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.