Tuesday, June 11, 2013

Luts Tiny Delf Alice

Ok, I must admit, I surprise even myself sometimes. When I thought that my tastes have taken a sharp and positive turn towards artist dolls (French and American BJD artists) and I was totally over Asian BJDs - with maybe a soft spot still saved in my heart for some Fairyland and Lati dolls - right then I actually got involved with Asian BJDs all over again.

First of all, I got a frog ordered from Soom (the one monthly fairytale series) - was actually my first ever order from any Asian company directly. Then, the whole Iplehouse story unfolded. Since then, I'm still now and then tempted to look into cute (and far cheaper than Westen) kinds of Asian BJD.

As a reward to myself for being extremely good with doll sales lately (I have sold 7 different Asian and artist dolls), I decided to get a cute, inexpensive tiny doll that would mix well with an existing group. Serendipitously, my chose Luts Tiny Delf, and before I knew it, there was little Alice in tan on her way here. Major factor in this speedy purchase was that I found her in stock at a dealer and this was, indeed, the best kind of reward for good behavior - instant.

Here is her temporary look:

Alice dressed

Alice dressed

This wig is very wire-like, it's barely held from sticking up by two barrettes, and the dress in nothing special... As I sold my PukiFees, I offered wigs and outfits to go with them, so the best pieces are gone. I should be shopping soon for her and my Lati Lami (they share the same size)... Meanwhile - box opening below the fold:

Family Portrait (Mixed Group #2)

The way I bond or 'play' with my dolls is through inventing stories about them: who they are, what kind of a world they live in, how they relate to each other.. Since my collection took off in various directions lately, my dolls' characters are broken down into groups by storyline. I have always wanted to take group pictures of my entire collection by storyline, but the task seemed daunting. However, recently our vacation got canceled due to kids' illness that was however mild enough, so I found myself with a bit of free time on my hands. Here is what came out of it - the pictures of my first doll group!

Airé - Raspberry от NobleDolls / Asella - is a steampunk witch, living in a world somewhat similar to Pratchett's Discworld. She spends most of her days in a workshop, perfecting and selling her half-magical, half-mechanical inventions.

Mixed group #2

Airé is a single mom to three-year-old Addie (Addie от Bo Bergemann):

Mixed group #2

Her best friend and business partner - Sophie (Sophia by Bo Bergemann). She is an astrologer and fortune teller:

Mixed group #2

The ladies support each other by sharing one rental property that houses their both workshops downstairs and an apartment upstairs, where they live together in order to share childcare and housekeeping services of their maid /nanny, who takes care of Sophie's baby too, 1 year old Lani (Sugar Baby Leilani от Bo Bergemann).

Mixed group #2

Nanny's name is Emma-Rose, she is Mikhaila by Leekeworld. Here she is, surrounded by her lovely 'daycare' population:

Mixed group #2

The last but not least (and always ready to prove it) is a fire-breathing mini-dragon Flickr; he is created by Sarah Saiter, also known as The Mushroom Peddler:

Mixed group #2

And finally - a group photo:

Mixed group #2


(The list of my other dolls broken down by storylines is to be found HERE. It has recently changed and I'll update it ASAP.)



Thursday, June 6, 2013

My weird Iplehouse journey

I must admit, I'm pretty indifferent to the light tan, or 'sunkissed' resin color. Chocolate PukiPuki or Fairyland or Tan Yellows of Lati are adorable and cute but nothing I would specifically be out to get because of just skin color - now a great sculpt would be a different story, but you get the idea. This was the case until a new pal I met online introduced me to a whole new kind of resin shade: ebony. And the companies that deal with resin this dark are not many, but most notable of them is, I think, Iplehouse.

I think Iplehouse has all kinds of things going for them: they have very realistic sculpts in every 'age' group, they have a great variety of those. The realism of their dolls is what I think makes them stand out, so I question their choice to dub in big-headed pixies, but hey, might be a sound business decision. But another thing is the variety, and availability, of their dolls' skin tones. Now the two darkest shades of tan are not always available other than through a custom-doll order (more expensive), but they are harder to produce, so that's understandable.

Some of their sculpts already have ethnic features built into them, to the point that they don't even look right in, say, normal skin, and I love it. Erzulie is one of such sculpts. In my case it's a girl, but she could also come on a boy body and with right makeup looked very boyish. Most importantly, she was first released in Ebony and specifically sculpted for it. She was the one I decided to add to my collection.

I placed a WTB on DoA and very soon, a Canadian owner replied. We had set pretty quick on the price, but as she was packing the doll for shipping, it fell and damaged its face-up. Now I must say, Iplehouse face-ups are gorgeous, adding to the realism... But I wasn't ready to give up so easily. I found an artist brave enough to investigate and repair the defect, and had the seller ship the doll to her.

Now, the defect turned out to be only face-up deep, but the face-up itself could not be saved. I commissioned the artist for the new one, and it took her, I kid you not, three tries to get just the lips right! Ebony resin was showing off its temper ;) I'm happy with the end result, and frankly, the price I paid did not even begin to cover the effort, but deep down inside I miss Iplehouse original face-up...

Anyway. I finally got my Erzulie (I named her Amondi - 'born at the dawn' in Kenyan). She is slowly coming together: a special outfit I commissioned for her took forever to get here from Russia, and her special dreadlock wig has just arrived. I like the way she is working out, taking on her own personality, and I have quite a bit of clothes and shoes for her. But the most interesting plot twist is that for a little while, she had a sister.

While I was waiting for her, on a board I belong to an Iplehouse BID (Baby Iplehouse Doll - this is what Erzulie also is) came up for sale. The price was very affordable, she was in normal skin, but her face up was a work of beauty by an Italian artist. I bought her telling myself I could always re-home her for profit, and that is what I ended up doing, as her pale resin just didn't look right in the pictures for me. I sold her to finance a doll dream of mine and have no regrets, although I must admit having both girls 'play' together was so much fun, I see myself getting another BID in the future.

BIDs are slightly chunkier than LittleFees and make wonderful models for sewing, crochet and knitting - not so small that you can't really work into too much detail (unless you have magic powers, like my friend Rasa), but not so large that your time and material investment becomes considerable. I have found several patterns I want to try for my Amondi...

But for now, just a few pictures of her - not too many as I have just received her dreadlocks wig, meant to complete her look, - and a shot of her sister too, for nostalgia's sake:

(There is also her character's storyline behind the jump)

Erzulie arrived