Said friend told me that I (we, since friend is too!) an Elitist. When it comes to the hobby anyway. That we want to see better quality work being done, that we want to see people putting more effort into things than propping your doll up against a cereal box.

But I made the argument that we’re not elitists.

What we are is perfectionists!

I say this because while I know I don’t do anywhere near the best that can be done, I do keep trying to improve myself and my skill levels. I’m embarrassed by some of the photos or things that I put out there but I continually keep trying to do a better job. I guess that’s where the perfectionist comes in though–since I expect other people to keep striving to improve their skills and I guess…well, they just don’t want to.

The important thing for them (and me too!) is just that we’re all enjoying the hobby–whichever part of it we’re into, and however we go around it. Yes, it does frustrate me to some extent (ok, a LOT) but life is full of things like that and although I do my best I can’t really see myself as being the sort to inspire other people to think about or change the way they do their hobbycraft.

Things I know I need to work on include my construction skills, my photography (which pretty much sucks) and developing more patience to allow me to do more of the first two items!

Of course, you could actually argue the fact that I am a 1:6 elitist since I am only interested in dolls and action figures that are in 1:6 scale. Anything else is “nice” or “interesting” but not enough to make me bother switching or juggling scales.

Anyway, just food for thought.

Here’s the thing: Aside from Mark and the cats my dolls are the biggest thing that I worry about getting back to the states with me. I might be looking at them with the “lover’s eyes” meaning that I assume everyone would want them, and assume that they are naturally desirable…..I’ve been doing my homework and apparently there’s a moderate percentage of  bags suffer from pilferage (they take things from in them) and of course, some whole bags end up being lost. So that means I have to work out the following:

My airline allows me 1 carry on bag (weighing 12 lbs or less) that is 9x14x22 or smaller in size.

Now, bearing in mind that I’ve been doing my absolute best to clear out and whittle down the amount of stuff I want to take with me….How do I decide which of my dolls go in the ultra-limited space of the carry on?

How fat are my dolls?

There are 1000g in a KG/ 1 pound = 453.5grams/ 12 pounds = 5.5Kg

• Volks EB doll (A,B & N bodies) (with head) = approximately 100grams
• Fashion Royalty Giselle (nu face body with nut) = 166 grams
• Fashion Royalty Kyori (reg body) = 160g
• Volks Goh Guy w/ head = 149g
• Volks EB doll (E,D,J bodies) (with head) = approximately 110 grams
• Hot toys True-type Guy & head = 240g
• Takara Cy Girl body & head  = 145g
• Takara Cy Girl–Head only = 28g
• Volks head (long hair) =50g

So….How do I decide who’s special enough for the carry on?

Do you have any favorites among my dolls?

(You can see most of them here:http://www.quinlan-chronicles.com/profiles and you can find more info about some of them in the Friday Monologues )

What do you all think?Who would you be sad to know went MIA?

I’m having a really difficult time deciding!

If you’re one of the folks who bought stuff thanks for being patient, and really, truly I appreciate it!

I ate some bad food the other day which has had unfortunate impact on my health. I’ve also kind of been panicking with things going on here and scrambling like a mad thing because our timeline for things happening seems to have suddenly jolted forward.Cue: booking appointments, GP visits, and trying to avoid biting my husband’s head off with the amount of stress I’ve got (on top of which–asking me an endless series of questions that I just don’t have/can’t find the answers to doesn’t help). I know this will all pass (really I am never going to doubt myself again next time I think that something may be “off”.  No amount we save on me eating leftovers is worth the way I’ve been feeling. *color me green and icky*

I’m happy (really, except for the being nauseated thing, and the not sleeping & not being able to shake this headache I’ve had for the past week straight (maybe it’s a tumor?)

Anyway, I’m getting my ass in gear, things are shipping out tomorrow.

Next week I’ll clear out the last of my stuff to go (the things not going to the thrift shops) and I actually start really packing my bags. Did I mention I feel sicker than sick? Ugh.

