so...

...tired. Didn't feel as if I got much sleep last night. It was nice though. My buddy's fold out couch is comfy. I might be going to sleep soon here.



Family Guy... is awesome.



I got two catalogs in the mail today. Hooray. Will check them out when I get off here. I can log on to vSide, and I did, but right now I'm just too tired to enjoy it, then it said it lost my connection, so I decided to wait until tomorrow to try again.

Borrowed Maid in Manhattan from my friend today. Mayhaps after checking out the catalogs, I'll pop that in, veg out, and eventually fall asleep. I think my main problem is exhaustion. Was crying earlier, and would rather not talk about why, but it took a lot out of me. *sigh*

On the upside, we raided her one cook book, found a recipe that sounded yummy, and made it. It was amazing to be able to do that. Normally, at home, I'll come across a recipe, then have to go to the store to buy the items needed. Not at her house. She had the canned tomatoes, and seasoned bread crumbs, the basil, onion flakes, oregano... mozerella, parmesan, chicken breast... even pasta to go along with it all. It was crazy! Of all those ingredients, at home, we have.... parmesan. And that's it. I don't think we've ever had a can of tomatos in the pantry either. It was so neat. And the end product was delicious. Very.

And... I'm done talking. No more for tonight. Ending with an ED pic, because they rock too hard to try finding another type of pic.
This is of Kia, another beauty. I love love LOVE red hair on these EDs. Whenever I get the lucky chance to order one for myself, I am very tempted to get red hair. Very tempted. But I feel I want my doll to have permanent hair, and I'm afraid if I got red, I'd want it to be a wig... eh. I'll worry about that someday in the future when I can afford one.

Phew...

Today's icon thinger - Transformers. Awesome movie. And Shia's a cutie. Expect to see more Shia icons in the future. As well as HP, and a couple others too. Hehe

This will be a short post I thinks. Not much to talk about today. I wandered around WoW for a bit yesterday, trying to level my orc a bit so that I may make it to.... Stranglethorn Vale? Without dying. So far, I'm a level 6. And I suck. Hahaha. Frustrating. I'm trying to go to the Vale place because I hear it's a jungle... and I want pictures of a jungle... for the mock jungle website I want to make. Ha. I have an orc, because the bf said orcs would be... closer? I think... to the place. And she's a hunter because the bf said that's probably the simplest profession for an orc. Or maybe he just meant for me.... though wait no, apparently that can't possibly be the case. I showed him my character today and he was like
"oooo... that ax isn't your main weapon though is it?"
"uh... it's the one she holds..."
"I mean, you use your range weapon most, right?"
"Like... that bow thing? Sure, she uses it if the creature thing is far enough away, but then it runs at me, so she stops using it."
"..."
"Wait, why?"
"You're a hunter, you work best with your range weapon."
"But she can't use it if they're too close! It tells me so!!"
"...so move back..."
"...damn. But... but... my arrows suck." *sad face*
[end convo]

Yeah... so yeah... how the eff was I supposed to know hunters use their range weapons more than their ax or whatever? If that were so, why the eff doesn't she hold her bow all the time?! Okay, maybe I didn't read the explanations or something. The bf just said hunters would be easiest, so I clicked it and went on my way. This was a main reason I didn't get very far the first time I tried WoW as well, dang it. I'd miss explanations, or tips would be of no use, and then I'd end up in an area that was too high a level for little gimpy me to get around and... ugh. I miss Anarchy Online when I play WoW. Ha. Atleast AO let's you play for free, not just a free trial. I liked being a froob. Until level 75 or so. Then it got sad. That's when people started paying for their accounts, so there wouldn't be anyone to level with. Got lonely, and less successful levelling. Meh.

Oh, and since I was told to choose orc, I of course chose woman, and since I had to choose between half a dozen shades of green for skin color, I named my orc Aelphaba. Teehee. Okay, so Elphaba was taken. And so was Elphie. But hey, the name Elphie got her name from works for me.

I've been added as a tester for vSide! I'm so excited to be able to wander through vSide again. It's the place I feel most at home, for sure. I'm now waiting to be white-listed so that I'm allowed on the servers. I can't wait. So excited.

Ending now. Having a sleepover at a friend's house tonight, so might not be blogging tomorrow. Meh. For now I'll probably be on WoW, trying to work on the Aelphaba of mine. Picture time!

This is actually a picture taken by me. It's of Cixi, definitely one of my favorite costumed dolls. She's just so lovely.

