2024 Doll Goals/Resolutions

I think I'm actually on-track to get these done this year!

1. It ended up being an even smaller iMda, named Angie, not Angelique (Angie is a clear reference to Angelique being the inspiration sculpt, with similar features), but I thought a 1.7 was even better for my purposes. Luckily I loved the default face-up so that's one less shipping expense to worry about.

2. All done except for shoes! Also got a few extra pieces for Leonie (or a future Yo-sized doll).

3. Need to get matching fabric for Leonie's dresses.

 

I’ve been waffling on setting actual goals since January, so the best thing to do is set a few and adjust from there:

Purchase goals:
- Continue my resin low/no-buy, no new resin since February 2023, and this year I have no plans to buy any until it’s time for Christmas shopping. I’ve outlined a couple of specific exceptions, just in case they happen but otherwise it’s firm.
- Stand up the resin crew. Current count 14/24 standing. (still buying stands)
- Severely rein in playline doll purchases and stick to a much tightened wishlist for these and for other collectible dolls.
- Spend doll and hobby budget on infrastructure this year. I’ll be buying the things I need to put my existing collection on display the way I really want them to be.

Collection goals:
- get the resin dolls unpacked Completed!
- set up all the BJD with magnets glued, swap parts swapped, give each some eyes, a wig, clothes and footwear. Then start painting faces and blushing. None of this needs to be a ‘final form’ level of styling, but everyone needs to get to this level of display-ready. It’s time. I’d like to take a collection photo at the end of the year that has everyone at least on their path to looking more finished.
- identify and confirm the doll lines and companies I currently have interest in & re-follow them.

And the biggest, which I’m doing in steps this year: Set up my doll room. I have a parlour and a concept and the sun protection in place at this point so the ideal will be setting up vignettes for the resin dolls to all be on display, and then making some smaller displays for my other types of doll collections so I can seasonally swap out the dolls and props on display within an area.

2024 doll room updates:
March 1 - 4 moodboards later and it is still chaos, but most of the dolls are unpacked.
April 1 - Playline low-buy is started, most dolls and their paraphernalia are now moved to the parlour.
April 18 - half of the resins are standing. Some decisions have been made, many cardboard-box mock-ups for display and storage furniture sizes and shapes have been tested. 1 etagere and 1 console for other areas were purchased and set up.
May 1 - next update

 

I'm keeping it pretty simple this year.

1. Finish paying off the layaway for Impldoll Azalea (only two payments left)
2. Get her a faceup
3. Get clothes commissioned for her and some of my other dolls

 

• Don't spend too much money so I've got enough if my grail doll becomes available (fingers crossed he does!)
• Learn to sew! I really want to be able to see my own doll clothes!

 

May update... also updated my OP (quoted above).

The milestone was finishing goal #2. The flight studio was a "failed goal" in that I didn't meet my targets (only managed one incomplete photoshoot), but also not fail because it was an experiment from the beginning, I tried it out and discovered it wasn't viable, and most importantly I wasn't enjoying it at all. I learned a bunch of things and blogged about it on my BJD blog, and I'll call it completed.

I've decided to drop goal #4 of offering faceup commissions. I don't have the energy and mental bandwidth to start a new endeavour this year, I'd rather focus on sewing and playing with the crew.

Two goals left this year... do lots of sewing, do lots of NOT buying dolls and keep tinkering with my BJD website. I've gotten back into sewing and hope to make some progress.
(edited to add) I'm keeping a project journal here, I hope it'll help me finished unfinished things and start other new things, including sewing.

 

May update for 2024 Resolution
1 - Adding new doll(s) to my crew : Finish, now my doll family status has turn to CLOSE.
2 - Resume my big dolly project : Under going. Very slowly but 2 picture had done.
3 - Tidy up my doll storage : Still a longggg way to go.

 

So far,

1. Find a name for my first doll.
2. Change her eyes to the fancy ones I ordered.
3. Get a mohair wig for Mina. Not sure about this... the original vision I had for her was long black straight, but she came with this Merida-esque mahogany red one that I fell in love with, and it's sort of blended into her character now. I'd probably end up getting the exact same wig except in natural fibers. Maybe it's worth it, but I don't feel like I need it, and there's also a chance it might turn out worse.
   
