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[joshybearhuggies]

So cute Omgosh!

a commission/birthday present for a friend! this one started out as a commission, but ended up taking stupidly long to finish due to various reasons and shenanigans and became a gift. he's very sweet, very soft with flocked ears, and absolutely goddamn enormous. my dolls tend to be in the 30cm ballpark, so this 70cm boy is a BEAST in comparison. my friend wanted him to match some of his partner's bjds in size, and it was cool and satisfying to make a doll this size, but also not have to think about where to keep it long term. a win-win for me.

this is a joint effort with @posnakkel, who made all the clothes while i handled the doll itself.

[joshybearhuggies]

Meet my Darlibg Son ✨Squash✨

This wonderful lil man is a sculpt I picked up at this years past Resin Rose BJD Expo. Sculpted by the lovely Logan of “Logan Dolls”. Sculpt name is “Jack-O-Leery.

✨Squash✨ has been an absolute joy bringing to life from the moment I purchased him. I believe he’s suppose to have been on a MSD (45cm-ish) body, the proportions definitely lend themselves. I popped this head on a Unoa boy body while at the con and almost had to tear myself away from the look. It was so gooooood! LOOKIT!

Ugh! So good right? The moment he fell into my world I just knew he HAD to be named ✨Squash✨ it just stuck. . .

I originally felt this style would stick as well… until I got home and plopped the head on a blind box BJD body by the name of ”Dividing Lines”. I was planning on selling this particular doll as I wasn’t bonding with them as hard as another of the same make. The sell didn’t happen because after this boy sat on it I WAS SOLD! 😂🥰❤️

Something about him being this short really fits the energy he embodies for me. I had old hands leftover from selling a “Summer Bird BJD Viola” a while back, this doll would also be of the MSD size so the hands aren’t exactly proportional for this smaller body. PERFECT! 🤩 I full on yelped from how excited and pleasing this was and the fact the hands don’t match the body is exactly the kind of mix matched ideal a doll named ✨Squash✨ would need.

After sorting his body, I took a random Sunday afternoon and gave him this fun, also mix matched, faceup. My intention here was to make him warm feeling, cozy. I also wanted him to be a doll I could have fun with, even if he sustains scratches later in life he’ll still be himself. Pumpkins have imperfections all the time so painting him felt so freeing. The possibilities are so endless, in a few years he might not even look like this and this makes me feel like he could grow with me 🥰❤️

The photo ideas I have for fall is just so endless, he looks so good even as just a head so I’m tempted to take him pumpkin picking and plopping him down with his brethren and taking a million pics 😂❤️

[joshybearhuggies]

🥰❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️

The crochet outfit I've been working on for Naturally Perfect Angelica is complete! Had a lot of delays and setbacks with this one over the past month due to a lingering chronic illness flare-up, so it feels like a real accomplishment to finally get this done. And I'm just over the moon with how adorable she turned out.

I neglected these girls for years due to my apathy towards their stock outfits and the weirdness surrounding their release (a topic for another day), but after putting all this effort and care into making things especially for them to wear I can honestly say they've become some of my favorite dolls in my collection.

(few more details shots + before & after comparison of both NP girls and their new outfits)

I had no pattern for this top so I just made it up as I went, not my best work but an okay first attempt XD

I'm honestly so, so glad I decided to do this. I got a lot of practice working in an unfamiliar clothing size, and I have a whole new appreciation for these dolls. I never really connected with them before due to their plain fashions, but now they really feel like my dolls ^_^ I'm going to work out a dedicated display space for them soon.

Huge debt of thanks once again to @joshybearhuggies for his Comfi Cardi tutorial, which was the unwitting catalyst for all of this! I never expected to get so inspired by this project, but I'm glad I took it and ran with it.

P.S. ~ Apologies for the super weird lighting in this one, there's a very yellow reading lamp next to my desk that I forgot to turn off before taking photos XD)

[joshybearhuggies]

Omgosh I just LOVE what you’ve done! This is exactly what I wanted when I made the tutorial, for people to get enjoyment and inspiration for more crafting endeavors 🥰❤️❤️❤️❤️😇 I can’t wait to see the other pieces you make!

Comfi Cardi update & completed project! Went on a bit of a journey with this one, which I'll explain under the cut XD Before I get into that I thought it would be fun to share Naturally Perfect Grace (formerly Camryn) alongside one of my favorite Rainbow High makeovers, since they share a very similar color palette (I used the same crochet thread for the edging on the cardi and the main body of Coco's skirt).

