Inside Helen's Head

I GOT PUBLISHED!!!!

So I was running errands today and happened to purchase a copy of Belle Armoire Magazine.  I love Somerset publications - I think they have at least twenty that I would like to subscribe to - and the July/August issue had this really cool coat made from grungeboard that caught my eye and I decided to buy that one.  So I finish my errands and come home, settle down in my chair with a little pasta for lunch and start reading the magazine...when I got to the bridal article I remembered that I had sent them a suit that I had embroidered several months ago and thought I guess they didn't like it...I kind of didn't know if they would, it isn't as artsy as some of the stuff they publish and I figured they would've told me if they were going to use it - then I turned the page...and I'm looking at this lovely wool jacket with this colorful embroidery and it takes a moment to sink in... THAT'S MY SUIT!!!!  I jump up and start screaming - Do screams count if no one hears them?  And I call my mom and I post on my facebook page and WOW - it's totally exciting to have something published.  SO a big THANK YOU to Somerset Belle Armoire for publishing my suit - it made my day - possibly the best day EVER!!!

 

 

 

Dawn Doll Rescue

So I have become a little obsessed with Dawn Dolls lately.  And since I have more talent than money, my purchases have been mostly from the TLC section, which means, they tend to be a little shabby.  Along with some of the outfits I wanted, I acquired a few extra dolls - which since I seem to have this rescue gene, I feel a need to fix up and find loving homes for them.  Here is the journey of my first attempt at doll restoration.

First you need a motley looking dawn doll or two or three.

And they get a bath.  I am using KatSilk products to clean my dolls. 

Then I removed her hair and what was left of her eyelashes.

Then I thread the doll needle with about 15 strands of hair.

Stitch hair through a hole in her head and pull out through the neck hole. 

Slip the end of the hair out of the needle and tie a knot.  trim the end close to the knot.

 Pull on the other end of the hair to slide the knot back inside.

Repeat until every hole is filled. I added some extra along the hairline because I thought it looked a little skimpy and wasn't as perfectly spaced as I thought it could be.

After rooting the hair I braided it to make waves.

After her hair was set, I rooted her eyelashes.  This is done the same way, I used 5-10 strands of very dark brown hair in each hole.  They looked kinda funny until I trimmed them.

Next I put her little head in some water that I heated to boiling.  That is, she was in a bowl and I poured the hot water on her.  I left her in to "cook" for about ten minutes.  Katsilk doll hair is set into a style in this manner.

Then I picked out the braids while her hair was still damp.

Then I trimmed her eyelashes with small, very sharp scissors.

Then I choose fabric for her outfit.

Then I sewed like crazy and TaDah!  Here she is...

 

What sort of doll should I do next?    

  
 
 

oh yeah....i have a blog.

Well, I am home with a sick kid, again.  This time Joshua got sent home for vomiting - poor kid was kinda pale there for a while, but seems to be feeling better, as he is playing with the Wii.

What's new with me?  Well.  LOST ended.  And not just for the season, but forever.  And that makes me sad.  The last show was wonderful, I laughed, I cried, I will buy the DVD.

And then my other favorite show -GLEE- ended for the season, and it was really great...but now I have nothing to watch on TV.  For awhile there, with three shows to watch, I was overwhelmed with TV.  Now all there is is those stupid housewife shows that I keep turning on for some reason.  Sigh.  At least I have Project Runway, and Lost on DVD....maybe I'll go buy season 1 of Glee.  :)

Anyhow.  Troy was in a weight lifting competition, and won 2nd place with a lift of...I think it was 365.  Something close to that, anyways.  The guy that beat him was about 50 pound heavier than Troy and it was someone that none of the local gym guys knew - but he got first and that made Troy sad.  But at least he beat 'Bama!

I went to the yard sale of an artist - I always enjoy the yard-sales of people just like me - she had fabric and oodles of art stuff, tools, some furniture - lots of neat stuff.  And she had just sold her house which was out in a field of wild flowers, the sale was held in her barn/studio.  I wanted to move in.  But I just bought a bunch of stuff, including a pattern cabinet.  I need a bigger house so I can keep buying treasure!

School is out for the summer - Joshua was happy and excited and Kat was a little sad.  Joshua got an award for doing really well on his TAKS test.  I was pretty excited about that - I like it when my kids get awards for being smart!  Actually, I teared up a little when he got it because it was so unexpected - he has a learning disability - I always thought Kat would get her name up on the wall but I was so happy that Joshua did - YAY! 

I took them to Braums to celebrate the start of summer - We love Braums!

The kids went to our local water-park with their classes to celebrate the end of school (that last week is just all parties and fun!) and Josh got a sunburn on his ear.  He must have missed that little bit of skin when he put his sunscreen on - Texas sun in fierce!

