Playing with dolls: what did you do with your doll today that made you happy? <3

Finished a qi pao inspired outfit, I used over an entire stick of hot glue on it (my guy is only 50cm tall…) but it turned out well!

 

I got Acorn on a new (for them) body and it's perfect and I'm so happy about it because it's been a hard head to hybrid! I had them out in the living room after the restringing and maintenance and my partner, who isn't into dolls at all, praised Acorn for sitting on their knees so well and made sure to say hi to them and shake their hand which was so adorable it makes me melt haha

 

Late post, but yesterday, I finished a crochet sweater for my girl - my first completed BJD crochet project! Had to make some modifications, which are scary to me lol, but it worked out fine. The day before that, I finished sewing a pair of shorts for her, also with slight modifications. Felt good to have two successful projects in a row.

I had her next to me on my bed, watching Christmas movies as I worked, which was nice... but I wanted to try the pieces on her periodically, so she was partly or fully naked the whole time Still haven't gotten used to having naked dolls just sitting around.

 

Congrats, @Unfriendly Rodent - I have yet to try to crochet something for my dolls. I actually knitted sweaters, but I had a moth infestation earliers this year, and my dolls' sweaters got eaten.

I have only one partially nude doll left. I'm actually so used to having dolls that are nude, or bald, or eyeless, that it's almost weird for me to have them all dressed.

 

Thank you! And oh no, I'm so sorry to hear that. I definitely need to figure out storage for my yarn and projects if I want to prevent that. I'd love to knit something for my dolls, but I'm gonna need some much smaller needles...

Back to the original topic: I cleared out some space so that my doll doesn't have to be twisted into a pretzel for storage (can't really have her out on display right now), and finally tried on some clothes I got her off Mandarake months ago - they fit! Also having good luck so far with adapting another crochet pattern for her. It's nice to have these small wins while I wait for my second BJD, who is stuck in Canada Post limbo.

 

I just got my dolls out of storage for the first time in years - and that made me happy ~ I had completely forgotten how much joy they bring me! I think I got a bit embarrassed about the hobby once I started a formal career, but I'm finally at a point where I'm over that and just excited to keep doing things that made me happy since I was a teenager!

 

I took a break from this hobby (for a bit) and got a proper camera to learn to use instead... I have been playing around with dolls + camera for a bit, but I think I finally started to figure some stuff out today! Anka is a beautiful model, especially after I got her a new wig and cut her hair. Such a breath of fresh air from just taking phone photos, I keep falling in love with my dolls more and more.

 

Spent most of the afternoon today posing and taking pics of 5 dolls. I felt that Vallant and Oshidori were overdue on couple pics and New Year celebration is a nice theme, so I did a photoshoot for them. I love my taller girl/shorter boy couple~

 

Yesterday

Spoiler: guilt

(preparing to cast away a porcelain doll base whom I've harvested the outfit from already... and I do feel bad but I hope maybe someone else will make a fun project out of it from the thrift store!)

I tried my luck with a pair of tiny shoes from a porcelain doll on my Doll Chateau 1/4 body and they fit. They fit and they look cute enough and she can even stand in the kitten heel as well as anything else (so, barely lmao) but this made me feel so happy to finally see her dressed and with some shoes even, after almost a year! I love doll shoes but they are so freaking expensive now, I was just going to keep being sad about her not having any rather than do anything about it.

 

I’ve been using my guy as a reference for sketching which has been fun.

 

I worked at styling a few wigs last night.
I am fairly happy with how they turned out.

 

I worked on making a mini sofa and a table for my doll. The finished pieces have a lot flaws, but my doll actually motivated me to finish a project for once.

Normally I would give up halfway due to losing interest or the piece not looking how I want to, so I'm feeling pretty happy.

 

I just bought two t-shirts for my youngest girl.
Which is not doing in the true sense of the word. But I have plans.

 

I used to have a doll named Peppermint, who was a character of mine (and a god of small discarded toys); I'm still looking for a shell for him, but in the meantime, my nameless dolly seems to have taken over his duties (yes I am having so much fun with a proper camera and my dolls... I never knew how much using a phone was limiting the feelings of creativity, haha).

