Well, the migraine I've had for the last four days seems to be gone for the moment, so I'm trying to take advantage of it and get some things done. Like painting my melons. I've chosen to make them the kind with seeds. It's a bit of a tedious job because I have to paint both sides of everything, and I'm doing it "assembly-line" fashion, applying the same thing to every piece, then when it's dry, turning it over and doing it again on the other side. I think there have been at least a dozen layers already. Next step is the rind - first light green, and then the darker markings. As always, it helps to have the real thing nearby for colour reference.

I've also taken the studio shots of the five latest doll outfits. The buttons are up in the Gallery but I still have to make the individual pages, and give each outfit a name. Now I can take everything off the girls and put them back into their summer outfit. Byuri needs her West Coast native regalia back on so I can take the final photos from last spring's story.

Peach's sweater is also finished, and it's drying after steaming to shape. I'm not sure I like it for Peach. I was the most difficult of all the sweaters so far, because I had to fiddle with the colourway many times, so there was a lot of loose thread to have to weave in at the end. I've started the hat, but am wishing I'd purchased the warmer-coloured ball of cashmere instead. I'll wait to see how this green/blue set looks on her, and then I'll decide.

I'm working on a sweater set for Peach, and I've been having lots of issues. First it was deciding which colour to choose as the "main" edging, as there were two very dark colours.  I ended up choosing the dark green. Then the  colour bands in the variegation were too wide for my taste so I had to unravel most of the first sleeve and tie off sections of yarn so the coloured stripes would be narrower - then repeat that in the second sleeve. The main body of the sweater needed to be unravelled because I messed up on the third row and couldn't see the detail in the very dark green in order to fix it - so I unravelled everything and started over.

I have a lot of leftover light turquoise thread because each time I started knitting a new piece, I had to unravel the ball of yarn to get to the dark green again. But now that I'm on the main body, I won't have to unravel anymore - until I'm at the end and need to use dark green for crocheting the front openings and neckline.  And again when I start the hat.

This week I'm hoping to finish off a lot of loose ends. Everyone is back in their Newfoundland travel clothes so I can take photos and make Gallery pages. Peach needs her Victorian outfit photographed too. I'm also planning to take all the final photos from last spring's story. There's not a lot left - mostly close-ups and an interior scene or two. Then Aeran and Asa can finally go away to be repainted.

I also need to shoot the last few art dolls that I want to try sell, and make all the pages for each one. Then that section can finally go up on my website. I still haven't decided what to do about the felt and cloth dolls - to keep them or try sell them.

I'm not sure how much I'll get done, everything seems to go so slowly these days. I'd really like to get back to costuming again in August. At some point my two little Manuna Mice will arrive, and I plan on pairing them up with my Kaye Wiggs tinies. The Mice were supposed to be shipped in July - this month (which is almost over) - but everything through JPopDolls always takes way longer than they say. Last year the two dolls I got through them, each took an extra three months past expected delivery dates.  

I'm going to need some watermelon for an upcoming photo shoot, so am in the process of making some. I've tried making watermelon out of Sculpey before - see the fridge magnet - but it's too hard to get the colours right, plus it ends up looking too much like plastic, so this time I'm trying Paperclay. 

Watermelons used to come in just one size - the huge oblong variety, until the big round seedless ones were developed. Now you can get round watermelons in all sizes, even the size of a regular melon or cantaloupe, or even smaller. I'm making two sizes of melons and slices, since I'm not sure what size will work best. Some of the slices are in the process of being eaten.

The larger melon section and the smaller melon half have cut styrofoam balls inside. I smeared the styrofoam with glue before applying the Paperclay. The melon slices are just Paperclay. 

The really nice thing about working with Paperclay is that you don't have to sculpt too perfectly, because after it dries, it can be sanded into the perfect shape. So back out into the breezy sunshine they go, and maybe they'll be dry enough to sand tomorrow.

Today is "National Milk Chocolate Day", and Elin is all stocked up to thoroughly enjoy it! She's lucky that, unlike the rest of us, that mountain of chocolate won't make her sick or gain weight.

I hadn't really had much time before our trip to play with Peach and find "her look", but then yesterday it hit me - why not try Lonnie's sweater and hat outfit on her. If it looks good, then I'll get another ball of the variegated cashmere in yet another colour-way and make her a set like that too. So today I tried the outfit on Peach. I think she looks especially pretty as a blonde in it.

