Howdy!

Hey guys!  Nothing exciting...just thought I'd stop in to say "hi" and let you know I'm still alive. ;)  I spent most of yesterday doing laundry and sorting paperwork.  Ugh.  It wasn't a fun job, but I got a lot accomplished.  I can't tell you what a relief it is to get something done that you've been putting off for way too long. :}

I have more blogging scheduled for this evening, but first I'll be doing some running around with my mom this afternoon.  We may have some fun doll goodies to share with you after today, so I'll be sure to keep you posted. :)

I also wanted to officially mention, for those of you who don't already know, that I won one of the $35 gift cards from The Doll Wardrobe's photo contest.  I'm very happy for the gal who won.  Her "Surreal" photo was lovely and well worth first place.  I hope she enjoys her new doll. :)

While I was just a wee bit disappointed at first about not winning a doll (I am only human, after all), ;) I can honestly say that I am happy with the results.  It will be great to have $35 to spend next year if we end up at an AG Place for my daughters' birthday trip.  I really didn't need a new doll right now anyway (when do we ever need a new doll, right?).  I'm happy with the way my photo turned out and honored that I ended up in the top four.  Thank you so much for all of you who left such lovely comments about my entry. :)

This will be my last time entering a Doll Wardrobe photo contest...or any of their contests, for that matter.  As many of you know, my Emma doll was a result of one of the random drawing giveaways from the Doll Wardrobe blog (my husband's name was chosen).  I have not entered any of the drawing giveaways since, but I have participated in the photo contests.  I felt that it was acceptable to enter when it was something I was winning by my own merit.  I also enjoyed the challenge of the contests. :)  But now that I've placed in a photo contest, I feel it's only right to move on and let others enjoy the benefits.  In some ways, it's better that I won the gift card anyway.  I wouldn't want anyone to feel like I was hogging the dolls. :}

I'd like to thank Nora and the whole Doll Wardrobe team for providing us with such delightful activities, and for the many generous giveaways they've done through the years.  I know there are many others out there who have also benefited from their kindness.  I've also appreciated learning more about photography through  the challenges of their photo contests.

Okay, now it feels like I made this into an Oscar speech or something, which was not my intention at all. :{

Anyway, I hope you all have a great week.  I am going to have posts ready for you even if it means I have to duct tape myself to my chair. ;)  This lack of organization thing is really getting ridiculous. :}

Talk to you again soon!

The Doll Wardrobe Final Round Photo Shoot

The final round of the Doll Wardrobe Curator's Game photos are up! :)  Everyone did a great job...be sure to go check out the final four entries HERE. :)

Here is my official entry. :)

As I stated on The Doll Wardrobe, I really wanted to do something of significance that was more than just a nice picture.  Since Memorial Day was coming up, I decided to use that theme.  When I saw "Wall" listed as one of the possible clues, I immediately thought of this local memorial and knew it would be perfect.

I did a scouting trip first to see the location and figure out the best spot to take a picture.  I also wanted to get an idea of the lighting and the best time to take the photo.

When we had an unexpected overcast day about a week later, I knew it was the perfect chance to get some great shots.  Overcast days make for wonderful photo lighting. :)

The photo shoot itself presented a few challenges.  For one thing, there was someone at the memorial when I was shooting.  I had Little Gal with me, so the fact that I was carrying around a doll, a stuffed dog, and a camera didn't cause the raised eyebrows it might have if I'd been alone.  Still, I wanted to make sure that what I was doing was seen as respectful and not a mockery.  Thankfully, my project didn't seem to disturb the man.  He watched with interest, and I explained a little about what I was doing and why. :}

The other thing I quickly discovered was that while overcast days make for great photos, they also make it next to impossible to see what shots you're getting.  No matter what I tried, I couldn't really see how the pictures were turning out because I could barely see my digital screen in that light.  So, I took as many pictures as I could, tried my best to center them, and went from there.

