Today is my mom's birthday

I feel blessed that she is still with us.  She has been "sick" for about 3 years now and it has made me realize that living for the here and now is a very important thing. Here's a picture from our vacation.  It was just beautiful.  This was a lake at the end of our hike. I try to focus on the positive (and not think about the negative) -- like the fact...

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Took a short (much needed vacation)....

Feeling refreshed and revitalized.  Took a short vacation to Colorado.  Beautiful!  Gorgeous really.  Did some hiking, white water rafting, overall enjoyment!  Nice to get away.  Our eldest daughter was able to join us so it was a pseudo family vacation (missed having my youngest -- so the cookie crumbles) I got back to a gorgeous dress made...

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WHYYYYYYYY????????

Ok, I'm really sour this morning.  I woke up to an email that a doll I had sold never made it to its destination. I sold it on Ebay.  It was shipped through the Ebay Global Shipping program.  --  What this is (for those that don't know) -- you ship the doll to a US location, the shipping company fills out the customs forms and sends it tracked to its destination.  The buyer pays for this service (it's gotta be expensive). Now,...

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Back to the proverbial drawing board

After scouring several stores;  I couldn't find the flowers I had started using.  Depressing I suppose -- undaunted, I went through my "stash" and found a better candidate....  Should have used this to begin with.  It entailed the removal of each petal (painstaking). I'm using about 6 different flowers in the purple, pink, white ranges. Here's a closer...

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My Dior progress....

Although it doesn't look like any progress... In order to pin to a dress form I needed one that mimic'd the Blythe body -- no gots. I improvised using a Dritz form and I had to destuff it and rework to get the right dimensions. From there, I pinned the front panel on.  The problem I'm having is the flowers.  I bought them a while back and it seems no one carries...

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flower crown?

I'm not even sure if it has another name.  When my daughter was little, we had an au pair from Germany.  I remember her weaving flowers to make my daughter a little crown.  My daughter so loved it.  It was the cutest thing. I made this "crown" with ribbon.  It's painted and gathered and flowers are added on top.  It ties behind the head.  It...

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Yet another thrift store find.

This had a flower appliqué and some embroidery (green leaf). This is a 2 piece set.  A top and skirt....

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My Grail doll (preparation)

I saw this "trunk" in a local store.  I decided to use it for my future grail doll.  (still saving up). I cut out travel labels and glued them on (should have left well enough alone) -- I decided to try using a decoupage product (after the fact) -- nearly ruined it entirely.  (live and learn :) )                  ...

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Scamming --Solution

I came up with a solution to a lot of the scamming that seems to be happening in the doll community. This morning, I contacted PayPal and emailed them with a "pitch" on an idea that would solve this problem. It seems that PayPal works (for the most part) to help prevent some of the scamming.  The problem occurs when people pay for things (even with PayPal) over an extended period.  Let's say layaway (or layby) for 3 months. You make...

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Back to dyeing.

I've been experimenting with some dyeing.   This is a "gray/green" mossy kind of color.... Here are 3 separate green colored dyes, that I will mix and match to get 6 different colors. Those are test strips of wool (the white stringy looking things) Here's the dye pot: After the cook/boil stage, there's the ice bath. Here's the wet product: I'm...

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Wishing everyone a Happy and safe 4th!

Happy 4th of July.  Hope it is a safe holiday for everyone. I had NO red white or blue outfits! (shame) I did make another dress from my thrift store finds.  This was originally a napkin.  I still need to put the buttons on. Her underskirt was a pillow case (a machine embroidered trim). It has a simple button closure I'll close the dress with...

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Facebook page!

My wonderful daughter has helped me with yet another project I've been wanting to tackle.  A facebook page dedicated to my Dollutional designs. https://www.facebook.com/dollutional?ref=hl&ref_type=bookmark I can't wait to update photos, do some giveaways, have some fun with it. I would love it if you'd click on my page and "like" it!  My goal is to get to 100 likes in a month!  Please help me get the...

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Craziest thing just happened to me.... Paypal twilight zone.

I got home from having some ice cream.  I got an email that I had received money $180 from Paypal.... I wasn't due any money from Paypal.  I called them.  It turns out a lady had accidentally put in my email (she bought something from me earlier) -- (My item was $20)...  They had me issue her a refund...  Somehow I got panicked.  I thought she probably doesn't even know. Then when I messaged her, I realized she had...

