Alright, I suck at blogging...

Will try and work on that this year. :)

The best laid plans...

So the basic plan for 2011 is:

1 Pair of Pants or Shorts
Possibilities: ?

1 Skirt
Possibilities: McCall’s 5430, McCall’s 5431, Simplicity 2475

1 Dress
Possibilities: Butterick 5353, Butterick 5491

3 Shirts
Possibilities: Butterick 5046, Butterick 5495, McCall’s 6078, Simplicity 2369

2 Accessories
Possibilities: McCall’s 6130

2 Misc Items
Possibilities: McCall’s 5980, McCall’s 6244, Simplicity 3575

See more progress on: Sew for my wardrobe

In the Beginning...

A few years back, I picked up a copy of Barnes and Noble’s classic literature list. I read a few of the books when I lost my job and was unemployed for almost a year. I’ve been back in the workforce for over a year now, and would like to get back to reading through that list. Helping me through this will be my local library, the Discount Books across from where I work, and of course Barnes and Noble for some of the collections that I can’t get anywhere else.

1. Adventures of Huckleberry Finn
2. The Adventures of Tom Sawyer
3. Aesop’s Fables
4. Age of Innocence
5. Agnes Grey
6. Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland and Through the Looking-Glass
7. Anna Karenina
8. The Art of War
9. The Awakening and Selected Short Fiction

10. Babbitt
11. Barchester Towers
12. The Beautiful and the Damned
13. Beowulf
14. Billy Budd and The Piazza Tales
15. Bleak House
16. The Bostonians
17. Bulfinch’s Mythology

18. The Call of the Wild and White Fang
19. Candide
20. The Canterbury Tales
21. A Christmas Carol, The Chimes, and The Cricket on the Hearth
22. The Collected Poems of Emily Dickinson
23. Common Sense and Other Writings
24. The Complete Sherlock Holmes Vol. 1
25. The Complete Sherlock Holmes Vol. 2
26. A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur’s Court
27. The Count of Monte Cristo
28. The Country of the Pointed Firs and Selected Short Fiction
29. Cyrano de Bergerac

30. Daisy Miller and Washington Square
31. Daniel Deronda
32. David Copperfield
33. Dead Souls
34. The Death of Ivan Ilych
35. The Deerslayer
36. Don Quixote
37. Dracula

38. Emma
39. The Enchanted Castle and the Five Children and It
40. Essays and Poems by Ralph Waldo Emerson
41. Essential Dialogues of Plato
42. The Essential Tales and Poems of Edgar Allan Poe
43. Ethan Frome and Selected Stories

44. Far from the Madding Crowd
45. The Federalist
46. Founding America: Documents from the Revolution to the Bill of Rights
47. The Four Feathers
48. Frankenstein

49.

See more progress on: Read through the Barnes & Noble Classics List

Been a while hasn't it. I plan on updating some journal entries and projects sometime. Not sure when yet. I'm currently going through my fabric scraps and making up 18" doll clothes based on my old/current costumes and garb.

Peregrine
-Green Breeches (done)
-Black/Paisley Skirted Vest (cut out)
-Black Leather Hat
-Red Headscarf (cut out)
-Cream laced shirt
-Cream/red sash (cut out)
-Rope with Tankard
-Brown velvet satchel (cut out)

16th Century French Peasant 2006
-White/yellow/green Stripe full sleeve square neck smock (cut out)
-rust petticoat (cut out)
-Green front lace kirtle (cut out)
-rust partlet
-beige biggins
-straw hat
-beige apron
-Tartan shawl (done)
-Tartan basket cover (done)

11th Century Woman's Gown
-Salmon Over Tunic (cut out)
-Pink Under Tunic (cut out)

Mom's Pirate Garb V1
-Blue Skirted Vest
-Gray Wrap Pants

16th Century Merchant Gown - Rose
-Rose Kirtle with yellow trim (cut out)
-Yellow bonnet with pink trim
-Cream open front elizabethan shirt with thread covered buttons
-Cream caul
-Peach petticoat
-Bum Roll (Done)

16th Century French Peasant 2007
-White fitted square neck smock (cut out)
-rust petticoat (same as 2006)
-Green front lace kirtle (same as 2006)
-White partlet (same as 2006)
-white caul
-yellow bonnet

16th Century French Peasant 2008
-unbleached shirt
-Rust petticoat (same as 2006)
-Green front lace kirtle (same as 2006)
-white caul (same as 2007)
-yellow bonnet (same as 2007)
-Green doublet

