Back Again!

I must admit, when my sister said "If I go to look at your blog one more time and I see that same Gladiolus post, I am going to punch you in the face!" I realized it had been too long since my last post!

So much has happened in the last week! I can't wait to tell you all about it. While I get those posts ready here is the video of planting Gladiolus I was telling you about last week.



I had to film this clip twice. In the video when I talk about planting some gladiolus a couple of days ago, that is actually the first time I shot the video. I thought everything went fine, but when I went to watch the footage I realized my microphone must have been knocked loose and the sound was scratchy and unusable. So out again into my garden I went, and I'm so happy the second time went off without a hitch! I hope you enjoy it!

Planting Gladiolus

Bulb planting is one of my favorite parts of gardening. I never tire of putting corms, tubers, bulbs and anything else you can put in the ground to get a beautiful flower.

Today was mainly focused on Gladiolus, tall beautiful stalks of flowers, as I was filming a little clip for my youtube page. Gladiolus are easily acquired at any home garden store, and if you want a variety that is a little more special there are many web based bulb stores where you can get amazing and exotic bulbs. I really like Dutch Bulbs. There's so many fine bulb distributors out there, I'm sure you'll find one that you like and will be planting bulbs in no time!

Here are some pictures from my morning:

The difference between the top and bottom of a Gladiolus bulb

Me using my long handled bulb planter

All planted! now... patience....

Remember if you plant Gladiolus every two weeks you will have a wonderful succession of blooms in your garden all summer long!

Back in Action

It's been so long! So many wonderful things have happened! Over 60 videos on youtube and more than 100,000 views! The last year has been amazing and I can't wait for what this year brings! Currently I'm a staff reporter for www.CraftCritique.com and am in talks with other blogs to keep more content coming!

Today I bought some glass jars for Honey, hopefully next week I'll be able to extract about 80 or so (guess-timated) pounds of honey from the bee hive in my back yard. I'm also in full swing preparation mode for my next cupcake event to celebrate the opening of the newest location of Adornment, a fine jewelry company, in Newport, RI. You could say, that I'm as busy as a bee!

Here's a link to my latest video on youtube, a fun card for Mother's Day! Enjoy!

Another Video

A nice viewer asked that I show all of my dolls. I didn't know how many exactly I had. Oh boy I have more than I thought! Enjoy!



I think I have figured out the problem with my youtube posts being cut off in blogger, if not you can always go straight to youtube and search: christiantamez

:Update, I did not fix the problem, and I'm not sure how but I want you to know that there is more of a right side to my videos than what is being shown on my blog!

A new video!!!

A new video about caring for American Girl dolls with curly hair! Fun stuff. Shot with a flipcam. I was finally able to upload myself in HD so it's pretty good quality on youtube! AND I also fixed my old video and it's also finally uploaded in HD so search for "Collecting American Girl Samantha Parkington" or just scroll to the bottom of the page!

Something Wonderful

It's not often that a treasure such as a nearly mint White Body American Girl doll comes on the market. It's even more of a rarity for myself to become the proud owner of such an item. Nevertheless it has happened and she is mine!

The original red box and the rare paper ribbon which held the top to the bottom, book insert, pamphlet, and original hair style. Everything you could possibly want as a collector.

This particular White Body is Samantha Parkington. What's interesting about this doll is that she is a transitional doll. Transitional meaning that while she does have a white body - which dates her production from 1986 - 1990- the darker color of her hair indicates that she was produced closer to 1990, when the bodies were changed to tan. The earliest Samantha dolls have a lighter shade of brown hair.

Two White Body Samantha Parkingtons, The "transitional" Samantha is on the left with the darker hair. The earliest Samantha's had lighter brown hair (right).

Another excellent surprise was that this doll came with most of her original packaging. Everything but the piece of tissue paper that originally covered the brand new doll. The book insert is another collectible piece of packaging that originally came with the doll. The seller I purchased my doll from didn't know this and didn't make any note of a book insert. It was after I had won the eBay auction that I asked the seller if it was included. If other collectors had known about it, the price would have risen significantly.

