Hello friends and followers! I am excited to announce that I will be hosting a meetup at the American Girl store in Denver, Colorado! My family is traveling to Sedona, Arizona on spring break, but we're flying into Denver first for a day. The meetup will be on Thursday, March 17th (St. Patrick's Day!), and I will be there from 3:30 to 5:30 pm. I will have my newest doll with me: Juniper.
Now, I have never been to the Denver store, so I'm not exactly sure where in the store I'll be. I'll try to hang out around the front, but the group will most likely move around the store during the meetup. I will be signing autographs, taking pictures with fans and hanging out with all of you! I may even bring some posters to hand out.
If you are sure you are coming, please fill out the poll to the right of this post. This way I can know how many people are coming and possibly coordinate with the store about the size of the group. I hope you can come, and see you there!
Hello everyone! No, I have not disappeared from the web, I'm still here- but I have some explaining to do. The reason I have been so absent from YouTube and Instagram is because I have been in the hospital since the day before Thanksgiving. The reason for this? I am sick. With an eating disorder. I spent a week in the hospital until I was physically stable, then I was moved to an eating disorders clinic where I stayed inpatient for three weeks. Just before Christmas, I was moved to the partial program at the clinic, which means I spend the day there and go home at night. Thankfully, I was able to be home for part of the day on Christmas, but it has still been very hard. I don't know how long I will have to be at the clinic, but it will most likely be a few weeks before I am back in school.
Recovering from an eating disorder is a very difficult and complex process, physically and emotionally. I'm not going to go too far into detail, but an innocent attempt to eat healthier a couple of years ago slowly progressed into an obsession with food, which led to malnutrition and ended up with me in the hospital with a very low heart rate. I am okay now, but I am still working on the mental part. I'm thinking of making a video about EDs, once I am out of the clinic- to raise awareness and hopefully reach anyone that might be needing help. Eating disorders are very serious and I want to make sure none of you ever have to go through what I'm going through!
My obsession with food took so much away from me. I couldn't focus on anything and lost interest in things I used to love, including playing guitar, reading, dolls and making videos. However, now that I am recovering, I have regained my love for all these things. I recently visited the AG store for the first time in months, and I was surprised at how happy it made me to be there! I thought I was losing interest in dolls, but it all came back to me and I realized how much I missed my dolls. I also saw Maryellen in person for the first time.... oh no. I'm in love! I think I might have to get her once I leave the clinic.... I have been taking some dolls with me to the clinic, which cheers me up. I can't wait to get back into filming!
Anyway, today is the last day of 2015! So much has happened for me this year. I discovered so much about myself and I feel my personality has really developed over this year. A few highlights:
-discovering a new taste in music and a love for bands like Yes, Rush, and Led Zeppelin
-traveling to the Grand Canyon and Sedona, Arizona on spring break
-traveling to Norway
-traveling to Colorado
-seeing Rush in concert in May
-seeing a lot of other cool concerts this year
-meeting Jon Anderson, the former lead singer of Yes and my biggest idol
-improving my skills on guitar
-starting high school
Overall, this year has been bittersweet. A lot of wonderful things happened and I feel I am a different person from last year. There were also a few negative sides to this year, including my eating disorder and a lot of teenage emotional weirdness (*laughs*). Tomorrow is a chance to start fresh, to be renewed. In 2016, I plan on leaving my ED behind and moving forward and striving towards my hopes and dreams.
Thank you all for your endless support and love during these tough times. I love you all, and I hope everyone has had a good year. What are some of your New Year's Resolutions?
Wow, it's been over a year since I have posted! Since then I have gained over 110,000 subscribers, and my three-year anniversary on YouTube was a couple of weeks ago (!!!). I meant to get this post up much earlier, but with the start of high school I kind of forgot about it. Oh well... if you are still interested in reading a little story about the Colorado video, here it is!
