updates from the household

Long time no talk, everyone~ It's always like this. I recently received a message on my faceup shop Tumblr asking if I'd quit blogging - the answer's no, I just tend to forget about this blog sometimes and only post when I have something I feel is worth posting about :') I've also been pretty busy as of late, with graduation coming up soon and a spectacular commission backlog I've managed to rack up due to having almost no time to work at all last quarter. Things have been a little bit rough on me but I'm slowly coming back, and my new doll purchases are helping me out quite a bit. The commission queue is up and running again, and I'm hoping to have whatever's left in my drawer cleared out by the end of April. There's also some huge news I'm very excited to share, so this is going to be a pretty info-packed update on my end.

First things first - new dolls! Back in November I signed on for an exclusive collaboration with Sephie Doll Shop, a few of my faceups in exchange for one of their dolls. Earlier in March a package from Spain came in and I got to working straight away.

This is Prunella, my artist-cast Sephie Doll Shop Trébol in sugar (white) skin. Cloudburst Dolls & I worked together to create her unique peachy hairstyle. She's an adorable little peach fairy with a penchant for mischief. To be honest, I had no idea what kind of character I would create with her since I've only owned SD girls up until now, so it's been difficult imagining what I would do with a doll of such a small size. I'm glad everything worked out, though!

Here's my latest impulse buy - an FLA60 event head whom I've decided to shell my character Tamako into. I'd originally imagined her as a F60 Chloe or if Fairyland chooses to ever release one, a F60 Mio, but I thought it would be fun and interesting to try doing a faceup on a less popular event head. I've also taken the liberty of giving her some scrapes and bruising on her cheek, which I've never done on any of my own dolls? I can't wait to get her a body, maybe sometime this summer :) She'll be the same height as Essie, but even shorter because she's always wearing Converse!

Tamako's a tough girl just like Estelle - and maybe that's what drew them together. Born and raised on the streets of Los Angeles, Tamako is no stranger to confrontation and altercation. Her backstory is kind of a mess right now, but the general concept I'm going with is a pizza delivery girl on roller blades who spends her paycheck on raves and vintage records. It's a bit fanciful, but given that she's really inspired by video games, internet subculture, and chiptune music (aka my side project Kazoo Quest) it's really not all that surprising :')

Lastly, the big news:
I've taken a temporary "hiatus" from some portions of the hobby, so I don't post pictures of my dolls regularly or accept new faceup commissions (the latter is mostly because I'm so backed up on work). Burnout's been eating at me since August and I'm glad that last quarter gave me the chance to take a break even though it wasn't the most favorable of conditions. I've been really stressed out about my internet presence, my identity, my future after graduation - everything just kind of fell on me mentally for the past couple of months and it ended up being too much to handle. I'm currently getting professional help and things are starting to pick up again for me so I'll work my way out of this funk eventually...
There is some good news though, and this is something I've kept secret for a good couple of months now. If you're going to Doll North at Anime North this May in Toronto, I'll most likely see you there! I am attending as a featured guest and I'll be leading two workshops: one for faceups, one for doll manicures, and I'm really looking forward to being able to do this for everyone who attends. It's going to be an exciting (and kind of scary) experience for me, but I've got high hopes for it nonetheless.

That's probably the lengthiest update I've posted in awhile. I'm signing off before I fall asleep at my PC.

❤ Kai