Project Flugg

In the midst of working on something very special, which will be available soon. Clue – look at their feet!

Guess who got a new scanner?

Me, wheeee!!!! I am really chuffed with my latest acquisition – my first ever scanner, and what a beauty it is too!! Admittedly, I am somewhat behind the times on this technological front, but in my defence, I have never needed to scan anything up until now – indeed have never used a scanner up until now. And I’m normally much more on the ball with such electronic innovations, having championed both the mobile phone and the Minidisc in the mid-90s (“MP3s? They’ll never catch on; are you seriously expected to cart your PC around to listen to music?” – a somewhat Betamax moment from me, I think you’ll agree).

Anyway, the purpose of my scanner is to copy graphs, tables, diagrams and a whole host of scintillating information. But I actually think it’s much more fun to preserve old film pics for posterity. Behold!

Fashion forward in 1981 – See that turtle in the background (with the doll on him)? He’s still in my bedroom today! Don’t live anywhere without Turtle.

Dad, Andrew and I, c. 1984 – I hated that sofa – it would be another 22 years before my mum got rid of it!

Mum and I, c 1985 – This is my favourite photo of my mum and I. Look what a chunkster I was

Such fun!

The other thing I have been enjoying greatly is the ‘Manga Me’ game, which has taken the Flickr world by storm. I love it, and am particularly impressed with how much mine actually looks like me! Whenever I draw cartoons, this is exactly how I depict myself!

John’s, on the other hand, looks somewhat less grumpy than he is in real life

You really must have a go, and be sure to share the results!

Dusting oneself down…

…and starting again.

After the disappointments of this week, I did feel like doing little more than moping, sleeping and maxing out on the carbohydrate front (including bottled beer). However, what one earth would this achieve, other than being an exercise in self-pity? Somehow, we have managed to dust ourselves down and face the future, and *try* to make the most of the situation we’re in. We’ve got an open viewing on our house this weekend, which should raise some interest, although we could have done without our Chancellor’s typical dithering over the issue of Stamp Duty.

I’ve probably not really explicated this in previous posts, but this house move *isn’t* something that’s been ill-conceived and rushed into, in the same way that John returning to Uni to study medicine is not a recent development. It has seriously taken 5 years of financial, time, relationship and emotional pressures to reach the point we’re at now. At the risk of sounding melodramatic, we’ve faced ridiculous obstacles at every turn; it took, for example, the spectre of the Grim Reaper to galvanise John’s parents into helping out. But now, whilst the situation may not be ideal, he is in a position where he can go back; indeed, having handed his notice in, there is no going back, as they say!

Trying times can bring out the amateur philosopher in all of us. I keep on telling myself that ‘all things happen for a reason’, along with other trite sentiments. Obviously I am not the world’s greatest philosopher! One email received, however, sums everything up perfectly, whilst instilling a sense of hope that cuts through the dark clouds that hang over us all too often. At the end of last week, John forwarded me this email, received from a colleague:

“I often think that quotes from literary figures and famous philosophers are well cheesy whenstuck over someone’s desk at work, but I was talking with L this morning about me going back to study medicine, and she thought that our trials and tribulations rang true in this quote from Goethe:

‘Until one is committed, there is hesitancy, the chance to draw back- Concerning all acts of initiative and creation, there is one elementary truth that ignorance of which kills countless ideas and splendid plans: that the moment one definitely commits oneself, then Providence moves too. All sorts of things occur to help one that would never otherwise have occurred. A whole stream of events issues from the decision, raising in one’s favor all manner of unforeseen incidents and meetings and material assistance, which no man could have dreamed would have come his way. Whatever you can do, or dream you can do, begin it. Boldness has genius, power, and magic in it. Begin it now.’

Slightly cheesy, but I think there’s lots of truth in it. X”

Let’s hope so.

Feeling glum :(

24 hours ago, we’d sold our house. Today it’s back up for sale again. The buyer simply changed his mind. I feel like crying. I can’t muster any optimism at the moment, but am putting a brave (ish) face on things as John is also very stressed about the situation. What has happened to this country?

Inspired by Blythe (part 1 of an occasional series)

As a dolly clothes maker, it’s so interesting to see the variety of skills, styles and techniques with which people are using to dress their girls. I must stalk Etsy on an hourly basis (cough, cough – every ten minutes more like) just to see what’s out there. So many crafters, so many beautiful things. Every now and the, however, something is an absolute standout favourite, usually because of its originality and flair. Today, for example, I stumbled upon this amazing inside-out dress and delighted in the gory details executed through the medium of craft. An icord intestine? Genius!!!

Further info about this amazing creation can be found here – I am in awe!!!