As many of you know from my latest video, back in July I spent three weeks in Crested Butte, a small mountain town in Colorado. It is the home of ski resorts, wildflowers, incredible views, and epic mountain biking. I brought 2 dolls: Crystal and Cecile, plus my camera and my doll bike. Since I would be spending a long time there this summer I hoped to film something really cool, but I only got a short stop motion of Crystal. My family and I were biking every day for hours, and I had a wonderful time while improving my skills and confidence on the trails. I did a few hikes with my camera and ended up with a lot of nice photos, many of which are presented in my new video.
Anyways, I have a pretty interesting story about some of the photos in the beginning, of Crystal on her bike.
The spot in the pictures above is on a bike trail called Lower Creek. I thought it would be the perfect spot to film a little video, with the river and the mountains in the background. So, I packed my two dolls, tripod, and my doll bike in a suitcase, with my camera bag around my shoulder. My parents dropped me off at the end of the trailhead, so I could walk to where I was going to film. As I set out on my little journey, I was energetic and excited to film. It was a beautiful day- the sky blue with puffy white clouds, the sun bright, the river a clear, sparkling blue, and the green mountains rising all around me.
Unfortunately, filming in Crested butte is not as easy as it may seem. Up in the mountains, the weather is totally unpredictable and sometimes a bit extreme. Every day, in the early afternoon, it rains. Every day. Also, believe it or not, the shining bright sun and the puffy white clouds on those perfect days were terrible for filming a stop motion. The lighting was always changing. For a few seconds it would be bright and sunny, then a cloud would move over the sun and the lighting would change drastically. It was so frustrating because the lighting would change every few pictures in a stop motion! The wind was also a bit of a problem. Despite all of this, I was still determined to film something, no matter how crazy the lighting looked.
I walked along the trail for a while, a few people asking me where I was going with a suitcase. ("Miss your flight?") I eventually came to an intersection, with two signs pointing opposite ways. The sign pointing to the left said "Slate River". The sign to the right said "Lower Creek". Where was I going to film? The river. So I turned left and began to drag my suitcase down the
gravel path. What a stupid mistake.
I followed the gravel trail for a while until it opened up onto a wide, flat bed of rocks, with the river bubbling by on my left. I walked to the end of the bed, trying to find the trail, when I saw that it continued on the other side of a small patch of water. I compared where I was to a picture I had on my phone, so I figured my filming destination must be on the other side of the patch of water! The problem was, I didn't see a way around the water. So I took my shoes and socks off, and waded through the freezing water until I reached the other side. Thankfully, it was only a couple feet deep and a few feet across. Once I put my shoes back on, I continued on what I thought was a trail.
I was wrong. The trail seemed to disappear, so I wandered through the grass until I came upon a little peninsula. The river was on my left and curled around in front of me. There was no way across. To my right, on the mountainside, I saw bikers on the Lower Creek trail. I stood there like an idiot as I realized that I had taken the wrong trail. About an hour had passed since I began my journey, and I was starting to lose my energy. Thankfully, I had brought plenty of snacks and water with me. For a moment I considered just filming where I was, since it was still a nice spot, but I knew that I really wanted to film farther down. So, I turned around and headed back to the intersection.
Once I was there, I made sure I took the other trail, to Lower Creek. After dragging my suitcase along that trail for a while, I was almost to my destination when suddenly I saw my parents riding towards me on their bikes. "Done filming already?" they asked me. Well, I told them I hadn't even started! I had been hiking for nearly two hours and I was pretty tired by then. They gave me a few more snacks and told me to call them when I was done filming. Once I finally came to my location, I rested and waited for a group of people to leave so I could get started. As I began to unpack my dolls, a light sprinkle started to fall. It was that time of day. Fortunately it stayed a sprinkle, and the rain quickly passed. By this time I was exhausted and barely had the energy to set up my dolls. It was hopeless. I realized that I wasn't going to get any filming done, so I decided to take a few pictures of Crystal with her bike instead. I wanted to take a few pictures of Cecile too, but by then my parents had shown up and were ready to help me carry my things back. My mom let me ride her bike while she walked with my suitcase, and we took the trail back to the car.