Today I bring you a recent find, and because it is recent, I can list where I found it.
http://rainbowrobotica.deviantart.com/
I love this part in HP6. So cute. Harry's adorable when he's lucky.

EDIT: UGH! Wtf?! This stupid blogspot screwed up my dang post. UGH!!!
The other day, the bf was talking about making a new website for his WoW Guild. The original one was thrown together rather quickly, and neither he nor his Guild Leader had admin rights to it. Now, he talks to his guild peeps all the time on Ventrilo, and I usually tune it out. Occasionally though, something breaks through the wall and I hear part of a convo. I was extremely bored the other night, and for some reason I couldn't sleep, so I asked if I could make him their new website. I used the same place the first site is from, because webs.com has a website builder that's really simple, one click stuff, and I wanted them to be able to change it whenever they felt like it.

So their new site is very similar to the old one. I don't know if I really like the site I made though. Though webs.com's site-builder is simple, in order to use it you're not allowed to edit the raw html code. Which, well, sucks. There is an option to choose raw html formatting, but if chosen, there's no more simple buttons to choose, and you can't go back to the simplicity. I don't know if they'd want that. Because basically that means they'd need me to re-edit their site every time they need to add something.

I feel like I could do a bit better as far as designing their website though, so I'm planning on using the account I made to originally "test the waters", clear the simple button mode, and try designing the site using only html coding. It might be tricky, because I'm not entirely fluent in html. Which is why I'm doing this on the down-low. So shhhh. If I can't do it, if I'm unsuccessful, then psch, they'll never know. However, if I manage to work it out in a way that I like the dummy site better than the original? I'll show them the link and see if they'd prefer it to their current one. Meh, it might keep me entertained for a while.

What's going to be tricky is the fact that I'm wanting screenshots in game. Last night I created a 10-day trial username, but the bf says it might be difficult for me to run around to where I want and not die constantly as a noob. So maybe I could run around with one of his higher-leveled characters.... but then I don't know if I'd want to do that. So maybe I could download a screenshot maker, sit next to him while he's playing on my computer, and hit the screenshot button whenever he comes across something I want a picture of... that option seems more likely. I have a program that takes automatic screenshots, but it saves the files as jpg, and I'd rather they be png.

Blah... I'll figure something out. It'll be an interesting challenge. Oh and if you happen to play WoW on the Zuluhed realm, The Jungle is currently recruiting. Haha. Simply go to their site, click on Guild Application, and get to filling it out. *thumbs up*

I brought 15 books to the library yesterday. Kept four books for another couple weeks. Thank goodness I remembered the titles, cuz I didn't bring the four books I wanted to keep. Two of them are for me, and two for the bf. But then, last night I ended up finishing Son of a Witch, so I only have one book left to read. Oh well. The new library seems nice. Didn't actually look around it though. I will when I turn in the books next go around. I liked Son of a Witch also. Just started the last one.

I think... I don't feel like typing anymore. So this will be the end of today's post. Today I shall end with a nod at Metallumia, whose ED gwen doll, Anastasia is just gorgeous. She also owns Elena the Beautiful. Two ED's! I'm so jealous.

That's one of my favorite pictures of the two so far. It looks like Elena was ready for the pic, but Anastasia was off in her own world, posing to try and fit in to the magazine. Hehe. <3

is it nap time yet?

Upon realizing I've got a ton of random icon thingers saved from various places, I've decided to use them one by one in my blog. This one is from one of my all time favorite movies, Drop Dead Fred. Such a cute movie.

I feel oh so tired, but I think I got the right amount of sleep last night, so I'm a bit annoyed. Spent the morning filling out a couple more job applications. I think I'm past desperation at this point. Borrowing money from my dad is not acceptable. It sucks when you have basically no experience and all the jobs that don't require experience aren't hiring. :(

Yesterday, when I mentioned Eight Princesses being my desktop for a while, I realized it was time for a change. Ha. Last night I changed it to Harry Potter, but just didn't feel right with it. Mayhaps it's because for the last year I've had ED desktops. So I went in search of an ED pic. At first I thought I might go and use one I'd used before, but eventually, I went for this one:


It's Io, and she just looks so stunning in this picture. So full of emotion.


My library books are due in two days. I've decided once the 25th rolls by, I'll return all of my library books. I'll write the ones down that I want to check out again some time. Because well, I originally wanted to recheck the ones I'd yet to read out... but I always do that online. And their website won't let me. Grrr. So I have to drive there in order to see if it's even possible. I figure I'll actually ask for Son of a Witch to be extended, but otherwise, the rest are just going back. I'll come back for them eventually. I might write them down along the side of my blog, so I don't forget where I wrote it down.

