Too behind - but looking ahead

I am so hopelessly behind on blogging - it's not even funny. And seeing that I go back to work in little more than week, I don't even see myself catching up... Which is ironic as I've been quite good at taking pictures, so now I'm under piles and piles of quality photos that need to be uploaded, posted, blogged... Ugh. Well, I guess it's better than no pictures at all - seeing that my primary joy of BJD play comes from picture-taking ;)

Anyway, since catching up is kind of a useless dream here, I want to share with y'all what I'm looking forward to - maybe - owning one day, some new discoveries that captured my heart, and new artists - or at least new to me.

First of all, Triffony. She is an amazing Russian BJD maker, her primary medium is porcelain, but recently she has sent off this beauty:

Sphinx cat (Flickr)

to be casted and now I can hope to maybe own her doll one day. Although it's not my favorite mold by her. My favorite is this sweet little creature:


Морошка на Ярмарке Мастеров

She has many sisters-"berries" and I love them all. Would love to welcome one of them home... But they are all cast in porcelain only, for now. Maybe one day?..

Then, I discovered Dust of Dolls. I knew about them for a very long time... Much longer than even Trifonova, whom I've been following for about half a year now. I hadn't allowed myself to really pay attention to their dolls - for financial and personal reasons - but now I have. In fact, on my way to LDoll, I'm setting up schemes to get one of their dolls - if I cannot get my main grail...

They have recently released some new dolls and I really love them. The first one especially... But they are all great. Click through to their blog, you can see more pictures of each and posts about them - here, I'm just giving a few teasers ;)







And aforementioned grail would be, of course, an Okaeri by Tarte au Citron. She is hard at work creating some for LDoll, in fact she recently posted a couple of them casted from a new mold:



Under the cut, I'll just post really quick a few pictures from my art-doll wishlist.. Just click on them if you're interested, they all mostly come from the artists' Flickr streams:

Luts Tiny Delf Alice

Ok, I must admit, I surprise even myself sometimes. When I thought that my tastes have taken a sharp and positive turn towards artist dolls (French and American BJD artists) and I was totally over Asian BJDs - with maybe a soft spot still saved in my heart for some Fairyland and Lati dolls - right then I actually got involved with Asian BJDs all over again.

First of all, I got a frog ordered from Soom (the one monthly fairytale series) - was actually my first ever order from any Asian company directly. Then, the whole Iplehouse story unfolded. Since then, I'm still now and then tempted to look into cute (and far cheaper than Westen) kinds of Asian BJD.

As a reward to myself for being extremely good with doll sales lately (I have sold 7 different Asian and artist dolls), I decided to get a cute, inexpensive tiny doll that would mix well with an existing group. Serendipitously, my chose Luts Tiny Delf, and before I knew it, there was little Alice in tan on her way here. Major factor in this speedy purchase was that I found her in stock at a dealer and this was, indeed, the best kind of reward for good behavior - instant.

Here is her temporary look:





This wig is very wire-like, it's barely held from sticking up by two barrettes, and the dress in nothing special... As I sold my PukiFees, I offered wigs and outfits to go with them, so the best pieces are gone. I should be shopping soon for her and my Lati Lami (they share the same size)... Meanwhile - box opening below the fold:

Family Portrait (Mixed Group #2)

The way I bond or 'play' with my dolls is through inventing stories about them: who they are, what kind of a world they live in, how they relate to each other.. Since my collection took off in various directions lately, my dolls' characters are broken down into groups by storyline. I have always wanted to take group pictures of my entire collection by storyline, but the task seemed daunting. However, recently our vacation got canceled due to kids' illness that was however mild enough, so I found myself with a bit of free time on my hands. Here is what came out of it - the pictures of my first doll group!

Airé - Raspberry от NobleDolls / Asella - is a steampunk witch, living in a world somewhat similar to Pratchett's Discworld. She spends most of her days in a workshop, perfecting and selling her half-magical, half-mechanical inventions.



Airé is a single mom to three-year-old Addie (Addie от Bo Bergemann):



Her best friend and business partner - Sophie (Sophia by Bo Bergemann). She is an astrologer and fortune teller:



The ladies support each other by sharing one rental property that houses their both workshops downstairs and an apartment upstairs, where they live together in order to share childcare and housekeeping services of their maid /nanny, who takes care of Sophie's baby too, 1 year old Lani (Sugar Baby Leilani от Bo Bergemann).



