Shoes!

Now, everyone who knows me also knows that one of my biggest passions is shoes! I have loads and loads of shoes of my own, but I also have quite a sizeable collection of doll shoes.

There are 26 pairs of shoes in this picture, (I actually have 28 pairs, but I'm missing a boot from the LE Volks SDC Kurt fullset outfit & I couldn't find a pair of Dollheart heeled boots.) They range in size from SD13 to YoSD and there are so many different styles.

Incoming stuff and partial review

I make these collages partly so I actually remember what I've got coming in...

 

Clockwise from the top;
Nine9Style MSD red twist sandals
Saintbloom Rosemary Charlotte in brown tan
Strawberry Bambola bedding
DoliAzura purple mohair Monster High/Pukifee wig
Monstro Designs black wig with white streak for Monster High/Pukifee
Monstro Designs Pink leopard print leggings for YoSD
Monstro Designs black wet-look leggings for YoSD
Releaserain MSD polkadot socks
Sunny's World MSD navy polkadot dress
Sunny's World MSD red polkadot shirt

In the centre;
Sunny's World MSD red bow belt
Releaserain MSD black 'Mink' pompom shoes

Small review:
I've always had a very good experience with Sunny's World on eBay but unfortunately, this time my order was sent out weeks after I paid and I only got confirmation it was even sent out the other day. I hope this is a one-off, but it does make me leery of ordering from them again in the future, since I did really want these pieces sooner rather than later (Navy dress, red bow belt and red shirt) and in previous experience with SW I've had parcels arrive really quickly. I know with Christmas international post gets very slow, but the parcel should have been shipped before that became an issue.

I've never bought things from Saintbloom, DoliAzura or Strawberry Bambola before, so I will do a proper review once those things arrive.

Nine9Style and Releaserain took the usual amount of time to dispatch things out, but I know that they have been caught up in the Christmas chaos. I know that Monstro Designs takes some time to get orders made up and shipped out, and since that's the most recent one, I'm not too worried right now.

I'm ridiculously excited about Kahlua, which explains the Monstro Designs, Strawberry Bambola and DoliAzura stuff. I was pretty set on Kahlua having purple hair and then I saw this Bride of Frankenstein-ish wig and had to have it. I would love some band t-shirts for Kahlua, and I've seen a pretty cute Adventure Time shirt, but since these are licensed logos I would feel more comfortable making my own - at least no one would be profiting from them that way.

Room box update:
I've been deciding whether to go for carpet or wooden flooring. I'm leaning towards carpet, because making my own wooden floor looks really fiddly. Then again, it might be easier for a doll to stand on wooden floor rather than carpet. You see the problem.

If only this was as easy as making a house on The Sims!

Incoming!

I've finally paid off the layaway on Gwenllian's body and Viridian House is almost done with Gwenllian's face up, so she is finally coming together at last! It's going to be really exciting to see her in one piece with her new face-up and put her in her Wimukt mori outfit!

As well as Gwenllian's head and body coming in, I have a few wardrobe additions too! Now, I haven't been too bad by buying these because I have sold some dolls and clothes, so I'm actually spending hobby money on my hobby this time, instead of my wages!

The outfit and boots are both by Dollheart - the outfit is LD000502 [SteamPunk2012] - Journey and the boots are LS001219. I know I've said it before, but I love buying Dollheart outfits because there are just so many pieces involved. I can get a few outfits out of one set this way and each piece can be used with other items I have in my dolly wardrobe. Originally I was just going to get the outfit, but then I saw the boots as well and couldn't resist ;)

The deer antler headband is by Kuloft, who make very cute things for dolls from colourful plastic. This was another impulse buy. This is Dal-sized, which means it fits heads that are 8-9" in size. This should fit Deryn and Gwenllian well, but might be a squeeze on my melon-heads, Mafonwen and Tommeliesl, whose heads come up to almost 9-10". Kuloft do Blythe-sized headbands as well (9-10"), but I wanted to try something I know would be smaller just in case the Blythe ones were far too big.

Last but not least, the summery dress is by Kalcia from Etsy. It's going to be Gwenllian's. I think the pattern is very cute and it's going to break up all the blues, greys and browns that she normally wears.

