Eternal Feminine

Yesterday I was discussing with a friend about BJD's archetypes, idealized beauty and the paradygma they represent.

I try not to define myself by any tag on a daily basis, but there are some open fires I highly identify with, so I am kinda safe saying ''I feel like this''. One is ''Feminist''. In his pure meaning of search for equality, respect and desire to free both men and from the formal tyranny we all suffer and has been standarised. As a feminist, I've felt, and often do feel, conflicted by the fact that I am creating dolls, which are objetuated women to the ultimate expression. Because, well, they are... objects. It is sometimes hard to cope with such a contradiction, and yet, after thought and reflection, I've reached some conclusions I would like to share with you.

The constant representation of the femenine body in art and literature has been, quite often, observed under the prism of a male perspective. Either out of objetuation, adoration or plain lust, male artists have been depicting female bodies dictating therefore the standards and canons of beauty according to their preferences. I would like to believe that there could be something intrinsecally feminist into representing the female body according to feminine ideals or preferences. Specially since quite often, they differ greatly from the male expectative of what a female body is, or should be. I know how often we, women, don't only try to reach formal perfection, but also imperfection or even exaggeration. The sculpture (doll in this case) then defines itself, and sets it's own standards. But I'm disgressing, and I would like to address exactly what has taken me to write this post.

I was once preparing my business cards. In one of them, I used a photo of Saoirse sitting backwards, showing her back and profile. I go ahead and printed several hundreds of them. Then, I went to proudly show the card to my family. They looked at it, giggled, and my mom frowned.

The photo for the card

I looked around and my cousin then said bluntly ''It looks like a prostitute's call card''. And then everyone started to comment how inappropriated it was for a business card to display a bottom on it, etc etc. Feelings were hurt, I got angry with my family, and decided not to show them my stuff.ever.again. (I did, tho. Family can be ok sometimes :P)

After that day, I reflected long on my dolls and how do I depict and show them in my social media. They are, often, naked. Yet, I failed to see anything openly sexual or ''erotic'' on them. Perhaps because, as an art student that was constantly exposed to nudity during univeristy (We had to copy from natural like, 4 hours per day for 4 years, using live models that were terribly bored and often asleep), nudity never stroke me as something offensive or even sexual. To be honest, it was a time that the human models became just like the other composition subjects in class (the bunch of apples in a basket, the old chair) and all you cared for was how good your drawing was looking and if your teacher would like it enough to rise up your marks for that term.

So I realized I've applied that way of thinking into my dolls as well, and I happily photographed and showed them around naked without any further consideration. It was after those thoughts, when I realized that some people might think otherwise. And yet, I've decided to keep doing it as I did, rejecting those opinions. Let me explain you why:

To my, my fairies are just otherworldly beings, not subject to human laws of what is ''correct'' or ''modest''. I find something empowering and refreshing into depicting fantasy women displaying their beauty without social constraints of any kind. C'mon, they are fairies, inspired by pagan mythology and ancestral traditions. They do not know the difference between panties or a hat -for them both are just beautiful things you wear because they are pretty and you like them- So I decided that even if my dolls were unmistakeably sensual and beautiful, that didn't meant immediately sexual, or objetuated. Don't get me wrong, some of my pictures have an obvious sexy vibe, but yet again, I wanted it to look as a woman conscious of her own beauty and attraction, and unashamed of it.

I'm sexy and I know it XD

Even if I can and I actually do enjoy the fragile, utilitary beauty that some creators display on their dolls, and extremely thin proportions or fashion-subdued approach to bjd making, I've decided that's not my path, which goes more towards different proportions -from the pinupesque, chubby bodies of my Glendalough, to the slender and modelesque Sidhes, and also flat chested Cluny, the all-round Roisin I'm currently working on, etc-. For me, beauty comes in all shapes, and I love making my dolls looking empowered and happy, healthy yet feminine. I would like to believe that the idea of refreshing nudity, freedom and conscience of the body as your own, as much as your privilege to show it without any social, religious or moral concerns of any sign is a display of female freedom, that conciliated me with the idea of my dolls as objects of trade. And even if sometimes I've toyed with the idea of creating with them images of sickness, sadness or restraint, something inside me makes me depict them doing silly nonsense surrounded by flowers and in a happy mood. Makes me happy, I guess ; )

The contradiction that lies within what is feminine -fragile but strong, flirtatious but elusive, motherly and maidenly- is something wonderful and allows so many ways of expression and interpretations as eyes are in the world. My compromise with feminism and the female causa is still on, and I really care of how can I affect or take part on it (even if my acts could be detrimental or contradictory towards it). As usual, I would love to hear and discuss your points of view about it. Thank you so much for hearing me ramble once more!

