BJD Addicts Written Prompts: #1, #5, #15

The BJD Addicts group on DeviantART and YouTube put together a series of prompts for BJD owners to make videos and write posts describing how they find the hobby. It's a great way to build community and help people get to know each other.

I'm a little camera-shy, so I don't expect to be doing video prompts any time soon, but I'll do the written prompts. They can be done in any particular order, so I'm going to do #1, #5 and #15.

BJD Addicts Written Prompt #1 - The Wait

While I wait for a new doll to arrive, I tend to spend a lot of time imagining what they're really going to look like when I see them properly – because unless you've been to a meet-up to see a particular BJD in person, you really only have sales pictures to go from and they can be deceptive some times. Mostly, I try to forget that I've ordered a doll because I know that the wait will be a while and I don't want to be driving myself insane checking the order page constantly, waiting to see when it updates :p I am even worse once I've got the shipping confirmation because I'll be refreshing the tracking as often as I can to see how close my doll is!

I like my dolls to have an outfit of their very own waiting for them when they arrive (this includes shoes), so I'll turn to the usual suspects when I'm looking for BJD clothes; some independent tailors I love to buy from are theHappiestPrincess, Sugardollshop and icantdance, but I also shop from companies like Volks, Dollheart and Dollmore.

I have quite a collection of wigs and eyes now, so usually there'll be something here already for an incoming doll to wear, but for my most recent girl, Deryn, I did buy two pairs of eyes and a few wigs. This was partly because I only had one pair of 18mm eyes, and Mafonwen's very attached to her eyes, but mostly because I wanted Deryn to look very different from the other girls I have here. I do the clothes/wig/eye shopping quite early on in the wait so I can be sure that they'll be here before my doll arrives. I like to dress them in their things first and feel a bit pampered, before they have to start sharing with everyone else!

I've ordered BJDs direct from Volks, Fairyland, Camellia Dynasty and Soom. The fastest arrival was Arthur, my Camellia Dynasty Wong cat, who took 19 days to arrive! It's more usual to expect a BJD between 35-45 days after placing an order. Some companies take longer, some take less time. My Soom order took months because I ordered a Limited Edition Monthly Doll, a Soom Glot, and at that time there were huge backlogs with the company trying to produce and ship Monthly Dolls that had been ordered way before Glot had ever been released. I had a very long time to wait for her, but that made it easier in a way, because that way I could forget about ordering her and the wait wasn't as unbearable as some shorter waits!

BJD Addicts Written Prompt #5 - Dolls in Public

I do feel a bit strange about taking my dolls out in public. I don't know any BJD collectors in my area – the closest person I know lives in Ireland and the others live in London – so I'll always be on my own taking my dolls out with me and I don't know how I would handle the attention. I like to blend into the background and carrying a 60cm doll doesn't really help you do that. I do feel a lot more confident when I'm with other people with their BJDs.

Part of why I would feel strange is that people can be really rude, even when they don't know you. I'm not normally worried about what people think of me, but I do get quite upset when people are rude to my face, or stare. I'm sure that some people could see me photographing dolls and come over with polite questions and be quite interested in the hobby, but I'm not sure whether I'd like that any better. I'm a little shy and get nervous around people I don't know.

BJD Addicts Written Prompt #15 - How Many do You Own?

1 boy, 5 girls and 2 floating heads. By February 2012, this should be 1 boy, 6 girls and 1 floating head, because I'll be ordering Deryn's body in January and Ariadoll don't have much of a waiting period because they keep dolls in stock rather than make to order.

Playing with Dolls

Yesterday, the amazing wigs I ordered months ago from Leekeworld arrived! They were a bit of a naughty buy, but they were definitely worth it when I opened the parcel and put them on Deryn!

Here she is wearing LR-035_E in Real Carrot. This was actually my gamble wig. Her main wig was going to be LR-020_E (a straight wig in the same style as Mafonwen and Momoko's default wigs) in Real Carrot, but I actually like this one on her a lot. This is after a re-style though. The wig arrived in very tight ringlets and didn't look very nice, I wanted the smooth waves from the picture on the website, so I...brushed it.

That wasn't a very good idea. The whole wig was a frizzball and it was far too long for her as well. Deryn looked like she was sitting in an orange cloud. This morning I washed and re-set the wig and I trimmed it to the same length as the LR-020_E wig, so now it sits to her elbows and is the perfect length!

I'm also beginning a career in BJD lingerie. I can never find nice, inexpensive underwear for my dolls, so I've decided to try making some myself. I'm not sure how well this is going to go, but I'm going to try!

For my birthday and Christmas I got some beautiful MSD-sized corsets from Adventure Girl and Carawj, so I've been playing with those as well! They fit Melangell perfectly! The above picture isn't perfect, but I was running out of natural light and started playing with flash/shadow! I will get better shots of her soon!

Merry Christmas!

I've had a wonderful December so far! On my birthday I spent the day with B, we opened presents in the early afternoon and then we went to The Raj for a curry in the evening!

I had to work Christmas Eve, but I met up with B after I finished and we went to Conwy for a Christmas Eve drink with B's friends and to watch the fireworks. As the buses finish early on Christmas Eve I had to go home before everyone else, but I got to give B a Christmas kiss before I left :)

Christmas morning I woke up before everyone else, which was a bit odd because I'm one of the least Christmassy people I know! I didn't wake up because I was excited, it was because I wasn't particularly sleepy :p I did my hair in an elegant looking bun ready for Downton Abbey later in the day - I even added lace and pearl hair ornaments :D

Presents
Birthday:
Parents -  'J' Pandora charm
Brother - Mr Men dvd (?!)
B - 'Last Chance to See' by Douglas Adams and a yellow tooled leather satchel
Grandparents - money
Holly - Topshop kokeshi doll face teacup
Becky - Art nouveau brooch and cherries locket
Adventure Girl & Carawj – Raouken MSD corset
Pam - puppy plushie
Heather - dissolving rubber duck bathbombs
Row, Mike and MP - Boots No.7 eyeshadows

