Things in color

Hewwoo ^^

This time I'd like to share with you this little project I made today. My job practice period is nearing its end and I suddenly have some time for life again! I also had a birthday last week, I turned 25 (not ;)) My dad was soooo nice to give me a present so that I could pay my Eden already! I'm thrilled! :D

But the project! I got this side table from my grandma who moved to an elderly home lately, and I thought I could spruce it up a little. It does have all the four drawers, I just almost forgot to take the "before" picture again so in the pic it's already WIP ;)

So, before. Or WIP.

And after! :) Patches of retro fabrics, glue and water <3 Like it to pieces! Guess I could try this technique into another cabinet of mine >:)

Moar dolly plans.

Bear with me, please ;)

So I sold Elenna's current mold, which was Planetdoll Riz. Something began to bug me with that model, and I guess it was not just the poor posing abilities. It was something with the look on her face, something wasn't quite right with that sad/bored/hopeless look of hers. I need more character on her! And I kinda needed the munnies for Eden, so off she went. I'm slowly beginning to think about a new mold for her, since I'm definetely not going to dump the whole character though she's not a rpg character. At least I'm certain that the body will be that of Dollmore's, because I just looove those thighs and that child-like appearance. She's supposed to be 10-12 years old, and that counts most of the msd bodies out. I addition, she should be tall, to remain in scale with her momma. But the head..oh. None of the Dollmore heads appeal to me right now, so it's just the body I'm going to order there. I'm kinda fond of Dollstown models, maybe Elysia or Hannah. But there are others, so we'll see.

And oh, Geir - Angelsdoll Shakan - needs a body. Guess I'll need to order one whole doll from Angelsdoll (they don't sell bodies separately) and then sell the head. But not any time soon.

Doll plans.

So now for something more interesting ;) Guess I already hollered this in the Hartsilapset forum and everywhere else, but anyway. I fell for the new Idealian lady, Eden! I've already paid two layaway parts and sooo excited! I ordered her in normal skin, and I actually almost missed her because of this..  Soom screwed something with the skintones as they published Eden and there was only the ws available at first, so I cursed and screamed because I had been waiting for another Idealian lady for...well, since the last one that I also missed. But then Soom gave the other skintone options and there I was pressing the order button!

Gorgeous!!! Too bad there are no ns pics on the Soom sites.

So now I'm finally getting my Nolia the barbarian, the most important character of mine <3 In other words the Grail of my doll hobby ^^ Her head will move onto her twin sister, though, which I'll order next year. She'll be Iplehouse EID Carina, whose head will fly onto Nolia :) Sounds like a perfect plan to me! Not sure of the color matches etc, but the heads are enough alike to be twins and the same size so the rest is cosmetic. Nolia will get her muscular body and Ninian (the other twin) a tad skinnier but big enough body to fit into the barbarian frames the characters have. Yay!

Laurëas' head from Dollclans hasn't arrived yet...sigh. It says on the Dollclans website that the heads take 45-60 days to manufacture, and the day 45 was in the end of July, approx. Maybe I'll get him in November...eh. Sure hope he'll slip past the customs. His body, a drastically modded (not by me!) and then restored (by me! ;)) Granado guy, is waiting eagerly for a head on its shoulders. And I can't wait to start making an armor for him! I've already started an armor project for Emèriel..oh, I'll need yet another post ;)

As for Brynja and Geir the werewolves...uh. They're in progress ;)

And thus I became a crazy cat lady!

Hiya!

Oh, the summer came and went..geez, time runs so fast there's no tomorrow. Well, it was fun the time it lasted. I'm back at school work again, on a work practice to be exact. Henna turned eight last Friday and she started 2nd class in school. We did let Walle and Martta become parents after all, they got seven little babies a 11 days ago ;) Needless to say we're all quite dazzled!

 This little girl's my favorite :) I just might keep her, but I'm not sure yet.

 A nestful of cuteness <3

Oh, and... We got a fifth cat ;) Just couldn't make up my mind to have it or not so here it came, when I stumbled upon a perfect little individual! His name is Oskari, named by Henna.

 Liisa loves him and he loves kids!

Oskari the funny little critter ^^

Oh yeah. Doll plans. I'll make another post for them!

