KATY KEENE A PIN-UP FROM 1955

Katy Keene No. 21, March 1955

'Til next time....

                                                                ALOHA!!

KATY KEENE COLORING CALENDER

KATY KEENE COLORING CALENDER 1984

'Til next time....

                                                                ALOHA!!

KATY KEENE 1984 COLORING CALENDAR

1984 COLORING CALENDAR

'Til next time....

                                                                ALOHA!!

CALENDAR PAGE FROM THE 1983 KATY KEENE COLORING CALENDAR

From the Katy Keene 1983 Coloring Calendar.  The December 2016 calendar days are the same as they were in '83.

1983 KATY KEENE COLORING CALENDAR 

Since the days matched those of 2016, I left off the 83 and added the snowflakes from clip art found on the Internet. 

Here are a few more alterations to the calendar that I played with in Photoshop. 

A Boots paper doll from December 1, 1946.  She came from this web page which has a lot of Boots paper dolls. http://mostlypaperdolls.blogspot.com/ and her new blog: http://mostlypaperdollstoo.blogspot.com/  I am not sure if this Boots came from her old blog or the new one. I hope to one day find the color version of this paper doll.  

'Til next time....

                                                                      ALOHA!!

KATY KEENE PIN-UP FOR NOVEMBER

1983 KATY KEENE COLORING CALENDAR

1983 KATY KEENE COLORING CALENDAR

Since the calendar from 1983 matched the present years calendar I altered the page. 

'Til  next time.....      


                                                    ALOHA!                    '

ST. PATRICK'S DAY AND EASTER

KATY KEENE DIGEST NO. 10 1990

FUN ON A RAINY DAY MERRILL 1953

RAINY DAY FUN MERRILL 1950's

RAINY DAY FUN MERRILL 1950's

LUCY ELEANOR LEARY

 Hope you all had a wonderful St. Patrick's Day and will have a Blessed Easter.

Til' next time...  

                                                         ALOHA!!!

LETS COLOR KATY KEENE AND CUT OUT JANE ARDEN

1984  Katy Keene coloring calendar

About the above calendar page. I did alter it. I made it so you could color her lips and I altered the calender so it matches this months days of the week for 2015. The one great thing about Katy Keene is I'll never run out of pin-ups for February since many of her gowns and outfits featured a heart motive. 




Jane Arden from 1959

2/1/1959

 Converted to black and white... I'd like to do a few more outfits for her. If I do, I'll post them. 

                                 ALOHA!!

HAPPY NEW YEAR!!!

1983 Katy Keene Coloring Calendar

                    HAPPY NEW YEAR!! 

Hope you keep to your resolutions this year.  I wanted to mention some alterations to the page above. I took out the 83 that was on this page and altered his nose a little by bringing it down a smidge. K.O. looks very suave in his suit. I was also going to insert an updated version of the date portion of the calendar but, much to my dismay, I never scanned it and I've since sold the calendar on Ebay. 

Excuse the quality on the above paper doll. It came from a disc I bought on Ebay from a seller who thought to take photos of the paper dolls she was selling. If nothing else it can be used as reference for 1950's fashions. Date is unknown. The seller didn't think to add the date on these. 

I believe the artist is Enoch Bolles

                                                        ALOHA!!

SLEEPING BEAUTY CONTINUED

More costumes from the 1959 Sleeping Beauty set. 

I don't think medieval ladies would wear such a short dress. :)

This is one of my favorites out of the costumes in this set. I'd love to see this created in real life. 

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lowther_Hills

In the novel The Hunter it's picked up pace a bit. Ewen and Kenneth Sutherland are on the run with Janet being pursued by English soldiers.  They've confronted the soldiers near the hills of Lowther while Janet took off running into the nearby forest.  I always like to look up the places mentioned in historical novels to get some idea of what the place looks like or may have looked like back in the day. In this case the Lowther Hills. According to the book it was covered by forest, which I have no doubt it once was and the battle between the two Highland Guardsmen and the English soldiers took place in a pass though the name of the pass wasn't mentioned. I did look up the Lowther hills and apparently the area is used for skiing during the winter months. It looks like a beautiful but desolate area. The region was probably quite impressive when covered in forest. 

Todays paper doll is another Boots from 1946 and again from the Mostly Paper Dolls Blogspot website. She really has quite an impressive collection of paper dolls from the newspaper. Last evening, after my modem went down (couldn't connect to anything that had video like Netflix or Youtube not even  Facebook would load) I took the time to organize some of my digitized paper doll collection. I can't believe how much I have on disk! Most of the paper doll sets I have were shared via e-mail and came from the collection of Bobe Green. Others were from Origami Bears, who also has an extensive collection. I just wish I'd made folders of where I got all the digitized paper dolls from so I can give each one credit when I eventually post them in this blog. 