Goddess bless you ; )


Nany

The Aesthetic experience of owning a BJD

Hello everyone!

Back into the idea of using my blog for personal reflection and communication, I've been thinking these days about some random thoughts that came to my mind when a friend of mine discovered bjd's (in this case, through my work, but could have been any other source). She was mindblown by the discovery, and she spent the classical three days mesmerized in front of the computer, absorbing what she saw in awe and contemplation, learning new things and feeling excited and electrified. I'm pretty sure you remember this experience by yourselves.

Because it is similar for us all. The discovery of BJD's was one of the most exciting times in my life. They were such an artistic revulsive and inspiration that lasted for more than a decade, and has not faded yet. It has been very few other things in my life with this power of attraction and the capability of keeping me interested for long. So interested, and so long, that I ended making a lifestyle out of it. One decade later, the flame is still in there, and I can say it burns brighter than ever : )

Yet not all the time it has been the same. All the BJD discovery and my most intense collection times happened through a very very troubled time of my life. Many house removals, moving over countries, personal strife and a lot of inner and outer struggle kept me apart from the hobby sometimes. Yet it never faded, and I knew it would be just a matter of time to get back into it. And each time was as intense and interesting as I remembered.

You all remember that moment, right? The first unboxing time, and the feeling of that heavy doll in your hands, that faint (or perhaps strong XD) scent of resin, and how they looked in person. So much better than pictures, and also, so much worse at the same time... because all the work had to be done!

It is the time of discovery and exploration, and to realize how far is your nude and bald doll from the pictures that you see all around, but still prettiest thing ever. Speaking of which, is also a time to discover how clueless you are about photography. And also, how expensive BJD clothes are! So sewing seems like an option then, and... so many ideas, so many tasks. So little time!
I do not know for you, but for me, to own my first bjd meant a whole rush of creativity, frantic forum browsing, learning new skills and meeting a lot of people. In the social media, chats, forums... this whole new world unfolded upon me and I think I've never felt so high on glamour and creativity for years.  Like the enchanted human that I was then, that feeling of discovery and awe marked me deeply, probably for the rest of my life.

The fact of becoming an owner was, in short, a moving experience that lead me to evolve and develop a whole new world of art, crafts and relationships. Back then, I was an illustrator and worked as color teacher. Upon finding BJD's, my interests quickly moved to sculpting, sanding, modding and photographing, and I recall those not being specially appealing to me when I was at the University. The Sculpture term was just something that had to be done. I could have never guessed how valuable would be later on those endless classes carrying kilos and kilos of clay around the School. I loved the fact of dolls being subject to modification and alterations; my first BJD ever came broken, so I had to start the rough way, with resins, putty and sandpaper on hand. I regret nothing.

Some people believe that bjd are just some kind of mindless expenditure of money. I couldn't disagree more, since the things they have given back to me are unvaluable. Faced upon a work of art of such a beautiful craftmanship, imagination and creativity run wild. It is a moment of reflection, and then, the most important part, the projection of your inner self and your aesthetic preferences shine through. Slowly, the doll becomes a mirror of yourself, your ideals of beauty, your inner thoughts or even troubles. Every time I see a doll customized, I also see a fragment of their owner's soul. Even in the fullset dolls, I know a lot about the person just by seeing what they choosed. Male or Female. Tall or Short. Urban or Fantasy. Once again, the doll becomes the mirror in which you look at yourself and gives you back a reflection of your aspirations, preferences and inner conflicts and wishes.

And that, I firmly believe, is magic. The real one.

Light upon you all,

Nan

The Origin of the name Magic Mirror

Hello everyone!

I still have in my mind the idea of updating my blog more often. With my website incoming, I would love to leave my blog for more personal stuff about my work and ideas, so let's see if this time is the good one, and this can happen properly!

Recently, I had to do a presentation of Magic Mirror  as final project for an entrepreneurs course that I've been attending during the past month. I have to say that it helped me a lot to clarify my ideas and put some order in my thoughts and work priorities, plus it gave me a new insight and momentum to re-take Magic Mirror with new ideas and energy. I had to talk in front of the other students about what is this doll thing I do, about the origin of the whole project and it's further development.

