Doll couture-It's addicting! New JLY releases

No joke, doll couture is addicting. Thanks to the wonderful doll couture blogs (The Couture Review, The Doll Wardrobe, Damsels-In-Dress, etc.), Brooke and all of us dolls have officially been sucked up into the couture world! The thing we like is that the hand made doll couture items are really better quality than the outfits from American Girl! American Girl used to be a great company, but now the historical outfits have gone way down hill. Modern, JLY, and GOTY things are still okay, though. But where are all the details in the historic outfits from the Pleasant Company days gone?


We like way too much stuff :P As of right now, we haven't officially ordered anything. But we're looking at quite a large amount of outfits, which include:



Liberty Jane outfits by Cinnamon Miles are amazing. Yes, they're modern, but so adorable! We want to order Spring #7. I know I've already posted these pictures, but just for reference again. THESE PICTURES ARE NOT MINE, they're from Liberty Jane Ebay listings.Summer #2 is sold out, but once Cinnamon gets back from vacation she says that she'd be more than happy to work something out with different fabrics for a similar outfit.

The other modern outfits we like are from Melody Valerie Couture. You can visit their Etsy here.
We really like their Pink Spring Party Dress and Dainty Dots Dress. There is only one left of each, so I don't think we'll get them. They're really pretty though!

There's also a lovely dress for Kit that heritage4 from AGPT is taking commissions for. The blue in the fabric goes perfectly with her lovely blue eyes. THIS IS NOT MY PICTURE, it is from heritage4 and modeled by her Kit.

We're also looking at some Dollies' Dress Maker outfits by Cindy Hernandez. THESE ARE NOT MY PICTURES, they're form the Dollies' Dress Maker website. We're looking at some for our Olivia (PM Samantha):

You can read about this dress at The Couture Review by Sitara's Sonali, here.

Nellie:

Emily:

Poor Emily only has her meet outfit for period clothing! We're looking at this dress, but we're not sure about the color with her ginger hair and blue eyes.

and Ruthie:

Kit and Ruthie want a few other outfits too. I seem to find a lot of clothing from the Sam and Kit's eras that I really like. Here are the extra outfits for Kit and Ruthie. The pink one I believe is Damsels-In-Dress by Jean Marie (the link to her blog is at the beginning of the post), but I'm not positive. The other brown dress I have no idea, but it's beautiful. These ARE NOT MY PICTURES, they are FarmHouseGirl's from AGPT. Her custom Ruthie with brown eyes is modeling.

We're also thinking about giving Ruthie an eye swap so that she has brown eyes instead of grey. I think that if she had brown eyes, she would look a lot better, and be the *real* story illustrations Ruthie. One of my next posts will be about custom dolls.



Here's a dress I like for Samantha. I have no idea who makes it either. THIS IS NOT MY PICTURE, it is FarmHouseGirl's. It is modeled by her Rebecca.

Doll couture is slightly expensive, but in my opinion, it's worth it too pay a little extra for something hand made in the US. That is the beautiful thing about having a job, you have spending money! Being a kid, relying on allowance and odd jobs to make purchases doesn't work out too well. We're definitely not getting all of these outfits, at least not right now. We're not even sure who sells a few! The plan is to try to get a couture item for each doll, mainly the historicals, and build a wardrobe of high quality, hand made items. It could take a while, to say the least! But, yes, we're addicted now. Hey, at least we're not addicted to drugs or something :P Another thing is that AG released some new Just Like You items today! Not exactly couture, but as we're on the subject of clothing, why not!? I'm not sure about the new releases. Here's my opinion on the things, sorry if I sound a little harsh:

Photographer Outfit: Very cute, but it needs a shirt under the blazer! I also don't like the beret. I wish the camera came with it. I really like the blazer, it is adorable.

Flutter Flower Outfit: I like the top and shoes, but the skirt is weird. The gatherings are funny... I do like the colors of this outfit, though.

