New Dress on Etsy

Emma's outfit has been listed on Etsy.  It consists of the sleeveless tier dress (full view below on Narsha, or check out my Flickr account to see it on Emma), wool felt hand-embroidered jacket, hair pin, and lace-edged bloomers.

Today

It's January and it's snowing, again.  These icicles were hanging from everything today, and I admired them on my way to the coop to check on the girls.  Even when hanging off the dusty edge of the chicken coop, they were pretty.  One admires what one can in January, when there are no flowers to be seen and no blue sky for weeks.

I even admired my snowy work boots.  They are so useful in the snow and in the coop, both.  And they're warm.

I visited the ducks in their pen, sitting comfortably in the straw and hay on the run floor.  I re-purposed the used straw and hay from the chicken coop, cleaned out yesterday, to put on the run floors for the ducks and chickens to scratch and play in.  I don't let the coops get so dirty that the straw is too dirty to play in.  It seems to be appreciated.  I never cease to wonder that the ducks do not mind the cold.  Even when it was -6 the other morning, they all tumbled out of the duck house and made their merry way to their water bucket to swim.  Little Duck (Daisy) is not in this picture because she was too busy trying to eat my camera cord instead of posing nicely.

This is what passed for afternoon amusement in the chicken coop today.  That's a cabbage there, hanging from a chain.  I've found the best way to hang it up is to use a nail to stick into the cabbage, which I wrap a bit of wire around and then hook the wire to their chain which is hanging from a hook on the ceiling.  The chickens really enjoy having a cabbage.  They swarmed around when I hung it up.  Their feathers are looking much better after putting on the pinless peepers, as seen on a few of them here.  The only ones that still look awful are Matilda, in the front, and Rhoda, just in front of Matilda.  They look terrible, not because anyone is picking them, but because they are molting!  I'm not sure what possessed them to molt in the middle of January, but they are staying warm inside the coop.

 

And this is what waited for me inside after checking on the ladies.  I had a nice cup of tea and read the last of my issue of Mary Jane's Farm, which I picked up at the farm store with the chicken feed the other day.  I wish I had room for goats and a nice small barn.  Now, back to my tea and relaxation.  Enjoy your weekend, all.

New personality

New personality
Originally uploaded by elizabeth's*whimsies

My Dollmore Narsha was just not right. I couldn't seem to like her, no matter what I had her wearing. So, I erased her face, again, and repainted her for the third time. I think the third time's the charm, because now I like her face a lot better!  Her wig is ordered from Dollmore and fits correctly because it's made for her.  It's hard to find things to fit this doll.  Her torso is similar in width to Bitty Bethany Kish's torso, but her limbs are much longer.  She can share some clothes with the Effner Little Darlings, but they are loose on her, which does work well for certain styles.  Below, she's wearing an outfit I made for Emma Leigh Addison, which I will be listing on Etsy very soon. 



Here's a full view of the outfit, without the matching coat.  More about the outfit later--I'll blog it with Emma wearing it.

A reminder of spring

The eyes of this doll just called out for a green themed dress and the color reminds me of springtime.  The flower seemed to be just the thing for her hair.  I asked Lana to leave the wig detached on this doll, in case I wanted to rewig her, but I can't imagine her in any other wig, so I might glue it down.  Her coloring and personality fit this particular style of hair.

The dress is made from quilter's cottons.  The jacket is, as well, and I happened upon the tiny buttons at Joann Fabrics and knew I would use them eventually.  The jacket pattern is actually sized for Bethany Kish but worked well on this doll.  It's fully lined and matches the dress.  She has little pantaloons underneath.

Another New Year

Another year has gone by and a fresh, unwritten year is before us all, waiting to be filled with whatever we want to fill it with.  It's time for my annual look back and look ahead.  Here are last year's resolutions:

1. Have a successful starting year for my new veterinary practice.

I seem to have accomplished this, thankfully.  The place is still afloat!

2. Make time to craft lots of things and keep my etsy shop stocked.

I haven't done too badly with this one, although I think all my etsy listings have expired!

3. Visit my family!

Managed to do this in March and at least one of them has come to visit me this year, too. 

4. Paint my darn craft room!

Hooray, this is done and I love the new room.

5. Work on my new dollhouse

I have made it to the living room.  And now I'm stalled...better get back to work!

6. Eat more vegan meals.

Well, I'm glad to announce that I have managed to eat almost entirely vegan.  I do still have a little cheese now and again, especially when I'm eating out, because there aren't too many other options.  I also eat my chicken's eggs, mostly in recipes, but I know they're spoiled and happy so I don't worry about the quality of their lives.

7. Continue to play my dulcimer. Perhaps get a new music book because I am bored with the few I have.

 I haven't played it as much as I would like, but I have picked it up now and again.  I need to get a new song book!  I'll have to add one to my amazon cart ASAP.


Overall, it looks like I've done OK with last year's resolutions.  So here are a few new ones.

1.  For the veterinary practice:  get the practice more into accordance with my own personal philosophy and away from the past owner's philosophy.  The good thing is that mostly, we share philosophies, but there are a few things that need work.  A new sign and logo will help to accomplish this goal, and I have an artist working on a logo.
2.  Be more open with my communications with everyone.  By this, I mean that if something is bothering me, I need to communicate about it rather than figuring out non-confrontational ways of dealing with things.  This should help my management style and my overall life.
3.  Continue to craft and sew and keep my etsy shop stocked.
4.  Finish the interior, at least, of my dollhouse.  The length of time that it's taking me to get this done is getting ridiculous!
5.  Participate in more craft and dollhouse swaps.  These are fun and a good way to motivate me to work on things for myself.
6.  Read more.  I think the lack of reading for fun is impairing my imaginative processes, and that in turn makes me less creative with things like my miniatures and dolls.
7.  Keep working on the dulcimer, as mentioned above.
8.  Sculpt some.  I haven't sculpted in a while and I was not so bad at it and miss doing it.
9.  Make some stuff for myself.  I always make things for other people, but I've wanted to make tons of things for me but I never get around to it.  I want a sweater, a garland of hearts for the mantle, curtain tie backs, etc!

So here's to a fresh new year and all the good things it will contain!