An interview with Ali of Girl of the Year Studios

 

In November I had a chance to meet Ali of The Girl of the Year Studio's in Seattle at the American Girl Store. 

She was absolutely amazing. Ali has a very large You Tube following and was doing a Meet and Greet at the store. When I arrived she was swarmed by fans and she was signing Autographs and taking photos with anyone who asked.  Her presence caused such a stir that security had to move us to the events area. That being said Ali and her group were very accommodating and she was very well received.

I was thrilled that she would even pose for the photos with me above and it is now one of my favorites. 

When I returned home I wrote to Ali and asked her if she would do an interview that I could share with my readers. I am so thrilled to bring it to you today. 

Q:When did you get your first American Girl doll and which one?

A:"My first doll was Jess and I got her for my 9th birthday in 2006. My mom ALMOST got me the entire Jess world but she didn't think I wanted it! Silly mother..."

Q:Do you have any Maplelea Dolls?

A:"I actually considered getting a Maplelea doll when I was younger, but I always found their smiles somewhat... creepy... and their hands too... So I waited on a much cuter AG instead, and got some Maplelea outfits to compensate "

Q:When did you start making you tube videos?

A: "I started making YouTube videos in mid-2008 after watching a few people on YouTube like unodosginger, xmollygirlx, xkambreenkitx and kitkittredge. I thought it was the most amazing and adorable thing and just had to try so a friend make and I made a video together with our two dolls. She ended up leaving and then one day I just became important to people"

Q:How many dolls do you have now?

A: "I have 8 dolls, and I'm not getting any more as much as I'd like to. 2 reasons; the first being I have no room and the second being I couldn't take care of them all haha! 8 is perfect!"

Q:What has been the most amazing thing you have done ?

A: "Probably meeting everyone at AG Place! It felt so surreal! I couldn't even believe so many people came to see me and spotted me! Incredible!"

Q: "Which American Girl Doll Stores have you been too?"

A:"I've been to Seattle of course, and few people know, but I went to AGP LA in 2007 when I went to Disneyland. It was super empty and lame, and sad compared to the second time around!"

 Q: What is your favorite American Girl doll Accessory?

A:"That one's really hard... I love the backpack sets (ALL of them) And historical EVERYTHING but I guess I'll give in and say... the dining set!"

Q:How do you handle your fan mail and comments?

A:"Well not well... I used to answer all my PMs, but they got crazy, and seeing I didn't like the idea of just deleting them I made myself unable to message, and now just reply to questions on formspring. I also have a FAQ on my blog (because questions get SO repetitive sometimes.) make how-to videos and respond to as many comments as I can! People should be replied to after all!"

Q:There are so many girls who look up to you what would you like them to know about you?

A:"Well firstly I'd like them to know that it's AMAZING that they look up to me! And I suppose I'd like them to know that everyone goes through hard times and bullying, including me, so if I can make it through so can they. I hope that they know that I'm sitting on a couch being totally normal and I'm not untouchable and unapproachable!"

Q: Do your friends at school respect your love of dolls?

A:"My friends at school don't actually know about my dolls, and as much as I wish I could tell them, I just feel like I'd avoid a lot of second thoughts and craziness and fear and risk by keeping it a secret. It may be cowardly, but it's easier for me anyway. Maybe I'll tell them in university."

Q:What would you like to do after high school? 

A: "As much as I'd love to go into acting, I just can't see it happening, so I suppose architecture and interior design! It seems quite fun! Oh and I want to move to Paris!"

Q:What advice can you give to girls who love dolls but are feeling pressure from other girls their age to give up dolls?

A:"I suppose I'd say that they shouldn't let other people keep them from being happy. If it's too difficult to tell them why you like dolls, or they won't listen, just don't bother letting them know. You don't have to lie about it, but just don't bring it up, and people will forget. If people can't understand why you like dolls it is because they're close-minded, then don't even let it cross their minds."

You can find Ali on line at the addresses below

YouTube: www.youtube.com/girloftheyearstudios
Blog: girloftheyearstudios.blogspot.com
Etsy: www.etsy.com/shops/ToutePetiteAG
I had such a great time meeting Ali and wanted to remember our visit and commemorate our meeting so I ordered a shirt from Ali's Etsy shop and I love how it looks on my doll.

