Malgorzata is a Polish artist, and her work is sold through her company website Do Dolls Dream. She has created an all-new series of 1/6 size dolls whose faces are based on those of her 1/3 girls. Four BJDs in six colors have just been released.
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Q: When did you start making the new dolls?
A: My adventure with Teacup Marionettes begun almost two years ago. If I remember correctly I started working on them just before I did the first preorder for Clementine Lily in December 2019. But that was just early idea concepts. Waiting for resin samples before preorders is a great time to try out new projects. Productive waiting! ^^ Most of my doll projects are stretched over long periods of time.
Q: Why did you decide to make a smaller size of doll?
A: Before the whole world went into lockdown in 2020 I liked to travel and going on small trips. And I loved taking a doll with me ^^ I own a few tiny dolls (around 25-30 cm) and they make for perfect travel companions. Their size and weight are perfect for carrying around and a quick photo session in a cafe. My regular job switched to working from home so to cheer myself up and to have something to look forward to I made a promise to myself. Next time I’m going to be able to travel I’ll do it with my own small doll. It gave me the necessary motivation to finally go through with Teacups.
Q: I love the proportions of the body! Did you have the idea of sculpting it that way from the start or did it evolve?
A: Their proportions started as completely something different than their final look. The initial idea was to make a very slim doll with great posing. I was stuck with sketching and concept sculpting for many weeks if not months. I think I was too fixated on that first idea and was trying to “produce” a doll. At that point, I left the project alone for so time. When I came back to it I decided to trust myself and do something that felt right. I really wanted a doll that feels full, compact, and just perfectly sits in your palm. From there it was just pure joy to make each iteration more round, soft and cute ^^ And posable just as good as any slim doll!
Q: Did you decide from the beginning that you were going to make the new dolls chibi versions of your larger girls?
A: It wasn’t the plan from the start. It all began with me playing around with Clementine Lily’s ears. She has pretty big ears already but I wanted to see for fun how much bigger I could make them ^^” At a certain point, the larger ears changed her head proportions so much that she started to look a little bit like a chibi doll. Then I did similar experiments with the rest of the dolls. So for the Teacup Marionettes line Margaret became Maggie, Aurelia became Aurie, Ursula became Ursie and Clementine Lily became LiLi.
Q: How did you go about re-designing the heads for the new size? Were they simply reduced in size or did you have to modify them to fit your vision?
A: I actually started sculpting them completely from scratch. The idea was to identify the most characteristic feature of their bigger versions and exaggerate them. Maggie got her chubby cheeks and pouty lips, Aurie got her droopy eyes, LiLi got her really big ears and Ursie got her playful expression and subtle cat-like features. I really wanted them to have very big eyes and squished faces so the head proportions also had to change.
Q: I like that you decided to offer the dolls in both natural and fantasy colors. Was that always the plan? How did you select the colors?
A: This is all thanks to the wonderful people that message me about dolls. Since I started making BJDs I always got many requests for fantasy colors. In the beginning, I steered away from them not being sure if I can handle orders with so many options. But finally, I decided to go for it so that everyone can get a doll they really like and enjoy. The way I choose color is a little bit unusual. I just want them to look really tasty so I always choose colors that remind me of delicious sweets – cookies, deserts, etc. <3
Q: Will face-ups be available? If so, who will paint them?
A: Teacup Marionettes come with many head options and colors and offering a face-up option for all of them currently exceeds my work capacity. But I might offer a very limited option of custom-designed face-ups at the end of Teacup’s production period, closer to shipping. But now it’s too early for details! <3
Q: What wig and eye sizes fit the dolls? Is there any standard size clothing that they can wear?
A: They can wear 6-7 and 7-8 wigs and 14-16 mm eyes. Teacup Marionettes fit a variety of standard-sized clothing: tops in Blythe, Yo-SD and slim MSD size, bottoms in both Yo-SD and MSD size, Yo-SD sized and Blythe sized dresses and shoes! I always encourage to compare measurements, many doll owners already have clothes that they could use for Teacups.
Q: You have a nice assortment of extra parts. I especially like the toes on the tip-toe feet! Are they sold as an extra?
A: The tip-toe feet were really fun to make! They were inspired by my cat stretching her legs and paws ^^ Tip-toe feet along with ballerina feet and some extra cute hand gestures are sold as extras.
Q: Is there anything I did not ask that you want to add?
A: If anyone would like to chat and talk about dolls always feel free to message me on Instagram <3
Q: Would you like to make a final statement to conclude the article?
A: Thank you BJD Collectasy for this opportunity to share my dolls <3 I’ve been a doll collector since 2010 and always used this website for doll news.
~Do Dolls Dream~ Previous interview with Malgorzata on BJDcollectasy:
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