Asian Ball-joint Dolls: 2007 Archives

Ha-ha, omg I'm retarded. K, thx.

Seriously though, the Fangirl Project girls were t'awesome! I was a bit under the weather, so neglected to wear my tutu. Damn.

Those are my curtains and new couch. Yay!

You can vote for this pic... but I just can't compete with the gorgeous Miss Jessica. Fab!

I'm looking forward to having another shot at the Salopette A&P outfit... but even if I don't win (the chance to buy) one, I still have this. ♥

I'm usually super good at picking out sculpts, but I don't know who this is (clicky here)! I'm in love with her face-up and lips. The only thing I can think of is one of the Rozen Maiden twins?

When it rains (on the high seas), it pours (on the high seas). Everybody's got their summer sailors on. Ondine has dragged Lysander off to the sea side for his health. Miss Ardelphia is helping, of course.

The scenery is not google-sourced, I might add! An actual shot I took of the Brighton Pier last summer. (kisses to Alex--we miss you!) Please ignore the fall garden in the rest of 'em. Masking is laborious, and I'm not frugal enough to refrain from showing all 2837434 pictures of my pretties. Including Butter, of course, who was cavorting in the background throughout.

I actually caught Mr. Kallisti off-guard yesterday. I had repainted Miette last week, and did her up properly last night with a new frock from Volks and new wig from Leeke (both the girls are wearing the new "champagne pink" color). I told him she was my NEW DOLL. Knowing that I'd gotten a box from Volks that day (which was really just the outfit and art supplies), and then I kicked him for not recognizing her.  Not fair really.  :p

Anyway, some new pix of Astræa and Miette in the garden. Not good for showing off Miette's new face-up, or anything other than my sucking at the chiaroscuro with a camera :p But you can see Astræa's new dress that I somehow whipped up between hell & high water this summer. It is made out of three different scraps of embroidered edwardian batiste, over tea dyed seersucker. I luvs it.

And here, my lovelies, are my first plants planted.

We get coastal fog and are much breezier than most of California, but our yard is on a sun facing hillside and gets the full blast all day. So I'm going full-on mediterranean. Not intentional at first, originally just a matter of taste, until I started reading up on it and how all the hot, dry, low water plants (aside from native) that I've chosen are common med varieties. Just starting with the fragrant shrubs that I can eat: lavender, rosemary, with oregano and thyme in the tiny herb patch we're putting in what was once an oval pond!  About ten by three feet, there are still traces of blue paint. This was entirely covered over with dirt when we arrived, only much scraping has revealed it. I put in a little bird bath in the corner. We hadn't even gotten the lavender and rosemary in the ground before the bees and butterflies were fluttering. This garden is amazing. So many birds. We have four hummingbirds that hang out at our feeder, Mr. Kallisti (and Biscuit) can tell them all apart!

Yeah, so I'm a famous plant killer. One of the reasons I really need shrubs etc that thrive well naturally. I'm going to try to baby them to get them started. I love the smells already! Gah! It is a start anyhow, we'll be getting more top soil to pretty up the surfaces soon. Our nursery was out. Meh!?!?

And on that note, I'm cooking pasta with fresh garden vegetables given to us as a welcome to the neighborhood prezzie from one of our lovely neighbors.  We're the only couple under 85 on our block, and most of them have been here since just after WWII.  It is really lovely up here! Sigh...

Lost Angeles Dolpa! Something to look forward to:

Baby the Stars Shine Bright... we get a second chance! Waaah! Good thing, cuz I'm not jonesing for any of the other special releases. Heh.

Trick or Treat! Volks' October Collection... swoony!

I love the crazy boy shoes with that outfit. They're also getting better with the hats. I'm not hating them so much.

I'm still here though. Still fixing my blog. Working on the backend at DoA. Working at work.

But I'm flying out to Chicago at 6am tomorrow to attend the Adobe Max conference and taking Mr. Kallisti with me so I don't have to fly alone :p
I'm such a noodle.

But we're staying at The Allerton, which looks super swank, and is right in the middle of the Magnificent Mile. So go me! I may be a Flash in the pan, but it'll take some Ajax to get those Flex out. Or I could just photoshop it.

