freaky little dolls

When?????????

2012-01-20T01:50:00.000-08:00

This is so true. I am not asking for a backlash where the naturally skinny become ashamed of their bodies, no, but how about a world where women of all shapes and sizes, races and ages can be considered sexy? Why is there always this narrow band of what is acceptable... and more to the point, why do we put up with this sh*t???

Apologies to the originator of this image as I have taken it from a source who did not credit you.

Worldwide web blackout?

2012-01-18T09:22:00.001-08:00

STOP " SOPA "

A few different websites have "gone dark" today in in order to highlight the pending Stop Online Piracy Act (SOPA, in the House) and the PROTECT IP Act (PIPA, in the Senate). Wikipedia, Google, Reddit, Wired, and others all have their own statements or mini-protests with information on more and ways to contact your representatives on the issue.

The bills would empower the attorney general to create a blacklist of sites to be blocked by Internet service providers, search engines, payment providers and advertising networks, all without a court hearing or a trial. The House version goes further, allowing private companies to sue service providers for even briefly and unknowingly hosting content that infringes on copyright — a sharp change from current law, which protects the service providers from civil liability if they remove the problematic content immediately upon notification. The intention is not the same as China’s Great Firewall, a nationwide system of Web censorship, but the practical effect could be similar.
The House bill would also emulate China’s system of corporate “self-discipline,” making companies liable for users’ actions. The burden would be on the Web site operator to prove that the site was not being used for copyright infringement. The effect on user-generated sites like YouTube would be chilling.

Eyes wide shut for a different kinda "transparency " coming to you soon or not...
YOUR CHOICE !!!! Copy and repost , keep it going...

Estella

2012-01-12T07:56:00.000-08:00

My favourite BJD has a new look. Face-up by me, wig by Val Zeitler :o)

Shop open

2012-01-09T04:19:00.000-08:00

My etsy shop has reopened for the New Year but I have missed my self-imposed deadline to get all 5 new dolls finished in time. The 3 finished Bottle Dolls (Pics of no. 3 coming soon!) will be listed later this week, I am waiting on delivery of some supplies to finish making their individual boxes. I am planning to list them on Saturday if all goes well :o)

Work in progess

2012-01-07T09:09:00.000-08:00

Bottle doll number 3 is progressing :o)

New Dolls for the New Year

2012-01-03T08:57:00.000-08:00

The number of finished Bottle Dolls just doubled! I am aiming to see how many of the dolls I have been slowly working on from Summer 2011 onwards, can actually be finished and ready to list by the time the Etsy shop reopens on January the 9th. I am on target for 5 right now, but only time will tell... watch this space :o)

ADO Quarterly Challenge: Gothic

2012-01-03T04:53:00.001-08:00

Take a look at the amazing dolls created for the Goth Quarterly Challenge on the ADO Blog. I guess I shouldn't play favourites but I so adore this beauty from Tireless Artist. If I wasn't so spent up after Christmas she would be MINE!!! ;o)

A borrowed farewell message to 2011...

2011-12-30T19:55:00.000-08:00

I found this on the blog "Being Ruby" and just had to quote it here:

"Dear 2011

You have pushed me to my limit Sir .. Once again I find myself putting pen to paper to question your motives and point out that your behaviour can no longer be tolerated. I am saying goodbye to you dear sir!! There is no more room in my life for your fickle antics and unconscionable tactics.

I AM DONE

I know I spoke similar harsh words to your cousin 2009... You are cut from the same cloth... 'Brothers from another Mother'... You give with one hand and take with the other.. Ok.. I will give credit where it is due.. You did bestow some wonderful gifts... There's no overlooking a trip to Europe nor gifts of a more personal nature which will remain unspoken in such a public forum.. But really you also created much havoc to all and sundry and I think it's time to move on..

Don't try and stop me with flattering words or false promises that quite frankly I doubt you can deliver in less than 12 hours.. Any such attempts to sway my decision will demand the forthcoming response..

... As a wise woman once said ...

'I Four Fourths Don't Care!!"

Not sure who Lorelai is but you can't knock the sentiment. I would substitute "a trip to Europe" for "finding my lovely flat" but yes, I have certainly felt that 2011 was responsible for giving with one hand whilst slapping me round the head with a rancid kipper with the other. Bet many of you feel the same way...

HAPPY NEW YEAR!!!!!!!!!!!

PS....

2011-12-28T02:28:00.000-08:00

Tee hee, forgot to add -

Dear Blog readers, you all know the narcoleptic snail's pace pace at which I work, and know there is no way I could have seen the Greyfreth cross bottles from the Christmas giveaway and then rushed out a handful of my own dolls. So you can imagine my surprise when I saw that giveaway (typically, I didn't win one despite spending the entire run up to Christmas with my fingers crossed, poo!) and Greyfreths work. I think they call it synchronicity, and it gave me a huge boost to think that others find a new life as art objects for old bottles too.

First "Bottle Doll" preview

2011-12-28T02:17:00.000-08:00

Over the upcoming week, I thought I'd give you a sneak preview of new dolls that will get listed in the shop when it reopens. They may not appear in the first week as I need to make presentation boxes for them.

They are all built up on top of vintage glass bottles that have been dug up in the last year or so. As a child, my Mother's garden was always a rich source of these finds along with lots of willow pattern pottery, old clay smoking pipes and other treasures. At least, they seemed like treasures to me and I loved the aged patina and crazy crackle in the glaze, they way being buried in the earth had changed the items, just adding to their beauty in my eyes.

The bottles are late Victorian/Edwardian to Pre-War and just seem to add another dimension to the dolls. I wanted the doll part to also look like pottery that has been in the ground for many decades. I will take better pictures of this doll, on a patterned moulded green glass bottle, the first to be finished (and simply called Bottle Doll no.) 1 soon.

Stunning Christmas Giveaway!!!

2011-12-19T09:20:00.000-08:00

I'm a sucker for Mercury Glass and have to say that the real thing, aged and with a lustrous patina, is so much richer looking than all of the repro versions available today - so I just had to spread the word about this truly beautiful Christmas giveaway of one of Greyfreth's stunning antique Mercury Glass "Star Cross" bottles. The bottle will be made for the winner after the draw on December the 23rd and rules of how to enter are on ArtbyKaren's blog (well worth a look anyway) as she is hosting the giveaway. What are you waiting for? ;o)

Kitty Love

2011-12-17T07:52:00.001-08:00

Tee hee :o) Stolen from here.

2011-12-15T15:48:00.000-08:00

The lovely Itkupilli has some fab new blog backgrounds...

but I am scared of trying them because last time I tried to revert to Minima (which you need to put in the code for your own bespoke backgrounds) I lost all my widgets and my 3 column layout. It was such a huge a*se to put it all back and I'm still pretty miffed that Blogger chose to become so regimented and dictatorial in the name of progress.

Does anyone know if there is any way round the problem of wanting to retain your layout and widgets while customizing your blog appearance?

A Christ-mouse tale

2011-12-14T03:15:00.000-08:00

Chatting to a friend the other day I was reminded of another Christmas many years ago when I was a feckless youth-let living in London. I was staying the night on a friend's sofa in Clapham. They had a lovely 3 story old Georgian flat over a shop in the middle of this ancient street and I adored the place. They were worried they had mice though. It was Christmas time and the tree was in the corner of the room with lots of wrapped presents underneath. I had left the lights on the tree switched on and was just dozing in the relative dark when something caught my eye - a tiny twinkly mouse was scuttling away from the tree along the skirting board, it was shortly followed by another and then I heard a slight rustle of paper and realised that yet another glitter covered mouse was exiting the corner of one of the wrapped presents. I sat up and they all shot off into the darkness under the sideboard!!!

The same scene was played over and over for the next hour or so, they would come out from under the sideboard single file and tip toe over to the presents and then nibble the paper and get inside. If I moved or made a noise they would all play statues! If I sat up and made to come over there they would shoot back under the sideboard. In the end I picked up all the presents and took them into the kitchen and put them up out of the way, stupidly thinking that would stop them.

My friends got some humane traps the next day and took them all to some waste ground in another street but they must have been homing mice because a few days later they had more mouse activity. I asked them what made them think they were the same mice and they just shrugged and said they were all still covered in glitter!

Miss Lizzie

2011-12-11T05:47:00.000-08:00

Here is my doll for the ADO Quarterly Goth Challenge. She is also a present for a friend in the States who sent me a big box full of craft supplies and tools I couldn't get hold of here in the UK and let me adopt one of her Sybarites at a ridiculously low cost, so I guess she is a Thank You doll! :o)

Highway woman? Pirate? Cut throat or ne'er do well? Miss Lizzie isn't saying, her lips are sealed.

seizure inducing Christmas Tree

2011-12-05T14:38:00.000-08:00

Decided to get all seasonal and put up my Christmas Tree yesterday (so it's a bit early, who cares?). I have always gone for real trees but after doing my back in carrying one a year or so back, I decided to do the sensible thing and get a fake tree. I LOVE it :o)

I bought a cheap set of lights and put then on then decided to turn them on to check coverage before adding any baubles. I didn't realise they were twinkling lights but was pleasantly surprised at the slow fades and so went out of the room for a few minutes to make a cup of tea. I was blissfully unaware that (A) the lights were running through all their settings while I was gone and (B) that I have a light-activated cat!

Matilda was flumped sleepily in her radiator hammock while I put up the tree but when I went to make the tea, the rapidly flashing lights caught her interest. I returned to see her little black fluffy trousers sticking out of the bottom of the tree and an exploratory paw reaching up for the nearest strand of flickering lights. I shooed her away but she was completely manic, as the lights slowed down so would she and as they got faster she would go berserk, galloping round the room and jumping in and out of boxes, smashing a few baubles as she went. After a few minutes I figured out how to stop the lights flashing and so she hopped back into her hammock and went back to sleep.

Oddly she hasn't shown much interest in the decorations since then but I found her skittering across the wooden floor this morning with a pink cocktail parasol I never knew I had. Never a dull moment.

Pre-Christmas Dolly Sale!!!