Ouch!  So the kids are out of school and driving me nuts - we bought them a Wii and everyone is enjoying that...it's amazing how satisfying it is to whack the snot out of an animated character...I had to put a tape line on the floor cause Josh kept getting so close to the TV I thought he was going to smash it - so everyone has to stay behind the line.  It's really fun.  I got a dance mat too - DDR - but I will only use it when everyone is gone cause my friend Todd is trying to get Troy to video tape me doing it - and that would just be too embarrassing to have that wind up on YouTube.  :P

I also started a quilt.  I put my name on Gloria's list about a year ago...so she should be getting to me soon....so I better get it done!  I don't want to lose my place cause it takes her a year to get to you anyhow.  LOL  It's more fun than alterations!

We have been enjoying our garden's produce and also that of our fine farmer's market - it's so hard not to buy everything when you are there - but then you end up with more than you need for the week and it spoils and that isn't good.  This week we had zucchini andonions and tomatoes and cabbage to work with so we had bread and two layered casseroles.  Yummy stuff!  We also tried some local wine, which was pretty good.  I don't know that much about wine, just if I liked it or not, and I did.  :)

Troy's cousin had a birthday party and we went to it - it's nice having family near by.  He had a cow themed party and we got him a cute stuffed cow and some other cow stuff - he seemed to like it.  It was nice seeing them and since Uncle Garnet and Aunt Nancy were visiting too, that made it extra fun -I especially enjoy it when Nancy tells stories about when Troy was a kid...he sounds just like Josh!

My other new thing is Dawn dolls...but that is going to be a whole post to itself!  Bye for now!  

National Scrapbook Day 2010

Well we had another super fun time at this years retreat.  Scrapbook N Such always plans such a great retreat!

Tamy and I entered "Crop In A Box" in the centerpiece contest.  It was a spinning box that was covered in mini scrapbooks of past retreats and topped by a miniature scene of Terri scrapbooking.  This pic is of Terri when she first saw it.  Her amazed reaction was pretty cool and we felt like we had "won" even if we didn't win the contest.  It was a lot of work but it was fun having the most talked about project!
Tamy got a gypsy!  Such a fun toy - everyone with a Cricut needs one!
We won the contest!  We got a huge bag of scrapbook supplies...not that either of us needed any,  but free stuff is always fun.
Tamy thought I should share more of my wine.  But was complaining that she would get a headache?  Don't whine if you want wine!
We crowned CJ the Queen of the Crop or at least of our corner, based on the she who has the most stuff wins thing.  Dear God this woman has a lot of stuff!
We had chicken for dinner.  This is the sort of food that tastes good but no one should eat.  You can identify this sort of food by the beige color.
Tamy is a multitasker!  Her iphone is very cool - we were able to check our ebay auctions from the crop!
There were TONS of classes at this crop.  I didn't take any of them, preferring to work on my own pages.
Although this project was tempting.  Isn't this book just amazingly pretty?  Tamy took it.  She loves to make mini books!
Hazelnut Lattes make me happy!  (and keep me up!)
Tammy's working hard!
All of this stuff is really hers.  And there is more in her van.  And look!  She did some scrapbooking!  We like to give CJ a hard time because she brings so much and gets so little done.  But it's because she is very generous with loaning her stuff and teaching people how to use it.  The rest of us just want to do our own projects!
My hair DID explode out of my head.  Why do you ask?
Tammy, Tamy, Helen, CJ.
New friend Brenda!  She was very cool, collects dolls and was interesting to talk to.  She won this very pretty pink bag (that I wanted) and also a gypsy!  So lucky!
Tamy and me doing close ups.
Even the Mt Dew couldn't keep me up!  But that timer will wake me up to do the lights - it's LOUD!!!!
Tamy tried to dye her hair the same color as her Glori doll.  I think it's easier to change the dolls!
Another shot of our centerpiece.
Our dolls came along to keep us company!  This is mini Helen, Mini Tamy and Mini CJ.  Notice that CJ is NOT scrapbooking, but is reading a book.  Sigh.  How will she ever get anything done?
   

Catching up.

Once you get behind it just seems to snowball.  Today I am home with my sick daughter so I have lots of time to sit around and get caught up!

Joshua has become good friends with Alex, who is my friend Tamy's son.  They both like dinosaurs, Legos, Star Wars and active playing...very active.  They raced all over Tamy's huge yard playing spy and chase and swords...

 
Katherine had a banquet for Girl Scouts.  We made tons of tissue paper flowers for the decorations and had lots of dessert at our potluck.  We even had a magician...who wore so much cologne that you could smell him across the room and I was sick for days after from smelling him.

Kat looked so sweet!
Aren't the flowers pretty and colorful?  We all got to keep some.
Mr smelly magic
Awards!
Kat got lots of new patches!
Well - I guess I'll be busy!   I have a lot of patches to sew on!

I signed my kids up for camp...this requires one to get up early and wait in line to get a spot.  The rec center camps are really popular and if you aren't in line by 6 am you probably aren't going to get your kids in.  Well - it wasn't as crowded this year but still quite a few - Tamy and I sat out there huddled in the cold drinking coffee.  Someone needs to put a port a potty out there!

