Powers of Creation

One of the digital models I regret deleting from my hard drive was the viscera. They came both as a unit appropriate for attaching to the lower end of a severed torso and as separate bloody giblets. I sought them out back in my LHF days so that I could create a manananggal.

A manananggal is a Filipina vampire. She detaches from her lower body at night and, sprouting bat-like wings, flies around, using her hummingbird-like tongue to consume human flesh and blood, particularly that of fetuses and/or pregnant women. During the day, she reunites with the rest of her body and seems in every way to be a regular human being. Though an etymological and folkloric cousin of the penanggalan, the manananggal differs from the penanggalan because the latter has a Malay origin and also detaches at the neck, rather than the base of the torso.

( Read more... )

Great Harvest makes big and little bunny breads the week before Easter. I picked one up Friday because it was so cute. It freaked out the local doll population.
( Read more... )

Most of the time, there are just a few people on my bookshelf beside my chair: Janvier Jett, Submit, Araminthe and Sardonix.

They were recently joined by Zombieville denizens in various stages of completion: Béatrice, Chaz, Theophany, Novella and Absinthe, who is not an Zombieville citizen, but is hanging around because she is beautiful.

Because Me and My Muses is on hiatus and because I need the desk space for projects, I temporarily relocated the Me and My Muses people to this shelf as well, leaving only the fairies [Flower, Ginevra and Mellifer] and Jareth on my desk.

Here's a shot of the tiny hordes. I swear -- they multiply when I'm not looking. :p
( Read more... )

I'm not going to detail the big fight I went through trying to fit Jareth's shoes onto his body. I did succeed eventually, though, and I have pictures as proof. Behold the black vinyl thigh-high platform stilettos! They are pretty damn lustworthy. Janvier Jett is modeling again.

( Read more... )

After deciding that a shoulder-length bob did not suit Lura at all for hair, I poked around on DOA for a wig maker that I could commission to create a fur wig of my design. I had forgotten who did the wonderful custom three-tone fur wig for Lola Paprika [and then Janvier Jett]; it was Akasarushi, which I highly recommend. Anyway, since I hadn't logged the maker of Lola Paprika's/Janvier Jett's wig, I looked for another maker.

I found Spite and Malice, and the wig maker was open to custom orders! \o/ I liked the blue/pink mix of the bobbed wig, so I went for a pale pink/pale blue combo for the new one, but a completely different style: a mohawk! The sticky-uppy part [that's the techncial term :p] will be light pink, the "shaved" sides light blue. Awesome!

I'm very pleased with my experience with S&M so far. She responds to inquiries in a fast, friendly manner, and she also focuses on details [like the hairline and the shape of the back of your doll's head] in a way that bodes well for the final product.

Angelsdoll Ieseul is on topic, but the same company's Ieseul Cat Avatar [whence Janvier Jett] is off topic. The official reason given by one of the mods is "because of the aesthetics of the doll's face sculpt." I know what those words mean, but they don't make any sense because the aesthetics of the Cat Avatar's sculpt are the same as regular Ieseul's sculpt, and she's allowed.

It is a mystery.

Lola Paprika is moving on. [Well, I hope she is. I put her on the DOA marketplace today.] She never really turned out to be the doll I wanted anyway.

I first learned of Angelsdoll at doll club back in April of 2011, when I was struck by the beauty of a fellow enthusiast's Ruby on the massive girl body. Such a sweet, soft face. Naturally, I wanted Ruby.

When I hopped over to the AD site to order a Ruby, I saw that they were having a super sale on Hyang. Basically you could get a Hyang with eyes, faceup, outfit and free shipping for the price of a blank Hyang excluding shipping. The cheapo in me won out over the aesthete in me, and I bought Hyang.

While poking through the AD site, I also discovered Cat Avatar Ieseul and her super awesome/obnoxious default faceup. I much preferred it over Hyang's default plaintive, understated look. I therefore expressly ordered my Hyang with the Ieseul Cat Avatar faceup, planning her look and her personality to match.

I'm not sure how this happened, but Lola Paprika came with the default depressed Hyang faceup. She was so beautifully done that I didn't want to have her faceup wiped, so I tried to keep her as she was, with the default faceup and a look for a more obstreperous doll, but she never really worked for me.

Meanwhile, in June, 2011, AD lowered their prices of blank 62cm girls to $220.00 before shipping. I had the extra eyes and outfit that came with Lola Paprika, and I still wanted Ieseul Cat Avatar's faceup, so clearly the logical course of action was to buy a whole Ieseul Cat Avatar. How could I resist?

Janvier Jett became the obstreperous character that Lola Paprika never did. She demanded leg fuzzies, spiky hair, cat's-eye glasses, a guitar, jointed hands, even a brightening of the already loud colors in her faceup. With her cute little smirk, she exuded all the ebullience that I had wished for my anxious introvert Lola Paprika.

