semi-weekly round-up

Been a tough couple of weeks working on a difficult job. That one's over now, so it's time to get to the stuff the difficult job made late. yay!

In most important kitten news, she is doing well. And is insanely cute. It's been a long time since we had a kitten in the house though, and I forgot how hyper they can be. Whew. She and the big cat aren't friends yet, but there is no fighting. Just suspicion and some dirty looks.

pretty pretty patterns I posted:

My pinterest is full of vintage patterns I find and like and collect virtually (because I have too many in real life!). Here's a few favorites from this week:

Now that is a wiggle dress.

Another amazing vintage bathing suit pattern..

A little over the top but I thought it was pretty cool.

horror of the week:

When I'm looking for pretty patterns, I sometimes find patterns that are...not. To save and share them I throw them up (har har) on tumblr at Patterns Of Horror. Here's my pick of the week:

Those poor, poor children.

 

things I saw around:

Quinn Cummins (yes, that Quinn Cummings) wrote an article about homeschooling for the Wall Street Journal that was excellent and balanced, and super-positive. As long as you avoid the comments, of course.

The NYPL blog posted a very funny interview with some of the kids who play magic at our local library branch.

Not much else to say, really. And now, back to work!

favorite song of the week

Not new but new to me, the studio original of The Teddybears' "Get Mama a House" (audio only):

Want some visuals? Here they are in concert, not sure who the singer is there but every version of this song is great:

Have a good weekend!

the day the internet finally broke my brain.

Sent to me by my friends in Switzerland, some Japanese-Bavarian Euro-pop yodeling. And rapping. And chickens.

Because, sure? Why not?

I actually think it's awesome that Takeo Ishii loved Bavarian music and yodelling so much he quit being an engineer, moved to Germany and became a full-time award-winning yodelmeister. But my brain still hurts.

end of the week round-up

It was a pretty busy week this week; lots of work, two minor injuries, classes, and weather that went from a heat index of well over 100° to me thinking I need to go dig a hoodie out -- in just a couple of days. Also, this happened:

She's a rescue kitten, maybe 3 months old, and we sort of ended up with her all of a sudden. Hopefully it works out (she and the big cat have to get along) because she is a sweetheart.

tweeted:

Not much! Mostly I chatted and shared some RTs like this fantastic article on health and weightloss from @comicsreporter, "Comics Made Me Somewhat Less Fat", and the awesome Your Logo Is Not Hardcore tumblr (via @robharrigan).

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And this blast from the past, the Madness Colgate advert. We used to have this on vhs!

pretty pretty patterns:

My pinterest is full of vintage patterns I find and like and collect virtually (because I have too many in real life!). Here's a few favorites from this week:

I love this dress with it's fake princess lines. Definitely sleeveless though.

Super-cute, definitely for the younger set though. Also might tend to poke you a lot.

A spectacular bathing pattern (which had a spectacular price!).

horror of the week:

When I'm looking for pretty patterns, I sometimes find patterns that are...not. To save and share them I throw them up (har har) on tumblr at Patterns Of Horror. Here's my pick of the week:

Ugh. The only thing worse than hippies is middle class fake hippies with their creepy key parties and crap.  

And now I really do need to go find a hoodie. And maybe make a mug of hot tea.

Operetta has her own gang!

Frankie was my first Monster High doll, and when Ghoulia came out she became my number one fave. But when Operetta was announced I knew she would be my new must-have -- I mean, a rockabilly monster gal? Whose crazy facial scarification leads into a full-length arm tattoo? Who plays guitar and skates on the Roller Derby team? And loves biscuits? You can't ask for much more! Plus her pin-up style fashion set is for a day out shopping for vintage vinyl records. Swoon!

The only drawback was her hair -- while we lucked out and got dolls with good hair, the style wasn't quite what I'd hoped for. But there was no way I was going to wash it out and wreck my lovely doll!

Finally last week I got the chance to try doing something new with her hair, when I spent a lovely day with my friend Vivien playing with some spare messed-up dolls....she turned out a gorgeous record-shopping Operetta and while I roughed out what I wanted to do with my doll's hair I wasn't able to get it into shape that day. And when we got home from our trip and finally had a little spare time, I had Emily's doll to contend with as well! But at last we're done, and here are the results!

First up, for reference purposes, is what Operetta is supposed to look like out of the package:

(Click here for close-up.) She doesn't quite look like this in real life, to be honest; the curls in the back just don't happen, the rolls are sticking out to the sides, and the bangs tend to be a bit lower than on the prototype. She can look really good though -- here's my original Operetta with factory-fresh hairstyle (wearing the fashion pack plus her little cropped jacket):

The rolls are a little goofy, and now that I'm getting picky I see that her bang roll is tilted -- but she's still a cutie and I'll be leaving her be.

My remake is a wrong-side-of-the-tracks Operetta, maybe even a little on the J.D. side. Teased up beehive, little bang curl, and a lot of sass:

 

You can't see it, but there's a white rose on the back of her head at the base of the bouffant. Her belt's been switched out with a generic Monster High belt (from the witch set) and her jacket's gone. She probably smokes, too. I was pretty happy with the way she turned out.

But I have to say, my pride and joy is the Operetta I did for Emily. She spent a day looking through my Lauren Rennells books (Vintage Hairstyling and Retro Makeup) and settled on the "Happy Pomp" style that's shown on the cover of Vintage Hairstyling. I had to modify it a bit to make it happen on a doll, but we were both incredibly pleased with the results. She even asked me to fasten Operetta's mask on as a hairclip in the back (where the original style has a clip-on flower).

I kind of think I want to steal from my own child.

Here's the Operetta gang all together:

Now she's triplets! Final judgement? Best restyling doll ever. I bet I could do half the styles in Vintage Hairstyling on her and they'd all look amazing. Those thick bangs really make a world of difference. Still, I think the next retro restyle needs to be someone different, more than three Operettas would be ridiculous!

elsewhere this week....

I can't say weekly wrap-up because I'm sure I'm so not going to manage this weekly....but here's some of the stuff I posted on other sites this week:

tweeted:

Exciting news for us -- the crossover between roller derby and monster girls continues! The dolls have started coming out (Ghoulia, Frankie, Operetta and Lagoona) with at least two more on the way (a K-mart-only Abbey and a Clawdeen later in the year); and a videogame for the Wii/DS is coming out November 13th. Unfortunately, it's a licensed game so the automatic rule kicks in that says it will stink, but you never know. In the meantime, we have our beloved Jam City Roller Girls to play.

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Nicki Minaj on double standards:

I'm not really a fan of her work, but I'm totally a fan of everything she's saying here because it's true. And tiring. And annoying. I could go on at length but I'm not really in the mood.

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Punks Not Dad has a video out for their song "Monkey Boots", featuring a war between the Monkey Bootz gang and the "Ant Peeple". 80s references coming at you thick and fast.

pretty pretty patterns:

My pinterest is full of vintage patterns I find and like and collect virtually (because I have too many in real life!). Here's a few favorites from this week:

Amazing early 1950s suit. If I was CEO of Something, I would totally want the black one.

Super-cute 1940s dress. Although those scallops look like they'd be a total pain to sew.

Check out that amazing bodice. Amazing bodices. They're both amazing.

horror of the week:

When I'm looking for pretty patterns, I sometimes find patterns that are...not. To save and share them I throw them up (har har) on tumblr at Patterns Of Horror. Here's my pick of the week:

It wasn't really the worst, but it was the funniest.

92 degrees and climbing

Been trying to finish off a handful of posts but it's just TOO DARN HOT.

Yow. It's a scorcher.