2011-11-28T08:57:00.001-08:00

I've just loaded up my etsy shop with some old favourites, cloth dolls and little polymer clay cuties. All the dolls listed today have previously featured in my etsy shop at a higher price, so if you like what you see, go on, grab a bargain ;o)

My Day Job

2011-11-22T14:29:00.000-08:00

Sometimes I feel immense guilt that I make plans to make dolls - and do all sorts of things - and sometimes even announce them on this very blog... then days, weeks, months go by and I have just been off designing stuff and not had time to put my "Freaky Little Things" plans into action. But I might as well come clean, I LOVE my day-job too :o)

I stumbled across a few items that I designed a few years back on google earlier so thought I would show you some of the things I do. It isn't all Hello Kitty by a long stretch but the big headed feline has certainly taken up a lot of my time over the last decade or so. Obviously I can never show or talk about what i am currently working on, and product/packaging design is only a part of what I do, but it's often the most fun stuff.

Would you have a dolly Clearance Sale?

2011-11-20T08:43:00.000-08:00

I've lived in my lovely new flat for a whole month now and yet I am still unpacking boxes from my house sitting stint over the summer and slowly clearing out my old room at my Mother's house. I'm kind of "getting there" with most of the rooms but my work room has become a bit of a dumping ground sadly.

Today I found a big whicker hamper that I want to use for my towels, and was pretty surprised by what I found inside. A collection of lots of older dolls that I have made down the years and either they never sold or I just never listed them in the shop, wanting to hang on. A few I know I will still keep - but the others...? Is it acceptable to have a dolly clearance sale?

I hesitate to use the term "Art Doll" because I seriously don't think that my early faltering steps along that road can count, and beside I prefer to think of my cloth dolls as just that: Rag dolls. Why get all pretentious about it? I agree with the marvelously bonkers Grayson Perry, who recently said that a lot of what passes for ART these days is only made to seem worthy by the fact that it is hanging in a gallery. I guess ETSY performs a similar function for really quite basic craft items, gives them a gloss they maybe do no merit? Contentious, I know but perhaps the truth.

I haven't actually made a doll yet that I think would be worthy of the title art doll to be honest. I'm not being falsely modest or fishing for compliments here either. The dolls I have made are fun, some much better crafted than others and I only use the term "art doll" at all because it will help me be found in listings and because it sets a certain type of doll aimed at adult collectors apart from those aimed at children. It's a very useful term in that sense.

Anyway, new flat, new outlook. I want to wipe the slate clean and start to make different dolls. who knows, maybe next year I will actually manage to grope my way toward something I myself will consider art? Who knows indeed!

Meanwhile, I am going to put some of the old dears in my etsy shop at lowered prices until Christmas anyway. Oh and every non paper doll sale gets a free mystery gift until Christmas too. I sadly can't include them with the Paper dolls as they ship in flat envelopes and there would be no room!

New look

2011-11-12T05:45:00.001-08:00

Hope you like the new look ;o)

Happy Halloween everyone!

2011-10-30T12:16:00.000-07:00

OK, so it doesn't start for another 5 hours here but what the hell, here is a little blurry movie I made to wish everyone some Halloween fun :o)

Shop open

2011-10-24T06:08:00.000-07:00

Hi, the Etsy Shop has reopened for business as usual. I'm just settling into my new flat then I hope to be finishing some doll projects and listing them in time for Christmas :o)

Panic packing puzzle

2011-10-15T02:29:00.000-07:00

I shouldn't have any internet connection right now... no, I shouldn't be writing this blog - right now, I should be on the road in my tiny Ford Ka, with most of my worldly belongings and a howling, shrieking, farting cat, on the long drive back to North Wales.

Here's a puzzle for you: I came here with said cat, in the tiny aforementioned Ka, with as much stuff as I could pack into it. I know that you imagine that a car, being made of metal, can't actually 'bulge" but mine was definitely bulging with content on the way here! Isn't a Ka made from Fibreglass, I hear some of you doubters ask... well, that isn't know for it's bulgey-ness either, is it?

Anyhow, whilst here this summer I bought a rather large and beautiful cupboard, a microwave, a few articles of clothing, a glass dome and a glass vase. And lots of plants which I potted up to take to my new flat in Wales. As the car had been at bursting point already, and as the cupboard was almost as big as my Ka by itself, I knew I had to hire a van. A fortnight ago I took that van with the cupboard, the plants and a whole load of other things up to the flat.

So I have smugly been relaxing here the last few weeks imagining getting everything back into the car being a doddle this morning.

Yesterday afternoon as packing reached it's frenzied apex, I decided I should start putting things in as I went along rather than doing it all at 6 am this morning before starting the journey. So I packed and stuffed and made use of every available millimetre of my little car... then it got dark so I just carried on packing and cleaning inside the house. This morning dawned and so did the realization that the amount of packed stuff + cat (+ Cat's material possessions) + driver left inside the house and the available space left inside the vehicle did not match.

There would normally have been a huge tantrum at this point but I'm too old for that now and beside, I could barely move because I'm so achey - so jumping up and down in frustration is definitely not an option right now :o( I went back to bed instead! Just got up now, seriously my joints are seizing up, I would have had to drive all 200 miles in 3rd gear and not turn any corners!

So, has my cat been on a huge spending spree or something? There simply is no logical explanation for how all the things I brought here can have suddenly expanded to twice their size during the summer. I know wood expands in the heat but not all my possessions are wooden. I don't understand!

Oh, well, a few cups of tea, a shower and some deep heat rub then off to unpack, cull, squish and repack the car, wish me luck!!!

Shop closed until the 20th

2011-10-12T07:33:00.000-07:00

Hi, just a quickie to say my Esty shop is closed until the 20th while I move house and get organized.

Also, for anyone who felt a spark of recognition reading my post on Dyscalculia - or number problems - here is a link to Paul's blog, he is cataloguing his research into the condition while helping his son overcome the same problems:

Sepia Nell - Update

2011-10-11T04:56:00.001-07:00

A while ago I showed you some work in progress pics of my latest large doll, Sepia Nell. Well, she's progressed a great deal since then and is nearing completion. Here are some sneak peeks:

Dyscalculia doesn't add up.

2011-10-08T02:25:00.000-07:00

I'm vain enough to think of myself as intelligent. I was pretty much a "straight A student" all the way through school except for my one blind spot - numbers.

When a group of people researching Dyslexia came to our school in the mid seventies (showing my age there) I was put forward as one of the pupils to be tested as my consistent inability to do more than basic mathematics had always puzzled my teachers. They were baffled as to why one of their brighter children consistently performed so badly in Maths, and seemed to be doing well in Physics and Chemistry classes except where we had to perform calculations. As you get older that becomes a more important part of any science subject so I guess Particle Physics was never destined to be my calling.

Anyhow, the Dyslexia testers were also baffled as I very definitely did not have Dyslexia, and at that time they didn't seem to test for numerical problems. One of the researchers did suggest to my Maths teacher that it must be a related problem, but they didn't know how to classify it.

I was at least relieved that someone was taking this seriously as my Step-father was rather angrily of the opinion that I was somehow willfully refusing to learn numbers just to spite him. As a result I always worried that my teachers also felt I was "putting it on" and that feeling has persisted to the present day. If I don't do well at something I worry that I am somehow sabotaging myself, and whenever I am ill I convince myself that the Doctor believes that the problem is psychological. When the X-rays came back showing the disintegration of my knee cartilage I was actually relieved! Proof that the pain was in my knee and not in my head!

I wonder if there is a medical term for such a deeply ingrained sense of self-doubt?

Anyway, years later and I have learned to cope with my numerical deficiencies. I have a good memory and have learned to replace single figures with "things" and that is how I remember the symbols 1 to 9. Things get a bit more complicated after that. For example, to know which is bigger: 100 or 1,000 I have assigned an elephant to 100 and a whale to 1,000. So basically, any form of mathematics requires a large wharehouse in my brain which I fill with animals and objects and rearrange them and then count what's left. Sometimes I even come up with the right answer (for which I get a gospel choir singing Hallelujah... it's pretty crowded in there).

Maths for me is then a pretty exhausting mental task that requires silence and a lot of patience. I find it very frustrating that I cannot learn numbers in the same way I can learn another language, when basically that is all numbers seem to be, a language I can barely understand. My numerical problem gets much worse when I am stressed or rushing and is virtually negligible when I am calm. Up to a point. I have worked part-time in many shops over the years and even been put in charge of cashing up despite explaining my problems to people. When you come across as bright and capable (Vain again? Or just fact?) people tend to think you are kidding around (my step-father again!) when you state you can't add up. So I check everything over and over again and the cash-register that would take the average person 20 minutes to cash-up would take me almost an hour.

Someone recently suggested that there is now a name for my problem so I went over to that wholly reliable source of misinformation, Wikipedia, and found that it has been a recognised condition since the 70's (I guess the people who came to my small school in North Wales weren't up to date in developments in their own field!). I have Dyscalculia? Except that what they describe doesn't wholly correlate with what I experience. Yes, I sometimes have problems with understanding clocks and watches, yes, I sometimes have difficulty understanding which symbol represents the bigger of two things. But, it suggests that I should have difficulty with knowing how many "things" a person is holding up... that I should not know if there are 3 things or 5 things in front of me. Not at all, I don't have trouble with numbers in that way and have a very acute spatial awareness. I can see that one group of things is occupying a larger space than another group of things, I am not an idiot!

I am a product designer and frequently work in 3 dimensions and always have to give the people who create what I design accurate dimensions. Back at Art School I used to annoy my Life Drawing lecturers by refusing to use the pencil as a ruler when drawing models or still life subjects, yet still managed to correctly represent proportions. Given a blank computer workspace I still draw things in correct ratio to one another and rarely have to resort to using the software's inbuilt calculations. No, it's the actual symbols that human beings have assigned to specific numbers of things that I have problems with. They just will not stay fixed in my mind and I sometimes cannot reproduce them. Using a calculator or keyboard has helped me immensely because the number system stays fixed, when I write down something like a phone number, if I don't have numbers 1 - 9 for reference I will frequently substitute hieroglyphs of my own. Following recipes has always been a minefield also and people are wise to pass on my offers of a home cooked meal!

