Happy New Year 2016!!!

I hope you've all had a very lovely time in the last couple of days.
Here we celebrate Christmas, and I got to spend some nice time with my family. I love this season. Everybody are happy and there are decorations and fun activities everywhere :D

Christmas Eve - we celebrate Christmas on the 24th of December here in Denmark - went very nicely. This year we didn't have any guests, so we were 'only' us 6 (father, mother, my 3 sisters, and me).
We usually eat roast duck stuffed with prunes and apples. As well as boiled potatoes, caramelized potatoes, gravy and pickled red cabbage. Its super yummy! *___*
After we eat we are too full for desert, so we spend some time singing Christmas carols and psalms while dancing around the Christmas tree. One of the songs we sing are a very funny one where we hold hands and run around the entire house for as long as we can (this way we are able to eat a bit of desert afterwards without bursting) XD'
For desert it is tradition to eat a special rice pudding with almonds called risalamande. Usually there is a whole almond in it, and whoever finds the whole almond will get a small extra gift for their efforts haha. This year we didn't put one in however, because it always turns into a huge competition and everybody ends up eating way too much and feeling uncomfortable. XD
So many people actually ends up having to go to the hospital because they've overeaten oO"
Christmas dinners can be scary;P

After desert we start opening our presents. In my family we get few but good presents. My parents (and grandparents) gifted me a 50mm Nikon lens that was on top of my wish list this year, so I was super happy. :D
I'll definitely use this lens to take lots of new pictures of my dollies in 2016 ;)

The days after Christmas Eve we always spend on MORE Christmas dinners with different parts of our family, which is why I've not been able to do much online for the time.
Christmas is about eating I guess ^^"

Now, the time for New Years' celebration is here. 2015 went by so quickly, I don't feel ready to start a new year. But maybe that is just an excuse because I don't want to have all the exams I have in January <_<"

I hope you all have a wonderful New Years Eve celebration and a good start on 2016!!! Please be careful if you plan to shoot fireworks like most people do here - you need those fingers and eyes guys!
I've baken a Key Lime Pie for tonight with my youngest sister - and I'm gonna eat a big piece and cry about it later >:P

My goals for 2016 will be up asap in January :D

See you guys next year! <3

Goal review of 2015 goals :D

I saw Musume was doing hers and urging everyone to do the same. Just checked and saw I did something similar last year - so lets make it a tradition XD

My goals for 2016 will be in a later post, so this entry will only focus on whether or not I fulfilled my 2015 goals. ^^

Lets see:
1. Have money for customs
I received both my Dlights in one package, and was super scared about what I'd have to pay in Import and Customs. Luckily I got my girls home safe. I haven't had problems paying customs - only problems with customs messing around with my packages <__<"

2. Pay off my layaway for my Peak's Woods White Rabbit Dandy Tristan
I did!! It was such a relief. And he is now home with me where he belongs *____*~<3

3. Paint ALL my dolls - AND all my sisters dolls
Urgh! *Goes to hide in shame* Ehm...well...I did some XD' And I also didn't do some. I managed to paint my big PW dolls - even if just temporarily. I also did paint one of my sisters dolls...God I'm so terrible >_<"
I HAVE tried to finish more dolls, I'm just such a perfectionist that small mistakes haunt me forever and I usually end up wiping most of what I do ;__;"

4. Buy shoes, wigs, eyes and a little clothes for all my incoming dolls
Well, I had quite a lot of incoming dolls this year (I have received 5 dolls this year). Fitzwilliam doesn't have his own shoes yet, but he has wig, eyes and clothes. Both Freyah and Ophelia have shoes, wigs, eyes and some clothes. I bought some basic clothes and a wig with Ludwig so he isn't nude - and he came with eyes so he does have eyes right now - 1 pair of Maki eyes coming his way. ^^
Crow (srsl not sure what he should be named) came with his full set and a wig, so he is just waiting for his new eyes as well.
So for my incoming dolls - they are pretty decently dressed the lot.
Little Alice is actually done - well, as done as done goes for me. There can always be something to modify.

