The twins are here! My AG order arrived

 Wow, that was some fast shipping, Fedex! I didn't expect them today. They got here all the way from Wisconsin in 2 days. I waited until after I ate supper and loaded the dishwasher before I opened them. I also had some Wang dolls come in the mail as well, so it was quite an exciting mail day!

The twins are even better in person than they are in pictures. I will say they are pretty photogenic because they don't look better in person - which I know is a complete contradiction of what I just said. I think what I am basically saying is that they look so good in photos that its not a let down to see them in person and then also they look so amazing in person that they look even better than they do in pictures. That still doesn't make sense, ha ha, so I am moving on.

It's been a long time since I got a brand new AG doll. When did I actually last order one straight from the company? Could it have been the Caroline that I no longer have that I got in 2015 after I heard that they were retiring her? I think so, They have definitely changed the packaging. Instead of rubber bands around the ankles, they have these sort of stretchy bands that you have to cut. And they now have a plastic piece around the neck instead of what I remember being a rubber band or elastic. The hair nets were also on there super tight. I was worried I would pull some hair out, but it worked out okay.

Now, the dolls. Their faces are so very different than each other! Amber (Isabel) has a much rounder face with fuller cheeks. She is utterly adorable. Her hair is definitely not straight across the bottom. She would have been a doll a pickier collector would have sent straight back, as the right side of her hair is about an 1 and 1/2" longer. I am not a picky collector, so I can live with it. I couldn't bear to send her back! Beyond the length issue on her wig, I see no other problems. She has the most gorgeous wig. I adore the 2 toned blonde. Her bright green eyes give her such a unique look. I love it.

Sydney is technically prettier than Amber, but Amber is cuter. (I hate to do that to my dolls, but I can't deny that that's the thoughts that ran through my head.) Her face is more petite. Her hair, OMG. I love the shade of brown with those chunky highlights. Her wig has no issues. Both dolls have thick lovely hair. Sydney's eyes are the most gorgeous shade of blue. 

I am surprised to say that I actually do not mind the "angry" eye brows and I actually like the painted on eye lashes. I wouldn't want them on any other doll. I think the fact that the only 2 I have with them are my latest in date dolls - 1990's - it really sets them apart as my only "modern" dolls. 

The outfits they come in are super cute. I adore Amber's pink platform shoes. I really hope they make another pair of those type of shoes for her in a black. I doubt they will, but I can dream! My favorite thing about Sydney's meet outfit is the shirt that is tied around her waist. It is so very much the era. Her shoes are also adorable. I do plan to get at least her meet accessories as I want her meet hat. I'd just buy the hat if I could as they rest of their accessories I can live without,

I wasn't expecting Amber to come out of her box with an entirely different personality than I had planned out for her. I had written out a quick description of her and Sydney on My AG Dolls page here on the blog. And after I opened her, she did not fit my previous description at all! So gone is the quieter Amber who follows her sister's lead and here is the actually Miss Perfection, compete until conquering Amber. Sydney is also a little different, but not a whole lot. She was always easy going, so I think for her to follow her driven twin's lead is ideal for her.

This was truly some of the best money that I have spent. I adore these 2 and am so happy to have them in my collection. They look great sitting next to my other dolls. I am so exciting to start writing stories with them! Though, now I have to rewrite in my head the first photo story that I planned out with them! I'll go ahead and add my photos, though I will be the first to say that they are not the best. I didn't take the time to set up any better lighting. I need to really figure out how to use my digital camera. At this point, I do a better job with my phone camera.....*grumbles*

America Girl Doll Nicki and Isabel are coming home!

 

I've been excited about the new 90's twins ever since I heard the rumor, how ever long ago it was at this point. I had thought - like many of the other AG collectors that they would have been the early 90's. That was such an exciting thought! And when I found out they were 1999/Y2K dolls, I was briefly disappointed. But, it was only for a brief moment. I honestly think it was a better call to go for the end of the decade than any earlier. The dolls themselves I thought were cute, but I was offput in the beginning by the so called "angry eyebrows" and those dreadful painted on eye lashes AG is now doing on all of the newly released dolls. Eventually though, the dolls, "angry brows" and all, grew on me. Like, really, really grew on me! I spent some nights looking at reviews of people who got the dolls. The painted on eyebrows didn't actually look that bad on them!