Nanny's name is Emma-Rose, she is Mikhaila by Leekeworld. Here she is, surrounded by her lovely 'daycare' population:



The last but not least (and always ready to prove it) is a fire-breathing mini-dragon Flickr; he is created by Sarah Saiter, also known as The Mushroom Peddler:



And finally - a group photo:



(The list of my other dolls broken down by storylines is to be found HERE. It has recently changed and I'll update it ASAP.)

My weird Iplehouse journey

I must admit, I'm pretty indifferent to the light tan, or 'sunkissed' resin color. Chocolate PukiPuki or Fairyland or Tan Yellows of Lati are adorable and cute but nothing I would specifically be out to get because of just skin color - now a great sculpt would be a different story, but you get the idea. This was the case until a new pal I met online introduced me to a whole new kind of resin shade: ebony. And the companies that deal with resin this dark are not many, but most notable of them is, I think, Iplehouse.

I think Iplehouse has all kinds of things going for them: they have very realistic sculpts in every 'age' group, they have a great variety of those. The realism of their dolls is what I think makes them stand out, so I question their choice to dub in big-headed pixies, but hey, might be a sound business decision. But another thing is the variety, and availability, of their dolls' skin tones. Now the two darkest shades of tan are not always available other than through a custom-doll order (more expensive), but they are harder to produce, so that's understandable.

Some of their sculpts already have ethnic features built into them, to the point that they don't even look right in, say, normal skin, and I love it. Erzulie is one of such sculpts. In my case it's a girl, but she could also come on a boy body and with right makeup looked very boyish. Most importantly, she was first released in Ebony and specifically sculpted for it. She was the one I decided to add to my collection.

I placed a WTB on DoA and very soon, a Canadian owner replied. We had set pretty quick on the price, but as she was packing the doll for shipping, it fell and damaged its face-up. Now I must say, Iplehouse face-ups are gorgeous, adding to the realism... But I wasn't ready to give up so easily. I found an artist brave enough to investigate and repair the defect, and had the seller ship the doll to her.

Now, the defect turned out to be only face-up deep, but the face-up itself could not be saved. I commissioned the artist for the new one, and it took her, I kid you not, three tries to get just the lips right! Ebony resin was showing off its temper ;) I'm happy with the end result, and frankly, the price I paid did not even begin to cover the effort, but deep down inside I miss Iplehouse original face-up...

Anyway. I finally got my Erzulie (I named her Amondi - 'born at the dawn' in Kenyan). She is slowly coming together: a special outfit I commissioned for her took forever to get here from Russia, and her special dreadlock wig has just arrived. I like the way she is working out, taking on her own personality, and I have quite a bit of clothes and shoes for her. But the most interesting plot twist is that for a little while, she had a sister.

While I was waiting for her, on a board I belong to an Iplehouse BID (Baby Iplehouse Doll - this is what Erzulie also is) came up for sale. The price was very affordable, she was in normal skin, but her face up was a work of beauty by an Italian artist. I bought her telling myself I could always re-home her for profit, and that is what I ended up doing, as her pale resin just didn't look right in the pictures for me. I sold her to finance a doll dream of mine and have no regrets, although I must admit having both girls 'play' together was so much fun, I see myself getting another BID in the future.

BIDs are slightly chunkier than LittleFees and make wonderful models for sewing, crochet and knitting - not so small that you can't really work into too much detail (unless you have magic powers, like my friend Rasa), but not so large that your time and material investment becomes considerable. I have found several patterns I want to try for my Amondi...

But for now, just a few pictures of her - not too many as I have just received her dreadlocks wig, meant to complete her look, - and a shot of her sister too, for nostalgia's sake:

(There is also her character's storyline behind the jump)

Reborns

Quite suddenly, starting from an odd interest I had for a while, I found myself an owner of a small reborn collection!

It all started from a doll I saw advertised on a Facebook group. I went on to find more groups, on Facebook and its Russian clone - vKontakte - that were set up specifically for reborns. And then I got in touch with this artist, that serendipitously advertised in those Russian groups but lived in Germany. I wanted to buy a doll that was already sold, but ended up ordering a custom - and that is how Olivia was born.

