My new tiny

Good day to y'all, it's RagingMoon1987 with something I consider myself very fortunate to have.  He's not really NEW new since he's eleven years old and I've already had him a month, but he's still new to me and new to y'all.  He's already proven VERY popular on Facebook.  My new tiny is this being called a Wishel.  These were produced during a brief period between October of 2006 and February of 2007, and they originally came in plaster eggs that one had to Hulk-smash hatch in order to get at the doll (hatching videos can be seen HERE and HERE).  My Wishel is obviously already hatched, but to have a Wishel at all is a delight.  To give y'all an idea of how hard Wishels are to find, Den of Angels's database page for Wishels has a grand total of seven posts (one of which is mine), and before I posted the database hadn't been updated since 2007.  A lack of activity on databases is to be expected when the company is long dead, but even other long-dead companies like Angelheim have more active databases than Wishel does.  Add to that the fact that my doll is the first and only Wishel I've seen in DoA's marketplace, stir all that together, and you've got a hard-to-find doll and a very happy RagingMoon1987.  He's so cute!!!

Forgive my little dolly son for nodding off; his former home in Massachusetts isn't exactly next door, and the trip has tuckered him out.  I've chosen to name my new tiny Wozzeck (pronounced "votz-eck," with a long O like "vote"), after the Alban Berg opera that is so different from the operas that I grew up with.  My father preferred Wagner's Gotterdammerung and Mozart's The Magic Flute, while I listened to Giacomo Puccini's work when I bothered with opera at all (as y'all may have figured out, I'm a sworn classic rock fan).  Wozzeck is hence a far cry from what I'm used to, and I have to admit that Berg's work is a bit of an acquired taste for those unaccustomed to atonal music, but it's not bad.  Obviously I liked it enough to name my doll after the lead character, though my Wozzeck is quite different from the mentally deranged soldier who murdered his cheating mistress and then met an unfortunate end himself.  No, this dreamy little face suggests a rather easygoing personality.

Wozzeck has a teensy bit of wear on his face-up, and the person I bought him from says he's "mellowed" a bit with age, which is a nicer term for yellowing.  No biggie; all resin yellows eventually.  Yellowing, mellowing, and face-up scuffs are part of life for a ball-jointed doll so I'm not terribly bothered with Wozzeck's signs of age.  It even gives me a chance to see what yellowing looks like next to my other dolls.  Here's what yellowed Wishel resin looks like next to Dream of Doll resin (Alistair, left) and Angel of Dream resin (Johnny, right).  Both Johnny and Alistair are relatively young by ball-jointed doll standards.

Also, here's how Wozzeck's yellowed resin compares to FairyLand resin.  Johanna (left) and Guinevere are also relatively young for ball-jointed dolls, though Johanna has started to fade some.

So this is what yellowed resin looks like!  It's...really not so bad!  Indeed I rather like Wozzeck's complexion, as it reminds me a bit of French vanilla ice cream.  I wasn't sure what to expect as Johnny and Alistair aged, but I think I can live with this.

Wishels came in a number of different forms, with my doll possessing the "Festivous" head.  If the information I read on DoA's wiki is correct then Wozzeck would thus be one of the earliest Wishels.  The Festivous head sports closed eyes and a plain headcap, as opposed to the open eyes and the halo, unicorn horn, or devil horns that sometimes accompanied later Wishel heads.  Wozzeck's back is also plain (some Wishels had angel or demon wings).

Wishels also had hand molds that varied widely.  I think Wozzeck may have a pair of praying hands, though I'm not certain.

His little hips appear to be Suwarikko-type hips, meaning that he can sit in a number of ways that most of my ball-jointed dolls cannot.  Or he should be able to, rather.  More on that later.

The aforementioned halos, horns, and wings sported by these Wishels are permanently attached, by the way.  However, they were/are small enough that they don't interfere with the dolls' abilities to wear wigs and clothes.  Wozzeck doesn't have a halo, horns, or wings, but I just thought I'd throw that out there.  Wozzeck also doesn't have anything to hold his headcap on, except for three tiny blops of eye putty!

Good grief, I've NEVER seen a ball-jointed doll's headcap put on in this manner; my other dolls rely on magnets or pegs to get the job done.  Wozzeck's headcap stays on fairly well, but unfortunately the putty does create some unsightly gaps that are unavoidable for the most part.

