DollsArtCats

(Because my sister likes them.)

It's looking a bit congested downtown by the Cathedral, due to flooding....(Photo (shopped) source, Reddit)

Finally, I got a start on Sophie's dress, so she won't have to live in a scarf. Just a start, though--I have a tottering pile of work in my "in" basket.

It's not entirely Blogger's fault, but every now and then some mysterious person decides to tweak the coding and strange things happen..like the font size changed a bit a month ago, and now the photo sizing is odd, and the "followers" pane suddenly became a Google + thing (which I may actually be part of, but I either forgot or never actually did sign up for, because who has time to chat or whatever extra networking Google wants you to do?) I don't even deal with Facebook, that harvester of ad information masquerading as a social network. So it's not that I don't deeply appreciate that you wanted to follow this blog, I just seemed to have moved or deleted the follower pane in the last layout overhaul. But this way you can just read, without anyone but the NSA knowing :D

If you would like a desktop-sized version of this (no watermark) it's here: Rainy Lilies (Stella d'Oro) 1400x1050

Haha, not really--we ordered the new dryer last night from Home Depot. Farkin' dryer.

I am always amused by what sewing machine manufacturers think we do while we are sewing. We do not usually look perky, like the stock photo girl above. I often look like this: More generally, I have this clueless but intent expression: Or sometimes there is the "WTF is this pattern piece" expression: But mostly, sewing, (especially for dolls) is pretty fun.

It seems like every day now, I have to escort a bunny or a chipmunk out of the house. The bunnies are more fun, since they can be just picked up (with gloves, to be safe) and carried to the brush pile. We went to Naperville yesterday to get some kind of dinner, and in walking around I found where Ann Taylor keeps her dolls. They look sort of bored, though: (The red reflections are the seahorses on my shirt). It makes me wonder if they have boxes of rolling heads stashed somewhere, too.:D Also there was a very elegant outside bedroom, which I found surprising as it has rained every day this week so far, including a Burmese-like downpour. Either the blankets are wet-- or someone from the design store runs in and out all day, adjusting the display. Blogger has once again pranked me with the photo sizing; why no preview size, Blogger? I had to manually enter this: height="300" width="400". :p

Safir on Den of Angels has started a petition (with Soom's permission, I think they want to see how many want to buy one) for Soom to create a Bronze version of Cuprit. They did maybe.. two.. of the fantasy version in the Free Choice Event a couple of years ago, but no human ones, so it's an unfilled slot for the people who collect Cuprits. And she would be so pretty, too! Bronze is a very successful resin color for Soom, it doesn't seem to fade a lot and it makes the sculpts look great. Here is the link for the petition: Bronze Cuprit Petition Also, safir gave me permission to show you her own Doria, Carmen: I am always so amazed at how different the same sculpt can look depending on the artist. Safir's Deviant Art gallery is a lot of fun--she also has a human cuprit, and I will show you just a teaser so you will go look at her gallery and see the whole dress, which Safir designed and sewed herself. She is so talented! Safir/Sherimi's Deviant Art Gallery

It seems to be the season for adorable tinies, though Soom seems to have decided to use a flip book to design this cutie--it's a bee..bear..cutie human elf tiny thing! 0_o. It is adorable if mystifying. Apparently the "bee butt" option doubles as a weapon, undignified as that sounds. Luckily for me it falls into the forbidden tiny category (and now you see why I am not allowed the little things, because I love them and soon you couldn't open the front door for them), but if I WAS to buy one, I would get a yellow one, sell the stinger and wings, and find some hooves from one of the other releases..and make a tiny giraffe. And it would be squeeably cute! Here's the sales page with accompanying fable. (This one is less demented than most, believe it or not). http://dollsoom.com/eng/shop/item.php?it_id=1372207889

Niki_B writes on Ilsonya's Blog: LUTS fed up with all the money you give Sumu : Gigi: New teaser. Incidentally, it seems it 16 cm tall. ("Gigi" by the way, is a cute emoticon). That is all I know about this little guy, except that I think he is leaning against a mini-sized Bory Centaur so he is not much larger than my Tokidoki. It must need an electron scanning microscope to string him! Here is the Luts site if you want to look for him: http://www.eluts.com/index.php It's crowded with stuff, including all those Zuzu Delfs of adorableness. (I had a popup warning and that might be where he is, but I didn't open it)

I don't know a thing about her except that her dress looks..awesome. And she also seems to have special ears (and she is the Bianca NYID smaller size. I can't afford her right now (the house needs things more than I do) but all the girls in the Addiction series have been outstanding--Doria in owner photos is just gorgeous, while in the store promos she seemed a little plainer. Here's a photo I snagged from Pepstar's DeviantArt pages of the Doria Vampire head unpainted and then painted by Lisa. You can see how imaginative the series has been for Iplehouse, who always does a good sculpt, but just seems even more inspired with this series. Pepstar does commission faceups, and you can see more photos (I bought one of her regular scenic photos) here: http://pepstarsworld.deviantart.com/

I had to do many, many tiresome things today, so I took a few minutes off and brought my Tokidoki unicorno outside. After taking photos of a 68 cm doll in an elaborate costume, the unicorno was easy. For one thing, it's tiny--small enough to have trouble navigating a very small patch of moss: And here the unicorno triumphantly scales a small rock by the pond: And finally, a bonus shot of my neighbor's Drama Shark. All that fine print are the warnings to idiot children (and adults) not to take the shark to sea, or use it as a life-saving device (really, if it's all you have, go for it) and of course the perennial favorite, No Unattended Use. (In case the shark gets peckish).