While I waited, I went on to find a cheap eBay listing for a reborn that I found totally adorable for the price. I used Snipe on her - for the first time - and successfully. The artist was very lovely too, also ex-military (from the USA). The doll I got is named Holly, after her original sculpt.

Finally, when I thought I was done experimenting with this new collection of mine... Before the other two girls even arrived (on the same day, by the way) I saw a listing on that one reborn-specific Facebook group. On the first day I joined, in fact. It was by a lady in France, and it was absolutely irresistible. She let me do a layaway too. The girl (Lou) arrived yesterday, exactly a week after the other two, and she is so sweet, I just want her to come alive and be my baby (but for an hour, no more LOL) :))

I would love to get another doll by this artist, but I think I'm done. Reborns are lovely to look at and hold, but I'm so timid with them, I cannot even imagine doing much more than looking at them. Maybe occasionally restyle Olivia's hair or change their clothes, if I'm brave enough... For that precious little interaction, they take up waaaay to much space. Right now they are sweetly nestled, all three of them, in a big Moses basket left over from Jake, but I seriously wouldn't know where to place another one :)

Ok, so without further ado - pictures (and tech details such as molds they are made from):

Candice

It's been a while since I posted anything... Sometimes, some people in this hobby make me wonder if I even want to be a part of it. Then I look around, and, well, I see my dolls and other things that bring me joy, and I realize that even though sharing is a huge part of it, for me, I can do without it. So I do without for a while... And this blog does without me :) Then I forget/forgive/bump into somebody awfully nice or chat with an old friend and get back to my social self. Whatever degree of 'social' it usually is :))

So this is a birthday gift from me to me :) Purchased on my birthday, arrived on the day I went out to celebrate. Here's artist's description, obtained here:


Candice BJD HANDMADE by ~Lesmerveillesdeflora on deviantART

"This is Candice, it's my first BJD handmade, she's in polymer clay! His members are all articulated like a traditional BJD, with an interior elastic, measurements: 26cm height
His clothes are handmade too, (by myself), his eyes are in resin, and with synthetics hair, she was created with love! she's available! If you are interested, please contact me !"

I was interested and I did! Now she is a part of my collection. Here are some box opening shots:



Doesn't it look like a Tetris game? ;) Also, note doll stand. Candice can stand with careful balancing, but for permanent display, a stand is much safer.

Shademon Trickster by Remjie

If you are into art dolls and critters, you surely know Remjie. This link will take you to her dA, but she also has a site with things for sale - Remjie.com only her dolls are usually sold within, like, minutes. There used to be times when I would see the doll show up at her site and be gone in five minutes, literally! Only more expensive once stick around for days sometimes. But this one (the one dA link opens to), it stayed there and stayed there. I think its been a month? Other dolls would come and go, and he would still be listed for sale. And one day I looked at him and realized: he was waiting for me to get him. So the first chance i had, I did.

And now he's settling in on my art doll shelf :) Here are some more shots of him - and his story by the artist can be read here ::::











Onto some more exciting news (err, not more exciting, more news :))) - Remjie recently had a slot open for a pre-order. Which she never does. No pre-orders, no commissions. One slot. And it IS MINE. She will make a mini-doro for me, with olive-green fur and dark-green undertones to her face and neon-green eyes. She is really working out great and her name will be Gaia <3 (ok, off the starry-eyed fan-girl mode, LOL) I got to pick the species and colors. For general reference, this is what a doro looks like (mini-doro is the smaller one, obviously ;))


Ellu_and_Akua by =Remjie-Malham on deviantART

Infestation?!

Long before I was into mixed-media posable art-dolls (dolls with sculpted parts on a soft body), I decided to get this fella - just on a whim. He was made by musestar and settled in around Christmas 2011. Recently I realized that he was a trigger and the first piece of my art doll collection that has now grown to 8 pieces, soon more - so I decided to give him an honorable photosession and a chance to stroll around the house.

'What have we here?':



Blending in:



'What do you mean this isn't a remote?!':



Portrait:



'Something's odd here':

Circus of Wonder

It's been a while since I wrote about the dolls that changed my life. Dolls that connected me with the best and closest friend I ever had. Dolls that are simply different from any other company or artist dolls. Dolls made by Nefer Kane.

