Momentum

Hi everyone!

I have many, many news here. I really do not know where to start, since many things have been happening since my last post. I will try to make some order in my head and write about what has been going on in the Studio recently. I should make haste, because... it's a lot.

First of all, I need to deeply apologize for the people that are still waiting for my special order of the Glendalugh Fairies. In late spring I offered the possibility of ordering Saoirse and Siobhan with their former faces, without the tweakings I did (I was never totally happy with the eye spacing on them, so I decided to do some minor changes on their faceplates). Since then, so many things have happened that I really do not know where to start. The order clashed with the period of fairs and doll shows, will the making of Maeve, a monumental disagreement with my maker that ended in us stopping doing business toghether (and since then, I had to look for another place to do the pro-casts on my dolls). Because of all that, the dolls that I ordered delayed a lot. And even it was a time when I was told that the molds were no longer functional, and the old faceplates could not be replicated without re-sending them and re-molding them. Imagine my grief and frustration.

Fortunately, that didn't happen and in the end, the fairies arrived home safe, sound and perfect. I was terribly relieved, but they also happened to arrive two weeks before a house moving. And the house moving happened one week before a 12 days trip to USA and Dollism Plus. Since there is only me currently working in Magic Mirror, and as much as I wanted to process the remaining order as fast as I could, it was simply impossible until I had a couple of days to sit down and breathe. I think this has been one of the most stressful and hectic periods of my life, and since my dolls had to be re-sent to a different maker, I was tight in each and every doll fair I've attended this year. Which, if counting Dolls Rendez-Vous, will be a total of 5.

I am not happy about the long processing times, and I am thinking on ways to improve it and process my orders much, much faster. To start with, I finally have the molds safe and sound in a maker that I am happy with, and who has a good communication with me. To follow up, I've developed better ways to deal with customizations and faceups, found a reliable source of beautiful glass eyes and I am now cooperating with some awesome Spanish doll artists that are making my life easier. On the bad side, I will have to move my house. Yes, -again-. Renting a house with a friend of mine happened not to be a good idea after all, so as soon as I am back from Ldoll, I will have to start this process again. But happily, the order will be out of my house, the Ldoll will be in the past, and I will be able to settle down without pressure and prepare for the arrival of Maeve's order.

Horrible phone picture of Maeve in Fair Skin

Which, as some of you reading my facebook may know, will happen this next monday the 13th of November. I had to delay my preorder because of my trip to USA, but the long awaited Leannan Sidhe will be finally available for preoder. It has taken me two makers, several corrections and adjustments to the masters even after the molds were made and a whole lot of headache to make her good enough to be satisfied with her, but I am finally happy. I think all the hours and time I've invested on her shows off, and I hope that people will appreciate her interesting charcteristics and the posing capabilities. I will be working in some pictures to show you how cool can she be when posing, and the versatility of her face sculpture this weekend. I have to confess that I am excited and at the same time, terrified. The first prototypes of Maeve didn't arrive as good as I expected, so I had to fix them by hand. I know their owners are more than happy, but to have to dremmel and sand 10 dolls was quite a bummer after all the high expectatives I had on her. Fortunately, the new dolls are just perfect, and up to my expectations. I tend to be my worst critic, so I hope that my customers and the people that have been patiently and enthusiastedly waiting for her since December last year will be also pleased her. She is special to me, and the design contains a part of my soul.

I have many more things to talk about, but I do not want this post to become super, super long, so I will leave it here by now. This weekend, I will update the doll pages to prepare it for Maeve's preorder, so stay tuned, because it is coming, and this time for real. Even I can't believe it >_<!

Many hugs and lots of love for you all!