I Hate My Layout!!!

I hate my blog layout, plain and simple. I don't know what I want for it. I've tinkered with it over the years, but I would like to find or create a layout that I could stick with for years or forever even. Something fun yet simple. I'm tinkering with Blogger's blog templates, but I just don't like them. *sigh* I'll keep at it until I find one. However, this "drama" has caused me to look back on some previous posts, and I found myself remembering things I wanted to try or do or see, and realized I hadn't done any of that. It was nice to be reminded of the person I was and goals I had for myself. I think I just got so sidetracked with my health and life in general that I forgot where I was headed. It's nice to be put back on track. So here's to more interesting posts, returning to previous goals, and moving forward. But first, I've just gotta find a new layout. Ugh! LOL! I'll talk to you guys later. Until then, I hope you all have a magical, wonderful, splendiferous day. Bye guys! 😁😁

*Walks In And Dusts Off The Furniture*

Hey all. Wow, it's been a long time since I've been here. I've been going through a process of trying to figure out what I want to do with my online presence as well as where I want to be. I've kept this blog alive because it's my baby and I've always planned on coming back. It never really took off the way I wanted it too, but as I start to get more settled in where I am going in my hobbies and what I want to do in life, I felt I could finally return to the blog and try again to make something of it.

So for those of you who didn't know, I was hanging out over at Tumblr for the longest time, but no matter how much I liked it, it just never sat well with me. It just wasn't what I was accustomed to, which is this kind of blog layout. So, I've decided to use Tumblr as more of a social media and less of an actual blog. I'll x-post over there, have it post to Twitter, and keep the bulk of my stuff here...until I get a website with it's own blog, then I will just have this direct you guys to the new blog, but that won't happen for a while so don't worry.😃

I'm also getting into making Youtube videos. I want my channel to be a hobby and lifestyle channel, so it has a bit of everything there. It's early days, so don't expect much there. I want to do gaming, toys, dolls, arts and crafts, vlogs, etc. there. I am working on a schedule for that. So since my channel is more of a collection of all my hobbies, I kind of want to change the blog into that too. Not just dolls but all about me. I think that's why I kind of pulled away from the blog. I didn't really know how to work more hobbies into the blog without boring readers. Finally I just decided to blog for myself and let others decide what they do and do not want to look at. So yes, there will still be dolls, but you can expect a lot more from me here. :-)

And that's about it guys and gals. I'm going to work on getting organized in the next month so I can really start bringing you interesting stuff here. I've missed blogging here. I hope you are all well and I hope you will come back and visit again real soon. *hugs*🐭

Changing, Growing, Moving On, I Don't Know

Image From Free Digital Photos

Hey all, how have you been? I know I've promised a couple posts to you, and they are still coming, just I've been doing a lot of thinking, organizing, and changing and I just didn't want to post anything until I really knew what I wanted to do. I am still sorting it all out in my head, but I do have some ideas in mind, and I want to get them down so I don't forget a potentially good idea.

So ever since "the breakup", I have been realizing that my life was so hitched up on one person and I totally forgot who I was and wanted to be. I don't feel ashamed of that, especially since I see a lot of people do that in life, but I am frustrated by it because it took me off my own path in life and now I am suffering to find my way back. I keep "walking" by other people's paths, and I tend to pause and wonder if that's a path I should go down or if that is my actual path in life, but then I see that's not my path and keep pushing forward.

In going forward, I realize that the doll hobby is where I want to stay, at least for now, and I want to expand on it by becoming a toy creator at some point. Actually I have a small list of things I want to do in life. I want to become a writer, but since most writers can't live off their writing income, I want to also continue with my interest in dolls and toys. So a writing toy creator? LOL! At some point in life I'd also like to create some apps, but that would be more of a hobby that I'll see if I can make money off of. I would like to look more into creating toys, perhaps focusing on making 3D print out patterns for toys that owners of 3D printers can buy and printout. However, much like all new technology, it'll be awhile before 3D printers become a common household item, so I will also focus on getting dolls and toys made the conventional, or old-fashioned, way.

I'm sure I will have to go back to school to make some of this happen, and I am trying to decide what school, when I should go, what curriculum I will need to take, and really what direction I want to go in. I would prefer learning on my own and not having to go back to school honestly, and I am sure that is possible, so I will look into that as well. I just would rather learn things in my own time frame rather than spread across four years, taking a lot of classes I won't really need.

However, as I return to the hobby and try to learn the wants of hobbyists, I sadly see a lot of the older hobbyists leaving the hobby for new hobbies, preferring to enjoy the hobby in private, or putting their hobby away because of life changes. It's super sad to see so many blogs, Youtube channels, and forums become ghost towns because people have changed, grown into a new direction, and moved on to something new. Granted that's also a good thing, we should always continue to grow and change in life so I wish good luck to those people, but it makes a long-time hobbyist, like myself, feel a little lonely. Don't get me wrong, I know this encourages me to make new hobby friends while trying to reconnect with those older hobbyists still hanging around, but it still is sad to see some of the greats say their farewells, or worse yet, just fade off into the distance without so much as a wave good-bye.