Another thing that was especially difficult was getting my horizon line where I wanted it.  The Wall of Honor was built on a slight downhill slope, so it was very difficult to get a shot without the picture looking slanted or cockeyed.  The bricks are still not perfectly straight, even in my final entry, but it was the best I could do under the circumstances.

One unexpected blessing from the day was the sporadic wind that started shortly after I began.  It captured a  bit of Charlie's hair at just the right moment, which is one of the reasons I really wanted to use this particular photo. :)

Here are a few other shots that didn't quite make the cut:

I loved the fact that this picture gave a better idea of the size of the wall.  However, I felt that Charlie was rather lost in the middle of everything, and since this was a doll photo contest, I felt she should be a little more of the focus.

This is the same photo I entered, but I played around with the coloring a bit.  I do like black and white, but I found that I preferred the color version this time.

I also liked the idea of just having the flowers at the memorial colored, but I couldn't manage to color the flowers without coloring a few of the brass name plates.  The perfectionist in me just wasn't satisfied. ;)

Here's another shot I tried.  I really wanted to make the photo seem like I was down at Charlie's level.  I think that this picture accomplished that.  However, Charlie and Rontu felt slightly off-centered.  I also didn't like the fact that a few of the memorial flowers were peaking out from one side of Charlie's head.  I would rather have kept them completely hidden by Charlie's head or have made them more noticeable. 

This was the other one I really liked...I came very close to entering it instead.  This is once again the same photo, although my entry photo was cropped to make the focus a little more on Charlie and Rontu.  I also played with the coloring a bit on this one (I believe I used the "Greek Islands" effect).  I really liked how the coloring turned out, even though it wasn't necessarily realistic.  On the day I emailed my entry, though, I was at my aunt's house.  On her computer screen, the coloring didn't look good at all.  I was concerned that it might not look as nice on other screens too, so I decided to stick with the photo that looked more natural. :) 

I took a lot of other pictures that day while I was out.  One of the other places I went was an access road near the freeway.  This particular little road is special to me because it is one of the locations for my story. :)  I always get a special thrill driving by it, because I'm the only one in the world that knows its significance...so far. ;)

Anyway, I took a few pictures of Charlie and Rontu on the road, figuring I'd use the "Perspective" clue.  I liked how this one turned out...

...but I liked this photo even more.  I loved how the photo gave the impression that I was walking behind the two of them.

Once I found the pose I liked, I played around quite a bit in the editing department:

As much as I liked this shot, I decided that I wanted to stick with a photo that had more meaning, so I chose to enter my "Wall" picture instead. :)

There were other pictures I took, but these were the ones I was most pleased with after a day's work.  Hope you enjoyed this "exclusive behind the scenes" look. ;)  It sounds like the results will be up sometime this week on The Doll Wardrobe.  I'll be sure to keep you posted! :)

Pictures and Other Randomness

Hi everyone!  Hope you're all enjoying a wonderful week.  We've been blessed with a couple of overcast days and cooler weather, so my week has been fantastic!  Anything to escape the already overly-hot, summery weather. ;)

Because overcast days are so perfect for pictures, I took Charlie and Rontu a few places for some photo shoots.  I'm still working on my final entry for The Doll Wardrobe's photo contest, and I think yesterday I may have nailed it. :)

I thought I'd share a couple of the "just because" pictures I took, too: 

These are not entry photos, but it gives you an idea of the beautiful lighting I had to work with. :)  I'm very pleased with the results of the day.  I also discovered that it's much easier to do a doll photo shoot in public when you have your 5 year old daughter with you. :}  You don't get the same crazy looks. ;)

I am determined to get back on a better schedule with my blogging, and now that I'm officially caught up with Doctor Who, I think I will find it a lot easier to manage my time. ;)  Yes, I did watch all seven seasons in the space of a month, and yes, I do realize that's slightly obsessive. :}  Apparently, I'm not the only one, though. Exhibit A:

Anyway, I plan on getting back into the swing of things this week.  Posts to look forward to include a Doctor Who review (as requested), a post sharing some of my latest thrift store finds, several doll reviews, and more.  I'll be back soon! :)

Free Shipping at Disneystore.com with Any Marvel Purchase

Hey everyone!  Just a quick hello today.  As the title says, for three days Disneystore.com is offering free shipping on your entire order with any Marvel purchase, in celebration of the release of "Iron Man 3" (in theaters today).  Use the promo code MARVEL.