11 18 1946

I really enjoy the movement in the Boots paper dolls. In my opinion it makes them very unique since most paper dolls are in a posed position while Boots is actually going somewhere. :) What I'd like to do with these paper dolls, as well as with the Katy Keenes that I have, is put together a set that features one doll and ALL the costumes that go with that particular figure. A herculean task in my opinion since there were quite a few costumes made over several years and compiling them all together to go with just the one pose is rather taunting. I'm attempting it though with my Katy Keene collection since I did have pretty much all (but one) of the old Katy Keene comics. Thank goodness for Photoshop though having so many layers makes the file HUGE but at least I can organize the outfits easier that way. 

Til' next time...........                                     ALOHA!!

WELCOME INDIGO TO YOUR FOREVER HOME!

1983 Katy Keene Coloring Calender

I'd meant to post much sooner but didn't have much to say.  The year is just whizzing by and before you know it 2015 will be at our door-step. I do have some news, we've adopted a new kitty now named Indy short for Indigo or Indiana Jones if you like. :) He's a little black fur ball, hence the name Indigo and a friend of mine needed to give him a home, if she couldn't find one, well, he would have been turned over to the Humane Society.  I've always wanted a black cat and I finally have one. He's so adorable. We've bonded and he now has his forever home. The other two kitties, Drooler and Kitty are still getting used to having him around, but with time he will be accepted. I think Drooler already has since he can tolerate being in the same room with him, Kitty, not so much. :)  She's still at the hissing "stay away from me" stage. 

Indigo, age 4 months Sept 28, 2014

He's going on five months old now and has been to the vet for a check-up and his first round of shots. His booster will be on the 20th of this month. Then I'm going to have him neutered. I can't believe how expensive it is to just neuter a cat ($108.00). Spaying is even more ($168.00) which is why I was so glad to discover that he was male and not female like the previous owners thought. My friends granddaughter brought him home, unbeknownst to the Grandmother and I think if her Granddaughter had taken care of him  she probably would have been able to keep him. I couldn't believe it when she told me her Granddaughter had kept him in the closet all night with no food or water!  I just don't understand people, I really don't. 

Indy is bonding with me and hubby, mostly with me though. Naturally when he wants loving I have to stop what I'm doing and give him attention. Not that I mind. :)  He's got this squeaky mouse that hubby picked up for him and it's his favorite toy.  I am hoping that Indy will be around longer than Snowbelle was. She was only 7 when she had to be put to sleep and it nearly broke my heart. I didn't intend to bring another kitten into the house but, believe me, I don't regret it for a second. I truly wish I could give more kitties homes but I need a bigger house and people to help me care for them. I'm not getting any younger. There's a drawing by Gary Patterson on one of his cat calender of a person in bed surrounded by cats, that would be me. :)  

Our Master bathroom is the "introduction to the house" room. I put all the cats that are introduced into the home in there. So I made a bed in one of the sinks for Indy to sleep in. The first night he slept on a towel on the shower floor but by the second night I'd put a thick beach towel in one of the sinks and he made it his bed right away.  Now he sleeps in the bed with us right up on my neck. :) Love hearing his little motor going every night. He also likes to try to get on my chest while I'm reading but that is Drooler's domain. He did try to get Drooler to move but Drooler let him know with a hiss that it wasn't going to happen. 

I've a feeling he's going to grow up to be a big cat. Most likely as big as Drooler. He' got these long legs and I do believe he has springs in them judging by how high he jumps from a standing position to get his squeaky mouse. 

Here are more photos of the newest member of our family.    Please welcome my newest boy, Indigo. :)

4 months old 9 28 2014

                                                                     

Indy and the squeaky mouse

Well, that will be all for this time. I have lots more photos of our newest member to post which I will do my utmost to do over the next month. Can't guarantee it though as I'm hopeless as a blogger. 

From 1983 Katy Keene coloring calender altered to reflect dates for 2014  I also took out the year and added the bat. 

Until next time..........................................ALOHA!!

IT'S BEEN A LOOOONG TIME

1983 Coloring Calendar

I know it's been awhile since I last posted anything on this blog but that was due to the fact that it was increasingly more difficult to see. The cataracts in my eyes made reading impossible, never mind trying to type anything. I was literally nose to computer screen and I still had difficulty making out what I was writing. Since then though, things have started looking up. I've had eye surgery on the left eye and what a difference it has made!  
I still can't get over how clear my vision is in that eye. I do have to use reading glasses to read a book or even type this sentence but after going most of my life having to put on glasses as soon as I get up JUST to see my reflection in the mirror, well that is a small inconvenience to bear seeing as I now have such good distance vision.  I go next week in order to have my right eye evaluated for surgery on it. I really hope the doctor will give the go ahead since I'd really like to be able to see perfectly for the first time in my life. I'm eager to have it done as I'm getting rather tired of going around with one eye closed all the time. I'm looking so forward to the holidays now since I'll be able to see the controls on my stove once more. I am amazed that while I was blind, and have no doubt that I may have been able to see legally I was blind. I would not have been able to drive a vehicle. 

