Sharon- thanks for checking out the blog! Have you seen the main site (http://www.corsetkitten.com) ? About the clothing: most of the of it that I’ll be parting with are barbie clothing and I’m probably going to flog them up on feebay. I had some furniture and re-ment for trade and you can find them on my flickr account.

Eve - thank you for stopping by and checking out the website I’m glad you found my blog! Hopefully I’ll get around to working on the school classroom diorama again this year (although I have a lot of different things going on and that’s on a back burner). I checked out your blog and it looks like you’ve got lots of stuff going on there. I think it’s great that you started one and I hope you keep up with it.
“I also wanted people to come and look at my collection and after reading your blog I have to admit especially to myself that comments do make you feel good. It is crazy because I never realized that I wanted that validation and it is a validation of my creativity in the designing of my dioramas.”
I’m not really looking for validation, so much as feedback –but I admit that there is validation in the fact that by blogging you meet others interested in the hobby who don’t think that playing with toys, dolls & action figures is weird (and something you should put away!) As for any customs from Mark’s workshop–we won’t be home to the states this year but he may start taking commissions for smaller things that people are willing to pay the postage for. So, watch this space (I guess?)

Sheila - I think I’m a bit like you in that I’m a drive-by blogger. I read posts at different blogs somewhat sporadically. I hit the forums a few times a week and mainly lurk. The past few months I did even less than that although now I’m on a semi-upswing which I hope continues. When you have time, energy & the inclination–the web, the blogs & the dolls & figures will still all be there. Take it easy.

Sometimes I read Doll Divas regularly and sometimes I go for weeks without checking it (that’s sort of low traffic, too) and even though I post a lot to flickr, I don’t often browse there, even my contacts.

This is all mostly to do with how much free time and energy I have, which hasn’t been all that much this year.

Re: “My blog is more about me having some kind of record of what I’ve been up to, as well as a way to communicate with other people interested in the hobby.”

I started blogging so that I could refer to my toy pix whenever I had a break/was bored at work. It serves as my personal visual reference/archive of my collection. I’ve come to know very cool people in this hobby, and I’m glad that my blog was a platform for me to do so. However, I don’t really mind the lack of comments on my posts, as ultimately, I’m posting for myself.

For the record, I’ve always been a fan of your customs and the effort you take to construct dioramas, both here and on your flickr.

I agree with you D7ana, that it is nice to get a comment–as a thank you (or acknowledgment) of the effort or thought or sharing of the original blog post.
Ursula, I agree that posting is quite a bit about saying/showing what’s going on, what you’re working on, or interested in.
And that state of mind, stresses and real life can get in the way of blogging. I don’t know about anyone else, but when I’m down I don’t want to blog… :straight:

I don’t think there’s a blame to be had on people commenting or not commenting. ^_^ I know that I often visit blogs & I usually want to say something worth saying, but either am too tired or in a rush so I don’t. I think that’s something I’ll work on this next month. Actively responding to folks’ web blog posts.

Thanks everyone!

Economics are not a reason for me. Yes, I buy less (or rather I think a lot more about it before I buy) and obviously the high quality figures (Hot Toys) are too darn expensive, but every now and then I indulge myself, if I really really want a figure. Latest example is the She-Predator I bought last weekend. 20 Euro cheaper than I saw her elsewhere and no shipping because I picked her up. Patience is the key.
Besides, I’m in the lucky position to keep the money I earn to spend for myself. And believe me – I know I’m very lucky!

More comments (and maybe an engaging discussion every now and then) might be nice, but that doesn’t keep me from blogging. I regularly check my referrers and for someone not active on any of the boards I feel my blogs are surprisingly well visited. And I admit I don’t comment as much as I could myself. So I really can’t put the blame on anyone else.

The reason I started blogging was that I wanted to give interested folksa chance to see what I’m doing when I left the boards. There are a handful of people I really want to keep updated and it works. But most of them are people I stay in touch with offline, so there is no need for them to comment. And as a benefit I even made some new contacts solely from the blogs.

So why is it I don’t post that much? Real life. Working overtime, a lot of nightshifts, having other commitments, the usual… Plus I went through some phases of not being interested in dolls earlier this year and at one point even thought about giving up the hobby. I’m past that at the moment and have several small projects that progress very very slowly.
I have some more spare time this month, so I hope I’ll update a bit more.

But comments … oh yes, I adore comments. I consider comments as
1. ways to explore a post discussion and
2. a “thank you” to the blogger.

As you write, I too would continue blogging even if no one ever commented. But comments, followers, and reciprocal links – they are bonuses.

From a Frequent Commenter