In my clearing out stuff I realized that while I don’t have much in the way of 100% cotton Fat Quarters or yardage, I did have an entire box (like a copy paper box) filled with strips that I had bought over the last couple of years with the intention of making 1:6 quilts…mostly ticker tape quilts since those were the only ones I knew how to make. Of course, I ended up making a patchwork quilt too….and then for X-mas for my friend Carmen I made a 1:6 string quilt. I hadn’t blogged any pics of it at the time (wanting her to have gotten it and it being a surprise and all that…).

So here are a few photos: (this was my first time making a string quilt) I’m still learning (and fumbling with making bindings and stuff but I’m getting a bit better with every quilt I make.

here’s a detail: It is hand quilted but you can’t really tell in the photos.

At the moment I just can’t seem to work on anything 1:6 related. I’m too stressed out and on edge. But…I don’t want to just give away (or try to sell) my scrap pieces. So what am I supposed to do? (I don’t want to use valuable suitcase space for it either!) I decided that I’d take all the scraps I’ve got and see if I can cobble them together into a 1:1 scale lap quilt (more or less in size anyway). That way I can just do it without thinking so much, I can get away from my desk and all the paperwork and phone calls I have to keep juggling (now that the internet is working again), and hell, actually make my first human scale quilt.

It probably sounds a bit insane (especially after I spent all of last night ironing the scraps LOL). But I’ll share as I go along (although I’m sure it’s not going to turn out as nicely as the miniature version—since I’m using random slices and remnants of fabric!)

Ok, that’s it for now (and Saturday AM I will update with the furniture and stuff for sale. I forgot I need to take a photo of the Kenmore Kitchen set for it).

  It’s great that things finally seem to be rolling along here! YAY!!

Please, please make my internet reliable soon! There’s too much to do and I need to access it to get things rolling!

Of course this is GREAT news!
But it means a whole crap load of work and really throwing ourselves into high gear to get all the thousands of little things (and big) done in time.  So unfortunately most of what I am working on has pretty much got to grind to a halt.

I’m so torn at the moment since I’d actually started to make good headway with the Wrenwood stuff I’m not going to ditch it just yet, since it’s the simplest of sets reallllllly….and maybe I can sneak in working and using it if all the other roomsets are gone? I mean, after all, it’s only one roomset, right? And it would be a complete shame to take it apart now that it’s started to take shape, right? Plus once the room’s emptied out there will be room enough for it, right? *I’ll manage to justify it somehow!*

I’ll UPDATE with a Wrenwood post at the end of this week so you  can see how it’s going so far.

I’m not looking forward to deconstructing my sets and ditching 2/3 of my remaining 1:6 stuff but at the same time it’s a good exercise in really seeing what I have and what I’m going to use.

My personal challenge in all of this (aside from trying to keep my head from exploding) is to try to fit all the stuff I want to take with me in my suitcases. I know, insane right? But the good thing is that with the carrier we’re using I can buy space for upto 10 additional bags (not that I will because that would be nuts!) but I think I can manage all my clothes(I have way more 1:6 clothes than 1:1) & 1:6 stuff in 4 . Maybe 5 at a maximum. I know there are risks doing it that way, but at the same time I think it’ll work out better.

So today is the day I start the final sort-out. I’ll be updating the show & sell site I guess with pics of stuff soon.  I’ll update the etsy shop sometime soon with the last bits and things I had made to sell, and that’ll be it.

I am so freaking stressed and excited that if this move doesn’t kill me I’ll be completely shocked!

I’ve been giving them a lot of thought but it hasn’t translated into a whole lot of action. There are a few reasons for this… The main one being that space is still limited and I really have some pretty grand ideas in mind—which while commendable (hey, I do have high standards, what can I say?) aren’t practical when it comes to making a transatlantic move.

So It’s left me thinking about 1) what to do, 2) how to do it and 3) why am I bothering?

1) What I’m going to do: Along with giving things some more thought (and working out the details for the photostories themselves) I’m going to push on-ward and try to get the living room and kitchen done. I’m also going to throw together a basic diorama to use for generic scenes on “the set” of the tv series the actresses work on.

