10-20-07 Hommes

The Homme Boys are on their way to a new home. I sold all my male dolls and the extra clothes and accessories. they just didn't do anything for me. I'm also selling off my 16" Tonner dolls. I kept the most beautiful but it's time for them to move on. I love the turnover and making room for new goodies. There's a new Hana on the way from Korea! She is the Halloween special limited version. Quite a few new items are on the horizon besides Fashion Royalty dolls. Articulated Kish Riley and 16" Ghost of Christmas Past will be here next week.
Yesterday I sat down to the anticipated pleasure of deboxing Sugar Plum, the huge convention exclusive gown.
It is too tight around the bust. I knew I shouldn't have bought this dress. What a waste of $100. It reminds me of a Puerto Rican crocheted lace toilet paper roll cover that used to be popular in the 50's. It's huge and gathered and fluffy and over the top. Oh well. Perhaps if I get one that fits, it will look dramatic. It will also need it's own room...LOL.
I got my preview copy of this quarter's issue of FDQ and I was floored to see that my interview of Joy was given 6 glorious pages. My images are amazing. One takes up an entire page. Whoever laid it out did a great job.

So many Vanessas; so little time.

So many Vanessas; so little time. I'm still seeking my raven AFL. She is the only elusive gal on my list.

The convention was great. The dolls are beautiful - especially Vanessa and Eugenia. I sold all the others except for 1 Erin. I kept the Model Behavior clothes and the fashions. Nothing else floated my boat. I put together the diorama and it's a hoot.
I picked up my rerooted Chic Escape from Susan K and she is just gorgeous!

I'm thinking of selling off all my Hommes and their clothes in one grand lot. It's probably worth more than $500. but I would take $400.

9-24-07 Talking Drama Adele

Tomorrow we leave for Pittsburgh and the Fashion Royalty Convention. I am very excited. I still have to do all my packing but everything else is in order. I don't think I'd do very well if I had to fly because of all the clothing we're taking, etc. I'm not sure how people who are doing major room sales handle it unless they ship cartons to the hotel in advance. That's what I would do. As I looked around in my studio I realized that I could do room sales to get rid of the junk. But who wants to hang in the room and maybe no one wants to buy junk. It would be better to give it away.
I will be returning home with two of my dolls that people worked on, seven optional purchase dolls and one convention doll. I have already created eBay auctions that will automatically go up on the 25th for pre-sale purposes. I will keep Bob's extra convention doll (maybe) for possible future trades.
This is an expensive event!
 
Below is a picture of the doll I didn't think I'd be able to get at all.  She is Talking Drama Adele and she is stunning.

We haven't gotten our first Club doll yet! It's already the end of September. I have two coming - they are Vanessas. And, if that wasn't enough, there will be a winter line as well. I don't know how long I can continue with this.
I've been buying some other items as well - Barbie items. Why? I don't know. Actually, I like the Barbie Millicent Roberts clothing so I have most of that line. I try to keep up with the purchases by selling, and I do sell a lot of merchandise. There are two collectors who think I am their favorite store. That is funny!

8-30-07 Doll Overload

Here we go again - dolly overload. Upon returning from Florida there were 7 dolls waiting and several outfits. I don't like it when this happens. When I started collecting, I would get one doll at a time and have fun photographing her. I'd put her on my nightstand to gaze upon her loveliness and really enjoy her. Now it's too many; too soon.

I have been following the rule of "one in; one out." I don't know how people live with hundreds of dolls. But they do!

The doll pictured above is called Rule Breaker Pierre. He is so strange that he's a keeper. I sold two of my Homme dolls recently so there's room for him. I swore I wan't going to collect the men but these are the only male dolls whose clothes are fabulous. I don't play with them; I just admire them.

As far as the "Checking Out" giftset - well I wasn't too thrilled with it. I don't particularly like Francisco's sculpt and I didn't like Colette at all. Her bangs were like a shelf. What were they thinking? She's such a pretty doll as a blonde. I like her clothes. I sold her in the Pink Hope gown.

8-3-07 Haute Luxuries

The picture above is Haute Luxuries Veronique. I bought her from Ginny. I love the facial screening of the older dolls. They're pretty. I like pretty. Some of the Fashion Royalty dolls are not pretty although they are fashionable. There's quite a difference.

