New glasses!

My glasses came today! I was kind of pissed that they didn't tell me when they mailed them out, but they arrived safely, and I will definitely order from them again. Matter of fact, both Ti and Nick and thinking of ordering from them too.

I think they look rather sharp and make me look more fashion oriented than I actually tend to dress. XD I love how they contrast with the blond too. It's a little disorienting walking around with them, since they are a big step up in prescription than my old glasses and my depth perception is a little bit off at the moment. I keep tripping because of the fishbowl affect. XD;;

Anyway on to the photos since I know ya'll want to see how they look. ;D

And compare with my old glasses (and old hair ;D):


Even though I was annoyed at the lack of information regarding shipping, I will be ordering from them again. I'm ordering a matching pair of sunglasses, probably tomorrow, and a back up pair of frames next month, just in case. The quality is excellent, and the customer service is decent.

I went with the basic $25 glasses, the thickest of their thin plastic lenses, nothing extra, and I can say with full confidence I'd have paid about $150 for the same pair at LensCrafters or a similar eyeglasses store. We went to the mall briefly this afternoon so that Nick and Ti could get a feel for the kind of frames they wanted for themselves, and I saw a pair like mine in red, priced at $159 + tax. Same shape, same material, but a different color.

In case you can't tell, these are the frames I went with. They are a bit darker in person, as I think you can see but they are a lovely dark shade of blue.


If you want to order from them (Goggles4U.com), and can't figure out something, I'll be happy to help if I can. And, one last pic cause I liked how it turned out. X3

Skunk Stripes

I cut my hair today. It had been getting rather shaggy and I was starting to sport an accidental mullet. So after an allover buzz, and a trim up top, I'm looking more like my regular self.


Then I decided that today was the day I wanted to do my skunk stripes. Given the natural haircolor, and my sensitive scalp, I didn't intend to try and go all the way platinum. So, I put my hair into clips in the center and tried to make two even stripes on the side. Then I mixed up the bleach and applied it to both stripes.


It's not perfect in the back but I was more concerned with a nice straight line on both sides. I'm not by any means a professional, so I know it would have looked better if I'd had a hairdresser do it, but it's cheap this way, and if I don't like it in the end, it's nobody's fault but my own. So, after washing all the bleach out, and applying a little spiking glue, I took another progress picture.


You can see how it's kind of choppy in the back, but I managed to get it lighter than I expected. It's a nice almost natural blond in the front and for most of the stripe. It just gets more orange and choppy at the back. It's light enough that it should take color pretty well, so I may pick up some temporary dyes in blue, green, and pink next time I can get to a beauty supply store. I also still have enough unmixed bleach to do one more go, so I can maintain the stripes for awhile. Roots don't bother me, but I mean that I can completely re-bleach it again should I want to. I might also bleach spots into the rest, like cheetah spots or something.


My funny cowlick makes it sit a little weird in the front but I'm pretty pleased with it in general. What do ya'll think?

My best friend's baby.

I have an epic story to share today. It started off with a quiet morning at Christy's after spending the night last night. We walked over to the mall in the early afternoon and poked around there for a bit, until Christy got a call from our buddy Rissa. Turns out she'd been in the hospital for the past two days, which is a rather big deal as she is very pregnant. She'd been having contractions for two days but never dilated and they released her telling her it was too early. They also let her know baby was wrong-side down or breech.

She was in excruciating pain when she met us at the mall. She had to pay her cell phone bill there, and wanted to pick up some groceries and last minutes things to prepare for baby, since her due date is in May. On our way out to her car, I commented that it probably wouldn't be more than another week before the baby was born, going by her pain, and how big her belly had gotten. Her nausea was bad, and she was in alot of pain, and hadn't slept in two days. We got over the to the Commissary, stopping briefly to fill up the Rissa-mobile at a gas station.

Rissa was in too much pain to walk, so Christy pushed her in one of the wheelchairs, and I pushed the cart, with Michael in the little car section, as it was one of those kid-friendly carts. We got about half the list, when Rissa got really nauseous, and Christy took her to the bathroom. She felt a bit better after that and we finished up the rest of the grocery list, and got going.

Just a way down the road she got really nauseous again and pulled over, to throw up... and her water broke. Rissa was in labor for the past two days, real labor, real contractions, and the stupid hospital let her go. Once we were sure that it was her water that broke, I called 911, at the gentle prodding of Christy, who was in Super Mom mode.

We stopped in one of the best places we could have. Seriously, over twenty different cars stopped to help. One older couple had some old towels and blankets in their car, and two different people, one a medical military guy, and one a civilian nurse both stopped. Lots more people stopped to make sure we'd called an ambulance and to see if Rissa was alright.

