As promised, here's my continuation of the Sock 'N' Pole story. Following Ming of Acro Polates' request for my first pole doll came another from a dancer who calls herself Boomloulou and works as a trolley dolly by day... actually it should be day, and night... and day... with snatches of sleep in-between. In fact, while her doll was being made, Veronica (her real name) was flying to NYC (twice!), Nagoya, Johannesburg, Osaka, then Hong Kong to San Francisco, etc etc. I'm sure there were many more destinations, but I lose track. So... the question is, does Veronica go to A LOT of different countries for work, or do Sock 'N' Poles take a long time to make? Hmm, both, I'd say, especially when they're customised! Got to get it just right. Right? Although Veron laments that she only gets to practice her beloved pole a few times a month, one perk of her job is that she gets to meet lots of fellow dancers while she's globetrotting. Her Youtube tagline is 'Boomloulou will be gatecrashing pole studios around the world!'. Yup, studio owners BEWARE! You have no choice in the matter. Haha!
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Boomloulou with Anastasia Skukhtorova, World Pole Dance Championship 2010/2011 finalist, amongst others. I should also mention that BLL is the Fit Pole Winner of Sg Polestars 2010, so she's no slouch either!
Good job she's really fine company then! Veron and I haven't actually met, but she's a real giggle. It's always wonderful and inspiring to meet someone with a real passion for what they do. And, yes, so passionate that they want to celebrate it with a commission made by meeee. That's awesome! *punches air* Veron's specifications were specific but simple. A pole dancing doll in light baby pink crop top and shorts with a ponytail and cat with her.
She also mentioned this pink cherry blossom background from her Youtube page and 'boomloulou' on her outfit.
So here's what I did with it...
Cherry blossom base just like the one above
Cute li'l pink outfit based on what BLL's wearing in the photo above.
Cute li'l grey cat like in the other pic above!
As always, Sock 'N' Pole has its own version of mighty grip so it can hold a whole range of different poses, just like you! (If you pole, that is...). See?
Superwoman
Handstand? This looks like something I'd do.
Double bat!
Double pole-sit?
BLL also took some very atmospheric shots to post online, and was more than happy to share them with me.
What a star!
She was thrilled that I gave her boobs! Well, why not? Poledance can be quite titillating, no?
Attempting a chinese pole move,oooooooo!
(uh, is that a move with dual-nationality? heehee - Editor)
I've got a little treat for you today. PICTURES! Lots and lots of pictures! Of lots of darn hot stuff and darn hot people too!
I first got to know Ming aka Suzie Wong when she asked me to make her a mini-Ming on a pole about 2 years ago. We toyed with so many different ideas at the time, before coming up with this super special Sock 'N' Pole.
Mini-Ming!
With not-so-mini Ming! (Big-Ming would be misleading, plus it's insulting to call any lady 'big' anyway!)
Mini-Ming has spawned other Sock 'N' Poles too! Here's an exclusive piece I made for another Singapore-based poledancer who calls herself Boomloulou. There's a whole 'nuther story behind this one, so I'd better save it for another post! Here's a piccie or two in the meantime, or you could watch some of her videos now on youtube.
Mini-Boomloulou's cross ankle release gaining admiration from her cat, Marley.
Marley keeping well out of the way of Mini-Boomloulou's iguana
The technique for achieving mighty grip with Sock 'N' Pole has spawned a whole line of custom-made dolls that can hold hands, things, hug, unhug, etc etc. I don't think I'd have come up with all that if not for Ming's request for a pole dancer, so I'm pretty grateful for the inspiration.
Mighty grip. My poledancers have it too!
Then one day, my inbox popped up with a cheerful 'allo, my studio organising a comp 11 June....instead of getting the judges usual plagues or momentoes, is there anything i can get from you?'
HELL YEAH! Wait. Did I just sound a wee bit too excited back there? Maybe slightly freaky in a sitting-by-the-phone, waiting to pounce sorta way? *phew* Thank goodness webchat delays allow me to think of a sensible response instead of blurting out the first (read: wildly impractical, OMG-why-did-I-dream-of-suggesting-this) doll design that comes to my head. I mean, I was so excited that I didn't notice she'd asked me to plague her judges with momentoes...sounds like the moment I fell down the stairs the other day and landed my full body weight on my little toe. Ouch. No no, I definitely don't want to plague your judges, but Ming, you're so damn cute sometimes!