Christmas:
Parents - 3 tops, kokeshi doll lipgloss, Millie Pembleton kite necklace, Topshop squirrel charm, 2012 diary
Brother - leatherbound journal
B - Japanese tea set and artisan teas (I can pretend I'm DeWitt making people offers now :p), Ghost Deep Night perfume
B's dad – Harajuku Lovers G of the Sea perfume
Grandparents - make-up bag, hairband, Charlie bodyspray, make-up, money
Holly - Fearne Cotton eyeshadow shimmer dust
Becky - Impulse bodysprays and Body Shop shea butter scrub (smells delicious!)
Yvonne – Pearl charm bracelet
Adventure Girl & Carawj – Raoken MSD corset
Pam - notebooks
Heather - butter cookie mix and star cutter, make-up bag
Ruth - Accessorize hair ornaments; red ribbon clips and pearl hairpins
Row, Mike and MP - pampering set; body scrubs, sprays, shower gels and exfoliating mitts


I've had some lovely presents! Thank you to everyone for their pressies and I hope that you like the things I've got for you :)

Meet Morideryn

This is the first embodied, clothed, bewigged and eyed picture of my Volks School B, Morideryn! She's back from her visit with Caroline, dodging snow and storms on the way, and she looks gorgeous with her new face-up!

 

I've put her on a Dollfie Dream II body for now because the SD10 body she was going to share with Mafonwen was a bit too chunky for her slimmer face and smaller features. It's definitely convinced me that she needs an Ariadoll 14 Years Elegance body, I don't mind resin/vinyl hybrids in the short term, but I prefer all resin or all vinyl dolls to hybrids of the two. I don't really like the difference in texture between the resin and vinyl. Plus Momoko, my Dollfie Dream, is going to want her body back.

 

Morideryn's eyes were a big surprise too - I bought her some expensive Hand Glass Craft eyes in turquoise and when I tried them they didn't look right. These cheaper unbranded sparkly glass eyes actually suit her much better! It's making me a little bit nervous about her incoming red wigs - this baby brown wig suits her so well that I don't know whether a vibrant red will suit her :s Nervous!

Volks School B!

Caroline of Viridian House has finished the face up on my School B!

I won't get her back until Tuesday at the earliest, but I'm so excited and I can't wait. This is what she looks like right now (picture by C.Seales of Viridian House)

She looks amazing! I think she's going to make a really pretty redhead when her Leeke wigs come in and I definitely have to commit myself to buying her her own body in January because she definitely needs one of her own, I don't want her to have to share!

I can't wait for her official unveiling once she comes home!

Party Weekend!

I really should be tidying my room - I'm headed out to Y's tomorrow after work, I'm staying over with her and Saturday we're going to do a spot of festive shopping. Late Saturday afternoon I'm going to head back to Llandudno Junction and have birthday takeaway with B and his family and Sunday is B's birthday...I won't actually be home until Monday!


My room is a tip, I've been focusing on my doll projects for the past week and I've got blue nylon doll hair clippings in my carpet and I can hardly see my bed under all the packaging, but it feels good to be doing something creative and interesting. With B busy doing his uni work and my friends either at work or away, it's good to have something to do with my hands.


I should really get back into writing too. Rerooting dolls is apparently very tedious work, so perhaps when I get fed up of rerooting my Cardassian Monster High doll I'll write another scene of my epic Star Trek rebuilding Cardassia fic.


What do I need to pack for the weekend?

• Pyjamas
• Toothbrush
• Hairbrush
• B's birthday presents
• Clothes
• Perfume
• Camera?
• Train tickets & purse
• Notepad & pen for scribblings

Is that it? Hmm. I've probably forgotten something, I usually do!

Ghoulia Yelps

I've done it again! Well... My Abbey Bominable hasn't even arrived yet and I'm already planning the next custom. Creating Chathabialeh zh'Bomeen will be a tiny custom compared with this one.


I'm going to be customising Ghoulia Yelps into a Cardassian original character called Glinn Otala Zeltan. This means I have to wipe her face-paint, cut her hair off, reroot her, add Cardassian facial ridges, repaint her and make her a Cardassian military uniform. It should be worth it though.


Otala is one of my favourite original characters, I have such a soft spot for Cardassians anyway, but Otala is a special one to me. She's not a sue though, I wouldn't handle things the same way she does!


I've already ordered some black saran hair and rerooting needles from My Little Customs, I need to head out to the craft shop in Llandudno tomorrow to pick up some grey coloured Fimo. Fimo is awesome stuff. You shape it like plasticine or clay and then bake it at a low temperature to set it. This is how I'll be making Otala's facial and sternum ridges and extended Cardassian neck. I'll model the Fimo on her and then carefully remove it and bake it. When it's set I'll be able to glue it directly to her face and body and with some blushing it should blend in well if I find the right grey.


What I was astonished at when I took off all the face paint is how angular and Cardassian her face actually is. Ridges would complete the pictures, but she has very chiselled features already and her ears are set quite high, which is going to look perfect when her mods are finally done. Monster High dolls actually look prettier when they have less make-up, I think. Ghoulia has lovely lips, but you can't really tell until you take the red lipstick off.

Abbey Bominable!

I won Abbey! Yay! The auction didn't go over £30 either, so I'm pleased with that!


She's not going to stay as the daughter of the Yeti. I know it seems a bit crazy to wipe her and re-paint her when she's so difficult to find, but I think the repaints look much better than the actual factory faces. Abbey (or whatever her name will be) is going to be an Andorian Starfleet officer too, and they're not really known for their over made-up faces.


I need to work out a way of giving her blue antennae - wires covered with blue fimo? Or felt some? I definitely think wire is the way to go, because then they'll be poseable.