And I thought, it could be a great idea for a blog post, to talk you about the thoughts and facts behind Magic Mirror, and the why's and the who's of it all. Just in case someone is terribly bored and wants to read a bit of dolly disgression XD.
So let's start on the beginning: why Magic Mirror?

If you ever have wondered about my logo, and the name of the project; well, of course, it has a story behind it:

The two M's stand not only for Magic Mirror, but also for Marta Mora, which are my name and surname. I always liked the graphism and the symmetry of the M letter. Also, mirrors are really special for me since I'm a child. I find them alluring and terrifying. I could stare at my reflection and the world behind it for hours, trying to catch glipmses of anything strange. I was convinced that one day, I would see the girl in the mirror moving on her own, or something out of place crossing behind her. I had amazing dreams and terrible nightmares about it, believe me!
 In many cultures and mythologies, mirrors are windows to another world, the parallel one where everything is the same but reversed; a darker reflection of ourselves, where nothing is as we remember.  As Alice herself crossed the Mirror in the second part of her tale, or the Evil Queen in Snowhite lived enslaved to the perfection of her own image, mirrors are objects of wonder and magic, and a perpetual source of stories and legends. The mirror of the Preste Juan, Vasilisa's Silver Plate, The Reflecting Pond... there is something inherently magical about seeing yourself. I could talk about for hours, but I want to keep this moderately short, so let's keep going  ; )


So, Magic Mirror entered my mind naturally as a good name for a project where I project and reflect myself, as I do with my dolls. Because BJD's have always been for me a surface where I also, somehow, see myself projected. My inner ideals of beauty, my aesthetic preferences, and the ideas that I could had in my mind in every stage of these eleven years of passion, first as a collector and owner, and later on, as a maker. And as much as they reflect me, they also reflect their owners. I absolutely adore to see my dolls being played with, being customized and becoming little mirrors displaying the inner self of those who purchased them. It is such a hard to explain feeling, to see my creations supporting the ideas of others, transmutating into small homunculi carrying someone's dreams. Is pure magic. And sometimes, moves me to tears, I fool you not.


Fairytales and Celtic mythology will be another blog entry soon; but if you have been following me for a while, I guess that by now you'll have noticed the strong influcence that lies beneath my whole work related to that. I decided to inspire and decorate in ancient north-european imaginery and designs, fascinated since a child with the intrincate viking and celtic patterns and knot-designs. Then, when I had to decide about the colors, my choices were obvious. I wanted something pale, shiny, positive, summery, and something colder, darker and wintery, to express both sides of the mirror. We will talk further about the meaning of opposite colors and how it's related to me, but I will drop you a little spoiler: In european mythologies, Fairies, specially celtic-inspired ones have two courts: The Summer Court, whom would reign from Beltane (2nd of May) to Samhain (1st of November), and the Winter Court. Those are also called Seelie and Unseelie fairies, corresponding to all that is opposite and complementary in nature. Light and Shadow, Thunder and Earth, Male and Female, Winter and Summer, Good and Evil. Both sides of ourselves, two sides of a coin, and perpetually cycling, as nature does.

Morrigan and Brigid, Goddesses of Light and Shadow

So that's why my two M's reflect each other, are a positive and a negative, and represent the dual nature of fairies, the two sides of the mirror.  I tend to work with pale purple, since it's my favourite color and reminds me about my childhood with my grand father, walking the large fields of spanish lavanders at the mountains near Madrid; or the fragant bunches of lilacs that my granny would bring home when they were in season. White and Lilac are for me the colors of spring and light. For the same reason, I choosed dark green and black for the winter's colors, reminding me of the dark pine trees, the holly leaves of the vernal season, and the nightsky. So you will notice, if you inspect my work closely, that these motifs appear a lot in everything I do, and belong to my imaginery and iconography (which I think that gives me enough for another blog entry, talking about the designs I choose and why!)


                                              ...“But that is another story and shall be told another time.”

                                                                                                                                            Michael Ende

Thank you very much for your time, and I hope you enjoyed reading! Now you know me and my dolls a bit more.

Until we meet again!

Nany

Spring preorder cancelled

Hello everyone!

I must apologize for how miscared my blog has been. In my discharge, I will have to say that the last year has been hectic in movement and in things to do, that are still undone. It is time to put some order in my life and setup things properly. Soon, I will have finally my own working and living space, and I hope that it is the beginning of a very good times to come.

I'm writing just a short notice since many of you have been asking about the spring preorder for the fairies of Glendalough and Maeve.

