Hey, there, you with the stars in your eyes.

I went hyper-animetic with my Dollfie Dream's eyes (no, still no official name, but I've been calling her Puddin'). I made her dress and the button ornie in her hair.

Attack of the Shameless Self-Promotion!

I'm trying to take Dolls Behaving Badly to the next level, start a small doll business, and open a web store to sell dolls, recovered/rescued dolls, and doll outfits. I need some capital to start! This is *COMPLETELY VOLUNTARY* and absolutely no one should feel obligated to contribute. Chip-In was recommended to me as a helpful resource to get wheels moving. Thank you for helping my dreams come true.

Out and about on a Saturday.

First, we had some lunch, then we went to JoAnn's and bought some outrageously fufu fabric.

Martie got a present!

From our good friend Char Polanosky at DollDiaries:

She's so happy to have an official DollDiaries t-shirt, thank you, Char!

My shy Dollfie Dream.

Here she is again, my Dollfie Dream, wearing the jammies I made just for her, clutching her fairy doll--she hasn't let go of it since I gave it to her--and with regular blue eyes instead of her animetic amber eyes.

 

We still haven't settled on a name, but on the short list are Violet, Rose, and Cinnamon (called "Cinnie").



BTW, you can get your own fluttery fairy doll from rhi42 on eBay!

Free the dollfie! Free the dollfie!!

AAAAAAAAND SHE'S HERE!!

I decided to do a box opening, as Char Polanosky was going to be annoyed if I didn't I'm so excited to welcome my new Dollfie Dream home!

First, however, I have to lay a blanket on the couch, as the upholstery pattern is rather busy and it's harder to see the subject if I don't cover it. Plus then you can't see all the dog and cat fur and Doritos on it. What? I live with two guys and a small petting zoo.

Hey! That's me on this blanket! But the eyes are the wrong color, my eyes are blue! Silly factory!

 Okay, give me the box cutter, and.....

No! You'll cut your whole hand off. I don't want to see blood, it's nasty. Or bones.

Oh, c'mon, Martie, I'm not that bad!

You cut your hand on closed safety scissors a couple months ago. No box cutter for you!

All right, then. But be careful!


 
Look, Charlie, it's a box inside a box inside another box! Then bubble wrap! Seems kind of wasteful, all this cardboard and plastic.


It'll be okay, honey, we can reuse most of it for my eBay stuff.

Don't look now, but Jake's behind you. Obligatory cat-in-the-box-opening-post picture!

 There's so much stuff in that big box, wow!

 Oh, look! Hi, new kid!

Let's get her out of that box now, shall we?

  
You're going to have to help, this box is so much bigger than I am.


Of course, dear. Let's get to work.

Got the ribbon? Okay, untie it!

Well, now, how is she supposed to breathe inside a sealed plastic bag?


She doesn't breathe until we open it and she becomes a being.

Was I in a plastic bag? I don't remember.

Nope, you were just tied inside a sturdy box. But you were naked, like this girl! Pull off that plastic so she can start being!

 Oh. *yawn* Where am I? Who are you? Who am I?


You're at your home! That's Charlie, she's the DollyMama, and I'm Martie. 


Welcome home, dear! I have some clothes here for you, so we'll give you a moment to get dressed.

 My head is very cold.


That's because you don't have your hair yet.

What? Oh, no! I can't be seen without hair! Can I have your hair?

No, you can't have my hair. I'm a Rapunzel, my hair is magical. I think Charlie has some hair for you.


Yep, I sure do. Hold still while I put it on your poor cold noggin.

  
Oh, that's much better!


You look really cute! Look at those long curls!

  
What in the world is this?


That's a smaller bust, dear, that we'll change you into when you've had a chance to settle in.

Oh! All right. Why?

Charlie doesn't care for bazoombahs. She prefers itty bitty ti.....um. Smaller ones.


Well, then I do, too!

I think I'm going to like being.

Waiting for my Dollfie Dream.

We're waiting for the UPS dude with my Volks Dollfie Dream, who really isn't due on this route for another 3 hours or so, but Martie likes to be prepared.

Martie has to hold the box cutter, because I really can't be trusted with it.

Shameless Commerce of the Third Kind, 'N'at.

More eBay auctions! You guys know I only have the good stuff. Click on "Buy It Now." I dare ya.

ALSO, DBB is very very close to having 15,000 hits! Wow!

Anticipation.

It's rainy and gross outside and I'm bored. I want to go to the TonnerCon now. Let's go!!

 

Martie, honey, it's not for about a month.

A MONTH?!? Ohhhhh. I can't wait that long.

Neither can I, but if we go now, no one will be there. Don't you want to meet some people and have fun?

Will we meet Robert Tonner? He's dreamy.

 I'm sure we will, dear Martie.

REALLY?!? Ohmigosh, let's get to work, my hair is a MESS!!

