Doll enthusiasts and collectors know that one of our favorite pastimes is scrolling through AliExpress to see what weird hybrids and cast-offs they have available for sale. This is how the doll community discovered the Catwalk Kitties and the Trashion Alley dolls, and many of us have discovered different brands after they’ve been ripped off or sold as extra stock through the site.
This is also how I discovered UCanaan/Doris dolls a while back, but not before I had purchased a “factory” doll under a generic name, covered with a few defects here and there but otherwise fine. This used to be the most commonly found doll body sold under the “BJD” label that wasn’t actually a resin BJD, but now they seem to be using Xinyi bodies, which are slightly different. There's been some discussion about these in the doll community and how they're all rip-offs of the original Night Lolita dolls, and how these companies keep getting bought out and/or changed. I'm pretty ambivalent about it myself when it comes to non-resin dolls, because I suspect these companies trade and sell things to each other behind the scenes, and business tends to work differently over there, and we'll never really figure out what belongs to who.
Anyway, I paid a grand total of around $20 for this girl out of curiosity and then threw her in my closet after looking her over, because I didn’t particularly feel inspired by her at the time. I don't like to start work on a doll until I have a clear idea of what I'm aiming for, because I feel I run the risk of not liking the end result. Under the cut, I'll talk a bit more about my process and what I finally decided to do with this one. Continue reading "Aliexpress 1/3 Doll Review and Customziation"
Much like the Getting Ghostly Draculaura I blogged about recently, this Rochelle doll was part of an Ebay purchase I made ages ago. I've opted not to remove her factory paint because I love the little cracks all over her face and body, but I did want to make her a custom dress. And since Rochelle is a gargoyle, what better to use as inspiration than a dark cathedral? I've always loved studying architecture, and gothic architecture in particular is so much fun. So extra! This theme let me go crazy with the ornamentation, and fits especially well with the spooky season this month.
Click through the cut to see the rest of the TONS of pictures I took, plus details of how I made everything!
A few years ago, I found this Getting Ghostly Draculaura on Ebay for sale without any clothing. She had obviously been played with, but was in relatively good shape, and I just loved her face and slightly translucent plastic. So I picked her up, and she sat in my doll box for a while.
Eventually, though, I felt she deserved a full outfit, and although I do sometimes customize my dolls, I wanted to keep her face as-is, because I just think it's so sweet and cute. So I went to the thrift store to find some fancy fabrics that might make a good doll dress. I soon came across this ridiculous (but very well made) women's vest made from black crushed velvet, and a bit more digging turned up an incredibly bright red jacket covered with sewn-in sequins and decorative stitching. They were both in great condition, and fairly cheap. Win!
I've been crocheting for years, but I never really made any amigurumi until recently. On one of my trips to the craft store, I happened to look through their book section, which I usually visit for coloring books, and came across this adorable book here. I ended up choosing the creature on the cover first, since I liked it so much, and after several months of starting and then putting off the project, I ended up with this adorable little thing:
peaceful 
productive 
creative 
