The Next Big Project

I know, I know. Starting another project before the first 85 are complete. Ha! That's not how this lady rolls. Actually, I started this project some time ago and it never went anywhere. I have always loved playing with dolls. Making clothes for them, writing stories for them. And then I turned thirteen and my mother thought I was too old to continue to play with them. That kind of hurt. I let it go and pursued other things. But guess what?

It's come back full circle. Now I just don't have baby doll, Barbie, and others I can't remember to dress and play with. They have dolls called Blythe and the Bentley of the wonderful dolls are BJDs or ball jointed dolls. I used to work in the theater too. Making costumes for others to wear. Watching them enjoy the limelight in one of my creations. Now, I can still enjoy the limelight of new costume creations. Only this time, the dolls don't talk back or jump if you stick them with a pin. And they're a lot smaller.

Until I get my own doll, a friend has allowed me to use her little one to get started with. He's an elf and I will start off with some elf/faerie/sprite outfits. I watched The Santa Clause yesterday and did some very rough and preliminary sketches. The movie is really cute and I remember when it first came out, how I fell in love with the elves. So, here are my first sketches. Thank goodness for the pause button.

These are in another sketchbook that needs to be filled. Maybe that will happen soon too. Have a good day.

#sketchbook #dollclothessketches #bjd

Still Around

"Keep moving. Keep moving."
                         - Gimli

Yes, it's been that type of year. Keep moving. Never give up. Never surrender type of thing. Either extreme highs or very deep lows. I haven't given up though. Not after I needed a new starter on my truck or my laptop crashed or my vacuum in my studio broke. Yes, there's carpet in the studio. After dusting myself off and the power wash to get the grim, I got back up again. Slowly but surely I'm getting back on track. I finished up the last three of my first batch of mug rugs.

I got more Blythe dresses worked on and had a full work table. I got snaps on and will now add trim to finish them up.

And I met some cousins for lunch at Penny Path Crepe Shop. It was great catching up on just about everything and discussed the state of the planet we live on. Had so much fun and the food was good.

My writing is getting back into being a habit again too. Been working on expanding a fantasy story and working to finish the rough drafts of three short stories. Still working on the sketchbooks too. I've got a lot to do in them to get three filled by the end of the year.

Blythe Clothes

I'm still working on clothes for my Blythe doll. From one of the sketches I did, I've come up with a nice 1960s dress pattern.

Working on an underpants pattern.

Very tiny undies.

They fit.

I will redo the bow on the headband. It's too big for me.

#blythe #1960sblythedress #blythepinkyellow

Done

Day 30 of my challenge. I'm proud of myself for sticking to it. This is the second challenge I finished this year. It does stretch the brain matter. Sometimes I'd just do a small sketch before I went to bed. Like tonight. I've got 15 more faces to do for my 29 Faces. I'll get that one done. Still working on filling up my sketchbooks.

I finished another three mug rugs and worked on my second art quilt. My magnolia.

Challenge Day 29

Almost done with this challenge. I can't believe I stuck with it.

I also finished some mug rugs, pulled fabric for two preemie quilts, and did some more guy faces. The new AC is working in the studio. Thank goodness.

Challenge Days 26 - 28

A little late in posting. Drew another medieval gown on day 26th. On days 27 and 28, I researched where to put my work when done and spoke to a friend about doll clothes. It's good to have a person who is your cheerleader, always in your corner. One who will pick you up after a face plant on concrete covered with shattered glass and tacks. The one who will tell you that you are okay and that your ideas are brilliant and say 'keep going'. If you don't have a person like that, try to find one. So here's my latest drawing.

She's similar to the first one but not as much detail. My dates on the blog are off by one but on my calendar they're up-to-date.

#blythe #blythemedievalgown

Day 23 & 24

Yesterday I made another Halloween dress for my Blythe doll. I used the wrong pattern and her dress was way too short. Hmm... So today I decided to add some more tulle. Black. But the black wasn't as dense as the copper and even though her crotch is covered, it's still not covered enough for me. So I paused and pondered what to do, short of making this a piece for my doll that will stay in my collection. I do have to go to the fabric store soon and I decided to look for some black t-shirt fabric and make some leggings for her. Then her what was supposed to be 20s look will turn into a 50s look. Am I brilliant or what?

Today I designed a witch's hat, made one and cut out another that will be sewn tomorrow. I like it. It's pretty funky looking and I can't wait to dress it up. What I've learned is that I need a good quality black fabric. Black fabric can come extra stiff to like batiste weight. I need it to stand up a bit so I will be on the lookout for the right weight. I'm liking how these little dresses are turning out and I'm ready to really dress them up.

#blythe #blytheclothes #blythehalloweendress

Days 21 & 22

Still moving along with my challenge and I got something actually made. A cute little Halloween dress. I was going to make a hat but left the pattern at home so I will have to make it tomorrow. Yesterday, I spent a few hours researching 1920 Flapper dresses.

#blythe #blythehalloween #blythedress #blytheorangeandblack

Challenge Day 20- I think

Yes, I'm still working on my challenge. I didn't work on it yesterday because I was working on a project that has been hanging around for at least two years. And I cut out a pair of Capri pants and worked on a short story. But today, I finished a dress and hat. I still have to put on snaps and other trim but I did it. It's such a tiny dress. I will keep at it though.

I'm still on my Halloween theme.

