I have moved!!!!!!!!!

No internet yet, I am at Mcdonalds drinking iced tea and using wi-fi. This my friends, was a true, bonafide miracle and God gets all the credit....I love my house! Love, love, love.....I think by tonight I will be all unpacked or close. It was so smooth and fast and easy. I want to give a bloggers shout out to Melissa from Little Messy Missy's blog for helping me unload my truck...More to come soon and thank you all for your well wishes and prayers! WE DID IT! YES THIS IS ME SHOUTING OUT HALLELUIYA!

What's new?

I am tired of the heat. It has not only been hot, but smoky and hazy and the air is just heavy. I was enjoying going to the pool, but the air quality is so bad that I have been staying inside. We have a big problem with wild fires. It makes the air really awful. I have still been looking for a place to live. I am miserable between where I live and what I am realizing about my family. I still am keeping busy though. I may have a lead on a place to move to...Say a prayer, lift up a good thought, whatever it is you do. I would so appreciate some peace in my life. Again though, I am more myself and doing better.

I made a necklace for Daniel out of watch parts of a broken watch that Ron had...It took me a couple of days of sanding and soldering. I put a wish for him in the bezel. So I call it a wish watch. It is really pretty in a steam punk kind of way and has meaning. I think he will like it. I used silver solder and it is super heavy.
I also made a few cards just playing with stuff. Sometimes paper and glue calm my mind.











I also took on a huge undertaking. I am customizing my Blythe doll...you have to boggle, carve, sand, paint, rerroot add lashes correct gaze, blah, blah blah. She is going to be adorable. I had no idea that you could carve plastic. I always knew I wanted to do it, but the list of materials discouraged me. I used a little green screw driver and a nail buffer. What do ya know it worked. I cant wait until it is done! I have put hours into it so far.





People charge hundreds for these custom dolls if they are good at it. You know, I think I kind of have a knack for it.


Lisa my youngest daughter called me yesterday and said she might come up again and bring my little Andrew. I talked to him on the phone and afterwards cried for an hour. I am hoping they do. My birthday is coming and I just dont want to be alone.
I also signed up for Val's zombie swap so I will be working on that too. I did it last year and it was a lot of fun...
Happy Summer xoxoxoxo melinda

Bags, bags and a hat.

I still am working on the kids present box....I finished Olivia's and Stacie's bags. We saw tote bags at Sea World that they loved and they were cute, but very expensive. I told them I would make them bags with their favorite animals. Stacie loves penguins so here is hers.







I used upholstery fabric so they would be super strong. They both are lined and have big pockets. Stacie is a nurse and she works a lot. She could throw her kindle, lunch and anything else in here. I also made clay danglies of their animal and hung them on the bag.






Liv's animal was a sea turtle. I did a plain green turtle raw edge appliqued and then I free sewed some details and then beaded the turtle. I think she will like it. We both love sparkly, pretty things.










Her clay turtle came out so cool...I love the little treasures on his back.







I just have pj bottoms to sew and I may dye shirts too match and then I will be done...I am excited for them to get their birthday box.

I also made a little Blythe derby hat. It is pretty cute just on a little stand.







Well, it is time to go get on the treadmill. I am all kinked up from hunching over sewing....Happy summer! xoxooxomelinda

Finished the Suki' bag and doll clothes.

I still have been sewing every day but I have little half projects everywhere. I actually have about five things done but since my last post was so long, I am just going to share a couple.....Miss Suki cat got turned into a big roomy tote bag with pockets and super long, strong handles...or you can knot them and use it as a shopping bag. The miiddle panel has batik fish. I thought it was fun to give a Siamese some fish as a background.











and here is the finished product






I am going to post this as a sample in my Etsy shop which is veeeerrrrrryyyyy sloooow. Sewing cats is a lot different than dogs. They have less of a muzzle so you have to define it or it is flat. I am doing five cats so I have samples at the cat show for people to see and touch.

Then I finished a Blythe outfit for Liv's Ruth Ann. I don't use patterns because other than her big head she is little so it is going to be fast right? HaH! I have these big Ideas including a petticoat and hat and getting them from my head to the doll took me about two days off and on. I gotta say, it is pretty adorable. This would make a sweet little girls outfit and I know I could probably make it faster. my fingers are uncoordinated so it makes it hard when I do little things. Fiddly little things.








The proper way to do these little clothes is to put snaps on the back cause nothing is going to pull over that big head. I didnt have any, so I sewed on jewelry silver jump rings and then strung black cord all thru, crisscrossed the front and did a kind of corset thing. It actually turned out really pretty in the back.











I also discovered Meet ups on the net. They are activities, some are free and most of it isnt a dating forum... a couple of nights ago I went to the park and took a free bellydance/healing yoga class. It was so fun. I am going again on Saturday. There a ton of them out there. I wish I wouldve known when I had a car. The car thing is hitting me hard. To be my age and carless to me is really embarassing and shameful. Between that and being used as a mental punching bag by my roommate/landlord it is almost unbearable. So I sew. and play cityville and maybe bellydance. I try to keep quiet and take the abuse cause i have no choice. I dont know how to use the bus here so that is my next goal. One step at a time or I will lose it again and I am doing better. I just wish my situation was better....
happy summer all....xoxoxmelinda