My Hydrangeas!

I am so excited!  My hydrangeas are doing better than ever!  The largest was a cutting I took from my mother-in-laws hydrangea bush over 10 years ago - I brought it home from North Carolina in a soda can filled with water!  The rest are from a garden center, but I'd only get a few flowers every summer.  Last winter, I made up my mind to dig them up this fall if they didn't bloom and replace them with something else that would do better.  No chance of that now!  W. hit them with the lawn fertilizer this year, and I think that little extra shot did just the thing they needed.  So why did I never think of that!

 

 

Some sewing

Since American Girl archived Kirsten before I could get all of her outfits, I had to make my own birthday dress and apron for her, using the patterns from AG.  I had purchased the patterns from AG a long time ago when I got Kirsten, but the patterns are available here:  American Girl Playthings Dress Patterns.

I lengthened the skirt pattern, but wish I had added even a bit more!  The tiny rick rack was tricky to sew.   I ended up using a fabric glue to attach it and then sewed it on.  When I finished the apron, I didn't have very good light, and didn't realize that I had the bib on the apron on backwards (I lined the top).  So, the rick rack on the apron skirt is behind the edge, but on the top, it is on the front.  I will probably make this pattern again in other fabrics and see if I can make more improvements to it.

My First "Face Ups"

I ordered 2 Petite Ai dolls, Sariel and Jenniel, from Custom House last November during a buy one-get one sale.  They finally arrived on March 22nd.   These are the first ball jointed dolls that I've bought without their "face ups."  It was certainly a different experience to open the box to find pure resin dolls without any eyes or any color on them at all.  My nose told me that these were freshly made dolls - the resin smelled different than any other doll that has arrived here!

I got out my watercolor pencils, chalk pastels, clear matte sealer, and clear gloss.  Here they are during the early steps of the face up.

Once the clear sealer had dried, I put gloss on their lips and eyelids.  When that dried, I glued on some eyelashes that I had in my supply box.  Jenniel got dark blond lashes, and Sariel got brown.

Then I had to wait until I could go to the store to get some poster tac so that I could insert some eyes.  Fortunately, the family agreed to make time to do that early on Saturday!  Last night, I inserted their eyes:  brown for Sariel, and natural grey for Jenniel.  I didn't care for the bright green eyes that CH sent with them, and these were the only eyes in my stash that really fit in their eye wells.

Here they are with their eyes.  I tried on 3 or 4 wigs on each of them, but none seemed right.  I ordered some new wigs, and I hope that they'll find something that fits them in size and style!  While we wait, we'll have to think of some better names for them!  

Amigurumi Koalas in Pajamas

I made these two pals for a friend.  Now M. would like a big koala for herself, but she'll pick out the color of the pj's!  What could be better for a cold winter night than a cuddly friend all ready for bed!

MORE Snow

It started to snow after lunch on Friday.  It snowed all through the night and all day on Saturday, not tapering off until evening.  Here is W4 in our front yard on Saturday afternoon - snow still coming down.  

Another picture from Saturday, my poor crepe myrtle and our grill.

This morning, the sun came out, and it was truely beautiful (a view of our side yard).

Until it came time to think about how we would ever get out!   W4 had a lot of shoveling ahead of him!  M. and I helped a little bit, but he did most of the work.  Here you can see his car parked on the street - the mound of snow between the apple tree and the house across the street.  You can almost see his taillight.

After getting my car dug out and the sidewalk in front of our house, he decided that since his classes at college are canceled tomorrow, and he doesn't have to work until 3 PM, that he'd finish digging out his car tomorrow.  There's really too much snow on our street for his car to do very well anyway.  Hopefully it will be better tomorrow.

The path from the street, past my car, W3's truck and up to our house.

I captured this great picture today of Josie.  She has really been enjoying this snow.  Her favorite part was on Saturday, when we had paths cleared in big circles around the front yard, but not out to the street.  She could run as fast as she wanted around the yard without worrying about a person holding her back by her leash!

I wonder how long it will take for life to get back to normal?  The weather forecast calls for more snow on Tuesday night and Wednesday.  I hope that it doesn't amount to anything!

And Now He is Done!

I finished my bear on Wednesday evening.  I am really excited about how he turned out!  I don't think he really looks like an "Old World Bear" since I used a more modern mohair and much larger eyes and made the nose differently.  He isn't stuffed with excelsior anyway, so he is more of a modern bear with deep roots.

I gave him a felt nose before doing the embroidery - that worked so much better than just going straight for the embroidery floss - no need to worry about little hairs coming through!  

Now, back to making amigurumi...

Almost a Bear

I've been working on this bear since before Christmas.  I decided to sew it all by hand.  I finished the stuffing and jointing on Friday night.  W3 helped me with some of the cotter pins.  I was all set to do his face, when I discovered that I don't have the correct size of glass eyes in my teddy bear tool box!  I ordered extra eyes on Saturday morning.

Profile shot.  No ears yet (they go over the threads from the eyes).  Can't do the nose or mouth until I see how the eyes look.  So, my faceless bear must wait.  You might be able to see the threads that mark where everything goes (according to the pattern, anyway!).

More about this bear's beginnings here:  Baybearyscottage.blogspot.com

This bear is a little ditsy...

I finished this little amigurumi bear last week.  M. was sick, so I let her keep him.  

more Amigurumi

This owl finished off the beige yarn I had left over from my afghan - I had less than 2 yards left.  I was really getting nervous as I got down to the end - would there be enough?

This snail was a lot of fun - a very quick little project.

 

 

There's a little brown bear in my yarn bag now, waiting to be born...

A Great Find

We are supposed to be working on our kitchen, but sometimes you find something that's just so great, you've got to get it.  While checking out the after Christmas sales at the mall last week, I found these wonderful framed prints that match my favorite bedspread.  I had to get them.  They were 50% off and the cashier used a $10 off coupon, too.  I'm not hanging them until the kitchen project is done (so excuse the cardboard corners - keeping them from getting messed up), but I think they're going to be great over our bed!

More Amigurumi

Since the sewing machine and cutting table aren't available, I've gotten back to crocheting some amigurumi.  I'm working on some for a swap with a friend.  I sure hope that she'll like what I'm making!  More amigurumi to come - it is great for keeping hands busy while watching television with family!

 

 

 

 

 The turtle is from Amigurmi World: Seriously Cute Crochet (by Ana Paula Rimoli), and the bluebird is from Amigurumi Two!

Starting the next decade with a new color...

Since Christmas, the wallpaper border "chair rail" has been taken down.  Old screw holes have been filled and the walls prepped.  There's one big hole that was behind the exhaust fan over the stove that is slowly being repaired and filled.  When it has been sanded, we'll be ready to paint.  Until then, we wait for the drywall compound to dry and dream about using the kitchen like regular people do again.  I am really looking forward to Pale Chamois instead of multiple rose colors.