Other good news is that I'm now on disability. It really helps with the doctor bills, believe me. It also takes some of the burden off hubby. I told him that from now on I'd be paying for the doctor visits, medicine, whatever I needed. Maybe it's wrong, but I don't like to rely on him since most of the time there wasn't any money to spare to buy the insulin I needed. If not for a good friend, well, without being overly dramatic, I wouldn't be here to write this now. She, in every sense of the word, is a life saver. Jean is diabetic too, and if she had extra vials of insulin, she'd give me a couple to tide me over until I could pick some up from my doctor, who, at times, was out of the vials as well. Another good thing is that I can now get blood work done. I've been avoiding it because hubby's finances could never stretch to include blood work. Even when he had insurance Atena wouldn't cover lab work. The cost is close to $300.00 so needless to say when my blood doctor asked me to have it done, I was thrilled to be able to comply. I want to take care of myself, despite being diabetic and I know that there could be more wrong with me than just the high blood sugar. Happily I am fine. I even surprised Doctor Gabir because he thought more would be wrong. I'm relieved because I don't want to be taking medicine for anything else. 

I'm reading a really good book by Sharon Kendrick entitled SEDUCED BY THE SULTAN . It's the third installment of her Desert Men of Qurhah series. It's all about the relationship between Murat (who was once engaged to Sara Williams) and Catrin his mistress. While she understood that as Sultan of Qurhah, he would have to one day marry and she'd have to say good bye to him, she finds herself breaking her own rule and falling in love with him. Murat, at the same time, is finding it hard to say farewell to the woman he's been involved with for the better part of a year. Even when he's considering a princess in a neighboring kingdom, he can't get up the nerve to end their relationship. A very good series. I shall be sad when I finish it. 

Recently I FINALLY finished a paper doll set I'd started in 2007: Summer Sally. I've already sold one set to one of my "fans" through Ebay and hope it will do well. It has 9 pages, consists of 45 outfits with 28 accessories and the costumes are from various ones done for Katy Keene, Boots, Jane Arden and Tillie the Toiler.  The pose was inspired from one of Katy in one of the comics. I'm rather proud of how it turned out. I'm also working on completing another older set for sale entitled MATCHED PAIRS. I created this set in the 80's and it consists of three dolls: DeAnn, Donald and Donna. The doll poses were inspired by a Barbie paper doll set that I owned at the time but I couldn't for the life of me tell you which set it was.On one of the costumes in the set I put a daffodil floral pattern with Donna holding a Hawaii "bag". I've got to change the flowers to hibiscus before I can post it for sale on Ebay it just makes more sense than daffodils.  The clothes all came from Barbie booklets at the time, mainly from one in 1978 and one in 1982. I recently found the books on Ebay and purchased them so that in the color version of the set I can get the colors right.   

Matched pairs in Hawaii

I did do a little tweaking to the set. I changed their faces (which I think look much better than my original versions) and I redesigned their swimsuits. Originally I was going for the design that was used for the Sunsational Malibu Barbie dolls but I like my new design much better.

Original faces wearing the daffodil motif  outfits.

While the design on the outfits doesn't look bad, it just doesn't mesh with Hawaii. Why I didn't draw the flower at the time I have no idea considering when the set was created I was living in the state and had a hibiscus bush growing right out my front door, which I planted myself. It's the only flower I've ever grown and it was red. I hated leaving it behind and I couldn't take a clipping with me. I know they can grow in Arizona if planted in the right spot and where it will always be in moist soil but at the time I didn't know that. On later visits to the islands though, when I've thought about bringing back a clipping the packages all say not to plant it in Arizona. Or something along those lines. 

1981 Barbie World of Fashion Booklet

Barbie, Ken and Skipper's bathing suits were the inspiration for the design of the suits on the dolls above. I did have a flower on the original ones but like the nautical motif on the new versions much better. I scanned the entire booklet and promise to one day upload the entire thing. I am also thinking about using the dolls above as paper doll models. There was one more doll in the Sunsational Malibu line: PJ. 

While the swimsuits were inspired by the above booklet, most of the clothes were inspired by the Barbie 1978 World of Fashions booklet. 

1978 Barbie World of Fashions booklet

As you can see I shortened Skippers dress. Sorry about the quality of the above scan. I have this booklet now but when I scanned this I didn't,. So in a future post I will upload a better version.  I might have a little fun with Photoshop and combine all the photos of the fashions that match as well. I'm thinking about doing it with the paper doll set set so their is a color guide should the person buying the set wish to follow it.

Well, I'd better end here and post this. It was supposed to be posted LAST month but I let the month slip by without doing so. One last thing; I have an appointment for next Wednesday to have my right eye operated on. While I am not worried about it, I do realize there are no guarantees that the surgery on the right eye will go as well as that on the left, but I am hoping God will once again bless me with another miracle and have me seeing clearly out of my right eye. 

KK 1983 coloring calendar altered in Photoshop
took off the '83 and left it blank, changed days
to match this years. Everything else was left as is. 

Til' next time, whenever that might be....



                                                                 ALOHA!!