#blythe #blythehalloweendress

Blah!

It was a weird day today. Starting out with voting. I felt like I was being interrogated but I got through it. Then the AC in my studio is still possessed by the heat monster and still not cooperating. I did get the binding stitched down on my mom's quilt. And I did some sketching but I had nothing else to give to the day, so I left. Got home, took a nap and sketched some new Halloween pieces. I'll show them later. But here's one project I can put on my Done/Finished list.

Another drawing for my challenge.

And more guy faces for the 29 Faces challenge.

#29faces #blythedresses

Losing Count

I'm losing count of my challenge days. Oh well, I will continue.

I longarmed one of my mom's quilts. She made the blocks, I did the sashing and borders. I also made the binding and attached it to the quilt. Tomorrow I'll stitch the binding down.

I also got binding on the last 9 mug rugs. Will have these done this week.

Challenge- Day 15

Here's my challenge sketch for today.

I also made a killer salad for lunch. Working hard to eat better too. Romaine lettuce, baby spinach, mushrooms, cucumbers, tomatoes, a little Tapenade, olive oil, Himalayan Pink salt, a dash of cayenne pepper, thyme, and Gorgonzola.

Two Days of My Challenge

I think I've caught up. Day 13 and 14. For Day 13 is another sketch.

Day 14 I actually made something. The pattern I did for this hat worked but I thought I wanted the cone part to be stiffer so I added some interfacing. But then that altered the rest of the hat. Oh well. Live and learn. Once I get all the goodies on the hat, it will look very nice.

I cut out another hat, same pattern as the black one but no interfacing. And two new dresses. Both Halloween.

#blythe #blythehalloween

I also got my short stories separated and into their own folders. Now it will be easier to find individual ones instead of looking through stacks of paper.

June

Here we are again. A new month. Those things are moving along at a very fast pace. Whether you like it or not. It's my birthday month. Some years I've celebrated the whole month, others the week of my birthday. I think I'll just wing it this month. Seeing that truck repairs put a dent on things.

As always, lots of plans. Especially Halloween things. I'm so behind. I've gotten back to my Blythe challenge and will be starting a different one for 29 Faces. The original one is in February where you can draw any face. The one for June is males only. I really need to practice male faces. I need to sketch more period. And I still have blank pages in my sketchbooks. Those are supposed to be filled by the end of the year. Um...yeah, did I mention I was a bit behind? It's time to finish things that I started last month. Only two things made it to the 'Finished' list.

So how do I feel right now? I don't quite know. Working on getting excited about things after having the wind knocked out of my sails last month. It is what it is. Day 11 and 12.

May Wrap Up

It's the end of another month. They just keep zooming by. I almost made it out of the month unscathed but that didn't happen. Just when you think things will be okay, you get knocked upside the head with a Sippy Cup full of ice cubes. Yeah. What did go right? Let's see.

• 6 books read- awesome
• 4 business quilts longarmed
• 1 quilt done for me
• 2 day trips- both to art/craft shows
• 1 Mary's Mavens lunch 
• 1 talk to a life coach
• 7 Netflix viewings
• 1 quilting workshop
• 1 project started- Blythe clothes, a big challenge
• backed up my photos on my laptop
• was head volunteer over 37 volunteers and 2 husbands for my quilt guild's bi-annual show
• worked on Halloween things 6 times
• 5 Wendy B Quilts blog posts
• 15 World of Wendy Lu blog posts

I started back on my challenge for Blythe. Day 11 and I will start another challenge tomorrow for the month of June. It's a 29 Faces challenge. It usually happens in February and we can do any face we want. The June challenge is strictly for the male face. And I need a lot of practice on the male face. So we'll see.

I did take two days off over the weekend. I did absolutely nothing. I read, lots. I watched series on Netflix. Poirot, Chowder, Keeping up Appearances. I straightened the apartment, tossed some things, and rearranged shelves for new projects. Because Halloween is just around the corner.

Day 8

Technically it's not but I'm still working on this challenge. Sunday, I just needed a day off. Monday, I hit a speed bump and had to work on the goofy thoughts returning to my head. No one said change was easy. I just take one day at a time. So I got some nicer sketches done for Blythe.

And I got back to my ornaments and other creepies. Step 3 in the process. Here they are hanging up to dry. Once dry, I will go back and cover with air dry clay.

Not a very good pic below. I just had to get it done and post.

Day 6 and Day 7

I almost started to kick myself for not having done anything on Day 6. Once I reviewed the day, I realized that I had done something. I looked at Blythe photos on Pinterest. It doesn't matter how big or small what you do as long as it gets your further along with your goal. Score!

Day 7. I got some good sketches done and they are ready to be painted.

Day 5

It took me two hours to get to this point with the hat. I went through a lot of paper, made the first mock up which didn't fit her head, the second one did and then there was the brim. I was so happy it worked.

Day 4

I was busy at the studio with two quilts. I attached binding onto my Around the World quilt and longarmed a baby quilt. So by the time I got home I was beat. Most of yesterday was spent at the studio and then I had a quilt guild meeting, got home and sketched. My brain is wondering what the heck is going on. I was determined to do something toward my 30 Day Challenge goal, so I sketched. I'm still trying to figure out what kind of hat I want to make for a dress that's almost done. I'll keep working on it. I also sketched some Halloween stuff. Because they were screaming to get out of my head.