So in figuring this out, it makes me wonder, how do I keep up with the constantly changing "target market" I'd like to eventually sell and talk too? I know, everyone trying to sell items have to deal with this, along with other issues in their industry, like the bullying in the doll hobby scaring off people from the hobby, so I guess I will just have to think of how to stay current.

In the past year alone I've already found my interests in the hobby changing yet again. *sigh* So I was all into 1/6th when I got into the hobby, then I got interested in bjds while still greatly loving 1/6th. Then I found myself switching over to 1/6th completely for some reason. I liked the dolls, but I think I also saw them as more acceptable of a hobby to "the ex" because they weren't "toys", they were collector's items, and he could accept that more. However I still had all my 1/6th stuff collecting dust, getting old and brittle, turning yellow with age. Now I am finding that while I do like bjds, I prefer them tiny. The tallest I would probably really like is an MSD and even they are a bit big for me. I like the fashion doll size bjds, and if I ever follow through on my plans to make my own bjds one day, they will be fashion doll size. I just like their size, I like how clothing for them tends to be super easy to find as well as shoes sometimes, and I just love things in mini form. So it finally hit me, I just love 1/6th and smaller scale items. So I finally decided to return to my roots and enjoy 1/6th again. Yay!!!

But in returning to 1/6th and starting to organize my life online and off, I realize that a lot of people I follow no longer are of my interest. So I am sadly unfollowing a lot of people so I can actually interact with people with the same smaller scale mindset. It sucks so much to change what you find interesting, because you have to let go of certain things in order to enjoy it, at least that is what I am finding. But I am glad to finally have some direction in life now. It's one step on the long way back. I think I finally found my path, and though I've only gone a little ways up it, I think it's going to lead me where I need to be headed. I'll never let anyone or anything stray me from it again. I don't mind if someone's path goes parallel to mine, just a long as they don't ask me to ditch mine and jump onto their path, because their is no fun in that, trust me. Always be true to yourself my lovelies, and always be the captain of your own ship, your life will turn out so much better that way. I look at it this way, you and someone else can be going on your individual paths and you can still hold hands, talk, bond etc., without giving up yours. Yes, it took me a long time to learn this, and no, I will never forget it.

So, what's next? Well I still have those posts to share with you about my mom's dolls, a doll I am trying to customize, and some 1/6th projects I have been working on for years and never finished. I have a Youtube channel in the works for doll related stuff, and of course I need to update this blog, my Tumblr, just a lot of updating. Oh...and there is still the issue of the Christmas presents I am suppose to be working on. I am going to try to do that while doing Nanowrimo next month. :-D What? I work better under pressure anyway. *insert uneasy laugh here*

And can I take a moment to tell you all a boneheaded thing about myself. So I am on a laptop, and I accidentally made my screen zoom out. When that happened before, I would freak out not knowing how to fix it until I learned about "ctrl+ or ctrl-" will adjust the screen, then I came across the instructions for a previous old laptop that explained that if you take your fingers and push them away or towards each other on the touchpad it will adjust the screen again. You have no idea how shocked, excited, and dumb I felt when I tried this for the first time. *sigh + eye roll* Well hey, we need to keep on learning, and I accept that as lesson learned. I no longer freak out when it happens, and it makes me feel super techy when I do it. So there's that. LOL! Just had to share that with you all.

And on that note I will let you all go for now. I must return to organizing and sorting. I want to have it done by November 1st. I still have a lot to do. My Tumblr alone is going to kill me. thousands of posts that need to be tagged, sorted, some deleted, and so much more. I almost want to kill it and start over, but I don't want to lose my followers there, much like the reason I won't delete this blog because it's got posts of "the ex" in it, I don't want to lose you guys. So I shall push forward, clean it up as best I can, and keep on keeping on. Things will get better, and I'll feel like myself once I am organized and ready to jump back into the hobby. Just wish I hadn't let it go in the first place. Oh well, could've, should've, would've, but didn't. Suck it up and move on. ;-) I'll be back with another post soon lovelies. Until then, take care, bye for now. :-)

Well That Took A While

Image From Free Digital Photos

I have been kicking myself like crazy for not coming back sooner to make that post I promised. But here I am, better late than never. Honestly I've been dealing with some depression and anxiety over my health and some other personal things that I am starting to get in order. The new doctor I am seeing, he's really a physician's assistant but he's miles better than my old doctor so he's a doctor in my eyes, has helped put the thought in my mind that it's all fixable. My health issues are fixable, my personal issues are fixable, and life in general is fixable.

