Hi everyone! Hope you're all doing great.
Summer is passing by so fast and I still haven't done half of the things that I had planned to do. I feel like I'm busy 24/7 and I don't have much time to play with my dolls. As I told you on one of my last post, Mr. Monster and I will be moving home later this year, probably around November or December. However, before we move, we had to fix some stuff in the house, so we're often running errands and meeting with the contractor to make the last decisions. It's quite stressing, but I'm happy because our new home will look great. Also, I'm quite excited because I'll have more storage space in my doll/craft room.
I have lots of posts ideas for the blog, that I already know I won't have time to write before the next semester starts. I actually have a list on my computer where I write all of my ideas and I cross them when I write the post. I've wanted to do a corner room/diorama for ages, but that will have to wait until I move, so I'll have more time and space. Since during my silent blog periods I kept buying doll stuff, I have lots of stuff to unbox. Some stuff I've had for so long that I almost feel ashamed. So, I want to focus on unboxing some of those things. However, since I don't want this to look like plain reviews, I want to bring something different to the post, like a quick tutorial or a new background. Something quick,easy and simple. And since I've been trying to take more doll photos, I will also focus on sharing with you my ideas and see how I progress. I would also love to hear your feedback and ideas, I love hearing from you.
Besides dolls, I have some Barbie Fashion Packs to open. They're quite expensive here in Spain compared to the USA, and the quality isn't amazing. Besides that, lately I haven't seen any fashion packs around my local stores, and the only place that I've seen them is on Amazon... for twice the price they have in the USA. Not a great deal. Anyway, the first Pack that I have is the one that I won on Phyllis' giveaway.
I also got this boho style pack. I mostly got it because I loved the light jacket.
And finally, I have a few of this single piece packs. For some reason, I have two of the shoe pack.
Since this are quite old packs, this isn't going to be a proper review, but more of a photoshoot type of post. I also have some new stuff for my photos, so I have a perfect excuse to bring them on.
First, let's start with Phyllis' pack (do this fashion packs have names?). Since it has some bright colors, I thought it would suit a dark skinned doll like Asha and XOXO (now named Christie).
I know that this fashion pack was meant to be for the original body and that Christie has a tall body, but I think she still looks good on it. By the way, I don't know in you area, but I never saw the fashion packs for the new bodies in any store or Amazon, neither I saw the shoe packs.
A few days ago I got some new cardstock sheets for doll photography and I thought this purple one would suit Christie. I thought it was a nice color, between pink and purple, but on camera it doesn't look true to its color. It looks quite similar to a light purple one that I already have, although in person they're quite different.
In this full body shot of Christie, you can appreciate how good she looks in this outfit. She's wearing Sweetheart Stripes shoes because both tall and curvy Barbie dolls have bigger feet. I know they made shoe packs for them, but never managed to get them.
I decided to bring a chair to the shoot, so I could take some different poses for Asha. Not the best pose to appreciate the oufit, but I really like how it turned out.
I know this pack came way before the movie "Black Panther", but she's totally giving me Shuri vibes with that top and that hairstyle.
For the next pack, I decided to bring Chloe and Drew. The style of the pack isn't quite what I had in mind for Drew, but I just wanted to get rid of her outfit. Drew is wearing the shoes from Barbie Fashionista Pink Pizzaz, because, again, I didn't have any shoes that would fit her.
For a while now I had been wanting to use LED fairy lights for doll photography. I've seen My Froggy Stuff use them in her dioramas countless times, and quite recently Barb also used them one of her dioramas. So, I thought they could give an interesting effect on a flat background. Here's Chloe.
They make the background look slightly greener when they're on, but I think you can't really tell. I also wanted to see how they would look around the doll. Does it look to Christmas themed?
Alongside the purple cardstock paper, I also bought a turquoise one. It is quite different to the light blue I already had, but it looks very similar on camera.
I'm a bit dissapointed that they look so similar. There were two turquoise shades, and I picked the darkest one on purpose, because I thought the light one was too close to the blue. Anyway, it's quite a cheap item, and I managed to get some nice pics.
In case you ar curious, this is how I set up the lights. Since this are made of wire, you can "mold" the shape of the lights.