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Inspired by the Dior video

Some one posted this on Facebook.  I had seen it before, but somehow I was mesmerized by it. I decided to use some lycra mesh and add some already made fabric flowers to see what I could come up with. I can't get over the painstaking individual cutting and stamping of each flower.  This gives you a whole new appreciation for the process. I didn't have the fancy...

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Packaging....

My daughter helped with the design (and execution) -- I explained what I wanted. So here's my packaging "toppers" ...

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Thrift store finds

A couple weeks ago I went to a thrift store.  I bought some things.  I've been repurposing them for Blythe. My first project was a little mink collar.  I made that into a stole. Next was a linen dress... that started as a napkin... I did a "cut as you go" deal and made up the particulars as I went a long (long or short sleeves, collar or not, etc.)...

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New shape

I mentioned making a new mold....  It was inspired by Disney's Oswald. I'm going to call it Kawaii rabbit! I think it is adorable. Here's a peek.  It's a work in progress... tag: Gnome Do...

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Here kitty kitty

So this will be my Kawaii Kitty Helmet... I have not decorated it as yet... Here it is "in the nude" (A lot of "things" will be done to it after this stage before it is ready to "go") I'm happy with the process.  This is my second kitty helmet.  My first I made as a lark for one of my girls. I'll share with you tomorrow the other shape I've been working on. Tag:...

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What's in a name?

Everything!  When my daughter was here, we ordered labels.  They arrived.  I'm very happy with them.  Very cute. I chose the sheep as all the domes are wool. ...

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My dying paid off

I look at this Gnome Dome WIP and I think "I'm glad I dyed that myself". I was looking for a pink that was more of a Raspberry or Watermelon shade...  I went through my stash and found nothing. I decided to dye some. As I look at this dome, I'm very satisfied with the color.  Just what I wanted! ...

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leafing

Continuing to experiment with some leaves. Some autumn leaves and an ivy leaf... tag: Gnome Do...

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Making Domes and Working on some new molds....

I've planned out the Domes I want to make, so I need to have the right colors.... This dye makes the cotton candy blue wool that I'll need for a sky background. Boil, boil, boil.... stir, stir, stir.... dye's all absorbed, shock with ice cubes.... Remove, rinse, allow to dry.... I have 2 ideas I'd like to execute (it's always easier said than done)....

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Dying to show you my latest

Here's the first mix of dye.... Looks like yucky cough syrup I had as a child! I toned it down with some yellow.....  Then added orange to the dye pot. You can just make out the orange on the edges... Looking for an autumn look. The dye is absorbed and the ice is added.... (you can really see the orange "appearing") Here's the wet roving... just "out of...

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Went to Dr. this morning (emergency visit)

Good new is they know what's wrong...  Bad news is they think it's a torn rotator cuff (shoulder socket thingy). We started with anti - inflamatories and pain meds.  Next step cortizone injections and possibly surgery????  Uggh. All I kept thinking was I won't be able to experiment with making stuff now... UGGGhh...

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I dug out an old jewelry chest I wanted to convert into an armoire

I bought this a few years back, but never used it.  It sat idle in my office.  It was a little short for my porcelain Agnes doll.  I think it is the perfect height for Blythe or any doll that is around that size.... I'm trying to see if it is deep enough to hold a hanger -- if so, I'll convert it to a rod on each side.  One side for casual, one for dressy.......

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Ice bath and drying

After a nice Ice bath.... And some drying time.... tag: Gnome Do...

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Working quickly....

So as not to felt the wool.  I don't want to stress the wool in this stage...  So there's some boiling but not too much and there's cooling -- but not too rapidly.... That's a summer green!  The dye has pulled into the wool...  I'm going to be making some more domes this coming week and I want to make sure I have just the colors I want, so I went through...

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My newest girl...

Here she is in all her de-boxed glory.  Hair washed!  She's in street clothes.  I made her a new "Cat Hat"... It's an experiment I was doing (made the same way as the gnome dome) -- I'm not sure which is harder to make.  ;) Here she is just "chillaxing"....

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Who knew?

Got my newest doll in the mail.  She came lightening quick.  She looked so lovely (in the box). I left her there for a couple days. I took her out today... (like breaking into Fort Knox)...  I think they have Barbie beat with tape and twist ties and small plastic bags.  Who knew? I wanted to dress her in Street clothes (as the stock fashions...

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