Squeezing in a photoshoot...

Knowing that I was going on a little 2 day break with Mushroom-Makie to Glastonbury in Somerset, I thought I ought to mix things up a bit on Flickr with some photos other than Makies.

Honestly... I'm obsessed with my little digital character(s)!

So I unfurled the canvas-like backdrop that I've had for a month or so, and did a trial with Alice the Azone and, as I discovered, a matching companion for her; my Tokidoki Unicorno.

 

Cute couple! 

So I had a rummage in the bag of extras that I picked up from Robert and put together a little set for the Unoa. Unfortunately she can't stand unaided yet, so I had to put her in a pair of Judge's boots to strengthen her ankles. But with a default wig, Rose's old homemade socks and some Unoa bunny ears, I got her looking somewhat morning-after-ish and used a new strip light for a bit of up-lit atmosphere.

And... it came as quite a shock. My phone kept binging for half the night. 12 times in fact. Because when I got up early the next morning to go on my trip (and very bleary eyed with all the wakeups) it had transpired that my special little lady here had wound up on the Flickr Explore page and had been viewed by seven or eight hundred people. I guess it was perceived as a worthy photo. That's about 100 views an hour!
So that's a new dolly first for me. And maybe a little Karma taking a role in it.
Thank heavens I'd put her default faceup faceplate on! The rest are blank and awaiting my input :)

Oh... and Rob forwarded the missing default feet whilst I was away, so soon she'll be ready to evolve.

Mushroom Love!

Okay. So everything is out of sync now. I got a lot of doll stuff. I sorted a lot of Rement. I got a a few photography jobs back to back (one of which is a wedding that I still have to sort through 1000 shots for), and amongst it all I had the time to finish 'Bouncy' (which was the Makie head originally known as Ziggy), Cosma (the custom dyed Makie belonging to Fil of Spectatordoll,  mok.me jewellery and All Rolled Up (crikey! what doesn't she do!?!) and... lastly... my own gorgeous 'Mushroom' who I am THRILLED with.

Bouncy (not Beonce ;p )

Ziggy/Bouncy was interesting because she was dyed after being stripped of the previous faceup. I thought there would be issues but the dying process was fine. What I discovered (as we all had just assumed it would go right through) was that dye only effects the surface of makie flesh. Ziggy had originally had a bit of a ridgy forehead so I shaved the ridge and his eyebrows off, revealing white Makie skin underneath. So I ended up doing my usual technique of lacquering and sanding the head to a smooth texture and then airbrushed a colour-match to Cosma so that I could experiment with colour on Bouncy before doing Cosma for Fil.

Bouncy and Cosma

In both cases I found that every layer; every application of MSC or Citadel, had a dissolving effect on the pastel or pencil that I had applied for that layer. Any type of moisture, however brief, be it fixative or varnish, caused the colours to dissolve into the dark base layer. Kind of like washing a blackboard. I did manage to get vague yellowy tones on Bouncy and vague pinky tones on Cosma, but I think airbrushing or pure painting could be the way to go for dark-dyed Makies. Or I need to use better quality pastels... hmm...

Also, Cosma was the first Makie that I didn't pre-lacquer. I did use a number of MSC coats to start with, but otherwise there wasn't a significant difference in the technique, but the final appearance is more matt and makie-like, as you'd expect.

Mushroom

Mushroom however, being original white (and lacquered from last year) was far more forgiving to work with and after wrestling with ideas for her make up (from 1960's psychedelia to a full-on mushroom-head) I decided to go with simple hints like white mushroom spots and a little nod to her Mario-mushroom [toad]stool from the first Makie meet as a little tattoo behind her ear.

peek-a-power-up

 Why behind her ear? Well, we've all got our little 'power up' spots, right? Plus, now that's she's complete, she definitely looks like a gamer girl.

I'm not often satisfied with a faceup. I always feel like I could do better, or that I might have missed something. But with Mushroom I'm really happy. Perhaps it's because Makies are slightly more cartoony to start with, so hitting the mark with realism isn't as much of a pressure. 

But there's also a level of satisfaction I've never experienced with bjd's. She was 'mine' from the start. I put those features on her face even before the paint went near her. I knew how she'd end up even whilst people were asking 'why are her eyebrows so high?'. even the fabulous dreadlocks that Fil made on my request last year have turned into a wig even better than I'd imagined! I just used the lock & loop technique on a silicone wig cap knowing that a scarf would disguise the head cap line.

plotting out the dreadlock holes.

