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Note to Readers

The majority of the text on this blog is written by Hikaru, a ball jointed doll. Try not to question it. The text written in pink font is commentary from Hikaru's human friend, Anna. Basically Hikaru does most of the writing and Anna keeps her from getting too out of hand.

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Friday, April 22, 2016

Finding Doll Props: Cups, Trinkets and a Camera?

Yes, the search for appropriate doll props continues.  Anna has discovered a few items she hopes to be worthy of me.

Plastic Golden Goblets as Doll Props

Anna purchased these “cups” at a local craft store.  They may look like fine gold goblets, but they are cheap plastic.  Not at all suitable for fine ball jointed dolls like myself.  But keeping an open mind for Anna’s sake, let us try them out a little.

Finding Doll Props: Cups, Trinkets and a Camera?

It’s rather difficult to hold one.

Finding Doll Props: Cups, Trinkets and a Camera?

Usagi seems to have no problem with them though.  But they seem quite small for her hands. 

Perhaps they would be more suitable for a smaller fashion doll, like those tacky Barbie dolls Anna keeps around.  Cheap plastic is more than fitting for them anyway (see Thrift Store Treasures to read why Hikaru is so biased about Barbie).

I bought them from SAS, my favorite store for fabric and such (see Craft and Fabric Shopping, Without Me for Hikaru’s first experience with this store).  Like many craft stores, they sell small plastic items for making decorations and favors for wedding showers, baby showers, graduations, etc.  It’s a good area to check for small things for dolls.

Hello Kitty Phone Charm

This little Hello Kitty charm used to belong to Anna.  She purchased it sometime ago at Phoenix Comicon and since had been using it to adorn her cellular phone.

She offered it to me to play with, a worn out toy cat?  I supposed that despite it’s wear it has a certain novelty about it, but I am above such childish things.

Bjd holding a Hello Kitty Cell Phone Charm

So, Anna decided to let Usagi have the little figurine.  She seems very pleased with it.

Finding Doll Props: Cups, Trinkets and a Camera?

“Hikaru, isn’t it cute!”

I hope you think so Hikaru, because they will be a lot more where that came from.  Cute cell charms are easy to find and just the right size as collectibles for ball jointed dolls. 

Camera Keychain

Next is a keychain that Anna purchased from her store at great discount.  At the end of the chain is a perfect doll-sized camera.

The keychain was with several others that were on clearance 75% off.  I was tempted to get one of the other ones too, but it was a little too big.  A rubber ducky should not be bigger than a doll’s face.

Anyway, the camera lights up and makes flashing sounds.  Perfect for any doll who wants to take photos for their blog.

Bjd holding a camera

Yes, this may be of great use to me.

Finding Doll Props: Cups, Trinkets and a Camera?

“Hikaru, can I play with it too? :)

Bjd holding a camera

No.

And I’m not playing, this is a tool, not a toy.  A tool I will do amazing things with, as soon as I learn how to use it correctly.

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Friday, April 15, 2016

Naming a New Doll

There are a few basic things needed for any new ball jointed doll, such as our new friend.  These include things like clothing, shoes and wigs which will come in time.   They also include something of great importance…a name.

Anna actually has chosen a name for our new doll already.  In fact she says it came to her almost immediately after coming out of the box.  I find this incredibly surprising.  What name has she chosen to bestow upon this adorable little doll?

Naming a New Doll

Usagi.

Naming a New Doll

“Hikaru, what does Usagi mean?” Is what she asked me when she first heard it.

I thought it was one of the most bizarre sounding names I have ever heard, but that’s what I believed about my own name at first (see What's in a Name?).  I then discovered the true meaning of it, and now I positively adore it.  So I’m sure Anna must have a sensible reason behind this peculiar name.

Honestly, I took one look at that doll and thought, “her face looks like Sailor Moon.”  I later thought, why not go with it. 

The name Usagi means rabbit, so it is kind of cute, like a bunny (“Hikaru, what’s a bunny?”).  And when not defending justice, Sailor Moon is just Usagi Tsukino.  A kind, friendly and cheerful girl, when she isn’t being a crybaby.  I thought that this would make a perfect name for this almost too cheerful, perky doll.

Naming a New Doll

Just as I thought, another anime reference. 

I guess it is somewhat fitting for her.  To say the least she does have enough energy to be a rabbit, and she is constantly giggling.

Well now that this has been settled, if you will please excuse me, I need to stop Usagi.  I don’t care what “bunnies” do, hopping on the furniture is not proper behavior for a doll.

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Wednesday, April 13, 2016

Welcome Home, Doll Family-A Unboxing

The package finally arrived, while Anna was still at work.  Meaning I had to wait several hours until I could finally welcome home our new bjd.

What is worse is that because of how late Anna returned, there was no natural lighting to use for the following photos.  Oh the dreaded flash of the camera, it does so drain my complexion.

