Pencilbox .feat Blue Skies

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Pencilbox .feat Blue Skies or just .feat Blue Skies is a story in which I have modern dolls that stand in as the characters.

The original story of Pencilbox is a bit dark at times, and has much heavier themes in it, which I felt was not entirely appropriate for the world I wanted to portray with the dolls. Inspired by other “takes” on main stories that turn them a bit more light-hearted, I opted to do the same for the story in which my dolls are standing in. It also gives me the chance to flesh out their characters a bit more, and makes it into a writing exercise.

So all the characters and their main relationships with each other are still the same. But the plot is greatly changed.

Please look forward to more news on .feat Blue Skies!

Just minor modifications

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So I am just writing to post some updates this blog will be experiencing.

First, I am back to blogging, since the semester is almost over. Yay!

Next, I modified the Dolls page a bit. I am only going to be listing dolls that I am actively collecting for. I decided first to concentrate only on collecting for Kirsten, Addy, Cecile and Marie-Grace. So I am letting go of Samantha’s things, but still am keeping the doll. I am done collecting for Felicity in terms of what I wanted from her collection.

* mean they have been customised to some extent.

So overall, I consider myself to have the following historical collections:

  • Felicity (complete)
  • Kirsten (still collecting for)
  • Addy (still collecting for)
  • Marie-Grace (still collecting for)
  • Cecile* (still collecting for)

I also have the following Historicals, but only the dolls:

  • Josefina
  • Samantha
  • Rebecca*

And I also have the following GOTY (someday, I will explain that story):

  • Nicki
  • Jess

Other News

So I will be mainly concentrating on two aspects right now.

#1 is working on my modern story. I will explain more in another post, but pretty much it is a light hearted take on my original story from which the characters are from. This is a writing exercise for me, which is in part for me to better flesh out their characters. Also that means building up their modern wardrobe, which applies mostly to Leah (Rebecca), Catharine (Jess), Annie (Josefina), and Alex (doll TBD).

#2 is collecting for Marie-Grace and Cecile. I decided that Marie-Grace did not 100% fit my character for Alex, but I do not have another doll that fits Alex, nor is their one that particularly stands out as fitting Alex. So Alex is on hold, and Marie-Grace is back to being good old Marie-Grace. I also now have Cecile* (she has brown eyes since I dislike hazel). Now it is a matter of starting to buy some of their outfits, and maybe accessories? Luckily, their collection is not too big.

Alright, til next time.

Cannot Wait Until Free Shipping

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I am anxiously awaiting for the free shipping code. While there are many things I would love, I realise more than ever that I just cannot buy everything.

So I plan on only getting one thing during the Spring free shipping. And that is Rebecca.

If by a miraculous chance, i can sell more of my stuff I hope to sell, than yes, I could always purchase perhaps an outfit. But otherwise, I am more than happy to simply just get a doll, as the character Rebecca will be has a wardrobe awaiting her.

Anyway, life has been hectic, so sorry for the lack of updates.

You modify as time goes on …

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I think there are a few things I have especially realised since getting back into collecting.

Initially, I thought I would just collect all the historical dolls and their meet accessories, since that was basically what I did as a child. But as much as I tried, some Historical Characters and their dolls just do not interest me. Some I do not care for their time period or the doll – Julie and Cecile. Others I like their story, but do not like the doll – Kit and Kaya. And some I like the doll, but am iffy on their book characters – Rebecca.

Being that the dolls are expensive, I am not going to spend precious money on something I do not like. As a result, I am not going to buy dolls that I just do not like such as Julie and Kaya.

I was then thinking, oh yes, I will buy stuff for my older dolls, because I loved them as a child. But as I began to accumulate items, I realised I did not particularly like every collection.

Each collector has a different style of collecting. And as I have gone along, I now realise more or less what my style is.

My Collecting Style

First and foremost, I do not plan on buying every doll. I have to like her character and doll itself to find it worth purchasing. Exceptions apply if I find a doll that I am on the fence with perfect for another character I have in mind.

