Blog closing... because I'm combining two into one!

Hey guys, Sorry, long time, no blog. As much as I like blogging... 2 blogs is too much right now. So, for the time being, I will be using the doll blog, Scifiandfairytales, as my only blog. I may open this one back up at another time... but I think for now, I'll be happier just keeping up with one. Thanks for understanding!

I'm back....

Hey! I'm back. It's been a crazy 7 months since 2016 started, and a lot of changes since the last time I posted, almost a year ago! Got to get better about that.

1) I'm single, managing a grooming salon for the time being, and down to my beloved Dini the dachshund, and Delucca the Green Cheek conure. 

2) Finishing up healing from a car accident in February that totaled my car and resulted in 3 limbs broken, 4 bones total. (Kids, if the roads are icy, do not, I REPEAT, do NOT decide to drive. Bad things happen)

3) Trying to sell my house to move to Georgia.

4) Been crocheting up a storm (graphghans are my new favorite thing to make, though amigurumi are a blast as well). Star Wars and Disney are where it's at, and making blankets and pillows and little stuffed animals has not only kept me occupied until I could return to work (just started back on the 18th), but also sparked my creative bug again, thankfully. I have so many ideas that I can't wait to make, as well as maybe even sell, if people are interested. We'll see.

5) The above mentioned creativity gave me the courage to try my hand at sewing... And I'm loving it! It feels good to not only crochet, but to sew something for my dolls, since I adore them, and AG clothing is both expensive, and sometimes a bit young for my dolls (not to mention that they don't have a guy's line, and I now have 2 boys, and plan on making 2-3 more!!!! Jack Cassidy and Troy (who needs a last name, lol). Jack is a prep/tough guy, and Troy is a surfer guy. I want to make an army guy, as well as a cowboy... And maybe an attractive nerdy guy too.

6) I'm on a mission to try and cut sugar from my life... And I'm craving pretty bad. So we'll see how well that goes. I just know I want to get healthier the rest of this year. 

There will [hopefully] be doll updates and reviews coming in the next month, though work looks like it's going to be taking up a lot of my time, and trying to sell my house is going to keep me from being able to just go all out and craft (since that tends to be kinda a mess when I get into it. I will post up my creations as I can, since some of them are gifts. For now, I have 3 outfits, 2 dolls, and a few little amigurumi to show you.... Enjoy!

Pixie faire pattern for the dress and crop top, simplicity for the capri. (Please ignore Linnea's lack of eyebrows. She's "studying abroad for her fall semester" a.k.a. visiting my doll hospital... I tried swapping Marie Grace eyes for her... and when I was shifting them around, accidently popped one of the little pegs that makes them open and close... yeah. She is always my work-in-progress doll... guess that's typical, since she's my Mini-Me.)

Lee & Pearl Wrap Dress pattern

Left: our preppy guy Jack, Right: surfer Troy

Left: beautiful Betty Grable, Right: modern Kaya

Crocheted jellyfish for a going away gift

R2D2!

Eyeless Yoda (forgot to take a pic of him with eyes before sending him to live with a friend)

My post for the Doll Diaries ME giveaway!

Hey everyone!

 As many of you know, Maryellen came out today. She's a 1950s gal from Daytona Beach. Doll Diaries is giving away a brand new Maryellen doll, sent to them by American Girl themselves.

To up my entries, I'm sharing with everyone about the giveaway. Now, what makes her so special to me? I've got a few reasons.

 1) I didn't realize until yesterday that she is from Daytona Beach. I spent the first 20 years of my life living in a city right outside of there, called Port Orange. But, we did quite a bit of our shopping and dining in Daytona Beach, and let's not forget the BEACH itself! I remember seeing downtown Daytona when it was fading, having been replaced by the mall and strip malls. But I do remember walking around it with my family. So her story is now one I plan to read, if only to see if they got things right.

 2) LOVE LOVE LOVE the 1950s styles! Being a curvy girl, there are days when (if I'm not at work grooming dogs) I would love to get away with some of her clothes. Hello ModCloth, SammyDress, DressLily, etc. I am in love with the dresses and petal pushers (capris). If I was given a wardrobe makeover (that I didn't have to pay for, of course) I'd head for the 50s/early 60s set of clothing that has made a comeback.



 3) It may be a minor detail... But she has a Dachshund. And my Dini boy is a long-haired wiener dog. (Short for Houdini... Take a guess how he got his name.) So... I started out not wanting another classic mood historical doll... But her era, place of story, and dog have made this cutie grow on me.

We shall see what happens! Wish me luck!

Maryellen American Girl Doll Giveaway at Doll Diaries!