To see the entire Marvel collection, click HERE.

I hope to get to more blogging later today, but first I'm going to be working on my last photo for The Doll Wardrobe's photo contest. :D  I have a great idea...I'm just hoping I can get it to work out the way I'm picturing. :}

This time around, I won't reveal my picture until after it's up on The Doll Wardrobe's blog, but I'll be sure to share some "behind the scenes" information about the photo at that time. :)

Talk to all of you again soon! :)

Wow!!!

I can't believe it!  I just found out that I'm one of the four finalists for The Doll Wardrobe's "The Curator's Game" Photo Contest!!  There were so many amazing photos this time around...I never dreamed I'd be a finalist!

I had to post this quickly, not only to let you know, but to thank all of you who voted for me.  It means more than I can say.

I can't stay long...I've got to get girls ready for school and then get ready to go pick up the truck.  While I'm doing that, I'll have to start brainstorming about my final picture! :D  I already have a couple of ideas, but now that I know it's happening, I can buckle down and work out all of the details. :)

Thanks again, everyone!  Without you, this wouldn't have happened. :)

Of Voting, Hailstorms, Nancy Ann, and Lalaloopsy (aka My Week) ;)

Howdy, all! :)  Hope you're having a great weekend.  I thought I'd finish this week off by sharing some of its highlights with you. :)

First, voting officially begins today on the Doll Wardrobe's Grand Photo contest.  There are a lot of great entries this time around, so be sure to stop by and check them out. :)  You can see details about the voting process HERE, and you can see all of the entries HERE.

The weather has had a difficult time making up its mind this week in my neck of the woods.  We've gone from beautiful sunshine and gorgeous blossoms to crazy hailstorms in the blink of an eye, and then back to perfect weather again.

This pic was taken in the middle of the hailstorm...

The hailstones were really coming down!

And just a day later, here are some of the pretty blossoms on the tree in our neighbor's yard.

On one of the sunnier days, I took some Lalaloopsy photos.  This was my first time doing outdoor photos of my Lalas, so I had fun playing around and experimenting with different looks and locations. :)

Lucky Lil' Bug enjoys the beautiful blossoms and spring weather.

Snowy Fairest and Scarlet Riding Hood sit and chat.

Snowy 

And Snowy again ;)

Playing "hide and seek" among the violets.

Snowy rests in the clover. 

Alice joins Snowy and Scarlet for a visit in the sunshine.

Alice takes a walk. :)

In other news, on Wednesday, I got to meet with the local doll club for the third time.  I'm happy to announce that I'm now an official member of the club!  I'm so excited to join these sweet ladies every month.  Not only are they enjoyable to be around, but there is such a wealth of knowledge and history in the group.  I'm looking forward to knowing all of them better. :)  

Several months ago, a woman from my church very graciously gave me a box of Nancy Ann Storybook dolls from the 1940s.  They were all in TLC condition, but still adorable and sweet.  I decided to share them with the ladies from the group.  Some of the gals remember receiving Nancy Ann dolls when they were girls, and they all enjoy the line, so it was great to be able to pass some of the dolls along.  I was given a total of 28 dolls, so there's no way I would have been able to have room for all of them anyway. ;)

Here are 3 of the 7 that I kept.

I think this one is my very favorite.  Her name is "Quaker Maid".

