Retail Therapy

    It's been a rough several months. I've definitely had to do some dressmaking

And I've possibly brought home more Disney Princess dolls than was strictly necessary...

they were on clearance?

...but when even the packaging is fun to play with, who can blame me?

   But of course, when you buy more dolls, they demand more accessories! Thank goodness TinyFrockShop was there for me in my hour of need.

I made the skirt, TinyFrockShop provided the rest of the ensemble

I've had my eye on this necklace for months!

A few impulse buys of course

It's metal! It's about time my dolls had a smartphone

I couldn't resist this jewelry set

But I was going on vacation, and that meant that Regina wanted a swimsuit of her own. Out came the fabric and sewing kit again!

I had never made a doll swimsuit (or any swimsuit!) before! It is made from the fabric of an old swimsuit that is far too small for anyone living here, so I found it fitting to turn it into a doll suit. Super stylish and perfect for her!

But then while I was on the trip, I made the mistake of going to a bulk goodwill. Those places are so horrifying, but I found a few treasures, including a couple of dolls. One was a GI Joe that is a double for one I already have. Another was a blonde lady with frizzy hair who just needed to come home with me! Into my bag she went and for only a few pennies! She has now been washed and had her hair styled back to perfection.

When I returned home, there was a package waiting for me. I had forgotten that I had ordered a few more dolls...and one was eager to be out and about!

The new ladies seem to be making friends. There is one more new lady who is nowhere to be seen. Hmm, who could it be?

I really think it is going to be a slow doll year for me, but I would love to get one of the new yoga curvies! Eeee! If only! (but there are also some really cute fashionistas too...hmm but I need to save for a doll shelf...this hobby is dangerous!)

Story: Leaving Is The Hardest Part

    Regina heard Henry's feet clomping around upstairs; amazing how much noise a small child could make early in the morning. She almost smiled, but her face caught on a sudden wave of anxiety. This was the last time she'd be hearing his racket for two weeks! She quickly finished tying on the new swimsuit that she was trying out for the conference/mandatory work retreat.

    A strange object appeared in her doorway, followed by a tiny face and a much less tiny voice.

    "Mom...I brought you my pool noodle. The hotel will have a pool, right?" Henry looked up at her excitedly, "You can play with your friends from work!"

    Regina blinked at him, startled, "Oh...that's...very thoughtful, Henry...but I don't think they will let me bring a pool noodle on the airplane."

   Henry looked crestfallen, so Regina changed the subject, "Okay, dear, maybe they will have pool noodles at the resort? Anyhow, let's get you ready for kindergarten. Remember, you're going to stay with Granny afterward so be sure to pack your toothbrush into the bag I set out."

   "Granny! Yay!" Henry dropped the pool noodle and dashed off, leaving Regina sighing at the long foam tube on the floor, "Henry!" But while she would usually scold him for leaving things lying around, she picked it up herself this time. It really was sweet of him to think of her and wish her to have fun on her trip.

    After chasing down errant shoes and finally getting the correct toothbrush into the correct bag, Regina and Henry made it to kindergarten.

    "Regina, Henry, welcome. Go ahead and join the other children on the playground, Henry. We'll go inside in ten minutes."

    "Miss Frye, guess what? My mom is going to fly!"
    "Wow! Like a bird?"
    "No, like an airplane! And I won't see her again for a really long time!"

"Bye, Mom I love you."

"PLAYGROUND!"

"Hi, Henry! We're playing 'animals'! Want to come slide?"

"Don't worry, Ms. Mills, I'll make sure he is safe at school, and I'm sure he will be quite safe with his Granny."

   Regina nodded, but glanced back, "Of course, but I'm a mother. I'm going to worry anyway."

She watched Henry play with his friends for a moment longer, trying to reassure herself that leaving was perfectly fine. He was so young! But he was in safe hands with Granny and Miss Frye and the rest of her town friends and family. 

    Regina tried not to worry as she finished packing. 

She tried not to text Henry, Granny, and every single person in town as she waited for her flight. 

She tried not to wonder what Henry was doing during the entire 8 hour plane ride...

   ...but of course, that is exactly what she did! 

Hot Toys Star Lord

This post was suggested by the lovely Ms Treesa of Fashion Doll Memoirs. Thank you! I'm so sorry I didn't have time to thoroughly test all the bits and pieces, but this should give you an idea. I hope that I'll have the opportunity to show him off better in the future! 

    I love Guardians of the Galaxy, and last year, I fell deeply into the hype for the new movie. So much so, that I pre-ordered my very first Hot Toys figure, Star Lord! He is the Deluxe Volume 2 version, and he comes with many, many amazing accessories. Everything is so tiny and detailed! Even his box is thoughtfully planned out with a retro cassette player look. His stand is nice and sturdy, and has his name printed on it.

