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Odds and Ends

11/23/2015

I'm crazy busy, working on way too many things at once. There's five birthday cakes under construction, and I have them all iced and painted. Here's the final sneak peak before they appear in the birthday photos next month.....

One of the cakes needs tiny fairies, and I wasn't looking forward to trying to sculpt them....but then at Fabricland the other day, I spotted some wonderful buttons....Tinker Bell buttons! And some really cute little Nativity buttons, that would work well in a tiny Nativity scene....

The Disney ones were super expensive at $17. a package, but as a Fabricland Sewing Club
Member I get a 40% discount, and either way it beats trying to sculpt 1" fairies.

I also came across some great little knit sweater and hat 'Ornaments' at Michael's,
which were on sale at 50% off. I figured they'd fit my BIDs, and they do....

But I had to take the doll's head off in order to get the sweater on, and taking a BID head off is rather risky as the 'S' hook will shoot straight down the neck, and the whole doll will fall apart. So I'm trying to figure out a way to make a back opening, so the sweaters are easier to put on.

I'm also working on birthday outfits for four of my dolls for next month, as well as doll clothes for Christmas presents for my granddaughters.

And I've finally decided to take the plunge and try sculpt an old man's head so I can have a Santa or Wizard bjd. I wasn't the least bit interested in sculpting an entire head out of Sculpey, since it would be too complicated to make it hollow to fit an existing doll body, and how in the word would I make a removable head cap? So Charie gave me a practice head to use as a base. It was the most 'mature' looking of the practice heads she had on hand. It has beautifully smooth resin, which is proving a bit challenging to get the Aves Apoxie to stick to. I HATE sculpting people, and even more I HATE working with Aves Apoxie Sculpt. It's like playing with chewed gum. So I'm hoping two negatives will cancel each other out, and I might be somewhat successful.

At least most of the face will get covered with facial hair, so it doesn't have to be too perfect. Of course, it also means having to learn a whole slew of new techniques, like spraying with matte sealer, gluing hair onto a head with a removable pate. And then of course comes clothes. I know I should have started sooner! Oh well, maybe he'll just have to start off as a Wizard, who moonlights as Santa next year.

The head fits on my Maya (Doll Leaves), and if this works out, I'll have to get him his own body.

And of course there's always lots of photos to process. I'm about halfway through our Fall trip, so there's still a long way to go before I'm done with those.

Well, better get to it....

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Whistler

11/21/2015

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After taking the ferry back to Vancouver, we went the next day up the 'Sea to Sky Highway' to Whistler, site of the 2010 Winter Olympics. Their gondolas run all year - not just during ski season. It was a Sunday morning, and the village was very busy with tourists and mountain-bikers. Half the gondolas and ski-lifts get refitted during summer in order to accommodate bikes

Since we would be going on several gondola at a busy tourist site, I decided to just take my two smallest dolls along - Holly and Coco.

It was a rather cool morning, and I thought it would be very cold up on the mountain, so dressed them very warmly. We took the first gondola up to the top of Whistler Mountain...

The kids liked checking out the snow grooming equipment....

"Let's go on the Peak to Peak gondola to Blackcomb now.."

"After lunch we will..."
It was getting way too warm for scarves and mitts, so they all came off. Holly
and Coco wanted a picture of themselves posing with the Olympic rings...

We had lunch at the chalet overlooking the gondolas back down to the village....

The Peak to Peak gondola connects the top of Whistler Mountain, to the top of Blackcomb Mountain and is the longest unsupported gondola in the world. The gondola spans 4 1/2 kilometres, but the middle section spans 3 kilometres between the two innermost towers, and dips deep into the valley between the two mountains. Gondola cars are spaced quite far apart, and there are two silver cars which have glass bottoms. Personally, I'd rather not look down through the floor, thank you!

View from the top of Blackcomb Mountain

On the way back to Whistler Mountain, we had a gondola car to ourselves, so the kids came out ...

The town of Whislter way down below...

Back on Whistler Mountain, Holly wanted another picture with the Olympic rings....

...and back down in the village....

"That was a fun day!"

