New Iple girls on the way!

Me and Sarg placed a big order to Iplehouse yesterday - both of us ordered a new girl! ♥ I wasn't supposed to buy a big BJD now, but since Sarg was ordering we figured we'd kill two birds with one stone and get these both girls at once, saving in the shipping costs as well XD They're going to be a couple too, so it's quite fitting lol~

(All these pictures belong to Iplehouse!)

I ordered SID Grace in real skin, with large bust and no mobility joints or faceup :3 She's going to be my character named Katherine Danrow, also known as just K. As a random fact, her cousin is Alexiel Danrow who goes by the nickname X :'D

I wasn't particularly interested in the Grace sculpt before Iplehouse recently introduced her as a basic version with this stunning faceup option that made me realize she has a lot of potential of being the perfect K. I had planned to shell her as Carina, but Grace got me more inspired about the character, so I decided to alter my plans! I'm glad that I was able to get her on SID body as a basic doll instead of Custom Doll System, which I would've needed to use if I decided to go with Carina (since she's originally an EID). I obviously wanted Katherine and Renate to have that cute little height difference XD

Katherine is a talented engineer that specializes in robotics and mechanical battle gear. Most of the other people working in the same field are males and they never stop wondering how a female can work in such a job - and be more successful than them... K dresses quite formally most of the time - classy suits and dresses are her thing. Oh, and she never wears any other colors than black or white ^^;

Sarg ordered EID Raffine in normal skin, with medium bust and no mobility joints or faceup~ She's going to be Renate, or just Ren for short. Renate was first shelled as EID Bibiane, but Sarg thought it makes the character look a bit too childish and didn't really bond with the head, so she decided to sell it and re-shell Renate as Raffine :) Ren's style is also going to change a little bit - she's getting a bull skull tattoo (maybe some other tats as well) and some scars, inspired by Venom Snake from Metal Gear Solid. Renate has yellow eyes and brown hair :3

Personality-wise she's a good friend of Shagrilah and Ronya, and currently works as a soldier at Xymox Headquarters. She's quite an unisex person and sees herself as more of a male than a female, but we still talk about the character/doll as "she".

I also wanted to show the blank pictures of both sculpts:

Iplehouse is definitely the favorite company for both of us, so we're always thrilled to be able to bring more of their lovely sculpts home ;3; They are usually quite fast to get the dolls ready for shipping - in the best case we might get a shipping notice next month already! We ordered with 2-part layaway though, but Iplehouse starts making the dolls right after the first payment, which is great :3

Sarg already has the eyes and wig ready, but I need to order Katherine's grey eyes >3< The wig she's getting from Iplehouse as well, though we'll customize it a bit and add some highlights.

Purr-fect Neemo café~!

Here comes the other photoshoot from last weekend! Just in time before the upcoming weekend X''D

A few weeks ago me and Sarg received these cute cat-themed maid outfits for a few of our girls -  I obviously chose the pink one for Shiori and Sarg got the blue one for Miyuki~ At first Sarg wasn't gonna order, but luckily I managed to convince her that Miyuki needs to get this outfit to match with Shiori so that we can take cute photos >3<

Shiori and Miyuki both help out at the little café that Harumi's granny owns, though I'm not sure if they're actually confident enough to wear these silly dresses at work ^^; At least they agreed to wear them for a while when a few friends (Harumi and Alisa) came to the café for some tasty treats~

Girls showing off their outfits~ I wish we had cat shoes in matching colors as well, but unfortunately the girls had to settle for these bunny shoes X'D

My Swan Lake Raili was shipped today, yay~! I pre-ordered her from Hobby Search this time and paid for EMS shipping, so I'm hoping she'll get home next week ^^ I'm also waiting for Squirrel Chiika that I snagged from Amiami's pre-owned section last month, but she still hasn't been shipped due to some other stuff delaying the order u_u

We're going to visit Janina and her hubby tomorrow, I'm sure it'll be a super fun day~

Hope you all enjoy your weekend too! ♥

Neemos everywhere!

Yaay it's the weekend! ^w^ I've had quite a busy week with school, but now I can relax for a few days~ I also got home early today and managed to finish editing a bunch of Neemo photos, some of them are even a month old since I just haven't had the time to work on them earlier, due to the move and the start of school ^^;

Azone has birthdays for all of their Pureneemo characters. I still don't know if there's a calendar or something where you can check the dates, but for now I've learned about the birthdays after noticing someone on Twitter or Flickr posting birthday photos :'D The 25th was Maya's birthday and I got just the perfect idea for a photo, so me and Sarg put together this little scene of our three Maya having a birthday party, with a table full of snacks :D In these photos you can also see the Re-ment kitchen table set that I finally got last week (shipping with surface mail took forever...) ♥ If only we had more time to be more careful with the background as well, but unfortunately we had to keep it really simple and quick >3<

The treats are a compilation of some self-made things, dollhouse miniatures and Re-ments :)

The girls even had a proper birthday cake XD

A few weeks ago I took a photo with all the cute animal sets that we had pre-ordered; two black cats, one pink bunny, one white bunny and a bear hamster :3 These sets are just super adorable and I think I need to get one white cat later too...