So let's see here, where do I begin. First off, I have decided to change the direction of my blog because, while I love dolls and they will always be a part of my life, I'd like my blog to become more about me in a complete package instead of me having to blog in several places about my different likes. Some days, well recently most days, I don't have much to say about dolls as I am working on getting back into the hobby, but I have other things I am doing I would love to share with you all, so I am hoping you will find that interesting as well.

I'm going through a lot of changes as I get older, big day coming up next month, and so I am trying to refocus my life. I have finally figured out that any goals and dreams you have in life you must take active participation in order to achieve them. For the longest time I felt if it was meant to be it would happen, but now I am seeing that you make your life what you want it to be. So that is my goal. I am going to make a mark on this planet and hopefully help a good amount of people along the way.

I've always had an interest in dolls, toys, fashion, children, charity, and writing, just to name a few. So with those interests I have decided to take steps to becoming a toy maker, making playline toys and dolls as well as higher-end toys and dolls, I want to make toys that help children with disabilities, and I want to help charities and maybe even start one some day that helps those less fortunate. I'd also like to focus on my writing more and have at least one novel published. More would be awesome, but I am just going to focus on the one for now. I think I want to write a romance novel veryyyyy loosely based on my past relationship. Just using a few examples from it to build my character's life. I've also decided, ok this may seem silly, but since I always have issues with sitting my butt down and writing, I thought if maybe I had a muse looking at me all the time I would focus more. So I've decided to get a doll and customize him or her into my main character, since I will be writing from first person I will just customize that character. So I will be showing that process here as my character develops. I want to create her whole look, her clothing, and maybe a diorama for her surroundings, the last part is kind of based on time, but the look and clothing is a sure bet. And those are my goals for right now. Sure I still have the big goal of finding Mr. Right and having children some day, hopefully sooner rather than later, but I have learned I need to have my own life first before all that happens. So this is my attempt.

So for years I've been trying to get my Dollywood Productions photostory started up again, but since the main characters were of me and my ex, I just can't do it any more. I can't find it in myself to rewrite it or change the story at all. It was going to be our story as well as a bunch of side arcs, but I just can't do it any more. It would be too hard. So I am dumping the story. Sometimes writers have to learn to let go of a bad story and move on. So I have decided to focus on my doll story I want to do with Liv dolls and I am contemplating a comic with Polly Pockets, the newer version, or Lego. Just some ideas I am thinking about. It is all based on time truly because I also want to start up a few Youtube channels as well as open up shop finally. My mom and I are planning on working together on a few shop ideas. The first one we plan to open will be a doll based shop. We both want to sew clothing for dolls, my mom wants to make doll furniture for dolls, and I'd eventually like to try sculpting dolls to be cast in a resin and one day I'd like to create a 3D printable doll and sell those too. I've got tons of ideas for all that as well. Over the years that I've been dealing with illness and depression, I spent a lot of time daydreaming and researching and writing things down. I have a truckload of ideas that should keep me busy for a while, and I hope all of you will like what I come up with.

I also want to showcase the crafts I am working on. I love crafting and would love to show what I do here. Since I love to dabble in new crafts all the time, don't be surprised if you see a monstrosity show up here from time to time, as my first attempts are bound to entertain. I've got four, maybe five by the time I post about them, such lovelies waiting to be shared for your enjoyment. I have fallen in love with needle felting lately thanks to Marqaroon, a craft Youtuber and jeweler, and her needle felting tutorials. I've seen needle felting for years now, but I will shamefully admit, the needle poking part scared me off of it. And I was so ticked at myself for being scared off that when the daughter of a woman's blog I read has done needle felting since she was around 8 or maybe even younger. I don't know what it is about Marqaroon that just got to me, but her tutorials had me looking through Amazon for some kits to try. I found 5 relatively cheap ones and had them sent to me. I've done 4 already, with mixed reviews, all positive from my family and all negative from me. LOL! Ok, I want my work to look as awesome as it does on the package, you know, the items that were made by people who've been needle felting for years. LOL! I'm so hard on myself. I know in time my work will look just as lovely. I'll get an idea and an eye for it more and will produce some lovely work, I just hate that it isn't there now. But I will stick with it and I hope to do a "redo" photo where I post a picture with what I have done now next to a picture with a do-over piece I create. So you can expect to see my meager beginnings in a post real soon.

What else do I have to tell you? Oh, so I've been wanting to wait to return here until I had a new layout made, new banner, and kind of a logo to connect me in all the places I hang out online, but it's been taking a while to decide on a banner and layout and whatnot, so I decided against waiting and just decided to jump back into blogging, the rest will come when it comes. So there will be a change in the look of the blog too, and I hope to eventually have a website one day soon as well to kind of be a central hub for everything me. But all in good time. First thing I need to do is get myself back into better health, try to reconnect with people in my various hobbies while meeting new people, and get back to blogging on a regular basis. So I am going to try blogging a little every day to try to get back in the swing of things. I am going to take my comments off moderation now because it seems the spam is being caught fairly well and not ending up on the blog. I have lots of plans for the blog and for you guys in the near and far future. I'm so excited to share it all with you, one shaky wobbly but inspired step at a time. :-)

And on that note I will talk to you lovelies later. I have several things I need to do and not nearly enough time to do them all. I hope all of you are well, and I will talk to you all tomorrow. :-)  Bye for now.

