The Crafty Princess Diaries

Tammy Powley’s Crafty Weblog

December 22, 2017
by Tammy
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Yoga Everyday, Or Just About

After getting very sick last spring, I decided that once I got over a nasty bug that did not want to go away that I would start taking better care of myself. I don’t really eat a lot of junk food, and I’ve never really liked eating much meat. My main issue with food was just eating too much. Even if the food you eat is healthy food, you can eat too much of it. However, another big issue concerning my health was my lack of activity. I was a sloth. I did almost zero exercise. I had lots and lots of reasons why this happened, but rather than talk about reasons why I didn’t exercise, this post is about why and how I started to exercise just about daily. Even if it was five minutes, my goal was to start moving, and yoga was my choice of exercise.

As a tween, then teenager, and then young adult, I was very active when it came to dance. I took ballet, jazz, and tap for many years. Mixed in here and there with dance classes was the occasional exposure to yoga, usually on PBS television. There are many similarities to dance and yoga, especially alignment and stretching.

As I got older, I would often come and go to various yoga classes, but I never had the discipline to keep at it. Then I joined Gaia online. You’ve probably seen those ads on Facebook about doing yoga at home. Well, I checked into a number of similar programs online, and I decided on Gaia because I was familiar with them (and Rodney Yee too), and the price was right (about $10 a month for unlimited access).

With the new year on the way, many of us start a new program of some kind, so full disclosure, I’m offering my affiliate link to join Gaia. From now until the end of January 2018, I’ll receive some freebies if anyone joins through me. I suggesting trying it out with the 99 cent offer for one month (which is what I did). Then you can see if it really works for you. There are thousands of videos available, and I like that you can find anything from a quick 7 minute workout to a longer and more intense hour plus workout. There are also all levels, but I have to admit, I stick mainly with the beginners to level 2-3 still. Some of my fav instructors over there are Rodney Yee, Clara Roberts-Oss, and Colleen Saidman. Another reason this program works for me is that I can use my ipad or even phone and do it anywhere in the house. With that said, my yoga mat is calling me.


December 16, 2017
by Tammy
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Sewing Princess Dresses!

I got the urge to sew for live dollies for a change (don’t tell the Blythe dolls) and made a cute dress and simple elastic waist skirt for tow of my grand nieces. The oldest of the two is a big Disney Frozen fan, so I found some cute Elsa fabric to use.

October 28, 2017
by Tammy
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Blythe Customizing Attempt

I’m finally attempting to do some real Blythe doll customization this weekend, starting with this doll. In fact, I have two fakie Blythe dolls I’ve purchased just for this. I have bought dolls in the past thinking I would customize them, but then I chicken out, telling myself they are too cute to change, but this time I’m doing it starting with the eyes. I’m not ready to carve the faceplates and do face ups, but at the very least, I can decorate the eyelids and give them sleepy eyes with new beaded pull cords. Baby steps, right?

Below is a “before” video where I show both dolls before I start working on them:

I’m now waiting for sealant to dry on the eyelids as well has the first doll’s hair to dry (because she needed her hair washed, yes, washing doll hair, LOL!). Once everything is dry, I will (fingers crossed) put her back together. I will post a video on my YouTube channel at some point when I have her at least semi-finished, along with occasional photos posted on IG and Facebook if you want to follow my progress.

October 25, 2017
by Tammy
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Halloween Crafts for Dolls and People Too

After sewing up a number of cute doll dresses for my collection of Neo Blythe dolls, I decided to put them all together on one shelf in my curio. Along with their dresses, I made some felt trick or treat bags for them and dug up some Halloween crafts from the past and created a little diorama of sorts. I pulled out my bead and wire spider earrings, foam pumpkin pin, a Frankenstein monster pin, and other odds and ends I had around and put them all together.

You can get a good look at the entire shelf in this video I put together, complete with Halloween music.

October 8, 2017
by Tammy
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Sewing Halloween Blythe Doll Dresses

My sewing machine is back out of the shop. They were not able to fix the reverse button, but I just sew with a zero size stitch in place to reinforce as necessary. Not my favorite work around but it does do the trick. I’ve been have so much fun making Halloween dresses, and here are a few Blythe dolls modeling them. I even used some felt and a small fabric scrap to make a trick or treat bag.

If you want to keep up to date with all my crafting, including sewing doll clothes of late, make sure to follow me through social media. You can find all my social media links on the About Me page of this blog. I’m most active on Facebook, Youtube, and IG, but I make my way to various other places now and then as well.

October 8, 2017
by Tammy
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Winners Announced for Doll & Crafts Giveaway

The September 2017 Craft and/or Doll Collecting Giveaway has ended, and I contacted four winners through the Youtube comments section under the corresponding video. All for replied back quickly, so that means their prizes were ready to go very soon after. Congrats to Andrea, Ineke, Nima, and Andrew!

I want to give a special shout out and thank you to Running Press who donated and shipped some of the prizes:

 



Along with these books, one of which includes a fun little magic kit, the other prizes that I furnished were some fabric because the other winners make doll clothes. Those packages will be out in the mail this week via USPS and heading to the winners in Canada and Netherlands.

I love doing giveaways, so thank you to everyone who participated.