Baby Doll

This is BabySup Supia Seron; I haven't got a name for her yet. Isn't she an adorable little thing? She's all of 5" tall.

I found the cradle for her on eBay, and it fits perfectly. And then I made the mattress for the cradle, the little quilt, the pillow and her bonnet.

It's my second doll quilt, and much better than my first; I'm sure I could get better results if I, you know, followed a pattern or something. But most of my recent sewing projects have been winging it.

Oh, yeah! I bought a new sewing machine! It's my first new sewing machine EVER! All of my others have been hand-me-downs that were 20+ years old. This one is the Brother 5000, Project Runway version, and it is an absolute dream to work with! Thin fabrics are a bit of a challenge, though, and I need to buy a walking foot for it.

Photo Question Meme

I got this meme from Wren and Stitchy. Waves!

1. First name? Karen
2. Favorite food? Turkish
3. High School? Hirschi
4. Favorite color? Red
5. Celebrity crush? Mark Strong
6. Favorite drink? Cuppa tea
7. Dream vacation? Staying in a trullo in Puglia, Italy, the birthplace of my DH's grandfather.
8. Favorite dessert? Tiramisu
9. What do you want to be when you grow up? Contented. So I guess I'm there!
10. What do you love most in life? home and everyone in it
11. One word to describe you? ironic
12. Your flickr name? snarkypants (this is not me in the photo. She has better hair, and it looks like she's having a better time!)

Links to actual photos: 1. Karen, 2. Iskender Kebap-Bursa, Turkiye, 3. cemetery, 4. Red Umbrella, 5. Mark Strong, 6. have a cuppa tea?, 7. Dedicata..., 8. pick-me-up, 9. Empty spaces, 10. Angaga Island Resort & Spa, Maldives, 11. Untitled, 12. Snarkypants

If you want to make one of these yourself, here’s what ya do:

1. Open an internet window containing the list of the questions (for example, this blog post). I actually went to “add new post” on my blog and copied the questions into there, and answered them as I did the image searches.

2. Open a second internet window to Flickr and get ready to do an image search.

3. Open a third internet window to Big Huge Labs’ Mosaic Maker — create a mosaic with 4 columns and 3 rows.

4. Answer the first question, put your answer in the search field on Flickr and choose one of the images from the first page of image results to represent your answer. Click on the image, then copy and paste the url into the #1 spot on the Mosaic Maker.

5. Do that for all 12 questions, then click “create” and post the results to your blog.

Happy Spring!

This delightful little face belongs to one of my Asian Ball Jointed Dolls. She was handmade by an artist called Fancyboots, and her sculpt is called Liebchen. I call her Paloma, because she reminds me of a little dove.

I've been on 5 days of annual leave from work (Bliss!!!), and while a good portion of it was spent shopping and spending time with my daughter on her Spring Break, I also got some "me" time. Lots of creative projects completed, lots of recharging of the old batteries.

One interest that came back with a vengeance is my interest in my dolls; they've essentially been sitting by, ignored, for a while, and it's been a joy to rediscover them.

Paloma again, in a different wig. One of the neat things about ABJDs is that each one is customizable, so conceivably no one in the world can have the same doll. Different eyes, different wig, and a different "face-up" (paint job), and they can become any character you can dream up. Paloma is 43cm tall.

And today, I followed a tutorial in Craftzine's blog for patching jeans. These are my daughter's beloved Levi's, after I patched them with some denim from one of my husband's worn out pairs of jeans, stitched back and forth with different colors of thread.

The hole was too big for an iron-on patch (one that she would wear, anyway; they had a Disney Princesses one that was large enough, but she gave me the Patented 13-Year-Old Glare of Doom).

And now she can wear her jeans without her kneecap falling out, without looking like the ragpicker's child, and it's actually kind of cool and looks intentional.

3 Old Projects, and 1 New One

First up are some silly little decorative plaques I made several years ago; they're constructed of styrofoam and papier-mache, with all of the surfaces done in modelling compound.

The fleur-de-lys (top) and heart (below) are styrofoam Christmas ornaments. Other parts include glass mosaic tiles and wood mouldings.

I love the top ledge of this one; I made it from a Scrabble tile-holder. The design was made by loading up a stencilling template with modelling compound.

