Matchy-matchy

I took Auren out with me to the Halloween store to peruse the spooky goodness. Of course we had to match a little.

Auren's Arrival

Auren lived up to his slightly mischievous character by being delayed to ship until the day of the eclipse, and then once he shipped, the USPS site immediately went down. When it did come back up, he had mysteriously disappeared for a day or so, until he magically reappeared in the system. A little nerve wracking as the expectant "parent," but he did finally make it safely home. (I should also add that the seller was super supportive and helpful throughout this process, which made things a lot better!)

His box arrived at the same time as the packages containing his boxers and his wig/clothes from Denverdoll.

Goodies!

First peek at the box, it's so pretty!

He came with his CoA, minifee guide, and post cards. (And a wig!)

And here he is in all his shamelessly naked glory.

Standing!

I then proceeded to play a bit of dress up to see what worked and what didn't for him. Initially the wig I ordered for him didn't seem right, but it appears to depend on how you put it on. It can look too fluffy if it's not on correctly. Even still, he claimed the brown wigs as his own for now at least. Though I have to say he looks good in most of the darker colors. The white skin resin is yellowed, but you can tell it's more white when you put him in lighter wigs.

See, too fluffy.

Pretty, but oh so blonde.

Now this one I can get into!

He even looks good in blue! 

A shot with his new eyes, which are the Blueblood Doll ones featured in a prior post. They look quite different depending upon the light. The brown outer ring naturally looks much more yellow, and the grey is darker. But in the doll they are much more brown. The edge of the outer ring also has a very subtle line of gold that is only visible in some lights. Overall I'm really pleased with them. 

So he's here, and he's already won me over. He does need to be restrung, sueded, and probably have his face up wiped at some point as it's pretty stained/messy. Even still, he's quite charming, and just the perfect size. He fits into everything I already have in my msd wardrobe fairly well, with only a few pieces looking a bit big. After feeling out his character a bit, I will need to get him some button up shirts as that's more his style. 

Dolly Haul

This is half dolly haul and half a clothing collection post. Some of the items for the incoming Auren arrived, and as he's expected to touch down in the next day or so, I thought I would dig out all my MSD stuff for try ons.

 First up is the clothing collection, missing some pieces that are currently on dolls or stored elsewhere. Not quite all of this will fit him perfectly, but I think most of this will do a pretty good job overall.

There's two more batches of clothes incoming, including some boxers and a full outfit (and shoes!) from DDE tomorrow. I also ordered him a wig from DDE which is this beauty:

His eyes won't be here until Saturday or so, but I'm pretty excited for them as well. I love Blueblood Doll's eyes in particular. They have such great clarity and colors. I haven't really settled on an absolute eye color for Auren, though I do like some mix of grey. These are pretty interesting looking, so I'm going to see how they suit him.

Aubrey's Arrival

I found Aubrey on DoA as I was tentatively browsing around tax refund time (like you do). I actually found two Megus listed, but she was by far the nicer of the two in price and condition. With the help of a family member I was able to immediately jump on her sale before anyone else could, and brought her home.

She actually came in her original box with the paperwork, be still my heart! 

Such pretty paperwork it is too. Very classic Volks.

The seller included several items with her, a few of which I know about. He was so sweet. She came with two really lovely wigs.

And a pair of pretty red shoes!

And the biggest surprise was high-heeled feet! These were actually custom made for her, which was a pretty amazing little extra gift.

Mummy time!

First look... I teared up. She's just so gorgeous, and I honestly never thought I'd be able to own a doll like this.

All dressed up!

Back to Basics

I figured it's about time for my once in a blue moon, is this really a post, oh my gosh it is update.

I took a bit of a loose hiatus from dolls for a while, primarily because I wasn't feeling that spark like I used to. That's never good when you try to force it, so I focused on other things for a while. After a few months I started to tentatively get back into the hobby, and brought home a few new friends to help the transition. I'll have some more detailed posts up on them eventually, but here's a snapshot.

Grail doll achieved. Seriously, she is so pretty it hurts. Say hello to Aubrey, my Volks SD Megu. I think she will soon be the one and only (and last) girl doll in my collection, because I've realized I just don't bond well with the ladies. Such is the hobby, but at least I have her.

This fellow is a custom Resinsoul Gang with Mei ears in green. He is actually my second Gang, and the love is strong with this one. He's been so fun to sew for and to photograph. He's actually based on a Vulcan from Star Trek, with the green color thrown in because 1. Resinsoul's green is glorious. 2. Because many of the comics I read about Star Trek often portray Spock as green even though it's just his blood. I like this more cartoonish presentation, and thus he was born. Say hello to Soval.

The final new doll isn't here yet, but he should be sometime next week. He is a WS Minifee VE (vampire elf) Woosoo. It's been about seven years since I've had a minifee, and I've been in the hobby for eight years so... I'll admit outright that I'm not a huge fan of most minifees. They're definitely adorable and there's some great creativity going on for many of them, but I find the majority to be a little too cookie cutter looking for my taste. Again no judgement on others, just not my personal style. Previously I had a MNF Seorin and a MNF VE Shiwoo, the latter of which I liked more than the former. I will say though that they pose fantastically, and everything fits them. EVERYTHING. I mean obviously there are clothes made for other bjds, more so than they used to be. However, minifees by far have the most easily accessible clothing I've seen, which is a huge perk. I already have a pretty substantial collection of MSD sized clothing, but I am going to add to it a bit for this guy. He may already have a few outfits on the way...  In any event, say hello to the tentatively named Auren. 

Der-bear Comes Out

I decided to take Derek or "Der-Bear" (yes, named after that werewolf) out with me. He's one of my favorites, but I don't tend to photograph him as much.

Desk friend: Zeus!

I named my Jolteon Zeus because how could I not? Just look at that face!

Doll News

This week I'm waiting for some new parts for St. Christopher to come in, specifically a chest/abdomen piece for the Obitsu body. The character of St. Christopher in the original form is meant to have a specific physique, and is meant to be agender. I often use "she/her" as it's applicable to the character's story, but "they/them" is also correct. In particular I wanted their body to look a certain way, but that's not always easy to find. I considered modifying the RS body, but I don't really have the space or the materials needed to do that, so I'm going a slightly different route. The pieces should arrive Thursday of this week, so hopefully I'll be able to put them together and find a workable solution.

Obitsu 55cm "boy" chest piece.

Obitsu 55cm "boy" body.

I'm curious to see if I like the Obitsu Gretel head still, or if I'll want to switch back to the RS Mi head on the Obitsu body (RS and Obitsu match). I'm going to try the Obitsu first as I already have it screwed on to the mechanisms and it's a pain to put back on. Pictures will follow once the package arrives.

Project Bears

 Over the past week I decided I wanted to work on some new projects, one of which required a teddy bear. I happened to find these two fellows at thrift stores, and I set about cleaning them up and working on them.

Project Bear #1. 

I didn't end up using him for my initial plans, but I think I will work him into something else. Here he is after having his stuffing removed and being washed/air dried.

Project Bear #2

I ended up using this guy for my original plans as he fit the look I was going for much better. He is an older BaB, initially released in 2007. He began life as a Lil' Honey Cub, but I had bigger plans for him. I removed his stuffing and washed him, though he took much longer to dry because of his thick fur.

The hearts of Project Bear #1 (left) and Project Bear #2 (right). 

 Once dried he became...

 Bowie Bear!

My inspirations for Bowie Bear.