I was able to get the majority of work done on the Homme’s face last night, so I’m feeling a bit less stressed.  But only a bit.  I should be working rather than blogging, but hey…I’m still working on my morning coffee, and I woke up with a headache, so I feel the need to procrastinate.

For the past 5 years, dolls have taken over quite a bit of the house.  This is the first house we’ve owned that actually has room for any kind of display outside of one curio cabinet.  I have a doll room in the basement.  I have two curios in the master bedroom…one for most of my Asian dolls and the other for dolls waiting to be shipped out.  The guest bedroom, decorated in a Mary Engelbreit motif, has dolls on display with my OSS HangUps.  The inventory room is a small 4th bedroom that is now floor to ceiling with shelves and plastic drawer bins for supplies and boxed dolls.  And then there’s my work area…a corner of our main living room.  Just over a year ago, we redecorated this room and opened it up and added more lighting.  The cause of this…hubby’s desire for a flat screen television.  I told him he could have the tv if we could redecorate the room.  That redecoration included paint.  Hubby HATES to paint.  So…you see how badly he wanted that new television, right?!  🙂

The room is now pale cream with pale yellow trim.  We got rid of the dark brown, leather look walls and the tan ceiling.  The dark wood, rough-hewn paneling above the mantel was painted yellow and then scrubbed to give it an old, weathered look.  The furniture was rearranged, hubby installed new and additional light fixtures, and splashes of red and country blue were added.  It is now a room we truly enjoy.  And the lighter colors help with my work.  I still look rather alien when I am painting a doll.  I have 2 desk lamps, and I also wear a magnifying pair of glasses over my own glasses.  Still, my nose is about 5 inches from the doll when I’m working, so I have to take frequent breaks to keep my neck and shoulders from seizing.  But, would I trade what I do for a different job?  No way!  I love what I do, and I hope that love translates into my creations.

Here’s a shot of my work space.  I should probably take a newer photo as some things have changed, but this is probably close enough.  You get the idea.  🙂  Note:  It RARELY looks like this.  On any given day, it usually looks like a doll bomb went off in this corner!  LOL