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.

"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 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.