Because this batch of dolls was given to me, I ended up working together with another of the ladies to talk about Nancy Ann dolls at the monthly meeting this past week.  It was a little unnerving to talk about a line of dolls I was not very familiar with (especially in a room of ladies who are all very knowledgeable about dolls), but they were all very sweet about it. Through my research for the meeting, I learned a lot about the Nancy Ann line that I didn't know before (I hope to share some of that info with all of you at a later date), and it was good for me to stretch myself and step out of my comfort zone a bit. ;)

Next month I'll be speaking again, this time on American Girl face molds. :D  I'm super excited to share with the ladies about that.  They were very surprised to find that there were 8 different molds and seem to be looking forward to it. :)

And to finish off a great week, I got to have a date night with Hubby last night. :D  I can't even remember the last time we were both able to get away. :)  We had a great time (thanks, Mom, for watching the kiddos). ;)

I think I've just about covered everything.  I know this post was a bit random and jumbled, but hopefully you'll be able to enjoy it anyway. ;)  Have a lovely weekend, and I'll be back next week with more blogging fun. :)

Doll Photo Shoot :)

Hi everyone!  Thanks for all of the entries for the BFC Ink blouse giveaway so far.  Remember, you only have until this Friday to enter!

This Wednesday, March 6th, is the deadline for the latest photo contest from The Doll Wardrobe blog.  I always enjoy taking part in their photo contests.  It's great taking the time to capture my dolls on film.  I'm always reminded of why I enjoy my vinyl gals so much, and I find that it keeps me satisfied with the dolls I have. ;)

I thought I'd have to sit the contest out this time around.  Between the girls getting sick, previous commitments, and other obligations, I was having issues finding the time to get the pictures I needed (although I've had several ideas since the contest was announced in December).  But today, the beautiful spring weather beckoned and I couldn't resist grabbing my camera and a few dolls. :)

These are not my most spectacular pictures ever, but I'm still happy with them.  It was so great to do a photo shoot again after such a long time.  I enjoyed playing around on ribbet.com (my go-to photo editing site since picnik.com shut down), editing the pictures and making them look just right.  I thought you might enjoy seeing them as well.

So first off, these are the three entries that made the cut. ;)  For this particular photo contest, you had to choose from a list of themes, pick three, and take pictures to illustrate those themes.  (If you want to read all the rules or even enter yourself, you can get more info HERE.  Better hurry, though.  The contest ends on Wednesday!)

Jenna represents "Portrait".  This is an outdoor portrait of her.  (Yeah, I'm not all that great with thinking outside of the box when it comes to this sort of thing.  I'm way too literal. :}  I suppose there are worse faults, though.) ;)

Tess represents "Romantic".  I kind of thought of Snow White waiting for Prince Charming's kiss when I saw how this one turned out.  What do you think? ;)

Maggie represents "Allegory".  Every time I hear that word I instantly think of "The Chronicles of Narnia", which contains many allegorical references to Christianity.  I was kind of experimenting with this photo, and I'm still not sure I'm 100% pleased with the results.  I was trying to capture Maggie reading while surrounding by her Narnian toys and collectibles.

Here are some of the photos I thought about using:

Hayden represents "Sketch" in this picture.  I took several photos of her sketching in her sketchpad, but was not completely satisfied with the way any of them turned out.

Another take on "Sketch".

I'm not really sure what Jenna was representing here (which is one of the reasons I decided not to use this photo).  It could have worked for "Portrait", "Close Up", "Romantic", or "Mood", I suppose.  

Same with this one.  :)

Here are two other "Allegory" shots I tried: 

It might have been better for me to use this one since the lion is not quite as out of focus.  Oh well. :}

This one focused on the lion and had the other things in the background.  I didn't use this one because I felt that since the book was my focus, it needed to be clear in the photo.

Another angle of "Romantic" (I liked the one I used better).

This was yet another take on "Romantic".  I really liked this picture, but decided to use the other one because it felt more "artsy", if you know what I mean. ;)

This one could have been "Romantic" or "Color", I suppose.  I liked this one too, but in the end I wanted something a little more unique.

