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. 

Fall Fun

I ended up having to take a day of this week for a doctor's visit, and I manage to make it outside to snap a few photos since the day was nice. I have a lovely graveyard right near my apartment, and I took St. Christopher there for some fall photos.

She's not yet painted, but I still wanted to dress her up. Since all of the clothes I made were modeled on this body, they fit perfectly.

I found that MSD shoes fit the Obitsu body very well, which is nice since I have a few pairs of nice ones in that size. I've also looked into getting a few more through Mimiwoo, along with some additional body parts (alternate hands, additional chest pieces, etc).

Omake! A few shots of the graveyard, as it looked really lovely.

The new (much improved) St. Christopher!

Doll Stuff and Nanowrimo

Still working on a catch as catch can type of posting schedule as I deal with the continued health issues, but I do have some updates for today!

As we head into the end of October I've been starting to prepare for National Writers Month, or Nanowrimo. I've written about this here before, but for anyone new it's essentially a challenge to write a novel (50,000 words) in the month of November. This will be my sixth year participating, and I'm actually looking to do something completely different this time.  Normally I work on Emmanuel's story as it needs editing, re-writing, and of course continuing. However, this time I've decided to write about St. Christopher instead. So I've been doing my basic prep which includes getting my storyline and character notes together. As I've been doing that I've been looking to the doll for inspiration, and I've come to realize that the RS Mi just isn't jiving with my concept for St. Christopher.

It's not that she's not a beautiful doll because she is, but I think she might be too beautiful? The more I've been working with her, the more I've realized that she is a little too perfect for this character. St. Christopher is supposed to be a little odd in a few different ways, and the stunning beauty of the RS Mi sculpt just doesn't quite express that. I'm certainly going to keep her, but I think I will be shifting things a bit.

One consideration is modding her, which I may look into if the other plans don't work out. I've seen quite a few modded Mis (almost all of them really), and they look lovely. That though is a pretty big undertaking, so I will have to see if I really want to do that and how my health is overall.

I did do some browsing for a possible head sculpt, but initially I didn't find anything through the normal channels. I would almost prefer having a male head sculpt for her on the female body, but I didn't even see any male sculpts that spoke to me. Then I decided to explore another alternative that I've looked at before, but never had a particular character for.

I ended up on Junky Spot's page looking through their Obitsu heads, as I do have an Obitsu body, and RS NS is a good match for WS Obitsu. So I could keep Mi whole, or I could put the vinyl head on the resin body. I purchased a Gretel head and a pair of pixie ears as St. Christopher is supposed to have some distant elf lineage, and they were pretty cute. Overall the head and ears weren't horribly expensive either, so if I find that it doesn't work for St. Christopher, it's not as if it would be a great deal of money. I've also been toying with the idea of an elf character, and/or a character named October or something Halloween related. So she could do that as well. I'm still not sure if I'm going to use the Obitsu body or the Mi one, though I'm leaning towards the former because it's spectacularly poseable. Although if so, I will need to get some new hands as hers are a bit stained. The package should be arriving tomorrow, so I will have in-person pictures soon. For now though, these are the stock pictures of the head and the ears.

Ren Faire!

I didn't get too much in the way of photos during the faire this year as it was pretty rainy/chilly and I was not feeling well. It was still a lot of fun to attend though, and I did get a few pictures of SC's outfit. She stole the show as people kept coming up and commenting on her. It was a lot of fun to bring her, even if my arms did get pretty tired. I dressed her as a sort of elf/wood nymph/forest creature.

Still alive!

I'm alive, just still working to get back to some semblance of normal. I am going to attempt to follow the regular posting schedule, but I'm not positive if I will be able to do it each week. Aside from the health issues, I'm also dealing with what I like to call "peripheral" internet. As in you can see it out of the corner of your eye, but if you try to outright do anything...forget it. However, I at least have some posts set up for this week, so enjoy!

To make this more than text, here is a snapshot of St. Christopher from before the ren faire.

Shoe Making

 I'm going to be taking St. Christopher with me to our local ren faire for my birthday this year, and I've been working on an outfit for her. I shall post pictures of the finalized outfit soon enough, but I decided I needed to make her some simple shoes.Initially I wanted to make them to be tall boots (hence the first two pictures), but decided I really liked them as booties instead.

