Butterfly Dress Design

Round 2: Clari versus the sewing machine attempting to create another Cassie dress...

I started thinking I would attempt to dart the top again, but after one fail and a second quasi-fail, I changed my design a bit. The top is modeled after most of the summer dresses that I wear. This is the end result.



Traveling back to the Blythe Challenge, Glenn and I took Cassie to Cabela's and kayaking at Blue Marsh Lake to get her out of town...here are some of those results!

Cassie in the kayak, and...


Cassie versus the bear!


Glenn actually helped me with this photo. I loved seeing him holding Cassie and messing with her eye chips to find the perfect "horrified" color. :) Challenge: Met. I submitted a photo collage of images that I was quite proud of, along with the story of Cassie's trip. Can't wait for the next challenge!

You have much to learn, young Jedi...

This is my first (piss poor) attempt at creating a pattern. I wanted the bodice of this dress to be fitted, and well, it fits Cassie about as well as a sack of potatos would. The skirt came out nice (usually gathers look terrible whenever I do them) the straps are too long (one is too low so that if the dress shifts, you can see her boob. Scandal!) The most irritating part is that the waistline is NOT even, and with the addition of the ribbon you can really tell. I sewed it and seam ripped it twice because it looked so bad. Then I gave up.



I posed Cass so that the dress looks the best it can. To be positive: I love the pink accent with all the blue, I love how the darkest blue in the dress is the color of her blue eye chips, and I love that I have cute little blue clips to match. I am so frustrated, but already can't wait to try again, and tweak this pattern until it is something I can make to sell in my non-existant Etsy shop!

...And now for something completely different!

This post is *not* about Cassie or Blythe. (gasps from the crowd)

This short little ditty is about my first little Bento lunch that I made. It was a super quick, easy to build Bento. It isn't really aesthetically pleasing, and it probably doesn't even qualify as much of a Bento, but it was tasty, and exactly what I was in the mood for.



Bento Contents:
-Triangular Onigiri with Salmon furikake (inside)
-Blackberries
-Cherries
-Snow Peas and dressing

The most involved part was just making the rice and shaping the rice balls. I have two very, very handy onigiri molds that turn out perfect onigiri.

I was inspired last night in the book store when I found "The Manga Cookbook." I fought the urge to buy it, as I've barely used my Kawaii Bento Boxes cookbook that I got at Katsucon.

Naturally with my affinity for buying new things, I had gotten the book, a bento box, onigiri and sushi molds, some silicone divider cups, sauce containers, and Hello Kitty veggie cutters. Before I even made this weak little bento today, I found a ton more bento supplies for way cheaper than I paid at the con. Here are some things I want...


A cute strawberry bento box (because I NEEEEED it!)

Panda food picks...

Egg Molds that shape hard boiled eggs into a rabbit or a bear (come on, that's COOL)

Two sets of Veggie/Ham/Cheese cutters

The animal cutters look sooooo cute in this pic...

Of Markets and Dollies

Two birds; one stone.

A coworker of mine invited me to come to this giant flea market that is (sort of) in our area. It's called Rice's and it only runs Tuesdays and Saturdays. Saturdays are usually a zoo...Laura and I are both off on Tuesdays. So, we decided to go, and my other co-worker/friend Rachel came too.

I figured, despite the fact that neither of them are into Blythe, that they at least had shown interest in my hobby...enough so that they would be willing to take pictures for me for...Blythe Photo Challenge #3! This one was a "Where's Blythe? (a la Where's Waldo) Challenge." I hope Cassie isn't too easily spotted! Click to enlarge it.



Cassie and I had a great time at Rice's. It was really the first place that I was completely comfortable toting her around and showing her off. When we went to Valley Forge I hid her from the people I ran into (ridiculous, since I didn't know any of them and would never even see them again!)

