Welcome Opree June!

A gorgeous confection recently came to Blythe Manor via California. Opree June is a Friendly Freckles Blythe on a Disney fairy body and was painted by customizer Melly Kay with Valspar Java Brown Satin. That alone cracks me up - I think it is the same paint used on my deck!
But Opree (fka Abrianna) turned out much sweeter than a deck, and her she is with her matching pony in a Squeaky Monkey dress recently acquired from Lovebucket on BK.
Don't know if Opree will make it to Blythecon in Dallas; her hair is a little big for a cowgirl hat. I also have 18 (eep! I just counted. Didn't know that. That's a bit unmanageable for me.) girls and only nine cowgirls outfits with hats and boots. Some anyone with problematic hair will be ruled out asap.
I used to never take my Star Dancer Lilly anywhere, even though she was my first Blythe, because I was so worried about losing her hoop earrings. Finally, I decided I never planned to remove them, so a little Super Glue to the rescue. Lilly's a perfect cowgirl, so she'll definitely make the cut.
Can't wait to photograph Opree June more though; she's a fun one.

Meet Sofia Sylvia Sylvana Gina Maria Melacaccio!

A couple things happened at Blythecon. That's another way of saying a funny thing happened on the way to the forum....
I saw several beautiful, customized Prima Dolly Paris Blythes. And, as some of you know, I won two dark-haired girls with this same haircut, and came home to a third. At least two of them were a base of Punkaholic People, which is very similar to Paris, except different face mold and dark hair.
While still at Blythecon, I started imagining a Paris for myself. And I had a chance to meet the lovely, lovely Sylvia of S. Coladolls, formerly known as Sylviecoladolls. She was rooming with my dear friends, Maggie and Angela. I was rooming with glam Lindsay, and we all hung out.
I had seen her work on many of Maggie's dolls. Sylvia is humble, quiet, unassuming, and verrrry talented! So, I decided I would buy a base Paris doll and send her to Sylvia for a faceup. This happened quite literally. As Sylvia is moving very soon, we ended up just swapping faceplates and eye mechanisms, so she could finish more quickly and get on with packing up her studio.
Meanwhile, at Blythecon, I met another Gina of G*Baby on Flickr. I bought a beautiful set of pink eye chips for Yumeko from her and wished I would have bought more. So I contacted her and ordered four pairs: blue, green, lavender and brown.
Then, in another coincidence, the talented eye chip artist Amy, known as Zaloa27, El Duende or Melacaccia contacted me to buy one of my three brown bob girls, the Punkholic People, and we worked out a partial trade to include two sets of her chips, the pink and the grey now seen on Paris.
Patience not being a virtue of mine at all, I was thrilled when everything came within a day or two of each other in mail from all points west, and base doll from Singapore! I quickly put her together with a little help from Maggie, and voila! Exactly as I had envisioned.
Next up: A BIG Petite suprise in the mail!

Blythecon: Real Friends and Real Plastic Friends Meet

The girlz left for Blythecon like this, and had to make quite a bit more room on the way home! I was lucky enough to win not one, but two Blythe dolls plus a Petite Blythe and two outfits: Atelier Blythe and MinkiDynamite. If that weren't shocking enough, my tickets for the two dolls were drawn one right after the other! I was weirdly lucky!
The Portland Roller Girl Ruby Blythe was created by Lynne Rutherford from Texas, a.k.a. Happibug. She has an incredible face-up, chips, pull rings, outfit, hat and tattoo. On top of that, I won a NRFB Punkaholic People.Both of these girls have brunette bobs. Then I came home to Yumeko in the mail from Scotland, a custom by RuiRui/Neroli, and also a brunette bob. And Bunny Velvet with her wig is a, say it with me, brunette bob.
It is only by coincidence that my earliest Blythe friend, Linda J and her PE Ebony, Molli, have brunette bobs! Heck, I didn't even know what Linda looked like until Blythecon! As you can see above, she looks a lot like her MiniMe, Molly. Linda also has a darling real-life mini me now.
That's Molli's sister Zelda, a Star Dancer custom by Kyle, hanging out with my Star D Lilly. Molli and Zelda sent Lilly and me our first-ever Blythe gifts and Blythe swaps about four years ago-- back when I still had SO much to learn. I remember asking Linda to explain Re-ment to me! Seems so funny now.

