Wednesday, August 29, 2012

BJD 30-day Challenge: Day 17

Q: What is your favourite item of dollie clothing?

A: I keep on buying kimonos / yukatas for everyone, so you'd think it's my favorite :) , but really, I like elaborate pieces that take a while to put on but then look great and really put together - full-set outfits etc. Like this one that took, well, two nights to just put on:

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Tuesday, August 28, 2012

BJD 30-day Challenge: Day 16

The original Day 16 question was as follows:

16) Can any of your crew stand on their heads? (Show us~)

But to be honest, I couldn't possibly be any more bored by the question. Well, yeah, Fairyland tinies probably do a pretty good job at that, and they are a snap to photograph, but I just don't feel like it. Being 41 weeks pregnant kind of makes me rebellious and cranky :) So instead, here is my self-invented Day 16 question, answer to which will also prompt some picture sharing:

Q: Which one of your dolls looks best in the photos and why? (with samples)

A: As much as I adore Real Pukies and other tinies, they can be a PITA in terms of photography. Even with close-range macro on they sometimes work out blurry. On the upside, however, I have the most props for them.

But somehow, my best pictures ever were of an MSD-sized girl Mikhaila by Leekeworld. Her grayish / dusty rose colored skin and the way she had enough area of body and face to actually capture light and shadows... Here she is, with pictures from different shots and types of lighting. Enjoy!

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Monday, August 27, 2012

BJD 30-day Challenge: Day 15

Q: What do your family think of your dolls?

A: Hard to tell :) Knowing how important (and often therapeutic) this hobby is for me, they support it wholeheartedly, which includes faking interest also in the cases where the dolls I'm interested in are obviously way too 'weird' for them. At the time I was into cuteness above everything, they were for the most part really on the same page with me, even if they did think I might have purchased too many at that stage. Post-Fairyland, however, they are often not impressed by the unusual dolls with character I often select. Does that upset me? Not at all. They don't have to share all my tastes to support me, and I wish they knew that so I would know their true, even negative, opinions of my dolls. Not that it would influence my choices ;), but then when they really admire a doll of my photography of it, it would be more valuable.

Friday, August 24, 2012

BJD 30-day Challenge: Day 14

Q: Have you ever had a floating head? What about a headless body?
A: Actually, after vowing I never would, I had this year - and for a while - a floating multihead (Fairyland) head that I planned to put on a PukiFee body but failed to to procure one for the longest time. Only in late July did I finally buy a PKF body on Dairyland forum. I actually tried earlier in the year: bought a cheap PukiFee Ante for the purpose of using her body - but her precious custom face-up made me keep her as-is. You've seen her in the previous post, she is a darling! And here is my multihead Cupid - the wig is on the way from DDE:
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And no, no headless bodies here. Hopefully none ever, really...

Wednesday, August 22, 2012

BJD 30-day Challenge: Day 13

Q: Dollie shoes! Show us how many you have!

A: Shoes are actually a part of dolly wardrobe I totally disregard. Only a handful of my dolls have shoes on (plus I have an MSD pair that fits nobody), so instead of trying to fit all the measly collection into one picture, I took this one shoe-themed pic. I think it worked out pretty good, if I dare say so myself! ;)

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Monday, August 20, 2012

BJD 30-day Challenge: Day 12

Q: What do your friends think about your dolls / dolls in general?

A: Well, considering I tend to pick up friends in the hobby, most of them are into BJDs - in fact I met some of my best friends this way, or the hobby has deepened our relationship. I have two best friends in the realm of BJD now: one was my LJ acquaintance until we discovered we're both into dolls, the other I met on a crochet (another hobby of mine) board. In fact she was the one who invited me to DoA and largely shaped my early BJD tastes. Every day in the community I meet people who are super-nice, and I consider some of them my friends even if we only talk online.

My IRL friends don't know much about my hobby, we do not discuss it and I don't feel an overwhelming need to share. Why would I, since I have such a great circle of 'dolly friends'? :) I do tell all about BJDs when asked, but without preachy connotations. I don't believe that this hobby is for everyone nor do I think I can effectively introduce someone to it, being a distracted collector and all :)

Sunday, August 19, 2012

BJD 30-day Challenge: Day 11 (10)

Q: Post a picture of a doll and an animal!