Christy called to get Rob, Rissa's husband to meet her at the hospital, and also called as much of Rissa's family as she could before Rissa's phone battery got too low. Seriously, Christy should get a gold medal for keeping it together because I was bewildered and Rissa was worried and scared.

Once the ambulance arrived, Christy rode with Rissa to the hospital, and I stayed with Michael and Rissa's car and groceries. I called Nick and Ti and had Nick come to retrieve us back to Christy's house. He drove Rissa's car here, and helped me put her cold groceries away.

From there, Christy continued to be Super Mom and kept things together, and did her best to reassure Rissa until Rob could get there. She called me and let me know Rissa and Baby were okay, and then again let me know when they told Rissa they needed to do a C-section, because the baby was breech, and needed to come out NOW.

Both Rissa and baby boy are healthy and doing okay now, last I heard, which was a couple of hours ago. He was born 5 pounds, 14 ounces, and I think 18 inches long. He is six weeks early.

Nick went and picked up Christy from the hospital as soon as he got back from taking Ti to her college class, which was also tonight. Christy earned her title of Super Mom today and is understandably exhausted.

All in all it's been.. a hell of a day.

Dolls- Reinvented and New

So, in a fit of dislike for Isaac's look, I accidently re-invented him. I mean I was dissatisfied with his eyes, and was thinking of going with green eyes instead. Christy let me try out a beautiful pair of Hazel eyes she had on hand, and it was magic. Meet Declan.

Once the eyes were changed it was obvious he wasn't Isaac anymore. We made him a short brown wig, with a puff of bangs in front, and I debated a few names. Mainly, Daniel, Owen, Braedon, and then Declan. Declan stuck, and here we have it.

And, in other news, ELLIOT ARRIVED TODAY! We went to put the head on Jinwoo's body, but it was strung too tightly to get the s-hook up into Elliot's head. So, we ended up putting him on Christian's SD13 body, for a quick photo.

Proportion-wise the body is a little too big, but in a pinch it could do. I still want the Souldoll Double body though, as it's gorgeous, and the proportions are perfect. And, then I changed his eyes to the blue eyes that were in Isaac.


It still feels a bit surreal since he arrived so quickly and all. @_@ My first SD sized doll, even if he's only a head right now.

Accents

What American accent do you have? Your Result: The West Your accent is the lowest common denominator of American speech. Unless you're a SoCal surfer, no one thinks you have an accent. And really, you may not even be from the West at all, you could easily be from Florida or one of those big Southern cities like Dallas or Atlanta.
The Midland
North Central
Boston
The South
The Inland North
Philadelphia
The Northeast
What American accent do you have? Quiz Created on GoToQuiz

Honestly, I don't think that 13 questions is really enough to give a proper idea of speech and pronunciation. By this graph you wouldn't know what I actually sound more like someone back East, nowadays. It's somewhat subtle, but I've lost the twang of my Texas accent, and gained some Northern influence, via my buddy Rissa, who's from Maryland.

Sewing Commissions

I finished up on some commissioned jeans today. My fingers are a little tender from working with the thicker denim but I think it's well worth the effort. The customer is a repeat buyer, and I am very confident that she will enjoy the results.

She opted out of back pockets, as you can see from the photos. I don't put them on most pants unless the buyer wants them, since back pockets have no practical value on doll clothes. I mean they are a nice detail, and can add to realism, but I like to focus on other details, generally. Anyway, both pairs of jeans are below.





And, the heavier-weight denim, a dark blue that is a little bulkier as it's human-scaled.



It's my policy to show the final product before accepting payment, which is why I have pictures of the back as well. It goes to show the consistency of my quality.

Anyway, I also finished up the blue and green jacket for Ro. I got a zipper the other day when I went out with Christy and Rissa. So, now Ro's jacket is complete! It's not a separating zipper, but It will easily slip over anything so I'm not really concerned about it. They didn't have a separating zipper in any shade of green, that wasn't 20+ inches, so I improvised. I'm fairly pleased with the results.


Next, I'll start sorting out the details of Myrai's commission, and then get started on that. Things are going well so far, and aside from a mildly tender index finger (which I use to force the needle through the thick layers of denim), I'm feeling pretty good. I'm tired, but I feel fairly happy. As soon as I receive payment for these pairs of jeans, I'll mail them out, and I can also order my new pair of glasses. I'm looking forward to it. And now, I'm going to call Christy and see how she's doing today. :) Hope everyone has a nice afternoon!

S C A T T E R G O R I E S

SCATTERGORIES ... and it’s harder than it looks! Here are the rules:

* Use the 1st letter of your name to answer each of the questions.
* They MUST be real places, names, things ... NOTHING made up!
* If you can’t think of anything, skip it.
* You CAN’T use your name for the boy/girl name question.
* If your name happens to start with the same letter as mine, sorry, but you can’t use my answers!

