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