I Don’t Need It…

But it’s so awesome!

Just had to share this.  Having an “up” moment right now so I took the chance to blog real quick.  Now thinking it’s time for bed.  I’m becoming a master of sleep lately.  Here’s hoping it’s not forever.   Bye for now guys and dolls.  I’m off to count. 

Loves ya,
Mouse

Marwencol

So at the suggestion of John on his blog I decided to watch Marwencol. In just the first few seconds of the movie I was in awe of what this man had put together. It was amazing and just put me into the time and story he was trying to tell with his dolls/figures. But then it hit me. Anyone outside of the hobby would think this guy had gone off his rocker completely. I mean a grown man playing in his backyard with toys...not too sane, right? But from a person's pov in the hobby, I just found it so mesmerizing and I wanted to check out the actual place so badly.  However, after the first few seconds we learn that the town came to be because of mental issues that the man, named Mark, was facing and dealing with.

Persepolis

Just watched this movie and thought I’d share it with you all.  It’s about a young in 1978 in Iran and things that happen in her life up to about 1994.  I found this view of Iran and the version seen from a young girl to be interesting.  The movie starts the year I was born so it was extra interesting to see how she lived and to think back to how I lived back then and just can’t even begin to imagine how she handled all she went through.  It’s really an amazing peek in a part of the world many of us may not know about.  Enjoy.

Loves ya,
Mouse

Much better.

Ok, so after a was his hair is soft but it still had that same shellacked look.  It lacks the volume that prototype has.  And while looking at his face I now know what bothers me about the lip paint.  It looks like when you drink deeply from a glass of mile and pull back and have a milk mustache.  Looks just like that. I may have to change it one day so I will feel better about it.  It just bothers me. Meh.  But his hair is washed.  What I did was let hot water run through the hair and it broke down the glue used then I took simple liquid hand soap to get the rest out.  Washed more with hot water, then rinsed with cold water.  Dried it off, combed it, and it’s fine.  Got some fly-aways but I prefer them over the glue.  When it dries I will try giving it some volume and see if I can style it some.  Meh.  Ok, going to watch a Korean movie my sister loaned me days ago.  Talk to you all soon.  Be good.  Bye for now.

Loves ya,
Mouse

Jackson just got cooler. :-)

So I was stripping Jackson to go attempt to was his hair, and when I took off his shirt I noticed his yen-yang tattoo at the base of his neck.  Ok, that’s pretty cool.  Makes me like him even more.    Going to wash this crap out of his hair now.  Wish me luck.    Bye for now.

Loves ya,
Mouse

*sigh* I hate prototypes.

So I got another doll today for my business venture and well, I’m glad I wasn’t overly excited about getting this doll because the real doll depresses me.  So the doll in question is Jackson Jekyll from the Monster High doll line.

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Prototype here seems to have a rounder and softer face.  The hair is way nicer, even though I know I just need to was my doll’s hair, but sometimes when you was the hair you make the situation worse.  But I will be trying it because I hate the shellacked hair.  Also he seems to be more smiling or have a neutral expression on his face and the lip paint seems to follow the mouth line which looks good.  His eyes look warm and smiling.  He just seems sweet and nice and warm.

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*sigh*  Then we get the real doll.  Are you kidding me?!?  Ok, so let’s just gloss over the whole glued down hair issue?  Ok, no, let’s not.  What is the deal with gluing down the hair?!?  It makes it look nasty as heck and what would really be so bad if they hair was free flowing?  Ok I guess the whole static cling thing, but couldn’t they use something like a hair gel or something like that that would easily brush out?  I just don’t get it!  Ok, moving on.  The face, it’s sharper and edgier, but not in a good way.  It makes his face look very androgynous, which isn’t necessarily a bad thing, but it just doesn’t give me the feeling of attractive male but more like an in between being.  The lips.  Ok I don’t know if this is for everyone, but my guy’s lips almost looks like he is doing a comedic drag queen show.  The paint goes way over the lip line and the ends point up at the corners in this weird kind of mock smile.  However the middle line of the mouth forms into a frown.  It looks so freaking weird.  I just can’t get comfortable with it.  The prototype looks like the lip paint went with the lip line and into the lip crease, so much better.  The eyes, while on the prototype they look almost almond, on the real doll they are a weird oblong shape.  And he looks like he has raccoon eyes.  The shadowing is just bad on this one.  Really bad.  I like the eyebrow piercing, and am kind of shocked to see that on a Mattel made doll, but I thought it was a nice touch.

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Now my final issue with Jackson is the fact that he has Popeye arms.  They are held at an awkward angle and when they fold in they look almost how Popeye holds his arms.  I could easily picture anchors on his arms for some reason.  I kind of want to put an anchor on one of them now.  Humm, it’s an idea. 

*Warning, doll nudity ahead.*

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As for the rest of the body, it’s ok.  It fits in with the Monster High line.  His arms look beefier than they should be when you look at the rest of the body, but it’s a decent body.

So like I said, I got him basically to try making some things for to try selling, and I did want him because I wanted a normal looking skin color to go with different colors better.  I also have my Frankie still that I plan on fixing her paint issues instead of getting another one of her.  And they will be my Monster High models.  I wanted to get Ghoulia and several more dolls but the Ghoulia they have is a sexed up version of her in my opinion, and so I decided to pass on her.  So I will just stick with what I have.  Oh, one cool think about Jackson, his sandals fit Liv Doll Jake’s feet.  Their feet are practically the same size.  But those sandals seem to be big because it’s hard to keep them on either of their feet.  But I might get the male clothing pack for Monster High just for the shoes to see if they fit Jake, but I will try my Ken shoes out first.

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His clothing are your basic Mattel productions.  Simple cotton shirt with I believe rayon shorts.  Hemmed pretty decently, but I think the shorts would have been nicer in cotton also.  But it’s decent for a basic doll.  I might want to chance getting Holt later on to see how he is, but I think for now I am done with the MH line.

But yeah, those are my views on Jackson.  I have nothing against the doll, because when I saw the prototype I knew I was going to get him.  I wanted to own him.  But taking a closer look at what Mattel churned out just bummed me out.  But I don’t expect much from Mattel any more, so I knew not to expect perfection.  I think with some tlc he could look a little better, so I may attempt to doctor him up some.  Well I am off now.  I must do my ten miles on my exercise bike and then I’m going to try seeing if I can come up with a pattern for Jackson.  Talk to you guys later.  Be good until then.  Bye for now. 

Loves ya,
Mouse

Georgy Girl

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So I have “known” of Georgy Girl since I was child.  My mom has had this album by The Seekers for forever.  She would let me borrow her records and along with the Mamas and Papas this record always came to my room with me.  I don’t recall many of the other songs on this album except maybe one or two others, but Georgy Girl I would listen to over and over again.  I would sing and dance along with this song and at my young age feel they were talking about me.  Can you tell who didn’t have high self esteem as a kid?  LOL!  Here’s the song if you are interested.

Well when I grew older I learned from my mom the song was for a movie called Georgy Girl, that I found out when I grew even older was based off of a book called Georgy Girl.  My mom told me about the movie and well, I had to watch it.  It was from the 1960s, it was British, and it was that corny camp kind of movie I love, so I HAD to watch it.  Speaking of watching, and totally off the topic, the other day I watched a video online of Soleil Moon Frye dressed up as Punky Brewster…as in at her age now, to say thanks to her million Twitter followers.  It was a bit corny and camp as well.  Don’t know why that came to mind.  But moving back to Georgy Girl.

