pira

At the grocery store today I found a bin of tea towels that had just arrived and was struck
by their moss green stripes.

Aside for my current obsession with this particular shade(s) of green ...and tea towels in general, it occured to me that THIS would make a marvelous blankie for my doll bed.

....I was correct. It's a prefect size and it lays really nicely and looks most natural :)

It had me thinking though ~ when I put Willow in the bed last night, on her side. Her elastics are still tight and she sort of curled up and looked very lonely...so what if I finally introduced her to Kohl?

I flipped her over, face to face with him and her arm flipped out as if to embrace him. *0__0!!!


( Kohl = catnip )

Went to T.O. late on Thursday afternoon as Teh Bob was meeting up with his former boss and another work-buddy for dinner and the next day he, the sprog and I were going to attend his company sponsered event for One Million Acts of Green campaign.

I realized on our way to drop the husband off for his tête-à-tête that I had the chance to slip away to an Ikea for bed linens..admittedly dragging an 8 year-old boy but I had a mission and wouldn't be long.

While searching for the sheets, I spied a little wooden bed that I assumed was a model of larger one and thought that would fit my kitty girl perfectly, too bad it's not forsale. Turned out that it was actually a doll bed & was available for purchase...HAH...POUNCE!!

Yesterday I made a mattress and pillow for the bed, and then made a matching pillow case and mattress cover from ...what else?...used kimono material. >D I have ordered THIS fabric to make a little duvet cover (and probably pamamas for Willow) with. BEWARE THE CUTE! =^..^= I am obscenely please with myself.

Anyway ~ I dragged the boy back to the restaurant where the men were eating and after dinner they were giving us suggestions where to stay the night (we had to be up early the next morning to plant trees)...and I was rolling my eyes inwardly, as these guys began suggesting a Four Seasons, close to Yorkville and how much I'd love the shopping, Prada-blah-blah-blah...*=__=

I smiled, Teh Bob nodded and thanked them, and when we got back to the car the two of us couldn't help but laugh a bit. They must have mistaken me for a corporate wife like they are married to.

Of course they mean well and are trying to smooth the path for my husband by assuming that I will enjoy doing what their wives do, making some recommendations based on their experience. It would never occur to them that I am desperately allergic to high end fashion shops....considering the flannel shirt over the black t-shirt, adidas pants and black clogs I was wearing. *cough* Why does NO one EVER says *oh it's close to the most wonderful book stores*....??

ANYway ~ the next morning we arrive at a park that is part of one of the many ravine forests in Toronto and I am again reminded how much of an outsider I am to this lot...as I stare at the people who arrive to participate (not the company organizers though..they at least have common sense).

I had on my best poker face as men in beige chinos and women in Chanel and other high-end HEELS showed up to plant trees in a ravine. We all got the same memo...right? RIGHT?! *0__o

I brought my own garden gloves. That about sums up the gulf between me and them. *falls down to knees and praises husband for choosing to work in the sticks*

It was a good day though ~ the job was done fast, we got outta dodge and snuck over to Chinatown north for some japanese groceries and shishimi for the sprog to snack on during the drive home.

The only downside was a three day headache that had wrapped itself like a fog around my brain. It finally lifted Sunday...at which point I could puzzle together this bed and use my machine without fear of sewing my fingers together! >D

When I finally got to stripping the little fella out of his underoos and spraying him I took a really close look at his peenie and was amused beyond words to discover that Dollzone boys have a urinary meatus (a.k.a. pee hole)

GO-GO DZ! *^___^*

Once I got up off the floor laughing I proceeded to finish spraying his little headless body and then blush up the shadowed areas and nails with some coloured chalk ~ matching it to the pink of his face-up.

While I'm not 100% happy with my work ~ it's better than I thought it would be for a first attempt and I even managed to add gloss to the nails which actually looks rather good if I do say so myself.

I learned a few things: I'll have a better selection of brushes and work slower ...and DEFINATELY work using my maginifying lamp because once more my eyes shifted their prescription ...(f**k the mid-40s) and I could barely see what I was doing at ANY distance.