I've been doing yet another massive collection overhaul these last few weeks. Maybe its only been 2 weeks. I have no idea. But when I say massive collection overhaul, I really mean massive collection overhaul. I won't go into it all in detail right now, but suffice it to say that I now have quite a bit less of my overall possessions. It feels good. 

With my AG dolls, I had had it whittled down to 18 dolls for a little while, so AG wise, my collection didn't change all that much. I did bump off 4 dolls, intending to keep my number at 14. I was very pleased with the extra room on my AG shelf, where I could space my dolls further apart and I still had some room leftover over. That just wasn't meant to be. 

Friday night, around 11:30 or, I placed my order for both of the twins. :D It wasn't an impulse buy. I thought long and hard on it. And I figured, why not? I have the space. The money from things I will be selling will more than pay myself back. The dolls just came so vividly to life that not having them would have been sad. I have them renamed and their personalities, styles, etc. are all mapped out. I cannot wait for them to get here!

Hopefully AG will get my order out tomorrow. I might not have them for a week plus since I didn't want to pay $20 more dollars to speed up the shipping. I can be patient and wait for them though. They will be so very worth the wait!

And while I am waiting, I can plan more. I've already spent time looking at late 90's fashions. I'll be setting up a pinterest board for inspo pics for each dolls. Sydney (formerly known as Nicki) and Amber (formerly known as Isabel) will have styles like their cannon dolls. Alt/skater for Sydney and preppy for Amber. Already I know I have to make cargo pants and those wide leg skater pants for Sydney. Amber is a little less developed fashion wise, but I will have a lot of fun planning out extra clothing for her too. 

While I normally would have been worried that a later historical (1999 is historical, lol) period wouldn't quite stick with me, I have no worries with these. I thought I would have jumped at the 80's collection and gave it the best effort I could, but it just didn't stick. I had a doll put into that period a few weeks ago, and I just could not attach to it. The latest I have (or had, hee hee) is the 50's. But these dolls hold so much nostalgia for me that I know I will absolutely love them. And will have a hell of a lot of fun with them! 

Now, I am off to pinterest!

NFL Week 2 thoughts and musings

 I used to blog after every football weekend  - so either on Monday or on Tuesday depending on what games I wanted to watch. It was just a fun thing I enjoyed doing that I could look back on. I miss my old blog and so I decided to bring back that tradition. 

Let's start with the Bucs/Saints game. I unfortunately missed the first few minutes of the first quarter, though honestly, I didn't miss anything. I knew it was going to be a tough game. It's always rough when they go down to NOLA and Brady hadn't beaten the Saints since joining the Bucs. All of that being said, I was not prepared for it to be THAT ugly. OMG. 3-3 through what, nearly the entire 3rd quarter? (I meant to blog sooner when the games were fresher in my mind, but just didn't have the right moment to do so.) The Buccaneers offense looked pretty poor (I'm not concerned) and I was surprised and delighted when they finally scored a touchdown. And then won. The Saints offense, fortunately, was even poorer with 3 interceptions and a couple of fumbles. Both defenses had a sound game. And when both defenses are shutting down both offenses, it's just never as pretty of a game to watch. For me, the best part of the game was the fight! (it hasn't gotten old yet, ha ha.) Here's a link to watch it.  I'm not happy the NFL suspended Evans for 1 game. I suppose it was because he turned around and came back, as only he got suspended. (And seriously, the NFL is investigating Arian's involvement? Sheesh. The stupidity never ends with their moral sense of inconsistent justice.) That's really going to really hurt the Bucs when they play GB next week, which is probably something Evans should have thought about before throwing haymakers.  

And speaking of GB....

I was nervous going into this game after the Packers got walloped by an unexpectedly good Vikings team. I didn't panic (R-E-L-A-X. Who remembers that Rodgers press conference? :P) but I was still a little nervous. The Bears came out of the gate looking pretty darn good. The Packers though were even better and they soundly beat Chicago. There's just nothing like watching the Packers play at Lambeau Field. Being able to watch the game on the TV in my own living room was magical. I feel like this Packers team might really go far in the play offs this year. I know its a long season and a great deal can happen - like losing half your offense to injuries at the end of the regular season. I'm still very excited!