Recently I admitted to myself what I'd been thinking all along: Of my 2 Angelsdolls, I liked Janvier Jett more as a character, even though Lola Paprika's outfit was much cooler. Last night, when I was in the midst of wondering what more BJDs I could get rid of, I decided to stick Janvier Jett in Lola Paprika's clothes, hair and eyes; I would then sell Lola Paprika with the clothes and eyes she came with. That way I would have my Flaming Hot Pussy guitarist and the eye-bleeding clothes I'd spent so long carefully mismatching!

Watch for photos of the new, improved Janvier Jett later today!

s/h = shipping and handling

Pale pink fur wig, size 7/8. Shown on Sarah, my SoulDoll Zenith Shiva-G. Pay s/h.
( Read more... )

Just some pictures of Janvier Jett against the brick wall of my house. I used some watercolor pencil to enhance the yellow eyeshadow, making it more greenish and blending it with the blue. I think it looks more striking this way. She' s such a happy character! ( Read more... )

Lesson: 1:6 food doesn't work well with 1:3 people.

Also a test of my new light setup on a grey, rainy day. Verdict: I need to soften the light a bit because the whites are blinding!

Sarah [at left]: "So I thought we'd have a welcome party for you..."
Janvier Jett: "Purrrr!"( Read more... )

Janvier Jett: "Meow-wow-wow, I got them flamin' hot pussy bluuuuuuuuuuuues!"

( Read more... )

I just picked up Janvier Jett at the post office and quickly opened her, though I'm at work, to make sure that she had the appropriate body and faceup. She did! Her only flaw is that a little chip of thin resin is missing out of the bottom of her head hole, but this does not affect the poseability of her head on her body.

She's so cute and snarky, even with no hair or eyes or clothes. Her pointy little teefs are wonderful. More in a few hours when I have time to play with her!

I just got a tracking number today for Janvier Jett's EMS package: EM068874069KR.

I hope she ships quickly and that everything is perfect with my order. I ordered her with Hyang's body and the faceup as shown on the order page, and I hope both of those requests are successfully granted.

I just got Janvier Jett's swirly guitar in today!

Lola Paprika: "Are you sure I can play this?"
Me: "Go ahead!"
( Read more... )

May be getting these Dikadoll jointed hands for 60cm fems. Not sure if I want to give them both to Janvier Jett so she can play the guitar, or if I should divide them up between 2 dolls. I imagine there would be a big fight for the extra jointing:

• Sardonix would want to be able to give people the finger.
• Sarah would want to hold a book.
• Lola Paprika would wish to hold her Tarot cards individually in her fingertips.
• Araminthe would not be able to benefit because there would be too much of a mismatch between her grey resin and the hands, which are light tan with a pinkish undertone [NOT "nude" or "flesh-colored!"].

Janvier Jett, being the guitarist for the band Flaming Hot Pussy, insisted on having a real guitar, not just an air one, so I bought one for her. Some of my dolls have dolls; she has a guitar, apparently.

I ordered Janvier just now! She should come in 1-2 months. Woo hoo, a "Hooray, you moved!" present to me! Come on -- yellow and blue eyeshadow!!!

Oh my God, I think Angelsdoll [whence Lola Paprika] just permanently lowered their prices on their 60 and 70cm BJDs!!! As you may recall if you care about these things, I got Lola Paprika at a 30% discount + eyes + outfit + shipping, all for $309.00. And that was a special sales event. Now, though, it looks like the base price of their lovely ladies has gone down to $220.00 for a doll only, no eyes, faceup, outfit or shipping.

Just to test the new pricing, though, I threw in my cart a Cat Avatar Ieseul [who, with that faceup, obviously needs to have a silver tinsel fright wig and play in a hair metal band], then added faceup and shipping. She came to $316.96, just a few dollars more than my Lola Paprika.

Clearly I need to get one, using the outfit and eyes that I got in the Hyang renewal event when I purchased Lola Paprika. She would have tinsel hair and an air guitar!

--

I know that Angelsdoll has an ambivalent reputation. On the minus side...

• Sculpts have thin, breakable resin in places.
• Elbow and knee joints look blocky; they don't blend in very well with the limbs.
• Some people have reported long waits to resolve customer problems.

On the plus side...

• Headsculpts are beautiful!
• Dolls are relatively inexpensive.

I'm willing to accept the lower quality and aesthetic appeal of the bodies as a trade-off for the beauty and character of the heads, not to mention the inexpensive price of the dolls. Plus I note that Angelsdoll is constantly improving, having come out recently with an upgraded female body [shown on their new release Rin] that addresses both the shape of the joints and the thin resin problem. I like Angelsdoll myself.