More Blythecon Pics!

I think I'll be able to actually write about it after I post more pics. However, that is moi in the white jean jacket in the top photo (I hate getting my picture taken!). I'm sitting with in-person and some first-time in-person friends to my right--Lindsay (Ellewoods) my roommate for BC; Angela (Gemini Angel's Art & Dolls); Ruth (EuroTrash), Blythe Banner (?), and Phillaine. At the foreward table from left: Stacy (Tunibug); Sylvia (SylvieCola Dolls); Maggie (Momoko_girl_1/Blythe_Stole_My_Heart). Maggie has got to shorten that name!
Below that is Pommepomme's vendor table with Shershe (Sherry of Indiana) to the left. In the 3rd photo Keelie of Marmalade Forest in OR sells her "Hello My Name Is" nametags on the left and Rag Bag Designs (Sglahe and her mom) are on the left. I think I bought 5 dresses from them!
Below them, from left are GBaby (Gina), MinkiDynamite and Dolly Rockers vending clothes and eyechips. Last photo is just one of the many tables of participants' dolls- these dressed in vintage Skipper. You can see the outstanding centerpieces, too.

Blythecon or Bust!

Goodies from First-Ever Blythecon

Although I could not attend Blythecon in Atlanta, much to my chagrin, because of a move and job change, I was there in spirit and wallet as I sent some $$ with "Auntie Maggie," so she could get the girls a souvenir. She chose for us this darling pinafore and bloomers set in pinks, purples and blues from KittyKatDance. It came with a tiny little cake, too!

And she got the last 2010 Blythe desk calendar from Gina Garan, who kindly signed it for me, Gina to Gina.

And, if that weren't fab enough, Maggie brought us a gift also, the tan felt dress modeled by Lilly, and a darling Dolly Molly magnet. Almost as good as being there.

The top photo is hard to explain. My Maggy has been decked out and standing outside Target since last Friday. Apparently she thought it was Black Friday already. She has her felt tote from Barb of Academy Beldam, her TIB Uggs, a hat by me and fashions by Barbie. She looks a little astonished that she's got to stay in line another week if she wants to be first in at 5 a.m. Not for me, no thank you! I like to avoid commerce that day.

Hello Dollies! Finally, Something to Blog About

Bunny and Zena (top and second from top) joined me today for a trip to the American Visionary Art Museum, Mr. Rain's Fun House , and the Sideshow gift shop, all inside the museum in Baltimore on Key Highway at Federal Hill for a day out and mini meet with Maggie (momoko_girl_1 on Flickr), the customizer of Bunny Velvet.

Maggie brought four beautiful girls, including Floss (looking ornery in pink), Twig (looking fresh from the prairie), Imma, looking just darling, and Georgia Peach, looking fabulous as always. She filled me in on every moment of Blythecon, from the swag bags to the shopping to meeting Gina Garan, and she brought me some goodies (saved for another post).

We had a great time. Went nuts in the Sideshow gift shop; even found some Blythe pins and mirrors. Had a fabulous lunch! Mr. Rain's is great. I had the butter lettuce apple and pear salad with chicken, and some pretzel bites with mustard for our "bread." Maggie had a seafood chef salad that looked divine. Dessert was flourless chocolate cake and carrot cake. We didn't want to leave. Check them out here!

Maggie's photography inspires me, too, but her girls' hair, fashions and makeup really get to me. Maggie's just got 'it' when it comes to doll collecting. I'm so glad to have a real-life Blythe friend here in Balto. And thanks to a resurgence of Blythe spirit, I stayed up until 3:30 a.m. staring at Blythe pics and fashions on Ebay, Etsy and TIB.

