Cosette

Cosette is my Volks Charlotte 3rd. Everytime I look at her, I remember how absolutely lucky I've been this year in spite of everything. I did not think I would be able to get her anytime soon, but God has certainly been overwhelmingly kind and loving to me, even though I don't deserve anything.

Originally, I wasn't intending on naming her as Charlotte seemed like the perfect name for her anyway. It sounds sweet and gentle, just like her! But then I had this nagging little whisper in my head to name her Cosette, after the orphan from Les Misérables, meaning "pampered". I thought it fit her perfectly, since she was definitely going to be pampered lol.

I had her previously in a gorgeous fairy-like gown... but I've coming to realise that while I adore the gorgeous gowns, I feel less like handling my dolls when they are all dressed up in them. Right now, all I want are cute oversized knitted sweaters for my SD girls. I love cuddling them, they are just the right size and weight!

I read that Volks originally made the first Super Dollfie size to be like a companion child for people, and for it to weigh like a cat so that it feels comforting when it sits in your lap. I have to say, they definitely did a great job. Of all the sizes, I love the SD size best for this! They are just the perfect size when you cradle them in your arms.

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Kindle Paperwhite 7th Gen

Today, I received my first Kindle Paperwhite! It is the 7th Generation that I managed to get with a Prime promotional discount. Add some cash back to that, and the deal was too sweet to resist! Well actually, I did manage to resist it until given my husband's gentle support xD

I wasn't sure if I was ready to give up my Kindle 5th Gen with the lovely buttons for turning pages, but I may trade it in at this point because the Paperwhite just packs so much of a punch! The lighting has such a wide range, and is a lot more even than the first few generations... which is a big reason why I wanted to wait on this device. I'm not entirely happy with the full touch interface devoid of buttons (why can't they just leave the page turning buttons!), but I am happy that the screen is at lease, matte and textured kinda like a book page, so that fingerprints don't seem to be an issue. I do not like the fully rubberized surface - it is just asking to be scratched. But that should be fine when my case arrives tomorrow.

What I love is that navigation is a lot easier. Of course, being touch activated, that's a huge trump over the old Kindle. I really love the scrolling feature when you can sort of "skim" through the book as you would a regular book by flipping through the pages. It's not exactly the same, but it does help when that's an irreplaceable feature of a regular book (and in the case of the Bible, often used). And of course, the lighting effect is the whole point of this thing. My new apartment is rather dim, and my bunny and I managed to smash both the side table lamps in my bedroom, making nighttime reading well... less on the Kindle and more on my phone/tablet. So far, the Paperwhite is performing beautifully, and I guess I'll test it for a bit more before making my final decision, hopefully while Amazon is still offering to buy back my previous Kindle.

Seen here with the light setting at just 5.

Well, the new Kindle serves multiple purposes if I can keep up with my reading. And certainly, the lighting feature will give me less of an excuse to skip out on reading just because of poor lighting conditions - I'm hoping to get more use out of this while waiting for the buses at night! I really want to finish a few books I keep putting off. Also it will help to keep me from obsessing over doll stuff that I cannot afford right now, not with the green card application sucking up all my funds. 

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My husband's favourites...

I told my husband that when I die (we have this agreement that I will go first), he will give away my doll collection to people who really love them and will take care of them as I did.

My adorable husband said he would be this feeble old man gathering a group of little girls and telling them all about my dolls and my love for them, and that they can pick whichever they want except Yukinojo, Shizu, and maybe Kanna... because those are his favourites and he's keeping them xD

Kanna was my first guinea pig face-up, and although I am of course critical as any artist would be, my husband thinks she is gorgeous. He is definitely my no. 1 fan lol.

Kanna is a Volks SD Coco. At first when I saw her, I thought she really looked like Volks Charlotte. I felt that with the right faceup, those features that were similar to Charlotte's could be emphasised. The problem is, I didn't see too many photos of Coco with custom faceups. At that time, I had been entertaining the idea of learning faceups as well... but was rather apprehensive to try (especially since I loved Coco's default faceup from Volks too). As it turns out, I was able to get a second Coco, and so that finally pushed me to try giving Kanna a new look!

Of course, Kanna always holds a special place in my heart since she was my first attempt. She's not perfect, but not horribly wrong either, so I'm happy to have tried.

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New Blog!

After years of abandoning the blog scene, I think I've finally persuaded myself into doing this again. 

Firstly, this will serve as mainly a personal blog about my hobbies and bits of my life. My main hobbies right now consists of my Asian Ball Jointed Doll (ABJD/BJD) collection, photography, my bunny, and my feeble attempts at doing face-up customisations on my dolls. Oh, and maybe some knitting. I also collect various other things like Japanese Tamagotchis. 

As for myself, I am just an Asian girl trying to make a life in America. I recently married my best friend (squee!) and moved to his country. I'm finishing up my Master's degree here, and trying to figure out how to become a... resident alien. Not a very pretty term, but that's life! 

Most of my influences are Asian based or involving Japanese culture. If that's not your cup of tea, then well, the name of this blog should have turned you off. Speaking of blog names. Kawaii Kanna is a little pun. "Kawaii kana" is like asking, "I wonder if this is cute?", which is usually the feeling I get when I post photos of my dolls. Also, one of my doll's names is Kanna, and yes, she is absolutely adorable x3

 

Kawaii Kanna ♥

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