It also states on Wikipedia that people with Dyscalculia have problems with short term memory - BOLLOCKS is all I have to say to that, I have just about the sharpest memory of anyone I know... except when it comes to numbers, the damn things just seep out for my head at any opportunity! Does this all sound crazy or does anyone else out there have similar problems? I'd be interested to know as I have never met anyone else with a similar blind spot.

2011-10-06T12:49:00.000-07:00

Last week I managed to steal a little time out of my rather crazy schedule to make a new paperdoll for the ADO "Dia De Los Muertos" Mini Monthly Challenge. Hope I spelt it right? Anyhoo, she didn't exactly turn out very Mexican, but I kind of like her, I think. Anyhow, I will think on it a bit more and maybe put her in the shop in the next week or so.

The Ezine is published!

2011-09-27T14:15:00.000-07:00

After 18 months and 19 nervous breakdowns, MUCH ADO, the online magazine (or Ezine) of Art Dolls Only is finally published. I am now off to sleep for a week. Hope you all like it :o)

A return to happy

2011-09-08T02:36:00.000-07:00

I just read a blog post by Danita about how happy she is to be losing weight and realised that I haven't really updated the blog on my own weight loss. I got told I had gallstones after a weekend of terrible pain and fever. I was given the option of a trip to hospital and immediate surgery or go home and try to move the stones with a lot of "flushing" (ie: drinking water until it makes you sick basically, then drinking more water, on and on) knowing that once the fever was gone I would have to stick to a very strict diet forever pretty much.

I chose the latter route. I am not keen on the idea of surgery at all (who is?), but knew I would have no choice if the flushing didn't work within 24 hours. Thankfully it worked after about 8/9 more hours of fever and pain. Since then I have stuck to this diet religiously, a miracle, for someone who has never been able to stick to a diet before! I can't eat nuts, any drink which is carbonated,onions, cauli/broccoli or anything with over 5% fat content, other than that there are no restrictions. Go and take a look in your fridge and kitchen cupboards to realise just how restrictive that is! Once you get used to it though, it's easy.

I have had to be careful not to bulk up on sugar and salt though, because your body knows something is missing from it's usual routine and tries to compensate with something else "bad". Apart from the odd rumbly stomach on days when I have maybe eaten a little too much fat, I have been fine. I feel healthier and brighter and generally much happier in myself. The weight has been dropping away steadily and I have gotten so used to it that I forget to check the scales anymore.

I was 13 stone and 10lbs when I started this in May and now I weigh 12 stone, which is pretty impressive in only 3 months. I have even stopped being quite so camera shy, as the photo of me on my avatar proves! I still have another stone to drop before I get to a weight were I put no extra pressure on my joints and a further stone before I get back to my pre-arthritis weight, but, I know I will get there ;o)

Ezine video on YouTube

2011-08-30T00:54:00.001-07:00

Wow, the amazing Grace of Little Black Crow Studio has made us this fantastic video to help raise awareness for the upcoming Ezine publication (September 28th) and her lovely brother Andrew composed some music for it too! How fab, take a peek here

Wow, it's all coming together, I am trying to fit in a flurry of last minute tweaks and edits, trying to find all the typos and misspellings before the big launch. I would greatly appreciate it if anyone who is interested in this project (you don't have to be an ADO member) would put this badge on their blog please,

and link to either the mini-mag or the video. Thanks so much in anticipation ;o)

"amazing Grace".... only just realised that I did that, groan!

Much ADO is on it's way!

2011-08-22T10:18:00.000-07:00

Most of my spare time over the last year has been devoted to Editing and designing the ADO group online publication, MUCH ADO. It's been a huge collaborative effort for the whole team and we are in the home stretch now, with publication set for September the 28th. I just put together a small preview version to whet everyone's appetite for the real thing, here you go, enjoy!

Much ADO

the Blogger Gremlins strike again

2011-07-29T04:42:00.000-07:00

Is it just me? I camn't leave comments on anyones blogs right now because when I do the word verification it just says that what I typed didn't match what they had shown. Thought I was going mad at first but repeated attempts on different blogs have proved this is some sort of glitch and not a case of "sudden on-set dyslexia"...

Cloth Doll Kits on way

2011-07-13T04:38:00.000-07:00

Hi, working on the ADO group on line magazine, MUCH ADO (to be published in September, more news coming soon). That has taken up so much of my time over the last 8 months in particular. We are almost finished and will be including some patterns and tutorials as free giveaways, this has led me to rummage through my old patterns.

I'm not really interested in making some of my older cloth dolls anymore and also have a LOT of spare cloth, so have decided to combine the two and make cloth doll kits, with full instructions, a pattern and all the cloth you need to make some really cute cloth dolls. I am starting to work on them now and they should be in the etsy shop by August. Also working on a whole load of new doll ideas!

EBAY R.I.P.

2011-06-19T06:22:00.000-07:00

I can't truly claim to have been with Ebay since the very beginning but, let's say I was there from early on. Remember when Ebay used to be such fun? You would list an item and watch the bids come in as the days went by. Or you would put in an early bid and keep watching and raising your bid as things progressed, keeping your fingers crossed that you would win? How exciting was that?

Then Ebay got bigger and smart alec journalists started writing "How to win on Ebay" type artciles and all the sniping started. That was the beginning of the end for me, but it wasn't a quick death. No, more a long, creeping, wasting illness. Today I heard EBAY's death rattle and finally closed my account. My 10o% positive, never a cross word, account. One that I had so much fun with over the years. Closed. Never will I set virtual foot over their rancid threshold again.

What led to this? I mean, I kept on even after Ebay in their wisdom made it so that Sellers could no longer leave negative feedback for a non-paying Buyer, that was a pretty big nail in the coffin, right? A lot of decent 100% sellers left at that point, but I just decided that I would move all my doll sales to the more pleasant surroundings of Etsy and continue to mooch through Ebay manily as a buyer. A good decision... until this last week or so, when suddenly just being a buyer on Ebay meant I was setting myself up for abuse and nastiness, and reporting it to Ebay just got me a "Yeah, whatever" attitude.

I've heard all the horror stories about Ebay, they are almost Urban Myth, but until this week I have never had a bad transaction. as a buyer or a seller. When I have bought I always pay as soon as the "You won this item" email comes and always found sellers to be honest and nice. When I have sold items I usually give the buyer at least a week to pay before I politely email them a reminder and would never worry over a transaction after less than a fortnight. In the good old days I don't think you could cancel a buyers winning bid or back out of a sale as a seller unless certain steps had been taken and maybe 2 weeks had elapsed?

Here's why I closed my Ebay account and won't be going back: earlier this week I log onto Ebay and see a message. I open it and it's from a seller who says I won a DVD and need to pay for it. I remember bidding on the DVD but as I have had no "You won this item" email and there is nothing in my "Won Items" folder in My Ebay I am puzzled. I contact the seller, who ignores my message and just sends another "Pay for your item" message on ebay itself. If I hadn't logged into "My Ebay" I would still be non the wiser. I mess around with the page settings and can't find the "Won Items" screen anywhere. I am a bit worried as I had bid on a few other DVDs and non of the items I bid on are showing anywhere on the My Ebay page. Usually I figure that means I was outbid. I go to pay for the DVD and up pops another item on the invoice so I pay for both and head off happy that I have paid for all my winnings.

I got no more emails from Ebay and assume all is well. Then today, I'm bored and go to mooch around BJD sales on Ebay, I see an item I like and so add it to my watch list, this means signing in and I get a message flash up that I have a win cancelled by the seller and then get a foul-mouthed message from said seller that I haven't paid the £3.45 (or a similar amount) for the DVD I won and blah de blah. I was really shaken up and totally confused. I went to check it out and there was another DVD I'd put a starting bid on and forgotten all about as there is no record of it in My Ebay, I've had no "You won this item" email and it wasn't on my multiple purchase invoice the other day. We are talking a matter of days since this ietm ended and I look in my message folder and every day this seller has sent me a message and never once did the brain dead T*rd think of emailing me, because, guess what, some of us have lives and don't spend every waking moment of them trawling EBAY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

So I rang "Customer Support" and wanted to ask why I was getting these abusive messages from a seller and why I am not getting any "You won" emails, etc... and was told in a very blasé fashion that Ebay changed their system a few weeks ago and no longer notifies buyers that they have won automatically, only if the seller requests it.

Two things made me mad there (i) that the ebay Customer Support person was not in the least interested that one of their "customers" is upset at getting abusive messages from another user, and (2) that this abusive user had opted not to bother notifying their buyers that they had won items then felt within their rights to send abusive messages when the oblivious buyer didn't pay immediately (I think it's been 4 days since the item ended).

I got even more angry/upset when I went to close my account and found that I couldn't because I had a "disputed transaction" so had to ring the badly named "help centre" again. Now I am telling them that I want to close my account because of abusive message from a seller and again there is absolutely no interest whatsoever, I'm just told how to resolve it (ie- accept that I am a non paying bidder after just 4 days). I also got even more upset when I relaised that Ebay are quite happy to let you close your been there for years 100% positive feedback account without letting you tell them why. They just have a complacent drop down menu with some generic "Ebay is great but I have a screw loose" options for why you are leaving.

Ebay made me cry and I am never going back. It's the end of an era for me and not a happy ending either.

Sorry for the rant but sometimes I think that is what blogs are for!

WIP - Sepia Nell

2011-06-06T05:47:00.000-07:00

Here she is... the arms are just resting on her shoulders to dry!

WIP... Sepia Nell (part 1)

2011-06-05T14:14:00.000-07:00

"All gather round,
I've a story to tell,
concerning the demise
of poor Sepia Nell..."

Wip pics tomorrow of my latest doll

New Paper Doll

2011-05-24T03:40:00.000-07:00

My new paper doll "Rococo Fairy" is ready to go in the shop :o)

Always look on the Bright Side...