And we're back: Slumber parties and high fashion with Vintage Barbie

Like a cuddly lemon--if lemons were cuddly--Miss Bunny Velvet models the vintage Twist and Turn Barbie outfit we snagged from Ebay after careful scrutiny. We were outbid by three cents with three seconds to go on one set and would have paid $30.03. Instead, we tried again with Ebay-like fortitude and found another one for $19.95. Perfect! Love the red and yellow. Pretty sure I had this outfit for my Barbie as a child. I was heavily into Barbie (and Skipper, Ken, Midge, Stacey, PJ, Francie, Casey, etc., etc.,) so it's hard to remember all the outfits. I had cases and cases of them and houses and....then I did it all over again with my daughter about 20 years ago.

Speaking of Barbie, the pajamas on Lilly, Maggy and Zena above are from a Barbie fashions multi-pack at Wal-Mart. Love the colors and the cute owl designs. There were enough pieces and some faux plastic Uggs (Maggy has on the 'real' Uggs from Gina Garan's This is Blythe shop).

The girls decided to have a slumber party because they don't think they are going to Blythecon, where they were going to have a slumber party with their IRL friends, Lindsay and Claudette and Angela and Annie and Arturo and Maggie and Rupa and their girls. Bummercon.

Meet Miss Bunny Velvet

Glamour-puss? She's all that. And now she has a name: Bunny Velvet. No explanation can be found, other than the great comment by Sarah that she looks like Elizabeth Taylor in the movie National Velvet.

I tend to agree, and if the fictional character Charlotte in Sex and the City can name her dog Elizabeth Taylor, then I can name my fictional character Bunny Velvet. Done. Stay tuned. The other girls are hopping mad, especially Lilly.

Thanks again to "Aunt Maggie" for the great customization. See you in Balto or Hotlanta!

A Little Pre-BlytheCon Shopping

Got my BlytheCon T-shirt recently. Ordered it from the link on the convention Web site. You'll be directed to Cafe Press, where you can choose a variety of styles, colors and designs, as well as tote bags, buttons and more. Can't wait to see my Blythe friends in October and my roomies, Angela and Lindsay.

Moos and Meets

Well, that headline makes perfect sense to me! And, if you are a Blythe person or a Flickr person or a lover of Moo cards, then it probably does to you, too. If it doesn't, I'll try to get you up to speed. Moo cards are tiny little calling cards or business cards, about 1" x 3" that are made from portions of one's photos on Flickr. These cards are some of my Blythe photos. I also made some from photos of my artwork, and you can see those on my art blog. They're just fun little visual reminders, and you can have your email, blog address, Web site, etsy shop or Flickr name printed on the back. Then you swap them with other peeps, or enclose them with sales or whatever you want to do. Heck, you may even keep all 100 for yourself. One hundred different pics/cards for $19.99 isn't bad.

The next photo is Lilly London herself in a turquoise eyelet dress made by Polly on Etsy and gifted to us by Maggie (momoko_girl_1 on Flickr) during a recent Blythe meet at Panera. Maggie, who had just put in a busy weekend as food service director at her local Ikea, during a meatball sale no less, came out to meet me, so we could chat about all things Blythe. She brought me some lovely dresses! And she showed me her beautiful custom, Georgia Peach (with the curly dakr hair and freckles in the middle photo). Maggie did this herself, and I am so impressed! I'm thinking about sending my Maggy off to her for some work.

Maggie also brought Floss (pink mohair) and Angela (red hair). Floss is a dream, like spun sugar! And Angela is so sweet- reminds me of Angela (Gemini Angel Art).

Rupa (anime_fan) came and brought Zoe and little gifties also. She is a customizer herself and has an enormous collection, just like Maggie and their "neighbor girls," Samara and Iveta.

Sounds like we're ALL going to BlytheCon 2o09 in Atlanta. Yay!