There were several other attempts, but these were the main ones.  I really enjoyed myself, although my neighbors might think I'm a little nuts. ;)  That's the downside to having all the best photo spots in the front yard, I suppose. ;)  Of course, who am I kidding?  It's not like they haven't seen me trudging out there with a box full of dolls before. :}

Hope you're all having a wonderful week.  Talk to you soon! :)

Final Round of the Doll Wardrobe's Photo Contest!

Well, the final group of photos is up for The Doll Wardrobe's photo contest, and let me tell you, everyone really outdid themselves. :)  I do NOT envy Nora's job of having to choose 2 winners out of the 44 entries!

This round was "Being Charitable".  We were supposed to choose our favorite charity and do a doll photo about it.  I just about sat out on this round.  Things were so busy, and I had so many commitments...I just wasn't sure I could put one more thing into my week.  But, being the competitive perfectionist that I am, I couldn't stand the thought of NOT participating when I'd taken part in the other two rounds. ;)  So on Tuesday, when I had about a half an hour time slot between activities, I got everything together and headed outside for my photo shoot.  Unfortunately for me, there were huge wind gusts going on, so I had to stop every few minutes to pick up my knocked over dolls and props! :}  At one point (after some grumbling and then some prayer on my part), there was a short break in the gale force winds (at least they would be gale force to a doll!). ;)  I took about 10 pictures right in a row, as fast as I could!  Because it was overcast outside, I couldn't really see what I'd ended up with on my camera, but I decided that I'd just make one of them work!!  (If I spent any longer on it, I would be late for Middle Gal's follow-up appendectomy appointment!)

Here's what I ended up with:

(You can click on the picture to make it larger.)

I chose American Cancer Society's "Relay for Life" as my charity.  While I haven't personally been involved in Relay, I have several family members who have been.  I also have lost family members to cancer, and have one uncle who is a cancer survivor, so Relay for Life seemed like an appropriate choice.  

I was a bit embarrassed by my extremely wordy caption to go with my photo (you can see it on The Doll Wardrobe's blog, photo #33...I'll provide a link below).  Nora had said that we needed to explain a bit about our charity.  Well, you know me..."a bit" always turns into "a LOT" with me. :}  I think my caption is the longest one this time!!

Oh, and I loved my mom's photo idea for this round, too!  She did "Locks of Love" as her charity (her photo is #41).  Apparently, her idea was a good one, because 3 other people chose the same charity! 

Anyway, as I said before, there were many wonderful entries for this round.  You can see all of them HERE, so head on over and vote for your favorites! :)  And good job to all of the entrants! :)  

 

Activity 2 Photos Up on The Doll Wardrobe! :)

Arrgghh!!  I am in the middle of TRYING to post one of my review posts for you guys, but Blogger is being INCREDIBLY slow right now.  It's taking about 10 minutes to upload one picture!!  Really, Blogger?

So, while I was waiting and waiting for my pics to upload, I checked my dashboard and noticed that the Doll Wardrobe had put up the Activity 2 Photos for voting! Yay!! :)

I've gotta say, I was lacking any sort of creative inspiration on this round, so my picture is quite boring compared to some of the others.  But considering I had one of the worst colds I've had in a really long time, I'm just thankful I got something entered. ;)  My photo, such as it is, is number 47.  I would show it to you in this post if my computer weren't acting up right now (I may add it later).   My mom participated again this time as well and did a great job.  Her photo is number 38.  I love all the detail she put into it...good job, Mom!! :D

There are a lot of great entries again this time around!  I loved seeing all of the different holidays people chose to portray.  Hats off to everyone! :)  You can click HERE to see them all and cast your vote! :)  Voting ends on February 19th.