My parents are away on holiday this week, but instead of having wild parties and staying up all night, what I'm actually going to do is finish some BJD projects I've been putting off. I want to re-string Mafonwen properly with new elastic and I want to catalogue my BJD wardrobe [/librarian!] What I really want is to catalogue and photograph everything so that instead of hunting through for the things I want, I can refer to my own guidebook. It should hopefully keep things neat and tidy this way too.

Mojito!

This is the little planning doll I've made for Miss Mojito.

I have adopted an unassembled Alchemic Labo Unoa Sist kit from the collection of my friend d.ark, who passed away in May this year. This kit is something to remember her by, because she adored her Unoas and was a fan of everything Araki. It's an unusual position to be in, to be excited for the arrival of a new dolly but at the same time miss the person the doll belonged to and know that if d.ark was still with us she'd be assembling the doll herself.

I'm hoping that d.ark would have liked the plans I have for this doll.

Mojito is going to be the embodiment of my favourite cocktail! Minty fresh and sparkly! I also recommend it made with pink lemonade - it's fantastic!

Awaiting her arrival, I already have;

• LR-102_D wig from Leekeworld in 'Pale Turquoise', which comes up as a nice minty green (I am still on the lookout for a true green wig though eagle-eyed folks)
• 12mm Enchanted Doll pupilless Milky eyes in a half light mint/half dark mint
• Wimukt mori outfit
• Dale Rae pink suede flats

I have been a bit frugal this time - the only new thing I've bought for Mojito is her wig. Her eyes, clothes and shoes are already in my doll wardrobe!

Closet clearing!

I kept promising myself I'd have a closet clear out, but I genuinely am now!

I've started listing shoes on eBay, more shoes will follow. Please help me by adopting my shoes! I keep them in great condition and many of them have either never been worn or worn just once!

Incoming...Shopping ban, what shopping ban?

More incomings!

It's summer time (not that you'd guess from the weather we've been having in Wales recently...), and that means I start thinking about all my unfinished stories and original characters again.

A character I've attempted to write about numerous times is a little girl called Gwenllian Cyffin, who has a strong nose, blue/grey eyes, a brown bob and a marvellous gift for languages. My first ever BJD (Soulkid Snyder) grew into this character and a whole world developed around her. I didn't want Gwenllian to stay a child for ever and her mini-sized self needed to be reshelled into a new resin incarnation. Sadly, she stayed in a box for over a year because I was too frustrated with her size to do much with her -- particularly as her two best friends (Mafonwen and Deryn) ended up being SD-sized dolls.

Both of the candidates for older Gwenllian can be seen in the above picture. Little Monica Reynell (in the brown wig) was the outstanding favourite for a very long time...but when putting her picture next to Maf and Deryn, I felt that Reynell looked older again. A girl in her twenties rather than a schoolgirl in her teens.

I then discovered (or re-discovered) Volks Bianka/Rose (Rose is in the pink wig)! Looking around on Mandarake, I found a Bianka for a very good price (but still out of my reach without a layaway.) My big breakthrough happened last night when I found a Volks Rose head on eBay being sold by a DoA member with a great reputation for a great price and (as it was payday) I didn't think twice.

So, Gwenllian-at-16 is going to be Volks Rose :) She will have to share Deryn's body for now because Gwenllian and Deryn are both taller than Mafonwen, but eventually I'll get her an SD13 body of her own.

The outfit in the picture is by Wimukt/Foxybrowny and sized for Volks SDGrG dolls. They are a bit slimmer than SD13s and SD10s but this outfit is quite baggy, so it shouldn't be a problem for her to wear. Gwenllian is a little bit mori and a little bit steampunk and a very cool character. I saw this outfit by Wimukt in March of this year, but only after it had sold! I hoped that Wimukt would re-release this outfit because it would be perfect for Gwenllian. Morideryn is my mori girl, but her colours are warm pinky, orangey browns. Gwenllian wears greys and blues.

The Simply Bob wig in Dark Chocolate (modelled by Little Monica Reynell) is Gwenllian's only wig. For as long as I've known her as a character, she's always had her thick brown hair bobbed (probably always will) and as soon as I saw the wig advertised on the Little Monica website, I knew it was perfect for Gwenllian. I bought the same style in 'carrot' colour for Deryn and I love everything about the wig. My other new favourite wig seller, Crobidoll, didn't have exactly the right colour I needed. Their CRWL-66 bob in 'Powder Brown' was the closest I could find and the colour was a bit too reddish.