'There're just a couple of tiny details', Ming added, as we chatted along, 'my budget is rather pathetic and I know it's pretty last min...' Actually, there was just over a month to go before the event, but considering that Sg Pole Challenge was to be held in, uh, Singapore, and I was taking notes from Ming in my studio here on another not-so-small island, plus the quirkiness of Royal Mail, meant we just had enough time.
We worked to those constraints, budgeting and keeping the weight down so we didn't feel sick at the cost of the dolls' longhaul flight from the UK to Singapore (Poling is such a physically demanding and expensive sport! hehe), add to that some snooping around on Acro Polates' FB page and, voila! Here are the ideas I had:
I didn't have enough time to make poledancers like Mini-Ming and Boomloulou, but what about poledancing mascots? Y'know like Marley...
Acro Polates Studio even has its own resident meow who wanders in and dozes by the shoes during practices.
Meet Oliver. The luckiest boy in the world.
Or how about the stray pup Ming adopted, whom she calls Ah Boy?
Hm. Maybe make that 2nd luckiest boy in the world!
Also, a dog who sometimes behaves like a cat! Aww...
The hardest part was trying to decide which pet to choose as the mascot, at which point, Ming cunningly handed all artistic license over to me. I'm not too hot at making decisions either, so I made them both!
Ta-daaaaaah! Well, I bet you'd never seen poling-double cats and dogs...
And because I did a very thorough spying on Ming's promotional stuff for Acro Polates, I knew she'd flown Suzie Q over from Sydney last year and was having both her and partner, Toby J, over this time. Suzie is thrice Miss Pole Dance NSW, a Miss Pole Dance Australia finalist, was runner up in the "Women's Freestyle" division of the Asia Pacific Pole Dance Championships 2010 and won the "Open Pairs" division of that competition with Toby...*INHALE*. But accolades aside, I've seen videos of this awesome pair and MAAAAAN, they're totally amazing and really cute together and and aand seem incredibly lovely.
See? And any couple who can get comfy napping together on a swing deserve respect, I think.
I'd also seen from pictures of Suzie's visit last year that she'd brought a little friend to play with Mini-Ming.
Suzie Q loves Skunkers
Look, Skunkers! No hands!
It was a pressie from Toby...isn't it sweet when a girl carries a stuffed skunk around to remind her of her boyfriend? I know....aaaawwwwww.....hehe. So anyway, I decided it'd be awesome if they had one each!
(Disclaimer: All you boys out there, if you decide to carry around a stuffed skunk to remind you of your girlfriend, she may get upset and refuse to return your calls, or smack you, or say you smell, or other horrible names. Don't say I didn't warn you, ok?)
Well, I bet you've never seen pole doubles with a pair of smooching skunkers *beam*
Check me with my name dropping today! Judging from the pics, it looks like the Sg Pole Challenge mascots received some pretty good reviews.
Judge Ania Przeplasko, founder of the International Pole Dance Association, with Ah Boy, whose cup runneth over (and who's dropped his sash with excitement. No no, he doesn't really have boobies - that would be very confusing, no? Heehee)
'Suzie said it was the best present ever!' - Ming
YAY! And Toby and Suzie even featured Skunkers on Part 1 of their video series, The Adventures of Suzie Q and Toby J. It's so funny and sweet (especially if you've ever had the joy of experiencing the Singaporean obsession with food!)
I don't think it'll work here for copyright reasons, but click on the vid and it'll link you to their channel on Youtube.
Hmm, maybe I should consider a post about Gong gong (watch the video to see what I mean). I have a sock version! Kinda...but I won't go as far as pig's intestines...urk.
Oh hang on. Next post: Boomloulou and Marley! Maybe Gong gong later.
Thanks for holding on tight while I got through all the news and photos for this post! If you wanna see more darn hot stuff, stay tuned for my next post, if you wanna see more darn hot people, subscribe to Acro Polates and Suzie Q's channels.
If you wanna be darn hot, join their pole studios! xxx
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