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.

An excerpt

I love when I have a character in writing or otherwise who comes through strongly. Bits and pieces of their storyline suddenly appear as if they were there all along. Gabriel is this kind of character to a fault, and this is a piece I wrote maybe a minute or so after I figured out his name. It has to do with when he told his parents he had become a vampire.

"Mama broke every piece of glass in the house that day. Even the decorative plates she had lined up in little rows in her sitting room. Father had to purchase a china set from the merchant down the street just so that they would have something to eat off of that night. Neither he nor mama ever spoke of it again, but that was the last time she called me by my given name. From the breaking of the glass, I was Gabriel."

And now for something completely different...

Since I don't have any doll-related posts worked out yet, I thought I'd dip into one of my other hobbies/collections instead: rings.

I have loved jewelry since the moment I could wear some, but rings have always held a certain special place in my heart. I don't know if it's because they adorn my hands, which are an important part of the body to me. Or maybe it's because you can wear a different one on every finger. :P Whatever the reason, I have collected rings since I was young.

We're not just talking simple bands either, my collection ranges from unique to...well weird. I have rings fashioned after vampire teeth*, from Greece, and even one made out of dog hair**. It's become my little tradition to buy myself a new piece of jewelry every Valentine's Day. While I'm definitely not opposed to receiving gifts of jewelry, I always thought it was silly how people would wait around for someone else to buy them a ring or a necklace just because. So I make a point to purchase myself something small around Valentine's Day as a sort of affirmation that I can do it all on my own. :)

This year I decided to reach deep down into my dork-dom and buy myself a ring from a bit of fan fiction I've worked on forever. As I've mentioned before I'm a big Sailor Moon fan, and I've spent the last twelve years writing and re-writing SM fiction with the same main character. This particular character has a ring in the story which acts as her transformation device (if you've ever watched/read SM you'll know what I'm talking about), and I've always wanted something like it. So I've been scouring the internet and local jewelry stores to find something similar, but with it's own kind of attitude.

I'd found a handful of "maybe" rings, and decided on a whim to check out my local artisan jewelry store and...bingo! I found a beautiful ring*** with all the necessary components (and attitude) by a local artist who I've heard of many times before. This ring is similar to the one I've purchased, except mine has a pink sapphire versus the orange/red. The ring also looks much better in person, and is *so* me!

It's a little pricier than what I'd normally select for my Valentine's Day purchase, but it's so beautiful and locally made so I really can't complain. The jewelry store has a fantastic layaway program, so in just a few short weeks the ring will be on my finger where it belongs. :)

*Vampire ring created by Chymiera on Etsy.
**Dog ring made by Baloo on Etsy.
***My new ring by Joy Raskin.