My name: Robyn/Rorek

1. Famous Singer/Band: Randy Travis (eww, Country!)
2. Four letter word: Race
3. Street: River Run
4. Color: Red
5. Gifts/Presents: Rolex (HAH! Crazy expensive gift.)
6. Vehicle: Roadster
7. Things in a Souvenir Shop: Rock candy.
8. Boy Name: Russel
9. Girl Name: Rachel
10. Movie Title: Ransom
11. Drink: Rootbeer
12. Occupation: Radiologist
13. Celebrity: Robin Williams
14. Magazine: Reader's Digest
15. U.S. City: Richardson, TX
16. Pro Sports Teams: Red Sox (Boston)
17. Fruit: Raspberries
18. Reason for Being Late for Work: Ran into traffic, along the way.
19. Something You Throw Away: Rotting food. Ewww!
20. Things You Shout: Run away!
21. Cartoon Character: Red Baron (As in Snoopy)

Glasses

I've been looking at frames for my new glasses and I think I have it narrowed down. Photos below, and let me know which ones you like, please. These are all from that site Goggles4U, which sells glasses for like $26 shipping included. I'm gonna get a pair of everyday glasses, and a pair of prescription sunglasses as well.

These are the ones I like for my sunglasses:


And these are the frames I want to choose from, for my normal, every day glasses.





Also, a photo of me in my current glasses, so you can see what frames I have now. Please ignore the just-woke-up look. @_@

Which pair do you guys like, of these options? I'm sure there are even more, great options, but I liked these best. I'd prefer a minimal, almost invisible pair for every day, and a more extreme/noticable pair for sunglasses. I'm leaning towards options 1 or 3, for my every day glasses, but I would appreciate ya'lls' opinions.

Eye Exam

I had my first eye exam in about seven years, today. The doctor was somewhat horrified at the state of my old glasses. I got them when plastic lenses were a fairly new thing, and didn't get the protective coatings, since I had to insurance. I paid $50 out of pocket for my exam back then, and $250 for my Eddie Bauer glasses, which were half price. @_@ My left lense is cloudy and the right one is scratched all to hell.

My eyes however are in excellent health, according to the doc. She dilated my eyes, since I couldn't remember having that done since I was 13. As she said, 11 years is long enough. My eyes are generally already sensitive to light so that was a very painful experience. I was glad that I needed to go to sleep. I'm seeing normally now, and, I have a nice up to date prescription now, and can order my glasses soon. My left eye is a bit stronger, and my dominant eye. I had some trouble focusing my right eye at first.

Also, apparently I have freckles inside my eyes. The doc said it's common among 10% of people. Weird.

Commissions/Sales

I'm making doll clothes to sell again. I started up commissions last night and already have a few small orders lined up, with some repeat customers, and one new one, so far.

I also whipped up a pair of wide-leg, long legged striped trousers, in MSD size, to sell right off the bat. I want to start doing that again. I like taking commissions, but I want to be one of those people that pops a pair of pants, or a few shirts, onto the marketplace and they're snapped up within a day or two.

So these, are up for sale, on Resinality, and linked to all my doll friends, via my livejournal. I'm hoping to get a nibble in the next day or two, and send them off right away.




If no one seems interested, I'll lower the price a few dollars, in a week. They're currently up for $20 with shipping included in the US.

I've also priced as below for my commissions.

T-shirts, shortsleeved - Yo-SD $10, MSD $12, SD+ $13
T-shirts, longsleeved - Yo-SD $12, MSD $14, SD+ $15
Pants - Yo-SD $18, MSD $18, SD13 $20, Dollshe $25
Shorts - Yo-SD $15, MSD $15, SD+ $18
Overalls - MSD only for now $22, specify short, long, or daisy-dukes length.

It's on the lower-average end of the spectrum, but I'm not gonna hike up my prices. The reason I have repeat customers, is because I make good quality clothing for reasonable prices, and I am a reliable person with good feedback in the marketplace.

Hmm, how about that.

I was going to make Ro a pair of overalls last night/this morning, but I realized after tweaking the pattern, that I don't have the fastenings I need. So I need to hit up a craft store or fabric store before I make some more. I could theoretically just do buttons and buttonholes, or snaps, but I really would prefer the authenticity of actual overall fasteners.

I also wrote in a journal, as in a paper one with a pen, for the first time in several years. About three years I think. It was weird. I just had the urge, and my old journal was sitting next to me, on the bookshelf. *shrugs* I get that urge sometimes but I rarely act on it.

Nurse Decke

I woke up this morning, around 4am, feeling feverish and *dehydrated. Decke had just curled up with me, which is a big deal for me, since, as long as I've been sleeping on the couch (about a month now?) he's sort of ignored me when I'm sleeping. So I was feeling yucky and Nurse Decke was on the job. It seems that every time I feel sick he's there to try and make me feel better.