I'm tempted to try my luck with strips of tape, but I'm also hesitant due to fears that the tape might stain Wozzeck's resin.  Looks like he's stuck with eye putty for now!  This was a common feature of the earliest Wishels, by the way; the second wave, known as "Unbeknown," had magnets holding their heads together, but the Festivous wave had to make do with their eye putty.

Regarding size, Wozzeck is of a comparable size to my Ai Dolls and to my Hujoo nano Freya.  Here's how he looks next to Alistair and Johnny, both of whom are MSD-sized...

...and with Chloe and Ju-hwang, who are both supposed to be YoSD-sized...

...and finally, with fellow tinies Freya, Hope, and Marzipan.  Check it out, Hope has a new buddy to snooze with!

I'd like to compare a doll like Wozzeck with an SD-sized doll, but do y'all know how much those danged things cost??? Even a Smart Doll, made out of vinyl, is way out of my range...for now, anyway.  I'll have to ask Talolili to show y'all her Smart Doll; they're super-neat.  Anyway, since Wozzeck is close to Freya and the Ai sisters in size he can wear what they wear...or he could if he and I were into crossdressing (neither of us are).  Luckily he did come with a simple little outfit, perfect for use as sleepwear.  When Wozzeck arrived he was wearing this cute little onesie and a terry cloth bathrobe.

I've never seen a onesie in this size!  It's even got little ducks on it!

Not a bad little getup, but as y'all may know by now I love to dress and redress my dolls.  The DoA wiki states that some BlueFairy Pocket Fairy clothes will fit a Wishel, and I assume that PukiFee and Lati Yellow clothes will fit as well.  I also think that Luts' Tiny Delfs might be able to share clothes with Wishels, given the way that PukiFee/Lati Yellow clothes fit them.  So I kept all that in mind when I bought Wozzeck's first new clothing item:  a coat sized for PukiFee and Lati Yellow dolls, made of forest green boiled wool with faux fur trim on the hood and little snaps at the front.  The snaps are concealed with small, decorative brass buttons.

I'm just a little fond of coats with dramatic hoods, as this old photo of my factory Blythe doll will show.

Well, actually Jaylin is wearing a hat, not a hood, but it has the same effect as the hood on Wozzeck's coat.  See?

Regarding the fit, this coat fits surprisingly well considering it's sized for a PukiFee and PukiFees are a little bigger than Wishels.  The sleeves are a little too long, but coat sleeves tend to run long anyway, in real life AND on dolls.  In Wozzeck's case that serves the purpose of hiding the fact that he has no gloves (I can't find any that tiny).  That being said, the coat doesn't cover all of Wozzeck's body, and that isn't good because my little feller has naught to wear under that coat but his onesie and bathrobe, and NOTHING on his legs and feet!  This wasn't a huge deal when Wozzeck first arrived since November was warmer than usual, but now it's...well baby, it's cold outside!  I have some other things coming, stuff like some cute little outfits, a new wig, and a pair of shoes,  but none of that has come yet so I'll just settle back and wait.  I do have this cute little Pac-Man outfit, consisting of the classic T-shirt and blue jeans...

...but Einstein here ordered it in PukiPuki/Lati White size.  As I noted above, Wozzeck and my other tinies are PukiFEE and Lati YELLOW-sized.  Oh well, at least Pongpong won't have to run around naked...if I can ever get a Pongpong, that is!  Seriously, I even bought a wig for her, which I usually never do unless I'm 100% certain that a doll is coming home.  It's not here yet, but still...I'm weird, y'all.  Real weird.  I'll show y'all the wig when it comes, though; it too is weird, this bizarre mix of light orange and dusty rose.

I guess I shouldn't be coveting a Pongpong when I've got Wozzeck in the palm of my hand.  Remember I said earlier that Wishels are hard to come by (Pongpong is easy).  Now, regarding eye and wig sizes, Wozzeck can wear a size 4-5 wig, and if his eye wells were open he'd have taken 8mm eyes.  In addition to his onesie and bath robe he came with a white fur wig that his original owner admittedly didn't use much.  Speaking of Einstein, the wig reminds me a little of Albert Einstein's hair.

The wig doesn't fit very well, but it sticks with a piece of Velcro so it works in a pinch.  Just the same, I ordered Wozzeck another wig, one that looks a bit more masculine...and as with his new clothes the wig is not here yet.  It's coming from Ukraine, so it may be a while yet before I get it.  The white wig will do for now, though.