Honey Puppy PJ's: Adorable! I like the leggings that come with it. They look very comfortable.

Wilderness Outfit: I love the top portion. The shirt and vest look great. But what is up with the pants? I don't know if I like them or not. The print just doesn't look right. The shoes should have been brown, not black.

Petal Hoodie Outfit: I love this one, it's my favorite! I'm pretty sure I'll be getting it. The hoodie and pants don't look too tight, and have mix and match potential. A very decent price, too.

Tap Dance Outfit: This looks basically like Marisol's tap outfit. Marisol will be glad to hear that, since we weren't able to get this for her. Overall, it looks pretty cute.

Jazz Dance Outfit: Again, looks a lot like Marisol's. The thing is, it really isn't a good outfit for practice or preformance. And are those purple jazz shoes? Marisol will most likely be getting this.

Sparkly Angle Costume: Pretty cute, and I like that it can be used for Halloween and Christmas, although they're two totally different holidays. Down side is that the wings don't come off, so the dress can't be used separately.

Bowling Team Set: I like the colors in this outfit, they're bright and fun. I wonder if you can order replacement part bowling pins and balls to make a bowling alley :)

Soccer Star Set: Not 2-1 anymore, but for the same price, which is too bad. I like the green/black combo. It also comes with a trophy and certificate, which I like. What I find interesting is that we ordered the old blue and white soccer outfit a few weeks ago, and instead of the white and blue ball it was supposed to come with, it came with the black and white on in this outfit...hmm!

Sporty Scooter: Kind of weird looking, if you ask me. Brooke just saw an infomercial about a human sized version of this a while ago.

Pet Portrait Studio: Over-priced! They do have a picture of Paris though! The camera should have came with the photographer outfit.

School Lunch Set: Again, over-priced! You get a plastic sandwich, applesauce, a cardboard raisin box, and a lunchbox. You could get a really nice AG or couture outfit for $28 instead of this.

Salon Chair: Basically the same as the old one, only blue instead of pink. You can get the same thing at Target for the Our Generation dolls for like, $20 vs $60.

Salon Station: Pretty expensive, but I think it's cute. I like the little extra things that come with it. I really don't think that the 9-year-old dolls and their target age owners should be this concerned with makeup and appearances though.

School Desk Set: I really like this! I think the price is reasonable, and it comes with extra things. If wish we had somewhere to put it. It's backordered until July 24th already!

Starry Doll Carrier: Pink, starry, it is what it is. Very expensive just to tote your doll around in.

Hair Care Kit: Comes with some good doll hair essentials. Kind of pricey.

Hairstyle Helper: Basically hair ties and clips, which you can get at the dollar store, in a fancy case-thing.


There's also Dress Like Your Doll and Bitty Baby things, but I don't feel the need to review those. I would have actually put the pictures of the outfits in my post, since I find that a lot easier than clicking links, but it I had so many pictures already, and that's 20-or so pictures saved on the computer that we never get around to deleting. Sorry for the excessive linking, I just needed to give credit to the people's photos. Another long post with lots of pictures!



~Avery~

PS: Look at the time! It is 3:46 AM!

Fireworks, Photoshoot, and Tallships (long post w/ pictures)

I've been having an amazing time the past few days! There are recreations of the Niña and the Pinta tall ships docked in a town near where I live, so we got to go see them! The Niña and The Pinta are two of three ships (the third was the Santa María ) Christopher Columbus used on his first ocean voyage to the Indies in 1492. What I found interesting was that the Niña was Columbus's favorite ship of the three, even though the Pinta was by far the fastest. The Niña was actually captured by pirates! She was captured by a pirate corsair when leaving the port of Cagliari and brought to Cape Paula, Sardinia. The Niña logged at least 25,000 nautical miles (46,000 km) under Columbus' command. The Pinta was the fasted of the 3 ships, like I already said. It means the painted one, or the spotted one in Spanish. The New World was first sighted by Rodrigo de Triana on the Pinta on October 12, 1492. So there's your history lesson for the day (: It was a lot of fun to get to see them up close. They really weren't all that large, and I can't believe that they sailed across the ocean. It amazes me that even hundreds of years ago, the people were amazing engineers. The made 70 tons of wood float on water, across the Atlantic! They didn't have computers or anything of those sorts. That is amazing!

