My newest doll...

Here is my newest girl. Her body is based on a Mary Tressler pattern. The costuming is all my own. This is one of the first times I have tried wefting a mohair wig, which I think it turned out pretty good. She is being given as a silent auction prize for a church we used to go to. They are having their big church birthday bash, so thought it would be fun to let them have her as an auction item. She is sitting on a gift box that can be used for storage. I hope you like her. Till next time. ~michelle lord

Need help naming my new dolls...oh and Good News!!

First off, I just found out that my two dolls that I entered in the state fair both won first place. This is my second year in a row for winning blue ribbons in both flat faced dolls and sculptured face dolls. I am so excited. Of course my poor wall hanging didn't even place, I thought maybe it would at least get an honorable mention for all the humor it brought to the people who helped setup the craft section of the fair, but no. ;o)

Well, I am needing help naming my new set of dolls. They are based on the famous picture by Edvard Munch called "The Scream!" Of course, I cannot call the dolls the screamers, screaming couple, etc., but am having trouble figuring out a good name that fits them, so I am looking for ideas. I really do like the picture "The Scream!" as that is how I feel half the time, well maybe more like all the time - LOL. What really comes to mind when I see them is "Mr. Bill" and his OHHHH-Noooo! he always says, but that would not work either. Here is a couple of pics of them:

Okay, what do you think? Let me know what you would call them. You can email me at msnotes@hotmail.com or just post a comment. Thanks and till later ~michelle lord

What I have been doing....

About 2 months ago I purchased a 9 needle Toyota commercial embroidery machine and one of my first jobs was a company that wanted embroidered leather pieces for purses. I was told by many a person to run from the job, but because I am one of those people that has a problem following rules, patterns, or anything else for that matter, I just had to give it a try. After several trials, different needles and backing materials, etc., I think I am finally understanding the process to embroidery on leather. It has been quite the learning curve and there were points where I was ready to throw the machine out the door, but I rather like sewing on leather. Here are a couple of samples of the designs:

I have seen the purses finished and they are soooo pretty. Once I have a picture of I purse I will post it. What really helped was finding a digitizer that understood leather, so I didn't end up with a huge hole in the leather instead of a design sewed onto it. Till later. ~michelle

Finally posting again and my trip to the state fair...

Hello all. I did not realize it had been so long since I have posted. My bad. Well, this past Friday I went to drop off 2 dolls and a wall hanging at the State Fair of Texas. Last year I entered 2 dolls and they both won first place, so I am hoping to do the same this year, but we shall see. I decided though to also enter a wall hanging. Well, the wall hanging was also part of a challenge from another group to do a self-portrait with the Omnistitch machine. That is my embellishing machine that has not been made in years and can really test you patience. Well, I have to admit that the face on the wall hanging looked absolutely nothing like me, but I still think it turned out pretty good. When I went to give the wall hanging to the lady who was signing people in she gave me this weird look and asked if the face was suppose to be somebody. Well, without even thinking I told her it was suppose to be me. At this point, she broke out laughing and said that it looked nothing like me and then proceeded to show the other ladies sitting around there, who all ended up getting a good laugh out of it. I was laughing also, as it really did not look anything like me, but at least I made every one's day. LOL. So, here is my pic and the wall hanging pic - what do you think?


I guess you can see now why they had such a laugh... until next time.

My entry for the Hoffman Accessory challenge...

I finally finished my tote bag for the Hoffman Challenge accessory
division. I decided to applique the challenge fabric onto the fabric with fusible web. I then used my Omnistitch machine and decided to sew over the design with different types of yarn. I think it turned out pretty cool, hopefully though the judges can tell there is challenge fabric under all the yarn - LOL. It ships out in the morning and will just make the deadline. Until next time...

My Hoffman Challenge Doll

I finally finished my Hoffman Challenge Doll. Her name is "Ibhaar Azhar" - Dazzling Flowers and is an original pattern, but the body was inspired by first doll teacher Mary Tressler. Fabric was embellished with an Omnistitch, which is a sewing machine that has not been produced since 1996, couching the yarn/fiber to the fabric. Till next time...

Cutting in the closet...

This is my first post to my new blog. I finally finished several projects and decided it was time to get to posting.

I am in the process of trying to refinance my house and found out in the process that my house that was bought as a 3/2/2 was really only a 2/2/2 because you have to walk through the middle bedroom to get to the back room. Something about changes in the law about 2 years ago, that you cannot walk through a bedroom to a bedroom, as that first bedroom becomes a really, really wide hallway. Well, over the July 4th weekend we got to build a wall and put down over 400 square foot peel and stick tile, as I did not have time to do the broke ceramic tile floor I wanted to do in my work room. So, we now have a wall and an official 3rd bedroom, but because of it my cutting table is now allocated to my bedroom closet - at least it is a big closet - LOL. I do love my cutting table though, as it is a drafting desk and I can angle it to make cutting very comfortable. So, believe it or not building a wall raised our appraisal from $90,000 to $128,000, so I guess it was worth it. Till next time.