2024 Doll Goals/Resolutions

1/2 year update:

1. I have truly enjoyed what I have! To the point I found I would enjoy some of them a little more if I upgraded a few bits.
Which brings me to...
2. Bought two new resin bodies and failed the resolution (also sold stuff but ya know...)

 

I can’t believe it has been over six months already! I’m doing pretty good on my goals.

• I sold four dolls and have two more listed!
• One in, one out is a success so far!
• Have not found many furniture items or props, I’m too picky
• Found good outfits for my pukipukis but still could use some better wigs
• No luck on the wig for the character doll yet
• Avoiding the clothes issue so I probably need to get started on that
• Done cataloging my entire collection!

 

August update on the two goals left on my list... they're fairly big ones.

I finally picked up momentum on sewing and learned how to sew a button-down shirt at last. (Been wanting to learn this one for months.) Still have a long way to go on learning how to make more casual separates, but I'm inching closer. I don't think I'll manage my "stretch goal", but if by the end of the year I can clothe my dolls in casual outfits that I've sewn myself, I'll consider it success.

I bought a doll a month ago, but this was planned: I've had it on my wishlist for over a year (finally found it secondhand) and it's going to be an alt head for an existing doll anyway. So I don't count it for my no-buying goal.
So far I'm behaving myself and not buying new dolls, but it's been hard! So many beautiful new dolls being made! But as a consequence, I now have a doll on my wishlist and once receive my outstanding preorders, I plan to order it at end of this year or next year.

 

Well! My update is... interesting. I've since sold my F65 Rozen and both Minifees and am trying to sell Lanaya, my Resinsoul Xi. The Rozen was just too big and the minifees just weren't working out. So with of my plans for the year, the only things I'd be able to keep is getting a faceup for one (I redid Bonnie's faceup myself and really like it), and more clothes for Briar Rose. I ended up buying two OT dolls (one arrived and the other that should be soon) and a DollyZone Little Mushroom Beast girl that I'm currently waiting on.

I've been feeling a little eh about my dolls lately and would love for that spark and drive to come back. I think I just need a big project again

 

An August update: things have gone...pretty slow. I got a ring light to start, and organized some of my doll stuff again. Though I haven't had the energy to actually use it for photos yet;; In all honesty, trying to enjoy my dolls in any form became extremely difficult after losing a cat back in december, 1 month prior to the original post. Then to make matters worse, I lost my 2nd cat just last month in july So I've been trying to cope the best I can, taking baby steps for my goals. I caved for another doll earlier in may, and she'll be my first msd from gem of doll. She's cat-themed too, which felt fitting considering the recent losses. I'm prolly gonna spoil her like I did the rest, haha.

Other than that, my current project/goal is to make a shelf-insert, half diorama space for the new girl and my other msds. It's all I've been able to manage, but it works for me and it's helping some with the grief. My other goals have otherwise stayed the same, but I'm not gonna focus on them as much. Just one small thing at a time, and right now that is enough.

 

@Dreamverie I'm sorry you lost your kitty cats. I'm sending you hugs as a cat mom.

 

::hugs::
It's devastating losing a fur baby. Two is even more painful.

 

It's eight and half months into the year, and here's where I am with my resolutions/goals;

• I've done a lot to improve my sewing skills, and I'm pretty good at sewing pants too! So that one I can check off the list!
  
• The two unique outfits for each of my dolls was complete earlier this year, but then I just 'accidentally' ended up with three more dolls and one still on the way, so the goalpost moved a bit further away. Wigs part is done though! I'm pretty sure I'll manage to finish the year with all of my dolls having outfits to choose from, since everyone at home already has at least one complete outfit.
  
• Paying off half my student loans was a very ambitious of me, and currently it's just not realistic for me to get my grail doll (Dollmore Lusion Lillia) because I just don't have the room for her. But I managed to pay off some of my student loans (maybe a quarter) and got the downsized version of my grail (Illua Lillia), so if I lower the bar I can say goal somewhat achieved!

 

August update!
Goal: Craftorama room.
August 2024: Done! Well, -ish. Everything is just about in there, and as predicted by family/friends, not everything fits. Decisions are being made. Items are being culled. I didn't bother painting. The walls are a boring creamy beige, and that's good enough. Also - I want to start hanging up art that I've saved from packaging over the years.

Goal: cataloging my collection.
Plan: Airtable listing of dolls with links to original listings, saving PDF printouts of website sales, and making little charms to put on each doll with numbers to match the listings in my document.
August 2024: I still have exactly one doll in Airtable. The list below is still planned.

• I want to put the full doll together and take a picture
• Then, I want pictures of the individual head and body separately.
• Finally, I want to put the doll pieces back in their hybrid position and track who is where (what head is on which body).

I'm focusing on getting Craftorama room complete first, because there is going to be a photography area. This will help a lot with taking pictures.

Got rid of a ton of books we haven't looked at in... eight years? Yeah. Eight years. Dolls are shelved. Getting there! Probably not going to complete the Airtable catalogue by the end of 2024, but as long as I keep working on it, I'll be happy. 2025 goal, maybe?