2) I know I’m going to be pretty harsh when it comes to breaking down the dioramas to move.  It doesn’t mean I’m not going to do them, only that I’m going to avoid investing too much effort in this batch.  I’m simplifying them.

I’ll be putting most of my effort into the details –like furniture and props– etc rather than worrying sooo much about the set ups. Because I do (worry about the logistics of how an apartment is set up! No one will ever see the whole thing but I get very nit-picky about details like fire escapes, landings and front door locations). Plus that makes it less expensive and right now less expensive is a very, very good thing. Once we’ve relocated and are settled then I can really dig into making them as good as I want.

3) I’m doing this because I have to.  If I just fritter away my time and don’t have something worthwhile to show for it I’d be pretty bummed. And it’s criminal to waste your time when you never know how much you really have left.  Not to be morbid, but I might be dead next week. Or tomorrow. You just never know.

It might not make sense and I’m probably babbling but this is what’s on my mind.

Here is the list of my Top 10 Toys of 2011!

Counting down to my favorites–beginning with #10

#10 Ishani rebodied on a Hot Toys Female True Type body

Description of Toy/Toyline: Ishani’s got a Fashion Royalty Isha head that I repainted, but I’d been struggling to find a body that was going to match her skintone and give her a better range of motion than the default FR body. Will was kind enough to send me the True Type body to see if it would work (he’s a great guy!). I did some operating on the HT body to make it workable with the FR head.

So why did she make my list? Ishani (rebodied) made the list because she’s now got a much more posable body with an increased range of motion. That is a very good thing!

Downside to it: (aka why it isn’t the #1 toy on the list!): Well the truth is that I have a few issues with the Hot toys body. While it is IMO a vast improvement over the Fashion Royalty default body, I can’t say that I love it. For one thing, nothing I have fits it with the exception of some Ken clothes! I had foolishly thought that the clothes I made for my Takara CG female action figures would fit. I was wrong. So Ishani has moved up into the ranks of “needy” dolls. Meaning I need to sew a mini wardrobe for her before I can start using her in photostories and shoots. The other thing that makes it rank low for me is that the torso is vinyl and is prone to staining, and it’s kind of a pain to wrestle into and out of clothing.

Here is the original post dealing with Ishani: http://corsetkitten.com/blog/archives/4540

#9 Tristan

Description of Toy/Toyline: Tristan is a Neo Goh Guy body & head made by volks. I re-rooted him with a mix of restoredoll hair and NDR hair.

So why did he make my list? Strangely enough Tristan has made the list because I think he’s my best “guy” custom this year. I don’t do so well when it comes to painting guy faces and his is one that I didn’t get the immediate urge to wipe off! Also I have a serious shortage of guys and Tristan helps lessen it a bit.

Downside to it: (aka why it isn’t the #1 toy on the list!): He’s still pretty girly and there are some flaws with his face-up. My rooting skills are only so-so and it shows.

Here is the original post dealing with Tristan: http://corsetkitten.com/blog/archives/4575

#8 Art Nouveau vase in 1:6

Description of Toy/Toyline: Who made it is a mystery although it does have “Germany” stamped on the backside of it. It’s made of metal–possibly tin or lead/or an alloy. It’s a hefty little vase for its size–which makes me think it could be lead. It was an ebay find that was listed under 1/12 dollhouse stuff. It may be 1/12 but I find that it works perfectly well for 1:6. It’s 1 3/4 inches tall (about 43.5mm)

So why did it make my list?: Come on! It’s art nouveau and 1:6? What could be better? You’re bound to see it making various “background” appearances. I love the cattail design! (see it in the background pic of Tirrem?)

Downside to it: (aka why it isn’t the #1 toy on the list!): Frankly it’s in pretty poor condition (although not so bad when you assume it’s probably more than 15 years old, right?). When I move and have a proper workshop I may try to determine what it’s made out of and what the chances of me applying enamel to it. Depending on what I find out I might try to sculpt and cast something similar that I can then enamel. It’s certainly a nice excuse to get into metal enameling!

