Sharkyra's BJD Blog

...but real life work as well as a nasty flu was keeping me occupied with other things. However, those last days I couldn't help thinking about my BJD collection and how exactly my future plans with them might be. And once again, like two years ago, I think it's time to slow down, stop for a while and reconsider everything. I've sold three of my dolls and I think I will be selling a couple more. There are still two more dolls on my want-list and I will get those two dolls, mainly for the reason that I already committed to their purchase some time ago, but other than that I plan to not buy any new dolls 2012. Instead I want to focus a little bit more on building their wardrobe (oh heck, my sewing machine is starting to fall apart and I'm afraid that I'll need to get me a new one. Hello there expensive purchases...), photographing them, develop their personalities, etc. This here for instance is my Cuprit. I've been planing for years to give her a new face-u...

Lottie who poses as Rudolphine the red nosed reindeer-girl likes to wish each and everyone of you a joyful season!

Last Friday I found a lovely letter from Raouken in the mail. It contained the bodice for my FP65 Chloe that I ordered from her. I gotta say I'm in love with it, but it will take some time and wearing until the wiring will have adapted to Chloe's voluptuous curves xD. *** Am Freitag kam endlich die langersehnte Korsage für meine Chloe an. Ich hatte sie damals auf dem LDoll Festival bei Raouken bestellt und ich muss sagen: ich bin wirklich begeistert, sie ist genau so, wie ich sie haben wollte (Farbe, Form und Schnitt) :D.  Es wird aber wohl noch eine Weile dauern, bis die Federn sich an ihre üppigen Kurven adaptiert haben ;).  PS: Da ich zur Zeit eine menge Kleinkrams zum Verkauf habe, werde ich wohl eine eigene Seite mit diesem Zeug auch hier in meinen Blog reinposten. Watch out!

Okay folks, I'm back from LDoll, but there's so much work here to do, that I currently don't have much time for posting, but I do promise that I will keep you updated soon with all that has been going on here. And I also want to take the time to introduce you to the amazing work of Kihaku as she is about to take comparative measurement photos of all the BJDs out there. Her site is still under construction as new dolls are added, but it's already working and you can already compare a lot of dolls there. You can find her website Comparison Heaven here . Take a look at her site, I'm sure you're going to find it as useful as I did.

...and I should be sewing like mad, finishing my last plush hats, but instead I'm experimenting with two-tone resin casting. And with glitter. Lots of glitter e__e Yes, here I have been basically trying to make this test-horn two tone. transparent at the tip and milky-white at the base. And then I got the idea, hey, it's supposed to be a unicorn horn, why not add a little bit of glimmer to it? Haha, well, I guess now you can hardly see the milky part because of all the glitter. I definitely added to much, giving the whole horn a much too grey look o__o.

Oh, I just realized that I didn't blog anything about my contest entry for LDoll here. Okay, it's supposed to represent Lady Elaine of Ascalot (also known as Lady of Shalott). She's one of those tragic figures from the Arthur Legends. She's deeply in love with Sir Lancelot, but he isn't even aware of her love, so in the end she dies young because of her lovelornness. I've created this outfit not as a exact replica of the type of clothes that was worn at that time, but more as some sort of fantasy outfit, representing all of her symbols. She's often referred to as the pury-white or lily-white maiden, that's why I made the outfit completely white with gold. The collar is made to represent a lily flower. In her hands she holds the shield of Lancelot (which she has been secretly guarding according to some legends) and with her other hand she holds a mirror. According to some other legends (and thanks to the poem of Lord Tennyson) she's mostly kno...

Okay guys, soon I will be able to update my blog more frequently since that crazy month is over. By the way, does anybody want to see my Den of Angels Triathlon entries? Here you go: And the images for part two: And the last challenge:

Hi guys, you probably already wondered where I've been, but I can tell you the last couple of weeks have been very busy. I have participated in the DoA Anniversary Triathlon which took away a lot of my spare time. Yet, I'm very, very proud that I finished all three challenges. It's not really likely that I'll win anything, but I'm very happy with my creations as I really only made stuff that I will have good use for even after the contest. So, no matter what at least I did something useful. Except perhaps for that very last challenge, the Doppelgänger. But then again that last challenge really brought about my decision to sculpt my very own doll. I always had that idea somewhere in the back of my head, but now I'm convinced that I could actually do it. However, it will not be before September that I start working on that plan since currently I still have to finish up my contest entry for the Lyon Doll Festival. Ladies and Gentlemen, I proudly present the f...