Wishels are not particularly known for their fantabulous posing, and Wozzeck is no exception.  This is his default position (notice his headcap is coming loose).

That left leg is particularly annoying; I can get the right leg in a standing position, but the left leg always wants to snap bent.  Standing Wozzeck up is thus a frustrating experience that will have to be dealt with.  Good thing fixing a kicky ball-jointed doll is an easy thing to do, provided one has wire AND a hot glue gun.  I have the wire...but not the hot glue gun.  Gobs of hot glue are necessary for wiring since the sharp ends of the wire may scratch resin parts if left uncovered.  Once I get that glue gun squared away I am wiring all of my ball-jointed dolls, resin and ABS alike, and Wozzeck will be the first one to get the treatment! 

Since Wozzeck doesn't want to stand I sit him down a lot, but that too is a chore because his rogue left knee keeps wanting to bend.  So I got him a chair, a My Life egg chair that is vaguely similar to a chair that Julie Albright once had.  This is intended for My Life's mini dolls.

I'm just now realizing that the shape of this chair hearkens back to Wozzeck's roots, and his beginnings of life in a plaster egg.  Kinda weird how that worked out; I swear it was a coincidence!  Regarding specifics, the chair is made out of thin, clear plastic with an opaque base and rim, and it has a gray plush cushion tacked inside.  The clear plastic feels flimsy and would not stand up to the errant foot of an adult (remember how we adults sometimes step on toys that kids leave scattered about), but it's a good seat for any small doll, including Wozzeck and his little friends.  There's a pretty narrow size bracket though, as some dolls that you or I think are little may in fact prove too big to sit here.  I always thought Chloe was a fairly small doll, but she's too tall to sit in the chair.  This is as close as she gets.

Since I've dragged Chloe into the mix, tangent time (y'all are so lucky!).  One of the workers at Wishel later went on to found Bobobie, the company that made Chloe, so Wozzeck and Chloe thus might be considered distant cousins.  Indeed, once upon a time there was some speculation that the tiny Bobobie dolls were recasts of Wishels due to the similarities of two particular dolls (Eric and Erin) to Wishels.  Subsequent reviews of the two dolls revealed that Wishel dolls are different from Eric and Erin in several ways, though their little faces do look similar!  Also worthy of consideration are Sunny and Moony, who are available from Denver Doll Emporium.  Both of them have tiny, single horns on their foreheads, similar to the horns sported by some of Wozzeck's Wishel brethren.  The Wishels with single horns have/had smaller horns that sit higher on their heads than Sunny and Moony's horns do, but the similarities are still interesting. 

I think that wraps it up.  I think it's a shame that Wishel folded as quickly as it did, since Wozzeck is a nice little product.  Most of the problems he has are easily rectified, though I do wish I didn't have to use eye putty to keep his head closed!  Probably with a bit of brainstorming I can come up with a solution for that as well.  But as with most of my dolls, despite his shortcomings I love Wozzeck a lot and I'm glad I waited for a Wishel to come up for sale.  Now he just needs a Pongpong to be his friend!

Happy Hanukkah,
RagingMoon1987

The ol' 'tater wagon

We're having a heckuva thundershower right now, or an "ol' 'tater wagon," as my grandmother would say.  Dig this rain!

Shot through the window of the library, so it's not the best quality.  I think y'all get the drift, though.  This is one of my favorite things about this time of year, though; you get random thunderstorms at random times of the day (or night).  They make a lot of noise, drop about a quarter of an inch of rain, and usually that's it.  As they say about the weather, if you don't like it just wait fifteen minutes.  That holds true for much of Missouri AND her surrounding states.

In dolly news, Freya's eyes came and they look very nice.  I chose green ones in the hope that they'd provide a nice contrast to her purple plastic, and I think that proved to be a wise decision.

The downside of doll eyes like this is that they are harder to place than eyes with round pupils.  Most of my ball-jointed dolls have eyes with rounded pupils and I can just fasten them in with eye putty and call it a day.  Not so with cat pupils!  I had to take out and reposition these eyes four times before I was finally satisfied with their position, and they're STILL not perfectly straight.  But...name a ball-jointed doll in this world that DOES have perfectly straight eyes!