The Volks Rose head I bought is coming with the default Rose eyes (grey/purple with black line Volks HG glass eyes), so Gwenllian should have the right colour...but if they're more purple than grey, I have some Hand Glass Craft eyes in turquoise that should look good. Gwenllian has steel blue/grey eyes and I think that when you're resinating an existing character, it's often the eyes that have to be perfect pretty soon after you start putting your character doll together. If you can see the character in those eyes, you can cope with the not-quite-right wig and the sort-of clothes and the nearly-there face-up. That's what I think anyway :)

Ultimately I will get Gwenllian on Viridian House's waiting list for a brand new face-up, but I don't want to arrange a slot until she's physically in my possession.

I bought the original Gwenllian in 2008 while I was struggling to write my undergraduate dissertation. She was my muse for that. Perhaps the new Gwenllian will be my muse now, and I'll actually finish something!

Spring Evening

I had a small photoshoot with Deryn this evening while the light was still pretty.

She has a new wig! She's always going to be a redhead, but this time her wig is from Little Monica. The style is called 'Simply Bob' and the colour is 'Carrot'. It's a perfect match for the Limited Edition Leeke wigs I got for her at Christmas in 'Real Carrot'. It's going to be great if Little Monica bring out more styles of wigs in this colour because this is her hair colour and anything else would look a bit weird on her now. I'd love to have more wigs in this colour so she can have more hairstyle options.


I really recommend Little Monica wigs - I recommend Crobidoll wigs too. I used to rely on Leekeworld because all the wigs I received from them were in great condition and the number of styles and colours available is huge, but I don't like that dark wigs have black wig caps because the risk of staining is really high. I was so impressed when I recieved Melangell's dark wig from Crobidoll because it had a flesh-tone wig cap, not a dark one. The overall quality of the wig is great anyway, but extra thumbs up for the light wig cap! Likewise, this Little Monica wig has a light wig cap too.

She's sat in the cherry tree in my garden - it's formed a brilliant natural seat where the trunk splits into three main branches. I can sit dolls in the fork of the tree really securely. (I wish the bungalow behind her was a bit more obscured but oh well!)

The outfit she's wearing is Dollheart's Pure Maid outfit, her stockings are by Plume Blanche Creations and her shoes are by Releaserain. The Pure Maid outfit is great for Christmas or Valentine-themed pictures and is pretty much the only lolita outfit I have in SD-size. I am interested in more loli-outfits because they're just so pretty!

Incoming!

Incoming! Clockwise from top; Pink rockinghorse shoes (MSD-size) by Releaserain, patterned skirt by Fyrd8th's Etsy shop, white rockinghorse shoes (SD-size) by Releaserain and the 'Move On Aubrie' steampunk set by Dollheart.

More clothes and, as usual, they're not for me! Of course I'm excited for all of them, but my coup purchase was the Dollheart outfit (there's a better picture of it on my Pinterest.) Dollheart is expensive, but the quality is undeniable and I don't mind paying for that. I also love that there are so many pieces to one Dollheart outfit (this one even includes boots!!) so it's easy to mix and match. This outfit has hat (with steampunk goggles), shirt, jabot with cameo brooch, corsetdress, skirt, cuffs, shorts, stockings and gaiters.


Why two pairs of rockinghorse shoes? Well...rockinghorse shoes are a Lolita fashion staple and I think it's a really cute look, especially for dolls.


The pink pair are for 1/4 scale BJDs (MSD/MiniFee/Kid Delf/Lati Blue...) and they're going to my Volks Kurenai, Melangell. The pink shoes compliment the pink in her patterened skirt from Fyrd8th. For a proper, prim loli look she'll wear white stockings, white bloomers, a petticoat and a white Dollheart shirt. I have a pink ribbon in the same colour as the shoes and accent on the skirt that I'll tie in a bow under her shirt collar.


As for the white pair, they are for 1/3 scale BJDs (Super Dollfie/Delf/Dollfie Dream...) and they're not going to belong to anyone in particular. They're going to complete my Dollheart Pure Maid outfit.

