Alyrenee's Copious Spare Time

So I might have broken my no-new-clothes resolution due to cuteness overload at Unique-vintage.com. They have a great collection of Barbie inspired clothing featuring retro barbie fashions. I found a code to get a nice discount U-2M95CD. Needless to say, many many things jumped in my cart.  https://www.unique-vintage.com/collections/the-barbie-collection I picked up this skirt below...so so cute.

Super adorable yall.  I like the festive bright red hair and love the bangs. She is going to pair nicely with Kicks! (should I ever get the nerve up to remove her from the box).  Some aren't keen on the non-realistic color. I like it though. She has a Misaki/Susie vibe. The Union Jack mini dress is adorable and I love the coat and Bobby hat. The pillow accessories are great little bonus. There is a five dollar savings to buy the doll with the chair; however, I think I am just going to get the chair from ye olde ebay for basically the same price but with free shipping.  Lord only knows how big that Integrity box will be and how much the shipping will inflate things. Oye. Plus, that let's me order the chair later when I have a little more cash. The Jem gift set is dropping shortly and I am hemorrhaging money at the moment. Don't even get me started on that box and the matching stand! SO CUTE! I will say this though, if we don't get a little London travel map at some ...

Vintage glamour returns. Many of us were missing Victoire, myself included...and I am losing any hope that Katy Keene will come back. This new vintage line designed by Chris Stoeckel is very welcome. The four doll collection has a wonderful backstory around the fashion and marketing world in the Mad Men era 1950s New York. The initial descriptions tell us that Victoire Roux will be joining this line later on. Victoire's story was in the forties so I am assuming we will get a slightly more mature Victoire.  I imagine they will need to do a new sculpt for her to make her work with these wonderful new faces for these ladies. Victoire currently is more stylized...but perhaps with a less stylized facial screening the current mold could work? We shall see. It is all very exciting. It also sounds like there will be a vintage homme coming eventually as well. Yummy. This era makes diversity a challenge but I really hope they add a character of color in this line too...maybe a Broadway ac...

I have been a busy beaver this summer so far. While sewing some of my favorite cartoon outfits for my dolls, I just made a couple of extras of each one to sell.  I have quite a few in the pipeline in addition to the ones I have already listed on my new etsy store . Gimme Gimme Gimme~Smashin' fashion Only the Beginning~On Stage Fashion Accessory Pack Let's Rock This Town ~Flipside Fashion Flash & Sizzle Jem Let the Music Play~Smashin Fashion

The Poppy Parker luncheon delivered two cute late sixties glam dolls.  Love and Let Love had a swell sequin one shoulder gown with wonderful eye makeup. Paper Doll's dress is cute and I like the pink makeup. Her hair bump does not do it for me. They revealed the inspiration for next year which is late sixties Catherine Deneuve, Brigitte Bardot, Audrey Hepburn, and Anna Karina. The line will be called Bon Bon: Poppy Goes to Paris. A super adorable travel gift set that will finish out the Model Scene line was also revealed.   IT Airways gift set features a brunette bob with bangs wearing a pink uniform suit; a coat with funky boots, helmet hat, and travel bag; and a colorful mini dress.  I think she will be a W Club Exclusive.  I hope it is NOT a lottery as I think it will be in high demand. (But of course, it will be a lottery...and my luck with Poppy lotteries has been utter crap). I will try for it as I think it will work well with my mod spy Poppy collectio...

So I pretty much got EXACTLY what I wanted here.  A redhead in a catsuit.  I pre-ordered her before they were even onto the next slide...and then I pre-ordered the next one too.  This collection is humongous.  I was definitely not expecting three new characters to be added.  Tina Tanaka using the Ayumi sculpt is darn cute and I know people are big fans of Collette. I am passing on them both for now.  I am not a fan of the Francisco head so the other bad guy does nothing for me. Chip's tuxedo is adorable...but I already have a Chip that I love AND he has a tuxedo so it seems a little frivolous to get this one too. I am rarely ever tempted by evening gowns though that pink makeup and hairstyle is gorgeous on the Monte Carlo Poppy. I ordered the Lotta Danger of course and then I also am trying to get Spy-a-go-go for the outfit.  I will likely sell off the doll nude.  The quickswitch head thing with the Loni doll is pretty brilliant.  I also l...