It's a slow day at the library due in part to the storm, so here's a glimpse of what my dolls' living space looks like.  Freya is with her usual companions, Usaggie and a Dreamtopia Chelsea doll that I renamed "Calypso." 

Not much of a living space, just a pile of books and cards, plus some other odds and ends that I crammed into the shelf and never pitched.  I need to clean this space out and make a couch for the girls to sit on; at the very least it'll make the patrons smile.  I don't make a habit of showing off my dolls to my clients, but every now and then a patron sees this trio and makes some good-natured comment.  So a nice couch might liven the space up a bit.

The ol' 'tater wagon is moving off to the southeast now, though it's still raining and thundering here in Malden.  Hey, as long as lightning doesn't hit either of our houses I'm happy.  That's happened twice in the past, and God willing it won't happen again!  I'm praying it won't, because that's scary!

Much love,

RagingMoon1987

The nest

Yesterday we had a line of thunderstorms come through.  They weren't super-violent, just windy enough to shake the limbs and blow loose junk from the trees.  Anyway, when I took the puppies for their afternoon business-doing I found this cast-off bird's nest.

One of my Facebook friends has it identified as the nest of either a starling or a martin of some kind, and we have plenty of both so this nest could be either one.  It's lined with mud and is surprisingly smooth inside, except for the hole on one side where the nest probably attached to the branch.

It's large enough inside to house a tennis ball...

...or Freya and Usaggie.  Take your pick.

Nothing super-special, really, but I've been looking for a bird's nest for awhile so it's good to finally have one.  I'll probably keep it awhile and then throw it on the leaf pile when I rake this fall...if I bother to rake.  I usually don't.  LOL

Freya's eyes are STILL not in yet, though I think they'll get here soon.  They made it to the distribution center in Queens, New York, so I might have them by the weekend.

Cheers,
RagingMoon1987

Today was...

Today was, to put it bluntly, a slice of hell.  Mama's air conditioner went blooey for the third time this summer, Coworker B got bad news at her doctor's visit, one of my puppies destroyed her harness (making it much harder for me to take her potty), and work itself was nuts.  This person wanted to check in a jillion books and then check out a jillion more, that person wanted a fax sent RIGHT THEN and never mind the other patrons, another pair couldn't shut up long enough for me to answer their questions, and still another little kid thought it would be fun to pick up Freya and start tossing her around.  Yes, Freya.  I thought I kept her and Usaggie out of reach, but I guess I didn't.

Okay, the day wasn't all that bad.  One of our local animal rescuers brought in this kitten, which she'd plucked off the parking lot of a local car dealership.  He's still in his cage here; his rescuer needed to print off some flyers before she took him home for fostering.

Ain't he cute?!  If I didn't have five of my own I'd have happily taken him.  He was scared at first, but when we started poking our fingers through the cage he calmed down and started purring.

To keep this post from being totally un-dolly, here's Freya with her old friend Usaggie and her new friend Riley.  Freya is made of ABS plastic and thus made it through her ordeal unscathed.  Notice though that she still doesn't have any eyes; those are coming from Russia so God only knows when they'll be here.

Riley is one of a new line of dolls that I'll be reviewing in the coming month.  Yes, month.  I need some time to chillax and unwind, if y'all can believe that.  My own AC was out for part of the summer, I got heat exhaustion, and a week and a half later I'm still getting my strength back.  I'm such a wussy, LOL.  Anyway, Riley is up for review along with Freya and Arklu's Lottie, and then...well, I'm not really sure what I'll do, but I'll think of something.  Maybe I could try making some of the neat things that Froggy makes on her YouTube channel and discuss the ease or difficulty with which I made them.  Or I could wire all my ball-jointed dolls and discuss the ease or difficulty of that.  I don't know who needs wiring worse, Johnny or Alistair, but they ALL need it.

Oh yes, I got some interesting news via e-mail this morning.  PetWorks will e-mail out information about new releases if one signs up for it, and one of this summer's new releases apparently will indeed be the panda-colored Kuma-bolo that I find so adorable.  I like that Jossie too, and I had plans to get her as well until I saw advertisements for a character I've never heard of called Momo-bolo.  I don't know if Momo has ever been released before, but this one is certainly cute with her button eyes.  She'll make a nice contrast to both Usaggie and Kuma...if I can manage to snag both Kuma and Momo, AND if I can avoid any nasty surprise expenses in between now and their release dates.  Whatever goes down, I'll keep y'all posted.

