Introducing Genevieve!

I have another new little girl in my life. :giggle: I had been thinking about adopting a Blythe doll and on the day Keira was born I took the plunge in celebration. She was a NRFB Prima Dolly Ashlette who arrived on Monday.



I gave her a hot water treatment to straighten her hair and dressed her in new clothes (a BFC Ink doll outfit).



Then I sand-matted her face to remove the glare and to get rid of her ugly yello-green "old bruise color" eyeshadow.


Then I got brave and opened up her head so I could remove her eye mechanism.


I painted her eyelids and added a rubon flower, painted eyeliner, and added grey eyeshadow.


I bought her more new clothes (Best Friends Club Ink and Moxie Girlz clothes fit well), her own white puppy, and a laptop to complete her "mini me" look.

Big News!

My first grandchild! Introducing Keira Eileen born September 17, weighing 8 pounds, 20 inches long. She's got her daddy's nose and her mama's dark hair.

Steampunk for MIRF

Steampunk is something that I first took notice of a year or so ago. I found the garb fascinating and had the idea in the back of my mind that I might give it a try at some point. The plan was gently simmering on the back burner until I saw the gorgeous leather tophats and goggles being sold by The Blonde Swan at Pennsic. Once Tom indulged my desire to own said hat and googles I figured I had better get off my ass and find something appropriate to wear them with. (I had sewn four dresses for myself and five outfits for Tom in preparation for Pennsic so to say that I was a little burned out on sewing and didn't have the patience or energy for more would be putting it lightly.) I rummaged through the ren faire garb I had on hand and added a few new and second hand purchases with the idea of wearing my outfit on Day of Wrong at the Michigan Renaissance Festival. I couldn't narrow down my choices so I wore steampunk garb for each of the three days of Labor Day weekend. I plan to replace the improvised skirts from the more formal outfit and continue to refine the accessories but overall I was pleased with how things turned out.
Saturday's outfit:

Sunday's outfit:


Monday's outfit with all of the accessories:

and at the end of the day:

Okay. I give up.

As much as I wanted an accurate 1880s bustled overskirt I have accepted the fact that it just isn't going to happen before Labor Day. :sigh: I purchased some blue satin with the idea that I could simply drape it on my dress form using old pattern illustrations as a guide. Yesterday I accepted the fact that I don't have the skills to do this without a pattern and that it was too late to order said pattern. So I moved on to Plan B: I found online instructions for a ruffled petticoat that looked like it could be pinned to simulate an apron front and bustled back. I cut my fabric this morning and prepared to hem 9 yards of ruffles. Among the nifty attachments that came along with the sewing machine I bought a couple of months ago was a 1/4" hemmer. I grabbed some fabric scraps to practice and got perfectly rolled and stitched hems. I proceeded with the hem on the actual skirt ruffles. I gave up after about 5 yards of crappy hemming. Plan C: I have a tiered "peasant skirt" that I have pinned into submission and, while it's black rather than the blue I wanted, I'm calling it good enough to wear this weekend. (I'll be ordering that Laughing Moon pattern to make a proper overskirt before WindyCon.)

What have I been up to?

Hmmm... Let's see... Since my last post I have been...

1. Planing a baby shower for my son's girlfriend who is expecting my first grandbaby mid-September.

2. Attended opening weekend at the Michigan Renaissance Festival while camping at Holly Rec.

3. Putting together bits and pieces of a Steampunk wardrobe.

4. Figuring out how to make an accurate 1880s bustled overskirt without paying for a $20 pattern.

5. Finishing up the "Keira's 1st Year" scrapbook album in time for the shower (which was held on Sunday).

6. Scrapping a few pages for the ScrapFreak August challenges.


7. Making some samples for Bree's September Card Class at the Freak.


8. Packing and planning for Labor Day weekend at tthe Michigan Renaissance Festival.

9. Planning for scrapping at the Wisconsin Freek Meet the week after Labor Day.

The Gold Waistcoat

I played around today with various combinations of the Steampunk garb pieces mentioned in my previous post and had to share a couple of shots of the gorgeous gold brocade vest. I think I'll wear it with a white tee and jeans for running errands tomorrow. :D

Slightly out of focus closeup of my great-grandmother's Victorian locket.

Full Steam Ahead!