We finally got a look at our first club doll for 2014: Victoire Roux Le Grande Seduction!  Collectors were thrilled to see the return of STORIES for the dolls and hope this continues into the other line reveals for this year. I love the color, the stunning jewelry, and find the dress design interesting but I am going to pass on this beauty.  The reveals of the new lines are coming and I am happy with the Montreal Victoire and the Victorious brunette from convention. VICTOIRE ROUX™: La Grande Seduction (The Great Seduction) During Europe's darkest hours, Victoire Roux not only fought valiantly to save the lives of her compatriots, but as a patron of the arts, she also worked tirelessly to protect the magnificent cultural heritage of France. Swiftly salvaging and hiding world famous paintings by the likes of Van Gogh, Monet and many others from would be conquerors and other miscreants in an ultra secret hiding place, Victoire successfully saved these irreplaceable treas...

Mine is dress #10...Take a Memo.  Check out all the a wesome entries and vote for your favorite *cough #10 cough*. 

Here is my design for the Shabby Apple Dresses Design Challenge.  I went with a retro wiggle dress style that I love to wear.  There is a great 1940's vintage blouse in the college costume shop that is an acid green with purple accents.  This is my color inspiration.  I also love purple on red heads and was totally in love with the purple coat Julianne Moore wore in the last scene of Crazy Stupid Love .   An additional color option would be a greenish grey, with army green and red accents and gold buttons for a more military feel.  The fabric would be some sort of cotton with a bit of stretch and maybe a dash of wool so that it could be nicely tailored but also have a bit of forgiveness. A summer weight wool would be aces. The design is called "Take a Memo"...in honor of Joan ...the sexiest secretary ever.

Just got back from day two.  The Ellowyne event was fun..tasty food.  I like the doll but I don't think she is for me.  I am just not a fan of the inset eyes....try as I might. Pin Up was also cute but I do not do wig dolls.  So that also nixed the Cami and Jon set (though the outfits were soooo tempting) and the new Gina doll.

I found this website while researching makeup for All My Sons.  There are some wonderful galleries of of the silver screen.  Enjoy my pretties.

I love the Liquid Metal outfit...

This is old news ..but I have barely looked at it yet... For Firefly ...Jayne looks good and I cannot wait to see Zoe...I am just so pleased to be getting more of these. Lord of the Rings - Galadriel is STUNNING.  I will hold me opinions for Legolas until i see him in person.  the outfits look great though. Cami & Jon   I completely adore Andy Mills with his hipster glasses, skinny leg suit, and emo hair.  I want him. DC Stars   The girls in 13" format are cute..but I just can't do yet another size especially when it's not even a different Supergirl outfit! Deanna Denton   the new one is GORGEOUS.  I am tempted to get her just because her hair is the same color as mine and almost exactly how I wore mine for the wedding...and I could make her into a swell mini-me. Antoinette   I like the giant statement jewelery and obvious couture influences but these dolls just aren't for me.  I need to keep a focus on this crazy habit of min...

Here are my recycled designs... Leopard Tie Skirt! Flapper Lace Curtains! Business Suit Redux All photos by Kevin Reed !

Okay...I think I might be ready for a MAJOR commitment. Sounds crazy I know. But I was inspired by listener JoniMarie's 'no new clothes' pledge as well as trip to the Salvation Army last night that netted me three pairs of pants, three blouses, and one African Dancer costume for $25! And one of those pants were Seven for All Mankind Jeans!!! Heck I could re-sell those suckers on eBay for $40! So with my love for vintage and thrift store shopping, combined by my sewing skills, my desire to save money, my need to widdle down the stash, AND the positive impact on the environment...I think i can do this! - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - T H E _ E T H I C A L _ C L O T H I N G _ P L E D G E - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - I pledge to only wear clothing that is one or more of the following: 1. Pre-loved 2. Handmade (preferably by me) 3. Reconstructed 4. Made with ethical / environmentally friendly materials 5. Made by a company with strong eth...

I just won these on ebay...for $15!!! I love me some ebay sometimes.

Um...I might have found my new jam...these shoes are KILLER ! And the white versions would make fabulous wedding shoes for a vintage bride. I am definitely planning to hunt down these red wedges...they are on sale at Chicago Dance Supply up in Andersonville...muhahahaha!

Damn I want this...she is soooo adorable . I might just have to bite...though this flies in the face of my saving money for the wedding and reducing the dolly surplus...but just look at her little face and those wigs! Please check out the creator's page for more temptations... http://www.bambola-world.com/

So this show I am doing, Dreamlandia , has a character covered with homemade tattoos. So in order to ease the makeup process, we thought stamps and tattoo ink pads would be a faster way of getting the job done. So i went to all the usual rubber stamping places around town and found NOTHING but rainbows, teddy bears, birthday cakes, and flowers. Finally I stumbled upon this place, Sideshow Stamps . They have a swell retro selection and lots of fun designs. I went crazy and ordered a ton thinking if I did not use them for the show, I would keep them for myself. They have a sweet grab special right now and I am a sucker for the grab bag. Collages to follow shortly.