Her name's going to be Chathabialeh. Not sure if she'll be a zhen or a shen though. (Andorians have four genders, two are roughly comparable with the male gender and two are roughly comparable with the female gender.) Andorian reproduction is difficult to describe. The shen provides the 'egg', which is fertilised by the thaan. This is then fertilized by the chan and implanted into the zhen, who adds her gametes and then the zygote develops into an Andorian infant in her pouch.


It depends on what kind of character I want Chathabialeh to be. Zhens seem to be highly-strung, shens seem to be more easy-going and traditional. Perhaps she should be a zhen - Andorians have white hair, but Abbey Bominable has streaks of blue, purple and pink in her hair. I can't see a shen doing that :p


Chathabialeh zh'Bomeen then, or 'Abi' for short :)

Monday Morning

Off to B's in a bit, but first, a bit more musing on the doll body/Monster High stuff I was thinking about in previous blog posts.


I'm currently bidding on an Abbey Bominable MH doll on eBay. Will see how it goes - have 6 mins to go and I think because she's so hard to find someone is going to swoop and steal my dolly. Grr. If she's much more expensive than this (£30) I'm going to have to sit on my hands to resist retaliatory bidding :p


I talked over the BJD body situation with B last night. He isn't in the hobby, so he's not going to be all excitable and enable me, but he can also appreciate that the hobby makes me happy...so he's going to be more balanced than talking it over with my family (who think the hobby is silly) and talking it over with dolly friends, who would probably tell me to get the body :p I will order the Ariadoll body, if I still feel strongly about it, on January's payday, the 20th. It's a distant but close date, January isn't that far away.


I'm trying not to get excited about Abbey. Just in case.

To Buy or Not To Buy?

I've been putting some serious thought into getting a body for my School B head all day today. It's pretty much all I could think about at work.

Next Friday is payday and I'm getting extra money in my pay because it was accidentally left out of last month's wages after I did lots of overtime hours. I know I should probably save this money (and I know that's the best option), but I'm tempted to just go for a body and ask my brother to pay a little towards it for my combined birthday/Christmas present. This way I get to open something on Christmas day that I actually would look forward to opening, (I do like surprises, but I also like knowing what I'm getting too. Knowing what it is and having to wait to get it is part of the Christmas fun for me.)

I've been looking at two options; A brand-new Ariadoll 14 Years Elegance body (without the extra heeled feet to keep costs down) is $348 (£220) including shipping, but there's a Volks SD10 body on the DoA Marketplace for $298 (£188) including shipping. It's a difference of £32. Is it better to go for the cheaper option (used, slightly yellowed body) or just ignore the £32 difference and get the brand new body?

I can't decide. I've been wrestling with it all day. If I'm going to be getting this as a combined birthday/Christmas present, it'll only look credible to my parents if it's in an official company box and looks brand new (point to the Ariadoll body)...but if my family find out how much it cost, £188 sounds a lot better than £220, (point to the Volks body.)

The other thing is, how yellowed is partial yellowing? Do I take a gamble on something that might not work out and might be difficult to sell (Volks body) or do I spend a little more on something that (should) be factory-fresh and have no flaws? Hmm.

I know what I probably should do is ignore the Volks body on the Marketplace and unbookmark my Ariadoll links and forget about this whole thing until after Christmas. Being able to unwrap a BJD at Christmas would be wonderful though :( Torn.


GOOD NEWS though - I checked back on the Viridian House website and Deryn's head is 30% done according to the info. Perhaps she'll be home sooner than I thought!

Rerooting Repainting

For the past couple of days I've been looking at fashion dolls rather than my usual BJDs. I've always liked fashion dolls, but they've gone by the wayside a little while I've been more interested in BJDs, mainly because I've found BJDs to be more customisable...but! Almost everyone I know has been busily getting into Monster High repaints and while I enjoy doll painting, I'm not under any illusions that I'm half as good as any of the amazing repainters out there.


Instead, I've been looking into rerooting dolls, which seems like a fun (permanent!) alternative to wigs. My Sekiguchi Unoa doll has a really mean fringe and blonde locks that I don't mind, but don't care for terribly either. I wouldn't want to ruin her by doing a terrible amateurish reroot, but I really do want to have a go. Payday is a week away, so I'm thinking of buying some nylon hair and a rerooting needle from My Little Customs and having a go rerooting an unloved Momoko or Monster High doll. They do sell Monster High girls in work, but I know that as soon as I buy one boxed I'll want to keep her mint and I'll feel bad about cutting her hair off and pulling it out :s


I've been scouring eBay and Flickr for adoptable MH and Momokos, haven't found the right one yet for the right price. I really want a Momoko because I know she'll fit in, but I'd work with a MH doll too.

More New Wig and Christmas Wishes

I have been a bad Jescissa. I just bought those Leekeworld wigs I wanted :p The gorgeous vibrant copper colour was just too amazing to pass up. I wish it wasn't a limited colour, it would be perfect for Deryn.


I like to have a few wigs in the same standard colour for my dolls so that I can mix up their hairstyles a bit without changing their hair colour - I like them to still look like themselves. The only exception to this seems to be Mafonwen who only has the one wig...but her wig just suits her so well that I can't imagine her in another style just yet.


Deryn is going to be another exception - the Leeke wig that arrived yesterday is really gorgeous so some of the time she'll have soft baby brown hair and the rest of the time she's going to be a ginger! I can't wait to see what she looks like in both colours. She'll be back from her face-up in 3-4 weeks and the new Leeke wigs are a preorder so they won't arrive for around 6 weeks. They pretty much will be a Christmas present now!

Lazy Tuesdays

Just got back from a couple of days at B's. I go there Monday afternoon and stay until Tuesday afternoon, so it's probably around 24hrs together, but feels a bit longer.