I kind of overdosed on the Renaissance stuff the last couple of months while preparing for Pennsic. Now I am taking off in another direction. :)
I've had the idea in the back of my mind for a while that I would like to create a Steampunk costume. Some chatter on the R/F forums about Steampunk invasions of a few ren faires in other parts of the country got me thinking that doing Steampunk for the MIRF Labor Day "Day of Wrong" could be fun so I started playing around with some of the garb I already have to see if I could come up with something steamy but only made a half-hearted attempt. The Blonde Swan was at Pennsic and, caught up in the Midnight Madness excitement, I started trying things on and Tom ordered me a custom mini top hat and googles to be picked up at MIRF Labor Day weekend! So now I have to come up with a kick-ass costume to go with my kick-ass hat!
I went out shopping last Thursday and picked up a few pieces including a beautiful gold brocade waistcoat, a brown blouse with interesting detail on the short puff sleeves that begs to have the plastic buttons switched out for brass :D, and a pair of brown and black pinstrip twill trousers. I also purchased a vintage black velvet bolero jacket/shrug from etsy. I already have a vintage short black cape, a vintage umbrella, glasses with round blue lenses, various brass accessories old and new, and a brocade strapless corset. (The corset is Elisabethan but I'm using it anyway. If the bimbettes can get away with wearing Victorian corsets as Rennaisance garb it should work the other way around for me. :wink: )Looking over what I have I don't seem to have a complete outfit. I have part of a costume for an elegant neo-Victorian lady and I have part of a costume for a more tomboyish Steampunk. I am thinking that I need a late Victorian walking skirt, a Victorian looking white or ivory blouse, a wide leather waistcincer/belt, some black granny boots, and some brown work boots. Then I should be able to mix and match to create outfits for the elegant lady, the rough and tumble tomboy, or something in between.
And since I have/will have these clothes and Labor Day is only one day I've made the commitment to join an online friend at WindyCon in November!
While contemplating my clothing options I made myself a steamy accessory. It's a Nerf Maverick dart gun that was modified using the instructions here to give it a bit more firepower then given a new paint job first with a coat of black Krylon Fusion spray paint then, when I couldn't find the recommended rub & buff that I thought I had, I dry brushed on some Making Memories metallic glazes. And to make it into a girly gun I added some bling. Once I have finished embellishing it I'll give it a clearcoat.

Finally! Pennsic Pics!

After taking a few days to recuperate from the trip I have finally uploaded some of my Pennsic photos to a Flikr album. I apologize for the fact that they are in seriously random order and don't yet have descriptions but it was my first time using Flikr and let's just say I had some issues! (I'll try to find time to straighten things out this coming week.)

Frustrated!

So one of the classes I took at Pennsic was Constructing a French Hood. Fitting the pattern and creating the hat part of the hood went well. The problem is that the class included absolutely no instruction on how to do the veil/drape/hood part of the french hood other than the instructor casually mentioning that it could be done as a tube or a loose veil. The instructor did bring several of her hoods but seemed reluctant to let us touch them. She basically just used them as examples for color and packed them away before I had the opportunity to really look at them and see how the veil was attached. I believe the artwork shows a tube so that's what I chose to do. Not having a clue I simply stitched the length of fabric provided in the kit into a tube and stitched it into the opening only to find that it was waaaay to large. I set the project aside until I was able to pop in to another session of the class at the end of the week. Still not letting me look at her hoods (I'm a visual learner. Don't just tell me how to do something. Show me an example or drawing.) the instructor told me I needed to stitch the tube on differently. So I made the tube smaller and reattached it and it didn't look too bad but I didn't like how the inside bottom edge hung lower than the outside bottom edge. After returning home I looked through The Tudor Tailor and saw that their pattern for the veil had a shaped top edge allowing the hem to hang straight. So I removed the veil tube yet again and used the TT pattern to recut it. Fine and dandy except that the TT veil pattern ended up being too small to fit the base from this class. So I have wasted 3-4 hours on this veil only to end up with a useless tube of fabric. I need to buy some fabric and start over. UUURRRRRRRGGGGH!

I'm Home!!!!!

We arrived home from Pennsic yesterday afternoon safe and sound. (We left the site around noon on Saturday but did some meandering along the Lake Erie shoreline on the way home.)We had a great time! The weather was beautiful! Not too hot nor too cold and just a little drizzle on Sunday 8/2. (I understand there were some nasty storms during the first week but we arrived after they had passed.) We met many wonderful people, saw some cool pavillions and camp gates, took some informative classes, attended a couple of parties, watched a couple of battles, attended Midrealm court, did some shopping for items large and small, saw some fabulous garb and some um... "interesting" garb, got lots of compliments on my garb (woohoo!), and attended the closing ceremonies where I think I got some nice photos. I can't wait to do it all again next year!!!
Once I get the mounds of laundry done, buy some groceries, and have time to edit my pics I will share some photos in more detailed posts.

