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.

100th Post!

I'm terrible at remembering blogiversaries, but since Blogger shows you what number post you're about to write, it's easy to keep track of numbers. Since this is my 100th post, I decided to create collages of pictures from previous posts. I also have a small list of things I'd like to do as the blog moves forward.

1. Be creative! I want to sew doll clothes more often, but I also also want to try painting furniture, and even building a few kits that I have. (They're a secret!) Some disappointing results in the past, and fear of trying new things, have put me off painting and building. I'm ready to try again.

2. Get outside! Now that I have a travel doll, I'd like to get more outdoor shots, and also take her along to places that I visit.

3. Better pictures! I'm almost done clearing out my sewing area/doll display space (they're in the same room.) I still won't have a dedicated space to pose dolls for pictures, but I'm hoping I'll be able to set up backdrops without so much shuffling things around. I could also use some lights specifically for picture taking, but I don't see those in the budget anytime soon.

I'm thankful to all my readers/commenters for reading my posts! I hope that you will all stick around for the next 100!

Makie Doll with 3-D Printed Body

Honestly, when the Makie dolls were first debuted, they were ugly to me. I also had no desire for an alien, elf, or troll doll, which is what Makies looked like to me. Since then, the doll has gotten a new face mold, and I've seen a lot of pictures who looked more like Blythe or Pullip dolls: big heads, big eyes, a stylized look for certain, but also cute and human. Since each Makie doll is custom made on a 3-D printer, based on the look you design online, my doll didn't have to have pointy elf ears that stuck out, or an over-sized mouth. I could get something more aesthetically pleasing to me.

At the same time, recently I've been looking for a travel doll, one who would pose nicely on trips and outdoors, not too large, and also one who wouldn't demand a lot of furniture and clothes and room for herself indoors. (Do you know how demanding some dolls can be?) A Makie doll was on the possibilities list, but it was a post from Ghouliette at Dollsville, USA, that made me decide. Makie doll bodies are no longer 3-D printed, but instead are injection-molded plastic, which is sturdier and less expensive. So they were selling out the 3-D bodies, within the space of a couple of weeks. Even better, if I ordered in time, I could try a 3-D printed body for the new, lower price. I can always order a Makie on the new body, but I decided to give the 3-D body a try before they were gone. I designed my doll on the Makie website, and placed my order. I haven't been as excited to get a package in a while as when I got the FedEx envelope and realized that it was holding a tube, and that my Makie doll must be inside. So now, meet Meg.

She came packaged in a sturdy tube.

Hi! I have the feeling I'm not in England anymore.

Just hangin' around...

A mane of soft red hair

More pictures, include nekkid dolly ones, below the fold.

At Long Last, the Liebster Award

Presto tagged me for this award ages ago, and I feel guilty, because I've had blogger's block lately. I also have no idea who to tag for this. Eleven people is a lot to tag, and most of the bloggers I know have already been tagged for this. So I'm going to answer the questions, finally, and let it go. :)

1. What kinds of toys got you into collecting and customizing? 
Barbie got me into collecting, when I started buying them as an adult. I don't really do customizing, yet. I'm actually seriously considering passing off painting to my youngest daughter. She does a fantastic job painting miniatures for Pathfinder games, so I think she'd be a natural. I do have a Belle doll that has had part of her lip paint rub off; I keep meaning to make this my daughter's first doll project. :)

2. What's the coolest way you've repurposed something to work on/with one of your projects?
Oh dear. I haven't really done this, either. At least, not as an adult. As a kid, I had the Sunshine Family dolls, and they were all about making sofas out of milk cartons and dressers out of matchboxes. I've turned bookcases and shelves into diorama roomboxes as an adult, but lots of people do that.

3. Sonic or Mario?
Mario! Although my daughters regularly smoke me at MarioKart.

4. What do you do to find inspiration?
Since my doll projects involve sewing, I look at all kinds of clothes, from historic to modern, for real people and for dolls. My Pinterest account is mostly dedicated to clothes for inspiration.

5. What time period would you most like to live in, other than the modern one?
The turn of last century. There were still beautiful, elaborate clothes, but things I like having, like indoor plumbing, were also becoming more common.

6. When has a project just made you give up? Why?
As far as sewing projects, I've given things up when I try to create a pattern for something over and over, but can't get it to look the way I want. I've also tried knitting a blanket for a doll bed, and given up on that three times. One was when the pattern wasn't written correctly, and it took me several tries to realize the pattern was wrong, and not me. By that time, I was sick of the whole thing. One was a lacy blanket that was enjoyable to work on, but every time I made a mistake, I couldn't figure out which row was which when I unraveled. Lastly, I tried a pattern where I just couldn't get past the first few rows without making a mistake. I'm using the wrong yarn or something, at least for me, I think.

7. What's the most versatile tool in your arsenal?
Well, my sewing machine, definitely. But when I have to do hand sewing, my best go-to item is not a tool, but a book.

 Not only are there all kinds of stitches in there, but the directions are just right for me!

