Little Things That Make You Happy?

-That soft hard feeling my dolls get when they wear a lot of layers.
-The creaky sound of their joints moving.
-The obsessive researching, window shopping, and planning.
-Seeing all my dolls together.
-Working on my projects for them.
-Finding exactly what I want in stock or within my country.
-Seeing all the beautiful details of my dolls faceups up close.
-Just sitting with my dolls as I do stuff.
-Combing their wigs.

 

- Seeing someone get their first doll
- Seeing someone get their grail doll
- That perfect wig or pair of eyes that makes a doll "come to life."
- Getting that perfect photo
- Tibetan lamb wigs - so soft
- All the wonderful little details on their outfits, especially the tinies.
- All the amazing creativity in the hobby.
- Seeing how much a friend of mine adores a doll I couldn't bond with. I think I've seen more of her (the doll) in her new home than I did when she was here.

 

When I'm taking a picture and their hair is just right, with no flyaways Also, taking a picture that really captures how beautiful they are!

 

Finishing an outfit, taking some pictures and going," Damn, that looks good!"

Finding something wonderful for a doll in a completely unexpected place (found an antique miniature cloissonne tea set with blue dragons in a recycle store!)

Those amazing days when not one but TWO packages of nifty doll stuff come in the mail, better than Christmas!

After searching for months and buying multiple pairs of eyes that don't work, finally finding ones that are PERFECT! The moment you put them in and go," Oh, so THATS who you are!"

Getting out the collection of doll shoes and gloating over them, and feeling richer than Midas.

Finding something amazing on line for my best friends doll, that I know she will love.

And , yeah, sometimes just sitting and staring at a doll, blissed out on their ideal beauty.

 

- pictures of doll meets
- "family" photos of people's dolls
- little extra goodies in packages
- seeing the diversity and creativity in the hobby
- reading other people's character stories
- seeing someone get their first doll

 

Getting to make all the crazy outfits I want out of such tiny amounts of fabric! And then having the perfect models for each outfit!
That soulful gaze of properly aligned eyes.
Getting to practice my career craft- props and sets- in small scale, to work on my abilities for the real scale stuff.

Oh! And when the fancy wig maker you want to buy from HAS the sculpt you need the wig for so it can be made perfectly!

 

I'd look for blue goldstone beads. That's eht I'm personally using, and they even come in eye sizes.

 

Photo stories. I love to read them and I really appreciate people who take the time and trouble to make them. Some people create epic storylines that I follow like an addictive TV series!

Along those lines, other people's photos! I hate taking them myself, but I love seeing other people's creations.

The DoA anniversary contests. Just amazing skills and creativity in our community!

 

One of my biggest joys in the hobby is seeing stuff I made go out into the world and show up on other people's dolls. It's just so super cool for me.

 

- When you finally find THE sculpt for that one character!
- When a craft project turns out exactly how you imagined it and suits your doll perfectly
- Getting doll stuff in the mail
- Sending doll stuff to people in the mail!
- Having things in an online cart waiting for you for when you have the money
- Starting a project
- Getting inspired by all the plans and dolls
- When my best friend said it was cute to have a doll represent my character and she didn't think it was weird at all!
- Seeing improvement on how you do faceups and customisations.

 

Complaining is good therapy for the soul, I feel. Lol. But expressing every little thing you love about something, no matter how miniscule and/or potentially unimportant to others? Also a blessing. Our hearts all sing for different reasons, and I love seeing what makes everyone else so happy! ^^ Here's just some little things that really get me in the hobby~.

• Finding the perfect little props that weren't made for BJDs and dolls specifically, but work so well!
• Looking over at your dolls and getting that pure love feeling in your chest.
• Rearranging their rooms/dioramas and giving it that realistic clutter feel with tiny accessories.
• Getting up close and personal with your dolls faceup and just staring for a while at all their precious little details.
• Finding little furniture pieces at thrift stores that would work perfectly for your dolls! Honestly, I live for this feeling! >w<
• Fixing up and repainting those furniture pieces and making them look SO GOOD!
• Seeing the same sculpt you own, in the same company faceup, but how different they look in different clothes/wigs/eyes!
• Or just seeing your same sculpt in a different faceup~
• Finally making a perfect sewing pattern from scratch! ; o ;
• Finishing that faceup without anything going wrong!
• Making little tiny jewelry pieces. The attention to detail and time it takes feels so good~
• When you finally find/make that perfect accessory for your dolls outfit and it just brings a whole new life to them!
• Getting your friends into BJDs by accident
• When your friends FINALLY get a BJD of their own!! Seeing their excitement and getting to help them through the new processes. And... DOLLY HANG OUTS!
• That brand new doll unboxing feel. Right from the shipping box, to removing the bubble wrap/foam to reveal them bit by bit.
• Taking the bubble wrap/or w/e off a new dolls hand first and just holding their hand on your finger. ; w ; Welcome into the world, little buddy! You're hooome!
• ANY sort of dolly delivery! Be it second hand or right from the company. A doll or eyes or a wig or shoes or clothes. It's all so exciting!

