Stuck

For several month now, I have felt kinda stuck when it comes to my dolls.

My doll buget hasent been verry big this year. Its mostley because my boyfriend and I, have bought some bigger things for ourselves this year - such as a new closet and a new tv. We allso decided to buy a car, so I decided not to buy toys for while. 
And I have been obsssed with Zelf, so some of my doll money where spend on that. 
But there are still Liv dolls I wanna buy, I need more clothes for them, I really lack shoes for the girls, and I would like some new wigs. Im a little worried that im gonna buy the wrong wigs, I really wish that I could go out and see them for myself in the stores. 
I would like to customize more of my dolls, but then I need to buy eyes and maybe hair for rerooting. And im sutch a noob when it comes to customizing dolls, im really nevous that im gonna fuck up (which I have allready done a couple of times). I know I have to try and take chances to learn, but as I dont have a job I really dont like buying the wrong things or ruin a doll.
And I feel like some of my dolls arent quite right, because they dont look like I want them to.
So I feel stuck because there are all these things I wanna do, to make them look right, but I dont have the money or curage to do it at the moment.

I did change the eyes of two of my dolls, and I was happy with it even through they were kind wonky. Then I finally decided to allso change the eyes of my first doll, first wave Katie - I wanted her to have Haydens more natural green eyes. But unfortunately I scratched her makeup, and I couldent get one of her eyes to sit right. I became quite frustrated and worried that I cant fix it, so now she is just laying headless and naked on her bed. It dosent help my frustration that Im un happy with her wig, and to my knowledge first wave Katies wig, is the only liv wig in that colour.

Im allso not quite happy with part of my doll collection, because I now have 3 different dolls that are 14 inches and have child proportions. Im not really happy about that as I pefer to have many of the same kind of doll, instead of a manny different kind of dolls. 
I was verry obsssed with the Hearts for Hearts girls, and I was super happy when I finally got Dell. But She has not felt quite right for me, I think its a combination of her not sitting up so well, and not looking like the chracter I wanted her to be. The Hearts for Hearts gils allso seem hard to find at a good price, so I decided that I wouldent collect them. I kinda wanna sell Dell, but I allso think that I will regret it - I still find the dolls to be verry beautiful, and maybe one day in the future I want more of them. 
Im still verry happy about my Paola reina dolls, and I decided that those are the 14 inch dolls I wanna collect.
The newest doll was one my mother in law wanted to give me, it was her verry beloved childhood doll. I didnt really want the doll to have her, but I did wanna clean her up. Unfortunately I have no idea how to tell my mother in law, that I dont really want to keep the doll. It does bother me a litlle to have a doll I dont really want, but hopefully I can get over it.

Maybe next year I will feel less stuck. I got my own sewing mashine for christmas, and im planning on finally buying some dolls, I have been wanting for quite some time now. My boyfriend and I have allso been talking about, starting to build a dollhouse together. Im exited!

I hope you had a great holiday a will have a happy new year.

Fall is here

It has been a pretty warm fall so far, but now its slowly getting cooler

Nia wanted to go for a walk, and asked Leonard to go with her. They are both pretty shy, and awkward around eachother.

Leonard dont uselly spend much time outisde, but thats mostely because he find it easier to be inside.
He remember that when he was a kid, he had alot of fun playing in the woods. He played elves warriors and wizards with his friends.  The woods inspired his interest in the fantasy genre, and he had allmost forgot about it, 

Nia has had a crush on Leonard for quite a while. When her friends found out, they gave her the courage to talk to him. 

A few small things

The same day that I bought my Paola Reina doll, I was in store called Tiger, and I found a few things I thought I could use for my dolls. Tiger is a store full of random and funny knick knacks. They allso has usefull everyday items such as soap and paint. The idea is that most of the stuff, costs around 10 kr (thats 1,77 dollars), but they allso have some stuff that is more exspensive. 

The thing that really cought my eyes was this cell phone holder, that looked exatly like a doll sized shopping cart.  

I really like that its made of metal instead of plastic, and the wheels actually turn. It was a little exspensive costing 30 kr, but as its really good quality I think the price is fair. 