#7 Nerissa’s & Mallory’s Quilts

Description of Toy/Toyline: Err..I am the toyline, I guess? They were all made out of 100% cotton fabric, sewn and quilted by myself.

So why did they make my list? Two reasons: 1) They are needed pieces to complete other dorm room set ups and 2) They’re just nifty. I learned a lot in the process of making them and I like it when i manage to do that.

Downside to it: (aka why they aren’t #1 toy on the list!): There were a lot of mistakes I made on both of them, especially Mallory’s quilt. Because of those mistakes they really aren’t up to the quality I expected of myself.

Here are the original posts dealing with the quilts: http://corsetkitten.com/blog/archives/4826 (nerissa’s) and http://corsetkitten.com/blog/archives/4843 (mallory’s)

#6 Ezio : Hot Toys head

Description of Toy/Toyline: Ezio is the head from one of Hot Toys action figure releases. I’m not too clear on what he is except that he’s a video game character. He was a great gift from Will when things were going spectacularly crap (and even if the head had been a flaming piece of crap I’d have appreciated it for the intention behind it). His sculpt makes him look like a moody bastard.

So why did he make my list? As I mentioned earlier there’s a chronic shortage of the male species in my 1:6 collection. Ezio (I keep wanting to refer to him as Enzio LOL) is slated to be a rival of Cass’s and a sometime lover. He might come to a bad end I don’t know yet. I do know he’ll be getting a new name.

Downside to it: (aka why it isn’t the #1 toy on the list!): The head is nicely sculpted but the coloring was way off to use on one of my regular HT true type bodies (did I mention he looks like a linebacker with those shoulders?) so I had to give him one of my 2 Hot Toys True Type Asian bodies. It was a much, much better match (although that now means that Gill’s only got one body–but he’d be ok with that since it means one less rival for Viv’s attention).

#5 Volks Excellent Base Bodies

Description of Toy/Toyline: Volks 27cm/1:6 scale dollfie bodies.  These are old bodies made pre-2005. These 2 bodies in particular are gifts from the IFDC convention.  For more information about the bodies (volks) check out The Volks Perfect File.

So why did they make my list?

They made the list for 2 reasons — 1) they’re more bodies for me to make customs out of, and 2) they have the bust types that I have been trying to get for a long, long time. The busts on them are smaller than the Volks EB-J and have a more natural look to them (you can’t tell from these photos, sorry!)

Downside to it: (aka why it isn’t the #1 toy on the list!): These are the old version of Volks excellent base bodies. That means that they have big gaps around their hip/thigh area (where the joint-age is). They’re shiny (which means I will have to sandmatte them) and chances are that if they are going to one of my more beloved figures that they’re going to need thigh/torso surgery. But that’s down to my personal preference. Of course the biggest downside to these excellent body volks is that volks has discontinued their production! Which means I scoop them up whenever I find them (and can afford to. These were my xmas gift for this year).

 #4 My 1:6 dorm beds

Description of Toy/Toyline: Set of 2 flat-pack able 1:6 beds that I made for my dorm room sets. Pretty Basic and meant to be a stop-gap until I get back home and can make proper ones.

So why did they make my list? Like the quilts they were needed for the Dorm room sets. The best thing about them is that they’re flat-packable so I won’t have a hard time packing them up.

Downside to it: (aka why it isn’t the #1 toy on the list!): The biggest gripe I have with them is that I made the bottom out of wood…I wanted to make them with metal and springs but didn’t have the $$ at the time to buy the supplies I needed so I went with the wood. They work as they are, but they’re not exactly how I want them so they’ll get re-vamped in the future. Also, my application of varnish wasn’t so even and I’d consider sanding them down (eh, maybe) in the future.
Here is the original post dealing with the beds: http://corsetkitten.com/blog/archives/4565

 #3 Chair & table from Carmen

Description of Toy/Toyline: A lovely arm chair & table set from Carmen. From the get-go she knew that I really loved the colors used in the armchair and it was among my faves. We periodically swap and make stuff for each other and these were just perfect! (there were also some 1:6 sheep pillows for Raven but I didn’t pull them out in time for this post)

So why did they make my list? Durr! They’re great stuff! I love the fact that they’re nicely made and I didn’t have to make it myself, or beg Mark to make it for me!