And the finished product! They're very simple, but I like that. I used the lace that is present in other parts of the outfit, and the brown felt will work well with the theme (Sort of wood elf/fairy). I do need to make some additional tweaks to the outfit and perhaps make her some wings, but I'm undecided on that yet.

Wig Making

I did purchase a wig for St. Christopher while I was waiting for her to arrive, but I also started making a wig. It was done with a self-made hard cap base, and brushed out yarn. I'm not always a huge fan of yarn wigs, depending upon how they look. However, this was a great way to make a wig, and it came out even better than I thought for my first time attempting it.

Essentially what you do is cover the doll in plastic to protect them, and then stretch a thin fabric over the head and rubber band it down. You add layers of glue (I used modge podge) over this to harden the cap, and can eventually cut away the excess. From there you would add your yarn wefts (made by brushing out and sometimes flatironing the yarn) with the same glue. There are some great tutorials out there including this one on Youtube.

Here is my finished product!

I will definitely be doing this again as I'm really pleased with how this came out. Even more so because her head seems to be an odd size, and the wig I purchased (and literally every wig in the house) is too big. She is just over the 8inch size, but an 8-9 wig is much too big for her while 7-8 may be too small. This is a much better, if time consuming, solution to the problem.

Introducing St. Christopher!

So I will admit that I kind of cheated when it came to a box opening, as I did it very quickly in my car. On one hand I was impatient, but on the other I wanted to make sure she arrived safely. There were a lot of horror stories of Mis arriving with broken fingers or other parts, and I was hoping to not fall in that category. Thankfully she arrived safe and sound, and I did take some blank doll photos after the fact.

I'm putting this beneath a cut because of dolly nudity.

Belated Posting

My apologies for the delayed posts! I've been suffering from a migraine for the last several days, and being on the computer tends to make it worse. So I do have a few real posts coming once I'm back to 100%, but for the moment I wanted to share some photos I was able to take over the weekend.

 This first photo is one I took before heading out to the Labyrinth 30th anniversary screening I attended with some friends. I decided to dress up, and to dress St. Christopher up, because I figured if I could get away with bringing a doll to the movies, this would be the movie!

The next photo is of a new addition to the group here, just in time for the Halloween season to The Halloween Tree since I was a kid, and once I saw this fellow he instantly reminded me of Pip from the movie. For those unfamiliar with the story you can check out the Wikipedia page here, but essentially it revolves around a group of young friends who are trying to save their friend Pip and learn about Halloween along the way. I have some work to do on his full outfit, but for now he's wearing a fun little Halloween costume.
commence. I have a specific project in mind for some fun photos this year, and this guy will work well for my plans. I've been a big fan of

A sneak preview!

BJD Addicts Written Prompt #25: Style!

I'm probably going to end up doing these individually for my dolls as they all have quite unique styles. However, for the first one I will discuss the new doll's style since she's the newest addition. 

I'm still figuring out all of her "likes" and "dislikes," but overall I'd say that her normal style falls between mori girl and grunge.

Yeah.

So on one hand, the style is very earthy. She wears a lot of browns, greens, and some blues. Mori girl style (translated it essentially means "forest girl") is what I think of as fairy tale forest wear. It's often not really practical for traipsing about in the woods, but it looks like what a fairy tale character would wear. It often involves multiple layers, loose fitting elements, lace, and patterns. There is also a form called dark mori that has a more gothic sense to it, and mori boy which features more masculine elements. I think that the doll/character would comfortably fit into all of these, although her dark mori definitely has more traditional mori roots.

I've included some examples of my own interpretation of the fashion here for reference. For the most part I tend to see the character in a lot of skirts and dresses with leggings, much like what I tend to wear. Her fashion sense at least is somewhat based on me, so I've tried to incorporate some of the reality of mori girl in to her wardrobe as much as possible.                                                                                                     At the same time, SC also wears a lot of what I like to call 90's grunge teenage boy fashion. This is again taken from my personal style as I favor this look on my dressed down days. It can be described as if Xander and Oz from Buffy had a baby who liked Nirvana. This includes more t-shirts, jeans (more baggy than fitted, but both will do), sneakers, and plaid shirts. 

In regards to whether she will change style much, that's something only time will tell. I know that there are certain things she wouldn't wear, aside from me putting her in them because I like the look. That includes the lolita style dress and even the blue star dress I created for her. She's not so much a flashy, frilly individual. Rather her style involves more earthy, practical clothes with a smattering of dresses.

