Showing posts with label Sarah. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Sarah. Show all posts

Sunday, May 7, 2023

The Dolly Crazy Tag!

I was tagged by Hailey at Hailey's Joyful Dolls. Thank you so much for the tag, Hailey. It took me a while to answer it, but it was fun. 

The Logo:

The rules: 

- Use the tag photo above.

- Answer all the questions truthfully.

-Tag 1-5 people.

- Link the creator/author, Viola Smiles

- Have Fun!

  What was your most embarrassing memory of your dolls?

I can't think of any. That is not to say that it hasn't happened...but I can't remember any particular time. I suppose I don't get embarrassed easily. I've had people walk past and glance at me when I am taking photos of my dolls outside, but I don't find that embarrassing. 

What do enjoy about your dolls/doll?

I like telling stories with them and taking photos with them. I like the unique features some dolls have: Carpatina dolls have detailed historical clothes, and Monster High dolls have cat ears or snake-hair. I also love the fact that dolls are something you can hug when you're upset and they don't judge you for it. 

What is your favorite memory of your dolls?

I remember looking at an old American Girl Doll catalogue for Sarah (the only catalogue I had, which was released at the time Felicity was retiring. At the time I had asked for Sarah, Felicity was already retired...so it was pretty outdated). And then I remember finding her and asking for her as a gift. 

Sarah was my first American Girl doll. 

Is there ever a time when you don’t like your dolls?

No, I haven't had that happen. I've had times where I worried I may dislike or give up interest in my dolls. But that never happened. 

Do you have a favorite picture of your dolls?

I'm going to cheat and answer with a few photos, since I don't have one favorite. 

This is one of my favorite photos of this doll of Legolas. (It originally came from this post.) I like it for many reasons: one is that I got this doll as a gift since I'm a fan of Lord of the Rings. (The obsession did not go away and instead morphed into me writing a novel about elves.) I also like it because at one point, a child of a friend of mine looked at it and said, "That's a real person." 


I like this photo also. It came from this photo shoot that I did for Halloween. I like the atmosphere of it. I had been playing around with camera filters at the time. 

And I also like this one. It was from this spring photo shoot. I like the angle that I took in this photo, and the portrait view it has. 

Has there ever been a time when you kinda forgot about your dolls?

There have been times when I forgot about my dolls briefly (but not purposefully, more that things were going on in my life). In 2020, I had so much happening that doll blogging seemed hard to do, so I only blogged seven times that year and inconsistently. 

When blogging about your dolls do you ever feel uninspired/out of ideas for the next post?

Yes, I have felt uninspired, several times. But I usually find inspiration by taking my dolls out for a photo shoot, doing a tag post, or something else along those lines. 

Off the top of my head I can't think of any active doll bloggers to tag who haven't already done this. So, if you want to do this tag feel free to do it. I'll be looking forward to seeing your answers. 😉

The questions: 
  What was your most embarrassing memory of your dolls?
What do enjoy about your dolls/doll?
What is your favorite memory of your dolls?
Is there ever a time when you don’t like your dolls?
Do you have a favorite picture of your dolls?
Has there ever been a time when you kinda forgot bout your dolls?
When blogging about your dolls do you ever feel uninspired/out of ideas for the next post?
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------Do you have a favorite photo of your dolls? Do you have any favorite memories of your dolls? 
-Quinley 

Friday, September 2, 2022

How Z & Sarah Became Friends | A Photo Story



Hi everyone, 

So you may want to know the backstory behind the photo I had you caption in What's Happening in This Picture? back in January. The short story behind it is very different than the winning caption. While I took the photos awhile ago, I figured it was time now to post the short story. This story has no correlation really to Red Coats on the Horizon, except for the fact that it features Sarah and Z, and it shows you how they met and became friends. 

But as for Red Coats on the Horizon, I do have plans to post the finale sometime in the near future. 

Let's begin: 

Sarah decided she needed a break from her sisters, who tended to come up with wild ideas, that she usually had to stop in some fashion, right now all she wanted was some time alone
 

She thought over what had been happening recently, with the plays her sisters had been putting on. 
New friends and relations...She felt her mind was overwhelmed, and she just wanted to listen to the sound of nature, so she did. 

She listened to the birds in the trees. She was certain she could hear crows cawing in the distance and wild-animals scampering around, however, the only thing she did not notice was...