Ready to hit the highway!

And I feel like one of the Beverly Hillbillies! lol It was like putting together a jigsaw puzzle but Tom manged to fit everything I wanted to bring except one wooden chair was swapped out for two camp chairs. We are planning to spread the 6 and-a-half hour drive to Pennsic out over two days with lots of pit stops for me to get out of the car and move around. We joked that if I buy anything at an antique store it has to fit in my lap. Some people had recommended that we wait and buy food after we get there using the insides of the coolers as packing space but I went with the opposite aproach of buying food here then using the cooler space to bring home the stuff I plan to buy there!

Another Pennsic Prep/To-Do List Update

We've gotten a few more things done so the the list is nearly complete now. :) The main thing is that Tom cut all the pieces for the tables yesterday then brought some hole saw drill attachments home from work today to cut the designs in the leg braces and assembled the front legs. I applied Howard Feed & Wax to the table legs and our bed frame and used Howard Butcher Block Finish on the table top.


We pretty much followed the construction detailed at Golden Lyon with a few minor changes. We cut the front legs from 1x2 lumber and the back legs and cross pieces were cut from 1x4 lumber because we had bought too much for the chests. When we put the table up we discovered that the 1x4 cross pieces weren't stable enough so, since we had made two sets of legs and are only bringing one table with us, we doubled up the cross pieces. Next time we'll just use 2x4's. LOL The other thing we did differently was to use hole saws instead of a jigsaw to cut the designs. the upper design was cut with a 1.5" hole saw and the bottom was done with a 2.75" hole saw.
Now that that project is finished the To-List looks like this:
TO DO:
*make an anniversary card
*make invitations for Stephanie's baby shower so Kim can address and mail them while Tom and I are in Pennsylvania
*make a scrapbook page to complete the July ScrapFreak challenges
*grocery shop
*prepare poached pears
*hard boil eggs

ON HOLD:
*try to finish the "Keira's 1st Year" album before the end of the month so I can get credit for doing it during the ScrapFreak summer challenge (I thought the challenge ran through August so I would be able to finish after Pennsic but found out it only runs through the end of July.)JOURNALING INSERTS ARE DONE, HALF OF THE 14 PAGES ARE DONE I've uploaded what I have done and bought the papers I needed to finish but have set the project aside to finish after we get home.

Pennsic Packing

I hauled everything to the dining room today and reorganized it to fit into the car. I ended up putting the feast gear and cooking stuff in the smaller chest after discovering that the Coleman stove is too tall to fit.This will be loaded in the car as is. The Coleman stove, beverage cooler, and non-perishible food will be housed in the larger chest once we are on site but it will be broken down for transport. I took our bedding and throws out of the tub they were in and divivded them between three stuff sacks so that they can be crammed into nooks and crannies in the car. Our clothing is fitting into three tubs- one for Tom and two for me. :D Add to that three chairs, two rugs, a tapestry, a table, the bed, and the tent and it will be a challenge for Tom to load it into the car! And lets not forget the BIG ASS food cooler. Speaking of which, I was wrong about being done with the sewing projects because I had forgotten about the coffin cover/cooler cover that I had cut out at Ermas' class. So I spent the late afternoon & early evening getting that done.
The updated To-Do list looks like this:
TO DO:
*make scrapbook pages for Get Meaningful lessons 19 & 20
*make an anniversary card
*apply beeswax finish to the rope bed frame
*apply butcher block finish to the table tops
*make invitations for Stephanie's baby shower so Kim can address and mail them while Tom and I are in Pennsylvania
*prepare poached pears
*hard boil eggs
*color my hair

IN PROGRESS:
*try to finish the "Keira's 1st Year" album before the end of the month so I can get credit for doing it during the ScrapFreak summer challenge (I thought the challenge ran through August so I would be able to finish after Pennsic but found out it only runs through the end of July.)JOURNALING INSERTS ARE DONE, HALF OF THE 14 PAGES ARE DONE

DONE:
I dejunked and cleaned up the back porch, the pantry, stairs going up to the second floor, stairs going down the the basement, and the laundry room on Monday (7/20)
*order Kacie's birthday cake
*help Tom apply a beeswax finish to the chests he's working on
*make birthday cards for Kacie and Tom
*celebrate Kacie's 18th birthday on the 21st by taking her to order her class ring
*then cake & ice cream at home
*get together with Rebecca to decide who is cooking which evenings at Pennsic
*test recipes and finalize dinner menus for Pennsic
*make grocery list
*apply butcher block finish to wooden feast gear
*make a scrapbook page for the Get Meaningful lesson 18
*finish the second biggins cap/coif that I started earlier this week for Tom
*make at least two partlets
*celebrate Tom's 51st birthday on the 25th
*make the green linen roman tunica/chiton for me
*bring the camping gear and garb up from the basement so Tom can figure out how to pack it in the car
*sew cover for The Big Ass cooler

I think I'm done sewing and ready to pack!

