Non-Resin BJD + Stories

On the previously posted Sisterhood of the World tag there was a question that asked about our current doll collection. In there, I said that I also have two non-resin BJDs and offered to take some pics of them in case anyone was interested.

Since several people did ask about them (thank you so much for being so awesome!), I decided to take some pics, and talk about how this two dolls came to be. I have also decided to make this a some-sort of a tag/meme, to ask people the following: how did you found the BJD hobby and how long took you to get your first BJD? I won't tag any people, but if you want to do it, I will add you to a list at the bottom of the post!

My story is long, and will tell from how I met BJDs, going through me sculpting my first doll, and finally getting my first resin BJD. Hope you don't mind reading it!

At the left is Kitty, made by me in uncolored cold porcelain, and at the right is Leo, made in aepoxie by a friend of mine. She is 14cm tall and he is 12.5cm tall. Wall of text after the cut!

Let's get to the story...

I first met BJDs in 2010, when I was at the middle of college, being a broken student. I met them by accident -as it always seems to happen- when Googling something I cannot longer remember. I saw a very beautiful picture of a doll? a human? with black hair and purple eyes. Curiosity got me and when I clicked the image, it sent me to the blog of a Spanish girl, who collected BJDs. The doll in question was a Fairyland Dark Elf Soo, and I instantly got picked by curiosity. I read that blog FAQ and found out about the dolls.

Since this person had mostly FL dolls, what I originally met was FL and I remember browsing by the time that MNF Chloe was just released. She had this amazing promo pics with that golden flute (does anyone remember this?) that got me immediately stunned. Then watched the FL Chicline Lise and that one impressed me by its realism!

As I said, I was a broken college student so I couldn't get one. All my money went to college-related expenses. Still in 2010, I found a Spanish-speaking forum that not longer exist, and introduced myself to it. I found this amazing girl that is now my dolly best friend, Morla. We have been talking since then. By 2011 I got my nose out of the books for a couple days and remembered these dolls... but I was still a penniless student (also really afraid of customs), so i decided to make my own.

By that time, I had found Pipos and anthro dolls and really liked them, so I decided to go for a kitty doll, which would also solve the issue of the wig. I got cold porcelain (what cost me $2 back on that time) a regular pencil-requiring sealant, and some pastels, what cost me like $3 total. I had zero sculpting knowledge... I also have paws when trying to draw something that is not a technical diagram, but I managed to make a sketch of what I wanted. I still have it!

But the thing was... I also had no time to do the sculpting. I took lots of courses and all my free time went to studying, getting with my team-mates to do group works, programming, sleeping and repeat. So which time would I use? Night time! So I slowly started sculpting from... 21:00 to 23:00 (yup, PM).

I left the head for the last, I remember. The eyes are not symmetric, of course (I can barely draw!), and the headcap gets into place by fitting into a tiny wire that holds it in place. I was so dang newbie that I didn't colored the cold porcelain, so now it is slightly translucent on some parts. My dad made the S hooks from me, from an extremely thin and resistant alpaca wire, and I strung the doll with elastic nylon thread (I don't know if the translation is correct, to be honest), because I couldn't find any local store that would sell me such a thin elastic!

I also made the eyes myself, using cold porcelain and painting the irises. The eyes are all yellowish now, due to the bad gloss I used.

I finished the doll on the 15th of December of 2011. At night, of course. I painted her paws and face (in a very poor way -she doesn't have eyebrows, for example) but I couldn't be happier. I made her a first dress that was oh-so-pathetic (by that time I didn't knew how to sew either) and attempted a gathered skirt... without gathering it xD I used the same waist length to make the skirt and it looked hideous! I took pictures of kitty and that dress on my parent's house and I was so dang happy!! I kept sewing for her, when I had time between exams.

I must say that her pose-ability is very limited, since I sculpted her without knowing how-to, without ever seeing one in person either. I used all tricks to get her to stand, but... she was so perfect, she still is.

I was already dating the now-hubby-then-boyfriend, and he later helped me make a fence for Kitty (yup, named her Kitty), a Puss-In-Boots cosplay, and even a small diorama! (the one on the back of the first photo). Time passed by, and by early 2012 I left that spanish-speaking forum when they started allowing recasts and I found out what bootlegs were. I have always been strongly anti-recast.

Time kept passing, and I got hired as a freelancer translator to translate a fanfic, so I slowly started working on that. By the time I finished the translation, it was the end of 2012 and I was nearing graduation... going crazy with the last exams while finishing my thesis.

I bet you can guess what I asked as present from everyone that offered a graduation gift to me: money!. I used it  -and the earnings of the translation- to order Coco, her first batch of wigs and eyes. When I was looking for my first doll, I searched among what was within my budget and what I liked... always legit, of course. Also, in all that time I never stopped reading and researching about the hobby, the dolls and how to care for them.

I already had a DoA account and one day there was an announcement of Withdoll Cythia plus a discount event. I went to their site and the prices were OK, the heads were mature (my tastes changed a lot in all those years) and when I saw the photos from the body, specifically from the back of the doll, I was smitten by all those details! Priscilla was too popular, and Rachel had that badass look on the photos that I fell for her. I graduated shortly after ordering Coco.

And do you know what? After all that journey (those were 3 long years before getting Coco) I learned that with time, effort and patience everything is possible. I was broken but I still decided to get a legit doll. I had barely no time to do my own doll, but I still got myself to do it. And I still have her! I get all emotional when I have her :3

But, what about Leo? He is a present from my dear friend Morla, and she sent him to me on 2013, if I recall correctly, "so Kitty won't be alone anymore" as she said. I love his outfit and all the details he has! He is more properly sculpted that Kitty, since Morla has a lot of background and is made of epoxi, as far as I know.

Morla is also the artist who made Calina. She also traded with me the ears/tail of Cookie and Merry, and gifted me the antlers/horns I have for Coco. That time, I didn't knew she was sending my a doll in that birthday, to be honest. We have been sending us mutual birthday presents since 2012, though, so I did knew a package was coming but didn't had a clue about its contents. 

Anyways, One of the most important things that I learned in all this time, is to never give up. And I'm grateful for having learned that. I'm also grateful for all the amazing people I've met through this hobby and through my blog. You all mean so much to me!

DO THE TAG?

So, I'm sure I bored you all with this long story, but oh well... I wanted to share this anyways. How did you met BJDs? How much time passed until you got your first doll? Feel free to do this as a meme/tag, as I said at the beginning, and let me know! I really want to know :3