PrettyTiny Film Company -- Alliecat's crew (Aug. 29, welcome Lily!)

[Alliecat]

Sunny among the flowers looks cute! It appears your flowers are "going to town" (as my grandparents might say) this season.
...  I simply cannot get the camera settings right to avoid "blowing out" the highlights. I've really lost my touch, it seems.

Thanks!  My parents said that too. 
Can one really say one has lost one's touch when it's a digicam that does so much on its own?  I mean, you could say that about shooting film and getting it wrong, but, this digital stuff makes so many adjustments on its own.  Sensors don't cope well with contrast.  Have you tried a "middle grey" card?

Great pictures.  My fave is the third from last where she's holding the lily.

Thank you!    It was really hard to get any kind of decent angle.

A few more pix of Natalie from a previous pic-a-week shoot.  I'm getting a bit caught up with some photos -- just not the longer-ago ones!








There were soooooo many bees!  The fireweed has done really well since I started making more of an effort to contain the seeds before they all float away, and to scatter them after I burn.  This involves wandering around bent over through the burned area patting the fluffy stems on the ground so the seeds will "stick" there    Preferably before a rain.


A new wee crew member quietly appeared in my signature a while ago, and has finally got some photos to begin her PTFCo model portfolio.  Thanks to some enabling on the FB doll group, I ended up looking at a batch of minis on Dollyteria while I was in PEI.  So instead of hunting for properties to drive by, on one night I was buying a doll instead   I'd thought Onyx was cute and that I'd grab her if I ever saw her for cheap, so... here she is!


I thought this iris made a nice colour match for her.  I don't remember buying it, nor am I sure where it came from.  I must have got it in an end-of-season sale but such is the level of distraction/disruption here that is wrecking my brain.  Anyway, it made me a flower, a nice surprise.



Some buttercups in a corner between steps & house.



My lavender didn't have a great start and was kind of scraggly for some time, but the last couple of years it's filled out and looks great.






A few days later, it bloomed, and is a perfect match for her eyes.
How many bees do you see??



It was really hard to hit focus on a handheld doll and a moving bee.












She also looks cute in this hat.


Thanks for looking! 

[Alliecat]

On top of Daesani & Petra's arrival anniversaries on the 29th & 30th, the 29th is also international Tiger Day. Yay! We love tigers. The girls celebrated with Victor & Dallas.





Dae & Dallas (well, it was close; he came from the Fort Worth Zoo).



Petra & Victor.



*smooch*

[davidd]

I love Nat's hat!

Interesting about the fireweed. You put an impressive amount of effort in to your flower gardens. (You also make gardening sound like a lot of work!)

Oooh, a new arrival! Onyx looks captivating and exotic -- which makes her a suitable model for posing among your flowers.

What nice big bees you have among your lavender!

That's a fun hat you found for Onyx, too; but I really like the gold coin-like headpiece.

It's so fun that you remember everyone's, or nearly everyone's, arrival anniversaries and continue to celebrate them.

The Tiger Clan is growing!

[Alliecat]

... (You also make gardening sound like a lot of work!)

What nice big bees you have among your lavender!

It's so fun that you remember everyone's, or nearly everyone's, arrival anniversaries and continue to celebrate them.

The Tiger Clan is growing!

Gardening, a lot of work.... from the guy who is always renovating   ....It can be, but, like any hobby, it's fun if you want to do it.  I love watching things grow and puttering around with soil and plants.

There have been tons of bumblebees!  Must be a little colony nearby?  I'm so happy to see so many of them.

I wish I did remember everyone's arrivals!  Dae & Petra being my first 2 full-size Pullips, I remember.  And of course Sunsette's "birthday".  Everyone else.... not so much.  I wish I had started keeping track but I never ex-pected to have so many dolls and didn't think of doing it till I had so many it would take ages to go back and look them up.  And not everyone got a photoshoot right away, so, I still wouldn't have dates for some 
I found several of those little hats on eBay some time ago.  They work for both the minis and the 1/6 girls, so that's kind of neat.

