Trying for Halloween

Hello again!  If you're just joining us, WELCOME~!  Come!  Read!  Sit down for a spell~!

It's that time of year again!  Halloween!!  Samhain!!  All Hallows Eve!!

Last year's dress, modeled by Chiyo.

Last year, as previous readers may remember, I attempted to have a Halloween dress (or was it dresses?) up for sale in my shop.

If you followed along, it fell through, however, sewing by hand bringing me to a resounding halt as things got busier.  So, this year, I've hoped to try again.

If anyone is interested in last year's dress, however, I am debating on putting it up for sale.  If you agree with this, let me know because up it will go!  It will come as is with little black socks.  It fits perfectly on VOLKS Yo-SD-sized dolls and similar, but it's a bit big on my Fairyland LittleFee.

As I said previously, I do plan on making things OOAK in my shop, so if you would like this one or this year's dress, be sure to jump right on that, as there will only be ONE of each posted!!

This year's dress, in the works earlier this month.

This time round, we have pumpkins!

Adorable, petite pumpkins with a silvery-black ribbon lining the bottom.

Now, this is just a sneak peek, there is more to be seen of this dress as the next few days go by, so please, if you are interested in seeing it's progress or seeing it listed, keep an eye out on the Facebook page or the shop!

It will have sleeves and other embellishments, as well as snap closures in the back.  I'm still debating on putting a collar on it, though, it being an autumn-timed outfit and all.

Well, we have time for one last sneak peek of things coming to the shop in the near future.

16mm green acrylic eyes.

Acrylic eyes, anyone?

As of right now, I have access to 16mm eyes, so that's what will debut at the shop as soon as I finish the testing phase.

I am still debating on the Custom Order or if I will just do certain colors and keep it at that, but they do seem like I can make them digitally quick enough to work on a few at a time.

As you can see, the pupils in both eyes came out a tad big, and the left one ended up off-center, but this is the test pair, so please bear with me.

Hopefully, within the next few days, I will have the 16mm down pat, and find where I can procure some other sizes to add to the shop.

In the meantime, keep your eye out for more updates!

As always, thank you for joining me!

Have a wonderful evening!

♥ The BJDA

Dolly Researching

It's been a while since I did a branch off to help those new to the BJD-hobby with their learning/research... So this entry will be dedicated to that. If you'd rather skip it, feel free, but otherwise, thanks for reading and please read on....

Lately I've been reorganizing my wishlist/doll list from Pinterest... Writing everything down and separating everyone into their size categories. (I'm OCD, so I know this isn't for everyone, but it helps me stay organized...) After I separated them though, I wrote down the 3 most important pieces of information: the height, the wig size, and the eye-size. Now, height and eye-size on a doll-page are obvious, the site lists them both in the measurements area, BUT the wig size might be a little difficult to figure out if you don't know what size wig fits what circumference of head. So here's a helpful tidbit:

Wig line shown here.

Size 3.5 fits heads 8.5-9.5cm round.

Size 4 fits heads 9.5-10.5cm round.

Size 4.5 fits heads 10.5-12cm round.

Size 5 fits heads 12-13cm round.

Size 5.5 fits heads 13-14.5cm round.

Size 6 fits heads 15-16.5cm round.

Size 7 fits heads 16.5-19cm round.

Size 8 fits heads 19-22cm round.

Size 9 fits heads 22-24cm round.

Size 10 fits heads 24.5-28cm round.

Wigs usually only fit those in their size-range, so you have to be careful to make sure you're purchasing the correct size. Sizes that are listed 3/4, 5/6, 7/8, and 9/10 fit from the first range of the first number to the last of the second number, so just make sure your doll falls in those categories before purchasing. Also, not all wigs in the size range given will fit your doll. It's possible to purchase a wig in the doll's size and have it be too tight or too loose. If it's too tight, you can pin it or just purchase a new one, but if it's too big, you can attach velcro to the head to make the wig stay better. Most heads have wig lines in which you can line the wig up to, to make sure the wig is on properly.

Eyes, on the other hand, will fit one size smaller and one size larger than what your doll is meant to have. This means, if they fit 14mm, they will also fit 12mm and 16mm eyes. The pupil size changes with each size though, so it depends on personal preference as to which size you actually put in your doll. If you want them to have big doe eyes, put in a larger size; if you want tiny piercing eyes, put in a smaller size. If you have no preference, try them with their actual size and go from there, maybe your mind will change once you actually see the eyes in your doll.

Picture from BarometzBlue on Flickr

Eyes come in all ranges of sizes, shapes, and colors. The most used sizes tend to be 14mm and 16mm, but some larger dolls take 18mm+ and smaller dolls take 12mm or less.  Eyes can be full round - with/without positioning stems, half-round - with/without stems, double-sided (two eyes on one eyepiece), oval, or petal-shaped (oval with points on two sides). They can be made out of glass, acrylics, silicone, or urethane. Popular eyes are GLiB acrylics and many types of glass eyes. I've heard people say that urethane photographs better, but they are also the most expensive. I, myself, use GLiB acrylics simply because they are inexpensive and look nice once placed in a doll. My only doll with glass eyes is Talia, and that's because I have yet to purchase blue acrylics for her. Lol.  If you're looking for sites that sell wonderful eyes, try Safrin Doll or Ersa Flora. Both sites have amazing eyes and Ersa Flora does commissions. She was the wonderful artist of Shii-Tsuu's Geass Eyes. :) And when I have Lelouch (Island Doll Wallace), I plan on purchasing his eyes from her as well.

Well, that's all I have for now. I hope this helped some of you still learning or new to the hobby. :) If you think I missed anything, feel free to comment and ask, I'm sure I can help you with your questions.

Thanks for reading~! See you again soon!

-The BJD Addict