My Angell-Studio Pumpkin Head is here!

This was quite an ordeal. I had put the final one Mint on Card had in stock on a 6 month layaway along with some hooks for my Dollshes (I can't believe they didn't come with hooks originally! I need more string for Ambrose, who is, at the moment, in pieces. At least I still have Draven together.) I had  - the same week - gotten a shipping notification for my Luts Pumpkin head that I bought on preorder back in October. This one as going out Priority mail. My layaway order was sent out Fed Ex. I was excited to get the shipping notification and then BAM! I realized it was heading to my old Utah address. Cue panicky email to MoC. I didn't hear back from them the next day - which is odd because the'r customer service is really good, so I figured I had sent it to the wrong email, and re-emailed them the same message to their other one. I got a response early the next day saying that they had contacted Fed Ex and had the address corrected. So, yay! I saw it leave Michigan and head to Ohio. Everything was going correctly. I checked it the next day and it was leaving WY! WTF??? Cue another panicky email to MoC. After my package reached North Salt Lake, they once again contacted Fed Ex and corrected the address, and of course, weren't given any explanation how the package was once again incorrectly routed. In a few days, it came rolling in. All was well. My package didn't get opened until last night.

I will start by saying the head is adorable, and since I am such a fan of pumpkin heads, I am happy I have it. But....I do have some complaints. First off, its PLASTIC. Not resin. I thought I was ordering a WS resin head with a face up, per description. The head is in fact, an orange plastic, and not of the highest quality.

There are some cool things happening here. The stem at the top is removable. Its an even thinner plastic, not thrilling, but oh well. It snaps together at the sides, and one of the magnets has already come loose. Not a big deal. Then they have provided you with this handy little neck piece in case you don't want to snap it over your Yo's head (an MSD sized head doesn't work for that configuration. At least not with the doll I tried. His head was too big.) This is really a good idea for the neck piece - more in theory at this point though than actual work-ability. I'll show you in pics. **Dishonorable mention - they also sent a LOUSY cheap plastic battery operated tea light, which was such pathetic quality it barely, barely had any light to it at all. Into the trash it goes**

Here is the head over Lucian's head. (5star Jesse boy) Don't mind the test dress he is wearing. (He's been helping me with a commission project.)

See how cute it is? It totally works, and I think this was probably the idea they had when they created the head to begin with. I just don't really want to use it as a costume piece for one of my other dolls. I want him to be his own character. Now, here the head is using the neck piece on a YoSD body. (5star Aiden body.)

The neck piece is too large for the little neck's circumference. It just doesn't work. It is more correctly sized for an MSD neck, but then we run into this:

The MSD neck is waaaaaay too long for it to work. It looks like E.T. merged with a pumpkin head. It's even weirder in person. But the proportioning is really good. So, my plan at present is to get a cheap MSD boy body and mod the neck down at least a cm, and then it'll work really well. This will definitely be a future project.

Question - if I had known before what I know now, would I still buy the head? Not for the $76 I spent on it. I feel it was a serious over charge, especially considering the one from Luts was closer to $40 (or maybe it was $40. Something like that.) Here is a comparison of those 2 heads. Luts is wonderful quality resin, and has a cool flashing light feature in the head that will last for who knows how long, though the head truly stands on its own. I wish I had bought 2.

Am I happy that I have it? Ummmm....yeah. I reckon so. I intend to enjoy it since I have it. I really do love pumpkin heads. Really, really, love them. So yes, I think I will greatly enjoy the head once I can get him a proper body.

Limhwa Limho Mono BJD MSD Commission Project

I saw a WTC thread on DoA and jumped on it pretty much immediately. While I do not have this doll myself, I have sewn for him before, so I was really excited to see this. It also happened to be one of my favorite styles. A medieval/fantasy outfit. I guess it is off a character - Game of Thrones maybe? I looked, but I can't remember. (I'm one of the apparently few people who doesn't watch the show.)

I've gotten most of the pattern drafting done. The pants are done. I just perfected the tunic, and all that leaves me if to iron out the couple of nagging details on the robe, and I can get it finished up for her.

I am sewing her tunic today. I got some very fine high quality cream linen, as per her request. It's beautiful, and I know exactly why I bought it. It was just perfect in weave and color for the tunic. It's also one of those fabrics that when it comes time to working with it you'r like "what was I thinking?" Lol. It's okay though. It'll be worth the extra pain in sewing with it. I am fray checking most of the pieces as linen is suspect for very bad fraying normally, and this lovely fabric is pretty mean.

Here's the design:

(Pardon the bent paper. The sketches and the measurements are on the same page and have been through a lot.)

And here is a picture of the fabric:

I can't wait to see how it turns out. I love the test run, but that's out of cheap white muslin! I wil hopefully have it finished up today.

MSD Boy Lolita Project

This is a project for one of my own dolls. I had this crazy idea to put girl's Lolita clothes on a boy (I don't like any of the girl BJDs) but I love, love Lolita clothes. So, I bought myself a RS WS Song to dress accordingly. (I am definitely not the only BJD owner to do this. :P) I picked out 2 pieces of fabric for him - one is a turquoise heart print, and the other is a pale minty/sage print. My first idea of an outfit for him is a much simpler dress than some I would love to make. I have the basic dress mostly done, but I still need to add some ribbon and fabric bows to it. Here's how it is looking so far.

If you look closely, you will see his missing finger. Talk about a moment of pure horror. I have NO idea how this managed to happened. I do know that RS has infamously thin resin (thus their cheap price) so it had to be a weakness in the resin. I am very careful with my dolls. I don't slam them around, I don't let them crash, so to have a broken finger is pretty upsetting. It must have snapped off when I was putting the dress either on him or off of him. I couldn't find the broken off finger at first. :/ I finally found it the third time of looking for it. It was under my desk. I can fix this when I get some epoxy. But still. He's broken and I am really unhappy. Poor doll.

I still need to get his wig. I can't quite decide what I want to do. I am hoping that the pink mohair wig I found on DoA is still available. I think it really fits him. I love mohair wigs. I have never owned one myself, but I really love the look of them. Roosevelt has some cute kitty white Mary Jane shoes I got for him, and also another pair he ended up with by default. The measurements of the shoes were incorrect in the listing, so they do not work for my Doll Leaves Royal, but thankfully they work fr Rosie. (This caused the expected tensions between the 2 dolls. It's not Rosie's fault, but what does D'arcy care?) I also need to either make or find him some stockings. My pair of blue and white stripe stockings that are a little too dark for this turquoise dress, but they will have to do for now.

I'm all set to make his bloomers and petticoat. I was going to start on them last night, but after his finger broke, it kind of killed the sewing mood for me....