2011-05-21T01:51:00.000-07:00

Come on, sing along, you know the words...

The bright side of Gallstones? Two weeks on from THAT weekend, I have lost 9lbs!!!! I'm not finding it that difficult yet to stick to the less than 5% fat rule, even though it's fairly restrictive and the weight is dropping away...

You know what though, I have to try and keep it in check because guess what rapid weight loss can cause? You guessed it: Gallstones!

Newsletter News

2011-05-14T03:59:00.000-07:00

I've just sent out a brief group email to everyone on the Freaky Little Things Newsletter Mailing list to let them know about the new email address. Some of those emails bounced back and I am now removing those addresses from the Mailing list. So if you haven't received an email from me today, and would still like the receive future newsletters then you will need to add yourself to the list again. Please go here and follow the instructions, simples!

Treasury Alert

2011-05-11T02:58:00.000-07:00

My Vampire Showgirl, Wilhelmina Maggot has been included in a fabulously Noir treasury by Dollydripp, see it here

Birthday gifts

2011-05-10T02:36:00.000-07:00

Guess what I got for my Birthday? Gallstones and a dead robin on my duvet! Joy...

Been horrendously ill since Friday night and finally got to see a Doctor on Monday morning, got the great Russian Roulette choice of having an op to take out the Gallbladder or go home and cope with the pain til it passes. Given my dread of hospitals and general mistrust of Doctors, I chose the latter and they gave some anti-spasmodics to calm my stomach. I wonder if they work as I never really got the chance to digest any of them! Feel a bit more normal today so fingers crossed. Now it's just a low fat diet or a return to the pain.

As I say it was my Birthday yesterday, and I spent most of it either propped up sleeping on the sofa or propped up sleeping in bed in between bouts of, well, you know! My cat, Matilda, has never had a cat-flap before and it took a while but now she has the hang of it. I was in bed yesterday afternoon and heard the flap go and little paddy feet approaching, she jumps up on the bed and comes over all purry and rolling around for attention, then went to sleep. I got up for another bout of yuk some time later and when I came back to bed there is my shape in the duvet with her asleep one side and a recently dead Robin on the other side!!!! Joy! What a thoughtful gift, shame she hadn't kept the reciept.

Pooo

2011-05-08T02:18:00.001-07:00

I feel Poooo! :o(

Paper Doll Treasury

2011-05-06T01:14:00.000-07:00

My Vampire Showgirl, Irmalene, has been included in a lovely Paper Doll treasury by Cocodollz, check them all out here

Sharpening my claws

2011-04-26T04:54:00.001-07:00

Random thought for the day: Emery boards, are they the Beauty Industries biggest con?

Since childhood I have been blessed with the kind of talons that would do Godzilla proud, if I had grown up a post-apocalyptic feral child (as was often threatened during the 70's, remember all those bomb drills?) I could easily have ripped flesh from passing beasts and dug myself shelter with these 20 steel claws of mine. Actually, let's be honest, my toenails have actually hardened over the years and are now more like that Adamantium stuff that Wolverine is made from than cuddly old steel, but, I digress...

I've also had the same steel nail file since my early teens and despite passing fads for square nails I have always had long almond shaped filed nails, usually nude of varnish (except the Adamantium toe sheaths, they are always painted!). I've never really suffered from cracks or snags or breakages, never needed vitamin supplements and often been the subject of claw-based awe among my friends... except for the last few years... why?

Because - I lost my steel file and couldn't get another from my local chemists shop so started to use emery boards, those bright shiny colourfull bits of card with what looks like sand glued to them. All my friends had started using them ages before because "Steel files cause snags and breaks and weaken the nails" or so they had read in women's magazines. Well, the sneaky product placements made to look like a "product reviews" that you get so much of in women's magazines. It took quite a while to get used to the fact that I always seemed to have a permanent build up of dust under my nails which has to be scrubbed away with a brush under the tap. Yuk. My fingers have felt sub-parr and blunted, and, horror, they have started to crack and chip, begun getting weird little snags. I have given up on wearing anything less than 900 denier in the tights department as merely getting them out of the pack means they get laddered on my jagged nails. The worst side effect of the emery boards is the horrid and often painful cracked skin at the edge of each nail... I had put it all down to becoming middle aged!

While I was packing up to move house I found, Taaa daaa, my long lost steel nail file! Joy!!! I have been using it again and the old claws survived the move in fine form and are beginning to feel right again, I pruned each nail down quite short to rid myself of the jagged emery board tainted growth and they are already beginning to return to their former glory. If you think about it, you buy one steel nail file, and unless, like me, you lose it, that's it for life. I guess some bright spark in the Beauty Industry thought, hang on, that's no use: "These paper things can be made in China for a few cents and we can colour them and print on them and best of all they wear out in no time, so we can keep selling more and more to the suckers! Now we just need to invent a reason that steel files are bad for you and we are in business!"

Don't get me started on tongue scrapers!

Blog "Followers"

2011-04-23T02:15:00.000-07:00

I frequently see celebration posts on lots of people's blogs where they get excited that they have reached a certain number of followers. Don't get me wrong, I rejoice at each and every one of you and when I don't post for a while I feel guilty that I am not keeping you entertained. I was excited at 1, 10, 20,50,100, etc... and almost did a few celebratory posts along the way... but - has anyone else experienced this? - I also LOSE followers too!

Yesterday when I published my post about the new paper doll I just happened to notice this blog had 223 followers... this morning, we've lost a live one!!! In the past, sometimes Blogger has spontaneously lost all the blogs I'm following and other times I've read a lot of posts from one blogger and realised that their blog isn't really about Art dolls, Art, whatever I thought it was about initially, and I've stopped following. Not often. I enjoy the ramblings of a whole host of blogs on here and live journal, rarely commenting, but enjoying my morning read all the same.

So if I don't celebrate reaching the next milestone, please understand, it's not because I don't love each and everyone of you (I DO) it's just that I'm superstitious that after that post I will go down to zero...

...come to think of it... after THIS blog post... oh, h*ll....

New Paper Art Doll

2011-04-22T06:25:00.000-07:00

Well, I'm all moved in and enjoying the fresh country air and this gorgeously hot summer weather (and it's only April, have to keep reminding myself!). I have my new doll/sewing room almost set up and can't wait to get started sewing together the latest cloth dolls (it's my old "Frost Fairy" pattern that has undergone a few tweaks and refinements), but, just to start the ball rolling, here is Gwendolyn, my latest original Paper Art doll.
She is a "Dress-up" doll with brad jointed arms and a card stand. She will be printed out onto hammered 200gsm card ready to be framed but I will also offer to print her onto smooth paper and mount onto heavier card, for those who want to actually cut her out and dress her up. I will also do a ready cut, articulated version of her in her blue outfit. I am waiting for some suitable hard-backed envelopes to be delivered so that I can list the "dress-up" version in the shop, but the articulated version will be listed later today
:o)

I do love to be beside the seaside...

2011-04-11T02:29:00.000-07:00

Errr, actually, after yesterday, maybe not so much! This is a pretty epic post so perhaps prepare some sandwiches and a flask of tea/coffee/whisky before continuing...

As I am off to live in landlocked Buckinghamshire for the rest of the year, I decided to spend my last Sunday on the coast at the beach. Saturday was unusually warm and sunny for early April and by 10am on Sunday morning it was already obvious that we were in for Summer temperatures, so packed my Ma in the Ka, ha ha, and headed down to Gronant to pick up my nephew, Jamie, for a day at the beach. It was also the first time this year I have had the chance to wear the Monsoon Flip-flops, my favorite pair, black with red beading and sequins and tiny rosebuds all over, I love those flip-flops, and they are perfect for a walk on the beach.

It being so early in the year, the place would be deserted of tourist. The big perk of being born in a country with such a great coastline and more sheep than people surely? Actually the sneaky perk of any coast dweller the world over, those of us who get to enjoy blissfully empty stretches of sandy heaven at this time of year before the crowds of land-lubbers descend. We got to Talacre Beach and from the car park it was obvious that a few other locals had also spotted the potential of the weather and were already enjoying a tourist free beach devoid of screaming children and even more loudly screaming parents from Merseyside and Lancashire. We were looking forward to exchanging smug glances with our fellow Welshies and a few retired Seargent Majors from England who carve wooden Lovespoons to whittle away their retirements and so are naturalised Welsh.

If I'd realised I would be blogging about this trip I would have taken my camera, but as I didn't, here is a beautiful shot of Talacre Lighthouse taken by John Roberts, see it here. The first place I parked was a little slippery under the wheels, from grass running down from the dunes, and so we parked in a fairly central spot, on a kind of sand bar between to little streams. The car park is a kind of beach-behind-the-beach and you walk through pathways cut into the dunes to reach the beach proper. Talacre is a vast beach with great vistas out into the bay, ghostly white eco-windmills at intervals far out to sea. The beach has an abandoned lighthouse, built in the 1750's, which now seems oddly stranded in the middle of a flat expanse of sand, as if the victim of it's own ironically careless voyage.

So far so idyllic, but then it was still before midday! We wandered across the sands toward the Lighthouse to check out something glinting in the sunlight up on the observation deck. There hasn't been a light there as long as I remember so it was worth checking out. It turned out to be what looks like a suit of armor, standing up against the railings, looking back landward. rather odd, presumably it hasn't been there long or it would be covered in rust? Being so close to the lighthouse, we walked around it carefully avoiding a deep pool on the perimeter closest to the sea. A large shaggy dog enthusiastically trotted my way before disappearing up to it's waist in a deep puddle. It bounded out and made straight for it's owners where it rigorously shook sloppy sand all over them to dry it's coat.

