Once upon a time around 5 years ago I bought a house. It was lovely, except for the gigantic exposed foundation in the yard that was once planned to be a garage that never happened. Well, we got that ripped out, and then we had to have the yard landscaped because of, y’know, the giant hole, and then we had to enrich the soil so things would actually grow there, and then began the great task of growing things. It’s harder than you’d think. Many plants died those first few years, and other plants took their sweet ass time growing in. But now, I think I finally have a yard that I can take doll pictures in!

Since I need more pictures of these girls, they got the honor first. Blanca is my not-sickly Leprotto inspired doll, and Zsa Zsa has a carved mouth, reshaped eyes, and a working acrylic eye mech. And she’s one of my few dolls with more realistic vs stylized makeup.

That’s it for today, hope you enjoyed this return to the regularly scheduled doll-graming!

Anyhoo, last weekend I went to the Boston Comic-Con. I’m not nearly as big of a comic fan as I used to be. I doubt I’d like to read as much as I do if I hadn’t learned on comic books (my father read them to me before I could read myself). People have finally begun to accept that comics (like cartoons) aren’t by definition ‘for kids only’ but like any media, you have to work at it to sort the good from the bad, and I’m just not that dedicated anymore.

I think I have decided that conventions are a fun thing to go to, despite my dislike of mega-crowds:

See? Mega-crowd! OH NO THEY WILL EAT ME!!!

The comic-con was held at the Hynes, just two weeks after Anime Boston. They crammed the entire con into 1/2 of the dealer’s room for the anime convention. While the anime convention had roughly twice the amount of people attending, the anime convention got both sides of the dealer’s room and all three floors of the Hynes, so the person-per-square-footage was much less dense. Actually, this became a problem because pretty early in the day on the first day they stopped letting people in (I believe due to fire codes, but that was just what we heard while we waited outside), which resulted in the Mega-Line that stretched around at least three whole sides of the Hynes convention center:

But this is about comic books, isn’t it? Right. Graphic novels. I figured out pretty early on that I was not really cut out for superheroes. I watched my mother’s soap operas when I was 8 and had issues with the believability of the plot lines. Super hero comics employ a surprising amount of overlap with people getting resurrected, evil twins, not really dying, turning evil, etc etc etc. And don’t get me started on how much I hate retcons!

The thing I love about comics is that unlike illustrated books, the pictures tell the story as much as the words. A good artist can make a story more interesting, and a bad one can make it more dull. A good artist is one that tells the story, not one that necessarily draws the prettiest pictures (or the girls with the biggest boobs, wearing the least amount of clothes…). There’s also something about having a sequential series of frozen moments instead of moving pictures that can help draw attention to minor details and sight-gags that video has a harder time with.

So I still like comics. I read Fables, The Walking Dead, old Carl Barks or Don Rosa Duck books I track down, and that’s about it these days. I am a little concerned that Fables might be turning into one of those never-ending series. After the first storyarc ended, I feel it would have done better to jump to a different story instead of going on sequentially, like illustrating the excellent Peter & Max novel instead of the crossover shenanigans and plot meandering that almost lost me as a reader.

I prefer stories that are structured like novels with a proper storyline: Alan Moore’s standalone series are the most well-known example I can cite. They have a beginning, middle, and end. No matter how popular they are, they have an end! Having an ending is important. Too many stories (ALL types of stories, serious literature and television included) go on too long and devolve into things so awful it makes you forget how wonderful they used to be.

And as a last note: if anyone is scratching their heads over my love of Donald Duck/Scrooge McDuck stories, I suggest you pick up the Life & Times of Scrooge McDuck collection by Don Rosa. They are full of thought, foreshadowing, character development, and are very cleverly worked into real historical events and circumstances. And they’re still funny and totally true to the slapstick cartoons they originated from. I’ve never read a comic book and been inspired to go look up actual history before, but Don Rosa makes me do it all the time–which is weird, but it says a lot about how interesting they are!

