[review] maodoll glass eyes

I said I was going to do this in my  last post, so here goes nothing! I've checked the MaoDoll Taobao and it appears that some of the eyes that I ordered are no longer in stock. However, I highly recommend them because their eyes are incredibly detailed and well priced for a pair of glass eyes! They're only 75 RMB, which translates to roughly $12 USD.

Polaire is wearing Z01 eyes in 16mm. The base color is brown, with lime green detailing extending from the pupil. I wasn't expecting them to have glitter in them since it wasn't visible in the product pictures, but I was pleasantly surprised when I held them under the light! These eyes, like the other pair I bought are high-dome, so if that's not your thing, I wouldn't recommend MaoDoll to you. Other than that, they're superb!

Lenoire is wearing P01 eyes in 16mm. They're periwinkle blue-based with purple lines for detail. When I saw the product pictures, I thought these were going to be primarily blue eyes, but they look lavender from far away. These are really lovely, luminous eyes that have a nice bright glow to them in any kind of light. They're still in stock so if you'd like a pair of your own, here's the link!

I only have 2 dolls with eye colors that are pretty much set for their characters, but if MaoDoll releases more colors and I get my next doll soon I know I'll definitely be ordering from them again ;)


❤ mura

closet update!

Yesterday I got notifications for 4 packages, 2 of them being my things from Taobao and Nine9 Style. Unfortunately, by the time I was finished with lab, it was already too dark for me to take proper pictures of anything. So this morning I got up nice and early to take a bunch of pictures :)

 

This one is my favorite because it's by far the EASIEST outfit to put on. It's super cute, too! I bought it from 42workshop on Taobao, the same place as where I got Lenny's sweater/long black skirt outfit from.

This is the qipao that I waited weeks for! At the time, the seller only had the DD version of this in stock, but they later asked me for my doll's measurements so I suspect this is custom made. Sadly, while I really love the fit of this outfit, the part between the bust and waist is a little too small for my doll's relatively wide torso, and I'm scared that the seams are beginning to rip :(

 

Bought this one off a sales post on the BJD Addicts Sales and Commissions page. It's perfectly cute, but again, because Little Monica girls have a really wide torso for SD13 size dolls, it doesn't quite fit right. I might remove some of the snaps in the back and replace them with hook-and-eye closures to help the dress actually close up in the back.

Lastly, here is a cute denim dress from Rosemary Shop on Taobao! They're an independent shop that makes very cute and girly clothes for SD and DD. The wonderful shop owner even gave me a necklace as a free gift! Will definitely be ordering from them again.

I still have clothes in the box that I haven't photographed yet, but I'll be getting around to those soon. Also, did you notice that Porii has different eyes? I bought some very lovely high quality glass eyes from MaoDoll that I will be reviewing soon. :)

❤ mura

杏眼桃腮

The title of this blog post is a Chinese phrase literally meaning almond eyes and peach cheeks, and as you can probably guess, it's referring to a girl's beauty! I thought it would perfectly describe my lovely girl Polaire, who's the subject of my post today. I've been working on a project that I started almost a month ago, and only recently have I made some serious progress with it. If you refer to some of my previous posts, I've mentioned things about the origin of Polaire as an MMO avatar that I used for various game, the most recent being a game called Blade & Soul. Here's how she looks in game, if you haven't seen my post from earlier - and it just so happens that the outfit that I'm trying to recreate is the outfit she's wearing in that screencap!

Here's a stack of materials I've collected for this project:

A rigid satin taffeta, a white chiffon-like fabric, some shiny black stretch lycra, and braided elastic.

The outfit as I've adapted it consists of a corset/leotard piece, a shirt with balloon sleeves, two wristguards, a neckpiece, and a set of leggings with a lace inset. Some of the items in the original game outfit can't be translated into a practical sewing design, so I've made changes accordingly. For instance, I've omitted some of the detailing on the leggings and corset simply because it's impossible to create 3D details in such a small scale/I simply don't have the materials or skills to do so. Without further ado, here's my progress so far! I've completed the corset and the shirt.

The corset consists of 13 pieces (and 12 identical pieces for the lining) and is completely handsewn because I'm at school and I don't have access to a sewing machine (I also suck at sewing with the machine, so I'd rather just not). My first few attempts were with the machine and they didn't work out, so this is actually Mark III of the corset =3= I'm still waiting on my black ribbon for the fastening so I'm temporarily lacing it up in the back with a few loose stitches.

 

Here's my most recent update! I finished the shirt just yesterday, and I just edited the shoulder ties a bit today, but I don't have pictures of that right now. The shirt closes up in the back with snap closures, and the sleeves have elastic stitched into them at the cuffs. So far progress is going really well considering it's only my second time sewing an outfit (the only other time I've sewn a major project is a red Christmas dress I made for Lenny)... I'm going to start drafting the other pieces soon!

❤ mura

liebster blogger award tag!

I just got tagged by my friend Musume from My Dolly Adventures! Basically I have to answer a bunch of questions, come up with a bunch more questions, and tag people to answer them =3=

Questions for me:
1. Do you have stories for your dolls? If so, do you keep one or more?
Well... one of them is a character adapted from an avatar I've reincarnated in many, many MMO's so I'm currently trying to place her in a modern setting instead of trying to figure out a backstory compiled from Aion, Vindictus, TERA, and Blade & Soul lore. That just gives me a headache. I haven't finalized it yet, but I'm trying to put Porii and Lenny in the same setting.