I was now lagging behind Jamie and my Mum, when suddenly the ground beneath me gave way. My right foot was engulfed by cold sloppy sand and the left continued to sink right up to my calf! I yelled for help, worried, as I could feel my right foot beginning to sink further, I would soon be buried knee deep. As Jamie ran toward me (laughing) I lunged forward and managed to free my right foot and somehow pulled my left leg free, only to take 3 giddy steps toward him and sink deeper still into the slop! This time my heroic right leg was the deepest and I could feel a pretty strong suction working on my left ankle. I had visions of other beach users puzzling over the glinting C3PO on the lighthouse tower just as we had done, and now the nearby sparkles of the sequins on my floaty top as I sank glamorously to my death nearby. Jamie managed to pull me free, thankfully - but just me, not my lovely Monsoon flip-flops, which gurgled down into the frigid sands with a few desperate bubbles, never to be worn again!

Jamie did make a brave stab at rescuing them but they were too deeply embedded and there was a risk of him going down with them. I had to weigh up my fondness for either my flip-flops or my nephew and Jamie narrowly won, so we gave up and headed off toward the sea. A very long way off on the horizon. That walk was horrible. My legs and accompanying leggings were encased in dark goo and the stretchy fabric was hardening under the sun. Every time we walked across sloppy sand I had visions of us as 3 talking heads, stranded, waiting for the tide to come in and drown us. The realisation that I have an active imagination in no way made up for those flip-flops!

Eventually we reached the sea, which was surprisingly warm, and cleaned off all the terrible gook in an instant. I felt pleasant of foot and stretchy (if cold) of legging again and set off back toward the dunes feeling happier, but still grieving for my departed footwear. By the time we neared the dunes it became obvious that Wales has been invaded early this year. Not even Easter but the incomers have already breached our borders, the hoards now pouring onto the beaches armed with lilos, buckets and spades and probably mobile phones, into which they could screech excitedly to each other over every fresh crab corpse found on the sand. Was there reception here - why hadn't I thought of my mobile while sinking into the icy sand? We were almost knocked flat by this onslaught.

As we neared the car park it became depressingly obvious that the Ka, previously standing lonely between two shallow moats, was now surrounded on 3 sides by other vehicles. The "puddle" in front of us was actually a very deep pond, murky and bottomless, into which Jamie began to sink when we sent him to test it. More worryingly, there was a set of tyre tracks entering from the left, but non exiting on the right? Was this the finally resting place of a 4x4 full of holidaying Mancunians eager for their first glimpse of the sea?

We weren't going anywhere. The car park was completely full and a twinkling stream of slow moving cars, bumper to bumper was heading down the narrow access road toward the dunes. The gap between the 2 erratically placed cars behind us narrowed alarmingly to exactly the width of the back bumper of my car, no extra room for wing mirrors! I measured it several times, with my bare, scratched and now once more gook covered feet. Still, I made a pointless attempt at reversing through this gap, only giving up when my wheels began to skid on the wet sand. We would just have to wait for the owners to return... except it was only nearing 1pm on a hot afternoon, not a cloud to be seen on the horizon and only the slimmest chance of a snowstorm (This is Wales after all) to bring the beach lovers back to their cars before Sun-Down!

So we walked over to the Holiday camp and it's accompanying gift shops and Chippy. I say walked, 2 of us did that and I limped behind, squealing and gurning at every sharp boulder, still in bare feet. The big upside of gift shops just behind beaches is that they sell very cheap gaudy footwear and I managed to pick up a pair of sandals with foam platforms so thick I felt like I was walking on two tiny trampolines, this was bliss after the barefoot trudge from the beach over shingle, sharply crushed shells and razor like dune grass to get to the hot sticky concrete pavements of the Holiday complex. We consumed chips and sugar based products for roughly an hour then headed back to the car through the dunes again, amazed that the stationary line of traffic pointing toward the beach car park. Talacre is a huge beach but the car park is large at best, it should have been obvious to passers by up on the coast road that there was no room left to park until quite a few cars actually left the beach, surely? When we got back to the Ka it dawned on me that it was now or never for us, as some brain-deads were now parking in the lanes between the other cars, so blocking any access or exit for anyone else. Sun doesn't always bring out the best in people.

There was one glimmer of hope, as a huge white van that had not been our neighbour before, was now parked next to my driver's door. It had obviously made it through the murky abyss in front of us and so we needed to seize this fading chance of escape before the last of the exit routes was blocked by some selfish parker. I pressed down hard on the accelerator, closed my eyes (some would feel this part was fool hardly but who wants to witness themselves drown?) and gunned forward before making a sharp left turn. I heard a loud and ominous splash, felt the car tilt freakishly downward and opened my eyes as a tidal wave of sandy water obliterated the windscreen. Just as suddenly, as my stomach lurched at the feeling of wheels locking in the slop below, the car tilted sharply back upward and sped out of the watery ravine, I just managed to hit the breaks, narrowly avoiding piling into the back of a 4x4 driven by a startled Husky!

Actually, the Husky was just a passenger in the back of the vehicle but my powers of observation were somewhat impaired by the instant euphoria of realising I would live! Happy happy joy joy! We followed the Husky, as other weary travellers, would no doubt, have followed a St Bernard in years gone by, and eventually, after a lot of shouting and swearing and angry arm gestures from the driver in front, we cleared a path and made it off the beach, away from the coast to safety. You can keep your seasides - Buckinghamshire, here I come!

Eeek!

2011-04-08T02:10:00.000-07:00

Matilda and I have a really eeeeky week ahead of us as we are relocating down to Buckinghamshire next weekend! So we've packed already, right? Noooo, of course not! And the relaxing spray I bought on-line to calm my car-sick kitty? That's arrived and been road tested on said up-tight feline? Noooo, of course not. By the end of the week I imagine I will be the one needing a relaxing spray to calm me down... or a big bottle of rum?

On the plus side... I have tweaked my doll-making pattern, the one that I created for The Frost Fairy, I've scaled it down a bit, made her slimmer and made the feet and hands smaller and more dainty. have cut out a few in calico and even stuffed one who is waiting to be button jointed before the move. Once I am settled, doll making will finally re-commence, watch this space ;o)

RIP Stoofy-poo

2011-04-01T07:26:00.001-07:00

Rest in Peace poor old Stoofer, caught mid yawn in the is photo from last summer or maybe the one before. He's been ill for a long time now and this morning was finally the end of it. He must have been 17 but we don't know exactly as he was someone else's cat before coming to live with us. Sadly out under the lawn among the daffodils now, but at least no more pain.

Phewwwww

2011-03-30T17:10:00.001-07:00

Phewwww, my following list has mysteriously returned! ;o)

More Blogger gremlins

2011-03-30T03:26:00.000-07:00

Anyone else log into Blogger today to find that they are "not following any blogs" today? Could have fooled me because I was following roughly 100 yesterday when I was last here!!!!

I hope this is just one of their temporary glitches, I don't want to have to find all of them again :o(

Treasury

2011-03-27T05:04:00.000-07:00

My Vampire Showgirl Irmalene has been included in a lovely treasury by CapeCottageDesigns, look here: here

Hairy moments

2011-03-21T17:56:00.000-07:00

Ok, so who hasn't dyed their hair at home and thought "what a waste of my precious time, I could be sat on the sofa watching TV right now" but you daren't because always, ALWAYS, that d*mn dye that is so busy not covering those stubborn "The Greys" does get busy dying your soft furnishings!

So obviously I learnt all about hair-dying mousse from Kate from Lost with joy in my heart. This is definitely the product for me, I thought, you glide it onto your hair and no drips and then you can wander round the house with no fear of Dalmationizing your sofa (dark dye spotting). And her hair always looked great didn't it? On that Island in the middle of nowhere with sand and crabs and a monster and stuff? Got to be good!

So I waltz down to the Chemist and whooaaa, must have known I was coming because they have an introductory offer so the dye is only as stupidly expensive as it used to be before it got REALLY stupidly expensive. Now I'm in the bathroom with the golf ball sized pouff of magic mousse in the palm of my hand, the anticipation is killing me, so I slap it on my roots and, errr, nothing, my hair isn't even wet, or coloured which is a bit confusing. So I keep applying balls of pouffiness here and there, wondering if I have covered everything, it seems to just evapourate INTO my hair on contact. Obviously I have had a long dark mane of sponges on top of my head all these years.

Nope, no colour change and all the dye has soaked straight into my obviously quite porous hair, leaving it dry but kind of crunchy. I am baffled and half an hour later my hair has just about begun to darken, here and there! It hasn't actually made The Greys go the rich chestnut brown I was expecting, it has just kind of subdued the contrast between them and the rest of my naturally brown hair, Huh? Eventually I decide to "wash it off" which is a bit surreal because I am trying to wash away not the dye (dissappeared on contact with my anti-matter hair) so much as the sound of crunchiness.

I dried it, it's shiny and the colour is just a subdued version of what I had before I started except The Greys are now more battleship than startling silver... I preferred the silver! I almost look like a black and white photo of myself, it's strange. I guess I will be reverting to glooppy, drippy, yukky wet dye again next time round.

Magical creatures

2011-03-20T04:48:00.000-07:00

I'm sure by now you all know of my love for BJDs, but I've always been immune to tinnies and anthros... well, I doubt there will ever be a tiny to melt my heart, they usually make me feel a little queasy, BUT, just look at these little anthro critters! They are so cute and have a real fairytale feel that is so missing in the Asian Anthro dolls (for me anyway). I love The Mushroom Peddlar and need to start saving again obviously! Check them out here

FINALLY!!!

2011-03-19T17:10:00.000-07:00

This is just Bl**dy ridiculous! After 24 hours etsy sign in suddenly accepted my usual password, having rejected it countless times during the day and last night. WHY? Why does it still reject the latest temporary password that etsy's own automated sign in service sent to me?

And the most annoying thing, the sign in no longer auto-fills and even if I check the "Keep me signed" in box, everytime I go back to etsy I have to manually type my user name/password despite them both being in my autofill and it being turned on... Gggrrrrr. All this in the same week that Photobucket - already one of the most annoying sites on the internet -decided it would only accept Facebook IDs as a log-in, so I am locked out of there too!

Yes, I do have a Facebook page but I hate the place and can't remember my password and never saved it as I don't intend to go back >:o(

Exiled from Etsy

2011-03-18T16:32:00.001-07:00

Feeling rather baffled and angry right now (and I was so happy only moments ago, but that's another story)... went to check my etsy shop and thought it a bit unusual that my Auto-fill wasn't signing me in. Hold on, etsy is rejecting my auto-fill password, but how can that be?