(picture not mine!)
 
I got most of the pieces of this outfit in a Dollheart Fukubukuro (lucky bag) a few years ago and my dolls usually wear it with burgundy Dale Rae flats, but I think it will look a lot cuter with rockinghorse shoes.

Please check out The Vintage Pearl, it's a fashion blog run by the lovely well-travelled and well-dressed Miss Iffa!

Spring Cleaning

I haven't been very crafty today because I've started going through my things again and having a good clear-out.

I started it weeks ago and I did really well, but then I focused on throwing out old and unused things...now I need to go through my books and clothes and really decide what I'm keeping and what needs to move on. I need to do this with my BJD stuff too, but right now I don't even have the space to get all of that out and decide what to do with it.

Once I've sorted out this round, I can think about the next one!

Adventures in Crafting

Not content with the other outstanding projects I've got on the go, I've found myself a new one!

I was browsing the Mandarake site when I saw a forlorn Momoko being sold as junk because her hair was cut and her lips were partially rubbed off. When I looked up which Momoko she was she became a must have - she's a Happy Summer Guaranteed Pink ver. Momoko, which means she's the rarer, alternative version to the standard Happy Summer Guaranteed. She's a tan skin doll with blonde hair and pale lips. Although I didn't much like her in her original form, I can't wait to transform her into a new doll because I've always wanted a tan Momoko!

I'm going to reroot her in a blend of hazelnut and cognac saran hair (from My Little Customs again) to give her a multi-tonal hair colour. Warm brown mixed with the dark red is going to look awesome next to her tan. I'm going to paint her lips coral or a tan brown and paint in her teeth. I may gloss them a little as well.

Pretty excited about this project. I'm making clothes for her as well because she won't have a stitch when she arrives.

Busy busy

Busy week has begun! I've got a lot more overtime at work this week (6.30am starts! Argh!) but right now I'm relaxing at B's while he is off attending a warden meeting.

My spending control has gone a little awry again, but I'll get back into my good books soon. There really were things I couldn't live without!!

Dr Marten boots I've been looking for since 2009 came up on eBay brand new, so I couldn't not buy them. It was a tense battle, but I finally won my dream boots - RRP £140, price I paid, £70! I'm so pleased with them!

Source: ecx.images-amazon.com via Jessica on Pinterest

So, that's been a fun part of the naughty shopping!

What else? Oh, I bought two new books for my Kindle; The Red Tent and Living a Jewish Life by Anita Diamant. The Red Tent is fiction, it's about Dinah, the daughter of Jacob and Leah, and her life after the Shechem incident, where her brothers, Simeon and Levi slaughtered every man in the town of Shechem after Dinah attracted the attentions of the prince. It's a sad story anyway, I'd never have forgiven my brothers for committing murder, especially in my name. The Red Tent does a good job of fleshing out a lot of characters you only really know by name in the Bible, but there's some bestiality and totem worshipping going on that doesn't really sit quite right!

I'm enjoying reading Living a Jewish Life more than The Red Tent. Possibly because it's a fun reference book about including more Jewish things into everyday life. I already try keeping kashrut, I don't eat pork and shellfish anyway, but I keep forgetting about separating meat and dairy - so far this has extended to having pizzas with no chicken on them, but I seem to forget when it comes to cheeseburgers. I have a long way to go!

I bought a Mori Girl skirt today from a shop in Conwy - it's a sweet little shop full of boutiquey things like bunting and hand-made ceramic doorknobs. There's a small selection of clothes, but everything is so perfectly Mori Girl I wanted to buy it all! The skirt is a beigey-undyed linen colour and it'll go amazingly with my new DMs. I'm wearing Mori Girl right now, my new skirt, some crochet tights, some old brown boots, a teal top and a cream cardigan. I have a rope of beads around my neck and a ribbon in my hair :) I really like Mori Girl style, it's so relaxed but also fairytale/artisanal. B said I looked like an artist dressed this way :p

Positiver and Positiver

Now I've got the big groan out of the way, I can talk about more fun/interesting things!


This month I'm going to LONDON :D B and I are going to stay with L&C and try and meet up with as many folks as possible, whilst also attempting to see the sights. B wants to see Freedom Press and the Houses of Parliament, I'm bringing a BJD for fun travel dolly photos - I want one of Melangell sat in an iconic red phonebox.