As you know, I use to work in a bi-yearly preorder basis, making one in the 1sth of November and another the 1st of May. This year, tho, I've decided to change my business model.

The waiting times and the problems with my manufacturer have been really big. I do not work well in a preorder basis, and I can't allow waiting times to stretch like this between one order and another. Is not fair for my customers, and it stresses me a lot. After a lot of consideration, I've decided to switch the way I work from preorder to In Stock dolls. Perhaps it won't be as safe as a preorder basis, but that way, I can grant my customers that their dolls will arrive soon after the purchase. To me, keeping the illusion after a doll purchase is important. So fast processing and shipment has to be a must.

So, stay tuned! I will announce the dolls available in my social media and in this blog (which I promise to keep much more updated and full of info, and not to succumb only to the Facebook easy commodities!). To start with, I have some dolls available after the Doll North convention in Canada. They will be ready to be sold tomorrow, some of them belong to the limited edition ''A Bunch of Lilacs''. You'll see, they are super cute! And in stock, and ready to go!


Many hugs to you all, and thanks a million for the worldwide support that I'm receiving. Magic Mirror studio grows a bit larger day by day, and it is all because of you.

Hantalë!!!

Nany

The Fairies of Glendalough: Preorder is Open & Christmas Event

Hello Everyone!

Finally, aftesome technical difficulties, I can open today the second preorder for the Fairies of Glendalough :)

The preorder will be open from the 5th to the 20th December 2014

Saoirse and Siobhan are available again. Not only that, but exceptionally, Sinéad will be available with them a Christmas Surprise!

The three available faceplates for this preorder!

For this second preorder, the dolls will feature the new double joint knee (looks the same when standing, but the lower leg part has been updated to allow double action), slightly corrected faceplates (worry not; only some minimal bits of symmetry in the eyes have been corrected, they look pretty much the same), and a little tweak at the groin to allow more thigh movement.
 

(Note: The fairies also feature double jointed elbows. If your doll refuses to keep them properly bent, is most likely because the elastic is too tigh. Release a bit of the tension and she will recover her double-mobility)


And I have a wonderful surprise. This time, the amazing Spanish faceup artist, Rakeru Sensei, is collaborating with Magic Mirror. She has offered 10 faceup slots for this preorder at an exceptional price. Do not miss this incredible oportunity to have your fairy with a top quality faceup! Take a look at her gallery, and I promise you will like it : )


The color available in this preorder are Fair Skin (a pale NS) and Light Tan (You are familiar already with that color). The options include the following:

-Model: Saoirse, Siobhan, Sinéad

-Color: Fair Skin or Light Tan

-Bust size: Large or Small

-Faceup: (10 Limited spots only) By Nanyalin, or by Rakeru Sensei

-Outfit ''Ivy'' by Bunny Heart (check her awesome gallery in Flickr!)

Ivy, by Bunny heart, in Saoirse Light Tan

And here comes the surprise Christmas Event:

All the dolls will include free glass eyes as a Christmas gift.

To give Sinéad  a warm welcome, all the purchases of 2 or more dolls including her will have a discount of 15% for your next individual doll purchased at Magic Mirror

The fairies have a base price of 350€ in Fair Skin and 365€ in Light Tan. Take a look at dolls and preorder for info on extras, measurements and shipping!

Thank you very much for your support, and have a Merry Christmas!! I hope you will bring many fairies to their new homes.

Maeve Preorder is Open

Here some pictures of full body shots:

Maeve features a new body, 50cm tall, of slender proportions and delicate lines. Her joints give her a wide range of positions and elegant, natural posability. Be careful when you are making her stand, tho; since she is tall and has long legs, her gravity center is high, and she may fall if unsupported. Of course she can stand on her own in a normal pose, but for more elaborated positions, use of a doll stand is recommended.

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!

The Foamborn: Auction opens

So, the unique Maeve Quartz skin is now for auction.

Starting date: 7 of September 2014
Ending date:  17 of September 2014, at 18:00 GMT (+0)




To bid on her, please send me an email with your offer to:

shendolls@gmail.com

Specifying your name and your bid (if you want to remain anonymous, please make me know in advance)




Current bid : 1800$ M****** ****e

Maeve One Off Quartz Skin: Foamborn

  
Inspired by the legend of the Goddess Afrodite being born from the waves of the sea, here they are some photos of the Maeve One Off in Quartz Skin; Wig by Misty Valley dolls, Outfit by Bunny heart, Aesthetics by Nanyalin. She will be up for auction at Ebay very soon, but in the while, please enjoy the pictures!

