Happy Holidays!

Tiny Needle Mad Skills

Aren't the tiny mittens and sweaters adorable? I admire anyone who can knit or crochet in the small. I made the hat above, and although the photo is tiny, the work is not. I'm usually happiest with about a G to K hook. I cannot imagine the tiny needles or hook necessary to make the mittens especially. Or the patience!

I got the mittens from Felicity (Flissy) on This is Blythe or etsy. They are straight from the U.K. She makes them in a gazillion colors, with or without the string. And, she takes custom orders and has some pretty cute hats on Etsy right now.

The sweaters are from Brazil in a trade with Nanipatch on Flickr. She also has an Etsy shop, Nani's Store and adorable pictures of her stuffed felt items on Flickr. The Blythe-size felted bag is from Lusitania on Etsy. She also has great people-sized felted items, too.

A post about Blythe knitting and crocheting would not be complete without mentioning the talented Zoe Aarden, author of GrrrlieDesigns, available from Blurb (and edited by Moi!). She's busy getting her master' thesis published right now, but she has great items on Etsy also. And finally, the lovely Rima of Willy-Nilly Waterlily has darling Blythe crochet and sewing and also amigurumi on Etsy.

Please check out my sweet Blythe friends for your holiday shopping!

Arte du Blythe Seeking 'Charming' Blythe People for Charm Swap

My art & Blythe group on Yahoo! Arte du Blythe is currently having a charm swap, hosted by Miss Vicky of Cut-it-Up. Since our members are few and far between and seems so many are running hither and yon with holiday duties, we have decided to open this charm swap, due Jan. 31, 2009, to any art/Blythe/jewelry/charm fanatic. For more information, leave me a comment here, or feel free to join the group.

Ms. Eiffel Looks Much Better With Ms. Goldie by Louos

My fun Blythe friend LOuOs from Singapore recently had the opportunity of a lifetime for a romantic getaway to the City of Light and captured these gorgeous photos which he gave me permission to share.

Don't you think the Eiffel Tower looks especially beautiful with LOuOs' Goldie in the foreground? Louos makes the most amazing Blythe fashions with couture and miniature designer details. Check out his 'Louos Loves' goodies on Etsy and check out more amazing photos on his Flickr. PS Louos: Larry loves you.

Love French Pants Fashions!

Auntie Lindz or Ellewoods 2007 on Flickr and Blythe in America- she of the internationally-famous Blythe Opera- sent us this darling dress/top from French Pants on Etsy. I was not familiar with her style, but her smocked and embroidered fashions are darling! We received this dress along with a darling scrunchy pink wig and other goodies for the Blythe in America group Back-to-School Summer Fun swap. With everything going on, Lilly didn't get to try the dress on right away, so we wanted to send another extra special thanks to Lindsay and show off the dress.

The Amazing Sandi of Blythephotos Wins Fund-Raiser Fat Book for A Place to Bark

Here are just a few of the incredible room vignettes, Blythe dolls and fashions by the incomparable Sandi Kayat of Blythephotos on Flickr and I'm Real on Etsy. Sandi is well-known in the Blythe community for her love of Blythe and her unique style. She has many customized Blythes-in fact, an entire Alien family! She also has Wonder Frogs, Peteena, Living Dead dolls and many other popular collectibles.

Sandi enjoys the support of her family, and her husband often gets credit for the Blythe sets he has built for her, including some pictured here. She literally has dozens and dozens of room scenes.

Arte du Blythe thanks Sandi for buying the one-of-a-kind Blythe fat book called "Blythe and Friends," which was a group fund-raiser for A Place to Bark and Meow, fellow artist Bernie Berlin's no-kill animal rescue, rehab and shelter for cats and dogs.

