My Thoughts on Ipernity and Flikr [Profanity warning: I swear a bit in here.]

A lot of other bloggers have written on this topic, but I'll chime in anyway. 

My random thoughts on the new Flikr:

1. The CEO said some stupid shit. I say stupid shit all the time. If the product works, I'll excuse it. At least once.
2. Some facts: the home page defaults to your friends' photos, not your stats. This is annoying, but dealable. On the plus side, you get to have a neato cover photo and pretty much unlimited storing and upload capacity. And if you're old kind of Pro, you get to stay that way.
3. I'll be staying with the old Pro account, at least for awhile. I like not having ads, but I don't know if paying $24-ish per year is worth not having them. I'll have to check my free accounts to see how intrusive the ads are. They can't be worse than facebook.

Recasts and Fake Certificates or Headplates

Recasts sometimes come with fake certificates or headplates. The recasts that do, that I know of offhand, are Iplehouse, Soom, and Volks dolls. This is not a legal discussion, but just a helpful guide.

*new info added at the bottom of the post*

Volks are probably the number one recast doll, perhaps possibly tied with Soom. The recasters often include fake plates with Volks dolls. The metal plates can be determined as forgeries fairly easily (though I don't have access to a legit Volks for further detail this should help):

Plate reads: 1012/DP24

• Plate is ill-fitting
• Plate is of low quality
• Plate lists a Dollpa that never happened or won't happen until a future date
• Plate lists a Dollpa that does not correlate with the Volks doll (a year when the doll wasn't produced)

Here is a pic of my fake Volks' plate (I did not make this plate, nor do I even know how to find them).

Jack and Jill, Double Box Opening: Legitimate Fairyland Feeple 60 Mirwen and Chloe plus other stuffs

(The lighting is really bad in my house despite the sunlight, so apologies for the weird lighting in the pics. I decided against doing a video, since I figured I'd have to cut and pause every five seconds for the baby.)

So I ordered these guys around tax time this year. With no pressing obligations, I was able to do a dream order without feeling guilty. I got two Feeple 60s and all the Valentine items to go with them. After nearly three months waiting, they arrived this morning!

I woke up early to wait for the postman. I figured he'd show up with the slip in hand, ready to just leave it and take off without having to carry the package (I don't blame him, the box is heavy!). He was surprised when I opened the door. He had the form already all filled out and everything and was a bit annoyed he had to go back to the truck for the box.

The box, by the way, was huge.

How Choose a Doll

Really, no one can tell you exactly how or what doll to choose. Yet, people still ask all the time. So I've decided to put together a small guide to help those of you who want some help.

There are a few places you can go for handy links. DoA has a list of dolls under $300 as well as a database full of sculpts and companies. Be sure to check these out.

FAQ: Items to have on hand for your first doll and What is a Box Opening

This is another question I find frequently on forums. I've put together a simple list for those who are interested. It's just my opinion, and nothing is really mandatory. I will add to it as I think of more things or get suggestions. Hope this helps!

You'll want basic things to clean and maintain your doll.

• Mr. Clean Magic Erasor or other magic sponge
• Isopropyl alcohol (for cleaning smudges and stuff)
• Elastic- not a must, but handy especially if you're buying second hand
• Eye putty- not a must, but handy to have

Face Up FAQ and Tutorial

This post is to highlight some of my face-up techniques. I'm by no means the best, and there are lots of face-up tutorials out there, but hopefully you will get some use out of this tutorial. :) I will try to update this post as I come across more face up questions. First, the FAQ, then the materials list, followed by the tutorial.

Note: I don't update this as I improve my faceups because that's a pain in the butt, so if you want to see my latest stuff you can always check my flickr.

https://www.flickr.com/photos/amaranthscastaways/

Face Up FAQ

Q:What materials do I need?
A:See below!

FAQ: Ordering a Doll From a Company or Dealer

How do I buy a doll?

Buying your first doll can be really intimidating. It's a lot of money to shell out at once, plus a long wait…it can be scary! The following post should help you feel better about purchasing a doll.I'm including some screenshot of the process for Fairyland, but it's the same basic process no matter where you shop. All screen shots are of FL's page. I've merely used them to illustrate the points.

Miniature Book of Shadows Tutorial

You'll need:

• Cardboard (thickness is up to you, but I like to use corrugated cardboard)
• Glue (Elmer's white glue or glue stick, hot glue or super glue or other strong glue)
• Dark tea bag, steeped (but don't burn yourself!)
• Match or lighter
• Water
• Decorative objects (flowers, scrapbooking materials, stickers, etc)
• Printed pictures
• Ribbons
• Decorative paper and/or fabric
• Stapler or thread and needle
• Scissors
• Ruler
• Pencil

Fluff with pics: Rain storm!

We are having a huge rain storm here. I love the rain. I find it soothing, romantic, uplifting...so I had to take a dollie out to go play in it. Didn't have time for too many photos, but I took a few of Roslynn, my Little Red Riding Hood. This is her new look (she's no longer my pretty little Lolita girl). I'll list the info about her outfit and hair and stuff at the end of the post. I'm a terrible photographer and queen of the unflattering angle, but thank you for humoring me; I hope you enjoy her. Oh, and a bit of shameless self-promoting: I've still got 14 free face up slots left in total, so if you want one, snatch it up!

60 cm Shoe Review!

60 cm Shoe Review! (For dolls such as SD16/SDgr heeled feet, SDgr flat feet, and Feeple 60)

I adore shoes. I love them in my size, and I love them miniature. I'm especially a sucker for adorable heels. I'm making a list of different shoes and brands that SDgr girl flat feet, Feeple 60 girls, and SDgr heeled feet. I will note where I got them and what I thought of them. I will update this as I get more shoes to review. Hey, I need an excuse to buy more right? Check back for updates.