Crafting...

Today was an interesting day. I decided to do something I'd been avoiding, fearing I couldn't do it. I decided to switch out some Liv doll eyes. Sounds simple, and for all the dolls I did it too it was simple. I decided to practice with several before I did the doll I really wanted to do it to. Yeah, what should have been a 5 minute craft with this one doll turned into a 3 hour adventure. For an hour I couldn't figure out why her right eye was wonky. I finally saw, after taking the eye out and putting it back in a million times, that the vinyl was very thin in one part of the eye well and ripped. So I couldn't put the eyes in as is. So I decided to cut off the cap of the head and install the eyes with some putty. I put some bjd acrylic eyes in, tonssss of putty, and now her head is drying from glue. I used plain clear glue so I can change her eyes if I want. In the morning I may not like her eyes. If I do then I will go back in and use E6000 to make it more sturdy. Ugh! It was suppose to be simple. I switched eyes and bodies all evening with no issues, and then the one I really wanted to turn out right doesn't. Oh well, I wouldn't have been able to use the eyes I finally did if I hadn't cut the eye well open. I just hope the cap glues well so the wig won't pull it off again. Fingers crossed. I'll update on it tomorrow. It's crazy, I was so crafty today. I finished the lips on the doll and it turned out really nice. I'll have to post about that later as well. And on that note I am off peeps. Time to get to work on some lenses. Bye for now.

Frustrated and tired,
Michelle

Image From Free Digital Photos

Mattel...Get It Together!

Ok, so about a year ago, while browsing through Tuesday Morning right after Christmas, I was lucky to find one single Monster High doll. That was lucky alone, but the extra luck came when I saw it was one of the ones I really wanted and hadn't had a chance to purchase yet. It was a Draculaura doll, The "Day At The Maul" one, to be exact. I looked at her in the dim light and thought she looked perfectly cute, and at $9.99 she was steal. So home she went with me.

Now, when I got her home, I bust opened her box to enjoy my plunder of the doll shelves and was instantly disappointed. Her eye shadow on one eye was scratched, her eye was scratched, her fangs were completely off center, the heart on her face was only half finished, and she just looked so derpy. I tossed her to the side and forgot about her, thinking I'd try to fix her when I could. Today I picked her up and thought "I'm going to wipe her face and try giving her a new one.", but first I had to remove her head. So I went and used a hairdryer on her and got the head off in about 5 minutes. I thought I was ready, but figured her broom stiff bangs would cause an issue with customizing, so I washed her hair with hot water and Lever2000 bar soap. I am not sure if she is keeping her hair yet so I didn't care what the soap would do to it because it tends to be fixable.

So after a good wash to get the glue out of her bangs, I dried her off and looked at her and noticed something odd. The wonky eye I mentioned was her left eye, but it was her right eye that shocked me.  Her right eyebrow is completely gone, her eyeshadow on that eye is only half there, her eyelashes on that eye have been cut in half, and on her wonky eye her eyebrow is just a bit worn and her eyeshadow on that eye is a bit worn. So the perfect looking eye was just wiped clean off. I wondered if it was the soap, since it is meant to get tough stains and grease off of hands, so I went back in and gave it a really rough cleaning in really hot water, nothing happened. So it wasn't the soap, I don't think, I think it was crap work at Mattel. The thing that gets me is that little kids are taking these dolls into their baths and the soap I used was meant for all over cleaning, it doesn't have those granules in it like the original, so it makes me think any soap would have ended in the same outcome. If a little kid had gotten my doll they would have been gutted to see their doll's face half gone. I know quality control will slip, but this is just a bit much. The doll was clearly not painted right in the first place and her face just washed off with soap and water. Oh and her hair is just pulling out and it's not from brushing as I have never brushed her hair at all. So yeah, I wonder if others from this batch ended up so bad.

I mean tell me guys, is it just me or are Monster High dolls quality just like this? Is it a hit or miss on what you will get? I only have three dolls and I plan on selling them eventually, that's for another post, and so I don't really know what to expect on Monster High dolls quality. I'm sad the paint was so messed up on this little one, but it also gives me a reason to do what I had planned to do after seeing her wonky face. I want to try customizing her and giving her new life. Excited to try it after watching some tutorials on face-ups. So yeah. I'll update you guys on how that is going. Need to get my craft area cleaned up before attempting it first and that will take a while since I need to write several Christmas articles and actually start Nanowrimo. I started on day one but haven't really worked on it. *sigh* It's day 7, I still have time. One time I had 40k to go with only three days left, and I won. So I know I can do it. Ok, getting off track here. But do tell me if you have had negative quality when it comes to your Monster High dolls.