Har-har.

OMG, look! A couple of my dolls!

Astræa & Aphra sitting on their new mantle. Astræa is wearing a dress I made between all the chaos. The over dress is out of scraps of embroidered edwardian batiste, over green and white seersucker I tea-dyed ages ago. My own pattern *proud*

Ok, these dollga leeke collab wigs are KILLING ME. Too. Many. Wigs

And I just got last pre-order where they threw in a free wig. I was totally expecting an ugly leftovers or something, and they sent a long super cool pink wig. They knew!

also, best website flash evar:
http://www.club-internet.fr/le-duel/

When life gets ya down, just think of the moat bunnies.

Taken in June 2007, Château de Saumur, France.

Moat bunnies.

Baby Menace (Miss Astræa) is home at last! Hermione & Lysander's youngest sibling arrived at the Blastmilk Orphanage on August 6th. We've been so busy with moving preparations and surprise visits from abroad (Micha from New Orleans! Liz in SF who I still don't manage to see enough!) that I barely had time to marvel.

But marvel I did.

"There is no sinner like a young saint." —Aphra Behn

She's amazing. I really love her default face-up. It is very evocative of Sasha, without being a clone. My only kvetch is that the beautiful strawberry blonde eyebrows are too high. But they're so lovely! So I'll keep them for a bit... at some angles she's very, very sasha-like, though she is a bit different. I'm waiting for the detailed comparison photos from those who can compare them. Her head is tiny, regular SD (9-10) size wigs swallow her head, so definately a DD (8-9) wig girl. "Sasya" is scratched on the inside of the headcap. Which makes me think (duh) that they resculpted right off of a Sasya head. Awesome. The 18mm melon eyes I got from Gina are gorgeous but too large I think. Time to order 16mm!

More pix on Flickr!

I know ya'll know what this girl means to me. The fact that she was made at all is such a stunner that I'm completely gobsmacked and have been since I found out about the release.

First, I'd like to thank Lyssa, who encouraged me to put up the petition and is one of Sasya's biggest fans. And the 111 people who signed it! Then I'd like to thank Elizabeth D. for putting in for her on my behalf at the NY Dolpa 2. Anika for taunting me with beautiful pictures of Roselynde for the past three or more years. And of course Volks: Kyon for designing Sasha, and Valico for reinterpreting her exquistely as Masha; Kaori Saito (Left Thimble) for her heartbreakingly wistful dress design, and Mr. Shigeta for smiling and accepting my petition even though he didn't know a word I was burbling to him. And last, but not least...

[QUEUE MUSIC]

Oops, looks like I ran out of time to thank Mr. Kallisti... bah! I love him so much, and he lets me. That is all.

My first Yo, Ardelphia (YoSD Lin) made her debut at our belated Bastille Day Picnic at the Mountain View Cemetery yesterday. Thanks to Jan (JennyNemesis) for the name ^_^ we were looking at headstones for inspiration and she mentioned the one right next to our picnic area.

And special thanks to Kelly for stepping in and organizing when I've been swamped and scatter brained. Click through for the flickr gallery of the picnic! I'm so lazy taking dolly pictures at gatherings, it was really hot and I just wanted to chat and drink booze and soda on the blanket. Heh!

Of course I'm not actually home to do the box ripping apart dance. Meh!

Azone's July Releases: Summer Yukata! For 1/6th (Jenny-sized), Pureneemo (fits Blythe & Licca), and 60cm (for Obitsu, Dollfie Dream, and probably SD!).

I'm in a happy place. I received tracking info from Volks (no, not Masha, who has been delayed til late July, but another baby), and I've been alternately lazy and crafty about the house.

After the previous few months of utter madness and thriftiness and selling, I'm so relieved!

I've sewed two new dolly dresses, from my own patterns (go me!) and finished one of the corsets I used as a sample for Dollectable. And there is lots of laying around in between watching BBC costume dramas I picked up in the UK that won't even be released here for another year or so. Gads, I'm so happy!

Oh, and season 3 of Dr. Who started. And Torchwood is coming in September.

