Doll Plans 2023

I’ll be moving into my new house I’m building in the spring and I’m going to have a studio space, so I have a list a mile long of things I want to do including but not limited to:
-Sewing SO MANY clothes for my boys
-Making new wigs for both of them
-Making a nook for them to reside in
-Sculpting a body for my poor elf head that’s been sitting around forever
-Making HIM clothes and armour
Everything including my SD boy have been packed away in boxes for the three years I’ve lived in my dad’s house, so I’ll be thrilled to have access to it all in the new year

 

2022 was the first year I bought new dolls since getting back into the hobby. I ended up with 4 new dolls and 1 body. I told myself “no more dolls until 2023”. But I had a couple (good) curveballs thrown my way this year and I have more on my plate than I probably should have hah. That being said:

• Shell my original character as a doll! I was planning on holding off on that until mid 2023, but it turns out her body will (hopefully) be my last doll purchase of 2022 Getting her head and customizing her will be 2023!
• Finish sculpting my original head & hands! I started sculpting in the beginning of 2022 and it’s been slow goings. I want to finish sculpting, and maybe start learning how to make mold & cast resin!
• Get more clothes/accessories/shoes for all my dolls? I’ve been a lot happier with the dolls that have gotten bigger/different wardrobes in the past couple years, and I want to pursue finding the “perfect” outfits for my newer dolls.
  
• Before I decided to shell my OC, I had a couple dolls on my wishlist- including a friend for my MDD and a Luts Bory. Not sure if I should pursue either of them next year, because…
• I need to figure out what to do with the modded Dollshe head I got for free! Yes, someone plopped down a box of modded heads in the freebie section at a meet. The boy I grabbed turned out to be an old Dollshe Bernard from before 2010/2009 at least. I have a Saint that I’ve been wanting a friend for, so this is a very serendipitous turn of events. But I have absolutely ~no~ plans and I’m going to hold off for as long as I can because even if I bought a body, I have no extra clothes/wigs/eyes/shoes that would fit him

 

Ohh boy. Let's see. (And let's see if I'll be able to find this thread in a year or so when considering how I did on my resolutions!)

Dolls: No more! Or, if anyone goes in, someone has to go out! Which, that'd probably be Beryl, but I want to see if I can figure out if there's a way to make her click.

Since I seem to be horrible at going "no more dolls" to myself, I made a rule: I can only consider 1/4 cyborg/android girls. Ones that will fit in my cabinet (looking at you, Ji-Zero.)

Projects: I definitely want to expand everyone's wardrobe and work through my yarn and fabric stashes. I don't have specific pieces I plan on getting, but I have fabric earmarked for certain things. Shoes, I'll need to buy. I think I'm gonna end up with two barefoot dolls at the end of this year, with how everyone has been snatching each other's shoes.

Within that, I want to improve my sewing skills, particularly trying stuff like buttonholes and zippers. I also want to expand on what I knit for the dolls, with more textures and such, or colorwork if I have the opportunity. At least some different shapes.

Beyond clothes, my big goal is to do weekly photoshoots. My current idea is to use one of those random word generators to spit out some words, pick one as the theme, and get a photo. I imagine some weeks I won't be able to do it, but I want to make the effort.

Community: Maybe go to a con or a doll meet? I'd have to look at schedules and such. I'm not sure if there's doll meets near me, anyhow.

 

Last year was a big success for me cause I got to do most of the things I wanted to. Let's see if the miracle happens again in 2023 (fingers crossed)! I'll keep my list nice and simple and hope for the best:

• Buy a new body for my MSD girl cause the one she has right now is not for me. DONE!
• Start a doll-only instagram account to get more involved in the hobby and improve my photography skills. DONE!
• Stop looking and being indecisive and save money to get those outfits I've been eyeing for months. They deserve it.

Good luck to everyone trying to stick to their objectives and don't panic if you can't. Lots of things can change in the course of a year, so I think having fun and being happy should be number one in the list. Get that one right and you'll have won this.