We've had a really nice time. Last night we made dinner (chicken, chickpeas, tomatoes, peppers, Reggae Reggae sauce and rice) and sat down to watch QI and Have I Got News For You, this morning we got up and had croissants with butter and leerdammer and talked about crisps and sweets from when we were little - after B's lecture finished at 12 we met up at the shop and tracked down some Nik-Naks! Omnomnomnomnom.


We snuggled watching the Daily Show (the global edition is a bit snippetty for me, it feels disjointed compared to the actual daily edition) and giggled lots and then I had to go home. :( Going home is the worst bit - especially knowing I have work in the morning! Oh well.

New Wig and Christmas Wishes

Deryn's new wig has arrived today, but as she's off with Caroline of Viridian House having a new face-up (28th on the list), it's being modeled by Momo instead. I love the Princess Leia buns!

I'm impressed with it - I've been impressed with all the Leeke wigs I have so far. The colours are consistent and there are so many different styles! It's a danger that now I like it on Momoko, it'll become her wig before it ever gets on Deryn's head!


I do want to get a couple of wigs in the Leeke winter event (real carrot, yes please!!) - my mother is always at a loss for what to get me for Christmas and my birthday, but even if I told her I really want a couple of Leekeworld wigs, she'd never buy them. My family think my dolls are a very weird hobby and wouldn't want to be seen to be enabling it, but they'd get a much happier reaction from me if I got to unwrap BJD stuff on Christmas morning rather than a bunch of CDs and socks I wouldn't choose for myself in a zillion years.


Father Christmas, if you're listening, I would love to get two Leekeworld Real Carrot wigs for Christmas; Both in size E(8~9inch), I'd love to get LR-020 and LR-035. A straight style and a wavy style in the same colour so I could mix it up a little! If you're also feeling really generous, I'd love to get the Ariadoll 14 Years Elegance body (beware of nude doll pictures at that link, Mother Christmas might not be impressed) for Deryn so that she doesn't have to share a body with Mafonwen. B-cup torso and flat and heeled feet (not heeled legs!) would be perfect! *Christmas dream*


It probably does sound odd for a 25 year old woman to want to get dolly stuff for Christmas, but that really would be perfect for me. I think that once people got over the fact that I wanted dolly stuff and that they'd have to order online and deal with the cute Engrish of the Asian companies it could work out. In my dreams perhaps.

Saving and Splurging

Last month I was super frugal with my spending, but I definitely feel the urge to spend when I'm not feeling very well! Retail therapy definitely makes me feel better, even if money decreasing doesn't!


Last Thursday I went on a shopping trip with the lovely Bex and her mum. I was already suffering horribly then, but it was good to get out of the house, have a mooch around the shops and spend some time with my extended family :) I did buy Christmas presents (well, one, I've just got some clothes for Michael Patrick so far!), Christmas wrapping paper, some curlers, a tailcomb for styling hair, some dark red jeans and a cream top.


Today, feeling miserable and poorly sick, I have been a menace on eBay and Dollheart. Rather than spoiling myself, I've spoiled my dolls, (yes, I know, this is pretty much the same thing!)

I bought;

• 18mm Blue Glitter glass eyes - They look really pretty. I bought Morideryn, my School B, some 18mm Hand Glass Craft eyes in Turquoise and they'll be her default eyes, but I want to keep trying different eyes with her for cosplays and things and these were cheap and pretty. I've always been curious about how glittery glass eyes can really be, so this will be a good test!
• SD10 size Sailor Coat - I'm a sucker for all things nautical, in my last dolly stuff update in June I bought Mafonwen a Volks sailor set (jeans, grey sailor jacket, blue & white striped top). I have a Topshop coat that basically looks exactly the same as this coat. As soon as I saw that I could get one in SD-size I wanted one to match mine. It is also available in MSD (or 1/4) size too, so I might be tempted to buy the smaller one too and Mafonwen can have the big one and Melangell can have a little one.
• SD10 size tan brogue shoes - The Happiest Princess has some of these for her SD girls (Ibi's wearing the same tan ones I've bought) and I think they look fabulous. It's another wishfulfilment thing for me because I always liked brogue flats, but I don't have the legs for them! For BJD shoes they're really reasonably priced too.
• SD10 size Dollheart Boots - I wish these were in my size, because I LOVE them. I'll just have to settle for having BJD ones instead. They'll look really good with the morigirl-style I want for Deryn, my School B.

Favourite BJD picture of the day goes to this picture of Miu by Turbow - I was never really into Bluefairy dolls, but then I found Turbow's collection and that definitely changed for me! Turbow's Miu is a Bluefairy Tiny Fairy limited edition Misty-Rose Olive and she looks gorgeous.

Poorly Sick :(

What else do you do when you're feeling sorry for yourself? Update your blog of course!


I was supposed to start NaNoWriMo over a week ago and I've been so poorly since Hallowe'en that I haven't actually started anything. I had a good idea for the story, but I've been so stuffed up with a really bad cold (pretty much flu at this point) that I've not felt clear-headed enough to actually write anything.


I'm missing B. Usually Monday/Tuesday I spend time with him in Bangor, but I've not been able to sleep at night and I didn't want to ruin his sleep by staying awake coughing and sniffling :(

Anniversary!

Today B and I celebrated a whole year together!


Last night I cooked us lamb shanks, roast potatoes, roast parsnips, redcurrant & mint gravy and peas. We ate out of bowls whilst sat on the floor of his room watching Fry's Planet Word and drinking red wine out of whiskey glasses! Our main meal was followed by B's favourite - tiramisu!


This morning we woke up at 4:30 - B is a warden in university halls and he had to do some fire drills in different blocks on the site. I stayed all toasty warm in bed while he was out in the early morning cold setting off fire alarms and timing students to see how quickly they could get out in an emergency. When B got back at 7:30 we were supposed to open our presents, but he was so tired that we decided to put the presents back a bit and have some more sleep!