I realized I forgot 3 tigers.  That would've been a fun shot with ... oops, 4 tigers ... all of them.  Next year?


Dae & Yuki's pic-a-week shoot of course turned into more.  It was a rare quiet moment and I was able to go out in the yard unbothered-but-cautious.


Dae doesn't spend a lot of time in her stock outfit; it's kind of a pain to get on, and all the little velcro strappy thingies don't stay fastened.  And the shoelaces.... auwe!!!   But I wanted some pix of the 2 of them together since I got Yuki... last year....













It's like Daesani has a little apprentice or something, now...



Don't mess with these girls.


A quick foray up into the really-not-private part of the yard ... the balloonflowers' bloom is going by so fast.    But Dae looked really good posing with them.












Thanks for looking! 

[davidd]

Those balloonflowers look nice! I wonder if something like that would grow around here?

Your soldiers look ready to defend the Shire. Perhaps you should keep them armored up from now on to serve as vigilant guardians at the border of Isengard.

Even tho' the temperatures here are pushing 90˚F (32˚C), the signs of autumn are appearing. The rabbitbrush is showing yellow blossoms, a sign of fall. The grasshoppers are slowing down, their loud click-click-clicks when they fly beating at a more measured pace. A glance at an astronomical calendar (I like the RussellCottrell.com site for its ease of use: https://russellcottrell.com/blog/sunAndMoon.htm) indicates that the solar midquarter, representing the change of seasons for some ancient peoples, occurred on 7 August.

I'm glad you got a chance to venture out from some photo fun without being harassed by Orks. I particularly like the scene of the sparring practice at the base of the rocky cliff.

[Alliecat]

You could probably grow balloonflowers.  It's very dry up there, and they'd probably like a little more sun than they get.


An advantage of staying up all night is you can pollinate your pumpkin flowers before you go to bed, so then you don't have to get up early to do it. 


They are huge, and gorgeous, and Daisy was a nice colour match.






The flowers are only open early in the morning.  There are lots of bees around, but we're helping them out because male flowers might not be open the same day as the female flowers.  So we're collecting pollen.






Leave some pollen for the bees, Daisy.



I thought Isabelle's golden hair was a nice colour match too.








Thanks for looking 

[davidd]

How do you "collect pollen?" Brush it in to a little tray or something?

You can tell the gender of the flowers?

If you're awake all night, why is there light in these photos? Or are you saying you stayed up until dawn, and then head to bed as the sun peeks over the peaks?

At least you had a jolly crew to keep you entertained on your late-night / early-morning horticultural mission!

[rubyperidot]

I don't suppose there are any of those little Rainbow Highs who are boys are there?

I've got a couple of the boys - a black guy and a slightly smaller blue haired guy but I would love a tiny boy RH.

[Alliecat]

How do you "collect pollen?" Brush it in to a little tray or something?

You can tell the gender of the flowers?

Or are you saying you stayed up until dawn, and then head to bed as the sun peeks over the peaks?

Yes.  Daisy is holding the paintbrush.

If you look under the flower beside Daisy, you can see a bulge.  That's the future pumpkin if the flower gets pollinated.
I am completely bummed that the first flower didn't take at all; this one did and I was pleased to see it, but now it's turning an unhealthy colour and doesn't look like it's going to grow.  So disappointed.  It's been so hot & dry.  I let the boxes go 3 days without watering instead of 2; that may have been enough.    I think I'm out of time.  One vine has no female flowers, and the other is so small, that it's a few more days to blooming size and even if it gets pollinated, there probably isn't enough time to grow a decent pumpkin.  I was looking forward to having one.
And slugs got the squash that looked like it was going to grow, before it got really started 
So disappointing, given the difficulty of gardening at all here these days.

