dinner and a movie

I am very lucky in that my father introduced me to science-fiction at a very young age. I love pretty much anything science-fiction related. I really have soft spot for the old 30's to 60's sci-fi. I have found something that punches pretty much all my buttons when it comes to this stuff. It is an online webseries called "The Mercury Men". You can catch it on hulu and SyFy.

It is a retro-sci-fi cliffhanger webseries that is so well done. They hit the mark on everything; characters (everyman caught up in circumstances beyond his control and the quintessential hero to save the day), lighting, music, bad-science threat (the moon!), and, the most important thing of all, BRAIN IN A JAR!

The basic premise is this: a government worker who does all he can to not work (you know the type) becomes embroiled in a nefarious plot of the Mercury Men (from the planet Mercury! men made of light!) to <spoiler> the moon! He is rescued by the daring, gorgeous Captain Jack Yaeger, engineer with the mysterious "League". Together they overcome obstacles and, I don't think it's a spoiler to say they save the day. Oh, but HOW they save the day is the story.


Captain Jack Yaeger - engineer ... with a gun.

What would make the perfect watching experience would be to eat off the right dishes while watching the show. These are a must. Take your choice of dinner plates.



pick a mug:



and you're good to go! Unfortunately, I couldn't find a proper bowl for eating your "Mercury Men" cereal out of but I guess you can't have everything.

Seriously, check these guys out. There is a ton of extra stuff on the website. Videos of behind-the-scenes stuff, commercials, an adorable one with a 3 year old fan getting a visit from Captain Jack Yaeger himself! There's also free downloadable digital props you can print out yourself.

There are currently 10 webisodes with the first nine telling the first season's story and the tenth setting you up for a new (please god!) season.

new girl in the shop

It's been a while since I posted anything but I've been busy with this'N'that. One of the things I've gotten back to are the mermaid dolls! There's a new one in the shop. Go see her here. Here's a little sneak peak just for you though. Say "hi" to Lavande!

flime ties

Wow. How did it get to be November 12th already?

I've updated the shop with two new mermaids and my photographer extraodinaire reshot my first two dolls. Go take a look!

For your viewing entertainment here is another lovely model captured during the latest photo shoot.

sneak peek

Here she is!



I'm trying to get some better pictures before I list her in the shop. I have also finished another one and need pictures of her as well. I'm pretty happy with my final pattern; it's easy to put together and she feels like the right size. The only thing I'm still fiddling with are the eyes. I haven't come up with what I think is the "right" look yet but it's getting there.

Here's a view of the back so you can see all that hair. Wowsers.



Just to remind you, this is where I started with this one.



The only part I re-used was the tail and that even got adjusted a bit at the top. No comparison, right?

All in all, this is a "yay"!

new stuff - photos coming soon

Well, I got my new sewing machine and, man, it is a cute one. Better than that, it sews! It sews without skipping stitches!

I completely took apart the denim/linen mermaid and re-did her. I changed out the denim for a printed cotton and changed out the whole body top pattern, slimmed down the tail a bit where it connects to the body and generally changed how I put the whole thing together. It was a lot easier once I figured it out. I was really making it hard on myself the way I was doing things before.

I've gone back to using the yarn I like for the hair (here). I pretty much hate that yarn for anything but mermaid hair but it's perfect for that.

I'll get some pictures of her and my new lovely sewing machine and put those up soon. I'm still re-thinking some elements on her face so she's not quite finished but she's getting close!

frustrations

Well that was fun.

I was able to cut out several pieces for more than one doll and started sewing them up. Started but didn't finish because my lousy sewing machine, which I recently spent over $100 to fix, doesn't work anymore. It sewed about 3 stitches then promptly quit catching stitches. Oh how I wish I had never given up my trusty old Singer which my parents gave me sometime in the late 60's. That was a workhorse that only sewed a straight stitch - frontward and backward. That's all it did but it did it consistently.

I am totally fed up with the one I currently have so I got online and ordered this little beauty. It's been shipped and now I'm just sitting here waiting for it to show up. I can hardly wait to have a sewing machine I don't want to curse out when I use it!

mermaids past and present

Well, I went through and took some pictures of the mermaids I made for my daughter when she was quite a bit younger and thought I'd post them here.

This is the very first one


and a closeup of her face


She was made with some beautiful velveteen fabric, a lovely co-ordinating brocade for the tail plus some odds and ends of lace and velvet for trimming. I used this great yarn for her hair. My daughter loved her and then started requesting more! Following are the others all lined up


As you can see, I had some difficulty with their faces. On each one I learned something new.

Here is the first with the last one I made.


As you can see, she is quite a bit larger than the original ones. I have come to the conclusion that she is a little too big. I also have a tendency to over stuff them and make them a little less cuddly because of that. The latest one is also over-engineered and I don't like the shape of the head. I'm going to stick with the head shape of the first ones. I *do* like using rhinestones for the eyes and I love the extra full head of hair. Those are things I will continue going forward. I have now completely taken the latest one apart and she's ready to be remade. I'm going to work on that over the next couple of days and will hopefully have something to show for my labors! Stay tuned.