The outfit is an unique composition by Bunny Heart, specifically fitted to Maeve's size and proportions. It features about 40 hours work for design, patterning, sewing and decorating. It is composed of 9 different fabrics, and the bodice alone has more than 100 crystals and beads sewn by hand one by one.

The outfit's trail is composed of more than 40 pieces of embroided organza, sewn toghether to create movement and flow, to ressemble waves and water currents. The wig is natural angora goat mohair hand-washed, combed and treated, and contains more than 60 pearl-shaped beads, 6 hand-dyed roses and woven ribbons.

The doll itself is done in a special color, ''Quartz'', which is whitest white resin. The doll has full airbrush bodyblush and is protected with several lavers of MSC and the very relisient Gunze TopCoat. The faceup is by Nanyalin, in nacar-shell ressembling colors.

The eyes are Enchanted Doll milky 10mm, in teal color.

She is really a unique piece, and I hope she will find a lovely family very soon! Thanks for watching :D

One year

I've used my blog most likely to speak about sales, updates and news on my shop. I think it is time to use it a bit more to reflect and talk about the things that are in my mind while I create, my own thoughts, and share with you my experiences as a person and a dollmaker. Because, basically, that's what blogs are supposed to be for, right?

I'm going to talk today about how fast time flies when you are busy and in good company : )

It has been now a bit more than one year since I started making dolls seriously. I won't count Faun, because he was just a very shy attempt to enter the business, but my trip started for real creating Saoirse. I was still living in Ireland when I took the decision, after I was made redundant on the computer games company where I was working back then. Again, my lifestyle and peace of mind where put in jeopardy by someone else's decision and his opinion of my work. And I decided I had enough of that, and that I wanted changes in my life.

And one of those changes was to try to dedicate myself fulltime to doll making. It was not an easy decision; to risk the comfort and safety that you feel each month when you have your paycheck incoming, and trade it for a world of uncertainity, subject to the wishes of the clients and audience, in a really fragille and already saturated environment with more offer than demand. And yet, after 9 years in this hobby as a customizer, sanding, changing, altering, painting and purchasing an infinity of BJD's, I had the strong feeling of giving the idea a serious try, because it was the time, the moment, and I really had nothing to lose. Except some time, and you know, when you are unemployed, you have lots of that. So I started, with an idea in my head, and time pressuring a lot. I wanted her ready for that year's Ldoll, to be my debut, and you wouldn't believe how fast months fly when you have to do an inter-countries house moving and your doll has to travel to China to be casted.

Crafting Saoirse was therapeutic, specially after taking the decision of leaving Dublin. Believe me, it was a difficult one. I lived five years in that city, interrupted only for the 7 months that I lived in Düsseldorf. My personal circumstances were extremely hard back then, tho, and the city was expensive and full of remembrances that I really needed to leave behind, for my peace of soul. Thanks to the help of my friends tho, (Specially Krysia, who took care of me while I was sculpting, making sure that I stopped sometimes and eat XD), I could finish in time, and while Saoirse was in china being molded and casted, I had something that looked like a summer vacation and then, the house moving happened in a turmoil of stress and doll boxes that almost killed me.

My first full doll, Saoirse, in two different colors.

But that was only almost. I made it to Madrid, and the adventure continued here. This year has been one full of revelations, no less stress and lots of travelling. The doll fairs and conventions have been keeping me busy, and they will till the end of the year in Paris dolls Rendez-vous, where I will be the honor guest. But hopefully, by the beginning of next year, everything will be much clearer, all my doll masters will be already in the maker's hands, and I will have all the infrastructure (website, mailing procedures, etc) finally polished and properly working. You know, beginnings are tough, but in this case, I will say it was one of the wisest and happiest decisions of my life.

Thanks to everyone that have supported and encouraged me this year. It would have been a hell without all of you. And remember!

Starting a path is just a matter of walking. And always, the best is yet to come.

Lots of hugs for you all.

Maeve's debut: Dolls & Party, Dolliverse!!

Hello everyone!

It has been a really hectic time. I had not a single momento to properly update the blog with all the things that happened, but now is the time! First of all: Let's talk about Maeve.

Yes, she. It took quite a while to see her complete, but she finally came home. Just in time! The prototypes arrived, and I was happy to be able to show them at the Dolliverse. Everything went smoothly and as planned, we made a wonderful debut and unicorns and flowers happened.