*SPONTANEOUS FACEUP*

I made a trade via the Den of Angels forum Marketplace: my Sugarble Rudy for a LittleFee Rolly, with my trading partner in Norway (part of the fun was just trading with someone in NORWAY!, I have to admit--yeah, I'm weird, shuddup). Her Rudy showed up last week, my Rolly showed up today--SURPRISE NEW DOLLIEH!! I wasn't wild about her faceup, though, so decided to repaint her right then. And so I did. Here she is now, along with a screen shot of other Rollys:

Not the best photo, and with the light in here I had to take close to 3 dozen shots just to get this one acceptable one. She has TEETH, cute little white teeth! They don't show up very well here in this messed-up light, but they're adorable, and I'll try to get a few shots in better light tomorrow.

All points considered, though, I'd say she looks pretty good for a "Yeah, I'mma do this NOW" faceup. Feeling a little chuffed about it, actually. *chuffed* <--see? ;D

Sneaky Peeky at my Art All Night piece.

Faceup done!

Triad Toys Otaku 1.2 female figure REVIEW.

The Marwencol chat and project got me very, very curious about the dolls and action figures that Mark Hogancamp uses to people his town of Marwencol, Belgium. He focuses on one-sixth scale, and while he does use Barbies and loves them, it seems his primary named-and-charactered population is made up of highly articulated action figures.

For the doll collector in my soul, let me pause a quick moment for definitions. “Action figure” is a term coined in the 1960s by Kenner to market the first GI Joe dolls, because the zeitgeist of the moment would have tanked any doll labeled as such that was marketed to boys. “Free to Be You and Me” was still a few years off. Thus an action figure, as far as I’m concerned and for our purpses here, is a type of doll marketed to men and boys.

I bought an inexpensive female action figure doll myself, at first for Mark, then I realized that there was a real dearth of available non-military, non-fantasy ordinary everyday-type clothes for the female dolls. It seemed to me that a small Belgian town was not going to be peopled by women in military uniforms and Barbie gowns. I’d bought a fairly generic and inexpensive 12” action doll, so decided to keep it and use it as a fit model for clothing for Mark’s many female dolls.

The doll I bought is a Triad Toys Otaku 1.2 body blonde female, from Triad’s eBay store, for $29.99 plush shipping, and later I bought a pair of black boots ($6.99) and a brunette head sculpt set, ie, a replacement head ($19.99), from Triad Toys’ website. 

The first thing that struck me was the packaging—or, really, the lack of packaging. The doll, which I’ve named Butch, was in a fold-out plastic shell with two extra pairs of hands. She wasn’t tied in, stitched in, wired in, or otherwise artfully contained; the simple plastic shell was molded to contain her, her hands, and the brand identifier and info. The shell was easy to pop open, and there she was, unboxed. Enclosed was a small slip of paper with a few instructions. No poetry, no back story, no pretty ribbons, no fussy hairstyle and clothes, just a doll. Ta-da! 

 

Poor Butch wasn’t wearing much, as you can see, and that bikini top does NOT fit, which is how I first discovered that this figure is body-blushed. I have yet to see a fashion doll that’s body-blushed; maybe a manicure, but that’s it. The occasional BJD is blushed either by the owner or the factory, which costs either extra work or extra money. Our girl Butch is fully blushed, all right, down to her pristinely hairless crotch, which isn’t otherwise especially graphic, just a tasteful indentation.  I don’t know if the male dolls have similar painting, but I rather doubt it.

This girl has joints almost everywhere that a human body can, and a few twisting parts, and is advertised as having 20+ points of articulation, although I’ve counted 17—and weirdly enough, her torso is all one piece. Seems to me there ought to be at least a 3-piece torso on this girl, to effect various poses, and in that case I’m reasonably sure the male dolls are more fully articulated. Her joints are VERY tight and stiff, so I advise caution in moving her about. The joints will loosen with use, though, based on my experience with jointed dolls, so having her tight to start is a good idea.

Butch is heavier than a Barbie, to be sure, to reflect the greater mass of plastic involved in her manufacture. When I picked up the package, I understood why she’d cost around $12 to ship, and as the plastic shell is about 15” tall, she’s quite the substantial mailing parcel.

Why, yes, I do have cats. Why do you ask?

Her three pairs of included hands are the default open/flat, pistol-grip, and fist. I’ll be putting pencils and flowers rather than guns in her hands, but hey, not my usual playground, after all, and I know at least Mark’s world of Marwencol requires a great deal of self-defense. The default hands are easy to pop off and on, and the others require heat application to soften them up to be taken on and off.

Her head is nicely painted even though her expression is aggressive. The hair is okay, not great for hair play, but I’m sure it serves its intended purpose fine, and it’ll pull into a ponytail easily. It’s not the best quality saran, but it’s fairly evenly rooted and not unreasonable quality.

I got an extra head, because I thought Butch might like the occasional change, and as her eyes are painted and head rooted, changing her entire head was the only choice for a makeover. The additional head looked rather like Kristen Stewart on the website; I’m not a Twilighter, but she has a nice likeable face. The actual head is a tad less pretty, but again, it’ll do nicely for the intended purpose. The hair on this head is nicer, though, slightly better quality, but still with little play value for a doll hair junkie like me. Second Head will be just as pretty with a ponytail, though, so I’m content enough.

