lightbox: a new hope

I have lately had another go at using the lightbox I constructed back in February following this DIY tutorial. It's been on my bookshelf for the past few months because I wasn't feelin' it, know what I'm sayin'? I was initially pumped about it because my room has ZERO natural light and on top of that, I'm often up all night and never see any sunlight sometimes. (I like it that way; it's very serial killer of me, but I've been a lifelong night owl.) However, that makes it hard to take Blythe pics inside, so a lightbox sounds like a really good solution, right?

Well, it's quite a task for me to unplug and drag all my lamps to an available outlet. The outlets are often crammed behind furniture and hard for me to reach. I need to get a power strip, because all of my outlets are taken and hard to get to as well. And I would say that for optimal results, you really have to light up these suckers, so I personally, with my point-and-shoot camera, need many lights surrounding the box. It is quite a to-do, so it's actually not just an optimal thing for quick snaps for me. Curse you, lack of natural light!

What I do like, though, is that it gets more "true" color than I typically get in my room. For something like the pixie hats I put on Etsy, this picture of Beatrix is a lot more accurate than the pics I have up there now.

I guess I ought to become used to cropping the pictures I take in the lightbox (I'm a little anal and would really prefer my pics all be the same size, but I'll get used to it). The above pictures of Calico just wouldn't be the same with the edges of taped-up cardboard in it.

Best suited for close-ups, maybe? :)

I hope I can work out some other backgrounds other than the default "clouds and ground" sort of thing that's taped in there now.

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Well, I like those apples very much, Matt Damon.

I LOVE PERFUME!


Just sprayed some of this and now I'm blissed out. I don't wear perfume during summer with the frequency I do in autumn/winter, so I forgot how utterly delicious this is. I alternate between three scents currently (this is one of them, the other two are Miss Dior Cherie and a peach-freesia scent by Mary-Kate and Ashley Olsen that smells surprisingly great for a low-end kind of spray) but I'd like to go out perfume-sniffing one of these days to see if I can find more to covet!

Off for the evening. Blythe post tomorrow!

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You're killing me, Buster.

Sort of a long and image-heavy post! You are warned! I have a small pile of things to catch up on!

I finally got this dress I've been waiting for anxiously in the mail - I'm so happy with it! It's by NaughtyPixie originally, but I got it from PP and couldn't believe my good luck. I just had this lovely inkling it was meant for Beatrix. It really, really is! It was kismet! It was karma!

Calico is also in secondhand clothes right now -- this Dolly Molly dress. I really love getting second-hand Blythe clothes. Sometimes they are a little loved, but knowing that they were on other dollies and a part of someone else's life actually makes me feel connected. Maybe it's silly, and comes from the part of my brain that sometimes forms an attachment to the packaging things I like come in. Who knows.

I'm still discovering Calico, bonding slowly with her. I was really excited to get her, but it was also not a plan. She was a crazy impulse buy. So I'm slowly circling her, wondering what she would like to wear and what makes her look "right"-est to me, and happiest. She is a mystery. I wonder if some customization is in her future. It scandalizes me to think of touching her freckles, though, so they will stay!


Plummery and I watched Forensic Files all night long the other night. It was fantastic because I just felt like crocheting and made up a few hats.

I have to say, this cheap mustard-colored acrylic yarn has gone a long, long way -- I've also made myself a cowl from the same skein -- and is oddly kind of my favorite color to see on my dolls. I made up this little flower-ish circlet out of some lace I got for my birthday and stitched on a sweet little carved wooden button (I am a sucker for wood buttons). I like it!

Finally, tonight I sat down with some plain pink fabric and an oval embroidery hoop and decided to make up something, anything. I knew I would do the word "maidensuit" (a long-time username for me, and the name of my Etsy shop besides) and then thought, what do I like? Kawaii smiling teeth! Toadstools! Pixie hats! Hearts! Flowers! I think it took me about four or five hours. Luckily I have a large appetite for the true crime shows that run at 3 AM.

