Saber in the Woods

Last month my roomates and I went out when there was a little sun for picture taking. There I exposed my friend to the silly world of doll photography. Of course she has a much better camera than I do so her pics are so pretty but I'm still alright with my own. I made Saber a nice fur cloak late this last year and she got a new wig but never got to get pictures of it till recently so here they are!

Money Woes!

So it's been about two months since we moved and I have been fortunate enough to be in a prime situation where I can attempt to make a living off of my own abilities. Though I think my hopes were too high in that nothing has sold yet... I wasn't expecting anything to sell THAT day but it's a little discouraging. I think maybe I just need more stuff up there, I'm not ready to give up hope yet!

I have sort of distanced myself from the hobby community wise as well, I was always more of a lurker but I would stalk updates and forums obsessively. Now it's just a glance here and there and when that cool limited doll comes up, I either don't know about it or it doesn't even click for me. There are only two dolls right now that I'd really like to purchase but I have no job at the moment. I have thoughts of culling my current hoard but I have problems letting go. I feel like my collection should be smaller and that it would make it easier for me to clothe and properly enjoy them but there's sentiment attached to each one.

At least not having any money is pulling me back from my impulse buy habits, now when I see something shiny, I think harder about it and 9 times out of 10 just walk away. I think buying things was my way of coping with stress I had in my life and now that the stress is gone, I no longer need that. I can browse online shops and not worry about "needing" things. It's sort of liberating.

A few weeks back, I introduced my roommate to the magic that is photographing dolls. She has a very nice camera and she's trying to go pro with it and when the sun finally came out, wanted to go take pictures with everyone. I brought Saber along and she had fun shooting her, especially since Saber will do any pose she wants without coaxing (unlike human models). I also took pictures but have yet to edit them but when I do, I'll put them up. It shows Saber in her new wig and cloak!

Unleash the Heads!

I feel like I've been working on these things forever! I am finally ready to sell these babies off though and I'm a little nervous since this is my first time selling something on the internets. It was hard deciding how much to sell them for also since I had to decide on cost of labor and all that junk, I feel like I'm asking for too much :x

The pictures aren't all that great but I live in Oregon now and it's clouds clouds and more clouds so my camera just didn't want to cooperate. I should probably look at getting some better lighting...

All heads are painted, rooted, and styled by me and while it takes a long time, it's one of those "labor of love" things.

This first one is based on IA, a vocaloid that is super adorable!

This is just an original character that I decided to paint, her name is Naoko and she's kinda sad or just out of it. I think she would look cute with glasses.

This last one is based off of Shana from Shakugan no Shana, a super fiery little squirt. She's one of my favorite characters ever and I'm just sort of surprised that I decided to make her to sell.

Still working on rooting Madoka but I will be keeping her, she's just too adorable!

Returning!

These past couple of months have been a flurry of activity. My fiance and I made a big step and move half across the country by packing all we could in our tiny car and making a run for it! Many things threatened to halt us in our tracks but we struggled through and made it.

So no pictures at the moment but I am working on trying to make my living out of home right now, most of it doll based of course.

Liquitex Varnish and Scheherazade

I have been using MSC for years to seal my faceups and it's pretty awesome stuff. The one thing that has always been a concern though is how hazardous it is, I make sure to use a proper respirator and spray in well ventilated areas but even after all that, sometimes my lungs still burn a little. Also the area I live in becomes crazy hot and humid for most of the year and so spraying is tricky.
After seeing other people have success using other acrylic varnishes with an airbrush, I decided to try it out myself. I don't have an airbrush but I figured I'd try it out with the sponge brush. After MUCH trial and error and a helpful suggestion from my fiance, I have found a good method and mixture and my results are pleasing.
It seems mixing the Liquitex varnish with a bit of alcohol thins it out so it doesn't have any heavy brush strokes but it still protects. It sort of has a smooth flatness to it compared to MSC and has just enough tooth to hold pastels nicely. Also glossing is much easier, I usually have to apply a few coats to get a nice shine but with this stuff it's only one.

Here is my first complete faceup with this method, my new Shiwoo scar head was my victim.

The only sort of smearing I had with the pastels was on the eyebrows and it's really hard to see on camera. The varnish went on pretty smoothly by dabbing with a sponge brush and didn't pick up any other pastel colors.

Her scar is purple :P

I kind of like the more mellow tone that this sealant gives. Also it's most definitely water-proof, it takes some work to get off with W&N cleaner!

