It's a Doll's Life

A blog about Ball-Jointed Dolls (BJDs)

[itsadollslife]

I'm in dire straits financially, so I've come to the point where I'm thinking of selling Alex...again. 

I keep considering it, but never can go through with it.  Of course, I'm in such bad shape financially that I can't sell him fast enough, because I'm so close to the unplanned overdraft for the third time this month and it's only been a week & a half since I got my wages through - I went overboard last month & it's snowballed out of control this month.  I can't get a loan, because of my bad credit score, and I don't want to tell my parents, because they think I've been doing fine and getting extra cash in so that I don't need money from them.  I could do with some, but I don't think they'll be too happy that I've lied to them about the fact that I don't need the cash I'm making from sales (although I don't actually have enough to post 2 items off today).

I can't even cry about it, and I want to.  I don't know why I can't.  I guess I'm mad at myself more than upset.  I've been trying & trying to resolve this, even thought I had my head above water so to speak, but then more payments went out even though I've tried to be good with it all!  So, now, I'm so close to the unplanned overdraft again and I'm going to push myself over the edge posting two items off today.  If I can even do that...

I could do commissions for online art, I suppose, but I don't do pieces on my computer.  I do them by hand, and I don't want to sell the originals.  But, I'd need money for prints.  The only other option I have is to sell off all the things I don't use any more.  And I mean all of them.  But, then I'd have nothing for if this happens again.  I could put the commissions in place once I'm financially stable enough to afford prints, or add a charge for the print on to the overall price.  I need to think things through, but I don't have a clear enough head right now.

I can't lose Alex just to fix my financial woes.  He came into my life at a crucial turning point, and creating his character distracted me from it.  Sure, I ignore him a lot of the time now, but I just can't get rid of him.  Or, am I being too sentimental with a doll?  He's the biggest cash cow I'm sitting on right now, because of how much he cost me in the first place.  He could pull me out of this financial crisis, but it means saying goodbye to him.  And I don't know how quickly he would sell...or where the best place to advertise him would be.

I'm in a catch-22, and I've got no means of immediate escape.

[itsadollslife]

Bonus outtakes from the shoot this evening (hence the bad lighting and the phone's super-bright camera flash!), because I want to show off his gorgeous hair colour & his cute style in colour!

[itsadollslife]

NEW PHOTOS OF ALEX!!

I actually love the grainy quality to these!  They look artsy & rough!

And that's the lilac-highlighted wig, but the colours don't show in these photos.

[itsadollslife]

Need to raise some funds, so I'll be putting some of Alex's old things on eBay in a couple of days, when I've decided what can go (the stuff he never wears most likely).

So, if you're in the market for 70cm doll clothes (masculine ones mostly), shoes/boots (some larger than 70cm doll's feet), props (again probably better suited to dolls taller than 70cm - 80 or 90cm perhaps), etc. then keep an out on my blog for posts & details!

[itsadollslife]

Ok, long time no see!

Firstly, plans for Pasha (the Soom Hyperon I was in the process of buying the last time I was on here) fell through, due to me needing a new car after my old one failed its last MOT.  So, unfortunately, there's no new doll to show off.  Yet.  I'm still after a 2nd one.  Someday.

Secondly, Alex is still with me, so no worries there.  Sadly, though, no new photos of Alex!  He's spent months on top of the wardrobe again, and I've only just gotten him down today to change his clothes (he'd been sat in the other ones since he went up, so they'd gathered a fair bit of dust).  Today, he gave me a bit of a girly vibe, so he's in his sandy brown wig with the lilac highlights, and the most gender-neutral outfit I could put together on a 70cm doll!  Alex makes for a good-looking girl actually!  It's in his eyes, which are now green instead of the usual blue (they've been green for months to be honest though).

He looks a little pensive as well today.  Not the usual bitch-face angry he gives off.  But, almost sad.  It's sweet to see the different emotions a doll's face can give off.

[geekymandy-deactivated20160531]

I just wanna say it. I am so very sick of only ever being half in and half out of the BJD hobby all of the time!

Seriously! I dunno maybe I should just give up and focus more of my time on minecraft and helping with the server, this attitude will probably change but its just getting so upsetting that I can only ever doubt myself. 

