liebster awards

Is it that time of the year already? I've been tagged by both my dear friends Orion Cain & Musume, so I've double the questions to answer this time! Thank you so much for nominating my blog, even though I don't update very often. As always, I tag anyone reading my blog who wants to do it because I'm awful at choosing people to single out (with the addition of a few people on my blogroll who may or may not have been tagged yet). I hope my questions are fun and interesting for anyone who wants to try.

The Rules

1. Thank the person who presented you the award and link back to their blog.

2. Post the award image on your blog.
3. Answer 11 questions posted by the presenter.
4. Nominate 5-11 blogs with less than 200 followers.
5. Create 11 questions for the nominees to answer.
6. List these rules in your post.
7. Inform the people you chose of their nomination by leaving a comment on their blog and link them your post.

To start off, I'll answer Orion's questions below:

1. What is the first thing you look for when you're sculpt hunting?
I think I tend to look most closely to the balance of the face - for me, it's always important to focus on the head rather than the body because there's always the option of hybrids if the body doesn't work out. I'm usually looking for well-spaced eyes, a high, slightly curved nose, and medium-sized lips that aren't too open or too pursed. Oddly specific, I know.

2. Name one of your favorite, or your absolute favorite company, and tell us why you chose it?
I have a lot of favorite companies, but only because they're so hard to rank! The first company I truly fell in love with was Little Monica, I love how delicate their sculpts are and the bodies are beautiful! There's also a very obvious style that's consistent between every doll release and I'm a big fan of that.

3. Are you in the hobby because you simply like dolls and you think they are beautiful, or is there another reason?
There's a longer, more personal reason behind why I've stayed in this hobby but it began with me wanting to vicariously experience "beauty" since I'd given up on myself. That, and I wanted to experience my original characters in a tangible, physical, customizable form.

4. Describe how your perfect sculpt would look like! (You can attach an illustration or sketch for fun)
Basically... a Little Monica Sophia with slightly more upturned eye corners, a smoother, less pronounced nose with a rounded tip, and slightly fuller lips. I guess kind of a bizarre combination of LM Sophia, Switch Ajeong, and Angell-Studio Lan?

5. Choose one doll from your collection that you would part with! And explain why.
I think realistically I'd never part with any of them but disregarding her permanent status as a resident of the dollgirls house, I'd probably pick Lenoire. If it weren't for the fact that she's the oldest of my current crew and that she was a graduation gift from my parents, I'd probably have reshelled her as a Volks Saki since I feel like that sculpt fits her character much better.

6. Tell us something interesting about one of your resin family members!
Lenoire has gone through the most faceups out of all my dolls, including the 2 I had done by Eludys when I didn't know how to do faceups myself. She's had a whopping 7 in the 3 years that she's been with me.

7. If you were suddenly gifted with the skill of BJD sculpting, what would you name your company?
I'm very boring and predictable, so I'd probably go with the name of this blog (Café Amaretto) or something like Atelier Darjeeling. I think it'd be really cute to name my sculpts after teas or coffee though.

8. What is one question you hate being asked in this hobby?
"How do I buy a doll from you/do you sell dolls?" only because I'm tired of saying no every single time. I'm starting to think I need to include this in my FAQ.

9. Do your dolls have favorite foods? (you can pick one doll, and share)
Polaire loves meat dishes - pot-au-feu, beef curry, and hotpot are some of her favorites :)

10. What is an aesthetic you hate in BJDs?
Huge, unrealistic boobs!! I actually don't mind if they're huge, BJDs are rather disproportionate or unrealistic in some sense, but I absolutely hate it when they look like balloons and totally defy any sense of gravity or weight.

11. And last but not least, do you have anything to say to people in this hobby?
Please respect your artists, whether that's the original companies, people doing faceups, or the people making clothes and wigs for your dolls. We all put an incredibly large amount of effort into creating what we do, and even though much of it goes unseen to the public, it's still really nice to be appreciated by the people we work for.

Musume's questions:

1. Have you learned any craft because of the hobby?
I'm a faceup artist by trade now, so I'd say yes :)

2. Have you gotten a doll you thought you would never get?
Well, I did say that I'd only have one doll when I got Lenoire, so every doll I've bought after her is technically a doll that wasn't supposed to happen. I don't think there's a single "grail" that I never dreamed of obtaining, just more dolls I need the time and money to save up for.

3. Do you have a preference for any BJD size in particular?
SD all the way! Though I have been thinking about a few exceptions as of late, like two very carefully planned MSDs, and maybe a Merry Doll Round Mousse.

4. Do you collect any other type of doll besides BJDs?
I used to collect limited edition Bratz as a kid, but I only kept one of them. I also thought about starting Pullips or Blythes at one point since they're highly customizable and a popular size but in the end I was too loyal to my doll family to stray from BJDs :')

5. Have you ever "re-shelled" a character?
My very first BJD was a Minifee Shushu named Soyeon, and while she's never been fully reshelled (as I didn't really develop her character much) Haerang does draw a few references from her.

6. What calls your attention first: the head sculpts or the body sculpts?

Head sculpts for sure!

7. Do you "research" the hobby? (find new releases, read reviews, find info about brands...)

I am always on the hunt for new or underrated companies! My most recent find is a small Chinese artist shop on Taobao called SIO2. Also, I know this sounds like the obvious thing to do, but I always research the people I buy from before I order anything from them - if they've got negative reviews, support recasts, have bad service, etc. it's basically guaranteed that they won't be getting my money. 

8. Do your dolls have a back story?
Still no overarching one, but Lenoire, Polaire, Haerang, and Estelle essentially exist in the same universe.

9. How do you take photos of your dolls: go outside, prepare a big setup, or just snap in any place?
Basically snap anywhere. I do some rearranging with blankets or my own clothes for some color variation in background but generally I prefer to keep all photo sessions within my own room.

10. Which is your main avenue to enjoy the hobby? Blogs, videos, forums, social sites?
Despite what goes on in the community, I think Tumblr is still my preferred platform since it's my main source of online interaction.

11. Have you done doll cosplay?
I haven't personally cosplayed a doll myself but I forced Polaire into an outfit inspired by the game Blade & Soul once...

And here are my questions for my nominees:

1. What is your single biggest inspiration in this hobby?
2. Do you create characters for your dolls first, or buy the dolls and let the characters come to you? Or do you prefer to collect fullsets as they are?
3. How big is your collection? Planning on more? Downsizing?
4. Do you celebrate your dolls' birthdays/arrival date anniversaries? If yes, how?
5. How do you feel about traveling (long or short distance) with your dolls?
6. What would you consider "off-limits" in terms of sizes, sculpts, skintones, etc. for your collection?
7. Do you prefer to buy things premade, or are you more of a DIY person? Have you made things yourself for your dolls?
8. How do you come up with names for your dolls?
9. If you could "meet and greet" any company and their staff at a doll convention, which would it be?
10. How do you like your eyes? Sparkly like Oscars, crisp and bright like Enchanted Doll and Mako Eyes, or sturdy like a good pair of glass eyes?
11. Out of all the members of your doll family who's your favorite?

And lastly, I nominate these people for the Liebster Award! I'm sure many of you have been tagged already, but I just want you to know that I am thinking of you :)

Maria from Tjassi in Resin Wonderland
Galileo from Café Galileo
Alejandra from FantasyWoods
Irene from Caketown
Mio from mionnaise
And you two who tagged me - you're on this list too, but I'm not going to force you to answer any questions ;)

❤ Kai