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*Warning, I am going to talk about the movie so there are spoilers ahead.*  So in short this movie is a about a girl named Georgy, third person to the right in the picture, who lives with her best friend Meredith, second person to the right.  Meredith dates Jos, first person on the left.  Georgy’s parents work for James, guy on the right, because basically they fell on hard times and he hired them as help in his mansion, oh did I mention James was rich, and he helped raise Georgy by paying for schooling for her and making a studio for her in his house so she can give dance classes to children.  So the going thing in the movie is Georgy is a fat ugly nobody while Meredith is a thin sexy somebody.  Jos comes over to pick Meredith up for dates and sometimes has to wait while Meredith is out on another date.  During this time Georgy keeps him company.  They are friends even though he calls her names like Fat Face and constantly remarks on her large body…which is easily a 12-14 in US sizing.  Well while all that is going on, James…the rich guy, is dealing with the fact that not only is his wife ill and refusing to go to the doctor for help but try to heal herself on her own but he also is seeing he cares for Georgy in more than a fatherly way.  One night when she shows up for a party he gives her a shocking proposal that she avoids giving her answer on for a while.  She avoids James as much as possible while she deals with new issues popping up in her life with a pregnancy, a marriage, a divorce, an adoption, a death, and then another marriage.  Whew, girl is busy.  In the end Georgy ends up kind of where she wanted.   I feel she would have preferred a different outcome but it gave her what she wanted…kind of.

I know I left out some of the bits and pieces, but I figured I would just in case you want to watch the movie.  And since I aim to please, here’s the movie.  You can either watch it down below or click here for a slightly bigger screen or so you can watch it full screen.  It’s a little over an hour and half.  Enjoy.    If you like old movies, British movies, or old British movies you’ll love Georgy Girl.

Yeah, I know the video window is big, but I didn’t want to mess up the viewing of the movie if you decided to watch it on my blog.  So I sacrifice for all of you.    Talk to you guys soon.  Be good until then. 

Loves ya
Mouse

Littlest Pet Shop and Blythe 2

Hey all, while surfing the web today I was on the Plastic Paradise forum, which by the way if you didn’t read already it will be “closing”; but I will tell you more on that later, and on the forum I saw a post about the new LPS and Blythe sets coming out and learned some interesting stuff about it.

First of all there are 6 sets out right now instead of the 5 I originally posted about.  The 6th set is called Pinwheels and Daisies.  It’s also a very cute set.  Have a look below.

I also have close-ups of the 4 sets that I only have box pictures for.

Playfully Plaid

Fabulously Vintage

 
Cool Winter Cutie

Buttons and Bows

I love all the sets.  Oh I found out that the animal in Buttons and Bows is indeed a mouse.  Love that one even more.  So some other info I learned about these sets is that they were at first thought to be an America only release, but people from the UK and Australia have been finding them.  So your chance of getting these are pretty good.

I really wanted to get one of these sets for a few reasons I’ll explain in a bit.  I actually thought about eventually getting all these  sets and having the whole collection…that is until I read this forum post.  It seems that the Scooter doll I liked was number 15 where the other were 1-5.  So people started to investigate this and found out that there will be future releases.  It seems they are being marketed as stocking stuffers this year so a lot of these should be coming out this year.  I personally like the bear one, very cute.

via: Xtineta on Flickr

Now something else I learned about these sets is that they are the same size as Takara Petite Blythe.  Hasbro’s PBs have a ball-joint in their neck while Takara doesn’t.  The eyes on the Takara PBs are better looking and eyes close when you lay them down.  The Hasbro PBs eyes aren’t as nice.  The lashes are glued to the eyeballs and the eyeballs have a weird swirling to them while the Takara ones are more human looking.  Both Petite Blythes can share clothing and head pieces.  Hasbro's PBs have removable shoes while the Takara ones have painted on shoes, or it seems most of them do.  I believe some of them don’t, but don’t quote me on that as I’ve never seen one in person.  Be sure to click on the picture to go to it’s page and to check out the rest of the set with more comparison pictures of the two.

Now the reasons I’d like to get these dolls are one, they are cute and I was always curious about them, and two, the attempt to make clothing for them and eventually sell them.  It seems a lot of Takara PB owners want the Hasbro PBs for the clothing since it’s hard to find clothing for them.  So this shows there is a small niche market out there for them.  So I thought, with these gals becoming mainstream that it wouldn’t hurt to try making clothes for them for profit.  Just a little fyi for those of you out there considering getting one and who likes to sew.  People want quality cute clothes for their PBs and may pay out some to get them.  Now don’t go crazy charging 10 bucks for a little dress that took you a few minutes to slap together.  Try to be reasonable if you try it doing this and who knows maybe the small niche will grow.

People are wondering however if this means Blythe will be hitting the shelves again in 1/6th scale.  They are worried she will become mainstream.  I look at it this way, Takaras are still the coveted Blythe and Hasbro would just put out ADG quality Blythes that most collectors don’t like.  I’d buy them because I think they are cute and for the price it wouldn’t kill me if I experimented on them.  But I really doubt they will become mainstream like that.  They may try it in the future if these LPS deals take off, but for the most part I think they are just a new theme to the LPS collection and may be gone come next season.  Only time will tell.  I am kind of bummed I don’t have a little girl to buy some of the LPS sets for.  It would be so cute to share my love of collecting cute things and Blythe with her.  But knowing my luck my little girl will be into GI Joes instead.  LOL!  Oh well, it’s still collecting so I’m cool.  ;-)

Ok, so that’s really all I wanted to talk about in this post.  I need to head back to sewing.  I really need to change my needle I think.  My stitches look a little off.  Not sure if it’s because of me changing the stitches or what.  They are still secure, just looks off a bit.  Guess I need to play with the dials again.  Ok, talk to you all soon.  Bye for now.  :-)

Oh wait, I almost forgot, the owner of Plastic Paradise is getting out of the hobby so she is stepping down from PP.  She is leaving it up as kind of like an archive, but she has given the ownership of the “forum” to two of her mods.  They are in turn getting a new domain and will be opening a newly themed forum.  It will be more kings, queens, and knights related.  It is called Blythe Kingdom and I guess they are working on it now and we will be told when they are open for business.  I can’t remember the email to well but I believe that will be happening in November.  Don’t quote me on that though.  But I hear they are coming up with some great new ideas for us and the owner of PP will be a mod there so that’s pretty cool.  So if you are on PP or TIB I hope you make the move over to BK when it’s open.  :-)  Ok, now I’m seriously off.  Bye for now.  :-)

Loves ya,
Mouse

Joanne Fluke, quick author review.

So a couple of years ago I discovered a book I found interesting called “Chocolate Chip Cookie Murder”.  It was a reprinting of it I believe.  Well upon skimming I thought this book would be the kind I find interesting so I bought it.  It was a murder mystery starting Hannah Swensen.  I soon found other books in the series and began to buy them, although I hadn’t read them yet.  I just knew I would like to read them.  Fast forward a few years and I finally break out the first book I bought and began to read it.  It was a pretty good book until I got to a certain point that put me off.

At a party scene in the book the main character talked about a full figured woman like she was a circus freak.  Heck, now that I think about it, she described her clothing to look like a circus tent.  This really put me off.  Being a fuller gal I took offense to the author writing about the fuller woman this way.  She passes off her main character to be mostly a sweet person, but I wouldn’t want to surround myself with such a person and this just off-putting to me.  I really like the novel and want to keep getting the rest of them, but not if full women are going to be continued to be insulted and used as jokes in each one.  I thought well maybe this just a one off.  Not so.

At the end of the book, after you finish the main story, there is a novella that the author wrote about a runaway girl.  I decided to read it today and finish the book to move on to the next one in the series I own.  Well I just read another rude comment the main character’s sister made about a full size woman how she shouldn’t wear certain clothing.  So this makes me wonder, is she going to pick on full size women in all her novels?  Does she have a hatred for full size women?  Does she not realize the US alone is over half overweight and that means most of the women, who is her target market, buying her book are either overweight or obese?  Heck, even she is plump herself, so what gives with the rude comments about fuller women?  I could have handled a one off in the first novel, but then in the novella in the same book that was not related to the first story having another “fat joke”, it just rubs me the wrong way.

