My Pretty Petal

Do you remember, back in early September, I pre-ordered Dalia Spoon? Well she arrived today and she is adorable! I've been studying her face and it made me realise why I love these Zwerganase Spoon dolls the way I do, her lips are perfect, her eyes so clear and shiny and that little button nose is so darn cute.

Now aside from how beautifully painted her little face is, her clothes are so well made and the back of her dress buttons up (NO VELCRO!) and the elastic at the bottom of the dress enables it to be worn two ways. Her stockings and undies fit perfectly snug and those leather boots finish her outfit off in an ideal manner.

I took these two pics on my office chair just to show you how her dress can be worn, and filled in the background the best I could using the editing programme's airbrush.

ANOTHER Ruruko!

It appears I have renewed my love of Ruruko dolls. Of course this may not have happened if  Alejandra hadn't come back to join us. I'm really glad she did though, it's really given me a new lease on life!

This is CCSgirl 24AW, and I placed an order for her (with HobbySearch Japan) earlier this week. I'm hoping, when she gets here, to draft a pattern for her skirt and bustier so my other girls will have outfits similar. I think they will be simple enough to sew. Not sure about the blouse though (I'm not really in to all those black bows on a white blouse), I may just give them all white tee shirts to wear underneath.

Details:
Hair ... Cherry-Brown x Cherry-Pink Mix
Eyes ... Lilac-Gray, Side Glance
Skin ... Natural
Height ... Approximately 22cm
Body ... Pure Neemo Full Flection XS, PetWORKs version (Azone International)
Doll Material ... PVC and ABS resin
Clothes Material ... Fabric
Mask Design ... Yoko Tokinor
Sculptor ... Keisuke Sawada (sawada-kobo)

Contents:
Ruruko (doll)
Bustier
Blouse with Ribbons
Frilly Mini Skirt
Shorts
Ribbon Socks
Ribbon Bijou Headband
Round Toe Mary Jane (STOC)

Does anyone else, besides Alejandra and me, collect Ruruko dolls?

My Rurukos are Ready for Summer

I had a little spare time to play today, so I went looking through my stash of clothes to find something new for my girls to wear. Then I popped them on my laptop and took a couple of happy snaps. Using a laptop as a little stage or backdrop is a great way to capture a quick, stylized shot of your favorite small dolls, miniatures or figures. I liked the way this one turned out after editing.

The one below shows exactly how I had them sitting on my keyboard. The outfits they are wearing were made for my Fairyland PukiFees, but they look fine on these two.

Then I tried editing out a background and replacing it with plain colour. This is a highly effective way to eliminate distractions and make your subject stand out, though it can sometimes look a bit "designed" or unnatural if the edges aren't perfect.

I recommend you try choosing a plain background color that matches the general brightness and luminance of the original environment. Putting a subject photographed in bright lighting against a solid dark background will usually look jarring as shown here.

If you want the photo to look like it was shot in a professional studio rather than digitally edited, use a subtle gradient layer instead of a perfectly flat solid color. A slight light falloff from the top or center makes a world of difference.

To create a really magical composite image add a PNG character or subject into a festive digital background like I've done with Santa's Workshop below, it's a great way to bring a holiday scene to life. I'm really happy with the way this one turned out, they really do look like they are in Santa's Workshop.

Because of my limited mobility, I mostly use my desk, and take photos with my phone. Doing so under the daylight globes in my studio helps me to capture beautiful, eye-level photos of my dolls without needing to physically drop to the ground. I sometimes use elevated staging surfaces, to bring the scene to my comfort level. Getting to the doll's eye level creates a lifelike perspective, and I can easily achieve this while standing or sitting comfortably.

I've never been really great at taking photos with a camera. However, the editing process is what enjoy the most and using the digital backgrounds, really makes photography fun for me!

How do you prefer to take your photos?

A New Old Ruruko & Two Little Pullips

Ruruko's are not easy to come by here in Australia, so when I saw this gal I snapped her up and she arrived today.

