Along the Shore

This spring, Mr. BTEG and I began to search for beach glass during some of our trips to the lake shore. Some of the pieces of glass are so tiny, that my 12" dolls can have their own collection.

I wanted to have the glass in the sunlight, so that the light made the glass sparkle, but this also made my photo not turn out as well as I would have liked. I guess I'll just keep trying to improve.

Here are some other interesting pieces of glass that Mr. BTEG, the Dancer, and I have picked up.

You can tell the part of the bottle from whence these pieces of glass came.

Some of the pieces of glass still have letters on them. This was probably part of the words "One Quart."

This glass has gotten extremely cloudy with time. I'm thinking the S. was part of U.S. Not sure what the W could be.

I like cloudy pieces of glass as something different from the plain clear pieces.

Not sure what this is, maybe from a Pyrex bowl. I couldn't get a good shot of it, but whatever this was, it was genuine.

There are lots of pieces of pottery or tile that wash up onto shore. There are also lots and lots of shells, although not very many large ones, due to being fresh water.

I have several pieces of very pretty blue glass. The dark blue is one the rarest, if not the rarest color for a beachcomber to find. I find it interesting that there are so many shades of blue.

Do you have any fun plans for the summer with your dolls?

6/26 I'm adding a picture of an ornament that I bought, made from beach glass, driftwood, shells, and I think some pottery.

On the Shore

Mr. BTEG and I took a vacation last week, to help relieve our depression and stress. We stayed at a cottage at Geneva-on-the-Lake, the oldest lakeshore resort in Ohio. There were six cottages in our little cluster, built in the 1930s. This is what ours looked like.

This is the view from outside our cottage, and the view from the sitting area window.

I wanted to get some pictures of some of my dolls soaking up sun by the lake. I chose to take Teresa and a BMR 1959 doll whom I've named Connor.

It was nice to get out of the house, and get away from everything for a while. I feel renewed, and I'm planning what doll things I'm going to do next.

Is This Thing On?

Once again, I have been visited by the black dog. I haven't felt like doing a lot, but I have made myself do a few things in the direction of putting up another doll post. However, I'm not completely there yet. So here, have a couple of pictures of Lake Erie at sunset.

Both my husband and I love the water, as do my daughters, and my in-laws. I'm sure the sun rises over Lake Erie too, but you couldn't prove it by me. XD

Ohio's mask mandate is being lifted on June 2nd. I'm hoping that will help improve my well-being.

Oh, here's something funny. My husband got two texts from our cell phone provider saying "Welcome to Canada!" while we were at the beach.

#SNAPSTAR Green Stand, and Barbie Comparison Photos

Boy, November really got away from me. I've been trying to get my Vitamin D intake and light box use at the right balance, and there were just too many days where I wasn't up to doing as much as I did during the summer. The BTEG family has also been busy with other things, including making six homemade pumpkin pies for Thanksgiving, but I'll talk about that after the doll stuff.

In the comments of my previous post, Rachael asked if the green stand would work with other dolls. I promised her I'd check the stand with one of my Cu-Poche dolls and let her know. I didn't think it would take so long, Rachael!

Looking at the two stands, you wouldn't think a doll could use both, would you? However, note that both stands have a round peg at the end, and that they are close in size.

Yes, my Cinderella Cu-Poche can actually use the green stand! Now, the green peg is very close to being bigger than the hole in the Cu-Poche back, so it's not a perfect fit, and thus the doll can fall off the green peg very easily. Then again, I haven't done a lot of photography with the white stand yet, so maybe Cu-Poche dolls don't stay on those that well, either.

Since the green stand does work with Cinderella, you know what I had to do.

I green-screened her onto a beach on my beloved Lake Erie, from a picture I took a few years back.

Here's some other examples of green screens I have done. These two are from last Christmas.

 I put Poppy skating into this picture of me taken on the ice many years ago.

And here are Madeline and one of her friends driving down a snowy road.

Lastly, here's a picture from the first chapter of my storyline, which I really need to get back to. I had to dress Hunter in clothes other than his customary green top, which would have disappeared right along with their green background. I do have blue screen capabilities too, but not a nice blue backdrop, at the moment.

Also in the comments, Dana asked if the #SNAPSTAR body could be used with a Petite Fashionista. Unfortunately, the answer is no. Dawn is very much shorter than the Petite Fashionista and the Skipper body, which I threw in for further comparison.

If you'd like to hear about the BTEG family Thanksgiving, continue below the fold.

