Birthday in the Canyon - Photo Shoot

 

Hello, hi, welcome back, my dear friends!! Yes, it is I, returning like the McRib sandwich, back by unpopular demand, me! *Confetti cannons fail to go off*

Oof, okay so rough start to the post I guess lol!! 'XD How's everyone doing this fine June day? Personally, I'm struggling to comprehend that it's June already, like halfway through the year already?? Feels absolutely illegal like how did that happen?? And it's only just started not being cold here like what the actual heck is going on? This year doesn't feel real it's a trick I'm calling it now XD

Anyway, several months back was my birthday (hooray for being old! *Second round of confetti cannons also fails*), and my family took me for a birthday trip to the beautiful Canyon De Chelly to hike, take doll pics, and celebrate! It was definitely a long drive (that I slept through most of, lol 'XD) but so SO worth it!! Plus, I received Kaya as a birthday gift right before this trip, so the location could not have been more perfect! So without further ado, let's dive in!

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Okie dokie artichokies, pictures in front of the sign at the visitors' center seems like a good place to start (even though I took these at the very end of the shoot shhhhhh no one has to know...). I honestly would have LOVED to take pictures all over the place in front of the visitor's center, the architecture and layout over there was SO pretty and interesting, but I thought that might get weird for the people trying to go in and out of the building lol 'XD So I opted to just take pictures with the sign instead.

Not me giving Josefina the boots with the crazy thick rubber soles and making an already tall doll that much taller lol!! XD

HERE SHE IS!!! Oh my goodness she is so stunning, I absolutely adore her face mold! There's just something so kind and sweet and gentle about her look, I don't know how to explain it exactly, but her face mold just has a lot of personality and I love taking pictures of dolls like that. Funny enough though, Logan (who has the same face mold) gives me the exact opposite vibe of Kaya, I've never looked at a Logan doll and thought, "Oh look at him, what a kind and gentle soul!" No, I know that boy is a menace to society don't ask me to explain I just know... 

My mom also gave me a bunch of Native American inspired clothing she made (including the boots!) to go with Kaya for my birthday, and this was my favorite piece in the set! I also added the belt because I thought it might be a nice touch :)

We're not talking about the belt peeling, it's in perfect condition in my heart <3

We hiked all the way to the bottom of the canyon (very long hike, as you can probably imagine lol) and at the bottom there were actually ruins/ancient dwellings! I believe these ones were the called the White House Ruins, and they were absolutely amazing!! Unfortunately (but completely understandable) We weren't allowed to get too close to them, and there was a fence running around the perimeter of the ruin, but I figured from this distance you could still get a kind of cool perspective of them, plus you can barely see the fence, so it ended up being a win-win! :D

Josefina <3

I've been wanting to take pictures of her in this outfit for so long like y'all have no idea :D I just think it suits her personality so well and the bandana is everything on her, I love it so much!!

Okay, I'm gonna be so real with you guys... Molly wasn't supposed to go LOLLL XD But it felt wrong to not take her on my birthday trip so here's the few pictures I got of her in her outfit that has a wildly different vibe from the other two lol (Plus Bennet, who also wasn't supposed to go... I have no idea what I was thinking or doing when I packed for this hike XD)

Lighting is rough in this one but yolo I'm still posting it lol!

Oh yeah! Kaya also has painted nails. Now typically I would remove that sort of thing from a used doll, but I actually kinda like it on her?? And its silver so it goes with everything, so I just decided to leave it, at least for now :)

<3

Annnnnd back to the visitors' center area lol!! 'XD I was actually going to take more pictures in a completely different location of the park (? I think it's considered a national park, but people still live in the canyon so I'm not really sure 'XD) overlooking the cliffs and such, but someone started acting kinda sketchy over there and I got scared lol (Molly could probably defend and protect all of us but what method she'd choose on any given day to accomplish such a feat is something I can never quite predict and I can't afford to pay bail for her again...), so we went back here instead!

