Everyone Needs Playtime

In our hectic, modern lives, many of us focus so heavily on work and family commitments that we never seem to have time for pure fun. Somewhere between childhood and adulthood, we stopped playing.

When we carve out some leisure time, we’re more likely to zone out in front of the TV or computer than engage in fun, rejuvenating play like we did as children. But play is not just essential for kids; it can be an important source of relaxation and stimulation for adults as well.

There doesn’t need to be any point to the activity beyond having fun and enjoying yourself. By giving yourself permission to play with the joyful abandon of childhood, you can reap oodles of health benefits throughout life.

Featured post

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 be...

Tuesday

20 Years On

According to Wikipedia ~

"A ball-jointed doll is any doll that is articulated with ball and socket joints. In contemporary usage when referring to modern dolls, and particularly when using the acronyms BJD or ABJD, it usually refers to modern Asian ball-jointed dolls. These are cast in polyurethane synthetic resin, a hard, dense plastic, and the parts strung together with a thick elastic. They are predominantly produced in Japan, South Korea and China. The BJD style has been described as both realistic and influenced by anime. They commonly range in size from about 60 centimetres (24 in) for the larger dolls, 40 cm (15.5 in) for the mini dolls, and all the way down to 10 cm (4 in) or so for the tiniest of the tiny BJDs. BJDs are primarily intended for adult collectors and customizers. They are made to be easy to customize, by painting, changing the eyes and wig, and so forth.

The modern BJD market began with Volks line of Super Dollfie in 1999. Super Dollfie and Dollfie are registered trademarks but are sometimes erroneously used as generic blanket terms to refer to all Asian BJDs regardless of manufacturer."

To celebrate 20 years of the modern BJD, I thought it would be fun to re-do a "meme" of sorts that I did three years ago . . . just shoot and edit a magazine cover. I used PhotoShop Pro X7 to edit mine.


As October is when many of us celebrate Halloween, I have incorporated that theme. 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's.
4. Use your own editing programme (let us know which one you used).
5. Most of all . . . have fun!

NOTE: Now I know some of my readers don't own BJD's, but they do own dolls, so if they would like to do this "meme" with dolls from their own collections they would be most welcome to join in the fun. :)

Big hugs,
X

Saturday

Photoshoot: Marina

This morning I spent a little more time with my pretty Marina and after dressing her and tying her hair back with a ribbon, I thought it was time for a photoshoot ~



As you can see, her hair is absolutely gorgeous, it's very full with just the right amount of wave and a lovely sheen.



I still haven't done anything about her eyebrows, but I think Marina would make a wonderful Snow White given the right costuming.



She has the most beautiful face. When I look at her lips and the way they have been sculpted and painted, I think some of the BJD artists could learn something from her . . . there is absolutely no need for a black line to be painted across these lips!

Well that's it for today . . . hope your weekend is off to a good start too!
Big hugs,
X

Wednesday

Vidal Rogas Mari Dolls

I haven't spoken much about my 16" (41cm) Vidal Rogas Mari Dolls, which arrived with help of my dear friend Sharon, back in October, 2017. So I thought it was about time I did.

Their bodies are naturally proportioned and are made of hard vinyl. When they were new, they smelt of vanilla, but that has completely faded away now.

They are five way jointed and although their heads turn, they do not move up or down. This makes posing them difficult, but they are still stunning to look at. The dolls come complete with undies, socks and shoes, which allows them to stand unaided.


My Cierra has beautiful straight red hair and fixed green eyes, with some very faint freckles sprinked across her very petite nose.


Whilst my Marina has wavy black hair with blue eyes, which I find very striking. I'm not a real fan of their eyebrows, but that could be easily fixed. (The current dolls have different eyebrows.)

Both dolls have hand applied eyelashes, which are very long and may not be to everyone’s liking, but trimming them is definitely an option. I like them just as they are! Their hair is rooted, thick and brushable.


These are really lovely dolls, which are made in Spain and usually sell for 19.95€ each, which in itself is really quite reasonable for a doll of this quality.

It's a little unfortunate for us in the English speaking world that their website is only written in Spanish or French, however, it looks like these dolls maybe going out of production, which is sad, because I wouldn't have minded adding a blonde with curly hair and brown eyes to my collection.

Well that's it for today kiddos.
Big hugs, X