I'm not going to say much. I'm just going to show them off - all of them I own, including even Iracebeth I no longer have. These are all the molds Nefer released before Nexeven. Now we ar all waiting on the ethereal wonder that Nexeven is, and then - then, there are many surprises in store. More than any budget can fit, actually :) Go to circuskane.com and look at the latest blog post - you will be blown away by the amount of innovation Nafar can cram into one single doll, and by the number of dolls Nefer can create at the same time - while keeping them unique and different,

So, wordless (almost) tribute to my Nefer Kane Circus...

Humpty Dumpty's penfriend

A little while ago, I met a new friend. Not to disclose her identity, I will just say what matters for this post: like me, she likes role playing with her dolls and we started doing that by letting our Humpty Dumpty (by Nefer Kane) dolls correspond, even while hers is still in production. I am very happy to do this, even though at times I feel like I'm too busy for play. It has been a wonderful experience: a bit of a writing exercise, a bit of a game, and mostly - a huge help to bond with this particular doll and through it, all of my dolls in general. Thank you, my dear friend.
And now, below the cut, the first batch of the Humpty Letters. Hers are bonded, mine are italicized. Enjoy and - there will be the next batch when we hit #15 or so.

So a Humpty girl said..

Spoilt Mouse

Well, we had to have another photoshoot of Mouse Wynona and her house, because she got really spoilt by all my friends and we had to document that! Polina 'Poltorakota' gave her a rocking chair, a blanket (that I use as a rug right now), two paintings and a decorative bust - I still have to find a good place for that one... Rasa 'Smilga' made her another dress, this time shorter and wider, and absolutely precious!!! The house gets slowly filled up with stuff... Nice stuff... And the Mouse already has five exclusive dresses, including one enroute from an amazing miniature artist Carla.

So, without further ado - thank you, dear friends!!! Here are the pictures:

Iracebeth (NSFW)

Iracebeth is sculpted by talented Nefer Kane, a genius doll-maker from France and my close friend. She has seen her as the Queen of Hearts from Wonderland. Iracebeth's joins all have heart-shaped slits (best seen on her hip joints in my pictures), she has been given face-up and complete body blush by Nefer herself. Personally I think she did such a good job, I cannot cover up such a beauty, hence the NSFW warning and spoiler cut.

Her character is an animal tamer in a psychedelic circus, and the animals are mostly fantastic - a dragon, a giant vulture, a few cute demos... In this shoot she is playing with her favorite pet - the dragon:

Willow's first photoshoot

Well, Willow arrived and already managed to wreck havoc in her storyline First, she informed me in no uncertain terms that Ivy, her sister, will also be coming to stay. Then, she didn't want to be a spirit of the swamp - she said Ivy can be that, she's taking meadow. Finally, she didn't want the name I prepared for her and made me choose something else, based on her Irish heritage. So now she is Four-leaf Clover, or simply Clover among friends. I'm going to call her my Lucky Charm though.

Next I rummaged through my stock of clothes and wigs to get something presentable for her. This Jpop wig was simply meant to be: it's a perfect fit to the color of her eyebrows and and amazing match for her deep-green eyes. To me, she looks a little Irish in it.

Buzz the Bee, Clover's pet, is going to be a girl named Maja, after a cartoon character (a bee) I used to like as a kid. And Ivy, in keeping with Irish theme, is going to be Foggy Dew (just Dew among friends).

Her dress is an oversized MSD top and it doesn't fit perfectly, but it has bees all over it so it will have to stay!

Willow's Box Opening

My precious little Impling showed up on my doorstep today, and her timing was so perfect, I even got to open her immediately! For the records of her joyous adoption, follows her box opening.
She was packed with lots of TLC. Here is the box after all the packing material was taken out, with Willow and Buzz in their traveling blankets together with a little souvenir from Sarah:

Buzz came out first:

Isn't he precious?

In my sister's palm for size comparison:

Now, Willow's turn. Here's her lovely cozy blanky:

All wrapped up securely:

And - free at last:

And a close-up:

She set up camp in my light box straight away, awaiting a proper shot tomorrow:

With Buzz: