Meet Delilah Dala!

It's amazing what can be achieved with a stray scalp and body! Meet Delilah Dala, a beautiful ghostie girl by Blythe Stole My Heart (a.k.a. Aunt Maggie, if we're allowed to say!) I got the white mohair scalp secondhand on Blythe Kingdom. It was originally done by Moofala. It is a thick and gorgeous reroot. The head and body came from nearby Blythe friend Jenn. This was an unfinished, scalpless girl with two good sets of chips.
Our 'aunt Maggie' offered to take the parts and make a surprise girl. Boy, did she ever! Delilah is spectacular, with gently glittered pink lids and lips. She also has a pair of zombie chips and some interesting reddish-brown sparkle chips that work very well. Maggie did the pull charms, and I added the pink feathers from a pair of earrings.
In these photos, Delilah is wearing a Madeleine dress. Her friend is a Barbie afghan, gifted from Meester X. I think the hound looks like the actor Fabio, hence the name Fabio Dala. I guess it is now a boy dog wearing pink.
Their last name is a tribute to the customizer, her time in Scandinavia, and her time now at one of my favorite Scandinavian-style stores: Dala being a Swedish term for a type of sheep, and a style of Swedish folk art painted horse and other animals. When she once explained 'Dala' to me, I realized I had had a small painted wooden 'Dala' rooster ever since childhood.
Delilah doesn't look too spooky in pink, but maybe I will try to 'goth-her-up' next time we get dressed!

Updates from all my properties

I think I need a property manager!

Meet Cady! Charlotte's Still Horse-y. And an homage to the new Princess

Name decided upon. Cady. Check.

Urban Cowgirl Charlotte still horse-y, now in Western Skipper. Check.

Barbie's #972 Wedding Day from 1960 still in style. Check.

A beautiful princess made for a beautiful royal wedding. Extra Check.

Barbie Butts in on Blythe Blog. Again.

Plastic People Need a Vacation, Too

Here are just a few scenes from the vacation of Poppy Parker, Wonder Frog (a.k.a. Frog), Bubblecut, Silkstone and PonyTail Barbie. Besides the usual over-packing of fashions and accessories, this time I even brought along their furniture! And backdrops. And flooring. Wanted to make time for some photoshoots that I'd had no time at home to do.

Charlotte: Off to Myrtle Beach (with me)

Yes. We brought Too. Much. Stuff. Also attending: Frog, Mini Frog, Mini Blythe, Tutti, Kelly, Poppy Parker, Francie, Midge, 2 Silkstones and 3 vintage Barbies. Further acoutrements: one book of 562 pages, 19 magazines weighing approximately 42 pounds (3 copies of Vogue), 2 doll beds, 2 room backdrops, assorted cases and shoe sorters, 1 large shopping bag of Ebay sales to manage, 1 small bag of dolly sewing, mending, ironing and tiny vintage bouquets to re-wire and re-glue; laptop, camera and assorted electronic devices; 1 large first-aid kit and bag of supplies for the inevitable beach mishaps that have befallen me in the past (too numerous to mention here but do note at least 3 E.R. visits in 25 years of semi-annual beach pilgrimages); 1 blanket and pillow from home (adult size), and I even managed to remember to pack my own suitcase and bring a swim suit and towel (2 ea.).

Perhaps I need a class in a) How to Relax, b) How to Take a Vacation and/or c) How Not to be So Anal.

Another interloper...here to stay!

Besides the vintage Barbies which have been claiming a piece of my free time, a.k.a. "Blythe Time," now we have Ms. Poppy Parker on the scene. I had been coveting her pouty face ever since I saw her announced in Haute Doll magazine last fall.

She is produced by Jason Wu (yes, the same Jason Wu of Michelle Obama's wardrobe) for Integrity Toys. She is 12", fully articulated, and has been released already in a variety of hair styles, colors and outfits. This one above, called "Beatnik Blues," just spoke to me, as did her reasonable price!