Below is a slightly different angle of my handiwork....*wicked grin*....am I having fun yet? Probably waaay too much.


( Blushing privates )

Blah blah blah I'm a yaoigirl blah blah blah.

SO why the heck do I have 4 GIRL dolls in my resin family (three incoming before the end of the year), am wibbling about a 5th (won't let myself order her before the end of November to see if I really want her) YET... there are only two boys...

....and one of them is married to one of the girls?!!!

I look at the boys and smack my lips together and when my fingers do the walk of commitment on the keyboard.... they are choosing girls *0__0!!!

I am serious danger of having my Yaoi Membership revoked!

Okay ~ since what I seem to do a lot of is read the DoA boards I might as well comment in my own journal (in spite of probably boring the snot out of anyone here, but as Tam said go for it...i't my IJ)...... because sometimes my reactions to things that are discussed/debated/whatever there just need to leak out.

For example ~ this morning I am sipping my coffee and grazing on a debate about *copying other peoples dolls*... and for the most part a lot of doll owners that comment are calmly resigned about the phenomenon and muse on how it might happen quite by accident since everyone is sort of swimming in the same pool of aesthetic influences... but not everyone is ~ hence the subject as a topic for debate.

My first reaction to the topic was...*people copy dolls*?

My second was ~ but what exactly does that mean when you have so many little resin clones flowing out of the factories?

My third was to be quitely amused at the idea of people getting their knickers in a twist because someone dressed their dolly up to look just like someone elses dolly. Wow ..it's sort of totally like two high school beauty queen attending the Prom in the same dress on OPPOSITE COASTS so the chances are they will NEVER MEET IN REAL LIFE but CAT FIGHT!!!!

I could kinda-sorta understand if someone copied another persons' doll right down to the buttons and birthmarks and was selling it as their own design ~ but the fact of the matter remains that these are customizable items, and you have the right to paint/dress/style/mod them ANY way you want since you have paid out of your own pocket for them.

Sorry but while companies can copyright the molds/sculpts you can't copyright the way you paint and dress your BJD.

@__@ seriously...dolly people are funny creatures. VERY entertaining stuff this.

Well Iplehouse finally revealed the unpainted face of Akando ...he who will be my Masanori Araki ...I will order him without a face-up when the body /head become available beyond the circus act series... and make him Masa.

Thar SHALL be yakuza bjd in my household.

I just had to share this because I was ticked several shades of pink the other day when I opened a package of goodies from eve_le_dez ~ Not only I was spoiled with all kinds of goodies from her side of the pond...but so was Willow. This perfect 1/4 scale urn, set of cutlery and a model ship in a bottle (which reminds me of all the wonderful Royal Navy illustrations she's done for the brilliant joyful_molly... ) were included in the package.

*^___^* I was beaming from ear to ear...and laughing.

The Gods sometimes just can't help but pull my chain and the arrival of a box full of European chocolates is just evil when less than 24 hours earlier I'd promised my middle child I would join her in an 8 month abstinence of junk foods (french fries, ice creams, chips, cakes, cookies...chocolate)...all the things that she is having trouble over indulging in when she needs to lean out for the basketball season.

I didn't really care ~ this would be easy for me since I don't eat much of that kind of stuff anyway ~ but then I realized I'm giving up my once a week apple fritters (those thick slices of apple, battered, fried and rolled in sugar at the farmers market) and monthly strawberry/rhubarb pie. (craving of choice at that time of the month) DOH!

So there I am ~ the day before my elder daughters birthday ...having just bought a cheesecake for her celebratory dinner ....that I can't eat....with a box of lovely assorted German and Swiss chocolate in front of me feeling really ... irked at the Gods and their very bad sense of humour.

My mother flipped on me when I told her about all this, saying I'm the last person in my household that should give up pie...infact I should just cheat.

*0__o!!??

I never thought I'd hear my morally righteous mother say something like that...but I did mollify her saying that I'd told the middling ~ should she cheat I would find out (because I ALWAYS find out) and then I would make her life a living hell. We are talking about 8 months without apple fritters or pie. I wouldn't do that for ANYone but my children!