And all the animals follow me from room to room, I feel like Cinderella.

I know I am slow with my travel diaries. We're waiting for a cd from a friend who was kind enough to offload 2 gigs of images in Switzerland onto his laptop. So I have earlier images, and pix from the end of the trip, but I'm missing the middle o_0. You know what that does to a storyline, yikes!

In a Swiss farmhouse on the top of a mountain drinking absinthe and vintage vermouth and eating fondue with loved ones. Life just don't get much better.

But there's been a ton of pix uploaded to flickr, with more to come. You are welcome to browse.

I'm still in awe of the magickalness of the trip. But there was still so much to see, especially Paris. Didn't have nearly enough time. Half a day lost in Les Halles totally scarred me for life with all the Burger Kings & Footlockers and GAPS and UGH! Stab the eyes out with hot pokers. We were looking for the Marais and took a right instead of left at the Pompidou Center and were DOOOOMED. We did find porn and sausages eventually though. So it worked out in the end.

I'm reading an amazing book, "Liberty: The Lives and Times of Six Women in Revolutionary France" and there are numerous mentions of Les Halles as the market center of Paris. I guess it still is, but where are the fishwives? They're hocking Nikes and burgers these days. It hurts my soul.

Thanks so much to all that attended! Your kindness and enthusiasm made this a truly wonderful and fun weekend! I haven't hosted panels before, and everyone was very awesome, and asked lots of cool questions etc.

I'm so exhausted though! We totally crammed to make this the best we could, I reeeally hope I didn't suck. Now, we pack for europe. Oy! I did four panels, one being with Aimee & Elizabeth on BJD and the hobby in the U.S. I didn't shop at all! Except for one little on sale jpop wig! I did reeeally well (I thought) at the swap meet, which will all go towards Masha. YAYAYAY. Hugs to all I barely got to talk to, and all the cool new people I met who were awesome. Yes. And congrats to the Dollectable team and volunteers who made it all seem to run surprisingly smoothly. Wow. Also! We got to bring Butter the first day, she was so good, and sat quietly during all my panels. Butter is love.

I'm so rambling, I need to go to sleep.

Sorry, I've killed my bandwidth, must take down files now!

Here are my panel take-homes and slideshows, for your edification. I can't leave them up forever, they are 1.5 meg files each!

Big Note:
I've updated my face-up panel supply list (on the slideshow pdf above). I mistakenly recommended ACETONE. What we've been using as a strong but safe face-up solvent is not acetone, it is a proprietary formula used at my husband's work. It smells like acetone to me and I never questioned it as it is in an unmarked bottle. Mr. Kallisti questioned me about mentioning it when we got home and we discovered the mixup.

Acetone is not considered safe for resins or plastics. He's tested it, and in small doses doesn't seem to damage the resin, but it is definately not recommended! I am very sorry we didn't catch this before! I've updated the presentation!

love,
Becky

In my best Jan Brady impersonation.

I'm so slammed I can barely take it all in about the Sasha/Masha release! And my inbox is filling up with the wonderful news. Aieeeeeeeee! I'm cramming for dollectable, busy at work, and we fly out to London on Wednesday. Veritably, I am dead.

Here's the short of it: Last year I posted a petition to beg for the re-release of Sasha, a very rare super dollfie that myself and numerous others pined after. It was signed here by 111 people. I turned it over to Mr. Shigeta in person, President of Volks at the August Tea in '06.

I can hardly believe it... ten months later, at the NYC Dolpa, they are releasing "Masha," a Sasha clone, through FDQ dolly magazine. Outfit done by Kaori Saito.

Here is me being the biggest geek in the world (many apologies to Roselynde, the most beeeyoootiful Sasha in zee wooooorld, for the liberties took!):

I've done some comparison overlays and feature examination: she's definately a resculpted head... which doesn't surprise me as Sasha's head was a bit on the large side. They had done similar Lucas/Chris as well, so it just made sense. Her head is definately smaller, note the shoulder and neck size in the overlays. While her profile is identical to Sasha's (and the F16 as well), her eyes are bit smaller, and perhaps less heavy lidded. I thought her jaw was narrower, but once you resize them to comparable size, she actually has a lower jaw, just not as strong, if that makes sense. Her brows line up with Sasha's, but none of the photos show them in detail. The face-up is paler, but definately in the same vein as the original.