I've certainly never been a minimalist, but I'm trying to streamline

File this under "cleaning out the crap" or even "admitting I will never learn to sew." In an effort to reduce some of the immense collection of misc I have acquired, I am slowly but surely moving some things to Etsy and Ebay and hoping to convert them into mad money so I can acquire new and different misc-you know how that goes! Although Flickr frowns on advertising for sale there, the photos in my Blythe Cleaning set represent things I am getting rid of, so just FM me or PM me on the TIB forum if you have questions!

Cool crisp fall weather means new fashions and a closet clean-out sale!

Maggy and Lilly model some of their new fall clothes as well as some of things mom is selling for them. You can find some of these fashions and more on the This is Blythe.com forum under the sundries section and my user name: Gina2424. A link to my sale is here. You can also see more things we have for sale in my Flickr set: fall cleaning here. Things were getting a little out of hand at Blythe Manor, so it was time for a little sale. Any questions, you can contact me through comments here or on Flickr or TIB.

Arte du Blythe Fat Book Auction Live Now for A Place to Bark Through October 15!

The "Blythe and Friends" book, pictured above, contains 25 hand-made, front and back, 4" x 4" original mixed media art pages as well as handmade front and back covers, from artists in nine states and three countries. The book was created by the Arte du Blythe group on Yahoo, which was founded by Shoshanah Jennings of Hannah Grey Curiosities & Drygoods (http://www.hannahgrey.com/) and Heather Simpson-Bluhm of Bluhm Studios (http://www.bluhmstudios.com/), both based in California. The book was hosted by me as group administrator, in Indiana. It features work by well-known and published artists such as Vicky Breslin, Debbie Metti, Angela Hoffman, Chelise Stroud-Hery (founder of ZNE), Shelly Mundel, Maija Lepore, Heather Simpson-Bluhm, and Shoshanah Jennings. Artists from the United States, Canada, and Israel sent submissions.The book is a paper arts lover's dream or is perfect for a lover of Blythe, animals, dolls and/or good deeds.A Place to Bark and Meow is mixed media artist Bernie Berlin's no-kill animal rescue in Tennessee. Bernie Berlin's blog is http://aplacetobark.blogspot.com/. As she herself says, "I run a full-time dog rescue, taking in the dogs that have been abandoned, abused or police confiscated. I foster, retrain, transport & adopt. Cats are also welcome at my rescue. I am drawn to the unwanted, unloved and misunderstood. I am hoping to educate and effect change for the animals that do not have a voice of their own."
A Place to Bark and Meow was one of the five top national finalists in last year's Parade magazine charity profile/fund-raiser. To date 2,453 people have donated $44,527 to AP2B, but the needs are constant as Bernie travels to other states to rescue abandoned, abused and injured animals, rehabilitating them (often with costly veterinary bills and medicines) and then placing them in loving homes.Bernie currently specializes in Faberge-style eggs and is the author of the popular Artist Trading Card Workshop. She will send a special surprise to be enclosed with the 'fat book' for the winner.
To bid, simply leave a comment at the following link. Special thanks to Scrapbook Royalty and its head tiara, the darling Elena Etcheverry, Traveling Princess, for hosting this auction.

Pullip Auction Benefits Crop Out Autism

Scrapbook Royalty, a not-for-profit organization which produces crops and other crafty events to raise funds for worthy organizations, is conducting both a raffle and a silent auction for new and beautiful Pullip dolls, donated by Scott at The Valley of the Dolls wonderstore in Los Angeles http://thevalleyofthedolls.com.

The sweet and beautiful Elena Lai Etcheverry, princess of Scrapbook Royalty, is pulling this all together to benefit Crop out Autism/Autism Speaks http://www.scrapbookroyalty.com/autism.html.

The event will be 10 a.m. to 10 p.m. Saturday Sept. 13 at the California Center for the Arts in Escondido, CA. The Holly GoLightly Pullip (nothing to do with colonoscopies for you oldsters like me), will be auctioned live at the event. Meanwhile, two other Pullips are available on-line via the silent auction process right now by following the links above. They are Cornice and (pictured) Raphia. There is also a $5 per ticket raffle for Arietta. See the info here http://www.scrapbookroyalty.com/autism.html.

