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Here I will be documenting my progress as I create my first porcelain ball jointed dolls. My dolls will be available for sale at my Etsy shop:

http://www.etsy.com/shop/danaealexandra

If you're interested in pre-ordering a doll send an email with "pre-order" in the subject line to:

danaemakingdolls@gmail.com

I've been an artist my whole life so I'm inspired by many, many artists, but I was inspired to make a doll by Marina Bychkova of Enchanted Dolls.

If you could have any kind of doll in the world (for example: a pin-up girl, a Viking…). What kind of doll would you choose?

ladyinarocknrollhell: Hello there! I was wondering if you took "requests" for dolls, like if I want a doll of certain celebrity or give you an idea of a doll? and how much would one of your dolls cost?

Hey! I would definitely take a request for a certain type of doll, in fact I would love to hear ideas and/or suggestions! That said, I probably wouldn’t deviate too far from my personal style either. After all you wouldn’t ask Tim Burton to direct a film if you wanted the end result to be like something Woody Allen would do! (Not to compare myself to their amazing-ness!)

As far as making a doll after a celebrity I would love to do it, but I’m really afraid of copyright laws. I’ve talked to a few professional artists and they’ve all warned against it. I would be happy to make a doll “inspired by” a celebrity though! I could make a doll with very specific make-up or perhaps with a certain hair/skin/eye color combination!

I’m afraid I haven’t determined the cost of my dolls as of yet. From the research I’ve done it looks like other porcelain BJD artists sell their dolls for between $1,000-8,000 per doll. (I’m thinking of Patricia Rose and Enchated Dolls, but there are several others that charge about 2k) The cost of a doll depends a lot on how many are to be made. For example, a custom doll would be OOAK or One of A Kind and therefore more expensive than a doll that was a limited edition of say, 50 dolls. That’s because I would have to sculpt a new face (and body perhaps) based one your preferences and I would destroy the molds after it was done. So I’d have to do a lot of work but I could only sell one doll. I’d be forced to charge more for it. 

I will say I am planning to sell my dolls for quite a bit less than other established porcelain BJD artists because I’m a new artist!

Thanks for asking! I hope this is helpful even though I haven’t figured out an exact number yet! I’ll be sure to post on here just as soon as I’ve got everything figured out!

liamperkins: your doll looks great! well done x x

I wish I did it! This is actually a doll I got off ebay by an artist named Patricia Rose, but I agreed her work is fabulous! 

I got her because I believe getting to actually feel and touch her (a porcelain bjd) with help me while making my own doll! :)

Sorry for the confusion I think I’ll add a note on my last post about this! (I had posted a few days ago about how I won her on ebay, but it’s really easy to miss a “tumble” here and there so I’ll clarify!)