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You are here: Home / Archives for Sophie

Relocating Books and a Flower Child

December 28, 2021 at 10:17 am by Claudia

The modern dollhouse is dismantled and, for the time being, it’s wrapped in a sheet and tucked under my dresser. But it sticks out, as it did when I tried to place it under the work table. It will be moved to a spot under the bed later today.

The top surface of the both bookshelves was cleaned and then, several trips up and down the stairs later, we have this:

This looks crooked and wonky because the only way I can get a photo is to sit on the bed. Even though our house is very old and does have slightly uneven floors, it’s not quite this bad! All of these books are To Be Read. Except for the Mary Stewarts and (not in the photo) the PD James. They are to be reread. I actually like the books here more than the dollhouse as the covers are colorful and bright and they cheer up this corner of the bedroom.

Our library is accepting donations again, so I am going to sort through books and amass piles of them to donate. Normally, I do this once a year, but the last couple of years have been…well, you know.

I made progress with the puzzle, too.

Today it’s sunny, so we’re going to take a walk this morning.

A new dress arrived in the mail from a seller on Etsy – WoollyRockers. I’ve purchased from her before. She made a series of dresses in the Strawberry Thief pattern by William Morris, which, as you can see, I also have on the sofa in the English cottage.

I’ve always thought of Sophie as a bit of a flower child, and this long dress, coupled with her long hair, confirms it. Zoe was dressed in that hat when she arrived in the mail and it is the perfect color to complement the dress. Next on the agenda for Sophie and Maeve; a neck joint that will make their heads move a bit more, so that they aren’t always looking down. (That’s a thing with Blythe dolls in their original state – heads looking downward.) That lack of flexibility results in Sophie often looking sullen. It will involve some ‘surgery’ but now that I’m home, I’m going to get going on that project.

I have some major sorting and cleaning to do in the office/studio and that will be on the agenda for the next couple of days. It’s rather a mess in my cubicle and since Don recently cleaned and reorganized his section of the office, I must avoid embarrassment and do the same!

Stay safe.

Happy Tuesday.

Filed Under: Blythe dolls, books, Sophie 21 Comments

The Girls

October 21, 2021 at 8:43 am by Claudia

Still feeling under the weather; in fact, I feel worse today. It’s all head congestion, nothing in the chest and none of the Covid systems. Just sinus/allergies, I think. But I don’t have a lot of energy. I had some yesterday for a brief span in the afternoon, so I vacuumed and dusted and cleaned Don’s mini studio. But now? Crappity-crap-crap.

I was going to get my driver’s license renewed today but I think I’ll do it by mail and try to get the eye test when I’m in NYC. I don’t have the energy to stand in line for a long time.

I have lists of things to do and accomplish before I go, but it increasingly looks like I’ll do it all at the last minute and have Don bring anything I forgot when he visits me the next weekend.

It will all work out.

In the meantime, I did manage to dress the girls in their new dresses yesterday:

These sweet dresses were made by a lovely woman who lives in Russia, @puppet_story on IG. (Who knew I would be conversing with so many Russians?) She made them to order and consulted with me on the fabric choices. I’d seen some of her work elsewhere and was so enchanted by her creations that I messaged her, waited until she had an opening, and finally, placed my order. I must say, her work is impeccable.

Sophie is not happy that this house is too small for her to live in.

Neither is Imogen, but she’s a bit more easy going.

In fact, they inspected every house inside the cottage and none of them were the right size.

So, they’re sitting on the piano, looking a bit miffed.

Ah well.

Stay safe.

Happy Thursday.

 

Filed Under: Blythe dolls, Imogen, Sophie 26 Comments

Stress Reliever

October 14, 2021 at 7:40 am by Claudia

Life has been very busy lately. And it’s only going to ramp up once filming starts. Yes, everyone is worried about a strike, but I’m choosing to put that out of my mind as much as possible. In the meantime, I’m coaching Ben every day lately, there’s a read-through on Saturday, I’ve had to invoice the parent company for my coaching so far and had a great chat with one of the accountants who is wildly funny, I’ve had COVID protocol information sent to me from NBC/Universal, I had to schedule a PCR test for 2 days before I have to be on the set…lots of communications coming my way. Ben said the same thing yesterday.

In times of stress, what do I do?

Play dolls.

Mid-morning yesterday found me dressing the girls in dresses from Rose and Cacao. The woman behind these imaginative clothes lives in England. I just love her style. The red shoes came from England as well; from a seller who sent a pair to me a couple of months back that never arrived. She was so responsive when I said that I never got them and immediately dispatched a replacement, which arrived the other day.

As soon as they were dressed, I ran to the stairway, posed them, took a picture or two, then ran upstairs to coach Ben. There’s this one place on the lower landing that gets some light from the skylight. Really helps on a cloudy day.

When I take a moment to play with ‘the girls’ my stress level goes down. As soon as I try a new outfit on one or both of them, I show Don, who – God bless him – gets it and responds appropriately.

I have to take a minute to say how supportive he has been through this very busy time, how often he stops to tell me how proud of me he is, how willing he is to listen to me when I need to talk, and what a great sounding board he is. I lucked out with this guy.

Stay safe.

Happy Thursday.

 

 

Filed Under: Blythe dolls, coaching, Imogen, Sophie 26 Comments

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Welcome!

Welcome!

I live in a little cottage in the country with my husband. It's a sweet place, sheltered by old trees and surrounded by gardens. The inside is full of the things we love. I love to write, I love my camera, I love creating, I love gardening. My decorating style is eclectic; full of vintage and a bit of whimsy.

I've worked in the theater for more years than I can count. I'm currently a voice, speech, dialect and text coach freelancing on Broadway, off Broadway, and in regional theater.

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