So I go through the process of requesting a new password, it send you an email with a link, you click that to prove who you are then they send you a set of numbers as your new password. So I type in the password and hey presto? Eeeer, No Presto! So I must have typed it in wrong? So I copy and paste the new password, still rejected. I went thought he whole process over and over but still no access to my own d*mn shop!

So eventually I figure there is something wrong with the new password and request another, same frustrating hooo-haaa all over again! Then I get angry and decide to complain to Esty Help, except of course I CAN'T unless I sign in!!!!!! DOH

Madalyn Update

2011-03-18T05:36:00.000-07:00

Hi, just a quick update on the Souldoll Madalyn Head Group Order. The DOA member organising the list of 50 will not be taking any money or organising delivery, she just has to present the list of contacts to Souldoll who will then cast 50 heads and deal direct with the people on the list.

So, you do not have to be a DOA member to join the GO! Yay! If anyone is interested please contact me (see my profile) and I will pass your info onto the GO Organiser. Madalyn's beautiful head could be ours soon! ;o)

Disgusting!

2011-03-17T16:23:00.000-07:00

I have to say this is one of the most disgusting and blatant cases of copyright and art theft I have ever seen. Korean BJD company Leeke or Leekeworld, have released a new doll called Mikhalia, a straight up no holds barred COPY of an original art doll by French BJD Artists Dust of Dolls. Leeke don't have a leg to stand on as they visited DoD's stall at a French Doll convention, last Autumn, and took many photos of their original doll, Puns, and exchanged business cards. Leeke now claim no knowledge of this, despite the fact that those photos can clearly be seen on the work table next to the early scuplts of their doll Mikhalia! Unbelieveable!

That's the last time I go browsing through Leeke's extensive wig collection! My BJDs will go bald if buying from them becomes the only option, at least until they withdraw that doll and give a full apaology to Dust of Dolls!

Dust of Dolls

Calling all Madalyn fans

2011-03-17T11:43:00.000-07:00

I don't know if I have any DOA member readers but thought it worth mentioning the Group Order for Souldoll's stunning new Madalyn head. Many of us have fallen hard for this sculpt but sadly Souldoll has no plans to make the head available separately, and the Zenith Girl body is one big lady!

Two DOA members have approached Souldoll and have been offered the chance to have a limited edition of just 50 heads produced, but we need 38 people more to reach that goal. You can choose either white or natural resin and will deal directly with Souldoll once the list of 50 is complete. This is the link if you are interested:

Madalyn

Amazing!

2011-03-13T05:19:00.000-07:00

Amazing photoshoot over at Haute Macabre, take a look...

Doll making dilemma

2011-02-21T05:59:00.001-08:00

Hhhmmm, so the New Year is off to a flying start as far as freelance work is concerned, have hardly looked up from the Mac. AFter being unable to earn money for so long last year after the injury, this is really good news.

When, like today, I finally get some time to myself (7 day working weeks are the norm right now) I just want to zone out and do absolutely nothing. Indeed that's what I have planned for today. I really need to concentrate on getting a new illustration folio together, that has to be my next spare time priority. So where does that leave the dolls? Definitely taking a back seat for now unfortunately. There is just no time.

Another dilemma is the fact that I am leaving North Wales to move back down to Buckinghamshire in April. I will possibly be house/cat sitting for friends and so will have to pack lightly. I am starting to realise that this isn't the best time to start trying to master making clay dolls or BJDs. It's hard shelving something I had so much enthusiasm for at the beginning of the year, but I just won't have the time.

I think I will be taking my sewing machine and a huge laundry bag filled with calico, fabrics and trims away with me and will stick with cloth dolls for the next 6 months until I move into my own space or simply have more free time to concentrate. I will use paper clay to model faces, feet and hands as usual, so will be more within my comfort zone. Then I feel I can pick up a doll and work on it when I have a spare hour.

Not sure why I'm rambling about this on my blog, just trying to get the plan straight in my head, and let any puzzled readers know why there are so few posts lately and no new dolls!

Mr Tixi Pickles

2011-02-09T02:48:00.000-08:00

Rather hilarious photo of Mr Tixi Pickles, taken by my nephew Jamie :o)

Ooops, sorry...

2011-01-30T08:39:00.000-08:00

Hi, huge apologies to everyone. I was intending to do a giveaway and take part in the last ever One World One Heart event this weekend but so many things are happening at the moment that I simply forgot and ran out of time to get stuff together. I have a vast amount of freelance work on, hence no more updates on the BJD for a while and I am also getting ready to move back down to Buckinghamshire in April. Lots to plan and do right now, it's a very exciting time for me :o)

New start

2011-01-25T04:28:00.000-08:00

Just thought I'd let you know, after the last post, that Visa have refunded my payment to Dollfair. I feel a huge weight has been lifted from my shoulders, I have also been finally sent a 7 month overdue invoice payment by an EX design client, Needless to say, I won't be working with them again, or shopping with Dollfair any time soon!

Feeling good today though, got back last night from a great weekend away with friends and feel up for anything right now. Have a mountain of freelance work to plow though (lunch time right now!) then back to doll making with a revengeance... YAY!!! :o)

Dollfair: A Warning

2011-01-11T04:26:00.001-08:00

I'm sure many of my readers (Hiya, wavey hand) are also BJD fans and even own a few. I'd just like to refer you to this website:

Dollfair Help Page

It has been set up by Nocturne of Silence from the Den of Angels BJD forum to warn people about just what they are letting themselves in for if they order a doll from the US BJD company "Dollfair" which also trades under the names of "Atelier Nouveau" and "Enchantment Doll" (Not to be confused with Marina Brychkova's Enchanted Doll!). The company also sells big names like Narin, Supia and Limhwa dolls, and you may not even be aware that the website you are buying from is actually Dollfair.

Why am I concerned, because I paid Dollfair in full for a beautiful "In Stock" Sleetwealth Briar doll on November the 1st, and like so many people involved my emails are either met with silence or strangely familiar excuses. I have twice been told that my doll is ready to be shipped and that I would receive a tracking number the next day, I receive nothing! People on DOA have been waiting for dolls/refunds as far back as February 2010.

Non of this reflects badly on Anita Collins the artist who created Sleetwealth Briar, she has told me that she is no longer associated with Dollfair at all and that they should not be selling her dolls anymore, or at least taking money for her dolls. This is a familiar story with many of the other artists involved. This is what Anita has to say on her blog:

Sleetwealth

I just want to warn people that dealing with this company is a bit like buying a lottery ticket, you may win, ie: get what you paid for, or you are just as likely to join the growing number of us who get nothing at all except a churning stomach and sleepless nights.

Snowy Morning

2011-01-07T10:05:00.000-08:00

Most of the time the snow has looked slushy, dirty and annoying. I woke to a fresh blanket of lovely crisp white this morning, makes you go "Aaaahhhhh, isn't it pretty" all over again... here are some views from the bedroom windows. needless to say, 8 hours later it has turned to slush as the rain came on!

BJD Making experiment 5

2011-01-06T14:38:00.000-08:00

Hhhmmmm... the Oasis flower arranging foam has it's uses, i love it as a form for sculpting and moulding into blocky substantial shapes which then get covered in paperclay... but have to admit failure when it comes to things like arms and legs. These thin spindly structures are apt to break long before I get the chance to cover them in Paperclay. I am also battling my natural inclination toward making things LARGE.

I can't help it. All the sculpture I produced in High school and on my Arts Foundation course were huge. My cloth dolls grow exponentially if I don't keep an eye on them. I've been thinking about this today and wonder why on earth I have decided to make an MSD sized BJD? Why try and master something hard and new then cobble myself with the size issue as well?

I think I am decided to finish off the doll experiments you see pictured (all started since Christmas) but I will re-start the BJD experiment as an SD (60cm) size doll from scratch. It makes more sense to work at a size I am more comfortable with and most of the resin Asian Ball jointed dolls in my collection are also SD size.

No-one said this would be plain sailing! :o)

Sorry, my pics came out terrible will post them tomorrow!

Yay! New Year, New start

2011-01-01T07:28:00.000-08:00

It's a whole new beginning here at Freaky Little Things. 12 months is a long time to be out of action. Throughout the year I started to make several dolls but gave up along the way for one reason or another and they have all been consigned to the bin along with the dolls I started but didn't finish at the latter end of 2009. The only dolls I have made and been happy with at all this year have been the articulated paper "Vampire Showgirls" and I hope to finish a set of Mucha inspired fairies for when the shop reopens later this month.

I have even wondered if I wanted to make Art Dolls at all anymore. Every time I lose faith though, there are two artists whose work I return to for inspiration, Dorote of "Tireless Artist" and Julien Martinez. Both have a unique vision and incredible attention to detail, their creativity matched by their technical skills. Basically, I look at their work in awe.

Thanks to both of you for unwittingly giving me the will to carry on striving to find my own style and make better dolls for 2011 :o)

2010 - Goodbye & Good Riddance!

2010-12-30T16:27:00.000-08:00

Tomorrow is another day, as Scarlett O'Hara would say, but Tomorrow is another year in this case... and I for one am so glad to see the back of 2010!

Why was my year so bad, well... I spent the first 3 months almost permanently confined to my bedroom by a ridiculous set of injuries and most of the first 5 months zonked out on heavy duty pain killers. I continued to be in great pain despite the infernal chemical cocktail, and also kind of confused and bewildered - yes, more so than usual. All in all the year did not get off to a great start... and then defied all my expectations by, not exactly going down hill, but continuing to plow that rancid furrow right up to a truly awful Christmas. I'm not even going to go there!

So, it all ends here right? Right?!!!! I'm not usually a great believer in mumbo jumbo, hell, New Year's Day is just a date on a calendar, but this evening, for the first time ever I am going to celebrate the passing of the last sorry 12 months with a big old smile on my face and a blinkered optimism in my heart: 2011, you've got to be a new beginning!

