What do you do while you wait?

[MeltedCaramel]

OkamiKodomo Well this post just made my night, so I think that's a pretty even trade. I wish I had gone on more at length about the tremendous talent I feel you both have, and discussed some more specifics I found in her gallery that just had me shaking my head in wonder and amazement, but I thought I was going to sound like I was just screaming "FANGIRL MOMENT" in slow motion, because really, my trip through her gallery could be summed up with that. Her modification work is extensive and different and gorgeous and I'll definitely be keeping tabs on her progress with Ferrous, and all of her projects. Her tattoo work is also the most natural I have ever seen. I'm not sure how she manages such intricate, realistic work on such small subjects but seeing her body tattoos in the gallery is a treat. The dragon-tattooed BJD blew me away. I'm so happy that you guys got the recast doll. Don't get me wrong when I say that, I feel really bad that you got the recast to begin with (but getting a partial refund and keeping him so he wouldn't be resold...I think that was the right decision on so many levels), but I'm so happy to see a recast doll, something most people see as garbage, getting turned into something of incredible beauty. It's not the doll's fault to begin with, and nor is it yours, and your GF is really bringing him to life. (Also, it sounds like Ferrous couldn't have found a better home!! I'm so glad to see someone doing something productive and amazing with a recast rather than just getting the refund and continuing what gets to be an ugly cycle until the seller eventually finds someone new enough to not realize they're getting a recast--and that poor person inevitably takes the heat when they represent it as the real thing unknowingly. So, Ferrous' ultimate fate makes me especially happy, especially seeing the love put into him.)

Also, Zephyr, Ferrous, and Celeste's backstories all seem so intriguing. Do you two write these stories down anywhere or is it all mostly kept between you and your collection? I love Zephyr's role as a guardian, I find it really sweet.

So yeah, okay, I went ahead and had my fangirl (fanwoman?) moment anyway.

ShortNCuddlyAm Yeah, that's what I seem to be doing too. "What? My figure won't be in until June? Let me think of and order five more customs to procrastinate on oh and let's just bid on some action figures from a series I've never heard of YUP SO WINNING AT LIFE RIGHT NOW." I'm one of those people where having my OC as a doll would kind of weird me out in a way, which is completely screwed up because I made up one OC in a fit of weakness after seeing the "always ends up alone" guy in a movie...always end up alone and I loved the universe anyway so creating an OC Love Interest to fit seamlessly into that universe was kind of easy (I can't even tell people about the OC or his big-screen significant other because I feel so embarrassed that I fell into the trap that twelve year old fangirls fall into, not full grown women with years of jaded fandom experience under their belts. ), and the other one is technically a character for one of my erotic novellas, and seeing him in doll form, while impossible to replicate completely accurately (he's...quite the fantasy character), would be pretty cool to see, but I just...something always stops me on that front, no idea why. And it's just a personal thing too, I love seeing other people's OCs made into dolls. It's a quirk I guess. X3

SymphonicEnkelli Hah, the clothes thing is a big pain in the ass for me because I just have to go for the gold and create ~anime characters~ And I can't sew worth beans, so I rely, after a couple of REALLY shitty experiences (don't sell your services if you're not talented enough to make what I'm asking, PLEASE PEOPLE OH GOD), on one seamstress and one seamstress only to make the clothes I need, and I'm at her mercy in terms of scheduling and waiting list queues. So yeah, that's another irritation at worst and a wait at best! (To be clear, no irritation at her, she's also become an amazing friend, I just mean irritation that I can't twitch my nose and make perfectly tailored clothes appear. )

[OkamiKodomo]

Just bought a dress for my doll yesterday! It will be here on Friday. Hopefully this can tie me over for awhile. Lol!

And I totally understand everyone's wig woes, well, mostly. Find clothing and shoes is pretty easy, but wigs are nearly impossible. Finding the right color, style, length and size is nearly impossible. And it seems like it's all just one big guessing game.

I currently seem to spending the time waiting for one doll finding others I want to buy Not a strategy I'd necessarily recommend...!

I try to find wigs, clothes and eyes for them. Rarely names and backstories though - with a couple of exceptions these only seem to click once the doll is here. I've actually ended up selling the majority of dolls I've bought to shell pre-existing OCs into as they never seem to work for me.

