Feeling like you can't do anything, until you have everything?

Nah I totally relate; it took me two months to convince myself to finally ship one of my girls' heads off to a faceup artist because I wasn't anywhere near where I wanted to be in terms of skills and faceup supplies, and I felt bad that I've been keeping her waiting for so long >_>;;

I also have a difficult time sitting down and telling myself to not buy another doll since the sculpts I've found for my characters aren't limited edition, and that I should save my spending money for clothes for the dolls I currently have, but...I have a hard time since it feels like the family isn't complete just yet and I want to get that out of the way ASAP

 

Sometimes i'm able to do things in bits and pieces. Other times I really do need to wait for everything. I was planning on getting my Soom Corun dyed from the moment I bought him, but didn't get around to commissioning his wig and the dye mod until I found his perfect eyes .

 

Totally there, I started collecting in 2010 and I can honestly say I have not one complete doll (not even near), half of them have face-ups, 2 are missing wigs, only 4 have an outfit. Just, uhhhh, and for another year I don't have time to work on them -_-U
Ranting, sorry :P

 

I definitely struggle with this too. My dolls are all nowhere near complete as there's always things to buy or more things to do with them. But it's ok to do things slowly because it's more about the journey and less about the destination so I guess I'm happy that I'll always have things to improve with my dolls!

 

I'm so bad for doing the same thing... my girl is still in the box after a few months because I'm too scared to bring her out until I have somewhere nice to put her - like a glass case (although I suppose that's in the interest of doll safety more than anything).

 

I am actually in the opposite problem. I have so many things I want to do for my current doll I dont know where to begin. I start one project then get distracted by another so I have lots of unfinished things just laying around. I am trying to get better at it though. Perhaps you could try to pick one simple thing that you want to do for your doll, make a schedule of when to do it and stick to it? that way you can do something for your current doll? just kinda ease yourself into doing things for them without everything else being complete. Lucily (or unluckily) for me there is so much time in between dolls I have lots of time to work on the one.

 

This is me, hahahaha.

I work so slow with my BJDs that some have had the same outfit for years, others spend months without faceups, etc. For some reason my brain says "first dolls, then work and play with them". Currently they all have faceups, eyes and some clothes, and I sometimes buy things for them; but I keep buying dolls instead of "finishing" them. Hopefully I'll complete my wishlist by 2020 and this nightmare will end (?).

 

Yes! I have all these ideas for my storyline but I'm waiting on dolls I ordered to come in and i'm not yet sure of their characters and the perfectionist in me does not want to start and have to change things later.

 

I feel like I can't start anything ahead of time because I don't actually have any dolls here to be 'testers'. Things like eyes and wigs are pending because my heads are being shipped with face-up and I want to make sure I get something that suits. Also waiting on starting to sew any clothes because I hate trying to make something just based on measurements without being able to test-fit. On the one hand, it's fantastic for my wallet because I'm just saving money at this point, but on the other hand my poor dolls will be hairless, eyeless, and naked for a little while after they arrive because nothing is prepared T_T

 

I'm the opposite in a way, but also the same in another way.

I don't really like to start putting things together without all the materials, like if I know the character HAS to have purple shimmer, then I can't do the faceup until the purple shimmer is here! Or if I need to order sealant, I won't just buy something at Hobby Lobby and call it good until I can get MSC or something like that. I have to have the right things.

But in the other way, I have to finish one doll before I get the next. I can't stand having incomplete projects. It feels like clutter to me to have lots of unfinished things lying around. If two dolls arrive at the same time, there's a very high chance that one will get sold before long because I want to work on one and really get it finished, and the other is just distracting clutter to me! So both sides are really frustrating--either feeling unable to enjoy a doll because you need to finish all at once, or unable to enjoy a doll because others need finishing first.

 

I do like having most things in place, just so that I don't get really excited about spending a day diving into a project only to be interrupted before I've run out of steam by lack of product; I ran out of MSC mid-faceup (btw, can anyone confirm/deny that I should be going through more than one can in a single faceup?) a couple weeks ago and it put me off of it until today, between having to order more and just being bleh about having my vibe blown.

But there are definitely things I still need for that faceup -- gloss, shimmer, lashes -- that I was ok leaving until the end, because I wanted to make sure I really enjoyed this before getting things I didn't need right away. Same with the full doll; I know what I want but haven't ordered her yet because I want to do a couple faceups on a practice head first.