They were giving tours of the boats, but we didn't go on, we just took a few pictures. I wish all the sails would have been down, that would have looked amazing! Last year there was something similar to this, and they two ships had a mock battle. That didn't happen this year, but it was still great to see them.

Before we went to the fireworks, I got to do a photo shoot outside! It was just as the sun was setting, and Brooke got a lot of good pictures of me, and some other things too (hehe). She edited two of them to use for the blog. It's a picture of my eyes and my feet photo shopped together and it says "Take a walk in my shoes, view the world from my eyes, Avery-Here." Very dramatic with the black and white selection, and the text is a little small, but oh well.

Then, we were able to go see fireworks! There were so many people there, it was insane! The fireworks incredibly hard to get pictures of. We tried, got a few good ones! 2 of them really look neat! That's not the way the fireworks looked in real life, but the camera took the pictures that way, and it looks pretty cool! I love my pyrotechnics. My favorite kinds are the gold ones that sparkle and curve down like vines, kind of.

Sorry for such a long post, I just had to share everything!

~Avery~

Liberty Jane

Brooke has been contemplating about getting a couple Liberty Jane outfits for a few days now, and this morning she finally convinced herself to order Summer #2 (blue top, silver dress, black leggings, necklace) and Spring #7 (maroon tank, shorts). They are beautiful, amazingly detailed, hand-made outfits made by Cinnamon Miles. Haute couture-doll style. Well, she logs onto ebay this morning, goes on over to the Liberty Jane store, and Summer #2 isn't listed anymore! We're bummed, since Brooke wanted to order them both at the same time and do a combined shipping discount. Now she's not even sure she wants to order Spring #7 any more. We hope someone from the AG blogosphere was able to get Summer #2 though. It was a gorgeous outfit! Brooke messaged Liberty Jane's youtube account about possibly making another outfit similar to Summer #2. Hopefully she says yes!!!

More about Liberty Jane: They're having a summer design contest! You draw out a design, make a video, then post it on youtube as a response to their video about the contest. There's over 300 entries, and the chances of winning are small, but Brooke's been cranking out the designs. We've only made a video for 2, but we have 5 more designs in the works. I'd tell you about them, but Brooke doesn't want anyone stealing ideas. Here's two of our entries that we've made videos for. What do you think? The first is a white t-shirt, orange tank with flower design, jean skirt, orange leggings, an anklet, and flip flops. The other is a multi colored polka dot tank, green cargo capris, a necklace, bracelet, anklet, and flip flops. Sorry for the headless drawings :P

I'll keep you updated on the Liberty Jane situation, and more of our desgins once final copies are drawn and videos are made! Photo's of outfits from Liberty Jane Ebay Listings, drawing's are ours!!!

~Avery~

Swimming

Today it was horribly hot, sunny, and humid. I was so miserable! The dorms aren't air conditioned, just the main buildings. We had a few fans going, but it was so stuffy inside, and I just couldn't handle it! I decided to go swimming. I went to the pond to swim. The water is a bit dirty, but it's okay. Not much more gross than swimming with the fish and sand at the beach! It felt great to go in the water! It was cold, but not too cold because we've gotten a lot of rain lately. I asked Nellie to come with me, but she didn't have a bathing suit, and it "wasn't proper" to go swimming in shorts and a t-shirt. I wish Ivy was here, she would have came with me, but she's visiting her family in San Francisco this week. So I went alone, but it wasn't bad. I swam for about an hour, and then sat out in the sun. Just relaxing on a nice summer day was wonderful!

