Liebster Award

I got tagged by Alejandra from Fantasywoods with this lovely award. Thank you so much, I love getting tagged! ^-^

I have no idea where this meme originated, but I've seen it on few other blogs already and apparently it has passed in Finnish for a while too. If someone can say where the title Liebster comes from, I'd appreciate it :D

The rules:

1. Thank the person who presented you the award and link back to their blog.
2. Post the award image on your blog.
3. Answer 11 questions posted by the presenter.
4. Nominate 5-11 blogs with less than 200 followers.
5. Create 11 questions for the nominees to answer.
6. List these rules in your post.
7. Inform the people you chose of their nomination by leaving a comment on their blog and link them your post.

Questions for me:

1. What’s the thing you love the most about blogging?
I really like the freedom to just babble on about whatever is my current interest. I like posting my photoshoots into a blog, since I can add captions and background information to the photos and maybe give a more in-depth glimpse to what was going through my head.

In doll forums the photo sections are usually meant for just the photos themselves (unless it's a photostory or something), and I at least assume the viewers would like to just enjoy the photos 'uninterrupted' by my texts. Same goes for photo-sharing sites like Flickr and Instagram. Although yes Insta kinda encourages people to post a caption, it doesn't really function with a group of photos, neither is it practical to write long blocks of text there.

2. What’s the thing you love the most about your dolls/figures?
Customisability, I guess. I still get amazed at how different the same sculpt can look with a different face-up/wig/clothes and then with modding added to the mix, the possibilities are endless! I'm just sad I can't own every single kind of Bygg there can be done (although I seem to be trying hard to get there... :P).

I also love the sensation of fulfillment when I 'complete' a doll, or at least gain a milestone to getting there. I loved getting Rigel's and Meringue's face-ups 'just right' from the first try. I loved getting a good outfit for Ford. I was extatic when I finally got the perfect eyes for Nigel!

If you were after something a bit more substantial and specific though, I love the mouths of several of my dolls to bits. Especially Eiko's lips are sooo cute! ~♥ And Nuu's nose :3

3. Is there anything you always wanted to do with your dolls but never dared to?
I still haven't gotten around to do any water photoshoots with them, but it isn't that much about not daring to do so, more about not having had the opportunity yet.

I haven't really dared to do any real hybrids, although I have been tempted to switch the bodies of both Nigel and Eiko to more functional ones. And on the subject of Nigel, his body is perhaps the one thing I have wanted to fix, but haven't dared to... See, Nigel is supposed to be this scrawny tall hacker, who has basically no muscle tissue since his workout is a walk from the computer to the fridge and back. :D With looser clothes, the Super Gem body does look somewhat lean, at least enough so that it doesn't bother me too much. I think it's because the shoulders are so wide, but the arms are thin (with muscles yes, but not like a body-builder) so it gives off an illusion that the guy is skinny. However, if the shirt is taken off, Nigel shows a six-pack that he definitely shouldn't have! And added to that, the character actually has a tattoo on his side that I would love to do and show off, but the muscles are on the way. :( I have thought about sanding the torso smoother, but haven't dared to do so. I have done sanding mods before, so I'm confident I could do it. But because I hate the engineering of the SG body anyway (it easily looks very unnatural when sitting), I'm not sure if I should first switch the body to something else altogether because a sanding job would then decrease the value of the SG body if I want to get rid of it some time after.

4. Are you working on something for your dolls/figures at the moment?
Yes, I'm making some horns and other head accessories for them from Fimo. :) Just waiting for more magnets really, then I can really show them off!

5. Have any of your friends/family joined the hobby because they got to know it through you?
No, sadly. Thenagain, I have always been a bit of an oddball in my family and group of friends, so it doesn't surprise me at all. :D I'm the one who still as an adult loves cartoons, superheroesvillains and collectibles.