I was planning to buy some of the books I don’t own yet in the series, but if in the next novel I read she insults full figured women again I don’t think I will.  Honestly, to me, it’s almost as bad as making a racial joke.  It’s insulting and hurtful.  Maybe you feel I am over thinking this, and heck maybe I am.  But it’s kind of like this, you’d think I was mad to hang around a person who constantly makes fat jokes that I get insulted by, so why wouldn’t you think the same about reading an author who makes fat jokes or rude fat comments.  It does nothing to add to the story, it just does more to add to the prejudice against full figured people.  I know that this is just her character’s personality and how she things and was raised, but I don’t know if I can invest time and money into “someone who dislikes me so much based on what size I am”.  Am I making sense with that?  I hope so.  I guess she is just going by what she’s heard all her life growing up, the character not the author, but it just still irks me.  I just really really hope it won’t show up in every novel.  I’m seriously prepared to take money out of my wallet and place it into hers, so I really hope Joanne doesn’t continue to disappoint.  *heavy sigh*  Oh well, I’ve got to get dressed now.  Going to the mall in a few with my sister and mom.  I’ll post more later.  Bye for now.

Loves ya,
Mouse

Eclipse

Yep, I watched it.  It’s a guilty pleasure, what can I say?  Ok, so one thing bothering me is the fact that the vampires are killed by breaking them like fine china and then burning them.  Umm…yeah that was just kind of stupid to me.  But whatevs.  Now I won’t give too much of a review on this movie since it’s still new.  I will say I heard it is closer to the book than previous movies, have not read it yet so I can’t say for sure.  When I finally do read it I will let you know.

The movie tied up a lot of loose ends and now we are kind of left with “and they lived happily ever after”, but of course there is another movie that will change that.  Watching the movie makes me want to get back to reading so I can find out what happens.  Very excited to find out.  Let me say that while the writing is not all that and some of the things in the books seems kind of hokey, if you take all that away and just look at the plot it is rather interesting.  But this is Stephenie Meyer’s pretend world that she invited us into, so who are we to say it’s wrong.  I know if I ever get published that people will say the same about my pretend world so I try not to be to cruel when talking about other’s. 

But back to the movie, it starts with a “scary” death, then we meet up with the lovebirds.  All is well with them until oh noes Alice sees something.  Then it’s all about saving and protecting Bella. Then uh-oh, love triangle!  Who didn’t see that coming?!?  Then a fight ensues.  Ahhh!  The the day is saved and Bella lives to tempt and tease Edward and Jacob another day.  Oh yeah and Edward and Bella are getting married.  What?  I had to drop some spoiler didn’t I?  :-)

Ok, I need to stop watching movies and go to bed.  I’m thinking when I wake up I will watch Toy Story 3.  I heard it was super sad at the end.  I’m up for a good cry.  :-)  Ok, bye for now kids.  Be good.

Loves ya,
Mouse

I love you Phillip Morris!!!

 

Ok, so a while back I posted about how I wanted to see the movie “I Love You Phillip Morris”.  Well I saw one of the lovely gals I watch on Youtube had seen it this weekend online and I just decided on a whim to watch it while I waited for my tummy to settle.  I am so glad I watched it.  At first I thought it would be weird seeing my Ewan act as a gay man, but in all honestly he did a great job as well as Jim.  The movie mostly revolved around Jim’s character.

The movie is loosely based on the actions of real life conman Steven Jay Russell.  This movie is a laugh riot.  So the summary of the movie is that Steven learns as a child that he’s adopted.  This news led to him wanting to find his birth mother so he became a police officer to search through databases to learn where she is.   Well she’s right in town so he tracks her down but she refuses to talk to him.  So he picks up his family and moves them away to start a new life.  He gets a job at Costco and this is where things get interesting.  We see a scene where it looks like Steven is making love to his wife but it turns out it’s a man.  Yep, he’s gay, and he’s known it since he was a kid picking out male organs in the clouds.  Yeah this will mean something to you by the end of the movie.  All is fine and dandy for him, he has his wife and daughter and then lies to her and goes to be with his boyfriends.  That works out fine until one night on the way home he gets hit by a car.  It’s at this point he decides to live his life the way he wants to.  Out and proud!  And it’s from this point that his life really begins to roller coaster.  This movie is mostly on the high and funny side, but there is one low side that almost brings a tear to your eye but it is saved quickly and have you laughing your butt off again.  Trust me on this.

I won’t say more so I don’t ruin it for you.  Honestly I haven’t told you much.  Watch the movie, it is really funny.  No, this is so not a movie for the kids or anyone who is prudish.  Just keep that in mind before you watch.  Enjoy and tell me how you like it.  :-)

Loves ya,
Mouse

Huge

Hey guys, just wanted to pop on here real quick to give a review on a show I watched.  So ABC Family, oh this is in the US for my readers elsewhere, has a show they premiered called HUGE.  It’s about a co-ed weight loss summer camp for teens.  At first I thought it was suppose to be a movie when I saw the previews for it, since most young adult shows are based on the “pretty people”.  Please note that I was being sarcastic when I said pretty people.   Anyway, so it stars the pretty chicka from Hair Spray.  Can’t think of her name, but she played the lead role, google it people.  Anyway, so the show stars off at the beginning of camp where everyone has to wear their swimsuits to take a before picture.  Already from this point we see that Will, Hair Spray chicka, is going to be an issue.  She’s “proud” of who she is and what she looks like and is none to happy to be at a fat camp.

I am going to try to not say to much about the show in case you want to watch it.  But you got all your typical stereotypes in the.  The pretty one who doesn’t know she’s pretty and is shy when boys show her attention.  The sidekick best pal to the main character.  The chick with the “deep issue” and her best friend.  The cute guy that all the girls want, and of course it seems like the pretty girl will be the one who gets him.  Then there is the guy who likes the pretty girl, but she doesn’t see him and the main girl who is ignored by him seems to like him.  So you getting the idea here?  A regular young adult show.

Now at first I kind of felt the show was being stereotypical and poking fun at the “fat kids”, but as the show went on it took a nice turn.  It focused more on the teenagers in general and not on their bodies.  I found this to be encouraging for young adults and teens to see people their own age and perhaps that look like them going through the same struggles they are.  I’m really hoping that this show will be inspiring to teens to lose weight and get healthy, but also that it will show them that their fat isn’t want makes them.  That they are who they are regardless of what size they and that they should just continue to be themselves and realize that we all go through crap at that age and it really doesn’t have a lot to do with our weight but a lot to do with just the age and the inexperience and most time lack of maturity.

I do see some plots have already been formed for future episodes and I wonder if these show is going to be one of those light-hearted shows or if it will be more raw and real.  I’ll keep you updated on how it goes.  It really could go either way.  On a side note, I saw the new trailer for the first installment for the last Harry Potter movie and this time it is in 3D.  Now I truthfully don’t know if I will be seeing it in 2D or 3D.  I’m worried 3D will make me sick from watching it.  But I am trying to get someone to go see it with me and my sister and if he does I know he will want to see 3D.  I’ve never seen a movie in 3D so it would be an experience but I just don’t want it to be a bad one.  Well, it doesn’t come out until November, so I have time to decide.  Anyone else excited to see it?

Ok, well I am off.  Kind of feeling ill to the tummy today.  Didn’t get to craft or clean at all today.  Hopefully tomorrow.  Talk to you all then.  Bye for now.

