I suppose no BJD blog would be complete without some explanation as to how in the world I got into the hobby in the first place. So, I will take this time now to place the blame squarely on the head of my best friend, Rosslyn. It's all her fault. I'd never heard of BJDs until she stumbled upon them in the beginning of 2009. I was content with my hobbies then: drawing, roleplaying, writing, crochet, etc. She was customizing the 27cm Obitsus and through them she discovered proper resin-cast BJDs. She fell head over heels in love with them and, as we were roommates at the time, I got a daily ear-full about them.
Now, I dutifully looked at the links she sent me, admired the pretty dolls, but upon looking at the price tags, I decided not to really think about them. I could barely afford my bills and I had debt wracked up. No luxury items for me. In retrospect, I seriously underestimated the craftiness, sneakiness, and generosity of my roommate and her cousin. I did continue to look, largely so I could know what the heck Rosslyn was talking about. Soon, her first few dolls began to arrive. I admired them, gave my opinions, and continued with my life. I joined the Den of Angels forums and began to gather some more intelligence on the subject, curious as to what was eating my friend's brain.
Sometime during that spring, Rosslyn had infected her cousin, Tannis (who was also my friend by that time), and the two would frequently meet at our house and do dolly dates, blushing the dolls, doing faceups, sewing clothes, etc. I stayed on the peripheral during these visits, mostly because I was working, but also because I had no dolls and no serious plans to acquire any anytime soon. However, Rosslyn wouldn't let me drop the subject. She asked me multiple times about what doll I'd like "if I could get one". I wanted to get my character Khorae, a longtime roleplaying and writing character, shelled into a doll, and I certainly hadn't found anything better than these BJDs. So she looked and I looked, and I decided Iplehouse dolls were my favorite kind of SDs. I settled on one and she and I toyed with the pics on Photoshop to see if it'd really work for the character. It did.
In the late summer, Rosslyn came bouncing into my room. I was having a rough time emotionally--I go through those every so often--and she seemed like she wanted to cheer me up. "Guess what?"
"What?" I don't like that question, mostly because my mom always answered with "That's what". It became annoying.
"There's a package soon to be coming in from Korea. It's got a present for you in it."
I think I choked and there was much rejoicing and a lot of squeeing. She gave me the tracking number and I religiously followed the progress for three weeks (it hadn't been shipped yet). Rosslyn and Tannis had felt bad about my exclusion and had pitched in together to get me my first doll, an Iplehouse YID Silvia. I was very happy when she arrived and proceeded to slowly go about clothing, wigging, and otherwise making her look like Khorae.
About a week later, Tannis visited to see the fruits of her labor and with another surprise. She'd ordered a doll from Fairyland and there seemed to have been some kind of mix up, where they'd doubled her order. Instead of sending the second doll back and making a big deal of it, she decided to give the Pukipuki Mary to me, so I could join in on the puki parties. I was suddenly, in less than two weeks' time, in possession of two dolls! Over the next few months, I found myself pulled into the hobby. I learned restringing, how to blush, I attempted faceups (without much success. I eventually had Rosslyn do them), and I began to teach myself how to sew again.
The next year, again in the summer, I had another low point. Now full into the hobby and participating in swaps and things through the DoA forums, I had seen and fallen in love with the Realpuki Soso, another Fairyland doll. I was concerned about my job and worried I'd get fired over some mistakes I'd made (completely unfounded, after talking with my manager) and Rosslyn did something sneaky again. She wanted a Realpuki Tyni and had long told me she'd ordered one. A week before it arrived (she has a hard time keeping that kind of secret), she told me she'd also ordered a Soso for me. Again, there was much squeeing and rejoicing. I'll introduce my dolls themselves in subsequent posts, but suffice it to say I'm now in the hobby and happily owning three dolls.
Now, I dutifully looked at the links she sent me, admired the pretty dolls, but upon looking at the price tags, I decided not to really think about them. I could barely afford my bills and I had debt wracked up. No luxury items for me. In retrospect, I seriously underestimated the craftiness, sneakiness, and generosity of my roommate and her cousin. I did continue to look, largely so I could know what the heck Rosslyn was talking about. Soon, her first few dolls began to arrive. I admired them, gave my opinions, and continued with my life. I joined the Den of Angels forums and began to gather some more intelligence on the subject, curious as to what was eating my friend's brain.
Sometime during that spring, Rosslyn had infected her cousin, Tannis (who was also my friend by that time), and the two would frequently meet at our house and do dolly dates, blushing the dolls, doing faceups, sewing clothes, etc. I stayed on the peripheral during these visits, mostly because I was working, but also because I had no dolls and no serious plans to acquire any anytime soon. However, Rosslyn wouldn't let me drop the subject. She asked me multiple times about what doll I'd like "if I could get one". I wanted to get my character Khorae, a longtime roleplaying and writing character, shelled into a doll, and I certainly hadn't found anything better than these BJDs. So she looked and I looked, and I decided Iplehouse dolls were my favorite kind of SDs. I settled on one and she and I toyed with the pics on Photoshop to see if it'd really work for the character. It did.
In the late summer, Rosslyn came bouncing into my room. I was having a rough time emotionally--I go through those every so often--and she seemed like she wanted to cheer me up. "Guess what?"
"What?" I don't like that question, mostly because my mom always answered with "That's what". It became annoying.
"There's a package soon to be coming in from Korea. It's got a present for you in it."
I think I choked and there was much rejoicing and a lot of squeeing. She gave me the tracking number and I religiously followed the progress for three weeks (it hadn't been shipped yet). Rosslyn and Tannis had felt bad about my exclusion and had pitched in together to get me my first doll, an Iplehouse YID Silvia. I was very happy when she arrived and proceeded to slowly go about clothing, wigging, and otherwise making her look like Khorae.
About a week later, Tannis visited to see the fruits of her labor and with another surprise. She'd ordered a doll from Fairyland and there seemed to have been some kind of mix up, where they'd doubled her order. Instead of sending the second doll back and making a big deal of it, she decided to give the Pukipuki Mary to me, so I could join in on the puki parties. I was suddenly, in less than two weeks' time, in possession of two dolls! Over the next few months, I found myself pulled into the hobby. I learned restringing, how to blush, I attempted faceups (without much success. I eventually had Rosslyn do them), and I began to teach myself how to sew again.
The next year, again in the summer, I had another low point. Now full into the hobby and participating in swaps and things through the DoA forums, I had seen and fallen in love with the Realpuki Soso, another Fairyland doll. I was concerned about my job and worried I'd get fired over some mistakes I'd made (completely unfounded, after talking with my manager) and Rosslyn did something sneaky again. She wanted a Realpuki Tyni and had long told me she'd ordered one. A week before it arrived (she has a hard time keeping that kind of secret), she told me she'd also ordered a Soso for me. Again, there was much squeeing and rejoicing. I'll introduce my dolls themselves in subsequent posts, but suffice it to say I'm now in the hobby and happily owning three dolls.
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