30 Days Left!

I started with a countdown of 50 days to design, sew, and embellish 81 pieces of MSD BJD clothing. Today is day 20. 30 more days until my store opens... And I have yet to even finish a stocking!

Internal structure of an Obitsu BJD.

First, let me explain (more or less) what a BJD is: a BJD (Ball-Jointed Doll) is (usually) an Asian doll made of ABS plastic, resin, or vinyl and held together by either hard plastic/vinyl joints (obitsu) or elastic lacing (traditional). They can be as big as 70cm (28in) or as small as 11cm (4.4in). MSD (Mini Super Dollfie) is the name given to the 41-45cm height BJD from VOLKS, but is normally used as an adjective to describe the height of a "Mini" male or female doll.

The doll I am currently making clothes for is Parabox Alice (also sold at The Junky Spot), a 40cm (16in) soft vinyl Obitsu BJD with hard vinyl joints. Since she fits MSD-sized clothing, I decided to make them instead of buy them for her, and in that decision, I found my hobby. My fiancée, Justin, wanted me to have something to do other than clean or read while our son took his naps (I mean, c'mon, you can only stand the two so much, and I just listen to the T.V. as background noise rather than watch it.), so I told him about my longing to own a BJD. I told him about them (reminding him of our high school study hall class 5 1/2 years ago, in which the girl that sat in front of him brought hers with her one day), and said that I would love to have one to dress. With that, a new chapter in my life began.

Parabox Alice - 40cm

As the blog description says, I am a mother, a college student, a "housewife", and a seamstress.

My son, Kole, is now a year old, and is a brilliant little boy (his pediatrician informed me that he has the speaking level of an 18 month old). He can currently say 3 phrases, 16 words, walk, crawl, dance, clap his hands, stomp his feet, shake his head, and brush his own teeth (it's so cute to watch!). Oh, and he has about 12 teeth, going on 14, the boy likes to eat. Lol. He and his father are everything to me, and they both support me in their own way. -^_^- Kole likes to take the scraps I pile up and shake them in the air. He laughs when I thank him for helping. Lol. And Justin is both moral and financial support in this endeavor; he is the one telling me I can do this, as well as the one supplying the means to do it. My two Mr. Wonderfuls, right?

Parabox Alice head

After Kole was born, I took a year off from college. I am currently in the process of enrolling for Fall of 2012 classes online. I've planned on taking 8 credits: Chinese I and Basic Algebra (I'm brilliant with languages, but I fail at math.) I have already taken, and passed with flying colors, a different Chinese I, but I thought it may be best to retake it since I am switching books and teachers. And math... well, math just isn't my strong point... I'm better with the artsy side of my brain. ^_^

You can ignore the "housewife" part really, all I do is clean up after Kole, sweep, vacuum, dust, and do dishes (no dishwasher, our house is old) from time to time. Oh, and laundry too. Lol. Normal house-like duties, you know, those chores you hated as a child? Guess what? You get to do them for the rest of your life! Lol.

However, this blog is really only happening because of the seamstress part. I've decided to tack one more thing on my already complicated To-Do List. I've decided to open up the Ball-Jointed Boutique: the clothing store for your 40-43cm BJD. I'm currently only making female clothing, but even then it's more complicated than I thought it would be... I figured I needed 3 types of each form of clothing, pants, shirt, etc., and from there decided to make three of each form...Which landed me with 81 items to make for the month of April. (It was going to be 5 of each item, making it 135 items total, but I convinced myself that was crazy. Lol.) So now, on day one, I have half of one stocking done. So, 1/4th of the pair done...Of the first pair of three pairs...Confusing, isn't it? Lol.

Parabox Alice Fullset

80 and a half items to go with 30 days to do it! Wish me luck!