If you've ever scrolled through my "Dolls" tab, right now you may be thinking, "Wait... Haven't I seen this name before?" Yes, you have! So, before I get to "Emma #2," let me re-introduce "Emma #1"...
Emma #1 had started out as a custom Grace Thomas I'd named Sienna Copeland. She was a cousin of Saige's with a love of photography. But between Sienna's wig quickly becoming dry and unmanageable, and newly-released Lea having unexpectedly similar character traits, I decided Sienna needed an update. She underwent several mini transformations as I tried to find her a new look that would stick. Finally, I tried giving her a Tenney wig and lightening her freckles. The result reminded me a little of my Danish grandma, so Emma Petersen was born!
I was mostly happy with her new look at first, but over time, I kept feeling like something wasn't quite right. When I look back at photos of her now, as weird as this may sound, I think there was a disconnect for me between her face and her hairstyle. The Grace Thomas face by itself reads a little more sporty to me -- I think because it reminds me of a neighbor I had who was way into sports. (Incidentally, she was the one I almost got Kirsten from years ago.) Meanwhile, the Tenney wig, with its curls and gentle waves reads a little more... elegant maybe? Or at least, not very sporty (to me). But after trying four different wigs with Sienna/Emma, I wasn't sure what look I was really going for.
I thought about giving her away. I hadn't done the best job gluing the back of her wig, so I didn't want to attempt selling her. I didn't realize a wig from a classic mold might not fit a Josefina mold well! But my mom really liked how she turned out, so she scooped up Emma #1 instead.
Years later, after making a Maltese-American girl and a Choctaw and Irish-American girl, I decided I needed a Danish-American girl to complete the set of dolls that represent my heritage (my mom is Maltese and my dad was Choctaw, Danish, and Irish). At the same time, I was curious about the newer set of Truly Me dolls American Girl had come out with that included eyelash face paint and a new style of eyebrows. I opted to use Truly Me #101 as a base doll -- both for the new face paint and the chance to add a gray-eyed doll to my collection. And since I was really happy with the first Tenney wig I had used, I decided to try another for my Danish doll.
I'd had such good luck with the Truly Me #89 I'd bought from Amazon, I decided to get #101 the same way. But unfortunately, it was not quite as smooth of a process... The first doll's eyes were slightly uneven and her dress was already coming unraveled. I decided to ask for a replacement, hoping I'd get a better one, but the second one was pretty bug-eyed. I decided to work with the first one and the replacement was quickly returned.
A few days later, my mom brought over a doll she'd been working on and I helped her re-wig her doll while I re-wigged Truly Me #101. I was so excited! This new doll was already turning out as well as I'd hoped!
Then, she just needed two finishing touches... I darkened her lips and added a lightly glossy top coat, and then I gave her some brown vinyl eyelashes.
I wasn't sure if I should reuse "Emma" for her name or go for something different (but still Danish). I decided to try asking my fellow AGIGers to help me choose between Emma, Isabella, Kirstine, or Lise. Emma ended up the top choice with 43% of the votes, followed by Lise (30%), Kirstine (17%) and finally, Isabella (9%).
And thus, Emma Peterson 2.0 was born! :D
I'm SO happy with how she turned out. I think she's one of the prettiest customs I've ever put together. I'm sure my grandma and dad would love her, too. ♥
I'm not completely settled on her character yet, but so far, I think I'll take a page from my grandma's life and have her be into gardening and DIYing. Maybe gardening comes very easily to her, but other things are a bit more of struggle to master. Emma wants to be good at everything, right away -- just like her favorite YouTubers seem to be. Maybe her stories would be about learning patience and realizing when she's making good progress toward her goals.
However her character turns out, she definitely looks at home surrounded by greenery. Maybe I'll have to take her on a photoshoot outdoors sometime.