AGMA

I made it to the top 3 in the AG Modeling Academy on youtube, and so did Mia Lily from American Girl Adventures!

:)

I'm very excited! The 6th and final assignment is "all about you". I have a really great idea, and Brooke and I started working on it today. It will be semi-dramatic, haha. It will start out like this:

"Avery Voisin, who am I?" then it will go into "I am a friend" *picture* "I am unique" *picture* "I am a dreamer" *picture*, and you get the idea. I'll be in a different outfit and setting for each one. We're only using one picture per "what am I" statement, but we're taking a bunch of photos to choose from. Unfortunately, we only got one set of pictures done today. We were just starting to get in place for the 2nd set when Brooke stepped on a wasp (should've worn shoes!) She's icing her foot right now.

Wish us luck!

Edited to add:

Brooke was trying to win the new Damsels-in-Dress design, Pinstripes and Details, auction, but we lost. :( We're happy for the person who is receiving the dress, though! We bid a grand total of... 13 times, and was outbid by 2 cents. LOL! The dress went for $67.02, which is a lot for just a dress, so in a way Brooke is glad she didn't end up winning, because now she can save more for new dolls and other couture like the Melody Valerie fall line, Dollies Dressmaker, and Liberty Jane.

~Avery~

Elizabeth II

Experimenting with photography.


This picture is of Elizabeth in her riding habit. Enjoy!

There's not much else to say, so I leave you with these quotes:


"Photography does not create eternity, as art does; it embalms time, rescuing it simply from its proper corruption."
- André Bazin


"Life is like a good black and white photograph, there's black, there's white, and lots of shades in between."
-Karl Heiner


"Photography concentrates one's eye on the superficial. For that reason it obscures the hidden life which glimmers through the outlines of things like a play of light and shade. One can't catch that even with the sharpest lens."
-Franz Kafka


Interpret them how you like, although they may be a little too mature for a doll blog :P


-Brooke

Elizabeth

Elizabeth came 2 days ago, but we've just got around to posting pictures of her!

She is really beautiful, but keeps to herself. She is exactly what I thought a colonial girl would be like: very proper, polite, shy, timid, quiet, sweet, but absolutely stunning! Felicity is a lot more fun and outgoing.

Anyways, Elizabeth is from England. She has a British accent, drinks tea, and everything like that. Her hair is blond and wavy, and there are 2 little pin curls on each side of her head. She is really, really pretty.

I don't know much about her. She's only talked to Felicity since she got here. I hope she can warm up and talk to everyone else. Elizabeth's nice enough though, she lets us call her Liz.

Brooke's trying to make a bedroom for Felicity and Elizabeth. A few posts back I talked about how we found Felicity's bed, side table, and chair at a garage sale ($3 for it all!) The bed is missing the top frame where the bedding would attach to it, it didn't come with all the curtains, and is missing the canopy, mattress, and pillow, etc.

So, Brooke is going to make some curtains for the bed and fix it up! As of now, the side curtains and canopy are going to be a beautiful blue and white floral fabric. The bedspread will be dark blue with white, blue floral, and teal/green accent pillows.

We also have Felicity's Windsor Writing Chair. It is missing the desk and drawer that goes underneath, but we might just keep it as is, or try to fix it up.

The side table is in great condition, nothing is missing.

It is a nice start to their bedroom. We'll try to find a cheap trunk for their clothes, and maybe get or make a table and chairs set.

~Avery~

The 1950's!

Today I threw together a 1950's outfit. Everything is handmade, but I think it turned out really cute. The skirt is just a really simple piece I've had forever. I found a poodle applique picture online and traced it (by putting the paper on the computer screen and lightly writing over the lines). Then, I cut it out and used scrap booking "zots" (little clear sticky dots) to attach it to the skirt. The tank top and cover up are hand made, and the scarf is just a scrap of black fabric.

Also, Elizabeth came today! She was back ordered, but is here now. She's very pretty, and I love her dress and earrings.

Brooke likes a lot of couture, and we need more fall wardrobe pieces. But right now she's trying to get JLY #14, #5, and #21. She has a plan, and she'll most likely be able to get them all, but they will be gifts to herself for a few holidays.