Thenagain, I have made many new friends through this hobby! ^-^ And I'm very happy to have met them all. I can talk to them about dolls, and other otaku-stuff (plus lolita) as well without being eyed like I was borderline lunatic. :D Well, I'm exaggregating here a bit. I haven't gotten more than one negative comment about my hobbies to my face from anyone (except Valentine), be it my family, friends or my colleagues at work. But they don't get it either. A colleague might ask if I have watched this cutesay 80's magical-girl anime that she saw years back when she was a kid and that I should now, because "it's just the thing for you". It doesn't help that I try to say that I watch cartoons made for adults, with adult content, because however I say it, it sounds like I watch porn XD Whereas if I say the same thing to my doll-friends, they get that I'm talking of series like Attack on Titan. Also my colleagues might find my loli-ish clothes endearing, but wouldn't get the brands or a full-blown coord.

6. Is there something or someone in particular that inspires your aesthetics, background stories, etc?
I have to say that Andreja is a great role model for me in regards to face-ups. I loved her work and use of bright colours, which can be seen in my own work as well.

I'm sure there is outside inspiration on my backstories and general styling as well, but they are on the more general "I have seen something like this and want to apply it to this-or-that doll" and I can't really pin-point it to anything specific.

7. Do you share your doll or doll photos with people outside the hobby?
Yes, whenever anyone asks if I have a blog or something I give them the link, albeit with a warning that my blogging might be about stuff they have no idea about. :D Or if I talk about photography in general and people ask more about what I take photos of, I tell about my dolls and have referred them to my Flickr.

I've also posted some of my doll photos to an album on my Facebook page which is visible to all my FB friends. But I don't keep that updated on any regular basis, not even yearly. Now that I even remember it, I should probably go update it... I like to keep it a smallish album but showing at least one photo of each of my dolls.

8. Is any of your dolls based on yourself or a person you know?
No, although many say that Eiko resembles me somewhat (well, more so when she had light eyes and the short wig and I had my hair cut in the same lenght).

9. Do you have a favorite doll/figure from another person's collection? Would you own the same doll/figure?
I have a few dolls that I continually squee over. ;) Spica's Ayato and Unisieppari's minty Yrie come to mind first. Out of these two I can't picture myself owning Ayato, since I so much see that as Spica's doll and I can't really imagine her letting go of the spunky bunny boy. :D But I've said it before, if Sieppo ever sells that doll, I'll try to snatch it! Funnily I don't have any need to own any other Yrie... Or another R.Ai like Ayato, even modded. Maybe an R.Afi, but that's another thing altogether.

On the figure side I still love the look of the Alter Kotori that Fairchildren owns. I passed it myself due to the high price tag and I still wouldn't pay that much for it. However if it dropped from the skies for free, I wouldn't toss it away :D

10. Three things you like about yourself?
I commend myself on my intelligence and the speedy intake on new things it gives me.

Second, I like that I'm the sort of person who usually gets things done. Sure, I get lazy at times and leave things unfinished. :) But if there's some task at work for example that just should be done asap, I do it and don't try to shift the responsibility to someone else.

Third, I love being a dreamer and a romantic. I can spend hours dwelling in my fantasies and utopias, escaping the greyness of the real world. I feel emotional watching movies and listening music, they make my imagination soar and I love it. I use to think that everyone was like this, but growing up I have come to realise this is not the case at all! Like Valentine, despite the nickname I have for him in this blog, doesn't actually have an ounce of a romantic in him.

11. Anything you have learned in this hobby you wish you knew before joining?
How SDs are the best 'lapdogs' out of the different sizes and I shouldn't have bothered with MSDs at all. And that alpaca wigs were coming, so I wouldn't have bought so many fiber wigs at first :D

***

I don't have that many to tag, but I can at least name:
Spica
Dark
Untavain
Tattic

And the questions I will bestow upon you shall be:

1. What did you expect of the doll hobby when you first found about it or got involved in the hobby?
2. Which doll company was the first to really capture your attention?
3. Is there a sculpt that you love to see photos of but don't need to own yourself? If so, which is it?
4. What would you most like to learn to do yourself for your dolls, unless you already can customise them from start to finish?
5. What is the most risky thing you have done to or with your dolls?
6. Do you have a theme song for all or any of your dolls? If so, care to share at least one of them?
7. If you had your own doll company, what kind of dolls would you produce?
8. Are there any doll hobbyists that you stalk?
9. Which of these do you have the most of: doll eyes, wigs or clothes?
10. What is your favourite part of blogging?
11. What is your current grail doll?