Yeah I totes gave up on looking for clothes back in my IMVU days. I just said "&%$# it" and started making my own stuff. I make most of my dolls' clothing now, though I have some stuff I purchased too. Shoes are mildly irritating to find for some, impossible for others, and easy as pie for the remainder. Part of the problem is I have a very specific image in mind, and can't find anything to really...fit. Some of the others are not so demanding and just kinda agree to what I find. But then finding the right shades of fabrics can be a pain too. It took me FOREVER to find the right shade of sheer blue-green something to make the tails to Rune's new outfit. When it comes down to brass tacks though, it's wigs that are the hardest. Eyes, I can make, if I need to. But wigs... I've made a hand-ventilated wig before. I've made one using the glue-fibers-to-the-wig-cap method. I've done mohair. I've hand-dyed mohair. There was always some sort of malfunction. Wigs are by far the hardest thing to make (next to shoes of course, because I've yet to actually make any shoes)

I wish I could show that post to her RIGHT NAO, MC, because she'd probably start with the smiles and shiny eyes all over again, which makes me smile too. She gets the tiny details with a lot of patience and some very very tiny brushes, as well as micron pens. Word to the wise, microns on dolls are finicky. Sometimes they stain, sometimes they don't. But whatever you do, don't use them over watercolor pencils without sealing VERY well in between. They won't dry properly. Kaze (the dragon guy) is one of the permanent residents in our home, and he is very beautiful. I'm terrified to touch him though LOL. He's sealed with Polycrylic varnish but I'm still afraid that I'll hurt all that lovely work, because I'm a clumsy twit and I can be a bit rough with my dolls. I appreciate the compliment in regards to my own work but I'm totally not worthy. You can probably message her here or on flickr. I'd say Den of Angels but I get the feeling you're making warding signs at that place XD.

The stories are both in our heads, and written. We've been working on a monster of a trilogy over the last year and some months that is about Angel and Dallieh (my boy RS Dai, and her RS Gang... if you browsed her flickr, you've seen them), and then we may write about the others. We'll see.

[MeltedCaramel]

Okami I completely give you props for even trying to make a wig. I think if I tried that there would be hair glued to my fingers, the wall, my face, the cat, and me sobbing in the middle of a giant mess.

Also, I hope my post made both of you smile because it's 100% genuine and heartfelt. Your story and how you handled the recast situation, both of you, is beyond mature and worldly and moves into a completely different realm of kindness. The absolute poise you both showed is just incredible, and watching her turn Ferrous into something gorgeous is...well, I'll have my little fangirl moment again (I'm too old to be having these, really) and say I think your girlfriend has the magic touch regarding modifications. Everything is so so unique and incredible and I love that she's really not afraid to just go there and turn the dolls she works on into something completely and utterly unique and distinctly striking.

As for you my dear, how in the world can you say you're not worthy of the praise!?! I know we're discussing your girlfriend's work but my compliments about your talents is far from an afterthought. There are so many faceups in your commissions thread that it's impossible to pick a favourite but your scar modifications and the fantasy faceups caught my eye immediately. The scars are so realistic looking it's hard to believe they're not a part of the doll permanently. And by contrast, 'simple' faceups like http://farm3.staticflickr.com/2884/1083 ... 4430_o.png this one leave an impact all their own. http://i30.photobucket.com/albums/c307/ ... 78d6b9.png This modification blew me away. Your work stays in the mind long after the page has been closed, like any amazing artist's work should. Don't downplay yourself or your talent like that. Be proud of that.

Both you and your girlfriend have extensive gifts, so you both need to see it in yourselves as well as each other. (I bet it wouldn't be a far stretch if I said Myrretah tells you how talented you are!) Own that talent, both of you! <3

As for Angel and Dallieh, you bet I saw them in her flickr! Any plans to publish their story? I'd pick it up in a heartbeat!

[OkamiKodomo]

~laugh~ you're silly. Though that fox girl commission took me MONTHS... I felt SO bad for the owner, but I hope she was happy in the end. Layers and layers of PearlEx and gloss on those armor parts. And if each layer doesn't dry completely, then it makes gross little smears when you put the next layer on and just... anyway. I loved working on that project though.

Ventilating a wig is DEFINITELY the most time consuming method, but it's also more forgiving than either the glue method or the mohair. Picking a knot of hair out is far easier than trying to pick out stitches in sewn leather, and of course, if. You cut a pattern piece too small, there is no going back. And pulling off glued-on hair fibers that have dried without ruining the rest of the wig is tedious to say the least. I will need to remember to get pictures of the wigs I've made. Fur wigs I actually find to be the most difficult for some reason, though they're supposed to be the easiest. I just can't get it right.

