Merry Christmas!

Merry Christmas from all of us here at the Den!

New Goodies!

The eyes still need to be tweaked a bit, but the domes are so high that I'm not sure how much they can be. Either way they are stunning, very bright and ghostly.

The necklace is a tiny bit of drusy quartz, and was purchased from Scorpioh on Etsy.  I'm always looking for neat in-scale jewelry, and this Etsy store is full of some really awesome pieces. I will definitely be buying from them again!

Quick Update

Ghost got his new eyes and they look amazing. Very ethereal with just the right touch of creepy.  I took him to work with me today, so I will snag some pictures on lunch. And! His Christmas gift came in, so pictures of that to follow as well (and maybe a review of the creator).

All I want for Christmas...

Is to not get sick around the holidays!  Seriously, I have this amazing ability to sense an approaching holiday and immediately come down with a cold or the flu or some strange new ailment that makes the doctors go "huh."  Thankfully I think I got it out of the way early this year, but we'll see.  

So because of being sick, not much to report on this front.  I'm still waiting for Ghost's new eyes to come in, but that should be any day now.  I did receive his new clothes/wig in trade for my Skoll, and I will have pictures once I can take a good one.  I tried to get a few while I was sick but...not so much.  I usually take photos with the tree, and since we just put it up at my mom's house, I will have to drag Ghost over that way.

I hope everyone is enjoying the holiday season!

It feels like Christmas...

I hope everyone had a lovely Thanksgiving yesterday!  Mine went smoother than I expected, we ate ourselves silly and watched Elf (one of my favorites).  Most of my family is out shopping today while I work, but I have my Santa hat on so it's not a total loss. ;)

After a bit more searching I found a blue pair of eyes for Ghost, ones that have the same sort of colored pupil as his do now.  They're coming from China so it will be a while, but I'm in no rush.  I think I also may have a trade for my Soom Skoll, which is lovely.  We're still doing a little negotiating, but once it's done I think we'll both make out pretty nicely.  Ghost will be getting some new clothes and potentially a wig as well.

I'm hoping to get him out to take some photos before the snow sets in, but I'm not sure how feasible that will be.  By the time I get out of work it's rather dark, so it would have to be on a weekend.  But I want to catch the location with no snow, so...we'll see.

All in the Eyes

I keep changing Emmanuel's (Ghost) eyes out to these red/orange ones, despite them not fitting his character at all. Technically he should have blue eyes, kind of icy blue ones. But I haven't seen a pair of blue eyes I like for him, and the ones I have don't work.

He is an old F-10 head (SD13 four sisters) and he's got a lot of "character." Aka his eye wells are uneven, and beveled strangely. So his right eye always sits wrong. The only way to remedy this is by having eyes without defined pupils, such as these. Not to mention you have to move the eyes up considerably to get them to not look shocked, which isn't a look I love.

So we'll see, Ill keep an eye out for better blue eyes, but til then these will do.

Final word count:

50,011

Repetitive, be warned...

New face up!

And horrible flash photos!  This weekend was full of so much craziness...bad weather and worse GPS directions, and to top it off a tree came down across my road so it took me almost an hour and a half to find a way home.  But, I was able to finish Ghost's new face up, so all is forgiven.  He looks just lovely, and I can't wait to get him out for proper pictures.  Those will probably have to wait until I'm finished with Nano, but that should be soon enough.

More Spam

New body!

Sorry for the spamming, but I am in love. <3  I'm so very glad I went with a Volks body for Ghost, it's just perfect.  I'm sure you can tell how much I love the hands alone.  But he looks great, definitely a better fit character and posing wise than the older SD10 body.

There are two drawbacks however: resin match and head fit.  The resin match isn't a big thing.  I don't mind that he's different shades in person, and you can't see it as much in photos.  The difference is almost non-existent in interior lighting, but definitely apparent outside.  But like I said, resin match isn't a big thing.  Uri's head is a different color than his body, and I don't even notice it anymore.