So, it wasn't really the greatest day. My second attempt at filming in Colorado: failed! I'm glad I got a few nice pictures, though. But hey, at least I tried! I filmed another video right before school started, so I hope to get that up pretty soon. I'm still trying to get everything under control with school. High school is a lot crazier- and busier than past years! I apologize if I won't be uploading as much. I'm going to try and film some short videos and get them up every month or so. Oh, and thanks so much to all my followers for three wonderful years on YouTube!
On September 10th, 2012, I sat in front of the computer, trying to decide on a username for the YouTube channel I was creating. I had seen stop motions and other videos with American Girl dolls all over YouTube, and I had fallen in love with the idea of making my own videos. So I told my dad about what I had seen other girls doing with their dolls, and he showed me how to use his camera and create a mini-movie in iMovie. I thought of a unique story line, which included my dolls playing the video game "Lego Rock Band", and I taught myself how to make a stop motion. It was hard work, but in the end I loved it and I knew I had found my love for video making.
I then uploaded my first video to my dad's personal channel, which he didn't really use, and waited for my video to gain views. A couple of weeks later my video had gotten over 70 views! By that time I had already made my second stop motion (A Day at the Pool- an American Girl Doll Stop Motion) and I decided that I wanted to make my own channel where I could upload more videos. I deleted the video off of my dad's channel and I started to set up my own account.
As I was brainstorming my username, I thought that I wanted something catchy, unique, and that was memorable, just in case I ever became popular on AGtube (yes, I was planning ahead. I had no idea... haha). I didn't want it to be something with "AG" in it, because there were already many usernames like that. I wanted something that sounded as cool and unique as "Basilmentos" or "girloftheyearstudios". I finally settled on "FiveDollStars", since at the time I had five dolls and they were all stars in my videos!
I remember having so much fun creating new ideas for my videos. When I got my first subscriber, it was the greatest feeling in the world. Someone that I don't even know found this video that I made, enjoyed it, and pressed the subscribe button. I loved checked my channel every day for new subscribers and comments. Over the next few months, my stop motion skills quickly progressed after watching many other stop motions by some of my AGtube idols. I would take note of every little detail, and try to re-create those stop motion techniques. I kept gaining new viewers, and that inspired me to make even more videos and have more fun with my dolls.
Now, two years later, I'm sitting in front of my computer thinking about how far I have come. Not only do I still have my first subscribers who I would get so excited about, but THOUSANDS more. It blows my mind that almost sixty thousand people have seen a video or two of mine and clicked the "subscribe" button because they actually enjoyed that video, and wanted to see more. Sometimes I have to stop and remember that that number at the top of my channel isn't just a number, it's many different people who have taken their own time to click that button. I remember searching on YouTube "american girl doll videos" and I would see all of these popular videos come up. Now when I search that, I see many of my OWN videos, which is kinda crazy. I don't know how so many people have found my channel or wanted to subscribe, but I do know that I am forever grateful for all of those people. I never, ever thought I would succeed this much online with my simple doll videos. When I created my channel I thought I might have a chance of becoming slightly popular, but I never thought that I would be almost as big as Basilmentos. I mean, she was like a real celebrity to me at that time! I watched her videos almost every day.
Anyways, I know people always feel the need to make big cheesy speeches whenever they reach a certain goal on YouTube or whatever they do, and I'm SORRY that this post is just like one of those, but I really do love all my followers and you all inspire me every day. I've made so many new friends and had so much fun with AGtube. Making videos has helped me discover my love for dolls, photography, video making, and more. I've met so many new people. I never dreamed that I would actually be able to meet THE Anna Basilmentos, let alone make a stop motion with her. I've had such an incredible experience with American Girl Youtube, and I hope it never ends. Thank you so much for everything, and I love you all. ❤
P.S. I was thinking about making some kind of video for 2 years, but I didn't really have time so I'm going to have a giveaway! In a few days you'll have two chances to win some very special prizes...
