Monthly Recap / July 2015

Hello!

As the saying goes, “time flies when you’re having fun.” The statement couldn’t be truer as the two of us look back over our July. With weeks of seeing friends, attending work and camp, and soaking up the summer sun, the start of August took us by surprise! Nevertheless, the start of a new month brings another monthly recap; we take this chance to share the highlights of our month, while you can catch up on the best – and most recent – posts on the Doll Mag blog. How was your July?

What We Loved ♥ Bella kicked off her July with three weeks of working as a counselor at a local summer program; she helped incoming middle schoolers adjust to the new building, and, later, befriended first graders as they erupted homemade volcanoes in a science camp. The fun continued when she was asked to work crew at a community production of Stephen King’s Carrie. Although it wouldn’t be her first production of choice {too much fake blood and telekinesis for her liking}, she had a blast and made several new friends backstage. Bella finished up her eventful July by celebrating her birthday with family and starting a typography course at a nearby design college.

Lulu is also enjoying her summer vacation! Her mornings were well-spent watching all three seasons of Dance Academy for the third time {we can never get enough of Abigail and Sammy}, and the relaxation continued into the afternoon with new books to read – The Last Ever After, anyone? – and ice cream to make. Lulu also throughly enjoyed Newsies when the two of us saw it in early July, as well as the new films Minions and Mr. Holmes. Finally, Lulu has also started an art class at the same school; her course, however, is on miniature set design.

Reader’s Favorites ♥ Bri’s Super Summer Live Blog / Happy National Ice Cream Day!

Lulu’s Favorites ♥ A Small Comments from Bri and a New Friend / Working on Wednesdays

Bella’s Favorites ♥ Magazine (Late Summer 2015) / The Doll Mag Book Club Discussion (01)

Doll Mag Around the Web ♥ The Disney Dolls

Looking Ahead ♥ In our last monthly recap, we were counting down the days until summer break, but now, we are already prepping for the new school year! Both of us will be wrapping up our summer reading, going back-to-school shopping {Bella’s favorite}, and finding out our schedules in the coming weeks. Before we head back to the classroom, however, the two of us will be taking a family trip to Virginia – we can’t wait! In the meantime, we hope you’ll follow us on Instagram at @dollmagblog. We have posted nothing yet, but our first picture is on its way :)

Have a wonderful Wednesday!

Staff Picks / July 2015

Hello!

With July coming to a close, it’s time for another round of Staff Picks! The two of us have been writing this monthly feature since the beginning of the Doll Mag blog {i.e quite a long time}, and we still believe it’s important to highlight the work of other talented doll fans. Fortunately, summer seems to be treating us doll bloggers well – we had such a difficult choosing from July’s slew of creative posts! Since June escaped without its own staff picks, we packed today’s round-up with eight terrific finds to brighten up your Thursday. Read and spread some love.

1 / Syddie, blogger of Snister’s Flock, is an outstanding photographer; we are often left in awe when we read her new posts! Thankfully for us and other admirers of her photos, she’s willing to share some of her secrets, as she does in her recent photo shoot. Her photos – with stunning bokeh – capture Caroline, Jimmy the Fox, and their doll sized world perfectly.

2 / We don’t follow A Girl for All Time as closely as, say, American Girl or Ever After High, but we were excited nonetheless to see the promotional photo of their newest doll: Sam, the line’s 1960’s girl! From her adorable rosy cheeks to her stylish mod dress, we’re sure she’ll be a sell-out come September. Thanks to Confessions of a Doll Collector’s Daughter for sharing the news!

3 / Charlie always seems to have a fun day planned and photographed. Case in point? Her recent post on her trip to the zoo! With the cutest tote bag and camera in hand, Charlie snapped pictures of lions, elephants, and other animals to share with her readers. All we want to know now is if we can join her on her next field trip!

4 / The two of us agree: if we were given a chance to travel anywhere in the world, Europe would be at the top of our lists! Sabine’s recent travel recap already had our attention with its title; we Audrey Hepburn fans know our Roman Holiday :) She follows up a great name with photos of famous sites and insight into her trip to Rome. Yes and yes.