I finished the rolled hem around the top of the green chiton this morning and sewed on the buttons. The front and back panels are both 56" wide. The back neck opening is about 12" and I gave it an extra 6" of drape in the front for 18". For the openings down the sleeves the back edge has an inch more than the front between buttons which allows for a nice gap. For the purple chiton I cut the front panel to 44" and back to 40" giving it a 4" drape for the front neck and equal amounts front and back between the sleeve buttons. I think I prefer the extra drape I get with the green.


In addition to the two Roman tunica/chiton and pale seafoam palla I will be packing my old blue Italian dress (the first dress I made for myself):

and the two Campi inspired Italian dresses I made this spring:

I'll be bringing several pair of sleeves to mix and match with the Italian day dresses.
I'm bringing the black zimarra in case it gets chilly in the evenings and to wear as "housecoat" for morning coffee.

I'm bringing eight camecie/smocks, four partlets, ten pair of socks, plus two petticoats and two pair of bloomers as extra layers for chilly evenings.
I'm also bringing a non-period warm snuggley polar fleece ruana.(I really don't mind heat and humidity but cold and damp makes me hurt.)
I'm not sure if I'll have room but I would like to bring my Florentine gown:

Time to start carrying everything up from storage to the dining room to see if I can make it fit in the space that I have allotted myself for garb.

Still Working on the To-Do List

I can mark one more thing "done". I worked on them all day Friday and got got two more partlets done.

TO DO:
*make scrapbook pages for Get Meaningful lessons 19 & 20
*make an anniversary card
*apply beeswax finish to the rope bed frame
*apply butcher block finish to the table tops
*make invitations for Stephanie's baby shower so Kim can address and mail them while Tom and I are in Pennsylvania
*bring the camping gear and garb up from the basement so Tom can figure out how to pack it in the car
*prepare poached pears
*hard boil eggs


IN PROGRESS:
*try to finish the "Keira's 1st Year" album before the end of the month so I can get credit for doing it during the ScrapFreak summer challenge (I thought the challenge ran through August so I would be able to finish after Pennsic but found out it only runs through the end of July.)JOURNALING INSERTS ARE DONE, HALF OF THE 14 PAGES ARE DONE
*make the green linen roman tunica/chiton for me NEEDS TO BE HEMMED AND HAVE BUTTONS SEWN ON

DONE:
I dejunked and cleaned up the back porch, the pantry, stairs going up to the second floor, stairs going down the the basement, and the laundry room on Monday (7/20)
*order Kacie's birthday cake
*help Tom apply a beeswax finish to the chests he's working on
*make birthday cards for Kacie and Tom
*celebrate Kacie's 18th birthday on the 21st by taking her to order her class ring
*then cake & ice cream at home
*get together with Rebecca to decide who is cooking which evenings at Pennsic
*test recipes and finalize dinner menus for Pennsic
*make grocery list
*apply butcher block finish to wooden feast gear
*make a scrapbook page for the Get Meaningful lesson 18
*finish the second biggins cap/coif that I started earlier this week for Tom
*make at least two partlets
*celebrate Tom's 51st birthday on the 25th

Check off one more!

I spent some time after dinner applying butcher block conditioner to all of my wooden bowls, plates, and spoons. For one thing I was a little surprised by how many pieces we have. (The photos show the pieces I'm packing for Pennsic which is only about a third of the total.) For another thing I was pleasantly surprised by how beautiful the wood looks.