5. Get better at photographing my dolls
I don't think I have...I haven't done much photographing. This will definitely go on to be a goal for 2016 as well! >_<"
I'm actually wishing for a new lens for my camera this Christmas, so I hope that it will motivate me more. ^^

6. Keep doing this blog
Haha I did!! :D And I love it! And I want to keep doing it in 2016 as well! *^^*
I'm so happy to have gotten to know so many awesome people around the world through blogging, and I want to keep putting my stuff in here and enjoy reading other peoples entries as well. ^^

So the result: 4 out of 6 (I actually feared it was worse XD)

Some of this gave me a good idea for goals for 2016 as well. It was really interesting to go back and have a look at what I promised myself a year ago. Haha
I hope to be able to read my other blog-friends' entries about this, because its really fun to do (and a little embarrassing, but that is OK) XD

Updates 'n stuff

Thought I'd write an entry with whatever doll-related I can come up with in my life right now, seeing as I don't write that many blog entries - its not that I don't want to, I just don't really know what to write about XD'

I saw Alejandra's newest blog entry - about Mako Eyes - today, which reminded me; I ordered two pairs of Mako Eyes earlier this month. Haha so that is sort of a news...if a little late. ^^"
I decided to go with a pair of Iberis 021 for Ludwig and Iberis 006 for Crow (he hasn't gotten his real name yet). I hate acrylic eyes, and the ones they came with were all broken when I received them, so I really hope these will work out for me. To get an idea of the colors I stalked both DoA and Flickr for owner pics. XD'
Whenever I think of Crow (anyone have any ideas for names?) I always gets "Eye of the Tiger" by Survivor stuck in my head oO" So I wanted to see if I could find nice brown eyes that 'shines' ^^ Let's hope the IB-006 will do just that :D

Today I also got a bill from customs to pay for my Taobao order. I'm pretty impressed that its already here. :O
It was sent by SAL, so I thought it would take much longer. It always takes around a month for the stuff I buy on eBay XD
But that was a pleasant surprise. I hope I get to play around with it in December :D
Might make some minions for my crew ^___~

Currently I'm working on Freyah for the PW competition. I'm trying to see if I can give her a body tattoo and body blushing. Hope it will be done in time for the competition. XD'
Its mainly a swirl pattern with some lace-ish things and red carnation flowers. ^^ Hope it'll be nice in the end. I've never done it before, and my hands are not very familiar with using a brush on bigger areas like that. But it is fun to work with :D

Hope you can see what I mean. This is what I've managed to paint so far...so yeah...long way to go >_<" At least it is fun work :D

I'll update again when I've painted more ^__^)/

Bought stuff ':3

Its really annoying not having any money. XD
I'd love to buy new dolls all the time, but by now my funds are exhausted and I'm really feeling the sad life of being a student on a tough budget >_<"
That didn't keep me from ordering lots of cool stuff from Taobao though. Now, you might think I've ordered more clothes or stuff like that...but I didn't ^^"
For some time now, I've been wanting to try my hand at sculpting, so I've bought lots of cool sculpting stuff :D
I don't know if I'll ever be able to make anything nice, but I'd love to try and see if I could make props and eventually dolls myself. Just for fun. I'm not planning on making stuff to sell ^^
It would be a nice creative outlet for me I think, especially when I start my internship next semester. Then I won't have homework or boring stuff like that - My spare time will be my own! Muhahahaaa >;D
I found a really neat seller on Taobao: store link
They carry all sorts of awesome DIY stuff, also for doll making :D
This time I ordered using bhiner.com as an agent, because I read Alejandra had tried it and their fee seems lower than taobaotrends.com ^^
Its a nice page to use and pretty easy. I didn't quite understand the quote thing to begin with, but I found out. I let myself be confused by the word "quote" XD
I ended up having to bargain for a SAL shipping, because the package ended up weighing 4kg which was pretty pricey in shipping. So SAL was the least expensive option where tracking was still included. ^^"

I'll just show you guys what I bought:

 I've read somewhere that these are good to use for making joints and sockets, so I thought I'd try a set. They might also work as eye-sizers?! XD

