52 hours and a-countin'...

Hey All!
Happy Thursday!

Well, here we are about 52 hours away from a new year...a new beginning...a fresh start...ENDLESS POSSIBILITIES.
It doesn't quite seem possible that another year has gone by. Where did it go? I think I missed it. :)
Any exciting plans? Me?
Well, we've been invited to dinner at our neighbors (Amy & Barry) and then we're gonna go down to the Mill for Mainstreet's Gold Nugget drop....
According to the weather (so far) it's gonna be in the mid 40's. Bbbrrrrrrr! It ought to be interesting to say the least. They (Mainstreet) are selling chairs - around tables, for the night. The math doesn't make sense to me but  what the hey. They want $10 a chair, minimum of 4. However, there are six to a table. What are they gonna do with the other two? I guess they must be hoping that people will get six just to reserve the table? I wish them luck...I won't be sitting there all day. I'm sure they're gonna have entertainment (as long as it's NOT Elvis. HA!) but I haven't had the chance to check and see. Maybe when I'm done here.
Let me be the first to say HAPPY NEW YEAR! May 2012 be Great!! I'm sure I won't post again until after the 1st. So I'm getting it in now. :)

Now on to the updates.....
I have been diligently working on Harley. And he is coming along wonderfully. He now has his harlequin squares, his wings and as of last night, his face paint. Not his face, just his face paint. Confused yet? LOL!
Here's some pictures to clear up the confusion....I'm going with the harlequin / mime image that is in my head....

Harley's face paint

He's looking pretty good so far. His face is in my head...now I just have to get it out. He has been cooperating though, so I'm hoping it's not going to be too difficult. :)

And in the middle of trying to get Harley completed...well, Forrest just would not let me be. Yes, that's his name and yes, he has been a royal pain in the arse. I had to stop working on Harley long enough to get Forrest's pattern designed. Now you're thinking that would be enough until Harley was done, right? Wrong. The design turned into cutting out the material. And the cutting out the material turned into sewing him up. And sewing him up turned into stuffing him. As of this writing, he is sitting on my table waiting for his head to be attached....that's it, that's all that's left (besides sculpting his face and hooves). And the lil' bugger is still taunting me. He has been the most impatient little critter I have done to date. Harley has been extremely patient. But he is getting antsy now. Maybe if I show you his progress he'll let me be long enough to get Harley done.....

Forrest all cut out and waiting for the sewing machine...

Forrest, waiting for his head. Harley quietly waiting his turn

Forrest...headed(?) Just sitting on top, not sewn

I had to sit his head back on the table. he was more impatient

with it sitting on his shoulders. :)

That's where I am at the present moment. As you can see, I have my hands full. I have a feeling that Forrest is well on his way to becoming a mischieveous little wood spirit. Harley and Forrest will be my first two completed dollies of 2012. YAY! I'm thinking Etsy (or maybe Ebay). What do you think? Any advice on either would be greatly appreciated. Seriously, I would like to hear what you all have to say about either or both. 

Oh yeah...I forgot to show you what I found when I went to the grocery store for last Friday's get together...

i was looking for Egg Nog...and found PUMPKIN EGG NOG

It was Yummmmmmmmy! :)

I've also been online looking at patterns for April (RenFest) and for September (DragonCon). I've got so many ideas running through my head. I have to make a decision by the end of January...or I will never be able to get anything accomplished. I know that sounds like a long time away, but if this past year was any indication, it will be on me before I know it. Wish me luck, I'll need it in order to focus on my projects. :)

That's all the news that fits.

TTFN

Have a GREAT NEW YEARS!

Be good, Be safe!

And before I forget (or they disappear) I want to say hello to McNally School and to Enchanted Legacy! Thanks for looking. McNally has some really cute dolls. I don't see a site (blog) for Enchanted Legacy. :( 

Anyway, Welcome!!

And anyone else who is on my member's list that I haven't mentioned, let me know....I am still having issues seeing everyone. I swear each time I log in the numbers change - up, down, up, down. I don't want anyone to think I've missed them because my member list is acting up.

bye all!!

The Day After....

No, not the apocalyptic movie....
although with the trip I just made to the dump...it could have been. :)
I've gotten really lazy about running to the junk yard. I must have had 15 bags of trash (about 3+ weeks worth) plus all the boxes from yesterday. Whew! Oh well, it's all done now.
That was a sidetrack and a half......