Loves ya
Mouse

Penelope

Sorry guys that I didn't get back to you like I said I would about my Blybe Penelope. RL happened and so I pulled away from the doll world for a bit. But I am back to give you what I promised. I decided to try something new and post a vlog for this entry about Penelope. I tried to make it as short as possible but I had a lot to say. One thing I didn't say in the video that I learned after I finished it is that Blybe heads wobble a tiny bit. It's not a firm hold like Blythe. Nothing really noticeable until you grab her head, but just thought I'd mention that in case that's an issue for anyone. But yeah, enjoy the video, and feel free to drop me a line about anything you are curious about.

Oh, also I will be getting back to comments this week. So super duper sorry I didn't do so before. Maybe I will make a vlog about that one too...maybe not. LOL! Here's the video.

Penelope from Chelle on Vimeo.

This is a video review of my Blybe doll Penelope. I bought her through the Ebay seller siriporn.robertson: http://myworld.ebay.com/siriporn.robertson/. If you want to ask questions about Penelope please feel free to leave me questions on the blog post this video is in. You can reach my blog here: http://dashausdermaus.blogspot.com/.

Loves ya,
Mouse

If you are interested in a Blybe doll you can search Ebay for Blybe or you can use my seller: siriporn.robertson. I liked dealing with her and will do so again in the near future.

Well that's all I really wanted to post about in this one. I'll be trying to play catch up over the week while trying to balance out life in general. Fun times. LOL! Talk to you all soon, be good until then.

Loves ya,
Mouse

Let's all go to the movies...

Ok, so I haven't gone to the movies recently, but I did recently watch some movies. The following movies I watched in the past week a couple of months ago during the week of January 4th...man I shouldn't let drafts get so old. Anyway, these movies are mostly old ones that I had never seen before. So here go the reviews!



The first movie I watched was "Fiddler on the Roof" I had heard this was a great classic movie, and I have to agree, it was. Now I must warn you, this movie is LONGGGG. Over 3 hours I believe. So get comfy with this one. It's so worth the watch. The story centers on the life of a Jewish man named Tevye. Tevye is very much about his family traditions, but as times are quickly changing, he finds himself having to be a bit lenient on his traditions to please his family and in the end please himself.

I love how this man loves to break down the fourth wall. It's never just you alone in the room watching this movie. Oh no. Tevye makes sure you are included in on the fun. LOL! He talks out his problems with you to help him come to a conclusion. The decision making of course always starts with TRADITION! Get used to that. No, literally. He yells it several times throughout the movie.

Tevye and his family are poor, but he gets by and doesn't complain...much. He does have a song and dance about what his life would be like if he were a rich man, but that's about the extent of it.

Now, the fiddler part. I'm going to nab a part from Wiki that better explains it. I loved the fiddler because of the symbolism he stood for. He was in the very final scene of the movie to remind Tevye as well as us that no matter where we go, we still face the same issues in life but we just need to do our best to deal with it and keep carrying on. The following is how the Wiki describes it.

The film begins with Tevye explaining to the audience that what keeps the Jews of Anatevka going is the balance they achieve through following their ancient traditions. He also explains that the lot of the Jews in Russia is as precarious as a fiddler on a roof: trying to eke out a pleasant tune, while not breaking their necks. The fiddler appears throughout the film as a metaphoric reminder of the Jews' ever-present fears and danger.

Just before the closing credits, Tevye spots the fiddler and motions to him to come along, and the film ends with the fiddler following Tevye down the road, playing the "Tradition" theme.

Now the music from the movie was amazing. Beautiful songs that you fall in love with honestly. They songs themselves told the story and made you feel for the characters.

All-in-all, the movie is a very touching and also intense movie about life and prejudice and how it effects those that are the subject of it. Very good movie. On a scale of one to ten, one being worse and ten being best, I give this movie a 10.





The next movie I watch was "Singing in the Rain".

This movie is another great movie. Though not nearly as long as Fiddler, this movie still has a lot of story in with plenty of comedy. The movie is basically about how the company that makes a silent film series called "The Dueling Cavalier" is faced with the reality that silent films are a thing of the past and movies with sound, talkies, are the new rage. However, they have one tiny problem. The leading lady of their films makes scratching on a chalkboard sound like sweet music when she talks. Uh oh. What do they do now?

Well the star of their series, Don Lockwood, meets a young lady by the name of Kathy Selden when he unexpectedly jumps into her car to escape a mob of fans. They don't hit things off on the right foot, but he can't get her out of his mind. He moans about "the one that got away" to his best pal Cosmo Brown, who I think is the real cutie of the show. Cosmo does the music for the silent movies and has worked along side Don since they were kids. He vows to help Don find his leading lady, that is until she walked into set that day for a job. She gets the job but turns it down once she sees Don is involved. A few songs and dances are involved over the next part, but the three become friends after it all. It was then that Cosmo discovers the solution to their problem with leading lady Lina Lamont's "lovely" voice. Can anyone say voice over? A few more songs and dances happen, some conflict, and the story ends happily as most movies from that time did.

This movie was a nice lighthearted movie that made you smile, laugh, and maybe even swoon a little over the cuties in the movie. I give this movie on a scale of 1 to 10 with one being worse and 10 being best a 9. It was a very interesting movie with great music, great dancing, and an interesting plot. The plot was very overdone back in those times, but still a very nicely pulled off plot. The reason I gave it a 9 is because some of the songs are very drawn out and very slowly. Kind of made the story a big sluggish in pace. But other than that I loved the movie.

Can't find an embed link on any of the videos, so you will have to go to the video on YouTube. Click here to watch "Make'em Laugh" sung by Cosmo.



The next movie I watched was "For Me and My Gal". It's about a guy and gal vaudeville act. They are trying so hard to get their act into the Palace Theater on Broadway. When it finally happens, the guy, Harry Palmer, gets drafted into the Army to go fight in World War I. But Harry just can't miss this opportunity. Him and his gal pal, Jo Hayden, worked to hard to give up now. In order to get out of the draft Harry figures out a plan to hurt himself and disfigure himself. On the way to tell Jo that they can still do the Palace Theater gig Jo gets a telegram telling her that her only brother and only sibling died in the war. Crying her heart out Harry comes to tell her "the good news". When Jo figures out what he did she ends the act right there. Harry sees what a mess he made of things and tries to fix unsuccessfully until one night an opportunity presents itself and he takes it. It ends very happily and the two live happily ever after.

This movie is a very cute musical with a lighthearted story. It had it's sad moments but for the most part it was a cheery story that's sure to make you smile. On a scale of one to ten with one being worse and ten being best I give it an 8. The movie was very good, just not 10 good. It had it's sluggish slow parts and sometimes the plot felt holey, but for the most part a very good movie.





The next movie I watched was "Julie and Julia". I know, woo hoo a modern movie! ;-) I had wanted to see this movie since last year when it came out two days before my birthday. But of course I wasn't feeling well due to the tummy so I missed out. Also no one wanted to see it with me and going to the movies alone just plan sucks. So I waited until I got a chance to see it. It was so worth the wait.

Can I just say they picked the two perfect actresses to play Julie and Julia. I love them both and they just told the story perfectly. Love, love, love, love, love! Ok so the story is pretty simple. Julie is a striving writer. She works at a heartbreaking and sometimes heart-wrenching job answering phone calls from and for victims of 9/11. She finds herself in a rut. Unable to get published and working in a job that is killing her spirit. It's then that her husband suggests she get a hobby. She thinks about it and finds out one of her friends has a popular blog. she feels she could blog and blogging would make her a writer. But what does she blog about? Her hubby gives her suggestions and she finally comes up with the idea to blog about cooking since she loves it so much and it takes her away from her daily troubles. She decides to cook all 524 recipes in Julia Child's "Mastering the Art of French Cooking". Enter Julia's side of the story.