Downside to it: (aka why it isn’t the #1 toy on the list!): There isn’t really a downside to the pieces–only the fact that I had a few other things that edged them out of 1st place!

 #2 1:6 Dresser & Desks

Description of Toy/Toyline: Custom made Desks & Dressers made by Mark of MHModelmaking .Yes that’s his blog but it’s mostly about airplanes–I’m trying to convince him he needs to start a 1:6 blog for making stuff! He doesn’t think anyone would read it or comment…IF you folks who read this blog would be interested in him writing about 1:6 stuff please leave a comment on his most recent post on his blog!

He made them all out of wood and spent a lot of time on them (they were my Valentines Day gift for 2011–they do indeed last longer than a box of tasty, delicious chocolate!)

So why did they make my list? I’d think it’d be pretty obvious that the build quality, the detailing and the overall usefulness made them hit really high in the rankings. All the drawers open and close, and the desk can be reconfigured 2 different ways. I might complain about how hard it is to get Mark to see how much I neeeeed something –but once he decides to do it he does a freakin fantastic job. I mean amazing.  The guy could be building 1:1 furniture with the care and precision that he puts in. I just wish I could clone him!

Downside to it: (aka why it isn’t the #1 toy on the list!): Hmm, if I told you that I might have to kill you! No, seriously, the only reason they’re not #1 is that I fell in love with 2 of the customs I did this year. They beat everything.  Anyway, here is the original post dealing with the dorm room: http://corsetkitten.com/blog/archives/4262
and you can check out the website for more info about the process:  http://www.corsetkitten.com/dioramas/

And the #1 slot for 2011 goes to…… Astrid  & Nerissa

Description of Toy/Toyline: Both Astrid and Nerissa are custom volks dollfies. Astrid is an Old Type C head on a hybrid Neo-Excellent J body. Nerissa is a pale Neo volks head on a volks pale excellent A body. She was rooted with restoredoll Black Orchid saran.

So why did they make my list? They made it to number one on the list because there’s something about the way they’re painted that just speaks to me. I get a lot of joy out of posing them and planning storylines for them. They’re usually located somewhere in my desk-workspace.

Downside to it: (yes even at #1 there’s a downside!): I think I could have painted both of them better/more cleanly. I don’t however want to wipe their faces and try again since I might lose that little spark that makes them so special!
Here is the original post dealing with Astrid: http://corsetkitten.com/blog/archives/3971
Here is the original post dealing with Nerissa: http://corsetkitten.com/blog/archives/4677

There you have it. My Top 10 for 2011.Comments anyone?

Since this year has been especially tight financially this year’s list won’t be about many things that I bought, but mostly about things that I made or was given, or traded for. Hope folks won’t be too disappointed in that. Also, this year I’m going to do it all in one single post (it’s easier that way).

Look for the post on the 30th!!

  <—— Stunt packages! Your  packages are more boxlike (although they are covered with brown paper!)

I’m afraid I couldn’t afford super-rocket-mail this time around so I don’t think your presents will get there before Santa does! (But maybe the elves will sprinkle a little pixie dust on the postal service—so who knows??)

Anyway now that I’m done with the holiday hoo-ha (except for mark’s present) I can try to settle in and get photos taken and get to actually making other stuff. Hope everyone is doing ok!

So, I’m sewing away–doing my best to make a few goodies for those special people (you guys know who you are!) and get other things done as well. I’d love to share photos on here of what I’ve made (because some of it’s turned out really well) but if I do they’ll see their presents and …well..that just wouldn’t be good right? So hopefully come xmas time they’ll post on their blogs & flickr accounts the goodies I’m making now! *I hope anyway*

While I’m at it I figured I’d post a pic of how things are starting to come together with the insanity quilt. It’s just a quick shot (I threw them on top of a tile) so you can see where I’m going with them so far.

