Greetings & salutations, Internet-Land! I hope your Christmas was great, and I wish you all the best for a very Happy New Year. To help myself celebrate the coming new year, I have acquired one of my all time favorites ~ Beautiful but Deadly Parnilla by Wilde Imagination. She’s stunning! I was a little sad to find that her waist was very loose & floppy (but NOT broken like my September Mourn). I looked up some ideas on possible ways to steady her lower waist joint. The best one (to my mind) was to shim her by inserting some layered clear adhesive tape to the lower front & back torso, thus making her joint more snug. I did not, however, like the idea of adding adhesive to my doll. Once the tape wore out, how would I get the old sticky stuff (which always looks dirty when old) off the body? After considering this, I came up with my happy alternative. Instead of tape, I got some clear thick vinyl! I cut a small piece and was able to gently wedge it into the joint back just above her bum. Voila! It worked like a charm. Now you can see that I can hold her almost horizontal, and she still stays straight! If and when I ever need to replace it, I will simply remove the old one & slip in a new piece ~ NO sticky mess. And that’s not all! This weekend (hopefully tomorrow for New Year’s Eve) I will be posting another holiday set of gowns for Maggie here and on my facebook page. Stay tuned! Until then, here are some pics of “Steadying Parnilla.”

Ho-ho-ho, Internet-Land! It’s Christmas Eve ALREADY! I will confess, this year it has come MUCH too fast. I am in no way ready for the holiday. With long working hours, I have not had time to prepare and must now brave the stores on Christmas Eve day. I am determined, however, to make it into a glorious adventure! I think I know what I want to do, and it will not involve any “you waited too long, so now they’re all gone” items. I will not be in a hurry, so can take my time this late morning and early afternoon to just enjoy the journey. Then tonight, I will pop in one in of our classic Christmas flicks, make a couple pies, wrap some gifts, and thoroughly enjoy the evening.

So, to all of you out there who may be facing the same dilemma ~ here it is ~ embrace your day. Don’t make yourself miserable wishing it is something other than what it is. Do what you can with what you have, and let your own situation be enough. If this year is one of those times when you think there just “isn’t anything to give,” think again. You have lots of value in yourself! Literally, take out some sheets of paper and write your loved ones a letter, telling them how much they mean to you and why. Fill your note with love and thankfulness, making your words into a gift that will be treasured always. One of my most precious possessions is the last birthday card my dad sent to me before he passed away. It’s not the card itself, but the fact that he picked it out with his crazy sense of humor and sent it to me.

This Christmas, know that you are special; you are important; and God absolutely LOVES YOU! You are valuable to Him and to others. This Christmas, just share yourself!

Another gown awaits on my facebook page as well! Happy, Happy Christmas!

http://www.facebook.com/missysimaginings

Hello, hello, Internet-Land! So, as promised, here is my weekend post. It’s been a reeeeeally long couple weeks ~ 55 hours each ~ sewing away on industrial sewing machines and driving on the ice and snow. Wow. I can’t believe I did that ….

But, none the less, here is a new paper dolly to keep you company. I’d like to introduce you to Maggie! Here is her lovely Christmas gown, and her other Christmas outfit can be found on my facebook page. Enjoy!

http://www.facebook.com/missysimaginings

Hello, Internet-Land! WOW!!! What a whirlwind month this is turning out to be. As I said on my facebook page, my hours at work are ever increasing, so I totally missed last weekend’s post. The company where I work is just swamped with business right now, and as my new supervisor said today, “It’s a good problem to have.” I remember the times in my younger days when lots of people were out of work and really struggling, so am very thankful for a good job with lots of work for down the road. At the same time, I have been using most spare time to REST! Know, however, that you are NOT forgotten, and tonight I wanted to post a fun Christmas color sheet to brighten your night. As always, just “save as” or “copy & paste” to print & enjoy! 🙂

OK ~ so, I love the month of December. Not only is it time to enjoy all the wonderful Christmas events that seem to fill up every weekend of the month, but for me at least, it’s always been the month that gives a sense of “closure” to the year. I’ve never been big on “New Year’s Resolutions,” because I would always seem to grasp too widely for things I will never really accomplish. I mean, if it’s good and do-able, I’ll just try to work it in as I strive for general improvement in life. The closure, on the other hand, has been useful to me in the “moving forward” process. I recall one year when my family went through FOUR funerals all within one week in November. I know it was not an astronomical upheaval; it was just a very difficult time. The Lord got us through it all, but boy, was I glad when that year was finally over! Crossing off the last day of December on the calendar was strangely “cleansing” for me. It was done ~ time to move away from grief and forward with TONS of loving, happy memories. I also love the thought of possible SNOW! Now, where you are this may not be a big deal, or you may even cringe at the very idea, but I love snow. It makes everything look clean … at least for the first day or two. It’s a pain for driving, but extra time, lots of care, and studded snow tires all help in that aspect. I even love the sound of the car mushing through the snow and slush on the road.