 

Time to take stock of the situation!

• I'd like to try "one doll in = one doll out", as buying no dolls at all is always a fail. So far so good! I sold quite a lot, and didn't buy as much as I sold.
• I'd like to continue crafting wigs, outfits and accessoiries. I did seldom wigs until august, only two for BJDs and two for off-topic dolls. But I sewed 5 outits, that's not bad. In the opposite, about crafting accessoiries it is quite a fail. I think I crafted nothing, aside two new masks that were begun last year.
• I'd like to find the time to paint at least one doll's tattoos. For this one, it is still to do! But I'm not sure I will reach it this year.
• bying less. Less outfits, less accessoiries, no wig at all, only the needed eyes... Not bad but I could buy even less clothes. I bought nearly no accessoiries (aside mini books, but I am weak when it comes to books) and I bought no wig.

So not bad so far!

 

At the risk of suggesting something you may have already heard (dozens of times?), have you tried small temporary tattoos? For minis and tinys - nail art tattoos. For bigger dolls, smaller temporary tattoos. Spray sealant first, apply with water, spray or sponge on sealant, and voila! Little tattoo. Plus - it might give you an idea of what you would or wouldn't like.

 

@MaleficentMrsofEvil Thank you for the suggestion, I appreciate! But I like huge tattoos, and I enjoy - when I have the time- to paint them myself. I like to suffer

 

I'm working on it now. I have a body coming for my Moonlight Wonder head and that completes the trio I wanted to make. It's just a question of accessories now.

I would just like to do some more work on some of my dolls that need it. I've been very ill the past few months with an autoimmune flare so I'm not doing much in terms of customizing.

My R hand is the one I draw and sew with and I've got a problem that may need surgery unfortunately. It's been really slowing me down in terms of doing face ups and outfits and stuff...

 

Okay, I guess I'll do an August update as well.

Weed out my "to buy" bookmarks list
> I've done it! And added more. And done it again. And added more... basically, it's much more streamline than it used to be, because I've started regularly maintaining it as my tastes have shifted over the year.

Get more eyes and wigs in a variety of sizes/colors so I can try different things in new dolls
> Debatable. I have indeed gotten more of both, but I've pretty solidly stuck to "five varieties of what I want for this specific doll" so there's not as much variety as there could be. (Especially with wigs, because I'm incredibly picky about fiber texture but have grabbed eyes just because I like them.)

Avoid buying any 1/3 or larger dolls (unless Dokkebi Garion in a tan resin is offered)
> Utter fail. I have bought so many SD boys.

Sell at least two SD dolls
> I sold one SD head, traded a full SD for another (no regrets, he's adorable), traded a body for some heads... It's been a slow year for all of us with doll sales, I think. But I have listed some, and intend to list more before the year is up!

Get Cyprian his face up finally, for goodness' sake!
> I swear I'm trying. I may need to abandon having my friend do it as she agreed to, because her communication has been...nonexistent. But I'm also starting to be afraid that I'll miss his blank face when he's painted, because I've had him for so long blank and adore him.

 

Holy moly, I not only wrapped these up, but even finished some from last year - ones I'd given up on!

1&2 are 100% done and the girl is assembled and has gone traveling once already.

3. I totally lucked into a pair of perfectly-matching socks at a local doll meet, so Leonie has a proper pair of socks to go with her ivory dress.

AND! Last year I had attempted to finish up Anka's character, only to give up because I couldn't find her a proper outfit. But I found the perfect one this year! Just waiting on one final accessory, and she'll be all done. I also combed out her wig as it was getting matted, so now she is one hip space pilot/nomad

I think this is the first time I've finished all my dolly goals - and there's still 4 months left in the year!

 

I have been really wanting to get a custom faceup done for a doll and fully put together a doll idea without getting stuck along way!!!

 

So, for my doll No Buy, I broke it back in May with an impulse purchase. Then, I quit my job within the past few months and wound up still buying clothing and accessories and stuff, so I am now on a full hobby No Buy until I get a job. As for the main things I wanted to do:

• Bought and put some kips in; still need to restring and suede a few, possibly even wire some of them.
• Bought styling scissors and cut my own hair instead of the wigs, so. Oops.
• Haven't listed all of my stuff to sell on DOA yet, so I haven't sold anything this year.
• I was able to clean enough of my room to clear space for storage, but am now wanting to get rid of a lot of stuff I don't think about anymore, so I'm currently cleaning off my shelves as well.

So. Not a great year, but still we carry on!

 

Having been more or less out of the hobby for a long time I have a lot of things to catch up on but the list is as follows.

• Chest mod of my Soom Dia. I bought her with the intention to mod and tattoo her, then didn't dare to get through with it, and ten years later she's still waiting for me! Come on!
  
• New faceups for the Dia and Ringdoll Lucifer.
  
• Hand- and feet blushing, too. For everybody.
  
• Modify or make a wig for the Dia in the style I want.
  
