Catching Up

Are you there Blogland...it's me, Jemjoop!

Hello, hello I confess that it has been 23 days since my last post. I got a job! And I missed you all!

So...I don't even have any recent pictures on my computer from August at all. I'm not even sure where my camera is, which has never happened before. Above is a thatched wooden Michael's Craft Store house that I made into a little Irish cottage for my good friend's cough40thcough birthday. I love that little handmade silver horseshoe on the door. My grandpa always had one of those hanging up in his garage for luck. He wasn't Irish, he was born in Scotland, but he did have a horse so half a point for him.

There is some catching up to do on all of your blogs, I have Flickr updates from a lot of you dating back to August 11th, not to mention the housework and library books piling up around the place. There may be some speed reading since everything is probably at maximum renewal time. I am even missing all of my favorite shows like Flipping Out, Top Chef, and Project Runway :O( waaahhh.

But, I had some very-very-very lucky news in the first week of August. After four months of job searching everywhere I got a call out of the blue that a local recruiter found my resume on monster.com (quick, put your resumes on monster.com) and they had a couple of positions that I might like to consider. One of them was...working from home. Yes, sold, thank you. They found that I had been a transcriptionist at several jobs previously, but the job I am doing is editing medical reports. But they don't call it editing they call it QA...so I am QA'g So I have been training in-house at a local firm for the last 3 weeks from 7:00 to 3:30 then racing like a crazy person. Cue emergency search for babysitter, manic clothes shopping for professional stuffs, crazy house cleaning, frantic house planning dinners-laundry-groceries-schedules-argh! and that's where I have been. I was home for 8 years raising boys so it was a bit all-change, but I'm getting back into the swing of things. I bought this rose-covered yummy lunch sack from Etsy's SandraKay :



And these were a mouse-clicking necessity from ArtFire's Casual Cottage :





Friday is my LAST day of in-house training (yay!) and on Monday I start working 4:00 a.m. to 12:00 noon shift from home. They originally hired me for the 11:00 p.m. to 7:00 a.m. graveyard 3rd shift, but thank goodness they changed their minds because I'm definitely a morning person and didn't quite know how I was going to manage staying up all night. Isn't it strange to have a proper shift when you work from home, but it's a 24-hour turnaround on these reports and they have everyone set up for specific hours. So if you felt like sleeping in and starting your shift late, it would mess up everyone else and you would get into deep doo doo and probably get yourself a stern talking to.

Have you all been rushing around like mad people too? Getting children off to first-day-of school, and supply shopping, and tired children not waking up early very easily because they are too tanned and lazy from summer lounging and just 5 more minutes mom...

xo

Kim Has Issued a Challenge

A Challenge has been put forth by Miniaturist extraordinaire, Kim Saulter. She blogs at It's A Miniature Life
1. open the 4th file where you store your photos...
2. pick out the 4th photo & publish it to your blog...
3. explain a bit about it...
4. pass this challenge to 4 other blogs....

So here is the photo from my 4th picture file 4th picture. Dated 4/28/09 it's baby boy goodies from the Etsy Virtual Baby Shower in January 2009 when Olly was just 1 month old. And, apparently, a good time to develop January photos is in April o_0. These were all made by a lovely Etsy seller called Little Mamas

I blogged about the Shower here too:


Luckily this picture is in focus, cropped, and Etsy related. Wasn't sure what was going to show up; could have been a tree, could have been little one taking pictures of people's feet again. Bit of a pot luck on my hard drive.

Now I need to pass this challenge on to 4 other blog friends.....
Cathy at The Fabulous Farmhouse

Julie at Pieceful Bits

Kathy at Vintage Catnip

Jody at Shabby N Chic

What will you turn up, it's kind of fun. Passing it along to you guys now. Thanks Kim!

What's Blooming...

BJD

Littlefee "Flora" http://featherfall.ca http://dollfairyland.com

Well, like I needed a new hobby in my life...but I seem to have found one.

Dolls, surprisingly, haven't really been an interest of mine even though I'm a miniaturist. Mainly I specialize in furniture and accessories as houses in general are a real passion of mine. I took a few miniature doll classes but never really got that doll bug.

Then this past February, my wonderful friend Kim was downsizing her Blythe collection and was extremely (extremely) kind in sending two my way (thanks Kim!), a Pow Wow Poncho and an I Love You It's True. So I have been having much fun ever since customizing their faces and outfitting them from Etsy and eBay. My husband then bought me a lilac-haired Prima Dolly Violetina in March that I had been drooling over, that one was customised by Tam at http://dollymolly.etsy.com


Soooooo, last Saturday I took these three Blythe girls of mine and went to a doll meetup in Madison, Wisconsin that was a semi-Blythe/BJD group called Dairyland BJD. Members from IL & WI get together a few times during the year and this was the summer meetup. It was potluck so everyone brought a dish to share. The dolls were set up at various tables and there were also sale tables where you could buy or trade doll items. My favorite were the three panel discussions: How to Restring a Doll, History of Dolls, and Making Doll Clothing. They were mostly Dollfie; Super Dollfie (SD) and Miniature Super Dollfie (MSD) and various other smaller types.


Ball Jointed Dolls (BJD) have moveable neck, elbow, wrist, waist, knee, and foot joints and are interesting because they can hold poses and artists are making them quite realistic. Inside their bodies are elastic bands and some can even stand on one foot. Great for photographs. I won't post individual dolls from the show as the owners might take copyright issue, but there are some pictures above from various BJD supply websites. You could also search BJD, SD, or Dollfie on Flickr.

Soul Doll SD "Gisele" http://denverdoll.com

They were amazing at the show, they measure from 70 cm (2.5') down to 17 cm (8.5") and included individual faceups, clothing, tattoos, wigs, custom eyes, etc. The sky is the limit. One of the members also made a likeness of Johnny Depp and another is working on a Cate Blanchett doll. There was an exact replica in style and costume of Mary Tudor and Ann Boleyn. People are really so talented.