 These things annoyed me in the past, but I've watched sculptors on YouTube use these to smoothe the clay on fine details and such. ^^ Needed those ;D

 String for 1/3 dolls. I've wanted some for some time, since its always nice to have around. And IF I try to sculpt a full doll, I'd probably want to see it all strung anyway ;P

 I honestly thought I was buying one single of these tiny screw/hook thingeys (those you sometimes see screwed in feet and such for the S-hooks), but they came in sets...I'm getting a lot of those then XD'

 

 It was cheap so I just upped and bought this saw. I felt a bit ridiculous doing it though. XD

I'm thinking, if I'm making a head I'd want to saw the headcap off, and if I'm making arms or legs I'd probably sculpt those in one and then saw them over where I want the joints?

 Lots of faceprotection!

 Small thingeys with little balls at the tips. Not really sure when and if to use these normally, but I thought they might do well for dimples, ears, eyes, nose and other such details ^^

 Carving tools, because you can carve La Doll clay *___*

 The clay of cause ;D Very important!

After consulting with my dear friend Anne, I decided to try this blue version.

 I got this set. I've read that people find these dentist tools amazingly helpful when sculpting, so I bought a set.

Last but not least; a mechanical drill machine thing. :D

I hope it works decently. It was not very expensive, so I'm a bit afraid the quality might be bad. Hope not though ^^

So, that was it for this time. It all became around $80 which I think is very neat. These pictures are those I've gotten from bhiner.com after they received it all, and I'm pretty confident it is all nice stuff.

Well, that is it for now I think. This weekend I'll try to paint Freyah's body for the PW photo competition in December. :D Hope to be able to share some photos with you guys soon. <3

Too Spooky Halloween Monster Tag

Lise tagged me to do this funny meme :D
I must say I've enjoyed reading the ones my friends with blogs have posted. It's super interesting to learn what other people think. ^^

Let's do this! ^0^)/

Werewolf - How has the hobby "transformed" you?

Well, I've been collecting for 7~8 years now, so my hobby has certainly grown with me. ;D
I went from loving J-rock and anything and everything Japanese to being more moderately interested in that which I think is definitely reflected in my dolls. XD I remember my first doll - a CP Delf Shine - who wore visual kei clothes and had smoky eyes. I feel my current creativity is more broad. I don't just want dolls anymore, I want them to have characters and I want to know their story. I feel I get much more satisfaction in my everyday now, just from having dolls around. ^^
I've also deepened some very precious friendships due to this hobby. Don't know if it counts as transformation, but I sure appreciate those friendships <3

Vampire - The dreaded sun! How do you feel about and coping with yellowing, or more generally the ageing of these dolls?

I really hate the fact that the dolls will yellow (or green) over time. But I accept it. I'd love for them to stay like new for all eternity, but I don't own anything that will never break or the like so it seems unfair to expect it from the dolls ^^"
In a way it could be seen as a reason for getting new dolls all the time just to have that 'new' doll. Muhahahaaa

Frankenstein's Monster - Have you ever modded a doll? Tell us about it! If you could magically try and mod without fear of failure, what would you like to try?

No I can't say I have. I wanted to once. When I still had my Luts Senior Delf Dahlia. She was SO yellowed poor thing, so I wanted to dye her grey and sculpt her some fantasy legs. In the end I sold her. ^^"
I love seeing other peoples mods, but right now I don't really have any interest in it. I'd much rather sculpt stuff from scratch :D

Zombie - Have you ever caught the Marketplace virus?? Name some unplanned purchases that jumped out and "infected" you?

I've never actually bought anything, but I've seen a lot of interesting dolls I considered. Especially when I see Peak's Woods FOC dolls I just feel like saving them XD'
I have done some unplanned purchases though. That time I 'accidentally on purpose' bought both types of PW Dlight I got back into only wanting big dolls. So they certainly "infected" me. Darn you Peak's Woods!! All your gorgeous sculpts ;^; U make me so poor!

Skeleton - What's your favourite body sculpt? Forget heads!