This is actually one of the first photos that I've taken in this new apartment~

My parents asked us over for dinner a while ago and we saw it as a great chance to take some outdoor Neemo photos at the same time XD So, we took some dolls with us and after eating went to the yard. It was already evening, but still there was a lot of light! Some of the photos are just random poses, but we also had a fun idea that the Neemos collect different things from the yard and put them together in one pile X'D

Everything that Maisy, Reika and Ginny gathered!

Looks like poor Alisa was left out of the collecting and is just posing there all pretty ^^;;

These last two photos I took over a month ago, right before moving. I had gotten my second Chiika home and wanted to take some pictures of the twins together with their cat plushies~ Most of the pictures that I took didn't turn out so well, I had some issues with the lighting since the sun was shining too bright and it was hard to find a shady place. Hopefully I get to take more photos of Nia and Lia later :)

That's all for the pictures, sorry for the spam hahah X'D Hope I can keep up with the future photos shoots and post them one by one , not in a big messy bunch as this...

I should have my second-hand Winter Vacation Mia waiting for me in the post office later today, hopefully before the post office closes for the day (it's not open during weekends). Turns out that EMS packages are useless from now on, since the delivery guys can't get through the building's front door (which is locked 24/7) and there isn't any way for them to call us to open the door, so they just take the packages to the post office... It's really weird since the guys delivering the advertisements and regular mail CAN get through the door u_u It's not a big deal really since the post office is very nearby and we're often not home during the delivery time anyway, but it just bothers me why some of the mailmen have the code to the front door and some don't... (EDIT. Hahah, just after writing this blog post the tracking status updated and states that Mia is now available for pick-up XD I'll be making a box opening for her during the weekend then~)

Hope you guys have a great weekend~ :3

A dream come true~

If you follow me on Instagram, you might've seen me hype about this, but I wanted to make a blog post for it too :D

In late June I was just randomly browsing Twitter when I noticed the news of the re-release of Volks Dollfie Dream Mariko!!!

At first I couldn't believe my eyes!! *O* I had already pretty much given up the thought that I'd ever own a Mariko, since she's so rare and the second-hand prices are just too much for me... But then I got a chance to at least try my luck at the lottery! ♥ (In case you're not familiar with Volks' lottery system, basically you enter for a chance to buy the doll. Sadly they're not giving them to the winners for free, hahah XD)

On a funny note, the news of this release were posted on the next day after my birthday :D It might seem like a coincidence, but as a silly person I like to believe in fate and somehow I just can't help thinking that this was meant to be ; . ; They even used my favorite colors for the outfit and cat plushie...

Photo © Volks_dd

Photo © Tensinokizuna

I entered the lottery right away when it started, on July 11th. I think earlier the entry period for Volks' lotteries has only been a few days, but now there was time to enter until August 3rd and they wouldn't notify the winners until today, August 21st... So mean to have to wait for the results for so long >////<

This is me while I was waiting for the results lol... X'D Especially the last day was so painful!

Never in million years would I have expected it, but... I WON HER!!!

I'm so thrilled about this, I'm finally getting my own Mariko ;___; ♥ Besides being a grail doll, she's also going to be my first Dollfie Dream! Can't wait to shop for different eyes, wigs and clothes for her, and I'm super excited about sewing clothes for her too!

Sarg drew me this cute chibi Mariko, uguu ;____;

My natural hair and eye color are actually the same as Mariko's default, so she's like a (prettified) version of me, hahah ♥ I'd really love to get a matching outfit with her and take a cute little doll & owner photoshoot >3< We'll see later whether that's with Mariko's default look or with a custom wig and stuff~

Volks should send the dolls out in beginning of September, so I need to wait a bit more before getting my girl home, but at least I'll have time to figure out the perfect name for her! I didn't want to plan anything beforehand since I was so sure I'd not win her and just end up being disappointed... ^^; But now that she's paid and everything, I can finally breathe!

*victory dance*

Taobao loot + ordered Briar Rose Lien!

Just a quick post to share this little loot from Taobao that I received today ♥ It mainly consists of stuff for my Neemos, but I also got two pairs of pretty shoes for my Iple girls~

Here's the whole loot!

Three pairs of Pureneemo shoes :) I love the cat shoes so much ♥ I already have one pair in white and have wanted to get a black pair as well for a while now, but they were out of stock until recently. They're mainly for my twin Chiikas, but the other girls will probably be using them as well (like Chizu, who stole them right away since my other Chiika isn't home yet...).

The pastel pink & purple shoes are another pair that I've been wanting to get my hands on, but this particular color was always sold out... Had to snag them when I had the chance XD Shiori will probably be the main user of these!

And then the purple boots... I don't even know who could use these, but they look like the perfect pastel goth shoes and I know I'll want to make one of my Neemos wear pastel goth eventually, so had to get them ^^;

Stockings and socks in Pureneemo size. These were really cheap and I'm usually so lazy to sew socks/stockings, so I bought a few... I actually should've gotten them in more colors, these are pretty much only for Shiori ^^; Looks like she's a bit spoiled...