Christian the Lion

I got sent this video via email today and just wanted to share it. Personally, I think the cheesy soundtrack and sickly tagline at the end are somewhat unnecessary, but the contents of the video itself are awesome! Enjoy

Piggy Wig Hats for Piggy Wig Girls

So yesterday I introduced you to Bettina Batfink. Isn’t she gorgeous, sigh? Actually, within the Blythe world, Ultimate Tour (of which Bettina is one) is a bit of a Marmite girl – you either love her or hate her. Many people find her pouty little lips and chin blush somewhat objectionable, and many do not like the whole gothy thing she’s got going on. I, however, find all this fab. Anyone who knows me in real life will understand this – whilst I am not a fan of purple and black velvet; platform shoes with metal panels welded to the side; or dying my hair black, I do love images of skulls and bones, and really dig that whole dark Victoriana thing that there is. Think more Russell Brand than Marilyn Manson So for me, Bettina is perfect, with her little bat wing tattoos on her shoulders, bat hair accessories, skull eye chip and black pull charm. I love her so much!

However, there is one downside to her – the hair. Don’t get me wrong – in many ways it’s beautiful. It’s soft, long, silky and tame. But it’s in perma-pigtails. The way that her hair has been thatched for the full length of her head and along her fringe means that if you take her hair down, you risk losing the lovely neat thatch line that makes her piggy tails so pretty and, even worse, that her fringe is simply lost in her mass of hair Because of this, I decided to leave her hair in pigtails, which really doesn’t bother me as I’m a very lazy dolly hairstylist anyway. But it did mean that she couldn’t wear any hats, risking a cold noggin in the winter. Or did it?

After a bit of though and a play around with a few idea, I managed to come up with a hat pattern especially for pigtailed girls – you simply feed each pigtail through a hole in the hat and then put it on as normal! So inspired by Bettina, I have designed a range of OOAK Piggy Wig Hats, which happen to be for sale in my Etsy shop

I really enjoyed making these and I am sure that more will follow – and yes, any Blythe in pigtails can wear them so long as you style her hair in pigtails! As well as creating a new crochet pattern, I really enjoyed designing and stitching my unique felt motifs and am super pleased with the results. As ever, though, I have put the needs of the shop before my girls, so I really must make sure that I make a special hat just for Bettina that’s hers to keep forever

Doctor and the Medics

Hello? Is anybody there? I don’t blame you if you’ve given up on me, and decamped – I’d almost given up on me too! I can’t believe that it’s nearly two months since I last posted, and I certainly can’t believe what has happened over the past couple of months. As some of you may already know, life’s roller coaster has proven to be an incredibly white-knuckle experience in recent times, and I actually don’t think it’s possible to describe everything that’s gone on in one short post without downplaying the enormity of what John and I have experienced. I think bullet points may help with this.

- I have passed my PhD. I am Dr Fliss, yay!
- I have started a new post *miles* away from where I live, which isn’t actually an issue because of the powers of the internet and the possibility of home-working.
- John’s mum has had cancer. She discovered a lump in her breast, and two months (yes, it took that long for the NHS to get its act together) later had a mastectomy. The mastectomy worked and now she needs tablets for five years. (Obviously, it’s not been as straight forward as this bullet point implies, but in the interests of simplicity…)
- John has just handed his notice in – so long civil service! He’s going to train to be a doctor as salary from said new post is paying for our living costs – for SIX YEARS! Hence the title of the post (Again, this has been a convoluted journey – five years from the inception of the idea, to getting his place and to *finally* being financially able to take it up.)
- We are still selling our house. The housing market is dire and we’ve had to hack money off our asking price in a somewhat scary manner – the phrase ‘monopoly money’ says it all at the moment.
- We have found some properties we like in Sheffield, and would like to buy one asap.

Okay, I feel better for getting all that off my chest! I am sure that over coming posts I will talk a bit more about this all, but I just wanted to get it all out of the way so that I can resume normal blogging, in particular about craftiness and Blythe-iness!

Talking of which, say hello to the latest addition – Bettina Batfink. I’ll tell you more about her in my next post

Esmeralda’s Dream

Esmeralda had a dream…

That all her sisters had special eyes, just like she…

Esmeralda (Princess a la Mode) is the only Blythe that comes with ready-done sleep eyes. I had always wanted to give my existing girls sleep eyes, but lacked the courage. Thoughts of breaking them or otherwise maiming them were inescapable, deterring me from taking up that steel crochet hook and prising their little noggins apart. Oh, but how I still longed for sleep eyes, made worse ever since I received Esmeralda in January. They’re just so sweet!