More about my victim; as soon as this head arrived, I knew what she would be and what her name was. It's always nice when it clicks like that. Her name is Scheherazade and she is the human vessel for Saber's sword. I guess it's kind of a weird backstory, something like her father hears the sword calling out to him and it promises him great power if he sacrifices his only daughter. But then the sword pulls a total "j/k" and after her father slashes her in the face, thinking he's killed her, the sword forces him to kill himself and then possesses the girl. Saber later stumbles upon said sword and the two share a strong bond through the battlefield. I dunno, it all makes sense in my head!

Basically, when it's not in sword form, we see Scheherazade and she's forever a cute little girl but the sword's evil has corrupted her and turned her dark. The only person that gets to see her softer side is Saber ;-;

In other news; I'm going to be moving states here in a few weeks so I'll be packing up my dollies soon. I plan to keep a couple of them out for the drive so that I can take pictures of them as we travel. I will have them posted up here when everything is settled :)

Introductions: Saber

This is my most recent arrival and boy was it a breath of relief! I ordered her last year as part of the big Type Moon anniversary event and was really excited about it as Saber Alter (or just Saber in general) is one of my favorite anime characters. Also this time she would come with her sword! I couldn't pass it up! So I preordered her and then waited, and waited, and then I waited some more. It was nearly a year before she arrived and when she did, I didn't even bother with a box opening shoot, I tore into that sucker!

I'm still trying to decide on a name for her, Saber is cool and all but I've decided that she is a slightly different character and therefore needs a different name. I always thought that as a "king", Saber's hair should have been short. I pulled out this older short wig that I had stored away and it was a match made in heaven!

She makes an adorable tomboy :)

Also this is my first Dollfie Dream in general and I have to say, I want more. I always knew that the bodies were nice aesthetically but the new type of DD body poses pretty well also. My Obitsus can out pose her by just a bit but she's good enough for me!

Also the balance is pretty decent, even with heels on I can get her to stand on her own with a little fiddling.

I'm still working on adding some things to her outfit, I looooove the dress she came with but it feels too fancy for everyday wear. I am working on making her a cloak with a bunch of wolf type fur at the top. I'll explain on that more in a another post I think. :)

In other news, I have a head on it's way to me! It was sort of an impulse buy but a cheap one and it'll be fun to play around with. I think I might hijack my 40cm Obitsu body and reshell a character with this combo but I won't know for sure until it gets here...

Introductions: Kaito

Next up we have Kaito, he's an Immortality of Soul Blood. I bought him for my birthday back in 2010 and he arrived at the beginning of last year. He's gone through many changes, including a few different names and something tells me it's not quite settled still. I'd never get rid of him though, he's way too cool!

I mean look, check out that grump face. The only issue I find myself having is that I have no idea how to dress him really. I know what looks cool but it's hard to motivate myself to make him stuff.

I finally got around to making him a shirt the other day, which is nice because I can't have him sitting around with all them muscles hanging out everywhere.

His body is sculpted really well, he holds poses like a dream and is able to stand on carpet!

I haven't hemmed the edge of his shirt but I think I kinda like the wide rough collar it has already.

This wig was commissioned from Spite & Malice, and then trimmed up by myself. Her wigs are really awesome though :)

"Get these blinds outta my face...."

A friend stops by to say hello...

Saber: "Haha! I'll strangle you with these thighs of steel!"
Kaito: "Get off you monkey!"

Kaito: "I swear I'm gonna beat you when I get a hold of you..."

Saber: "Oh don't be like that, we're still friends, right buddy?"
Kaito: *Grumbles*

Kaito is like my ass with a heart of gold. He has an older sister, Tsukiko, which he teases often because she's so much shorter than him. They both come from a long line of magic users and have just started to dabble in it themselves which quickly brings them lots of trouble. His soft spot is animals and adorable girls and he struggles daily to keep his composure.

In other news, this year is going to be a struggle for me! I figured that nothing would catch my fancy for winter events as far as dolls but I was wrong! Luts has to go and bring out the little adorable dragon Zuzu Delfs and I want one so bad! I keep telling myself that if I want a dragon doll, I should go for the Dollzone ones that I've been wanting since the beginning of this year but I shouldn't even buy that! I really want to order something but I'll be moving come January and most companies take longer than that span of time to deliver. How will I survive this winter?!