And now to the Monday Night game that I was looking forward to. The Bills and the Titans. Ever since the Brady/Belichik divorce, I have been a Bills fan. Even if I never got to watch any of their games, I was strongly rooting for them. This year, I intend to watch as many as I can. They are GOOD on pretty much all levels. Their defense completely shut down TN's force of nature Derrick Henry (I love watching him play, even if I am not much of a Titans fan. I've also got a soft spot for Coach Vrabel.) Josh Allen has turned out to be a really good QB.  And, you know, I think Buffalo deserves some football enjoyment after spending so many seasons as the perennial cellar dwellers. One of these days, I know I will be able to move on and go back to being a Patriots fan, but these things take time. And in the mean time, it's Buffalo all the way!

That's pretty much it for my Week 2 review. I'm excited for next week - the Packers and the Bucs will stand to be an interesting game. My prediction? Packers victory. I hope the Bucs can get some offensive rhythm as I would dearly love to see Tom Brady get one more Super Bowl victory as his career will most likely end after this year. Haters can just keep hating, but he is the GOAT and nothing can take that away from him. 

The Making of Trick R Treat Sam for Calico Critter

 I'm happy to finally be getting back to sewing work just this week. The sewing/doll room is still a WIP as is the rest of the house, but things are slowly and surely getting more and more organized. I am very much looking forward to when things are under control enough where we can start painting.

Any return to normalcy is nice, and where sewing is concerned, I've really missed it! Not to mention having a back stock of orders is always a stress in the back of your mind, even if all your customers are very nice and patient with the delays.  (Commissions are also a bit behind, but progress will be happening soon.) I have mailed my final late orders out today. Whew! What a relief! I finished the rest of the sewing on those yesterday. And since those were all finally done, I figured it was completely justifiable to start working on some new Critter items. Me being me, that just so happened to be something Halloween!

Since cutting down my Calico Critter families to a much more sensible number of 12, I really want to work on developing each Critter. Most of them have no clothes, so my original plan was to start making them outfits, simply doing one a day. But as I was sewing an order of Halloween clothes, I got to thinking - just how much fun would it be to actually have each Critter have their own Halloween costume this year? And to set up a Halloween party scene? I love seeing other collectors Halloween posts, and I have never been to where I could do it myself, or even enjoy trying to. This year will be different. :D 

I immediately started thinking about my Garden Bed family. They were my first (those ubiquitous Hopscotches) and also some of my very top favorites. I cut down their multitude to simply 4 adults (my child sized figures are just adults who are smaller in stature) and then a reasonable 6 babies. That was initially hard for me as I just adore the baby Hopscotch so much. I just needed to do it for my own sake. I want each baby to have a personality and a name and the only way to accomplish that was to simply cut down my 18 plus to something much, much smaller. I'm so glad that I did it. Here are the Garden Beds:

Twin boys named Lettuce and Spinach (larger adult size)

Middle sister Asparagus (big sister)

Youngest brother Brussel Sprout (child size body)

The babies are as follows, in 3 sets of twins, each a girl and boy:

Turnip and Potato

Parsnip and Carrot

Radish and Green Bean

As I was sewing that Halloween dress for an Etsy order, visions of making a Freddy Krueger costume for Brussel Sprout flashed through my mind. I had briefly thought about that earlier this year, but pretty much forgot about it in the ongoing mayhem. I could make the twins Jason and Michael Myers. But after thinking about Michael Myers, I got a little hung up in how to accomplish making that mask for a Critter. That's when I thought about Sam from Trick R Treat! (Terrible movie, BTW. Great concept, really poor execution. Sam though, Sam is forever.) How perfect would Sam be on a smaller Critter? I got so excited, and therefore, I had to start with that one.

After eating supper and reading my Latin chapter (that summer goal is going well! I have about 7 chapters left and will have reached that goal. Yay!) I got any remaining Etsy sewing done, and then, it was time to sew a Sam outfit!

