Monthly Outfits

On 7/20/2024 at 7:11 PM, rozucore said:

although i'm used to the summers in new england, i totally sympathize with merida 😩 it's been sooo hot and humid, i only have the energy to sit inside the house with the cool AC and watch youtube videos 😆 amazing photos as always, of course!!

Ditto, I keep chiding myself for not getting work on a sewing project done, but then this is me:

 

Edited July 22, 2024 by DesertPhantom51

August is here, and it's summer all over!  The day time is too hot, but the night time is getting just right for evening outdoor plans.  What better way to beat the heat than to play The Cardigans and have an evening garden party?  

The girls all have an hors d'oeuvres with matching outfit, lets see what they have cooked up!

First is Lydia with a summer (or anytime) favorite, the Margarita: 

Also my first doll sewing project!  I've sewn for humans before, but that skirt is a first for dolls.   

Margarita: 

1oz Cointreau

2oz Tequila Blanco

1oz Lime Juice

Shake with ice and serve in salt crusted glass!

A nice drink deserves some light finger food, here's Katie with some Caprese Skewers

Caprese Skewers:

On a toothpick pierce cherry tomato, mozzarella pearls and fresh Italian basil.  Drizzle with a balsamic vinaigrette made with 2tbs olive oil and 2tsp balsamic vinegar.  Divine on a warm night!

A seasonal sweet to go with the last taste, Merida brings one of my summer favorites of grilled fresh peaches.

Grilled Peaches: Take ripe peached cutting them in half and removing the pit.  Brush with olive oil and place cut side down on preheated grill.  After five minutes turn and grill the other side.  Eat plain, add to ice cream, add cottage cheese, or even use some of the balsamic vinaigrette from the kabobs.  Delicious in many ways!

Another cocktail is in order, but this is more of a cordial than an actual cocktail.  Cherry Bounce has been made for ages, and after discovering it for myself last year, I have started to make regular batches, although I use Makers Mark instead of brandy.  Katie gets into the cherry vibe quite well!

Cherry Bounce: 4 cups Makers Mark, 2.5 cups sugar, 1 lb fresh cherries, 1/2 cinnamon stick, 2 whole cloves, 1 allspice berry, and a pinch of nutmeg.  Combine it all in a mason jar and let sit for a week, gently agitate to ensure sugars combine, age for 3 months.  Pure delight!

Finally we end things with a classic summer desert, as a fan of all things sour, it's one of my favorites when the lemons are nice and tart.  Samus brings some Lemon Bars to wrap things up!

Lemon Bars: Crust 2 cups flour, 1 cup butter, 1/2 cup sugar.  Combine completely and press into 9x13 pan baking at 350 for 15 mintues.  Filling: 1 1/2 cup sugar, 1/4 cup flour, 4 eggs, 1/2 cup lemon juice.  Whisk together until combined.  After crust comes out, add filling and continue baking for 20 mintues, allow to cool completely once done, dust with confectioners sugar!  Sweet!

That's it for this month, I hope everyone has a safe and relaxing August.  Thanks for stopping by as always!  

Edited August 3, 2024 by DesertPhantom51

Your girls are always well styled, and they are all beautiful, but Lydia and Samus are really special; their face-up artists did a great job. 

Not used to seeing photos without metroids. 😛

Thank you for saying so!  Yes, those two are particularly personable.  I mean, I'm biased and think they're all the best, but those two do tend to 'pop' the most.  

Metroids are like the wind, they come, and they go and sometimes won't stand still for all the pictures lol

What beautiful and elegant dolls! They're so impeccably dressed! Loved all the details about the snacks and drinks too. And the skirt you sewed looks great! Fun lemon pattern. 🍋

Thank you so much for saying so!  The skirt was a bit of a trial for me, as I wasn't used to sewing with such small allowances, but I'm happy with how it all came together!  It was actually the print that inspired the whole theme this month, so I'm doubly thrilled it worked! 

Nice 😊 photoshoot. 
I really like how the Metroids are used in the photos this month.

Also nice use of the wine in the glass. I would definitely have closed the glass on top because I will be to afraid to spill it over the outfit.