 

My main goal is to finish getting bodies for all my floating heads; I currently have 4 and thankfully already know what bodies I want/need for them.
My second goal is to work on getting everyone faceups finally. Majority of my collection is blank
Thirdly is selling everything I just don't want or need anymore. I have so much clothing, wigs, and accessories just sitting in storage that I know I'm not going to use on anyone I have or want in the future, so they should go to out to someone who will use and enjoy them.
Knowing me, I will not in fact stick to my goals and get more new dolls lol I already have my eye on a couple newbies

 

i plan to finish off my layaways and then focus on the dolls i have, I have A LOT of floating heads that need bodies and my full dolls need faceups.

 

Oh, yay, time for my list that I absolutely will not stick to and break all my plans by the end of January!

I'm not planning any new dolls, since I'm currently at 18, and 19 is my limit. Unless I sell a few....not planning to sell anybody right now, but...never know what the future brings. I change things up often. I do plan to get Pepper home, she's already ordered, just waiting, and Charlie needs a new body, but I sort of don't count that as "new doll" since it's just a secondhand body and not a full doll and new character.

For clothes and accessories, Stormi definitely needs a coat and some jewelry. Everybody else has the minimum stuff I require for each doll, but I also plan to make a jacket for Ezra (that will likely be a disaster but I plan to try!) and make him some underwear. Maybe get some new wigs for Pepper. After that, just get whatever clothes seem exciting for whatever doll! Maybe some new eyes or wigs for a few of them.

I also have a few who need fresh body blushing, tattoos and/or faceups, so hopefully I can get to that in the new year. And everybody (except the new ones) needs a bath! Probably wouldn't hurt to wash some clothes either...

 

I'm going to take a step back from hobby related social media this coming year. I think Instagram is too much for me at the moment. I'd also like to sell a lot of stuff, likely in bundles by size for wigs and clothes. My goal is to only have enough for each doll to have one complete outfit and get rid of everything else. (Shoes and socks are definitely on that list haha.)

 

I like having this list to refer back to... last year it totally changed though.

• Get my (last!) 2 unpainted heads painted
  • Well, bought 2 heads so I still have 2 unpainted heads. So this was a wash!
• Get a body for the 1 floating head
  • Ended up selling some bodies and need to order more for heads so I'm actually minus more bodies than ever before, haha
• Blushing hands. Either pay for it or try again myself?
  
  • a few of these are done now, thanks to Jay Searle
    
  • Since I sold some bodies and need more bodies, this is also in the red
• Attempt to make a wig/learn how to make wigs
  
  • Tried it, failed very spectacularly, but I tried so I'll count this as done!
• Go to a doll convention or meetup
  • Didn't manage this one......

so 1 for 5 for my 2023 goals! oops! maybe next year will go better

 

Trying to keep it shorter this year:

1. Shoes for (most) everyone. It's non-negotiable. Tax refund for this.

2. Miracle Doll 72cm body for my grail floating head! Their tan is close to Ringdoll's. A layaway I think.

3. A few Resinsoul bodies: yao body for my Serendipity Doll Sharmin, and a bigger boy body for my Dollshe Orijean.

4. Finish my mermaid body! It's roughed out but I need to work on joints.

5. Sew, sew, sew some clothes. I've gotten much better this year, and will continue sewing in the next!

6. (Only if funds work out/a special deal) A DFH body or similar for my Impldoll PeiYing head. He's been floating too long! He's too gorgeous!

 

2022 has been very frustrating regarding doll-related sewing/craft projects, so my goal would be to finish a few sewing projects at the very least. Sewing for a whole new scale of dolls (until now, it had always been for 1:6th ones) is going to be a challenge, and I hope it'll be a satisfying one, especially after coming to the conclusion that smaller sizes just don't work for me.