With freshly washed orange cotton fabric in hand, I reworked my blouse and pant pattern into Sam's cute little jumpsuit. It took a couple of tries until I was satisfied with it. I found some light orange on yellow tonal print (it's hard to describe) that was perfect for the patches. I fray checked around the edges of the tiny squares instead of trying to hem them before sewing them on. The first square I pretty much drowned in fray check, so I had to recut it. (My fray check is especially temperamental this time around. The slightest pressure sends a geyser!) Those little patches I sewed on by hand with black thread. I wasn't sure if the black was too much of a contrast, and while I like it, I might try a darker brown. Or maybe I am nitpicking. I always have to nitpick. Once I got the suit done, I was really happy. Sam was coming together!

The hood was the part that I was the most uncertain of how to make it. I had to make it to go around Brussel Sprout's ears and that's always a little nerve wracking. I drafted the hood pattern into 4 pieces after measuring Brussel's head both across and from ear to down where I wanted the hood to end, keeping in mind that it needed to bush out a little. From there, I drew what I felt was the right proportioning for each ear hole. I didn't bother with fray checking the first hood as I was expecting to need to redo it. I hemmed first around each part of the ear hole - each piece had a notch to hem. Then, I sewed both the front and the back of the hood together. On Sam's hood you see some stitch detailing down the middle of each half, as well as a stitched mouth in the front and 2 button eyes. I decided in the end to simply zig zag this detailing. I started out with a wider stitch then I wanted, so I took that out, and readjusted my stitch width and then re-stitched my seams. It turned out even better than expected. I did the mouth in the same manner. Once the mouth was done, I sewed the hood sides and top together. After that was done, I slipped it onto Brussel's head, and viola! It fit perfectly!!! I figured out the placement for the eyes and marked that spot with a pin. I luckily had tiny little 2 mm buttons in brown, which I stitched onto the hood with black thread. The sewing was now done! All that was left was to figure out how I wanted to tie it on.

My original plan was to tie it on using embroidery floss. Unfortunately, I have no idea where on earth that ended up, so I had to go to plan B. At this point it was nearing 10 o clock, so I wanted to get the outfit wrapped up so I could quit for the night. The quickest thing that I thought of and also actually found was some golden brown thin yarn. Yay for it being in some unexpected place right in front of me! I got the hood tied on, and Brussel Sprout is now ready to go trick or Treating. 

I think after I am done with this post, I'll get to work on the big 10 tee shirt order that came in  the other day on Etsy and just maybe I will start on a second Halloween costume! :) 

Sorting through Calico Critters, Part 1

We have been moved in now for a couple of weeks, give or a take a day or so. And still we are drowning in post mess/down size disaster. I haven't really had a whole lot of time to even get back to working on the curtains. I have done more on them, but not enough to update that particular subject with. 

Believe me when I say - and I will probably keep saying it - this move has been the biggest disaster ever was. I have spent all afternoon and a couple hours after dinner sorting through the Calico Critter boxes that I finally found in the storage building yesterday and brought in after 2 rows of boxes decided to just rain down on top of me. Our little outside storage building is obviously angry at its state of complete disarray as well. (And it used to be so nice! Hold on, little storage building. We will get you organized too.) These Critter boxes are hopefully the last remaining bit of Critter we will have to sort through. We made the decision sometime last week to simply set out by the side of the road nearly all of our Critter  houses for people to pick up for free. We simply do not have the room to store it nor the energy to try and list and sell all of it. Do I regret that decision? Not for one second!!! I hope whoever picked them up is really enjoying them. They got some steals. 

The stuff I had to go through today was the accessories and furniture pieces. Can I use the word disaster again? The boxes were not packed in a neat and organized manner. Oh no. No no no. It was all thrown haphazardly in there. Thankfully some things were actually in bags, such as the chocolate set, but basically everything was in a ruckus. I remember clearly the state of mind I was in when these boxes were packed in such a way. I really can't look back on myself and pass judgement. It was not an easy time. And the only solution that we had at that time was to throw stuff in boxes and get it out. Which has now led me to have the pure joy of spending literal hours sifting through it all and organizing what is being kept and what is going. 