I hope everyone had a wonderful Christmas. I hope that you all got to spend time with the ones you love. If not, just remember you are in their hearts!
I had a really nice Christmas. I got to spend it with my wife, my children and my grandchildren. Got some good stuff too! :P
I put things together so I could take a picture. It made me laugh when I looked at it.
Guess what I got for Christmas?........HALLOWEEN!
Wow, I think I can hear people moaning. My daughter and my neighbor both got me Halloween decorations!
They're great (the people and the decorations). My wife got me my new Renaissance boots! I can't wait to put them on! They came from SCA boots. They have some really nice boots if you're in the market for a pair.

my collection of Christmas gifts

my wonderful kids

I got two new Nutcrackers to add to my collection too! One is a ginger bread man. I think I will have to build a table or a shelf (or a room) next year to hold all my nutcrackers. Normally I would have opened them and stuck them up with the others...but....my mantle won't hold any more. 

AND....did you notice the little blue card in the left corner? It's a four day pass to DRAGON CON!!! I'm so excited! Yes, I am well aware of how big a geek I am. I've lived in Georgia for 17+ years and have not been to DragonCon once. It always seems to sneak up on me. Now I have my Ren boots I need to get busy with my garb. I want to make a doublet for RenFest and now I have to come up with something to wear for DragonCon. Yes, I plan on dressing for my first year at DragonCon. My wife is already rolling her eyes. She should have known....after all, she's the one who got me the 4-day pass. 

My Boo Bat (in the very front) got hung on my Christmas tree, immediately after being open. His eyes glow green. It's fantastic! And the big BOO (in the middle) is a picture frame with a photo (on of my favorite) of my little girl. Yes, the little girl in the picture frame is the same one in the bottom photo. Man, I feel old. :)

I hope that you all got just what you wanted. I wish you all a wonderful and prosperous coming year! 

I managed to sneak a little 'create time' in too. I've been working on Harley. He now has his wings and a snazzy harlequin pattern. It must have been what he wanted...cause it came together quickly and easily. Which is no small feat in itself. I do have to say that I am happy with his current direction. Here's some recent photos of his progress....

the wing pattern. and two different stuffings. the one on

the left is the old stuffing that I was using (big box). the

one on the right is the new stuff (pain in the arse to use).

Harley waiting for his wings

wings attached

a look at the back side of the wings - little glitters

I had to tie his hands up. he wouldn't keep

them out of the way. I swear he giggled while

I was painting the harlequin squares

Harley's new digs. the beans (in his bottom -

buttbeans) are making me crazy.....that's 

what the lumps on the right side are. I have

to figure out how to eliminate them

I guess that's all for now. 

Have a great day! 

Be sure and let those you love know it! Even if they're tired of hearing it. :)

TTFN

Happy Yule

First Let Me Wish You All A Very Happy (Merry) Yule!
May the coming year be filled with the fruition of all your wishes and dreams.
May they take hold and bloom wide and tall!

Now, I must say that every time I think I couldn't be more impressed with Ms. Susie, she just adds another layer. In earlier posts, you may recall that I told Susie that she would have to name the Pumpkin Man. Well, she did. And I must say that I was thoroughly blown away by the thought that went into the name. What is this name you ask? She has decided that he shall be forever known as Lord Cucurbita. Pretty cool, huh?
Well, I will not belittle any of my readers, simply because I'm sure that some of you know the meaning of the word. And I will be the first to admit that I am not one of those people. And since Halloween is my favorite time of the year, I should know this word. That being said, YES, I had to look it up. And when I read the definition I walked around for about 30 minutes with a stupid grin plastered to my face. Which I'm sure was unnerving to my coworkers. :)  Being the person I am I will post the definition so that you, my dear readers, don't have to hunt it down....after you read it, I promise you will go 'Wow, that's a perfect name for the Pumpkin Man'.

     CUCURBITA ~
     Cucurbita is a genus in the gourd family Cucurbitaceae first cultivated in Mesoamerica and now
     used in many parts of the world. It includes species grown for their fruit and edible seeds (squashes,
     PUMPKINS and marrows, and the chilacayote), as well as some species grown only as gourds.
     These gourds come in many colors, including blue, ORANGE, yellow, red and green..................