Second, I will only collect the for the dolls whose collections I actually like the most. After carefully looking at what I currently have, and what I would really really love to get, I will only continue to collect for Samantha, Addy and Kirsten, but only items I particularly want from their collections. I also plan on collecting a bit more of Kit’s collection, but as for having the actual doll itself I am undecided on.

Thirdly, do not bias against modern. This especially came about after I realised how the dolls could stand as models as I write my story out. I probably would have not looked at Marie-Grace, Rebecca or Ivy otherwise (mind you, Rebecca and Ivy are not here yet), nor would I have come up with new characters without putting my current dolls in modern clothes. While I have no plans of doing photo stories, placing them in scenes as I write is definitely helping me develop that characters and personalities with much more depth than before.

Finally, take time to enjoy what I have. I plan on changing that scenes I have set up on the spaces on my bookshelf and one end table periodically.

The numbers of dolls I have is medium – I know of collectors who have 20+ dolls, and some who have 5 or less. With 8 at the moment, plus two more in the future, I feel rather content at that level, as each doll has a character, and none are neglected. I do think i may still trim here and there yet, but after selling a couple of dolls that just did not seem to fit, as well as some outfits, this has made my collection feel less overwhelming.

A Preview of Plans

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It is interesting how I state I will do X in 2012, but when 2012 hits, plans change quickly.

Originally, my goals consisted of buying a brand new Kit doll, and concentrating on buying historical accessories and seamstress-made outfits. Well the buying seamstress-made outfits is the only one that I have kept on my list. I have recently placed an order for enough mix and match pieces to make 4 outfits with All Dolled Up, with pieces in mind for specific modern characters.

The Girls of Pencilbox

So a brief background – about 8 years ago, I came up with a story called Pencilbox that I was going to draw out in manga style, that mixed fantasy with school life. I am still writing it, but after designating Marie-Grace as Alex, and having her dress in modern clothes, I realised my cast of characters was sorely lacking female characters. I had only three established originally – Alex, Chrissy and Katie. Looking at Alex dressed in modern clothes and posing her with some AG furniture I already have, I realised that dressing up these dolls, and setting up mock scenes would be a big help to completing my story. As a result, I now have plans on ordering two dolls which one I was considering anyway, and the other I did not consider at all, but they fit what I have in mind for these characters in terms of their physical appearances.

Since this is not a rush, I plan on waiting until free shipping to purchase, but definitely this year I would like to get the Rebecca doll to be Chrissy and the Ivy doll to be Katie. I really am not a fan of the original characters these dolls represent, but as my own characters, they are absolutely perfect. I was hemming and hawing on Rebecca last year, and decided that perhaps I would just not buy her, until I had some other character in mind. I then was pulling out my old manuscripts, and the more I looked at Chrissy’s character, the more I could see Rebecca as her, with her medium length curly hair with no bangs. As for Katie, I needed a doll that had dark hair and dark eyes, specifically to contrast Alex’s (Marie-Grace’s) lighter hair colour and blue eyes. The more I looked at Ivy, the more I could see her as a somewhat mysterious character, which is what Katie is.

So Katie and Chrissy’s “Meet oufits” have been placed, and it is just waiting on free shipping to buy the dolls. As to whether I get them both in Spring or buy one in Spring and the other in Fall I have not decided yet. It will likely depend on if I can sell more items to make the money for them, since I rather use money I get from sold items to buy doll stuff then use other money.

I also came up with two new female characters as well, using dolls I already own. Both are a bit more secondary or minor compared to Alex, Chrissy and Katie, but they will help overall in the story telling. Kirsten will stand in as Marina, a German girl who really only makes one appearance, but an important appearance regardless. Josefina will be Annie, a background character, but one that appears frequently.

Kit and More Historical Collection?

As for getting Kit and more of the historical collections, that is on hold for now. For some reason, I am having a hard time liking the Kit doll. I love her collection, her time period, and her book character, but I just cannot get into the doll. I am thinking it may be my dislike for blonde dolls, having so many blonde Barbie dolls growing up. Maybe someday I will get over this, but for now, it does not seem likely.

