My Obsession with EDs

Wow, I wrote a bit more than I thought I would yesterday. I don't think my posts will usually be as long. As promised, today I shall explore my current obsession: Enchanted Dolls. They are porcelain, ball jointed, and in 1:6 scale. They are magical, and made by hand. All the dolls on that site were made by a very VERY talented artist, Ms. Marina Bychkova.

I was looking for a reference picture for Beauty and the Beast's enchanted rose,

<< - the picture I ended up drawing from the search, in case you wondered. Ha. when I came across the ED site. My rose search then had to wait, for four hours. I was... enchanted. I couldn't stop looking at the amazingly gorgeous dolls that lived on this site. I even went as far as to email a few friends with the site and discussions on my favorites. I joined the forum soon after. Encountering these EDs for the first time, it was breathtaking. In deed, for days afterward, I would feel light headed, my mind would say "I need to breathe!!" and I would have to go to my then favorite ED picture. It was always open in a tab, so I could go back to it when necessary. This is Hathar. (photo by Chad Isley) And this was my then favorite picture. She is currently my favorite Enchanted Doll Nude, and has been my favorite since I found EDs. I dream of different ways I may want to get her. Sometimes I imagine getting her just as she is. Sometimes it's with a warmer skintone. Sometimes it's with red hair and soft aqua eyes. Sometimes she's got various tattoos and scars on her body. Sometimes she's unmarked. The possibilities are endless, and my mind takes advantage of that fact.

In April of this year, Marina went to Wisconsin to open her very first solo show at the Villa Terrace. The gallery is only a couple hours away from me, and so was my chance to see these works of art in person, and meet the Enchantress that brings them to life.

I arrived a bit early, not on purpose, I had given extra time for traffic and my predictable habit of getting lost, even with a gps. While I did get lost, (NOT MY FAULT, the gps lost signal in downtown Milwaukee!) there was no traffic, and so I entered the Villa Terrace hours early, with people looking at me funny when I tried to explain. I went for a walk, bought a blood orange, and sat in the car, rereading Twilight while waiting for the show. I saw Marina and her fiancé, Chad, leaving the gallery, I assume to get ready for the opening. I had trouble reading when it came closer to go time. I nearly jumped out of the car when I felt I couldn't wait any longer.
Seeing these dolls in person were even better than I thought they would be. All were costumed dolls that I had seen on the ED website a dozens of times before. They were all so incredibly precious. I fell in love with each and every one of them. I felt I couldn't be taking enough pictures of them, and in the end I wish I'd taken more.














I had planned on going back to take more pictures on a later date, but was unable to get there in time. *sigh* I regret not paying more attention to the pictures I took. I have only one or two of some dolls, and close to a dozen shots of others. I had tried to video tape a walk around the area as well, but the camera didn't record it.

Meeting Marina was a treat in and of itself. She's so sweet and so opinionated. It was incredible to get to meet her.
Days before the opening, I couldn't sleep, and felt I shouldn't meet the incredible Marina empty handed, so I decided to make her a Kyootee. Pronounce "cutie", I created these for my family this past Christmas. Each Kyootee came with something - my dad's - a Yoda, my brother's - a penguin, my mom's - a slot machine, the boyfriend's - a computer, and my brother's girlfriend - a ukulele. So after searching through Chad's Flickr for ages, I decided Marina would get her kitty. I threw together various pictures to try and make the Kyootee more like Marina, like her hat, (which I believe no longer exists) and her jacket.
Even her shoes, though you can't really see them on the Kyootee too much because of her jeans. I got to give Marina her Kyootee at the opening, and it was definitely a happy moment for me. So the opening was one of the best days of my life. I got to see the beautiful dolls up close, and meet the creator. Definitely going down in the noxy history books.






How can you wander the Enchanted Doll website and NOT fall in love with these dolls?!

(photos by Chad Isley)

Everytime a new doll comes out it battles for a spot on my faves list. They all have such personality and uniqueness to them. One slight difference in the painting, and the doll becomes a whole new doll. On days when I'm feeling blue, (which, without Britney, is more often than not) I daydream of being able to purchase a whole bunch of Nudes, and all of the Costumed dolls that were for sale at the Gallery. Some of the dolls would find their way to new owners - "family" from the ED forum. Many would stay with me. They'd have a room, a world, all to their own. Sometimes I would imagine only one doll would come to me, rather than the bunch. And I would be equally as happy.

Someday, I hope to actually own one of these dolls. Someday I believe I will. But this won't be for a very long time. And so I stick to my daydreams, and the site, and the forum. The forum is a blessing to an obsessed person such as myself. For many ED doll owners or soon-to-be owners post pictures of their lovelies. And I stare and stare. Thank goodness a tally isn't made as to how much time one spends staring at pictures. Aneemal was kind enough to use her photoshop powers to create two ED variations I've had in my mind for quite some time.



One:
Hathar with soft aqua eyes, and red hair.

And two:
Edie with short black hair, and gold eyes.


Two more dolls to add to my never ending list of dreams. Marina has posted that she has a new body mold for her dolls too. I'm sooo curious. Can't wait to see it! And she's posted about wanting to make new face molds. Which sounds incredibly awesome, because her current molds are already breathtaking. Sooo many different faces are made from just a handful of molds. Imagine how many new faces could be made from just one new mold?! Oh the possibilities. I wish I could step in to the mind of Marina, just for a moment, to see what she's got hidden in there. Get a sneak peek of the people she may be using as references. Or take a wander through her "dolls to do" list, as she's mentioned many ideas for possible new dolls, but not enough time in the day.

Finding Enchanted Dolls made me more interested in dolls in general. I have a few dozen Barbies, and occasionally got an urge to buy a new one every now and again. I would go to the store, and often come back empty handed. Have you seen some of these dolls lately? So disappointing. Their last "Bride Barbie" really disturbed me, because of the saying that's written across the front of the box: "Every girl's dream". Now, whether or not "being married" was my dream as a child, do I really want my Barbie telling me this? What if being married isn't 10 year old Sally Sue's dream? What now? Since obviously it's every girl's dream to want to be married. So then obviously there's something wrong with poor Sally Sue. Or maybe Becky Lynne never really thought about getting married before - I mean, come on, she's only 8. But here her Barbie says it's every girl's dream, so it must become her dream as well. We've got seven million Becky Lynnes who, at 8 years old, now dream of being married. And we've got seven million Sally Sues who, at 10 years old, thinks she's defective because she doesn't share this dream that every other girl has...

Um.... where was I? Oh, okay. So Barbies were no longer cutting it for me. In fact, after my encounter with Every Girl's Dream Bride Barbie (which, I of course purchased, because I love to make absolutely no sense sometimes... or maybe I just wanted proof of the ridiculous statement.. yeah... that's what it was...) I had lost interest in dolls. Heaven knows I think Bratz are ridiculous, and there really isn't much else out there... or so I thought. Finding EDs also led me in to the world of BJDs. I've become a bigger fan of dolls now than ever before. I would like to have a collection of BJDs someday, with an ED at the center, but all dolls are outside of my current financial zone. (being zero at the moment) I can't even afford a Barbie right now. Haha. I do have two BJDs though. Two very, VERY kind ED-Forum-Family-Members sent them to me. Ziggytaku sending me a Dollfie, a Super Dollfie I think, named Ryu, whom I've dubbed Gareth. And Labrat sending me a sweet little doll. A Roxy Doll Becy if I remember correctly, but I have been unable to find any pictures of one to confirm. I have named her Linnaea. More on Gareth and Linny tomorrow though, maybe.