These were taken behind a Navajo dwelling called a Hogan (I can't remember if it's a replica or an ancient one that's been preserved, and unfortunately I can't find more info on it in my map/brochure), plus there was another Navajo structure next to it, but more on those in a minute.   

I recently got an Isabelle doll with chopped hair from the thrift store I volunteer at and ended up customizing her into a new character who I named Mavis (I'll try to get pictures of her up at some point lol)! Though Mavis no longer needs her meet shirt and would probably rather eat a spoonful of uncooked oats than wear pink, I thought the shirt was absolutely PERFECT for Molly!! She's actually still wearing it all these months later lol XD 

Y'all already know, I don't even need to comment on it lol...

Here's a tiny bit more info on this particular Hogan :)

(Also fun fact, yá'át'ééh means greetings or hello in Navajo)

We actually were allowed to walk around inside the Hogan with a guide and get a closer look at everything, but I opted not to take any doll pictures inside as it's considered a sacred place and I didn't want to disrespect it.

Fun fact, because this place is considered sacred, you're actually only supposed to walk around it clockwise!

I took these at the second structure next to the Hogan, but unfortunately I don't remember what it was called. It was an open structure with a roof, described as acting like a family room in the Navajo culture.

I absolutely love how these particular pictures came out!! There's just something so natural about them to me, like she's really running around and having a lot of fun :D

Profile pic maybe?

I think one of the things I love about Kaya and getting to visit anywhere that holds a lot of Native American history is that they remind me so much of my grandmother, who was actually Native American herself! The style and the patterns and everything were such a present part of my grandparents' home that there's something so incredibly nostalgic and special about it all to me now. Often times I'd give anything to have a few hours just sitting in their house again, but dolls like Kaya and even Saige who hold a piece of that history or have collections based around the southwestern style are like having a little bit of my grandparents in my collection. Does that make any sense? Idk I'm tired y'all lol 'XD

<3

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And that was my trip to Canyon De Chelly! The dolls and I had so much fun, plus my health held up a LOT better during the hike than I was expecting as well so that was a huge blessing! I did have a little trouble on the way down with becoming disoriented (I have light sensitivity and the sun was shining right in my face during a picture before we started lol 'XD), but it was something that I was able to manage pretty easily by keeping my hand on the canyon wall while walking down to kinda ground myself, and I was good by the time we went back up. I also got dizzy and almost passed out once we got to the White House Ruins literally right after thinking, "Huh, that wasn't too bad! I'm so proud of myself for being able to do that, I feel great!" but we won't talk about that lol, all in all I did good and survived so praise to God for that, a blessing is a blessing lol!

I really need to get caught up on doll bios, I'm so behind again *-* Also, so sorry for missing last month's post! This was actually meant to be May's post, but my health started taking a pretty epic nosedive that's completely tanked my energy unfortunately. I ended up having to prioritize craft show prep and cut out basically everything else going on to desperately try to get enough crocheted. I did try to work on this post on my days off but I was honestly so unbelievably exhausted that it just didn't happen -_- The craft show has now come and gone though and I did manage to get enough finished for the show (Praise the Lord, there's not a chance I would have gotten anything done if not for that answered prayer, God is good <3) and it went pretty well!! definitely a slower year but still sold a lot so I'm grateful :) I'm still pretty drained most days, but I'm hoping to post at least some of the photo shoots I have in my backlog and maybe get some bios up, so please bear with me!! I'm going to do my best I promise; I miss y'all!! <3