I've started to be more of a physically organised person - mentally I can be organised and I write lots of lists, but I seem to leave disorder wherever I go. My room is a shit-tip, quite frankly. I have so many things going on with my wardrobe that it's unreal. Anyway. I threw out lots of rubbish at the weekend, and today I'm sorting through my wardrobe; things to throw, things to keep, things to donate and things for Ro.


 Later on I'm meeting up with my friend, Ro, and her baby (my godson!) for tea, cake and a chat! We're trying to meet up at least every fortnight so that he starts remembering who I am (he'll be 9 months old this month) and also so she gets some grown-up chat and to see a face other than her fiance's! I'll be bringing a bag of clothes for her - things that don't suit me but I bought anyway...that kind of thing ;) I keep my clothes in very good condition and she threw away a lot of her pre-pregnancy clothes thinking they wouldn't fit her afterwards (oops!)


Another postive thing is mexican fajita Pringles. They taste amazing. B and I had some yesterday and they were fantastic.


So, not everything is grumbles! There's a lot of positive stuff too!

Busy Month!

January is almost over now! I can't believe how fast 2012 is going already.

This has been quite a busy month. I've been busy with work as well as resurrecting my Poupée Girl account. That's my profile in the link. It's a sort of Japanese fashion/social network where you upload pictures of your clothes for others to admire and you earn ribbons and jewels to spend on clothes for your 'Poupée'. It's much better that I spend fictional ribbons and jewels on stuff than actual money! I need to be sensible and save up!


My new favourite company is Crobidoll. I haven't bought a new doll from them, I bought a wig for Melangell. Well, I originally ordered two but when one was sold out, I got a quick email from Crobi explaining that I could either have a refund to my Paypal or they'd give me store credit so I could buy another wig from them another time. I asked for a refund because I wasn't sure when I'd next be buying a wig and that was super fast too - this was barely 48 hours ago...and today I had a package from Crobi with the wig I ordered (gorgeous, soft and glossy!) as well as a freebie furwig and some stickers saying 'A Present for You'. How lovely :) The customer services person who emailed me was extremely nice and wished me a happy new year - I thought that because of the Lunar New Year and most Korean companies being on holiday that my order wouldn't come until next week or even later if they had to sort through the post. I am beyond impressed with them and I definitely recommend them.

Sales Stuff!

Last night I stayed over at B's and because the weather was awful, we made a cheerful, bright-coloured Moroccan chicken dish. Sadly we didn't have the tagine to serve it in, but it was yummy anyway. We used chicken thighs, chopped apricots, chickpeas, paprika, turmeric, tomato puree, coriander, parsley and butter and it was really tasty - the only thing I would change for next time is use chicken breasts or cut the meat off the bone because the meat was very tender after being cooked and it fell off the bones leaving gristly bits lurking in the food :s That bit wasn't recommended!

We had some glasses of a cab sauv and watched two Australian films; The Castle and The Dish, while the rain and wind lashed outside.

Today, B had to go to the library and hand in an essay, so I decided to go and spend some of my Christmas money!

I bought;

Accessorize - a wishbone bracelet (perfect scale for a long pendant for a doll!), a wishbone necklace (for me :p), a cameo pendant, a long fringed necklace for mum, nail varnish in Apricot Crush and a ballerina slippers charm for my charm bracelet from Y.

Topshop - a Bajoran-style earring (a hook for a pierced ear and an earcuff joined by a chain - this one has a genuine chunk of turquoise and some feathers) and some white rose hairclips
WHSmith - hole reinforcers, some pens and an address book for work
Chelsea Doll - a black handbag like a Mulberry Alexa and some Barry M mock croc crackle paint


Why hole reinforcers, you ask? Well I saw this manicure tutorial by Wayward Daughter and I've always wanted to try it myself. So far it's worked well!

I've been playing with my nails quite a bit since Christmas, trying different things. I had black lace nail transfers over a nude base and they looked quite classy for New Year. Today I'm wearing my new Claire's grey nail varnish with unpainted lunulas :) Tomorrow it'll probably be my new apricot nail varnish from Accessorize!

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!

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