And on that note I am off guys. I need to go see how some doll lips I painted and sealed are doing and then start working on some articles. Hope everyone is doing well, playing with their dolls, and aren't too bummed about yesterday's election. Whomever you voted for, just remember, in the end we may be divided by parties but we are united as a nation and we're all shooting for the same goal, one great country and nation. So dems, hug you fellow reps, and let's get back to playing with dolls. :-) Bye for now guys and gals.

Off to touch some lips and hope she doesn't get red on her fingers,
Michelle

Image from Amazon.com and it is linked to it's sale page.

In a Toy State of Mind

Hey all! So while I was surfing around the web tonight, I found myself on a website...that I have no earthly idea how I got there in the first place, that had some interesting articles on it. It's one of those media sites that once you read one you find another interesting related one and before you know it a few hours have passed and you have read some of the most interesting useless knowledge in the world...but i digress.

Now, not trying to get you hooked into a hour long reading frenzy, I did find 4 articles of interest. All related to toys of course. LOL!  Take a look at these interesting articles. Warning, if you don't want to get stuck on this site for an hour or more only read these links I have provided. If you look on the sidebar or at the related links you may never get off the site. You have been warned.

11 Dolls the World Could Have Done Without

8 Seemingly Harmless Toys That Were Yanked Off the Shelf

 

11 Toys You Only Played With at the Doctor’s Office

Why Is Toy Packaging So Difficult to Open

 

 What did I tell you? Interesting, right? Ok, maybe not, but it gave me a giggle. LOL! And I am in shock to see they has a Six doll. My sister had Blossom and Joey. I would have loved a Six doll. I loved her personality. Oh well, maybe some day. ;-) And on that note I am off. I am working on an article for Squidoo and then I need to start my Christmas articles. I think I will so all doll related articles. So expect me to share those here eventually. Talk to you lovely peeps again later on today. I should be able to get my doll's head swapped out today since I feel a little bit better lately. So I hope to have her ready for viewing today. Hope you are all having a great Friday. :-) Bye for now.

Feeling sleepy and cold,
Michelle 

Still Catching Up

I'm still reading blogs, and being entertained by all you have been up to. I took a few hour break to play some Guild Wars 2. Anyone else playing that? Let me know. Today was an ok day. Still not 100% after last night's attack but feeling better, so that is something. I had planned on introducing my new doll that I plan to use kind of as a mascot, but I just wasn't feeling up to do her head swap, so I decided to just take a mystery picture with my phone and tinker with it so you just make out something but not the full effect. It wasn't the bright before, I just wanted to leave you questioning for a bit. ;-) I'll hopefully get her swapped tomorrow or this weekend and show you her in her Halloween costume. She is wearing it in the picture, but umm yeah. Once agian, better late than never, right? And now I am going to focus on my mid grade novel for the next 2 hours because Nanowrimo starts at midnight. If you are doing Nanowrimo look me up and friend me on the Nano site. I'm mouse1996 on there. Hope you all had a fun and safe Halloween. Talk to you either tomorrow or this weekend. Bye for now.

Reading to start writing,
Michelle

Omg guys, you've been busy!

I'm picking out some blogs to read and I now realize I'll be reading for a long time. You've all been busy! I so have to stop taking breaks from the hobby. *sigh* Ok, just has to come say that. Back to reading. If you need me, I'll be several months deep in a doll blog somewhere. :-)

Michelle

Better Late Than Never?

Hey guys, I have been meaning to post this story since last year and just never got to it. It's a little something silly I put together, but I think since it was Halloween and the character in the story is ready for it in a way, I figured I'd share this with you guys today. So I hope you enjoy my latest photostory "Clothes For Disco", please pay no attention to the actual title on the page. I had a mind fart while I was doing the html for the website and didn't change the title and I'm honestly too exhausted to change it now. LOL! It doesn't affect the story so please do enjoy. I still have the haul video to show you, but I need to edit it first. I will work on that soon, its kind of long now and I need to cut it down big time. So that's coming too. Ok peeps, I'm off again. Take care and bye for now.