Sadly, yes.  Because it's quiet at night, and I can relax a bit finally.  So I spend all night either looking fruitlessly at real estate, or random internetting to shut off my thoughts about the whole mess.  As the sun peeks over Isengard, I go down to the bunker & try to get a little sleep.  This is not a healthy way to live. 

I don't suppose there are any of those little Rainbow Highs who are boys are there?

No, but perhaps in time they'll make some.  There are only 4 or 5 girls yet.  Don't know if they sell well enough to lead to boy versions.


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Pic-a-week turned into a few pix, as usual.  I didn't get it together in time to catch sun on the glads, but here's Rosalind matching them nicely.

[Alliecat]

I shot a few more pix of Ros because someone on FB said she needed some wings "so she could be a fairy amongst the flowers".  I forgot about the wings!

[davidd]

Your wings are my command? Or, your wishes for wings?

That's pretty cool that you can summon up wings on request!

Your tropical-esque flora never ceases to amaze! It appears that everything is in full bloom... and you have pretty little fairies flitting about amongst the flowers!

Is there an active doll photography community on Facebook, or is it friends and followers of your personal account who offer photo suggestions?

[Alliecat]

I got those wings several years ago from an Etsy seller who had a gorgeous collection, but she's no longer active. Glad I got several.

Is there an active doll photography community on Facebook, or is it friends and followers of your personal account who offer photo suggestions?

"Followers" LOL.  I don't post much anymore and I don't think anyone reads the few things I do post.  I think most of the small FB list unfollowed during That Weird Time when I posted a mere handful of political opinions 
There is a group called "Dolly Kingdom" but even that's not as active as it used to be.  
You haven't got sucked into the FB swamp yet, have you.


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PTFCo welcomes Lily!!
Lily joined the crew from the thrift shop, where I did my monthly shift on Tuesday.  They had these two porcelain dolls way up on top of a bookshelf.  I'd been kind of eyeing them all afternoon.  I only had a couple of porcelain dolls but recognized the box designs and knew one of mine was the same make.  Just before we closed, I climbed up on a chair to have a look.  No prices on the boxes.  Undecided, I put them back, "for now", "maybe think about it".  They had been neatly leaning against the wall, and I tilted the boxes back again.  Lily's box promptly pitched forward and would have crashed down to the floor, had I not caught her. 
Well.  That's kind of saying she wanted to come home with me, isn't it?? 







After some discussion about price, in which I said I didn't want to suggest a price if I was buying (I mean, it is a local-charity shop), the other worker called the boss to ask what she thought.  The boss said $5.  Sold!!


I thought Lily might be Pearl's sister; they look so much alike, and their outfits are so similar in style; some of the same material... 





... It turns out, even though they look quite different, Lily is Rose's sister, and both are from the "Vanessa Ricardi" collection.


...and both are from the same series, "2003"!



Now here's the funny part of the story....
I forget what year I got Rose, whether it was 2003, or 2004, or whenever.... Dad got her for me at a Christmas market where we were selling our art.  There was a guy from the mainland who used to come over to markets with a crapload of junky Chinese toys, and t-shirts.  That year, and I think the only time, he had a few porcelain dolls.  I looked at all of them but really only had eyes for Rose.  She was so different from the others.  Dad asked if I wanted her and I thought it was cute that I was an adult but daddy was buying me a doll.
Now I wonder.... was Lily among them?  Someone sent her to the thrift shop; this is a small place; did that someone get her at that market...?  So, have I seen her before????  Had we already met in passing????!  I think it's fun to imagine our paths crossed before, and now that I'm collecting dolls, here we are.



I mean, look at that face... I like to think she has a little magic.  She looks like she knows things 



So I think Rose is the older sister and she's inherently magic because she's an angel.  Lily... a little mysterious, and maybe a little magical.  I still think Pearl is related, the youngest sister, and looks like she's maybe a different line from the same company, but I can't find her box to check.  She came from a mainland thrift store.  Anyway, now it looks like that little family is complete -- and, perhaps, reunited. 





Thanks for looking!