October 2018 Calendar Page

With Halloween at the end of the month, it was the obvious choice as the theme for October's calendar page. I didn't want the picture to be full-on ghosts, goblins, and jack-o-lanterns, however; I wanted it to be more subtle; so I avoided the temptation to put a witch hat on Anna Sui! 

 This is designed to be used as wallpaper on your cell phone--feel free to use it if you like it, or the full-color version which follows. 

Below, you can see what the picture looks like in full color. When I completed it, I was playing around with it and discovered that in PicMonkey (the picture editor that I use), when I used the black and white edit, the color of the calendar overlay stayed orange--and I loved that and wanted to keep it. I added orange to the pumpkin to give it a bit more zing, and voila! A picture I am very pleased with for the season. 

You can see how it looks on my cell phone, below. Happy October, everyone!

Take a Break

One nice thing about working from home is that you can take your lunch break whenever you want to.

This is my newest Blythe doll, Sarah Shades. Her lunch is a rement set I recently found locally, at the Barnes and Noble book store. 

Winners!

It was a great day at the horse show for Joy and Maximus. They took first place!

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See, I said I had to take more pictures with this wonderful cowboy hat! This Blythe doll is Unicorn Maiden. The trophy and ribbon are accessories for Our Generation dolls (sold at Target.)

Unicorn Cowboy

Yee haw!! This Unicorn Maiden is going country!

About a month ago, when I knew that Unicorn Maiden (whom I named Joy) would soon be joining my collection of Blythe dolls, I decided to splurge on this gorgeous cowboy outfit with the idea that it would look great on my new pink haired girl. I've seen and admired it for quite a while--it's part of Darling Diva's stock (she was the 5th Anniversary doll in 2006, and she came with three complete outfits.) I ordered it from Mandarake, and by coincidence, it arrived on the same day as Unicorn Maiden! Look at the size of that box; it's even larger than the doll's box!

I LOVE THIS OUTFIT SO MUCH!!!

The jacket and skirt are made from soft pink suede. The back of the jacket is embroidered with horses to match the skirt, plus a heart and the name Blythe. The pink rose earrings came with the outfit. Isn't it great that Unicorn Maiden has pierced ears and can wear these earrings?

The kicker for me (pun intended) are the boots. Oh how I love the special boots Takara makes! I also love the cowboy hat (I wish I had included it in more of the pictures, but that gives me a reason to take MORE pictures!)

"Happy trails!" to everyone from Joy.

Welcome, Sarah!

"I heard you were coming, so I baked a cake."

(Penny, my Cloud 9 Bowl, is the self-appointed head of the welcoming committee.)

Sarah Shades is here, and I love how colorful she is! Her bright, retro wardrobe really strikes a chord with me. She has two complete outfits, which is really awesome. The only thing she didn't come with was nice underwear...but I took care of that little problem right away!

Her hair was rather greasy and stringy when I took her out of the box, so I gave her a shampoo with Dawn Platinum dish soap, followed by a dunk in Downy fabric softener. Now her hair is curly and pretty.

I didn't notice it until I looked at the photo below, but her right eyeball is lower than her left one. Luckily, that sort of minor flaw doesn't bother me. 

All in all, she is a lovely doll and I'm happy to have her in my collection.

Freedom

Find your wings and fly.

This is Vera Florentine, posing in a chalk board flat lay. I like her message very much and am trying to remember it daily.