I got B a vintage military medal from 1945, given for the Soviet capture of Berlin, and B gave me a new eyepiece for my vintage Ihagee Exa camera. Vintage presents this year!


It was a lovely low-key anniversary, I'm not really a big 'going out' person and B doesn't seem to be much of one either, so it was a good way of celebrating and keeping it just between us. We could have done without the fire alarm interruptions though!

>:(

Grr. My face-up isn't going well. The layers of Purity Seal must not have dried properly (although I did check and leave it to dry) - I'd done some lovely eyeliner and the lips were coming along well and when I started on the eyebrows to give the face some more definition...my watercolour pencil caught on sealant and it started to flake off :(

I'm going to have to take it all off and start again. Damn.

Autumn Project

Well, the sales have been going quite well on eBay and Amazon, I've had a few textbooks go and already sold a coat, so I'm pleased with how it's going so far.

Back at the beginning of September when B and I went to Liverpool on our holidays, I bought a can of Games Workshop Purity Seal because I'd run out of Mr Super Clear (MSC) resin sealant. I've been so busy with my dissertation and working extra shifts at work that I haven't had chance to finish my Mefyswen project head (old F-05) or my Deryn project head (School B). I still need fine grade sandpaper to smooth over Mefyswen's epoxy eyelids, so the only head I can realistically work on for the moment is Deryn's.

I've sprayed the first couple of coats of Purity Seal on her head, so when they've dried, I can start working on her face-up. I'm not the best at face-ups, but I'm enthusiastic, shall we say? ;)

I can't really afford to import the wig I wanted for Deryn at the moment, I don't have time to run a GO and postage for one wig is ridiculous from Leekeworld to the UK, so I'm going to work with a wig I already have instead. I have blonde ones (bought so my Dollfie Dream wouldn't stain!) and some unusual colours like pink and lavender, so I'm going to experiment with those before I buy a new wig - she may suit one I already have :)

eBay Auctions

So, I've realised I have far too much stuff! I've got lots of DVDs I don't watch and loads of jewellery and clothes I don't wear, so I might as well make a little money out of them and send them on to good new homes :)

I've started going through the jewellery. I've collected so much over the years! The milestone things won't be going, I'll be keeping presents from my grandparents and things, but jewellery given to me by my ex-boyfriend will be going - he gave me some beautiful things, but I can't keep them, it feels so strange to keep them around and even stranger to wear them, so it's time for them to move on.

It's a huge job to tidy my room - it shouldn't be, but it is. I'm hoping that by getting rid of a load of things I will finally have some space to move! It's also good to go through things and make sure that the things I have are things I really want to keep, rather than things I'm just hanging on to 'just in case'. Once I'm done with my DVDs and jewellery I'm going to start going through my books and doll things - I've got text books I no longer need and wigs & eyes that can go to new homes :)

Autumn clean out!

Master of Arts

Surprisingly, my dissertation has been marked really quickly and I found out late last night that I passed! There's a Module Assessment Board meeting on the 30th, which will officialise the marks, but I passed and that's unlikely to change!

I'm so happy! Everything I've stressed over for the past few months, and all the hard work I've put in for a year has been worth it. Part of this also relates to the incredible moving forward and happy times I've had since 2009 - I had my heart cruelly broken (dumped over the phone after 6 years - very nice) but I picked myself up, moved on with my life, applied for my MA course, then I met B...2010-2011 has been the best two years of my life so far, I've done so much and met so many great people. Passing my MA has just been the latest achievement, but I know there will be more.


I'm feeling so confident and so happy today!

Free Woman!

So this is my first post as a woman under no deadline stress! Life feels a lot different now, I can tell you!

Yesterday was a bit of a strain, I realised in the morning that I'd forgotten to put page numbers on my dissertation, so I had to run both copies back through the printer with the text blanked out, just to add numbers at the bottom, then I had to rush to Bangor to get the two copies to the binder's. I did get it all done and I was rewarded with snuggles from B and fruit toast with lots of butter :)

My trip to Liverpool was straightforward enough, I had a bit of a worry that the desk might have closed early in the LRC because I got to Liverpool for about 4pm, but everything was fine and as soon as I handed it over and got my receipt, the weight off my shoulders just lifted. I got back on the train to Bangor and met up with B, who took me home, made us gnocchi with roasted mediterranean veggies and garlic bread and gave me even more snuggles. He'd even got chocolate ice cream, but we were too full to eat it last night!

Today was nice, I had a lie in till about 12, and B got us croissants and maasdam cheese for breakfast - we even had some chocolate ice cream while we lazed around watching The Daily Show and Blackadder II. If this is what every Tuesday morning is going to be like - I'm looking forward to them! 

Deadline Eve

Well, it's over. Two copies are sitting in a boxfile, ready for binding tomorrow morning. I felt so elated when I finished, I can't describe it.

Two weeks ago, I thought I'd be relieved if I quit...I don't think I'd feel half as relieved as I do now. Whatever happens, whether I pass or fail...I've done what I can now and I can relax.

Tomorrow is going to be a long day, I have to go to Bangor in the morning (that takes 25 minutes from Penmaenmawr) to get my work bound (that takes 3 hours), then I get the train from Bangor to Liverpool (that will take 2.5 hours), then I walk up to Aldham Robarts LRC, hand in my work, then go to the John Foster Building and hand in my signed ethics form...(this should take 30 minutes with walking from and to Central Station), and then I get the train back to Bangor (another 2.5 hours.) My day is going to take over 8 hours to accomplish.

Thank goodness I can just go back to B's place and sleep straight afterwards. Time for bed. Goodnight :)

Deadline Looms!

Well, after a very, very trying few weeks, I actually feel like the end of my dissertation is not only within reach, but that I don't think I've done such a dire job of it.