Yesterday I went to the store and got a pack of cheapo batteries. So I'll be able to use my camera for a short while. Not today, I'm just not feeling up to anything today. Maybe tomorrow.

Oh, and fyi, cream of mushroom soup with a handful of wheat thins thrown in? Yummola. Crunchy soupy goodness. I didn't know we had wheat thins. Haha.

songs stuck in my head!!!

Whenever I play Restaurant City on Facebook - and that's often - my mind jumps to one of two songs that RC reminds me of. Suffragette City by David Bowie and Paradise City by Guns N' Roses. The game never fails to stick those two flippin' songs in to my head, interchangeably. Drives me insane. INSANE. Ugh...

I have to remember my library books are due back in 3 days. I'm procrastinating. For one thing, I have like, 6 I want to extend the due date on. And for another, the danged library is so much further away now. *sigh*

Thinking back on my Barbie Hotel of Yesteryear, I realized that having "artwork" on the walls is something I want for my dolls. I had printed out some pictures a while ago for Ethan, but there aren't many, and since he's a big doll, he'll have big walls. I no longer have a printer available to me, so printing pictures myself is now out, but I could still do what I did before, and cut them out of magazines. Except... the only magazines I have available to me are Gourmet, Cosmo, Rolling Stone, and Us Weekly. Not exactly the best choices to get interesting pictures. I'm not a big fan of cutting up my cosmos either, so that's out. Soooo... I just signed up for a couple dozen catalogs via Catalogs.com. Should be getting a whole bunch of interesting catalogs in the next few weeks. Yay.

I went to Walmart yesterday, the one closer to me than the other one, (the closest one doesn't have fabric... which makes me wonder why they have sewing machines) and yay! I think they had the bobbins I need. They look the same, and they were two dollars less than the ones at Hobby Lobby. There's always low prices at Walmart! *cheesy smile and two thumbs up* There's now a little more than a dollar in my wallet. Not sure of the exact amount. But... I'm tempted to buy a dollar store 4-pack of batteries - just so I can use my camera again, if even for a short time. That might be where I end up today.

Oh and obviously, since I went to get bobbins, I was able to find my stuffing. I only used a very small amount on the tiny HP doll I made a couple years ago.

I think today will be a short entry. And look, oh dear, no pictures. Here you go:
It's my favorite artist Marina's Mermaid Song held by Chad on the cover of Tattoo Extreme Magazine. Marina has a section in her Published Work for the magazine too. It has a couple of gorgeous pictures I had not yet seen. The picture of Mermaid Song and Fiori is so stunning, but the pic of Frei and Noir has to be my fave there. Not to mention that picture of the Eight Princesses has been my desktop for ages now. *sigh*

hum bug

So I wandered the craft section at walmart, and couldn't find bobbins. Ugh. But I did find fabrics. Like, 8 of them. I only got a 1/4 of a yard each though... I hope that's enough. Most of the fabrics are for Rain and Garrett. They had a lot of hippie-ish fabric... atleast... what hippie-ish is in my mind. I think I got fabric for their bed, and their couch or loveseat, (not sure which I want them to have) and a throw for their couch or love seat. ha. I think five of the eight go to them? Then I found two for Linny, and one for Ethan. I couldn't find bobbins there though.

I went to Hobby Lobby next, and still couldn't find the bobbins. They had only two kinds of plastic ones, ones that were bubbled up or curved, and then these other ones that look weird. I'm going to have to see if I can't find the bobbins at another walmart. Walmart is where I got them last time.... though... that was probably like... ten years ago? Mayhaps if I can't find it at the Walmart closest to me, I'll bring one of my bobbins in with me to Hobby Lobby to compare it to theirs. I did find clear thread there though, and it was on sale. As was their shiny black paint. So I got both of those. Yay.

All in all, it was a fairly successful trip. I am a bit annoyed though, I walked right down the shiny embroidery thread aisle.... and walked right past. And I did look for fake fur trim at Walmart, but they didn't have any, and I forgot to check Hobby Lobby. So yeah, that's a bit annoying. Not too big of a deal though, embroidery thread and fur trim is not too high on my priority list. The bobbins kind of are though. :( Maybe I should wander over to this walmart now to see if they have them.... first I should check downstairs to see if I can find stuffing. I forgot to do that yesterday. I sure hope I can find it, I don't have enough for bobbins and stuffing. If I can't find my stuffing, I'll have to get that instead. Atleast I know this walmart sells stuffing though.

