Thursday, July 26, 2018

Patterns

        So you are probably getting sick of me telling you about adapting all my patterns.  It's become a big job and distracts me from packing up the studio to bring it upstairs.  But I figure since Son # 2, my baby Shawn comes home next weekend to live with us I will have live in help in packing and moving.  So clever of me, eh?!  He doesn't get the original Master bedroom until I'm completely unpacked and out of that room.  We have the new bedroom that Craig built on a couple of years ago for the two of us so #1 son and his wife could live with us, but they moved out in February and have the loveliest house.  I'm happy they are only 10 minutes away and that Shawn is moving in.
       Anywhoo, while working on my "Lucky Penny Pin Doll" pattern I did a nice visual tutorial on eyes and eye makeup.  Tell me what you think.
       The funny thing is all this detail is for a tiny doll head.  Well, okay, not tiny, but small enough to wear on your lapel.  Just when I think I'm almost done (I'm currently in the "W's"), I think of a cool way of doing something and want to go back and re-do it in every pattern.  I may never finish this project, but it's great that I'm enjoying the journey!
       Have a love rest of the week!




Tuesday, July 17, 2018

Dream Come True!

       My baby boy, Shawn Thomas Skeel, will be moving home after 5 years.  He went to Chicago to follow a girl with no money and no plan one Thanksgiving Day weekend.  He worked several jobs in retail and there was always a problem, such as being full time for Radio Shack as they slowly went out of business.  Now he wants to come home and go back to school.  A dream come true for this Mama!  He encourages my art, he lets me know what's missing when a doll needs just that little something, and his own love is working in leather, making corsets and such.  Needless to say I'm thrilled out of my tiny little mind.
       This photo was taken and edited by my lovely Daughter In Law (Wife of #1 son, Brian).  You don't see much of Shaw's face but it captures the essence of who he was at the time: a Ren Faire junkie.  He made the leather belt and you can see the artwork on the back.  He has several swords and daggers and even a whip, which he used to stand in the back yard and crack for what seemed like hours.  I can't wait until August 4th when we collect Shawn and his belongings and after two nights at my sister Kathy's just south of Chicago we will bring him home.  Sigh.  I love you Shawn!

Saturday, July 14, 2018

Stories

       


         We had friends over last night for our monthly "Music Night" where folks with instruments bring them, folks that sing bring their voices and anyone else can bring their ears and listen.  We do a potluck dinner as most friends work till dinner time and we want to make sure they don't have to gobble down fast food before our fun evening.  We tend to get a little chatty and start singing later than planned but everyone has a grand time.
     
           I was telling a few stories to friends about changes in our home through the years including Craig convincing us it would be a great idea to raise the house 4 feet and turn the crawl space into a full basement.  He bribed me with an art studio that would be 12' by 24'.  Though I drooled over that possibility I still have no recollection of saying yes.  It turned out to be a larger project that we planned as the house fell a couple times, once it pivoted when it fell and one corner was 21 inches from where it belonged.  We had a house raising company raise the house and Craig managed to lay all the block in 30 days.  It all turned out great in the end but the stories along the way seem endless and quite humorous now.
     
          Needless to say, as I regaled the various stories a friend suggested I write a book about everything we've been through.  Maybe someday - who knows.  All I can think of for a title is "With love from Skeelhaven," which is of course the name of my doll business, too.  I wish I had saved all the emails that went out to friends telling them about events daily.  Should I decide to write this book someday I'll have to count on my failing memory and the memories of the rest of the family.  But it sure could be a fun project!

           I'm still packing my studio.  It feels like it will take forever.  I have church friends who have volunteered to help with the move, but I have to get it packed first.  I never realized just how much stuff I have!  When I moved to the new room in the basement, same size as the one before but with the patio doors to allow sun in for a bit of cheer, I purged a bunch of stuff, such as  dolls I was embarrassed to claim I made, though I still have the very first, which is a leprechaun playing his fiddle (maybe this move will help turn up his long lost bow!)  

         I had all three bedrooms planned out in my head for how furniture would get arranged with all my drawers and cabinets, shelves of creating books, more shelves for tools, paint brushes, and drawing supplies, my life size mannequin, and all the other stuff.  Where in the world did I get all this stuff?  

         Anywhoo, yesterday Shawn, my soon to be 30 year old baby announced he would like to move home and go to college.  Though I'm thrilled beyond belief that he would finally return from Chicago where he went to follow a girl years 5 ago I realize I have to give up one of those bedrooms, and of course it should be the largest, since it is adjacent to the bathroom and what the hey, he deserves the best.  So now I get to rearrange the furniture in my head and get things planned.  I will have the living room for the daily use tools, tables for classes, sewing machines and what not, but still need somewhere for everything else.  And there is A LOT of everything else!  I guess Dear Shawn will have to help me move things room to room and unpack if he wants his own room upstairs and not the dark guest bedroom in the basement where he will start out until I am organized. Meanwhile, I am back to the drawing board for room arrangements.  Sigh.  Never a dull moment at Skeelhaven.