Round Robin and Two Headed Dolls

The last round robin doll is leaving here in a couple of weeks. I will be interested to see how mine changed over the course of the last few months… This last doll is Primrose. I gave her necklace which is actually a ring that fits over a wine glass stem. Took a bit of persuasion to get it hooked on, but it’s there. I told Primrose not to swallow. I also gave her a ribbon sash around her waist and to finish up, I crocheted a little shawl and trimmed it with beads. I think she’s all ready to go home and plan her schedule of afternoon teas.

I also told you in a previous post about these very interesting two headed dolls that we saw at the last doll club meeting. One of the ladies from the club surprized me with pictures of them this morning. So here there are. I’m sure you will find them just as interesting. They are original designs by Florence of Dangerously Crafty. We are lucky enough that she has agreed to give us a workshop to make them ourselves.That should be fun. 

She does very pretty faces and said she will give us some extra instruction on how she creates her look for her dolls. She also has had people order them to suit all kinds of themes. The picture below this one, shows a more goth theme. Sweet. Do the shoes look familiar??? ;o))

Food for thought

Every so often I post something that is pretty much off the radar of what I generally post, but this is such an important topic, I just had to share the info. You may have seen this, but if haven’t, you will find it very illuminating to say the least. If you’ve ever experienced Cancer first hand or have had family or friends that have, you will certainly find this of interest.

The doctor shown in this movie developed a natural treatment for certain cancers, particularly for children, with specific attention to tumours. Just the idea that a doctor can treat cancer, especially for children, and that the FDA and NCI would fight him and try to stop him is appalling. I don’t want to say to much, but I think this worth the time to watch and share with others. You will be both shocked and probably not terribly surprized at the lengths that the powers that be, will go to, to stop someone from cutting into their profits.

When you get to the page, it may take a little while to start, but be patient. You can also download the entire movie for free and watch it in parts. At the end of the video there is also a note that  you can go to his site and download the full transcript of this movie.  I hope this helps someone. You don’t have to sit and watch it either, you can stuff dolly parts while you listen. multitask…..

A text link if you prefer not to click on the video link below.  CLick here to go to  Dr. Burzinski

Bathroom Reno

My reno’s may not be a hot topic for some people,  but when I look around me, I am quite surprized at the number of people that are doing them. Maybe it’s because of the summer weather because we all know it’s not going to last, so get done now what we can before the rain starts and we can’t have doors and windows open. Maybe my reno’s will inspire or help someone out there. I will have dollies to show soon, but this is what’s happening now.

The next phase of the updates was to change the lino in the bathrooms. The main bathroom lino had developed a bubble and I just knew there was going to be trouble. However, everything we’ve done so far, has been without problems, so this is good.

The main bathroom and ensuite have the same lino so I’ll just show you one of them. I went out to do some errands while the gentleman was here working on the bathroom. When I got back I heard a voice from upstairs saying, “we have a problem”. whereby I called back, “I knew you were going to say that”. It wasn’t as bad as the pictures with show, more work for the poor guy than anything else. On his hands and knees scraping off this unholy black mess of exploded particle board. So glad he wore proper stuff to work in with all those potential mold spores floating around… Eww, poor guy.

Old Lino…… thank goodness it’s gone to the great beyond. I know I’m waffling on about the colour, but seriously, the floors, the counters and even the carpet was/are either gold or yellow. 

Water damage. It was restricted to the particle board under the lino and didn’t go further. My persistence in getting the floors changed paid off because the workman told me if we had waited much longer we could have had much worse trouble.

There was a layer of particle board on top of the bottom layer of plywood and why anyone even back in 78’ thought that particle board was a good idea for a bathroom is beyond me. The water damage only got part way along and thankfully didn’t require taking it out from under the tub and cupboard….that would have been a huge extra cost and time factor, so I’m counting my blessings.

Once the rest of the particle board was taken out we had a week of waiting for it dry out and for the company to reschedule him to come back and finish the job.  A new slightly thicker  piece of plywood replaced (NO PARTICLE BOARD) the floor could be finished.  So much better and of course those same baseboards. (aka framing wood ;o~)

My final touch was on the weekend. After finishing the kitchen I started scraping away at the old grout around the tub. A bit of mess mostly near the faucet, but not to bad when I got it all off.

The part where the mold was starting to show, didn’t go beyond the surface, so it was quick and easy to scrape away. Dried off well, new silicone and the job is done. No plans to paint the bathrooms, maybe just a wall washing in my future…

Kitchen Redo

I love makeovers, especially when it’s for the house. Where we live is our sanctuary, so I like it to feel cozy and comfy. I painted the kitchen a long time ago and loved it at the time. But, it’s always bugged me that I didn’t take the care to do it right. You know wash down the walls, fix up rough spots etc etc.

We also had new lino put in. The old one was the original from 1978. I think there were only 2 patterns at the time, and we have both in our house. Just kidding of course, but in all fairness, the old one held up very well, just got tired of looking at it. We also did other rooms and as each room is finished I’ll show you the changes. today it’s the kitchen.

This time it took me three days, but I really took my time plus it’s a small kitchen and I had to work in stages, do one corner put things back and so on. Not like big spaces where you could shove everything into one area and go for it. Our cupboards don’t go to the ceiling either, so it was a lot of climbing up and down the ladder and onto the counters to be able to reach up there.

Anyway, it’s done. It went from periwinkle blue to a really light dove grey, the colour is called Cry A River, The man at the store added a touch of purple to the mix and  he was right, it just gave it that extra something. You can’t tell from pictures, it’s one of those “you have to see it up close” things.