Unfortunally the shopping cart turend out to be too small for a liv doll. Im still glad I got it thought. Im actually planning on adding some smaller dolls to my collection, they are around 9 inch tall and im hoping that the shopping cart will be a better size for those dolls. 

The next thing I got was some erasers that looked like doll sized food. 

I mostley got them, for the burger and the sandwich. I dont care about the fries at all, and the soda looks weird to me since its pink. I wanted them since I havent been able to, make bread out of fimo clay for my dolls yet. But I think it looks like both the burger and the sandwch, could use some more vegetables in them (like tomato)

But these are actually just the right size for my liv dolls to use, and im glad I got them. 

New doll - Paola Reina Las amigas

Friday my boyfriend and I, was on our way to visit his mom. We wallked by a toy store kinda shop, that we have walked by alot of times - But I have never dared going inside. My reason for this, is that it looked like a high class store with, mostley wooden toys and other stuff im not interested in. But this time I noticed, two interesting dolls in the window and I wanted to go in. I had recognized the dolls to be Paola Reina dolls called Las Amigas. Paola Reina is a spanish company that makes alot of different dolls - the dolls are 100 % made in Spain. My favorite line of dolls, is their 12 inch child dolls called Las Amigas. I was verry exited that those, where the dolls I found in the Danish toy store. I looked trough some of the dolls, until I found a pretty redhead with wonderfull freckles. I quickly shoved my boyfriend the doll, but then I put her back on the shelf. We had somewhere to be and, alot of lauggae with us, so we left the store. 
But I probably wouldent have bought her that day annyway, since I dont buy dolls on impulse. All weekend I was looking for info about these dolls. I found some online stores, with a good wide variety of dolls - I discovered that they allso have some boy dolls, which im pretty happy about. I allso reread a wonderfull review by Emily on the Toyboxphilosopher. And I have been looking at many good and interesting pictures. I really got a good idea, of which dolls I liked the best.

Monday we went back to the store, and I looked closer at the 7 different dolls they had. I really liked 4 of the folls they had, but I allready knew I wanted the redhead. We asked the sales clerk to let me hold one of the dolls in the window, so I could get a better feel of it. I was happy to walk out the door with a new doll.

When we got home, I started to take her out of her box. She was super easy to get out, as she was only hold in by a few rubber bands. She is allso super easy to get back in again, I think thats really 
awsome. 

Sorry about the colors, im still figuring out my new setup. 

Her cute green dress, has beautiful pink details. I normally dont like pink and green together, but for this outfit I think it looks good. Her clothes is good quality, her tights feels warm and the dress seems sturdy.

Her shoes are actually made of leather, instead of plastic. They sit verry well on her feets, but they are a little hard to get on and off.

Her hair is a pretty red color, and I really like how it has some wave to it. Its shiny, smooth and easy to manage, but the hair fibers feels a little rought and not as silky as I would have liked it to be. The hairband she is wearing is easy to get off but pretty hard to get on again. 

Im in love with her face. I think her greyish blue eyes looks verry realistic and detailed. She has fake eyelashes, and they look good. But when I look closer I can see that, some of the lashes have the tips broken off. Her mouth has a verry cute shape, small sculped details, and a natural looking soft rosy color. Her  freckles are subtle but verry pretty. They look ghand painted and are the best doll freckles I have seen. The way they are spred across her face in various sizes and shapes, looks verry natural. The only feature in her face that isint verry detailed, is her simple eyebrows. Even her ears are pretty 
detailed.

I really like having this doll sitting near me, so I can enjoy her pretty face and cute outfit. I feel like I have bonded with her, and I think im gonna name her Emily or something simiair. 
Im pretty sure I want these Paola Reina dolls to be in the story I had intented for the Hearts for Hearts girls dolls. I want to buy more Paola Reina dolls instead of H4H girls. There is some things about Dell that annoys me and make me feel like she dosent rally work for me. Its not really about who I like better, as I find them both to be verry pretty dolls. Dell actually have better hair and more detailed eyebrows, + she looks more mature. It mostley come down to the fact, that H4H girls are hard for me to get. It can get verry frustrating, looking for a doll that is hard to find and when found is verry overprised.
Dell is speciel to me, I really like her and I will keep her. But right now, im not planning on getting any of her friends.