Z!
Z was trying to film something for her YouTube Channel: 
"Hello. Z here. I have come to talk to all of you today about AG's newest doll releases, and what this means for the--" Z began, pressing record on her camera. 


Thump! 

Sarah and Z both collapsed onto the ground,  

Z stood up quickly, picking up her camera. She stopped it from recording and looked at Sarah. 

"Oops" muttered Sarah, looking over at the new girl. "Sorry that I photobombed your..." she paused, she had done more than photobombing Z's recording: she had disrupted it. 
"...Recording" Sarah finished.


The new girl laughed, "It's fine-- I mean, it was a bit surprising and it hurt a bit. But I'll have something to include in the bloopers of my video." 

"Oh" said Sarah. 

"If you want, of course." the girl added quickly, "I'm Z by the way..." 

"I'm Sarah--" 

"It's nice to meet you!" They shook hands. 



"So anyway, now that you're here-- I was wondering if you...like American Girl dolls and would be interested in discussing their newest releases with me. It was not my original plan to discuss it with someone, but...why not?" 

"All right. That sounds fun!" said Sarah... 


The Discussion- 


Z: Okay-- so now everyone meet Sarah. She is going to talk with me today about AG's newest releases-- 

Sarah: Yes, I'm very excited for this. 

Z: Alright, so...the first up is Claudie. She's the new historical character from the 1920s...

(Image from American Girl, https://www.americangirl.com/products/claudie-doll-and-book-hgy74)

Sarah: Her meet outfit is so cute, and I love her hair. 

Z: Agreed, I really want to own her dress now. And also her backstory sounds so interesting. 
Next up...Molly: 

(Image from American Girl, https://www.americangirl.com/products/molly-mcintire-doll-book-and-accessories-02bun117)


Sarah: I remember that they released a mini doll of her whose glasses were different. I'm glad they kept her old design, because it looks a lot better. 

Z: Yeah, her new Beforever Mini Doll glasses did look a lot more modern. Though honestly were glasses I wanted to wear.  

And lastly the new Wellie Wisher boy doll Bryant... 

(Image from American Girl, https://www.americangirl.com/products/bryant-doll-hhp70)

Sarah: He's...Okay. I don't know why, but I wish there was a Wellie Wisher with a dragon theme that was a girl. You know girls can like dragons too. 

Z: Yeah, the only ones they have that are interested in magical creatures are interested in "girly" ones, even though girls and boys can like whatever they want and really no creatures are "boyish" or "girly." 

Sarah: Agreed. It would be cool if there was a girl Wellie Wisher that liked dragons-- and a boy one liked unicorns that would be way more interesting.



Z: So, of all the new dolls which one is your favorite? My viewers want to know. 

Sarah: Uh, For me it's a tie between Molly and Claudie. But probably Molly-- if I were to pick only one, she's a classic. 

Z: Oh my favorite is Claudie, I love her hair and her outfits-- the whole 1920s theme is awesome-- way more awesome than Courtney who I feel should not be labeled 'historical.' 



Sarah: Anyway, I hope AG keeps bringing back dolls that were retired and also makes more historical dolls. 

Z: I do too. Thank you for coming on, Sarah! This was a fun video to make!

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Have you ever met a new friend in an unexpected way? What do you think of AG's newest dolls? 
-Quinley 


Thursday, January 20, 2022

What's Happening in This Picture? #6 ( + Winning Caption)

Hello everyone, 
I am happy to announce the winner for this round's What's Happening In This Picture: 

 CongratulationsElephant's Child at Elephant's Child you won this round! Here is the caption: 

Resuscitation is harder than it looks. The instructions on my phone made heart massage look simple...

                                      Now for a new photo to caption: 

What are Hermione (left) and Belle (right) doing? Why are they wearing the same clothes? Post your captions down in the comments below. 

-Quinley 

Saturday, January 1, 2022

What's Happening in This Picture? #5 ( My Favorite Captions + Voting)

Hello everyone, 

I had a lot of fun reading everyone's captions for this picture. 😃

And here are my favorite captions: 

Here are some of my favorite captions from this round of What is Happening in This Picture? Once again, if your caption didn't get chosen, please don't feel bad. I can only choose a small number of captions for each contest. Even if you don't get chosen this time, you will have a chance to leave another caption on the next one. 

Caption from Christine at Christine's Blog

Z: So much for action shots Sarah, let's call it a day.