4. Save up for the second doll. I set out with the idea of getting 2-3 dolls relatively quickly, and then acting very conservative on new buys. Fewer is better in my book, but this also means tougher choices.
   
5. Set up a dolly website on Neocities.
   
6. Learn to restring. I want to do this around the end of the year. I don't want to wait until I have a floppy doll on my hands, but I might put this off until Lisette is home (that would still mean a first restring around the year mark, which is OK).
   
7. Make a little bit of something. If not clothes, at least props (I think jewelry is accessible enough, but since I know bookbinding I could try sewing tiny books! I would have to buy Bible paper, though.)

 

Goal: Craftorama room. Craftorama room. I MUST put together Craftorama room. This will involve moving out of Craftorama's planned room (we sleep there now), maybe a little painting, consolidating and moving all my doll/toy/sewing/craft crap into the room, and setting up stations - sewing, airbrush, face-ups/crafting, and photography corner.
Plan: spend a little time every day doing at least one thing towards Craftorama room. Pitching a box, moving a thing, something.
Hopeful completion date: June (?) 2024
May 2024: Hopeful completion date is getting pushed back. Craftorama room is probably going to take longer. Vacation is almost over. We have primer on the walls of the master bedroom, but we're both old and in pain today, so not much getting done. We might be able to move into the master bedroom before I return to work, but Craftorama room will be nowhere near ready.

Goal: Wall of Doll - re-do office so that one full wall is lined with shelves that I can display most of my dolls on. This will involve pulling everything out of the office, moving all the furniture around, repainting, removing the horrible wall border, putting up a mural, putting up curtains or covering the windows in some sort of peel-screen, and installing shelves.
Plan: same as Craftorama room - do one thing every day. It can be big or small, but I want to do one thing towards completion.
Hopeful completion date: Also June 2024, as Spouse and I will likely be doing both at once.
May 2024: Kinda sorta scrapped. I love the idea, but I already have bookshelves. I will retrofit dolls to bookshelves, because I refuse to throw away perfectly good bookshelves.

Goal: no new doll/clothes/wigs/shoes pre-orders/purchases until Black Friday of 2024, with one exception - if Impldoll releases a new 68 cm female body. I'm still spiteful.
Plan: SPITE. It will carry me through.
Editing to add: This may get pushed back to Xmas 2024. The sales that have popped off lately have really fueled the spite. Hooooo boy, am I spiteful right now...
May 2024: Everyone knew this goal was never gonna happen, right? Yeah. Spite was not enough. I have slowed down, but I have not stopped.

Goal: cataloging my collection.
Plan: Airtable listing of dolls with links to original listings, saving PDF printouts of website sales, and making little charms to put on each doll with numbers to match the listings in my document.
May 2024: I have exactly one doll in Airtable. In good news, I found the perfect template. In bad news, I have a lot of dolls. Also, because I love to hybrid, I have created a lot of extra work for myself:

• I want to put the full doll together and take a picture
• Then, I want pictures of the individual head and body separately.
• Finally, I want to put the doll pieces back in their hybrid position and track who is where (what head is on which body).

 

I think my dolls resolutions this year (I know it's june.) is to get my first LUTS. also finish the sewing projects I want to do. I have a bunch of patterns now and I really should get working on them.

 

6-month updates:

I did sell my 65cm boy body and put a 62cm boy body with jointed hands on order! I also got my Comibaby Misa a body! I got most of my extraneous dolls/bodies sold, too, though I've hit my limit on the tax-free amount of money exchanged for the year, so selling my last 2 is on hold for now.

I haven't had the chance to work on sewing or faceups yet, as we moved interstate at the beginning of April and my dolls have been in storage since the move. I've also been a bit bad RE: not ordering new dolls this year until more of my current crew is complete. A fellow forum member sold me their DDS Anthy for a very reasonable price and I fell in love with an artist head after seeing it on the Impldoll instagram page, so I impulse bought her, too. Whoops!

I've been told in no uncertain terms that I am forbidden from pining for new dolls again until late September at the earliest in the lead-up to my birthday lmao. I'm still aiming to send out at least Phoebe and Marcie for faceups before the end of the year, as Phoebe is blank and Marcie's faceup is completely wrong, and maybe send Aiyu out early next year. I'm also wanting to do some faceups on my anime girls myself this fall once we move into our next house and the humidity here calms down a bit.