I sold Anti-Social Misaki. She was a good example of a doll that is not pretty but is very 'now' in style.
I just couldn't warm up to her.

AND...believe it or not, I 'fixed' the sunken nose bridge of True Royalty by using a heating pad to soften her head and then reshaping it while warm. Then I took out her hair and cut it evenly. It is now drying from straightening. I'm going to root in more hair and then style it, or try to style it. I'm not very good at styling tiny heads.

Here are a few of my latest photographs:

7-19-07 Thinning the Collection

I have been thinning out my collection in anticipation of the Wu Convention dolls. There are 7 new dolls plus the actual convention doll!
In addition to that, there are still several dolls coming from the Cult Couture collection.
Soooooo....there are some dollies that must go. Erin, YRB, has moved on to a collector in Brazil.
I decided that I wasn't really interested in collecting Ellowyne. I have sold nude Tatters and Nevermore and I plan to sell their outfits as well. But I would like to trade for Bittergreen if I can. I am keeping the basic blonde because I think she is the best and her butterfly/safari outfit that looks so cute on her.
A replacement body for Hard Rock is on the way. I will be using a tall Natalia body.

7-14-07 Hard Rock

_What's new? Hard Rock 2007. She had glitter on her lips and upper brows. I repainted the lips, added color to her cheeks and scraped off as much of the glitter as I could. Her hair needed a bit of taming as well. I'm searching for a QotH Natalia body for her. I like her face now.

So much fighting going on at the W Club Board. People feel they must tell others how to behave. Ugh.

I have poison ivy on the ring finger of my right hand! So annoying these little itchy bumps are.


I got a haircut today. Drastic change! It's short. It's good.
Gotta go to sleep now or just get in to bed and rest. Traveling to Long Island is tiring and the traffic was horrible.

6-25-07 Ellowyne, Diorama

I sold Ellowyne Red, White and Very Blue so I could buy "Nevermore." RW&VB was too modern for the other two Ellowynes I have. I want to keep her dressed in lacy, old fashioned styles that fit with her story line. There are people making clothes for her as if she were just an ordinary doll. I can't see it. The only one making suitable items for this doll is Tallulah!



This image is from the Wilde website. I ordered her last night.
I'm waiting on many items. One of them is the Clea Bella set. That's going to be very interesting and a big help in taking pictures within a room setting.
Speaking of room settings. I have set up a wonderful diorama of a living room/office in my studio. Here are some fun pics of that.









I love the couch and the desk and all the details. I need curtains for the windows.

Saturday is the Tonner sale. I'm trying to psych myself up for it. All I hope to find are Ellowyne items but you never know. It's a good opportunity to buy stuff to resell.

6-22-07 Ellowyne

Hey, it's only a month since the last entry. It could have been worse.

Lots of new dollies have arrived on the scene, notably three Ellowynes. I know, I swore I wasn't going to buy any more 16" dolls but this one got to me big time. She is really cute and I love her outfits. More than that, story line about being interminably bored endeared her to me. Here are my three girls.

5-23-07 Spectacular Eugenia, Aren and Ayla

Once again, I have gone for weeks without an entry. I'm just not a blogger. But now with so many new dolls having arrived, I must post.

The latest is Eugenia Spectacular Fashion Royalty. This was an overpriced but gorgeous doll. The sculpt is Wu's finest so far. Her hair is even soft and combable!

I'm going to sell her gown which is less than stellar compared to his original of which this was supposed to be a replica. I don't think so. The drape of the skirt is ridiculous. It's all pouffy compared to heavy and flat. Oh well. She is beautiful.

And.....sound the horns.....Tan Aren arrived. At first I was shocked. She looked so different from natural skin Aren. Her nose looked pointy and her lips were tiny. But as I dressed her and put her side by side with the first Aren, she started to look more beautiful. I love her. The color of her resin makes so much difference. Now light Aren looks sickly. Oy.