Edit: I just checked Amazon to put a link in for the book. It’s been out of print for a year or two max, and both the original mass-market paperback edition and the hard cover reprints (issued less than 2 years ago) all sell for >$50 each. I guess that also says a lot about how interesting they are, too.

Anyhoo, this year I went to Anime Boston to help Animadness out with their booth.  I first did this a few years ago, and I really enjoyed it.  I went last year as a regular convention person, and I think I definitely had more fun working the booth.  I could care less about panels, merchandise, etc, etc, but it’s fun to go to and just look at all the costumes.  I’m notoriously bad about taking pictures.  Last year I think I took a grand total of 3.   This year I took around 20, but most of them didn’t come out.   There’s always next year!

My favorite cosplayers after the cut

Monster High Cosplay! Ok, not anime. Technically, none of the cosplayers I really liked were anime characters, but that’s probably because most of the stuff I like is older. I did see 2 Slayers cosplayers, but I didn’t like either of them, and one Utena who was…eh. I’m picky. Ghoulia was awesome, though! It wasn’t a complex outfit, but sometimes simple is better. Very good job on the makeup/attention to detail.

Here’s another example of simple is better. Labcoat + inflatable turret = Win! This is the only guy I specifically asked if he would pose for me. Because adorable Portal cosplay is adorable.

Persona! Eeeheheheee. It’s a game, though technically there is also an anime and manga based off the game. Akihiko is one of my fav. characters so when this guy wandered over to the booth I was very happy.

I didn’t cosplay this year. Again. I know, I know. I had a costume lined up, but decided against it at the last minute. The only festive thing I did was paint my nails to match Lum’s signature tiger-stripe bikini, but while lots of people commented on how they loved my nails, no one had any idea what it was from.

(cue me feeling old)

…ok, and now that I got all that healthy stuff out of the way, the stuff I really enjoy eating cooking is of course, desserts.  But for some reason bentos just photograph better than most desserts.  Chocolate chip cookies are delicious, but they’re not exactly aesthetically pleasing.  Maybe I just need to work on my presentation.

Despite my many un-feminine tendencies, I like being a girl.  I have the freedom to choose to do the things that I want to do (thank you feminist movement). I can play with powertools and then go polish my nails and that’s totally OK.  And I do!  Because only a silly person would polish her nails BEFORE she went to go play with powertools…

(yep, that’s a nail polish color wheel. To reference glitter. I know. But it’s also damn useful.)

My manicures don’t last long. If one lasts more than three days, it’s pretty remarkable. When the label says “10 days with no chips” they aren’t taking into account people who play with sharp objects and solvents on a daily basis. Because of this I favor glitters because a) sparkle! and b) they don’t show scratches and dents as easily and last longer.

You can also customize nailpolish. Mix paints, layer effects, do designs, whatever. I rarely wear a solid color, usually have at least 3 different polishes involved in any given day, and almost never wear the same combination twice. I bore easily.

Nailpolish also has some fun science-y stuff out there. These nails are done with a magnetic polish and the pattern is created by holding a magnet over the nail. Is that not the coolest thing?! I also have nail polishes that change color by temperature, crackle finishes, and glow in the dark.

Nailpolishes are also cashing in on collectors. Limited editions abound, and you will find rare nailpolishes going for absurd amounts on Ebay. This one and the one below are tie-ins to The Hunger Games. Over the winter, there was a Muppets collection. I believe there will soon be a Spiderman collection.

And of course, there’s still room for the classics every now and then.

So why do I like it?  It’s a chance to be creative.  I find the act of painting my nails very relaxing, too.  And there’s nothing like a good sparkle on your fingers in the middle of winter when everything else in the world is gray and dull to cheer you up.

When I was a little kid, I had baby dolls.  They were piled in a crib, which was then put at the back of my closet and never ever played with because I didn’t see the point of babydolls and found them creepy.  Changing diapers, even ones only filled with imaginary poo, was never my idea of fun.