And last but not least, Victoria (aka L.A. Girl) is going to model some of the single items pieces. This items feel cheaper than the 2 outfit packs. The jean skirt doesn't even have a print on the back and the shirt is terribly sewn. It also looks super baggy on the doll, but I tucked the excess fabric on the back of the doll, so you can't really see it.
The quality isn't great, but I like the skirt, it looks very versatile. I just wish it had the same fabric on the back. This fashion packs have made me realize that I really need to learn to sew. That way I would only have the problem of finding shoes.
I still have more fashion packs to open, as well as a ton of dolls, but I think this is enough for one post. I don't think I will do another unboxing next. I have an idea for another background, but I also want to do some sort of "Retro review" of a Barbie playset from the 90s that I have. We'll see what I feel like doing next.
Besides my house getting fixed, I've also been focusing on boosting my Instagram account. I've been posting on a regular basis, almost daily. I don't just post the pics that you see here, but also some pics that don't make it to the post or even some that I take specifically to post on Instagram.
Speaking of Instagram, I've lately come across people calling themselves influencers on different social media, or even using the hastag #dollinfluencer and, to be honest, is something that I didn't really asociate to the doll world. I always asociate that term with the fashion and beauty industries, but it can really be in any other area. At college we've had some debates around the topic, discussing what really makes someone an influencer or if working with them really works. Since the age range of the readers of this blog is quite wide, I'd love to hear what some of you have to say about this. What's your overall opinion on influencers? Have you ever bought a doll because of someone's review or influenced by someone? The only time I've bought a doll after reading someone's review was Avea Trotter, and it was a review from The Toy Box Philosopher, but also helped the fact that the doll was on sale. Tell me what you think so far.
On a little side note, Ms. Leo wrote a lovely post called Doll Theraphy: a 12 step program, which I found very interesting. I really encourage you to go and give it a look.
That's enough rambling for me today. I hope you're all having an amazing summer and I hope to be able to write to you soon.
Take care!
M.C.
Similar posts:
Fashion Galore
Social Media:
Instagram Facebook Twitter
Summer is passing by so fast and I still haven't done half of the things that I had planned to do. I feel like I'm busy 24/7 and I don't have much time to play with my dolls. As I told you on one of my last post, Mr. Monster and I will be moving home later this year, probably around November or December. However, before we move, we had to fix some stuff in the house, so we're often running errands and meeting with the contractor to make the last decisions. It's quite stressing, but I'm happy because our new home will look great. Also, I'm quite excited because I'll have more storage space in my doll/craft room.
I have lots of posts ideas for the blog, that I already know I won't have time to write before the next semester starts. I actually have a list on my computer where I write all of my ideas and I cross them when I write the post. I've wanted to do a corner room/diorama for ages, but that will have to wait until I move, so I'll have more time and space. Since during my silent blog periods I kept buying doll stuff, I have lots of stuff to unbox. Some stuff I've had for so long that I almost feel ashamed. So, I want to focus on unboxing some of those things. However, since I don't want this to look like plain reviews, I want to bring something different to the post, like a quick tutorial or a new background. Something quick,easy and simple. And since I've been trying to take more doll photos, I will also focus on sharing with you my ideas and see how I progress. I would also love to hear your feedback and ideas, I love hearing from you.
Besides dolls, I have some Barbie Fashion Packs to open. They're quite expensive here in Spain compared to the USA, and the quality isn't amazing. Besides that, lately I haven't seen any fashion packs around my local stores, and the only place that I've seen them is on Amazon... for twice the price they have in the USA. Not a great deal. Anyway, the first Pack that I have is the one that I won on Phyllis' giveaway.
I also got this boho style pack. I mostly got it because I loved the light jacket.
And finally, I have a few of this single piece packs. For some reason, I have two of the shoe pack.
Since this are quite old packs, this isn't going to be a proper review, but more of a photoshoot type of post. I also have some new stuff for my photos, so I have a perfect excuse to bring them on.
First, let's start with Phyllis' pack (do this fashion packs have names?). Since it has some bright colors, I thought it would suit a dark skinned doll like Asha and XOXO (now named Christie).
