Reminiscing with Jess

Jess here, everyone.
A few years back, I went with my parents on a trip to Belize and boy did I love it! My mom and dad are both archeologists, so I accompanied them on a dig. It was so interesting to learn about the Mayan people that once lived there. I even made I friend, Sarita Bol, and we had quite a few adventures together. Even though we're not close anymore, we occasionally write to each other.

Thinking about Belize makes me a little homesick. It wasn't my home, technically, but it had been for a whole summer and that's the only way I can think of to describe it. I miss the weather, the culture, the people I met while I was there. Staying at home for the whole vacation seems boring in comparison. Nothing here is like the rain forests of Belize! I included an old snapshot of me while we were there. Looking at it makes me want to go back! Maybe someday...

-Jess Akiko McConnell
Guest Blogger

The surprise outfit- Liberty Jane duds!

On this dismal, rainy, and blustery day, a small white package arrived on our doorstep, a bright spot against the dark clouds.
"I wonder what this could be?" Jess thought. After a long day of biology and algebra classes, she was relieved to finally be at her dorm. Boy, was she surprised when she opened the box to reveal a lovely Liberty Jane Clothing outfit! A very trendy pair of distressed jeans, lacy white tank, graphic tee, and cute converse sneakers lay inside. She quickly changed into these magnificent duds, and took some pictures.

Presenting the surprise outfit- "our version" of Code Red by Liberty Jane Clothing! Cinnamon was wonderful, and worked with us until we found our perfect outfit. Substituting the skinny jeans for dark destroyed denim, replacing the sparkly silver cons with these new circle ones, and leaving the vest out entirely gives this outfit a whole new look! Originally it was going to be for Sonali, but Jess couldn't resist. It's just her style too.

This outfit is absolutely wonderful. I could swear that it was made for a real girl! The jeans are super cute, and have ripped and bleached areas to give them the destroyed look. They have a perfect fit, but still go on easily. The two shirts are great, and have a lot of mix and match potential! The white tank top has lace accents at the bottom, and looks great with the graphic t-shirt to make the layered look. Speak of that t-shirt, it's amazing! The fabric is adorable, I love the funky print. We also got a pair of circle converse shoes, they're too cute! I can't get over AG shoes, they're the sweetest things.

Amazing quality and attention to detail, I love this outfit!

This outfit gets an A+ from Jess and I! This is my first Liberty Jane outfit, and I couldn't be more thrilled.



Behind the photography with small lesson:
Fashion photography has been an increasing interest of mine, and to get these 3 shots (which, I have to admit, I'm very proud of!) took me about 45 minutes to an hour. First off, you have to get your doll looking perfect. Then, I had to set up the scene. I have an nice spot in my house with decent lighting from a window and sliding glass door (which is why a lot of indoor photos have the same background, sorry!). I also have a table craft light I use to get a nice look. Lighting is everything! Then, I take about 30 pictures, at least. Some with flash, some without, just experiment with everything. I then load them onto the computer and delete the ones I don't like as well. Seeing it on the large monitor helps to see which shots are your best. After deleting some it is narrowed down to about 10 shots. I put them on flickr.com (love this website) and they have an excellent editing program called piknik. I cannot recommend piknik enough! You have to have a good photo to start with, but editing it well on the computer can make all the difference. For these photos I added text, toyed around with brightness levels, sharpened, and enhanced the colors to really make them pop. It helps a lot! You don't have to have the most expensive, fancy camera to get nice looking pictures.

Thanks for reading! We love the new outfit!

-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

Let's break down the poll

The couture designers poll is now closed, and let's see the results! There was a total of 34 votes over the course of a few weeks.



-Liberty Jane was the first choice, and 11 of you voted for Cinnamon and the gang! That's 32% of the votes, almost 1/3!

-Melody Valerie was the second option. A whopping 55%, over 1/2, of you voted for Melinda and Melody!

-DolliesDressmaker got 9 votes, which was 26% of the total. That's over 1/4!

-sdls275/Heirloom Doll Designs received only one vote, 2%.

-Keepers Dolly Duds also only received one vote.

-Damsels-in-Dress got 1/5 of the votes with 7 votes and 20%.

-Terristouch was another favorite with 14 votes and 41% of the total. That's over 2/5!

-Other couture designers came in with 6 votes and 17%.

So, according to my readers, here's the rankings, most popular to least.

Melody Valerie, Terristouch, Liberty Jane, Dollies' Dressmaker, Damsels-in-Dress, Other, and sdls275/Heirloom Doll Designs and Keepers Dolly Duds tied in last.

Now that the poll is over, what did you all think? Were the results predictable, or did they surprise you?