Martta

I seem to do my updates in batches ;) Well, here's another! We've been thinking that our rabbit Walle needs a friend of his own kind, and a perfect little lady friend he got:

So here's Martta! (And Aukusti...he's everywhere!) She's a mix of a lionhair and a floppy-eared rabbit just like Walle, but oh no, we're not going to have their children so they're kept in different cages/rooms until Walle gets a little operation. That will be done in a couple of weeks, when our trusty vet ends her holiday. Martta is a very friendly little fellow, even tamer than Walle, and she likes our kids a lot :) A perfect little family rabbit that is :)

Summer!

Ah, finally.

This year it went way past the Midsummer up here for the summer to really arrive. Well, now it's here and the best of all things, by short little summer holiday began <3 Thank goodness for that, the spring was so very busy at school. But now I've reached halfway of my education! Next summer at this time I'll graduate :D How cool is that..

This summer consists of lots of fun things with and without the kids :) I've started my quilting project again, I've got a funky old doll restoration commission and I'm going to do various of other stuff during these 4 weeks. My mom promised that we would visit a couple of little antique heavens and finally, we're going to see the polar bear cub in Ranua zoo! And of course the other animals too ;) I so deeply love zoos! No wonder why ;) We already attended this "Day at the countryside" -happening nearby and saw some cows and other farm animals.

Ladies on a Valmet tractor :)

Henna on a little older version :P

Hope this won't start...

And, uh.. Some new dollies of course ;) More of those guys in the next posts! In addition to a new pet, too ;) Yeah, I'm hopeless ;) But hey, there are even more dubious ways to spend your munnies, eh?

Doll meme

Stolen from fairchildren ;)

Who was your first doll? Do you still own him, her, or it?


Hmm..it was a DIM Cordelia, who at first was a non-rpg character. But then I got this major idea of dollifying my characters so she became Emériel vol.1. Nowadays she's Azamoah the druid, but I'm going to turn her into another character again...yes, she's constantly changing but she's still here ;)

Who is your favorite doll?


Can't really pick a favorite. I seem to prefer some dolls over others time to time, but so far all of them have got enough attention, judging by the fact that they're all finished and funky :)

Which doll do you hope or plan to buy next?

Speaking of whole dolls, I'd like to buy two EID ladies because my most dear characters are still without doll form.. Yeah, I know, it's a veeery long shot, but one must have dreams, no?

Quick! You've instantly got $800 and must choose a doll to spend it on right now or it's gone forever! Who do you pick?

Well, the EID lady #1 ;)

Quick! You've instantly got enough money for any one and must choose a doll to spend it on right now or it's gone forever, but this time you have to buy the doll for someone else! Who gets the dolly, and what do you get them?

Hmm, I guess my wannabe- doll hobbyist -hubby Ari would get the doll, and it would be Iplehouse Dexter with his limited western gear :) OR Ender the Idealian.

Are you currently waiting on any dolls, heads, or bodies?

Of course.. A beautiful Domadoll body for Loumi the halfling <3

Do any of your dolls seem to like you to the point that they are infatuated with you?


Uh...hell no, they're pieces of very expensive plastic, not living beings.

Do any of your dolls seem to dislike or even hate you?



They better not ;) Sometimes their joints bite, though ;)


Who's your most expensive doll at the time you purchased them, not counting items you bought separately for them?

Must be Gunvald. He's a Soom Idealian/Iplehouse EID hybrid. Not terribly pricey in the doll market in general, but for my wallet he was.

Who's the least expensive doll you own?



 This one has to be Rhona (Lati Yellow Lea), she cost me some $120.

Is there a limit to what you'd spend on a doll?

Definetely. Something round $700-$800 is my limit.

Which doll did you wait for the longest so far?

I've waited for one doll from Customhouse (yeah, the bittersweet event they had..) for 7 months. More than the waiting, she was totally wrong size for my scale. So I didn't keep her..

Which doll had the shortest wait so far?

Hmm. Maybe Aldous the cat (who I don't own anymore) or Brynja and Geir the two new characters. They were almost thrown to me ;) And Gunvald. I got his body almost the same instant we agreed on his sale :)

Who's the biggest doll you own?

Gunvald ;) Some 74cm <3

Who's the smallest doll you own?

Rhona, being 12cm tall.