Unicorns!! :^DD

Well. NOT.

That would have happened in a perfect world XD. But reality strikes hard, and this has been one of the most stressful and demanding periods of my life. I do not recall to have a single moment of peace or sleeping more than 5 hours in the last weeks. I knew I was short in time when I sent Maeve to the casting company back there in April, but never imagined that I was THAT short. A single day of delay could meant that she wouldn't be ready in time. But I had faith. Sadly, faith alone does not work when is about postal services Europe/China and all the things that can go wrong.

To make a long story short: I went to Galicia in north Spain with my friends Alen Ros and Lyris from Misty Valley to prepare a huge load of angora wool wigs, dresses for Maeve and diverse items for the two European doll shows. The Glendalough Fairies for the fair arrived while I was away, so when I went back, I found 10 little fairies waiting for customization... bodyblushing, faceup, dressing. Photos. All had to happen QUICK. And the Maeves were delaying. When the package with the prototypes arrived, it was only 4 days before departure to Amsterdam.

Imagine my dismay when I opened a box with flawed dolls. Not only I had to prepare them, but first, I had to fix the prototypes, dremmel them, re-string, re-shape some joints and then proceed to customization. And don't make a mess out of it, if I wanted a proper debut of my long-time-awaited doll. So, I started working against the clock.

And it happened. And I still do not know how I did it, but I have something very clear in my mind: it was due the amazing help of my friends that I could remain sane in this whole process. Pandora, from Bunny Heart, who prorized the outfits for my dolls even before the ones for her own booth at Dolls & Party. Lyris, who sacrificed her holidays and spent them brushing dirty goat's fur, Rosalen trying to understand my directions for outfits owning only a torso, Mauro printing the matherial for the booth when everything else failed, Avalon who had to contact people she didn't knew to print me some business cards, Moises enduring my whinning and crisis moment when the first Maeve arrived... and of course, my great friend Carlos, who traveled with me all over this European Ordeal and had to stand my changing moods, my stress crisis and my constant demands.

But thanks to them all, my booth looked like this in Nijmegen:

Yea, I know it does not look too impressive, but I think the dolls did, and I can say it was a great and succesful experience. I won't bore you with all the things that happened in Amsterdam, the surroundings and the odyssey that was to reach Nijmegen; I will just say that it happened, and many of my dolls were adopted there. I've found a beautiful Flickr album about the Dolliverse by Evie Ex Machina. I recommend you to take a look, it will give you a great vibe of how the convention was, and you will find several cute pics of my dolls in there. We then had two days to visit Amsterdam, and we did thanks to the kindness of Monika and her baby girl Alice, who showed us the interesting city spots to Carlos, DD Anne and I. A great time, meeting great people, walking around an enjoying the nice weather and views of the city. Hope to be back next year!!

This duck has quite an interesting bike. Decora-bike?

And with that, we were ready for Barcelona, only six days after that. Enjoying the hospitality of Carlos friends Tony and Eva, who were really kind and gentle and gave us a place to sleep, and then moving ahead to set another booth and do more doll display, talks and friends. I really enjoyed it, but after so many days roaming, the experience was quite nerve-wrecking. And yet, we managed, and some people in Barcelona decided that it was a good time to adopt Irish fairies. Meet several new and old friends, got emotional when the girl that won my Bronze Saoirse giveaway doll in the raffle started crying, got sad to see some people that used to be really close friends not even saying hi, had a not-so-surprise visit (I knew you were coming, Sixto ;_P ) and in the end, I packed back and retreated to fall dead in a small bed at a bed and breakfast.

Absolutely lovely pictures of my booth taken by Sairon!

I still can't believe I did it. Well, we did it, and I am grateful to everyone who supported me during this days. I needed them to get momentum, in any case, and my bag is so full of news and announcements that I almost do not know where to start. But all will happen in time! By now, I will have a very little rest, will finish my pending comissions and will start dealing with the massive box of Ingenues and Ingenieuses that is in my dining room. And of course, I need to prepare a proper introduction post of Maeve. Do not worry, my clone and I will manage to do everything in time.

What? nobody else but I sees her???!!!

Magic Mirror: Honor Guest at Dolliverse, Netherlands!

Hello Folks! I have an announcement full of news here.


Guess what?? Dolliverse is coming!


And guess what else? I will have the honor and the privilege to be attending there as honor guest! ^____^!!