Now that I think about it, maybe Nellie doesn't want to be friends with me, and was just making up excuses so she wouldn't have to go. I tried to talk to her after I got back from swimming, and she kept avoiding me. It's a hard thing to think about, but maybe she just used me because no one else would time travel with her *if you have no idea idea what I'm talking about, read my last post titled "Time Traveling"* I hope that's not the case, I'm probably just over reacting.


How is everyone spending their summer? I've just been relaxing, and not really doing a whole lot. Doing nothing felt good at first, but now it's getting a little bit boring, and lonely. I still have my room mates, but I'm not really close with any of them. Ivy's on vacation, and Nellie isn't talking to me. Now that I think about it, I really don't have many friends! :'( Hmph!

By the way, you know how I said it was very hot, sunny, humid, and pretty nice day (even though it was really hot, well for us in MI, 80 degrees is hot!) Well, then it started pouring rain, thundering, and lightning*! I hate freak weather!
~Avery~

Time Traveling

There's quite a few historical dolls that live at our house. Take Kit for instance. She's from 1934! If she was the appropriate age for 2009, she would be 84 years old (assuming she's 9 in 1934). So, all the historical dolls time travel to 2009. Most of the historicals here wear regular, modern clothes. Most of them have adjusted to modern life quite well, except for Nellie. She seems to be the one that longs for 1904. She can't go back, because her whole life is here. And she certainly couldn't go back all alone. Samantha and Olivia (the other 1904 era dolls) really like 2009 and being modern, and won't go back. Nellie and I passed each other today in the halls, and Nellie stopped me and asked if I'd seen Samantha. She seemed kind of, I don't know, frazzled? I asked her what was wrong and she just comes out and asks me if I want to go time traveling with her! Of course I said yes! She lent me a Victorian style dress and we were off. It was so much fun to go back to the early 1900's! Everything was completely different. It was very interesting actually doing the time traveling. Nellie mumbled a few things, then we just kind of walked through this huge, silent, empty white space, then she mumbled again, and we were on the streets of Mt. Bedford, New York in 1904! We walked the streets and saw all kinds of things. One of my favorite parts was going into a fancy fabric store. We walked in and there were just aisles and aisles of the prettiest things for seamstresses. Bright pink silk, sea green velvet ribbons, ivory buttons, it was amazing! I'm really interested in the fashion styles of that time, after wearing the pretty blue dress Nellie lent me. Nellie took us to a bakery where we got fresh gingerbread cookies, her favorite, yum! I think I would really like living in 1904. I had a wonderful time with her. The funny thing is, Nellie and I haven't really known each other at all! Sure, I knew who she was, but I really didn't know anything about her, and hadn't talked to her at all. She was in one of my classes, but that's it. It felt good to be with her, since Ivy left for San Francisco Sunday night. I hope we can be friends. Maybe we could go back again sometime.

~Avery~

A Dancer's Decision-Episode 1!

We FINALLY got around to making episode one. It's completely horrible! Well, it's not too bad, but definitely not our best work. The camera is messed up (I know, excuses, excuses) and it won't focus unless the lighting is absolutely perfect. Brooke's voice sounds hilarious on the audio recording, since she sounds nothing like that in real life. :P When editing, Brooke accidentally made the audio repeat again. We put an annotation pause on the video, so it stops at a little over a minute, even though there's 2 mintues of video. If you press play, it will just repeat the voice again.
SORRY!

At least the video is finally up! We all felt bad since we thought it'd be finished weeks ago. If you don't understand, the first part is supposed to be a daydream during school, and she's interrupted when her teachers asks a question.

Well, ENJOY!


Here's a few stills!