4th of July weekend/Prepping for vacation

Wow, long time since I updated... lots of things!  Probably going to be 2 or 3 posts!

Let's see, I worked 6 days straight leading up to my 9 day vacation.  My buddy Z was going to be leaving us for a different job the week I was on vacation, so a small group of us went out for Sushi and Fro-yo Wednesday, the 1st!

Top: M, me, Z, and C.

Very long week, one of my good friends, A, who I work with, was on vacation the week before I went.  It made my week a very long week, since i didn't see her for a total of 17 days.  We text daily, but it's not the same thing.  She and I (and about 2 other people) all keep each other from going nuts where we work, and her absence (and mine the week after, per her) was felt.

Onto Friday the 3rd... worked til 6pm, got up here to grab the kids and TechGuy, and we were off to his parents' house to meet up with my Babydukes, her bf, cousin, and cousin's bf for fun and Fireworks!!  It was great!  I got Dukes time, TechGuy time, and fireworks!  (Nope, not obsessed, lol)

TechGuy was on call 4th of July weekend, and with the rain (on and off all day), and the need to pack for vacation, as well as maintenance work and front dash rebuilding on the RV, we didn't get to go to Uncle J's or Fireworks that night.

He took the whole thing above apart, as it was in some kind of plastic, and spent the week rebuilding this.  It's plexiglas, with a vinyl covering.   And the Sirius station is set to my favorite, 80s on 8!

I was disappointed, but was glad I at least got to go see the Fireworks the night before.  I spent the day packing, posing my dolls for 4th of July photoshoots, and straightening up our house before our sojourn.

10 of my girls... (think I probably have 17 or so)

L: Delia June,               R: Savannah and Dahlia

L: Kendalyn and Verena                     R: Michiko and Jaelin

We did do a Independence day cookout in between the rain and working on the RV, with hamburgers, turkey burgers (me!) hot dogs, corn on the cob, and (for myself and one of the roommates who lives in our barn apartment) Hypnotic over ice (kids, that would be alcohol, so if you're under 21, that's a no-go).  TechGuy laughed when he saw the gallon sized ziplock full of doll clothes for Kendalyn and Michiko, but like the supportive, good-at-humoring guy he is, just took it all in stride and packed some of his train models to build.

Sunday was a bit more difficult that I'd figured.  I did last minute shopping, got back, and TechGuy was busy working on the pestilence issue we've had for a while. We didn't get to head to the Outer Banks until around 4:30, as we had to wait for TechGuy's boss to call it a day for weekend overtime maintenance issues, and take his work van back to the business location.

Other than getting carsick from the rocking of the RV on the back roads, it was a good ride down.  The first event of the vacation that I can't believe happened fell around 10pm Sunday on our drive down.  I'd been asleep til around 9:45 or so, from the benadryl I'd taken to get rid of the nausea.  Woke up hungry, (and if anyone knows me, there is a window between whenever I wake up and food that has to be met, or I become really crabby.  It's really bad, low blood sugar or something, I don't know.) and nothing but fast food chains were around the highway.  And all of them closed their inside dining around 9 or 10pm, and by now, it was 10:15.  We had to, between rainstorms, take my little car off the car dolly we were hauling behind the huge, bus RV.

TechGuy's parents' RV we got to borrow for a bit for our jaunt.

We drove thru the drive-thru (since apparently you can't walk through, I wanted to, lol), got our food, and TechGuy got my car back on the Dolly just before the next storm hit.  We didn't get into Midgett Campground (in Rodanthe, NC) until after midnight, but it was a pretty drive down with the lightning and the moon after the storm being so bright.

That's it for now, will post about the vacation in the next post so that this one isn't monstrously long!  Thanks for reading, guys!

Just a quick update...

Hey everyone!  It's Saturday, and my last day off before July 4th, my ALL TIME FAVORITE HOLIDAY!!! Why, you ask?  Well, besides the fact that it's the day America became America, here are my 4 reasons.

1) It's in the Summer, and being a FL girl, I adore summer.  I deal with winter here in PA, but I live for the warm weather months, especially since we got our pool!!

2) It usually involves cookout food! Again, summer girl here!

3)It's not one of the holidays I go broke on buying presents... I have a tendency to go broke for birthdays, other holidays, and of course Christmas.

4) Last, but CERTAINLY not least, as it's my favorite reason: FIREWORKS!!! I am addicted to fireworks displays!!!

Anyways... now that I've bombed the blog with my July 4th obsession.... I'm going to try to get a doll pic of all the gals in their holiday finery, lol.

Hopefully, will do the updating I was hoping to do (with doll outfit review!) in the next post or so.  Until then, hope you have a wonderful weekend!

Random Wednesday thoughts!

