Small Wonder at the end of 2018
This year, I returned to the doll hobby. :D I think it's been a good year, but then there isn't much to compare it to, really, when I haven't even touched my dolls for the last decade. XD
This year, I uncovered my old collection of 7 Volks Mini Super Dollfies and Yo-SD's and realised that I still treasure them, yellowing and all. After I cleaned him up, I found that my first doll, Shiina, an oldskin Volks MSD Hewitt, is still as captivating to me as when I first saw him in December 2003. <3
This year, I discovered a new love of sewing and crafting for my dolls. Before, I mostly enjoyed and shared my dolls by photographing them and creating little photo-stories. This year, I attempted new things and found that my sewing and crafting improved by leaps and bounds, so much so that I’ve even dared to share patterns that I’ve drafted. I look at my old sewing work from 2004 to 2007 and I'm tickled by how much has changed. I also picked up leather-working, something totally new to me and which I hope to "get good" at in the coming year(s).
This year, I caught up on a decade of changes in the hobby, from doll engineering, to trending fashion styles, to popular companies and sculpts. So many new companies that didn’t exist in 2008.... so many new types of dolls, bodies, joints. And some companies and artists that have moved on or which no longer exist.
This year, I discovered the widespread proliferation of recasts (illegal copies), and my heart fell.
This year, I re-discovered old doll friends, and may have made new ones.
This year, I went from being a pure Volks owner to having four different brands represented in my crew. I acquired my first non-Volks doll, an adorable 26cm Miyadoll Baby Mocha. I also acquired the beginnings of my first ever mod project (a MiniFee Niella head and Chibi Unoa body).
This year, my doll family expanded faster than ever before. I averaged a doll a year from 2003 to 2008. If I include my hiatus years, I averaged about half a doll a year since 2003. This year, I acquired 3(!!) dolls, including the ice princess of my dreams a doll I’ve thought and dreamed about almost since the beginning of the hobby - a Volks Hewitt girl. <3
This year, I discovered a new love of tinies! I’ve always been an ardent fan of Volks MSD’s, but this year, I found that the Yo-SD size captivated me more. They are easier to sew for, since I sew by hand, and so easy to pick up and place anywhere. They are also less “commitment”, in my mind, since they don’t require as much character development as the bigger dolls. I might get an even smaller and younger doll than I already have in my crew, if the right one comes along~
This year, I finally named a doll I’ve had since 2008 - Sui, my little Volks Yo-SD Kanon (1st version). She arrived in 2008, just as I was fading from the hobby due to the demands of work, and stood in my doll cupboard for a decade until I finally “got to know” her this year. She’s been a patient little tike!
This year, I re-discovered my love of the hobby and have found that it has “returned” that love to me by stoking my desire to create as never before. I’m truly looking forward to how I’ll grow in the hobby in the coming months. May the hobby bring to you and I lots more joy in the year ahead! <3
Credits and close-ups will come in a subsequent post!