5 / July was quite a busy month in the Ever After High World! Pictures of upcoming releases were posted online, the dolls themselves were shown at the San Diego Comic Con, and hints about the next hour-long special were released. Lulu was particularly excited about the new signature release dolls, and she eagerly stalked checked her favorite EAH blogs for photos from the Con. Her favorites? Justine Dancer {pictured here} and Heartstruck C.A. Cupid.

6 / Summer calls for light sundresses and evenings spent outside, two things that Charlotte and Becca from Simply Dollightful recently took advantage of. The gorgeous sun-drenched pictures of their photo story had us pulling out our own mini dolls and attempting to make as pretty of a French braid. Bonus points for the Anne of Green Gables reference!

7 / Clarisse rocks her sense of style with each new post she publishes, so of course it was no different of a case with her birthday recap. In typical Clarisse fashion, her party was complete with live music, chocolate cupcakes, and thoughtful gifts {we want that Kate Spade bag ourselves!}. Bella, as a July birthday buddy, definitely approves.

8 / We have mentioned our love of frozen treats before, so it came as no surprise that this tasty looking sorbet from A Peek Into the Pantry caught our eye. Gwen’s recipe for an Addy inspired Ice Orangeade is not only easy to follow, but also explained with a number of interesting historical facts. Time to get out the ice cream maker!

Happy Thursday!

Magazine / Late Summer 2015

Hello!

May and June seemed to whiz by, and although we feel like just yesterday we posted our last issue, we already have another edition of Doll Mag to share! The two of us love creating the late summer issue, as it always falls in the DM birthday month; besides our celebratory goodies, this particular edition includes some of the following articles…

• an interview with Felicity Merriman and Elizabeth Cole, American Girl’s archived cuties from the time of the American Revolution.
• a thorough timeline of the darling Strawberry Shortcake and her fruit-named friends.
• a collection of modern fashion inspired by the wardrobe of the always stylish Audrey Hepburn.
• two fun crafts that take advantage of summer’s hottest trend: pineapples!
• and much, much more!

You can read the current edition on ISSUU or download it on Adobe Reader {we finally bought our media upgrade} HERE.

Like always, issue release day brings a number of links! First up is the bimonthly survey. Open to ALL of our readers, it gives you the chance to be featured in next issue’s Contents page. You can enter HERE!

We are in need of Etsy shop owners for next issue’s Shop Owner Spotlight. It’s a super easy process, so we hope you will sign up for an interview HERE.

Gabby is an advice columnist extraordinaire, and she would be delighted to answer your question for the September/October issue! Write her with your worry HERE.

There’s never a time when we don’t love hearing from you readers {although we do need to up our commenting and emailing game :)}. Write a letter to us HERE with your thoughts on the latest issue.

Finally, are you on summer break?! Use your free time to read through the DM back issues HERE on ISSUU.

Lots of love, hugs, and thanks,
Bella, Lulu, and the Doll Mag team

Psst. The winning book of the Doll Mag Book Club is Anne of Green Gables! We will be back with a schedule and more details later this week.

Monthly Recap / July 2014

Hello!

We here at Doll Mag have been loving summer vacation so far! Before we go on to all of the fun planned for August, we wanted to take a quick look back at our July. We haven’t done our monthly recap in quite a while, but the two of us are hoping to start it up again on a regular basis with a new format, starting with today’s post! How has your summer been?

What We Loved ♥ I personally enjoyed celebrating my birthday! My friends and family all made it extra special, and I couldn’t ask for a better day. I also liked my two-week long art class that I just finished up on Friday. It was a bit out of my comfort zone, but I was satisfied with my work in the end! Lulu too liked her art class; she did one on claymation, and she made the coolest videos. She also started her back-to-school shopping, starting with this fun Vera Bradley backpack!

Reader’s Favorites ♥ Shop Owner Spotlight (05) / Birthday Party Plates and Cups / Birthday Party Petit Fours

Lulu’s Favorites ♥ Summer Hiking / Birthday Movie Night! / Comments From Bri (07)

Bella’s Favorites ♥ Working on Wednesday (23) / Birthday Garden Mini Garden / Happy Birthday Bella!

Doll Mag Around the Web ♥ Dollicious / {Camp} Doll Diaries

From Readers ♥ Claire, who you may know from the blog, Carrot and Claire, made her own Petits Fours following our tutorial! We think they turned out adorable, especially with those fun butterfly and flower toppers.

