Sneak a Peek! #12

This lovely doll will be heading to NB for a special girl's birthday. She just needs some clothing, and she's all set!

I feel like it's been a while.

Last Friday, our internet went out. We weren't around to have it restored until last night. That's one week. One week without internet - I still have it at work, and on my phone, but I am somewhat more limited. It felt like a very long time. I'm extremely happy to have it fixed, and even happier that the ISP we use is crediting our service for that week.

A week without internet or TV is a productive week. I got doll clothes made. 2 pairs of custom ordered PJs and one pair of PJs for an auction. I got 2 dolls cut out and partially made. They have heads and torsos. They need more work, but that's not a big deal.

I got a little wee sweater mostly knit for our upcoming son. Yes, that's right - it's a boy! We look forward to welcoming a little brother for Sweet Pea.

I wanted to show you some pictures of our garden, but something seems to be going wrong. I was going to show you the tiny green peppers and the sidewalk full of cherry tomatoes. I was going to show you the beefsteak tomatoes the size of my fist - still green and growing bigger every day . . . but I can't seem to get photos to upload. Just as soon as I get it figured out, I'll share.

Meet Lindy, #11

Ah, Lindy. Doll #11.

I tried something new with Lindy, and I'm just not sold on it. Usually, for hair I do the crocheted cap with the hooked hair style. It's fully style-able, easily changed if need be (we all have an incident with a favourite doll and a hair cut in our past, don't we?) terrifically time consuming, and since I'm not a crocheter wildly difficult and aggravating for me. For Lindy's hair, I decided to try the layered wig I hear so much about.
Pros: it's quick, easy, doesn't take a huge amount of yarn or self-control, easy to add awesome highlights.Cons: Not as styleable, I just don't like the way it lies.
The pros do outweigh the cons, but the cons are pretty sizeable. As such, I won't be adding the layered wig to my rotation for dolls. I think as a doll maker - or really as anyone who sells anything, you have to be proud of the product you're putting out there with your name on it. With my dolls, I tend to make them with this criteria in mind: would I put this doll in Sweet Pea's hands? Would I let her take it out in public? If someone asked me where I got it, would I tell them I made it? If it's not good enough for my daughter, it's certainly not good enough to sell. The layered wig is not good enough. I guess I'll have to brush up on my crochet skills.

I also want to apologize for my recent radio silence. Life is catching up with me, and there have been a lot of early nights - pregnancy and summer are a poor combination.

Dolls # 9 and 10

A while back, I finished 2 more dolls. Then I took a few months to clothe and detail them fully.

They're probably my best and favourite dolls to date. You can find them for sale in my Etsy shop, if you so desire.

Doll # 9: Henry.
The jury was out on Henry until his cheeks were blushed. This is the final step. Until I did it, I was reasonably certain that I hated him. Now, he's my favourite doll. I love his little bug shirt, and his wild hair, and his peachy skin tone. He's awesome. He's also pretty large - finding a box to fit him has been problematic. I can buy one if/when the time comes to ship him to a new home.

Doll #10: still nameless.

A friend of mine suggested Thomas, and I feel like she was on the right track . . . but just a smidge off the mark.
His pattern (including clothing) is totally my own fabrication - and he's pretty cute if I may say so. Mr. Wonderful says this little guy is his favourite. His hair line looks a little off to me.

Doll #11 is currently in progress - needs legs, hair and clothes and then she's done. I had to make this one to replace Rachel in the Etsy shop. Rachel is on her way to her new home . . . in Belgium! That doll is going to be better traveled than I am!

The 10 hat challenge: DONE!

This morning I put the finishing touches on the last hat. I was going to run them up to the hospital today, but then I realized that it would make much more sense to take them in after work on Monday. That's the new plan.

All the hats:

The 10 hat challenge

I'm up to 9! I'm going to try to get another one done tonight, and then take them to the hospital tomorrow.
We're experiencing a heat wave right now. It's brutal, shocking, wet, disgusting heat the likes of which we rarely see in Canada. Makes it virtually impossible to get ANYTHING done. We don't have a/c - we have a number of fans, and a dehumidifier. The temperature inside our house is 30 degrees. Imagine how hot it is outside our house!

My girl is 2.

I can't believe it's only been 2 years since our daughter entered our lives. She is such an integral part of our every day. When she isn't here, I miss her terribly. She is such a capable, articulate, tall child that it's sometimes hard to convince the world that she is a well-behaved 2 year old, and not a 3 year old at all. Sometimes it's hard for me to keep that tidbit in mind.

I also can't believe she's 2 already. Seems like just a few weeks ago I was toughing out the summer heat, pregnant, over-due and waiting impatiently for a little stranger's arrival. There have been some really aggravating days between then and now, but I wouldn't trade one of them for all the money/malabrigo/etc. in the world.

On Sunday we hosted Sweet Pea's birthday party, and what a great time we had!


Here we see a very happy girl in the pool she got from her Nana and Papa. She and her young guests played in the pool for most of the afternoon.


Eventually, our girl wanted to get out.


Although she regretted her decision almost instantly.

She sulked about it for a few minutes.

But then she got to open some presents! Inside one, she found a yummy treat.


Inside another, she found a new friend to kiss and love.


Another one gave her a bunch of stuff to be a little mommy!


Then there was the monkey cake!


And candles to blow out.


And then there was fishing in the pool.


And finally, popsicles just before everyone went home.
It was long, full busy day - but we all had a great time.