Head fit on the other hand is a bigger issue.  Technically it "fits," if you define fitting as "it doesn't fall off."  But the neck is large and the neck hole is small/shallow.  So it's not an ideal fit by any means.  My options are to either mod the body or the head, either of which will remedy the situation.  So I'm just trying to decide which I'd like to do.  I'm off to pick up a respirator tonight so I can do the work once I decide.

But overall, I love the body.  It is the one I've always wanted.  The SD10 body was too...simple.  And the SD16/17's and up I've seen are just too much.  Too many muscles, and too tiny of a waist for Emmanuel.  

It is funny though, because the story I'm writing about him for Nano deals with his youth, when he was 16 and still living at home.  The SD10 body was perfect for that.  Just the right amount of baby fat and child-like lines.  But now that I'm almost finished that part of his story, I've transitioned him to his older body, where he's at for most of the rest of the story (23-24ish).  Funny how things happen. :)

Ladies and gentlemen...

The doll body is in the building!

Or rather in my car, but that counts right?  I ducked out of work to go grab it from the post office because they're not open during my lunch.  I was able to open enough of it to peek at toes (!) but I couldn't really sit in my car and unwrap it.  So it is tucked away until I can get out to lunch to properly play with it.  I brought Ghost with me to work (also in the car), along with some clothes so I can just switch him right over and get him dressed on his new body.

1pm can't come fast enough.

Two good updates!

1) We are past the half-way point on on our way to victory in NaNo!  My current word count is 35,273 and I may write some more tonight.  Now that I've started in on the end, I just want to keep writing.  I still have some middle parts to do and one part to rework, but it is a good part. :)

2) Ghost's body has shipped!  It should be here Friday, so prepare for photospammage! (shhh, I just made that up)

Side note...

I paid off the layaway for Ghost's body on Friday, so that should be arriving soon.  Things have been so stressful here lately and I could really use a distraction.  I've been dying to take him out and get some shots that relate to the story, but his SD10 body just won't do anything.  So that should be arriving sometime this week, pictures to follow!

Music of the Hobby

This post is brought to you by: writing something other than NaNo!  I did hit my word count before I allowed myself to do it though. ;)

Everything in my life has a soundtrack, dolls included.  I've written a bit about doll music before (here and here), but lately I've been exploring it again as I write about Ghost.  Uriel certainly has by far the most songs on his playlist, in part owing to him being the "oldest" as it were.  But Ghost is starting to catch up with him as I explore his story.

One album in particular that I've been listening to a lot while I write about him is one that oddly enough has special meaning for Nowell as well.  When I got Nowell, I was trying to decide what to name him, and I happened to be listening to Tori Amos' Christmas album at the time.  Specifically the song "What Child is this?/Nowell."  And that's where I took his name from.

For Ghost's story I've been listening to a lot of quiet music, sad songs, and things with very rich soundscapes.  This album fits the bill perfectly.  And it was funny because as I listened, I realize that I sort of got his name from it as well.  Ghost's birth name is Emmanuel, a name which just sort of came to me when I started writing his story.  But coincidentally, Tori also does a beautiful version of "Emmanuel" on this album.  So it seems that two of my Volks boys have taken their names from it. :)

If you have a chance to listen to this album, do it!  It's beautiful, both just as an album as well as a different spin on Christmas music.  I tend to keep it on rotation all year long, though it obviously gets more play this time of year.  

Nanowrimo Update

28,484 Words

Bring you imp to work day!

For Sale: Soom Skoll with Wolf Parts

I'd really like to find this guy a new home because a) I don't do anything with him at all, and haven't in forever and b) I really want to pay off the layaway I have going for Ghost's body.  You can check out his DoA thread here.  He's pretty much a steal, but I just want him gone, so I don't care.  Negotiations are possible, so drop me a message!

The Crew

I really don't take enough pictures of everyone together.  There's only one other doll (aside from one I'm selling) who isn't in here, and she's both in pieces and being decided upon.  But otherwise this is everyone.

Everyone together!

Ghost (Volks F-10)

More ghostie.

Uriel (CP Delf El)

Left to right Arashi (Volks SDC Arashi), Liam (Volks YoSD Yuki), and Nowell (Volks MSD F-17)

Fumiko (Volks DDdy H04)