Happy New Year and goals for 2016

Hi there! Trying to make one last appearance before the New Year :) 2015 was difficult for me, not only because of the new cat but also mentally... it was very challenging. Many of the things I wanted to do remained undone and many times I felt as if I was moving through water while everyone else was at full speed. That being said, I had many happy moments and accomplishments and I gathered lots of exciting new dolls too. I hope the next year will be better and here is a list of things I want to do and write about.


First of all, we bought quite a few dolls that haven't made an official appearance here (the wishlist album works, y'all!). We took pictures for a review of the new J-dolls that arrived last year, but I never managed to write a proper post and meanwhile we bought another batch!

So,
1. Review the three J-dolls. Receive the new ones and review too.
It was also the year when I ventured into 16" dolls with an order of Tonners.

2. Review the Tonners. Luckily, I already have pictures!
Reviews aren't actually my thing, I will review what I find interesting or underrepresented. We also bought dolls I won't write about, like several MH.

By the way, sorry for the weird sizes. I borrowed some pictures from the FB page for lack of time but I'll figure out a unified standard for my pictures.
3. Figure out picture sizes for the blog and the FB page.

4. Open a new blog tab for a photo gallery of the dolls. This way, I'll keep track of my new additions without writing useless posts like "hey, look at this doll I bought that I won't review!"

However, I want to write a research/appreciation post about Hair-tastic Barbie. I have 2 now!

The one on the right is repainted and rebodied

5. Review with my thoughts about the Hair-tastic lines.
The one with purple hair will get a makeover as well, and I have several dolls I want to repaint... but the top priority is my doll in a traditional outfit. All she has now is the hair.

I found voile, embroidery thread, even thin brown leather for shoes... I'm missing minor supplies and some time and energy to get going. They made a holiday for the traditional costume which will be celebrated in June 2016 for the first time. I have to finish it before then!
6. Make the traditional custom.
I also want to restore my ruined first doll. She has dreads now, maybe we'll move forward next year?

7. Restore my first doll.
8. Write hair tutorials, for dreads and other hair tips as well.

This year I collected a lot of exciting new dolls but for the next I'm putting a cap on doll purchases. I gathered pretty much all the affordable J-dolls that I like, I don't need more than two Tonners and Mattel has made it really easy for me to quit on them with that atrocious hair glue. I'm sick of it. I ordered a Made To Move doll which will be arriving in several weeks and that's it. I'll look at older dolls when a buying opportunity arises. I got a jointed Cali Girl recently and ordered a second one. They are very nice and glue-free :)

I also ordered a Chinese fashion doll named Xinyi. It's absolutely lovely and I want to review it.

9. Review Xinyi.
This doll is on a smaller body than Barbie, and her arrival (they are sold nude) reminded me that I have to sew clothes in this size.
10. Make clothes and shoes for J-doll/Mariposa/Xinyi (Kurhn).
Speaking of outfit shortages, one of the Tonner dolls came barefoot with just a leotard. I started making platform shoes, but my experiments had to be put aside for the holiday season.

11. Make the platform shoes and write an improved tutorial.
I also started making jewellery again. A lot of it!

12. Find the optimal methods for making jewellery. Plan an Etsy shop.
I have been experimenting in other areas too. I found some passable jointed bodies that I used to rebody some stiff favourites.

I tried some corset patterns. They are on hold now.

13. Perfect my corset patterns and sew some. Maybe set a few aside for the future shop.
Lastly, I want to dig into wig-making. I unglued a couple of J-doll wigs and tried various things to make them stay without glue. I also bought BJD tresses.

14. Make removable doll wigs.
One thing I managed to do from start to finish amid all the doll purchases and personal stuff was my entry for Requiem Art's doll makeover contest. I won a sewing pattern with my Venus makeover!

15. Write about the Venus makeover. Finish testing the prize pattern and sew something from it.
My most inspired idea from the past year was creating the FB page. It enabled me to keep in touch with some of my favourite bloggers and meet new people even when I couldn't write a full blog post. There, I participated in a holiday gift swap where I received some doll hair. The gift preparation kept me busy and I barely managed to make the wreath in the first photo. Then I made a new doll tree for myself. I finished on the 24th.

I wanted to write some tips and tutorials for these holiday decorations, but I was severely lacking time. It doesn't help that I decorate my trees on the 24th XD By the time I wrote the tutorial, everyone would be putting away their trees. So I'll write it at leisure for the next holiday season :)
16. Write a post about holiday trees and ornaments.
17. Reroot a couple of dolls with the hair I received in the gift swap.

This is it! I hope we'll meet more often in the next year. Was 2015 good for you? Do you have plans for 2016? I wish you a wonderful celebration and a fruitful year ahead! Happy New Year!

The Black Kitty
(^^)~