The boots are all soft vinyl, like Barbie shoes but bigger, and fit closely but not impossibly so, and come off more easily than I expected. Again, not a lot of shoe play is going to happen here unless I spring for the heeled feet also.  There’s a nice assortment of heeled plastic shoes available that could be customized with some glue and sparkles, so that may happen. Butch with ruby slippers could be a lot of visual fun.

Overall, I’m glad I bought Butch. She’s well out of my usual collecting mode, and rather makes me think of a cross between a girl GI Joe and Pebbles Flintstone, but she could be a great subject for photos. I’m looking forward to designing some clothes for her that will expand her play horizons.

My current Gotta-Have-It.

 Kindly indulge me while I think something over in writing. Thanks in advance.

I've been fussing over getting a Volks Dollfie Dream for a short while now, specifically this one: Yukino is very pretty. She really doesn't look like other dolls I have, that's for sure, as she's the anime style that I've never been super-crazy about (I've never really enjoyed anime since "Star Blazers," back when it was just "Japanese cartoons," which dates me, I think). I've been finding some photographs online, though, that make these dolls look really amazing, and at Marcon last month I was rather bombarded with the Japanese aesthetic and anime style and may have finally started to grok it.

So why add one more damn doll style to my general collection?

I've been selling off dolls to make this hobby more self-sustaining for my and my budget's sakes (and to pay taxes, which still plague all of humanity despite deadlines), as I'd gotten into the sloppy habit of buying whatever appealled at that moment. That's major fun, you bet, but when the box actually arrives and all I can think is "Oh, crap, why did I buy this?", it's seriously time to sit back and reconsider. I've reconsidered many dolls right out to the eBay/DoA Marketplace categories; some are stubborn slow sellers, some go within hours (the Tonners go fastest, to no one's surprise, as they're consistently lovely).

I've reconsidered myself into primarily having Volks and Fairyland bjds, Tonner vinyls, porcelain and resin Bleuettes and friends, Monster High, and Rapunzels. Note the primarily, as I just finished an Elfdoll Soah faceup and restringing, and am working on an Obitsu Gretel head for the 50 cm body to put into a local art show along with an outfit/costume I'm working on (last year I did a fairy theme, this year it's an angel. A secular angel. Work that out in your head whilst I continue). I have a few other exceptions, as well (don't even try to pry a Kim Lasher out of my hands, it ain't happenin'), but I've gotten a far better understanding of what I really want and what I really don't, and am sending out and buying based on a clearer focus.

I'm also starting to do a lot of faceups, such as that Obitsu Gretel, which I think again is a result of my focusing in more--I have a clear idea of what I like to see in a doll face, and finally have some of the skills to make those faces and expressions myself. I don't do look-alikes, much as I admire that skill like crazy (check out Shannon Craven's work, it's astoundingly good), because I want each doll to have her own personality come through (and I don't yet have the chops, I admit it). I don't plan what I'm doing to a doll for the most part, I just get out the paints and pencils and start, see what happens, then make changes and corrections (a LOT of corrections) until I think the doll is done. I'm not secure enough yet to sell a doll based on my faceup work, but I'm getting there.  I've sold a couple with modified faceups that have gone over well--I prefer lighter lips, for example, and sold both a Delilah Noir and an Evangeline Ghastly based on changing that part of the faceup. That's a nice start.

So what's all this got to do with that Dollfie Dream Yukino? I think, at this point, that if I bloody well want it, then I bloody well want it, and might just buy the damn thing with doll proceeds, then change it as I see fit to get Charlie's Perfect Dollfie Dream Doll.

Then sell it if it pisses me off. ;D

They're flowers, not weeds. Thus say we all.

Ginger and Martie among the early spring dandelions in the lovely cool evening:

And here is Soah, all put together. And nekkid.

More of that painting stuff.

I decided to wipe what I'd done on my Bobobie Charisma demon head, so I did get a half-decent "Before" shot after all.

However, I didn't get any "During" shots, because I just kept going after I'd gotten started.

Yes, the eyelashes are a tad lopsided, I'm correcting that.

I decided she'd make a better "everyday person" kind of demon instead of a red-blue-purple flamingly obvious demon. She's just an ordinary woman with horns and devil ears, is that so wrong?

My tiny assistant.

Pukishas really are a big help at tax time, for having such itsy-bitsy paws:

Okay, NOW she's done. Probably.

Martie wanted to show you all the sleeping Soah face in its final state (most likely):

This is the closest we're gonna get to a "Before" on this next project, a Bobobie Charisma Demon in coffee resin. I love the smirk.

After her, a couple of Obitsu heads! Those I promise faithfully I will take "Before" pics of.

Elfdoll Soah sleeping face in progress.

I always seem to forget the before pic, of the blank doll, but I did think to take some in-progress pics. Each is right after a layer of Mr Super Clear (MSC). I used Pan Pastels in the portrait color set,  a *touch* of Derwent Inktense pencil in chocolate brown, and Liquitex clear gloss.

I think she's done. I think. Maybe.

Sooner or later I'll get around to stringing her and making an honest doll of her.

Meanwhile--TINY SPAM!!