I've been working on a room box for my Dawn dolls.  It's too fun!

This is Jessica and Gary.  In my pretend world this is my friend Todd and me.  Jessica's hair has been colored to look more like mine.
And here is my room so far...Love the tin ceiling! More to come!
 

Easter!

Hey, we had Easter!  We did the usual Easter stuff, here are some pix of the egg hunt and dinner...

 We made lots of pretty eggs.
  HAM!!!!
Look what Kat made!
Lots of colors...
I love decorating eggs!
Yummy candy!

I think Hershey wants an Easter basket!    

SETH WON!!!!!!

 My favorite Project Runway contestant since Chris March, loved him since day one and for once, the nice guy WON!!!!!

Hooyah!  Won the big prize!  Go Seth!  I so want to wear almost everything he made.  (not too sure about that purple dress but maybe for just the right event.

Here he is, calling his show and looks so cool.  I found out that the clothes he had on in his publicity photo was not what he usually wears - you remember the Chess King outfit?  Apparently he is a blazer and jeans kinda dude.

LOVED this dress.  Love the leather with the wool, love the color, LOVE LOVE LOVE the tights/leggings.  Cape thing reminded me of Rami.

A great suit, great leather detail, pants are a little long but they would probably be just the right length on me!

Love hounds tooth plaid!

Very cool coat, loved the fabric but would also be great in other fabrics for the less bold.  Love the polka dot tights.
 


  My favorite.  Love the fabric, the cut - very cool, WANT WANT WANT WANT this coat.

This is kinda cool but not love just like.  Like the lining on the coat.  Neat idea...but maybe not in yellow plaid. Pants need work.Or less plaid.  Something.

This is cute, shows he can do a less tailored look but not my fave.  I do like how he mixes the different fabrics.
Nice.  More classic fifties than 80s.  Love how he did the plaid in the back.  (he is so good at matching plaids and stripes!)
Very cool.  Not sure where you would wear this tho...but very interesting.
Another cool mix of fabrics.   lIke how that shiney line draws your eye down the front.
 Hmmmm.  Maybe if I was in my 20s.  Kinda bondage princess thing I would have worn when I was much younger.  Me and Madonna.
All in all a very cool show, lots of very wearable looks even tho you might not choose to wear the stripe leggings or whatever...they are versatile in that you could go runway with them and more attention getting or more "normal" and have a more classic look.  I just think this stuff is FABULOUS!!!!
And Seth was just such a great personality on the show that I would have wanted him to win no matter what he did.  So how nice that he was sweet AND talented.

And he has such a cute family, too!  Congratulations Seth!!!! I hope you have a mega successful career and that one day my planets will align and I get to wear that checkered coat!

How our garden grows.

Troy and I have both been busy with our garden this year.  Of course, I am more the planner and shopper and he the hard labor but I did do the checkerboard herb garden in the front.  He planted a number of planters with various greens that we have been enjoying for a month already.  In the back yard he has a mound of root vegetables (in my old herb garden) and has planted beans and tomatoes - possibly other things in another bed.  He pretty much has stuff planted everywhere.  I do flowers and herbs, although I did buy seeds for other stuff.  I just do better with herbs, I think because they are almost weeds, and roses because I like the old fashioned kinds that don't need much care.  Basically the things that you can plant and neglect!!!! 

Troy at Smith's Gardentown

baby herbs.
Beans!
Lilacs
Queen Elizabeth rose
Pear tree
Queen Elizabeth rose
Pretty weeds
Iris
Root veggies
Lady Banks rose
Lady Banks rose
Antique rose (?) Came with house.

Joseph's Coat rose

We have more weeds than grass!

The herb checkerboard.

Pretty!

Iris
Root veggies, getting bigger!

Antique rose in full bloom

Queen Elizabeth

Lincoln?  Also was here with house.

Joseph's Coat rose

Joseph's Coat rose

I think I need to make this, next.... 
 
 
 
 
 
  
 
 
  
 
 

Kat Stuff

Sometimes Katherine and I don't agree on what looks cool.

You can usually tell by the eye roll.  She finally got her ears pierced.  I have always been willing for her to get it done, just never wanted to decide for her.  And I don't know if 7 is really old enought to make a decision regarding your body but a hole in your ear isn't the same as a tatoo on your forehead or anything like that.

She also has been sewing.  We bought the stuff to make her "billow" a while ago, it just got piled with the rest of the projects and forgotten for awhile.  Properly aged, it could now be made (LOL)  ....In case you've never heard of one, a billow is a blanket that has a square sewed to the bottom center and the blanket folds up into it when not in use so it can be a pillow until needed.  She was quite proud!

 I think we are going to work on doll clothes, next. :)

If only...

such a book existed.  Imagine the space I would have on my bookshelf!