My work is due in next Monday and I have 3000 words left to write before I hit the lower limit. I've got a questionnaire ending on Thursday, after which all I have left to do is write up the results, make sure all my references are in order, then print it off and take it to Bangor to be bound. If I print it at home, the binding is cheaper, so I'll definitely be doing that. Binding takes around 3 hours, so I can drop it off in Bangor to be bound Monday morning, have a few hours with B while it's being done, then after it's completed I can get my tomes, hop on a train to LJMU and hand the damn thing in. At. Last.

It's fair to say I have not enjoyed the dissertation experience, but I don't think I expected I would. I didn't like it the first time around, and that has been hanging over me since I started the MA...so with that much trepidation of course I was never going to be eagerly awaiting the dissertation.

B has been amazing. Every time something went wrong he was so supportive, and last week, when I wanted to just quit because it was so stressful and nothing seemed to be going right...he met me off the train with a bunch of yellow roses and a pot of Ben&Jerry's ice cream. He won himself a zillion well deserved boyfriend points for that.

So, next Monday I will be free of my dissertation, I will be going to have a celebratory tea with H (one of my MA classmates) and then I will get on a train, go back to Bangor and sink into B's arms and just relax. *sigh*

I'll make you an offer you can't refuse...and a holiday too!

I'm now a godmother XD It was such an honour to have been asked, and I'm so glad yesterday went really well at the church. There was a bit of drama in the morning when B and I were getting ready - my dress had to be pinned to my bra because it kept wanting to fall down *facepalm* I had a few clumsy moments, but thankfully I wasn't holding the baby, so I didn't drop him!

B looked very gentlemanly in his suit and he said I looked lovely in my dress - sadly I don't have any photographic evidence because my camera was in my handbag and the parents and godparents of all the children being christened were stood by the altar the whole time and my bag was still on our pew! Oh well! We will have to get dressed up again just for photographs!

I'm working hard on my dissertation today and tomorrow because Wednesday to Friday B is taking me away to Liverpool for a little break. It's going to be so nice to get away from stressness here and also actually have a holiday on my holiday from work. Before I know it I'll be back in the petrol station, so I might as well make the most of it.

We're staying in the legendary Adelphi Hotel! Wednesday we're going for tequila, sambuca and desperados beer at Bar CaVa (the decor inside is awesome, squishy leather sofas and vintage movie posters instead of wall paper), Thursday evening we're going to the Anglican cathedral for the Twilight Tower Tour they run between March and October. Friday is home day, but we'll find things to do before we go get the train! While we're there we also want to go to Tapas Tapas, Wagamama and Pizza Express - we don't have these things in north Wales! :( Please send some our way!

Liverpool is one of my favourite cities, a home away from home, so it will be lovely to be able to see the city from the tower of the Anglican cathedral rather than from street level. I can't wait to go!

Dissertation Grumbles

Aside from planning a new doll (which didn't take all that long), I don't feel like I've been all that productive today. It's one of those odd days. I've done quite a bit, but when I look back on it...not a great deal.

I went to Bangor University library to renew some books and get some new ones, for some reason that took up a lot of time that could have been put to better use, but at least I have some more material to go through for my dissertation. I wanted to be done with it by now, but there's virtually nothing I can put in my literature review. It's supposed to be around 5000 words, but all I've got is 890 and that's scraping the bottom of the literature as it is. I hope that there'll be some miraculous work yet to be discussed in these books otherwise I'm really stumped.

I keep fiddling with the word limit wondering how far under I can go without being penalised. I'm going to try for 16,500, which is 1000 under the word limit, but I might be really lucky to get to 15,000 at the moment. Ugh. I just want this to be over now.

Darwin Violet Doll Plan

I know, I know, so I haven't actually finished working on Mefyswen's mods or got around to getting her a body of her own, but that doesn't mean I can't start thinking about another doll. ;)

I've always liked Volks School B and I think for this character the head is perfect, but I can't really put my finger on why. It just feels right to me. I was debating a couple of different heads for this doll (Pixydoll Dino, Crobidoll Thor...) before I remembered my old favourite School B.

Darwin Violet is one of the names I'm reserving for a future daughter, but just in case I don't get to use it, I want to use it somewhere! I did think about getting a little Beagle and calling her Darwin, but it's not quite the same.

This is my moodboard of all the things I've been thinking of that relate to the character or cute things I would like to dress her in/pose her with. All that's missing are a pair of pastel coloured Wayfarers. Glasses are important to this character, I think.

I haven't bought any of these things yet, but if I do find a School B for a good price I think I'll go for it. Mafonwen's body is going to get so crowded with three heads wanting to share!

This is the current state of Mefyswen's head > > > > > > > >

I still haven't had chance to do the final things; sand her eyelids, locate some sealant and start on her new face. I am a bad dolly woman. An especially bad one to be planning a doll in a different skin tone - That means I'll need Ariadoll Elegance 14 Years bodies in WS and NS. I should probably finish the Mefyswen project before I start on the Darwin Violet one, but that depends on what I see first when I have the money - an Ariadoll body or a School B head!


Bella the Dal/Momoko hybrid is unimpressed by my lack of finishing up Mefyswen as well.

Thoughts

I don't want to whinge on my blog, especially when I put things into perspective and know that I'm not particularly badly off in life in general.

I just want to say that I wish some things were different.

Catch Up Time

These last 10 days have been a tough slog. I've been working a lot more hours, I've had much less time to work on my dissertation and, sadly, I didn't make my 8994 word count, so I didn't get to see Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows part 2.

I'm still working on my dissertation, but due to a number of factors I decided to ask for an extension until the 19th of September. I hadn't had feedback from my supervisor on any of my data collection methods, and I needed them to be approved as ethical before I could gather any data and time was marching on. This way, I can have time to get the main body of my dissertation done and only have to worry about data collection and analysis after August 29th, without going into meltdown worrying how I can do it all before handing in on the 5th of September.

 

Godson!

The Christening date for my Godson, Michael Patrick, has sort of been decided; it's provisionally on the 28th of August. This is awesome news because I'm already off on that day, so I don't have to worry about getting the time off!