Depression, Cleaning, Saints, And Blah

Every day I think about blogging, and every day I tell myself to put it off just a little longer so I can come back fully with stuff to share and talk about. But I just honestly don’t have that yet. I’ve been in the process of cleaning my room and the room I craft in, and not just cleaning but organizing and purging stuff as well. Well with my bum stomach, something that used to take me no time at all to do can take me hours to days to do now. It sucks, but I am dealing with it. I love that I am finally getting more organized, but the rooms are slowly turning into a Hoarders episode the “cleaner” it gets. I have a vision and a drive to get this done, it’s just overwhelming to see everything in the middle of the room and know I have to go through it all still. Ack! Oh well, it will be worth it in the end.

Add on to this that for some crazy reason I am seriously depressed, and have been for the past year, but it’s really getting nasty as of late. I really feel it has something to do with my thyroid medicine. I either have too much or not enough. My hormones are so out of whack I don’t know who I will be from moment to moment. I’m either perfectly fine or curled up in a ball throwing the most awesome pity party this side of the Atlantic. Woo! I see my doctor, maybe, on September 11th, where I am bound to get a lovely round of blood tests to see what’s going on with me. I feel my dosage will change again, but we will see.

Now if all that wasn’t enough to deal with then I have the “blah” portion of stuff I am dealing with. My house is getting work done on the kitchen and bathrooms so there are stranger guys in and out of the house making the loudest noises. Then they take a few days or week break while orders for stuff come in and then they start it all over again. We are currently on a “break”, but they will be back soon, I’m sure of it. For some reason whenever I leave my room they all like to just stare at me, which is just lovely for a shy gal like me who would just like to cross the hall to the other room without it becoming a moment of interest. Well hey, there’s one good thing at least. The guys are kind of cute, so I guess dealing with them for the time being isn’t all that bad. LOL!

My family members all have been dealing with health issues of late, and that stresses me out, and of course my doctor told me not to worry about them and worry about myself instead. Kind of hard to do when it’s right in front of my face all the time. So this is another reason I am really trying to get back to where I can craft and be creative. It helps calm me and pull me out of reality for a while. But I don’t have the ability right now because of the need to clean, so I have found another way to achieve that moment of peace. Video games.

I just got a new game in the mail today, Saints Row 4, and it really helps me let off some steam. I am also playing Guild Wars 2 again, the Sims 3, and Animal Crossing. It’s just a nice break from the daily stress until I can get back to my true love, crafting. It’s hard to have so much I want to do and try craft-wise and not be able to do it. That adds more frustration on me as well, so for now I take it out on aliens and unsuspecting Sims. Mean? Yep. Fun? Hehehehe.

So I was dealing with all this and thought I had things at a comfortable “I can deal with it.” level, and then another wrench is thrown into the gears. “A” just recently told me he’s been experiencing heart issues for the past few months. It sounds a lot like my mom’s heart issues and to know he may have that at such a young age scares me. He’s going through testing now, and I hope it’s just stress and that he needs to take a vacation to relax, but if it is what my mom has it’s permanent, and that just truly scares me. So all of this just makes me feel like I am carrying the hugest boulder on my shoulders. I never really truly understood that saying until recently. Your shoulders truly feel heavy, and you almost feel like you are in pain because of it. It sucks so much, you have no idea. Well, perhaps you do. I know a lot of you are dealing with nasty stuff in your neck of the woods, and if you are, I am sorry. I wish we could all just have fun enjoying our hobbies and living a happy life, but that is just not how it goes sadly. So with that all said, what’s next?

I’m not sure. I am going to keep at the cleaning, and purging things for the shop I am going to open with my mom, that’s not doll related. We are going to try selling new and used things on Amazon. I will still open my doll shop too very soon. I am still tinkering with articles and plan to use them for promoting my shops and blogs. I hope to promote some of my favorite blogs too, not that any of you need that because all your blogs are awesomely popular already. And well, until I can comfortably get back into my craft area, I will continue to kill aliens and torture Sims. LOL! But once I am back in a my crafty nook I will be sewing, crocheting, creating, oh and finally finishing my photostory I started writing years ago so I can move on to the story I really want to start working on. And well, I guess that’s it, for now. If you have read this far, thank you. I feel I owe you something for reading through all that. Hummm, what can I give you. Oh I know!

Kitties!!! What? Who doesn’t love kitties? Well, maybe someone allergic to them or someone who get attacked by a kitty, but other than that, who doesn’t love kittles? Oh fine then. For those of you who don’t like kitties, this is for you.