So, this week I decided to take the plunge, and armed with a 1.25mm crochet hook, some sturdy nylon cord and an assortment of pull string charms appropriate to each girl (Gwendolina has got yellow glow-in-the-dark stars), I set about performing open Blythe surgery, with impressive results.

To be honest, it was very, very easy and I don’t know why I was so worried. So, in the spirit of Blythe love, I though I’d share with you my method for giving Blythe sleep eyes. A couple of notes. All my girls are RBLs (the newer version with three screws and no glue), which makes opening them up a complete doddle. I’m pretty certain that the method will work for other Blythe types (BL, EBL, SBL, ADG), but you will have to open the head appropriate the the mold in question, and I take no responsibility for any mistakes! Another thing is that in my haste, I completely forgot to take any photos, so my notes are the best I have to offer. I hope they are understandable, but leave a comment if you want help. Having said that, if I were to receive another girl (cough, Ichigo Heaven, cough), I will be doing the procedure again in an instant, and promise to take pictures this time!

Here goes…
1. Disconnect the spring with a crochet hook by wiggling it until you get a grip.
2. Undo all three screws
3. Gently pull the back face plates off. They connect at the ears with little flaps, so squeeze gently here. You will also need to gently prise the plate off where the bottom screw holes are, as there are connectors here. This step is tricky as the plates can be stiff, but just be patient.
4. See where the spring is still connected to the eyemech? Thread your cord through that little hole and *back through the spring* before you tie the string in a knot above it (thus holding the spring in place). This anchors the spring in place, means you won’t lose it, stops it rattling inside the head, and means that you still have everything in place, should you want to reverse the procedure.
5. Thread the other end of the string back out of the face plate through the square hole where the spring was formerly anchored.
6. Reattach the back face plate, again being gentle on each of the four spots. It will *click* at each ear – do not be alarmed!
7. Put the screws back in
8. Add a pull charm
9. Existing string closes the eyes (and makes them change colour). New string does the job of the spring and re-opens the eyes.

Et voila! Use the original string to change the eyes as normal (thus closing the eyes) and the new string to open the eyelids back up. All the new string is doing is replacing the function of the spring you disconnected, which opened the eyelids up automatically after an eye change. Just think about how long your girls have gone without a sleep – surely they deserve a well-earned rest?

The random and the weird

Very recently the lovely Gail tagged me to reveal 7 random andweird facts about myself. You may have noticed the paucity on my blog of late – I had, but I just felt out of steam after finishing my thesis. So, this task to me seemed the perfect way to ease myself back into things. It also mean that I (in part) honoured the tag that Nin gave me absolutely yonks ago (see, I hadn’t forgotten – I was just useless!). I know I have made a similar post before, but believe me when I say that you couldn’t fit all the random and/or weird stuff about me in a whole series of posts!

Right. Here goes.

1. My middle name is Mary. This has always amused me greatly. I don’t know why – perhaps it’s the idea I was named after the Virgin Mary, which is soooo not the case, lol lol lol!!!!
2. Continuing on the Mary theme, I was most upset when I was forced to play Mary on the play group nativity (circa 1983). I wanted to be an angel because they got tinfoil wings, but was denied on the grounds that I didn’t have blonde hair and we all know that angels are fair. So with my dark brown hair, the only role left for me was the down-trodden, heavily pregnant mother of our Lord. Something tells me that such hair colour- based discrimination wouldn’t hold up in this day and age.
3. Resultantly, I have never been satisfied with my hair colour lot, and have tried very colour under the sun, including pink, purple, yellow, black, red, orange… I must dig out the old photos some day!
4. At the moment I am a fetching shade of peroxide, but as a teenager I thought that ‘bleached hair’ was literally… um… bleached. So I set to pouring a bottle of Domestos on my barnet, but instead of a golden blonde, I was left with a stinky, frizzy mess and sore skin and eyes!
5. I also have the scars of other hair-dying incidents gone awry. After a hot night sleeping on a friend’s sofa, I was mortified to discover that my purple hair dye had sweated all down my face, neck and shoulders. I couldn’t get it off! So I … err… used a brillo pad and *scrubbed*! It didn’t at first, but after about a minute, the raw agony set in! The skin on my neck is still darkened from scarring.
6. But in the scheme of things, these are junior scars. I’ve mentioned the one on my stomach before, but have I ever mentioned the giant chicken pox scar buried in my cleavage, or the 6 inch scar on my shins from falling in a bucket of bricks?
7. Perhaps this is where my near-phobic dislike of having my shins touched comes from.

Right, the rules state that I am meant to tag 7 people, but in the spirit of being random, I am not doing that! Plus, writing this post has thoroughly drained my creative energy, so I’m off for a nice cup of tea and a sit down