At Crop Out Autism you can purchase a cropping space completes with classes, meals and goodies. Croppers are asked to raise $100 each for the cause in addition to registration.

Keep watching the Scrapbook Royalty Web site because our exciting, one-of-a-kind "Blythe & Friends" fat book with 25 original 4 x 4 pages from artists ( including moi) in nine states and three countries will be debuting soon in silent auction as a fundraiser for A Place to Bark http://www.aplacetobark.com. Don't worry. I'll keep you posted!

Zena goes to Edward and Eternia's Wedding at ZNE

I haven't posted for awhile because the art world has taken over, but art and Blythe collided Aug. 22 when a Blythe meet took place at the ZNE Art http://www.znecon.com opening luncheon Aug. 22 in Pleasanton, CA.

Zena wore her hippie-est Cali girl attire and was somewhat chilled out the entire trip. I am afraid the other girls were mad at her because she just couldn't get into the whole wedding thing. I think she is down on the institution of marriage.

Still, she admired the hard work of Miss Vicky http://www.cut-it-up.com, Jan Mollet Evans, Jackie Baxted http://theartinyou.blogspot.com, Deena Fricano, Donna Cook http://bonniebluedenim.blogspot.com, Elena Etcheverry http://elena.travelingprincess.comand Diva Danielle http://www.divacraftlounge.comto pull the thing off. All the details can be found on Edward & Eternia's blog http://edwardandeternia.blogspot.com. And I am a slow learner. That blog banner for E & E was made by the talented Sandy Michelle http://sandy-sandyscreations.blogspot.com, an art and Blythe friend of mine, who has too many 'handles' for me to follow!

Elena is coordinating a charity raffle and silent auctionof dolls for a fund raiser for Autism Speaks, which ends Sept. 13. There are some great Pullip dolls donated by Scott from The Valley of the Dolls http://www.thevalleyofthedolls.com, so check it out at http://www.scrapbookroyalty.com/autism.html. One of the dolls will be auctioned live at Crop Out Autism Sept. 13 in California.

Pink-Haired Girls Unite!

I received some pinky goodness in the mail today from the sweet Lindsey Taylor http://www.flickr.com/photos/ellewoods in our Blythe in America http://www.flickr.com/groups/blytheinamerica Back-to-School Summer Fun swap. As group administrator, I hosted the swap via Elfster http://www.elfster.com/, so "organized" is kind of a misleading term. Elfster has been getting rave reviews in the press as a Web site for organizing Secret Sister/Secret Santa-type swaps. Participant input their email address, and partners are assigned. Elfster handles the private sharing of addresses, favorites, wish lists, 'already haves,' etc., and players can also ask questions without revealing the surprise of which partner belongs to whom. So even though I hosted, I didn't know Linds 'had' me, even though I had her!

Maggy, above, is trying (and failing) to look cool in the great pink wig we received, as well as a darling dress made by French pants on etsy http://www.frenchpants.etsy.com/, other fun goodies, a purrfect card and a cute ponytail holder, which Maggy has converted to a tutu. Whatever makes your tutu twirl, right? Right! Thanks for a great swap!

Kind Comments from Bernie Berlin

Although anyone can read blog comments, and these are posted on the post below, I want to share the lovely comments Ms. Bernie Berlin of A Place to Bark http://aplacetobark.blogspot.com no-kill animal rescue and shelter, made about our "Blythe and Friends" fat book project http://groups.yahoo.com/group/arte_du_blythe.

She says, "The book looks fabulous!!Thanks so much for doing this for the animals:) Whatever you need just send me an e-mail or call me. Blessings and Light to you, Bernie."

