Juliette - My Volks SDGr Nono

It's about time that I introduce my newest addition to my BJD family! Juliette has appeared in pictures and some of my doll collecting friends have already seen her in person too, but I opted to not introduce her yet since I had not paid her off completely. 

Her back story is quite long and holds a special place in my heart. Juliette has special meaning to me and my sister, and she was adopted into my small BJD family with a bit of luck and fate. (^__^)*

Juliette, a Volks SDGr Nono

 Nono used to belong to D.ark who I had the pleasure of meeting a couple times during a visit to London and in Japan. Although I didn't know her very well, from my first impression she was a lovely person with a kind soul. The stories my sister would share with me when she met up with the doll collectors in London left me inspired because she was such a vital part of her community. 

It was during our trip to Japan in last May (2012), that my sister got the news that D.ark had passed away from her long term illness. It was so shocking and hard to accept because we had just seen her a few days before at the Volks Dolpa. 

Her husband, Fransgaard, decided to list her dolls for sale and I never knew her collection was so vast and diverse. I was a bit overwhelmed! My sister helped him one weekend while she was in London to piece together all the components and sets for each doll and showed me the listing for her dolls. I saw Nono and I knew I wanted to adopt her, but her cost would hold me back. It was based on sentimental attachment since it was the first doll I saw D.ark with when I met her and if it was possible, I would want to have her in my doll family.

I messaged Fransgaard about her price and told him I would think about it because it was quite a lot of money. I got back to him too late, as there was another buyer interested in Nono and she was sold. I was disappointed but I chalked it up to fate telling me that "It wasn't meant to be."

A month later I received an e-mail from Fransgaard asking if I was still interested because that buyer flaked and never made a payment. After initially spazzing out in surprise, I agreed to adopt Nono.

Juliette

 During my trip to London in November, Fransgaard was kind enough to let me pick her up and bring her home while I still had to complete my layaway. (I also went through D.ark's extensive amount of fabric to see if she had anything I could also use. The amount of lace and trim I brought home is a bit shocking (>o<); ) Bringing her home myself had good benefits since I could avoid shipping and customs fees.

I spent a long time trying to come up with a name for Nono. For months, that's what I called her anyways since I had not come to any decision. For some dolls, you just know what to call them when you receive them, while some, it takes a bit longer to that name to appear. In the end, I settled on Juliette, but I will probably still have a habit of calling her Nono. ^__^;

Winter Smile Nono

I can't do a traditional box opening post for Juliette since I didn't bring her her box with me. The SDGr box was too big for the suitcases we brought to London, so I left it at my cousin's apartment and I'll figure out when to bring it home...in the future. @_@;

Juliette is a Volks Grafitti Girl Winter Smile Nono, she's shorter than a SD16, but taller than a SD13. Her stringing and her joints are quite different from my other smaller dolls, and she can pose a lot better than I thought. Nono comes with high heel feet and optional flat feet. I have not changed her legs since I'm not 100% sure how, and I like that she can wear high heel shoes anyways.

Nono's default outfit

 I just changed her into an outfit that coordinates some of her default pieces with other items, so I did not feel like documenting her clothing pieces. We'll use the booklet images instead! Haha.. (>x<;)

I really like her default outfit, it's something I would wear! I love her twin-tail hairstyle since I have a soft spot for pigtails. Also, a couple of my smaller girls have pigtail wigs. The skirt doesn't fit that well along the waist band. I feel like instead of being a curved waist band, they just cut a straight waistband...so it doesn't fit nicely. 

The ankle warmers are a bit ridiculous, and I've opted to put them on as hair accessories as D.ark had styled her during last year's doll meet. (That meeting was the first time I met D.ark and the first time I saw Nono!)

By far, one of the best items of her default wardrobe are her shoes! They're super adorable and cute! My sister also has this same outfit and one day I'll make her dress up one of her dolls to twin with Juliette. Hehe! ( * v * );

Being my first large scale 1/3 doll, I initially didn't know how to pose her or play with her that well. At some point I'll need to get a stand for her since she does not stand well in her high heeled feet. Having a large resin doll fall over on their face is not ideal at all! 

I don't have an extensive wardrobe for her now since I'm trying to save money, I'll have to make some things for her to wear! Or I'll just borrow some items from my sister since she has so many outfits for her Dollfie Dream dolls. (*o*@)!

That's all for now, I'll try to take some more pics and catch up on the rest of my blogging in the next couple months! 

Until next time!

♥