Spring is here!

We're having nicer weather now and getting out into the garden a bit. The kids are learning the ordinary childhood joys of picking wildflowers, making mud pies and hunting snails while I try to whip the garden into shape. (But of course, I have no idea what I'm doing, so it's slow going at best.)

In doll news, Donatina got put aside, so I could do an emergency sewing job for a friend. But I have been working on her. I thought it'd be quicker to draw her new eyes in Photoshop, for some reason. When I realised that it was definitely not going to be quicker, I kept going anyway. Just for the sake of trying something new. Then, when it was time to print them, it ended up taking a whole day to get my printer working! I had bought home brand cartridges. And even though the printer recognised that they were installed and the ink tanks were full, it wouldn't print with the ink in them! Frustrating.

Anyway, I got the eyes printed in the end. I changed them, so they aren't purple because I wanted them to contrast with her hair more. I've glued the eyes back together, but I thought I'd give the glue an extra day to cure before I tried to get them back in. Also I probably should have marked the domes and bases somehow so I would know which way to reinsert them. Donatina may end up cross eyed but at least I know, for when I do the others.

I also got some of the Disney Animators dolls. Since there aren't any Disney Stores in Australia anymore they can be hardish to find, and more expensive than they should be. I like their faces. I like how many of them look pensive, especially in comparison to the manic grins of the Jakks Pacific versions. But I do plan on repainting them. . . If I don't just freeze with a panic attack over the idea of just how many plans I have. I've also decided I NEED a Merida. She'd make a great Pippi Longstocking!
I've got to say, I'm a little disappointed with the quality of the Animators dolls. Given they're over sixty dollars, anywhere I've been able to find them, I thought they'd be better. Rapunzel's eye paint is sloppy and Tinkerbell's fringe looks like it was cut with a knife and fork. But then I discovered that in the Disney Stores they're roughly the price of the standard Jakks ones and, well, yeah, the quality matches that price.

I'm going to stop now, before I start rambling about ALL THE PLANS! Which will ultimately sound insane and then make me feel bad, when I don't follow through on most of them.