     There is more to this definition if you would like to look it up. I do believe this gets the point across
     though. I found this definition at wikipedia.

Now isn't that a cool name? Long live Lord Cucurbita! I can just picture him ruling over all the pumpkins from his new kingdom in Tasmania. I think he needs a crown now....You can read all of Susie's comment here if you would like to see the nice things she had to say.
I am truly thrilled that he makes you smile, Susie. That is the best compliment that I could have received. And I am honored to be in your MANdoll collection (sounds like resume material to me LOL). I hope he will continue to bring a smile to your face for many years to come! And I am glad to count you as a friend!

I have managed to get the head sewn on the body of the current dollie project. I think it's coming along well. I will have to say that I have changed my mind (several times) about the outcome of his appearance. It's just one of those things. I had an idea of what I wanted him to look like and so far, well, he's just not having any of it. For those of you who make dolls, I'm sure you know what I mean. His personality is starting to show through and he is deciding what he should look like. I hope to work on him more this weekend, but with it being Christmas and all.....that may not happen. Here he is so far....

I'm seeing harlequin squares and wings.....?

I also have a project stuck in my head for some old shirts. I have three shirts that are (were) comfortable and worn (regularly) that have now become tattered. They are coming apart at the seams and have small holes. I think I'm going to use them to make a couple of dolls (rabbits, I think). If I can get the pattern out of my head and onto paper, I think these will be fabulous. Wish me luck on that one! But I've got to hold them off until I get the poor guy above finished. And then I have to work on my woodland creature. He has been haunting my thoughts consistently for the past few weeks. He's dying to get out of my head! So I guess I better get him made before he decides to crawl out of my ear. :)  LOL.

Well, I do believe that is all for now. It's off to bed. Have to get up and straighten up the house (the Mrs has to work) as we are having company over tomorrow. So I will bid you all farewell and goodnight.

HAPPY YULE! 

TTFN

It's A Revolution!

Good Monday to you all!
It's been a really painful day. Some how I managed to pull something in my back/side. It hurt! Wow, did it hurt.
I wound up coming home from work early because of it. Came home, took some ibuprofen and wrapped a heating pad around the spot and crashed for 3 hours. I feel much better now. I may put some more heat on it before I go back to sleep. Just glad it doesn't hurt like it did earlier. :)

When I got up I was checking my email / FB / and blog....much to my surprise there was a post from Susie! Yay! The people at the post office must have been afraid I would come back! LOL!
She got her Pumpkin Man! I'm so excited. She seems thrilled with it as well! It sounds like he has a wonderful new home!
Now he just needs a drum so he can lead the Australian Halloween Revolution! Gonna bring Orange and Black to the great outback! Ha!! Here's what Susie had to say...

"So..........I got this little card with the mail today to say there was a parcel waiting at the PO for me....*thinks* "Oh goodie! My paperclay has arrived at last."
But the parcel was too big and too light to be paperclay......and it came from the US, not Melbourne!

When I got home, I ripped into it and there was the most wonderful, orangey, pumpkinny, devilish personage with arms outstretched waiting for a BIG HUG!

Yes......he's arrived and I adore him!

Thank you so much, Ron.....he's the beginning of the Australian Halloween Revolution (maybe)."

Now I just have to wait for Susie to give him a name....I am sure she will come up with something wonderful to suit him. :)

In other news....I did some dyeing yesterday. I dyed some muslin a green. It will be used for the next round head doll. I believe it's going to be a faun, like Pan. I want to use paperclay for the face and hooves. Here's a peak so far....

a wonderful green...muslin on the left. t-shirt on the right

Isn't that a great shade of green? I think it will work great for a forest creature! I dyed a tee shirt as well, while I had the dye all set up. It's got a funky 'tye dye' look to it even though that was not planned. Just worked out that way. If you look at the top of the pic you can see the first dyed doll. He'll have his head attached some time in the next day or so. I think he's going to be a 'clown' or a mime, something along those lines. Wish me luck!

Well, I guess that's all for this post.

Have a great week. Talk to you soon!

So Glad Susie Likes Her Pumpkin Man!!