We went out last night after the storm to find ice cream. The power was out at a couple of local traffic lights, and the homemade ice cream place was dark. But Target has ice cream, and the lights were on there. It was also deserted except for the people who worked there, so I asked a random clerk what the score was (I did not need to specify the score to what) and they said the score was 1/1 . If you want to shop in Chicago, hockey playoff season is a good time to go. We got our groceries (and ice cream) and came home to find that almost everywhere around us was dark, but people were setting off fireworks anyway, so I assume that the Blackhawks did indeed win the Stanley Cup in Boston. Our house is in the lee of one of the only hills around here, so we didn't flood last time and it looks like we were sheltered from the worst of the wind this time--the other side of the hill is a mess of fallen branches. Judging by the sound of the generator across the street, ComEd still hasn...

And a non-drunk sea captain..the tiny rose (that an ex-boyfriend of the previous owner gave her) blooms with tiny, doll-sized roses. It's not a great photo but the rose is cute!

It's finally time to get Captain Aldwood into his mostly-completed outfit--I had to use a cat collar to hold his sword on, and his pants are pinned together; but everything else is as done as I have time for now. This is one of about 30 outtakes--I got three good photos, and I have time to take a few more Tuesday inside with different light. This one makes me laugh. "Why of course I am at sea...why do you ask?" (All the rain is making the roses bloom a LOT.)

We went today to a craft fair in Downers Grove as part of "Grove Fest" (the "Pharaoh's Fury" ride was there, too) and I found this little charm watch. It's the perfect size for my bigger guy dolls. We also stopped at the bakery and got an apricot coffee cake, which Stripey sat down to claim as her own. (I think she just wanted to sit there, but she had to be moved before I could have my dessert. Her expression made me laugh.)

Styling with peony petals. From K's blog "Silver Chain".

Rise and shine! :D (Photo origin Reddit)

One-third scale. It would take up a lot of the backyard. On the other hand all I really need is the quarterdeck. :o Cat says I could plant petunias as waves, in blue and white. She is not helping. :D

ROFL!! (I love those interchangable faceplates--I suspect some of hers are unique).

...has arrived at Miyu's house and in her photostream. Her flickr is absolutely gorgeous, and has not only the Ausley Love photos (with the intriguing setup of the spine and the arm connections--a stainless steel 3/4 loop that holds the arm elastics together) but other beautiful doll photos and flowers (and cats) as well. Even if slightly Not-Safe-For-Work, still very much worth a visit for the excellence of the photography: InnamorAmento's Flickr

Omar Farouq, to be exact.

Captain Davon's coat fit perfectly in the arms, and was almost the right length--but not even close for the width across the back. It would not be a big deal-- but I am running out of time, I have a lot of other stuff I have to do, and while this coat can be worn by the ship's surgeon, I need one that fits Davon. Like, now. So I stayed up late, reworked the pattern and cut out a second coat--this one fits, but I am also low on trim, so it has sort of non-standard front trim (Captain Davon is eccentric anyway, considering how he's crewed the ship, so what is a little non-standard trim?) Of course now the boots don't fit, but they look ok from the front for photos.

Among a million other things I am doing this week, I am impeding Tony the Contractor in putting up a picket fence on the side of the house where the old one fell down. I did help carry away the old wood and grub out some roots. Tony put in 200 lbs of concrete under each post because he felt the ground "looked a little shifty". J said to me "I hope you like where the posts are-- because they are going to stay there."

And it's a tile in the collection of the Metropolitan Museum of art, by "Sadler Tile Works" I think. 22 guns, maybe 24 if there are two on the stern.

Just progress on the top; and the stockings and most of the breeches are done: The cockade, goofy as it is, really does hold up the stockings by acting as a "button" over the knee band of the breeches. It does look like a great way to get fouled up with someone else's sword, though.

OMG the Toad has shipped... and Wonton , on Den of Angels, has posted a Gallery thread of the Toad mugging for the camera. It was still a good thing I didn't order him (where would I put him?) but I am sure having fun looking at the photos. The gallery thread is here--I think you can visit logged in as a Visitor: http://www.denofangels.com/forums/showthread.php?581818-Froggy-Poses!-%28SOOM-MD-Toad%29

Of course eventually the keys have to be retrieved because they have to go in the car ignition. I think at one point everything I owned was covered with baby drool. :D Luckily babies outgrow that.

Someone (I think it might have been Pegapup ) told me that the set of pattern drawings (in the instruction sheets) on commercial patterns is to scale, and if you scan them and scale them up about ten times, they will be close to Super Dollfie size. I need to make the same coat for "Captain Davon" that I did for J, but of course the scale of the pattern I have is too big, since it's for a human (Simplicity 0857_Halloween). So I went ahead and scanned the instruction sheet, sized it up by ten, and then laboriously selected printable sections in Photoshop, and printed them out and taped the pieces together. I was encouraged that the pattern pieces do indeed seem to fit together: Here I did some alterations--I added seam allowance around the edges of the pieces, and as the Granado dolls are tall, I lengthened the coat and the sleeves, and I added the lapels and the extra cuff piece that is on the Royal Navy uniforms for a captain. I still need to figure out how to add a st...