Guess what I did Saturday!  I learned to use a table saw, band saw, and am on my way to crafting doll furniture.  A (hopefully plushy) chair and loveseat for my non-existant doll house!  (That, should I find I enjoy this as much as I am now, may be on my building agenda!!)

I had a blast playing with the tools, and while it wasn't easy figuring out measurements... it's going to be exciting to have real furniture.  I dressed Alanna in "lounging clothes" that I didn't mind a bit of sawdust on, and brought her out with me, as TechGuy said I was going to need a doll for measurements.  I had fun posing her, though I didn't dare get her too close to the saws... I suppose I could when they're off.

I'm going to do a review of the adorable outfits I got from Dora on facebook.  I thought they were dresses, and was pleasantly surprised to find shirts and skirts.  Double swaping power!  Post coming next!

Other than that... nothing new right now.  I am a bit addicted to ebay shopping right now, need to break that.  But they have some awesome doll clothes for pretty cheap.  I got a "lot" of clothing that included shorts and Jess's halter top, as well as pjs, which will be perfect for vacation!  2 weeks from now, I will be in the Outer Banks with my guy, his parents' huge RV, and two dolls, exploring the sites and relaxing, which is much needed.  The dolls going with me are going to have a small collection of clothes by the time we go... and my bank account will have a bit of a deficit... especially when we drive back up.  TechGuy has said that we can go to the DC AG store! Yep, I'm going to be a kid in a candy shoppe!

My friend at work, Z, was telling me about the Baltimore Sci Fi Society... and that he just submitted a 4K word story for a contest they had... I am thinking that, while the contest is over,  I may find out more about them, they sounded right up my alley!  It was just Z and I last night, and we both love Sci-Fi and Fantasy stuff, and while he doesn't understand my doll likes, he understands giving them voices and learning to write with each voice.  It's a good exercise.  We talked about Dragon Riders of Pern (I used to participate in an online fan world, about 10-12 years ago), the book we're reading now, Hounded by Kevin Hearne, and the short story Z wrote for the contest.  I really enjoy working with him, we have a lot in common, and he's not afraid to open up and be nerdy with me.  I'm going to be losing him in a few weeks, as he got a new job at a vet as a vet tech... so sad.

I just cleaned up my sewing area in an attempt to find my magic erasers... I tried to paint eyelashes on my Alanna... I don't know that I'm too fond of them.  I want to redo them... but I can't find my erasers.  I think I may try the curled lashes tutorial on AGBAA for her too... maybe I'd like the lashes then.  We'll see.

Jaelin finally got her sister!  Meet Michiko (Mika). I will have her profile up when we get on vacation, and I have some downtime... I think today is my last "day" of downtime between now and the 4th, as every other day is going to be running until the trip.

And last but not least, one of my two green cheek conures, Yvaine, posing Monday night.

There's my random Wednesday post... check back in later on for more updates and my review!  Off to shower and head over to N's house for girls' night, homemade sushi, and her introduction to Pitch Perfect!!

P.S.  This is the newest crochet pattern on the horizon... after my non-doll projects are done and delivered.

Last week... WARNING, scary doll head at bottom of post... sorry

So, I didn't do so well on any updates beyond my doll stuff... which I suppose is what this blog is about too.

I got my MAG #55 in the mail last night!  So excited!  She is exactly what I wanted.  I've decided she is a southern belle, most likely from Georgia, (like Dahlia and Savannah are... hey, I'm from the south, it's to be expected) and she's probably going to turn into my girliest doll, I can see it now.  She reminds me of an old soul misplaced in time.  I can see her being into rich dark reds though too.

Here she is!

 

And then some not so wonderful news... I removed Josefina's eyes and repainted them (which was definitely not easy...). Went to put them back in last night... had a horrific time that ended with my frustrated, with one of the eyes scratched, both eyes sticking, and TechGuy trying to calm down my upset.  Poor guy.

WARNING!  Scary pictures below, I'm SORRY, but I wanted to share why it is that I shouldn't replace eyes.

The eyes I repainted, this is after my 3rd unsuccessful attempt last night.  The head right before I pulled them out to show the color and give up for the night.

But, several of the gals in my favorite FB group encouraged me a LOT last night, when I was really upset, and the one who I bought #61's eyes from, is sending me a "practice" pair, to work with until I understand how to put eyes in.  She says she can do it with arthritis in her hands, so I should be able to.  I need to watch some of the videos and see if I can learn from there.  I have a pair of Grace's eyes that need a head, but I'm chicken right now.  I wish I hadn't messed up the purple eyes, I loved how they came out, and Josefina would have looked wonderful with them. I have been told I can buff out the scratches I created, we will see.  I hope so.