• Expand the 65+ doll wardrobe so that they actually have something to wear.
• Get new dolls for the first time in a decade (!), and paint and style them appropriately.
  
• Sell some of my SD clothing that never get used.
• Find a fitting body for my floating head and potentially also one that matches my LM better than her current one.
  
• Get my slightly broken junk boy out of the house so I can fund my plans and so he can actually see the sun.

As for how much I actually will manage to accomplish... only time will tell.

 

I want to sew my dolls outfits! I'm excited, I've just got to get sewing machines and ironing sorted out first...

 

September Update:

I managed to get the one doll I will need for next year, and pre order two of the next dolls needed for my story 'Blossom boys'
I have been putting up my web comic with my dolls five days a week for the full year so far, and I am looking forward to the photoshoot for next year.

I am really enjoying working on the story, maybe because I am doing it for myself.

My main goal now is to stick to the dolls on my wish list before I purchase any filler characters I feel that I might need. Main storyline characters need to be bought first.

 

If some one have ask me this question in January. would it probably have been like. no doll, or just the few im looking for, and no extra things.. ( its not about the money, I just didn't have the space)
well.... what did happen was new job , then I moved to a bigger apartment in august ( did not se that one coming, but im very happy with my new home), got space to have all of my dolls on display ( didn't have the space before) and yes, some new doll have com home ( so much for "no" buy), and some is on the way.

When im all settle in (i still have a lot of boxes to unpack, the dolls is not even on display yet....), I hope to start learning to do face up my self.. so that's a goal for the rest of the year. hopefully start looking for a sewing maskine and maybe start making doll clothes.
I hope to be better to take photos of my dolls, to make som doll profiles on DOA and to post on other places... maybe that's for next year....

but its quiet interesting to read what others have plan to do for the year, and what you actually manage to get done.

 

After being in a bit of a slump for several years, I want to finish off this year with fixing up the dress form and finally learning how to sew.

 

Spoiler: my earlier post for reference

Ha! It feels good to check on yourself and see that you've kept on track with your desires. I did actually buy three new doll heads in the first eh month and a half of the year (one was an old character back to life, one was a new version of an old character, and one was for a new character) but even so, I feel like mostly leaving this behind as a big hobby has happened. The new dolls were comforting and enriching when I needed them and I am still excited about those three because I have been so busy with other parts of my life that they still feel very pleasantly new even 9 months later. Maybe if the market was better I would have more obviously left the hobby this year, but for now, and I do love many of my old dolls and their characters, everything is boxed and away and I'm usually thinking about other things. I moved a fair distance and left my sewing machine behind so I don't even have that to get up to.

What happened for me this year was that after a decade + of crushing loneliness I finally found a living person to enjoy having real life experiences with and we got into film photography together and in both film and digital I just took a bunch of pictures of them that were pretty exactly like whatever I used to take of my dolls. With reference photos of an actual person and the motivation to address it I finally got back to fixing my relationship with painting and I'm able to really make my artwork again when time permits. We'll see what next year brings. I still think about some of my doll characters, especially because part of shifting gears was that I started to write a novel featuring some of them back in the fall, so I still spend creative time with them there.

 

I'm targeting that before the year ends, all my dorrie bodies will be all getting the bath they deserve and a fresh set of strings (after 5+ years in storage). So far, I have completed four out of six (one yo-sd, two msd's, one sd) and all that is left are my two bigger dorries (65cm and 70 cm).

 

I have upheld my promise of paying off the 2 bodies and refraining from any other resin this year. It's been hard! I've seen old wishlisters, cheap rescue projects, and new body sales that call to me. My ability to resist new releases is better than before, I think... (being broke is a good deterrent, lol. I've also prioritized some savings toward other life things, as one must do.)

I did rehome resin this year! I only hoped to sell accessories, so I'm very proud of myself! I am teasing the idea of trimming my collection further in the future, *especially* if I decide to invest in shelling some OCs in the long term.

The heat prevented me from finishing faceups 2x as long as normal, I've had no energy to do dye projects. I've just been melting away through june-aug mostly drawing or playing games. I made a feeble attempt to start some wigs, but it's slow. The dollhouse hasn't seen much progress since spring. I also fell out of sewing for a bit, but I did modify some of my own clothes & make some hand-sewing progress on various UFO pieces to help shake off dust! I've been missing it a lot.

But... my beloved Autumn is approaching!!! Blessed livable temperatures!! I'm hoping this post acts as a check-in for myself to encourage me to try tackling a few more things before the year is over! I really want to see more dolls' basics completed! Let's goooo!

 

I had made zero plans/resolutions for this year as dolls are about in tenth place behind rl pressing matters always taking all my time and energy first.
But I have been thinking of late how life is short and becoming shorter literally by the day, and how I may really look back one day regretting I had not made more of an effort to do at least a few things with them, instead of just grinding through life's chores and demands. So, this summer I spend a few afternoons working on restringing and a face up long overdue, and dusting and rearranging the display case. It's felt so satisfying!