Busy summer

My boyfriend and I, have been quite active this summer. We have been quite busy visiting family, and helping  with projects - like building a bench and helping with a new house. We have allso been visiting alot of toy stires, and going swiming some nice places.
I had planned to take some pictures of my liv dolls, in my parents garden while visiting them. But it turned out to rain that day, which we actually really needed. I will hopefully get another chance to take some pictures, summer isint over yet. 

I have had some doll related projects going on, one of them have been changing eyes on some of my dolls. My boyfreind have helped me setting up a background and some lighting, so I can easieer take pictures.

I made a pair of sandals for one of my dolls, useing a toturial on youtube by My froggy stuff. 

They arent perfect, but im happy with them because they turned out better than I though they would. But im kinda worried that im gonna destroy them. 
I have allso been trying to make some food for my dolls, useing fimo clay. I started making some simple fruit.

Now I just need to make some sausage rolls or hotdogs, and my dolls are ready to go on a picknic
I allso wanted to make some wigstands for my doll wigs, but we havent been able to find the materials we need.

Thats all for now

customizing

So I have been working on making some of my dolls, looking more like I want them to.

I bought Alexis as the queen of hearts, because of her dark skin and with plans of repainting her a little.

Alexis as queen of hearts 

I removed the red heart on her cheek, and the red lipstic, with nailpolish remover. Im glad that I didnt accidently remove some of her blush when I removed the heart. 

Without the red heart on her cheek and with new lip color. 

My plan was to paint her lips pink, I used acrylic paints. After I had mixed the color, I poured water into the paint so it wouldent be so thick. After I painted her lips, I used clear nailpolish to give them a gloss. 
I had to try a few times, before I got the color I wanted.

With freckles.

I wanted to give her freckles, natural looking freckles. So I dipped a toothbrush in paint, and splashed the paint on her face. She had VERRY many freckles all over her face, and even some on her shoulders. I removed some of the freckles, and now it looks like I want it to - im verry happy about how they turned out.

For now im done with Rebecca. But at one point im gonna figure out if I want to give her new eyes, and maybe do something different with her wig.   


I have allso been doing some eye swapping

Nia and Hannah before 

I decided a long time ago that Hannah, should have the brown eyes instead of the hazel (brown/green) eyes. But as I really like the hazel eyes, I decided that Nia would get them. 

Nia and Hannah after

Nias new eyes looks good with her skin and hair color, but they are kinda intense looking and that takes some getting used to. I think Hannh looks REALLY good with brown eyes, they really suit her. I know they are a bit wonky, but they were wonky before I swapped them, and its kinda hard making both eyes sit perfectly. 

Its kinda weird for me, how both Nia and Hannh looks like I want them to now. They have the right skin color, right makeup, right eyes and right wig. Im really happy about it, its a great feeling that I completed something. Now they just need some more clothes ;) 

There will be more eye swapping soon, but thats all for now.

Enjoying my zelfs

I have really been obsessed with zelfs recently - I actually got 4 of the small zelfs.
When I first fell in love with Zelfs, I decided that I would only be getting the medium sized onces. My reasons for not getting the small zelfs, were that they come in small plastic pots and you cant see what zelf you get. I thought that I wouldent like not knowing what I would get, and I didnt like that there is a possibility that I could get two zelfs that are exatly the same. I allso thought that they werent as interesting as the medium sized once, because they dont have as many details.
But then I saw some youtube videos of people, opening zelfs pots and other different bllind bags. I started liking the idea of not knowing what you get, and I started thinking that I could use the small zelfs as toys or collectibles for my bigger dolls. But I was snot sure, if I really wanted them.
Last week my boyfriend and I stopped by the toystore, one of the things I looked at was the zelf pots. I took some and showed my boyfriend, but then I put them back because I werent sure if I wanted them. I kept looking at the other toys (with no intention of buying any), but then my boyfriend said that if I picked 4 zelf pots he would buy them for me. That was super swwet of him, and I was exited to opend up my new zelfs.