A: (Why yes, it's been photoshopped. I have no pets nor would I let a strange animal get anywhere close to my dolls! :) )

with animal

Thursday, August 16, 2012

BJD 30-day Challenge: Day 10 (11)

Day 10 has another picture-taking task that is rather hard to accomplish instantly, so I'm switching days 10 and 11...

Q: How long have you collected dolls? Did you collect dolls before BJDs?

Well, I had been looking at them for a long, long time, fascinated by Real Pukis in particular, but then as I browsed the sites and discovered the hobby in general, I decided to take a leap and purchased my first BJD in 2009 (I believe), so no, I wasn't collecting dolls before BJDs. I wasn't going to become a collector per se either, and to allow my collection to grow as much as it has. All I wanted was a doll or two for photostories... I think it wasn't until summer of 2011 when I finally realized I indeed had quite a collection :)

Wednesday, August 15, 2012

BJD 30-day Challenge: Day 9

Q: What is your least favourite size?

A: It's a toss-up between SD and Yo-SD. And yes, I own exceptions to this 'rule': Elfdoll Mir (but then I'm pretty sure I'm not getting another SD ever), who is a special person for sure, and Soom Dolomi, who is a little smaller than most Yo-SDs and I think because of this, escapes the 'curse'. I have re-homed other two Yo-SDs I owned due to complete and total lack of bonding. They were LittleFee Dark Elf Soo by Fairyland and SouldDoll's Lappy Angel.

Dolomi here, just because I love her:

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Tuesday, August 14, 2012

BJD 30-day Challenge: Day 8

Q: What is your favorite size?

A: I would say RealPuki (the smallest out there) - they are 9.5 cm, but I am actually equally happy with slightly bigger dolls as well - anything up to, let's say, 16 cm still falls into my favorite category. So this includes a wide variety of artist and company dolls. Not that I won't buy a gorgeous MSD once in a while ;)

Monday, August 13, 2012

BJD 30-day Challenge: Day 7

Q: Smallest size you own? (Have held/seen/like)

A: this record, hands down, belongs to the RealPuki clan: all four of them are, of course, the same size, and it is the gorgeous / glorious 9.5 cm. Now that's the way - a-ha, a-ha - I like it ;)

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BJD 30-day Challenge: Day 6

Q: Biggest size you own? (Have held/seen/like)

A: I have one SD, and honestly, I don't think I'll get another one ever. Elfdoll Mir has always fascinated me; he probably has the most elaborate and detailed background story of all my dolls, and I have put a lot of thought into his looks and outfits. But SDs are just not my cup of tea. Even Kaye Wiggs's dolls - IF I can ever afford one (big if) I'm getting an MSD by her.

Here is the guy (Ichiro Wakahisa) in his modern-day outfit, still missing a wig he has on today:

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Saturday, August 11, 2012

BJD 30-day Challenge: Day 5

Q: What/who was the very first BJD you saw?

A: I am not 100% sure, but I think I started this hobby from discovering, in my random Internet pursuits of ... something? ... Discovering the site of Fairyland (Korean doll-making company). So one can say I have seen all that Fairyland makes, at about the same time - although I was clearly focused on RealPukis. RealPuki Tyni was the first BJD I ever wanted, and many years later - the first one I bought via pre-order (I got my first BJD off a secondary market).



Thursday, August 9, 2012

BJD 30-day Challenge: Day 4 (3)

For this day, I was supposed to take a picture of all my dolls together. It was such a huge task (even getting them all out) that even my little switch-a-roo didn't help and I still missed a few days. But here they are, finally: group pictures!!

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There are still some characters missing in this group - all for good reasons though:
- Doll Chateau Vivienne and Hillary don't have face-ups yet;
- Multihead Cupid doesn't have eyes (nor clothes, but eyes are the biggie);
- Charm City Philia... Well, to be honest, I just forgot about her :( I should make an effort to get her out more; she's a charming little creature and deserves all the attention.