It was different when I was little, I should never have started idolising other BJD artists and focussed more on what I want my BJD collection to be to me. Its been 3 days since I’ve taken Kapukii out, what am I gonna do?

[itsadollslife]

May I offer you some advice?  Give it time. 

We BJD owners go through phases with our dolls; we sometimes come across as quite fickle with them. 

I've done it plenty with Alex, and I'll probably do it with the others I plan to eventually bring home.  I think hobbies can come & go in cyclical patterns, whether it's doll ownership or game-playing. For a few months, you might feel like doing nothing with your doll(s) and then one day you'll just think "oh hey, I know what might be fun".  I did that with Alex about a month ago.  Until then, he'd been sitting on my wardrobe - out of harm's way - until the time came round for him to come to the forefront again.  With a second doll on the way, and a third in the pipeline, Alex may have to take a backseat for a while again, until the novelty of owning a new doll wears off.

So, give it some time.  Maybe a month or two and then, if you're still feeling this way, look at stepping away from the hobby.  Maybe just step away from the pages of the high-profile artists for a bit for now, so that you can come to appreciate the dolls you have.  At first, I was somewhat concerned that Alex wasn't as popular as other dolls, my photos of him weren't getting many notes and very few people commented on him, but then I stopped worrying.  I knew that, as long as I loved him, other people's opinions didn't matter so much to me. 

[itsadollslife]

If there's one thing I hate about inspiration, it's how it can strike at the most inappropriate of times.  Before going to bed tonight, I found out that one of the only BJD dealers in my country is now dealing with Souldoll (whose dolls I have admired since joining this hobby), and now I want to bring one of either the Soul Kid or Soul Sweet girls home to be a daughter for Pasha after he arrives!

It's now 23:30, and I'm supposed to be up at 06:00 for work...I wanted at least 7 hours sleep, but it looks like I won't be getting that now.  All because I can't shift this idea of giving Pasha a daughter, and the whole back-story for the father-daughter pairing!! 

[coreiseuse-deactivated20160131]

I have a secret…..

[trickstarbrave]

Does anyone know what red and black wig luts put on the limited Senior delf Bory?

I actually really like it—

[itsadollslife]

On the page for the Envy Formen clothing set for the Senior Delf boys, it says that the wig is coming soon. ^_^

Not that I've been looking at Luts, I just did a quick bit of research for you!

[itsadollslife]

The other week I went to TK Maxx (Europe's TJ Maxx), and I found two gorgeous black faux crocodile briefcases finished with silver-tone fastenings & corners. Of course, my initial thought was Alex.  More for his accessories & clothes than him. 

Now, having managed to fit all of Alex's clothes & shoes in one, I have the other spare for Pasha's, when they start coming in.  In a couple of months, I'll order one outfit & one pair of shoes, so Pasha has something when he arrives (he'll only be coming with eyes & a wig, no clothes, the poor nudist...).  I have other boxes that can be for wigs, and maybe overflow if I end up buying more than what the briefcases can take!

[itsadollslife]

I already have what I call the 'place-holder' name for my Soom Hyperon.  Pasha.  I call it a 'place-holder' because I did a similar thing with Alex.  I came up with several different names whilst awaiting his arrival; none of which, however, were used in the end.

At first, I was considering an Italian name, like Andino, but the doll is cream white and Italians often have olive complexions.  So, I decided to go Eastern European for the name.  More specifically, Russian.  This holds no bearings on my opinion of what Russia is doing to Ukraine, which I view as immoral & wrong, but the name merely stood out against a list of the top 100 names in Eastern Europe.  That, and Krystian, which could be shortened to Krys.  Alex isn't my first resin guy's full name; that's Alexandre Laverdiere, but he often just gets called Alex for simplicity.

I've also decided that the violin might go to Pasha (or Krystian, or whatever his name will end up being), instead of Alex.  Alex's character has turned out to be the total opposite of the type that would play such a classical instrument as the violin.  But, almost all of the Hyperons I've seen look suave & sophisticated.  I think it's the face.  Those narrowed eyes, that strong nose.  So, Pasha is going to be almost aristocratic in nature, but not too much.  He'll be...I want another word for posh...ah, he'll be refined!  He'll be the type to play a classical instrument; a piano, a violin, a cello, etc.  Alex is the rocker side of my personality, with his jeans & checkered shirt and his harsher shades.  Pasha will hopefully be the classical side of my personality, with refined clothes & softer shades.  It's only been a few days since I paid the deposit, but Pasha is already becoming a strong character...