The fibers used for the cardi are Elite Shawl Glitz (discontinued) from Ice Yarns; and Lizbeth Size 10 crochet thread in 122-Caribbean.

So. I started off following the Comfi Cardi tutorial using the yarn weight and hook size indicated to make a garment for American Girl dolls. What quickly became apparent was that this piece was going to be MUCH too large for the doll I intended to wear it. Although Naturally Perfect and American Girl dolls are both 18 inches tall, their body types are quite different. I was aware of this, but as I do not own and have never handled an AG I had no clear idea of just how great the difference was until I began this project.

Nevertheless I continued to work my way through the various sections, both to familiarize myself with the process and to create a visual aid to refer to on my next attempt. I stopped just short of the finishing stages (sewing the sides and adding the ribbing) for easier reference, though I did work a row of the ribbing stitch on one of the cuffs and sew down the side to try it on the doll and make sure I understood the directions before pulling it out again (no reason to leave the yarn attached and trailing about).

The other reason for finishing the main work on this piece is simply that I hope sometime in the near future to acquire an appropriately sized doll to wear it! If not AG then Our Generation or similar. At that point I can circle back and complete it.

Once I had worked through the pattern-as-given I had the guidelines I needed to start over and create a piece custom fit to my doll. I switched from a light(3) to a fine(2) weight yarn, and went down to a B-2mm hook. Checking against the doll as I went I ended up reducing the main granny square from 11 rounds to 9, then adjusted the front panel and sleeve lengths accordingly.

For the cuffs and edging, instead of ribbing I opted for something more in line with my personal aesthetic, and chose a couple of simple lace stitches that would adapt easily to this scale and allow me to incorporate some beadwork and a button. These beads were leftover from jewelry I made in the late 90s and have been knocking around my stash ever since; it was particularly satisfying to almost use them up on a piece intended for my tiny doppelganger XD I'll probably incorporate the few that remain into one of her necklaces.

And that's it! I'm looking forward to doing this again for my other Naturally Perfect girl, after I complete her skirt. For simplicity's sake I'm going to repeat the same layout with different yarn/beads/thread. After that I might try scaling it down even further for my 14 inch dolls, but knowing my tendency to get distracted I don't want to plan too much in advance.

Big thanks again to @joshybearhuggies for sharing such a clear, well-paced, easy to follow tutorial! Over the past 15 or so years I've gathered my crochet techniques from books, written patterns, and stitch diagrams, but video instruction is an area I haven't ventured into much. This project was such pleasant experience I'm definitely going to be on the lookout for similar content in the future.

[joshybearhuggies]

I MADE A ROMPER!

Yes yes yes, I used a YouTube tutorial passed on to me by @queenofsquids , I didn’t follow the tutorial to the letter as this garment was meant for an actual child. While the doll I’ve made this for is the hight of a child she’s still doll proportions.

I shorted this romper by omitting rows and increased allot less than what would be required for a 0-3 month sized garment.

I really enjoyed the work up of this stitch too, it’s not exactly the “V” stitch but it acts very similarly. I like how it almost has this “zigzag “ affect with the color changing yarn I’ve used here.

I think Lillian likes this romper. I definitely feel like the belt/drawstring makes all the difference between a playful child garment and a more fitted feminine jester sorta vibe.

Speaking of Jester vibes, Lillian probably could get away with it allot more if I were to make an outfit with this aesthetic intentionally. I only got the idea after popping one of my headdresses on her that happen to match the romper. I’m happy she likes my style, I haven’t thought to use a headdress on her till now.

All in all, a success! I love the colors, the stitch of the garment and I like how easily altering its scale was. I might make this again but for my Pear SmartDoll….

Till next time doll people!!

Link to the tutorial we used 😇

[joshybearhuggies]

Big I Love You to all my trans people 🩵🩷🤍🩷🩵

Romper still in progress, need to think about sleeves and buttons but I am happy I made it this far.

Yarn is Lion Brand Ice Cream in color Cake Batter. It's really too thick for this but I had to get it, and make something with it, and my brain is stuck in Romper Mode

[joshybearhuggies]

So I don't know about you all, but crafting is one of the few things tethering me to reality and preventing me from rushing screaming into the Void in these strange dystopian times. After finishing the main bits of Io's outfit I decided I wanted to try some doll crochet in something other than fashion doll scale, so my next project is making clothing for my Naturally Perfect dolls, as I've never been happy with their stock outfits. I'm thinking skirts, cardigans, maybe some accessories, but I don't want to get too far ahead of myself. I'll be using my regular modified skirt pattern and the cardigan tutorial @joshybearhuggies recently posted to youtube (will link below). Hopefully it all turns out cute! My sanity may depend on it.