1540s Merchant Gown
-unbleached shirt (same as 2008 peasant)
-Peach petticoat (same as rose gown)
-tan kirtle with blue trim (cut out)
-blue jacket (cut out)
-bumroll (done)
-bongrace

Annie Oakley
-tan skirt
-white chemise
-victorian corset
-tan spats
-tan bodice
-black hat
-leather gun holster with two western revolvers

Stella's Waistcoats
-Black waistcoat
-Silver waistcoat with black tabs
-Stripe breeches (cut out)

Steampunk
-Brown Edwardian skirt
-Gold underbust corset
-Brown Bolero
-cream sash shirt

Peregrine 2009
-black/purple skirted vest/jacket (cut out)
-mauve breeches
-unbleached shirt (same as 2008 peasant)

Peregrine 2011 Tester
-Black Cross Drop-Fall Breeches (Cut out)
-silver/ivory stays

Vucari 2011 Tester
-Black Drop-Fall Breeches
-Maroon Elizabethan Shirt

Dormouse Pinup
-blue dress
-teapot bolero
-blue hat with mouse ears

Mom's Campi
-Blue kirtle with green trim (cut out)
-white fitted square neck smock (cut out)
-beige apron
-white kerchief
-white partlet
-straw hat (same as 2006 peasant)
-salmon petticoat
-bumroll (done)

16th century Hunt gown
-white square neck smock (cut out)
-Corset (cut out)
-bumroll (done)
-red petticoat
-white caul
-blue caul
-white partlet
-red doublet
-blue kirtle
-red tall hat

Chronicles of Ralegh

My biggest project of 2008 was my new pup Ralegh. He's a field bred black and white English Springer Spaniel (his tail is not cropped). I found him in an online wanted ad and made the trek to the east side of Michigan to check him out. It was love at first sight and I brought him home with me that night. Since then, we've practically been inseparable.

After a long four hour drive in the flooding streets of Michigan, Ralegh spent a long miserable night sleeping on the guest bed with me. The next day, he came to work with me and mum where he was the prince of the Girl Scouts. (9/15/08)


As for his name, he got it on the drive home. Ralegh is named for Sir Walter Raleigh, the Elizabethan "pirate". The spelling is based on Sir Walter's own signature, as there is historically no evidence of him signing his name with an i. (9/19/08)


For my birthday, Ralegh travelled with my mum, brother and I to Michigan Renaissance Festival for the weekend. I spent Saturday lightly roasting in a 1540s wool gown and carrying Ralegh around when he was tired (amazingly, we attracted the attention of Queen Elizabeth). Sunday, I spent pretty much the whole day carrying that amazingly tired little pup. He made quite a hit with the crew. (9/27/08 & 9/28/08)


Ralegh, being the dog of a pirate, typically got lots of pirate toys (thank goodness all the pet stores had their Halloween toys in). When not chewing on his toys, he chewed on anything he could get his teeth around including humans. With his spring loaded legs and chewing habit, he quickly earned the nickname of Velociraptor. (10/4/08)


With the loss of my job came more time to spend with Ralegh. He and I would spend hours playing in the office, just bonding. He really made me feel better in those first few jobless days. We did puppy kindergarten for a few weeks and had a ball doing beginners agility and meeting new people and dogs. (10/9/08)


For Halloween, Ralegh stayed home with mum while I went off to the other side of the state to party as Annie Oakley. When I came back though, the three of us spent the evening raking leaves and passing out candy to kids. The next morning, Ralegh and I went to visit an after party brunch where he got to play with a couple other pirate dogs. Poor Ralegh was so tired from playing, he spent the rest of the day sleeping. (11/1/08 & 11/2/08)


It took awhile, but eventually we developed a schedule that worked for both of us. As long as it including some "stalk squirrels through window" time he seemed happy. (11/4/08)


I hated to admit it, but Ralegh hit a growth spurt and I already needed a new collar. Me being me, I decided that he needed something a little special, so I made him a hand woven collar and matching leash. (11/7/08 & 11/15/08)


Ralegh didn't take well to snow the first time it fell, but the second time around went much better. Now he's a natural snow puppy. He loves tunneling through it. (11/23/08)


With the snow came Christmas and New Years. Ralegh is approximately seven months old now, and a lean thirty-some pounds. His feathers are filling out nicely and his long tail adds so much character to him. He's still my goofy lap dog though. (12/25/08)


So here's to the new year, 2009, and all the new projects it will bring with it! Happy New Year everyone and thank you to Kim and her loving family for bringing Ralegh into my life, I owe you so much.

Elizabeth