It also reassured me that the 2 doll purchases I made. in June and in August, the first in four years! were not a mistake and wasteful!

 

Found my post!
1) DONE!
2) Sorta done - I bought a bunch of stands on auction and I think they're all the wrong size.
3) Still working on that...I can tell I have too many but I am not sure who to rehome or if finding them a new home will be possible.
4) Not done.
5) Not done but I have taken the box to a local meetup!
6) DONE! And I am going again!
7) Not done...poor head.
8) Not done.
9) Not done.

So I know what to work on for the rest of the year...and into 2025.

 

I want to save money for a soom idealism 75 man, especially the tan skin Hyperson!!Hope I could get this handsome guy one day

 

Oh, that's interesting...

3. Mina has a beautiful alpaca wig now, so that's done!
4. That's... errr... going steady... except she'll be the third doll. I'm finished with my 2nd doll's layaway impulse buy...
5. That was set up, but it's very barebones.
6. Also done! I restrung Mina a few days ago!
7. I am waiting for the heat to be gone, but that will happen soon!
So only 2 out of 7 left!

EDIT October 30, looks like I'm done! A bit shoddy on the sewing, but I did get something done. And the doll I was saving for is finally happening.

 

2024 goals:

• Clean up craft/doll room. (Constant work in progress)
• Update dolly list. (Checked - 09/09/2024)
• Attend Volks Dolls Party LA. (Checked - 09/07-09/08/2024)
• Come back to DoA after long hiatus. (Checked - 09/09/2024)
• Stop buying dolls and dolly related things until savings is decent. (Constant work in progress)
• Check in on fellow BJD friends also on long hiatus. (Checked - constant work in progress)

 

September update. Living in New West, my job is exhausting, and working on my crew has been my self care. I’ve completed 5 characters (history, character, outfit and accessories) and created profiles for: Aloysius Keaton, Camille Starfall, Maude Kilane, Dylan Greysnayl and Lily Samara. I have 15 characters in progress, 12 not started, 2 to reshell and 8 Doll Profiles to update.

I’ll focus on the 8 profiles to update - most are in progress. I’d like to get 4 completed by the end of 2024. Seems doable.

 

Here are some goals I have for this year.

• Create a room box for my girls. I had this project idea in my mind for years but I never attempted. Maybe I should now.
• Finishing my third doll's character. I am currently waiting for her to arrive.
• Start doing face-up work. I know how to paint, both digitally/traditionally, but I never felt confident to paint dolls. I have a blank resin head that deserves some love... and a name.
• If I end up not being terrible at painting dolls, get some courage to order a fully blank doll to paint by myself.

 

Ok I got most of my bjd and ot dolls in order, and separated everything of bjd that is certain to go, I have those goals now get rid of most of my craft materials fabric and yarn that I am not going to use, sell all the ot that are not decorative or fit on the shelves, sell the all excess bjd parts and bjd I don't want to keep.Get a nice tablet with a good camera.

 

Spoiler

Late year update, mostly for myself as a check in to see how the year has gone.

It's...been awful. Outside of the hobby, life has been brutal to me this year. Inside the hobby I've been very naughty and not stuck to my resolutions/goals at all. HOWEVER I have been thinking that although I have strayed (far...so far) from my goals, this has become the year of getting all my FOMO dolls. I stg I have managed to get every doll I've pined after and given up on and dreamt about owning this year. From a Volks Williams and Reisner, to a MNF Juri 2020, and even found the perfect head to shell a beloved character I NEVER thought I'd be able to shell because I'm so insanely picky about what they need to look like..as well as a few others. But I've done it all. I got the things. Babies acquired! There have certainly been a few oopsie dolls that I just couldn't pass up for other various reasons that have now added to the list of bodies I need...but it's ok. I feel back in the grove of things and am about to order another body, and maybe a second off the MB just to start hacking at the body list again.

One goal I did make progress on is faceups! I managed to get a nice handful done this year so far, and hope to knock out a handful more before the year ends. Two more for a friend and then back to a bunch for myself.

I will stay strong and continue to do my best.

 

Update for 2024 and new resolutions for 2025:

Updates:
-got scammed by the company I had layaway with for Baphomet
-got my Xuan Fu head from Birdcube
-bought perfect Souldoll/Zhuhong hybrid to shell character instead of buying a custom body for Jing ❤️
-failed miserably at saving money for my other resolution plans
-but bought gorgeous babies that made it more than worth it


New Resolutions for 2025:

-hopefully buy Baphomet, he’s now a grail/the one that got away
-buy bodies for my other three floating heads
-payoff layaway for Cerberus
-FOCUS. ON. FACEUPS!
-buy eyes/wigs/shoes for everyone
-learn to sew doll clothes
-attempt to not add to floating head collection
-start working on dioramas/props
-attend a doll meet/convention

 

Let's see how we did here!!

1) Well, we did sell SOME heads. And some full dolls. We still have some stubborn heads sticking around, but they're listed. Just to get more floating heads in custom colours that will be harder to sell, because they're in custom colours. I should list those next year.