As for accessories, most of what I want is retired already, and as I recall one person putting it, it is not going to get any more retired. So whether I scour eBay today or in another five years, the item is still a retired item, and I doubt the price is going to change that dramatically.

The Historical Story

I do have a historical story set in 1812, but I may put that on hold for a bit. Mainly, I am not debating on whether Kanani really fits my image for Emma or not. Elizabeth as Claire I am about 95% okay with.

Anyway, that is where I am right now. Hope to post pictures in another couple of months with the dolls in their outfits!

Straightening Marie-Grace’s Wave

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I really do love the Marie-Grace doll a lot. But I also wish to expand Mare-Grace to also her modern persona, Alex, which meant her double braids had to go.

Marie-Grace's double braids

A lot of reviews at American Girl mention how to NOT take the braids out. The main problem is that the factory braids leave a permanent wave in Marie-Grace’s hair, which can look awkward with half her hair straight and the sides wavy.

The Wave

I scoured AG Playthings for a solution, and settled on the flat-iron method to straighten out the waves. Note, I have never done anything this crazy to any of my dolls before, so I was a nervous wreck.

The Flat-Iron Method

I used a ceramic flat iron for the straightening. Mine is a Remington. I used the lowest temperature setting possible on this model, which is 300 degrees F.

Remington Flat Iron

The important thing is to keep the hair soaking wet. Do not go too close near the scalp, however. You do not want to get water onto the doll’s face or in her eyes.

For Marie-Grace, I first undid her braids, and brushed them out, wetting them a bit to make brushing easier. I brushed with a wire-tooth brush. I also had Marie-Grace wrapped with a towel.

After most of the tangles were out, I soaked the one side of the waves under the faucet. I then took about a third of the section, and ran the flat-iron on it. It will sizzle, but that is okay, because that is simply the water, and not the doll’s hair burning. You may also see some steam.

I let that section cool, added more water to that section to make sure it was soaking wet, brushed it, soaked it, and ran the flat iron again. The hair was definitely straight at this point. I then repeated this for the other remaining sections on that side.

After that side was done, I repeated the whole process from brushing out the braid, wetting it, etc. on the other side.

Note that the hair will be completely straight. To add a slight flip at the bottom of Marie-Grace’s hair to match the rest of her wig, I soaked the bottom four inches and then ran the flat iron on it while curving the path a bit.

I gently patted out any excess water, and let the hair dry overnight.

Results

It turned out very well, and the hair no longer has the annoying frizzy wave to it. The hair is not damaged at all. The important thing is to use wet heat.

Straight Hair 1

Straight Hair 2

Let me know if you have any questions.

Favourite Historical Collections

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As I was changing Samantha this evening into her Birthday dress and pinafore, I was thinking back to my thoughts of the collections as a child and how it really has not changed all that much some 15 years later.

Favourites

As a child, my favourite collections were those set in earlier times, aka before the start of the 20th century. Felicity’s, Kirsten’s and Addy’s were all my favourites. Felicity as antique looking, Kirsten’s let me play along with Little House on the Prairie, and Addy’s collection overall had such significance, especially the outfits that Momma sewed for Addy.

Now, I also very much like Kit’s collection. I think because her core collection is almost all sans pink (minus the meet outfit), and very much fits with a tomboy character.

Least Favourites

At the time I started getting into AG, I became more of a tomboy, and as a result, I disliked the fluffy collections. While Samantha was a favourite doll of mine, my opinion on her collection is not exactly the same. The pink just killed me. Any outfits I desired were not pink, and while I have bit my tongue in collecting all the outfits I consider important to Samantha’s core story, I still cringe at some, such as her Birthday outfit and her nightwear.

Another collection I am least fond of is Molly’s. I recall thinking how cheap looking it seemed compared to Felicity’s or Addy’s. Even though Molly was my first doll, I never bothered collecting any of her items, and her collection still has the least priority. While I like reds and blues, her collecting was just too many primary colours for me.