Sneak a milkshake? Find yourself unable to resist a jar of nutella? Think very carefully child of mine...because HELL hath no fury like a MOTHER denied apple fritters by a weak willed offspring.

Throws up hand and flaps it at those people recoiling in horror at *creepy dolls*

I saw the one today that you couldn't PAY me to have in my house...and he ain't gonna be cheap!

He's from Iplehouse and I have been watching the developement and teasers the company has been posting because he has the *NEW MAN BODY* which is simply do die for...

See it HERE...seriously
I don't know WHAT THE HECK I'd do with such a big doll (70.5 cm/27 1/2") but GOOD GODDESS that body mold is just...*drools*

Okay...anyway so the body is going to be released first as a special, limited edition version and I was thinkging *oh PLEASE be something I won't like*

...I found out it would be part of their circus series and I was happy because I really dislike clowns....and doll clowns in particular.

Then I saw their teaser pix for the face...HOLY HELL I'm going to have NIGHTMARES for WEEKS because of that mug! I need to bleach my brain!!!!!!!

I'm sorry if my opinion hurts the feeling of those who want to spend over $1000 US to have something that stands over two feet tall, leering like the murderous Joker in their house and love it to widdle bits before it trips them on the stairs and breaks their necks...but WTF?! WHO LIKES THIS KIND OF THING?!

*shudders*....so ~ should you look upon my dollies ....who are by default of being MY dollies .... happy, clueless, and/or gently thoughtful....and become creeped out, please keep in mind how bad it COULD BE. >D

Personally I'm just completely intrigued and totally emmersing myself in the whole enchillada ~ and as I mentioned to ariss_tenoh earlier...I don't think I've been as absorbed in a hobby (thing, topic, fandom, whateveryouwannacallit) since I was involved in the LoTRs fandom.

It totally engrosses me, with the blessed exception at this point, of story telling/writing the dolls as characters and/or buying/modding them to match. I am letting the ones that *ambush* me evolve rather than bang a square peg into a round hole. Not what I need from them.

I am trying to absorb the whole thing and it's so big, and so diverse I have a hard time believing that BJD people are still considered rare birds and when they are exposed to the harsh light of the media they are so ridiculously stereo-typed I'm torn between wanting to laugh or cry.

I am at this point a closet doll enthusiast, hiding this mania from disapproving strangers, local RL friends and extended family. *cough* I'll speak of that later...this peculiar need to keep these dolls to myself.

*DOLLS* ~

....you might have noted the plural.

Suffice it to say I'm not going anywhere for a while and in retrospect I'm actually fine with that....too busy playing with my toys. I'll elaborate on that later...but

ANYway I decided to swap out the red eyes that came with Kohl....

( More Kohl pix )

Well yeah...it was inevitable that I'd go head-over-teakettle down the last Dolly-rabbithole and that little speck waaay down there is me waving back up at you guys.

While bouncing around the internets I found the following quote by Cate Blanchett regarding dolls, which had me just howling ~ in particular after having two daughters who didn't enjoy Barbie so much as they enjoyed...modifying her appearance...*cough*...

You know you've made it when you've been moulded in miniature plastic. But you know what children do with Barbie dolls - it's a bit scary, actually.

Which in turn reminds me of a few WTF experiences in doll forums when looking at what people do to their dolls or looking at particular molds from different manufacturers. I'm not ashamed to say that some of them seriously make me cringe if not totally creep-me-the-bleep-out ~ but then dolls are all rather personal and one persons princess (or prince) is another's nightmare so whatevh. Each to their own....right?

Weeeellll ~ this in turn brings me to the inherent elitism in the hobby ~ and dispite the naysayers, there is no doubt in my mind that some people seriously think that ~ not only are some dolls more equal than other dolls...but the same goes for the dolly hobbiests too.