 

Today I changed Lucifers' clothes and wig.

I washed and cleaned an older wig, that fits him way better then the one I had originally purchased for him. I took off the horrible oversized suit that I bought for him, and put him in casual wear, and I am happy with how he looks and need to get a new picture of him. Him and I both seem happier about the situation.

 

I'm deciding on final hybrids (yay!) and organizing my dolls into camps:
Done enough (face-up is OK, let's put on some clothes)
Projects: color matching, face-ups needed, body blushing needed (no clothes for you)

Gonna do a group photo of the "done enough" dolls and see if anyone doesn't seem to "fit" (planning to rehome).

 

I've been preoccupied with some RL challenges which wrecked my will to engage with hobbies for a while. But yesterday I received a sizeable Taobao haul (consolidated package), I've been waiting for some of these preorders for months and very eager to have them in hand. I got a couple dolls dressed in new clothes. They made me happy. I'll keep going through the haul this weekend - the de-stress is much needed.

 

I've been in hibernation for a while, I feel. Winter is always not great for me, and even though a doll arrived and everything earlier this year, my heart just hasn't really been lit up like it has been recently. I was able to change the outfit of one of my off-topic tinies, and then my boy Winter got a style makeover. I tried different looks on him and it was fun seeing the potential of his sculpt. He feels very summery right now. ^^

 

I just removed another face up from the doll I keep going back and forth on rehoming or not However I think it was a good thing, because it made me realise I prefer her without a face up- I really like her now!

 

Think I am finished with a new head's face up (recovered some badly done eyebrows without needing to remove some of the faceup). Also found temporary human body with suitable outfit while working out one which will fit the fox footed body the head will end up on. Very happy, just needs eyes

 

Currently giving a new-ish head its faceup. It's good to be painting again!

 

I feel l have finished a big project that took more than just today and happiness is directly proportional - HUGE! Did 2 faceups and 2 body blushings, all the very first time in my life!
They still need their eyelashes. Other than that l’m not going to touch them at least till next heating season (when the central heating makes the air very dry for spraying the varnish even in the bathroom where l have the good ventilation). The eyebrows and lower lashes on the readhead could be finer.
Readhead small by Ilona Lablaika-Williams, on Flickr
IMG_2106 by Ilona Lablaika-Williams, on Flickr

 

Today was doll photography day Autumn is finally here which is very suitable for doll pics. I woke up before sunrise for an outdoor photoshoot - wanted to catch the light during dawn. I should've made an earlier start: didn't have much time before the sun rose and caused some photography trouble. But the pics turned out fine overall.

I ended up doing three photoshoots today, of 5 dolls in total - one is still ongoing and I'll finish up another day. The dolls were pretty cooperative, and pics look good so far. This doll weekend was much needed, I'm glad I took the time.

 

The final doll I've been waiting for arrived yesterday while I was doing faceups and I opened him up today. He's an off-topic MJD, so I can't post him here, but it was fun, like getting a little gift from past me! I wasn't able to dress him because he needs an anti-stain suit that I didn't buy for him, but his eyes are so pretty and he looks really cute!

 

Busy Monday, so just the fact I can peek at my dolls as I pass by between making a coffe and getting back to my desk is a great pleasure and reward of the day. ;A;

 

I recently received a 1/4 body for my one of floating heads so I unboxed her and tried on her head, I waited 5 months for her body so I'm happy she has one now.

 

I just redressed a couple of my dolls for the upcoming South NJ doll meet this Saturday. I still have to pack them (and unpack other dolls that I won't be taking to the meet), but I'm pretty much all prepared to go to the meet.

 

So, it was yesterday, but I finally finished a faceup for the first time in about a year. Long story short I have life upheaval keeping me away from hobbies, and I struggled a lot with mental state and materials making this faceup.... Sometimes I feel like every time I move to a new climate or a product I used is changed I have to relearn painting all over again!! But at any rate, about ten days of very slow occasional work and it's finished. It looks nice. I put her (a new doll in January) back together and styled her in some old clothes and a wig. I felt very happy and accomplished. Proud of myself for persevering too.