Puppies!!! You’re welcome. And on that note I am off again my lovelies. I’ll be back soon, hopefully with awesome news and fun things to share. I hope all of you are doing well and having tons of dollie fun. Take care until next time. Bye for now.

Michelle

All Images Used Under Creative Commons
Girl Playing Video Games Image From Free Digital Photos
Kittens Image By Mathias Erhart on Flickr
Puppies Image By Alejandro C on Flickr

Hey guys and dolls!

Hey guys! So it's been a while. I've been wanting to come blog, I still have tons of back blogs that most are outdated by now, but I just haven't had the motivation to post them. I've been pretty active over on Tumblr because it's so simple to blog there, but this blog is where my heart is at. I just feel that since I'm not doing anything in the doll hobby right no I don't have much to share right now. I can't get motivated and I was wondering why that was. Last night I found out that might be an issue with my thyroid disease. *rolls eyes* Great. Yeah, I have been stressing over that lately and some other stuff, but today I decided that I have got this disease for life and I need to either learn how to work with it or just give up on all my hobbies, and that is no bueno.

See here lately I've been having a foggy brain. It literally feels there is a gauzy curtain right in front of my "mind's eye" and I am almost at a point of eureka but I can't get there because of this curtain or brain fog. I have trouble concentrating as well, and this is all due to my thyroid issue. It's been frustrating, and then I add my stomach issues on top of that, and well I've been plain depressed and throwing the most epic of epic pity party on the block. Sorry I didn't send you guys invites, this was more a party of one. And I didn't even have cupcakes. Lame.

So after having a good sob over "woe is me", I've decided to just suck it up and move on. This is with me for life and I have to many plans in mind to let it get me down. So I am going to come back to blogging, post those backlog posts I have for you, update my layout, and become a part of the community again, because I miss doll talk, I miss being excited over your excitement, and I just plain miss blogging. It'll take some time to whip this bad boy...girl...thing into shape, but I will. Until then, feel free to watch me on Tumblr. I post reblog doll stuff, craft stuff, funny stuff, random stuff, fandom stuff...Supernatural *raises the roof*, and just whatever I find interesting. It's my way of staying connected to the community for now and it's been making me happy, for now. I have some stuff to share with you all and can't wait to post about it. Look forward to some big bulk posts from me and then I will return to regular posting once I've updated with backlogs. This is bound to be fun. :-)

Ok I will talk to you lovely people later. I hope all is well and I hope you are all having dollie fun! :-) Bye for now.

Still Here

Image From Free Digital Photos

I should have known something was going to happen when I say I am almost caught up. I haven't been able to blog or update my blog in the past couple of days. I have felt sick and I don't know what it is exactly. Light-headed, short of breath, exhausted all the time, just sucks. I want to sleep all the time. I will am forcing myself to write my due articles and then I will come back to the blog. I feel just so funky since my dosage change, but it's suppose to make me feel better. Ugh! Well I just wanted to let you all know I have not disappeared, just tired all the time. Hope you are all doing well and I will talk to you soon. :-)

Michelle

I Miss...

I have several posts to upload to the blog, but just haven't had the time or energy to. In some posts I'll explain what's up with the lack of energy, that I've yet to start working on. But even though I have been writing posts, it doesn't satisfy me having them sit on my computer and not published for reading. I miss not blogging more often. I think I need to figure out how to get back into the swing of things. So I have decided to blog every day in February to try to get back into the swing of it. 28 days shouldn't be that hard to blog every day...right?

I also miss reading blogs. It seems with me being tired a lot of the time I just can't devour a blog like I used to. I am still working through the one blog I said I'd try to catch up on this month, and honestly beforehand I could have had that done in a day. So I don't know what my problem is. I'm not giving up, just wish I could stay focused more. I know why I'm having some issues, but I'll save that for the post written about it.

I also miss being more active on forums. It just seems like I don't have enough time to visit them as much as I want to. It's not like I am any busier, it just seems my time is more limited with being tired most of the time. I have slowly started getting involved in some, but not to the level I used to. I guess over time I can schedule more time to pop in on them.

I also miss working on my website. Years ago I was always changing the layouts and working on my website. It has changed locations several times, and it's yet to have it's own domain, I might change that this year. Right now it just sits not really updated and in need of some TLC. It's not a project I want to take on now because once I start I won't want to stop. I kind of want to get an html book to catch up on new coding and maybe even a javascript book. I love coding, so it will be nice to get back into that again. But for now it sits alone on the interwebs. Hopefully my new stories this year will breathe life back into it.