One of our failed "Where's Cassie" pics was at a stand that had cute hair accessories. As I posed Cass and prepared for the pic, I told the stand owner, "Don't worry, I'm going to get those clips for Cassie." She replied, "They look like they're the perfect size for your doll!" I laughed and said "Yup, SHE is Cassie." Teehee. These little clips were only $1. I will probably buy her the black set when I go back to Rice's.



I also got a great summer/pregnancy dress, a shirt for my mom (belated mother's day present) a cell phone charm, and some produce. After looking at all the knockoff Coach stuff all day, I caved at Nordstrom Rack and bought a pair of inexpensive Coach sandals that fit me really well and I really liked. That style sandal usually looks terrible on me, but the soles to the Coach ones were wide enough that my toes didn't spread over the edges of the shoe. Haha. Charming I know.



My Dollie Doll Coordinate Recipe book came the other day, and I finally decided to make a pair of jeans from the book. The free flare pattern from Puchi Collective does well for a first pair, but the ones in this book have all the pockets and detail work. I read the pattern and saw that Blythe is 22cm...however, when I googled it to double check, it said that she was 27cm. I went "oh, I must have read it wrong" (my Japanese isn't stellar) I should have had more faith in myself, because one pair of 27cm jeans later, I realized that Cassie is indeed 22cm. The 27cm fits Momoko, who is taller than Blythe. Cassie's jeans would make a great body suit, if I could get them up that high on her. I could barely squeeze her into the pair I made.



Will hopefully have a successful pair in the near future!

I never put up my post about Cassie's new outfits...

The first one is sooo cute, and came from Spain. After paging through the Blythe forums forever, I finally decided to buy some "Doll Clothes and Sundries" for Cassie. I also got a Rement bag, a little jean bag, and a gold telephone (which will go in Cassie's house...when she gets a house)



The other dress I found on Etsy and I just couldn't resist! MimsyBueno makes these super cute wrap dresses that have a blanket stitch all along the edges. The comic book fabric grabbed me and after two days of deliberating I caved and bought it. This sweet dress made its way over from France! (Excuse the terrible photography)



I know I have been very behind on Blythe related fun. I completely missed the last photo challenge. It was to get a pic of your doll in uniform, in a public place, with a man in uniform. I was all set to make Cassie an IKEA shirt (which I meant to do anyway) and get a pic of her and one of my favorite co-workers, Barry. He'd even agreed to it, but I never got up the energy to make the shirt and then the deadline came and passed.

The next challenge is to take your doll away from her "One horse town" A great suggestion I received was to snap a pic of her with two horses! Haha. Glenn and I just got a kayak though, so I think if Cassie's sunglasses come today or tomorrow I will take her kayaking with us and submit that. Since we sort of live in the opposite of a one horse town...we go to one horse towns to get away!

Going back to the energy thing...it has been very difficult since I began this pregnancy. At first I was sick, and then tremendously tired, and now just up and down. Some days I have enough energy to clean or shop or bake, and others I sleep on and off the entire day. I think my crappy diet has a lot to do with it...sometimes I just can't get the ambition to make decent meals for myself and then it is all downhill. Days where Glenn is home with me in the morning or all day are much better. I am such a social being that I really cannot stand to be alone :(

Back to Blythe...I am planning some minor Cassie surgery. I want to swap out her two icky eye colors (Pink and Orange) and give her sleep eyes while I'm at it. This only requires two sets of chips and a pair of pull rings, so it won't break the budget.

I have also made a deal that I will not purchase another doll until my etsy shop is up and running and has made enough to pay for said new doll! I think I would love to have Punkaholic People next. She is so chic, and I would name her something like Maura or Mona. I am hooked on M names. The baby is likely going to be Madison. Naming dolls is MUCH easier!