Would you believe that there are 231 hexagons in that shot?

I know they’re not much to look at at the moment but I’m making some progress. I am glad that I only decided to do a dorm size (twin) quilt with them though and not the original 1:6 queen size I’d planned.

I’m also working on getting those photos done for new etsy listings. I’ve just about sorted out the light bulb situation here (oh don’t even ask) so that’ll be back on track soon. The broken printer–not-so-much-so but I’m still trying to source a replacement that we can afford at the moment. We’ll see what happens.

Ok back to the worktable! See you all later!

If you recall, my original plan for their sets was to make them a complete apartment.

What with putting the house on the market, packing things up, moving into the rental & stuff it all got shoved onto the back burner with me realizing I can’t do any of it until I move home (and then probably some months after that). But…..I really didn’t like that idea much. So I figured a bit of a compromise would be good. I’d make their living-room & kitchen and the rest would wait. After all, the important stuff in both those rooms are the furniture and props. Not the walls etc.

PLUS—— What’s to say that the Actresses couldn’t move? I mean, the show could become more popular and they get to move to a bigger, nicer apartment. Right? or maybe move up to the penthouse instead of the basement??

I figured I’ll commit to making their living-room & kitchen. I was originally going to use my retro-kitchen for them but I decided that that belongs to the Daniels (Merrit & Jane) and I wouldn’t feel right using it for people in the same universe. I probably sound like a nut for saying that, but you know, like, whatever!

So that’s something that I want to work on for hte month of November. I want to really crunch and try to get at least the living-room complete. I already know what I’m doing for funiture in there so that’s fairly easy–hardest part is figuring out if I can get away using my standard room-base or do I need to make a new one (It’s kind of looking that way for the kitchen).

Ok, I’ll update later (tonight, maybe.) with sewing related stuff!

The room’s temporarily set up. I set it up initially based on where the sun was going to be most of the day  (I didn’t want it getting in my re-ment boxes, or on my dolls). But now, I’m finding that if I want to do anything in the room I really need to re-think where my table is going (I had to give mark one of my work tables so he’d have something to put his computer on, so I’m sort of at a loss). In spite of all that I DID GET STUFF DONE!!!   I’ll give you the basics here but soon I’ll do individual posts about some of these things.

• Continued working on the Insanity Quilt. I’ve begun sewing the hexagons into “flower” shapes. Finally decided that I want to do them in sets of 3 (so 3 red, 3 purple, 3 blue etc) for when I finally construct the thing.
• Painted 6 paintings (on 1:6 scale canvases that I stretched and primed)  for etsy.
• Made 4 new bonsai trees (also for etsy).
• Began the great sort out of doll clothes in an attempt to assign them to specific characters. (I thought that by doing that it might be easier to dress them quickly & make it easier to shoot spur of the moment stories).
• Made a 1:6 random patchwork quilt for one of the girls’ dorm rooms (not sure who it belongs to yet). It might belong to Parker. Maybe.
• Made the comforter for Nerissa’s dorm room.
• Made the comforter for Nik’s dorm room.
• Wrote a bit of Giselle’s backstory & worked on Kendall’s too.
• Worked on developing my ideas and concepts for Marissa (FP Kyori) & Kendall (Perk Collette).
• Had a birthday (it sucked. what more can I say?)
• Modified Kendall & Eugenia so they can sit upright.
• Moved boxes around into some kind of organized chaos–so that I can try to start shooting some photos of the stuff I did do! LOL
• Sourced a replacement worktable for me (since mark needed my other one).
• Baked an apple cobbler *mmmmm cobbler….*
• Worked on the Quinlan-Chronicles Website–still have to upload the updates & changes though.

So it wasn’t a total loss being without the internet. But I’m happy to be online again!