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Hiking in the Rain Forest

11/20/2015

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These were all taken in the back end of our campsite at Pacific Rim.
Again, many of them are a bit fuzzy

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Camping in Pacific Rim

11/19/2015

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The campsites in the Pacific Rim campground looked like they were straight out of the Jurassic period, with huge trees draped with moss, giant ferns, and everything covered with moss. The morning we were going to go back to the mainland, I had an hour or so to take some doll photos, so I quickly set up in the back end of our campsite.

Even though I took all the photos with a tripod and timer, many turned out way too fuzzy and out of focus. I have no idea why. It only happened here in the campground at Pacific Rim with the camping photos and the mushroom fairy photos. It almost looks like the camera may have fogged up inside. I was so disappointed, but decided to process some of them anyways, even though they weren't very sharp....

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Cake Time

11/18/2015

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I'm finally starting to work on the cakes for the five doll birthdays in December. All the styrofoam 'cake' layers have been cut, and the first layer of drywall compound 'icing' has been applied to even out any dents and holes. It's nice working with drywall compound when the furnace is on - just place everything on a wire rack over a heating duct and the stuff dries in no time.

Four of the birthday kids need a new outfit as well, but I think I've figured out which of the girls will get a dress out of which lace. I have until December 15th, when three dolls celebrate their birthdays all on the same day (no, they weren't from the same order, or even the same year) Then there's another birthday on the 17th, and finally one more on the 28th. And of course, there's all the Christmas stuff to prep for too. So I better get busy!

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Sunset at Long Beach

11/18/2015

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We were interested in watching the surfers, so ended up at Long Beach in Pacific Rim, at sunset

*Note - just a reminder that I'm also documenting the trip in several albums in Favourite Photos, so you can revisit the trip photos more easily. I'm updating those albums simultaneously, so photos there go only as far as they do here in my Blog. So far, there are three albums;
- Fall Trip Part 1 - Heading West
- Fall Trip Part 2 - Vancouver to Victoria
- Fall Trip Part 3 - Pacific Rim
There's also the trip album on my Photography website. It has fewer doll photos (just the best ones), but with more scenic shots not shown here - Pacific 2015 - I'm also updating that album simultaneously, so photos there also only go as far as they do here in my Blog.

I'm barely halfway through the trip, so there will be several more albums. So stay tuned!

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Amphitrite Point

11/18/2015

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In the afternoon the sky cleared and we went for a short hike along the Wild Pacific Trail at Amphitrite Point, in Uclulet. The trails start at the lighthouse.

The rugged coastline there was spectacular, but with it being low tide, waves were small.....

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Wikaninish Beach

11/17/2015

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We started our exploration of Pacific Rim National Park, on Vancouver's Pacific coast,
at Wikaninish Beach, where the Park Visitor Centre is.

It was a foggy morning, as most mornings there are....

Huge piles of giant driftwood have been washed up over the years, high on the beach along
the edge of the forest. Here and there, people have made some of it into forts....

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Kitties and a Pillow

11/16/2015

9 Comments

I love many of the 3-D printed puppies and kittens I'm seeing online, but they are very expensive, so I opted instead for a pair of cat 'marionettes' from Affordable Designs right here in Canada.

After removing the strings and all the tiny screw-eyes, they make nice little cats. They may not be as poseable as the 3-D printed ones, but at just $20 for the two of them together, they work well enough for me - for now.

I also put together a new decorative pillow. I discovered a pin cushion amongst all the stuff in my Mom's old sewing basket. I thought it would make a perfect little decorative pillow for my doll furniture. I thought all I'd need to do was just pull out the pins, and it would be good to go. Wrong! After pulling out all the pins stuck in the outside, it became clear that there were pins deep inside as well. The only way to remove them was to open up the little cushion. So I removed the closing stitches, and out spilled the crushed cork, and one needle after another. Dozens and dozens of needles - I counted more than eighty - including several tapestry needles!

Well, I ended up totally picking the pin cushion apart, washing it, and sewing it back together with a strip of reasonably matching print on two of the edges, and then softly stuffed it. I think all the rust spots from the pins just add to the 'country' feel of the cow print.

So now I have a nice 'sentimental' little pillow for my colonial bench....

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Duncan

11/15/2015

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After leaving Butchart Gardens we headed north, and stopped in at Duncan, the 'City of Totems'. However, my feet were way too sore after walking through Butchart Gardens twice, so we only visited the Station Gallery.

Owen and Milo checked out the totem poles there.....

..and Milo climbed up on the caboose....

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