What first struck me about this figure is how fun he is to pose! (once I got over being afraid to touch him) He looks so awesome both in pictures and standing on my shelf! I was worried when I bought him that his face would not be as nice as the prototype, but he is actually a pretty good likeness to the actor in my opinion. Though I wouldn't mind if he had a bit more of a smirk, at the right angle and lighting, it works for me.

     He comes with a little Baby Groot buddy who can magnetically perch on his shoulder, or who also has a little rock stand/display of his own.

 

And then there's the accessories...this man has so many accessories!

Need a hand?

A tiny scarf and Awesome Mix

Helmet heads (one is activating/deactivating. The other lights up when the batteries are in)

Maroon top and jet pack

    And of course this beautiful thing (maybe I'm biased because I love long leather trenches):
   

    Both of the "leather" coats have wire in the edges so that they can be posed dramatically whooshing back in action scenes. I didn't want to open the trench up too much since I was packing everything away again, but it does fold out quite a bit. I've heard some other Hot Toys Star Lord owners say that the little metal bits attached to the coats are fragile and prone to falling off, so I handled them like centuries-old antiques, but I feel like I'm pretty capable of fixing anything as long as nothing gets lost. Which is good because...

Not the headphones!

    Poor Peter! Ugh I hate when that happens to my favorite pair, and it's impossible to find a Radio Shack on Earth, let alone in outer space!  Luckily, they're not actually broken, per se, they just sort of fell apart. I think I can dab a teeny bit of glue on and solve the problem. In the meantime, he'll just have to cope.

"That's ok, I've still got the moves!" 

Also, his tiny Walkman is nothing short of adorable.
 

    As my other hobby is costuming, and as I own many of the items he is wearing in full-scale, it amuses me so much to see teeny-tiny versions. Someday, I should do a photo comparison with the tiny versions sitting on the big ones! Mostly, though, I'm jealous of how perfect everything is!

These are 1/6th scale HOW. JUST HOW.

In comparison, this is my full-scale spat replica that I handmade from leather.

Back detail on the shorter jacket

Detail on the graphic t and pendants

But my favorite of his little props are his guns. I don't like guns in general, but I think Star Lord has some of the coolest, best-looking scifi weapons out there. Their design is so well-thought out, slim and small enough to be inconspicuous for a sneaky space thief, but easy to grab when you need them. Also, they have a non-lethal setting.

The Hot Toys guns are so perfectly detailed that I hardly believe these are the tiny ones, and I took the photo. They even have miniature "wear" from use in space. I am extremely jealous of tiny Star Lord because my 1:1 props are not nearly this nice.

This picture makes my eyes cross a little.

In fact, I think I'm going to steal his. No one will notice the scale difference!

Peter: "Come on, there's no way that's going to stay on your holster!"

   Sadly, Peter went back into his box shortly after that photo (and took both guns with him...phoo!). I have had him on display for several months, but right now, things are getting messy again and I feel better with him safely packed up. When I get things figured out, he will have an honored spot of his own in the Glass Tower Apartments (also known as the curio). I was planning to order him some of his Guardians buddies, but I don't think that will happen now, so he will just have to make friends with the other odd plastic people who live here. I think there may be some big, crazy dance parties in my house's future!

New Year News

Okay so it's...almost March...but...it's still a new-to-me year!

I haven't been spending as much time with my dolls as I wanted to. Life keeps throwing curve balls. My computer died around Christmas, so I finally broke the piggy bank and got myself a pretty nice new one...but now I don't have any software to edit photos or videos with! We lost my grandmother last month, and nearly lost my uncle soon after. So...it's all a bit of a mess right now.

I needed my dollies! I brought them all in from the storage and they live in their box in here with me. There's not much space, but now I can take them out and make them clothing. A few new faces have joined since last year. Mostly, I am just getting reacquainted with the ones I already have!

If you follow my Instagram, you'll have seen many of these photos, but if not, enjoy!

Andrea and Anya have a comfy chat

Anya went all out for Halloween!

Snow Queen!

Mel shows off a new creation

A take on the Little Black Dress

A sweater dress made from a sock

Same sock, different sweater (and she's very excited about her new blue streak)

I made a dress from leftover scraps

Violet got a new look

Celeste got a whole new head!

Andrea and Mel went on vacation...

"We really...really need this vacation!"

On the plane

Where's our luggage?

...and returned with a new friend...

A new guy arrived...

And more keep showing up out of the storage pit, or ebay finds!

I even tried a little bit of makeup, just for fun, on this Flynn who needs some repairs anyway...I have plans for him! Muahaha!

I have much more to show, dolls I dug up, projects I've worked on (my old Stacie doll, Alexis, got rerooted and she looks like a mess!), but sadly no more pictures for now. Still, it was a pretty long blog post trying to get caught up from last year!

I'm so excited about winning Ms Brini's birthday giveaway! 

I hope life has been treating you all well!