[joshybearhuggies]

Next romper in weight 1 yarn and a variety of hooks. Turned out so oddly chunky and thick, yet hole-y, I don't like that for this garment. But I do like the color and shape soooo

Eosdoll "EOS" head on a Dollstown 15yr body.

[joshybearhuggies]

Miss Thang herself! Ugh! So much fun. This girl came about from pure FRUSTRATION! 🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣

Sooooooo I have an overdue commission slot that I have to complete already. My poor patron has waited far too long and I feel so uncomfortable making someone wait just because my life be “lifing”….. that being said I’ve ran into a little bit of a block with fashion dolls. I paint all manner of dolls but my most common patron would be the BJD collector. I felt a little clunky painting the fashion doll in question so I decided to take a mini break and paint one of my MANY fashion dolls set for a re-repaint.

This “Kira” sculpt was one of the fashionistas, she originally had blue lips! I’m drawn to her Afro and blatant mixture of African American and Asian qualities. I think I got her and repainted her eyes very fast, ended up redressing her one day and HATED the eyes lol 😂 I do this often, this is why I re-repaint allot.

That being said, this was really hard, trying to refashion the way I paint to once again accommodate this scale is a task. I painted this girl in a couple days…… slow movements and intentional brush strokes. For her I wanted her to feel like a fashion doll for fashion dolls sake. This aesthetic requires this nice blend of “fake” cartoony and a pinch of real… but only just a pinch.

I don’t feel like I’ve mastered this style at all, I will have to practice more before I’m happy. I will say I do like where I’m headed however. This girl is on a Poppy Parker body btw, I feel like it amps things up a little more, I adore this body, it’s my favorite Integrity Toys body of all time!!!!

She doesn’t have a name yet, I’ve just been calling her “Miss Thang” for a week or so 🤣 that might end up sticking if I’m not careful…..

[joshybearhuggies]

This past Juneteenth I took the time to pay respect to Black women in particular. Felt right considering Black women have personally impacted me in my own life and has given my existence lasting meaning in more than one way. I felt dolls would do the trick.❤️🥰

This little lady is an “Orange Tea Dolls - Pollet” in this lovely dark chocolate color. The doll herself matters just as much as my gratitude to Black women. Her name is Hershey. She’s been with me for about five years now, her birthday (arrival) is 12/24/2019, I’m always so charmed on Christmas Eve when I remember how amazed I was when taking her out of her box.

This doll came from a wonderful doll collector as I bought her secondhand, something about the previous collector still sits with her despite her having had a new faceup during her years home with me. Beyond these feelings from her previous owner I also feel this strong, resilient vibe from her. Shes content on being alive and well. I feel these are also traits the Black women in my own family and life possess.

Hershey is one of my favorite YoSD, which is saying something considering my favorite size of BJD would be the adorable YoSD size and I own quite the little collection of them. She stands out.

I also did some repainting on the wonderful Juneteenth holiday. I’ll save that for another entry. We gotta talk about Miss thang lol 😂

[joshybearhuggies]

Darling Volks old F-11 in a perfect button up dress from @dollsahoy (real buttonholes and buttons, not to mention the pattern matching)

I'm enjoying the surprise of being obsessed with a Volks doll after feeling meh about them all these years. I am starting to understand the collectors finally

[joshybearhuggies]

Absolutely charmed!

My third "Comfi Cardi" with @joshybearhuggies pattern 😍♥️

This time I didn't have a smaller yarn for the cuffs and trim so I used the same size 3 and made it work 😆

The yarn is Loops & Threads Delicate DK. I found it moderately splitty, but very soft while new. Suspect it would pill up immediately with human wear, but doll wardrobes are so much easier.

This doll is the adorable (and not nearly popular enough) Dikadoll Dobbie head, on a Zaoll body. I need to paint her but my brain is terrified of losing that delicate charm she has while blank. Scared of messing it up y'know.

The wig is from Jusuns

[joshybearhuggies]

I usually don’t share blank dolls but this one is just too cool and different

It’s a collaboration between Forest Doll and an artist I think is called Kazehara Ibara? I think the sculpt name is 小耗.

I wasn’t quite expecting it to be so huge! Usually super stylized dolls like this are closer to 1/6 size 😳

[joshybearhuggies]

I am probably quite late to this news, especially to an avid Bratz collector…. But the latest Sasha absolutely fuckin SLAHPS!

Sooooo…. When Bratz came back to shelves I 1000% got my life collecting the girlies from my childhood that I couldn’t have. In this fun process I reacquainted myself with these fashionable icons, I also remembered my odd connection to their bodies.