No pictures.... hmm.... well, let's go back a couple years... that is... if I can find... yes okay. A couple years ago... two-ish, I was a Gryffindor student for halloween. It was lots of fun. Haha. It's what I bought the stuffing for - I had planned on making a big Harry Potter doll to tote around with me, but in the end the little doll ended up being small enough to pin to my book bag. ha.

A closeup of me in my sweater and tie... I think I had to get my dad to tie it. lol


My whole outfit - give me a reason to wear it again and I will! Nyah hahaha


My bookbag. Various pins I bought on ebay, the two big ones I made, I crocheted the "G", and there's shoeless Harry. The bag was also filled with appropriate material.

Inside was:
~a couple potion ingredients
~Bertie Botts every flavor beans
~Blood pops
~two Butterbeers
~Books:

-The Wandmaker's Guidebook
-The Wizardology Handbook
-Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them
-Quidditch Through the Ages

~ Hogwarts notebook
~a couple of homework assignments
~a wand shaped pen
~a few feathers
~my acceptance letter
~and a wanted sign:

That was the image before I printed it out onto the same paper I used for the homework and acceptance letter. I forgot to take a pic of it before I gave it to the person whose picture that is. The picture was from the year before, he had dressed like a hippie. So no, he normally doesn't look like that. Ha.



A closeup of Harry, I crocheted the sweater, his tie is made of red and yellow ribbon, yarn hair, face is painted on, and his glasses are made of wire from a twisty tie, painted black and glued on.


This is my owl, Cepheus. He's actually a beanie baby named... Knowledge I think. I crocheted the hat for him, which he still wears. And his scarf is made by me... I don't know what the technique is called, but basically I loop yarn over my fingers over and over again.

My acceptance letter. I made McGonagall a teacher again, and George Weasley the headmaster. HA. The twins were my favorite characters.


That's my wand. I whittled it out of a wooden dowel with an exacto knife. Getting it a satisfactory color was tricky, wooden dowels don't soak up normal wood stain. I had to color it in with a wood staining marker.


Empty butterbeer bottle. I filled them, 4 parts cream soda/1 part butterscotch schnapps... or something like that. The circled area is a battle scar I obtained from whittling the stupid wand with an exacto knife. I also sliced through a shirt.


A potion. I kept my owl in the nook of my arm, my wand in one hand, and this potion in the other. This bottle wasn't in the first pic because I waited until I got to work to "mix up" this potion. It was quite funny. I cut open a couple of glow sticks. For those who have never broken open a glow stick before, inside there's a main liquid, and then a small amount of the other liquid - the stuff to make it glow - inside a glass tube. That's what cracks when you bend the stick. So I poured the main liquid in to the potion bottle, and kept the glass tubes in a zippy bag. At work I broke the glass, cut a corner of the zippy bag, and poured the liquid in. It instantly turned the almost clear, colorless liquids into glowing blue magic. My coworker was quite amazed at the trick. Hehe.

One more picture... a silly one:

Think the spell will work?

ugh

I tried making those shoes for Rain. It didn't work out too well. Frustrating, I can't seem to make two identical shoes. One was bigger than the other. So, I made a couple other pairs of shoes she can't wear (not to mention are also non-symmetrical) and decided to use them as details for the Joes' room.

I want a book shelf. When I was little, I made my bookshelf in to a "hotel" for my barbies. I made a dozen one-person beds, with pillows and blankets, and then they all shared a common living room. I separated the shelves in to rooms by cutting cardboard to size and painting them to indicate each different room. I wandered through magazines and catalogs, clipping out "posters" for them to put up - each doll having a different taste in "art". Their rooms were so small, most of them only had a bed, so it would explain why most of them hung out in the common room. That room was adorable. Adorable! I made a living room set out (pretty advanced if you ask me... in fact I may make my current dolls' living room sets in the same way...) of cardboard, fabric, and stuffing. Then they had a bar with a refrigerator. They had a bookshelf full of "books". And they had a big screen tv made of index cards and tape. That tv was uber awesome. I put it on a small tv stand, which I had taped a to-scale scanned picture of our own vhs tapes (set on the scanner stacked next to eachother) in with a pink vcr and a pink stereo with some of my cd's printed to-scale. The tv had my then favorite movie: an action still shot of Mission Impossible 2. In fact... if I remember correctly, this is the picture I used. I even just found it on the same web site I might have found it then. Ha. Ha! Memories. The index cards I used were pastel colors, so I painted them a shiny black. I made the handles of the tv table below out of bright pink clay. (not because pink was my favorite color, but because pink was barbie) I think they might have even had a rug too. What an awesome Barbie hotel I had! I wish I had taken pictures. Or kept some of the stuff I had used in it. Some of the pictures are still on the bookshelf, when I had out grown the hotel, I left some of the pictures up, because I didn't really care to take them all down.