Looking Ahead ♥ August is looking good! We both can’t wait for American Girl’s Beforever launch at the end of the month, but in the meantime, we are going to spend the second half of our summer break the best we can :) For me, that means lots of reading, creating, and hanging with friends, while Lulu can’t wait to go shopping {aka getting EAH doll Lizzie Hearts when/if she comes out} and seeing musicals!

Have a terrific rest of your day!

Staff Picks / July 2014

Hello!

Another month winding down, another edition of Staff Picks! There was so much to choose from this month that I know I had a tough time deciding on my four to feature. However, between Lulu’s picks and my own, I think we struck a nice balance! From some wonderful artwork to a few Etsy favorites, be sure to stop by at each link and say hello. Do you have any posts that you want to share?

1 | Echo, who blogs at From Echo With Love, also has an Etsy shop filled with some of the coolest things. She just rolled out her line of summer products; our favorite items are the Frozen-inspired tees, like the Elsa example shown above!

2 | After having the same character art for quite a while, Lulu was very happy to see that new posters were being sold with brand-new artwork for our ten-inch EAH friends. She absolutely adores the one for our doll, Bri {Briar Beauty}.

3 | Lulu is jealous of Pipploo’s awesome doll house! She especially likes Addy’s lovely parlor with the historical touches, such as the bright red settee {from Rebecca’s collection} and the adorable kittens :)

4 | I know very little about Journey Girls, but I am learning more with the help of the blog, My Journey Girls Dolls Adventures! The recent raincoat review is a good read – how fun is that floral hat?!

5 | Don’t you love this incredible artwork by Lauren Schmidt? We think that all of the dolls drawn look fantastic, but Kaya’s illustration manages to capture her adventurous and happy spirit the best!

6 | Clarisse always impresses us with her impeccable fashion sense, but her celebrity-inspired ensembles posted this month were spot-on! I know that I would like that pink coat for myself, as would my doll, Ruthie :)

7 | Having a handful of mini dolls ourselves, we were excited to find that the Etsy shop Daisy Chains is selling “petite” versions of her popular sundresses. Lulu’s pick, of course, has her favorite color: purple!

8 | Finally, one of our newest blog finds is A Peek Into the Pantry, where Gwen, the blogger, posts recipes inspired by many of the American Girl dolls. My choice was Julie’s Shrimp and Pineapple Skewers because I use that set all the time.

Have a terrific night!

Magazine / Late Summer 2014

Hi!

How are you enjoying your summer so far? Lulu and I have loved our first week off from school; our break provided just enough time to finish up our latest issue, which we released today! We’re very happy with the final result, and the two of us think it holds to the high standards we’ve set over the past three years for ourselves. Did we mention that today also marks the beginning of our month-long birthday festivities?! :) While not every post will be related to the celebration, we have a number of birthday tutorials and photo stories to share with you all in the coming weeks. In the meantime, however, enjoy reading some of the new articles found in this issue. They include…

• an interview with AG’s ultimate beach girl: Kanani Akina!
• a step-by-step guide to making a stop motion video.
• a round-up of some of the best swimsuits for dolls on the Etsy market.
• a color-in poster to match our Secret Garden party theme.
• and much, much more!

You can read the current issue HERE.

You can enter our bimonthly survey to be in the next issue HERE.

It’s great to be blogging again on a regular schedule. Thanks for sticking with us throughout our busy June!

Lots of love, Bella and Lulu

Magazine / Summer 2013

Summer is the best time of the year, isn’t it?! Lulu and I have happily enjoyed our first few days of summer vacation, and we are even more excited to share the July August issue with you! You can read it here. Inside our jumbo birthday issue, you’ll find…

• An interview with Marisol Luna {in honor of So You Think You Can Dance’s Dance Day on the last Saturday of July, of course.}
• Ideas to keep you entertained all summer long.
• Lulu’s very tasty sundae creations.
• swimsuits for your doll.
• and more!

You will also notice that you can now email us at our new email address: dollmagblog@gmail.com. We hope that this, along with a few site updates this summer, will connect us with our amazing readers! :)

Have a lovely afternoon!