5-01-07 Aren

This is a picture of Aren - Perfect Fusion. I need this doll. Of course it has been sold out for a while but I got an email from Soom saying they will be produced again next month and they will contact me. Who knew I would love Aren so much that I would want another? I have searched many, many BJD sites and still cannot find another 12" or so doll to love. If I ever decide to go bigger, Soom has several choices as well. But I don't want to go there--too big and I don't have any clothes for a big doll.



I signed up for the Wu Convention on Sunday and booked our hotel room as well. We're going to Pittsburgh on Tuesday and the Convention starts on Thursday. That way we have an entire day to explore the city. Neither of us has ever been there. I just checked out the Warhol Museum website and it is cool. I'm looking forward to that museum.



Also on my mind are the two articles I'm about to do. Ideas are coming but I do need to build the backdrop. That will make everything easier.

Aren's Lingerie

Aren - You Must Love Me

I absolutely cannot get enough of this doll. She is just the prettiest, most expressive doll of my entire collection! I want another but I must wait until a tanned version comes out.

I've been buying wigs for her and she looks great in all of them. So now I'm trying to sell Hana to gather funds for another Soom girl. Perhaps a big one? The only problem with that is the clothes. I don't have any for such a big doll and they are quite pricey. Aren can wear Misaki clothes beautifully - even the shoes fit!

Sometimes I put her on my nightstand at bedtime to look at her before falling asleep.

With so many BJDs out there, I made the right choice.

Here are more photos of Aren.

3-26-07 Aren

I ordered Aren - You Must Love Me from Soom. Hope to get her shortly. She will be my third BJD. Can't wait.....

3-18-07 Poesie Sans Coleur

I wish I remembered to write more often. I am very happy to report that Poesie Sans Couleur Vanessa arrived last week. Since I didn't need the cocktail dress I sold it immediately. I photographed her in her wedding gown and sold that too. Was going to sell the lingerie but Vin changed my mind. I am waiting for my rerooted IM Vanessa to return from Susan K's salon with her new hair and do.

Poesie is already on a tall body. I was afraid to warm her up for fear I would ruin her hair but it's OK. I carefully monitored its placement in the heating pad and limited the time it was in there getting warm.

3-8-07 Orientdoll So

Look who came to live here! She is an Orientdoll So Ye. Pretty cute. She poses better than Hana whom I still have to wire. I'm waiting for wigs and some outfits for her. In this first picture she is wearing a Kelly dress.

2-27-07 Veronique - Special Effects Photo

Having fun. Lots going on. More later.

2-7-07 Hi-Fly Francisco

The featured image in this entry is Hi Fly Francisco whose eyes were repainted by Vin Trapani. I flocked him.
There are two Agnes dolls on the way. One is the second W Club doll. Hopefully that will arrive in less than 2 weeks.

Next week is the Jason Wu 2007 doll preview at FAO. I'm really looking forward to that. Unfortunately it's only a 2 hour event and there will be so many people there to meet in person whom I have already met on-line. It's going to be a wild 2 hours. Of course if there is a line outside, that might be fun, too.
Bob and I were thinking about taking the bus down.
We'll see.

2-4-07 True Royalty Vanessa

I haven't written for a while, not because I haven't been photographing but just the opposite. I've been busy with Hana and True Royalty. A different approach was necessary with my photography because I was just producing perfect pictures - not art. So I really put effort into her (TR's) photographs and used a 'different' eye that I have allowed to sleep for too long. It's awake now.
Jon asked me if I would like to contribute to the next issue of Seloj Spa and Madison Chua has agreed to an interview. I am psyched! I will use my images of TR. I've got to get up a list of questions for Madison. It's going to be fantastic.
Today I purchased Chic Escape. I have wanted her for the longest time. It kind of makes up for the disaster of a deal that fell through with the FDQ Vanessa. I have given up on that doll for now. I don't care if I ever get her. My way of thinking is changing, though. As I look as some of the newer dolls and the older ones I have switched to newer bodies, I start to really choose certain dolls above others. Some have to go. I have sold several of the older dolls, including 4 Kyoris! I thought I'd never let go of a Kyori. But I am not going for quantity now. If I have the doll, she'd better be something I love. And now there are several that don't fit that description.
It is good this way. They make room and provide cash for the new ones.