The bookshelf is now in the garage. I had planned on it only staying there until I knew what I wanted to do with it, but now that I know what to do with it, the bookshelf is now being used in the garage, so I can't really take it back. It would have been lovely to have a permanent fixture for these rooms, but oh well. Guess I'll go looking for a box to fit Rain and Garrett.

I decided what I want the beds to look like. Well, the shapes atleast. As far as colors, the only thing I know is Gareth's will be black and red. And Rain and Garrett's will have a cream satin bedsheet. But that's the extent of what I know. I'm not even sure of the cream bedsheet.

Speaking of Gareth and Garrett, their names are too similar for my liking. So it's been decided - Gareth will be changing his name. I sat and stared at the two for a while, and I think Mr. Joe looks more like a Garrett to me than Gareth looks like a Gareth. If that made sense. Ha. So Gareth will be a middle name. I searched "Gareth" on baby names, then clicked "similar names". That brought me to "Aiden", which is another name I love, but don't think it fits. Similar names brought me to "Logan" - another name I love... odd how the names I love seem to be linked... but I don't think Logan fits either. I wonder how they're "similar". I thought of Lif, which means "Life", but then my mind jumped to "Lif Gareth" which then jumped to "Leif Garrett".... and I decided his name wouldn't be Lif. His new name is Ethan. Ethan Gareth. Yep. That works for me.

I did read a little more of Son of a Witch. Think I'll read some more later.

I'm really wanting to wander the only Walmart with a fabric section today. First I should check to see if I can find the package of stuffing fluff I bought two years ago. Cuz that'll be needed for bedding pillows. I only have a couple of dollars, (literally) which is why I'd prefer to go to walmart than Hobby Lobby - walmart has a $1-$2/yd section. Hobby Lobby only has sales. I'll also wander over to see if I can't find some bobbins, and then maybe some clear thread as well. I don't think I'll have enough for the thread, but atleast I can see if I can find some. I added my "to-buy" list as a permanent fixture on my blog, so I don't forget or have to go back to the entry where I last listed it.

Don't know if I really feel like doing much today. I might just spend the day wandering walmart and Hobby Lobby, (they're right near eachother) taking notes on possibilities for the rooms. Wish my camera worked, I could further my notes by taking pictures, but grr. I think I have enough for some cheap-o batteries, but I don't really know if I want to spend what little money I have on batteries that won't last that long. I might wander a dollar store too, they sometimes have little things that work for little rooms.

I think I'll wander off for a shower now.

ho hum

Another day, without my camera. I suck. I realized today that it's been about a year since my last real job. I've babysitted here and there since, but yeah. No good. I've applied at various places, and today I reapplied at a couple places, since it had been over 60 days since my last application. Wish me luck.

Today I've decided I'm going to try and make Rain some shoes. They'll be tennis shoes, and I really don't know if they'll turn out right. If they don't, no big deal.

Other plans on today's agenda... I'm thinking of starting the bedding for my dolls' homes. I'm not entirely sure how I want their beds, so I'll have to think about it. I need three different beds.

I also plan on reading some more of Son of a Witch. And am currently kicking myself for not having money. I'd explain that last bit further, but am not quite sure it would be appropriate right now. *sigh*

dum de dumm

I made brownies. Yummmm.

I'm also going to die. Not literally, but I sure am going to hate myself soon enough. I can't drink soda. Not anymore. A few months ago, I started feeling terrible, and having digestive problems, and the problems wouldn't go away and I couldn't figure out why. I'd ruled out pop because I spent most my life drinking pop, so why would that all of a sudden change? Sadly, it somehow did. So I can't drink pop without feeling absolutely terrible and getting digestive problems. I've been doing real good for a while, not drinking soda. But today... well, today my brother took me and the bf to Mickey D's, I ordered a meal and I hate their non-carbonated choices, so I picked coke. *sigh*

My camera has run out of batteries. Pain in the bum that is. It requires 4 AA batteries, and I currently have... none. So yay. No more camera for now. It sucks, cuz I wanted to take pics of the Barbie. I tried taking some of her on my phone, but my phone is terrible for good pics, so I used my brother's, which is better than my phone's, but still not satisfactory. Guess they'll have to do for now. I'll retake pics when I get new batteries.

