Best Face Forward

Improvised Solution

There’s a headless body about the house!

Basically since the day I purchased her, I wanted to have Mimi’s face repainted. Mimi is a Volks Super Dollfie Nono “2008 Renewal” version. She has Zoukeimura airbrushed makeup in tones of peach and brown. As far as factory face ups go, it’s not all that shabby–but it didn’t really appeal to me in the sort of way that I wanted it to. I wanted to look over at my doll and think, “Wow, she’s perfect!” but instead I’d always look over and think, “:3 Yessss, a Nono of my own.” Not a bad thought, but not exactly what I wanted. The factory faceup is versatile and simple–both things I like–but it was exactly what I would have asked for if I were having her painted on commission.

Finding an artist that seemed right for the task was not easy. In my opinion, Nono can be a difficult sculpt to work with. Her face has very dramatic proportions and features. Her huge eyes are spaced pretty far apart. Her nose is narrow and pointy. Although I looked at the work of many artists, I didn’t see any examples that fit the type of look I’d like or seemed well suited to be painted on Nono’s head. I also kept putting off looking seriously into having Mimi’s face repainted due to the cost. There are face up artists all along the cost spectrum, but when I reflected on the dolls of others that I most admired, it started to seem like I’d be paying for a pricier artist. Pushing the commission of a new faceup to a future month was easy every time I moved it; Mimi already had a decent faceup–I just wanted an upgrade. Upgrades can wait. Continue reading »

2012 Doll Resolutions Follow-Up

It’s that time again for doll-related goals~ I made these earlier in the year, but I hadn’t really thought about them all that much for a little bit. I tried to keep it very simple this year. There was quite a bit from last year that I just didn’t get to. It was an interesting year, though, in terms of doll purchases, arrivals, and departures. I’m looking forward to seeing how things go for 2013! Continue reading »

2012 Doll Resolutions

I didn’t quite get around to crossing everything off of my list of doll-related resolutions for 2012, although I feel like I made good progress. The two that I did not complete in 2011, a faceup for Mimi and a couch for the dolls, were mostly left off due to budgetary constraints. I entered the Volks lottery to purchase a new doll, Dollfie Dream Sister Ms. Mariko and thus allocated funds towards the doll purchase instead of towards a faceup and couch. (I’ll be posting about Ms. Mariko soon; I’m so very excited!) Continue reading »

2010 FCS Milk Tea Omukae

On various doll forums that I frequent, my username is typically “milkytea.” In 2010, “milk tea” was the theme for Volks’ full-choice system welcoming (omukae) outfits. I adored those outfits the moment that I saw them–they’re ruffled, old-fashioned, and in muted tones of ivory, dusty rose, and chocolate brown. I liked the outfits so much that at times I imagined ordering a full-choice doll just to keep the outfit. I kept my eyes open for an FCS split where I could chip in for the outfit, but none were available during the times I would check. Continue reading »

Another Shoe Saga

Wishing for no postal service-related issues was just not to be. I feel like I am under a shoe curse–if I purchase doll shoes, the postal service will somehow make it less than a smooth transaction. The girl that I purchased the shoes from was courteous, prompt with communication, and shipped very quickly. The package was traveling internationally via registered mail, so I knew that I had a while to wait. I checked the tracking every few days or so, so that I wouldn’t miss it like last time. I didn’t see much activity there, but one day I came home to the orange “delivery attempted” slip in my mailbox. Continue reading »

Rocking Horse Shoe Saga

As mentioned in an earlier post, I was thrilled to find a pair of black Volks x BABY the Stars Shine Bright rocking horse shoes for sale at Dollfie World, and purchased them immediately. I ordered on May 9, and opted for registered airmail instead of EMS. I usually choose EMS for overseas shipments. It’s pricey, but it’s also very fast, insured, and reliable. I don’t mind paying more for that peace of mind. I didn’t choose EMS for this purchase, however,  because I didn’t need the shoes by a certain date and the jump in pricing from airmail to EMS was nearly quadruple! Continue reading »

2011 Doll Resolutions

I’ve set a few goals for this year that are specifically related to my dolls. There are things that I really like about my dolls, and things that really frustrate me about my dolls. I’m aiming to take care of the things that really frustrate me so that I can overall enjoy my dolls much more~ Sometimes it’s tempting to alleviate those kinds of feelings by purchasing new dolls, but that is not what I want to do. Continue reading »

Shoes that Rock

I haven’t posted here in a very long while because I made the decision to stop write about my dolls. I thought it was taking time and effort away from my other writing, which I find much more interesting and engaging, and here I have no audience–no-one reads this except for me! This doesn’t mean that I was any less involved in the hobby, though; I’ve actually been doing quite a bit with my dolls and have been enjoying myself very much~ ★ My mind is constantly whirling with thoughts and ideas…enough that it was getting a bit annoying. I realized that I benefit from having a place to write this down, so I’m back~ Continue reading »