Meg Checks Out the Beach and Hangs Out at the Park

I decided to have Meg's first photo shot at a local beachfront park. It didn't go as well as I wanted. The water was very choppy yesterday and the tide was high, so there wasn't much actual beach, at least where I was at. But I think just doing it, even if it didn't turn out perfectly, was enough for me to plan a next time.

Meg is wearing Barbie capris (on her, they are just jeans) and a top that I made for her.

Meg spends some peaceful contemplation time before we head down.

The waves crash on the shore.

Driftwood is very common on the local beaches. Meg leans on a piece for support as a wave covers her feet.

The park is named Veteran's Memorial Park, and so there are several memorial plaques for those who came from this little town, and died in service to their country.

Meg found a good place to perch behind a 105 Howitzer cannon that sits in the park. This is probably an original shell painted over. She also lets her feet dry off.

Meg reads the names on a WWI Memorial. Some of those names can still be found in the community.

And my favorite shot of the day. Meg just looks so happy to be outside in this nice weather.

I liked being outside in the milder autumn weather too! Meg and I will be going out again.

American Girl Doll Caroline

I got my American Girl Samantha doll in the mid-1990s. I loved her clothes, accessories, and time period. I never got the opportunity to pick up many of her accessories, since that was also when we were starting our family. And Samantha has been the only 18" girl doll that I have owned ever since. However, I found myself attracted to Caroline Abbott, who was released in 2012. After only three years, she's being archived, so I had to buy her now, if I was going to. And so Samantha finally got a friend.

One of the things that I liked about Caroline was her curly hair. The curls are not stiffly gelled, and so there's some frizzing of individual hairs not part of a curl. Stiff hair can be annoying, but I imagine this hair would not fare well with rough play.

When I part her hair, the back of the wig looks matted. I haven't investigated this too much yet, because I don't want to mess up her hairstyle. I could have sworn that I bought an AG wire hair brush at some point, but I can't find it. I know I need to get a proper wire wig brush to care for her  hair.

Here are Caroline and Samantha together. Caroline stands better than Samantha does, possibly because she does not have the overstuffed body of the Pleasant Company era. You have to balance the weight of Samantha's head against the weight of her torso, and balance both of those onto her legs, which weigh much less comparatively. Also, Caroline's limb joints seem stiffer. I don't know if that has to do with Samantha's age, or slightly different manufacturing. In any case, that also helps Caroline stand better.

A comparison of the new and older faces. The eyes look different to me. There is less white showing in Caroline's, which may account for it. Also, Samantha's eyebrows are solid lines, while Caroline's are feathered. Also, if you look at the picture below, you can see that there is a gap between Caroline's neck, and her stuffed body.

Samantha's neck and body come together much cleaner. Is this gap common with the newer AG dolls? If you have a newer AG doll, does she have this gap?

One of the things which drew me to Caroline specifically was her outfit. It's fairly true to her time period of 1812, and for some reason, it really appeals to me. Mini Caroline is also one of my favorite minis. Here is Caroline holding Mini Caroline.

One of the advantages that American Girl has in making clothes for the mini AGs, is that they have a factory where they can order things like a smaller scaled version of the ribbon sash around Caroline's waist. Looking closer, though, the eyelet embroidery on the hem of the girls' pantaloons looks to be the same size, although Caroline's is a lovely bright white. Poor Mini Caroline's fabric looks yellowed in comparison. And here's a short few paragraphs talking about the difference between pantaloons and pantalettes. I'm not sure if these specifics applied as far back as the Regency, but I'm using them here.

One of the things that I wish had been done differently with Caroline's story was having it take place somewhere besides New York state. This is not only because there are now three AG historicals who come from New York (the other two being Samantha and Rebecca), but because Lake Erie was home to an important naval battle during the War of 1812, that being the Battle of Lake Erie. If you are from the US, you may recognize a famous quote from this battle, by then master commandant Oliver Perry: "We have met the enemy and they are ours." Caroline's story does revolve around her father's shipyard, but there was also a great deal of important ship building in Erie, PA. I'm biased myself, because I love Lake Erie and its history, but really, AG, we did not need another doll from New York state. :)

In Cleveland, the War of 1812 and Commodore Perry are still remembered, in various ways. :)

Here's a question for you: if a historical doll's history was set in your home area, what notable period of time could she live in? Cleveland was important in the industrialization period of the mid to late 1800s, and many of these industrialists lived at various times on Euclid Avenue in Cleveland. Known as Millionaire's Row, it was at one time called the most beautiful street in America. Our girl's story could focus on a specific industrial advancement, or even touch on monopolies. (!) Or maybe in the mid 1900s, an American Girl's father could be involved in medical advancements at the Cleveland Clinic. Tell me your story ideas!