2) Okay, did I ever think I was gonna win this one? I did buy a house--I don't live in it yet, as much as I might like to. I've bought two dolls last month, let alone this year, but my buying has slowed down, now that I'm paying the mortgage. A more realistic goal is to buy within my means, and not overfill my room.

3) We did stay relatively caught up on faceups. Jinx and the doll that may or may not be Gertruda need faceups still, as does a head that I'm waiting to see if I can use for Sin, when her body comes in. And I have to redo Azerin's faceup.

4) Okay, we're not finished this. We haven't even started on her wings, and her tail still needs the fabric shell. But she is dyed. And she got a new head when I split a Soom Garrion.

5) Dania is a doll now. She's on a temporary body, that may end up being permanent, because her tattoos are perfect, and they took me hours. The body that I'm modding is now all around the same size parts, I just have to figure out what I'm doing with it.

6) Yeah, so there's a lot more Shrike now. And a lot more masks. All of which need to be painted still, but they're mostly sanded now. We've bought fabric, and our first order of scale maille scales, but nothing has been started yet. Kieran continues to cit in her daytime attire.

 

2024 EOY CHECK-IN:
a Faceup queue:
Done! ...Although I have a new addition that has been booked for a faceup and will be on the way to the artist within the next few days. I intend to keep up with the queue from now on!

s Avoid purchasing new dolls (except limited or 'unobtainable grail'):
...I think I can call this successful, based on my exceptions? I had told myself to at least wait until I'm caught up on getting faceups for everyone before I even think about purchasing another doll. I was doing well until June. I'd been eyeing a particular sculpt since the artist started posting pictures. They do limited order periods, and I caved when the doll was released for its first preorder. My faceup queue got caught up right after I ordered, and the doll arrived near the end of October. And I'm pretty sure I'm going to cave on a limited doll from SartoriaJ before the end of this month. It will probably be February at the earliest before he's shipped.

r Fix Iplehouse Akando:
This will likely happen before the end of the year or at the very beginning of the new year, since I have some scheduled vacation time coming up with no plans other than doing what I want. I've been doing some reorganizing and rearranging, and my garage is becoming an additional workspace for messy projects. Painting and all its prep work in particular. This space will also serve well for the bit of work that this guy needs. Going forward, I will put things like this under the line item 'maintenance'.

aSewing:
I've been doing pretty well with this! I'm still trying to fully drill it into my head that there are no deadlines that I need to meet with the things that I want to make. There's no reason to think that everything needs to be done right now, and therefore no reason for me to get overwhelmed or stressed by any of it. I've got a list that has items that I'd like to make for a few of my dolls, and I've got inspo boards on Pinterest to gather ideas. I'm just approaching these projects by just choosing something I'm inspired to make at the moment and working on it. Also, I did make a dent in the UFO Box and finished up a few items! However, there are still a ton of items in the box. I'm starting to think that perhaps batch cutting items may not be for me...

Going forward for next year's goals, I will refer to this line item as 'crafting' as I also crochet and do a few other crafts.

r Fabric closet:
This is in the planning stages, and was simply a wishlist item to complete this year. My fabric is all organized for the most part, the issue is that it's all in large totes that are stacked in a closet. The system itself works to keep the fabric organized, but if I want something or need to put something away, I basically need to unload at least half (if not all) of the closet to find the appropriate tote. I've got some ideas now, so this has moved to a relatively high position on my 2025 goal list.

aSpare room to craft room extension/doll room:
Done! The room was an absolute nightmare, and I tackled it by completing at 1-2 tasks in the room each day. It didn't matter what the task was, the goal was to do something in that room. Even if it was just gathering up trash or breaking down boxes. Embarrassing fact: I ended up with two mid-size truckloads of flattened cardboard boxes that I took to the recycling center. I now have a place in the room to hold flattened boxes, and have put myself on a monthly schedule for taking them to recycle. All of my BJD stuff is now organized and accessible, and the craft tools that didn't fit in my main craft space now have accessible homes.

r Catalog collection:
This is in the beginning stages, as in so far I've only gathered up all the COAs and placed them in a box with any manuals and customs forms I have. I've also set up a rough spreadsheet to try to determine what information I'd like to log. Reorganizing my doll stuff resulted in some purging, so I've focused more on sorting out the purged items for now as they're taking up floor space in one corner of the room.

~*~

(Technically) 4 out of 7 goals accomplished. Technically better than 50%, which is definitely better than nothing! I really enjoyed my collection this past year while working on these goals. Looking forward to joining in on a thread for 2025 goals if someone makes one!

 

Goal recap:
1. Did not get bodies for all my floating heads. The current count is 5 floating heads and 3 floating bodies--and the heads and bodies don't match :') I did order heads for all the floating bodies, though, so that's a win.

2. I think I did 2 and a half BJD faceups this year. It's been hectic lol. And I think I only did a couple wigs. Still have a lot of baldies and faceless boys.

3. I did not sew at all!

4. I did shell this OC in a totally different form, when I put a head and body together that I hadn't planned, but it looked so like the character that now that's his final form.