Welcome Home, Doll Family-A Unboxing

Anyway, here is the long awaited package.  I can hear my new doll, I mean our new doll shifting within.

DSCI6000 (800x492)

 Carefully opening up the first box (What a pretty pink color).

Doll Family-A Bjd unboxing

Here we have her doll box.  She is made by Doll Family A, what an unusual name for a doll company.  And I can’t help noticing how much smaller her box is compared to mine.  But here’s something else I noticed…

Dent in the doll box!

What in the world did they do to her?!  Her box is dented!  I certainly hope she wasn’t damaged.

Inside the doll box.

Inside the box, she is nice wrapped in a satiny pillow.  It’s not as soft and luxurious as my pillow, but it serves it’s purpose.  To protect our precious little one.

Bjd holding a magic cleaning eraser

The company helpfully included a small cleaning sponge as a courtesy.  Most likely because of the large number of doll owners who forget to properly wash their hands before opening their doll boxes.  This of course results in unfortunate staining.

Doll Family doll birth certificate

Oh, I found her birth certificate!

Doll Family doll birth certificate

It shows a photo of her default face up.  How sweet.

Doll Family-A bjd Unboxing

Now inside the wrapped pillow, here she is, all bandaged up!?  Oh, that’s right.  They are there to protect her from damage, not as a result of it.  It’s been so long since my unboxing I nearly forgot.

bjd holding doll eyes

I found her eyes, they are a lovely shade of blue, quite similar to mine.  Carefully packed in a bag with some eye putty, but why are there a pair of S-hooks as well?

new doll unboxed

Here she is at last, all unboxed and thankfully unharmed.  The name of her sculpt is Ding Ding, such an odd name.  Still, she has such a sweet face and a smooth even complexion…

new doll looking for her eyes

…And completely blind, the poor thing.  Quick Anna! Put her eyes in!

Inside the head of a Doll Family ball jointed doll.

Okay, putting eyes in.  The first thing I noticed is that her head cap is held on by these peg things instead of magnets.  Hikaru’s head has magnets and I kind of prefer them. 

Putting eyes in a bjd

I also noticed that the free eyes were half dome shaped.  Hikaru’s eyes are fully round with stems that make it easy to position them.  These were a whole other challenge.  And I’m not sure if there was quite enough putty to hold the eyes in securely.  I guess it will do for now.

New ball jointed doll

There, doesn’t she look great now.

Beautiful, now we can get on to business.

Now as lovely, though noticeably muscular, as her body is, it must be clothed for the sake of decency.  Anna made me a simple white dress to wear when I first arrived, so we both agreed that it was fitting to pass on this precious item to her, as her first dress.

Presenting the first dress to the new doll

So after properly introducing myself, I presented her the dress.

My new bjd in her first dress.

It does fit her nicely, and she seems quite pleased with it.

Bjd hug!

Maybe a tad bit too pleased.

Oh look, she’s a hugger.

Unboxing Doll Family Bjd

After her sudden embrace I noticed some other items that were in the box.  I asked her “what are those bundles?”.  She replied, “Oh, those?”

Bjd hands.

These are my hands!”

Bjd hands

“I have an extra set because I’m special!  Yay!”

New bjd floating head

“And this is my friend!”

“It’s a head…” I said.

Doll Family-A Unboxing

“Yes, but he is my friend.  He is really nice. :)

“Her friend” she says?  Did Anna know about this?

Doll Family-A Bach head

Yes, I did.  I bought this doll during a special event.  All the Doll Family A dolls were 10% off, plus if I bought one of her size or larger I would get a free Bach head.  Nice name for a sculpt.

Inside Doll Family Bjd Head

Now I have what people in the bjd hobby seem to refer to as a floating head.  A head just floating around waiting for a body and an identity.  So far all we know about him is that he is “really nice” and he has magnets holding is head cap on.  I thought that was odd since our new doll doesn’t despite being made by the same company.

The other things I found odd were those extra hands and of course her body.  I can’t recall the hands being mentioned in the description, but I can’t exactly complain.  Extra parts just means more options and more fun. 

As for her body, it is a little bulky looking compared to Hikaru’s body.  Her hands and feet alone look huge in comparison.  I’m not sure yet if Hikaru is just really small for a msd sized doll or what.  It’s not a bad thing.  Hikaru’s body is dainty and elegant looking, and this new doll is “muscular” and athletic.  I say athletic because she poses very well.  I will share more about this in a later post.

Having Tea with the New Bjd

She is rather hardy looking, but I shall raise her well and teach her how to be a proper doll.  We shall start with some tea, nothing like a fresh cup after a long journey.  She seems a little confused by it, but in time she shall learn.

Bjd having Tea

As for the “head”, in time he may prove useful to me.  With the right figure and proper clothing…Hmm.  Only time will tell.  For now I am at peace.

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Thursday, April 7, 2016

We Are Expecting…

We Are Expecting...A Doll!Anna has been keeping secrets from me, the shame of it. 