8. When has a project surpassed your wildest expectations? How?
I don't know that I will ever make anything that surpasses my wildest expectations. I'm a perfectionist, which means I can always look at something and say, "I could have done that better." I'll show you a picture I made for a contest, where I wanted 16" Gene to look like she came from 1907. I ended up happy with this one, because I thought the silhouette and general style were pretty much 1907. I drafted the pattern and made everything myself, including the hat.

9. What's your all-time favorite movie?
The Wizard of Oz. And somehow, doll manufacturers do seem to come up with some unique takes on the movie costumes, now and then.

10. What's a skill you want to learn someday?
Painting plastic furniture. Especially the extra touches that make an item really pop and look realistic.

11. If you could live in a fictional universe, which one would you pick?
Does Narnia count? I mean, Earth-as-we-know-it is part of that universe, but Narnia is its own place.

If for some reason I missed you being tagged, and you want to play, email me and I will give you eleven questions!

More OG Lori products, plus an outfit review. Also a brief appearance by mini Kirsten Larson

Mr. BTEG and I were hanging out together in another part of town, when he mentioned that he wanted to go to Target. What a coincidence, because I wanted to go to Target as well, to look for more OG Lori stuff! I did indeed find some new things, so I have so more pictures for you. There doesn't seem to be much out there about this line yet.

A doll with dark skin, and black hair in a bun, plus a girl with Asian features. And yet another dance outfit, bringing the total up to three dolls in dance outfits, that I have seen. I'm looking forward to seeing what the ballet studio will look like. That green furry skirt, though!

 A classic peacoat look here, done in red. Plus a dog to take for walks.

I think both of these dolls have made appearances elsewhere on the internet, but they were in the store, so I took a picture. The neck joint of the doll on the left looks odd. Also, her name is Lori. Brown-eyed blonds, like the one on the right, seem popular with collectors.

 This doll was pictured yesterday, but I got a better picture today. I love the ruffled trim on her skirt.

I also got better pictures of the individual outfits, and I have a better feel for why I don't quite like them. The fabric of the animal coat, plus the fur trim, just looks cheap. Also, I don't get the blue purse with this outfit. There's some sort of headband that goes with this outfit, but I don't know what it's supposed to be.

With this outfit, it's not just that the fur trim on the boots is plastic; it's also that the white especially stands out when everything else in the outfit is cream. The trim being plastic just makes it look worse, in my opinion, making it stand out even more. The rest of the outfit has good casual pieces, though.

Everybody seems to love the camper. I like it myself. So I took the time to open the little camper door this time, and take a picture with the light turned on. It is over the kitchen unit, but you could use it for a little bedtime reading, as well, while listening to the music of the crickets and frogs. The light makes the camper look extra cozy. On the down side, the pillows on the bed look thin, and the blankets won't cover a doll well.

 Outfit review plus mini Kirsten pictures below the fold.

Our Generation Mini-Dollapalooza at Target

Mini versions of established doll lines have been increasing in popularity, manufacturer after manufacturer getting in on the wave. Madame Alexander Travel Friends are not a mini version of a larger doll, but still a small play doll. There are mini Lalaloopsy dolls, Moxie Girlz, American Girls, Corolle dolls, Kidz and Cats, and Our Generation dolls. They're a great choice for economical doll play, which is probably driving some of the popularity. Now Our Generation has stepped up the mini doll game with a new line, Lori by OG. There are new dolls, new outfit sets, a camper, a home with a loft bedroom, and more!

Let me start with pictures of the new dolls first. A couple of the pictures are blurry; I was in a bit of a hurry. I spend too much time at Target as it is! There are a couple of dolls in dance clothes; there was a space on the shelf for a ballet studio, but it wasn't out on the shelf yet. Dolls with extra accessories seem to cost slightly more, but they're still a good price.

Here's the two outfits that were out. Lovely lace! is a cute outfit, but the white "fur" around the top of the boots is plastic and to me it throws the outfit off. I spot you! is, um, interesting. A spotted fake fur jacket and buffalo check pants? No. Just no. I still have hope for future releases. Individual outfit sets certainly are a nice thing to have, although they don't always sell well.

Let's move on to the camper, or as it says on the tag, a glamper. Glamorous camper, maybe? Ugh. Anyway, the camper looks full of play value, with two beds, a table with booth style seating, and a small kitchen area, with some cooking pieces included. There's also a small camping lantern, and it appears there are parts of the camper that light up. Probably above the kitchen, or maybe above the beds for a little reading before bed. I didn't take the time to study the interior too hard.

The crown jewel of this line is the house. It's got a built-in kitchen, with a bar and a few stools. As you can see in a picture above, there's also a separate bed and dresser set for the loft bedroom, and I think the last flight of stairs goes up to a rooftop patio. The herringbone fabric for the blanket is an interesting choice, but it does kind of fit in with the diamond pattern on the pillows and the dresser, I guess. I would have gone with flowers. :)

Not only do small dolls offer play value for a much lower price than their bigger counterparts, the extra benefit of play sets for the smaller dolls, like this camper and house, is that they take up far less space than the OG camper for the 18" set, or a house for the larger doll. It's interesting to me how the 18" doll grew to be so ubiquitous in the doll world, and now manufacturers are taking that 18" paradigm, and turning it on its head. I'm interested to see where this goes.

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!