I’m relieved to be able to get online since my attempts to pop on at the library came to naught although now I have 800+ emails to sort through. ::O So…if you’re someone who’s emailed me lately (as in the last 26 days) be patient and I’ll get to it. Or email me again!(I might have a delete-happy index finger…) I promise. If my head doesn’t explode from all the internet-y goodness).

Anyway I think I’m back (I’m really skeptical of the ISP’s service and I really expect more trouble). I’ll update in a day or so with what’s been going on here!

Of course I’ll do my best to check-in and try to get online via other wi fi spots.

I hope you all are having fun and doing 1:6 stuff!

The last 2 weeks have been big, long exercises in stress & anxiety and I decided that the best way to deal with that was to do some sewing.  For myself.

I don’t usually bother to sew anything for my dolls–the majority of stuff I make tend to go on to other people’s dolls.  I get the rejects & QC fails–But the great thing about sewing (sometimes) is that it requires me to focus & concentrate.  Which makes it harder for me to be all stressed about what’s been going on.

So, this weekend I’m going to sew on the hooks, eyes & snaps, and then I’ll photograph the stuff I’ve made. Which will be kind of cool since I plan on doing a few “Who wears it Better” shots since I can’t decide who really looks better in some of the pieces.

And of course, Happy Birthday Bob. I still love  you and miss you.

I can’t even begin to list all the stuff I’ve gotten rid of–but you’d think that in the course of my doing so—-that, well,  I’d have a lot less stuff left! But…somehow it hasn’t worked out that way.

The good news is that everything I own is either in a box or on a shelf.

The boxes are good (and were part of our Ikea-fest from last month in our push to get the house ready to go). They do a lot for making my workroom/office look a lot neater, bigger and more  “acceptable”.  I have to say that some of the boxes got stuffed willy-nilly and of course I’ll need to re-pack those.

As of right now I have 40 A4 boxes in my room. 24 are stacked up in the area there used to be a built in closet, 6 are stacked against the fireplace/chimneybreast shelf, and the rest are under my worktables (old ikea purchases from the scratch & dent area in….2006.)

My goal is to get the 24 boxes (which are all fabric) whittled down to 8 or less.  The other boxes contain etsy stuff, crafting supplies, dolls, paperwork (lots of paperwork), re-ment, 1:6 furniture and oh, more 1:6 furniture. And actually, I have a few more boxes at mark’s folks house…so for good measure just round it up to 50 total! 

SO I have to start somewhere and I’ve decided to do it one box at a time. That way it helps keep the room’s mess down to a minimum (for those people coming to look at the house), and gives me a solid goal to work through to the end.

But how do I decide?

I’m thinking that I’ll start with the 1st criterion being have I looked at it in the last 12 months? the 2nd will be: Do I really think I’m going to have a use for it–guaranteed. None of this “someday I might want to make a ___”. crap.  If I can’t genuinely say I’ve had a thought about what to do with it it’s going on the “out” pile. 3rd will be: How cumbersome is it? 4th: How difficult would it be to replace it?

I figure that’s a good place to start anyway.

Anyway as I go through them I’ll post here and if there’s anything I think people might want (who knows. Most of you are in another country altogether–but I can mention it anyway). Some furniture, some dolls possibly, and whatever nick-knacks that don’t end up going to the thrift shop.

Ok, it’s almost 10pm and I’m flagging. I have emails to answer (yea, like that’ll happen tonight) and cats to tire out! Take care folks! And keep wishing us luck!

We’ve shown the house 3 times since then, and we have 2 more appointments for next week.  This all sounds great, right? Good interest, and the house is priced competitively for the UK market (specifically our city–there are some real crappy places going for 10k more than our nice house).

Yea.

It IS good.

Maybe even great.

But I’m totally a wreck. I’m on edge all the time, waiting for them to call, or to make sure everything is as neat as it can be since someone wants to look at it etc.