I've decided to name a star for my Godson. I know that he'll be getting a Bible from his relatives and his other Godmother is getting him a silver rattle, so I wanted to get him something that he will think is cool when he's older and what's cooler than your very own star?! Exactly.

Rather than pay for it to be registered by some website that will probably disappear in a few years, I've decided I will pick Pollux (Beta Geminorum) as Michael Patrick's star. I spoke about registering a star with B, who told me that registering a star isn't genuinely changing the star's name, it's just adding information to a star database and paying to do so...plus you don't always get to pick the star!

Michael Patrick was born on June 10th, he's a Gemini, so I thought a star in his constellation would be perfect and Pollux is the brightest star in the Gemini constellation. I'm going to buy a silver star paperweight and have the details engraved on it so that when he is older, we can go out stargazing and try to find his star in the sky. Hopefully as Pollux is the brightest, it won't be that difficult as long as we can find the Gemini constellation! We shall see!

I've never been asked to be a Godmother before, this is so exciting. Such a responsibility too, I really hope I live up to it and I'm a person that Michael Patrick can rely on in years to come.

Happyface

Today is a much better day than yesterday. My word target for today was to reach 3181 words and I wrote 3496! It's not a great deal over, but it's more than I planned to write, which is wonderful! Means that I don't have to write as much tomorrow!

I'm feeling even more positive that Sunday's target of 8994 words is more than achieveable, and if I hit my target or beyond on Sunday, Monday I am going to see Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows pt 2. I've yet to see it because I've been so busy, but I will reward myself for working hard this week by taking a couple of hours out of my schedule to have a breather and a film.

I'm missing B and my friends too, writing this has been a lonely exercise knowing that while I'm here and researching and writing and everyone else gets to go to the pub and cinema and just hang out. Can't wait for this to all be finished and handed in and then I can get to know my friends again! I'm sure they'll have forgotten me after this.

No, I can't think negative thoughts now, it's been a good productive day and I should be glad for that.

Goodnight everyone!

Sadface

I'm so upset right now, I don't know what to do. I'm not participating in the DoA staff contest any more because so many things have already gone wrong.

• My MSC can has disappeared and I don't have time to get more or find Purity Seal to replace it, I thought I would have just enough to do this one face-up for the project and then have time to get Purity Seal to do a lasting one, so I have to abandon my project with Mefyswen for now because I can't do her face-up,
• I switched my project to a bedroom box for Fflur, but when I took her out of her box to have a look at her, her default faceplate fell off - the magnet had come out. Magnets are easy enough to put back with a little superglue but no...the magnet will not lie flush with the resin, so when I put her faceplate back on, there's a huge horrid gape between her faceplate and the headback. There's also a smear of superglue on the side of her face. The magnet just fell out of her frowning faceplate too...I'm not going to touch that just in case I ruin that as well

I hate the thought of ruining a doll, especially one that means a lot. The beginning of this year was very stressful and difficult, lots of things have been hard to deal with and Fflur was a present to show me that things don't have to be crap. I hate to think that I've ruined her!

Doll Project

This August, Den of Angels celebrates its 7th birthday; for the past few years there have been anniversary contests with some lovely donated prizes by different companies. Moderators like to play along in the contests too, so this year there is a staff only talent competition. Entries are due in on August 15th.

I don't tend to take part in the anniversary challenges and competitions, sometimes it's because I'm not feeling the inspiration to take part, but mainly it's down to not having enough time. This year however, when I really do NOT have the time because of my dissertation, I feel like I should take part and I really want to. My original idea had to be scaled waaaaay back because I just do not have the time to devote to that level of detail, but hopefully one day I'll be able to resurrect it. My current idea, the one I'm going to run with, is much simpler and will enable me to do a good job, but also fit it in around my dissertation. Hopefully.

I won't give too much away now, and in any case there will be progress journals on DoA once the pieces are submitted, but I will just say that I am using red dotted fabric (think ladybird) and I'm making pyjamas.

The doll I'm using is a modified Volks F-05, an oldskin FCS head (it's the sleeping Four Sisters head - renamed F-03 after the FCS overhaul), she had her eyes opened a few owners ago, but I've closed them back up because I already have an open-eyed version of this sculpt. You can see the modification on my Flickr. The modification I don't mind talking about because that's not the focus of my 'talent show' offering. I've never done any modding before and I suppose that you can tell from the picture, but I'm quite proud of how it's turned out. I just need to sand the Milliput a little to even it out and then I can start on the face-up - I desperately need some new sealant though. MSC is very rare and expensive in the UK, so I've been looking at alternatives. Games Workshop Purity Seal seems to be the best bet within the UK, you get more sealant per can with Purity Seal than MSC and it is safe on resin. I just hope it dries as quickly as MSC does.

On the dissertation front I'm not doing too shabbily. I still have my 8994 word target in my sights with 6842 words to go, not too bad at all considering I started properly yesterday. I do have a shift at work tomorrow, which is annoying and eats into my time, but it's a time-in-lieu (T/L) shift, so at least I'll get the time back when I need it (the week before my dissertation is due!)

Dissertation

So, I am 36 days away from having to hand in my MA dissertation, and 29 days away from the date I want to actually be finished by (so that I can have it printed and bound.)

Currently I have written 1994 words, my word-limit is 17,500 but I'm not going to push myself to hit it, I'm going to aim for 16,500-17,000 and think myself damn accomplished however many words I actually write. My plan for this week is to write around 1000 words a day (fitting this around shifts at work and bits of research I'm able to do), then regroup on Sunday and examine how far I've come and if I have reached 8994 words by then I will be so pleased. I'll have written over 50% of the whole thing and I can look down the mountainside rather than up at the sheer climb ahead of me.