I know that this fashion pack was meant to be for the original body and that Christie has a tall body, but I think she still looks good on it. By the way, I don't know in you area, but I never saw the fashion packs for the new bodies in any store or Amazon, neither I saw the shoe packs.
A few days ago I got some new cardstock sheets for doll photography and I thought this purple one would suit Christie. I thought it was a nice color, between pink and purple, but on camera it doesn't look true to its color. It looks quite similar to a light purple one that I already have, although in person they're quite different.
In this full body shot of Christie, you can appreciate how good she looks in this outfit. She's wearing Sweetheart Stripes shoes because both tall and curvy Barbie dolls have bigger feet. I know they made shoe packs for them, but never managed to get them.
I decided to bring a chair to the shoot, so I could take some different poses for Asha. Not the best pose to appreciate the oufit, but I really like how it turned out.
I know this pack came way before the movie "Black Panther", but she's totally giving me Shuri vibes with that top and that hairstyle.
For the next pack, I decided to bring Chloe and Drew. The style of the pack isn't quite what I had in mind for Drew, but I just wanted to get rid of her outfit. Drew is wearing the shoes from Barbie Fashionista Pink Pizzaz, because, again, I didn't have any shoes that would fit her.
For a while now I had been wanting to use LED fairy lights for doll photography. I've seen My Froggy Stuff use them in her dioramas countless times, and quite recently Barb also used them one of her dioramas. So, I thought they could give an interesting effect on a flat background. Here's Chloe.
They make the background look slightly greener when they're on, but I think you can't really tell. I also wanted to see how they would look around the doll. Does it look to Christmas themed?
Alongside the purple cardstock paper, I also bought a turquoise one. It is quite different to the light blue I already had, but it looks very similar on camera.
I'm a bit dissapointed that they look so similar. There were two turquoise shades, and I picked the darkest one on purpose, because I thought the light one was too close to the blue. Anyway, it's quite a cheap item, and I managed to get some nice pics.
In case you ar curious, this is how I set up the lights. Since this are made of wire, you can "mold" the shape of the lights.
And last but not least, Victoria (aka L.A. Girl) is going to model some of the single items pieces. This items feel cheaper than the 2 outfit packs. The jean skirt doesn't even have a print on the back and the shirt is terribly sewn. It also looks super baggy on the doll, but I tucked the excess fabric on the back of the doll, so you can't really see it.
The quality isn't great, but I like the skirt, it looks very versatile. I just wish it had the same fabric on the back. This fashion packs have made me realize that I really need to learn to sew. That way I would only have the problem of finding shoes.
I still have more fashion packs to open, as well as a ton of dolls, but I think this is enough for one post. I don't think I will do another unboxing next. I have an idea for another background, but I also want to do some sort of "Retro review" of a Barbie playset from the 90s that I have. We'll see what I feel like doing next.
Besides my house getting fixed, I've also been focusing on boosting my Instagram account. I've been posting on a regular basis, almost daily. I don't just post the pics that you see here, but also some pics that don't make it to the post or even some that I take specifically to post on Instagram.
Speaking of Instagram, I've lately come across people calling themselves influencers on different social media, or even using the hastag #dollinfluencer and, to be honest, is something that I didn't really asociate to the doll world. I always asociate that term with the fashion and beauty industries, but it can really be in any other area. At college we've had some debates around the topic, discussing what really makes someone an influencer or if working with them really works. Since the age range of the readers of this blog is quite wide, I'd love to hear what some of you have to say about this. What's your overall opinion on influencers? Have you ever bought a doll because of someone's review or influenced by someone? The only time I've bought a doll after reading someone's review was Avea Trotter, and it was a review from The Toy Box Philosopher, but also helped the fact that the doll was on sale. Tell me what you think so far.
On a little side note, Ms. Leo wrote a lovely post called Doll Theraphy: a 12 step program, which I found very interesting. I really encourage you to go and give it a look.
That's enough rambling for me today. I hope you're all having an amazing summer and I hope to be able to write to you soon.
Take care!
M.C.
Similar posts:
Fashion Galore
Social Media:
Instagram Facebook Twitter