TTFN

Postal Constipation

Holy Cow,
I can't believe it's been 11 days since I posted. Where did that time go? Doesn't seem possible.
I hope everyone is doing well. And that the Holidays have been good to you.

Well, I've been online with USPS trying to track my GHDP package.....with no luck. I entered the number and all I get is...."delivered to our distribution center".....on November 29. Hhhhmmmmmm. It has said that since November 30th. I checked again this morning, just in case something actually changed. NOPE. Same message.
So begins my day......
Got dressed, drove to the Post Office. WOW! If I had managed to forget how close Christmas was....this just blew it out of the water. The parking lot was full and people were backed into the street. Waited my turn, dealing with the rude and inconsiderate drivers. Finally got a parking space...got to the door. I couldn't believe the amount of people in this small post office. There must have been 50 or 60 people in line. Twenty minutes before closing. Again, dealing with the rude and inconsiderate, they must have followed me inside. I was polite and let people through, to get to the postage machines. Not that any of them responded with a 'thank you' or an   'excuse me'. Just push and shove. My Mother would have lost her mind.
Then a man appeared (my bet would be the manager) and started working his way through the line...stamps, helping people with large boxes, asking questions in an attempt to speed up the line.
Yay! my turn...
"I was curious to see if you could come up with more information than I could"
He took my ticket and my receipt. Looked them over thoroughly and then gave me a look like I was the dumbest person he had ever met.
"Did you get a return receipt?"
'No, I was........'
"Well, you should have gotten one. They should have told you that you needed one to track this package...
after all, it is international".
'I was told by the woman who took care of my package that all I needed was this tracking number'.
"Well she was wrong. This is just an international package number, not a tracking number"
'So I have no way of telling where this package is?'
"Not without a tracking number..."
'So this number is useless? I mean, you numbered the package and the ticket but it doesn't do anything?'
"This is an international number"
I think I hear an echo at this point....
I was becoming very agitated by now...how could I tell? Because everyone in line in front of me had turned around and was staring at me like I was going to pull a pistol....I now understand the term "going postal".
I took a deep breath and said thank you and went on my way.
Got to my car and couldn't get out.....apparently the rude and inconsiderates followed me out of the building. No one, and I mean no one would let me back out of my parking space. I finally had to floor it and cut someone off in order to exit the parking lot.
So, here I am two and a half weeks later and still have no more information than "delivered to our distribution center". Gotta love the Post Office. And just think...they're going to cut their the work force by 2/3...I can hardly wait for the fallout from that.

I've been working on a few things in the last 11 days....
I am continuing to work on the 'round head' doll, which is coming along nicely. It's stuffed and ready for the head to be attached. Tried a slightly different body on this doll. A little more rounded and no extra piece in the side seams. I also did 'standard' legs on this one just to see how it would look. Not totally convinced that I like it yet. Maybe after I get the head attached it will be good. We'll see.....
No pictures of this poor guy yet. Maybe tomorrow.

I have also been making hair bows and hair clips for my daughter. She seems to like them a lot. She has had at least two of them in that I know of. And has told me she wants more. What do you think? Not too bad. LOL

this is the first group

and these are the ones she hasn't seen yet....sssshhhhh, don't tell her  :)

I have also made a new friend, thanks to blogger and their non working 'followers' icons. Her name is Patricia and she has some really cute dolls (she paints too) on her blog. She has been trying to help me with my disappearing followers...I have upgraded internet explorer. I have loaded and used google chrome. I have loaded and used firefox. I have cleared my cookies and my cache. I have, I have, I have. Still no good. I had them show up (all 12) once and then disappear. I am now seeing 9 on my blog page. I am showing 12 on my dashboard, but can only see 8 or 9 when I open it. 

Patricia has said that she can see all 12 when she visits my site, so it must be something on my end....

I don't know what else to try. If I change any more settings I may never find my way back to my blog. I updated the blogger version...not really liking the new set up. 

Thank you Patricia for all your help. I really (no, REALLY) appreciate it very much. 

Maybe someday I will be able to see everyone. 

I guess that's all for now....

time to put this long, long hectic week to bed.

Hopefully this next week will be much better. 

Only a four day work week....what can go wrong? wink, wink.

Have a fantastic night!

TTFN

Aaaarrrggghhhhh!