 

I just undressed and redressed all my sd's and I like how they look better. It feels like a crime some clothes aren't being worn, but they'll come back when I get in the mood again

 

For almost a week now I've had one of my doll couples posed together embracing. I drop into the room every so often to look at them, maybe change the pose a little bit, take a photo. Looking at them makes me really happy and I really don't want to change anything. I guess they'll be hugging each other for a while yet...

 

I moved some of my dolls onto my chest of drawers this week. Previously they had been on the floor which was starting to really annoy me. They look so much better here, and my room feels much tidier too! I'm really enjoying looking at them every time I walk into my bedroom.


(Volks F01, Delf Soony, Migidoll Jina)

 

Finished glueing Saga's new wig (now I just have to wait foreveerrrrrrr for the glue to fully dry before I can get to cutting and styling ._.) and took Aino out of her box to adore her (she's been here for almost a year now and I still struggle to believe she's real). Also drew yet another mock up for Saga's umpteenth faceup, I was trying to go for an even meaner/gloomier look, but somehow she ended up looking all soft and sweet, aand I actually like it a lot. I made a little side by side comparison of the mock up Saga's current faceup is based on and the one I drew today. Choices choices, but luckily I'm not in any hurry to paint her face yet ^^

Spoiler: Old on the left new on the right

 

I started on my final project for Experimental Animation today. I got a little bit of animation done, though it's a bit rough.

 

Omg! Now I understand why some people find dolls scary! Impressive video, waiting for continuation!

 

@RamenDoodles that looks great! I tried stop-motion a couple times and it's so tough to get fluid movements even with prep.

 

@RamenDoodles - that was fantastic. I was cackling the entire time. I can't wait to see more!
I had to cross-link it to the hilarities in the hobby thread, it's so good. Hope you don't mind?

 

I also have a YouTube channel (or rather my dolls have). I'm always grateful to see members of the community supporting the various doll tubers. Making videos is tremendously hard work and very time consuming for often very little reward. What's worse is that my Dollfies are also getting constantly upstaged by our Nendoroids and Figmas .

 

Don’t mind at all!

 

After a long week of work, I took off early to take pictures of my breakaway 2005. Only one came out well. I'm posting a link here instead because I can't seem to get images to work!

EDIT - a kind user showed me how, so here it is!

 

@Kween lovely! What doll is that?
There is a guide on posting photos from Flickr. You have to select the 800px size from the "share" menu and simply paste the BBCode into the post (without using the image link button in the text area).

 

@lutke ahh thank you! I'm new here so I'm still figuring things out. I'll checkout that guide! EDIT - I forgot to mention he is a Luts Breakaway 2005! He's a 20 year old doll so I don't see him anymore on the eluts site, but here's more information: Breakaway

 

I redid a face up. I was tired of looking at the girl. I haven't had her for that long, but the first faceup I made which was all fancy, and decorative, and looked fine, but was outside of my normal type of faceup, didn't feel right for me. I wiped off all the glitter and glam. Now she has a nice simple face, and I am happier for it.

 

The other day I tried a new sewing skill - used the doll's body and the cling wrap/masking tape method to create a pattern for leggings. (I learned the method from this video.) Tonight I sewed the leggings and tried them on the doll. The waistband is a little large but everything else fits well! I'm amazed when my sewing works. I'm glad I tried out this method of pattern making.

 

I went through some old dollybirds today and it made me so giddy to see some sculpts I own in there! It's almost a bit nostalgically bittersweet to look at those old mags (bjds have changed a lot!) but it also made me so happy about having my mature yellow goblins with me

 

I finished my animation! I gave it its own thread here /threads/heads-a-stop-motion-video-for-experimental-animation-class.887322/

 

I have this rascal at my bedside (potato picture as always)

I made some test shoes for Nadia the other day (DT18 girl... it's the only way) and tomorrow I'll give it a second shot with a bit more planning.

Congrats on the animation @RamenDoodles! I loved that bit you posted earlier and the final is great!

 

I'm just holding my little DollZone Miyou, Minou, right now while I hang out on my bed poking around on the internet ahaha. I like to arrange him so he's all cuddled up with me and looking at the computer screen . . . so he can read/watch everything, too (':

Minou was the first of my dolls I REALLY bonded with back when I first jumped into the hobby, so he'll always be my spoiled little brat baby
Spending time with him reminds me just how much I love my dolls, and how happy this hobby can make me despite the frustration and lack of inspiration I've been dealing with lately. It's always worth it to me in the end!