Aside from that, I plan on saving to either get a a male doll (I haven't settle on which/from what brand yet) or a smaller girl by Nina's Dolls (@ninas.dolls.bjd on instagram); her dolls are just so sweet and precious, I fell in love with them. I might consider getting a body for the floating head I'll have by then, but that idea isn't set in stone yet.

 

My plans for 2023 are...

1. Bring home the two dolls on my wishlist. One is currently in slow progress (preordered the body, posted WTB for the head), for the other I'm waiting (hoping) for the artisan to open preorders. That's all the new resin I've planned - but of course, who knows if this plan will hold...
1.1 Update (1/2023): Aside from the 1.5 dolls above, I ended up buying 2 more dolls in January. So my new goal is to not buy any more resin for the rest of 2023! These 3.5 dolls will be arriving throughout the year, so those spaced-out box openings should be something to look forward to. I will do my best not to cave to temptation for the rest of the year - gonna be hard!
(Feb) Sold the doll body that didn't suit my floating head, and bought another body that's hopefully better. This doesn't count as new resin, does it? (Mar) No new resin - I'm behaving myself. (Apr-May) Still behaving myself. (June) Bought the wishlisted doll always planned ....and a second doll, which was not planned at all. I fell off the 'no more dolls for 2023' train, but am getting back right on! (Aug) I've been behaving myself! The temptations have also decreased sharply after I bought my grail doll in June. (Oct) Got the two floating heads I ordered in June. Preordered a body for one of those floating heads. Still not tempted by new resin. (Dec) I got tempted by new resin and bought another doll. Yike!

2a. Continue doing photoshoots and stories of my current crew. This has been progressing magnificently since I came back from hiatus, and I still have tons of stories to tell with my dolls. (Feb - ongoing) No end of photos to take and blog posts to write. I don't think I'm gonna have a problem with this goal!
2b. A parent lended me a DSLR camera with macro lens for about a year. I want to learn how to use this and skill up with photography! (Jan) Did one photoshoot with DSLR. Have a lot more to learn. (Feb-Mar) Still playing around, not quite seriously yet. (Aug) Finally broke out the DSLR and used it to shoot a significant photostory. I've given myself the goal of 3 DSLR photoshoots over the next 4 months - this should be doable. (Oct) Finally had a breakthrough and I'm now getting good photos out of the DSLR. I'm now inspired to use the camera more instead of my smartphone. (Dec) I've now completely switched over to using the DSLR camera for indoor photos, and recently shot my first outdoor doll photoshoot. I'm a camera convert now - no going back to the smartphone camera!

3. Keep practicing and improving faceups. I started learning faceups when I came back from hiatus, and it was so much fun that I want to keep going. Plan is to practice at least one faceup a month, preferably two per month.
(Jan) One for Jan. (Feb-Mar) None: got very busy IRL and was spending most of my BJD time on sewing and photography. (Apr) One for April. (Aug) I got the itch - I've dived back into faceup practice, and plan to repaint two of my dolls over Aug/September. (Sep) Very productive run of faceups! I blushed all my dolls, modded one, repainted faceups for two, and levelled up in my painting skills. (Oct) Another faceup this month on a new doll. Probably my last one for the year.

4. Learn how to sew clothes. I'm hoping to start this by the end of this year (2022), and we'll see how far I progress. I'm not sure how much I'll get into sewing, but at least I want to make simple casuals like shirt and pants, and kimono.
(Jan) Already launched! I've already made cushions for doll furniture, a pair of (not great) pants for one of my dolls, and am currently making a kimono. (Feb) Started learning how to use the sewing machine. Made: more cushions for doll furniture, 3 haori, currently trialling a couple of hakama patterns. (Mar) Sewed a lot of traditional Japanese clothing and achieved a milestone by making fullsets of kimono for my crew. (Apr-May) I fell into a sewing slump after making all those kimono, but am working on some other crafty projects. I'll pick up the sewing later. (July) Did a few things this month, but didn't really gain much traction - I've now been co-opted by faceups so maybe I'll get back to sewing in October onwards. (Oct) Finally launched back into sewing! Learning how to make casual clothes. (Dec) Learned the art of sewing pants and sewed quite a few pairs in Nov. This is a milestone!

