Arte du Blythe Charm Swap

Things have been pretty quiet around Blythe-land, as evidenced from my last post being on Christmas. Yikes! But some members of the Yahoo! group Arte du Blythe have been busy making charms for a bracelet project, hosted by Miss Vicky in California. Eight artists from North America will make up the bracelet, including Miss Vicky and me, Sandy from Canada, Maija from Arizona, Carrie of Florida, Lisa from New Jersey, Angela from Michigan and Kim from Nebraska.

The very pink charms above are by Sandy and are to die for! Can't wait to see them in person. They make my Blythe eyeball and paper clay girly charms look pretty sad. Hopefully my charms will blend in to the whole bracelet. Can't wait to see it! For more on charms, check out my art blog.

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.

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.

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.

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 Brings Out the Nicest People!

It has been awhile since I received these adorable pencil/charcoal sketches of (L-R) Lilly, Violet, Maggy and Jolene from the sweet Lindsey of ElleWoods2007 on Flickr http://www.flickr.com/photos/ellewoods. Not only is she talented this way, but she is also an interior designer and a lover of her own B lythes, which she cleverly positions in her inimitable "Blythe Opera" series of photos, featuring the also inimitable Claudette, a Darling Diva in more ways than one. We've become swap friends, Blythe and Flickr and art friends, and hopefully, we will meet someday. Meanwhile, check out her great photos.

I finally found some perfect little frames for my office/Blythe room so I can enjoy these! And if, like me, you like to combine Blythe with art, check out Arte du Blythe on Yahoo! http://groups.yahoo.com/group/Arte_du_Blythe

Blythe and Animals for a Cause

Since I have been a little lax in posting here due to all my art goings-on (see my other blog http://lillysoflondonish.blogspot.com) Zena (above) was giving me a lecture about keeping my blog fresh. And, she put on her new froggy dress by H Loves R on etsy to do so. Whether animal or amphibian, the theme of her attire is appropriate since Zena and her siblings grace my pages for the Arte du Blythe Yahoo! Group fat book http://groups.yahoo.com/groups/Arte_du_Blythe.

Thirteen artists are creating 28 original 4" x 4" pages, fronts and backs, to be assembled into 'fat books.' Each artist will receive back a completed, bound book with original front and back covers by group founders, Heather Simpson Bluhm of Bluhm Studios and Shoshannah Jennings of Hannah Grey. As group administrator, I am coordinating the efforts and binding the books.

Perhaps the best part of the project, and where Larry the Cat (shamelessly posing above) comes in, is that one extra book will be auctioned off for charity later this year, likely on ebay. The beneficiary of this sale will be fellow artist, Bernie Berlin, who is equally well-known for her dedicated, tender and grueling work with her no-kill animal shelter, A Place to Bark in Tennesee http://aplacetobark.blogspot.com.

Bernie's work has been the subject of much fund-raising, including her finish in the top five of Parade Magazine's reader-voted charities recently, which netted her enough funds to construct a new building on her site. But, the costs of medicines, spaying and neutering, food and adoption travel keep the need for funds high at all times.

Blythes like Zena and Arte du Blythe want to do their part because, like Bernie, we love all animals. And, although her place is called A Place to Bark, she often finds herself rescuing kittens and all sorts of animals. Yes, Zena, maybe even a frog.

The fat book pages shown above, in clockwise order, are from Arte du Blythe members Miss Vicky, Dolly Mommy/Sandbeech, Debbiesh, Cheldoll/ZNEart and me.

A Blythe Hodge Podge

I don't like just slapping a bunch of un-related pictures on my blog, so I will pretend these are loosely related under the heading "Blythe," which I guess they are. But, I have been rushing around this weekend, getting ready for vacation in FOUR MORE DAYS! Excited doesn't even come close. I soooo need a vacation. A lot of stress and some health issues this long winter have made me crazy. Some pharmaceutical tinkering by my physician has resulted in either lethargy or insomnia, depending on the day, and long, detailed nightmares nightly (is that redundant?) when I actually can sleep. Enough about that.

So, here is some assorted Blythe eye candy...the ATCs are for an upcoming swap I am coordinating for Arte du Blythe http://groups.yahoo.com/group/Arte_du_Blythe/ in May, along with a fat book, I am also coordinating AND binding-eek!

The room scene is the sitting room off the main bedroom, and the aquarium I just snagged from Barb of ArdentCurse. It was ginormous. So I took the legs off, and then I figured out how to light it from behind. It looks almost as real as my 24-year-old daughter's aquarium in her room-and hers only has one real fish, Pinky. Pinky terrorized two Puffers, and we had to have pet funerals-awful- even at my age! Pinky is neglected, because Adrienne is never around. She is 24.

I was inspired by others to organize my Blythe shoes and photograph them for posterity, or for insurance purposes! I also enjoyed corresponding this weekend with Carmen/Mitsubish1984 in Madrid in my second language/my major about shoes for Licca-bodied Blythe. I might as well mention it here, but Carmen will be Licca Mondie Tuesday's new mom. It was somewhat traumatic, but we just weren't bonding (seriously, and Eddo will kill me if he or Tippi find out). Anyway, I felt so bad, I sent a new dress with Tuesday, and then I rounded up a bunch of shoes for Carmen as well.

Zena wears black mary janes with her Alice in Wonderland dress by Girlish, and I am hoping she will take up cleaning.

Meanwhile, Jolene got outside for a bit of fresh air, but it was cold! We're all sick of winter right now! Maggy was so tired of it that she recreated spring inside, and Larry had to get in the middle of things to check it out.

Finally, here's a picture of the blue bedroom with a second bed added. I am really happy with the pillow shams I made and wrote about for ZNE Dollz http://www.znedolls.com/, a group whose blog I co-edit and whose group I now co-mod. I have since changed the flooring here, added another rug, and have some new "blinds" to work on. Check out my Blythe It Yourself series on ZD for dollhouse decorating ideas, and check out my art blog http://lillysoflondonish.blogspot.com/ of March 30 for decorating on an even smaller scale.