Party Dresses!

I love these party dresses!


The lime green and hot pink plaid dress is made out of Kona cotton and an upcycled silk shirt.  Silk is NOT fun to work with!  But, it sure is cute.

I really like the touch that the felt flowers bring to the dresses...

Party Girl in a Party Dress...

 I'm planning on doing my very first tutorial in the next week or two.  After experimenting with different ways to make a doll tutu, I've finally figured out what I think is the best method.  Stay tuned!

Organization!

Over the weekend I decided that it was time to get the dining room my studio organized. I'm actually pretty good at organizing. Staying organized is the challenge.

Yesterday while my 13 year old son was at a friend's house playing hanging out, my oldest son (15) and my daughter (8) helped me divvy up the felt scraps into mason jars.  I got the mason jar idea from Rachel at Stitched In Color.  After we had finished and I was busy admiring our work, my 15 year old asked me, "Mom, is this your way of justifying being a pack rat?"

What??? I may be on the messy side (Yes, I once actually owned a book called How Not to Be a Messie: The Ultimate Guide for the Neatness Challenged), but I'm no pack rat!

I wish the answer to staying organized was in the cool matching plastic bins...

or the colorful way I display felt....

But, alas, I believe it may have more to do with actually putting things away when I'm finished using them.  Any "Messie" knows that that is seriously easier said than done! I think some people are just naturally more organized than others. But, in the scheme of things, is being organized really that important?

I don't know...there is something endearing to me about messiness.

I love to see a little girl dressed up in pearls and high heels with a nest of tangles in her hair. It tells me that play is more important than tidiness.

Leaving a sinkful of Lego guys to drown in the kitchen sink so that he can throw on a cape and go conquer the backyard tells me that being in the moment and living life to its fullest is more important to my son than picking up after himself. That makes me smile.

I'll admit that sometimes the mess drives me batty - I have a hard enough time dealing with my mess!

But when I see the piles of trinkets, papers and stuffed animals surrounding my daughter's bed, I smile. She is a sentimental soul and those little piles mean something to her.

Yeah, there is something about getting my area organized that really gives me a boost. But, I think I'll give myself a break next time I notice the 5 doll dresses, 3 doll faces, countless ribbon and felt bits beginning to close in on my organized dining room studio. Because most likely the unfinished mess means I had an idea that couldn't wait or a kid whose hunger couldn't wait or a load of laundry that would mildew if not attended to.

It may be time to tackle my yarn mess...but, surely I have had more important things to do than organize my yarn (don't judge!)...

Do you tend to be more messy or neat? How do you feel about that? (Don't worry, if you are a neat freak I won't judge, promise.)

My Gigi Doll Giveaway!

I'm so excited to announce that my friend Kari at The Sweetest Memory is hosting a My Gigi Doll Giveaway!  The winner will receive a My Gigi Doll of their choice!

You can find the giveaway here.  Be sure to check out Kari's blog while you are there.  It is filled with tutorials, recipes and all around fun!

Thanks for checking out my blog and the My Gigi Doll Etsy shop!  I'm excited to see what kind of doll I'll be making for the giveaway!

Holy Superhero, Batman!

I've been asked more times than I can count if I make a boy doll.  The boy doll has been in the back of my mind but I just couldn't decide how I wanted him to look.  Should he wear shorts?  What fabric would his shirt be?  I just didn't feel I had the idea.

And then....we were invited to a superhero birthday party for our friends' 5 year old son.  Ah-ha!  "I need to make Asher a superhero doll for his birthday!" I thought.  Unfortunately, I thought of the idea the day of the birthday party.  So, we bought him 2 plastic superhero figurines from Walmart instead.

But in the middle of the night last night, fate smiled upon me.  Well, fate woke me up at 2:00 AM and wouldn't let me go back to sleep.  I got up, made my coffee and played Slingo for an hour.  In the middle of a "Slingoriffic" game, I realized that I had plenty of time to make a Super Asher doll!  And away I went.

I'm so happy with how he turned out!  Super Asher is the prototype, but I am offering the superhero doll as a custom doll with choice of skin color, hair color, eye color, monogram and costume color.

I can't wait to make more superhero dolls...(I totally need a girl superhero, don't I?)

What color combinations should I offer?

Melissa Loves Color? What about My Gigi Doll?

I made my first doll last year when my brother and sister-in-law found out they were having a baby girl.  I made the Ruby Doll from One Red Robin.  Aside from the time I spent cursing the darn tutu while turning the Ruby Doll inside out (yes, I had to add a fluffy tutu!),  I really enjoyed making the doll.

All it took was, "You should sell these on Etsy" for me to jump in with both feet, Googling my way to doll making expertise.

Exaggeration?  Of course.  I'm no expert.  But, I did spend hours and hours finding out all I could about making dolls.  I read blogs.  I bought and tested patterns to learn techniques.  I made LOTS of really terrible looking dolls.  And I finally made a doll I loved:  My Gigi Doll.

Making My Gigi Dolls is a ton of fun.  Quite frankly I’m surprised I still love making them, but I do.  There is just something about creating a doll that will be loved by a child that feels magical.  And, I get to play with all of that fun fabric!

So, I chose to name my blog "Melissa Loves Color" because I decided that since all my life I have loved color, I will probably keep on loving color.  Sharing how I relate to and craft with color seems like something I can stick with (unlike drinking green smoothies, being vegan, blogging about being vegan, denouncing consumerism, blogging about denouncing consumerism, using structured homeschool curriculum, gardening, creating detailed chore charts for the kids...)

I'm no quitter, I just get bored easily.  There's nothin' wrong with that (or at least that's what I'll keep telling myself).

What is something you've gotten bored with?

(come on, I can't be the only one!)