 

I've yet to comment in this thread before, but your photoshoots are absolute doll goals for me. The posing, the outfits, the mix of scale props and human-sized ones, the general vibe...I dunno, it's just all so pleasant to me! The months seem to go by faster and faster lately, keep up the good work!

Thank you both so much for the lovely compliments! 

20 hours ago, Rajke said:

the wine in the glass. I would definitely have closed the glass on top because I will be to afraid to spill it over the outfit.

 

That's not actually wine in there, it's a prop I made from an existing wine glass, it's actually epoxy resin that I tinted red and let solidify at an angle to give it an illusion of liquid.  So no spill risks!  Although the margarita in Lydia's hand is the absolute real deal and I drank it after the shoot.  I was nervous while it was there though! 

8 hours ago, PlasticJester said:

I've yet to comment in this thread before, but your photoshoots are absolute doll goals for me. The posing, the outfits, the mix of scale props and human-sized ones, the general vibe...I dunno, it's just all so pleasant to me! The months seem to go by faster and faster lately, keep up the good work!

That's one of the nicest compliments I could receive, thank you so much, I'm glad you like them!

Amazing photos!  You have a safe and relaxing August too. 

September is always a let down.  I want to have fall fun, but it's 98 degrees outside, so obviously still summer.  Luckily something fun happened in San Diego recently, so I thought it was a fun chance to do something really silly.  The San Diego Zoo just welcomed back pandas, and it's still beach weather, so.... BEACH PANDAS!!

With the Autumnal Equinox just around the corner, we'll have Lydia go first with her longer hair returning as well.

She's not the only one with a new style this month, Katie sporting a new under color dye wig, keeping her ginger attitude on top of course. 

It's panda-monium I tells ya! 

That's the months theme, but here's a bonus of Merida in a non-theme swim suit and sarong!

In case you're curious, yes, that is her actual tartan pattern!  Thanks Spoonflower! 

 

That's it for this month, I wanted to do more, but life, uh, gets in the way.  Halloween can't get here soon enough though, I'm having so much planning for those photos!  Hope everyone has a safe and wonderful month ahead of them, and those heading to Dolpa LA travel safe!  Thanks for stopping by!

On 9/6/2024 at 11:26 AM, DesertPhantom51 said:

That's the months theme, but here's a bonus of Merida in a non-theme swim suit and sarong!

Her wig and face are just perfect together. 

16 hours ago, BeyondTime said:

Her wig and face are just perfect together. 

They really are, I tried a few others, but this one just matches too well.  Although I did have to get a fabric cap to prevent staining.  The stitches are white, the cap is light beige and the hair isn't dyed, but for some reason it left a little stain on her after the first time she wore it.  I'm still trying to figure out why.  

On 9/12/2022 at 7:10 PM, DesertPhantom51 said:

The Empress 75.

They have what I think is a new gin: Empress 1908 Elderflower Rose.

Try an Empress Elderflower Rose 75, same exact recipe as an Empress 75, except you use the Elderflower Rose gin and an orange twist. 
 

This is based on my own personal taste, but I've found that Montaudon Brut Champagne goes really well with Empress Gin cocktails.

Eventually I want to try every drink on this page: https://empressgin.com/cocktails/

They all look so tasty.

On 10/5/2024 at 9:49 PM, BeyondTime said:

They have what I think is a new gin: Empress 1908 Elderflower Rose.

Try an Empress Elderflower Rose 75, same exact recipe as an Empress 75, except you use the Elderflower Rose gin and an orange twist. 
 

This is based on my own personal taste, but I've found that Montaudon Brut Champagne goes really well with Empress Gin cocktails.

Eventually I want to try every drink on this page: https://empressgin.com/cocktails/

They all look so tasty.

Yes, I've been dying to try that, so if you pick up a bottle, let me know your notes on it.  I have so much I've yet to go through I can't justify buying another bottle when I still have over half a bottle of regular Empress and Hendricks!  

Hello Halloween!  October nearly passed me by!  I won't bore you with the details, we're all here for pretty dolls after all, I'm just so happy I finally got to get my pictures done for the month and share them again!  It's been a trying month.  So this month I wanted to pay homage to one of the all time great Halloween specials/shows.  So I picked roles for each of my girls, got them in costume and we went out looking for The Great Pumpkin!  It's the Great Pumpkin Charlie Brown!