~Avery~

Wizard of Oz

Cali's most recent post got me thinking, so today I took out the Dorothy costume!

Mia and Ivy played "Wizard of Oz!" with me. Ivy was the Wicked Witch/Elphaba, Mia was Glinda/Glenda, and I was Dorothy! We had so much fun playing together.

Brooke took a lot of pictures! She thought we looked so cute she set us up on display! :)

Ivy wanted to be Elphaba, aka the Wicked Witch of the West! She is wearing the Friendly Witch outfit from American Girl.

Mia is wearing the Melody Valerie Precious Pink Party Dress. Her cape is a scrap of pink fabric that we've had lying around forever. It is really pretty with flowers and beads sewn on.

I'm wearing a handmade Dorothy costume, I'm not sure if it would be considered couture or not.

It was so much fun!

Finally there was post about me on my blog! Lately the blog has been very off topic and about couture, stop motion, other dolls, etc. Sorry about that!

~Avery~

Nicki in Melody Valerie

Nothing much has been going on lately. Very boring. School starts on the 8th, and I'm nervous and excited.

Brooke's been working non stop re-entering stuff in the computer. Us dolls haven't gotten much attention.

But today she re-curled Nicki's hair and took a few pictures of her in the Melody Valerie Couture dainty dots dress.

I think she looks really pretty! Sometimes I wish I had curly hair, but then I see what a pain it is to take care of and I like my plain, straight hair a little more.

We're watching Harry Potter movies tonight! These are the best books, and great movies, and I think Starr, Luna and Rose over at Roses Are Read would agree with me! (Rose Weasley, Luna who's namesake is Luna Lovegood)

Anyways, ABC Family is showing the 3rd and 4th movies today, and we might rent the 5th one.

Brooke's been obsessed with Harry Potter lately. She wants to make dolls that look like Hermione, Ginny, Luna, Cho, and Fleur. I wouldn't mind having these guys around, they seem like a lot of fun with all the magic, etc. I'd love to meet Fleur, since she is French and an amazing wizard.

But this probably will never happen, but it's a lot of fun to think about.

If you want to see more photos of Nicki (there's about 5 more from today) click here.

~Avery~

Miserable

Today it has been raining non stop. It's so depressing. I've been on the computer for hours reentering about 5 years worth of data. Stupid computer!
I just needed to take a break and read some blogs. Sorry if I couldn't comment on everyone's posts, but I did skim over all the blogs I follow.
I'm not sure how long this stuff is going to take. I'm hoping to have it all done in a few days if I keep working around the clock like I am now.

-Brooke

My Computer Crashed

Yikes... the computer crashed. Long story short: I tried to go on the internet, got the usual error screen saying to refresh, check to see if I typed the web address right. I restarted the computer a few times, and the internet still wouldn't work. 3 hours on the phone with an Indian tech support assistant and $50 later, everything on the computer is gone. Every single picture, music file, microsoft word document, everything. There were some really important business files that I never even thought of backing up on a disk. Tomorrow, and many days after, will be devoted to re-entering all the business data, which could take days. My computer is only a few years old, and this is the 3rd time that it has crashed. This time was the worst, because every single file was gone. Before, it was just the internet and some security software.

I'm going to be on the computer non stop, but I won't be on anything AG for a while. What was lost when the computer crashed is 100 times more important, and logging onto blogger or the doll boards is just a distraction.

-Brooke

Oh no...

Unfortunately American Girl is retiring 8 Just Like You Dolls on September 3rd.
JLY's:
#1

#2

#5

#7

#11

#12

#14

#21


Isn't that sad? I hate to see dolls retired, especially so many at once! Luckily we just got Sierra, #11, and Erin, #12 a few months ago.

Brooke wants #5, whom she would name Dakota, #14, Capri, and #21, Bailee.

She has it all figured out a plan on how she'll get them, but I'm not going to bore you with that.
But seriously, getting 3 more new dolls?!? That is slightly ridiculous, make that super ridiculous, and more than a tad excessive. We just got Felicity and Elizabeth, and Elizabeth isn't even here yet! (QVC back ordered) Que vais-je faire avec sa? I am actually really made right now, because I've heard her talking about selling some dolls. I'm pretty sure Brooke wouldn't sell me, but I'm scared for some of my friends. If she sells other dolls to get these 3, I will be furious! I hope she was just freaked out by the retirement notice, and this will just blow over.
Je serai surpris si ils viennent, mais sachant Brooke, elle va trouver un moyen. (sorry if the French is off)

Here's a few tickers Brooke made that she told me to post.



