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.

"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.

Blythe Fat Book Update

Here are some pics of pages from myself and other artists and of the collating process of the fat book I talked about here http://bly-me.blogspot.com/2008/05/blythe-and-animals-for-cause.html. It is progressing nicely. After all of the pages have arrived, the books will be wire bound and within, a full set of pages between handmade covers returned to each participant. So, that's 392 pages to collate plus covers! The final books also include embellishments, beads, yarn, fibers etc for the spine, pages and covers, so it has been quite a project for everyone- not to mention everyone who wished to participate created 28 or more original pages. That was a daunting task in itself. But as you will soon see when the finished book is shown in a future post, it will have been well worth it.
Why is it called a 'fat book'? The books are a chunky four inches by four inches square and each page is very textural. Embellishments to the edges may dangle off, raise up, etc., making the book a three-dimensional piece of amazement.

Even more exciting is the fact that one book will be auctioned off to benefit A Place to Bark http://aplacetobark.blogspot.com/, a no-kill animal rescue facility in Tennessee run by the very capable Bernie Berlin, herself a published artist.

I will be taking a class from Bernie in August in California at http://www.znecon.com/ and plan to ask Bernie to sign the book for the lucky auction winner. Watch for more info right here about that auction.

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.

A Blythe Fat Book! What is a Fat Book, You Ask? Just Keep Reading! No Calories!

I found out today the lovely Shoshannah Jennings of Hannah Grey http://shop.hannahgrey.com/ promoted me to moderator of this Yahoo! Blythe group http://groups.yahoo.com/group/Arte_du_Blythe/ she owns with Heather Simpson-Bluhm of http://boobyfish.blogspot.com/ and http://www.bluhmstudios.etsy.com/. These art gals share something in common, and that is a love for all things Blythe, along with their artistic talents. And they are not alone.

With more than 30 members in this group and some recent fresh faces, we hope to get a book put together of Blythe art by members. Typically, in a fat book everyone makes a set number of 4 x 4 inch pages front and page, then the pages are swapped out and bound or sent unbound to the recipients, who then have a book full of cool original artwork from all their artsy Blythe friends. It's total eye candy. Some of these same gals are active in The Artists of Chubbyville, also on Yahoo! Many fine fat books have been created by this group. Check it out: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/Chubbyville/. More eye candy. Speaking of which-eyes are tired, and I am hungry. Bad combination. Should head to bed, and dream of Blythe.