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pencil-pushing

This morning I randomly picked up a pencil and my sketchbook and drew this little Blythe. It took about half an hour, and my pencil (the only one I have, a mechanical Little Twin Stars pencil) lacked an eraser, so I just plunged on. It is truly a sketch in that way.

I was thinking, "Wow, I hardly ever draw anymore." I used to draw a lot in high school, but just for the lulz, never anything serious or artistically ambitious so much as little portraits and cartoons. I never enjoyed art class so much as my own leisure drawing. But with the time trapped in classes no longer a staple for me and Photoshop becoming the main medium through which I do visual things, drawing has been a hobby that's fallen by the wayside.

However, it occurred to me after I had finished that I do doodle little things semi-often enough... when I do felt applique!

When I am going to cut some felt, I always sketch out what I want in the size that I want it first, then cut it out and use it as a pattern (and reference point, if there are things to embroider onto it). Thus I have quite a few pages in the back of my sketchbook where random cute things are doodled and then, if I use them, cut out from their doodly brethren. The happy tooth on this pixie hat came from this page, and the hat has been sold, but the tooth of paper remains. :)

What is up with that cloud that turned into a deformed sheep, though? I should invest in an eraser.

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crocheting...

At the moment, I'm failing at making this bear-eared hat. I've made it three times and it's been fail each time! I'm obviously doing something wrong, but I don't know what and haven't been able to figure it out... I'm guessing it's something with ending off/starting every row each time since it's DC, but without explicit instructions I'm only left to wonder what exactly to do.

I had to re-teach myself how to make granny squares the other day. I can't keep how to do them in my memory bank for some reason! Ah, me. I guess I am not a natural.

Latest pixie hat:

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shopping spree!

Scooped up a bunch of cute stuff from Plastic Paradise tonight. Yay!!

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road trippin'

Back from my trip. I have a love/hate relationship with the highway! I love it in every way except for the way I sometimes feel like I might DIE ON THE SIDE OF IT. But mostly, I love the scenery and blasting out music and all the thoughts that come into my head when the two combine.

In Dallas, J and I saw Avenue Q (what a great touring cast!) and stayed at a hotel that was also hosting many people there attending a video game convention. We saw people going around in costume. I love that kind of thing! People who enjoy cosplay have to either enjoy or endure people staring in total bemusement at them and I think it's really brave and cool when people have the balls and creativity to do it.

Also while we were in that neck of the woods we went to Ikea. My state tragically lacks an Ikea. What an odd place! Aury went in with me, but there were so many people, I didn't want to disturb anyone by seating her in any number of modernly-streamlined couches and snapping a pic. I did, however, get a frame for my bed. I also got new (PINK FLORAL!) bedsheets so I could really get the overall effect of having a girly bed and also make it feel like I'm sleeping on top of my blog... haha, I'm crazy!

Aury came along everywhere. She is a well-traveled girl!


There were lots of different tunes (I built a really long playlist) but most of the way back, we listened to Hanson's new album, Shout It Out. It's overall great. Hanson never has any shortage of crazy-hooky goodness and are melodic and harmonic always, but Shout It Out is actually kind of fun and loosey-goosey and laid-back for a Hanson album, lots of horns and classic-sounding soul influence and piano jamminess.


This song is a prime example, but there are lots of tracks I really like.

In other news, I shipped out two pixie hats someone bought from me on Etsy (yay! I really enjoy wrapping up packages) and Aury's tulip romper came today. Mail!

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feeling the Blythe love today

I am in love with this girl by Friends with Blythe. I actually really liked her with the MRB scalp too, but the RIT-dyed SL hair... ohhh. It's such a perfect pink. Not too bright or fluorescent, not too muted, deep and rosy. I'm really envious of whoever can afford this lovely creature.


This tree is my favorite place to take pics. Aury is my favorite subject. Thursday I'm going on a short trip to Dallas and I'm taking her with me! (Unfortunately the tree is too big to take, but I assume they'll have one or two in Texas.)

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