Your biggest accomplishment for the year

I FINALLY figured out how to use brushes instead of pencils to do eyebrows and lashes on faceups without a clumpy mess of thick lines! This has overall improved my faceups by 1000%!

 

I finally was able to bring home one of the earliest dolls I fell in love with in this hobby. So now I have my two golden oldies rounding out my early year interests

And I assembled my first hybrid, which I thought I'd never do - it's nothing huge (just head & body), but I have always avoided them before. So that was new!

 

After admiring BJDs from afar for several years, I finally got one (and then several more!) of my own. I'm glad I did wait, though, because my first one would up coming to me from a friend - and is very, very dear to me. I love that she has a history and a story to tell, and I love that I'm now part of it.

 

I bought my first bjd, and I'm waiting for him \(^.^)/ I also manage to find a few companies that fit my ever changing tastes.
The only thing I would do differently next year is not impulse buy him clothes, or excessive amounts of props that I don't need/have space for (But if I manage to get another doll but in a different size, I make no promises)

 

I successfully made several outfits, and while I didn't manage the specific "costumes" I meant to do this year, I'm getting better at the small-scale sewing needed to manage these guys, and hopefully next year can actually get something together with those "costumes" as a result.

 

This year was a big year for me since I ordered my first doll last December. I got my first doll at the beginning of the year and then I got a few more a few months later all at different times. I also got parts of one of my grail dolls. Now I just need the head and I'll have my grail put together. I've done a lot of research about them throughout the year and have learned so much from the hobby. I was able to join the triathlon which was really amazing and I had a great time. Lastly I have completed a list of dolls that I must have not the ones I just think are pretty. Overall, I think this was a productive year for me.

 

I doubled my collection this year!
After a long hiatus from the DoA & buying new dolls I seem to be back stronger than ever!
The new additions are much loved and I finally got a girl doll after nearly 10 years! lol

 

I finally found THE RIGHT BRUSH to do thin lines for my eyelashes and eyebrows.
Moved away from colored pencils COMPLETELY for faceups.
Helped and befriended a Taiwanese sculptor so she could be recognized internationally.
Did an outdoor shoot in public.

 

I have a few.... I got my April Story Adrienne right before she was discontinued, for one. That felt like an accomplishment just because I wanted her very badly and was afraid I'd miss her!
As for hobby skills and projects: I've really improved my skills at drafting my own patterns for sewing my dolls' clothing. And I put together a doll project that required Apoxie Sculpt mods, hybriding, and painting a doll body for a resin match! It was a pretty ambitious project, especially since I'd never done mods like that before. But the doll came out exactly how I wanted her to, and also fulfilled a goal: to have a gray skin Iplehouse Lisa in my collection.
Next year I plan to revisit wig-making, as well as try my hand at making shoes. I also have many sewing projects in mind!

 

It seems a tad early for this, but oh well.

I think my absolute biggest accomplishment this year which I can take sole credit for was cutting down my collection. Without counting the floating heads, I've owned eighteen unique full dolls with a nineteenth on the way, and while I never had them all at once, my cupboard was getting too crowded for comfort. That's a relatively small number in comparison to many collections out there, but considering that I've only owned resin five out of six years in the hobby, I feel like it's much bigger than could ever be expected, especially considering that I wasn't sure I was going to be able to get one, and afford more than two to four down the road. It is amazing how blessed I've been, and how much this hobby teaches the arts of saving and patience (Which I am not quite certain I'll ever truly master).

I have also added a few impossible grails to my menagerie this year, including a Soom Afi (Still a floating head), a Soom Elf Sabik, and a DIM Minifee Fenris (Also still a floater), as well as some fun and obscure sculpts everywhere from well-known companies to old, discontinued companies. And that aforementioned nineteenth doll is a Luts Minifee Elf Shiwoo- goodness knows trying to jump on an unmodded one, much less at a decent price, is like trying to swim without holding your breath!

But I think my favorite accomplishment had to be making new friends, both here on DoA and in my semi-local BJD group. This may not sound like such a large affair, but it is highly important to me. I got the chance to make a newcomer to the hobby feel very special, speak at length with veteran modders and faceup artists, and just hang around with some overall enjoyable and very creative people.

I know that there's not a place for 'goals for next year', but I feel there should be, so I'm making one.

Things I'd Like To Accomplish in 2015 (Or sooner):
*Get a few more of my floating heads onto bodies. I got the most expensive one out of the way (Or so I thought...until Thaévyn's fiance arrived) only to not bond with him as a full doll. Now I want to finish building the rest so I can fall in (Or out) of love accordingly and just make up my mind.
*Finish Thaévyn's mods. The poor man has been waiting for me to get epoxie to make him some elf ears since July.
*Improve at faceups. I've already come further this year than before, and I definitely see progress, but I'd still like to do better.
*Grey-skinned, elf-eared doll. NOW.
*Get everyone who still needs a proper wig and/or eyes (If I can find them) theirs accordingly
*Attend more meetups.
*Focus at least one to two shopping sprees on clothes and accessories instead of resin.
*Minifees. That is all.
*Improve my diorama/set-building skills at 1/3 scale.
*Improve my photography. (I actually take great pictures...when my subjects aren't at risk of being yellowed by anything that's moderately UV)
*Push my saving limits a bit further. Stretch my patience...and my goals.

 

I've done my first extensive mod: I gave a Volks Williams dreaming eyes and put the head on top of a Soom Supergem body (who's neck I had modify as well, so it wouldn't look so long.

And FINALLY, I've managed to do my own face-ups. They aren't spectacular, but with a bit of practice, they might look decent enoug.

 

Nothing impressive but I would say that my biggest accomplishment for this year is that I finally ordered a Littlefee in tan skin. I wanted one since Fairyland launched tan skin but I wasn't able to order during the first batch of tan skin on Littlefee. I now have one on her way to me.

 

I've been learning how to do my own face-ups and I've really enjoyed it so far I need to keep up the practice though but I'm off to a good start!

 

Redoing all the blushing and tattoos on two of my Kara Klums. I've been putting it off for ages and I finally did it (it's just so much work omg)! And they're more finished than they've ever been
Plus the work on Skullface. There might be a few more, but I'm pretty proud of those accomplishments.

 

I finally bought my first doll this year! In the next year or two I'd like to buy another

 

I'd say it's a tie. I did my first faceups, which was a giant hurdle I overcame (I'd been really nervous about it!)...but I also bought (and am currently waiting on) my grail doll ;v;

 

1) I committed to buying my first two BJDs!

2) I got into Den of Angels!...and then discovered all the dolls I plan on getting are off-topic. Oops.

 

Finally joined the DoA, and bought Suigintou. Can't wait for her to arrive! She has been my favorite among the Rozen characters, seconded only by Kirakishou. But since Kira never made it to BJD, I figured I'll have Suigintou under my wings.

 

Got my grail girl! (Volks Kurumi)

Officially in the hobby for a year!

Expanded my tastes to other styles of doll such as DC and Leeke Art dolls

I wish I could say I completed my first face up but that will have to be in 2015!