~Avery~

Summer Dance

Mondale (my boarding school) had the annual summertime dance last night. It is the last major thing before school starts, and probably the highlight of the summer here!

I had a really great time! I got to wear my Melody Valerie dress! I'm surprised I like it so much, since it's really pink and frilly, but I love it!

A lot of people were there, and everyone looked so nice in their fancy dresses!

Brooke entered some of the pictures into this AG Modeling Academy thing on youtube. I'm not one for modeling, but Brooke says everyone loves #25, and I'm beautiful and think I could win. So, of course I said yes.
If you want to view the video with more pictures, click here or here. Here #1 takes you to the animoto version (better video quality in my opinion). Here #2 takes you to the youtube version.

Sorry the pictures aren't that great!

~Avery~

The video!

It's finished. My labor of love.
Click HERE to view it on youtube.
If it says "unable to reach server", just play it, it should work except it will be kind of darkened.

It's basically all my dolls doing random things within a few seconds of stop motion video. I wasn't very creative, and was getting lazy towards the end, sorry!
This is basically what they're doing, in case you can't figure it out:
-Julie is walking
-Kaya is picking a flower and putting it in her hair
-Emily is playing with dolls/stuffed animals and waving
-Nicki is on stage dancing
-Gia is reading and eating a cookie
-Jasmine is walking Coconut
-Kit is at her desk packing up school supplies
-Ivy is brushing her hair and putting in a clip
-Marisol is dancing
-Sonali is listening to music
-Jess is sitting by the pond
-Felicity is getting her dress on (Don't worry, no doll nudity)
-Sierra is curtsying
-Nellie is waving
-Samantha and Lydia share a segment. They are hugging and holding hands.
-Ruthie is reading
-Mia is taking a picture of Licorice
-Avery is twirling
-Erin is riding her skateboard


It didn't turn out as good as I had hoped. I guess I'm being hard on myself but Sonali's segment is all messed up. Somehow it repeated, and it wasn't supposed to. WMM was being a pain and kept freezing, and it messed up parts of my video (made it choppy and skipping some pictures). My pictures were bad quality, and my camera batteries were running low so I didn't take enough pictures to make everything look smooth. But oh well...
This video was basically a learning experience. I had a lot of fun with it, but I'm glad to get it done.

-Brooke

I'm colonial, etc.

Sorry, I couldn't think of a very good title

I tried on Felicity's gala gown today, shhhh!
I think I look pretty good in colonial dresses. I especially love this red one. C'est une belle baies rouges de brocart, avec de l'or en dentelle de détails. (It is a beautiful berry red brocade with gold lace detail.)
It isn't very accurate for the time period because of the 2 huge jewels on the front, but I still think it is very pretty. Brooke didn't like it at all, but now that she's seen it in person she likes it better.

Nous sommes en train de travailler sur la le vidéo de demain. (We're working on the video tomorrow). Brooke has NO commitments, and we're going to finish this thing.

Brooke also has a youtube channel called AGBrooke (click to view it). Well, she entered me into this "American Girl Modeling Academy". It's like a contest, sort of like the TV show America's Next Top Model. Well, this weeks "assignment" is prom. Most of the american girl dolls I know of are much too young to go to prom, so we'll be doing a "summer dance" version. You just take a bunch of pictures and make them into a slideshow. All the modern dolls are going to be in the background partying for my shots! Brooke says I'm not allowed to wear my Melody Valerie dress since I've been wearing it non stop. Oy vey! (Sorry, a little Yiddish thrown in with my French :P) So now I need to figure out which dress I'll use for the photos. Hmmmm... Any suggestions?

~Avery~

Boredom

Uhhhh, I am so bored. Nothing has been going on around here. Luckily it has cooled down some, and we're back in the comfortable weather. Brooke is going to work on the video today. The camera's batteries are low though, so I'm not sure how far we're going to be able to get. She's just starting, and hasn't gotten any farther along than the last post.

