Photography Feature

Art Photography/Color Select

Experimenting with some new editing techniques today, and posting some long over due photos! I stumbled across this picture, and used it as an inspiration for my own AG version.

It kinda looks like the eye is messed up, but it is just the way the light happened to fall. I had fun with this shoot though, it's a bit more artsy than other things that I have done before, and I've never really used a pre existing photograph for inspiration before.
-Brooke

Summer

Summer is here soon! You know what that means? MORE TIME TO POST! Sorry for being non-existent. :)

Rosenbrock Academy Orientation

I accepted the invitation to visit Rosenbrock for an orientation, meeting teachers, students, and looking around the campus. I went this Friday (5/28/10) and it actually went very well! I was shown around by Emma Adani, eighth grade student council president, Katie Kennedy, president of the Nation Junior Honor Society Rosenbrock Chapter, and Elle Sanders, president of Student Activities committee. The assistant principal, Miss Finley, also accompanied us on the tour.

Emma Adani

Emma: president of Rosenbrock's student council, and possibly the United States some day. She truly is the 'go-to' kind of girl, very loyal and reliable. From spending the day with her, I could tell she's very organized and on top of things all of the time. Emma is very helpful and gave me a lot of tips if I ended up coming to Rosenbrock. She loves to help out where ever she can and is very involved in the school and its many organizations and activities.

Katherine "Katie" Kennedy

Katie: president of NJHS and one of the most genuinely nice people I have ever met. She has a very happy demeanor and is extremely friendly. Katie talks a lot and is great at getting people into conversation. Even though we were basically complete strangers, she made me feel like I was her best friend.

Hazelle "Elle" Sanders

Elle: president of the Student Activities committee, and though not as personable and charismatic as Katie, she really knows how to handle things well. Elle's in charge of everything from sports teams, to the school paper, to the various clubs. She is bluntly honest and tells it like it is. Elle isn't quite mean, but doesn't sugar-coat anything. The truth hurts, I supposed, and she warned me of a few things at Rosenbrock.

Miss Jane Finley

Miss Finley: assistant principal at Rosenbrock and one of those teachers that are strict, yet nice. She doesn't tolerate nonsense, but is very nice if you stay on her good side. She taught English for twenty years before coming to her current position. She cares a lot about her students and wants the best for them.

Avery-Marie "Avery" Voisin

Avery: also known as me, the potential, brainy, new girl. After seeing Rosenbrock, I'm really not sure what to think. Mondale's still great... but things here aren't half bad, either.

Still thinking,
~Avery

Rosenbrock Orientation

As stated in my previous post, I got an invitation to attend a new boarding school, called Rosenbrock, next year. They sent out an additional letter last Wednesday, saying that I could have an orientation Friday while school is still in session and meet some teaches, classmates, and see the building before making my decision.

The said the 8th grade student council class president, Emma Adani will be showing me around, along with Katherine Kennedy, president of the National Junior Honor Society, and Hazelle Sanders, president of the Student Activities committee.

I'm still not sure what I'm going to choose. Rosenbrock seems so nice, but all my friends are here at Mondale.

-Avery
(sorry for the lack of posts)

A Letter For Avery

Mondale Preparatory Academy For Girls
c/o Avery-Marie V. Voisin: Dorm 12A
4597 Holland Lane
Yorkshire, MI 49123

Miss Voisin,
Officials in attendance at Mondale's annual eighth grade science fair were highly impressed by your experiment and research on the Leidenfrost Effect and your award of first place. Upon further investigation, we spoke to your counselor, Miss Jennifer Neil, who, legally, gave us a bit of information on you. We also were in contact with a few of your teachers, who spoke very highly of you, Avery.

With your outstanding academic performance and grade point average, not to mention your activity in the school band program, student council, soccer team, and Nation Junior Honor Society, we would like to cordially invite you to attend Rosenbrock Academy for your ninth grade year.

Rosenbrock is also a boarding school only about twenty miles from Mondale. It is an advanced academy for the academically gifted. We would be honored to have you attend on a full ride scholarship. Rosenbrock can challenge your mind, extend your learning, and help you to be the best that you can be.

Rosenbrock has an excellent mathematics and science department headed by Dr. Terry M. Gold, a graduate of the University of Michigan. There is also an English and Literature program, headed by Miss Nancy J. Simonds, of the University of Phoenix, and a History department lead by the Mr. Jason L. Douglas. Our music program has been recognized nationally for our streak of Division One's at competitions, and the conductor, Mr. Dylan W. Lolan, of Western University, has been in the field for over twenty-five years. There are many successful sport organizations, art and foreign language classes, clubs, and other student activities.

We have much to offer here, and would love for you to consider our offer. Please be in contact, and we can sort this out with yourself and family members.
-James K. Palmers (5/16/10)
Principal

Avery here, and I know not what to say. This letter arrived this morning. Could I be leaving Mondale...for good?


*The address and names in the post are completely fictional, and not meant to represent any real places or people. If, by chance, they are accurate, it is by pure coincidence. The names of the Universities, however, are not fictional, but the graduates are not meant to signify any real people.

Spring Time

A glance outside from the window, you see partial sun, green grass, seemingly nice weather. Step outside, and there's fifteen mile per hour winds, a temperature of forty degrees, and foreboding, dark rain clouds in the distance. Are you sure it's spring?