No, there definitely isn't much Myrretah is afraid to do to her dolls. She gets afraid she will ruin them or mess up, but once she gets going, there's no stopping her. She has completely rebuilt the torso joints on Dallieh, and on the ResinSoul mini body that goes to Kaname, one of her two Minifee Breakaways, and the Bobobie mini body I gave her for her RS Song head. The dremel collection are her best friends. We have 3... a portable one, a mini one that we use most often, and a giant industrial one with bits and settings for cutting through metal. We have a whole stash of dust masks and our vaccuum has one of those HEPA filter things so we can get the dust up. I've gotten more brave thanks to her. I never would have attempted the mods I've done without her encouragement. And yes lol, she does say it, and I suppose that makes me a hypocrite because I wrinkle my nose when she does, and she calls me out on that, too. She also says she doesn't know how I can just sit there for hours, carefully working through grades of sandpaper until my dolls look machine-sanded. She claims not to have the patience for it.

And yes, their story has already been picked up by a publisher, we just need to finish it. Book 1 is almost finished, book 2 and 3 are... maybe halfway done? We use GoogleDocs to write together.

[MeltedCaramel]

Okami I'm silly because I think you're an amazing artist? I think I'm offended! Well, if it's any consolation if that was my commission and my doll came back looking like that I'd be beyond amazed. I just love, LOVE the fantasy aspect of it all, and the mix of "artificial" and "nature" with the fox additions clashing in the most awesome way with the armour. I can imagine that was a long and arduous commission though, just looking at it you can tell it's hours upon hours of modification work and painting. So I can't tell you I think you're an amazing artist? Because sorry, I think you are!

As for wigs, I am never attempting one. The scariest thing I'm planning is my first vinyl reroot, and I think that's about the level of danger I'm sticking to for now.

Myrretah's modifications are gorgeous work, especially because it seems like she can truly do it all, from the most subtle modifications to the full body work ups. I can imagine with the dremels! You two might keep them in business! And the dust mask companies!! I can only imagine the resin dust!! I was surprised at the amount of dust coming off of my cheap dremel-knockoff (I really need to invest in a real one--MORE POWERRRR) when I was sanding a little sculpey prop being made for a friend, with a doll like that...you must have little ant-hill piles of dust everywhere.

Ah, see, I was right, you're being hypocritical. That's what happens when you get two amazing, creative people in one spot with an excess of talent and a distinct lack of ego: they'll recognize the genius of the person next to them (in this case your significant other) but not themselves! Bah, you both just need to own up to it in my opinion: You're two gals with incredible talents in your creative arsenals. Be proud of it! <3

As for the story, do you mind me asking which publisher, and if you've settled on a final title yet, so I can look out for it? (If you don't want to say in a public forum you could PM me if you're willing to share the information?) I really would love to read the book! All of the different tidbits I pick up from the board and flickr and whatnot have really got me interested in what you two come up with! Also, wow, you write together as well? I give you credit!! I can't really write with another person unless I'm roleplaying, which I consider to be a completely different writing exercise than actual story work. Just another talent to add to that arsenal for you two!!

[SymphonicEnkelli]

As for wigs, I am never attempting one. The scariest thing I'm planning is my first vinyl reroot, and I think that's about the level of danger I'm sticking to for now.

If you need any help with that vinyl reroot, it is something I have done before. I'm not an expert, but it is something I can do, and will actually be doing soon. Basically, I can help.

[MeltedCaramel]

Ah, thank you for the offer SymphonicEnkelli! Okay, if you don't mind, here's a question while I wait for my doll's hair to arrive (I ordered what I thought was white hair but it turned out to have the SLIGHTEST hint of blonde in it, of course, so I need to wait for a new hank to arrive and meanwhile have a useless one.). I'm trying to do a "slicked back" anime haircut kind of like the guy on the bottom here in this picture (I don't have the actual reference picture, but this is enough like the look to get my point across for the rerooting purposes):

I already know I'm going to have to root it pretty thick since the hairline is showing at the forehead, but I was wondering if I should start from the bottom for a hairstyle like this? And would this be a relatively easy style for a "first timer" concerning rerooting? Questions, they just keep falling out of my mouth!

[SymphonicEnkelli]

MeltedCaramel I recommend starting from the bottom. It's just easier that way. If you start from the top, you will end up with lots of hair in the way when you try to reroot the bottom. Once you finish rooting, you cut and style the hair.

When it comes to plug thickness, I say keep them thick along the hair line, but thin the plugs out as you move away from it. This will not only save you money (running out of hair sucks), but keeps your doll from having a huge, slicked back bump of hair (if that makes any sense at all). Worse come to worse, you can add more hair if it is too thin for your liking. It is much harder to thin it out (I should know).

