Your Daily Elizabeth

Lizzie, put Martie down! For the hundredth time, she is not your baby doll!

I've ordered Elizabeth her own Disney Rapunzel 12" doll from Amazon.com, due to arrive Thursday, so Martie should get some relief soon!

No Martie was harmed in the making of this picture. An Elizabeth, however, was put in time out.

Day 41 of the Summer of Martie--with a mess!

Y'know, Martie, if you're just going to hang out in my bag all day, the least you can do is organize it a little.

HOT SAVINGS in my SALE! 10% off EVERYTHING and free shipping!

10% off everything, INCLUDING that cutie right above! To to my eBay store now!

Day 40 of the Summer of Martie--with sunshine!

Sunshine, in Pittsburgh? Bah! Actually, over the summer so far we've had a tad too much sunshine, until the last couple of weeks of rain, which we desperately needed. Too much sunshine here means drought. Just enough rain means no more drought. Hurrah!

So we went outside, and I tried a lighting experiment. I shot some pics of Martie with the light at her back. I was shooting into the sun obliquely. Note to self: this does nothing to relieve a headache, and rather exacerbates it. Grarr.

I also finished Elizabeth's second dress, and used scraps to make bows in her hair.

Later I will attempt to make her a full length pair of pants. No, I don't have a pattern. Pattern? We don't need no stinkin' pattern! Except for when we do. I'm going to draw a pattern from a pair of newborn pants that fit her, but are very short, and made of a knit fabric, as opposed to the corduroy I'm going to use. Her waist is 11", her hips are 15.5", so this could be a bit of a challenge. And I do loves me a challenge.

Lizzie's new summer dress.

As I said in the previous post, I made a dress especially for Elizabeth, and am pleased with how it turned out. I didn't have a pattern, I just used the doll's measurements and made it up as I went. It's hardly a complicated thing, just a couple of big rectangles, but I'm really pretty pleased with how it came out--enough so that I'm making another right now.

I'm beginning to think this girl is the doll I've been dreaming of since I was just a wee baby bean--beautiful face, lifelike, great big!, weighted, and customizable ( always wanted to switch up the hair on my dolls; I had more than a few dolly haircut disasters in the bottom of my toy pile). I am completely besotted. I waited so long for her (layaway, manufacturing, finishing, painting, slow boat from Korea....) that I was afraid I wouldn't want her anymore when she arrived and might even sell her on. As soon as the box was open, though--*ZING* and that was that. Now I'm selling a bunch of other dolls I'm not completely in love with, because I just don't seem to need them any more.

Don't worry, Martie's safe; I couldn't sell her even if I was starving. I have a list of "Never Sell These," and Martie is at the top. She Is Irreplaceable, in material terms as well as in my heart. N'aww.

Day 39 of the Summer of Martie--with a new dress!

I started a dress just for Elizabeth last night. I didn't use a pattern, I just went by her measurements and winged it. I think it turned out really well. More pics of the dress later, when I can get a full body shot, but for now: both my best girls wearing things I've made just for them!

Day 38 of the Summer of Martie--with woe!

Or is it ennui? Martie felt like Ellowyne after several frustrating attempts to upload a one-minute video to DBB. YouTube was equally uncooperative. Alas!

I'm going to keep trying to solve this problem, dears, and eventually, I swear, there will be a short video, if for no other reason than I hate to be thwarted. Perseverance!

You know you want it.

I have a couple new BJDs listed in my eBay store: Go check them out!

Day 37 of the Summer of Martie--with Fish!

Okay, not really fish, but the finished redwork quilt panel from Monday's post, which of course features a fish:

This is the next block-in-progress, a turtle:

Note that I sign each piece. Always have done, always will, even when I'm stitching a set of tea towels. It breaks my heart when I see embroidered linens in thrift and antique stores with little hint of who put all that love and work into the stitching, and when it was done--in the 30s, when materials were dear? In the late 40s, when the country was jubilant? The early 60s, with a brood of baby-boom kids demanding attention? Funky 70s? Neon 80s? It takes a special kind of person to have the patience and perseverance to finish any piece of needlework, and I'd love to know just the tiniest bit about by whom and when the work was done. It's even more important now, with embroidery machines rampant and the art rather dying out. A pre-programmed design into a computerized machine, down to the thread colors to be used, put into the world as "creative handwork" makes me heartsick. I'd rather see a clumsily executed piece of simple hand embroidery over a slick professional-looking licensed-character machine-made piece any day. Handwork is heartwork. There you go, the title of my next book. ;D

Day 36 of the Summer of Martie--with Princesses!