I won't bore you all with endless commentary on numerous threads where people discuss the pros & cons of dolly ownership, vent dolly annoyances or ponder dolly thoughts deeply ~ rather, suffice it to say there is not only a snobber amongst some, about the price of some ball-jointed-dolls (higher the price the more real it is), but ~ I smell a resentment in the air.

...this once small group has started to grow with the introduction of Chinese and Taiwanese models which are cheaper (but no less in quality from what I've read from those who own both) due to where they are made ~ making them more affordable (in a way that only makes sense to doll people) and hence forth...the rabble have been allowed in.

OMG ~ now people can walk in and just BUY a doll and be into BJDs? You don't have to wait for a year for a coveted mold and assemble, sand and paint it yourself?!! OMG what has the hobby come to?! It's going to ~ the ~ dogs!

**EDIT** ..I actually found a thread after I posted this, that lamented this exact fact......*

In a 6 week period I have watched in facination as a small element of OLD TIME doll owners have slowly started to wade into discussions such as *Rough Seam-lines on new expensive dolls are annoying* with attitudes that those who dropped $1200 US on a doll that was a limited edition are fools for not knowing that the seams would NOT be sanded ~ even though they paid EXTRA for clothing and a full body paintjob. Funny...if they offer you the OPTION of a body blushing/face painting, clothing set...but NOT SANDING OF THE ROUGH EDGES I do NOT think the person is unreasonable or stupid for being upset that they dropped a LOT of money on something that is only partially complete ...and only remotely looks like the photos and then questioning the industry standards in a doll forum. I'm not talking about seams being visible...I'm talking about rough enough to tear stockings you put on your doll.

....well I'm compiling a list of manufacurers that do that kind of thing (the really high end ones are the worst offenders) and personally I find this kind of elitism is wtf-funny ~ because it's like buying a Ferrari but having delivered without the welding ground off, but the paint job just slapped over top of it...because you know they're busy. Not too busy to take your money but you know...just too busy making cars for others to be arsed to do it.

*0__o...astounding logic dolly girls pull out of their asses when trying to act superior to the newcomers who are not in there for building from the ground-up but just want to enjoy and squee and play with the pretty.....

I'd found this brief article: Playing with Dolls is Serious Fun; "Girls don't even think of them as dolls. They are friends," she says. If you walk into your bedroom and your dolls are all lined up, "it makes you feel warm and cozy because you are surrounded by so many friends."

While the topic is about young children having an assortment of dolls, I think the logic applies to grown-ups who collect them...and I much prefer those BJD-owners who have been into it for a while (or forever) and get that aspect of it, and are happy to share the warm and cozy with newbies...instead of looking down their noses, sniffing at the riffraff trying to bust in on their little party.

You'll have to excuse me....but I HAD to give him a newspaper. That Lex Luthor ~ Rule the World Suit and attitude he has going on just begged for one.

In other news I have finished applying the cork panels to the office wall. JUST had enough glue. Hopefully it all stays in place.

Off now to do something else domestic..... *hums to self and trots off*

I was playing and it suddenly occured to me that this whole nude dude thing was driving me a bit nutters and how hard could it really be to make a version of fundoshi (traditional Japanese underwear) for the boys...at the very least a type of one.

Not hard at all...

Took me whole 10 minutes flat out. To do it the fully wrapped through the legs 2x version becomes too bulky at this diminutive size in particular since there is no real...way to wedgie the material in place (so to speak) and the point of the exercise is that it's one piece of cloth that is just tied.

It will probably be the least amount of time I spend on anything I do with these guys.

....of course the lovely, lightweight cotton kimono lining I used made the job that much easier but I have to wonder if the person who originally wore the garment could EVER have imagined that part of it would end-up as doll gotchies >D


( fundoshi )

Totally obsessing with this cover art on Volume 10 of Kizuna ~ in other words someone put the hose down the rabbit hole and it's a bloody mudslide down here!!

Have decided on a head and body for Ranmaru (far right) and will paint the face and crop the rooted hair to suit.

I have spent WAY TOO MUCH time agonizing over 1/6 scale watches for Masanori (2nd from left) too....but I found his suit.

