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, if it isn't bad enough with the Ebay fees (even on shipping) -- to not have something turn up at its destination is a reflection on me (no matter what Ebay says). -- Their whole thing is "well, you're not responsible -- the package shows tracked to the shipping center -- that's all you are responsible for."

I feel terrible.  The buyer (was upset -- understandably) -- asking me why I didn't send via USPS (post office) -- I tried to explain that I have no control over how it's sent once I checked that box on the listing.  

Ebay, being Global, is a very efficient system -- and I pay the fees -- but there's been some grumblings about this Global shipping system and now I'm beginning to see why.

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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 look, it is coming together just as I had wanted it.


Here are the flowers stitched on....

I've put all the flowers on one panel....

But as in my other first attempt I want to add some beads.  Now with this color scheme, I think maybe pearls or lavender might be nice....

It takes a Loonnnngggg time to complete a panel (again much longer than I thought) -- this one was probably longer because I had to "pick" the flowers (off the stems) -- then "pick" -- choose the color way -- then arrange -- then sew....

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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 them any longer :(

Now, I'm not sure if I want to rework with other flowers, spread out the flowers,  or leave as is.

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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 is part of a Birthday gift for a forum member.  In the past, I haven't posted the things I've made -- but unfortunately, neither have the recipients and I have no photos.  :)

Hope she likes 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 :) )

                                    

I got my mom to help me and we made a cushion... (of sorts).  I used a paper template to get the size right.

This is what it looked like completed:

It has batting inside it (and it is quite puffy).  It has a single piece of batting.  The outside corners are stitched and then I sewed (by machine) the interior rectangle.  This was actually harder to do than I initially thought it would be (always the case -- almost never do I say "Oh that was easier than I thought it would be").

So then I did the final fitting and it fit (I breathed a sigh of relief).  I made a template traced it onto the fabric.  Allowed for seams.  Used the tracing as the stitch lines.

I was so happy.  I showed it to my husband.  He said "looks like a coffin"......... (thanks!).

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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 your payments.  If at the end of the payments you don't open a dispute within a specified period (not sure if that's 30, 45 or 60 days) then you can't make a claim.  If you are within the time frame, you can only dispute the last payment that was made -- as the other payments are outside of the timeframe.

My idea -- I call -- PayPal Payments -- costs the buyer a little money (some percentage of the payment) -- but both the buyer and seller enter into a time agreement.  So, let's say in the above example, 3 months.  The money goes to the seller's account but can't be removed until the end of the time.  If the deal goes south, the buyer can make a claim on the entire amount.  If the deal goes through, the money is released.

It would solve a lot of this ridiculous scamming -- as it is now,  is up to other buyers to report these sellers.

Ok.  Steps off soapbox.

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