And that's all I really wanted to vent about today. Like I said, I have posts coming to the blog, some should show up this week, and I'd like to have those posted before February 1st so I can start with a clean slate. I'll let you know when new posts are posted. I hope everyone is doing well and having fun playing. I am eager to get playing again too. I am trying to rope my mom into doing doll stuff with me as well for relaxation and just to spend time with her. She's agreed to if I agree to draw with her. I can't draw worth anything, but it's not about the quality of the art I draw, it's about the quality of the time I spend with her. Ok, did I just write out the equivalent of a Hallmark card? *eye roll* Lame Chelle is lame today. LOL! Ok my lovely peeps, I am off. Just wanted to pop on and say I miss you guys and to let you know I will be back soon. Promise. Take care and by for now. :-)

Feeling sleepy but happy she wrote a post finally,
Michelle

Image From Free Digital Photos

Happy New Year My Lovelies!!!

I trust that you celebrated in fine fashion last night. Me? I celebrated with family and on the phone with my nearest and dearest. Next New Year's Eve I plan to do something a little more fun, but I got to have another New Year's Eve with my family, and to me that was enough. I could have had a much different night. So now that we are past that milestone, we have several more things to look forward to here. In four days my mom celebrates her...21st birthday...yeah her 21st. :-D Then exactly a month later my celebrates his 27th birthday. ;-) Two months later it's my sister's turn. So we have a lot to look forward to during the beginning of this year.

On top of all that, I will be focusing on my health again, seems I may seriously have an issue with gluten after some testing I've done, fine when I eat oatmeal sick as a dog when I eat bread, so I am attempting to go zero gluten again starting tomorrow. Wish me luck. I'll be getting back into sewing and crafting for dolls again after a few years of doing nothing. I need to take pictures of what I sewed a few years back. Oh yeah, and umm Christmas presents, yeah that didn't happen...yes again. But I didn't give up on it. Just the room I sew in is a complete mess. But I am going to hop in there tomorrow and start working on it. I have so much stuff to sort through.  I may need to cut some of my yardage fabric in half and see about selling some so I can get new fabric and free up space for new fabric.

I also want see about selling certain doll things I no longer need. Do any of you think there is a market for old Barbie Bazaar magazines? I have a good stack of them, and I thought about selling them for  a few bucks. I don't know. I'll have to think about it. I also have old Haute Doll magazines, but I will be taking the patterns out of them so I don't see the point of selling those then. Someone still might want them but who knows.

What else? Oh yeah, a friend of mine did the sweetest thing and bought me a ball-joint doll. A Resinsoul Rong in white skin. She's super pretty and she is my learning curve on bjds. So far I am pleasantly confused, frustrated, and intrigued. I'll be introducing her here soon. I have to get her some things and sew her an outfit, but she is coming.

Speaking of sewing, I've been collecting ideas of what I'd like to attempt to sew. I also still want to open a shop, I already have the shop registered with a new name and all it needs now is inventory. I had two shops before, but something about them just didn't feel right. Then the other day I saw someone's shop name it just clicked for me why my shop name wasn't working for me. Now it's perfect for me and I just love it.

Also, I have been trying to find my niche and I finally found it. Now I just have to work on sewing some items for it. Shop will be coming very soon. I never opened it before because of the need to go ship items on time and with my stomach I've barely been able to leave the house. I'm hoping gluten free will help it feel better and allow me to leave more often so I can get a shipping schedule. But I will tell you more about the shop as I get closer to opening. I will be sewing for all kinds of dolls.  One item I would love to sew is a pretty and fancy coat that fits into my nice. I think Midori, my Rong, will be guinea pig for that. To see the coat I am interested in sewing, look at 3:37 of the new music video (I Got A Boy) by Girl's Generation.



I love the look of this coat. I love the double row of buttons and high-waist belt. I love the colors picked out but I think mine might have to be more pastel for my niche. Not sure. Still researching that. But I think this would work better on a bigger doll, when speaking of details, but if I work out a pattern I will make them for all sizes.

I really doubted my ability to sew and well do much of anything until recently after seeing my sewing after not looking at it for years and seeing my article writing getting recognition when I was just doing it for fun really. So I have a new sense of belief in myself and can't wait to start attacking projects I only thought were a dream. I can't wait to share them all here, on my craft blog, and on my Tumblr blog. Still trying to decide what blogs I need to close. One I will be closing is my writing blog as I have a Tumblr blog for writing that I think will be more fun for me. I am debating on my craft blog as I may start sharing crafts here instead. I have a doll/craft blog Tumblr, I've set up a doll/craft Youtube channel, so I think I should just close the other blog and put it all here. Still deciding, but I will make a final decision in the coming days. This year is all about organizing and cutting back some. I can't have fun if I am all over the place trying to build an audience. I should have taken notes by the greats like Smidge, Dorrie, Aubrey, CorsetKitten...speaking of which.