Merida starts us off as our true believer Linus Van Pelt!

The Great Pumpkin just has to pick this pumpkin patch, he's got to, have you ever seen a pumpkin patch more sincere than this one?! The Great Pumpkin will appear, and he'll fly through the air and bring toys to all the good little girls and boys! 

Samus joins in as Sally Brown!  

"Isn't she the cutest thing?!" 

Not that it's all smooth sailing.

"If someone had told me I'd be waiting, in a pumpkin patch on Halloween night, I'd have said they were crazy...." 

Emma brings the bossy sassy energy as Lucy Van Pelt in her witch costume... a decidedly bishojo version of it for sure....

"A person should always choose a costume which is in direct contrast to her own personality."

But where is Charlie Brown?

Here's Katie... she had a little trouble with the scissors....

Good grief... and she got a rock... 

and finally here comes Lydia as... what kind of costume is that?!

Why, she's a World War 1 flying ace! 

Now I've seen everything..

oh well, it's a long way to Tipperary, better have a mug of (root) beer!

That's all I have for the month.  I'm still planning on getting November's in earlier in the month, hopefully, so we'll see you again real soon.  Happy Halloween everybody!  hope it's a safe and spooky one!  Thanks for stopping by! 

 

 

Edited October 30, 2024 by DesertPhantom51

Merida's hair makes me think of Chappel Roan's, and as always, Samus wows in anything. 

1 hour ago, BeyondTime said:

Merida's hair makes me think of Chappel Roan's, and as always, Samus wows in anything. 

I thought of doing a 'divas' month, and it was going to be either her or Tori Amos for Merida.  I don't know if I'm still going to do it, but it's good to know I'm not the only one who thinks so. lol

and yes, Samus is always charming.  Even when I edit her smile away to be grumpy lol here it is unedited just for fun. 

Spoiler

 

Hey, remember when I said I was gonna get Novembers up early in the month?  That was a fun idea.....

Still, this month marks 5 years that I've been doing these monthly photos, I can't believe it's been that long and that I have yet to miss a month.  This month, I'm not doing anything November themed, and I'm actually only doing one photo.  It's one that's been on my mind for a few years, and I finally got everything together only to realize I don't really have a theme to match it.  So, to mark 5 years I'm doing it, and just that.  Just like I started, just Samus and a few Metroids.

Metroid was one of my favorite games as a kid.  It was one of the few games that we had that was basically just mine, that my siblings had little to no interest in.  The big surprise at the end of the game was that Samus would remove her helmet revealing that the character you thought you were playing as "tough space dude with gun" was actually a woman the whole time.  This was already spoiled for me by the famous "Justin Bailey" code that let you play the game as Samus in just her leotard, a kind of proto Zero Suit Samus.  Not that it inhibited my love of the game, I enjoyed exploring Zebes with my lone bounty hunter exploring every corner of the game map.  I've been a lifelong fan since, so when I decided to join the doll hobby six years ago, the first idea that came into my head when it came to making a doll was her.  

So for five years of the thread, and six years of being in the hobby, here's a fun pic of Samus as I first got to know her in her Justin Bailey form, and yes, that's my original game from all those years ago too! 

Happy November, hope you're all doing well, and thanks for stopping by! 

Just in the nick of time, nearly Christmas Eve, and here I come across the finish line.  December is one of my favorite months, there's so much to do and experience and so many events to enjoy.  This year with my girls I decided to do a typical home holiday gathering!  Here comes Christmas!

Merida starts things off with a literal interpretation of Christmas 'spirit' 

Emma brought a mince pie to share with the others.

Katie brings the entertainment with microphones and a laptop for holiday singing

Lydia brings a side dish to add to the meal

and Samus is our designated host, as the other girls wouldn't be here if it weren't for her.

and lets tie it all together with a doll family photo!

That's all for this month.  I hope if you're traveling for the holidays you're all safe and make it to your destinations!  Merry Christmas everyone, and a Happy New Year!  

January is here, but unfortunately I have no pictures!  We're undergoing some living space renovations, so after 5 years I finally have to miss a month.  Honestly, I thought this was going to happen sooner, so I have this older picture made up to kinda cheat it.  lol

I hope you all have a wonderful month, and we'll be back in February!