As with all my posts I would love to hear from you so please leave me a comment here or email me at karenmowen@gmail.com 

A wonderful new pattern for Bitty Twins and Bitty Baby! From 123 Mulberry Street

 

I am so excited to finally have a pattern for Bitty Baby and Bitty Twin that can be purchased through Liberty Jane's Pattern site.

The Trendy Sweet & Simple dress from 123 Mulberry Street

is such a wonderful addition to the Liberty Jane pattern of families.

Here is how my Trendy Sweet & Simple dress for my Bitty Baby turned out

I had such a fun time making my first outfit for my Bitty Baby

 

This dress pattern is very versatile, you can  change the look by changing the fabric, and the length of the dress hem and sleeves. 

I can not wait to find more fun fabric to make dresses for my nieces Bitty Twins and Bitty Babies for many birthdays to come!

If you have a Bitty Baby or Bitty Twin and are looking to outfit them in a trendy new outfit take a look at this wonderful pattern on the Liberty Jane Site from 123 Mulberry Street click here to be redirected to the pattern site.

As with all my posts I would love to hear from you so please leave me a comment here or email me at karenmowen@gmail.com

Meet Carolyn of CSBEWS Doll Clothes

 In bringing my blog posts to you all I have had the opportunity to come in contact with some of the most amazing people in the doll world. One of these amazing people is Carolyn of CSBSEWS. I am often amazed by the talented designers and seamstresses who have turned their hobbies into amazing career paths. I hope that in sharing their stories with you, you will be motivated in your own lives by their work and stories to continue to consider and purchase hand made items from small businesses and shops. I also love that more Aunts, Mom's and Grandmothers have found away to continue to create doll items and keep American Girl dolls relevant and special.

Here is Carolyn's own story in her own words and images of one of a kind outfits that she has created and sold in 2011

"How it Started: When I retired in 2006 I wanted to get back to sewing. I bought a small machine and started sewing for myself and things around the house. At that time my granddaughters and niece had American Girl Dolls. I had always loved dolls and decided I would sew for their dolls. I did, with some success and failures, but as I continued to create fashions for their dolls, I realized how much I enjoyed it. But I also realized that (1) the children were going to outgrow their dolls and (2) they were probably getting a little tired of grandma's outfits, I took a deep breath and listed an item on Ebay. It was totally underpriced and so of course it was bid on, and sold. (I think I barely covered by material costs , LOL.) However, I was hooked and started sewing for Ebay with some success. At that time I bought my own American Girl Doll and upgraded my sewing machine.

I sold on Ebay until 2009, when the fees and imported mass produced doll clothing from overseas made it a losing and pointless proposition.

At that time I opened my own e-commerce store CSBSEWS Doll Clothes which had the domain of csbsews.com. I continued with the store until this year when it became apparent that the monthly cost of the store and the time and effort required on the computer to maintain and drive traffic to the store was keeping me out of the sewing room. So in July of this year I opened a store on Etsy. I closed my store in September and transferred my domain to the Etsy store.

Inspriation and Motive; I realized early on that I could not sit at the machine and sew the same thing over and over again. I wanted to explore fashion through the ages, and learn more and more about sewing and designing. Each of my items are OOAK and they are not duplicated. I do not sew "to order". I love going to the sketch book, designing an outfit, shopping for the material required and then creating it. Most of the time this involves creating unique patterns for that particular item. Reproducing these items would just not be possible. I have created what I call "generic" AG doll clothing, but I find I do that less and less. My goal is to have each item be totally unique. Finally, I enjoy working with fancies. I loved dressing my dolls in gowns and beautiful clothes (and my background as a dancer also led me to a love of costumes). So, as you may have noticed, I love creating costumes and gowns with satins, chiffon's and sparkle. I hope that a child will have one of the special costumes, gowns, etc., and treasure it, perhaps remembering that outfit for a long time. My most successful items, that customers have truly loved, have been the costumes and gowns. (All my feedback since 2006 has been positive.)