Caption from Elephant's Child at Elephant's Child

Resuscitation is harder than it looks. The instructions on my phone made heart massage look simple...


Caption from AGBookWormz at The Bookworm Blog

Z: When you're done attacking me I'd like to finish this stopmotion.

You can vote for your favorite caption by either commenting down below or voting on this form (which leaves your vote anonymous): 

-Quinley 

Sunday, December 12, 2021

Meet My Dolls #1 (Sarah, Z, and Alfred)

 I have posted two of these stop motions before on my blog (one of them I made recently), but since they were at the end of blog posts rather than having a whole post dedicated to them, I decided to make a post dedicated to them.

 I am going to make more of these stop motions,  so this will be a series of short animations relating to getting to know my dolls better.  Also, as a quick reminder, you can still leave a caption on this round's What's Happening in This Picture? 

Let's begin: 

You can also watch it here

Here is Sarah's introduction. Sarah was my first American Girl doll, so I decided she was the perfect doll for the first stop motion. 

You can also watch it here 

The second is Suzanne "Z,"'s introduction. Given that Z is one of my favorite AG dolls, I thought she should be the next doll to make a stop motion of. 


You can also watch it here 

And finally (for this part), I did a stop motion of Alfred. Unlike Z and Sarah he is a Carpatina doll (in case anyone is wondering that is why he looks so different). 

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------Which stop motion was your favorite? 
-Quinley 

Friday, December 3, 2021

What's Happening in This Picture #5 (+ Winning Caption)

Hello everyone, 

I am happy to announce the winner of this round's What's Happening In This Picture?: 

Congratulations Hailey at Hailey's Joyful Dolls! You won this round! 
Here's the caption: 

Kit: Omg it's Sherlock Holmes, I Love your books Sherlock

Sherlock: What books?

Now for a new photo to caption: 

It seems something went horribly wrong...Why are Sarah (right) and Z (left) on the ground? 
          Was Z making a stop motion before this happened? And what is on Z's phone? Comment your                captions down below. 

-Quinley 

Saturday, July 24, 2021

The Mystery Blogger Award

 I was nominated by McKayla at Tales of a Triple Threat. Thank you so much, McKayla. 😀

Though the tag was originally meant for my creative arts blog, I felt that it fit my doll blog better. (The reason is, one of the questions related to stop motion animation, which is something I usually do with my dolls).

Also, if you got a random post in your feed that was deleted soon after, that was because I was claiming my blog on Bloglovin . I am so sorry for the inconvenience. BlogLovin' made it so I had to make a post on this blog with the code in order to claim it, and not simply paste the code anywhere else like a page. So, sorry about that. 

Anyway, on to the award: 

                                                                  The logo: 


The rules: 

1) Display the award logo on your blog.

2) Mention Okoto Enigma, the creator of the award.

3) Thank the blogger who nominated you and provide a link to their blog.

4) Answer 5 questions from the blogger who nominated you.

5) Tell your readers 3 things about yourself.

6) Share the link to your best post.

7) Nominate 10 – 20 bloggers and notify them that they are nominated.

8) Ask your nominees 5 questions of your choice, including 1 weird or funny question.

9) Continue the chain!!


Three (doll related) facts about me:

1. My first AG doll was Sarah (who is a Just Like You #39). 



2. I started doing doll customizations in 2016, though before that I had made Greek Goddess dolls (which I didn't customize but made the chitons and togas for). 


3. I really wish movie companies could make more dolls of their characters, given that a lot of the movies I tend to like only make action figures of their characters. 


My Best post(s): 

I don't have one specific post that I'd say I like more than others,

so here are some posts I had a lot of fun making: 

Red Coats on the Horizon (part 1): It Started With a Song

The White Lady (a lyrical photoshoot)

Custom Doll Project: Mermaid


1. [For fun] Have you ever stalked a fictional character?
"Stalked," meaning watched lot of episodes of a show's a season to get the episode they are in? 
Or staring at photos of them? I admit to doing both of these with a lot of fictional characters...

But how does one stalk a fictional character exactly? Do you stalk a fictional character by reading books about them? Or watching their movies or TV shows? If so, are we stalking characters all the time? 

I have so many questions about this!

2. Dream job?

I really want to open my own doll company one day and make dolls of my characters and characters from literature. And my doll company may have a mixture of 18 inch and Barbie doll sized dolls, though I'm not entirely sure how exactly they will look. 