I'm sure there's so many more things I love, but this is jsut what I can think of right now! ; w ;

 

Making tiny sets.. that look just like full size places! Details, details! Mine or anyone else's I can't help but squee over good dioramas!

 

Recently I tried trimming a wig for my doll and it came out quite nicely as I wanted

 

-Seeing someone improve with their hobby of choice. I love seeing comparisons of works over the span of months or even years, and seeing the improvements they make!

-Getting a notification that a favourite artist has posted a new work.

-Finding a new and unusual BJD.

 

My absolute favorite thing is opening a box and seeing what default eyes my doll came with. I expected my first doll to have blue or brown eyes, so when I saw that they were a lovely shade of gray I was ecstatic. I think that surprise element makes me the happiest.

 

• Non default faceups on teeny tines (like Lati Yellows, Pukifees ect.)
• The moment when you get a doll to stand on it's own solidly
• Looking a photo on your computer and realizing that it looks better than on camera
• Realizing that an item that didn't work for the doll you bought it for is perfect for another one your dolls
• Finally sewing something that you are happy with
• Finding a group on Flickr for that one sculpt you wanted to buy but couldn't find any pictures of
• Seeing a doll transform into someone's character

 

finishing a faceup and the doll comes to life
finding perfectly scaled props
creating a setting that looks lifelike
photos that need a second look to determine if it's a doll or a human
knitting, crocheting or sewing an outfit that is just like i pictured it
finding a new sculpt that makes my heart sing and it's not sold out!
finding the perfect wig or eyes
finding fabric with that perfect scale print that also drapes beautifully
creating things for my dolls to use
just looking at my dolls faces
dolls that sneak through customs without a ransom
photoshoots that turn into humorous photos
freckles!!!
learning a new craft just to make dolly things
when the doll reveals his or her character and you realize why all the clothes you tried on just hadn't worked

 

Oh, I like this thread! ^-^ I get happy about:

• Teeny tiny books that are just perfectly in scale. Extra joy if it's one "found in the wild" i.e. a store or shop. I like making books, but I like having more books than I could possibly make.
• Beautiful tiny rings. They're one of those jewelry bits that just really give a doll a personality.
• Photo-stories! I love to read them and love to make them.
• Finding the perfect eyes for a doll. That just makes me giddy and say "oh, there you are!"
• Surprise doll presents! That's always a real warm fuzzy, especially if it's from a non-doll person, but they got it because they thought your dolls might like it.
• Getting compliments from non-doll people on how awesome or lovely or just cool your dolls are.
• Having dolls that make me think of my good friends, for a variety of reasons.
• Doing a face-up on someone else's doll and it turns out perfectly.
• Knitting tiny hats and accessories.
• Finding doll furniture and props in unexpected places.
• When a pair of jeans turns out great on the first try.
• How pretty some of my dolls are. Even the not-as-pretty ones make me very happy.

I think that's all for now!

 

I just had a lovely experience-- after going out to a small doll meet this last Sunday, we went over for a family dinner at my aunts', and met a friend of my cousin's who was really interested in seeing our dolls. We'd got to talking about what our respective days had been like and the meet came up. She was just so genuinely positive about them, I let her handle Billy (the most handle-able doll we had with us). He was in a longer wig than usual so there was a 'he's a boy??' moment, but no change in her open and positive attitude towards the hobby.

It just felt really good to get to share the hobby with a stranger and have it go so well, and it reminded me how happy it makes me when generally-arty people who wouldn't necessarily 'get' doll collecting DO get BJDs because of the artistry and the creative side of the hobby. It feels good to get to share that with people who don't go all 'oh, creepy doll' on you.

 

THIS!
When people find out kind of by accident that you have DOLLS and they actually go "Oh, that's really cool!"