Guilt about other hobbies that bit the dust when you found BJDs?

When i got into the hobby, i lost almost all interest in cosplaying . I still want to get back into cosplaying though, but im finding it hard to justify spending so much money on outfits i'll only wear once

 

I totally have to agree with xSHIGERUx since I let go of most of my cosplaying hobby. I'm trying to balance the expenses and actually learn how to sew, so maybe being in the BJD hobby will bring me back to cosplaying once I have more funs. XD Past that, the hobby has actually made me more interested in other aspects of my other hobbies, so that's pretty fun.

 

Oddly enough my other hobbies really havent suffered. I still went to a local comiccon and animecon. I stopped buying much anime b/c its too expensive to buy new, but I still love it. The doll shop I go to is in the same town as my comic shop, so I make a day out of it. Of course all of this means I have like no money lol. Oh and I havent stopped playing video games either.

 

I am into all kinds of textile arts. Some of them have flourished since taking up BJDs-- the ones related to sewing or otherwise making things the dolls can use. But I have had a lot of guilt over giving up weaving. I had a huge Swedish floor loom that I finally donated to charity today. It was not cheap and I felt bad letting it sit idle as my dolls got all the attention. (There isn't much I could weave for a doll!) At least I can tell myself that the charity that got it will put it to good use (much more use than it's seen from me over the past few years!)

 

I never saw any reasons for my other hobbies to bite the dust when I started collecting dolls. My quite full bookcase and my shiny new Fire Emblem limited edition 3DS are proof of that. xP
Yes, I have cut down on several costs (I buy less books, working on reading all the books in my parents' home -which let me tell you are a LOT- and/or borrowing some from friends for example). But I will not deny myself things such as buying a new game or going to the movies or reading. They are all things I enjoy together with doll collecting so why should I stop doing half of the things i like in favor of dolls?

 

Yes!! I do fabrication in the creature effects industry. My bf and I had this plan to make puppets for a short film (for ourselves). In the middle of all that I bought my Minifee, and the puppets just sit at my studio staring at me...... They're almost ready to go (except paint and wardrobe) but my Shu Shu needs clothes too.... I still plan on finishing the puppets.... This year.

 

I tend to go through sort of cycles of where I am more involved in one of my hobbies, then my interest wanes for a while. Then I get more interested or more active in a different one but I still like the other ones I was interested in before, I just get more involved in something else for a while. Eventually I get more interested in something else or go back to the previous one and the ones I was interested in before do cycle back around again, if that makes sense. So my interest sort of cycles between my various interest/hobbies over time. So for example I joined this forum a while back but then I didn't post here for a long time although I was still interested in BJDs, just not as actively. I don't usually keep a high level of interest in one single hobby over a long period, my interest level goes higher or lower over time but generally I don't abandon something completely.

 

~Have you experienced, or are you experiencing, something similar?
~Was it just a phase and eventually the scales balanced out? Or is an old love now gathering dust in your mental garage? (i.e. abandoned recipe books, never think about that guitar you desperately *needed* to learn to play at one point, etc.)
I'll go 2 in 1 on these - yes, I've experienced something similar, but it did balance out as soon as my first doll was here. I haven't scrapped any hobbies for my dolls, and I don't think I ever will.

~Do you feel well-rounded in maintaining more than one hobby, or does all your energy go to BJDs? And is that something you're content with, or have plans to change?
My other main hobby is roleplaying (pen&paper and live), and there's dance, too. Those don't really get into each other's way. I go to fewer LARP cons than I used to, but that's due to a shift of focus concerning that (I used to be into fantasy a lot and there are tons of cons in that setting, but lately I prefer science fiction, which is a lot harder to find). Dance class is once a week, so I've got plenty of free time to spend on/with my dolls.
Funny you should mention sewing - I used to sew for LARP a lot, but there's a limit to the things you need and sometimes I feel that my characters have more clothes than I do (they don't, but I've still got two massive crates and half a wardrobe full of historical, fantasy and sci-fi garb). One of the many reasons for me to get into BJDs was to be able to sew things I've got no use for myself - there's quite a lot of costumes I want to make once I get used to the size a bit more. In a way it feels like the next stage of my sewing evolution.

