Step by Step

Well, some of us are busy having fun, and others are slaving away removing carpet from the stairs. Tomorrow, when I get back to work on the stairs (actually, I cleaned off two stairs today), I will think of Joansie enjoying her new spinning wheel.

I had a very busy day today, aside from attacking the carpet on the stairs. Meital and I washed my car (actually a pretty darn big minivan). After I worked on the stairs, she and I went for a swim, then worked in a brand-new spelling workbook. Later, we swam again, and I signed up at Ancestry.com and spent a few hours looking through records. I found a lot of interesting material, but when I tried to do narrower searches I started having trouble. I have a lot to learn about how to get the most out of that website.

And finally, for your viewing pleasure, may I present the Altered Barbie?


It was a worthwhile experience, but one I will probably not be repeating. I did stumble across the website of an artist who uses dolls in her altered books. It was interesting, but not something I want to try right now. As for this Barbie, I painted her with liquid acrylic paint (think Delta brand), then sponged on some silver paint through a piece of mesh that originally was wrapped around a few heads of garlic. I sprayed adhesive all over her, then sprinkled on sand from our local beach and some glitter. I tried dyeing her hair with ink, but as I mentioned in an earlier post, that didn't work very well. I dyed a length of organdy ribbon with ink, then wrapped it around her hips and glued tiny seashells onto it. She's sort of like one of those slaves on Davy Jones' ship, The Flying Dutchman, from Pirates 2. Though I dismissed the idea of cutting into her face and sticking some shells part way in. Yuck.

For now, Altered Barbie is lounging in front of my Haunted House (remember the infamous milk carton project?). More than likely, at some point both will end up in the trash. I give it until the end of the summer; by then I'll probably be tired of looking at both of them!