Oh, and I still have a mighty craving to make some dolly yukata before the end of the year, also for the aforementioned anime girls.

 

Six month check:

1. It's at two purchased this year so far. One incoming from last year, one who will hopefully be ready soon! And an off-topic one I still need to assemble and paint that'll be my desk buddy at work. (Hey, when you work in tech, you need a rubber ducky. Or a robo bunny.) I've been almost entirely un-tempted by other dolls!

2. I touched up Suha's faceup which was most in need of it. I think I'm going to leave Fiadh's alone for now, the only ding is a spot on her nose and honestly, I think it looks cute and adds a bit of a "shine spot" which fits her wintry vibe. I do need to put eyelashes on Megu, though.

3. I have a wig for both Cattleya (incoming from last year) and Fang (ordered in Jan)! Well, Fang's wig is here. Cattleya's was delayed, but hopefully it'll ship out soon. They should also both have eyes ready to go. Faceups will happen when they're here.

4. I went to the queer reader con. Sorry, DCD, but I had a blast hanging with my mom! Can't say no to books and meeting cool authors.

5. Been doing so! Thalassus can now choose between pants and shorts! I'm trying to do something for the sewing challenge each month.

6. No luck on the loft bed. I did find a cute fireplace, though? And I've been meaning to upcycle a large prescription bottle into a wastebasket deal.

7. Still deciding on this one.

8. They've been hanging in the cabinet a lot, but I do want to take them out and sit with them more. I did some photos early in spring, but I want to get more done. Alas, my hobbies cycle and I've been bit by the quilting bug recently.

 

there's a queer readercon? I never heard of that! I go to the readercon in boston. also good work on your goals!

 

It's a tiny one in the south near some relatives of mine, so we did a double con weekend and family visit! I hadn't heard of reader cons before, but it was neat. That's cool that there's one in Boston!

Thank you!

 

Bit late in the year, but I'm slowly coming back to the hobby!

My main resolution for a long time was tracking down and saving for the SDGR body I wanted for my floating volks head of many years! But I finally recently did that so now I have no plans to purchase any new dolls and will be trying to focus on the ones I have!

1. Figure out semi final wig/eye combos for my dolls.
2. Buy/put together one complete outfit per doll, including shoes. No more barefoot dolls!

(I fell into the trap of buying random pieces here and there and now have pieces that don't match/fit the way I want oops so I'm basically starting over but with a clear focus and goal)

3. Get bodysuits for my vinyl girls!
(I've been super scared to dress them but haven't gotten around to buying these to avoid staining haha)

Overall, my goals are aimed towards mostly maintaining my current collection and getting it to a place where I'm happy before buying any new dolls! Gotta make sure the ones at home are well taken care of!

 

I'd like to start dedicating time to sewing. No one is making the type of clothing I'm looking for in doll sizes, so I can either fix that by making it myself or just keep complaining. :P

 

I feel that way about one of my doll's styles. it's hard to find Gyaru clothing. what kinds of clothing are you looking for?

 

Oh gosh, that is SO true, too!! Everything I do find is kind of outdated, too. Gyaru style has evolved so much since the 2000s. @_@ I feel like BJD clothing is always a few years behind.

I'm looking for clothing that looks like clothing from brands like Blumarine, For Love and Lemons, and Reformation (so just shamelessly matching my IRL wardrobe ), but I feel like all of the ruffly/girly clothing is more on the lolita side.

 

my problem with he lolita clothing is I want the old school gothic stuff and not the modern stuff. both my dolls are my oc's from my unpublished comic so they are 2000's styles. but sometimes they were more modern clothing. still I do find it rewarding to make clothing for them. I've never heard of those clothing brands. but I'll have to look them up!

 

I killed two long time hobby goals with 1 stone: get a volks, and get my grail.

Current goals are:
-Buy my clothes, wigs, and eyes before more dolls.
-Get new face ups for 3 heads
-Get body for a head.

 

- Impldoll Susu is currently in transit here. Goal is to get an outfit for her, and finish her chair (need to assemble, paint and upholster it)

That's about it. I keep my goals low since I get very overwhelmed with everything due to life and disability