*did I mention that before??*

AND in other news volume 2 & 3 of Kizuna LUX arrived today along with volume 1 of Borders (her new series) and I got caught up with the story (as much as I can make out from the piccies ) and OMG the smexing!!! The additional story in the LUX additions has Ranmaru & Kei going crazy against a hotel window (ala Viewfinder) AND I am now convinced she is restarting (or rewriting) K2's stalled/mothballed Guns & Roses series into a more updated men & guns/ spring & autumn tale here! HOLY NOSEBLEED!

*snaps fingers together loudly in the direction of the scanilators*...come ON girls ~ faster faster!! >D

....dolls aside...Howthef**k am I going to create those four chairs?

*wanders off to the gym pondering papermache and things*

I've posted my Bonsai-Boy photo story to the doll forum and they seem to like it.

I did a bit of a cleaning up of the script and found I really am enjoying this more than I had thought possible.

At the gym today, as I was mindlessly going through my routine with the weights ~ I started scripting another story...except it's a couple chapters down the road...and now I have to write up what leads up to that moment.

The sceneio is thus: Monk (bald boy for lack of a better name..) has found out he's going to be co-splaying Masanori from K2.

I am going to approach these guys as if they are dolls with fully independent personalities of their own but are acting out the wishes of SHE WHO MUST BE OBEYED. Their reactions and subsequent commentary will be the storyline. It's a dolls' point of view we're talking about here and as I am discovering...they are a pair of smart asses.

....yes. Yes I am having TOO MUCH FUN. :P

If this all seems freakish to you ...don't worry...it's just a side of my leaking out that has been dormant for a while. I used to do similar things with magazines in my youth. I was talking to a friend a few weeks ago who still has a box filled with *stories* I'd cobbled together (like collages in comic book form) of us as superspies in high school. >D

*hums to self*...'I donwannagrowup-I'matoysRuskid...lalalala'

**EDIT** ~ Have found a Obitsu head for Masa that I can easily enough modify with appropriate eye colour and scars, and a wig for Kai to go with the head, which I'll paint...and a slender obitsu body for the uke :)

*do-do-do-do-do-do-do-doooo*.....now to dig around in my drawers to see if have the appropriate scraps to make yukata for them. *^___^*

Yakuza in yukata....mmmmm-mmm-yummy.

Oh no......

It finally happened...all the random doll stuff just hit me like a freight train and not only have I tripped & fallen down the rabbit hole, but it seems I've discovered a mission;

Customizing Obitsu into Kizuna dolls....

In particular Masa ....(drools at the thought of painting a dragon tattoo on an Obitsu body).....I might toss him a Kai if he gives me a hassle.


This all makes sense in a weird and wonderfully twisted sort of way >D


...In other news ~ finished the drawing for Alyx Shaw's Forbidden Fruit piece and fired it off to the editors.

......And they wonder why the birthrate is dropping.

This is one of those things that I need to just toss out there and engage your thoughts on as I digest it ~ because my brain scattered in mulitiple directions regarding culture, society, history, gender relations, economics, language.... even the body politic, and I need to think about this:





*holds head in hands and tries desperately to shake the horrible, dreadful GiTS~Innocence-moment she is having*

Have finished updating Norton on both pcs during which I made head way into the 2nd book of Tamora Pierce's Immortals Series; Wolf Speaker....nice bubblegum fantasy fare...and I understand now how it was that my mother positively devoured almost the entire trilogy ...of 4 books each, in less than two weeks.

My father told me to keep my books to myself. She just sat on the couch for a week+ and ignored him. *heh*

AND I now recall WHY it was that she asked me when returning them, if I had any more. Thinking back on it ~ when I went on a Tamora Pierce tear in 2007 (because she was listening to the audio books from the library and wouldn't stop recommending them to me), I couldn't get a hold of the concluding volume to this particular set (the middle of the trilogy). It is now readily available....and the glaring oversight will be dealt with. It's also why I hadn't read this series yet....I just forgot what I was waiting for. >__<

MEANWHILE ~ I read the newly released compilation of Yoshihiro Tatsumi's work from Drawn & Quarterly; Good-bye, while my son was at swim lessons today.

