Pullip dolls? What's that?

My very first doll (as an adult) was a pullip. And now you might wonder "what on earth is a pullip?". Well, directly quoted from the brilliant world of Wikipedia a pullip is "a collectable fashion doll created by the Cheonsang Cheonha of Korea and was marketed by JUN Planning of Japan. Since the release of the original female doll in 2003, other lines of dolls have been added; the male companion dolls Namu(discontiued) and Taeyang, a younger sister to Taeyang named Dal and a miniature Little Pullip and Little Dal. Since early 2009, Pullip has been marketed by Groove of Korea".

In short, pullips are korean/japanese fashion dolls. However, as the more famous Blythe doll, pullips have also large- proportioned heads. Their eyes can both move and blink. They are also highly costumizable(is that a word??). This means that it is fairly easy to change their eyes, wigs, bodies and re-paint their face-ups. Since 2003, almost without exception, a new pullip is released every month. Each pullip release is unique and comes with different face-up, clothes, accessories and box than their previous releases. In addition to the monthly releases, limited dolls are released occasionally as well. Pullips are about 12 inches tall including their oversized head. The bodies are 9 inches (1:6 scale) which makes them similar in size as to both Barbie, Licca and Momoko dolls.

My first doll was the Rozen Maiden pullip Shinku. She is a popular doll due to her character from the anime Rozen Maiden and her price has increased a lot since I bought her in the middle of 2007. My Shinku is called Kajsa and has no resemblance to the character Shinku. I hadn't even heard of the anime when I bought her (or rather my sister bought her as a birthday present to me), and had no need for her to stay "in character".

My second doll was another pullip doll called Veritas. She was not a part of any collaboration, but a regular monthly released doll. She is dressed like an old- fashion- type captain of the sea and her name "Veritas" is "truth" in latin. My doll came quickly out of character when she arrived with me (another gift from my sister actually - this time a Christmas gift). I've named her Frida.

After these two I bought and sold two other pullips, but as they do not live with me anymore and have new loving homes now I see no point in mentioning more about them.

A small beginning...

From time to time I'll have sewing workshops with my very talented sister, Lorentine. I am one of those who appreciate and sees the necessity of teamwork to enhance your own skills. Your never better than the people that works around you, right? So I consider myself VERY lucky to be able to sew and learn with my sister - it's a great way to be a better seamstress. Last weekend we had such a sewing workshop and it resulted in two patterns for my MSD-sized doll, Ella. Since she is an Iplehouse JID girl practically no other MSD clothes fit her (JID girls are know for their more curvy and realistic proportions in comparison to the great amount of slim MSD's which have more anime/cartoon-ish proportions). Therefore, creating patterns and making her clothes is a high priority for me. I like to have lots of different outfits to choose from during photoshoots and at the moment Ella has only a few different outfits :(

Sadly, none of the patterns worked perfect though. The tights are too big and the top is WAY too big, but they are a starting point and I now know how to tweak the pattern to make it perfect! She also got her new wig from Leekeworld (a heat-resistant Dollga wig) and I have to say - it's lovely and more importantly, it's perfect for Ella.

Anyway - here she is! My one and only MSD girl (and biggest dollie!). The boots are from Dollmore - love them. They are a little on the large size but that actually looks better in my opinion - after all, they are supposed to be boots and boots are allowed to look big(-ish).

Introduction

Welcome to my blog!

"In the Woods" was a theme that popped into my head while listening to the Beatles with "Norwegian Wood". Orignally my LJ blog was called "In the Norwegian Woods", but as time went by I shortened it. During my time on the internet I've come to like the "Woods" -theme and use it on almost all my internet sites. Different communities, flickr, etsy etc.etc. On all occasions I use it together with my nick Kat.

The "In the Woods"-theme is a strange thing for me to connect to as I'm scared silly of the woods (especially when dark). That might be why I find the woods so fascinating though...

Anyhow, I'm glad you took the time to visit, and I hope you'll get inspired during your stay. The idea behind this blog is mainly to have a place for me to rant and write my ramblings when I'm in a creative mood (and I often have a need for rant and ramblings when I'm being creative). In this blog you will get to know the creative me(not the personal me though - I keep my private life out of the internet sphere), you will see my photos(or my attempt at being artsy with photography) and my sewing skills(I'm no seamstress, but I try!) and get to know my dolls which to a high degree is were I focus my creative outlet. I got interested in dolls in 2007 after seeing them several places online and also in person through my sister (I blame her for all the dolls I have today). It started out with a line of dolls called Pullips (I'll write more about them later) and ended with a line of doll called Asian Ball- jointed Dolls (or ABJD/BJD). I'll give more info on both those doll types later.

At first I was fascinated my the fun of taking pictures of these dolls. I found them both interesting and beautiful models for good pictures. Later on I've also started to make doll clothes which is fascinating to me as I really never been especially fond of or good at sewing. As with many other things in life I found out that I'm a fast learner ;)

In my "real life" or "normal life" I don't get to be very creative, and you could say that I'm a creative soul trapped in a rational mind. Meaning that I need, from time to time, a creative outlet. Since 2007, that outlet has been my dolls.

So, I hope you'll enjoy your stay, and welcome back!