Back to catching up on blogs,
Michelle

Happy Halloween!!!

Happy Halloween everyone! I hope all off you are having a spooktacular time today. First let me say if you have been affected or know someone who has been affected by Sandy, you are in my thoughts. Please stay safe. I'm in so much shock the upper east coast got his so hard. It's usually Florida up to roughly Virginia that gets hit, so it was surprising we didn't get hit hard. I know it seems weird, but I kind of wish it was us that get hit instead because we are so used to it, perhaps it wouldn't have been so damaging. Like I said, seems weird for me to say that, but I hope it's also understandable.


So, where have I been? I've been writing articles while also dealing with my health issues. I really hate being in the place that I'm at. It takes away from my life so much. I had my worse panic attack today and was so sure I was going to die, so it just irritates me how bad my health is right now. So tonight I am going to spend some time relaxing and trying to catch up on some doll blogs. I haven't been able to read any in a couple of months, so I am picking one or two and catching up to help me relax. If there's one thing I know that can get my mind off things its the words of my lovely doll peeps. And on that note I'm off. Please be safe today if you plan on going out for trick-or-treating or Halloween parties. And if you plan on staying home today, that's great too, I hope you have something fun planned. And I will talk to you lovely people later. Bye for now.


Off to escape into the world of dolls,
Michelle


Image of Doll Eating Pumpkin (By Craiglea) From Flickr

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

Has anyone invented the 36 hour day yet?

(Source)

It seems like I just don’t seem to have time to catch up on anything lately. I’m constantly having to do something, and most of these things do not allow for multi-tasking. For example, I was working on a short story yesterday and though I could work on it while I let the ferrets out to play for an hour. Yeah, did any of you guys know that ferrets are like super at jumping? Yeah, I knew this, but I didn’t think they’d charge at my laptop, jump, grab the top, and bend it all the way back! I was so worried they’d break my hinge after the third time of doing this that I just gave up. *sigh*

Then we have my article writing itself. I’m slowly starting to make money at it, but it takes so much time to write one sometimes. I decided to get fancy with an article the other day and it literally took me all day to do with writing, finding products, and making all my html play nice together. Ugh!!!

Then of course I have ideas doll-wise I want to share with all of you and I just haven’t had the time to. One of the things I said would be ready a few weeks ago has been ready for weeks but the other thing isn’t ready and I wanted to post them together. I may just have to post them at different times so this place doesn’t become Ghost Town USA again.

Add on to this that the weather is getting blissfully cooler but this change in weather is causing me to be sleepy all the time. Then of course, still dealing with all the other stuff I was dealing with before, and well, just…*sigh*. LOL! Well I guess since that 36 hour day is still a long while off, I will just need to get my rear in gear and get organized. Yep, still working on that. I’ve never been this disorganized before. Is there any hope for me? Please  say yes!

I just recently read this article, it’s where the picture for my post came from. The author of the post is an actual author who not only writes several books a year, she homeschools her two children, and she takes care of the house and yard. She explains how to pull yourself from the Land of Crazy Disorganization to a land less cluttered with chaotic thoughts with no plan and no end in sight. Check it out if you are like me. Hopefully we will find our way out of the LOCD and can get back to a calmer way of existing. Then again maybe not, but hey, it’s worth a try.

And on that note, I have got to my lovelies. I will be back soon. I have a lot to share and can’t wait to do so. Hope all of you are doing well. Be doll hugs and smooches to you all.

Ready for bed at only 1:07 in the morning…I must be getting old,
Chelle

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

A Sneak Peak

I couldn’t resist, I had to give you guys a tiny sneak peak of what is to come this weekend.

Tiny sneak peak. Yes, I know that I wasn’t interested in the Hunger Games Barbie doll, and I’m still not. It’s my mom’s.   But I plan on doing a review of her. She seems a lot prettier in person than her prototype pictures lead you to believe. She’s still a Barbie made to look like Katniss, but when I think about it, I was judging her on the actress and had to stop and thing she’s a character from a book.  So who am I to say this isn’t exactly what she looks like?  More later on that.  Ok my lovely peeps, I’m off, short story still needing to be finished. Talk to you lovelies this weekend. The video camera is charging as I type, can’t wait to show you all my goodies I got.   Bye for now.

Off to write,
Chelle