Hey everyone! So as you may have heard... many people on the internet are doing the ALS "Ice Bucket Challenge". If you don't know what that is, it's basically a challenge where you can donate money to help fight a disease called ALS, but then you have to pour a bucket of freezing ice water on yourself! You can choose to do it yourself, or someone else can nominate you. To find out more about it, click here: http://www.alsa.org/fight-als/ice-bucket-challenge.html
Anyways, many other AGtubers have been participating, and I thought I should donate and take the challenge too! I will do the challenge myself but to make it more fun, one of my dolls is going to do it too! But the thing is, I can't decide which doll I want to nominate to take the challenge. So, I have a poll to the right of this post with 4 of my dolls you can choose from. Vote for which doll you want see doing the Ice Bucket Challenge, and I'll get them to record it! xD ->>>>>>>>
If you're on a mobile device, scroll to the bottom of the screen and click "view web version". Then you can take the poll.
Hi everyone! Today I want to share with you my experience at meetup I recently had with some AGtubers at the American Girl Place Washington D.C./Tyson's Corner. I was planning on going there on my birthday to do the bistro birthday package with my family, so I posted on Instagram (http://instagram.com/fivedollstars) that I would be there from 12:30 to 1:45 if anyone wanted to stop by and say hi. It turned out that about 10 people were planning on coming (which may seem like a small number compared to many other meetups, but it's a big number to me!), so I guess it turned into a meetup!
Fast forward to the day of the meetup. I had just turned thirteen that day. That morning, I put Crystal and Cecile into a bag along with my camera to bring along. Then I grabbed my violin and headed to church to play a few pieces. Church ended up running about 10 minutes late, so it was 12:10 and we still needed to head to the AG store! I was a bit late, but everything was fine. My mom dropped me off in front of the store, and I headed to the front entrance. There are many windows near the entrance of the store and just as I was about to walk in, I saw a group of girls huddled in the corner of one of the windows. One of them spotted me (they could tell by what I was wearing.) and pointed in my direction. All the other girls around her started jumping up and down excitedly. "Well, I think I found my group," I thought. I hadn't even entered the store yet and I was already spotted! I smiled and walked into the store. All the girls in the meetup group immediately surrounded me saying things like: "FiveDollStars!!!" "I love your videos!" "Can I get a picture with you?" It was all so incredible. I hugged and greeted them and even recognized a few of my AGtube friends that I had met at past meetups. I chatted with everyone for a while, took pictures, signed notebooks and doll feet, and recorded some videos on my camera. We all lined up our dolls to take a photo, along with a group photo of all of us. A few girls handed me birthday gifts, which was so sweet. I opened a few in a corner of the store, with many cameras and cell phones pointed in my direction capturing the moment. xD One of the girls also showed me a stop motion she made about the meetup, which was so creative and cool.
We were having so much fun, time really flew by! It had only felt like I had been there for 20 minutes, but time was creeping closer and closer to my reservations at the bistro. I was feeling very disappointed about having to leave, when my mom came up to me with wonderful news. She had talked to the person in charge of the bistro, and since it wasn't being occupied at the moment they let me and my meetup group hang out in one of the private party rooms for about 30 minutes! I even got extra time before my reservation. We didn't eat in there, but I got to hang out with my new AGtube friends a little longer. We hung all of our dolls on the doll holders that were on the wall. It really felt like an actual birthday party! I had always wondered what it would be like to have a doll-related party with friends. I don't have any close friends at my school that love dolls, but that's the beauty of AGtube and meetups. You can find new friends and people in your area that have the same passions as you! It was the best birthday party I could ever ask for.