[bjdconfessions]

To me, who have adopted two children because of me not being able to have biological children, it feels like an insult when people say you adopt your dolls. Very few of you understand what adoption really means. Saying you adopt an object is an insult to the word itself no matter it’s definition in a dictionary. Buying a BJD, or even an animal, is not even remotely the same as actually adopting a person who will be part of your life forever and then move on to have it’s own.

Image by BJDConfessions

[itsadollslife]

Adopt, verb [transitive]; to choose someone or something, or take something as your own.

Adopt, verb [transitive or intransitive]; to take another person's child into your own family and legally take care of them as though they were your own.

Adopt, verb [transitive]; to accept or start to use something new.

Whilst I understand that it might seem a little offensive to someone who has taken a child into their home, some doll owners don't necessarily use the meaning of the verb that you associate with 'adopt'.  They use the first [in bold & italics].  I don't personally say that I adopted Alex, but I will refer to my second as adopted [choose something, or take something, as your own], because he won't be coming straight from the company like Alex did.  Alex is mine; he had not been anyone else's before he came to my door.  But, my second doll is in someone else's possession [or care] before he becomes mine.

[itsadollslife]

I've got to get a checklist together, of the things I need for Hyperon.  I also need to come up with a character (or a few - Alex has a second in the works, just waiting on the eyes now).  It's been two years, nearly, since Alex came home; I forgot all that goes into doll prep.  Clothes, wigs, shoes, eyes, name, character...don't get me wrong, it's exciting!  I thrive on this sort of creativity, I live for this form of artistry.  I'm a fly-by-night writer, so I love to create characters. 

Because of his elfish ears, I'm thinking one of Hyperon's character could be a LOTR inspired elf; whether he hails from Lothlorien, Rivendell, or Mirkwood has yet to be decided.  Because I've always loved the fashion available on Freedom Teller, I want one of his characters - maybe his main one - to be a suave clothes-horse type of man.  Then there's other fantasy characters (vampires, elves that aren't of LOTR lore, alien lifeforms, woodland warrior).  Alex has human-shape ears, so his characters have to have that base (although he could be Kryptonian...hmm...).  I've got a character in mind for Hyperon, to link him with Alex's secondary character - in the role of a master/commander.

I really have missed being in this hobby, but my monetary situation sort of meant I couldn't spoil Alex as much as I used to in the beginning, let alone bring a second doll home.  But, things have started looking up for me lately, so I've been able to treat Alex to new clothes & a new companion (providing characters don't clash)...

Ooh, I'm so excited!!! ^_^

[itsadollslife]

Someone's heard there's another resin guy on the way.  So, he's not happy, but he's going to be lavished with new items in a week or two, so that should help cheer him up.

(And, yes, he's back to wearing the greyish wig that came in yesterday.  I'm starting to love it on him.)

[itsadollslife]

Ok, so, it looks like I'm getting a Soom Hyperon!!!!!!!

He's currently on layaway for me, with a deposit this month, and he'll come home in September/October!!!!

I've read on the DOA boards that Idealians take EID size clothing, but I need verification.  So; anyone know which stores I can visit to buy clothes for my incoming Hyperon?

[itsadollslife]

Ok, so now I want a Soom Hyperon.  After finding that gorgeous photo of one on here.

And, there's one that just so happens to be for sale in my country at the moment. 

He's £315 (posted) on a 3-month layaway plan, but I've been a little cheeky (I suppose) and asked if I could push it to a 4-month plan.  If she's not willing to do that, then I might see if I can collect him for free to save her the hassle of posting him & save me the extra charge of postage.  He's about 2hrs 40mins away from me, but I like to go driving. 

It'd be a bit of an adventure and, if I can find him something from Alex's wardrobe (or rather cases) to wear, we could do an introductory photo-shoot on the way home!

If she says no to that, then I'll walk away.  I do mean to save up for Iplehouse Eric, but this is a Soom we're talking about.  A Soom!!

[dollfierecipe]

Hyperon-Dhampir by emmafangfang on Flickr

[itsadollslife]

All of my various Gods, what a beautiful doll!!