Before and after. First the old lino.

Then the new lino and and you can see the old paint colour. We also changed the base boards to these white ones. Apparently, showing our lack of knowledge about what is baseboard and what is actually wood trim around window and door frames, we chose the later… Ooops, oh well, I like the wood and it is only for the baseboards after all.

Next came the painting. The lino in the next picture looks very dark, but the picture above is accurate. Of course, no new paint job is complete without changing the plugs and light switches to match. The white is so much nicer to look at.

I also had a basket of dried grasses on the top of the cupboards. Hubby put those in the compost and I pulled out my stash of silk flowers that were in a corner being neglected. I added them to the basket and there they are.

While I was busy with all that, hubby got busy and gave the gazebo a brand new paint job. We’ve had so much rain these past couple of fall /winter/spring seasons, that the paint was in pretty bad shape and some boards needed replacing on the floor.

He decided to prime the wood this time and bought marine grade paint as it’s the high end type that will cause the water to bead off. Expensive, but given the amount of rain and the damage it can cause to wood structures over time, it was a necessary expense. It looks like a plastic gazebo now, but also looks brand new again. Amazing what a coat of paint can do. For a 20 year old structure exposed to the elements year in and year out, it certainly has held up well.

It also looks like we might stand a chance of getting some corn this year after a couple of dismal showings…. Can’t wait. The raspberry canes on the right, are overflowing with berries and so sweet this year. Maybe it was the cold start to the growing season???

Little Feet

We had a guest at our last doll club meeting, Florence. She has a new store in town called Dangerously Crafty. Paper arts mostly, but she also has other craft classes as well. Florence came with these adorable shoes for our dolls and she also brought examples of the two headed doll she designed some time ago.

At first I couldn’t imagine why a two headed doll, but when she explained her reason, it made total sense. It was when she was going through that delicate thing called the change of life. She said she felt like she had two heads and those of us who have been there, can totally relate to that. I don’t have a picture of the dolls, but they really are unique. When I see her again, I will get a picture to show you. In the meantime, here are the shoes. They measure 3” long and come in tons of colours.

First up are these high top sneakers.

Next we have regular style ones.

And last for today are these, my favs, little Harlequin slip ons. I mean really, how cute are these. The beauty of these to, is that you can colour them in with pens if you wan to change the colour. I may make one pair red and black but for now, I’m just enjoying looking at them. They are every bit like our own shoes with the rubber soles and topstitching and laces. She has them specially made and I’m sure I will have to pay her another visit quite soon…. ;o)))

Marionette

This is amazing. Love the control this man has over his Marionette. Makes me appreciate even more, as if I needed to appreciate more, the charm and attraction we all have to dolls.  

Here is the link to the YouTube video if you want to view it on a larger screen… Truly talented.  http://youtu.be/kPvciIdDZAE

 

Pretty in Pink

Finally I have the second outfit done. She’s so cute, you can’t help but smile, especially when the two girls are sitting side by side waiting to head off to the doll club meeting tonight. Here she is….

Like before, we’ll start at the shoes. I made these with a mauve toned wool and lined with a light colour printed cotton and pink laces. The socks are made like the other doll.

Then we have the pants. Same design, but colour change. This fabric is also minky and oh so soft. Like a baby bunny I would say.

The hat is a decorated a little differently. The white button is a vintage mother of pearl and I’ve sewn another to the top of the hat. This little girl doesn’t have as much hair as her sister, so I had to gather the top a little to shorten it, or the lack of puffy hair to hold it up would have caused the hat to fall below her eyes. The brim is more straight as well.

The final touch is the jacket. The buttons are also made the same way, with polymer clay over metal buttons. And here they are waiting to go out tonight… And just as a footnote (no pun intended). The shoes are not as  big as they appear, they just look big from the angle I took the picture. Done and dusted, on to the next dollies, just waiting for me to finish here…… Stay tuned.

Drafting Doll Clothes

I think I’ve discovered that I’m a binge blogger. It’s either feast or famine. It’s been to long since I posted, but for good reason. This has been a busy busy house, but more about that another time. Today’s entry is my first doll outfit from the Drafting Doll Clothes workshop with Colleen Babcock.

I kind of sort of, knew the approach to making doll clothes because I sew for myself, but learning it the way I did with Colleen just put all the pieces together in a neat little package of easy to understand steps. If ever she’s in your area, you really need to try and get a workshop with her. I can’t say that enough, she truly is the best teacher.

This is my porcelain doll from at least 25 years ago. I made two of them this size, and I’m in the process of making the same outfit for the other doll but in a different colour.  So starting with the shoes I made, these are made using a wool fabric, hard leather soles, trimmed with soutache and for the laces as well, and they are lined. I even made a tongue for them…. Sweet..

No self respecting dolly would be without socks, so she has those too. Stretchy lace and trimmed with lace as well.

Moving up, she has her pants on now.

She has her hat now, hasn’t she just got the cutest face, love those chubby cheeks. The buttons I made, they are polymer clay. I used those metal button kits, the kind that you cover the metal button with the fabric you’re using, but in this case, I covered them with clay and made 3 sizes. I added two colours of ribbon trims and a couple of white buttons for contrast..

And here is the final finished look. For comparison, I have added  the pictures below that I used to create the clothes and shoes. The shoes aren’t quite the same, but they are similar. Google images is such a great resource. Enjoy.