BJD Addicts Written Prompt #8: Doll Sizes

Is there a particular Size that you cling to? Which one and why?

I am very much a SD person. Not to say I don't own dolls of other sizes, as I obviously do. But I do tend to prefer the larger sizes, sticking mostly with MSD and (my favorite) SD. I like 70cm like my big Dollshe boy, but I probably prefer the 60-62cm size a little more as they are still big but not overly so.

I like their size and their weight, as they are substantial but still portable. I’ve been known to carry certain SDs of mine around with me to conventions, on trips, and sometimes in my purse (okay, so it’s a big purse). SDs fit comfortably in the crook of an arm, and they are pleasant to hold because of their larger size. They also have a certain charisma that I feel makes them different than the other sizes. Now of course I’m not saying anything against MSDs, YoSDs, or others. However, there’s just something about such a large doll that draws people in. I used to go to a steampunk convention for many years, and would bring Uriel (CP Delf El) in matching costumes. The staff loved him, which always made me laugh. Every year they would pull me aside for pictures with him, and they frequently commented on that “cool big doll.”

I think that SDs can also walk a fine line along the edge of the uncanny valley, which I like.  Essentially the uncanny valley refers to the experience of something looking very close to human, but not quite right. It can cause uneasy feelings, or even outright fear depending upon the individual. There are a lot of things which can fall into the uncanny valley, but dolls are certainly some of the more common ones.

I enjoy that SDs are large and detailed enough to look like small people, and that their presentation (clothes, shoes, etc) can help influence this as well. Smaller dolls can be detailed, but still tend to come off as dolls based on their size. Yet when you have a “small” creature in a t-shirt, jeans, and very detailed hi-tops, it can give people pause. More than once I have had people mistake my SD dolls for children which is always an interesting conversation. I guess I kind of relish in being the creepy doll owner!

Dolly Haul

Some more items I received to add to my incoming Mi's hoard. I'm going to have to build a bigger closet soon enough!

First up on the list is the wig I ordered from Funnylori/Unstrung Hero BJD. As always it arrived promptly and is really quite lovely. The fur was suggested to be challenging, but honestly I'm not too worried about it. It's even tamer than I expected, and I've worked with similar wigs before. It's a nice brown with lighter tips, which is the look I'm going for. I've also started working on a wig that is brown and white, as the character has primarily brown hair with some lighter pieces throughout. So this wig will work nicely.







The next item I received is the necklace from Vanilla Mint Designs that I had mentioned last week.
It's even lovelier in person, especially with the way the beads shine. It appears to be very well made, and I am eager to try it out on Mi once she arrives. Shipping was quite prompt and it arrived nicely packaged. My only potential complaint was that it didn't ship with tracking, which is a little odd as I've rarely come across a seller who doesn't. I prefer to have it as the mail often works in mysterious ways, but at least in this situation it worked out well.











The final two items came from the same seller off of Den of Angels. The boots I purchased because they were inexpensive but cute, and would work well for a few of the outfits I have in mind. They are fairly stained on the heels/soles (which I was well aware of), so I think I will be reworking them a bit to cover those spots. It's hard to tell in photos, but they're actually a nice sparkly purple, especially when the light hits them.








The final item is a pretty knitted cloak that has a distinctly mori* feel to it. I think it will work well with some of the other outfit pieces I have already, along with some things I am currently waiting on and working on. The pin is also removable which is nice in case I want to use either item without the other.

Dolly Sewing: Crop Top, Plaid Shirt, and Harness

The new girl does tend to wear a lot of dresses, both due to her personal style and my own wish to put her in them. However, she also needs some more laid back elements to her wardrobe both for alternatives and due to story elements. One such item is her plaid shirt, which according to her story she "borrows" from her father. Initially I looked to purchase a shirt, but I couldn't quite find the right one. Most had silver threads or strange designs, which wouldn't do. So I decided to craft my own instead. This was a bit intimidating as I wanted it to be fairly accurate to real plaid shirts (with the various overlaid fabric pieces, cuffs, and working buttons. This is the finished product, which I'm particularly happy with!

The plaid shirt here is shown over the other two items I'v recently made: a white crop top and an elastic harness. I love how harnesses look and feel (I own a few myself!), and I thought it would work well for my girl's style. It's hard to show this without having it on the doll, but this gives you the gist. Once she arrives I will take some photos of her in it as well.