And yes, I do have a very kind soul who has most graciously volunteered to bring her home for me, as I'm on vacation during Dolpa. Cross me feeengers!

My new Sony Cybershot T20 came two days ago! Aieeee, is it supercute. Not always a prerequisite when camera shopping, but sure is a nice perk.

I've been down with a muscle spasm in my neck that has rigored half of my head into a piercing ball of stabbing pain for the last four days. I finally gave up and stayed home today and am seeing the physical therapist this afternoon.

But I snapped a couple shots to test this baby's mettle.

Settings: ISO 800, auto white balance, macro & extreme macro. This is on my doll stage, cloudy day, and I have light green see-through curtains that cast a sickly pall, er light over everything. Only one shade was open.

They're gorgeous! Look how they glow! And this is at 3 megapixel too, resized to 800x600, since I'm still using the internal memory (yes, it has 32 megs on board).

After having lost the Volks lottery for the A&P outfit last month, I pulled myself up and made the pattern included with Volume 8 of DollyBird for the Alice & the Pirates dress. If I weren't so overwhelmed this month I'd make all three patterns... but I have stuff to do! Lulu looks fantastic, don't she? They didn't include the hat pattern, so I had to figure that one out myself. Oy! I used inkjet decals for dark fabric to get the patterns on the dress. It turned out really well, I think!

I also had the very great fortune to get invited to have dinner with the Isobe's of Baby, the Stars Shine Bright here in San Francisco a few weeks ago. I'll make more hay about that at a later date.

I just want to say though, that VIZ Media/VIZ Pictures, the lovely folks who hosted the dinner, will be building and opening the VIZ J-Pop Center in San Francisco's Japan Town some time in 2008. Including a small theater featuring anime and Japanese live action films. It sounds like it will be all kinds of amazing!

From the English BBS:

HyperManiac am 2:44.04/21

Q : I am writing to ask about Hahanbi and Choyangbi's re-release. Are they still be be re-released in early summer of 2007?
A : Yes.

be happy...

Not seen since 2004. I'd also really love to see Kakiva (also 2004).

For reference: GiggleGeek's 2005 and previous Hypermaniac releases...

That crazy Volks... dolpa after dolpa! At least they have a somewhat narrow offering this time around. Volks Dolpa 17 - May 4th

Um... cute & cranky! Yeah!

With the nautical themed website it wasn't hard to tell that the pirate theme is continuing... but who's this glamourpuss Reisner guy? He looks like a sultry Cecil. And is he really a SD17??? Only time will tell!

And sweet dream Kaede... she appeared almost two years ago in some photos Volks took of the original Kaede. They don't forget anything, do they?

It seems quiet here, don't it. Well looks can be deceiving! All the action is IRL and I can barely keep up.

I lost the Volks lottery for the BtSSB Alice & The Pirates outfit, so if there is anyone out there who wants to let a hapless girl takeover their lottery or what have you, pleeeease let me know!

I just paid for my tickets to Europe in June! OMG. First time going, I'm completely freaked (hate flying) and ecstatic (dream come true) at the same time. Mostly I'll be on tour to the Kallisti-Fest in Boveresse for the Absinthe Festival... but the Mr. and I will be in London for five days on our own.

I need suggestions for the absolutely coolest things to do for a art-history-lit geek like me! Tower of London, Madame Tussaud's & the V&A are a given. What else?

And maybe spend two of those nights in another town? But where?

In any case, there will be more coming from me soon. No worries. This is a big, busy year!

I'm not usually very moved by the real life pictures of dollies. If a she is a must have, I'll know with the release pictures.

But... but... this. Pictures of Luna up close and personal. Omg. There are little dolly devils running in circles sceaming in my head, poking the backs of my eyes with leetle peetchforks.

This too shall pass. But O! The pain is exquisite.

Been watching the pix from Customhouse leak out all week.

Odree Vintage Ai: LE Alps Version.