5. While I really brought new BJD purchases down, especially impulse buys, I still did some. At the end of 2023, I bought a Doll Family H, Vings, and Huajing body for floating heads I had ordered from My Dollection (which obviously now I know I will not be receiving, hence why I bought replacement heads for these bodies). The dolls I added to my collection in 2024: Unoa L-Bi, Narae 414 (this was an impulse buy), Minifee Motion boy body and Alan head (on wishlist, very good price for both individual pieces), Miushima's 1/4 boy body, Quadriga Dolls Eryn, and I joined YummySweetsDolls' pre-order for Orchid. I purchased 2 heads from Space Studio BJD: M-Doll School Alpha, Samadhi Doll Qing; and one from Devotion Doll, MSD Mini Bite. This is less than I purchased in 2023, but I would like to buy even fewer in 2025.

6. I didn't take many pictures this year either. Between a new job and a move to a smaller place with very little display space, it's been hard to pose and interact with the dolls as much.

 

Ooooooh boy.... Every year it's the same thing-STOP BUYING DOLLS! LOL! It b=never quite takes though I'm pretty happy with what I have.

-Sell more dolls. This one is tough because so many have some sentimental connection. sigh...
- Purchase Asleep Eidelon Ding Dang to be my Mildred Hubble doll
- Get clothes/shoes/wigs/socks
- Pay off my Volks FCS Diamond
- Make sure Diamond has clothes

Things I might do:
- get a new body for my Leeke Florence head?
- Sell more dolls?
- Find clothes for all my odd sized dolls

 

And end of year update:

Minimize purchases of new dolls (I'm not gonna say no dolls at all. I know myself.)
I think I've only brought in like... two? One of which I purchased last year. Not bad.

Touch up a couple damaged faceups in the crew when it's not 11F out
Yep, they got touched up!

Find a wig and do the faceup for the incoming doll when she gets here
She's got those! As does the other purchase for the year!

Decide whether I'm going to DollCon Dallas alone or a queer reader con with my mother!
Long decided! And I might go back to the reader con this upcoming year!

More doll sewing and knitting, especially for my odd-sized dolls
Ehhh unfortunately the poor souls are still rather under-clothed.

More furniture for their cabinet. If I can find a loft bed that fits and doesn't have crap underneath it, perfect
Not much success here, unfortunately. I really ought to clear out a bunch of the clothes and other doodads that got scattered in it.

Maybe redo Ara's faceup? He's adorable but the bright red lips aren't my thing
Didn't happen, not gonna happen now that it's getting colder. Ah well, he's still cute.

Spend time enjoying them! I've got all these lil stinkers for a reason
Kind of? I got surprise sucked into quilting really hard this year, and that's become the hobby du jour! But I've recently been making a conscious effort to bring them out a bit more.

 

End of year update - I don't think anything will change in December ^^

1. Doll goal ...
All my outstanding preorders from 2023 finally made it home, including my Bimong Narin68 who took practically the whole year to come. I ended up waiting almost 2 years for this bad boy, what a saga. It's over now, thank goodness.

I ended up buying 2 full dolls and one floating head this year, so I didn't succeed in my no-buy goal or get a break from being in a waiting room. (Although one of the full dolls was to get an alt head for an existing doll, so I don't count it as new resin.) No regrets though! These new ones will be nice projects for next year.

I'm also glad that I'm calming down on buying new dolls -- 1.5 dolls in 2024 is much more sane than the 6(!!!) dolls I bought in 2023. I want this downward trend to continue in 2025!


2. Photography goal (flight studio)...
I initially thought this was a failure, but it turns out I may have succeeded in my goal of creating a "flight studio" after all. I'm doing my flight photoshoots using doll stands in a different way (such as this gallery thread, and this on my blog), and I've bought more stands that can help with dynamic posing and photos. So I think the flight studio is happening after all, it was only my initial idea that didn't work out.


3. Sewing goal...
I learned a LOT of sewing this year, made some breakthroughs, and have gotten more familiar with the craft overall. I took this photoshoot where almost all these clothes were made by me. Sewing doesn't seem so daunting and confusing anymore, so I'm really happy with what I've learned already, and I'm keen to learn and make more next year.

And something unexpected that happened late this year... I started taking sewing commissions for kimono/hakama. I'm still amazed that a couple people have asked to commission newbie me So I don't think I'll get around to my 3b stretch goal (making a cosplay outfit for a doll) for this year. I'll bump it to next year!


4. Faceups...
As mentioned, I abandoned my vague ideas for faceup commissions early on. But I'm getting sewing commissions instead?


5. Doll website...
Very happy that I made my doll profile website - now that all the markup/coding groundwork is done, I'm having great fun with adding new pages. I recently updated all the profiles with tons of photos, so please check it out!

.
This year's plans were rather unstructured, but it worked out for me - I got a lot done and I'm also calming down on the new resin buys. I think it's been a pretty good year!