3. Favorite dessert?
Cake and ice cream. 

4. Stop-motion or iMovie?
I do stop motion animations (of my dolls), and then I use iMovie to put the sequences together.       
So both? 

5. Do you like antiheroes?
Yes! I also really like morally gray characters. 


I nominate: 

My questions: 

1. Who is your favorite American Girl doll, and why? 
2. Do you like any other 18 inch dolls that aren't made by AG? 
3. What retired dolls do you think AG should bring back, and why? 
4. If you were to create an AG doll (or any other type of doll), what would your doll's story be? And what would your doll be like? 
5. If you could own any of the clothes that your dolls have in your size, which one would you like to have, and why? 

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
What's your favorite desert? And have you ever made stop motions with your dolls? 

-Quinley 

Wednesday, January 9, 2019

Red Coats on the Horizon (Part 2): The Plan



Hello everyone! Here is Part Two of Red Coats on the Horizon (You can read Part One here).
It was fun to write, and I hope you enjoy it, also...there is a surprise at the very end of the post not relating to the story ;) :




Elizabeth walked though the door of Mr. Merriman’s general store, 
she turned to Felicity, 
“Now we can talk.” she said, and walked to a corner of the room. 

Elizabeth remained quiet for a few moments but finally she said, 
“Felicity, I know this is a silly worry but—“ 
“—Elizabeth, if it made you nervous then it isn’t silly.” 
Elizabeth sighed, “very well, I’ll tell you what I saw…” Elizabeth looked down at 
at the floor and then after a few moments she blurted out,

I saw a British soldier or, Red Coat as some people call them, by your house, I don’t know what they were doing , but all I know is, I am worried about your family's safety. I know it’s silly…but your family are Patriots and mine are Loyalists. What if they suddenly decided to do something to your family because of their disloyalty to the king?!” 

Elizabeth then with tearful eyes brought Felicity into a hug. Felicity sighed, 
“Elizabeth I am sure it will be alright.” she said, though she wasn’t entirely 
confident about it.
What if something happened? And what on earth was those Red Coat doing? Though, she wasn’t sure she wanted to say that out to loud to Elizabeth? How would Elizabeth react if she wasn’t entirely confident about it? She had heard about some awful things happening to some colonists and she had heard that it was the red coats doing. So would that mean that something awful would happen to the Merrimans? 


--------------------------------------------------------- 
                 The next morning… 
Felicity ran through the forest, she didn’t care whether mud got on her dress or if the wind tangled her hair that she had taken out of her bonnet. 



She couldn’t wait to get out of the annoying dress, and go to the modern time, also known as…the 21st century. 


She ran up to a tree, looked around to make sure no one was watching her, 

and then lifted up her necklace. 



Within a few seconds she found herself standing by a different tree, she smiled and then tucked her necklace into her shirt. 



She then walked around the tree, still thinking how on earth was she supposed to find out what that Red Coat was doing? Whatever they had been doing it was not good, she was sure of that. 

Her thoughts were interrupted though, when she realized she was not alone, in front of her sat Z. 
“Hi Z!” she said.



Z turned around in a snap, her eyes widened as she saw Felicity, 
“Felicity! You scared me!” she inhaled and finally said, “What are you doing here?” 


“I thought I would enjoy the fresh air. What are you doing here?” 
answered Felicity. 
“Oh.” said Z, “I’m just filming a stop motion movie…” she looked over the doll standing in front of her, “I do still need to take some more shots though…” 
Felicity sat rather impatiently waiting for Z to finish taking the pictures. She wished she had the patience that Z had sometimes, but she couldn’t help it she was used to action. 

A few hours later… 
Felicity enjoyed the feel of the wind flowing through her hair, despite it’s coldness she felt comforted, and she felt as if she could forget about her troubles…


“So.” said Z, interrupting the peaceful feeling she had had “How have things been for you?” 
Felicity sighed, things were not going exactly well for that matter, there were Red Coats around, and she wasn’t sure how to deal with them. If she had the power to, she would snap her fingers and make them disappear but she didn’t have the power to do so. 
“Not well.” she answered. 
“Oh.” said Z, “what happened?” 
“I can’t exactly talk about it…it, is too personal.” answered Felicity. If she told Z about it, Z would find out she was a time traveller, and that would not be good. 
Z nodded, “but if you ever feel like talking about it—“ 
“I’m fine but thank you.” said Felicity quickly. 