 

I sueded my Myou Chelses's legs last night. Or like, really really early this morning
I will have had her 2 years on the 28th. I'm not picky at all about my dolls posing abilties, but I was scared to breathe funny around her in fear she would flip off her stand... like she has done a few times. I never suede a doll in the almost 20 years I've been in the hobby.
My baby stood she stood up on her stand! She stood up unsupported! She sat on the edge of my desk!
what a good girl I feel so free to play with her

 

I decided to reinvent the characters of some dolls I haven't been bonding with. Last week I changed the characters of two of my dolls entirely, one becoming more decora and the other becoming a goth girl. Now they look so so so cute! The decora one was the first doll I really bonded with, so losing the bond with him was heartbreaking. Now, though, he has a new life and I love him all over again! The same goes for my goth girl. I'd always thought she'd make a cute girl, so when I lost the bond with her, I decided to take the plunge. I'm just SO happy I decided to do this instead of force myself to sell them, because I really did not want to.

I was also able to restyle another one of my dolls, one of my girls, but it didn't go so well. She's in a school uniform rn but I honestly don't know what she needs to come to life. SIGH. I've been really into Y2K style lately, so I'm wondering if that will do it.

 

Just something little, but some second-hand wigs I purchased off Instagram just came in today! I can't wait to try em on!

 

I was taking photos of wigs using two dolls I am keeping and I ended up finding new looks for them that I enjoyed, so keeping some of the wigs. It was fun because I used to only want one wig that matched their character and that was it, but things are different now.

 

I have my dolls sitting on a shelf in my room (a better setup is in progress). The shelf is right across from the door, so every time I enter my room I greet them by name and adjust their outfits. Anything for my sweet babies

 

I finished their face ups and have them dressed, not the historic clothes I plan for them but something fast so they are not naked. Right now travelling, stopped in a campsite by river Moselle and the dolls had a picnic. The vineyards are nearby but I still haven’t figured out the short distance transport from car to location, so this is just by the hedge on the lawn.
IMG_2243 by Ilona Lablaika-Williams, on Flickr
IMG_2247 by Ilona Lablaika-Williams, on Flickr
IMG_2249 by Ilona Lablaika-Williams, on Flickr
And the very last photo inside before returning to their boxes they had a spontaneous chat, I didn’t arrange the poses here:
IMG_0071 by Ilona Lablaika-Williams, on Flickr

 

I thought I was getting tired of Acorn and was already taking listing pictures but they just needed a bit of a restyling and a new wig! I also restrung them and heated the hands into a cuter shape. Guess I was wrong with the tomboy direction and just needed to put them into a dress?

 

I'm currently waiting for my first doll to come, but I watched the unboxing of another doll and having been helping style her!

 

Nothing today, but yesterday I took a picture of the place with the blooming bushes where my dolls' wedding was a year ago.

 

I restrung two dolls today, despite my energy dying off after the first one. I just had everything laid out so I talked myself into doing it anyway and I'm glad I did. I had just restrung that exact body (Ringdoll old teen boy body) the other day so I was very familiar with it's quirks. One more checked off the list who needed new elastic.

 

My dolly says thank you to you, Okami, I restyled her earlier today, and it was clear she needs restring pretty bad but I decided to put it off until next redress... then saw your post as a sign to just do it maybe it's because she's not flopping around but she looks so relieved

 

Got my little girl all dressed up for Spring (technically a few weeks ago) but she's is so cute I could scream even now. I have to move next month and I'm already plotting how I'm going to rearrange the doll collection for better displays and maybe even branch out to a bedroom to go with Avery's play room.....

 

I took some time during my lunch break to get a couple of photos in of one of my dolls, she's a Myou Zuzana. After taking a look at some older photos I realized how much progress I made on her since I got her about 7 months ago. I also like my second attempt at her face up so much more than the first, and taking photos made me feel excited to try giving one of my other dolls a redo on their face up too.