New to the Crew

Thought I’d put in a bit of an introduction for myself (and debate what category this should go in).

Anyways, hello I’m Val. I’m 21, and am androgynous. Meaning I am neither male or female (I am born female, but I just highly prefer being identified with neither). I have many, many different hobbies which is what decided my username. I always seem to have, well, knick knacks around the house that I have created. I’ve done loom knitting, costume creation, making stuffed animals, and other things.

So how did I find the reborn community, and by extent Bountiful Baby? Well, I hit a certain point in my life. Things seemed to be going forward. I was engaged, got a nice vehicle, and we were preparing to move out of our hometown and start a family. Before our move, I was pregnant. Despite this not exactly being the plan at the time, I was willing to do anything for this future child. Then, disaster struck and they never made it past the first trimester. My partner and I were devastated. We held off on moving because we needed the support. One thing after another, my partner started to spiral downwards and I could no longer stay. We separated.

About a year later, I went to a doctor to get checked out, and I was given the news that my fertility was poor and I likely wouldn’t be able to ever carry to term due to hormones and my uterus being weak.

I sought support from a family friend who told me about reborn dolls. She said that although they won’t quite compare to a real baby, she thought that I’d might benefit from one as they can look as real or as fantastical as possible. They are often weighted like a real baby, and holding them can provide comfort. Despite being skeptical I looked around online. I found YouTube videos, Etsy listings, and adorable pictures of babies.

Ironically, not too long later my father brought them up at work. Being the horror fanatic he is, he discovered Werepups by Asia Eriksen. He was so enthralled by these realistic werewolf cuties, and even made the comment that if he ever had the money to burn, he would adopt one. He showed some pictures of Werepups, and even some zombie babies an artist on Facebook did (he told me the name but I can’t remember for the life of me). My coworkers were fascinated. Their detail was immense, and the idea of blank kits being more realistic than your typical Wal-Mart doll was just cool to everybody. This reaction, especially from mostly male workers, sprung an idea. I found Bountiful Baby and Irresistables. Lovely kits, and BB even had novice-friendly prices… Wait, a prepainted Fawna? I love deer! I even have a faun costume I made! They’ll fit in the aesthetic of my room, and will fit in for Halloween! Y’know what? I’m going to get one, assemble it, and try this reborn thing out!

So then I got the Fawna on sale. I weighed it with polyester and glass beads I surprisingly had at home from making a plush stoat a while back (though the beads weren’t from BB). I added a magnet for a pacifier, and even added some gloss Mod Podge for a wet look around the eyes and such. I oddly fell in love and named him Beau. With me falling in love, I want to try my hand at painting and rooting my own baby. I want to try for a realistic natural baby, but I do want to eventually work up to doing a Lucian and a Lula Kane since she is now released for pre-order. I’m just waiting for the right kit to get Kit of the Day on BB, lol. That, and wait for my work hours to calm down below 12 hour shifts. After getting Beau, I found this forum and found so many useful tutorials, lovely artists, and so many adorable babies!

TL;DR: I’m Val, I’m androgynous. Found reborns through friend and father. Got the Fawna kit, named him Beau, and want to do a kit on my own. Soon want to do Lucian and Lula Kane.

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Welcome! Welcome! Welcome! So excited you found Reborns bountiful baby and us! We are a pretty friendly and helpful group unless you want to talk about hot topics like politics, which don’t really belong in a art forum anyway :wink: or any kind of knock off kits you’ll be good lol! We get a little protective about the artists who sculpt the kits we love so much. I’m sure there are a few other things we can get on about but we really are a great group passionate about the art of reborning and everything that involves.

Sales at BB have slowed down a bit due to production delays thanks to covid but with any luck that will right itself soon enough!

On occasion some of the ladies will destash some of thier kit collection for fair prices but you gotta be quick on the draw when they post cause they go quickly!

Are you going to be trying air dry or heat set paints?

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Welcome to a great addictive hobby.

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I’m going to be trying air dry paints! I’ve decided on that because I am most familiar with air dry. Thinking about using Liquitex for my first.

It’s also fine that BB has slowed down their sales at the moment. I understand the situation, and I still have a lot of time as my hours are still wacky until basically 2021. I’m just mostly getting supplies together in preparation.

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Welcome to the forum! This forum has a wonderful group of talented artists. Looking forward to seeing your work.

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Welcome to the forum!!!

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Welcome!

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Welcome ! You will have a great time here ! Feel free to ask questions and show us your work (reborn related or not, we love art…)

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Welcome !! This is an awesome please, there is some drama once in a while , but we are trying to stay away and keep this forum closed .

Looking forward to follow your journey .

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Welcome to the Crew!

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Welcome!

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Welcome to the forum!

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Hey Val, nice to meet you and welcome to the forum, everyone is lovely here and very supportive, looking forward to seeing your future creations x

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Hi Val, it’s nice to “meet” you. Welcome to the forum and the great hobby that you have decided to become a part of, watch out, it’s very addictive and expensive!! If you have questions check the spyglass in the upper right hand corner, type in your question and you’ll get more information on your subject then you asked for!! If you can’t find help there, let us know and someone will come along and help you shortly. This is a great group of ladies/gents and a wonderful place to acquire knowledge. Always remember: Practice is your Best Teacher, Patience is your best friend. Keep your first baby as a reference of your progress, you will be surprised at how quickly you will improve along your journey. Have Fun!!
@KnickKnackHobbies

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Welcome to the forums Val. I’m glad to have you. I look forward to seeing the babies you will create. There are several people here who are also big fans of alternatives as well as several topics on the subject. We have a couple of posts on loom knitting floating around the forums and I’d love to see some of the things you’ve created shared there. We’re a diverse bunch and it’s great that you’re jumping in with both feet. I think you’ll like it here. :slight_smile:

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Welcome! What a nice first post. :slightly_smiling_face:

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Welcome to the forum! Thanks for sharing your story too. :heart: You seem like an awesome person and I’m really glad you are here!

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Welcome to our forum, you will find it very helpful to start your reborn hobby, I did.

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Welcome to the forum!! :smiling_face_with_three_hearts:

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Welcome to the forum! You’ll find reborning as a hobby will keep you quite busy

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