I love love love the Peak's Woods FOC Lolita body. It's petite and gorgeous and poses quite well. I also really like the Iplehouse nYID girl body because it has CURVES!! So sexeeeeh!! *__* <3
For guys I sure love the Iplehouse EID body, but it doesn't really pose too good. I'd love to have a Dollits Hyun someday, that body looks gorgeous. Popodoll's 70cm is also amazingly sculped!

Witch - Name some dolls that are magical! Seeing them on your dashboard inspires you! Can be general sculpts or specific dolls owned by talented friends.

Hmm...all Peak's Woods' dolls really. Especially the newer ones with those extremely amazing faceups and skin tones. *___________*
Uh! I also NEED that Iplehouse nYID Bianca in grey one day! I mean, like my body needs water!
I generally really like to stalk people on Flickr and Instagram to see their pretty dolls, but I don't have specific dollies. If I like what a person does, I tend to like all their dolls XD'

Ghost - The one that got away. Do any limited or rare dolls "haunt" you to this day?

Well, I would have said IH Bianca, but she is not impossible to order, so I don't feel she counts.
Had you asked me a couple of years ago I would have said Soom Heliot - I was so in love with that face! XD Now I'm sort of happy I didn't get him though :P
I don't feel haunted by any limited out there, but I would have if I hadn't bought the ones I have. Of cause I don't really know that, but I feel I couldn't live without them ;D

Freddy Krueger - What is your worst doll nightmare? Has it happened or not?

As many others have said, if a big fire or explosion destroyed them I would be devastated. Also, I had this one nightmare where my young distant cousin found my doll and brought it with her in the garden to play. When I saw it and told her to give it to me, she wouldn't and all the 'adults' (yes, I'm 26 and still doesn't really see myself as adult) were getting angry with me for being mean. But then I told them the price and they all froze and the young girl just dropped the doll out of shock. It broke in thousand pieces. oO"
When I woke up however, my first thought was "Good thing it was in the garden, a doll can't break if it's dropped on the grass". I'm sort of practical I suppose <___<"

Jason Voorhees - If you were gonna make Halloween costumes for your dolls (or if you plan to!) what costumes would you make?

If I were going to make Halloween costumes they would all be zombies with fake blood and gashing wounds XD
And I'd make stupid photostories about their everyday troubles as zombies. It's not easy being a zombie.

Chucky (possessed doll) - Have you ever been scared of dolls or a certain doll? Be honest!

I once read some of those creepy stories on DoA and I had to put my dolls back in their boxes for a while ^^" For me, the creepiest dolls are those who can talk (HATE those creepy ones that goes "MAMA!" when you accidentally touch them), I'll shit bricks. oO"

I'll tag:
Anne
and anyone else who hasn't done this yet ;D

The questions for copy pasting:

• Werewolf – How has the hobby “transformed” you? 
• Vampire – The dreaded sun! How do you feel about and cope with yellowing, or more generally the aging of these dolls? 
• Frankenstein’s Monster – Have you ever modded a doll? Tell us about it! If you could magically try any mod without fear of failure, what would you like to try? 
• Zombie – Have you ever caught the Marketplace virus?? Name some unplanned purchases that jumped out and “infected” you?
• Skeleton – What’s your favorite body sculpt? Forget heads! 
• Witch – Name some dolls that are magical! Seeing them on your dashboard inspires you! Can be general sculpts or specific dolls owned by talented friends.
• Ghost – The one that got away. Do any limited or rare dolls “haunt” you to this day?
• Freddy Krueger – What is your worst doll nightmare? Has it happened or not?
• Jason Voorhees – If you were gonna make Halloween costumes for your dolls (or if you plan to!) what costumes would you make?
• Chucky (possessed doll) – Have you ever been scared of dolls or a certain doll? Be honest!

OMG! How could I forget oO"

I actually forgot to mention yesterday, that I'm currently trying to rehome my Peak's Woods tinies in normal skin.