~Avery~

More of Sierra

Inspired by Zipporah's blog entry, Brooke decided to get a few more pictures of her #11, Sierra. She just moved here to Mondale Boarding School, and is adjusting really well. She's traveled all over the world, so I guess that being in a new place doesn't really bother her that much. I talked to her a little bit, and learned more about her. Her full name is Sierra Renee Nicholas. Her dad was in the Navy. They had to travel a lot because of that, and when he was done serving the country, they just kept on traveling. Her mom is a nurse, which, I'm assuming, is where Sierra gets her helping personality from. She's been to Egypt, Kenya, Germany, Mexico, China, Brazil, Thailand, and Norway, plus a lot more I can't even remember! I told her a lot about France, and she said she'd love to visit there.

With all her travels, Sierra was home schooled. Until a few weeks ago, when her parents thought she needed some socializing with other kids her age. That's why she came to Mondale. Her parents were also going on a long voyage around South America, and they weren't able to bring her. So, here she is at boarding school! Sierra also loves animals. She said that when she was in Africa, she got to hold a baby chimpanzee, how neat! She wishes she could have a pet, but her travels don't allow it.
Her favorite colors are purple and green (her outfit!) and when she grows up she wants to be a sailor.



Since Sierra loves to go to different places and travel, Brooke has been thinking about making her a traveling doll. She's not quite sure yet though, since the Traveling Cambria fright, and Sierra being gone so long.


In other news, our rain storm has passed (for now) and it is a little sunny outside. :)

Talk to you later,
~Avery~

Pluie (Rain)

Right in the beginning of summer vacation, a huge storm hits us! Isn't summer supposed to be warm and sunny, and things like that? There has been a thunder storm warning, so everyone has to stay inside. It has been pouring all day long. Plus, it is very windy. So, since we had to stay inside, Ivy and I decided that we would make the best of it and get together to play. I went over to Ivy's dorm room. I brought my stuffed monkey Toshi and Ivy had her porcelain doll Mary. Nous avons joué des poupées (we played dolls). We talked a lot too. We also read magazines. I feel so lazy today! I didn't wake up until about 10:00, which is really late considering I usually get up about 6:30. It feels good to be off of school, but I wish that it was nice outside. When you're stuck inside all day it gets pretty boring. The bad part is, another storm is supposed to be coming. :(

~Avery~

Graduation-School's Out!

Woo hoo! School is over! It was silly because we had a 1/2 day Friday and then another 1/2 day Monday :P It didn't really make a lot of sense, but whatever! On Monday in my homeroom class we got to watch WALL-E. It was really good!

Since I go to boarding school, I stay at school all year. Some people go home for the summer, but not me. It really isn't bad staying, a lot of people do. There's lots of activities, sports programs, etc. to do. You never get bored! I'm so excited, but a bit sad too. Ivy's leaving for San Francisco next week. The good news is she isn't staying all summer, just a week or two.

Last night we had our graduation ceremony! Everyone had to dress up really fancy. I wore the Midnight Holly Dress. Ivy let me borrow her gold earrings too. Ivy wore the Silver Belle Dress. I think we both looked very pretty. :)

I'm happy to report that I got 7 awards! I'm so proud of myself! I got the Mondale English Language Arts Award, or the MELAA, a certificate from the Mondale History League (a big test about anything and everything history/social studies and the top scores get a certificate), a trophy for being in the top 5 percentages in math, a pin for 3rd place in the science fair, and a medal and certificate for having a 3.8-4.0 grade average all year. I also got a certificate from band and a trophy from fencing. Ivy got a few things too, like a certificate for perfect attendance, an "excellence in the sciences" certificate, and a gymnastics trophy.

I'm glad that summer is here! I'll have more time to post on the blog now. Talk to "y'all" later! (Hehe Rose and Starr! :P)

~Avery~

Sierra and Erin are here, graduation, and ADD

Sierra Nicholas (JLY #11) and Erin Yeager (JLY #12) have been here a while, but this is the first time I've posted about them! :) I don't know how I can even begin to describe them!
Sierra(far left) is really the nicest person you will ever meet! She cares so much about other people. She's a great listener too. She volunteers a lot, and she loves animals. She has a caring expression. Sierra travels a lot, and has been in a lot of different countries like Brazil, Kenya, England, and China. The other day she showed me some of the things that she has from those countries, it was very neat! She said that she'd like to visit France one day.