What surprised me was Dollies Dressmaker only got 9 votes. Cindy's designs are some of my favorites, and I thought that Dollies Dressmaker would be in the top 3, but it placed in 4th.

Terristouch coming in 3rd also surprised me. I thought that we wouldn't get as many votes as they did.

Melody Valerie winning was no surprise, I was thinking that either MV, Liberty Jane, or Dollies Dressmaker would come in 1st.

Thanks for voting!

~Avery~

We didn't win :'(

Hi, this is "Brooke" posting.
The winners of the Liberty Jane contest were messaged on Friday, and I didn't receive any messages. :'( We did not win! I hope someone I know wins at least. Good luck to everyone! The winners are announced today (Sunday) and 5 o'clock Pacific.

By the way: I'm back now! I was able to check on things once at the hotel, but they weren't the best computers and all of them were being used, then the internet crashed.


-Brooke ♥

Liberty Jane Contest

Here's the rest of our entries from the contest! These were our last minute videos. The summer design contest is over now, and there were over 500 entries! 520 to be exact. Brooke drew 9 designs in total. We don't have very good odds of winning, but I hope we, or at least someone we know well, will win! There's also 2nd and 3rd place prizes, which is nice. Good luck to everyone! The winners were messaged yesterday, and Brooke wasn't here. We'll just have to wait!

You can see our other entries here and here

~Avery~

Liberty Jane Designs

We made some new designs for the contest, and got around to scanning, uploading, making videos, etc.



I thought I'd share them with you!


This one is our absolute favorite. We're almost positive it won't win because of the print of the dress. Brooke's started working on our version of it, and has the skirt and part of the bodice/tank top part done. We just need to stitch them together to make our dress. It's made out of plain white fabric, and then we being the delicate embroidery process to make the swirl pattern. For the dots we're using French knots (yay, French! :P)

Here's another design. We're trying to make outfits that don't have much print, because it's almost impossible to actually match the print in the drawing to actual fabric.

Here's the next entry. I like this one, I would definitely wear it! I love the color yellow.

And last, but not least, is our hopeful entry. We think this one *might* have a chance of winning. Ivy would really like this!

Off topic, but tomorrow Brooke says she has a surprise for me...hmmmm, I wonder? Tomorrow's when I have to play my song. I'll be sure to make a *horrible quality* recording of it for you all!
I took down the poll asking if you liked the new layout. More than 1/2 of you liked it, and another good chunk of you said that it was okay, only a few didn't like it. I really like it because it has an old world, French feel. I added a new poll, about favorite historicals. I'm going to be doing some more with GOTY's and JLY's (that'll be a BIG poll) Be sure to vote!

~Avery~

Vacation, Couture Plans

By the time you read this, Brooke will be on vacation 3-5 of July. Being the resourceful girl that I am, I've found a way to post, even on the days she's not here! How, you ask? Scheduled posting, that's how!
Go to your post options when posting (at the bottom of the text box), then change the date and time to when desired. That's when you post will publish! Pretty "nifty", huh?
I won't be able to reply to any comments though. When there's no Brooke, there's no Avery. It's sad how much us dolls depend on humans... anyways!

Well, now that I've figured this out, I don't know what to post about :P
Couture is all that's been on my mind lately, and all I can think about posting about. I'm sorry if it's boring you, and getting repetitive! I never thought of myself as so fashion oriented. But now, I'm really getting into all of this!

Well, we've been drooling over so much stuff! But now, we have a plan:
We're focusing on getting the limited edition outfits now, while we can. We recently got Kit's Blue Bell Dress, and just in time before they sold out. We're going to get some modern outfits first, since their limited. We're planning on getting:
1) Melody Valerie Dainty Dots Dress
2) Melody Valerie Pink Party Dress
3) Liberty Jane Spring #7
4) Commissioned Liberty Jane outfit, similar to Summer #2??? (maybe)

Then we'll move on to historical things:
5) Ruthie's orange dress
6) Samantha Learns a Lesson dress
7) Nellie's floral Dress
8) Emily's purple dress

I'd post the pictures, but I just did in a post a few days ago.
We're not sure if this is the order we're getting them in, but for now this is it. We're probably going to order the Melody Valerie things once Brooke gets back from vacation. There's only one left in stock of each, and we don't want them to sell. Brooke says she won't order them until we're back because she doesn't want them to arrive when she's gone. But I know the real reason is she can't decide/justify getting 3 couture pieces so rapidly.

Well, there will be 2 other scheduled posts. One on the 4th and one on the 5th. Keep in mind I'm not actually online, so I can't read blogs, comments, etc.

Talk to you later,

~Avery~

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!