I know. I knoooooooooooow that that’s what you have to do when you want to sell your house. I know. It just adds up, especially when Mark is going on about not wanting to take less than the asking price (which to be fair, yes, it is reasonable especially when someone can move in and not have to do anything, AT ALL to the house. Nothing needs fixing, or replacing and it would be the ideal property for a first time buyer (or someone like me who’d just like something that’s off to a good start and only needs routine maintenance.)

Anyway, as I was saying, this being constantly ready for people to pop by etc has meant a real stop in the physical making & doing of things for 1:6. It sucks, but that’s what it is. And on top of that I have had to really acknowledge and face the fact I need to again go through my things and clear out all but the totally irreplaceable.  That means the majority of my fabrics are going to have to go and find a new home, as will much of the remaining barbie furniture and things.  You know, all those pieces I’ve been saving. They need to go.

But–clearing them out–I have to find a time that I can do it that means the room won’t look like it exploded if someone’s coming to view the house. Ugh. I’m guessing I’ll try it one box at a time and go from there.

On the house viewing/selling front: The first person who came to view it last week made a low-ball offer of 85K. The house is listed at 89,500  sorry entry error on my part– it’s 89,950 so we refused it.  (Not because we’re greedy but because the estate agent fee & the lawyers fees will equal almost 6K when we finish).

A second viewer came yesterday but decided the road we’re on is too busy, so no offer there.

The original viewer came back today to view the property (with partner) and made an offer of 88K. They both kept gushing about it. About how great it looked, how it was like a show home(we’ve made it clean and neutral), and how original it is compared to what else they’ve seen.

So why gush about it— and then offer under the price? That’s something I don’t really get.  I guess it’s going in the right direction but Mark is holding tight to the asking price (And for once I feel he’s justified in it.  The property is well worth it, and we’re willing to include all the appliances and any furnishings they want from it).  The viewer commented specifically that she’d wanted the appliances….so I don’t know.

The estate agent is calling me back in a while–she’d called from a really crummy connection so that I really couldn’t hear/understand what she said.  Basically I got:

“Negotiation…static static...” and she said she’d call me back in an hour or so.  Why does all of this make my guts knot up? I mean really, I feel as anxious as I did when I was applying for my visas. How crap is that??!!

Oh yea, did I mention that mark has been talking about living in a camper again? *sigh* I could do it for a week maybe, but not 3 months and sure at hell not 12 months! That’d be one of my personal ideas of hell!

And before you go how squeeeeeeee /cute it would be…think of 2 cats (rockety & rambunctious cats), a 6’4 guy, and a rather large girl like myself are gonna all get along and play nice in there! (not that exact one, but something similar) *cries*

Anyway folks, that’s how it is at the moment!

Today I was supposed to update the blog with some great, finished projects!

We finally got to a place where we could get the (real) estate agents (they don’t call them real estate agents here—just “estate Agents”) to come check our house out and give us some valuations on the property (so we can pick one and get the house firmly on the market and hopefully put us a few steps closer to getting the hell outta Dodge!

Anyway, they’re coming next week–which meant that the majority of this week has been spent on cleaning, and tweaking the house so that when they come it looks as clean (and NEUTRAL) as possible. (I had to pack up the majority of my dolls today–Can I just say how hard that was to do?)

*heavy, heavy sigh*

This has meant my workroom/office has “blown up” and become an even greater mess. This is because if I’m going to put the effort in to get it looking totally spic n span, I’m not going to be half assed about it. That means going through everything and culling out as much “crap” as possible.  The easiest way to explain is that I’m kind of mental. If you need to know more about what is pushing my buttons email me. I just don’t want to subject casual readers to doses of my family history!

Anyway, the result is that although I got half my challenge clearly done (I got both beds built, and mattresses for both, and I re-rooted 2 heads) I have not yet completed it because my “work schedule” got disrupted with all the organizing & cleaning. Ok, and brutal clearing out of stuff.

Sorry folks, but you know–moving is really my #1 priority! So the update is delayed this week until Sunday, and next week’s probably will be too, since I’ll have to work around showing the house to 6 different estate agents on tues, weds & thurs.