With that idea (along with the weather forecast for next week’s possible flurries), I present my first December craft! Here is Mr. Snowman! Simply download by “right click” & “save as” to your favorite app for printing. These are formatted to 8.5×11 size paper, and I will be posting Mrs. Snowman to my facebook page. Enjoy and Happy December!

http://www.facebook.com/missysimaginings

I absolutely LOVE the Holiday Season. Yes, I know it is very commercialized. Yes, I know the stores go overboard to make a buck. Yes, I know places are over-crowded, and people get pushy and impatient. BUT ~ I also know there is a feeling of excitement in the air. The spirit of thankfulness and giving is more prevalent. Christmas music is playing. If you smile ~ you get smiles back. If you let someone with a full cart go first in line, they look at you with grateful wonder. It’s a perfect time to show in action what the season really means. With so much sadness in the world today, let’s use this Holiday time to ADD JOY to our surrounding humanity! Offer to hold open a door for that mom who is trying to wrangle three energetic children. Pick up the three items that have been knocked off the shelf. Say “Hello” to that senior citizen who crosses the aisle. Give that child in front of you the extra seventy-five cents he needs to purchase his item. Let’s do what we can to make JOY the most contagious bug this year!

And to add to the fun, I am introducing two new Forest Walk ~ Fairy Paper Doll sets for the Holidays. Here is Christmas Splendor. Remember ~ these are designed for 8.5×14 paper. Print this out to add to your collection (doll & other fashions can be found by scrolling through blog or going to “Free Stuff” tab in my menu), then go to my facebook page for the Bountiful Thanksgiving set (and other sets found there). Enjoy & Happy Holidays!  www.facebook.com/missysimaginings

Greetings, Internet-Land!  This post will be pretty much the same as my facebook post for today, other than the free color sheet. You can visit there for another turkey project. http://www.facebook.com/missysimaginings

There are only 4 more mornings until Thanksgiving Morning! I love this time of year when we take time on purpose to express thankfulness. As a way of saying, “Thank You!” to all my internet friends & visitors, I have another holiday coloring project for you. Just “save as” or “copy & paste” into your favorite application for printing … unless you can just hit a “print” option when you click on the pic ~ then, by all means, just print! (This one is 8.5″x11″) Wishing you a great weekend!

Howdy! Well, yesterday was the Doll Show in Corvallis, OR. It was not the best show I have had in terms of sales (quite slow, actually), but I always like to find something good to share. A while back, I gave this tip in a facebook group, and I thought it may be helpful to someone out in internet-land as well, so here goes! When attending a show, I like to display my handmade clothing by having it modeled by the dolls. This way, collectors can see how the garments will actually fit or how they may compare to another doll of similar body type. This means transporting several of my dolls for each show. Someone asked for tips on how to protect the dolls while traveling. To minimize carrying a BUNCH of individual doll boxes, I put several in one shallow tote box (just one layer), and I use large thick cardboard rolls to protect their hair and faces ~ especially helpful if they have long eyelashes. Then, if needed, the doll/s can also be wrapped in clean white towels for extra protection. Hope this tip is useful for you! 🙂

Hello, hello! So, last week I posted my Native American Boy & Girl from the Thanksgiving set, and this week is the Pilgrim Boy & Girl. The boy will be here, and the girl is posted on my facebook page (see previous post for link address). Print on 8 1/2x 11 paper, color, cut, glue, and attach arms & legs with brads. Enjoy!

So, next week is another Doll Show. It will be a new one for me, but I’ve heard good things about this particular venue. I always try to have a couple new items ready for each show, so this time I will be showing a couple new coat designs for Ellowyne & my 1/3 scale BJDs. Just a few more items to sew & I should be ready. 😉