Now I've got to get going on my Activity 3 Photo!!  I hope I can be a little more creative this time around. :}

The Doll Wardrobe Winter Photo Contest

So, it's that time of year again. :)  The Doll Wardrobe is having another photo contest, and the pictures from Round 1 are up for voting today.  HERE is a link to the original contest rules, in case you want to get in on Rounds 2 and 3, and HERE is a link to the Round 1 photos, so you can cast your vote! :)  There were 51 entries for this round, and I tell you, I'm glad I'm not deciding on the winners!  Everyone did a fabulous job! :)

Oh, and in case you're curious, this one was mine (Photo 7):

I know, the theme was "Winter Wonderland" and I have a rainy picture.  Snow is pretty rare in my neck of the woods, and I just flat ran out of time to make a pretend snow scene.  Then I realized, for my city, this is what a Winter Wonderland looks like, as much as I'd love to have a snowy winter.  I'm just entering to have fun and to challenge myself anyway.  And thankfully, there was at least one other person that had a non-snowy entry.  :)

I would encourage all of you to head on over and enjoy all of the creative photos. :)  I especially loved Photos 1 and 31. :)  Oh, and Photo 39 is my mom's.  Didn't she do a great job with her snow scene? (She's much more patient than I am!) ;)

Thank you for all of the entries for my giveaway!  Remember, all entries are due by this Friday!  I'll draw the name of the winner on Saturday. :D

Talk to you guys again soon! :)  

Regency Photos and The Doll Wardrobe's Time Warp Photo Contest

Hi everyone!  The Doll Wardrobe is hosting a "Time Warp" photo contest, where the contestants take pictures of either a historical event or just dolls dressed historically. 

In the middle of a rainy spell last week, I snagged an opportunity during a brief period of overcast but dry weather to snap a few photos.  I didn't really have the right outfits to do an actual historical event...at least no events that I could think of. :}  So instead, I decided to take some pics of Emma and Charlie in their Regency dresses.  I had a lot of fun...aside from dropping Emma face down in the moist dirt and shooing away an overly-friendly neighbor's cat who kept coming over and investigating my photo shoot! ;) 

This is the photo I ended up entering.  I went on Picnik.com and brightened the color just a tad.  Then I added a vignette to give more definition to the edges.  I'm really pleased with how it turned out. :)

The next three were the other pictures I considered entering:

This is another picture with a vignette and color boost.  I really like this photo too, but I decided that I liked the more artistic pose from behind instead.

These next two pics are the same with different effects.  The above picture had no color change, and I added a matte finish instead of a vignette.  I liked the brightness and the black edge of the other photos better. 

This time I tried the vignette and color boost.  While I liked this picture too, ultimately I decided the pose where Charlie and Emma were closer was my favorite.  Hopefully I made the right decision. :}

I took a TON of pictures to try to get the best shot possible. :)  Here are some of my other favorites.

Oops...this one had my neighbor's chain link fence in the background!  Not very historically accurate. ;)

I had a lot of fun, as you can probably tell. :)  The funny thing is, about an hour after this photo shoot, it started pouring down rain.  The very spot where Emma and Charlie had been standing was a soaking wet puddle.  Talk about perfect timing!  I'm so glad I got these pictures when I did. :)

Here is the cute but pesky kitty who wouldn't leave me alone during my photo shoot.  Sure, he looks all innocent now, but I think that's part of his evil plot. ;)  He kept coming up and sniffing the dolls (knocking them down in the process).  I didn't get any pictures of him with the dolls because I was too busy trying to shoo him away and keep them from falling over!  The other funny story about this kitty is that he started getting really frisky partway through the shoot.  For about half of the photos I took, the entire hedge behind the dolls was shaking from "Crazy Kitty" darting through the hedge, batting at the branches. :)

There are twelve entries for the contest.  Be sure to go by The Doll Wardrobe and see all the great photos.  I really enjoyed looking through them.  We all came up with different ideas, which makes it really fun. :)  I was originally hoping for another $20 towards Hayden, but I was too impatient to wait for the contest to be over, especially since I had enough for her anyway. :}  I don't mind, though.  It was still lots of fun being involved.  

Hope everyone is having a great weekend! :)