DollsArtCats

And she is a cutie! This is where she will be when they load up her price and order period: http://dollsoom.com/eng/shop/item.php?it_id=1398846657

More xkcd comics here .

Now I knew when I moved here that Chicago was reputed to have bad weather, but really. It's April 29th and we have had rain, snain, apocalyptic rain, rain with hail the size of peas, and lightning. Today. I was going to take a walk this afternoon. I do have plenty of work to do, and I got the foot pedal from the sewing supply company for the Kenmore! Looks legit. :D It plugged in perfectly, the light came on, and IT RUNS. Two speeds, too! I will wind a couple of bobbins this afternoon and read how to thread it. I also found another picture from Sunday's photo session, with Belle the Amphibel and Artemisia. It looks like Belle should be holding a plastic cup with a jello shot or something.

I decided this week, between working, that I would try to fix a myriad of small things that needed to be done on the dolls. (The weather is supposed to be cold and wet all week, so no more gardening..also, the pond has sprung a leak. Next weekend we may go look for a hard-sided liner.) Anyway, last night I fixed Coppersmith's wobbly ankles with sueding, put in the Candy Kitten's Emporium eyes, and fixed his eyelashes and wired his right hand. I reglued the magnet on Jack, the Granado Terra, and put in his Ersa Flora eyes, and took of his eyelashes entirely. Then I tried more eyes in Belle and finally swapped wigs with her and Artemisia. Artemisia still needs to have the hook fixed in her arm, but maybe later. Aelfric could use another coat of msc but it is too cold to spray. :p

First of all, Crocus Lee is working on a Nuevo-sized head, named Fabio, and there was an announcement on the Facebook page from Ikaru: [2014 Chinese Golden week event] We will hold a surprise event on the 2014 Chinese Golden week. Dark side Andrew and Agent Mads will be visit to Granado during this event. Duration: 5/1 (Thur) - 5/2 (Sat) So if you missed Mads or Andrew you will have another chance at those heads! (I really love Mads--he will be going for a professional faceup soon from Lachlana ).

I'm making progress on some doll projects--Belle now has her human ears installed, though it took two bamboo skewers, a sharpie (to mark which side went down) and some blue tape to get the magnets inside her ears. Here she is without ears: Here is the magnets being put in, nervously: The human ears installed: The wing ears I have not yet put magnets into (they are fragile, so I might just wrap them up and store them) Random Belle pic: I also got in a pair of shoes that I bought from Fa Tiao, on ebay. They are very nicely made, and huge: It's true that Coppersmith has Delf sized feet, and it's quite possible that I had a derp moment and ordered the 70 cm version of these shoes, but I was pretty sure I clicked the SD size. In any case, the shoes fit my Dollzone/ Doll in Mind Elf hybrid fine, as he is 70+ cm and has big feet.

Martine is an Impldoll Delia from their Idol line; their sculpts have improved dramatically and they have added new colors to their lineup as well. Martine used to belong to Dreadfulme and the combination of a new baby girl and a lot of dolls prompted Dreadfulme to put the Delia on the Den of Angels marketplace. From her description I thought Delia would need a lot of work, but I think that Dreadfulme was just being careful in her description--in person Delia looks great--not too dusty, a few small polishing marks because she had her seams removed, one missing finger from shipping (which I will re-create in sculpey). Otherwise she is huge (Iplehouse EID size almost exactly) and very heavy. The color in the resin goes all the way through. She does have a small head, more SD sized than EID sized, but she looks fine with a big wig. I'm looking forward to sewing for her! And I love that she is so nice and about half the price of an Iplehouse doll (she even came with a gift head and ...