She mentioned recently that she had placed an order sometime ago with Alice’s Collections (see Doll Owner's Corner: Waiting).  She made the choice to keep silent about it even to me, that is until last night while she was checking the status of her purchase.

I was incredibly stunned at hearing such news, and I’m sure you will be too so I shall reveal it carefully. 

The item my dear human purchased was order during the first week of January and was finally shipped out early last week from China.  It very quickly traveled to our country and we have received word that it has arrived within our home state last night.  We are expecting it’s arrival anytime now.

And now, the item that is being delivered into our care is…

Doll Family A, Ding Ding, 43 cm Ball Jointed Doll

A doll!

Anna purchased a new doll for us to raise, and now we are waiting to welcome her home. 

That’s right, we are expecting a new doll.  I purchased a Doll Family A MSD sized doll, about the same size as Hikaru.  And like Hikaru, I bought her blank so she will arrive with out any paint, clothes or hair.

And yes, I somehow kept all this a secret from Hikaru, despite all the hints I dropped (see Is There a New Doll?).

With how long it took for this doll to be shipped out, and because I chose air mail for shipping, I’m a bit surprise that she’s already so close to home.  I haven’t even made her a new outfit yet.  But we will manage somehow.

It is quite a speedy delivery, and I am so vexed at Anna for not telling me about all this sooner.  I have not enough time to prepare. 

She will need proper clothing to wear, since Anna is unprepared I suppose she can borrow something of mine.  And the poor thing will need a place to rest after her long journey.  And a name, we must come up with a suitable name for her.  So much to ponder on.

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Sunday, April 3, 2016

A Little News

A Little Doll Blog NewsJust a few small announcements for today.

First up, I have persuaded Anna to add  two new pages to this blog.  The first is a profile page,  to give my visitors a brief overview of who I am and what not.  I allowed Anna free reign over the description, so I’m afraid she added a bit too much information.  I mean why in the world would anyone need to know my measurements?

The second new page is quite remarkable.  It’s a directory for various doll-related sewing and craft tutorials.  Anna has found many such resources all over the internet.  Being such a generous and sympathetic doll, I thought it would be wonderful to offer up such useful information to doll owners who may be in need.

Okay the reason for her measurements is in case someone might need to know for the sake of comparison.  Like say I post a pattern for an outfit that fits Hikaru perfectly.  Someone might need to know how closely it will fit their own ball jointed doll.  Or someone may just be curious because they are interested in buying a doll.

As for the directory, Hikaru wasn’t originally on board with the whole idea.  Mostly because she misunderstood what I meant by a “directory” and what it would involve.  Once she understood she insisted that I drop what I was doing and start working on it immediately. 

Anyway, both pages are up and ready to view and will be regularly updated as needed, mostly likely by me.  Enjoy!

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Friday, April 1, 2016

Doll Owner’s Corner: Waiting

Doll Owner's Corner: WaitingFirst of the month, time for another Doll Owner’s Corner.  When I, the doll owner, get to discuss anything I want without any bjds getting in the way.

This month’s topic:

Waiting

And waiting, and waiting.  You see I made a doll related purchase online from Alice’s Collections.  It’s a shop that Hikaru is quite fond of, they are on her wish list quite a bit after all.

Anyway, I’m not going to say what I bought from them yet so as to not ruin the surprise but it is made to order as with most of the items sold by Alice’s Collections.  This of course means it takes extra time to get it.  I also ordered it as part of their Christmas sale which means cheap prices for me but many orders to prepare for them.  Not to mention that it was right before the Chinese New Year, did I mention that Alice’s Collections is based in China?  So yeah, a national holiday to further slow things down.

So this basically means that I have been waiting a heck of a long time to receive my purchase, even just to hear news that it has shipped which it hasn’t.  This actually isn’t that unusual a thing in the world of ball jointed doll collecting.  The dolls themselves are usually made as ordered and take forever to come depending on which store/dealer you get them from, which company makes them and of course the season. 

With Hikaru, the wait was minimal because I ordered her from the Junky Spot.  Their main selling point is that all the dolls and accessories on their website are in stock and ready to ship.  So if you order a doll or wig from them, it’s shipped almost immediately and will likely arrive within a week depending where you are.  But what if what they have in stock is not quite what you want?  You either wait for them to stock something else or order from another shop and wait, wait, wait for your doll or whatever to come.

So what does one do when waiting for their dolly stuff to arrive?  If it’s an actual doll, you pass the time by gathering all the clothes and other items you will need when it finally arrives.  And if you have already done all that or if you are waiting for things like accessories?  You distract yourself with other activities (like crafts and blogging) or you commiserate with others. 

I’ve been turning to videos for this.  Seems like I find videos for everything.  Here are a couple that are great for waiting.  I may have linked to them before, but they are worth mentioning again.

Enjoy, and may all your dolls and doll related items ship quickly and arrive safely.

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