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Monday, December 24, 2012

Merry Christmas!

I'm sure tomorrow will be a very busy day for me, and for any of my readers that celebrate Christmas, so I'm getting my holiday greetings in a few hours early.

Merry Christmas from my household to yours! May the new year find you healthy, happy, and at peace within.


Merry Christmas

I've only been in the ball jointed doll hobby for two years and I'm shocked at how rapidly my resin crew has grown! From left to right they are as follows:

Bobby (Realpuki Pupu), Shannon (Minifee Luka mod), Neelie (Pukifee Bonnie), Peanut (Littlefee Elf Ante), Hickory Dickory (Pet Ari Bobo), Morganna (Minifee Mirwen), Pumpkin (Littlefee Leah), Becky (Realpuki Popo), Panalaya (Minifee Juri '08), Serenity (Pukifee Cupid). 

I've about reached my limit I think!  
My "Wish List" for 2013 (a meme that is going around amongst the doll fans on Flickr) is quite short for that reason. It is as follows:

Not any serious doll wishes, mostly mods to the dolls I already have.
  • Pumpkin (my LTF Leah) needs a more colourful faceup with freckles and eyebrows that go more than half way.
  • I'd like to have my Leah sleeping faceplate modded to become a boy --- which means eyes and boy style wigs are also on my wish list.
  • High on my Wish List for 2013 is a light box to use for doll photography on our far too frequent dark, gloomy days!
  • And a final wish for the year (I think) might be a JID guy. Not positive on that as I already have more dolls than I feel comfortable clothing and feeding, but I love them all too much to get rid of any of them to make space for a male. 
So what's on your wish list for 2013?

Friday, December 21, 2012

Apocalypse Fizzle

Could have been worse.

Any Zombie's show up at your place?

Didn't think so.

Tuesday, December 18, 2012

Neelie's Worried

Neelie's a bit worried.

Neelie's worried

The last time she wore an outfit like this she was told she was moving on to a new household. She loves it here and doesn't want to move again, especially now that she has made friends with Serenity.

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Luckily when she told the Christmas Plushies about her concerns they were happy to reassure her.

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I also told her in no uncertain terms that she is definitely staying! Only the outfit itself will be moving on.

Needless worry

It's a commission for a SecretDoll Person so I've added a little extra length to both the hat and the dress.

Merino/silk/cashmere hat

It seems that Neelie is still worried! Now she's starting to wonder if she'll ever get to keep one of these pretty grey and pink dresses for herself!







Wednesday, December 12, 2012

The Brutal Truth

Yesterday while crossing the US-Canada border I was slapped in the face with the brutal truth. I've aged a helluva lot in the past 2 or 3 years, so much so that the border guard was not easily convinced that I look at all like my passport photo or my driver's licence photo though both were taken within the past 2 and a half years.


For that matter I look even less like the avatar photo above that I have been using here on my blog, on Ravelry, and on Flickr.



So here is me now. Yeah, like I said, I've aged a LOT! Wondering what the heck happened?


Well, a number of things I think, the most unavoidable being a hereditary phenomena.

I remember that while I was growing up my mother always looked much younger than her actual age. Most people underestimated her age by at least seven years and often commented that she looked too young to have children of our ages. The same thing had always happened to me ---- until recently.


I remember one time going to visit my mother when I hadn't seen her for quite some time. I was shocked at how much she had aged in such a brief period of time! It seems we hide our age very well ---- to a point, and that point is our 50s, and then as though a magic anti-aging spell has come to an end, we rapidly catch up and show our true age!


Yeah, brutal!

Tuesday, December 11, 2012

Shortbread Traditions

Revisiting an old, but popular post I made 6 years ago.

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Monday, December 11, 2006


When I was growing up my mother always made Shortbread using the family recipe, handed down by her mother. It was shortbread the way it "should" be, three simple ingredients, butter, berry sugar, and flour. I believed in that recipe. I defended it as the best shortbread there was. Until I got married.

My husband grew up knowing shortbread from a different recipe, the one from the "Canada Cornstarch" box. We each thought "our" shortbread was the best. The good natured argument went on for a bit until one Christmas early in our marriage I decided to have a side by side "taste test". I made both recipes and we voted for our favorite. We both liked the cornstarch recipe the best so from that point on it was the one I used, except for one important modification. I made it larger. The recipe on the box only makes 2 dozen. Are they serious? That wouldn't last one evening around this house! Besides I kind of liked the way my grandmother's recipe used up the whole pound of butter.

So here's my adaptation of the cornstarch recipe. I've "super-sized" it so that it takes a whole pound of butter and makes about 5 dozen cookies and I've also simplified the mixing method.

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Using an electric mixer, cream together one pound of (room temperature) butter, 1 1/3 cups of icing sugar and 1 1/3 cups of corn starch. Gradually add 3 cups of flour. Turn out onto a lightly floured board/countertop and knead until well blended. Roll out 1/4 inch thick and cut with cookie cutters. Place on an ungreased cookie sheet and bake at 300 degrees F. for 15 - 20 minutes until just the outside edges are lightly browned. Cool on a wire rack.
The recipe itself has not been my only break with tradition. My mom used a medium sized cookie cutter with a wavy edge (like the cookies on the left). When I got married I could not find the same kind of cookie cutter and had to substitute the flower-ish shape on the right. For years I searched for a cookie cutter like my mom's so that I could have shortbread the way it "should" be. Finally last year I found one. In the meantime my own children have grown up with shortbread made with the flower-ish cutter --- the ones on the right.

A few days ago my married daughter mentioned that she had made a batch of shortbread. She was complaining that it didn't look the way it "should". You see, she can't find a cookie cutter with "bumps" like mine. All she has is a cookie cutter with a wavy edge. Bwahaha! Bumpy or wavy, there is one thing we both agree on: Shortbread must have three rows of fork pricks to look "right". Left plain they look naked, or blind, or somethin'.

I guess traditions are whatever you get used to.

Incidentally, my mother eventually abandoned her mother's recipe and made whipped shortbread each year.

Shortbread Traditions

Sunday, December 09, 2012

Dressed for Christmas

Bobby and Becky are dressed in their holiday outfits and waiting excitedly for their first Christmas.

Bobby and Becky


Thursday, December 06, 2012

Sisters!

 It's been a while since I last posted. Things around here have been hectic and I've inadvertently missed let you in on a few things. First of all Becky and Serenity were seeing a bit of the US. They went to Ban's Boutique in New York to get fresh new faceups.

They're Baaaaacccckkkk!

Becky returned with the world's cutest little gappy tooth grin. It makes me smile just looking at her!

Becky

Serenity was delighted to come home and find she had acquired a new friend.

Who are you?

But as happy as she was playing with Neelie she seemed somewhat distracted.

Neelie and Serenity

She kept staring at me, as though she was trying to tell me something.

Fresh faced Serenity

It took me a while to recognize the problem. Suddenly it dawned on me. Serenity was caught mid-transformation. She needed a new wig!

She's now a little redhead with cute baby curls along the back of her neck. And with that.....

Sisters!

Serenity and Neelie have discovered that they have big sisters!