Thanks to the Think Pink organizers, me and my dolls will attend there this year. This will be the first of the Doll Conventions that I will assist this year, and I am working night and day to be able to present my new doll, Maeve, to the audience attending to the convention. Moreso, if all goes as expected, I will take some of them to the convention, toghether with some surprises. So if you ever wanted a Maeve, and also, some great company with doll fellows, do not miss the event!!

But not only Maeve will be there; also, I will have some of my Fairies of Glendalough with me, in the old, regular beloved colors and some surprise colors that will be available strictly at doll shows. Some talented spanish artists are helping me to prepare unique, delicious full-sets for these dolls with higest quality clothes and luxurious angora wool wigs. I hope it will be a blast for us all, and that it heralds many Dolliverses to come!

We have a date in Nijmegen. See you there, folks! And remember, please share this advertisement and help Magic Mirror to reach the corners of the internets!

Many hugs and love to you all!!

Nany

http://dolliverse.com/dolliverse_en.htm

Invoices sent

Hi! All the invoices have been sent, after the short special period of time to order the old faceplates. Next Fairies of Glendalough preorder will happen around mid September, and will feature new colors and the new faceplates. Thanks to everyone!

Fairies of Glendalough face change

Hi again!

I have an important news to tell. After some consideration, I've decided not to open another preorder for the Fairies of Glendalough this spring. I had my masters back, and I took an executive decision of changing the faces of the dolls. The change is very small (it only affects the spacing of the eyes, they now have them a bit more separated, both Saoirse and Siobhan), but when I run the next preorder, I would like it to be with the new faces properly depicted. So this spring, it won't be any preorder, at least until the new faces are finished and in circulation.

BUT -if you happen to like them as they are right now, I also decided to give a chance before retiring the old molds. So even if it won't be a proper preorder ''per se'', if there is everyone around who would like one of the fairies as they are right now, I will accept a

small amount of orders, that will be the last ones with the original faces, starting tomorrow and during a short period of time (about 10 days). After these 10 days, the molds will be retired and the fairies of Glendalough will have the new faces.





I also will offer the opportunity to anyone that has purchased, or will purchase a doll with the old faceplate, the possibility of ordering the new faceplates when they are out, if they happen to like them more.

So if you want to get one of the fairies with their original faceplates, please stay tuned! The amount of orders I will accept of this run is very limited, so I may close the preorder before the 10 days.

Please, share if you think this may be relevant to your doll communities!

Hugs

Nan

Maeve is ready for production

Hello everyone!

I have been dead busy these last weeks. And when I say it, I really really mean it. I got tonsilitis, and that put me off the scheme for some days of tablets, bed and ibuprofen, and the rest of the time I have been working on Maeve.

Yes, Maeve. The doll I planned to finish by Christmas. Now you can laugh with me.

The fact is that the administrative problems and endeavors of the first preorder of the Fairies of Glendalough caught me a bit unaware. I want to apologize to everyone for some of the delays with their dolls. Even if I know that the usual waiting time in BJD's is about 2-3 months, I wanted to do it faster. And well, I ended with a standard time, and some serious struggles with my administrative tools. I am relieved now that all the dolls departed and arrived to their homes, and I am delighted every time I see someone posting their little fairies in the net. But I also have to say that I've learnt a LOT from the whole experience, and next time it won't caught me unaware. I beg your pardon and understanding; even if I have been dealing and selling bjd's for years, this is a whole new world of papers and data processing that I had to get used to. From here, I want to thank again all the persons that gave me their trust and decided to order one of the dolls from my, rather unknow company.

Thank you very, very much. You all have been a enormous impulse and motivation for me to keep working and improving. I am grateful for everyone's patience and understanding, and I hope you all are satisfied with your little ones.


Next order of business: Maeve, the Leannan Sidhe, has already departed for production. After giving me lots of headaches and severe temptations of throwing her out of the window, I managed to finish the master, and I have to say, be completely satisfied with it. I am proud of the final look of the doll; I compared the master with the first one I had for the Fairies of Glendalough, and I think it's very satisfying to see that you improve and that things seems moving on. Maeve was much more complex than the little girls, way larger, and the joint system proved to be a challenge. I can't wait to have a resin prorotype in my hands that can be properly and tightly strung (because you can't do that with the clay one; it breaks and chips like mad) to show you what she can do and the possibilities of her joints. In the while, I managed to take some pictures of the clay master in my garden, and I really hope you like her. She has the pointy nose of her little cousins Saoirse and Siobhan, but I also wanted her to have mature, defined features with defined cheekbones and a clean jaw. And that is not easy; usually, when you make the features of a female doll too hard, or you give her any shape but round and soft, people tend to see ''a guy''. So overall, I am extremely satisfied of her general look and I think she managed to look very feminine, pixy-like and devious, but still sweet and sensual. Now is up to you to decide! What do you think?