A Quick Cassie Update

...because it's been awhile. I was so proud of my Valley Forge pics, and I was VERY disappointed that they didn't make it into the flickr pool. The next challenge is a 'Where's Waldo/Blythe' so that should be pretty fun. I'm thinking of letting Cassie hang out in kitchens on Memorial Day when we are busy. ;)



Anyhoo, on Monday I got a lot of happy mail, and some not-so-happy-as-it-first-seemed. The long box was the Kitchen Littles fridge, and the other little box contained all of my rement goodies. The seller sent me a cute little note and stickers!



One of my little Rement items was supposed to be a clear plastic cake dome. It was one of about a million little baking things included in the lot. I got a message from the seller saying that she had dropped it when trying to pack it and it cracked. She felt bad, so she offered to include the Rement dress form instead! I was ecstatic because that is an item I was planning on purchasing anyways, and now I won't have to!



On to the disappointing part of this story. The super large box. I assumed it contained the kitchen, but I couldn't figure out for the life of me why it was SO huge. That big box for a Barbie Kitchen? The problem became apparent as soon as I opened it. The kitchen was very much NOT Barbie sized. Cassie barely comes up to the counter top.



It almost doesn't look too bad in this picture, but it is. Your countertop (unless you are five) should be a little above your mid section when standing. Cassie came up about eye level when she was right next to it and flat foot. From what I've seen of the other Barbie/Blythe kitchens, this was NOT the right size. Most Barbie things actually run a tad under scale, not over. I contemplated cutting off the toe kick and the panels above the base cabinet doors, but the doors themselves are just too far off scale for Cass. I finally contacted the seller and let her know how disappointed I was. She told me that I could return the item and she would refund my original payment plus the return postage. Off it went today, and I am back to the kitchen drawing board. I still like the Sindy kitchen, and could pick up pieces slowly but surely for that. Otherwise, Glenn thinks I should make my own. It would be interesting, but I doubt I could make functioning drawers and the like.

We shall see what today's mail brings. With any luck, some new dresses for Cassie.

Cassie at Valley Forge/Second Blythe Challenge!

In my quest to do many things Blythe, I joined a Flickr group called "Blythe Physical Challenge." At first I thought it was about customizing Blythe, and I had no interest at all (I don't want to mess with my only doll!) but, when I read more about it I realized that the challenges were to take photos of Blythe in all different places. The first challenge, which I missed, was to take pics at the grocery store. The second one, which appeared to be current, was to find a local historic landmark. It seemed like a good idea on a Friday night with nothing to do, so I packed up Cassie and my dying camera and raced over to Valley Forge.



The thing about Valley Forge is that, I've never been there, despite the fact that I have always lived within thirty minutes to an hour of it. I have driven through on 23once or twice, but I have never visited the park or seen George Washington's Headquarters or anything like that. I began to realize as we drove around in search of worthy landmarks, that my Blythe doll hobby had reached a new level. It was getting me to do things and experience things that I wouldn't have otherwise.



Cassie at the National Memorial Arch, which was dedicated to the officers and soldiers of the Continental Army. The Arch was constructed between 1910-1917. We met some folk from Indiana. Seemed nice enough, until they gave me some anti-government pamphlet and told me every good American should read and familiarize themselves with the content...

We wound up exiting the park three separate times (on three different roads, I might add) before finally finding George Washington's Headquarters.



Headquarters was a newly constructed home that belonged to a man named Potts. Washington and the army paid Potts for the rental use of his home, as they did not believe in forcing civilians to quarter troops. The building was renovated last year. I like this shot of Cassie on one of the windows.



Last, but certainly not least, I wanted to find a cannon. I wasn't even sure if they had cannon, or if I would be able to fit Cassie inside of one if I did find it, but that was my goal. On my exit route, I realized that the Washington Memorial Chapel had multiple cannon adorning the front. Why a church would have cannon is beyond me, but I was delighted. With what little battery power and sunlight I had left, I got my shots! (pun intended?)



Unfortunately I missed the deadline (by like an hour) to get a pic in the pool on Flickr, but I hope you all enjoyed the Valley Forge Cassie pictures!