On a completely unrelated note lol, now that the craft show is over I've started reading again! Took a break because I'm not the speediest reader to ever speed the read and it was taking up too much time, but goodness I missed it so much! I just finished the original Winnie the Pooh books and a couple other books by A.A. Milne which was fun, and I'm currently in the middle of a choose-your-own-adventure book, which has also been pretty fun! Only problem is that I'm a little too detail oriented for this type of thing and get super determined to get every path, every page, every option. I have a notebook where I've been keeping track of every single decision and path and ending in an effort to get every single thing possible out of this book. It is quite honestly ridiculous lol! XD I'm also getting really absorbed by it (I like things that feel like puzzles or are just super intricate, makes my brain hurt I love it LOLLL XD), which is awesome since I haven't felt that way about any of my recent reads and I miss that feeling, but I've been completely losing track of time and just sit there like a little gremlin flipping between my notebook and the actual book and throwing bookmarks all over the place and I'm sure my family is very concerned 'XD All that to say lol, are y'all doing any sort of summer reading list or anything? I'd love to know what you're reading or planning to read in the comments!!

In other news, I've also started drawing again since finishing the craft show!! I've really enjoyed that, plus it's something I've been able to do when I'm too tired to work on anything else so that's really awesome. I'm not an extraordinary artist by any means so most of what I do is super trial and error (especially when it comes to adding color and such, I have art pencils and art markers and I'm honestly not sure the best way to use either of them or shade properly or anything I'm just very confused 100% of the time 'XD), but once again I love things that are intricate and feel like a puzzle and figuring out how to draw dynamic poses and facial expressions very much feels like that to me so it's been fun! :D I've mainly been drawing my book characters, and have gotten into drawing them as different movie characters that remind me of them to kinda learn how to draw different styles and outfits and such, plus it puts me in a mind frame of, "in what ways do I relate my characters to these characters and how to I bring aspects of my characters through these drawings so it's not just them in a movie character's outfit?" Which helps me get to know my characters better if that makes any sense? Idk I'm rambling a bit but I've been really enjoying it. I'm also getting ready to work on my books again which is cool and scary lol!! So hopefully I'll get the outlining done (aka, the absolute bane of my existence) and can start writing them again soon.

I've also been to the theater a lot over the last month or two! I went to go see The Mandalorian and Grogu with my friends pretty recently, went to see the Michael Jackson movie with the same friends last month (I went dressed as Michael Jackson and my friends went as security, it was so ridiculous and made me so happy LOLLLL!! I love my friend group so much XD). This week's theater trip was also pretty epic as I went to see the original Muppet Movie!! Y'all know me, I am a MASSIVE Muppets fan and the old Muppet movies hold such an incredibly special place in my heart. It was so amazing to see it on the big screen, like truly a 10/10 experience :D I went with a couple I'm friends with from my bible study group and their kids, and it was honestly such a blast, I feel so blessed to be in such a cool bible study group that I can ask if anyone wants to go see the Muppet Movie at 10:00 AM on a random Tuesday and they're just like, "Heck yeah, bet!" XD They're showing The Great Muppet Caper next week and I think more of us are going to be able to go to that one, so that should be super fun :)

Oh sweet cheese I really went off in this post!! I'm sorry y'all, like I said I just missed you guys lol 'XD I'll go ahead and finish this up, I'm slightly sick at the moment so I should probably head to bed early anyway. I hope y'all enjoyed the post and are having an absolutely EPIC summer thus far!! Like I said things are kind of up in the air for me at the moment health-wise (I'M OKAY THOUGH LOL), but I'll try to keep up with posting as much as I can! I have a lot of really cool photo shoots for you guys, some dolls to introduce... OH SHOOT WAIT I STILL HAVEN'T DONE THE SECOND PART OF THAT PHOTO STORY!!!

Well diddly darn heck... I'll try to get on top of that project as soon as I can. I don't know how quickly I'll be able to get pictures done for that post, but I should be able to at least start working on writing it. I'll try to get those photo shoots up in the meantime as well so there isn't just a super massive gap in posts lol. Thank you all again for your patience with everything!! You guys are truly the best <3

Alright friends, I will catch you all in the comments and/or in the next post! Let me know your summer reads, if you like drawing or reading, or just anything you want to share!! I can't wait to hear from you all :) God bless, everyone! I hope you have an amazing day!

-Katie :)