 They were interrupted by voices, 

“Isabelle, this isn’t a 70s themed show—“ came a voice, 
“—But, still I do think that your outfit is in need of pink and flowers, and—“ 
“It’s a country show, Isabelle!” protested Tenney. 
“I know that, but anything looks better with pink and flowers, and ballerinas—“ said Isabelle. 
Tenney sighed. 

“Isabelle, I appreciate you trying to pick out an outfit for me. But I can do this myself—“ she began. 
“But you want to look perfect in the show, don’t you?” interrupted Isabelle. 
“If your definition of ‘perfect’ is pink and frilly, then no, but thank you Isabelle—“ began Tenney. 


Z walked up to them, and raised her eyebrows, “Tenney, Isabelle. What exactly is going on?” 
“She won’t let me choose my own outfit—“ said Tenney, 
“She doesn’t like the outfit I chose for her—“ 
“Oh.” said Z. 
“Yes, ‘oh’! I can’t believe it, flowers won’t work in a country music concert for some reason!” complained Isabelle. 

“It’s not that it doesn’t work, in general for country, it’s just that for this concert it won’t work.” explained Tenney, handing Isabelle back the flower headband. 


“Oh.” said Isabelle, who seemed rather annoyed, “well then I am sure I can think of another fashionable outfit for you.” 


“Maybe.” answered Tenney, “as long as it isn’t pink, okay?” 

“Okay! but what about jewels?” she asked. 
“I, um, I would need to see the outfit to decide.” answered Tenney. 
-----------------------------------------------------------------
Much later… 
“…I haven’t yet gotten out of songwriter’s block which is so annoying, I’ve tried to come up with ideas, I’ve even looked through my songwriting book but no ideas came!” said Tenney. 
Felicity nodded, “have you listened to other singer’s songs? Maybe you would come up to ideas that way.” 
“No, I haven’t.” said Tenney, “I probably should.” 

They continued on their walk,  and Tenney told them that she was frustrated because none of the ideas for songs that were in her songwriting book worked. 
“Perhaps…” said Felicity as they continued to walk, “you should wait for something to happen, and maybe if that thing happens an song idea will come.” 
Tenney looked at Felicity but before she could respond, she was interrupted by a sound of a car as it pulled up to them. Felicity looked over her shoulder to see Sarah sitting in the front seat of the car, 
“Sarah? What are you doing here I thought you were still working—“ 

began Z. 


“Well…” said Sarah,  getting out of the car “I came home early.” 


“Why?” asked Felicity. She was surprised,  Sarah did historical reenactments and there was going to be a big event at the plantation soon. 

Sarah smiled, “They seemed to like my idea about doing a booth about Deborah Sampson, so they suggested that I pretend to be her for them, and teach people facts about her.” 

“That’s amazing!” said Tenney, “But who is—“ 
“Deborah Sampson.” finished Sarah, “she is a woman who disguised herself as a man so she could fight in the American Revolution. Since not many people know about her, they thought it would be a good idea for me to teach people about her.”  


As everyone else was talking, an idea suddenly sparked into Felicity’s head. What if she did what Deborah Sampson did, but she would not join the Patriot army but…spy on the Red Coats!
Felicity was sure she could do it…and maybe while she did it, she could help Elizabeth feel better about what was going on. 



To be Continued.... 
----------------------------------------------------------- 
Who do you think was watching Felicity and Elizabeth? 

Love, 
Quinley 

P.S.  Here is the progress of how my Newt Scamander doll has been going: 

I used this photo as my reference, 
(Image from Harry Potter wiki, http://harrypotter.wikia.com/wiki/Newton_Scamander?file=NewtonScamander-Profile-crop.png) 
It was very hard to find yarn the color of Newt's hair, but I managed to find a color that worked even though it was not the exact color, 

As for the doll, it was very hard to find a boy doll with the same facial shape or features similar to Newt, so I used a girl doll. 




Next what I did was cut her hair:


And then after I cut most of the hair off, I began gluing on the yarn: 







Doing Newt's bangs was somewhat difficult, but I think it turned out well. 

Here is how Newt's hair finally looked when it was finished: 


I hoped you enjoyed this extra part of the post. I plan as I continue customizing Newt 
to post the progress of how I am doing it. It will appear at the end of posts, but once I finish Newt, 
I plan to put all the parts together into one big blog post.