5. Lastly... create a "flight studio". This is an ambitious project, but I have a dream to take photoshoots of my dolls in action and fighting poses, especially of the flying/wuxia kind. I've already tested a proof-of-concept that works, so I want to push the concept further. I don't know how far I'll get because this involves a bunch of planning, not to mention building stuff (and I have no building skills, lol). We'll see! If anything, it'll push me to work on my other doll skills!
(Feb-Mar) Got some leads. Goal for March April is: follow up on those leads, assemble materials, and trial the build. If this doesn't work out, go to Plan B. (May) After faffing around trying some things half-heartedly... I've decided to abandon my original plan because I was getting frustrated. Going to Plan B, which is much easier. (Aug) Still no action on this. There's still time in the year though! (Oct) I've decided to shelve this because I'm just too busy with my other goals. It'll be something fun to do next year!

 

I want to:

1) finish paying off the layaways I currently have going on

2) buy both Harucasting Day and Harucasting Breeze when they have their preorders

3) commission faceups for my Harucasting Thx, XO, and Its that I have on order, when they come home

4) successfully complete and ship out all dolls from my October 2022 casted preorder, and all the 3D printed doll orders I have thus far received.

5) get casted samples of Bubbles made with FDoll.

6) successfully hold a preorder for casted Bubbles

7) maybe sculpt a new doll on a thinner body than what I currently offer

 

Hopefully won't buy any new dolls-- but if something new releases that I truly feel I need (and can budget for) then I certainly can't swear I won't. But priority definitely falls in getting a face up done for my ATStudio Tengu, and crafting some accessories I have planned to make for him : ) Otherwise I'll just be bonding with the little family I've got-- might pick up some doll furniture if it comes my way.

 

I want to finish the goals I set for 2022… mainly, I want to redo faceups and organize my collection while getting more involved in the hobby again. I’ve been in a new city for two years and still haven’t made a space for my dolls or met doll people here.

 

More dolls for sure, although I'm now moving up the scale to primarily 1/4 and 1/3. I'm adding quite a bit new ones and I never had 1/3 dolls before, so there's a lot to prepare for. I also need to see what I need for my crafting supplies since I'm somewhere new and the majority of my dolls will be received blank/naked, so there's a lot I'll need to do.

 

2023 will be just my second year in the hobby, so I definitely have some plans!

1. Buying at least one doll from my wishlist, probably MSD size.
2. Fully customize dolls I already have [wigs, eyes, clothes] - main focus would be for my grail doll, but I have ordered her body just a few days ago.
3. Practice face ups. I have two dolls on order + one already home which are blank.
4. Less possible, but: learn how to sew dolly clothes.
5. Side activites: catalogue dolls and their measurements [already very much in progress], start side instagram account for dolls, try to do some photography...

 

aside from buying more dolls, I really want to get some material to make wigs and eyes! I think it would be so fun to customise these things according to what characters I have in mind!

I'm also waiting on some orders of bjd-sized patterns and fabrics to get me started (restarted) on sewing again, since I took a long break for study and work

 

I generally keep a small progression going of all my dolls constantly. Maybe I buy or make something about every other month. But for big goals...

• Get better at 3D Modeling and try an idea out for a doll head for myself.
  
• Get every doll or pair of dolls a prop that doubles as a storage unit. Doll Closets +

Short of any surprises that show up on the market or so- I am not going to buy any dolls until I at least do one of the above.

 

My 2023 goal is simple: not buying dolls or anything related to them and taking a break from the hobby. After 12 years, believe me, I have enough dolls and their stuff! I also feel the hobby is becoming too expensive for me at this time. It’s such a relief not having layaway payments!