So that's all the makies sorted for now. Fil has both Bouncy and Cosma (as they can both share a matching body) and if I get a new body for Mushroom, 'Wired' makie here can inherit the old one.

I just designed a little brother for Mushroom so perhaps in the future I can reign her in regarding child-friendly themes (I mean designing a potential pot-head for a childs toy might not be my brightest move) and have her as a benevolent big sister with a winning smile instead :)

x

I hope my dolly enthusiasm will be a fitting tribute.

So.

I remembered hearing about the sad passing of a local doll enthusiast, Anja of Dark Dollhouse last year, and I also remember feeling torn about attending the doll-related memorial held for her in London, because even though I had interacted with her online (and almost attended the Momolita workshop with her that April which we had discussed - although I couldn't go in the end), I didn't really feel it was my place to attend. I'd only really met the Pygmalion Society (London bjd group) once and, despite my best efforts, I'm not very active online in all the forums etc, so was, and am, still a bit of an outsider I feel. In that respect.

After a few months we were informed that her husband wished to sell / pass on all of her dolly things to other doll hobbyists.

Again, I don't know why, I felt a bit conflicted about this.

I looked at the list that was compiled though, and WOW! Some of the dolls she had were stunning. She had been to Japan and attended Dolpa (and the beautiful part is that they had just managed to finish one of her dream holiday to a Dolpa in Japan - hadn't even unpacked all of her purchases - when she passed away suddenly a couple of nights after returning) so, in my opinion, her knowledge and tastes of the doll world were quite refined.

I saw some Quluts dolls on the list, and knew from a flying visit to the LFCC one year that the artist Destiny Blue had been inspired by a Unoa Lusis to paint the picture I bought from her. So on seeing a Lusis in D.Arks list I had to enquire. I knew I could give the doll a good home.

But then I looked on DoA to research the prices in order to make an offer and my brief idea stopped there! Cripes! They aren't cheap! And I think they were even more back in 2011/12 than they are now!

Anyway. Suffice to say that I didn't follow it up as I couldn't help what I saw as a 'cause', and knew that I'd only torcher myself wanting a doll that was out of my league. I did sneak a peek a few days later but it had gone.

A year being tied up with a Blythe reroot, lost dolls and a continuing Makielab obsession passed until a recent post on the Pygmalion facebook page featured Anja's husband informing us that he would slowly wrap up her website and sales list and close them down, and if we wanted to share any of her information before that happened we were free to do so.

So firstly, I have shared her site (above) as there is a font of dolly information on it for bjd owners and general interesting stuffs.

And secondly, when I looked at the list again I saw what I thought was the same Unoa back on the list!! It said Sist on the box but (knowing how rubbish my memory is) I just thought I'd misread it the first time and that perhaps he'd only sold the clothes.

This time I felt different.

I had originally just assumed that the dolls would be snapped up and loved. I felt sad that this girl had put so much of herself into her hobby and no one was appreciating it now (...they were, however, I just thought this at the time). So I compiled a list of things that I could use (and wrote another letter to her husband Rob thinking that as some of the pictures were old, maybe they had sold already), saw that there were a number of Unoa faceplates available too (so could get a Sist or Lusis regardless of the box lid), and after a little information and a couple of mails, made an offer as, unbelievably, it was all available!

Some of it was a little tricky as neither he nor I knew the 100% value of all the things on the list. For the Unoa stuff I think my offer was current - and that was important to me (thank God for credit cards!) but I was a bit embarrassed when my £20 for 2 dolls that just looked like random plastic asian dollies turned out to be a bit out for two Mamachapp dolls! Lol! (worth googling)

Now I know what they are I wish I could have afforded them too... but I had to draw a line. 

Which was hard :(

Anyway. He is a lovely, lovely man and I went to meet him (and the stuff) just to bridge the missing link I'd had about Anja over the last couple of years. 

I'm so sad I never met her.

After talking with Rob and seeing their home (and MAHOOSIVE collection which apparently is nothing compared to what it was before he started selling!) I realised that we have a lot in common and I don't know why I was so reserved about being involved before.