In the meantime I'm also working on some new patterns (mainly shirts) for 1/4 sized dolls. I've finished this prototype today, it still needs some tweaking, but it's coming along. I'm also still working on a couple of commissions. By the way, commission status is currently closed as I have to much to work on right now. *stares at the top right menu* I need to update my threads soon. e__e

After a really long period of thinking about which character to choose, I've finally made up my mind. I'm going to enter the "Tales & Legends" contest, perhaps another one if time will permit it.  My schedule for Tales and Legends is fairly full though, I will be doing almost everything myself - except for the doll, her wig and her eyes. I will need to style the wig though. So, here's the plan, that's what I got to do: sew outfit make shoes make armor do face-up do body blushing buy and style wig I've started with the pattern of the outfit. It's almost completed. I already started sewing the dress. I hope it's going to turn out like expected ;). 

And doesn't she look cute with them? They were created by fairyality (candy kitten on DoA). I need to take some full view pictures of her as soon as I have my batteries recharged.

...is Sola royally peeved. Not only did she have to give her wig to Imum Coeli, but there is also this brand new furry stalker (read: the new cat) that won't leave her alone as soon as she shows up in the garden. Then again maybe he is not really stalking her, but he just believes that all the seatings in the garden belong to him and him alone and naturally claims back his territory as soon as he see's someone else in his rightful place.

Okay, so I sat down and made a little mock-up to clarify how I want the lip color to be changed. I'll just add a little bit to the upper lip, that should do the trick for now ^__^.

After almost six months of waiting, my Fairyland F65 Chloe finally arrived this week. I love her, the body poses like a dream and her wardrobe is just splendid. I'm not too fond of the default wig and the default face-up this time. The original wig is just too milky and pale to look good on her natural skin, so I'm going to replace it by a more natural golden blonde wig. The face-up is another problem though. I don't know, but I'm rather disappointed by the face-up this time. I've ordered about 4 Fairyland dolls and all of them came with beautiful and cute default face-ups. Yet this one is rather strange. The eyebrows are assymetric and you can tell from first glance. And the lips, don't get me started on the lips. Did I ever mention that I don't like airbrushed face-ups? There are many reasons to it, but one of the main ones are: it seduces the artists to create unnatural looking lips. Like the 3 point lips my Chloe got. I mean I understand heart-shaped c...

She's so cute with red hair. I always wanted to have a red haired doll ^__^

Okay, so this is a small tutorial I made for a friend to show her that's it's perfectly possible to change the fantasy legs of a doll without using any fancy tools. The only thing used here is a piece of ribbon band, that is about one meter long. The tutorial is in German by the way.

Although I got this guy for almost a year now I never got around to take some pictures of him. So let me please introduce to you David, my Soom Chalco (normal skin, obviously). I plan to take a couple more pictures on the week-end, so stay tuned.   His more than gorgeous Face-up was painted by Shiroi Karasu, thank you so much, he's exactly as I wanted him to be :D.

While I desperately wait for the weather to become better, so I can finish the face-up on Momo's "bigger brother", I thought I might as well play with my camera a little more and take some more pictures of her. For some odd reasons the post about DZ Momo is currently the most popular on this blog and it's a shame that it's her photos that did not turn out very sharp and clear. I hope those pictures here will be better. DZ Momo belongs to SuBroDesign. Two more photos after the break ;)

Miri posing as mermaid once again.  Do you want to be a mermaid, too? Checkout www.magictail.de ;).

A Doll-Zone Momo as Shirley Temple. I'm surprised how cute she actually can look. When I first saw Momo and Nono on the DZ website I thought that they didn't look good at all. Turns out they can look decently cute with a nicer face-up and outfit. ^__^

Well, yes, exactly that ;) Doing the shrit was fairly easy, copying my jeans is going to be harder. Stay tuned ;).

It turned out quite alright, but I think I'll do a new one in a couple of weeks as soon as I've got the time for it. She will be the only one among my dolls that has a tattoo and I'm really looking forward to painting it.

You got a snowball's chance in hell, Pussycat, ... ... so you'd better fall on your knees and beg for mercy! Hrmpf! [Disclaimer: This strange photostory was inspired by Crobi's default Kitten Lance Outfit. I still don't get it why he wears a straitjacket, however, the mice among my dolls are happy about it ;)]

  Just one picture ;). Saiquina is getting ready for the doll meet on Saturday.