 

Well...failed step 1 ^^; I did finally figure out a way to finish sculpting the ear mod, but I've suddenly become really anxious about trying out the airbrush to color match it to the head, so haven't progressed beyond that >< I'm getting there though.

I did get the head for my dnd character in, and decided to roll with it since it's cute, even if sculpturally it doesn't really match her face shape. I also got one for her friend, and their bodies are ordered and should be in here in around a month! The fabric store near me is closing, so I need to get fabric to make their basic outfits, but those are already designed and pretty simple, so I should be able to make them fine. I'm a little nervous about the wig for my girl, since I need to both dye and style it, but I don't mind the first, and if I can't figure out how to alter the wig I ordered into a fitting style for her, it's not the worst thing in the world if her hair is down. I want to have them ready to bring to the con in NYC in March, so having a deadline is helping me plan better than for my customs.

And I *was* able to sell that doll (as well as some other things I've been trying to, both for doll money and in preparation to hopefully move next year)!

 

I love hearing about everyone's updates! Here's mine before I head off to the new thread for new resolutions.

1. Done! I have 3 Billy bookcases now and I'm very happy.
2. Getting there! I had some collection changes, so there are some new faces that need faceups.
3. Nope. This one is a fail.
4. Not in the way that I wanted. I've been spending more time in my office where my dolls are and this means that I passively enjoy them since they're on display, but I've been interacting with them less.

 

Last update about 2024 for me :
1 - Done! I got two new doll + pre-ordered 1 practice head.
2 - WIP, as always, slow but progress!
3 - Still not finish this one, this might go to my next year goal

 

Spoiler: My old post

Well, it's nearing the end of the year so I thought I'd check in and update on my progress so far.

Hybrid Elf Girl Project:

All parts I wanted for her are acquired! I'm super pleased with everything. She's become my most posable doll. I'm really looking forward to seeing her finished.

Modding was a no-go. Turns out the apoxie I bought last year had spoiled by the time I opened it. I was really disappointed! Thankfully I only bought the smallest size containers, but it was still pretty expensive. I haven't bought a new set of apoxie yet, so it's unlikely that I'll meet my modding goals this year.

Since I can't mod yet, I won't be able to try my dye experiment. I have all my supplies ready though!


Kiryu Project:

Kiryu is my Dollshe Neo that I've been customizing to shell one of my favourite video game characters from Yakuza/Like a Dragon. I made decent progress with his tattoo until the unthinkable happened. While I was working in the garage the chest piece slipped from my hand and onto the pavement creating a little gash in his back along with some other minor chips and scuffs to the resin So... my work was ruined. I'm just thankful it wasn't worse, like the piece breaking completely. I ended up wiping the whole thing and then did my best to sand out all the chips before starting over. I managed to get as far as getting some of the outlining started, but that's all.


So, all in all it's been a pretty disappointing year for meeting my customization goals.

Aside from that, I did get some things accomplished that weren't on my goal list:

✔︎ I restrung three of my four dolls and made plans of what dolls need sueding and where.

✔︎ My hybrid girl has a name and character now! Her name is Kai'ri and she's based on a very old OC I created when I was 12 My old OC was originally a cat girl, but now I've modified and expanded her character as an elf.

✔︎ I made some bracelets!


I also bought a few new things for my dolls:

✔︎ Kai'ri has eyes!

✔︎ Made an order for a Charm Doll Merlin to share bodies with my oldest doll and act as an alternative sculpt for the same character. The doll will be coming with wing parts which I will be giving to Kai'ri.

✔︎ Finally ordered jointed hands for Kiryu. The Dollshe hands he came with are quite large for his scale but I've grown to like them so I tried getting hands that are similarly large. I'm hoping they'll fit okay. I may have to sand the wrist joints, but we'll see~

 

Recap time!

Creative
o Finished not just one but like a dozen pieces of clothing, 4 of those being a full outfit. But what I'm most proud of is that I FINALLY started to work on an outfit for my dragon girl, which I had been too intimidated to do for 4 years!
o Made 3 wigs that I'm very happy with!
o Continued writing, probably wrote even more than last year.
o Managed to go take proper pictures once (did a short photo story).
o I think it was this year that I worked on the Impldoll Leona head, but I ended up changing my mind about shelling a character on that head and lost all motivation to continue that project for the time being, it didn't help that I had also underestimated the amount of work left on it. However, I did start a head shrink project on my Impl Sicily and that's way further along, almost finished.
o I think there was some progress with the Ida head + bust but I've been feeling so uninspired with this project that I wouldn't be too surprised if I end up abandoning it entirely.
o For the first time since I started doing faceups I ended up deciding to skip doing any this year and holy crap, that was such a good decision because now I'm actually feeling excited to do them next year! And in general, I've been more productive with doll things probably mostly due to this decision.

Maintenance
o Restrung almost all dolls! I made it a habit to restrung dolls as I sewed for them or otherwise handled them long enough to notice and get annoyed with their looseness. I had originally thought only a couple of dolls were like that but it was actually pretty much every single doll that needed tightening up, whoops.
o Sueded all but one doll that needs it, I'll do the remaining one once I'm able to restrung her as well.