First off let me take this moment to gloat ~ D&Q is a Canadian GN publisher and puts out some....slightly off beat material, and Yoshihiro's work definately fits that profile. Each volume is a pleasure to read ~ inspite of the feminist reviewers who will continue to get their knickers in a knot about the way women are portrayed ~ they work becausethey are a product of their time (1960s-70s) ~ and one should not lose sight of that cultural and historical significance when reading these sad, disturbing, sad and disturbing, and sadly disturbing short stories. These tales are about the underbelly of humanity ~ pimples, warts and nosehairs be damned, there is nothing particularly likable about the heroes ~ unless of course you recognize yourself in their thought processes.

There is nothing...*satisfying* about these stories ~ no conclusions, no happy endings...just the reader left closing the book and mulling thoughts over in their head.

Why gloating? Cause I recieved my pre-order before the street date. :P

As for the dollies ~ I have been looking for a pair of *older* Japanese dolls that *spoke* to me for about 2 years now. Not that I am completely dismissive of the pretty ones featuring royalty, geisha or samurai....it's just that I'm not looking for merely attractive.... I seem to approach them like all other artwork that I collect, with the basic desire that looking upon them makes me smile.

I found the pair that does exactly that....their smiles, the angle of their faces and the way they hold their hands out joyously at play. :)


( Dolls )

Depressed basketballers aside it was a good day...at least from my tummy's perspective. Taken out for a Mother's Day meal of sushi resulted in me waddling to my bed for a late afternoon nap. Stuffed to the gills you might say...

I had a nice long chat with xandria and was amused how we are both so similar but very different....yet again. Nothing nearly as comical as the two of us purchasing the exact same product... independantly (say like a Canon G9 camera)....that kind of thing is so common between us that it no longer makes the hair stand up on our necks, rather we just roll our eyes and laugh. What DID amuse me is how we both are obsessing with our latest interests...which on the surface don't seem particularly similar at all.

Both of us have moved away from compulsive *sharing* of our yaoi collections and squeeing about the genre. Oh we purchase and read the material at the same rate as before ~ but we have both stepped back from participating in the community. We of course have filled the *hobby-void* with other things....

In her case it's Second Life and in mine...dolls.

They're different right?

She spend crazy amounts of time researching things online in order to build a universe for her cyber people ~ designing sets for them to live in, clothes to wear, intricately creating indepth personas and sceneios for them....naturally Victorian themed with a touch of Japanese.

Meanwhile, in my corner I spend crazy amounts of time researching things online in order to build a universe for my resin doll(s) ~ designing sets for her(them ...as I do have 2 obitsu boys) to live in, clothes to wear, intricately creating indepth personas and sceneios for them....naturally Japanese themed with a touch of Victorian.

HEH..wait a minute??!!

*face palm*

ANYway....she told me to just *get him already*.

She means a proper dolfie-type boy. I am SO NOT GOING there...yet. *wags finger*...I still think they are too big. I like the 1:6 size...

....but that doesn't stop me from researching and drooling and plotting and....and planning...and...=__=

ANYway I suspect my suitcase will be filled with lots of 1:6 Japanese themed doll accessories and one of my goals this trip is to find dollie-sized geta.

*face desk* ...I'm doomed.

When I purchased the doll I also bought a set/box case of Shokugan ~ Candy Toys that I will evenually use when posing her in Japanese settings...and yes, taking photos

Be afraid. Be very afraid.

Today the Mega House Mini Tea Sweets Collection arrived & it's utterly adorable and beautifully crafted.. The thing that has not failed to amaze me is is the quality of these candytoy thingies...considering they are just itty bits of plastic (in this case the entire set was under $25).

I'd seen them in toystore dioramas in Tokyo countless times but it wasn't until I bought the as of yet nameless J-doll that I finally got to understand why they are so popular. *0__0!!

A lightbulb moment I tell ya!