Here's a picture for you. I don't like to publish posts without pictures!

Jess et Mia. Ils sont de toute beauté. (Jess and Mia. They are very beautiful)

Lately this blog has been about a lot of stuff. Couture, stop motion, new dolls, etc. It is supposed to be my blog though, but it seems I'm posting about everything else except me.

~Avery~

Filming II

To date we have these girls photographed, their pictures uploaded, and stop motion segments edited. They are all ready to go! The list includes their full names. Brooke was thinking about middle names last night, and decided we all needed one (only a few of us did before).

• Julia Denise Albright, "Julie"
  
• Kaya Shania Atonmy
  
• Emily Louise Bennett
  
• Nicolette Rachelle Fleming, "Nicki"
  
• Gianna Simone Gianatazio, "Gia"
  
• Jasmine Alyssa James
  
• Margaret Mildred Kittredge, "Kit"
  
• Ivy Min Ling
  
• Marisol Isabel Luna
  
• Sonali Dhara Matthews
  
• Felicity Ann Merriman
  
• Sierra Renee Nicholas
  

We still need to photograph, upload, and edit the segments for:

• Nellie Jaclyn O' Malley
  
• Lydia Anneliese (previously known as Olivia, underwent name change) Parkington
  
• Samantha Olivia Parkington
  
• Ruth Anne Smithens, "Ruthie"
  
• Amelia Caitlin St. Clair, "Mia"
• Avery-Marie Victoire Voisin, "Avery", AKA moi
• Erin Jade Yeager
  

Hopefully we'll have the video done by today... Brooke's determined to finish. It's a little past 2:30 right now, and she wants to have everything done by 5:30 and uploaded to youtube by 6:00.

Ahbaharglewomponitz! (my new word) Brooke has had something come up, again, *evil glare* and she won't be able to do any more of the video today. Right now she needs to do laundry and then call someone, and then most likely after that she'll have to leave. This video is becoming a pain. We can't finish it! We just need to get rid of life for the whole day and be able to concentrate and work on the stop motion.

~Avery~

It's hot...

Us pathetic Michiganders have been living in dry, 70 degree temperatures. The past two days it's been a scorching 90 degrees, with full sun, and around 80% humidity. It's like torture. I think my vinyl is going to melt and I'll be reduced to a puddle of plastic on the ground.


I don't think much filming is going to get done today. It's very hot and miserable outside, and most likely real life will interrupt, again. Brooke's got to leave to do something with her family at 4:00, which she is dreading. So maybe Tuesday we'll get the video done. Or never.
Update: Brooke photographed Lissie's *large* stop motion segment for the video. She's try to get it uploaded and edited on WMM, but that stupid program is a pain. It freezes up, and when you try to open the movie file, it has to 'check project files' for like 30 minutes. WMM is very frustrating.

~Avery~

Jess

Jess is so pretty.
She had her stop motion segment filmed today, and wow, she looked amazing.
Here's two pictures of her. They look pretty similar, but I couldn't choose which one to post. These are part of Jess' clip in the video, so I guess this is another 'sneak peak'.
Real life has gotten in the way, again, and Brooke will probably be gone (at the beach!) til around 5:30. So, Monday night is looking like our predicted date for the video.

Sorry for the short post, but pictures speak a thousand words.

~Avery~

Filming...

Brooke has been diligently filming us dolls. Yesterday she got Julie, Kaya, Emily, and Nicki photographed, their pictures uploaded to the computer, and edited on WMM. She also photographed Gia, but hasn't done anything else with her yet.
Here's a group picture that will be in the video, so I guess it's kind of a 'sneak peak'.

Real life interrupted filming yesterday, so today we were going to finish.
Well, the lighting stinks. Yesterday was absolutely perfect for outdoor pictures, but today it's storming and there's zero sun.
Most people know that you need some good sun/natural light for nice photos. The "camera flash of doom" makes dolls look kind of ugly... You have to be a really good photographer, and have a really great camera, to master taking pictures with a flash.

Brooke has nice craft light that has different brightnesses which works pretty well indoors in times like these. She burned her leg on it though (those things can get really hot!)