Goals depending on finances
o Bought a new Impldoll body, way sooner than I had meant to because of a great event deal. Hadn't originally been interested in the free Vilma head but once I realized that if I were to slightly sand the eyes it might just actually be the perfect head for the character I had originally meant to reshell to my Impl Leona, I ended up jumping on it as I wasn't so sure about the head working out that I would have been willing to pay for it later on, and though my financial situation got uncomfortably tight for a while due to making the order sooner than I had planned I'm so glad I did because the Vilma did indeed turn out to be the perfect shell after just a little eye mod! Afterwards I also realized that oh yeah, her previous yosd shell had also required a little bit of sanding at the eyes, so it felt even more fitting that the new one needed the same teeny bit of eye modding as well.
o Skipped doing faceups so didn't buy any filters. Did buy the box for keeping the heads in after spraying sealant though.
o Bought a lot of mohair, was able to buy a lot more of it due to not having to buy the gas mask filters, yay.
o Also bought some wig caps and so on.
o As well as eyes.
o Decided that selling at least through the internet isn't worth the hassle for me. Packed away to the cellar the one doll that was causing me anxiety, have been thinking of offering it to the only person that I'm aware of IRL that's in the hobby but I haven't gotten around to it yet.
o Didn't buy any clothing since I sewed some myself.

Overall, this has been by far the most productive year in the hobby for me! I've also done many things I hadn't thought of when planning the goals, such as painting/glossing nails and drilling holes for earrings for all the dolls I want to have them which is something I had been putting off for many years. Also made more jewellery, including some earrings which was a new experience and when I put the first pair on a head I found out that handling dolls with proper dangling earrings gives me the same "" feeling of absolute joy as doll shoes and food props which was a nice surprise, I had thought that for sure this hobby wouldn't be hiding any more of those for me at this point.

 

Despite a doll that tempted me for a few hours, I succeeded in not buying dolls this year.

I made enough headway in my sewing projects that everyone now has at least one complete outfit. This means this man here (/threads/formal-portraits.884406/#post-13206146) is dressed enough to go on display rather than hiding in his box.

 

Weeellll... I definitely improved my sewing skills, that I can check as done.
The two unique outfits one, well uhh, I went from 2 dolls to 6 this year so the amount of outfits needed tripled but I managed to dress everyone, so everyone has at least one outfit! So resolution half done.
The last resolution did not happen- I did manage to pay off a significant chunk of my student loan (yippee!) but not half, and I decided I can wait for my grail a bit longer.

 

It's probably safe to do a final tally now, right?

• Bookmark list has been regularly added to and re-weeded
• Eyes and wigs acquired, claimed by dolls, and in need of restocking again...
• I bought far too many 1/3 and larger dolls, none of which were a tan Dokkebi Garion
• I've sold very little, but have sold heads?
• Was ghosted by the person who was going to do Cyprian's face up So I guess that's back on next year's list...

 

Not working on a side hustle freed up a lot of time. Everyone got re-assembled and cleaned. I completed 15 doll characters (history, outfit, accessories). This project made me realize I needed to reshell a couple OCs. I have 15 bjds left and plan to finish these in 2025.

By changing my plan to fit everyone into my Free Lands world with a set character stretched my creativity and helped me really enjoy my dolls. I even figured out how to fit Owen, my Volks YoSD Kuuta into the world as Sam Doyle’s brother. Or is he?

mwhahahaha!

 

Updating the progress I made for my 2024 goals, happy to say that five out of six was completed XD XD XD. The final one that did not make to 2024 goal was a dorrie body I got Q2 of 2023.

Oh well, time to add the last one to my 2025 goals then.

 

Time to reflect on what I did last year vs what I wanted to do!

Well... I sort of did this? I actually sold the 08 Breakaway and replaced it with the 05, which is the one I really wanted, and it has been painted! I am currently waiting for him to return from the faceup artist (I also renamed the new one Caid)

Yep! I did lots of this! And it is still my favourite thing!

I think this is actually the most important thing I did over the year. Doll stands have changed my life. The SDs are all on display and they look amazing and aaaaaahhhhh how did it take me so long to do this? I'm enjoying my dolls so much more now that they are posed and safely standing on display. Restringing Blue was also a life changer.

Yeah, I went ahead and sold the whole doll. Not just the head. Glad it's gone to a new home where it will be appreciated.

Okay, I didn't do this BUT I did get a Woosoo. And the only reason I never had "get a Woosoo" on my to do list was because I thought it was so impossible it would never happen. So, yeah. I am happy. I also got a dreaming El which pretty much satiated my need for a dreaming CP Delf sculpt. I'm no longer really that bothered about getting the dreaming Shiwoo (It would be nice but it's not like, top of my to do list anymore)

 

Well this didn't age well. I had such easy goals too! I think the only one I completed was finishing two outfits, and I only barely finished those at the very end of the year. I dusted everyone at least.

I got laid off part way through the year and then started a new job both of which really took my focus off of anything doll related.