-and-pink boots sort of go, but I'd like to make a pair of soft ones out of the brown fleece that button up with blue buttons to kinda tie the whole thing together. And I'd like for her to be wearing the cream tights from the old pair of granny panties instead of the brown tights. But still! I am very pleased.


The muff likely needs some little decoration on it, maybe one of the tiny silk roses that you can find and some ribbon along with a button or three. :)


Here's the hat, sans hair. ...It fits perfectly. But I'm going to say that it was my plan all along to leave it small so that it would sit jauntily off-kilter on top of her hair. I don't much like her with wig removed, wearing the hat.

Circle Skirt... failed attempt #1 + Project List!

NO TYCHO NOOOOO

Tycho is not a very good helper.

...which is one of the reasons why I didn't realize her hand had slipped half off. Sigh. I blame that on Tycho! But also I may have some adventures in felting later to correct that...

Also sorry if these pictures look a bit odd. They actually should look more normal than usual. Our den is pretty warm-toned, and I keep forgetting to hit autolevels. So these are actually more true to life. Doesn't Annabel have such lovely green eyes?

Anyway, I tried to do a simple circle skirt. I also did so thinking, "I don't need a pattern! Ha!"

No, no, I do need a pattern, and I do need to use a string compass, it is not something I can eyeball. So this skirt is, uhm, a little lopsided. Fortunately it's hidden fairly well here. The top is also just from the pair of old granny panties.

So!

Things I still want to do, in my last week or so of vacation...

-Figure out that loose hand and do some felting - maybe with glue if possible - to correct it. (I have tacky glue and the fray-stop stuff, would those work, I wonder? Or is hot glue felting the best way?

-Make some tights from the granny panties (w/ lace trim at the bottom, on the leg, capri-ish length)

-Make a good circle skirt cardboard pattern. Perhaps scan and post here.

-Make circle skirts out of most of the cotton prints I haven't touched yet - the greeny-pink, the pink stripes (this one done up better), the yellow.

-Make pants out of that corduroy.

-Figure out a simple, more fitted top pattern out of cloth. Perhaps combine with circle skirt to sew some sundresses.

-Make a small bodice of some type to go with the fancy evening gown.

-Cut up a Coca-cola can and try some simple armorsmithing/jewlerymaking. Circlet, bracers, shinguards, maybe a breastplate if I get the hang of it?

This is Tycho. He is a dog. He is a dog who loves his little squeaky mouse very, very much.