 

That sounds like a recipe for stress. I mean, you can’t work on a faceup if you still need materials, I definitely agree there! But there are only so many projects you can reasonably expect yourself to do at once, and if you let all your dolls pile up blank together you’re going to find yourself very quickly overwhelmed when it comes time to paint them.

Keep in mind too that all the skills involved in painting and sewing and crafting are cumulative—your first attempts aren’t likely to be keepers. Take the time now to practice and you’ll have a much easier time producing work that you’re satisfied with on dolls down the line, which means less time redoing them, and more time to enjoy them.

@MichaMae If you started with a full can of MSC, running out halfway through a faceup is abnormal. I would say I usually get 3-4 faces out of a can of sealant before it runs out, sealing maybe 5-8 layers.

 

That was one of the reasons I left the hobby for a few years. Well,I didn't really leave I just boxed everything up and put everything on hold. I was getting discouraged not being able to find the right clothes and accessories for my characters. I was expecting to find everything I needed all at once and it wasn't happening. it seemed like none of my plans were coming together. Then after some time, I decided to just be patient and not worry about it and let everything fall into place on it's own. It will happen when it happens. waiting sucks but the end result is well worth it. Don't just settle for any old thing, hold out and get what you really want.

 

I tend to be less like that. I want to work on a doll as soon as I get it. Part of it is the need to touch them because I love them. Even if I have a partner planned for them. Their personality and story develops as I work with them.

 

That's something I've had to learn to work past. One of my dolls sat blank for a long while because I felt like I never had the right materials or my materials weren't good enough. I also didn't buy or make anything ahead of time because I wasn't sure I'd like it or it would fit. I was in the mindset that I wanted to do his face first before I got him a decent wig (the first one I bought was kind of awful), and that if I were going to do his face I need to have his tattoos designed and painted. Of course I couldn't do that without proper sealant and a mask, and I couldn't make or buy him any new clothes until I knew his tattoo placement!
Thinking this way was so overwhelming and eventually I realized how silly it was. So I started working with what I have and I'm happy I did. He may not be perfectly done or actually finished, but as I add more to him and redo things with better materials I get to play with him way more than I ever did back when I was so in my head about how I had to approach his customization. I feel bad for waiting so long to do anything because I really didn't bond with my doll until then.

 

I am a traditionally trained artist, and have had a bunch of art supplies at my disposal for whatever reason, at any given time. So, this probably doesn't help or add to your dilemma, I never really waited for supplies as much as people who don't do art (I guess). I did have to wait for sealant/fixative to get to me, before I got to paint my first blank doll, but it was an OT doll, my first few BJD I got with face ups, so I only got to sew for those and already had plenty of fabric by then. Although I did based them on OCs, it was never my intention to partner them up, or have them be in romantic relationships. I am a bit of an oddball (read super-weirdo), so I'm not into sexual or romantic themes of any sort, it kind of makes me super-uncomfortable to even think about it, so that's never in my plans for any of my dolls/action-figures.

As for when I get to work on them; I sometimes start working on customizing my dolls as soon as I get them, sometimes I wait until I feel like working on them. However, that wasn't always the case, when I got into BJD, it used to be as soon as I got the doll/head. Now as I gotten (a lot) older, and (a lot) lazier, I just work on any of my toys whenever I feel like it. It can take years, months, weeks, rarely days. I don't really bother to pay attention to It anymore, because it did used to bother me a few years back (that I procrastinate and leave things for another day, every freaking day!). I don't follow or read about other people's projects all that much, however, so I am not really comparing how I work on my toys, vs what other people are doing. I just go by what I used to be like when I was younger, versus what I am not doing anymore. It does make me frustrated sometimes, but time just seems to slip by faster now that I'm older. I wish I didn't have to work, so I could just focus on fun hobby stuff, by then I wouldn't be able to afford my hobbies. It's a pain in the gut, but oh well, that's life for me. (:

 

I think it's not weird when you feel you can't do anything. Maybe it just because that you don't have enough faith in yourself.
I say this, cause I'm being like that too...
I feel it is so expensive and delicated that I can't own and take care by myself at the first time I know about BJD. But then I tried my best to learn and own my first BJD, and then the collection go up and up.
It's still hard for me to face-up, paint the body or making clothes by myself at this time, but I tried to restring and take care all of my children on my own (big thanks for a lot of great help and advices from DoA, Youtube and online-BJD-related-groups).
I know that there still has a lot of things that I can't do now, but I'm still trying...