It is like getting a whole new doll! Who knew she'd clean up so nice. She may be tamer, but I've warned Mr. Kallisti that she still might get him in the middle of the night if he's not nice to her. Rawr.

Fifi Mahony turned three on January 20th, 'magine that!

Full Operation Ryoma

Ryoma can move freely compared to Lie. We overcome the limit of ball jointed doll to make him move almost close to human. Though this is a ball jointed doll, but this has nipples which can go in when you press and the expression of sexual organs which can move individually is slightly humorous (emphasize mine, duh!).

Thanks to Uncle Steph for the heads up!!!

The only thing better than Little Red Riding Toppi, is releasing the outfit in SD10 size for Dolpa this month! VolksUsa.com has posted that they will be taking preorders (or lottery) on the Dolpa LE's and BTSSB outfits. Home Town Dolpa Osaka 3 Limited Items.

There is lots of happy going on, can't wait for good pix of the rest of the outfits etc! I love Luna's pooty mouth. And I love the wig. And, and...

 

 

Thanks to Rachel for posting digi-camera shots of the catalog though! There is a whole lot of SQUEEEEEEEEEEEE going on here. There's a new Baby The Stars Shine Bright dolly: Luna... and more BTSSB outfits, including the Red Riding Hood for SD10!

Breathe, dammint, breathe!

Luna & Kurumi, Kurumi & Luna. They kill me. The liiiiiiiiiips!

Evangeline Ghastly from Wilde Imagination & Tonner. She's ball-jointed and resin... is this a first for Tonner? Slated for Summer 2007 release.

The weather on the night of Evangeline's birth was as expected. The wind was howling, the moon was full, and the doctor was unavailable.

And so begins the story of Evangeline Ghastl™. With a mysterious diary entry, a pet skunk named Mouette, and fashions right out of a Victorian novel, Evangeline is definitely.....a whole other story!

Introducing Evangeline Ghastly™ - the new 19" resin ball jointed doll from Wilde Imagination. Created by Joe Petrollese and sculpted by award-winning artist and designer Robert Tonner, Evangeline is what most people would call unfortunate; she likes to think of it as misunderstood….(click here to go to Evangeline’s website)

And at 19" Ellowyne Wilde's new little friend is rather imposing. It is hard to tell if she is as big headed as Ellowyne. Totally different face sculpt esthetic, appears to be a different line entirely. I really like the sculpt, kind of a catty-eyed gene marshall type, though her eyes seem a little wonky in that picture, probably due to the fact they are changeable inset. Her hands look awesome. Again, the story premise supporting her is a little on the "um..." side, and hints at her lack of intelligence (wtf? is that supposed to appeal? to whom?). The tale picks up in 1928 and she's from Ipswich, England. I see a lovely wardrobe, albeit generi-goff, more victorian inspired than art deco in nature... she must be an old fashioned vamp, er... girl.

I know I'm fussy, but I ♥ spooky dolls. That's how I found super dollfie, dontcha know! By doing my usual "goth doll" search on ebay. I think they need Elder-goth marketing expertise. There's a little bit too much, um... Cher Goth meets Vampira, perhaps? I dunno, a lack of subtlety. Hey, maybe they're going for the classic Hollywood Vampire, the technicolor proto-hystorical wardrobe. That'd be cool.

I'll probably love her when she's released though. Vive le Spook!

It is official! Volks will be hosting the second Dolls Party in N.Y. on June 9-10.

At the last LA Tea they mentioned two full days, including a chance to order FCS. They have a headcount survey: let them know if want to come!

I won't be going, because I'll be in Europe June 8-23rd (or so) for an Absinthe Festival in Switzerland. Wow.

But not before I host two panels at our own local dolly convention: Dollectable! June 1st-3rd — Millbrae, CA (just south of SF!).

I'll be doing a dolly corset panel and photo stage panel. I haven't done this sort of thing before, so as it stands now I think it will be fun! It is a bit of a stretch for me to be doing this the weekend before I go to Europe (first time ever, omg) but I think this will be really super, we have such a wonderful and eclectic dolly community in the Bay Area.