And he is so tiny and cute! He belongs to K, but I did take him out for a few pictures and install his eyes before I wrapped him up again. I wondered how to get his eyes in but I tugged on his head and ...oh! He has a face plate! His eyepockets are perfectly round so all he can manage are round beads or perhaps round 10 or 8 mm eyes. Something very small, anyway! Checking out the flowers: Agh so cute! Grace from Jpopdolls hinted that soon there will be a new little cute doll to go with Mauna Mouse and Mr. Ropuha. :D

No, it's not for sewing fairies, though it might sew fairy clothing...J came home from work last night and said "There is a table thing with a sign on it (at the curb, down the street) that says "Sewing Machine." And I must say he had hardly finished saying this when I was out the door, racing down the street--and sure enough, there was a console sewing machine, a Kenmore, metal head , Made in Japan, sewing machine languishing on the curb. So I went and knocked on the door and a teenager answered the door and confirmed that "Her Mom didn't want it" and I could take it away. I gave her some money anyway, because dude, no one makes free sewing machines with machined metal parts. The machine even had a repair ticket in it from 2001 and the bobbin pit was spotless. The only thing that I needed to replace was the foot pedal and power supply, so the sewing machine really cost me 48.14 with tax and shipping. I haven't fired it up yet because I want to be...

After doing a lot of other household maintenance things yesterday, some involving Drano, I also found an old Poser .psd file and reworked it to look a little like Moth the Iplehouse Bianca. A little. It's still good exercise, and I always learn something new about Photoshop when I do these. Oddly, I learned how to basically "stroke" a Selection..ie if you take a selection tool like the Square, make a new layer, select a square area on it, and then go to Select>Modify>Border you get this little dialog box: If you click "OK" it will create a selection area the size you want, and then go to Edit>Fill and it will fill the selection with the color you have in the palette box. This is how you make this shape: So instead of a messy, hand-drawn circle here I have a 4 pixel nice neat circle border. Do it a bunch of times and you can get this: The rectangular border was made with the pattern stamp, filling in a 20 pixel border on a new layer. Since Photosho...

I don't know about you, but for me buying Drano is a semi-annual exercise. We have a small, quirky shower drain and I have thick hair and so every 6 month or so I go and pick up a bottle of Drano because it is easier to use than to unscrew the rosette and go fishing with the special plastic drain hook that I have. So I go to Target today and get my milk, my bread, some lipstick, and Drano; and at the checkout the clerk says, apologetically, that I need to show photo ID to buy Drano. Yes, photo ID to be put in a database of villainous Drano buyers because...Republicans. The Illinois legislature, reacting to the crime spree of two people misusing Drano, has passed legislation saying that all stores selling Drano must record the sale. Never mind that Officer Jones still wont be able to figure out who used Drano in that last bank robbery, because only 100,000 people bought Drano last year, the bottles have no registration numbers, and plumbers are exempt, and who knows if someone b...

The weather is nice and the squirrels are looking for the nuts they buried last fall. Of course they have no idea where they left them, so they have to try everywhere around the yard.: Even in places where there probably are no nuts at all, like the empty planter I have been using for a dirt mixing bowl. I also got in an order of shoes from Eva's Dolls on Ebay, where I was able to find some reasonable booties for Granado calves--these are short boots. The straps and chain around the ankle come off entirely and hook back on with a lobster claw on the buckle, which I thought was clever. Aldwood now has actual shoes to wear.

Got a stretch dress, a cloak and some other much-needed items (including pants). Beachgirl's cloaks are always spectacular!

Photo from elsiiblog.tumblr.com .

It was the Mitsuwa meetup again! This cutie belongs to Starpunzel , and she knitted Mina's little sweater; so cute! (Mina is a Soulkid Harang; those little souldolls are so sweet). Then there was Elaine's Unoa/Minifee girl and her Little Monica Audrey (haha my notes are almost indecipherable, but Audrey's little friend is a tan Bambicrony with a super cute wig.) Then there is Akutenshi7's Soom Grey--first by himself: and then on the new Volks Couch with a Minifee and a Doll Leaves Maya: A taobao Easter bunny! Then Melli the levitating Adamelli: And here safely back on the table, with a little DollHeart dress: Then there is one of Gherkin's daughter's girls, with a new kimono dress: Rachel's two Volks girls in new dresses made by Rachel herself: They had two pukisha at their feet (I think those are what those kitties are): Then an adorable Customhouse guy, who belongs to Itsamootpoint with one of a kind ears and a winning little smile: And finall...