Goals for February of 2009

New month, new schedule. And hopefully, some accountability in getting everything on the list done!

Ambition requires patience, as I'm learning. Small steps, & you will get where you want to go. The trick is to know where you want to go, & then plan your path.

So, have plans? Have goals? A dream you want to conquer? The first step is to make a plan. With that in mind, what are your goals for February?

Here are a few of mine:

- Finish the Queen of Hearts (guess I better get started!)

- Finish writing a tutorial I'll be doing for CDHM.org in March. Some advanced doll techniques will in here - stay tuned for more details!

- Finish my book of the month for February (Seth Godin's Purple Cow - it's a short book, no excuse not to finish it!)

- Lose 2 lbs. I figure I can do that much.

- List several toothpick doll clips & magnets I'm finished, but am procrastinating about taking photos of.


Imagine yourself on February 28. What will you have gotten done this month?

Queen of Hearts - I've finally started her!

One of my goals this year is to finish a doll about every other month. My schedule says I should have one finished by the end of February. So maybe it's time I got started :)

Remember my original Queen of Hearts sketch? This lady scares me, honestly. I don't know what I was thinking when I drew that design, but now I'm paying for it - this is a difficult project!

First, some supplies:

- Various pairs of scissors, reverse pliers, 6-inch ruler, glue

- toothpicks (those do help when making a toothpick doll)

- Thread color catalog

- Impossible sketch (hanging up)

- A mess of embroidery floss (yes, that is the technical term. A herd of sheep, a gaggle of geese, a mess of thread)

- A bowl of fruit (1 navel orange & 1 Fuji apple, chopped into bite-size pieces. Works well when there's no chocolate in the house.)

Humble beginnings, but we all have to start somewhere...

Her design calls for a nice, full skirt. This is layer 3 of a 4-layer petticoat. I start down around her ankles, & keep adding layers until we reach her waist. No, the woman will not be able to move. You'll notice Sleeping Beauty lurking in the background often. She has consented to be my reference model for this project.

Ok, 4 layers of petticoat done. Now we start the tricky process of adding all those decorative skirt layers. She'll end up with the following layers:

- subtle pink & white striped underskirt

- black & white stripe detailing

- black satin overskirt, pulled back to reveal the pink underskirt & black & white stripe

- hot pink over-overskirt (I really should come up with more elegant-sounding names...) with fringe & rose accent

This is the first layer - the sublte stripe underskirt. If you look closely, you can make out the pink & white striping. You'll see this layer is only in the front, for two reasons:

1) The back would be covered up by the black satin skirt.

2) Adding this layer all the way around would add bulk to the back. When you're working in such a tiny scale, even one layer of thread can make a difference. She needs to have a shapely silhouette, without extra bulk.

Ok, the first of 4 decorative skirt layers is finished. Now I'll start the black & white stripe detailing (see the original sketch). But first, I have to outline exactly where this detailing will go. Look closely, & you'll several lines of a single strand of white thread. Now, I just fill this part in with the striping.

I'll post more progress in a few days!

Want to know more of how I've done a certain technique? I'm planning a doll tutorial in the next month - tell me what you'd like to be in it!

This Blog Invests in the Riches of Proximity

JemJoop, who has skills at mini-making that I am simultaneously in awe of & envious over, has awarded Angela Michelle Dolls with the lovely Proximidade award!

As originally described....

This blog invests in the riches of proximity! (rough translation). Proximidade, translated from Portuguese to English, means vicinity or neighborhood.

This blog invests and believes in PROXIMITY - nearness in space, time and relationships. (blogging makes us close by proxy; friendly neighborhoods linked around the world). Blogs that receive this award are exceedingly charming. These kind bloggers aim to find and be friends. They are not interested in prizes or self-aggrandizement. (effort is made to maintain a quality blog in terms of blog etiquette, response, and audience - just because) *Note to reader: It does not escape my attention that the mere posting of the award is, in itself, a small measure of self-aggrandizement. I never said I was perfect ;-).

Our hope is that when the ribbons of these awards are cut, even more friendships are propagated. (post the award, and grow more friendship by passing it on) Please give more attention to these writers! (be an active friend of their neighborhoods) Deliver this award to eight bloggers who must choose eight more and include this cleverly-written text into the body of their award. "

OK, so I don't have 8 (I need more blogging friends!), but here, in no particular order, are a few of my sincere nominations:

Wonders of Whimsy

Ramblings of E

Pumpkinhaus

Pickles on Pizza

Missficklemedia.com

(If you've already been nominated, just consider this a confirmation of your wonderful-ness as a fellow blogger-friend :)

Hope you enjoy strolling through these lovely blogs!

Review: No More Mondays, by Dan Miller

One of my goals for 2009 is to read a book a year. So far, so good. Yes, I know it's only January, but I'm celebrating the little achievements.


