2026 Goals For The Year

The big one is getting back into crafting. I was a little burnt out after a few back-to-back years of being a vendor. I always sold very well, which did make me happy. It just wasn't what I wanted to make, so that kind of burned me out. What you want to make, what people want to buy, and what people are financially able to buy don't always match up. Now I'm free to just make whatever I want for my own collection. ^^ I'll probably still bring my crafts to swap events as feelers, but it'll be way less pressure than actually making things with the intent to sell.

I think otherwise, mostly just some collection maintenance. I'm not really tempted by any dolls outside of my collection.

So far, out of six total BJDs, two have faceups that I LOVE. Two are currently with a faceup artist I have total confidence in. I think I'm going to send the other two to her as well. Thankfully they're not blank, but their faceups just aren't my style. I did take nice photos of them to immortalize their current looks, so I don't really feel bad about them being wiped now that that's done.

There is also my Momonita. She has an awesome collection of clothes. Unfortunately, she has just one pair of shoes to go with it. I'm more crazy about the fact that they actually fit her than the style, so even that one pair isn't amazing. I also want to get her a wig that isn't just something I put together in 30 minutes. This year's shopping mission was my Baby Kumako, who I'm happy to say has a pretty great wardrobe now. Next year's will be Momonita.

 

Now here on the last day of 2025 its time to look forward to 2026
Last year I didn't get all done (if anything). A lot of things happened, that took my time from my dolls... so this year I set my goals lower and hopefully make it easer for my self

* I have some floating heads now. if I could get 2 bodies for 2 of them, that would be great!.
* All floating heads and 2 dolls don't have faces, would like to try to get just one done in 2026. ( never did a face up, so that going to be a challenge. or send one out, don't know yet)
* Hopefully sell 1 or 3 dolls, I have unfortunately fall out of love with, they deserve to be loved by others .
* Her DOA I would like to make doll profiles. maybe 5 in 2026?
* Have my marketplace application get accepted her in DOA, have waited nearly 8 month now. (I had to answer a question again.). don't want to stress the team, så I just try to wait patiently . but when it reach one year I should probably contact them.

2025 was wild on so many sides. I have found nearly all my grails this year. that hopefully means not so much buying in 2026. - not a goal, just a hope .

 

Are you getting new dolls?
Probably not, but you never know. I might, but I don't have any current plans.
Want to sew up some clothing?
Always. I enjoy sewing. I want to try to make sure all my dolls have wardrobes that feels somewhat complete, so that I have all the things that the character in question should have. No deadline, though. It's an ongoing project.
Try your hand at modding?
Maybe I'll finish my Imp (a resin soul Ming. he already have most of his mobility mods done, he still needs wings and tail.)
Give new face-ups?
I have several dolls that could do with a new face up, but none of them are urgent. We'll see.
Make that perfect prop?
Oh, there are always props to make. I don't know about perfect, but props will happen.
Take a lot of pictures?
I wish I was better at this. I will try.
Organaize better?
Not exactly better, but more. My collection is growing out of their clothing storage, so yes I need a few more boxes.
Something else?
I want to make more backdrops, furniture and other larger props for photography. Luckily, most of my plans are for the 1/6 crew, so it won't take up too much space.

 

I am sewing more doll clothes! This means less doll stories but I'm ok with that. Doll photography will continue!

 

While I may not be excited for the coming year, I am oddly looking forward to making up a list of doll-related goals for myself. Let's see if I can set some realistic and achievable goals this time around.

• The Purge. Something I've talked about and wanted to do for so many years now. This is the most unrealistic of my goals but an important one. I want to really take a hard look at the dolls I have and make some hard cuts. I have more than I can manage and would like to lower my numbers a bit. I also want to be realistic about dolls I will likely never 'finish' and who have been sitting as a blank WIP for years. To make this hopefully achievable, I'm going to say I'd like to sell (or at least list for sale, as I know selling is harder these days) 5 dolls. Any size but must be a full doll to count. (and this does not count if I reshell a doll as mentioned further on)
• Faceups. A goal that I set last year and will likely always have. I'd love to finish painting all my own dolls that still need faceups, but again, to be realistic while still pushing myself a bit, I'm going to say I want to at least finish 6 faceups. Priority goes to dolls that are not mine that I promised ages ago to paint. (I'm so sorry to my friends who are waiting still )
• Modding!! This is a big one, but I'd love to try my first additive mods this year! I have a list of dolls who need elf ears either attached or sculpted from nothing and I've been too scared to try it thus far.
• Repairing or replacing old peeling vinyl. I have a lot of old vinyl doll pants/boots/jackets/etc that need to be repaired or replaced. I HAVE a repair kit. Let's actually use it this year!
• Last goal is a very strict NO NEW DOLLS. I've never gone a full year without buying a new doll but this coming year is the year, I can feel it. (helps when you have no fun money LOL) I will allow myself the exception of replacing a doll IF and only if I sell a doll first. Example being if I wanted to remold a character into a new shell. But I'd have to sell their existing shell first to fund the replacement. I did this once last year and it worked out great!