I am so behind on blog reading. Like really behind. And I want to catch up on all of you. So I will be taking a person or two a month to catch up on. By the end of the year I should be caught up with a lot of you. :-) I don't want to just pick up where you are now, I want to see how you've been doing in the past months/year. I haven't forgotten about you lovelies, just haven't felt much like I was a part of the community with nothing to share. Now I feel I can share again, so woot, and can't wait to see what you have all been up to. I am starting my first person of the year tonight and I believe I will be caught up on them in a few days. So thankful some of you are like me and blog sporadically. But I love those of you who blog every day as well, makes me feel like I know you even better. :-)

Ok, long post is longgggggg. I am going to close for now. I need to go exercise and start my first article of the year and start working on my shop layout, and deciding on my which blogs to close, and...well you get the point. I will talk to you lovelies later. Be good until then. Bye for now. :-)

Hopeful for the new year,
Michelle

Image From Free Digital Photos

Blog Layout

Blah. Blah! Blahhhhh!!! Ok, I've been trying to find a new layout for practically a year now. I just hate that my blog is boring looking now. I don't really want to do my own layout, but I can't find one I really like. Where do some of you find your layouts? Maybe I will have to make mine after all. *sigh* Ok, had to pout a bit. Back to working on articles.

She really needs more than 3 hours of sleep,
Michelle

Design Image From Free Digital Photos

Time To Think About Christmas!

Hey guys! Oh my goodness, you won't believe how much I've missed posting here. It's always been in the back of my mind to post, but then I just didn't know what to post. I am completely out of the loop of what anyone is doing in the hobby and have only been keeping connected to dolls through some bjd videos on Youtube. It's not the same as reading blogs guys, it's just not the same. So I decided, yes I am super behind on reading blogs, yes I have no idea what's going on in the hobby, and yes I have no earthly idea what I am going to blog about really, but I'm back.

I guess the thing keeping me away really is that last one. What do I blog about? What do I have to say that is impressive? I mean I can show you guys my ill attempts at sewing, but I'd be so shy about what you guys would think of it. But then again I could ask for advice on how to improve. I read an article today about asking for help from your peers, and I realized I didn't do that because I don't want to be a bother. So I've decided to ask for help when I need it and give it when I can. So that leads me on to my title. Christmas is coming!!! Yes, I know it isn't even Halloween, but I have come to realize time is passing quickly.

I came to this realization about time while writing on Squidoo. Fair warning, that link is my referral link, if you decide to write there and use my link, when you make your first 15 dollars we both get a nice extra money perk. Now, about Squidoo, I've been writing there for almost 4 months. I have a little over 50 lenses now, lenses are what they call articles there. A lot of them not so good, but they got me writing, a lot. And hey, I even got paid this month. Ladies and gents, you are looking at a gal who has made $6.08 from her writing. Actually $6.20, but Paypal deducts it's fee. No, no, don't get jealous. I worked hard for that $6.08, and it's all mine! Now what shall I spend it on?  Hummm...oh sorry, got sidetracked. So anyway, with Squidoo, if you want to get your articles viewed you need to get them being picked up by Google months in advance. Those of you who do Etsy can kind of relate to this getting things, like inventory, done way in advance. Well I started strong there at Squidoo, doing Halloween articles in July, but now I am still slowly chugging along with Halloween articles knowing they won't be picked up by Google but I have to finish them for a quest there, and Christmas is quickly approaching and I have no niche topics to write about. Ahhh!!! Well this lead me to thinking about Christmas in general.

As some of you may remember, I start out a tiny bit before Christmas sewing wardrobes for two dolls. One being my sister's and one being my mom's. Yeah, I never finished them. They are still as I left them last year. Heck, I haven't sewn a thing since then. So my goal this year is to not only finish that wardrobe, but to create a second wardrobe for them. Too much? Maybe not if I start now. Keep in mind, though, that I will also be writing for Squidoo, also trying to get my foot in at two other websites, and writing an article can take me a few hours to a few days. *faints* But I love these deadlines and the forced writing. Oh that reminds me, I forgot to mention, I'm doing Nanowrimo this year as well. *gulp* So, can I do it folks? Can I manage to achieve all these goals...plus work on losing weight? Yep, another goal I am working on, along with trying to learn how to draw.  Ahhhh!!! This post is starting to make me doubt myself. LOL! But yeah, these are the goals I have for the rest of the year. And since I am getting better at putting myself out there, I have decided to show you the pieces of the wardrobes I make as I make them. Some are already made but I think they will be getting remade as some are just not right in size or look. I'll show you those so when I correct them you can hopefully see the improvement.

So yeah, that's about it guys and dolls. I've been keeping myself busy just writing articles, hoping to make this a thing that gets me income while I continue to work on some other stuff behind the scenes here. I want to help my mom finally set up her Flickr account. I'd forgotten until the other day I set one up for her so she can set up dioramas, take pictures of them, and post them. I want to customize some Liv dolls to get back into that again. I want to sew more. Oh and I think I've decided on what my niche in doll clothing will be. That was part of the reason I never opened my shop. Everybody and their mama was making doll clothing, I wanted to make something that set me apart. I have decided on what, now I have to figure out how. LOL! Oh the joys of learning. And well, on that note, I am off! I need to go update some lenses, yeah it's not like blogging you have to keep updating the lenses. Oh, also I will be doing a layout change here, doing a layout change at my cross post blog after learning more about SEO, and I am just working on getting completely caught up and organized so next year will be a more productive year. I hope everyone is doing great, and I will talk to you soon!