Finally, I think that hair style should be relatively easy to work with. I think you will need some sort of hair putty or glue to keep it in place. I don't have experience in that area, but it shouldn't be too hard to find information on it. If you are, by any chance, rerooting a Monster High doll, there is a whole forum of people who could give you suggestions for how to keep the hair in place. Hairspray might work.

NOTE: For that hairstyle, you will need to do the scalp pattern in a certain way. Here is a websitewith patterns. Depending on what you want, I say either use the pattern meant for bangs or for a pony tail. The one for the bangs might be the best, for I assume the front part of the hair will be slicked back, but the rest of the hair will have a style to it, if that makes sense.

On another note, it has be 2 WHOLE WEEKS since my preorder for my dollieh was sent to the company! Only 6-25 more weeks to go!

[OkamiKodomo]

Oh wait you thought I did mods on that little fox girl? Goodness, no, I'm still working on restructuring what already exists, I'm not ready to build animal parts. Soon, though, lol. No, that adorable little thing was a limited edition from Leekeworld, if I'm not mistaken. I wish I could remember the sculpt name. I painted her, and sueded her joints, but there was no dremel involved in that one! As for our dremels, the small one we use most often is a knock-off that I got on amazon for twelve bucks. We will probably need to replace it soon, as it seems the balance is slowly being thrown off from so much use, but frankly, I will probably just buy the same one. The accessories alone make it worth it. Neither of us like the battery-operated one, because it limits how long we can work for. It holds maybe two hours' worth of charge, and we will easily spend an entire night in the studio.

PS: Never say never. I thought for sure I'd never even own a BJD, and especially not a resin one. Now I have almost a dozen, and still planning to get more. After I got my first one, I thought I'd never do extreme modifications. I thought I'd never sculpt one, and even if I did, I thought I'd never be able to do anything more than that. If you change your mind and get brave with glue, or even if you want to try the ventilating technique, drop me a message. ^3^

[MeltedCaramel]

SymphonicEnkelli Thank you for all the tips!! Unfortunately no, I'm not rerooting a Monster High doll, just a standard Volks head. But I've been told to use the "got2be" line of hair glues and sprays for humans to keep unruly styles in place. I have yet to figure out and/or find a place that sells the same kind of hair glue that keeps the styles in rock-hard like the out-of-the-box MH girls (I had to wash my Clawdeen's hair with some industrial strength dish soap since shampoo wasn't cutting it! ). As for the cut itself, I have a feeling I'm going to need to look at some hair styling tutorials. It's a very popular "businessman" cut (again, the reference is only loosely showing what I mean since I can't find the reference I want. ), hopefully I can find something that will help. As for the scalping, thank you for the site link, and I was thinking of doing something sort of like the ponytail one (keeping the bang line thick) but as for the rest, I was going to do a standard plug. I don't quite know how to do the closed-in center part yet and for this hairstyle I don't think learning that particular skill is going to be a help seeing as this style seems to ignore a center part entirely. I'll keep that tip in mind about not doing the plugs too thick though. I get what you mean about a giant...pouf of hair, which the style would only make ten times worse!

OkamiKodomo Ahh, I wasn't aware the doll was pre-sculpted with the mechanical parts(I don't keep up with sculpts and I definitely wouldn't have known that Leekeworld made a mechanical fox girl), no, but I was more talking about your paintjob anyway, the mix of machine and nature and how it's carried over through the entire...do you still call it a "faceup" when you've done the whole body? I love the way you painted the mechanical arm/hand accents and how they're not the standard silver but rather an earthy mixture that still manages to come across as definitively metallic, if I'm making sense!

Ahh, that's the dremel knockoff I have!! And I bought it for the exact same reasons you did. The cord is so thin it might as well not be there. I honestly don't get the perks of the cordless when you only have a two hour working time. I'd rather have the thin cord and not worry about it coming apart. The only thing I have to find now is a good blade tip. For some reason they all seem to cost a fortune on Ebay. Any recommendations on that front?

Oh, trust me, I'm not saying never, it's just more of a "definitely not right now" type deal for me. Although when I get one, I'm going to be screwed because I'll want the best of both worlds: Super dark skin tone and sending it off to you to to modify and paint the hell out of it on commission. But sadly, I've read that dark skin tones don't take well to sanding and modification, something about the resin? Maybe I read that wrong but I know there's a reason why darker skin tone dolls aren't sanded....?

Thank you for the offer on the wigs. I just might take you up on that when I do finally find that BJD that says "take me home". Right now though, with the tiny little vinyl heads I'm working with, I think it's easier just to buy or reroot. The word "ventilate" sounds a little extreme for my $5 vinyl head the size of a ping pong ball!