More DIY, a Coach purse and a tiny Blythe box

Had such fun making the tiny, one-inch replica Blythe box. Instructions from Dr. Blythenstein on Flickr. I first found one in kittyrobot's room, also on Flickr. I used it, along with other little goodies, for some finishing touches for Blythe Manor II.

The black bedroom dust ruffle, the black throw pillows and the Coach purse all are by Pistachio Libby on Etsy. The Coach fabric is the former wiping cloth from my authentic Coach sunglasses. Ah, the sacrifices we make for Blythe!

I crocheted the little peach throw pillow in the top photo. More details to come.

Caveat emptor: before and (almost) after

Before and (almost) After
Originally uploaded by pheisty is way behind!!

So I got the crazy idea I wanted a Blythe with pink hair. Pink mohair, specifically. Not only should you be careful what you wish for, but one should read the fine print of everything and thoroughly check out a seller. I should know this, although I have never had a BDD, or bad dolly deal.


However, this "Blythe" arrived looking bad, and she got scarier by the minute. She looked nothing like her cute Flickr pic and did not arrive with the milky chips that caught my eye. What she did arrive with, for starters, was stock orange chips painted over with a marker, which started to wipe off, and a horrific mismatched pink pair, as well as a long neck and wobbly head, no screws...I could go on. I knew she was a CCE doll (Color Changing Eyes doll, Blythe knock-off like Blybe or Basaak), and I knew I wasn't getting the Pure Neemo flexion body, but still! However, as you can see, Joey/Pheisty came to the rescue (this is her picture), and she's done amazing things already.


I am eager to see the end result. Thank goodness for (new) Blythe friends! So, the freaky doll I waited a month for originally, who was going to be named Pookie, and who we've been calling Pinky, will now be known quite honorably as Joey. A big improvement all the way around.

I Moo, Do You?

I love MOO! I guess that makes it a noun and not a verb, and I have no idea why the company is called that. But Moo, Inc., is a printing company that I found on Flickr, and one of their specialties is the approximate 1" x 3" Moo cards shown above.

Moo cards have almost a cult following and are immensely popular as an alternate to business cards as you can have your pertinent info printed on the back. The best part is the front, which are slices you select from your Flickr photostream. Or, you can choose stock art, but it's so much fun to see your photos brought to life in tiny pieces.

I keep my Moos on ball and chain. I simply punch a tiny hole with my Crop-O-Dile and string them on. I have three chains: my art Moos, my Blythe Moos and Moos from friends. Moos are popular to trade at both art retreats and Blythe meets, and a lot of people enclose a Moo with Ebay and Etsy purchases.

If you'd like to swap Moos with me, just leave me a comment or send me a message. Mooooooo.

The girlz welcome Alice Snow

From the top, girls! Daisy, Bunny, Zena and Lilly put on their new bestest outfits (we had a little spree on Plastic Paradise and TIB) to welcome Alice Snow (bottom). Isn't she sweet? She has lovely clear eyes in shades of grey, green and blue as well as dark and vibrant purple. I love her little poof of white mohair. She was adopted from supervelma on TIB/a.k.a. rollerderbysinner on Flickr. Love that name!

Daisy and Zena are modeling new acquisitions from Gina Garan's TIB shop, while Bunny and Lilly have "used" duds (sssshhhh! don't tell them) from PP. Used, but divine nonetheless. And it's not like the previous owners wore them to work or anything, nor out in the muddy bog. So, it's all good! Repurposing and resaling at its tiny best.

More fashion fun with vintage and knits

I'm having so much fun creating fashion combos for "the girls." I think they are so much more pleasurable to dress when they have great hair. Daisy (top photo) came that way, thanks to ruirui on Flickr or Neroli on ebay, a Blythe customizer who has been featured in Dolly Dolly magazine for her entry in the Blythe photo contest. In the top photo Daisy wears a vintage Skipper sailor suit, with capris, T-shirt, jacket (and hat that's a wee too small). And, in the bottom photo Daisy wears a vintage 1980s Barbie dress with hot pink tights and white boots.