Got any floating heads? If yes, how likely are they to receive bodies anytime soon?

Yep, two of them actually. They're very likely to receive bodies, in fact one of them is already having one - as soon as I wipe the paints off  of Azamoah. Her character will be completely renewed (again ;)) and Brynja will get her body. Geir the other floating head is currently on the look for a body.

Got any floating bodies?

Nooo. I wish I had.

Do you have any extra, unclaimed pairs of eyes? How many if so?

Oh yes. I dunno how many really.

Do you have any extra, unclaimed wigs? How many if so?
 

Have to admit that I've half a dozen of these too.. Should sell them.

Anything you've said "never" to in the hobby that you later gave in to?


Haha, don't get me started ;) No guys, no msd:s, no 70cm dolls, not more than 5 etc... Broken all of them ;)

Do you own dolls that aren't BJDs?





Yup, a Blythe and a Basaak/Blybe fake, some self-made creatures, one self-made porcelain doll, some vintage dolls, a collection of matryoshkas. I think I collect dolls in general O___o

What was your last doll-related purchase?

I bought the body for Loumi.

What do you expect your next doll-related purchase to be?
 


Wigs for Brynja and Geir or shoes for Loumi, I reckon.

What was the last doll-related thing to arrive to you by mail?



Geez. Other than Blythe, it must have been Emériel's head or her shoes...it has been a while.

What was the last doll-related thing you purchased in person?

Brynja and Geir's heads :)

Not counting floating heads, floating bodies, and anything on layaway (paid off dolls count), how many complete dolls do you own?

A round, sweet figure of ten. Next week eleven or twelve - depending on myself cleaning up Brynja's body and/or getting the body for Loumi.

Kaisa

So the promised Blythe post then ^^ Here's my new addition, Kaisa the Blybe (Blythe fake, but so precious!):

Kaisa is a shy little one ^^ She's actually a custom made by a dolly friend of mine :) Just HAD to adopt her when I saw she was for sale.

Kaisa likes turquoise, which is nice! She also seems to like all other bright colors together with black and white, so she will have a little more alternatives in colors than Reetta. Not everything suits her red hair but Kaisa is a whole different story ;)

Hectism.

Wah.

Sometimes I wonder whether it really was reasonable for both me and Ari to start school.. Have to admit that arranging these timetables and trying to find time for everything is sometimes nearly impossible. But people seem to survive.. I personally just can't cope with the "should" -thinking.. Too many things have piled up in the "should do" -section. Well, have to try to think positively and remember that this is just a short period of time. It'll be over in about a year. Let us hope I'll get a job and I'll start complaining again ;)

So I started this job practice period again (I work in a home care unit), and have tons of work to do in addition to it. Before that we had a serious set of exams with wiiiiide range of Finnish folk diseases and the medical care of them. I occasionally thought that we were studying to be proper nurses! Well, learning new is never bad.

Maisa the grandma cat who had her operation is doing otherwise nice, but she has lost weight and is having some incontinence problems.. Dunno whether we should put her down, since I'm really getting tired of cleaning pools of urine EVERY morning and most times after we're gone from the house  >___< Dunno if she's protesting something (Aukusti keeps picking on her) or if she's in pain or what.. The mind of a cat is truly a mystery.

Spring is late up here and it's sleet is still pouring from the sky. The snow has mostly thawn away but this is already the third "post-winter" we've had. Somewhat saddening and utmost weird to hear the finches sing in the trees along the snowfall. The finches and thrushes' singing has always been a sure sign of spring here. Last week we had a couple of very sunny and springy days, but again the weather is gloomy and white. Gah. Almost looks like Silent Hill now, since after the morning sleetfall a heavy fog rose ;)

But, I wanted to cheer myself up big time and I had a haircut ;)  I kinda like the ultra short hair, not missing the long tail I used to have. Luckily it grows very quickly so if I want to grow it back, it's an option.

Yeah, it went SHORT. And it seems I have to clean up my eyebrows ;) Nice morning swelling in this pic x) I really cannot be casual in photos, the best shots of me are taken so that I don't realize it ;)

And I'm going to buy myself a pair of Converses. Just because I'm worth it <3 (only that I can't afford the real ones, so I'll settle for fakes ;)) Already got myself a pair of yellow Hai boots, LOVE them!