Ready to fall asleep,
Chelle

Image From Free Digital Photos

No Update, No Problem

OK, so yes, I know, I promised an update. But do you know how quickly a weekend goes when you have free time from writing and you want to play Guild Wars 2? Very quickly, I tell you! On top of that, it takes forever to take dolls out of their boxes. My video is longish and I need to cut it down big time. I don’t even know if anyone will watch, but it’s there for people curious about anything I bought. And now there are two more dolls I want to buy and then I swear that’s it, no more Liv doll buying…unless I find them really cheap somewhere, then all bets are off! But it doesn’t look like I will be getting to an update or working here on the blog at all until this weekend again. I have some articles due and I need to start figuring out how to promote them. I’ve started making some sales, it’s pennies and quarters still, but for being there only roughly two months, I’m not doing too bad. If you are interested in writing for Squidoo, come over and check it out, it’s fun and addictive. And hey, if your work gets noticed, you can make some money on the side.

So, since I don’t have a personal update for you, I thought I’d leave you with some interesting doll pictures I have found on the web. Warning, two of the pictures are of the same doll cut in half with exposed organs. I think it’s pretty cool, but some may see it as an ick factor.

(source)

I thought this was interesting. Barbie encouraging girls not to eat? For shame! I love little bits of “dollie trivia” likes this.

Ok, so these are the same doll, one with her hair down of course. I thought this was just so neat. From what I can gather, this is a piece of art displayed somewhere overseas. I couldn’t find much more about this picture as it was on Tumblr and making the rounds everywhere. But I had to share this. I remember when I was a little girl wondering what the inside of Barbie looked like and then wondering what it would look like if she was real. So finally seeing “both” is kind of neat.

So yeah, brief update just to let you know, nothing has been forgotten, just pushed back. Ugh! I need more time in my day!!! I have so many blogs to catch up on, I feel like I don’t know what anyone is doing lately. But I’ll update this weekend for sure and try to catch up as well. Hope all of you are doing well. I will talk to you soon. Be good until then. Bye for now.

Tired as heck and needing to write a new article tonight,
Chelle

Spread To Thin!!!

I seem to recall titling a post like this before.  I guess I didn’t pay attention the first time around.  So, what is this post about? Probably the same thing the original post was about.  Ok, so in my effort to just be out there and explore all the neat things the net has to offer, I have signed up to a ton of social media sites, only to either forget about them or avoid them because I just couldn’t give my attention to them all.  But I needed an outlet still to talk.  Of course I had my blog here, but still, I needed more because I felt no one wanted to hear all about my interests in one place, but I truly think that is where I went wrong.  So he’s the low-down peeps.

I have decided to make some changes here and across the web at the various other places I “hang out” so that I can focus on building my audience as well as connecting with my audience.  I don’t want to go into to much detail just yet because I am still working out what will be going on.  All I know is that I am consolidating myself and bringing it all back home.  I hope the changes I make will make me a better blogger, hobbiest, and friend.

I need about a month to sort things out fully.  I am going to be focusing on doing a super clean of my things to sort out what I don’t want and what I do want and just where I am heading with my hobbies, still inspired by your Andrea.    Also I need to get my areas ready for some workers to come in to work on my bathroom and my light needs working on again, so my areas need to be clean and I need to help clean the rest of the house for plumbing issues.  Then I am still trying to sort out my tummy business and I need to sort it out because I have a mini crisis going on with someone I care very much about and I need to get healthier to help them.  Add on top of that, June is the first month of Camp Nanowrimo, August being the second, and I want to participate in both months plus November.  I told myself I was done with Nano, but after not writing really a lick of anything this year I saw I needed them to at least write something.  Yeah, outline is still being worked on as I type. So I really just need the next month to get sorted. But I will come back with my plan to be the blogger I want to be.

So until I return, I will wish you all a happy June.  I hope you enjoy the last bit of Spring because Summer will be starting soon and bringing all the lovely hot weather, hurricanes, tornados, thunderstorms, bugs, rodents, etc. to a town near you.  Can’t wait.    And to you Southern Hemisphere peeps, you enjoy that cold a little bit longer, but come late September early October I am so coming to take it back!    And on that note I shall take my leave.  Oh, but I can’t dash just like that.  I have to leave you with something upbeat until I get back.  Hummm…oh I know!  How about some Perfume? 

You’re welcome.    Be good until I get back.  Bye for now. &

Feeling a little better,
Michelle