 

~Have you experienced, or are you experiencing, something similar?
~Was it just a phase and eventually the scales balanced out? Or is an old love now gathering dust in your mental garage?
Yes, I experienced it when I started in the BJD's hobby and it balanced the day I finally purchased my first dollie. I don't have a lot of hobbies, but I keep on them like the first day.

~Do you feel well-rounded in maintaining more than one hobby, or does all your energy go to BJDs? And is that something you're content with, or have plans to change?
My other hobby is manga and I always end spending a lot of money, even more than in dolls xD and I also love to write and to create characters and clothing, so BJD was an incredibly way to make all my book's characters "real". So I think my hobbies are really linked, and this is never going to change.

 

I found that BJDs filled the gap left by running out of steam on other hobbies. I started sewing stuff at age 7, and that has carried on sporadically, including making clothes for my Sindy doll as a child, patchwork, quilting, counted thread embroidery, dressmaking, toymaking, dollmaking... I have dabbled in almost every craft going, including cardmaking, scrapbooking, calligraphy, candlemaking, knitting, beading...

The good thing is I have a huge amount of fabric and beads and other craft materials.

I have always been a reader, so that is more a way of life than a hobby. I also have continued with photography.

 

It's all good - I often come back to hobbies after many years (I am now 50!)

 

I don't buy as many CDs as I used to (though I do still buy them, just not as much) which was my biggest interest before dolls. I collected other things, but not with any real direction or intention so it really just eliminated some passing whims I had over the years. The only thing that makes me sad about the money I've spent on BJDs is that it has really taken a chunk out of my tattoo budget over the years, heh.

 

I think today I'm calmer about BJDs.
before I was very excited, so I went through a season of ''hiatus'' and then I came back with full force.
today I'm normally. in fact, I think I value other hobbies now (anime/manga).
because I'm a bit discouraged by not knowing customize my dolls correctly.
and I don't have much free time... but I bought a new camera just because of BJDs.
I intend to learn more about photography, learn to sew, about makeup and wigs too. (^u^)
it's really an expensive hobby, but I think it's worth.

 

Well, I was just beginning to get into Lolita stuff when I was introduced to BJDs. BJDs became my main, if not only, hobby after that. I can't afford much else, but I've got say: BJDs give me a lot more satisfaction than Lolita did! I don't feel guilty about giving up that hobby for this one! It was the right choice!

 

I wouldn't say that I dropped any hobbies when I got into BJDs, more like I picked BJDs to be my main hobby. Like others have said, I shift around my funds to feed my doll hobby more than I do anything else, but I'm still able to buy books and play games. The only thing that has changed is that dolls get priority over all the other hobbies. I can drop the big bucks easily on my resin crew, but I have to take serious consideration before I buy games or anything else.

 

I don't think ANY of my hobbies bit the dust. I'm good at organizing my time and money so that I don't HAVE to drop any hobbies. I still love all the same things I did before I got into BJDs. I still have a growing anime collection, I still cosplay, I still draw, I still play music, etc.

I get "urges" every once in a while that spark my interest in jumping back into one of my hobbies. Sometimes, I don't feel motivated enough to put on cosplays and do a photoshoot... so when that's not there, I have my other hobbies. Then one day, it hits, and I finally get up and do it again. Same goes for my BJDs. Yes, there have been times where they sat for weeks, maybe even months, on my shelf untouched. For me, I HAVE to alternate hobbies or I'd go mad, becuase my interest comes and goes in circles, so I want something to fall back on.

 

I never really had other hobbies, besides drawing.
I didn't have a job before bjds either, but I bet if I didn't know about bjds but was still drawing I'd spend a ton more money on markers.
Infact, really, bjds have kinda helped me get into more hobbies. Sewing and photography, mainly.

 

Sometimes I do feel a little guilty about spending my time/money on this hobby when I have so many others but I feel just as bad when I buy myself something related to anything hobby instead of getting my girl another outfit/wig
but overall it's not that I love this hobby more/less than any of my other hobbies and feel that I'm pretty well-rounded in maintaining all my hobbies simultaneously