It's not about bereavement. I lost both my parents at a young age so I have empathy for his loss. But death is something that can have a line drawn under it. It is a certainty that has to be dealt with - heartbreakingly early sometimes, but also, when it is time. And I have learnt that for Rob and Anja, it was time.

I think my issue had been more about wanting to keep her passion (hobby) alive, but thinking it wasn't really my place.

But after talking with him, it's as much my place as it is his... or yours... or that friend you have who plays with bjd's.

The doll I bought is loved. It has been loved. It's old. It's evenly yellowed. But it's still a grail doll I've wanted nearly as long as I've been in the hobby.

I look forward to sharing what happens with my new (Anja's old) doll things, even with the backlog of other doll things I'm doing.

There's no rush.

But I feel good in my heart and I keep looking at the Azone doll I got (primarily as the next Blythe body, but now left as she is because she's just CUTE, lol) and it makes me smile.

I must find out who/what she is some time!

So take a look at his list as there might be things you can keep the doll torch alight with, and if in doubt, just ask. I don't know if it's fully up to date (there I things on it which I bought, but Anja may have had more than one. For instance, I believe he's [only] keeping three of her Unoas.

Three.

*faint*

The whole experience has been just wow.

So as you can see from my last post. I won't forget June 1st in a hurry!

Thank you Rob for your help and hospitality.

And RiP Anja. I would have loved to have met you, but instead, I hope a little of your passion will stay alight in the adopted branch of my collection now.

x

The Azone Pure Neemo doll :) x

OMG! I'm not going to forget June 1st in a hurry!

And, as Forest Gump would say, that's all I have to say about that.

What am I doing!

Filling my credit card, that's for sure!!

This post was going to be about Milton Keyne's Collectormania Fair, and London MCM Expo, both of which I attended last week. But y'know what? I'm so spaced out about [doll] things right now that I'm just going to post one pic which will direct you to a few more Flickr pictures instead.

Big news will follow soon.. when? No idea, but it'll be the next post! ><

Many little Highs...

So... After the 100 subs video, my flatmate (or 'Jack') went a-travelling for a month and came back via Singapore with lovely Blythey/Makie-ey gifts from here, gawd bless 'im!:

Kimono, Dress hat & boot set and Azone shoes. :)

And if that wasn't enough, whilst he was away, I won a little prize from Duckie - to go with the little poncho draw I won from Poklfil. A cuuuute cape! (with some Plink and 'Birdy' stickers!). So thoughtful!

Most of my time was spent decorating my front hall whilst he was away as I wanted to utilise the afternoon light for doll work. So time for a bit of Cherry Blossom with sparkles:

(As I write, this desk is already a mess! lol)

And then, soon after finishing the hall, it was time to take Birdy out to her first 'completed' social. Did the fun London bits with Amy afterwards, like Cybercandy and Forbidden Planet, and managed to bag a Sakura (Cherry Blossom) Unicorno out of a Tokidoki blind-box!

Then I found my missing girl (or at least the sculpt that had originally vanished in the post). She's much older than the one I lost, but equally adorable, of course... (she is currently pending a new faceup as I unstrung and cleaned her recently)

*Breathe*

...And then, after only a month from ordering (during which time I finally ordered some boy-jeans!), I received the rosybrown body for my second Withdoll Juwel head. It was the first thing I'd ordered after receiving the overdue refund from the two lost dolls. I'm still unsure whether I'll be keeping both boys, but here they are before I cleaned and prepped Judge (sitting) for his new faceup too:

 

It was around this time that I managed to find an end of line, last of stock, display model of an overlocker/serger which, in the end, only cost me £25! Should be okay so long as I mainly work in straight lines and never need any replacement parts! lol. For the money, it's pretty darn good!

And then, also around this time, I sent the clapped out old Ziggy Makie head (minus eyebrows) to Poklfil for a dye bath so that she could send him back to me for experiments before working on her Cosma Diva commission. He suffered a bit where I modded him and sanded away his colour, but I'm now colour-matching him to Cosma and, along with the majority of my other doll heads, he's prepped and ready to go. If he is successful, and Fil likes 'him' (I say him when he was actually a her to start with, so that's how 'she'll' end up) I'll go ahead with Cosma.

Box 'o' [MSC-prepared] Heads

...and that's not everything yet! There'll be more catching up to come!