How wonderful and kind is this? I won't get to meet Bernie this week at the ZNE Convenzione http://www.znecon.com or take her class as I had planned because she has to remain home to take care of family. I hope to be able to meet her at another art venue some day. I love her book, Artist Trading Card Workshop (search Amazon). I missed her at CHA when she was signing her book there.

I'll keep everyone posted when we put this great piece of original art up for auction (soon). I leave Thursday for ZNE, and I will get to meet two of the other Blythe artists, Shoshanah Jennings of Hannah Grey http://www.hannahgrey.com and Miss Vicky of Cut-It-Up http://www.cut-it-up.com.

Miss Vicky is coordinating a Pullip wedding on Aug. 22 in Pleasanton, CA. It is the union of Edward and Eternia, and you can read more about that on ZNE Dollz http://www.znedolls.com or on their very own blog at Edward and Eternia http://edwardandeternia.blogspot.com. Oh, those crazy kids!

"Blythe & Friends" For Sale for a Good Cause: A Place to Bark

The culmination of much hard work by 14 artists will be auctioned off for charity around Labor Day weekend. Stay tuned here for exact details. "Blythe and Friends" is a 25-page "fat book," meaning four inches by four inches. It was made by artists from nine different states and three different countries in the Arte du Blythe group on Yahoo http://groups.yahoo.com/group/arte_du_blythe, founded by Shoshanah Jennings of http://www.hannahgrey.com/ and Heather Simpson-Bluhm of Bluhm Studios http://www.bluhmstudios.com/ and now managed by me http://lillysoflondonish.blogspot.com/. I mention my other blog here and now because I am having a give-away "over there" to celebrate my one-year Blog Anniversary, which was August 2nd.

The proceeds from the sale of this book will go to fellow artist Bernie Berlin and her no-kill animal shelter in Tennessee, A Place to Bark http://aplacetobark.blogspot.com/. Bernie is passionate about rescuing, saving and finding homes for dogs and now cats, too. Her blog stories are amazing and can be real tear-jerkers. Sometimes, I can barely read her stories. Bernie is also well-known in the art community for her book, Artist Trading Card Workshop. I was hoping to take a class from her this month at ZNE's Convenzione http://www.znecon.com/ and have her sign this auction copy of the book for the lucky winner. However, a family emergency has pulled her away, so I am hoping to communicate with her and get a note from her to enclose with the winner's copy.

Plans are to list the book on ebay, and I will post the auction link here and in all relevant Blythe and art groups after I return from ZNE on August 26. Don't miss your chance to own a chubby little book chock-full of original Blythe art.

Tune in for my Diva Craft Lounge Interview!

I've been traveling so much, the girls and I have barely had time to change. I just got back from four days in Michigan for work, followed by Illinois for the Craft and Hobby Association (CHA) summer trade show and preview. Later this week it's back to Michigan and then Ohio Sunday and early next week. Gotta love the Midwest! Thank goodness I do.
But Wednesday July 30 it is Home, Sweet Home, as I will be interviewed at 3:05 p.m. Eastern time by the famous Diva Danielle of Diva Craft Lounge on Blogtalk Radio. You can go to her Web site at http://www.divacraftlounge.com or by clicking the headline above. From there you'll click the link to listen to the show. You can also register at Blog Talk Radio so you can type in live chat or call in. Don't be shy! I know Miss Vicky won't! Vicky http://www.cut-it-up.com is the one who mentioned me and my Blythe it Yourself (BIY) column for ZNE Dollz http://www.znedolls.com to Danielle. Also on the show after me is the proprietor of The Valley of the Dolls store in Los Angeles.
And wonder of wonders in this big dolly world, I got to meet Danielle Sunday at CHA in the Unity Stamp booth and see her new line of Diva sayings stamps for them as well as Unity's cool wood and acrylic stamping block cassette combo- a super idea. I also met some other famous folk at CHA. Check my art blog http://lillysoflondonish.blogspot.com to find out who.