My desk nameplate at work is also made using Scrabble tiles and a tile-holder.

These next pieces are a bit odd. I'm not entirely sure that I'm finished with them, which usually means that, uh, hey, I'm not finished.

Several years ago I found a box of model railroad boxcar sides; they're all printed on cardboard. And even though I'm not a model railroader (I love to look at them, though), I was knocked out by the cool graphics. I love vintage signs and advertising, so I plunked down the cash (not a lot!) for the whole box. Then reality set in: what the heck do I do with them?

I'd offer them on eBay, but I've never seen anything like them anywhere; I don't know if they have any value to anyone who isn't a paper collage person.

So... they're cool, they're colorful. I got a wild hair and Mod Podged them to a couple of blank canvases I had laying around. I still have metric craploads of the things left.

Again, I don't think this one is done; I feel like it needs something else. Like a print mounted on top or something. Or artwork painted over the top. I don't know. It's cool, but it doesn't suit my house, at least not yet.

Not related to crafts, but WHOA!!!

I read about this Garnier Nutritioniste Eye Roller on a make-up blog, and thought I'd look into it next time I was at Target or the drugstore; for $12 and change, if it sucks, I'm not out a wad of cash.

Bought it yesterday, and rolled some under my eyes. Put it on this morning before moisturizer/sunscreen.

Less than an hour later my puffy under-eye area was so de-puffed that I actually had to do a double take. Significant difference.

Girls, this stuff is the shiz. And for the sake of clarifcation, neither I nor any of my close associates are affiliated or receiving compensation from Garnier or its holdings blah blah blah. And YMMV, but this is the best problem-correcting cosmetic I've ever used. And this after less than 24 hours.

Finished Firescreen

OMG! I'm posting again!

What a few months it's been. I've been alternately without a computer or without Internet for a while, due to computer hardware warranty issues, culminating in having to send my laptop to Houston for repairs. Plus my car acting up, plus my daughter getting strep throat...

Add to that the fact that work has been extremely taxing and you have the result that I have done bupkes in terms of crafts. But no longer! I actually finished a project!

Et voila:

This little firescreen is 12 inches tall; the framed embroidery is 4 inches tall by 4.25 inches wide. And it doesn't stand all wonky and lean-y like this; that's just the wonky photographer, i.e. me.

I bought the empty firescreen on eBay, and after much procrastination designed and stitched the screen part. It's going to accompany my asian ball jointed doll in her 18th century finery. Said finery is forthcoming; she has undies, a wig, shoes and an appropriate chair. My next task is to photograph her next to the firescreen.

BTW, my apologies to anyone who has commented and hasn't heard back from me. I, um, naively assumed that I'd get email notification whenever someone commented, and when I didn't get the email... yeah. Is it possible to get email notification, and how do I turn this on? Oy. I'm used to another blogging platform, and this blogger stuff is new.

Thanks for looking, and I hope you enjoy!

My Work Wardrobe... suggestions?

My Work Wardrobe by snarkypants

My work is technical (read: messy), which means that my clothes have to be tough, easily laundered, with little ornamentation. Most of my (male) coworkers wear khakis/jeans and polo shirts. I'm also a plus-sized girl who wants to look feminine. I'm on my feet for 8+ hours a day, on concrete floors, hence the Dansko clogs (which are OMFG fabulous). If I'm in the lab (say 1/3 of my time) I have to wear steel-toes (Florsheim loafer-style) and remove all jewellery and/or scarves.

I never know from day to day whether I may be called in to the lab, regardless of the schedule, so skirts are kind of out of the picture; they look ridiculous with steel-toed loafers, if nothing else.

I've found that v-neck tops and 3/4 sleeves are most flattering to me; I've collected L.L. Bean v-neck 3/4 t-shirts (lovely heavy stuff) in a variety of neutral and pastel shades for work. I avoid front-pleat trousers like the plague. I don't wear black or navy trousers because of the practical issues with having a black & white dog and a black & white cat (there's no way to completely obliterate the hair; I've tried for years). Khaki and grey and tweeds work just fine.

In short, I think I'm making every choice I can think of to suit the exigencies of my lifestyle, my job, femininity and being plus-sized, but I'd welcome advice from others!