I had absolutely no idea when she was released, but I didn't really care as long a she was in good condition, and she is perfect.

However, I did some research and she could be either one of these two girls below, but seeing she came without her original clothing, I think she's more likely to be the second of the two.

As I rarely keep dolls in original outfits, it's not a problem for me and she will be a perfect sibling for Hatsuko.

Ruruko dolls don't come with different names, but she needs one of her own, so after giving it much thought . . . I think Sachiko will suit her nicely. In Japanese, the word "sachi" means “happiness” or “good luck” and the word "ko" means “child.”

CCSgirl-26ETO-Ruruko-Horse

22cm Body: Pure Neemo Full Flection XS, PetWORKs version (Azone International) 

Hair Color: Deep Ash Blonde 

Eye Color: Khaki 

Skin Tone: Natural 

Comes With: Full Furisode Kimono Obi Outfit, Underwear & Boots

Fresh-Ruruko-2408

22cm Body: Pure Neemo Full Flection XS, PetWORKs version (Azone International) 

Hair Color: Deep Ash Blonde 

Eye Color: Pale Khaki 

Skin Tone: Natural 

Comes With: All in one Outfit only

It's been a long time since I gave Pullips a thought, but the same day I saw these two tiny faces peeking at me through the computer screen and thought they'd make a nice little treat to give myself for Christmas.

The Little Pullip Carol & Rudolph (F-811) is a rare, limited-edition Christmas two-pack released by Jun Planning in November 2005. The dolls are tiny at approximately 16 cm (5 to 6 inches) tall and were the first and only two-pack released in the original Little Pullip series. Little Pullip Carol was based on a full-sized Pullip release, while Little Rudolph was an original companion design.

Carol is dressed in a festive red-and-white Santa Claus-style outfit with fur trim, a belt of tiny bells, and matching holiday wear. While Rudolph is dressed in a plush brown reindeer outfit with antlers, a red-and-green striped scarf, and green straight hair. The set also includes a miniature Christmas stocking.

Like other early Little Pullips, they feature real fabric clothing and fixed non-mobile eyes (they cannot blink or look side-to-side) with limited articulation compared to full-sized Pullips.

I ordered the Pullips from Japan on 3rd (the same day as Ruruko) and they arrived yesterday, the 12th, a day quicker than the sweet little Ruruko from Western Australia.

Orla Arrived

Yes, she arrived on the 7th October, but I wanted to wait until I had my camera working again before sharing photos of her . . . and here she is. I was not disappointed with her in the least, I love her carrot red hair, fair skin and gorgeous blue green eyes.

She has a beautiful face and I'm going to enjoy taking photos of her, outside where the lighting is much better. These are surely not the best photos, they certainly don't do her justice and by the looks of them, I'm going to need a lot more practice in how to use my camera again.

I will be changing her dress and socks though. The dress has a Velcro closure which is bound to catch her hair and the blue socks could stain her very pale vinyl.

Challenge Meme

Seven years ago I issued a challenge to celebrate 20 years of the modern BJD, that I had also done three years previously. As things have been so quiet on the dolly blogs I thought it was time to revive it . . . just shoot and edit a magazine cover.

   

As October is when many of us celebrate Halloween, I have incorporated that theme in the covers above. If you would like to have a little fun this month, I would love to see you all join in and design one of your own.

1. You need to think of a name for your magazine.
2. Choose a theme (it can be Halloween or something completely different).
3. Take an appropriate photo using your own BJD or other doll.

4. Use your own editing programme (let us know which one you used).
5. Most of all . . . have fun!

NOTE: Now I know many of my readers don't own BJD's, but they do own dolls, so if they would like to do this using dolls from their own collections, I would be thrilled if they would join in the fun. :) I'm adding links below to each one that participates below.

1. My own 2026 versions. (Yes, I've added more than one).

2. Alejandra at Fantasywoods. You can find her older version here.

3. Inesa's Doll Art. She has expanded on the idea, it's a very interesting post.

4. Nina at Dolls Dolour. Previous covers here and here.