A blooming shoe freak in me??? NEVER would have imagined that I would be chatting about shoes in my blog!! It's a weird world, mama.

I also have a couple of new floating resin heads on my shelf, as a result of a dolly business ;) The heads are from Angelsdoll, models Yuri and Shakan. We're quite excited of those two, me and Ari, since we both have been looking for some all new characters to our rpg (which has been "under construction" for four years now...sigh).

These guys will be living in a wolf-rider tribe, and finally I'm able to use my favorite Old Norse name, Brynja :) And her fiancé here is Geir, Gunvald's big brother ^__^ Currently we're looking for bodies for them, maybe a Dollzone 70cm (preferably the old one) for Geir and some 57-60cm tiny SD for Brynja. Emèriel took her own body, it suits her better ;) And ah, I'm probably getting the Domadoll body finally paid, so there's even more addition to my doll shelf as Loumi will be back in business :) The count goes in 13 now, if the heads are counted in. Whoa. But I love every single one to pieces ^^

And I also got an addition on the Blythe front, but I think I'm going to make her an own post :) Now for some school work since I'm having a day-off...

Sewing fever

Hellohello :)

It seems that this spring also consists of a lot of sewing in this house.. I began adding things up and it seems that during the last couple of months I've sewn curtains in two rooms plus a cover for a shelf, various doll clothes (pics will follow) and now I even got inspired of sewing new clothes to them girlies, too. Liisa has got a pair of velour trousers, and I found a nice tricot piece in Eurokangas which I'll turn into two tunics/shirts. Also a few pairs of leggings are in order. And spring hats. Oh, and here's a quick hat for the little son of my cousin:

I've made a ton of those owl reflectors and have been adding them here and there :) Also, certainly, some knits have been done during the loooong school hours:

 

Finally a green pair of gloves for myself <3 Should make a hat to get a set.. I'm already crocheting a yellow-green scarf ;)

 

Reetta also got her share of green cable knits <3 Judging by these works it really isn't too difficult to figure out my favorite color ;) Darn, my Blythe fever is ever rising.. I actually got another petite *whistles*, and soonishly we'll make an order to Hobbylink Japan and I'll get a Nicky Lad <3 Yaaay!

 

Signs of spring?

Whohoo, the temperature has raised and the snow is thawing.. Yeah, muddy season is nearly here, complete with hunting any suitable spring clothing for the kids x___x Don't like that part of the spring too much, but the amount of sunlight! <3 Should take pics of my dolls anew, since I've bought meself a new toy: Canon EOS 1100D IS <3  It only has the kit lens for now, but I'll learn to use it properly before I'll maybe invest into a nifty macro and/or a zoomy lens :) And one sure sign of spring is that Liisa had her birthday <3

 Miss Grinny :D One of the first pics taken with the new cam <3

I'm teh lady?

The party was on weekend so she got a little cake on her real day :P

 Five candles!!! Jeez, my baby is five?

Cake and yummies with friends and sis

*insert here the ever-going pondering of the time going fast and kids growing up even faster ;)*

I've been doing a lot of small decorating and organizing here and there, surely no signs of any spring fatigue here. Yet ;) Nah, more likely it's been a nice counterbalance for studying. We had a hell of a tough period right after Christmas till now, ALL the common Finnish folk deceases and their treatments complete with the medical care of them..jeez. At some point we thought we're studying to be proper nurses more than practical nurses.. Heh, that title is quite funny in English imo ;)  And the next work practice is just around the corner.. This time I'll go to an elderly people's home care unit, that'll surely be fun :) I've done that before and I liked it a lot. But the amount of school work we have in addition to that..not fun at all -.-

I've made a half a dozen pairs of these lately ;) Commissions and for my own dollies too, these were for Emèriel.

Maisa got her operation and after a few mishaps on the way (the wound got infected, of bloody course!) she's fine for now. Although the vet told us that she only has a couple of years of her lifespan left, since the tumor was aggressive. So now it's only trying not to worry too much and letting her live the rest of her life as happy as possible. But we made a decision that if she develops another lump, we'll simply put her down. There's no point in prolonging her life and/or suffering, since every surgery itself is a risk and she is a senior cat anyway. Even now she's living on an "overtime". But until her last day we'll continue taking a super good care of her and cuddling her as much as we can and she accepts ;)

This was taken a couple of weeks ago. Hehe, I managed to capture Maisa's base expression ;) She always looks like that, like she was saying "wut?"