Spent a superbly wet and stormy Saturday afternoon at Kelly & Robert's for a Valentines Dolly party. My pictures didn't come out (wah! dumb old memory card).

But it was lovely! Amazing the group of people crammed into their mini urban victorian apartment. Dollizens are so well behaved though, I don't think a thing was broken, despite having supplied a nearly full bottle of absinthe for the hosts ~_^ There were heart shaped ginger cookies, a big pink fluffy cake, heart shaped pasta salad and pink champagne! Yay!

I brought Hermione, St. Trinian & Aphra Diver. To make up for my lack of party pictures, I spent Sunday afternoon, finishing up the dolliverse cleanup, and taking pictures. It was a surprisingly bright and tepid day, so the light was none too bad!

Hermione is wearing the new Musedoll.com wooly hoodie. It is very snug, you have to take the head off to get it on, and the hoodie part will probably only fit an 8-9" head like Ciel's... Hermione's F16 noggin is way to big to pull it up. I love it however! And Trinian's coat perfecly matches.

Just to say: redheads are better.

And an especial thanks to Mssr. Robert for the gifty-poo, hoping to post pictures on that later!

Volks: 2007 Sweet Valentine Fair

(Engrish courtesy of the url ^_^)

Fifi needs that first outfit. Just sayin'.

courtesy of a very wise and wonderful friend:

... a bitter person is so much uglier than an ugly doll.

*happily contemplates the dolliverse*

This is the sort of thing that can totally make your day.

Jeanie (aka ranmanekineko) says to me:

Having grown up a tomboy preferring Thundercats and GoBots to Barbies, I was shocked to find how beautiful and chock full of attitude your dollfies could be! As an artist at heart, I loved the idea of being able to really make a doll 'mine'. So, as homage to you, I doodled a lil curly haired sailor girl, because it's all you fault I fell so hard for dollfies!

CUTE. So sweet. And not a little bit awesome. I'd buy that dolly.

All of which we are trying to do without, because we're saving for a trip to Europe this summer. Weeeeeeeeeeee!

Wishlist ♥

• Dollstown 13b White Body for my poor girls
• Dollstown Hue head (because I can see a little chimney sweep in his sad-sad countenance)
• Volks Sasha! *falls over* (this is the one doll I would throw all good habits to the wind for... well, except paying current market value :p)
• Sato FCS SD13 F28-27 Girl in white: I wanted an F28 boy, but Foppington has been so troublesome, I think I would just like one of these heads as a girl. I'm desperate actually... and as soon as I'm off financial probation, barring Sasha, this is my plan.
• Sweet Dream School A: omg.
• Elfdoll Hana Angel=lurve: thankfully, currently sold out.
• In a perfect world where I can have anything I want: FCS SD10 Medium Boob White Girl F-01 or F-15 (Syo) head as a sister for Ashenputtel. I dream... sigh.
• DIM Doll Bjorn head in white
• Volks Dolpa 16 MSD mushroom outfits ^_^, this dress, SD16 awesome boots, and DD white body with new large milk part!
• Luts 3 hold black shiney boy boots for Ondine: these always go out of stock when I can finally order, meh! EDIT: wah! they are completely gone from inventory!
• Mama Told Me (I still don't have her, and it hurts me)

Resolutions:

• buy nothing (ha!)
• sell everything
• keep shifting and selling to improve living conditions
• finish scanning library into database (woo!)
• make mattress and bedding for old iron dollbed sitting in the middle of our living room
• repaint St. Trinian who is finally dismembered, well scrubbed, and ready for her Blastmilk Dolly Hospital Visit.
• Check in Miette, Fifi & perhaps Lulu to same Hospital Ward... er, some time this year
• sew handsome suit, street urchin outfit, and lots of top hats for Lord Foppington
• sew purty dresses and chapeau for girls and use up some of those gazillion pieces of fabric I've stashed
• redo templates for meathenge.com
• go to Europe and try not to hyperventilate and turn blue before I get on the plane.
• prepare panels for Dollectable! I'll be doing several... I think... eeek! what fun though! but it is the weekend before Boveresse (Euro Trip) so I need to prepare ahead!