So now I need to go to Michaels and see what other colours of the cashmere they have. I know there's at least another three different colour variegations I haven't already used.

I took some time this afternoon to draw up the patterns and instructions for the long-sleeved tops I've been making. Unfortunately I though of offering the patterns too late to take any "under construction" photos other than the very last step. The tops are very simple, so hopefully you'll be able to figure it out with just written instructions. Maybe next time I make another one of these tops I'd better take the step-by-step photos and add them.

The patterns are intended to be cut from stretchy cotton jersey. I especially like the jersey that has a small percentage of spandex. You can buy T-shirt fabric at some fabric stores, but if there's none of those around, or they don't have a colour you like, just buy a human-size T-shirt in a colour you do like, wash it, and cut it apart. The secondhand discount shop is also a great source for T-shirts in every colour and pattern imaginable.

Well, all the doll photos from the trip to Newfoundland are finally done and posted. The last pictures from Peggy's Cove are finally up. It's kind of bitter-sweet moment in that I'm really happy with how many of the photos turned out, but looking back I wish I'd taken more in some of the places- or more different ones. I wish there were more views of certain things, or more fun poses instead of endlessly re-shooting the same scene in an attempt for that "perfect picture".  But at the time, it was the best I could do under the circumstances. 

I'm working on some long-sleeved T-shirts to complete the doll's travel outfits. Two are done, and it wasn't until I was almost finished the next two that it occurred to me that I should really post patterns for these tops - so I took one photo. There won't be many instructions.

I started knitting a hat to go with Elin's green sweater, but unravelled it because I think a multi-coloured crochet hat would probably go better with that ensemble. I find I'm having a lot of difficulty seeing the finer work clearly. I find my focal length has changed in one eye, so everything is blurry and stitches are difficult to see clearly. I already couldn't see what I was doing when working with very dark fabrics, but now I'm having problems with lighter fabrics too. I don't know what that means for beading, but I better get a move on and make some of those detailed costumes I've been wanting to make for my dolls for a very long time.

One of the most scenic drives in Newfoundland is the 40 kilometers or so winding along the coast from the ferry at Port-au-Basques to the small fishing village of Rose Blanche at the end of the coastal road. There's a beautiful stone lighthouse set upon the the ruggedly barren, rocky coast.

Back along the road there's a miniature stone model, high on a hilltop overlooking the 
coast with the real lighthouse in the distance. It's just the right size for the girls.....

"I wonder what's inside?"

Today is "National Hammock Day", which means the day to gather some snacks and a good book, and take a relaxing break in your hammock. Which is exactly what my girls are doing....

But, you know how it goes with little kids and anything that moves.....

It very quickly turns into a "free-for-all", which is all good and fun, until someone gets hurt.

I've started another album for Special Days - the first one was just getting way too full, so it was time to start a second. I'm trying to keep those Favourite Photos albums somewhat reasonable in size, which is also why I've divided our Newfoundland trip up into six smaller sections - by topic or region. All six thumbnails are up, but I still have to process the photos for the last two.

Today things finally get "back to normal". With Jan's big birthday beach party - which was a giant success - behind us, I can finally get back to some doll work. It's been over four weeks now since I've done anything other than take photos, so it's about time. First job is to finish off the four girl's outfits they wore on our trip. I just borrowed tops and tights from other outfits, but I'd rather everything was a complete set, so I don't always have to remember what comes from where, or is supposed to go with what. Which means making four pairs of tights, three tops, and two more knit hats. Then photograph and document it all. I also need to plan the last photos from the spring of 2012's photo story, so I can take them all before stripping down Asa for her new elaborate costume I'm planning. And then there's the old OOAK art dolls I want to put up for sale. I took all the photos before we went away on our trip, so now it's all about processing them all, and making pages for everything. Lots of work!!

Even though I took five dolls along on our trip, there were definite favourites that showed up in photos most often. A lot of that had to do with the bright sunshine most days, and how far we'd have to walk to get to the photo location. For bright sunshine I mostly stayed with the normal skin dolls, and for longer walks I usually had just two dolls, since two boxes fit nicely into my bag. All five dolls only ever showed up together when we were parked somewhere right beside the photo shoot location. Elin only made it out a few times, so I took the time to take some portraits of her with her wildflower bouquet in Burnt Island the evening before taking the ferry back to the mainland. She had picked buttercups, clover and some lovely pink beach pea.