Julia is with her husband in Paris. He's there on business and she's just...well...there. She doesn't have a hobby or anything. She tries to decide what she could do. She tries several things but they just don't click. It's not until she noticed that she loved french food and eating that she decided to learn how to cook french cuisine. Yum. She starts off at a ladies school and finds that she is not challenged enough so she goes to the male school. I believe it was military men learning how to cook. She learns to become fearless in her cooking and begins to learn what she coveted most, the art of french cooking. After her classes she meets some lovely ladies who are trying to create what Julia wanted, a simple English french cooking cookbook. But the publishers did not think it was clear cut enough and Julia stepped in to help them. She "dumbed down" the book and made it perfect for the English speaking audience.

The two ladies' stories are interwoven together throughout the movie and they moved back and forth seamlessly. It ends happily with Julia getting her book published and Julie reaching her goal and going to the Smithsonian to see Julia's actual kitchen, leaving her a keepsake...a stick of butter. *tear*

Loved this movie. The only sad part was Julia saw what Julie was doing as a joke and was turned off by her. So Julie never got to meet Julia, but she had her Julia in her head and was happy with that. She still loved Julia through it all and that made it all better. :-)

On a scale of one to ten with one being worse and ten being best I give this movie a 10. Sweet movie, with great actresses and actors, and a seamless transition. It's a must watch.

No embed video links so you will have to go to YouTube to see a video of the movie. Click here to see a clip of Julie and Julia. Bon Appetit!



The final and I think the best movie I watched in this particular week was "Bringing Up Baby". This movie is CRAZY. It stars Katherine Hepburn and Cary Grant. This movie was one of those that was way before it's time. It was not well accepted and critics said Katherine Hepburn was horrible at comedy and slapstick. I so disagree. Katherine Hepburn did wonderful in this movie. I laughed my rear off at this movie. And Cary Grant was perfect too. The two worked perfectly off their delivery.

So what's the cra-cra movie about? At first it's about Cary Grant's character David Huxley is a paleontologist that for several years has been trying to put together the skeleton of a Brontosaurus, but he is sadly missing one piece of it. At the beginning of the story he happily learns from his fiancee it was found in a dig and it was on the way to him. With that problem off his shoulders her had his looming nuptials as well as a golfing appointment with the man who could donate a million dollars to his museum. When he makes his appointment on the golf course this is where he makes the unfortunate acquaintance of one Miss Susan Vance, Katherine Hepburn's character. This is where all of David's troubles started. She ruined his golf game and stole his car, along with him. Gotta watch the movie to understand that last part.

After recouping from the golf disaster, David arranges a dinner to meet again with his hopeful donator. Only one problem. He once again runs into Susan who once again manages to cause him trouble. She continues to cause her trouble until the end of the evening where David hoped he had seen the last of her. Nope. He gets a call from Susan the next day who explains that she has a baby leopard in her apartment. Enter Baby. From this point on Susan and David go through one crazy mishap after another from trying to get Baby to a much safer place, to losing the coveted Brontosaurus bone back from a dog, to getting arrested, to ending the day on a good note after surviving an encounter with a leopard that just happened to not Baby and very wild. In the end Susan and David end up happy but not without one more mishap on Susan's behalf. Very funny stuff in this movie and it's sad it didn't do well in it's time. It severely affect Hepburn's career as well as the director of the film. Very sad. But I guess better late than never. This movie is loved by many now and is definitely at the top of my list.

On a scale of 1 to 10 with 1 being worse and 10 being best I give this movie a 10. It purely a classic movie and so funny it will have you in giggling at all the crazy stuff these two characters go through. Katherine Hepburn reminds me so much of Parker Posey in this movie, especially from Party Girl.



Well that is my long-winded post on the movies I watched several months ago and actually MEANT to post about, but got lazy and didn't. *sigh* I so need to keep on the ball more with these posts. Oh well, better late than never. Wait, that's the second time I've said that in this post. Yep, time to close this post. Bye for now kids.

Loves ya,
Mouse

On Writing by Stephen King

So I finished reading reading a book that I had started a good while back and then stopped reading and had to reread due to that. So I finally finished it today and let me just say this book is amazing. It is so inspiring to anyone who wants to be a writer and its an interesting read to those who are just readers in general or fans of his work.

Now I'm not going to go into deep detail about the book since its been out since 2000 and there are many reviews of it, you can click the picture above to be taking to Amazon and read the review there.

What I will say about the book is that he really breaks it down for those who doubt if they are or could be a writer. He doesn't hold back on what he thinks constitutes what a writer is. I know everyone has their own opinions on that, but his I respect highly and agree with. Also this book was written around the time he had his near death experience in 1999 and was finished while he was on the mend and writing this book helped bring him back from a bad moment in his life. Reading the part about his accident and how he did come back from it, writing helping a good bit, just inspired me more and put me in awe of his talent.

Now let me tell you straight off, I'm NOT a Stephen King fan. I have never read any of his books all the way through. But that doesn't mean I don't know of his talent to write. He's very talented and I'm awe-struck by it, hoping to be as talented as he is. But this book he wrote on the craft of writing has reminded me that one should not write for money or fame, and most writers do not get much money or fame. One should write because they love writing and they have a story to tell. Both of which I do have. So I'm going to write for me. I'm going to write for my IR...read the book and you will understand that one. And I'm going to write for my characters, to tell their story to the world. And because of this book I can now because Stephen King gave me something I long thought I didn't have. He gave me permission to do so with guilt or doubt. So that's exactly what I'm going to do. Every single day. 2500 minimum. Starting today.

Loves ya,
Mouse

Disney did it again!

The Princess and The Frog is now one of my favortie Disney movies. The movie is so sweet and funny. There was a sad part at the end that kind of turned happy making it bittersweet. I am so glad Disney did this 2d movie. It reminded me of my childhood and watching other Disney movies, and well I like 2d better than 3d. It seems more detail goes into 2d and I will forever heart Disney for making this movie. You must get out there and see this movie...or umm if you are low in funds you can do it another way. Just sayin. But this movie cheered up my day some and now I am off to bed to get a few hours of sleep and get things back on track later on today. Just had to pop on and say I love this movie and I am so getting a doll from this movie. I will be hitting Toys R Us this week, I hope they still have some. I must have one. Ok, night guys. Bye for now.

Loves ya,
Mouse

I return.

Hey guys! I know, I've been MIA for a while now. Why? Because of several reasons actually. First off, I didn't really have anything to blog about. I am mostly in the progress of making stuff for my shop and researching up on my shop about things like when I will need to look into getting a tax number and whether or not I want to pay to get verified now or later. Since I am just trying things out, I figure I will try basic for a month and if I do well I will try becoming verified. We'll see what happens.

But yeah, I've mostly been catching up on watching things online while I knit. I have some cute things made already and I love them all. I also bought some fabric transfer stuff to make labels for everything, but still am trying to decide on a logo. So I am doing a lot of work on this and trying to make my dream a reality finally.

What else? Hummm, I have decided I want to make my blog more about me. I have never been the one to make anything about me, and I think that's why I had MySpace and Facebook so much. I killed my MySpace and only reopened my Facebook to keep up with the few friends there, especially one of my friends who is recently pregnant. Love ya Heather! Oh my, did I just do a shoutout in my blog? LOL! But yeah, I want to let my readers know more about me and really just start enjoying blogging again. So expect some pictures of interesting things in my life to be popping up soon. Just need to edit and pop them into Flickr. I won't show them all at once so I don't run out of material and then disappear again for a couple of weeks. LOL! But yeah, I'm still here. Just been busy. I'm also trying again to lose weight and I will update my ticker on here for Weigh-In Wednesday for those of you interested in that. Not much writing has been going on...kind of hard to knit and write at the same time...but I have been writing ideas for stories down as they come to me. I am REALLY thinking about going back to school for a degree in writing. Is that crazy? Ok, I know it is, but I really want it. We'll see.