Then Daisy and also blue mohair Zena decided to see "who wore it best" to quote People magazine's celebrity challenge, as they each tried on Megipupu's knit hat and sweater from her Etsy shop via Finland. Megipupu (Megan Talarmo) is another Blythe artist who has appeared in Dolly Dolly magazine. Check out her gorgeous knits on her Flickr photostream. Both Megipupu and RuiRui were featured on p. 64 of Dolly Dolly #21 recently.

In the bottom photo with Daisy are my first and second Blythes respectively, Lilly, a Star Dancer and Maggy, an ADG Priceless Parfait. Lilly wears a Sugarmag dress and jacket and Maggy wears a complete mish-mash of Sugarmag, stock from Lounging Lovely, Barbie and items of unknown origin. I cut Maggy's hair in an asymmetrical bob when I first got her. Both Maggy and Lilly have silky hair, so I was totally unprepared for Bunny's coarse, out-of-control hair.

Bunny Velvet, next-to-last-photo, is looking fab, thanks in large part to her new bob wig from Shopholican, who sells on both Etsy and This is Blythe. Bunny wears a vintage Francie dress (another fave one from my childhood), a Sugarmag top as a vest, repro Barbie stockings from Smasheroo, black Mary Janes, a new scarf and an 80s teen Skipper yellow train case. I'm thinking about making her wig a permanent attachment. Can you say Super Glue? I don't know if I can or not. We shall see.

In need of name and a hairdo!

This little beauty returned today from a stay at Aunt Maggie's spa. She's just gorgeous! Anyone wanting to chat with Ms. Maggie about her work, should look her up on Flickr as momoko_girl_1. She does outstanding work!

Here's what she did to my Ashton Drake Roaring Red:

Boggled*Gaze corrected*Sand matted*Lip carving*Nostril carving*Philtrum Carving*Painted lips*Eyeshadow (hard to tell from this pic)*Blush*New chips (4 pairs)*Painted lids*Details on eyelids*New eyelashes ("Romance")*New pullrings (sleep eyes)*Spray matte*Fingernail polish*Toenail polish*Put her all back together*Condition and trim hair.

The hair was an ADG mess which I asked Maggie just to cut until I can decide what to do with it. Check out her own Georgia Peach on Flickr for a cute hairdo Maggie did with a wig!

I'll post more pics soon of this girl's other eye chips and lids as soon as she has at least a proper name and maybe a proper hair-taming!

A New Arrival To Shake Things Up

This lovely brunette arrived Saturday, and I actually left her to sit for a day until I could figure out something to do with her. I think that must be some kind of rare malady: The Blythe Blahs. When I got my first, a Takara Star Dancer from Tokyo (Lilly), I must have tracked her every day for a week via UPS and I am certain I ripped open the box within second. In fact, I remember being frustrated because it took so long to get her unhooked from the security ties inside the box.

But now, ho hum. So why even buy another, you ask? The lame reason would be that ADG Blythes are so cheap via Collectibles Today from Illinois, the authorized Ashton Drake seller ($30 x 3), versus the more expensive Takaras. The other answer would be that either this one or my other ADG, Maggy, are going to take a little trip to Baltimore to Aunt Maggie (momoko_girl1 on Flickr) for a little renovation. I just love what Maggie has done with her Georgia Peach, and I love her other pictures on Flickr, so I asked her if she would play around with one of mine. I told her all I want are some freckles and boggled, new eye chips and anything else she wants to do is fine with me and will be a surprise!

So, I've got to decide who goes and who stays. I was going to keep this Roaring Red until I made the mistake of taking her up-do down. What a mess! She needs hair help for sure. But my Maggy with the custom bob still seems like the logical choice. Besides, RR doesn't have a name yet, and she can't possibly fly USPS without a proper name. What do you think?

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!

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!

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.

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!

Lots of Blythe Clothes for Sale on TIB, See also me sets on Flickr

And now a word from our sponsor....(that's me). I did my first closet clean-out as the Blythe people call it on This is Blythe (TIB) forum. Here's my items for sale and one picture here to tempt you. Please respond through TIB or Flickr. http://blythe.swedenunlimited.com/newforum/viewtopic.php?t=84629 or http://www.flickr.com/photos/lillysoflondonish/sets/72157605800998923/.

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