Good Evening All.....
Hope you are having a wonderful evening.
I was until I looked at my blog....My Followers aren't showing up. And it's really irratating me. When I look at my page I see 8. When I log into the dashboard it shows 11 (I know of at least 10) but when I click on the followers from my dashboard I get 8 or 9, occasionally 10. Am I the only one having this issue? I looked up the problem on the help button....Yeah, right. Lots of input but no anwser on how to fix it. Has anyone else had this problem? If so, can you please, PLEASE, tell me how to fix it.
Ok, I feel better now......until I realize that it's still wrong. :)   LOL


Have a great night.


TTFN

She liked it, she really liked it. :)

Hi All! Hope you're having a great Sunday!

What a week this has been....
Run here, run there. trying to get everything finished....crazy at work.
As you know, I got the dolls in the mail this past Tuesday. Now I was thinking, based on what I was told at the post office, that Tonya would receive hers on Wednesday....NOT. She got it on Friday. Why? I have no earthly idea. It took three days for a local delivery - and I mean local, like 2 miles from the post office. So of course I was thinking that Tonya got it and hated it. So I was kinda bummed about it for three days - Thanks a lot post office people. Like I don't have enough unneeded stress in my life. LOL!!
At any rate....I got home Friday and checked my email....Much to my surprise was an email from Tonya, YAY!! She liked it! I was so happy. :) Nice ending to a hectic day.
This is what she had to say........
"Got my doll today....how cute...i love it. Thank you so much. Ill keep it forever i love things like that. Very unique."
I thought how great! Got myself worked up for nothing. I guess I (we all) do that on a regular basis...worry for no good reason. 
And then on Saturday I was checking emails (again) and I was just blown away. Tonya had sent me another message.......
"My 18 year old niece fell in love with the doll and begged me until i gave it to her..she was so happy!"
I can't tell you how thrilled I was to hear this. Not one, but two people really like my G-Doll. It made my day. Saturday was a good day. LOL.

We also started putting out the Christmas (Holiday, HAHAHA) decorations on Saturday. Got the village and nutcrackers put up. Had to stop for a bit....my wife decided this would be the perfect time to rip everything apart and clean (dust and rearrange). So I went outside and started putting up the lights. Got most of them done. I needed an extra plug for my blow-ups.

Sally's (not so) tiny village.

this is two tables..a 60" and a 48"

and my small Army of Nutcrackers - did you find Frank?

And then today we finished....I pulled out our tree, which is a 6 and 1/2 foot white pine. It wasn't white when I opened the box. For some reason it had 'yellowed'. And only in spots, which was even worse. :(

Off to WalMart we went. I had no intention of purchasing a new tree this year. Guess someone else had other plans. We got a green Colorado spruce, pre-lit of course. Fortunately it wasn't rediculously priced. Guess what else I saw? They had a 4 foot pre-lit tree....BLACK!! Sally was rolling her eyes before the words even came out of my mouth.....HALLOWEEN! So, after Christmas is over, if it's still there (marked down of course) it's mine! Then I'll have to buy / make some ornaments for it. Then we came home and got back to decorating. The tree is up, the lights and blow-ups are out too! Pretty good day.

the new tree in the front window....no presents yet, Sally's wrapping now

Welcome to my home.

left side of the yard....

right side of the yard. You'll just have to piece it together in your head  :)

That's it....This is a fraction of the decorations that I have. I told Sally that next year we would have to take out all of the furniture in the living room. I had to take a loveseat and a chair to the basement this time. And I think I will have to draw up a plan for the outside lights next year so I can get them all up. I think I'm going to put in some electrical outlets throughout the yard to make things a little simpler. Putting them up is one thing, trying to get them all plugged in is quite another. Especially since you can't plug the old sets (some of my Mom's) into the new sets.....that really sucks. And I guess I'm going to have to invest in an even bigger ladder so I can reach the roof line. I have hooks up there, I just can't reach them. :(   Oh well, there's always next year!

I've gotten back to working out again. YAY! It's at that odd stage again....I can 'feel' the difference but it's not 'showing' yet. Hopefully soon it will start showing outward. Just gotta keep plugging along.

thanks for listening....
YAY! I have another 'follower'! Hi Kimbooly! She's from over at Boo Spooky! You should go look, I like her blog!


TTFN
p.s. Have a Freaking Fantastic Week!