Mini Spellinda, Luanne, Angelala and pega sue. 

In the first pot I opended, there was a spelinda with glitter finish. Then I got a Luanne with regulair finsh. When I opend up my third pot, I first saw the white hair and thought I had got another Luanne - but it was actually a Angelala in regulair finish. The last zelf I opened was Pega Sue in pearl finish. 
My favorite out of the four is Spellinda, my boyfriend really likes pega sue's hair. Im really happy about my little zelfs. I dont think I would have choosen the once I got if, I knew what was in them - so maybe it was a good thing I didnt know. 

Little Spellinda and medium sized howlett

When I put my little zelfs up besides my medium sized zelfs - I noticed that they look like children.
Then I started thinking about who could be children to who, and where they would be living. Its verry nice for me, to have an idea about what story my zelfs live in. They didint have a story or exact pupose before, but now I wanna make zelfs families and make them houses. 
Im  gonna renamed some of my zelfs, and change their gender. Spellindas new name is glitterbug, and its a boy - his father is gonna be Flitter from series 2. 


I have allso been taking some outdoor pictures, of my medium zelfs. Some are from the forest and some are from my mother in laws garden. 

Im really looking foward to getting more zelfs ;)

Hearts for hearts girl Dell

I haven't talked about Dell yet, because I have had alot of mixed feelings about her. 

Dell when I got her. 

I bought Dell used, with different clothes than her original and no shoes. She is in excelent condition, didnt have any marks on her body, soft hair and the cutest face. I was afraid that when I got her she wouldent feel right because she is bigger than my liv dolls and have less joints. But she felt right and I really liked her. 
The only thing bugging me was that I think her hair is too long and I wish she had come with her original clothes. 

Then after 1-2 weeks I realized that I dont spend time with her, because I dont find her fun to play with. With my liv dolls I often pick them up, look at them, pose them and redress them. But I dont feel like doing that with Dell, when I really try to spend time with her she just sits there and I stare at her face. 
Im actually starting to feel like she is too big and not  poseable enough. 
I have thought that maybe if she got a friend and some more clothes, I wouldent feel this way. 
On one hand I know how important it is for me that things fit together, and maybe Dell really needs another doll her size to interact with. On the other it seems stupid, "Im not sure this doll is right for me so I better buy more of the same kind" yep solid logic. 

How I feel about her changes, first I loved her, then I started feeling that maybe she werent right afterall, then I felt that she was great she just needed a friend and now I mostley feel that It wont work with her. 
I quess one of my problems is that I have allready come up with chracters for Dell and her friends. Because of Dells hair, she dosent really look like the chracter I had in mind for her. I know this can be fixed with a wig or rerooting, but right now im starting to dislike her hair and feel like she dosent have any personality.  
I have a story and an Idea for the characters, and I really dont want to trash it. I have thought that maybe I could get other dolls, to shell out these chracters. I really like the thought of having dolls with many joints, as these chracters. But its verry hard to find the right dolls, often its the face, the cloths or the prize i dont like. Maybe im making it harder for myself, what I want is verry specific and has to be just right to fit my story. When I get frustrated because I cant find the right doll, then its easy to go back to the hearts for hearts girls because with them I allready know who is going to be who and what changes I would make to their appearance for them to be right.  

In the end I feel like I have to make a decision, either sell her or buy her a friend and some clothes.
I really dont feel like selling her, because I have never ever tryed selling annything online and im afraid I will just mess it up if I try. But when she is here, I feel like I have to fix my "relationship" with her. 
I think one of the reasons I feeel like I have to make a decision right now is because im afraid that the hearts for hearts girls will become discontinued and even harder to find. I really shouldent think like this, its not healthy for me to feel like I should hurry. 

I feel so guilty about this, I feel like I think way too much about it and that im being a hypocrite.
It would be best for me if I could just let her sit on a shelf, and not feel obligated to decide what to do with her. 