I made a thumb for her. It's hideous, and I couldn't get the color match, but it's better than no thumb I think. And repainted her face. Turned out just fine. I like the changes. Her eyes were originally a bright blue with a bit of green. Now they're all green. And I covered the blue shadow and liner with brown shadow and black liner. And her lips are a more natural looking lipstick color now. And I darkened her brows just a smidgen.

She also has a basic french manicure/pedicure, and some rings. New, simple silver earrings too. Of course, she has her wedding rings as well, and Mr. Joe has a band too. I wanted their set to be white gold, because if I ever got married, I'd want white gold, but staying true to his life, living in the 60's, I think yellow gold was the norm back then.

In my mind, looking at her now, she's got a bit of a hippy-chic in her style. Which works well, since Mr. Joe is from the 60's. I made her some beads, and gave her some silly tattoos. She has:

~a green three leaf clover on her left inner wrist (it's actually a tattoo I want to get on myself someday)
~a turquoise flower on her left ankle
~a random squiggly on her right upper arm
~a Jack Sparrow tattoo on her back (I did it from memory, so it doesn't look quite right. Good enough though)
~and a turquoise peace sign on her neck

Here's some before shots, done with my camera before it died:

Notice the bright blue liner and shadow, and bright pink lips


That's the hand with the missing thumb. I honestly have no idea how that happened. Can't seem to remember.


And here's some crappy camera phone pics of her now:

you can see the squiggly tatt on her arm, and some of her rings.


Can't really tell how gosh-awful that new thumb is in this pic, and you can barely see the wedding rings. She has another ring on her first finger on that hand too, but I can't see it in this pic.



Close up of her beads. Her top is from that barbie I spoke of a few days ago, whose hoodie and capris now belong to Linny. Welp, now her top belongs to this lady.


Can't really tell all that much of her makeup changes in this pic. I guess you can see how her eyes are all green, and how her lips aren't bright pink. You can see the earrings too. Just small hoops. It looks like she's wearing a hat on her head:


(This pic taken on my phone) But it's not really a hat. I made her skirt from a duster (remember those? They were popular a couple years ago, I think I was a freshman in high school) that never fit me and wasn't made too well. I used a sleeve for the skirt, and the cuff or whatever is what's on her head. Kinda cute as long as you don't turn her around. lol.

It's a long skirt, reaches below her ankles:

Again, taken with my phone. Oh, she's got two toe rings too. ha. Okay, enough with ugly phone pictures.

Names have been chosen.

Her name is Iraina Floryna Joe. Her maiden name was Prashanti. She is of European and Indian descent. Her first name is pronounced EE-RAY-NAH. But her hubby and I call her Rain. Going with her Hippy-chic mystique, I looked up names that meant "flower" and "peace". Iraina means peace. Floryna (spelled with a y instead of an i for originality. lol) means flower. And Prashanti means supreme peace.

His name is Garrett Ian Joe. Ha. Ha ha. I get a kick out of that. I first read the name Garrett in a romance novel, The One Worth Waiting For by Alicia Scott. I always thought Garrett was a kickass name, and in the book, he's a navy SEAL. While I was on the baby names site looking for Rain's new name, I decided to look for Mr. Joe's as well. Rather than looking for "name meanings"... I looked at the top 500 names in 1964 - the year printed on his bum. The top 100 names had a bunch of "always there" names, and I didn't want him to have that popular a name. So I jumped to the end pages and looked for some G names. I found Garrett. Number 453. And it clicked. Kickass name for a kickass soldier. Ha. Once I found Garrett I went looking for an I name, and came across Ian at number 380. Garrett Ian Joe.

So the Joes have new names now. I've decided they'll have their own home in my world of dolls as well. I don't know if any of my other Barbies will join them. Doubtful, though some of the "younger" dolls are a possibility - I have a Skipper doll (I think) and a couple babies and a toddler whose name I've forgotten. He came with a father... or rather, the father came with him. They're supposed to be the family for the pregnant Midge that came out a few years back. I wanted her too, but when I went looking for her once I had money, she was gone. Some stores pulled her I guess. But her husband was still there. And a baby doctor barbie. So I got the Doctor and the husband, and they were supposed to be the family. *shrug* I actually can't find Doctor Barbie... her clothes are on different barbies now... meh.

ah CHOOOO

I've been sneezing all day. Ugh.