While we were in the party room, one of the girls came up to me and said something that really made my day. I don't remember what all of her words were, but I know she said that whenever she felt discouraged about dolls or making stop motions, she just watched one of my videos and immediately was inspired. She thanked me for being such an inspiration and for making my videos. I get a lot of messages like this through social media pretty often but hearing someone actually say it to me was really quite eye-opening. It made me feel very thankful and lucky for my fans and viewers. I now realize that what I experienced that day was something that not many other people get to experience. I felt like an actual celebrity! But seriously, I am very grateful for all of the kind people that watch and comment on my videos. Whenever I feel discouraged about a stop motion that's not going well, I think about how many people are inspired by my videos and I realize that I have to keep going. I find it amazing because I'm just a normal person, but the moment I log into my YouTube or Instagram I am surrounded by fans who, not even knowing me in real life or what I'm like, are inspired by me just because I make videos with my dolls. I am not any different than the rest of you: I'm not popular in school, I don't have a ton of friends, I'm kinda shy around people I don't know, and I spend a lot of my time reading or listening to music in my room. But I also have a hobby that most people don't have, which is making stop motions with American Girl Dolls. And because I decided to try that hobby, I now have many fans who support me. I just wanted to give a big thanks to whoever is reading this, to everyone who came to my meetup, and to all of my subscribers/followers. I love every one of you and you all inspire me every day.
Hey everyone! For this week's post, I have decided I'm going to talk about making a stop motion with Anna Basilmentos. It was such a great experience, and I had so much fun. Anna and I met at the Stanford University campus (which is gorgeous, by the way) the day after the meetup to shoot a quick video. While I was waiting for Anna to arrive, I took a few pictures of Crystal by some trees and gardens! It was so warm outside and the plants were so green.
While I was taking pictures, Anna ran up to me! She had a big AG bag filled with her stop motion props, including a retired AG table (featured in the video) and her doll bike. We walked to my mom's car so I could get my other doll and my props. Once we had everything, Anna, my mom and I walked around to some of the gardens to find a good spot to film. We eventually found this awesome stone building that had a big ledge sticking out from it. It was in the shade and by some lovely bushes, and we thought it would make a great restaurant scene. After we set up our props, Anna realized that she had forgotten to bring her camera AND tripod! I had my camera, but how were we going to film without a tripod?
Then we decided to get creative. We realized we were going to make this video, no matter what! I propped my camera up on ledges, iPhones, boxes, and even a granola bar to get the right angles. She did most of the stop motion, while I took the photos. It turned out so well, you can't even tell we didn't use a tripod! We filmed for about 3 hours, while talking about school, dolls, and videos. I learned so many great tips from Anna, and she loved trying out my camera (we did a mini photo shoot after the video)! It was like a dream come true to be able to make a video with THE Basilmentos, and I will treasure those memories forever.
I hope you enjoyed the stop motion we did! Anna and I put our ideas together to think of one storyline, it I love how it turned out. Make sure to check out the video here:
Also, when we were filming, there were many other people walking around the campus, too. Sometimes when we left our stop motion site to walk around, people would stop and even take pictures of it! A girl and her mom snapped a picture with the set, and I quickly took one of them! I thought it was so cute!
Oh, and guess what? I'm leaving on my spring break trip today! My family is going on a road trip to Vermont. I'm bringing my new doll Libby, my camera, and tripod so I can take plenty of photos and make a stop motion! It's going to be a relaxed, nature-filled trip. I'm so excited! Thanks for reading this blog post!
Sincerely,
FiveDollStars
P.S. make sure to check out my instagram feed for pictures and updates! My account is public, so you can view it even if you don't have the app.
Now, I have never been to the Denver store, so I'm not exactly sure where in the store I'll be. I'll try to hang out around the front, but the group will most likely move around the store during the meetup. I will be signing autographs, taking pictures with fans and hanging out with all of you! I may even bring some posters to hand out. 