I just dont think I can

Its my nature Alexis

Last week I finally got Alexis out of the box.

I really like the Its my nature line, the outfits are so well put together and the accessories are great.
The main reason I got Alexis is kinda silly, its because I wanted her boots for Lea. I originally allso really wanted the doll herself (I thought her makeup would fit Hannah well) and the dress. But then I got the dolls and the dress in alot with some other liv stuff.  
I allso wanted Alexis for her accessories, but when I thought about her I most often thought that I really wanted those boots for Lea. 
I asked my boyfriend if it would be silly, to get a doll I technical allready had. He said that it dosent hurt to have duplicats and that if I want the dolls then there is no need to question it.
He is such a great man <3

Alexis with all her things

I really like how her outfit isint all matchy matchy, but it still works verry well. Through I must admit the bright green tights is a little too much for me. 
I love that she has that plain white tank top, I can see many uses for it. 

I really like her hair, its so soft and the subtle curls are verry nice. I thought her hair would be darker, but i do enjoy the shade it is. The hairstyle is lovely, but I do wonder how it will look if I take it out. 

Lea finally got her botts, they suit her so much better than the dark once she had before.

Nia is happy to have the drawings

Shina gets the super pretty dress, it suits her so well. 

Im not sure who will get the rest, but Emily looks super cosy wearing it. 

Alexis as queen of hearts

I must admit that I mostley bought this Alexis, for her darker skin color. I do like her outfit and wig, but I dont really know what to do with it. if I could have found her without her stuff, I would have bought her like that.

But this time I actually remembered, to take pictures before taking her out of the box.

The picture on the front flap is verry pretty, it really shows that they are doing a play on Alice in wonderland.

On the back there are alot of pretty pictured, and texts talking about the play they are doing.

This cought my eyes - she parently change skin color if you change her wig

I lifted up the flap, and there were more pictures and text on the other side of it.

After lifting up the flsap, I could finally see the pretty doll. She was just as hard to remove from her box, as any other liv doll. All those wire ties can get pretty frustrating.

I think the black and red color scheme, looks verry nice. Im not really a fan of the big shiny heart on the dress, I think it looks kinda tacky. The big bow thing on one of her shoulders allso bothers me. The dress generally fits the queen of hearts theme verry well, but I kinda wish it would be easier to use as just a regulair dress. Atleast I can probably find something to use her black boots, stockings and earing for.

Her hair was kinda squashed right out of the box, but her dress looks pretty elegant from behind even throught the bow thungy on her shoulder kinda ruins it.

Her crown hedband sits verry well on her head, which is verry nice. My first liv doll headband dont sit well on the head at all so its nice to see one that does.

Her red lipstic and the red heart on her cheek, looks good with her outfit. But i dont really get why she has dusty lavender eyeshadow. But its good for me, because the chracter I want to have this dark skin color dont wear red. The lavender eyeshadow could work for her, and its easy to remove the red heart and repaint her lips pink. 

I decided to take down her ponytail, and brush her hair. Its verry frizzy, but I like the way it looks. 

I really love curls so I allready have a weak spot for this wig, I hope I will find a way to use it one day.

So I dint remember to take pictures of Rebecca with her new skin color before I started repainting her lips

Before and after

I know is kinda hard, seeing the skin color difference in these pictures. It was my plan from the start that Rebecca should be darker than Hannh and it have been bothering me alot that they looked like sisters which they are not. 

On this picture its a little easier to see. 

Before and after

Hannh then got "Rebeccas old body" The difference is in the makeup. I think Hannah looks much nicer with the more natural looking makeup. It seems silly now, that I even painted her lips orange.

The reason is that orange is suppose to be her main color, and I was tired of the weird pinkish red color she had before. But as she dosent have any orange clothes at all, it just looks weird. I finally realized, that it would look better if she had more natural pink makeup.




I still havent opend my last liv doll, who is a its my nature Alexis. Its really weird for me that she has been sitting in her box more more than a week after I got her.