That's more than enough goals for the year I think so I'll stop there. Generally speaking, I hope this hobby continues to spark joy and carry me through dark times. I hope the year ahead is better than we all expect. ♥

 

Are you getting new dolls?

Hitting the ground running because I have to have Giselle and her preorder is gonna be in January. I also have a torso stand I want to order. It would have been a December order, but Dollyplanet's website is acting funky and I am waiting for them to respond with a fix or letting me order by e-mail. edit: nevermind, the torso ended up being a New Year's Eve order.

Want to sew up some clothing?

Always. I need to have less naked babies. lol

Try your hand at modding?

Knowing me, something will probably get dyed.

Give new face-ups?

So many. I did not do nearly as many as I was planning in 2025

Make that perfect prop?

My eternal battle with hard surface modelling continues.

Take a lot of pictures?

Yes, but I don't know if anything will be like good quality photography lol

Organize better?

Yeah............. I need to sell some stuff and that requires going through everything...

Gonna sculpt more heads also.

 

Personal circumstances are going to make this a difficult year for me, so I'm going easy on myself in terms of hobby goals...

Curating the dolls

• Have as many dolls "photo ready/meet ready" as possible: having an acceptable faceup, wig, eyes and outfit – if they're missing something integral which makes me not want to take photos of them or take them to a meet, they're not there yet
• Avoid the "I could do this myself" fallacy and buy/commission things that are beyond my skill level or that I don't enjoy making

New dolls

• Saying "no new dolls" isn't a reality for me – try to stick to "2 dolls must be made photo-ready before buying a new doll"
• Recycle any money from doll sales into doll funds for when something I really want comes up

Cutting down the floating heads and bodies

• Wait for the parts I have on order for 2 of these (ANS61 for AS Hua Rong and Switch DongGyeong for IOS 65F). Sell the 65F body and Hua Rong head if the hybrids fail before sunken cost fallacy kicks in
• Keep an eye out for ideal parts for the floaters instead of rushing into buying "good enough" parts – the secondhand market is so slow that if I buy something that doesn't work out, I'm unlikely to be able to sell it

Faceups and mods

• Practice when I have the time, energy and right weather
• Use Moonlit Wonder and Tianba's books to learn new skills
• Paint my new head (Switch Gyoha)
• Get some Milliput or Apoxie Sculpt to practice the mods for Gyoha
• If possible, redo my old faceups which I feel I could now do better on
• Stretch goal: gaining enough skill to wipe some artist faceups on secondhand dolls that aren't to my taste and redo them

Sewing

• Stick to my fabric no-buy: no fabric unless it's for a specific project I've made a successful mockup for. I have fabric at home!
• Have a workable kimono pattern for all my doll sizes (currently working on SD10/13)
• Stretch goal: also work out patterns for haori, hakama and monpe
• Get a handle on basic shirts and pants for the Big Boys with incoming patterns
• Try casual basics for the SD10/13 girls with my existing patterns

Photos

• Keep practicing with the camera (2005 Panasonic Lumix FZ20 DSLR)
• Go out for more photoshoots when time and weather allow
• Get the dolls "photo ready" so I want to take photos of them

Organisation

• If possible, buy custom storage for dolls and doll-related items (probably an Ikea Pax or Kallax system. This also relies on working with my family to clear old furniture/appliances/etc out of my living space)
• In a perfect world, I'd work on a small diorama setup, but I don't think that's a reality this year

Props

• On hold unless they're character-significant (pending diorama/display space) or I have a very concrete photoshoot plan

Other

• Go to as many meets as possible with the lovely local group
• Set up a website for my own image hosting and doll ramblings (also a deterrent against doomscrolling)