To sum up, I create these items (and I try very hard to make them high quality items) for the sheer joy of it. At times I go to my "doll closet" in the sewing room and just look at and enjoy the items. I hope that people like them and will want one for their doll. Of course I want to sell them to cover my costs (the prices never cover all the time and effort that goes into these clothes). but there is always a twinge of loss when I pack one and ship it to a customer. Make any sense? Not to me. So while I am always thrilled to sell an item, I can't say that selling is my main motivation, instead it is creating."

 Carolyn also has a wonderful blog at http://csbsews.blogspot.com/p/2011-gallery.html
 as well as a great resource site http://www.squidoo.com/csbsewspatterns


and you can find her on Facebook at www.facebook.com/csbsewsamericangirldollclothes
To see the wonderful outfits Carolyn is working on for 2012 visit her Etsy shop often!

As with all my posts I would love to hear from you so please leave me a comment here or email me at karenmowen@gmail.com

Lauren picked up a Journey Girl Bed from Toys R Us tonight!

After reading my post earlier tonight one of my contributing Bloggers Lauren made a trip to her local Toys R Us and picked up the Journey Girl Loft Bed for her dolls.

Lauren kindly shared her photos with me so that I can share them with you!

 

After her exciting adventure to the store and back she kindly took photos of what it takes to put the bed and accessories together.

I love how this is set up, the TV and the bean bag are so great.  The laptop that Julie is using in the photo is adorable.

I am so thrilled that she sent these photos to me so I could share them with you.

As with all my posts I would love to hear from you so please leave me a comment here or email me at karenmowen@gmail.com  

Wonderful Outfits for the Mini Dolls by Creations by Deevee!

 

I am so excited to share with you the amazing outfits that Creations by Deevee's Etsy Shop offers for our mini 6 inch dolls!

I love this outfit on Julie, how sweet is this!

offering her 6 inch doll outfits for only $8.50 you can see why Creations by Deevee is one of my most favorite Etsy shops!

Each outfit comes complete with shoes.

Don't forget about the wonderful patterns for furniture for both 6 inch and 18 inch dolls offered by Creations by Deevee 

As with all my posts I would love to hear from you so please leave me a comment here or email me at karenmowen@gmail.com

Looking for a great loft bed like Mckenna's for less?

 

Toys R US here in Canada (Also available in the USA) has a great alternative to the loft bed that American Girl has just put out for Mckenna.

This  set sells for $49.99 and is a great doll play item.

The Journey Girls Classic 18 inch Doll Bedroom Set includes:

• Loft bed
• Ladder
• Desk
• Chair
• Shelf
• Television
• Laptop
• Comforter
• Pillow
• Beanbag chair
• Rug

Mckenna's bed and set is beautiful and well made also however at $279 it may be out of most girls price ranges.

As with all my posts I would love to hear from you so please leave me a comment here or email me at karenmowen@gmail.com

A canopy bunk bed with storage made by Stephenie Webber

For those of you who follow my blog regularly you will notice that I have had a few past posts by Stephanie Webber of  Westfield, Indiana. In today's post she shares with us the first wood working project she made. She made her daughter a canopy bunk bed with storage.

Stephenie's daughter Lexie got 2 dolls for Christmas 4 years ago. When you have new American Girl Dolls and need a place for them to sleep, what do you do? Here is what Stephenie did...

I decided to build her a bunk bed with trundle so that she had a place for her friends doll to spend the night too. She asked if it could also have a canopy and curtains and I said why not?

I was afraid of woodworking at the time so i decided to use the bottom boxes as the bed frames, using corner molding and slats(found in the same section, maybe drywall butt joints?) , pre-painted white. I used wire hangers, cut down and bent as the canopy frame. I did use a small saw to cut the slats and corner molding. 

I covered the bed frames first in coordinating scrapbook paper and used mod podge to seal them. I'm a big believer in  mod podge, it adds durability and allows it to be cleaned if needed. I also made the coordinating sheets, curtains, pillows from excess fabric. 

I love how this bed turned out, I also love how the height of the doll bed allows for easy doll play. Dolls can sit up in bed and not bang thier "heads!"

I think Lexie is a very lucky girl.

Look for more ideas from Stephenie and Lexie this year.

As with all my posts I would love to hear from you so please leave me a comment here or email me at karenmowen@gmail.com