All the fairies are gone! Get ready for what is coming...

Hello everyone!

All the remaining dolls from the first preorder of the Fairies of Glendalough have been shipped to their owners (last ones to ship have been the final layaways and the In Stock dolls that required customization). Expect them soon at your homes, and get them ready! Because I have some news

I am giving the girls some time to arrive to their respective homes, and next week we will launch a doll owner's contest, with prizes for those who take the best pictures, a draw where you can win a Siobhan doll and discounts for future preorders and MM dolls. So start thinking about your photo themes and customizations for your girls, it is going to be a busy week for us all. Let's share our girls and spread some irish fairy love all over the internet! ; )

Hugs!

Dolls shipped and final layaway invoices

Hi Everyone!

This is a fast update: All the dolls that were payed in full have been shipped, except for the ''in stock'' dolls that required customization.

On the other hand, all the final layaway invoices have been sent today. Please, check your mail if you are one of those waiting for your girls!

Hugs!

Fairies of Glendalough: Small Bust

Hello! I would love to show you my Siobhan with the new optional piece of small bust! I always wanted to do this option for the fairies, but since the time was running short last year it was not possible. Finally I've done it, and here you can see the result. This piece will be available soon to be purchased separatedly, for those of you who prefer your dolls... a little bit less voluptuous :P !

Say hi, Siobhan!


 

Shipment for the fairies of Glendalough

Hello!

I am super busy these days at the studio. Just wanted to give you all great news! The shipment of the first preorder of the Fairies of Glendalough will start next week for the orders that have been already payed for. I can't wait to see some pictures of the fairies at their new homes! ^_^

h

Maeve, the Leannan Sidhe; WIP

Hello everyone!

The weeks pass by really fast! You may be wondering what has happened here at the other side of the Mirror. Well, while the Fairies of Glendalough have been in production, I've been working on new projects and boiling new ideas at the studio. I have so many things that I would like to do! But time is limited, and besides, so many things have been happening in the while, that my projects haven't been as fast as I would have liked. Still, I have some exciting news that I would like to share with you : )

When I created the Fairies, I was thinkig on doing something neat, clean and efficient to take with me to this year's Ldoll. I have always liked and favored simple dolls that behaved well, posed cute and did not ''struggle'' when you play with them, if you know what I mean. Upon creating Saoirse and Siobhan, I must say that they overcame all my expectatives, and I am delighted with the final result. They are, in my opinion, something pleasurable to handle and to play with, and versatile enough to allow many looks and make great pictures. I love my two girls, and they will be always with me.

But.

But I always thought that I shoudl keep growing and  improving my work. So when the time came and the creativity bug bite again, I decided that this time I wanted to go a step further and go for something a bit more complex. With the great counsels and sample of my friend Twigling, I learnt a lot about joints, articulation and posability on bjd's. And I decided to put these knowledges on operation and create another doll. This time larger, this time with a more complex articulation system, but still within the aesthetic vibe and feeling of the Fairies of Glendalough. Starting from scratch, I began working on my next project, Maeve.

I do not want to talk too extensively about her yet. She started from a paper sketch, in a size that intended to be around 50cm tall, but the final result ended a bit lighter and more delicate than my initial idea. I had in mind a tall, elegant and willowy girl, with delicate features, high cheekbones, a lithe but still sensual and femenine frame. My inspiration this time was the Anglo-Irish myth of the Leannan Sidhe, the ''Fairy Lover''; is some kind of vampire-succubus fairy maiden with good intentions (well XD, as good as a vampire can have), that marries human artists and inspires them to creation. These romances are intense and provide the artists with loads of creativity and passion, but prove to be fatal in the end, because the intensity may even kill the artists. I've always found this idea amazing, so I created Maeve having the myth in mind. There will be some surprises about her when the project is more advanced, but for now, I have some pictures for you to see how will this girl will look like (more or less). I hope you like her! She for sure has my heart on her little hand (yes, she only has one so far, still working in the other! XDD)


 

 And some pictures of the body: