an ending to 2015

It's time for my monthly update! It's still New Years' Eve for me here on the west coast of the USA so this'll be my last post for 2015. It's been a wonderful year in this hobby for me, watching my faceup business skyrocket in popularity over one winter, seeing my doll family grow from 3 to 5, and meeting so many new friends. I've also picked up a couple new skills along the way - I've finished filming for two videos' worth of content and I'm about to get started on editing them so I'll have things on my brand new YouTube channel for the new year.

My newest girl Estelle is finally coming together with her new clothes and new eyes, and the others are always a joy to see again when I come home. I've got a couple other posts that I haven't finished typing up yet (like New Year's resolutions, updated doll plans, and Essie's bio) so I'll have plenty of nice new content to start 2016 off with. I've also got a couple of close-up shots of my crew! If anyone's still reading this blog feel free to tell me which of my dolls is your favorite. I might feature them in my next video!

Haerang & Lenoire, the lovebirds

Polaire & Estelle, best pals

Yagi, lonely moth goddess

Cheers, guys! Hope you have a great new year :)

❤ Kai

san diego bjd con recap

Long time no see, everyone... I'm late with another entry, yet again! I was originally going to do something for Pro BJD Artists Day this year but I've been scrambling back and forth for the past couple of weeks with either schoolwork or convention preparation. I finally got free time this weekend to work on some commissions, rest up, and eat!

Anyway I thought I'd do a quick little recap of my experience this year at the San Diego BJD Convention. Last year I was there as an attendee, and I stayed for only a little bit after checking out the dealer's room because I was right in the middle of midterms at the time. This year I managed to attend as a vendor and share a table with my friend Cris from Blue Bird Doll Shoppe, and I just so happened to be sandwiched between her display and my other friends' from La Esperanza Doll Shop.

As someone whose involvement in the hobby is primarily based on faceup commissions, I didn't have too much to show at the convention (unlike my friends who had huge displays for their clothing shops). I just brought a few of my freshly made art prints, some old doll clothes I wanted to get rid of, a physical portfolio of my faceup work, and a bunch of forms for people to fill out. Business was a kind of slow but I still managed to sell out of the slots I prepared for the convention. :)

My display was super tiny, just a box of old clothes, my handmade pennant flag banner, space for my display dolls, and a tray with sample prints and business cards. It was simple, but I think I still managed to make it look pretty good for a first time vendor display! Overall it was a fun and positive experience for me - I didn't get to attend any of the panels, but I enjoyed the door prize raffles and lunch/dinner events. I'm a rather shy/reserved person so I tend not to interact too much with my clients, so it was really interesting to actually see my clients in person and have a little chat with them. Hopefully I gave off a good impression!

I'm going to be trying to finish up all the SDBJDC commissions I took before I leave for home for winter break while juggling final projects and term papers. Can't wait to see my little doll family of 5 once I get home!

❤ Kai

new arrival!

I'm officially at doll #5 here! I'd planned to slow down my doll plans for this year but this was an opportunity too good to pass up. My best doll friend helped me find a Celine on the DoA marketplace for only $575 including default faceup, sleeping head, heel feet, and black resin heels. Shipping was an unbelievable $15! There was absolutely no way I could've found this deal by buying direct from the company or even a dealer. Here's what she looked like before I gave her a makeover:

I never intended to keep the Fairyland default faceup, but after seeing it in person I knew for sure it had to go. The airbrushed pink blush clashed so strongly with her orangey-red lips! Her new look is far fiercer with ombre lips and strong eyebrows. I also decided to double-layer her lashes for a fuller look.

And here she is from today! I gave her a couple small finger tattoos: a heart and ribbon on the right hand, and the word "love" and a honeycomb on the left in addition to rings and a triangle on both. Someday when I finally have matte varnish and the tools to restring her I'll be giving her a large bee and some floral tats on her body, too.

I also did a quick comparison shot with Polaire, the other girl I brought with me for this quarter. Essie is a lot shorter even with her heels on! I think she's even shorter than DJ with flat feet...

I'm so excited to finally be able to share Estelle with all of you! Now to wait for her clothes and real wigs to come in... :)

❤ Kai

belated bee news

I can't believe I'm posting twice in the same month! This is pretty novel for me. To be honest, this "news" is actually older than my recent post about Yagi, but I figured since I'm already on this blog finally being active again, I may as well post it.

I received his head about 2 weeks ago from my wonderful friend in Michigan, who managed to nab one for sale from one of the people in her local community. Here's what his first faceup looks like:

It's only his first so it's likely not staying. The eyelashes definitely feel much too long/dense for my taste, and the only reason why they look like that is because my sealant's been getting very gritty on me recently. What ends up happening is me going over my lines over and over again to make them look even, instead of doing light wispy eyelash strokes like I am usually able to. He definitely has the "look" down though! I'll probably do another faceup in the same vein once I'm able to get him a body (I'm aiming for an AprilStory Senior boy body as of now).

Here's another picture comparing him with Polaire, my Little Monica Sophia. Do you like her better with him? Or with Celine? ;) Let me know in the comments!

Disclaimer: that Celine doesn't belong to me, my friend just let me try the faceup I wanted to do on her doll before doing what she actually commissioned me for. Fear not, I have my own Celine coming sometime in September!

❤ Kai

yagi is home!

What do I mean "home"? I guess I didn't mention it on this blog but I actually sent Yagi off to my wonderful friend Kayke for a little bit of tattoo work! Since she's based off a white ermine moth we thought it would be apt for her to have a moth tattoo. She now has one under her (rather sizeable) bust and I am so enamored with it I've been staring at it and taking pictures of Yagi all day.

I suppose I should probably put a "mature content" warning somewhere on this blog but it's dolls... whether it's box openings or photoshoots there's probably bound to be some nudity somewhere, right?

I also added a tiny bit of extra body blush in addition to the boob blushing Kayke did for me, I just felt like the torso was a little stark in contrast with the tattoo. And now I face the really troubling problem of wanting to keep her naked (or at least topless) to show off that lovely work. :')

P.S. I bought a F60 Celine in tan on layaway so you will probably see some news on Estelle soon!

❤ Kai