And last but not least, SD16 sized heels for my Iple girls ♥ They are still fighting over these, but I guess Jade is going to use the pink&black pumps (since they look like they'd work perfectly for her pastel goth style) and the black ones will be for everyone to share XD

***

Also, the pre-order for Azone Little Briar Rose Lien started today and luckily I managed to put her on pre-order, even though at first it looked like I might not be able to get one ^^; I woke up at 8am and to my surprise she was already gone from everywhere. Apparently she was gone from the Azone International website in only a few minutes, Hobby Search and Amiami closed the pre-orders in about half an hour. I managed to find a store that had two dolls still available and snagged one right away~ ♥ I had no idea that she'd be this popular, the earlier Pureneemos were available for pre-order for at least weeks! Amiami did stock her in the afternoon, but I think it took only a half an hour or so before she was sold out again ^^;

I'm hoping to get Swan Lake Raili from the same "Otogi no Kuni" series and this time I'll definitely know to prepare for a click war right at the moment her pre-order starts! XD So happy that it won't be until August, I'm getting a bit overwhelmed by all the purchases this month...

***

I'm going to Sarg's place tomorrow and then we're travelling to Lahti for Desucon on Saturday~ ♥ If you're attending the convention (either on Saturday or Sunday), feel free to come say hi ^.^ You can recognize me from long pink hair, wannabe pastel goth clothing and pink Alpaca plush with glasses! I'm also taking Chizu (Punk Koron) with me and possibly another Neemo or a Teenie Gem, but will be keeping them in the bag most of the time ^^

Due to the con I won't be posting on the blog until next week, so wish you all a great weekend! ♥

Incoming dolls - Iplehouse Eva and two Pureneemos

My Iplehouse girl crew will be growing by another member again, since I just ordered SID Eva in peach gold skin *w* ♥ I ordered her on 2-part layaway, which I'll be finishing next month :) Iplehouse's waiting times have been around 1-2 months, so there's hope that she might even be ready to be shipped once I send the last payment!

Character-wise she'll be Medeia, a sorceress/monster hunter in-training~ She is a brave, kind-hearted, strong-willed and loyal person, deep down also has a bit of a girl next door vibe to her. Medeia is an only child and ever since her birth she's been treated like a boy by her father, who had wished (and assumed) that his unborn child would be a boy. From young age Medeia has felt like she was a disappointment to her father no matter what she did and even agreed to start hard fight training under a monster hunter Aslak's supervision to prove that she was such as good as a boy.

Later on I got some inspiration for this character from Yennefer of the game The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt. Medeia lives in a same kind of world as the characters in that game and of course she has a muscular companion Aslak (Sarg's IOS Jade), who has gotten some inspiration from Geralt, another character from the game. I could go on and on about the game, Yennefer, Geralt and their lovely relationship, I'm such a hopeless fan! ♥ That being said, we're still not looking to create "cosplay" or anything like that. Our characters Medeia and Aslak existed even before we found out about The Witcher games, but now they inspire us even more after the amazing game.

Hmm, Medeia will be my 6th girl from Iplehouse... This meme that was posted on a discussion thread on Den of Angels seems quite accurate hahah XD

***

Besides Medeia, I'm also waiting for a few Azone Pureneemos!

I managed to find this pink-haired version of Majokko Little Witch of Heart Chiika for pretty cheap from Yahoo!Japan *w* I spent quite some time hunting for this one... I did bid on some earlier, but they went over 15,000yen and I wanted to wait and see if I could find one for cheaper. The waiting paid off since the one I won was less than 10,000yen, despite being a fullset in great condition! I'm still waiting if I win some Re-ment items that I could combine shipping with, but in any case I'd expect this girl to come home during next month :)

I'm really excited to be able to get some cute twin Chiika photos with Nia, my white-haired Chiika~ I still haven't figured out a suitable name... The two Chiikas are twin sisters, so I'd like one that in some way matches with Nia >3<

Then this Pink!Pink! a la mode Maya.. ♥ At first I thought that I'd be able to resist this cutie, but a few days before her pre-order started, I decided that I do want her after all ^^; I ended up selling my Tick-Tock Rabbit Himeno since I didn't bond with her and thought that this girl could be my new Kirari~

It was a bit of a hassle to get her on preorder. First, I contacted one shopping service agent asking them to order her for me (being a Direct Store version, she wasn't available on Amiami or other international sites), but they never replied anything ; . ; Then I tried getting her through some other shopping services, but they couldn't help me either due to the quantity limit per doll set by Azone (they had obviously already ordered this doll for some other people). Finally I managed to place my pre-order through Treasure-Japan! ♥ Apparently Maya will be released in late June, hopefully near my birthday, hahah~

Sarg is getting the standard version and we're planning to swap the shoes, socks and maybe cardigans as well ♥ I don't know yet whether Kirari will be wearing this kind of clothes or if I'll let Shiori (Heartful Kiss Maya) steal this outfit X'D