Starting the Year Right

There's nothing quite like a new doll to usher in the new year! ☆*･゜ﾟ･*\(^O^)/*･゜ﾟ･*☆

Rowan is a Fairyland Feeple60 Sleeping Rona mod. The fantastic Eludys opened her eyes and my awesome friend Ricci did the finishing touches. I ordered her in October 10 and she shipped on December 13, which is quite fast for Fairyland — just 46 working days! My boyfriend Ryan helped me get her home just before Christmas, and I finished her faceup a few days after that, heh. (* >ω<)

The year 2013 in general was a fantastic year for me, and it couldn't have been possible without the support of my family, friends and you, lovely blog followers! Thank you for sticking around. ♥♥♥

Happy New Year again, guys! Here's to a great year ahead! *✲ﾟ*｡✧٩(･ิᴗ･ิ๑)۶*✲ﾟ*｡✧

Because I'm a Doll by Kazuki Takamatsu

Beautiful, serene-looking dolls posed amidst dark, sometimes macabre and violent backgrounds are the subjects of Japanese artist Kazuki Takamatsu's series of paintings, "Because I'm a Doll".

Takamatsu mixes both traditional and modern techniques to create his signature "depth map style" paintings. Depth maps are computer-generated images that show the distance of the surfaces of an object or scene from a viewpoint. These images are used in creating 3D animations and computer graphics. However, instead of using a computer, Takamatsu uses gouache to achieve this effect. He painstakingly paints layers of semi-transparent gouache to create the illusion of depth. The monochrome color scheme adds to the evocative atmosphere of his creations.

His usual subjects are innocent, melancholy young girls as either victims or perpetrators of violence, but for this series, a lot of his subjects are female ball-jointed dolls. I'm not sure why he used dolls this time. Perhaps to emphasize fragility? Or maybe it's a criticism on the expectations placed on girls?

Below are some of my favorites from his series.

Photo credits: Kazuki Takamatsu's Facebook Profile

Happy Holidays!

InstaMonthly: September-November 2013

I'm not gonna lie: Having an iPhone has made me a wee bit lazy when it comes to taking photos. (｡・//ε//・｡)

It's just so darn convenient! And with apps such as Instagram, VSCO and Mextures, photo-editing is now – literally – at the palm of my hand. This is why I'm gonna start a photodiary kind of blog post I'm calling InstaMonthly, wherein I'll be posting the nicest and most relevant photos I've snapped during the month. I won't be spamming my face, don't worry lol. XD

To start off, here's some of my IG posts during the months of September to November. :)

September
EXO Concert - Blair's Birthday - Da Vinci Museum - My Birthday

October
Danbo's Arrival - Nick's Despedida - MK/lipslock's Manila Visit - ManikaManila Tiangge 2013

November
Random Dolly Moments - My Uncle's Wedding - Gogo Yubari Cosplay

Future Doll Plans

I've been going back and forth with my plans for my doll family. It started with just one, then I promised myself I'd stop at two. But let's be real here, who has ever entered this hobby and managed to be content with just one or two? XD Well if you're one of those people, you have my respect lol!

So yeah, what you see below is my doll family plan for now. Stress on the "for now" because I don't want to finalize everything so soon. I'll just do what feels natural to me. ^u^

You can make your own doll family photo here. Careful though, some of the options are NSFW. XD

The image is anachronistic actually. The first five characters are the older versions of Blair and Miette and their new friends, siblings Rowan, River and Ravi. The last three are young Blair, Marion and baby Miette.

You may be wondering where these new characters came from all of a sudden. XD If you follow me on Flickr or Instagram, you'd see I've been writing drabbles about Blair and her life. So far, only Marion has been introduced, but I plan on writing the other characters in, too. :D

I already have planned sculpts for all of them, but as with everything in this hobby, nothing is final until you hit that "Check out" button. We'll just have to wait and see, right?

Anyway, thanks for reading my pointless rambling. ^^;