I love their hight being a little shorter than our standard Barbie. I adore the big heads and sultry screenings. AND THE FASHIONS!…… but………. Them “feet shoes” ugh …. It bugged me then and it kinda still erks me today. This bugged me so much that for a moment there I wouldn’t pick a Bratz doll up. When I did I would always find another body for the head. Which also wasn’t really a fix because I wanted them to still remain short. Frustrating for sure. Until I happened upon the LOL OMG hybrids on IG. I made one myself and before I knew it I had a lil army of these hybrids. The color match was spot on and I adored the articulation in the arms/wrist. The dainty lil manicured hands also made my already beloved girlies SING!

With Falicia I’ve already made two in this form lol 😂 I mean I absolutely LIVE for this form factor. It solves all my problems, I get a doll in the same scale, the option for standard shoes, a doll that keeps her feets 🥰 and I could still use many of the fashions for the Bratz dolls.

So because of this level of play I admit I hadn’t given the latest Bratz dolls a fair look. I saw them in passing for sure but until literally tonight… I didn’t think to purchase. Seeing Sasha with floor length hair and upon closer inspection ✨articulated arms/wrists✨😳😳 I had to! She was even on sale to boot.

Immediately I thought…. Maybe I could give the stock Bratz body a go with this articulation. I definitely missed out on the previous Bratz with the articulated arms/wrist aaannd I also missed out on the Bratz dolls that had the full body articulation treatment some time ago. So here we are, I find myself opening this adorable Sasha and hoping I like this doll on her stock body.

I’m so so so happy to say that I am in bed writing this silly little blog entry because I ADORE this body. Now I can finally make useful all the Bratz shoes I’ve hoarded over the years! Telling myself “ONE DAY”! And today is that day! Ugh! I’m floored! I WILL BRING HOME MORE! Mark my words🥰👌🏿

Also we will not unpack the logic of my not liking the “feet shoes” but still keeping said “feet shoes” because they’re too ✨CUTE✨ to toss or sale… we just won’t, there’s no time 😂

I think the new girls still feel like Bratz dolls as well. They’re everything I already love with a more contemporary spice. I think my next girly might be Jade…. Or Yasmin hmmmm

To think…. I only went in Walmart for milk lol 😂 gosh I’m a mess

[joshybearhuggies]

Mkay soooo, changed ✨Lillian’s✨ eyes!

Yes yes yes! I changed her eyes out for these red anime eyes I had on hand, initially I thought… “How fun would it be if these actually fit and worked” , I had no intention on them actually working. 🤣🤣🤣 But man am I delighted. I feel like they’ve definitely brought her to life and I feel like her personality comes through even harder now.

I had to make her something small to romp around in and thought I’d do a simple granny square top. I’ve done these tops loads of times for my SmartDolls and wanted to see if it translated well on this scale. I think it looks okay, I feel like it fits the aesthetic of my Smarties a little better. Lillian wants me to make her something for her with her in mind! I’ll slap a pic of a SmartDoll in one of the many tops I’ve made for context.

So I love this on them! But I think I might try another design I’ve had cooking for a while. I’ve made a few for SmartDoll already and they didn’t seem to care about it much so….. maybe Lillian might… who knows? I’ll probably be back here complaining about how much she doesn’t like said garment. I’ll share a pic tho, it looks like this

Kiiinda hard to really make out because I have it styled with one of @queenofsquids jackets they sent to me 🥰❤️ but let’s hope Lillian likes this style.

She does like crochet things tho… that was the first think she told me when unboxing her. 🥰 so I guess I can’t be too upset

Let’s play around a little bit more before we etch anything in stone. I haven’t even got around to seeing for her yet. I have a pride dress planned this month that I am UBER excited for.

[joshybearhuggies]

Literally just wanted to share these photos of✨Lillian✨ in my gaming space! She’s too cute omg

She likes a game called “Cat Quest” 🥰

I’m also obsessed with her hands! Ugh!

It’s fun letting her hold fun lil small toys too, it adds to the whole —> SHES MASSIVE <— bit 😂

You will see more of her at some point…. Count on it 👌🏿😋

[joshybearhuggies]

THIS!!!!!

Talking with someone about doll customizing, who was getting frustrated with trying to alter the paint on a very small doll face, and I asked if they were using magnification. They said no, but they were still new to customizing.

And I realized..."use magnification" is not (at least when I was starting) generally shared as advice in the customizing hobby.

So! Get a pair of reading glasses--even with low magnification, they can make a huge difference in your ability to paint a doll face.