  So I've finally finished Lishe's face-up and hand blushing. Sorry guys if these days all my postings are sort of finished this and finished that, but truth is that I just have to catch up with all of my current commissions, before I seriously start feeling overwhelmed with them. If you want to see two more pictures, continue here:

I've been finishing the last couple of corsages, so I can move on to the other stuff I still have on my to do list. ^___^ That sequined fabric was very difficult to sew, so I ended up sewing it by hand. Click if you want to see more, but be warned, possibly NSFW

...so with other words, there are just 4 more faceplates waiting to be painted :) I don't know why, but I found him particularly difficult to paint. He has these huge eyes and no matter where you paint the eyebrows they look either too high up or too low -___-

After one week off, I'm back at finishing the rest of my current commissions. At the moment I'm developing another pattern for a MNF corset. This is my test piece. I really like how it turned out. Absolutely cute <3 I don't know why, but I enjoy sewing for my MNF more than for any other of my dolls. It's like a lot easier to sew for a mini sized doll. The only disadvantage is that I have to do a lot of handsewing when working in this small size. Usually I don't mind that. I really enjoy handsewing :).

Wow, he's handsome and I really like his face. His lips and chin slightly remind me of Chrom. I guess it's the first time I even really like the default Face-up and the wig on a MD for a very long time. 

So true. I had some fun playing with air drying clay the other day. It's so tempting to do extra parts for those dolls. In this case I made a little mouse set for my pukiFee Luna and a cat set for my Soom Chrom. Oh yeah, the poor one. He once was a wolf, then he became a ram, now I decided to make a cat out of him ;). Want to see first pictures?

So finally this week the last missing packages arrived. I'm just so glad everything is here. All those delays haven't been funny anymore. And since my Saiquina is now complete I couldn't wait any longer and tried to paint her face. I'm very happy with the result and think I'm going to leave her that way for now. I also learned something new: you can definitely spray sealer at -5°C . No white spots or any damage at all. It's just important that a) the doll head is warm, b) your can of sealer is warm and c) don't leave the head to dry outside. Just spray and return inside ;).

The kidz got a brand new billard table today, though it seems Chica is not amused. She claims the surface is too smooth :-/. And I admit she's right about that. I need to cover it with green felt.

 Still suffering from the flu, but at least I'm well enough to finally finish the Peter Pan costume for H.V. I think it turned out rather nice, considering the fact, that the overall design first seemed really strange to me. Guess I still prefer the traditional Peter Pan costume? ;) Anyway, the camouflage version from the movie is pretty interesting, too.  If you want to see more pictures:

Well, seems I finally figured out what to do with those few plateau boots I'm still left with. Oh those dire reminiscences of the days when almost all shoes for BJDs that were available would come with such hilarious plateaus. So the idea is the following, if they already look crazy and hopelessly seventies, why not go the whole way? I've started pimping them up and intend to make some glittery, ultimately tacky 70s Rock Star boots of them. Yay. Next up will be some bell bottom hipster pants to thematically go with them. Still looking for a volunteer among my dolls, though. Note to self: will need to watch out for some tiny disco ball pendants to replace the crosses on the boots. :-/

  Had some fun with my camera today making funny Bokeh filter shapes for it. This was the heart shaped one. Can you tell?

  Last week I had the chance to string a lovely Elfdoll Ruru for one of my friends. It was the first time I could see an Elfdoll in person and I have to admit she is just lovely. I also really liked her tan skin color. It's a lovely tan, very consistent and without any blotchy spots :). The only part of her that looks slightly different in color is her face, but that's just because of the MSC which tends to lighten up darker resin colors.  Her strings and stringing system really is something you have to get used to. She's on the old body and Elfdoll uses a little ring to hold the strings in the head instead of an S-Hook which really doesn't make your life easier when trying to restring it.

Lately I've found myself pretty busy working on sewing commissions. I don't even know how I got into that, but I found myself suddenly overwhelmed with sewing requests lately so that I now even have an official waitlist (points to the right sidebar). So if you don't get to read as many comments and posts in the forums as usually it's most likely, because I'm spending my little spare time behind my sewing machine ;). Other things keep me busy, too. See the picture above? It's taken 500 meters down the street from where I live. Pretty wet, eh? Yes, after the really snowy month of December, January has brought us warm weather and the melting snow caused some pretty floods throughout the country. It's not exactly Brisbane, but still: Do not want. Speaking of which, the delays in parcel transit that were caused by the heavy snow fall around December are obviously still not resolved. I'm still waiting for two packages from the US, one sent back in mid Dec...