But now for the laundry business.. till the next time!

Angsty catsy

Oh darn!

During the weekend we found this peanut-sized, hard lump on our Maisa's belly. Today I took her to a vet and she told me it's a tumor of some sort :( Maisa will have a surgery on Friday at 12am to have it snipped off, and then the tumor is sent to a pathologist. Of course, cancer of some sort is the worst case scenario :/ But we have our hopes high, though, elderly animals do tend to have all sorts of non-lethal tumors. Our late dog had many when he aged, and he even had a surgery to remove one when he was 15 years old! After that, he still lived for more than two years of his senior days.

 

Maisa the grandma last summer <3

The flesh is weak.

Umm, heh. I guess I have to admit I'm a bit impulsive ;)

Cute girl with bangs and ladybug socks, now who can resist one? ;)

 

My, it's always a turmoil to open toy packages these days -___- And I found out that she has staining due to that black top of her dress.. And she had boobs! O___O Quite impossible to sew clothes on her, but one shall try..

Together with Reetta who has a new dress :) I think she'll be sort of doll of a doll -solution, she's too small to be her little sister or something. Oh yes, speaking of Blythes, I haven't shown the new eye chips I gave Reetta during the Christmas holidays:

 

Whoa, that stare IS intense! Light green glittery ones, anyway ^^

 

Lime green ones to the right.

 

And aqua blue ones to the front (the only stock pair I saved is the dark blue ones to the left). 

I know, the colors aren't too brave, but let's see if I'll get wilder with more

intense colors with the next doll. Reetta also has a new wig on its way,

she'll finally get rig of that fugly stock one.

New look :) New dolls?

I decided to renew the blog theme into a bit more colorful :) There are tons of ready, free templates on the net, and I just took one and adjusted it into my liking. And added some matryoshkas <3

Darn. I have a major Blythe fever again. My Reetta desperately needs a friend. And I already know what she'll be like. I want a black-haired lady with custom eyechips, and her name will be Kaisa. I was quite close to snatch one petite Blythe/LPS set with me when I was grocery shopping this morning... These guys I like the most:

 

 This one wasn't available in Prisma, though.

This lady has a funny-styled hair and she would come with two LPS's so my kids wouldn't have to fight over the one pet :D Maybe if I ask nicely, I'd let myself buy one ;) They were only 16,95 euros in Prisma..

Maybe.

Mohair and alpaca

Those are my two new favorite yarns :) Here are some more of the doll crafties I've made recently:

I made a bolero for Rhona and I also tried a hat pattern that I found in a vintage knits book, in dolly-size :) It came quite nice. Needs straps of satin bow, though.

An alpaca hood for Elenna :)

Together with over-knee socks :)

Ah...I'm taking a habit of adding contents that don't belong under the title, but here goes ;)

Found this cabinet in a flea market too :) It's going to turn into something extremely different ;)

A grandma inside a grandma inside a grandma...

Decided to take a little photo gallery of my current matryoshka collection ^^

These guys roam in our bathroom ;)

 

I recently hung this old suitcase on our bedroom wall and covered the bottom with Tilda paper :) And what would be better contents than a nine-piece set of grandmas in bright colors? <3 Got this set from Santa Claus :)

These guys my mom brought to me as a souvenir when I was a kid.

The smallest one is missing, though.

 

 

These two sets I've found from flea markets. They are standing on the kitchen windowboard.

 Three mixed sets on a livingroom windowboard ;) 

And then, a couple of other pics from my other collectibles:

 

Some curiosities on top of an old cupboard in the hallway :) That container is actually one used to store potatoes. The doll in the middle is from my childhood, and I guess it has belonged to my mom when she was a kid <3 The fabric matryoshka on top I found in a crafts fair before Christmas, the owl is made by me and the Dala horse is a souvenir from Stockholm ;) I'd love to have more of them but they're usually bloody expensive... That funny Russian-style mushroom I found in a flea market once :) I seem to collect all sorts of oddities...

My collection of old coffee and tea jars and retro coffee mugs ;) Today I even got two red dotted coffee mugs from a flea market <3 Should find a place for them.