Now I'm off to YouTube, to relax with some music.  Paul Mauriat is calling my name!

Yours somewhat-tiredly,
RagingMoon1987

The results of the pink slip

No Freya today, though I think she may turn up in the mail very soon.  She cleared St. Louis and made it to Malden early this morning, so she'll be making her debut here before too long.  No, today's package came from one of my favorite ball-jointed doll vendors.

Ah yes, I love me some Fatiao.  I usually buy shoes from there, but on this particular occasion I needed some other things.  I have five lolita dresses that reside on tottery old tea bottles, and to rid myself of the bottles I bought these little hangers.  They come in bunches of ten and are made of metal and wood.

Now I need to get a clothes wrack, which Etsy also has.  In addition to that I got a wig cap (size 7-8)...

...and what good is a wig cap without a wig???

This wig doesn't look like much when it's off of Johanna, but when I put it on her it looks pretty darn good.  I did have to cut her bangs, and the overall style will have to be brushed, but it looks alright.

It's certainly better than the piece of crap she WAS wearing!  She reminds me a little of George Harrison in this wig.

George was and still is my favorite of the Beatles, but I don't want Johanna to look like him.  I would recommend that those of you with ball-jointed dolls not buy these wigs as they are not as pictured.  They fit okay, but they don't LOOK okay.  The bangs are blunt-cut and stick out at kooky angles, and they're just not very nice...unless I want to muss them a bit and put them on Alistair!  Any tacky-looking wig is fair game for Alistair, as he knows no shame and has no reservations about wearing a Beatle wig...OR a wig that looks vaguely like Andy Warhol's hair.  Fun fact:  Warhol's ridiculous hair was a wig.  Maybe some of y'all knew that, but I didn't.  Anyway, here's how Alistair looks in the two wigs that did NOT look good on Johanna.

I can dig that.  At least those poorly cut wigs won't be a complete waste of money.  Maybe I can even chalk the blonde one and give it some streaks...but that might not be the brightest idea since the chalk might get on Alistair's resin.

Johanna and her half-sister Guinevere are still obviously floating heads, by the way.

I was hoping to get a body for them with my tax return, but...no.  Moony didn't get a tax return this year, so there's that idea out the window.  Maybe next year, when I don't need a new air conditioner...or a new washer and drier...or health insurance.  Sigh...thus why I play with dolls at my age.  Adulting can really bite whale bubbles sometimes, especially when bills and surprise expenses come calling.  At least the local repairman was able to put a Band-Aid on my current AC; it's now very nice in my house, as opposed to how it was on Monday.  Seriously, the heat in the house was part of the reason why I blew off a full review this week.  I had one planned, but it was too hot to do a lot of moving around and I simply wasn't in the mood to bake while I took pictures of a pair of dolls in clothing that is best suited for fall or early spring.

***

Good news!  I was typing up this review earlier today (when I SHOULD have been working), and during that time Freya turned up.  Here she is, sans face-up, eyes, and clothes.  Eyes are on the way and I have a dress she can wear, so those problems won't last forever.

Being the kind folks that they are, Junky Spot also sent some candy along.  It wasn't my cup of tea, but I always love it when businesses do little things like this.

I'll be reviewing Freya in weeks to come.  Though she is a Hujoo like Ju-hwang, she's got some critical differences that are worth showing.  For now though, she's going to hang out at my work station with Usaggie.

I promise these two are not distracting me.  I took them out when we had a slow moment, and then after that they went back under my desk.  I can still see them, so they won't be forgotten at the end of the day, but they're still out of the way for the time being.

Hugs and kisses,
RagingMoon1987

I got a pink slip today...

...and it says "You're fired for bringing dolls to the library."  LOL, actually it's for a package.  I have a few things coming from Etsy, but none of those are anywhere near here as far as I know.  I also have one other thing...that I ordered a measly three days ago and probably should not be here.  This is what's coming.

Purple nano Freya!  Like I didn't have enough weird dolls.  Anyway, Freya will be a bit different from my other ball-jointed dolls in that she won't have a face-up.  Yours Truly gets to do that.  I've heard mixed opinions on painting ABS plastic, with some saying it's harder than painting resin and some saying it's about the same.  Regardless of whether it's easy or not, I'll have to paint Freya's face...and if she's the package that I'm getting then I'll have to gather some supplies PDQ. 