So, that's what we're working on today! It's not going to be great, I can tell already by the preview on WMM (Windows Movie Maker).

Sorry, not many new things are happening.

UPDATE:
Brooke has been working with pain-in-the-butt Windows Movie Maker all day today. She's photographed, uploaded, and edited all the segments for Julie, Kaya, Emily, Nicki, Gia, Jasmine, Kit, Ivy, Marisol, and Sonali! We're 1/2 way done! WMM keeps freezing up, and she's had to restart that computer 3 times (looks like a 4th coming on!). We were hoping to have the video done yesterday, but more realistically by tomorrow or Monday night.

~Avery~

Stop motion, jerks, and major garage sale find

Well, today hasn't been such a good day. I logged onto YouTube, and went to my "channel" (like a homepage with all your videos, etc.) I looked a my comments and some joker thought it would be fun to cuss me out and totally insult me. In short, he/she basically accused me of being a spoiled little 4 year old that still plays with baby toys, then he/she said that I was "street filth", poor, and just pretending I had American Girl dolls so I would look cool. And that is putting it nicely (insert about 20 of your favorite profanity words in between all that.)

So, needless to say, I'm not too happy right now :'(

I'm not going to let it get to me though. There are those kind of people, and you can't let them bring you down.

I decided that I'm going to make a stop motion "introducing" all my dolls. Each doll will have about 10 seconds of video of just random things. I just finished photographing, uploading, and editing Julie's stop motion segment (I'm doing the dolls in alphabetical order), and I think it will be a neat little project. Nothing too major, but it will at least be a new video. Stop motions are a lot of work, so I'm hoping to spend the rest of the day working on it and then uploading the finished video to youtube tonight.

UPDATE:
AHHHH! I'm so excited! At a garage sale I got:

• Felicity's Canopy Bed and some of her bedding. It needs some work, and is missing some pieces.
• Felicity's Windsor Writing Chair. Again, needs some work, missing the swivel desk part and drawer.
• Felicity's Side Table, really nice condition!

And I got all of this for: $3!!!! That's $1 a piece! Considering 2 of the things are retired, and the other is very expensive, that's an amazing deal! Probably close to a $200 value.

Pictures coming soon!

-Brooke

The insanely large couture list

Notre extrêmement longue liste de couture.
Les morceaux de couture que nous voulons, dans aucun ordre particulieret, pourquoi nous les voulons.
(Our extremely long list of couture. The pieces of couture which we want, in no particular order, and why we want them. Sorry, my French is a little off)
This is the very, very large mater couture list. We will definitely not be getting everything, if anything, from this list. This is just the "dream list" of things we like.

"County Charm" by sdls275/Heirloom Doll Designs

photo credit: sdls275 auction photo
This dress is perfect for the pioneer days! It comes with a lot of things, like the dress, apron, shawl (not shown), and bonnet. I love the pattern of the dress.

1910's style for Rebecca by sdls275/Heirloom Doll Designs

photo credit: sdls275 auction photo

This is an amazing dress! I love the pleating and dark wool contrast. The hat is adorable!

School dress and coat for Emily by Keepers Dolly Duds

photo credit: Keepers Dolly Duds auction photo
An adorable ensemble for Emily! I love the checkered pattern of the dress and the criss-cross detail and buttons (on back of dress, not pictured). The coat looks so thick and warm!

Summer #2 "In The Spotlight" by Liberty Jane Clothing
photo credit: Liberty Jane auction picture
I love this outfit! I think it is very trendy and looks like something real girls would wear. I like the fact that it is casual, yet dressy.

Spring #7 "Cammi and Cut-offs" by Liberty Jane Clothing
photo credit: Liberty Jane auction picture
This outfit is perfect for being outdoors! I like how there is a lot of mix and match potential.

"Blue Plaid" by Liberty Jane Clothing
photo credit: Liberty Jane auction picture
This outfit is simple, but I think that it is adorable! It is great for the summer heat.

Spring #5 "Boho Dress" by Liberty Jane Clothing
photo credit: Liberty Jane auction picture
This dress is very chic, and I love the pattern. Paired with some leggings it would look amazing!
update: I think this dress is now sold out

Spring #8 "Purple and Silver" by Liberty Jane Clothing
photo credit: Liberty Jane auction picture
This fashionable ensemble is gorgeous! I love the color combination of dark purple and silver.