I did everything on my list yesterday. Am most happy with myself. I did some laundry, then some dishes. I even ran the dishwasher a couple times empty with CLR to see if I could clean out the water deposits that my dad thinks aren't water deposits. Well, what the heck else could they be, dad?? But the CLR seems to have worked well enough, so now I only hope I'll see improvement in the dishes as well.

I made shoes for Linny. They came out a bit different than I had expected them to be, I originally planned on making them completely out of clay, but that plan failed. So the platforms are of clay, while the straps are embroidery thread.


Flash kills my photos


I love her pose here. It's especially special because she chose the pose herself. I merely straightened her out.


A couple closeups of the shoes


I like how I used her foot to make sure I'd get the right size, and they still ended up small. Does clay shrink?? Oh well, they're not too much smaller, just her toes peek over the edge a bit, and I've seen celebrities wearing their shoes like that in magazines, so no big deal.


Next is Mr. Joe. I must admit, I'm rather proud of how he turned out. Except his feet, but whatever. lol.


These two are before shots


I wish I'd taken more before shots of his head. Because I ended up redoing his paint too. But I hadn't originally planned on that, so I didn't think to take a picture of it. As you can see, he has no feet, and no arm. In the clothes-less pic you can make out the tape that's across him to keep his arm in. And as far as paint, the scar on his cheek, his eyebrows, and a large part of his hair were faded away.


And this is his new clay arm. It doesn't use the same joints as his other arm does, his clay arm is more like a ball jointed arm - the elastic goes all the way through his arm and hooks to the the other arm inside his torso. It's also slightly longer, and I'm pretty sure it's because of the hand. I'm terrible at hands though, so I was expecting that. lol.




And here it is painted - to the best of my abilities - to match his other arm. It was difficult, because I was depending mainly on artificial light, which tends to throw my sight off, but it was such an icky day out, I had no other choice.


And here's a closeup of his repainted face. I left his eyes alone, which was hard to do, because they were obviously hand painted originally and the pupils are horridly uncentered and uneven, but I couldn't trust myself to do a better job. So meh. I lightened his lips, and used a lighter color for his scar, which I saw was originally a brighter pink. The color of maybe... a newer scar? Before it begins to soften and fade? After 45 years, (his bum says '64) I think he deserved a new coat of paint. Haha. I redid his eyebrows and hair, matching both original colors the best I could. I even whipped up his facial skintone to paint over some of the mistakes from his original hair. You know, it went over the lines a bit.


And this is him with his crummy shoes on. Sorry, you won't see much better than that, because I was absolutely terrible in making them. They're uneven, lop-sided. Not symmetrical. Nowhere near symmetrical. They even attach to the leg differently. Ugh. They're painted the color of dark olive chucks. A bit like these that I found online:


The idea being that they'd match his camo shirt. But now I don't think I want him wearing that shirt. I've decided that he's retired (I mean, after 45 years, getting "injured in combat", and now wearing Chucks... makes sense he wouldn't be serving anymore right?) so he doesn't really need to wear the camo... it urks me, because only a couple weeks ago, I had one of his shirts on the floor of my room. It was a slate blue ish color, and when I finally really looked at it, I wondered why on earth it was there. So I moved it. To where? I don't know. Which... urks me. I keep trying to think back... but the furthest I can remember, I thought it might fit Linny, so I.... and then I can't remember anymore. :( It's so frustrating to think I had the bloody shirt just a little while ago, and now I can't find it. So, Mr. Joe is shirtless until I can find his shirt, or decide to make him one myself.

Linny and Mr. Joe can both stand in their shoes - a plus. So here's a few shots with them together.











Here's their shoes... you can tell Mr Joe's right shoe (the one on the left) is so terribly lopsided.


This pic looks a bit sub/dom, what with his shirt off and in a pleather, throne-like chair, and her sitting at his feet, but I still thought it looked cute. And how many Doms do you see in green chucks? I've yet to meet one. Yep, so I'll just say they were posin' pretty. Hehe.