Keep your eyes peeled for tomorrow, when I reveal what's in the package!  I won't be finding out until tomorrow either, so we'll all find out together.

Happy Flag Day,
RagingMoon1987

Winter wear

October tends to be a hinky month in Southeast Missouri.  The year I was born (1987) it was warm enough that Mama and Daddy had the windows and doors open on Halloween, and another year we had snow in the early part of the month.  So far this year we haven't seen any October snow, but it's hit freezing twice and it looks like it's going to again tonight.  It's cold enough that I got tired of looking at my ball-jointed dolls' bare arms and decided it was time to bundle them up.  From left I have Ju-hwang, Alistair, Chloe (seated), Hailey, and Johnny.  Hailey isn't really a ball-jointed doll, but she's close enough in size that I include her anyway.

Okay, so Hailey isn't as bundled up as I'd like, but until I can find a decent pair of leggings for her she'll have to make do.  Poor Johnny is not happy, by the way.  Don't let that smile fool you, because he hates winter even worse than I do, and that's saying a lot because I kinda, sorta, really HATE WINTER!!!  I think Hailey may be a little worried for his sanity, in fact!

Cheer up, Johnny.  I think it's supposed to get warm again next week.  And if I'm wrong...well, let's just say that you're not the only one who's dreading snow!  For the first time ever, I'll probably have to drive in it this year!!!

Cheers,

RagingMoon1987

Jeepers creepers...

...where'd you get those peepers!  LOL, this blog has been pretty quiet lately, so here's a random picture of Ju-hwang with new eyes.

These are arguably the cheapest doll eyes I've ever purchased...and the catch is that they're not even doll eyes!  These are dragon eyes from Hobby Lobby, and they're supposed to be jewelry fixings.  Since I occasionally make jewelry anyway I bought these, reasoning that if they do not make good doll eyes I can still make some epic earrings.  As it turned out, the largest pairs are eighteen millimeters, the smallest size Ju-hwang can wear.  The others are twelve and fourteen millimeter eyes have been put aside for anyone that I might get in the future.

In BJD-related news, I'm learning the hard way just how difficult it is to wait for one's order to be completed.  Today makes seven weeks and one day since I ordered Johnny, and the website still says "processing."  I understand that it takes a long time to cobble together a nice ball-jointed doll, and I also understand that the holidays slowed things down a bit (Alice's Collections took a week for the Chinese New Year).  The anticipation makes being patient very difficult, but that'll just make owning Johnny that much more rewarding...and it'll also buy me some time to find a restringing tool.  Crochet hooks do work, as I learned from Ju-hwang, but my hooks are all aluminum and they're bad to slip out of my hands when I pull on the elastic.  So I'm looking for a clamp or a hook with a better grip or SOMETHING that will do the trick.

As always, when something comes up I'll give y'all a holler.  Talolili and I are both working hard at our respective jobs (my hours at the library got extended, in fact), so posts may get a little more sporadic as time passes.  But if something earth-shattering comes up, I WILL give y'all a heads up.

Yours truly,
RagingMoon1987

A message to the newcomer

Dear Johnny,

I don't know you yet, and you don't know me, but sometime in the near future you and I will become housemates.  You and I will be the only ball-jointed dolls in the house, so I think it would be good if we got acquainted.  My name is Ju-hwang.  I'm from South Korea, and my journey took a month and a half.  It was tiring, so I advise you to be well-rested for your journey, wherever you're coming from.  I believe Lady Moon told me you were coming from China.  That's not far from where I came from, but it's a long way from where I am now.

I've seen your stock photos online.  I do hope you won't take this as an attempt to flirt, but you look quite handsome.  Lady Moon and I both hope that you look as good in person as you do in your pictures.  I myself am a little funny looking.  I'm a Hujoo Berry, which means I'm on the short side.  I've got a big head with very big eyes, and a comparatively small body.  I'm also orange.  See?

Some of my kinfolk are blue or purple or naturally colored like you are.  Since I'm unnaturally colored I like unnaturally colored wigs and eyes.  Right now I'm wearing my blue and green wig and my blue Oscar eyes, but tomorrow I might be wearing my purple wig and a pair of copper eyes with butterflies.  The Oscar eyes make me look a little spacey, but they're very comfortable and good for seeing in the dark.  I highly recommend a pair, and Lady Moon says that when she knows what your eye color is, she'll get an Oscar pair to match.

