Asian Ball Jointed Dolls and Me

I am one of those who can never sit still. I always have the urge or the need to do something. As a result, I have quite a number of different hobbies and today I will be showing you one of them.



Asian Ball jointed dolls (BJDs) are artist sculpted dolls that have been cast in resin. They come in various different sizes and are made by quite a number of different doll companies from around the world.

They are highly customizable artist dolls. The eyes, hair and even the face (compromising of the eyebrows/lashes, lips and sometimes cheek blushing) are removable and can be changed to suit your own wishes. They are fully jointed like human beings and can sit / stand on their own. The head, limbs, hands and legs can be interchanged with a different doll with the condition that they fit the sockets and clothes, shoes and accessories in all manner and style can be purchased or made for them.

More information about these dolls can be found at the BJD forums: Den of Angels.



When I first got to know about these dolls, I was in love but hesitant to splurge so much money on a doll. The hobby was still very new in Melbourne at that time and I had not yet seen one in person. However it wasn't long before the hobby started becoming more widespread and I had the opportunity to see a few in person at a Melbourne meetup. And as they like to say: Resistance is futile.

I first started with a boy doll. He didn't last very long, being soon resold to the second hand market in favour of a girl doll. She was 60cm tall, and very fetching. To this day, I still have her.

Many years on, I don't just have the one doll anymore. In fact I have quite a number, including a fair number of small ones:



These (the ones on the right anyways) stand at about 26-27cm tall, and are incredibly adorable. One of the biggest reason I loved this hobby was because of the rich variety of different crafts available within the one collector's hobby. You could paint (their faces or tattoos etc); you could sew (clothes!); you could bead and make jewellery; you could be a wigmaker and made wigs for the dolls: the possibilities were endless. And due to the large amount of customizing you could do with the dolls, even if you and another collector had purchased the same base mold to start with, you could end up with two completely different looking dolls. This appealed to my crave for uniqueness, and it's easy to see why I'm still terribly in love with these collector dolls to this day.

And putting aside the actual customization processes one can find on the doll, if you were a photographer or a writer, or a story teller: you'd be involved as well! Beautiful photos are uploaded to Deviant art and Flickr everyday by amazingly talented photographers and it is just amazing to see how photographers have worked and composed a shot to make the dolls seem absolutely lifelike. It is truly magical.

And if not through photos, people will bring their dolls to life through the written word: characters and storylines that go beyond your wildest imaginations. Stepping into this one collector's hobby opens up a whole new world of a million different paths. It is just amazing.

As it were, it was through these dolls that I first found my love for beading. I started making jewellery for the dolls and slowly ventured out to do human jewellery. So if it were not for these beautiful artist dolls, I would never have known that I loved beadworking and jewellery making quite this much!

It's strange really, how some things can lead to others in a slightly roundabout fashion, but it gets there in the end.



Today, for the first time this year, I made jewellery for the girls again.

And it felt oddly satisfying.

Asian Ball Jointed Dolls and Me

Jewellery Displays - It does the head in.

With Spring off to a slightly wet start, I've started thinking about craft markets even more so than usual. Something about good weather screams outdoor markets and picnics, don't you think? I've put myself down for two markets this December at the Camberwell Sunday Trash and Treasure Markets, but if lady luck shines on me, I might be able to have a place in the brand new market organized by Northside Makers.

However applying for markets is one thing, and being ready for it is another. Part of the preparation process is working out your display. And that's something I'm really picky about. I have an image in my head on how Little Waltz should look like, and I really want to stick to that. You'd think with an image already all sorted out, the rest should be easy right? Wrong. Not with me anyways.

While having the image and the idea is half the battle, that doesn't actually mean I know how I want my pieces displayed. So I turned to Flickr.com to have a look through. I found groups such as: Arts & Craft fairs & shows and Show me your booths that had quite a number of beautiful photos contributed by crafters showing off how they did up their booths.

Here are a few of my favourites:


image by Sugarcookie


image by TheCupcakery Girl


image by Glass Elements


In the commercial market right now, there are different different types of jewellery display. If you were to waltz out there right now, you could probably come home with enough to fill a table. However, the problem for me lies in that it looks commercial. While the lovely white busts look really good in photos; on a craft market table, rows and rows of them remind me of goldsmith shop windows: not a favourite look I'm afraid. I'm a crafter, a handmade supporter. It seems wrong for me to go out there and fork out the money for commercial displays. Is this weird? Possibly. But I think I will sleep better at night for it.

That really leaves two pathways for me to take. Either I make my own displays stands, or I salvage something vintage and recycle it, modding it to suit my needs. There's always the ever popular corkboard on a stand: I've tried it, and have noticed that it potentially poses as a safety hazard (It pushes over easily). And winds or crowds can easily do that.

I also have to be aware of the very real time constraints that I will have while setting up, and packing up. I can't take hours uhm-ing and aah-ing over my table. So whatever I come up with will have to be easily packed up and put away efficiently.

And then there's the clutter aspect to be careful about. It can't be cluttered for that will just look messy and buyers will lose interest if they get lost within your own goods on the table. The presentation must be eye-catching or potential buyers will wander past without a second glance.

All these and so much more to think about: Just how do you decide on one? It seems to go on and on and on, and I'm ever so afraid of making that first step.

But when push comes to shove, I know I will come up with something that will do myself and my pieces justice. It's only that right now, I have absolutely no idea what that is.

Jewellery Displays - It does the head in.