2. If your dolls could read... which will be their faved books? 
For Lenny, probably a collection of Grimm's fairytales, maybe some Beatrix Potter. She's not really big on literature aside from whatever she has to read for school, so she'd probably stick to some childhood favorites.
For Porii... probably something like Machiavelli's The Prince. Or Art of War. Being in a business calls for some interesting tactics and possibly extreme measures. She also reads a lot of fashion magazines and self-help books for reference.

3. Do your dolls like a particular fashion style?
I styled Lenny after the mori girl fashion style from Japan - while she doesn't have super loose lacey long skirts and a lot of flowery pieces, she does have a lot of cute fashion that you could probably see in stores like MUJI, wonder rocket, and franchee lipee. I intend to craft her some nice mori clothes when I'm better at sewing ^_^
Porii is more of a chic fashion sort of girl, meaning a lot more fitted dresses and some street fashion. I've been shopping primarily from Nine9 Style for her and looking at THE WHITEPEPPER and Korean online stores like stylenanda for inspiration. I'm also looking into big jackets and cute lacey lingerie...

4. Have you ever went out with your dolls in public?
Yup. Took Porii on the plane with me for spring break, and heading back with her to school! The first time I made the mistake of not wrapping her up properly, and she ended up getting scuffs and scratches. This time I've put on a ton of bubble wrap where it counts.

5. What do you enjoy the most in this hobby?
Probably just the idea of owning dolls. This is going to sound really weird and narcissistic but for me, the main appeal of this hobby is having my taste in aesthetics realized in a physical form. The amount of customization and personalization that goes into creating each doll/character is practically limitless, and when you have control over what you want your doll to look like (faceup, fashion, hair), it's really wonderful.

6. Do you have any fear regarding your dolls?
I have had my fair share of nightmares where their faces melt off from acetone, or I wake up and find bite-like dents in the resin ;_; Basically any kind of irreparable damage that would cause me extreme distress.

7. Which is your fave artist or company?
Little Monica, Peakswoods, and SWITCH

8. Use 5 words to describe each of your dolls :3
Lenny: caramel, cotton, deer, sunflowers, autumn
Porii: starlight, lace, pumpkins, metropolis, rain

9. Where are you more active (DoA, blogs, Tumblrs, Flickr) and why?
Most active on Tumblr, but that's just because I'm based primarily on Tumblr and happen to own dolls. I check DoA daily for new clothes on the marketplace.

10. Do you dislike a type of doll? (regarding joints, aesthethics, and not owned dolls).
I'm not really big on Lati Yellows and DDdys, the first because I just don't like the head proportions in comparison to the body, and I'm really uncomfortable with the scale of the chest size for DDdy. Large busted dolls don't really bother me when they're sculpted to look relatively natural (e.g. Fairyland F65 girls), but the ones that are sculpted to mimic EXTREME push-up bras or ones that have boobs that look like they were bolted on (*coughs*Loongsoul)...

11. If you are given 500$ and can spend it only in dolls... what will you use it for?
For my next doll, probably. I'm shelling Darjeeling into a SWITCH HD57 Shiho and I'm definitely going to need the cash ;_;

And my questions for you!
1. What was your very first BJD and what attracted you to them?
2. Are there any particular activities you enjoy doing with your dolls?
3. Do you prefer commissioning someone to customize your doll, or doing everything yourself?
4. What inspires you in this hobby?
5. If your dolls were 'alive,' how do you think they think of you?
6. Your favorite sculpt?
7. What's the worst experience you've had in this hobby?
8. What do you see yourself doing with your doll collection in the future (i.e. any plans? goals?)
9. If you had to pick one doll to go on vacation with you, which one would it be?
10. Have you been to any doll conventions? If yes, how was your experience?
11. What do you love most about your dolls?

I'm not sure who to tag! How about I just leave this open for anyone to answer instead...? ƪ(‾ε‾“)ʃ

❤ mura

march wishlist

Now that I've got another doll in the family it's time to build that closet! I know she's still very new and all but it upsets me a little when I compare Polaire's closet to Lenny's... I'm sure she dreams of having a massive outfit collection to choose from too =3=

So far I'm thinking key pieces will be big fluffy jackets, fit-and-flare dresses/circle skirt, ankle socks, and maybe skinny pants? As for any cute lingerie in the closet, I'll probably have to make it myself because of her unique body type. Not really unique, per se, but I don't have any comparable bodies for LM Harmony small bust :(

Here's the stuff on the list so far:

Fur jacket from Angell-Studio

Summer dress from Angell-Studio

Bouclee knit & leather pants set from Nine9Style

Collar neck dress in navy from Nine9style

Diamond print dress + bolero set in pink from Nine9style

Dot print shirt in pink from Nine9style

I think it's pretty obvious that I can't afford ALL of those, so that means I'll have to pick and choose :( Any suggestions? Tell me your favorite pieces in the comments!

❤ mura