On the left is a Samantha Parkington doll from 2008 - the last year she was made. On the right is an example of how a Samantha Parkington would have looked if she had been purchased from Pleasant Company in the 1980's.

Why I Like American Girl

The two Samantha's eye this new red haired harlot with her scandalous two-piece swimsuit.

Recently someone asked me, "Why do you like the American Girls so much?". Believe it or not, I was puzzled. It's not that I didn't have a reason to like the American Girls. The problem was that I had so many reasons why I like them, I couldn't think of which to share.

In 1992 when I first was introduced to the American Girls collection it was still run by the original founder Pleasant Rowland. It was that fateful day, I was at a neighbor girls house and saw her Molly McIntyre doll sitting pristine, proudly displayed in its red box. Then again at my other friend Britni's house, I met her doll Kirsten Larson. Somehow I managed to find a catalogue at home and for months I agonized over having my own. I had chosen Samantha Parkington, she was the one for me.

I can't quite remember exactly how it came to be that I would finally get my own Samantha Parkington. It must have been the result of cleaning out the pantry some odd number of times and almost certainly a disgusting amount of begging on my part. Either way, Samantha came. I'll never forget filling out the order form. SDP - Samantha doll paperback book, this was the first code I ever ordered from American Girl. Over time I would end up with Samantha's : Lacy White Undies, Play Dress and Pinafore, Hair Care Kit, Nightgown, and Middy dress with matching boots.

I remember the day she came. I must have waited entire days looking out the window, because back then it took a week for the company to get the order and then two weeks for it to arrive. The doll was packaged with great care in a white box with silhouettes of girls playing on it. The box top was secured to the bottom by a maroon paper ribbon, with Pleasant Company and a picture of a girl reading a book with her doll by her side. For years Samantha never left my own side, and I remember proudly taking her to school. It was there that I convinced my friends, Allyce and Chelsea that they should have dolls of their own.

As time passed, Samantha and I spent less and less time together and eventually she lay packed away in a chest with Molly McIntyre. I had a Kirsten Larson doll as well, but once I made the mistake of taking out her braids she was sent back to Pleasant Company in exchange for Molly.

2008 came and American Girl decided it was time to retire Samantha Parkington as a character from their doll line. The news came as quite a shock and I scrambled to put back my own childhood collection. I fell back in love with the doll who had been such a close friend. The adventures and memories floated back, as once again packages started to come from the same address in Madison, Wisconsin.

I should probably inform you that the American Girls collection is split into two categories, Pleasant Company and Mattel. Pleasant Company was the original company which offered the dolls in 1986 and continued running the business until it was purchased by Mattel in 1998. It was when Mattel took the company over that many changes happened. Changes which might lead someone to believe that the newer products made by Mattel are of a lesser quality than their Pleasant Company predecessors.

In my quest for the ultimate Samantha collection, I discovered that the first dolls made from 1986 - 1989 were significantly different from dolls made in the 90's. Samantha had lighter brown hair that was long and curly - something that I noticed right away when I got my own Samantha. I remember thinking "Wasn't her hair lighter in the magazine?"- the dolls in the 90's had hair that was still long and curly, but the color of the hair was definitely different. Also for the first three years, the dolls were made with White Bodies. The white bodies had to be changed to a flesh color to accomodate Felicity's lower necklined outfits. Another big change was that the boxes the dolls came in was originally red, something I recalled from seeing that first Molly in her red box.

What I remember enjoying the most, was looking at the pages in the catalogue. All of the different scenes the dolls had to collect, were beautifully set up and displayed for any eager child to covet. Now as an adult I can finally collect all of the scenes, piece by piece to put together my own ultimate American Girls collection.

The difference between a white body Samantha and Mattel Samantha's hair is easily seen here. The white body doll has the longer, lighter, curlier hair.

A Large portion of my Samantha collection