S&G SD Elf "Afta" http://denverdoll.com

So I'll be mulling this one over and looking around at bodies, heads, and various body parts and don't be surprised if a BJD pops up on the sidebar under those three super cute Blythe girls. Fair warning :O)

Any other BJD fans out there in blogland?

New Flower Jugs 1/12 & 1/24

Just added to the
shop

Skull Domes, Floo Powder, & Witchy Tags

1/12 Miniature aged plastic skull domes for your Harry Potter or Halloween setting. Just two of these made and each are slightly different. Just added to the shop



1/12 scale miniature 1/2" wide pot of Floo Powder for your fireplace "Diagonally!"



Witchy Hat Tags

Professor Filius Flitwick, Charms Teacher at Hogwarts

A few years back I attempted a handmade 1/12 doll and chose Filius Flitwick, Harry Potter's Charms teacher..."wingardium leviosa" and the feather lesson from the first film. I had the pleasure of taking a Rik Pierce class called Tanglewood and thought Professor Flitwick's classroom would be an interesting scene to build. His classroom is still in the works but he's all ready to report for lessons this Autumn when term starts.

We're all excited here about Half Blood Prince being released this week so in honor of the new film I'm posting little Professor Flitwick.

Miss Sally World, an incredibly talented UK artist, made the head and hands from the still movie pictures and I made the body and dressed him. He's got small clay shoes and a fancy vest with tiny golden bead buttons. His wand is a regular old toothpick, shaped and painted, and Sally kindly molded his hand just so he could hold it.

Have a magical week :O)

Edit: This is the Tanglewood room box


and the interior is on my webshots (can't seem to copy it over full size)

Halloweeny Treats

Spooky Trick or Treat Tags




Witchy Broom Hilda Tags

Recently added to the Etsy shop!

What's Blooming

Paris Etsy Treasury

Haven't made an Etsy Treasury in a little while, and it took me most of yesterday just to snag a spot! It's called
quiet paris afternoon and I couldn't help sneaking in a pretty Blythe doll.


How exciting, it made the Front Page of Etsy about 5:00 a.m. EST on July 4th

Thanks Etsy and congratulations to all of the artists!

Mini Tips

Simple, but ingenius. This is a little tip shared by Ladybug Sue Thwaite. I was privileged to take her Baby House class when we were living in England. She was over there for Miniatura . The class was 1/90th and involved lots of tiny tinies that had to be glued, painted, and otherwise manipulated so she provided us with sticks and blue tack. Very useful, and you can just rework the sticky tack when it gets too messy or painted. Just flip it over and re-use. Sue has a million great ideas.

Another tip for getting around little edges and corners is to use small emery boards. Even better when you cut the boards in half or thirds to get right in there. These were on display near the checkout of our old "chemist" and it occured to me, while waiting for a prescription, that these would be a little bit better than using just a folded piece of sandpaper. Somewhat easier on the hands if you've got a lot of work area, because the card backing provides structure.

The Great American Dollhouse Museum

The Great American Dollhouse Museum is now open and is located at 344 Swope Avenue in Danville, Kentucky 40422

Hours: Tuesday through Saturday 11:00-5:00
Closed Sunday and Monday

Admission: $7.00 adults; $5.00 children 2-12

6,000 sq. ft. of artisan quality miniatures, sounds like an amazing place to visit. Hundreds of historically accurate houses, educational classrooms, a hands-on playroom for the little ones, and a gift shop for all budgets make this an inviting family trip. (Not to mention the fact that it is blessedly air-conditioned.) Sure makes me want to load up the car and head over there.

Also, check out "Get Involved" section for dollhouse builder and seamstress volunteering.

Follow Lori on Twitter: http://twitter.com/DollhouseMuseum

Halloween Spooky Witch Dresser

Yes, it's still June. It's probably the nature of miniatures to think ahead in terms of holidays and I've got Halloween on the brain for the last couple of weeks. I had great plans for Halloween miniatures last year in the run up to Autumn & Christmas. We had just gotten a hard-won Dolls & Miniatures category at Etsy and all systems were go. But best laid plans and all that. I ended up on bedrest for little Olly and made very little for either holiday. I'm going to make all that great stuff for this year instead.

In the meantime, this 1/12 Spooky Witch Dresser (sold on ebay) was a real hoot to make back in 2006. There were all sorts of goodies crammed in every which way on shelves and behind doors. Witchy poo's stripey socks have been washed and hung up to dry, and she's got a permanent lager tap in one of her cupboards. Burp! Her multi-colored spellmaking candles line the shelves and she's baked a cake full of eye of newt. There is a skeletal hand holding a poisoned apple, jam jars filled with all manner of things you shouldn't be preserving, and behind one of those cupboard doors is actually the mummified remains of a postman skeleton still dressed in all his finery and clutching his little leather bag. We never did find out what he did to make her so cross. Enjoy! :O)

Lazy Sunday

Artful Penpals - Reviving the Lost Art of Letter Writing

I just signed up to Artful Penpals - Reviving the Lost Art of Letter Writing

Shelagh from Alice in Paris has organized this International one-time event for people that miss the bygone days of receiving a personal, handwritten letter and sending one in return. If it proves popular, she'll make it ongoing. Forty seven people have signed up so far. All you have to do is send a handwritten letter that you would be happy to receive; pretty stationery, drawings in the margins, quirky stories, whatever floats your boat. I think it's a great idea. I haven't had a penpal since the 6th grade when I got one out of the back of a Dynamite! magazine.

Hurry sign up ends June 14th at midnight (letters to be mailed by June 28th)!