Speaking of books. This morning I finished reading a novella that was just so sweet. Now mind you, it was a romance novella AND it play a lot on using your imagination...which kind of put me off...but for what it was worth, it was a sweet story. It is part of a collection of romance novella's in this book I got at the Dollar Tree. If you are into reading romance novels or novellas then check out the Dollar Tree this week. I know all of mine in town have the books so others must too. I want to go back and get a few more, but I will wait until I finish the few I bought and if there are any left then I will get them. But for now I have a shelf full of books I need to read. But this story was based on an elderly woman who lived her whole life alone because she didn't listen to her heart and marry a man she had just met a Christmas party that was held for the troops getting ready to take off for England during World War II. I like the basis for the story and if some of the parts of it weren't so drawn out like the kept stressing how it was all possible due to Christmas Magic and how she went back in time for second chance, and well it was kind of korny in the sense, but the structure for the story was pretty good. I'm on the second novella now, and so far it starts off korny. We'll see where it ends up. Oh for those who don't know, a novella is basically a short story between 17,500 to 40,000 words or about 50-100 pages long. So not really a novelette and not really a novel. Just in between.

Humm, anything else? Guess not now. I have pictures to show you, like I said, but that will be in other posts. So I guess I will close for now. Its almost 2:30 in the morning and I am ready to do some exercise. LOL! Talk to you all later. Be good until then. :-)

Loves ya,
Mouse

The Fashion Show Finale!!!

Congrats to Anna!!! I think she was the right pick America. We did it! LOL!

So the finale was very interesting, because it let me see that I wasn't the only one that thought the way I did. For example, someone asked if the judges were all smoking from the same crack pipe when they let Reco go and James-Paul stay. Agreed! They stand by their choice but I think they made the worst choice.

Little Kristen was there and she stood by her choice for leaving. I think she regrets it BIG time and I wish she should have stayed. I watched at first because of her. And I wasn't the only one. Someone said since she left there was no reason to watch the show.

Lots of people saw Daniella as a bitch. I oddly enough didn't I saw her as young and trying to stake her claim in the competition. She needed that since everyone was older and they could have treated her as a kid and make her insecure. I'm glad she won the 10,000. She deserved something for all her hard work. I don't think this will be the last we see of her.

I LOVED how everyone's private convos were aired out in this show. How embarrassing, but soooo funny to see how the others reacted. I would have been either embarrassed or angry about that. But hey, all in the game right?

All I know is I was so hoping for that rainbow dress...or as they call it the "Layer Cake Evening Gown Stunner", to show up on the stage. I was so excited when I saw it. I cheered out loud. Yep, I'm that lame. :-D Speaking of that rainbow dress, some of Anna's clothes from her collection have been made into actual garments that are on sale now. The following are what are for sale.















Well folks, that's it for The Fashion Show. I don't know if we will be seeing it again. It didn't do terribly good in the rating it seems, but we'll see. Maybe it will be back to entertain us again soon. Until then, we have Project Runway to look forward to. :-D I can't wait! Bye for now lovelies and woo hoo Anna won!!!

Loves ya,
Mouse

The Fashion Show!

Ok kiddies, I've got a longggg one for you today. Since I have missed out on the last couple of weeks of my review on The Fashion Show, I decided to do it now on the day of the season finale...oh Project Runway please hurry and come on. Feel free to read it or pass it by. I did this mostly for fun and wanted to voice my point of view. Anyway, so last review I did was for episode 6. So I've got several to catch up on. Let's get started.

In episode 7 the designers are not only forced to work in pairs, some of them not favorable, but also they find out they are working for one of the most influentual designers in the field. Issac!!!



For the mini challenge, the designers picked spools of thread to see who their partners were. Once partnered they had to redress a gal who stayed out all night and did not want to do the walk of shame. The materials they had to use where the gal's original clothing and extras they found in two boxes they were allowed to loot.

Merlin and Johnny did away with their gal's original outfit and chose to wrap and drape a scarf around her to look like a new top. Her belt? Gone, but that belt buckle stayed and was turned into a brooch. Haven and Anna decided to cut the poor gal's stockings and take them off, add a sweater and a scarf to cover her up and bit and there ya have it, instant working girl...er I mean working girl in an office environment. Oh nevermind. Moving on. Lidia and James-Paul decided to reverse the tank tops their girl was wearing, added a jacket, added a scraf, and added a skirt on top of pants she was wearing making them into leggings...lucky bastards. Reco and Daniella, had very little to work with. But Reco came up with the idea putting a blouse on her and to use a scarf to make a new dress for her since there was a lack of bottoms for their gal. Daniella wasn't really for it, but in the end the judges seemed to like it. In the end Johnny and Merlin won and their prize...a few minutes of Issac's time to get more help on their main challenge, which is designing a piece for Issac's upcoming collection.

Tempers flared as designers squabbled over their designs and what would work with what, but in the end, all the teams finished their outfits and made it to the fashion show. First up was Reco and Daniella. Reco did not like Daniella's work and basically said he'd feed her to the dogs if they didn't win. Daniella felt her items were fine but doubted Reco's blouse. James-Paul and Lidia were next. Lidia was in awe of their design, but James-Paul felt very uneasy about it. He felt Lidia's dress did nothing for the outfit and it ruined the whole look of the outfit. Haven and Anna were both excited about their outfit. It had color and flare and pulled straight from Issac's thoughts. Merlin and Johnny, also very happy. Their look brought in Issac's love, the plaid, and a pop of bright color to match. Judgement time.

Johnny and Merlin along with Haven and Anna were to two top picks of the night. Their use of color and texture won the judges over. However, one team's outfit won them over just a little more.



Haven and Anna were the winners of the night and will get their outfit made into an actual garment for sale. Click on the picture to be taken there.

The remaining teams of Reco and Daniella along with James-Paul and Lidia awaited their fate. The judges didn't like Reco and Daniella's lack of color and creativity. They also disliked the plaid on James-Paul's jacketing saying it lent itself closer to Burberry and the dress was just unexcuseable. The judge conversed and when they returned they inform Reco and James-Paul that they had another week on the show, but Daniella and Lidia had stand they ground. After explaining to the two their mishaps with their clothing and the choices they made with their clothing, the judges told them they made up their mind. Daniella was asked to stay and Lidia was told she'd be going home. I was so sad to see Lidia go. For the most part she had very interestint designs. I think the stress of the competition got to her and caused her to lose her footing. I hope we see more from Lidia in the future.

In episode 8, the designers take a history lesson.



We start the show off with a designer history test. I was actually shocked to see so many of the designers did bad on this test. You would think they would make it their duty, their passion to learn more about the original inventors of fashion. My girl Anna did her homework, and I was very happy to see that. I think that is why she has never been in the bottom two. She knows fashion. She lives it. She breathes it. She eats it for breakfast, lunch, and dinner. So woo hoo to her for winning. And as her winning prize, she gets to decide who gets to pay homage to who...is that whom to whom? Hummm. Anyway, so she picks one of her favorites for herself, Haven, and Daniella it seems and then with the guys it seems she kind of tries to trip them up...especially Reco, poor thing. So off the designers went to the fabric store for their ammo.

In the sewing room the guys see its male against female in this competition, or at least that's how Merlin sees it. He works to get the other guys on his side and it seems to have worked. Tricky devil. It seems the running theme in the show is for everyone to cast doubt on everyone. Guys are leery of girls, girls are leery of other girls, everyone is leery of themselves. It makes for great drama. Speaking of which, I think the show producers edit this show so much to make it more dramatic than it actually was. But anyway, moving on.