Erin (far right) is very sporty! She plays soccer, lacrosse, baseball, basketball, volleyball, hockey, she's in track, plus she's a swimmer, a dancer, and a gymnast. And guess what? She fences, just like me! What's even crazier is that she is amazing at every single sport she plays! She just moved here, and she's already the best on almost all the teams she's on. She is so busy, with all the practices, meets, and games. Erin has the blondest hair I've every seen, it's so pretty! She always ties it up in a high, messy ponytail.

I'll tell you more about them later. The truth is, I'm still getting to know them!

Graduation is tomorrow (Monday). Everyone has to get all dressed up and go to a ceremony and the teachers give out trophies and certificates. I hope I get something! I'm not quite sure what I'm going to wear... maybe the Midnight Holly Dress, or something like that.

ADD is at a standstill. :( We'll still be doing the movie, but I'm not sure how soon we'll be able to get going on it. Brooke has been very busy. Her camera has been acting funny, and won't zoom in at all. It won't focus unless the light is perfect, and the flash washes everything out. Stop motions are a lot of work! We're trying, be patient!

Talk to you later,

~Avery~

Is it me, or is the AG "blogosphere" getting a little sleepy?

Seems like hardly anyone is posting anymore! I'm trying to keep my blog updated, but nothing really is going on. I'm going to try to get some new photos soon.

~Avery~

Where's MLWB?

What happened to Mari Luna's Wonderful Blog?!?!? When I try to visit it says that the blog has been removed! :'(

~Avery~

Update

Hello everyone!
Graduation is coming up in...5 days! I'm so nervous. I hope I get an award for something.

I'm getting used to my glasses, but yesterday I feel asleep with them on! :P It's a good thing they didn't break!

I'm not sure if ADD is really going to work out. Maybe during this week we'll work on it more, but for right now, it's at a standstill. :'(

Well, there's not much going on right now, life's pretty boring. I just felt the need to update.

~Avery~

Glasses, Kaya, school, lost and found

Today my glasses came! :) I think they look pretty good. I'm still getting used to them, but I like it that I can see well again. Sorry the picture is so small, Brooke had to crop a few things out of it.

Well, I've been trying to keep it a secret, but it's so hard! Brooke ordered a #12 (came about a week ago), a #11, and a custom doll gray eyed #25. Brooke actually has a job and is old enough to do whatever she cares for with her money. She's not spoiled and gets dolls whenever she wants to.

Today "JLY #11" was SUPPOSED to arrive. We got the box, opened it up, and got Kaya instead!

She is very pretty, and such a sweet girl. She and I talked a bit. I feel so bad for her. She told me when she heard that Brooke didn't want her, she was on the verge of tears. Her exact words were, "It's not my fault some stupid employee screwed up. I thought I was coming home at last, to someone who loved me." Gosh, that made me feel horrible!

AG is supposed to be sending out a #11 in "7-10 business days" and then we have to send Kaya back. I really hope Brooke just keeps #11 and Kaya, although I highly, highly doubt that.

While Brooke was gone, I helped her Kaya get out of her box! She played school with us.

Speaking of school, graduation is coming up, only 8 more days! :) I can't wait for summer. I'm nervous, because at graduation the principal gives out awards to some students. I hope I win something!

Brooke lost the necklace to the Ruby Ballet outfit and is really bummed out! I hope we're able to find it, the outfit doesn't look nearly as good without the necklace. If it doesn't turn up in a few days, Brooke is going to start looking for one to buy. If anyone has a spare necklace or one they'd be willing to sell, please tell me!!! It is a red velvet ribbon with a pendant with gems in it.

~Avery~