I knew when I started my MA that the dissertation would be the hardest part for me to cope with. I disliked the entire process of my undergraduate dissertation - I had a very disinterested supervisor, and it put me off ever doing a dissertation again. I don't think I've been in contact with my supervisor enough this time around either, but a big part of that is because I'm an idiot who doesn't want to be seen to be bugging people all the time (even though I know that's what supervisors are for.)

All I really want for this piece of work is to be something I can be proud of and something I can pass my MA with. I don't know whether I should really be aiming for some lofty scholarly ideal with it as well, but at the moment all I really want to do is pass!

Meeting the Grandparents: Part the First

I had a long day at work today; we're extremely busy because it's summertime but also because one of our local competitors has closed for 18 weeks for a refit, so all their customers are coming to us instead. I'm certainly not complaining about the rise in trade, it can only be a good thing, but phew it does tire me out at the end of the day!

The best thing about today was going round to my grandparents' residential home in Llanfairfechan for a barbeque! I persuaded my boyfriend, B, to come with me (until today he'd only met my parents and my brother) and meet my Nain and Taid (Welsh grandparents). I'm so glad he agreed to come, we had a lovely time.

We missed the actual barbeque because it started while I was still at work and I wanted to go home and change first, but we arrived in time for cake and some wine, so all was well.

Nain and Taid live in a lovely residential home called Llys y Coed in Llanfairfechan. It's organised into private flats, with their own kitchens & bathrooms etc..., but there's a communal sitting room that residents can use and a residents' restaurant. My Nain and Taid moved there after becoming a bit unsteady on their feet (they're in their 80s), and they have loved every second of living there. There is such a nice community spirit among all the residents and the staff are so friendly and don't intrude at all. Residents can choose how involved they want the staff to be - my Nain and Taid just have someone pop in to see if they're okay every now and again - and you can choose to have your meals in your flat and cook in your own kitchen or eat in the restaurant with the other residents - most people choose to have their dinner together because it's like dining out with your friends every day.

B and I had a really nice time. I haven't seen Nain and Taid in a while because I've been so busy with work and dissertation, but I'm going to have to make more of an effort to go and see them, I've really missed them. B and I caught up with them while they were sitting in the sunshine with some of their friends (98 year old Mr Jones, Mr 'The Headmaster' Evans, Mrs Evans and a lovely lady called Annie, who held my hand and admired my garnet and opal ring and said that B and I would be engaged soon! That was a surprise to both of us!) Taid insisted that B and I had to try some of the cakes that were for pudding after the barbeque and tried to get us to drink sherry (we both politely declined and had red wine instead!)

It was nice listening to them regale each other with stories; most of the men had stories from where they were during the war or mischief they got up to, Mrs Evans was telling me about her Canadian boyfriend who she met when she was in the WAAF.  Apparently he looked just like Clark Gable and he was extraordinarily handsome, but he was much older than her and 'unsuitable', but she said all this with a twinkle in her eye!


I always enjoy spending time with my grandparents and their friends. It's easy for younger people to forget that older people ever had a life before becoming parents and grandparents, but the more I spend time with my Nain and Taid and their friends, the more I appreciate the stories they tell and that they were my age once and having similar experiences to me. B was really impressed with Llys y Coed too; it's a really lovely place, it feels more like a halls of residence than a typical 'old people's home', and the residents and staff treat each other really well. In some residential homes the staff barely connect with the people they're looking after, which takes away dignity from everyone.


Time for bed now, I think. I have another early start for work tomorrow morning. Goodnight from me, B and the residents of Llys y Coed, growing old disgracefully :)

Creation

Although I've kept an intermittent LiveJournal before (Deccaboo), I've never really kept a blog and my LJ updates are sporadic - I don't think I've updated once this year, bad me!

I don't really know what I intend this blog to be - I have lots of seemingly disparate interests and not much time to pursue them - but I will make a concerted effort to update!

I'm currently writing my MA dissertation - In September 2010 I started my one year course in Information and Library Management at LJMU, by this September I will have handed in my dissertation and should really be looking for a proper job in the world of librarianism ... I should be anyway! At the moment the library job market isn't particularly huge in the UK because of the recession, but *fingerscrossed* it will start to pick up soon.

Some of my favourite things are books (I'm including my Kindle, Ziyal, in this), dolls, photography, shoes, tea dresses, pearls, lace and polka dots. Above all those things though, I love frogs! Frogs are above and away my favourite animal.

I have a large collection of dresses and shoes, but I really can't help it! I started an unsuccessful shopping ban on January 1st 2011 - I did alright for a few months and then university deadlines suddenly got very stressful and my resolve really crashed! 


I have a collection of cameras, some point and shoot, some SLRs. I don't always have the opportunity to go out and play with my cameras as much as I'd like. My main cameras are my Nikon D-40 DSLR, my Nikon Coolpix S220 and my Ihagee Exa mini SLR.

I collect Asian Ball-Jointed Dolls (ABJD or just BJD most of the time) and some Asian fashion dolls - at the moment I have five BJDs, a floating head, one Dollfie Dream, a cat BJD, a Dal, a Momoko and a Unoa Sekiguchi Fluorite. I've always like dolls, action figures and miniatures, so it should be no surprise to anyone who knows me that as soon as I found out about BJDs I would want one of my own! Some of my dolls can be seen on my Flickr. 

My current dolls are;
BJDs
Volks Megu - Mafonwen Enku
Volks FCS F05 head - Mefyswen Enku
Volks SDC Kurt - Klemens-Ruprecht von Klessel
Volks SDC Kurenai - Melangell Shigeta
Volks YoSD Yuh - Mari-chan
Seed Dolls Inkling - Fflur
Camellia Dynasty Wong cat - Arthur

Volks Dollfie Dream
DD OpH01 - Momoko Jones

Dal
Magical Pink Chan - Bella

Momoko
Day Off Delight - Nicola

Unoa Light Fluorite
Victorian Lady - Imogen