After a few minutes of petting him and regretting that I needed to get up and take my temperature, I did actually get up, but apologized to him. He's a cat I know, but he THE sweetest cat I've ever known. So I went into the bathroom only to discover that our thermometer's battery is dead, and also that I apparently have a stomach bug. The simple act of putting the thermometer in my mouth caused me to fall to my knees and embrace the toilet in a weeping embrace. And yes, I was crying. I cry alot when I feel sick, and get very apologetic.

The entire time I was there, Decke was meowing and chirping, in a very concerned tone, and nuzzling my hands. I was crying and whimpering for a good 20 minutes and he didn't stop his concerned hovering even after I retreated back to the couch. After he was certain my tummy wasn't sore anymore, he curled up at my side, and I managed to rest for about an hour, before I suddenly and apologetically threw back the covers and Decke, in a mad run for the bathroom.

Even after I had to shove him away, he continued his Nurse Decke vigilance, and kept me company. When I finally fell asleep again he'd decided cuddling up at my feet would be less dangerous, and stayed there until I woke again around 9 maybe. Nick and Ti were awake, and I immediately asked Nick if he was feeling okay, because he'd gone to bed early with a headache too. He was feeling okay at that point, but around 11:30 I woke from my nap (after moving to the loveseat/sofa so I could still sleep, they could use the couch) to find that he was feverish too.

I'm not sure what sort of stomach bug it is, but I haven't been ill since earlier this morning. I'm still feeling kind of achy and tired, but only mildly nauseous. I think I'm going to fold up the laundry on the couch and go back to sleep. Generally I feel better sooner, when I try to sleep through it.

This is a long entry just to say that I feel sick, and my cat is sweet, but I didn't think a short, maybe two sentence entry, did Decke justice. He really is that sweet, and whenever one or more of us feels sick, he's always there, trying to make us feel better. He's the sweetest cat I've ever had, and I love him so much. And, because I happened to get a cute shot of him last night, enjoy.



*When I was typing 'dehydrated', my 'D' key popped up and out of the laptop. @_@ Luckily it popped right back in with some gentle pressure, but that was weird.

Overalls!

I spent the night over at Christy's on Friday night. I had a serious panic attack and mental breakdown earlier in the day, and called Christy, who helped me through the worse of it. I was so confused and freaked out, that I tried calling Rose my youngest sister but I totally forgot she's in a different time zone. She was still in school for the day. I don't want to go into why until everything is sorted out, but I wanted to explain at least a little. (Don't worry, I'm fine now, I promise!)

But yeah, Saturday I stayed for most of the day and we ended up sewing stuff, which was nice. I got to watch alot of Law and Order of the various types, which always makes for a happy day for me, and I made a pair of overalls for Ichigo. They were Christy's idea, and cement to me, just how well she knows me. I've been talking about wanting to make overalls for.. since I first moved out here to Virginia. I just didn't know how I wanted to go about doing so. I couldn't find a pattern anywhere, and I didn't have a pair of my own anymore to use for reference, as I usually do when I run into an obstacle in sewing.

So, today I buckled down and drafted a pattern of sorts. It still needs a little tweaking, but I'm pretty pleased with the results. I need to re-work the pattern for the back, and the waistband, but some hook and eyes did what I needed for fastening on the side, fairly invisibly, but sturdily. All in all I'd call them a success. Anyway, that's enough blathering on my part. On to the photographs! :3

I like Pink lately.

I have a pattern for a clip on tie, but I really wanted a proper tie, for Ichigo. So I looked online at how to tie a double windsor, because I wasn't sure which method I had taught myself, but it wasn't fancy looking. Turns out the method I knew was called the 4-in-hand. Simple, but not really nice looking. I found these cute illustrations when I googled 'how to tie a double windsor'. First the 4-in-hand method, and then the double windsor.




After I'd practiced it a bit on some ribbon I had handy, I realized ribbon would make an okay tie, in the right thickness, and could give me plenty of interesting patterns too. So I tied it to a length I thought was acceptable, and then snipped out a few ties from different ribbons. It doesn't have the fun thickness varient, but it looks just fine, when tucked behind a sweatervest.


I've spent most of the past day and a half, sewing. I finished up a Yo-sized blouse that I'm really not happy with still, and made for Ichigo a sleeveless button-up shirt, with real and functional buttonholes. I also made the sweatervest, in considerably less time. The collar on the button shirt was the most challenging aspect and it ended up slightly crooked but it looks okay, and isn't really obvious. You can see functional buttons below.

And with one of his ties:


And now, I'm exhausted and I'm going to try and get some sleep before I get serious about packing, later today.