Tuesday, August 7, 2012

Apo Doll giveaway (Boni)




Go HERE for a chance to win this adorable little doll or HERE to pre-order her after August 15. Isn't she a cutie? The price is also exceptionally reasonable. I'm definitely getting her even if I don't win :)

Saturday, August 4, 2012

BJD 30-day Challenge: Day 3 (4)

The task of day three is to post a picture of all my dolls together. Which should take some preparation, so I'm switching days 3 and 4 and will do day 4 today.

Q: What/who was the first BJD you ever owned? Do you still own them?

A: it was DollZone Luna (little PKF-sized vampire girl with tiny bat wings that attached with magnets). I downplayed vampire look as much as I could.. Her name was Shade.

Is that for me?

After I decided to find her a new home - right around the same time a year ago - I never replaced her character, even though originally I intended to. Instead, I put existing character (presented by PKF Zoe) into her role as Laurie's partner. She was the first doll I really tried to customize, too (new eyes, wigs, clothes - her look chanted many times within a couple of years I owned her). I decided to let her go because she just never got to look the way I wanted - the typical Dollzone mold with sharp anime nose and slightly bugged eyes only let me go so far.



Friday, August 3, 2012

Real Puki Arrivals

Agnes here!

Maria has been hogging the blog lately, so I need to quickly reign in some sense here or we will necver get over talking about future plans and get back to you, know, my job, - chronicles of the currect 'collection', or as I prefer to call it, a community.

I thought I will start by posting here what a typical arrival - box opening - looks like. I wanted to do mine but then I decided that since I plan to follow shortly with a story of the Real Puki clan... I should just start by showing off one of their arrivals:

- Fairyland signature box wrapping often referred to as 'candy':

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- Their box and a manual:

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- As you can see, poor guy was too tiny to stay in place and got bumped around in the box:

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(many more pictures after the break)

BJD 30-day Challenge: Day 2

Q: Do you own any? If so how many and if not, do you have any plans to at the moment?


A: This question has been extensively answered in a few posts below. But as far as plans go... I already have what many call a 'grail doll' - a jewel of one's collection, often considered to be unobtainable. For me, it was BJTales (Lidia Shnul's brand) Mouse. Here she is:






So adding anything else is extremely optional now. But... You all know I fell in love with Nefer Kane's work, so I do have plans to add some dolls by her. Right now I have Suzy on layaway:




As well as Willow by Sarah Seiter, The Mushroom Peddler:






And there are some interesting prototypes coming soon(ish) that I will definitely order when Nefer makes them available:



Disclaimer: pictures shown are a property of respective artists and only used here for promotion, linking back to their own sites.

Thursday, August 2, 2012

BJD 30-day Challenge: Day 1

Q: Why do you like BJDs?


A: I have never liked dolls growing up, but I did adore artistic figurines, statuettes etc. - things of beauty, originality and imagination. My favorite place in the city was the Artists' Square, a place where not only artists, but craftsmen of all trades sold their works as souvenirs and deco pieces. For a while, I didn't really 'collect', but once in a while indulged myself in a creature or two of someone's imagination. However, you cannot really play with those things - or, as you age :) , you cannot really customize them. They are a finished work of art that is there to be admired. When I discovered the world of BJD, I loved the concept of endless possibilities that they bring along. You can change hair, eyes, clothes and shoes of your dolls, you can give them thousand of different expressions through painting, you can pose them in various ways and make them act out entire photo stories for you (my favorite genre on doll photography). I like the community of collectors, too, the passion they express for the hobby and never-ending supply of great photography they share. I would like to say I had taken some great pictures too, but that would not be true. It is true, however, that I had lots of fun taking those pictures, thinking up those stories and overall just planning my doll's looks... Even if I have never sewn a piece of doll clothing or done any face-ups myself, I still feel like the ultimate 'author' of the final look because I choose the style of work, the artists to commission, and I create the concept that weaves together the image. And then, when I have time, I get to take pictures and show off my dolls, that have by then become one-of-a-kind works of my imagination.