When I was slightly older, I had Barbie dolls.  I liked them well enough.  I sewed for them and made furniture for them, mostly. I had a dollhouse that was the coolest thing ever, and would arrange and re-arrange all of the furniture to get each room perfect.  I didn’t really play dolls with friends.  They wanted Barbie to go on dates and shop, which I found terribly, terribly boring.  But then they didn’t appreciate my kidnapping, murder, and alien invasion storylines either.

I didn’t touch a doll again until after college, and that was Pullip.  Pullips didn’t appeal to me as a doll, more as a vehicle through which I can do everything else I like.  Pullips combine my interests in customizing, painting, sewing, storytelling, carpentry, interior decorating, photography, web design, and more.  I’ve stuck with Pullips for a long time because to get tired of them wouldn’t be getting tired of dolls, it would be getting tired of all those other things.

But!  Pullips don’t combine everything I like to do, and not everything I like to that could involve Pullips does involve Pullips.  In fact, unless someone went into my workroom, no one who visits would have any idea I liked dolls as there isn’t a single doll-centric thing around the entire house.   Madness!  So the next few posts I think will be about some of the other things I enjoy…

May Isul: Midnight Deja Vu

Description:  “Guide of the new item will be released May sell bad apple to appear in Snow White Queen was transformed into has become a motif. I hold out for him, the world’s most sweet, seductive forbidden fruit”

Feel Like So: “See you anymore, you should know the sweet taste of ….. such dense Reach out your hand Come on forbidden fruit shine into the darkness of the black”

Clearly, he’s supposed to be the evil queen disguised as an apple seller from the new Snow White series!  Absolutely not some kind of shota lover for Pullip.

He does seem to have a nice face, I’ll give him that.  If he wasn’t an Isul, I might even have preordered him.  But Isuls only look good from head-on or almost head-on because their head sculpt is a bit weird.

Pullip Kiyomi.  She has a rather nice, if not in what has become the standard sweet-lolita-expression face.  I like the glitter chips.

Angelic Pretty/Gothic Lolita Bible collab dal.  She has painted teeth.  This will either be awesome or a terrible, terrible idea.  But those shoes look pretty sweet, either way…

This month is pretty light on doll releases at a glance, but they haven’t released the regeneration series dolls for this month yet, plus there’s a Hide limited edition, plus the Meiko limited edition Vocaloid.  There may be more.  Fun fact: In 2012, Groove has released more limited edition dolls than regular dolls, with a whopping 4 limited edition pullips in March alone!

Thanks to a tip from PullipJunk, I snatched the Wave 3 outfits set from the Mattel online store while they were in stock! This is the first set that I bought all the outfits from. I was sort of back and forth on Spectra, but in the end decided it was better than her stock outfit.Even though it’s a wrap-jumpsuit, I really like Cleo’s outfit.  It’s my favorite.  A lot of her outfits have really obnoxious colors in triangle/wrap patterns, but she looks best in gold.  Frankie’s outfit has the best all-purpose shoes.

And the shoes are, of course, awesome.

BUT.  Here’s the problem: A lot of items didn’t fit.  Cleos shoes were incredibly difficult to get on her feet, and when I finally did, I had to take a tiny screwdriver and untwist some of the little plastic side straps.  You can see that the front dangly gold bit is bent out of shape in the pictures.  Her jumpsuit was so tight, if she were human she would have a record-breaking cameltoe.  As it is, the cracks of her hip sockets are pretty obvious so thank god for the belt.

Toralei’s skirt is so tight it has the same problem–if you look at the picture, her torso looks all weird, almost like she has two sets of hips.  Her shirt should have been about a centimeter longer, and the belt is too small to sit across her hips–not with her tail in, not even with her tail out.

To get Spectra’s shoes on, I had to take the chains off, work the chains over her heels, push them up the legs, get the shoes on, and then work the chains carefully down over the shoes.  There was no way her feet were going into the shoes with the chains on them, I tried and tried until I was afraid I was going to break the plastic of the chain accents.