Elizabeth wanted a backpack for her treasures, like Martie has, and at ToysRUs we found this cute Lalaloopsy bag that's exactly the right size.

Lizzie! For the last time, I am not your baby doll! Take me out of this backpack right now!

Okay, that's better. Let's see what we have here....oh, nice, a hairbrush with my picture on it, and a sparkly headband, and....

NOW it's a Princess Party! Let's go make cupcakes!

Day 35 of the Summer of Martie--with Pinterest!

I have a Pinterest account, right here, and plan to use it a lot more than I have, for photos and other interesting things I find on the wonder that is the internet. There are so many great things out in that wilderness, and I'm on the hunt for them! If you have a Pinterest, follow me and I'll follow back!

Martie's looking at it right now.

A late night picture of Elizabeth.

Elizabeth, a Dollmore Lusion Daish.

Day 34 of the Summer of Martie--with pictures!

Uh-oh! Martie has her camera out again.

Wait, no, don't take a picture of......*sigh*

Elizabeth caught on film! Rather, on digital imaging. Martie surprised her, she was reading a picture book about cats.

Our progress on the redwork doll quilt. Those are Elizabeth's feet.

This could be titled "Back End of Sleeping Dog."

Rose deciding what to write in her journal.

Jake, holding down the fabric stash against sudden gusts of wind.

There are so many things to take pictures of!

 I don't know who her next target will be, but I feel as though I should alert the masses.

Day 33 of the Summer of Martie--with stitchin'!

Martie and Lauryce are helping me with a doll quilt project using redwork embroidered blocks. No, it doesn't have to be red, that's just what it's called. If I work hard, it may be done in time for my grandchildren's kids to play with. This stuff takes time, people!

Day 32 of the Summer of Martie--with indignation!

Darn it, Lizzie, I am not your baby doll! Put me down this instant!

PS on background: These aren't the packing boxes you're looking for. Move along.

Elizabeth in dark brown.

This girl looks good in everything I've put on her so far.

Day 31 of the Summer of Martie--with a storm!

We went to the supermarket, and it was starting to storm as we came out:

 It was dark because the big parking lot lights hadn't come on--it wasn't time for them yet.

But wow, the wind was really nice and cool! The lights are just starting to come up.

Martie's lovely hand stitched dress by Charlie Riley. :D

Day 30 of the Summer of Martie--with a cat!

Wow, we're almost halfway through the Summer of Martie! Doesn't seem possible, but the summer is flying right along.

The weather, however, is crap, and thus here we are reading great literature on the internet.

Check it out: Getting to Know Twitter #dollchat on Sundays by.....

Of course, as soon as we sit down to read, here comes a cat to step on the wrong keys and get in between us and the screen. Move, Penny!

No, move *away* from the screen! Shoo! Go on! ....Oh, fine. It's all yours.

Day 29 of the Summer of Martie--with curls!

 Hi, it's Martie! Elizabeth has changed her hair today! It's a lovely summer style, I think. I can't change MY hair, because it's magic. If I change it, it won't be magic anymore.

 Of course, Lizzie, you don't have magic hair. You just have wigs.

Neener.

Introducing Elizabeth!

Hey! Go vote for DBB! Top Doll Sites!  Thanks in advance, dears!

Also, a couple of pretty pictures taken while we were sitting on the porch yesterday evening:

 My Dollmore Lusion Daish has a name now: Elizabeth! And here she is with a Hearts for Hearts Girl, Lauryce, who was just released a few days ago.

I love the detail in her eyes. I really want a pair of blue eyes for her, and I'm searching for just the right ones.

Day 28 of the Summer of Martie--with a meta loop!

 Hey, Martie! Whatcha doing?


I'm blogging about you blogging about me!

Oh, okay. Then I'll blog about you blogging about me blogging about you. Then if YOU blog about that, it's you blogging about me about me blogging about you blogging about me. And then I'll be blogging about you blogging about me blogging about you blogging about me.

I think you broke my brain.

Sorry. You want to blog about it?