Fashion show time! Haven's outfit was first. The one thing that really upset me about Haven is she pulled the shirt out. I would have left it tucked in. It would have kept it looking more professional and so what if the hemlines didn't meet, I don't think she would have gotten much off for it. I think she screwed herself there. She could have also pulled the whole shirt out and it may have saved her there also. *sigh* And the pantsuit was kind of iffy to me. The pants just didn't look right.

Daniella's next. Loved her outfit. The pop of color was so nice, but I agree with what a judge says later, I would have liked to have seen a little more color with it. But I love what she did.

Anna was up next. Loved this outfit as well. I love the pleating on the skirt and the black and white. And I personally loved the jacket. Judges? Not so much. Oh well, they just don't know good fashion when they see it. ;-)

Reco is up next and his dress...disaster. Seriously, he made the model look horrid. She looked fat in that thing and she had a corseted waist. It was just sloppy and you could tell he didn't have direction with this. They color was lush though.

Johnny is up next. This outfit was very interesting and I liked it, but I feel it was more of his copying. He can repeat very well what he sees. But it doesn't pull away that this is a nice dress. Just wish it spoke more Johnny than versace, you know what I mean?

Jame-Paul is next and I was pleasant surprised. He make a beautiful garment and it didn't have those weirs droopy bags he's become known for. Why can't he produce that kind of work more often? Very nice.

Merlin is next, and I must say, I'm not loving it. It reminds me of a toga. Just seems a but off to me. I mean she's got a great figure but its hidden under mounds of fabric. I don't know, just seems weird to me.

So time to round up the designers and tell them of their fate. Three designers really stood out. Johnny, Daniella, and Anna. The judges thought all their outfits were nice, but felt only two were really good. Johnny and Daniella were the two up for the win.



In the end Johnny snagged his second win. Click on the picture to check out how to purchase this outfit. The three were safe for another week. Merlin and James-Paul were also safe. It was down to Haven and Reco. Haven tried to explain her vision and the untucked shirt while Reco, who was having a mini meltdown, was trying to explain he did the best he could by not knowing who Halston was. In the end Haven's lack of use of color, lack of shape, and just lack of using her knowledge sent her home, leaving a crying Reco hanging by a thread. Bittersweet indeed. We are getting closer and closer to a winner.


Well in episode 9 we get some interesting insight into how this competition is going to turn out.



First up we had the Harper's Bazaar mini challenge where the designers had to design livable lounging wear. The first thing that made me roll my eyes was Johnny. How could he not be more careful with this work? He knew a lot of was riding on this. Its the end of the competition, this is not time to act like you are in week one. He sliced right through his original work and then just so he'd have something to "present" he threw some fabric on the mannequin and called it a day. Just so sloppy. I think he would have gotten farther if he had at least attempted to make something cohesive. Maybe some bloomers or something that could be livable and just explain what happened to the top and that he tried to at least have something well made to show them. If you haven't learned by now, I do not hide the fact that I don't like Johnny or his work. And I don't like that other designers went home before him. The first time he would have said "Send me home." I would have sent his rear packing. Ugh!

Now James-Paul, he's another one that should have gone home already. Ok, maybe I am just not thinking outside the box, but come on!!! His work is just so weird. What woman would be caught dead wearing pants that look like sacks hanging off of them? They say this show is for about fashion for real people, but its truly not. They love what James-Paul puts out and well honestly I could see a celeb wearing it to be different or those of us with deep pockets, but I don't truly see them as "real people". Yes, they put the pants on one leg at a time and *gasp* they have their "irregular" moments, but still they are not "regular" people. Regular people to me are people like you and I who don't have their name on billboards or own 50 yachts. It kind of puts me off that "regular people" are seen as the rich and famous. So what are we then? The common folk? When I look at James-Paul's stuff, that is the only thing I can think is that we are common folk, because I can't see a normal person walking down the street in what he designs. His lounge wear was suppose to represent something his grandmother would wear. I am sure his grandmother would wear normal looking pants and the top is so skimpy I just don't see an elderly lady wearing it. Nope, not seeing it at all.

Merlin's outfit wasn't bad to me. I liked the look and I think its very comfy looking and livable looking. But then again, I am common folk. ;-) No, but seriously, I think it was cute and it looked like a pull back from like the 60s. I could see someone lounging in that. I think the pants gave it a lot of livability because a woman could go out to get her mail...whoops almost typed male but I guess she could do that too lol, she could water her flower on the porch, she could sit by the pool reading and she would be covered and modest while being relaxed and comfortable. So I don't think he deserved the lashing he got.

Reco and Daniella both got it for the jumpsuit. Once again, I think they were livable. Now I didn't really like the shape of Daniella's or the color of Reco's, but they were still nice.

But my favorite did have to be Anna. I am so loving Anna in this competition, minus a few items. LOL! But she is the one I am so rooting for to win this. Her work is stylish and has an old soul twist to it. Loves it.



Her little baby doll top with bloomers was the winner and I have to agree on their choice. I would have bought that in a heartbeat. Its so cute and it looks comfy too. Win-win if you ask me. Yeah Anna! Her garment is going to be sold in Saks Fifth Avenue as a companion to the robe that was the background of this challenge. Impressive!

So next the designers went to a psychic. Johnny was the first to go. LOL! He picked the Six of Swords and was told he'd be travelling. This sent the other designers into a fit of shocked laughter. LOL! Loved it. Can you tell who I hoped was going home? Ok, nothing against him, he's just another person who's "vision" I just can't see and wanted to go home. I don't like any of his work and I think his work is for a select group of people.

Reco and Daniella got some nice fortunes told about them which I thought was right for them. Then James Paul got his reading where she told him he to listen to his inner voice and it will guide him to make beautiful things BUTTTT he needed to be more practical. When she told him this he gave a look like "whatever" while the other designers gave a look like they agreed with the psychic. I don't think he listened to her. Don't you know that you don't go against a psychic's words?!? Or so I've been told. ;-)

Anna got a nice reading as well and I think she's going to be the one to beat in this competition, I really do. But omg, when Merlin pulled the same card as Johnny, and knowing what I know now, omg soooooo creepy. Sooooo creepy. *shivers* This is why I will NEVER go to a psychic. I'm worried she will tell me something horrible is going to happen and well I just know it will come true. So yeah, she told Merlin he was going somewhere too. He did not like that at all. Weird that they start and finish with the same card. They must have edited that because I can't believe for a second it worked out like that. But yeah, very creepy. And when she said everyone would be surprised, she wasn't kidding. I was so angry that Merlin left instead of the one he was up against. I literally gasped in shock. Ahhhh!!! Those judges need to be sent home!!! Oh and I loved Johnny's smug look. Umm hummm, this just proves that you shouldn't toot your own horn when you are no better off than someone else is. Remember that kids.

Ok, so the fashion, the only one I didn't really like was James Paul's outfit. And oh my, could it be, I really liked Johnny's outfit this time. I liked the color combos and I loved the cage on top of the skirt. But I didn't like his out right confessions of knocking off other designers. I know art creates art, but damnit all, make it your own somehow. Don't out right steal another person's design and call it your own.

In the end it was Merlin and James-Paul up on the chopping block. I still think that the judges are smoking something because they kept James Paul and sent Merlin home. How is what James Paul created forgivable? He had two droopy sacks on the woman's shoulders and a big droopy diaper looking sack on the back. I see where he was going with the back part with bustle but he failed failed failed failed failed. Now Merlin's outfit has some issues too. The outfit did have a lot going on, and the shape did lack something in the bottom of the pant. Perhaps he should have stuck with just simple sweatpants but kept the color details. The maybe the jacket would have saved him. I liked the jacket, but add everything else in and it did get complicated. I can tell Merlin has style, just this time he slipped up.