To-Do List Update

Got a few things done. Added a few things to the list since Monday. :sigh:

I dejunked and cleaned up the back porch, the pantry, stairs going up to the second floor, stairs going down the the basement, and the laundry room on Monday- DONE
*order Kacie's birthday cake DONE
*help Tom apply a beeswax finish or milk paint to the chests and tables he's working on DONE
*make birthday cards for Kacie and Tom WILL USE CARDS PREVIOUSLY MADE
*celebrate Kacie's 18th birthday on the 21st by taking her to order her class ring DONE
tagging along when Kim takes her to get a tatoo- POSTPONED
then cake & ice cream at home DONE
*get together with Rebecca to decide who is cooking which evenings at Pennsic DONE
*test recipes and finalize dinner menus for Pennsic DONE
*make grocery list DONE
*try to finish the "Keira's 1st Year" album before the end of the month so I can get credit for doing it during the ScrapFreak summer challenge (I thought the challenge ran through August so I would be able to finish after Pennsic but found out it only runs through the end of July.)JOURNALING INSERTS ARE DONE, HALF OF THE 14 PAGES ARE DONE
*make a scrapbook page for the Get Meaningful lesson 18 DONE & EMAILED
*finish the second biggins cap/coif that I started earlier this week for Tom
*make the green linen roman tunica/chiton for me
*make at least two partlets- one with gold lace trim
(the plan is to do the machine sewing on Thursday then do the hand finishing on Friday when Rebecca comes over)
*celebrate Tom's 51st birthday on the 25th
*make scrapbook pages for Get Meaningful lessons 19 & 20
*make an anniversary card
*apply beeswax finish to the rope bed frame
*apply butcher block finish to the table tops
*apply butcher block finish to wooden feast gear
*make invitations for Stephanie's baby shower so Kim can address and mail them while Tom and I are in Pennsylvania
*bring the camping gear and garb up from the basement so Tom can figure out how to pack it in the car
*prepare poached pears
*hard boil eggs

Happy Birthday Baby Girl!

My baby turns 18 today. At 10:17 this evening to be precise. I feel old.

Whew I'm tired!

I did manage to get a few things accomplished today even though I wasted a few hours with silly stuff this morning. :D
We have an exterminator coming tomorrow to help us deal with some critters that have taken up residence in our kitchen. It's all I can do to keep up with the main living areas these days but I didn't want them looking at this sty and thinking "no wonder these people have bugs!" so I worked on cleaning up some of the peripheral areas today. I dejunked and cleaned up the back porch, the pantry, stairs going up to the second floor, stairs going down the the basement, and the laundry room. The good news is that I offered a few things on freecycle. The bad news is that I am exhausted and will probably fall asleep any minute now!
Upadating the to-do list:
*order Kacie's birthday cake DONE
*make birthday cards for Kacie and Tom WILL USE CARDS PREVIOUSLY MADE
*celebrate Kacie's 18th birthday on the 21st by taking her to order her class ring, tagging along when Kim takes her to get a tatoo, then cake & ice cream at home
*make invitations for Stephanie's baby shower so Kim can address and mail them while Tom and I are in Pennsylvania
*try to finish the "Keira's 1st Year" album before the end of the month so I can get credit for doing it during the ScrapFreak summer challenge (I thought the challenge ran through August so I would be able to finish after Pennsic but found out it only runs through the end of July.)
*celebrate Tom's 51st birthday on the 25th
*finish the second biggins cap/coif that I started earlier this week for Tom
*make the green linen roman tunica/chiton for me and possibly...
*buy trim for the chiton so that I can get away with machine sewing the hems and disguise the machine stitching
*make at least two partlets- one with gold lace trim
*get together with Rebecca to decide who is cooking which evenings at Pennsic DONE
*test recipes and finalize dinner menus for Pennsic DONE
*make grocery list DONE
*make an anniversary card
*help Tom apply a beeswax finish or milk paint to the chests and tables he's working on DONE
and the bed frame

Silly Timewasters

I've been awake since 5:00am but rather than doing anything productive to whittle away at that to-do list I've been wasting time on line. Doing stuff like this.

You Are an Ice Cream Sandwich

You are well grounded, reliable, and very balanced. You love to work hard, but you also know how to take it easy. People might be surprised to know you have a very goofy side to you. You like to let loose and have fun. You just don't let yourself go too crazy!

What Frozen Treat Are You?

You Have Your PhD in Men

You understand men almost better than anyone. You accept that guys are very different, and you read signals well. Work what you know about men, and your relationships will be blissful.

How Well Do You Understand Men?

You're Totally Sarcastic

You sarcastic? Never! You're as sweet as a baby bunny. Seriously, though, you have a sharp tongue - and you aren't afraid to use it. And if people are too wimpy to deal with your attitude, then too bad. So sad.

How Sarcastic Are You?

Kim and K *really* need to take this quiz. :wink: