Finally! We Had Time to Change!

In an effort to convince me who should go to Art & Soul next week, all the girls decided to change clothes. The fashion fur was flying, and there were a few fashion crises along the way, but finally everything fell into place.

Since Lilly and Maggy went back to their rocker chick roots, I decided to leave them home because they would be noisy. Violet has to stay home because she got to go to Myrtle Beach. She's having tea here with Gwynyth, who is too new to go anywhere.

Olivia Elaia Rose is too shy to go anywhere yet, and Jolene's got too much hair to travel well.

So Zena did a good job, in Olivia's dress, of convincing me she should go. She has artsy-fartsy hair for one thing. For another, she gathered up her painter's palette, water bin, brushes, acrylics, colored pencils, charcoal pencils, and paper-crafting stuff, so I think she may be into this.

Fear not, my non-Blythe friends, I won't be the only weirdo with the Blythe. Ms. Joyce http://www.joycevance.typepad.com/ is an instructor, and she is taking a Blythe. We're going to do a little swap thingy.

Stop! You're Hurting My Eyes And My Head And...

Eeek! It's Blythe Mosaic Overload! I played around with some photos (in order: Lilly, Maggy, Zena and Violet) on Flickr's Big Huge Labs.com "Warholizer." No wonder everyone from the 70s thought everyone else was on drugs! Pop art-gotta love it! Okay, so it is a cold, rainy, dreary spring morning. And, this is what I choose to do to while away the hours. Okay, actually, it took about one minute and was good clean fun, since going outside to dig in the dirt is not good, clean fun, nor is it an option right now. Anyone can make a free mosaic, puzzle, name badge, Warholized print and more at http://www.bighugelabs.com/flickr. It's free, fun and mindless entertainment. Check it out. I Warholized myself (ouch) on my art blog http://lillysoflondonish.blogspot.com/.

A princess, a faerie and a sundae

Lots of happenings at Blythe Manor this week: Both Olivia Elaia Rose and Gwynyth Blythe arrived. They couldn't be more different. Gwynyth is a new ADG PWP, and if that's Greek to you, it means Ashton Drake Galleries Pow Wow Poncho. She is the ADG version of the previous redhead PWP from Kenner. ADG, the US Hasbro licensee, rushed to market this month with the remaining dolls from the original series of 12. There had been only three for a couple of years, and collectors had been clamoring for the rest. Some people feel the ADGs are somehow not as "Blythe" (or Blyce as my friend Tammy likes to say for some reason, as in "you're so Blyce") as the Hasbro Japanese-licensed Takara Tomy dolls. I have two ADGs and like them very much.

Anyway, GB/PWP immediately took off her poncho and slipped into something more comfortable-like head-to-toe vintage Skipper fashions from the 1960s. Her ensemble included the famous red velvet coat and purse as well as a red velvet and satin Skipper dress and black flats. I gave her a quick up-do since she looked so elegant. In case you are wondering, Lilly, my first Blythe and original blond, was seething. She is quite sure Gwynyth is a bottle blond.

Earlier in the week, Miss Olivia Elaia Rose London arrived from Hong Kong where she was known as Gentle River. Now she is thrilled to be named after her step-sister Elaia Tuesday. Olivia came with the most exquisitely detailed dress, smock and coat. The GR is a doll designed by a group of three friends, known as Team Sibley. They won the 2006 Blythe Fashion Show contest with their GR creation and were heavily-involved with Cross World Connection (CWC) in the creation of this doll. She was worth every penny.

Olivia has a forest/ecological mindset and quickly chose the olive-colored gnome hat by Miss Modular/Neuart of Spain on Etsy. She also put on the Dollsville maxi dress by Jooli, an underslip from Auntie Angela of Gemini Angel Art and she stuck her pocket kitty from Evon of VonVonz on Etsy, in her pocket for a walk in the woods.

Meanwhile, the cards and letters keep coming, including a fabulous "Sundae" hat by Rima of WillyNillyWaterLily http://willynillywaterlily.blogspot.com/. Maggy put that on since it matched her pink Hello Kitty dress by Twinklies. These girls have a passion for fashion!

Signs of Spring

We've been excited to finally see a few signs of spring, even if one is April showers. They did allow Lilly to put on her Francie raincoat and Re-ment galoshes, umbrella and LV purse. Spring also brought out the imp in Maggy, who decided to don her Neuart gnome hat to go outside. She was rewarded by finding five sparrow eggs in a nest made in the wreath on our front door. Maggy thought it was so cute, she perched herself in another wreath. Meanwhile, Jolene got all punk-y and decided to rock out with her Hard Rock guitar.

I guess they all survived being left home while we took Violet on vacation. Hope they don't start acting bratty when the new girls come.

Violet London, Travel Writer

Ms. Violet here, reporting from Nautical Watch in North Myrtle Beach, S.C. So much to see and do- perfect for Blythes of all ages! The spring weather is perfect also, about 80 and sunny everyday. Sunscreen would be a good idea to protect our shiny heads! Bug spray would also be good to pack. Auntie Angela wasn't kidding about sand crabs! Or, maybe it is the famous no-see-ums Mom told me about. Maybe it is bed bugs! Whatever it is, they bite! I mean, they bite! All the kids say stuff sucks, but Mom won't let me.

Our pool is really cold since it is unheated, but who needs that when we have an unheated ocean right out the front door. Actually, we don't have a front door, just patio doors and a deck, but big people can jump off that if they want (since it is the first floor).

We went to an outside park called Warbird Park. Who knew that planes were called Warbirds? Scary. I saw a plane that looked like a cute dolphin, but I think it was supposed to kill people. That's mean.

We went for a walk on the beach one night about 7 p.m. It was really pretty and a little chilly. I saw lots of big holes in the sand. I think big monsters live in them. It can't possibly be sand dollars or crabs or anything, because we didn't find one stinkin' shell. And shells do stink sometimes, Mom says.

I was so tired after all this, I had to get right into my Hello Kitty pjs from Effiedal Shop and get to bed! More adventures tomorrow! Soon, we will be heading home through North Carolina. Mom wrote all about that here http://vintageindie.typepad.com/vintage_indie/2008/04/vintage-hot-s-1.html. You should check it out if you like neat little towns. Byeee!

Violet and her Vespa

In a fluke of vacation outlet shopping, I found a deal on a Vespa for Violet that was just too good to pass up. I haven't let her take it off-road to the beach yet. In fact, I let her practice on the the dining room table. I've got to check the road rules: can you ride a Vespa barefoot? Violet London, law-breaker.

Violet, a.k.a. Beach Babe

Violet was able to catch a few rays today without getting burned. I made her put her swim suit under her PJ's last night, because she is such a grouch in the morning. However, this made her ready for the beach bright and early....then we just had to wait for the sun to come out. It finally did, and after a little shut-eye on the beach, Violet decided to take a spin in her (violet) VW Bug. For a new driver, she did pretty well. So well, in fact, that I bought her a Vespa scooter also!

Violet's First Day of Spring Break

Violet made it 900 miles to North Myrtle Beach without complaint. Maybe it was her new Ugly Doll that kept her content. It was somewhat cloudy and drizzly, so she couldn't take her VW Bug onto the beach. She did take her artist's palette and go for a little walk. After some chicken, tomato and artichoke pizza from California Pizza Kitchen, she put on her Joe Boxer nightshirt for the Blythe in America pajama party on Flickr. She kind of over-packed. More on that later.

We received the happy word that Tuesday made it to Madrid and is now Elaia (olive or swallow) in the good care of Carmen. We are hoping our own little "exchange student" from Hong Kong makes it to Indiana by the time we get home.

Look Out Beach, Here We Come!

The waiting is over, and tomorrow marks the departure to North Myrtle Beach for half the Smith household and one-fifth of the present Blythe Manor household. So, who is going? Stay tuned for in-vacation photo posting. I will say the lucky girl was chosen on the basis of whose earrings were not going to get lost, whose hair cooperates and who is an all around sweet-demeanored girl. Oh, and it was also based on who is not claustrophobic since she will be traveling in this swell dolly carrier, custom-made for me by Becca of Sew Pixie http://sewpixie.tinfoildreams.com/blog using Vera Bradley placemats.

As you can see, Mystery Girl has her shorts and sunglasses at the ready as well as her tote bag with laptop and $35. I wonder how far that will take her shopping? It won't last long if we find any vintage Barbie or Skipper clothes or some fabulous old-school Barbie cast-off at the outlet shops.

Meanwhile, Lilly has decided she wants to become a famous photographer like Gina Garan http://www.thisisblythe.com, for all intents and purposes the "founder" of Blythe here in America, not to be confused with Blythe in America http://www.flickr.com/groups/BlytheinAmerica, the group I co-administer on Flickr. B in A is having a Blythe pajama party on April weekends, so Vi...I mean, Mystery Girl has several sets of pajamas packed for her trip, along with her beach towel, swim ring, umbrella, cooler and VW Bug for beach cruising. I wonder how many weird looks I'll get photographing that?