The dolls had been dying to get outside, so I had scheduled a "spring party" outdoors with the new picnic table this weekend. Unfortunately, on the account of rain, the spring party was transferred indoors. Though inside, Sonali, Gwen, Nicki, Emily, Marisol, Ruthie, Mia, and Jess still had a good time. They talked, ate cookies, and played games. The silly girls even began singing! :P



It figures that the rain stopped as soon as the party was coming to a close. Either way, I wasn't complaining. Everyone quickly headed outside to splash in puddles and pose for some photos.

You can see all the spring photos here. The pictures included in the post are just a teaser :)
Models:
-Ruthie Smithens: Electric Turquoise Drawstring Dress by The Heritage Clothesline
-Nicki Fleming: Eyelet Spring Dress by The Heritage Clothesline
-Jess McConnell: Precious Pink Party Dress by Melody Valerie Couture
-Sonali Matthews: Dainty Dots Dress by Melody Valerie Couture
-Gwen Thompson: Chrissa's Meet Dress by American Girl
-Emily Bennett: Kit's Blue Bell Dress by The Heritage Clothesline
-Marisol Luna: Flower Garden Dress by American Girl
-Mia St. Clair: Chrissa's Sundress Dress paired with Sonali's Meet T-Shirt by American Girl

As you may or may not notice, we have two new dresses from the Heritage Clothesline. Micah does an amazing job, the quality, customer service, and price are great. The Electric Turquoise Drawstring dress is shown on Ruthie, and the Eyelet Spring dress is shown on Nicki. A big thank-you to The Heritage Clothesline!

Thanks for reading,
-Brooke

Sorry for not posting

Sorry for being absent lately, I haven't updated in over a week! D:
Just wanted to drop by and let you all know that I'm still alive.
There should be pictures coming soon, I promise!

Adventure in the Woods

circa April, 1854*

Lina and Kirsten quickly scampered outdoors, having just finished their chores. The two were practically inseparable when they were together, though they usually couldn't spend much time playing. Lina lived on the farm over from the Larsons and worked as a servant girl with her family. She was busy on the farm and had to work most of the time. The Larsons' neighbor, who owned the farm, was Johnathon Rhodes, a rather mean old man. He didn't let Lina off of chores very easily. The two still maintained their friendship, though, and were now, on a rare occasion, off to play.

It was a beautiful day, and they walked over the field, which was dotted with colourful wildflowers. The two girls giggled and picked the blooms as they approached the woods. They made their way into the cool shade and cover of the trees where reality seemed to disappear. After slipping off their boots and stockings, Lina and Kirsten splashed in the creek and played various games during the sunny afternoon. Too bad it couldn't always be this simple...
~*~*~*~*~

*As stated, this short story (which is poorly and quickly written) takes place in the 1850s. Sorry for the mild hints of slavery/servantry (more servant than slave!). I don't mean to offend anyone or get political, etc.
Minnesota, where Kirsten is said to live in the stories, was technically a free state, but it wasn't admitted into the Union until 1858. With its admittance to the Union, it was a free state, but I supposed there could have been some form of slavery or at least servants years prior. I have been writing about Lina and Kirsten on/off for a while, and thought I'd share.

Happy Earth Day! :D
-Brooke
PS: Sorry for the other dolls/myself taking over Avery's blog. I promise she IS alive, though there hasn't been any photos of her (and many others) since Valentine's Day... :( My poor, neglected dolls!

The Crafitness Continues: Picnic Table

I may not be very good at sewing, but I do well with wood, haha! For some reason I've been feeling extremely creative lately, and decided to make my own version of Chrissa's Picnic Table.

With some scrap plywood, glue, nails, screws, and green/white paint I was able to make a pretty good rendition of the table, adding my own touches and adjusting measurements as well. It may not be perfect, and turned out a little smaller than I would have liked, but still, not too bad. I think it is pretty good for a quick afternoon project, and the dolls are glad to have a new table.

Since I've had zero spare time, a photo shoot will probably not be happening all that soon, but I just thought I should post. A spring party will be in the hopefully near future.

Liberty Jane Patterns Take 2: Military Green Modeled By Amelia St. Clair

Our second shirt was made in a green fabric. I thought it was more of a military green, but possibly it's more olive colored. In the photos it looks almost gray, but in person it has much more of a green tone. Either way, it's another colour not used much by American Girl, so I'm glad to be able to add it to the dolls' wardrobe.

Anyways, all I can say about the second shirt is that it was a lot easier to make. The mint shirt took me about three to four hours (yeah, pretty sad), but this one only took an hour and half. I was able to fix the neckline, the sleeves came out better, there was no 'ruffle', and overall it turned out really nice. The fit on this version is better, too. I think it helped that I actually tried it on the doll as I was sewing :P There was only one careless mistake made, so I'm very pleased with this!

I know these shirts probably look extremely amateur and mediocre, especially to all you seamstresses out there, but I'm extremely proud of them since it's basically my first time making doll clothes, and they actually look good!

I immediately chose Mia to model this because of her pretty hazel eyes. They go great with the colour of the shirt. We paired the shirt with some distressed Liberty Jane jeans, flip flops, and accessorized with a blue necklace. I actually made the necklace last night as well. The beads were incredibly small, but it looks very nice.Both shirts turned out surprisingly well. I'm actually kind of amazed at how good they actually look! There's a lot of people to thank for the recent inspiration, including Libby/Nicki, Rose, Melody Valerie, and Sitara, among others. And of course, a HUGE thank-you to Liberty Jane for the pattern. It fun, easy to follow, and there were great results!