As you likely saw from my above picture, it's quite cold here.  Nighttime temperatures have been in the teens, and there has been snow.  A lot of snow, in fact.  As I don't know exactly when you will arrive, I advise you to bring both a coat and a sweater.  If your arrival falls in February or early March, you will most likely need the coat.  If your arrival falls between mid-March and early April, it would be wise to wear the sweater.  You need not worry about warm weather attire, as Lady Moony has commissioned a yukata for you to wear.  It has not arrived yet, but the lady who is making it also made some nice things for me to wear.  Thus I predict your yukata will be quite nice.  It should be perfect for summertime, and last summer was quite hot!

In addition to the yukata, Lady Moon has ordered a wig and some things from Luts that she mysteriously refers to as "trinkets."  She knows what she got you, but I don't, so I can't tell you with any certainty what's coming from Luts.  I do know that the trinkets and the wig were both shipped this past week, so they should be here any day.  Lady Moon predicts that the nasty winter weather will probably slow the items down, particularly since one item has to come from Indiana.  Last we heard the border between Kentucky and Indiana was getting hit hard with snow.  The Luts items are very close, though.  They're close enough that they might get here tomorrow.  I'm certainly very curious to see what the lady has got for you.

I guess that's all I've got to say for now.  I hope to see you soon!

Love,
Kim Ju-hwang

The wait commences...

Around the first of the year I said that this year I'd be getting my first ball-jointed doll.  Well, two days ago I made good on that promise.  I ordered the Angel of Dream Tao Huandao that I wanted, along with four shirts, a pair of socks, a pair of shoes, a pair of jeans, some glasses, and one of those silicone wig caps that's supposed to protect the head from stains.  The website says he'll come with his own pair of eyes, and I have a wig and a yukata coming from vendors on Etsy, plus some odds and ends from Luts.  Hence my new boy, whom I've chosen to name Johnny, should be fairly well-dressed when he gets here.  I'm particularly excited about the yukata, because I ordered it from Sammy's Treat Shop.  I ordered some things from Sammy's last summer for Ju-hwang, and they came out so cute!

There was a fourth outfit in the mix, done in shades of purple, but somehow I've neglected to get a decent picture of it.  When I do remember to do that I'll update this post.  There were also some nice little extras thrown in, like a blue crocheted scarf and some bits of jewelry, and two cookies that were added as freebies.

Shannon Terrill, who owns Sammy's Treat Shop, is a pleasure to work with.  Both times that I've dealt with her she's asked me what colors I would prefer for my dolls, but at the same time she's kept an element of surprise.  She told me what my options were for Johnny's kimono (and there were quite a few), but I still have no idea what it's going to look like.  The options on Etsy looked great, though...great enough that I may just order a yukata for Ju-hwang as well.  As cost-efficient as Shannon's wares are, I could have and SHOULD HAVE done that when I ordered Johnny's!  Bottom line, I'm excited to see what Johnny's yukata will look like.

I think Alice's Collections is a Chinese crowd (correct me if I'm wrong), and I made the mistake of ordering during the Chinese New Year, so I may not get my hands on Johnny until March or April.  So now, for the first time in my life, I'm joining the ranks of dolly lovers on Den of Angels that are waiting for something special in the mail.  Okay, take that back.  Waiting for Ju-hwang was a lengthy and somewhat nerve-wracking experience, so this isn't really the first time I've done this.  But since this is my first resin ball-jointed doll I'm feeling like this is entirely new ground.  Through Ju-hwang I've learned how to place eyes and use eye putty, and I've learned a few things about restringing as well.  The problem is that Ju-hwang is plastic, while Johnny is resin.  I'd have to do something outrageously ham-handed to break Ju-hwang.  On the other hand, I don't even know what resin feels like!  I've never held, manipulated, or touched a resin ball-jointed doll.  In fact, I've never even SEEN one in real life!  The absolute last thing I want to do is get Johnny out of his box and immediately snap off a finger or scratch his face or something equally clumsy.  Keep your fingers crossed that I don't!  LOL

So while I settle in for the wait I'm going to try and find some MSD-sized knitting patterns...and maybe find a way to suede Ju-hwang's neck joint.  She always sits like a stereotypical emo kid, and that doesn't jive with the personality I've cobbled together for her.

Yours truly,

RagingMoon1987