I am fairly pleased with the progress. But am I done? No. The living room is still littered with get rid of bags and the stuff that I still have not sorted. ;"( At least there is some progress. I decided after a few hours of that to take a break and go through my Critters themselves and just clear out the extra families and figures. I really have to think about who I have the space to keep at this point. I kind of surprised myself with what I decided on. All of my Woodzeez, gone. My few Honey Bee Acres, gone. As for my actual Calico Critters, I decided to keep just a dozen families. My goal at first was maybe only 7 families, which soon grew to 10 and finally, 12. That's it. 

I am quite happy though. It has been such a battle with myself of grabbing everything cute and feeling desperate for more and more Critters. I really wasn't enjoying them. I couldn't do much with them, and having them closed away at a storage building in town, or in boxes and containers in my then room, really wasn't very fulfilling. I suppose the only way I was "connecting" with them, if you will, was to buy more. Stress buying. Sheesh. It's never a good idea! I even cut down my baby collection. I now only have a few babies per family and let go of all the extras that I have been hoarding. (Who needs 18 of one baby kind?) That's really huge for me. In reality, I want to be able to make all of my Critters more than one change of outfit, and considering how many I had, that would take forever.

After I sorted everybody out, I had some fun and worked on naming everyone. Most of the names I used I had already come up with, even if it was for a family that I am no longer keeping, so I didn't have to think of much that is new.  I'll write a list later on  and post it of who I have and how many of each family as well as their names. I'm kind of Critter listed out right now and still have a few more to name. My last family I do have to think of something new, and my brain is in grind mode ATM. I'll enjoy doing that later.

Once I am done sorting through Critter Disaster, I would like to get all of my Rainbow Highs listed on eBay. I started listing a few things yesterday. I am keeping my Shadow Highs, just not the Rainbow Highs, but all of this is a subject for another post. I just hope the storage building doesn't throw more boxes at me when I go out to find the Rainbow High clothes and stands!

Curtain making begins! Gothic Home Project #1

Since I have turned over a new leaf and am beginning a new chapter in life, I decided to just start a new blog. I'll keep my old one, but will no longer be posting on it.

 So, what's new? Well, the most exiting thing has finally happened. I finally have moved into a cute little trailer. While we are still in the middle of organizing and down sizing, we really haven't had a chance yet (it's only been a week) to begin any of the redecorating plans we have to turn are little trailer into a sophisticated gothic lair. The style we plan to go with is an eclectic mix of Victorian, industrial, Halloween and a few other elements. While it's a mix of styles, the most important part of this theme idea is cohesion. Everything will be cohesive. All rooms will have a mix of blacks, greys and whites. It will be fun to see how each room comes together, but cohesion and cool relaxing tones are the name of the game.

My first project is making curtains. :D I've always wanted to make my own curtains, so I am super excited. I've also never really done any real official curtain making and as I am winging it, I think this will be fun. We just want a simple curtain - no fancy drapery, so winging it is pretty much fail proof.  I'll just be doing one room a week, so this week I am going to work on my bedroom space.

Yesterday we went to Joann's and picked out 2 fabrics. One for the window covering, and one for the closet. I really want to remove the closet door. It's a pretty small space, and eliminating the door needing space to open just seems ideal to me. Plus the plain white door just isn't really nice to look at. I want to bring in decoration in space saving ways, and for this room, no door and a lovely skeleton print fabric is perfect. This will be the only room the closet door gets removed. 

I got 2 and a half yards for the closet curtain. This will be super simple as there is no point in lining it like the window curtains. I should have that one done pretty quickly.

For the window curtain, I got 5 yards - each curtain will be around 2 1/2 yards with a little fabric being set aside for tie backs. I don't think I actually need that much, but we will see. I'll be better prepared after I do these for when I get the next round of curtain fabric. I also got 5 yards of plain white muslin for the lining. 

The fabric has been prewashed, dried and then ironed. (Let me just say, for the record, I really do not enjoy ironing muslin. It's like, once it's been washed and wrinkled, it cannot be undone. At least not totally.) Ironing the fabric took me over an hour! I'm not sure how it took my that long, but I gotta also say that I adore my new iron. <3 It only cost around $20 -24 from Walmart and it is glorious! It's got a heavy weight to it and that makes ironing so much more effective. It's truly a joy to use. :) :) :)

I'll do a progress update once I get to work on the cutting and sewing after dinner. I also need to find my camera so I can take pics. TBC!