Happy New Year Everybody ;o)

Merry Christmas one and all!

2010-12-24T10:11:00.000-08:00

PS...

2010-12-22T10:31:00.000-08:00

Working in family rooms also means I get to experience the profound joy of cats in the doll making arena. This is how I come to have the image of close-up ginger furry face as the shock realisation he had just put his paw into a pot of PVA glue suddenly dawned on him. That resulted in one pot of PVA upside down on the rug and a crazy shaky leg dance from Tixi Pickle.

BJD Making experiment 4

2010-12-22T10:22:00.000-08:00

OK, so the torso and head are now covered in Paydur and ready for the LaDoll to be applied, yay! The not so great thing is that I am having to work in general family rooms right now because of the sub-zero temperatures (there are no radiators in my work room and the little electric heater just can't cope) and I found leaving the papydur to dry overnight wasn't great because once the fires go out the temp drops really quickly and the papydur just doesn't fully dry through. It was taking forever and being a pretty impatient sort by nature, I put the arms and legs on the radiator next morning...

DISASTER!!! My mum managed to knock on of the arms off and trod on it! This has since been repaired but twhat happened to the legs was worse! Some of you may have already guessed, because they are long and slim they bowed really atrociously... cue Captain Quint from Jaws singing "Here's to swimming with bow-legged women". I wondered if I could gently bend them back to a straight position, this went really well up until the moment that one snapped! The other is in the bin... guess I get to start again on the legs!

BJD Making experiment 3

2010-12-17T08:47:00.000-08:00

So, the good points of using the Oasis styrofoam as a modelling base:

* doesn't crumble
* easy to carve
* can be moulded with fingers

Not such great things about using it:

* it isn't very strong
* it isn't that easy to apply the Papydur to

I discovered after a bit of experimentation last night that I need to cover the foam shape with PVA glue (undiluted because otherwise it just soaks in) to seal the block first. It needs sealing because otherwise each new application of Papydur seems to lift off what you just applied. It also takes off a layer of green flocking!

Papydur is the powder version of paperclay that I bought from the EU and can't read the instructions on the pack! You mix it with water and once it dries even a thin layer is like rock. So I am using it as a base layer over my foam shapes. Once they are dry I will cover them with pre-mixed paperclay such as LaDoll. Took some terrible photos earlier (snowing again) so will post better ones tomorrow.

BJD Making experiment 2

2010-12-16T11:42:00.000-08:00

Here are the pics of last nights efforts. The sources I am refrring to are the Ryo Yoshida book and these two online sites:
Noah's Doll
Russian site

AS you can see, the foam has cracked a little here and there. I don't have any time to work on this tonight but tomorrow, before finishing the arms and legs I will coat the head and neck with PVA glue and a thin coat of Papydur to harden them. The head and torso are totally separate, I just stuck a pin in to compare sizes. More tomorrow :o)

BJD Making experiment 1

2010-12-15T15:49:00.000-08:00

OK, last night I drew up my perfect doll shape from the front back and both sides on the computer, because I was stressing about getting everything symmetrical and lined up and... you know, STRESSING! I'm making her MSD size, 16", about 43cm, but I have to say I was pretty shocked when I printed it all out, it seemed HUGE!

I bought styrofoam blocks yesterday, basically wet Oasis that you use for flower arranging. It's really great to carve and can be smoothed and modelled with you fingers to a certain extent. The dry Oasis is too crumbly in my experience (my experience with flowers anyway!). So I cut up the print outs: Head, torso, arms, legs and cut the Oasis into blocks that fitted the front/side views of each piece. Then I have carved away at the head and body blocks until I got the shapes I wanted and smoothes them over to give a nicely modelled look. I will photograph everything before I start tomorrow so you can see where I am at. :o)

BJD Making experiment

2010-12-14T13:15:00.000-08:00

I bought 2 big blocks of styrofoam earlier, to start carving out my first attempt at making a BJD! Whether the results are great or terrible, I will be reporting my efforts here as and when I make progress. I guess this is going to be a steep learning curve, wish me luck!!! :o)

Christmassy Treasury

2010-12-13T14:01:00.000-08:00

Another fantastic treasury, this time by Skunk Hollow: http://www.etsy.com/treasury/4d065d1772988eef15adb37a/its-a-rag-time-christmas... Irmalene got to be in such cute company :o)

Cornucopia of paper dollies

2010-12-11T14:18:00.000-08:00

My Griselda the Vampire Showgirl paper doll made it into a lovely treasury of paper dolls by Rockpapertekla, take a peep:

http://www.etsy.com/treasury/4d033f8151d56d91ac9a6804/my-name-is-not-barbie

making dolls again

2010-12-09T14:54:00.000-08:00

So annoying that I have finished 2 dolls over the past few days and can't show you photos of either of them as they have been sent away as Christmas presents! But, yay!!! back making dolls again ;o)

2010-12-06T09:21:00.001-08:00

Big thank you to Onewithwings for including my Rococo Macabre paper doll in her collection of Buxom Beauties, see them all here: http://www.etsy.com/treasury/4cfcfd6391156d91aa3078d1/the-bustle-burlesque?index=0

November Mini Monthly Challenge

2010-11-23T15:45:00.000-08:00

The Mini-Monthly challenges often really appeal to me, but who has the time to make a whole doll in a month. Let's face it, in my current state one a year is about right! November's challenge is Medium Mayhem, which is basically about making a doll in a way you have never done before. I'm all about paper-clay over cloth these days (or I was when I still was able to make dolls!) and so I decided to try just paperclay over a wire armature and some polyballs. This is the rather hilarious result...

Not finished by a long way but at least I am enjoying it, sort of. I feel as though I should have some anatomy books out in front of me or at least be attempting to do something realistic, but with December fast approaching I decided that speed outweighed style and just went for it!. One day I will have a go at really sculpting a doll, maybe even a bjd, but, errrrr, this isn't it ;o)

Another amazing French artist...

2010-11-07T05:58:00.000-08:00

Benjamin Lacombe, his blog is full of lovely things, including his latest doll, The Widow.

Find him at:http://benjaminlacombe.hautetfort.com/

Enchanted Chateau

2010-11-04T04:11:00.000-07:00

Wow, I love this French woman's work but she has outdone herself with this beautiful doll's house (she even provides the "dolls" - very magical!

http://merveillesenpapier.typepad.fr/merveillesenpapier/

Rococo Macabre

2010-10-19T15:07:00.000-07:00

Here is my latest Vampire Showgirl Paper Art Doll... Gotta love those Rococo wigs! A friend has just informed me that the crossed scissors on her shoes mean she's a lovely lady lesbian Vampire. Who knows what these naughty showgirls get up to? In the shop tomorrow :o)

Free Altered Art Witch Paper Doll!!!

2010-10-16T05:27:00.000-07:00

I'm putting 3 new paper art dolls in the shop this afternoon. There's Griselda, another spooky stunner from the Vampire Showgirl Chorus line, Demelza, a 16th century witch and Ludmilla, here, who you can also get free as a PDF by signing up for my Freaky Little Things Newsletters! You will recieve the doll as a PDF attachment which you can print out onto card, cut out the pieces, attach the limbs with brads and hey presto, you have a cute Witch to hang or stand in a display. Alternatively you could just frame your print out :o)

All you need to do is sign up at the website (www.freakylittlethings.com) or simply email me at freaky.littlethings@virgin.net and mark your message "newsletter". I will begin sending these out to existing Newsletter Subscribers (it's the first one this year... eeek!) tomorrow, and the offer lasts until the 31st of October :o)

Thanks Blogger... NOT!!!

2010-10-16T05:17:00.000-07:00

Great, it seems you can have one of their dull as ditch water templates and all your widgets and extras OR, the old style customizable 3rd party template with NO gadgets, widgets or whatever... Cheers Blogger! If anyone has figured out how to put a customized template up instead of the dull ones supplied and not lose all your widgets, please let me know how you achieved it, you cunning Alchemist, you!

Blogger blues

2010-10-11T16:29:00.000-07:00

How fantastic, I tried out the new Blogger templates just to see what they are like (pretty lame as usual) and then decided to go back to the old style "classic" template because I want to use an Itkupilli background, so dear old blogger has wiped all my links all my widgets, everything! Thanks a bunch!!! And even worse I can't add them back if I want to continue using this Minima template because you no longer have access to ADd a Gadget and all that unless you use one of the new templates... if you use one of the new templates, you can't use your own choice of template!!!! It loads in, but only displays from halfway down the page!

Bl**dy annoying >;o+

Ooops. another Vampire Showgirl

2010-10-08T09:19:00.000-07:00

Ooops - forgot to include Wilhelmina!

Vampire Showgirls - New Paper Art Dolls in shop

2010-10-08T09:09:00.000-07:00

Meet Irmalene and Wilhelmina, two lovely show girls from the Chorus line of Weirdly Nightshade's "Theatre Macabre", they are dying to entertain you!

Big ankle-Big decision!

2010-10-01T07:43:00.000-07:00

Ggggrrrr.... have come to a big decision - after spending about 15 minutes at the sewing machine last night... I'm going to have to mothball any cloth doll making for a while longer until my D*mned Ankle FINALLY heals. It's been 10 months, still no actual diagnosis from anyone, and a small amount of time on the sewing machine foot peddle causes pain and huge swelling in said annoying extremity. My ankle looks like a balloon today! Just the one!!!

I can't get on the boots I was wearing yesterday, well, the left foot is fine of course and has a full wardrobe of shoes, boots, heels at it's disposal but old Righty is malignantly demanding I stick to the one pair of rather gamey unlaced trainers. In my wilder moments believe me, I HAVE considered wearing a nice shoe with heel on the left and the trainer on the right but I sound like Long John Silver when I approach, and, the look isn't so hot either!