Summer #1 "Summertime Chic" by Liberty Jane Clothing
photo credit: Liberty Jane auction picture
This design is fabulous! All the pieces in this outfit look great together, or on their own.

Spring Line "Alice in Candyland" by Melody Valerie Couture
photo credit: Melody Valerie Etsy stock photo
This dress is very stylish! The plaid fabric is adorable, and I love the signature bow!

Recreation of Felicity's Town Fair Dress by The Dollies' Dressmaker
photo credit: Dollies' Dressmaker stock photo
This dress is perfect for Felicity! All the detail is beautiful. It looks just like her retired town fair dress, too.

Recreation of Felicity's Work Gown by The Dollies' Dressmaker
photo credit: Dollies Dressmaker stock photo
Another recreation dress, this one of Felicity's retired work gown, which I like better than the original! I love color, it would look great with Felicity's eyes.

Illustration Creation: Felicity's Blue Striped Dress by The Dollies' Dressmaker
photo credit: Dollies' Dressmaker stock photo
This dress is seen frequently in Felicity's books, yet AG never made it? I think it's one of Felicity's core outfits. I love the pattern and the ruffles.

Felicity's or Elizabeth's Striped Purple Dress by The Dollies' Dressmaker
photo credit: Dollies' Dressmaker stock photo
I love the color of this dress, and the little bow and ruffles are too cute!

Illustration Creation: Kit's Orange Dress by The Dollies' Dressmaker
photo credit: Dollies' Dressmaker stock photo
As seen in the book "Kit's Surprise". The pleating is great, and the pocket, belt, and ribbon bow detail really make the dress. It's a nice warm, cinnamon orange color which is lovely!

Illustration Creation: Kit's Flannel Dress and Apron by The Dollies' Dressmaker
photo credit: Dollies' Dressmaker stock photo
Also seen in Kit's Surprise, this blue plaid flannel dress is great for when the weather turns a little chilly. The buttons adds the finishing touch. Her apron is made out of vintage muslin-type fabric.

Illustration Creation: Molly's Purple Dress by The Dollies' Dressmaker
photo credit: Dollies' Dressmaker stock photo
Seen in the book "Meet Molly" this lovely dress is perfect for the 1940's. I love the color, sleeves, collar, lace, and button detail, so basically everything!

Illustration Creation: Samantha's Green Floral Dress by The Dollies' Dressmaker
photo credit: Dollies' Dressmaker stock photo
Seen in the book "Samantha Learns a Lesson". I love the collar and gimp trim on this dress, and the pattern with small pink and yellow roses are precious!

Illustration/Movie Creation: Samantha's School Uniform by Terristouch















photo credit: Terristouch Etsy stock photo

This dress is perfect, and just like in the movie! I love the flannel fabric and detailed pinafore.

Blue Floral Halter Dress by The Doll Closet
photo credit: dollcloset Etsy stock photo
The perfect summer dress! The blue and white floral pattern is really fun, and I like how the dress is halter style.

Combination Outfit: Peasant Top in Sky Blue by The Doll Closet and Distressed Denim Jeans by Liberty Jane Clothing

photo credit: Sitara and The Couture Review, dollcloset Etsy stock photo
A very cute 70's inspired top in a lovely pattern paired with denim jeans, what could be better? I love the distressed detailing the jeans and the colors in the shirt.

These aren't exactly couture, but they're handmade needle felted small animals, the perfect size for AG's to use as toys. I like the elephant, hedgehog, and bunny. The elephant is a OOAK, but you can get the hedgehogs in a girl, which has a bow, and a bow, which doesn't. The bunnies also come in 4 different colors, white, light gray, dark gray/black, and mixed white and gray. Aren't they cute?

photo credit: BeneathTheRowanTree Etsy stock photo

And, that's it. Well, isn't that a lot of couture?!?!
I will definitely not be getting all if it. I'm not sure if I'll even be getting any! It's fun to dream though...

None of the photos are mine, most are stock photos from the couture websites, auctions, or listings. I posted a "photo credit" beside each picture and linked to the place where I got the photo to let you know whose it is.

-Brooke