My book for January was No More Mondays, by Dan Miller. Gotta love a book with a catchy title.Wonderful first read for the beginning of the year. He's got all sorts of quotes & extra little stories & situations to get you to think. This is all about pinpointing your talents, dreams, & passions - the things that get you excited, & then going on those to build a business, part-time income stream, ministry, or what-have-you.

Specifically geared towards those who'd like to venture out from the traditional "j-o-b" & earn income through more creative pursuits. Freelancer, entrepreneur, consultant, artist, or any other kind of work that lets you be a little more independent.

Answers such questions as:

How to take your talent & find a creative way to earn income by it

How to find more time in your schedule

How to start your own business with little or no money

How to get over your fear of losing the "safety" of a traditional job. (Asks the question - Just how "safe" is a traditional job?)

A wonderfully written, fast-paced, keep-your-highlighter-handy-you're-gonna-want-to-remember-this kind of read. Not a get-rich-quick or easy answers book. It helps you define the types of work you excel at, but applying that is all up to you.

Recommended? YES!

For more info or to purchase, here's Dan Miller's official site.

Febuary's book: Purple Cow, by Seth Godin

Bits & Bobbles Swap

Have a lot of extra crafty stuff lying around? Would you like to be rewarded for shipping some of it off?

Malissa (Sleepy Hollow Folk Art Originals) is hosting a Bits & Bobbles Swap! Basically, just fill a sandwich size baggie with some of the odds & ends (hopefully matching!) of craft goodies you have yet to find a project for. Send it to the name you're assigned to, & you'll receive a goodie bag in return!

Fresh crafting fodder - how fun!

Sign up soon - the deadline is this Saturday, January 31!

Get a Free Doll Kit!

Everything you need to make your very own toothpick doll, except a third hand.

I'm getting ready to launch a new product & I need your help! Toothpick doll kits are themed kits with instructions that are easy to follow & entertaining. They'll include everything you need, from glue to scissors to thread to fun extras. Perfect for an afternoon craft or a project to take on a trip with you.

Want to be a tester?

If you'd like to know how to make a basic toothpick doll, sign up to be a kit tester. I'll send you a sample kit for free in exchange for your feedback (I will send a one-page comment sheet with each kit, or you can fill out a short online comment form). The first two kits offered will be a Pirate kit & a Princess kit.

To sign up, email me (angela@angelamichelledolls.com) with the following information:

Name

Age (Must be 12 years or older. Preference will be given to volunteers age 12-18, but I will be sending sample kits to 18+ as well)

Email

Mailing Address

Theme Preference (Pirate or Princess)

Space is limited, & the list will fill on a first-come basis, so please sign up quickly! If you know of someone (daughter, friend, sister) who would be interested, send 'em on over here!

Deadline to sign up: January 31

Black Widows & Semi-Colons

Ever had a defining moment at 6 AM? There are other things I'd rather wake up to.

Last fall, we switched out the decorative wreath outside our front door. The old, summertime one came in the house & the new, fall-y one took its place outside. Well, the old wreath quickly got forgotten in our breakfast nook where it had been stashed, & sat for a few weeks - long enough for a certain creature who had taken up residence in the wreath when it was outside to grow comfortable enough to look for new lodgings in its new location.

Enter a groggy, half-aware early riser (you'd think this would have cured me of getting up before sunrise ever again). I flicked on the light and saw a black spot in mid-air near the ground - a glistening black spider hanging upside down in her web. I leaned in closer & saw a perfectly-shaped red hourglass. Have you ever seen pictures of a black widow in a textbook? Good grief, I'm having to pull my feet up as I type!

Anyways, you want something that will shock you awake better than a double shot of coffee? I found it. Works great.

I actually stood in the kitchen and stared at the thing in shock for several moments, until I realized that I had better do something, as it wasn't going to kill itself. Waking someone else up would probably have been better, but this really inconvenient fit of bravery possessed me, and so here, in dramatic retelling, is my heroic battle...

The spider & I faced off for several moments in the darkened breakfast nook, light from a single bulb illuminating the telltale red hourglass on its hideous black body. I held in my shaking hand a bottle of Raid, and had on my foot a big shoe. The spider had as its defense a lethal poison, ready to foster my destruction. I stiffened my shoulders, bent lower, and held the can above the spider's gangly form. I sprayed, it fell in agony to the carpet below, & I stomped like a bad clogger. The twisted spider lay still, dead, the light still shining off its now mangled hourglass. And so it will be told for time immemorial of my valiant defeat of the black widow in the kitchen at 6 AM.

I hope you read that in your best James Earl Jones tone of voice.

Ever notice that when your brain is occupied with spiders, you see them everywhere? (Sorry.) When I took my glasses off before going to bed that night, I saw a black spot on my dresser (a very fuzzy black spot - I'm rather blind without my second pair of eyes). I instantly reached out to pound it into oblivion & realized at the last second that I nearly killed one of my favorite pairs of earrings - a handmade set of semi-colon earrings from nerdgoddess at Etsy.com. If you need to get your mind off of black widows & other creepy crawlies, head over to her shop quickly!

Oh and by the way, yes - we threw the wreath away!