They've been collecting dust most of the time since I got them, and I'm just not really into having so many dolls in that size. I want to keep Alice and spoil her. The others will hopefully find better homes with loving owners :3

They are awesome dolls, but I just can't fit them in my collection - especially with the limited space I have here in my dorm room. Someone out there are bound to be in need of some Peak's Woods tinies ;D

Just some updates :D

I really want to write in here more, but because a huge lack of funds I don't really get to do much ;^;" Sucks being so poor...but then again, I have been spending WAY too much money on gorgeous Iplehouse dolls these last couple of months. XD' I'm living off pasta with ketchup and oatmeal now. Hehe

Some good stuff is happening though! :D I've started paying off on my PW Hunky Dory again and it feels really great. ^^ I've had to prolong my layaway for her, but that is fine, because I don't have any money to buy her stuff for a long time anyway XD'

Hmm...was there much else? I need to finish some hands for my sister's doll before next weekend where I go home to my parents. I think we'll arrange a mini meet with a friend of ours. :D

I hope to buy some fibers soon to begin making wigs. I think it would be cool to fully customize ALL my SD-sized dolls (except eyes :P). So I think I have lots of stuff to do for a long time XD

First local meet in ages!

Yesterday I was at the first Copenhagen held meet in a looooooong time. I don't think there has been one in years actually. Not a real one at least. XD
It was great seeing some old familiar faces again and catch up. Some of the girls have been out of the hobby for 3 years, and it was great having them back again.
I had forgotten how inspirational these meets are. *___*

We were not many, I think we were 10 at most. But it was very cozy and we talked for hours. I had feared it might become awkward because it's been so long since the last time, but it turned out to be really nice and we had a lot of laughs *^^*

I brought my 3 big Peak's Woods dollies that I had just finished faceups on during this week. :D (Sorry I didn't show any pics before, but the weather has been so grey I can't get pictures non-yellow when in my own room ^^")

I forgot to bring my camera of cause, so I only managed to snap a few pics with my phon.
But here they are:

I've given Fitzwilliam white lashes and eyeliner for now. He is a cute bunny :3 (for now) >;D

I didn't want to make so many strokes on the lips, but once I screw up one I go balistic and add 20 times the amount I wanted...just like I did with their eyelashes XD'

It's my way of paying those strokes back for not being like I wanted them to be. I'm such an angry child ;^;"

Fitzie made a new friend *^^*

And my friend Avi brought her GORGEOUS light brown Iplehouse Alberto. >_< He is so amazing!

I didn't get to take any more photos ö__ö"

I was SO busy talking that I didn't remember to take lots of photos of all the other cute dollies. There were 20 dolls or something in total. <__<" I'm sorry.

Jointed Hearts 2015

As promised, I wanted to share the photos I took from the Jointed Hearts convention in Sweden a few weeks ago.
It was a GREAT convention with the most lovely people from all over Scandinavia. It was so lovely.
And so many dolls! It was amazing :D

Without further ado;

 

The prizes for the competitions! So many AWESOME prizes. It was epic :D

 

 

My friend Anne's GORGEOUS Iplehouse EID Rex - Nathaniel *nosebleed*

My friend Anne's pirate lady - Morgan *__*

My friend Anne and my sister Johanne put together this cool treasure chest for Anne's pirate dolls :D

 

 

This gorgeous Doria belongs to my dear sweet friend Avi who managed to carry her newly arrived Ring Doll Dracula coffin all the way to Sweden *__* It's SO cool!! Coolest BJD prop ever!!!

 

You might recognize this girl ;D

 

 This doll was awarded winner in the SD-size category. ^^

Aaaaand my sister and I joined the Faceup Competition they held XD'
So I just thought I'd share what we made. I wanted to take photos of all of them, but when the time was up, the judges came and we had to leave so we didn't manage to photograph all the other heads unfortunately >_<"
The theme was "The marked one". Really cool theme.

 My sister worked on her Infinity Doll girl (can't remember the sculpt, sorry) She drew markings with white paint and gloss.

I worked on my dear friend Avi's Ring Doll Norman Dark Side 2.0 head. I tried making him look like a crazy gangster getting marked by a sniper XD' Don't know if the message came through though, or if people just thing he looks like an evil joke on an Indian oO"

Avi asked me to add some gloss to his gums, it made him look a lot more 'real' :D