So fed up with this! But fear not, I haven't been idle, my tiny brain has gone into Paper Doll over drive and I've made 2 Altered Art witch Paper Dolls since this morning and more on the way. I've got allsorts of mad ideas about paper engineered theatres and sets plus little figures, both original artwork by me and altered vintage elements. Having great fun and once the supplies I've ordered online get delivered I should be stocking up the shop ready for the Holiday season. I think the brads and thick card will be here early next week so new items will be filtering into the shop from then on. Oh, and if you remember my old prints from last year, some old friends are getting a reworking and will be available as postcard sets, including the still requested Mighty Boosh illustration :o)

Nosdalia the Vampire

2010-09-26T07:34:00.000-07:00

My 2 witches are almost finished and will hopefully be listed later in the week if it remains quiet on the Freelance front (almost the whole weekend off, unheard of!) but here are the sketches for my candlestick Vampire Nosdalia... funny name addmitedly, Nos Da means goodnight in Welsh and I thought it sounded nice!?! She has the candlestick base that I was initially using for the disastrous Burlesque Challenge doll from earlier this year (The rest of her is in the bin!) and the only paperclay torso to escape Fridays cull!

I got to thinking about how those side hoops under Tudor/Rococo gowns are called panniers because they resemble upside down baskets, well a pannier is also a basket you carry food around in... and in Elizabethan times women often wore posies and oranges hung from ribbons tied to those panniers to scent under their skirts. Obviously my mind turned to food, as it so often does, and I figure a Vampire would probably suspend snacks under her panniers, bits of bone with some juicy flesh still attached, a mouse corpse appetiser, the odd skull maybe? We shall see... :o)

Change of heart

2010-09-23T08:53:00.000-07:00

Creativity is such a weird thing. I was all raring to make dolls yesterday and then hit the enormous "messy room" obstacle and remembered that earlier this year, when I was first up and about again, that I cleared out my entire fabric stockpile. I reduced it down to two huge plastic stack boxes with 4 drawers each, ram packed with fabric I can't bear to part with. Before that it was everywhere in bags and boxes and piles and all over the bottom of the wardrobe.

I congratulated myself heartily and decided that the trims and ribbon stash would be next (I imagine just untangling them will take an hour or two!) but then of course the freelance work started to come back in and I never got round to it. In between freelancing a whole 6 months of accounts and book keeping needed catching up with (Joy, my FAVOURITE....NOT!!!!) and that all got left in piles on the floor around the sewing desk... you know... those special piles, receipts in one, invoices in another, bank statements here, Sales records there... you know those piles?

The same piles that return to their original disarray when excitable kitties chase spiders into the middle of them? The same piles that sometime blow away under the filing cabinet when you retrieve said Kitty? If the Tax Man decides to audit me he may have to scrape flattened spider squish from a few of those records, but, hey ho! Well, this afternoon I found a bag full of plastic wallets with months written on then and finally sorted the "piles" into something workable and filed them all away... Hurrah!

Anyhoooo, by this time the desk was almost accessible, just the ton of tangled junk ON it to sort through. That has now been "sorted" into, you've guessed it... piles on the floor! Will I never learn? During this arduous process I came across the mangled bodies of several Art Dolls that I have started work on during the year... great you think... wrong. It's what I mean about Creativity. Since I started these dolls all those months ago during my bed confined months my head has travelled elsewhere and these creatures no longer relate to me somehow.

I've stared at them long and hard and know this isn't what I want to do. Freaky Little Things has to get back on track and I need to start afresh somehow. I get such a buzz from the paper dolls I'm making (when I get the chance) and so tomorrow,when the room is finally ready for business, I need to start on totally NEW dolls. Only 2 Witches that are almost finished remain, all the others have gone in a bin bag! Watch this space...

Making dolls again

2010-09-22T11:30:00.000-07:00

Yay!!! Came to a halt in my design work earlier so decided to spend the afternoon making dolls (shock horror, I know, who's have thought!!!) so grabbed the two most nearly complete gals from my sewing desk and took them downstairs to get some fabric paints and acrylics applied to the bare Calico... that took all of an hour... now I have to leave them to dry out... grrrr! I hate waiting. I'm usually best with lots of dolls at different stages but this year has been such a wash out.

I found two head/torso dolls that I need to sew limbs for and skipped (metaphorically of course, that really would finish my ankle off!) over to the sewing desk.... well... as close as I can get to the sewing desk through the clutter. Harrummph! So, before I can do anymore doll making I really need to clear up around here and excavate the desk and find the lead for the sewing machine.

Am I in the mood to tidy up right now? NO, of course not! >:o(

Tattered but not boring!

2010-09-20T03:28:00.000-07:00

You know me, big fan of all things quirky... I found a newish shop Tattered Moon on etsy and really like the dolls. They often have wings made from old gloves, I like! :o)

Miss Rosie in the shop

2010-09-19T05:12:00.000-07:00

Sadly I have decided to put Miss Rosie Pimlico up for sale. Most of the other TDP participating artists are keeping their dolls but as she is the only finished doll I have managed to have a hand in this year... we have to part! Catch up on all the artists involved and take a retrospective trip with all the Travelling dolls at: http://adotravelingdollproject.blogspot.com/

Shop reopened

2010-09-18T03:25:00.000-07:00

Ok, so it turns out that my shop reopening doesn't really warrant a ticker tape parade or fireworks, but at least I have a new logo! I've been so snowed under with design work (that's a GOOD thing of course!) lately that I have had no chance to finish off any new dolls yet (a few are not far off though) and so the shop will gradually fill up as I get a chance to work on things between now and the end of October. I have some Vampires and Witches on the way, as well as some patterns, so check back occasionally to see the new stuff :o)

Fat is a Forty-something issue!

2010-09-13T09:57:00.000-07:00

OK, flabby little hands up, I've put on 3 stone since Christmas after my mystery injury kept me off my feet for so long. In my defence, I defy anyone to be in constant intense pain, unable to move in a non-central heated house through one of the coldest Winters on record, to NOT get a bit down and turn to the munchies for comfort... and that extra thick layer of flab was bl**dy good insulation let me tell you! It works for Seals doesn't it?

So, I am doing physio now, I joined Weight Watchers, I am trying reasonably hard to lose some of those porky pounds. Slowly they are going, I wasn't fat before this so why shouldn't I get back into my favourite clothes by Christmas? But what doesn't help is when you go to the Doctors and have to defend yourself about why you aren't losing it faster. I mentioned the fact that I would lose a lot more, a lot quicker if my ankle wasn't still so bad, and got a lecture about how the only way to get better is to exercise! Then I mentioned the fact that the physio was quite alarmed at just how quickly and badly my ankle swells whenever I do certain movements, how she advised to keep the leg up with an ice pack on whenever my ankle does that... the Doc just went, "Oh, yeah, actually there is quite a fine balancing act between good exercise and making things worse".... Great!

Then I waddled my porky little self over to the dispensing chemist with a big black cloud over my head and got asked if I minded filling out some questionaire about Diabetes risk? I think I have very little risk of such so thought, yeah, what the hell, while I wait for my Migraine pills. That involved being weighed, having my waist measurement taken and my height charted... they confirmed that I am very low risk of diabetes BUT then cheerfully pointed out that I am roughly 3 stone over my ideal weight and at my age I really should think about an exercise programme and perhaps dieting... ggggrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr!!!!!!!!!!!!

She even asked if the "menopause" (that word has to be whispered in public places by ladies of a certain disposition I have noticed) was the cause, I quite curtly pointed out that NO: I'm fine for hormones right now thanks, and she said, with a dramatic roll of the eyes "Ohhhh, you have all that to come yet". I wandered home lonely as a clown (or whatever Wordsworth was banging on about) and felt like crawling back into bed and pulling the duvet over my head... or eating a huge bar of Cadburys :o(

Travis Louie

2010-09-09T15:02:00.000-07:00

I am notoriously camera shy, always have been and was recently told off by a friend for posting this pic of dear old Bette Davies on a dating website next to my profile (well, I thought it would sort the men from the boys, so to speak... tee hee)...

A friend in the States just asked me what I look like and I have forwarded this beautiful portrait "Molly Bad Hair" by the amazingly talented Travis Louie, ok, so it's not actually a portrait of me, but it SHOULD be, look what he says about her: "Some say she was from Yorkshire, . . . but she was really from Wales. She was blamed for all the bad hair in that region. In 1897, she was forced to leave her country on a steam boat bound for New York. By the time the ship had reached the harbor, all of the passengers on board had acquired her " Bad Hair" They were not amused."

I have REALLY BAD HAIR right now too!

Guerilla Craft Club

2010-09-05T04:51:00.000-07:00

Wish I wasn't so far away or I would definitely want to be part of this!

"When: Friday, September 10, 2010 from 8:30 - 11:30 p.m.

Where: Orford House Social Club, 73 Orford Road, Walthamstowe Village, London, E17 9QR. Map.

How: Entry is £3 on the door and a small fee is charged per craft pack to cover the costs of materials. Closest station is Walthamstowe Central, accessible from the Victoria line, National Rail (from Liverpool Street) or by bus.

Who: Seasoned and novice crafters alike. We hope to inspire you into into making and doing, but if you're no good with your hands, use your feet instead!

What to Bring: Yourself, your friends, your dancing shoes and a good dose of creativity."

I borrowed the pics and text from Esty to tell you about it: "On the evening itself there will be a selection of ready-to-make craft packs created especially for the event, and tutors will be on hand to guide you through projects while DJ (and graphic designer) Jake Holloway spins some beats to get you in the making mood.

Whether you're craftily gifted or not, you can also enjoy a burlesque performance with Raymonde Cook, great live music courtesy of The Obscuritones, and learn a move or two at the free Lindy Hop dance workshop with the talented Jerome Anderson."

So, if you are "Darn Sarf" get yourself along, I'll be there in spirit ;o)

Slimmer

2010-08-21T14:17:00.000-07:00

Hey, look at the Doomsday Diet chart on the left there... someone is feeling pretty smug right now. Couldn't believe the dial on the scales would ever budge! Yay, I've upped my goal to 10 stone now which was my weight before all the arthritis problems kicked in about 3 years ago... I felt fat then as I have spent most my adult life around 9 and a half... how times change!