So here’s the criticism: Almost everything is too small and too difficult to get on.  I was so frustrated trying to get everything on the bloody dolls, and I don’t think I lack experience at clothing dolls!  When it came to Toralei, it took all my strength to jam those shoes on, and I’m seriously afraid of having to take them off.  ANY of them off.  The first few sets of shoes were awesome in that they slid on, slid off, stayed on, and even had room for thin socks or tights to be worn in between.  What happened?

When pullips first came out they had huge feet. This was great for balancing (they could stand on their own) but not so good for finding shoes! The shoes they came with were often so rigid and tight, one would have to cut them open to get them off the feet. People lamented, and eventually when the type 3 body was released, pullip fans rejoiced as they could now put cheap fashion doll shoes on their dolls!

…Fast forward to 2012. Now the coolest doll shoes anywhere are made for Monster High, and newcomer Barbie brand Stardolls have shoes that are also made for oversized feet. And the pullip collectors lament, if only the awesome shoes fit my dolls!

Well, most of them. Me, I’m psyched! I adore the type 1 body, still have some dolls on type 2, and now I can have all the shoes I want *mad cackle*

There is relevance here. See, doll shoes are traditionally made kinda rubbery to make it easier to get on/off doll feet. Unfortunately, resin is not so rubbery. Shoes made for Monster High dolls, when cast in resin, often will no longer fit Monster High feet anymore. This is the case with the current shoes that I’ve cast, unfortunately. After 2-3 days of curing, the resin loses all residual flexibility and shoes that fit monster high dolls straight from the mold, no longer fit. But they still fit pullips. As I primarily made these casts to add to my pullips’ horde of shoes, no biggie.

However, I am displeased, because I would really like to be able to cast things that are SLIGHTLY flexible. It opens up more possibilities. My eventual plan is to be able to make things like shoes off of my own designs, after all. Therefore, I bought 2-part clearcasting vinyl (I had previously been using resin) and have some opaque casting plastic coming in the mail. If anything I am thorough…

So for now, please enjoy my pullips’ new shoes. And a couple of sets of eyechips made from the excess resin:

I will confess that I bought the Draculaura/Clawd set for those shoes.  I didn’t really need Draculaura, and I’m assuming that sooner or later another Clawd would have been released who didn’t have such a terrible, terrible outfit.  But… those shoes…

Clearly I have something of a shoe problem.  It’s ok.  I admit it.  But if I basically spent $30 to get them, why would I be doing…whatever that is to them?

Craft stuff is messy. Very. Knowing this, even I shy away from molding. It’s not that it’s especially messy, it’s just especially hard to clean up. One DROP of this stuff on the carpet and it will never come out. No matter how much you scrub, or what cleaner you use. Get it on your skin, and it will take some serious repeated scrubbing to get it off…and it feels so SLIMY! Eew.

….Buuuuuuut my husband is on business travel. Teenagers throw wild parties. I pull out my messiest craft supplies. It’s not like he doesn’t know what I’m up to, he just doesn’t see it. And I don’t hear the screams of horror. So it works out all around, really.

I got a few modeling books the Christmas before last on modeling, as well as some rubber/resin/etc. I find it interesting, but I don’t have much need for it. I debated making some specialty eye chips, possibly doll masks. Nothing especially pressing. I tried molding eyechips and the 1-part mold worked wonderfully, but the mold-release agent didn’t work on the two-part mold, so I just got a fused block of silicone.

The most interesting thing I could think of was shoes. Doll shoes, of course. I have a dream to make retro platform shoes with tiny goldfish ‘swimming’ in the platforms. It will be awesome. But I am totally not up to that point yet.

The problem is shoes are hard! Lots of tutorials for casting out there (and books!) and none of them have explained to me how to go about accounting for a shoe with a foot cavity or, horror of horrors, straps! So I’ve been experimenting, all week. Mostly failures, but as of writing this I have half a dozen tiny resin shoes that have come out and fit on doll feet! I believe I have no mastered the basic high-heel. Next stop: Mary-Janes!

Eventually, when I’m done I will make a tutorial for how to cast shoes. After I finish figuring out out myself ^^;