Didi's New Clothes

They finally arrived!  I say finally like an impatient jerk, but it really only took a couple of weeks.  So, here she is modeling them.

And as a bonus picture, here's a little shot of my latest workspace when I take pictures...

Doll Blanket

So a dear friend of mine, and a fellow doll collector, has been having a rough time.  I wanted to make something to cheer her up, so I decided to put my crochet thread to use and make a little crocheted throw blanket for her dolls!

I am modifying this pattern into the blanket, by reducing the initial chain by roughly half and repeating rows three and four to desired length.   I used an E hook, which is 3.5 mm.

Here is how it looks by the end of row 20:

I have a lot more to do to make it long enough, but there's the progress so far!

Interview - William

So DoA has this Interview Game.  I am too shy to post my interview answers there, so I'll share them here!
First up is my slightly pretentious glamour boy, William.

Doll Mold:  Dollmore Adam - Larme (2007)
Face up: Custom face-up by Asher Dumonchelle
Eyes: Blue Dollmore ...16 mm, I believe
Hair: I think this is a JPop wig, but after all of these years I don't remember 100%
Age: 20

If you were to describe yourself with one word, what would it be? Pensive

What is most important to you in the world? Freedom of expression

Would you help someone who needed it while passing? Yes

Are you very observant? When I'm not daydreaming.

How innocent/naive can you be?   I think we all are innocent or naive about some things.  I'd like to think I'm wary where I should be, while still having a free heart and open mind.

Can you entertain yourself easily?  Nah,  I need music or books or something to entertain me.

How well do you get along with others?  I get along with anyone, so long as they are interesting in some fashion.

What was the longest time you had a friend?  I have a friend, Tenna, whom I've known since childhood.  She is moving away, but we will still keep in touch - I hope!

Do you have someone who knows you inside out?   Tenna, for sure.  She is so dynamic and a real force of personality.  She got to know me whether I wanted her to or not!

How short is your temper?   I rarely get angry, few things are worth that strong an emotion.

Can you let go of grudges easily?   I've never had a grudge against anyone to let go of.

Do you read?   I do.

Do you watch TV?  Eh, sometimes. I like to watch documentaries, it makes me feel more intellectual about the world.

Do you collect anything?   Accessories count?

How long do you stay interested in something?  It really depends.  Some things pass out of my fancy quickly, while others can hold my interest for years.

If you collected, would it be for interest or profit?   Hmm.  For interest, I think.  Collecting something for profit seems hollow.

Do you know your parents/creator?   My creator has not made up any parents for me, shamefully. >C  But even if I had parents, I'm old enough to be out on my own now.

What is your birthday?  Oct 25, 2007 - Scorpio

Do you have any siblings?   Nope

Ever have to fight for what you believe in?   Luckily, no

When did you move out on your own?   I've always been on my own.  See above comment about my family.

When did you REALLY mature?   Do we ever really mature?

Did you have many friends?  Just Tenna.  

Any action you regret?  I fear I come off as too cool-hearted and detached.  Sometimes I wish I could be more outwardly passionate.

What is a memory you treasure?  The day I met Tenna, our first day of school.  She was wearing bright, mismatched clothes, and made me laugh when I felt afraid of being alone.  That was the first day of our long, long friendship.

Do you have a dream partner?  Hmm.  Someone who can appreciate my style and interests, and compliment my personality with a dynamism of their own.  Someone who doesn't mind that I prefer to let others do the talking.

Do you believe you seek someone like your parents(or creator)?   Haha, no.  My creator is not dynamic or talkative.  And she doesn't care one bit about fashion.

Do you have one night stands?   I never have, but I am open to the idea should the situation be right.

What feature is most attention grabbing for you?   The eyes, I think.

What MUST someone have for you to consider them?  An open heart

Older, younger, same age as you? Same or older

How do you feel about settling down?  I'm a bit young for that, I think!  But who knows, should the right person come along...

How many dates before you go to bed with someone?   Many.

How do you handle rejection?   I hope tactfully.

How many times did you stop something before it developed?   Never.

Have you settled down and if so for how long?   I have never settled down with someone before.

Any Children?   No!

Any Grandchildren?  O_O

What do you love most about your partner?   N/A

Any petnames?   No, not even Billy or Bill.  I am just William.

How many relationships have you been in?   Very few.

Have you ended any?  Nope

Has your heart been broken?   No, I never got that deeply invested.

Any loves you cannot have?   No

 Do you believe in true love?   I'm not sure.  I'd like to think so.

Have you ever died?  No

Can you even die?  I won't know until it happens?

Have you seen someone die? No

Have you killed someone?  No!

Have you had someone killed?  No!  Geez!

What makes you truly happy?   Peaceful moments

If you could, what is one thing you would spend your life doing?   Traveling the world.

Do you have a job, if so what is it?   I do not.

Have you ever gone insane?   Not that I am aware of.

Did you ever feel as if you were the only sane one in the world?   Don't we all feel that way sometimes?

If you had a choice, would you live a calm eternal life, or live a wild short life? Calm and eternal.

Concept Versus Reality - Dinea

So here was Dinea's original mock-up.  I wanted her to be ethereal and light and soft.  You will see how she has changed since this design...