Blythe, Art & Vintage

I'm always trying to tie these three together: Blythe, art and vintage. From the looks of the framed print above, you can see someone has done it with much more talent and style. Miss Surprise on etsy http://www.misssurprise.etsy.com often sketches out outfits for the ultra cool Eurotrash of Finland http://www.eurotrash.etsy.com before she goes about making the clothes and helmets she sells. I have no idea why American Blythe collectors call knitted hats "helmets," but it makes us feel ultra cool, too.

Eurotrash is so of-the-moment and hard-to-get that her audiences around the globe check the international time converter and set alarm clocks for wee hours just to try to bid. She loads her etsy store about once a month, and I last saw about two dozen (not cheap) outfits and hats sell in less than three minutes.

I didn't even know about Miss Surprise or her role in the fashion process, but I accidentally found a set of three of her prints on etsy and promptly snatched them up. I chose the frame and mats above for the print I kept, and I gifted the other two to Miss Vicky http://www.cutitup.com, Re-ment habit supplier and to Angela http://www.geminiangelart.com. The scene above is the lavender and sage setting atop the armoire in my office. The girl on canvas and the single cat on the easel were both painted by me.

Speaking of etsy, the crocheted throw pillows pictured above on the lovely green faux leather (plastic) couch were made by me for my etsy shop http://www.hpsgsmith.etsy.com. I got the idea from crochet-covered focal beads or buttons used (usually just one) to close a shawl, stole, cape, wrap, etc. They're the perfect size for Blythe-looks like something they might have purchased at "Pottery Blythe"- you know, that cool store.

I even shared a tutorial for making my little pillows (so much for making my own cool million) on ZNE Dollz http://www.znedolls.com at http://chelise.typepad.com/zne_dollz/2008/02/groovy-little-p.html. Now everyone can have tons of tiny pillows, but why make them when you can get them from me on etsy http://www.hpsgsmith.etsy.com? It's the American way.

The top photo is just Olivia (GR) in her $1 vintage dress and a Supergirl comic, courtesy of the US Postal Service, back when stamps were 39 cents.

What We Did on our 4th

The girls changed clothes, which was a big accomplishment for a holiday weekend. Gwynyth remains ever the glamour-puss, continuing to rock vintage Skipper until the money runs out. Lilly, Jolene, Maggy and Violet went cas, hoping for a good fireworks display or perhaps to be hat models for my upcoming crochet run. I hope to have my etsy store http://www.hpsgsmith.etsy.com stocked with some Blythe goodies by the end of July. I thinking crocheted hats and throw pillows. I just loaded it with some 'real people' stuff, in case you're interested.

On the 4th of July...Equality for all Doll....Heads

My little collection grows....

Happy Fourth of July!

So glad we are free to blog, free to collect strange dolls, free to buy vintage Skipper on ebay, free to do absolutely nothing. Celebrate!

Vintage Skipper Wars

Maggy, in vintage Skipper Cookie Time looks rather aghast that Jolene would dare put on vintage also. But, she couldn't resist. This vintage Francie Side Kick dress just arrive today and it was perfect with her navy re-ment dress shoes. Both girls are gearing up for the 4th of July I guess. Check out my bang-up sale on This is Blythe forum. There's still bargains, even on vintage here http://blythe.swedenunlimited.com/newforum/viewtopic.php?t=84750 and here http://blythe.swedenunlimited.com/newforum/viewtopic.php?t=84629. No fighting, girls.

Time for a Change of Clothes, That's All

The slumber party-that-would-never-end finally did, so everyone had to get dress. Violet and Maggy chose vintage Skipper: Lots of Lace and Cookie Time. Gwynyth wanted to channel Marie Antoinette while Olivia was channeling either Fruit Punch or Aunt Blabby. Then there's Zena, ah Zena, the Art-Blythe. She concocted a most interesting outfit from Sugarmag, Louos Loves, Converse from Blythe Kingdom and more. But, what are ya gonna do with a blue-haired gal?