Winner for the week was Anna. Click the picture to see how to purchase this outfit. I must admit I was not sold completely on this dress. I don't really like the circus look that the skirt has, but it seems the circus look is in this year if you look at Erin Fetherston's Fall fashion line. So, who knows. I do like that it kept the woman's figure with the cinched in waist. A version of her outfit is for sale in two different colors. The one from the show in a pink/red combo and one in a blue/green combo.



On to episode 10...and then there were 5. Ok, so jumping right in, we have the Harper's Bazaar mini challenge that ends up being a fabric draping challenge. The designers must use two yards of silk fabric, 12 pins, and their draping skills to make a beautiful outfit. The five designers set forth and pinned their little hearts out. Johnny already knew he wouldn't do good in this because as he said "he doesn't do pretty". What he did wasn't all that bad, but it wasn't draping. James-Paul just seemed to throw the fabric up on the mannequin and pin before it fell off. Reco's was nice I think. It was sexy and I could see it being worn on any lovely lady on the red carpet. Anna's of course I loved as well as Daniella's. I see why Daniella won, she seemed to control the fabric more and it was more form fitting. So I gotta give it to her on that. After this, the designers learn for their main challenge they are going to make a evening gown. But first, we need a little help from our friends. Enter Haven, Angel, Keith, Andrew, and Merlin. These five lovelies were brought back from the fashion dead to help our final designers make their evening gown. Since Daniella won the mini challenge she got first dibs. Red Rover Red Rover send Haven right over. Reco insisted this was a mistake on Daniella's part, but I thought otherwise. Who best to help you complete something than your best bud. The rest of the pairing was Anna/Keith, James Paul/Merlin, Reco/Andrew...for company, and Johnny/Angel. Oh I was so pissed at how he reacted to being paired with Angel. She made some good stuff and the previous week's stuff is the only thing I liked of what Johnny made. Jerk!

Hummm, so Anna is picking a LARGE floral print for her dress, Daniella is opting for gray tones, James Paul is going for a velvet, Reco is using Victoria Beckham as his muse, and Johnny has decided to use a dress he's seen before as his muse.

Now I am kind of upset at Angel. She was there to help Johnny and she didn't when it really counted. She should have told him that he needed to line the dress in silk instead of taffeta. Now I am not sure if this was editing where she said yes to something else and not his lining question. If she was saying yes to something else then I retract what I just said. You just can't tell with these shows, they want to make it seem dramatic so they will edit it how they feel. So Issac comes in to do his look over and he has successfully managed to rattled everyone's nerves. Loves it. :-D And quick question, why does Merlin's hair look like a duck tail? Anyone?

Ok, so morning of the fashion show comes and Kelly calls to tell everyone to look sharp. I feel Johnny and Daniella miss that mark, but I digress. Moving on, fashion show time! Ok the thing that makes me giggle is how before the show Johnny says no can do what he does. LOL! Umm...yeah I'll clear that one up in a bit. So the end of the show, the designers are rounded up to learned their fates. There were two designers that stood out. Anna and Daniella. Their dresses floored the judges, and I must admit they did me too. At first I didn't really like Anna dress, but it grew on me.



Daniella won and will have her dress made into an actual garment. Click to the picture to see how to buy it. Also her and Anna won the first two spots in the final two.

This left Reco, James-Paul, and Johnny standing alone. One designer was quickly put out of their misery. Reco's dress...which Johnny whispered under his breath was ugly, also one a place in the final 4. This left James-Paul and Johnny. James-Paul's dress this time didn't unnerve me as much as his other creations. It seemed actually interesting to me. Perhaps if it was done in a soft fabric it would have flowed better. Johnny's dress was actually pretty, but his statement about no one doing what he does is proven wrong here as the dress is show to be a knock off of a Lanvin original. He foolishly stands there saying he didn't know he was knocking it off. Umm, he used the dress as his muse. He know what he was doing and all through the show he talks about how he knocks off people. I don't like people like that, stealing original thoughts from other people and passing it off as their own. Messed up from the floor up, seriously. And then he started blaming Angel for not telling him it was knock off. Like it was her responsibility to tell him this. I don't think so Johnny my boy. He wants to place blame on anyone but himself. In the end they just weren't buying it and Johnny was gone. James-Paul gave a tearful thank you to the judges, and it was a group hug for the final four. Johnny had some final words for the show. He felt knockoff was a bad word and they it wasn't a knockoff, just a very similar dress. Direct definition of a knockoff: To copy or imitate, especially without permission: knocking off someone else's ideas. Humm...not a knockoff? On to episode 11.



Still with me? Great. Ok last review for now since the final show is TONIGHT!!! I can't wait!!! Ahhhhh!!! Ok, on with the review.

So we start off with our 4 designers returning to NY with their 10 garment collection. Daniella shows up first talking about how she's the youngest and how she feels she deserves to win. Anna follows explaining how she started making clothing in high school and saw this was her passion and she realized she wanted to make nice things for people to wear. Reco showed up next explaining how he was going to win this, he had no doubt in his mind. James-Paul was last saying how he was thinking outside the box when it came to his fashion and he felt that America was ready for his thinking and fashion sense.

Everyone kind of eyed each other's lines with looks of "What were they thinking?" etched across their face. Everyone managed to cast doubt in everyone else's mind. Issac and Kelly stroll in the wish them well and drop the bombshell that America will see 4 fashion shows but will only vote on 3. After the fashion show one person was going home.

Every did their fittings with the models. Reco was the only one who had an issue with his main item, and wedding gown that was to small even for the svelte of the group of models. He began to freak out a bit but did what any good designer does, he tore that bitch up and let it out some.

Day of the fashion show, each designer had there time to shine. First was Daniella. Now I watched this show twice and the first time around I rolled my eyes at her work. I honestly disliked it. But the second watching I saw that her stuff was actually quite nice. Beautiful even. And her song was cute too. I see she put a lot into this and I give her kudos for that. *snap snap*

Reco was next, his stuff was very interesting. I don't think I'd see myself wearing anything of his collection, but they were very nice to look at. I felt his collection was lacking a bit in the Reco. I didn't see a lot of him in there, more just accents of the culture he researched. I think he took a prime opportunity to really shine and put his personal "stink" on it and he just kind of let that go. I think he became a little too overconfident in his work and ability. He knew going into this last fashion that Daniella was a force to reckon with, but he insisted he had this in the bag.

Anna was next, loved loved loved loved loved her work. Though it is true what the judges say later, that there wasn't anything really pulling it together, I loved all her work. The rainbow dress was a big fave of mine. Also the navy blue dress with the wooden accent. She wove that fabric herself for that dress. In awe here. In awe. If she doesn't win tonight, I do hope we see her somewhere in the future. Here and Daniella are the two I am rooting for.

Next was James-Paul, he of course did his eccentric work again. Watching his fashion show was like watching an art show. He work is like art for sure. I do think it pretty, but its not fashion to me. I don't think I'd wear anything he made. One of the judges said they'd wear it in a heartbeat. *head scratch* Huh? No, seriously, huh? His work was just lacking in appeal to me, but he must have something going for him. Why do I say that? Because after the fashion show when it came down to it, Reco was sent home packing.

I think Reco should have stayed because he made fashion. He didn't interpret it. But the judges felt James-Paul had something to offer the world. I think his stuff was poorly done for fashion. Like I said, it was beautiful as art, but as fashion...not so much.

Whew that was a lot! But I loved doing this review for you. :-) So we are down to the final three. Anna, Daniella, and James-Paul. I voted for Anna a few times. I really liked her collection the best. But we will soon see tonight...only 1 more hour to wait for me, who will be the next big fashion designer. Can't wait! But then I will be fashion show less...at least for another couple of weeks. I will soon be reviewing Project Runway for you. So do check back for that. Hope you enjoyed this review, and I hope your favorite wins tonight.



Bravo channel at 10 pm tonight people. Be there!

Loves ya,
Mouse