Her eyes are blue!  I really do want to get the otherworldly white eyes for her still.  As she is meant to be a supernatural being (the keeper of dreams) plain blue eyes don't really give off that other-worldly feeling.

She also got her headdress of blue beads, and kept the long silver wig.

You can see she kept the sheer white sleeves, but her gown has changed a bit.  It's gathered at the waist and...

Terrible full shot, but you can see the beading on her gown, and her veil!  The fabulous artist who made this gown for me weighted the veil with some beads, and I love the overall look.

Bonus pictures!

New Family Photos

I obviously need wider shelves, or something.  Barely enough room!

So, as a side note, I'm getting pretty frustrated with my camera.  Sometimes my shots turn out beautiful and clear, other times blurry.  But the previews always make the shots look really crisp!  I want honest previews, stupid camera! >C

Top - Didi and Glory; Middle - Valley and Mika; Bottom - Lucy and Hedwig

William at the top, Meg in the middle, and Juno and Dinea in the front

Some individual shots for fun....

Poor, naked Didi.  You'll have clothes soon!

Lovely little Dinea

Glory, who's peach gold skin REALLY stands out among these dolls.

I remembered Hedwig this time! Yay!

Sweet little Juno

My little girl with the big personality, Lucy

I wrecked Meg's wig yesterday, so she's a bit cross with me right now.

Her brother, Mika, is just peachy, though!

I love that blue scarf on Valley.

William, my first doll.

Glory is here! :D

For those of you who don't go to DoA, here is my box opening for Glory...

When I went to bed last night, EMS tracking had fibbed to me. I thought my Glory was still in Chicago Customs! So I was not up and braced and watching for the mail man all coiffed like I should have been. Instead, when the doorbell rang, I ran to it looking like this:

How I looked this morning

Baggy, unfocused eyes (I didn't stop to put on my glasses), unbrushed hair, no bra under my pajamas, and about a week's worth of leg hair growth. I know, I'm disgusting. :C That poor mailman must have retched when he got outside.

The box! It's almost as wide as our little dining room table! You can see my pukipuki Hedwig standing by to help.

Hi Hedwig! Thanks for blocking my address for me.

Let's all pretend I did a great job faking Hedwig using an Exacto knife to open the box. "My, how realistic!" Thank you, I know. I'm basically a master at this.

No newspaper or anything for me! Just a quick layer of bubblewrap taped on.

One thing I thought was neat - it says "And Character Figures". I don't know, it made me happy that the company acknowledges we make characters out of their figurines. Just me?

Foul tempters! "Oh, don't mind us, we're just a gang of super awesome dolls you want now. We could be your cool gang of dolls...for a price. Maniacal laugh!"

Weird that they wrote my name out all smudgy like that.

Holy cow, those lips. And that nose! Ahhhhh, and I got the blue eyes I requested! Hearts and hearts and hearts.

Decency flower! You can see her tiny little bosoms - I got the smallest size possible. My poor little character is not well-endowed in the least.

Stamped head cap! I've never seen a headcap like this before, with the jutting pieces. I like it! But it did fall off a couple of times when I was moving her around. :/

So, here she is, sitting up. And here's where I started to get curious about her resin. See, I ordered the Peach Gold, and she's not looking as tanned as I had expected. I like the color and all, but I could have sworn it was meant to be darker...

Okay, in this shot her skin looks more peachy. So...maybe it's fine? Ugh, I don't know. But hey, pretty eyes!

I would direct your attention to her flipping beautiful hands. I may have to give her a little mani at some point.

Scratches on the torso? Something on the torso. I'm not wizened enough in the way of resin to call what those marks are. Thinner resin spots? Unsure.

Standing right out of the box! Wee! The body kind of clicks into positions, which I hadn't experienced before - but I like it! It may take some getting used to, however...

Heave-ho!

"Hello there, little one!"

"We'll chat later, oh naked one. Time to get some clothes on!"

So, a note about these clothes...I didn't research Iplehouse's nYID body and just bought regular SD sized clothes. Then I found out they aren't supposed to be able to fit in such clothes! Woe! But hey, as you'll see, things turned out better than expected...

The stuff! Let us begin...

So, in a bit of dumb luck, I bought a SD 16 tank top. Phew! Thank you to Dorset Clothing over at Etsy for the cute shirt. ^^

Dollmore plaid shirt fits fine...unbuttoned.

A bit of a snug fit snapped up. Definitely wouldn't fit on a doll with a larger bust, I'm afraid.

Dollmore SD knee socks. Fit fine! I want them slouchy, so I wasn't too worried about if they reached her knees or not, but they do if you're curious. ^^

SD sized shoes. I was particularly worried about these, because I heard the nYID feet were too wide for SD shoes and would have to wear Model size. And at first, it was looking like my info was correct. Her feet were more ugly stepsister than Cinderella.

But! With a bit of gentle wiggling around and persistence, they fit! Even over socks! Woooooo! *party down*

She can even stand in them! Woefully, even though I ordered her skirt from Ebay weeks ago, it has yet to arrive. So she's a bit immodest at the moment.

And with her wig on! I clearly need to figure out how to tame wigs. I hear baby brushes work well, so I may have to shell out for one of those.