My next project? Well, what with Mr. Joe being reconstructed or whatever, I felt obligated to help out his wife as well. Workin' Out Barbie. Atleast... I'm pretty sure that's what she is. I've long lost her outfit. And she and Ballerina Barbie are the only ones from my childhood that I remember owning that were jointed like that... but... I acquired my friend's Workin' Out Barbie when she outgrew Barbies, (I obviously never did) and they look different. I wonder if it's just because I obviously played with mine more or what... Here, let me take a quick pic of the two side by side.

The one on the left is my original, the right is my friend's, now mine. Their faces look so different. Do the same Barbies have different faces sometimes? Their bodies are exactly the same, but I'm not sure if their hair was. At our old apartment complex, it rained so much it flooded the courtyard in to a pond for a while. I think I vaguely remember my Barbie might have been lost in it once. (I gave her a good scrubbing once found though) So her hair is obviously damaged. It actually looked a lot worse earlier today, I just cleaned her hair, so it's currently drying. Her bangs still look horrid... we'll see about those. But that's why she's without clothes at the moment. She just took a shower.

So... I'm going to do my best in fixing her. I should have taken better before pics. Like, taken them before I just gave her a bath. But oh well. I haven't done that much yet. As far as any physical injuries, she's missing her thumb on her left hand. Her leg joints aren't stiff anymore, they swing rather easily, making it harder for her to hold a pose. But otherwise, she's fine. I can't do much as far as her knee joints, but I can try and make her a new thumb out of clay... I also plan on repainting her face, to look a little less Barbie. From the info I found online, she came out in '96. She got married to Mr. Joe in '97 or '98... I can't remember for sure. We lived in Des Plaines when we had the ceremony, and we only lived in Des Plaines for those two years. So, she's been married for 11 or 12 years. I don't want her wearing bright blue eyeshadow and bright pink lipstick anymore dang it.

So uh... yeah... if all goes well, she'll be all prettified for Mr. Joe, and I'll celebrate by giving her a new name, and maybe I'll work out a place for them to live. *shrug*

Playing with clay?

Still not feeling well, and gosh it took forever to fall asleep! I must have laid there for hours. Ugh. I do believe I'll be playing with clay today though. Today's goals:

1) Do some dishes
2) Do some laundry
3) Attempt some shoes for Linny*
4) Attempt medical attention for Mr. Joe**


*I'm not really sure what'll end up of my attempt, especially since I will be making them out of clay. Clay shoes... mayhaps I'll make clogs.

**My dad had a GI Joe when he was a child. He introduced his GI Joe to my brother when my brother was around the same age as he was when he first got him. Big mistake. Apparently, the way my father played with toys when he was younger was in such a way to have fun, while preserving the toy. The way my brother played? Play to and past the breaking points - the more destruction, the better.
This is what my dad's GI Joe used to look like, somewhat. I found the picture online. My dad's is blond though. I'll be sure to take a picture of poor Mr. Joe now. He's missing an entire arm, and because the arms were attached to the body by way of a rubber band holding the two arms in, his other arm is now held to the body with scotch tape. He's also missing both of his feet. Poor Mr. Joe. When my brother was done destroying him - when he was no longer able to play with him and enjoy it - he hid the doll. I found it, and adopted him in to my world of Barbies. He's been married to my Workin' Out Barbie - who's also seen better days, but not because I was destructive, all injuries made on my part were accidental - for... 12 years now.

So anyway, while lying in bed not sleeping, I thought of my clay dolls, and how Corinne - my first clay doll - was such a failure. Her originally jointed body is now permanently glued together, while also permanently missing both feet and a hand. Why? Because they kept coming off, even after I'd glue them. My solution? I created a new foot and a new hand... in casts. And another foot... in a boot. So Corrine now has a "broken" leg and a "broken" wrist. Haha:


There she is. Okay, you might be wondering why I made a foot cast if two boots would have made more sense. Well, it's because I had made the casts first. That other foot hadn't fallen off for the last time yet. When it did, I didn't want her in two leg casts, so I made the boot. I had planned on trying to make a wheelchair for her at one point, but game up the idea. She has a crutch though.

Anyhoo... onward with the story. I was thinking about gimpy Corinne when I remembered Mr. Joe is laying on my clay table downstairs. I had pulled him out of his normal area just recently to show the boyfriend. That's when my brother, Jimmy, explained that Mr. Joe was not mutilated by Jimmy, Mr. Joe was injured in combat. Right. So then I thought, if I could patch up Corinne, why not Mr. Joe? So I will be attempting to fix Mr. Joe up as much as I can.

So those are my goals for today. Tune in tomorrow to see which I achieved and which I didn't. Hahaha