Here she is wearing a striped tunic dress from a Taylor Swift doll (sorry, Taylor. I luvs ya anyway), Poppy's own black tights, Francie's fuschia Culotte Wot boots, Barbie's 1960s white canvas Resort Set hat (yes, that hat is almost 50 years old!) and the perfect accessory--a Vera Bradley style handbag made in glorious detail by the ever-so-talented Diana Weiler, one-half of La Boutique.

I think Poppy will be a great model for my vintage mod Barbie and Francie fashions, many of which are being restored or repaired by another talent, Libby Sherman of Pistachio Libby. However, Poppy is going to need a padded bra to pull off some of the Barbie fashions! Calling Jason Wu....

The ultimate in purse pets!

The ultimate in purse pets!
Originally uploaded by Gina2424

Take that, all you pint-size chihuahuas out there. And you, too, Yorkies, even though I wuv you. Make way for the purse pet of the next decade: mini Wonder Frog! No pooper scooper bags required, no crumbly dog biscuits, no expensive grooming (hey, no fur, and you can't paint toenails that don't exist)! Can't find a prince? Just get a frog. Jessica Simpson, we're talking to you. Basic Barbie wears, in addition to her fab frog, a very vintage Barbie Dreamy Blues dress, vintage boots and lesser vintage Fashion Avenue sunglasses, furry coat, and purse. She's all that, and together, they're all that and more.

The Barbie-Blythe overlap finally sucked me in and won't let go!

No, these 10 pictures are not of Blythe (as in Blythe-O-Mania, the title of this blog). They are of Francie, Barbie, Teresa, Casey, a host of "barbies," (small 'S'; different than 'the' Barbie, some of you understand that), a vintage Barbie case cover, and okay, one Blythe (Buffy) in pink with Superstar Barbie.

So what have we here? I guess I have to accept it. It's my newest obsession. Although it looks, feels and smells like my childhood of the 1970s, it's really my second childhood, circa 2010. And it's going well. Lots of fun. No angst about boys, zits or homework. Well, less angst.

It all started simply enough. Blythe bodies are the same as Skipper bodies, and as such can wear the vintage Skipper fashions of the 1960s and 1970s with special aplomb. Call it attitude. Call it whatever you will, but I have been slowly collecting my favorite Skipper fashions, many of which I had once before, for my Blythes to wear.

Then I discovered some of the Francie fashions also fit and looked mod. Francie was perhaps even more of a favorite than 'the' Barbie barbies I had. Francie was fun and mod and hip and had a cool friend Casey, whereas Barbie with a big 'B' was always a little severe looking to me with her arched eyebrows, pursed lips and stilettos. Barbie intimidated me the same way she probably intimidated Midge. And Ken.

Francie was my cool pal when I was about age seven to 10. And now she's my cool pal when I'm about ^%&^%*#@. Oh well, never mind that. Anyway, after accumulating a nice stash of vintage fashions, I realized I could enjoy them more if I could display them on their rightful vintage 'owners.' Suddenly, I had a new old Barbie collection (big and small 'S'). And as fate would have it, they display perfectly on top of my Blythe doll house. So now I can have an ever-changing montage of my first and/or second childhood. Or, as the next-to-last photo demonstrates, I can have a "Who Wore It Best" dress-off, a la Us magazine, any time I want.

Fashion Fun & Blythe Friends

If I reported how many hours I spent preparing late on a Friday night so I could take pictures of each Blythe (and now, each Barbie, Frog and Tom, Dick & Harry, it seems), some one of you would try to have me committed. So, suffice to say, the photo shoot took much less time than the preparation. But then the after-work--editing, uploading, emailing, Flickring, blogging, etc., took the better part of an eight-hour day!

Some of the results are above. I recently received a few lovely things via trades with other Blythe fans (fanatics). In red in the middle, cream mohair Molly wears an incredibly detailed and well-made coat and dress set with hairpin by Trio, which I got from Trish in the U.K. by trading a crochted set by Blanki seen here.

Jane, below Molly, wears a lovely peachey orange hat I received from Judy in Canada in a trade. She sent tiny socks she had made and this perfect hat in exchange for a blue Madeleine coat I had, and some other stuffs.

Daisy is wearing a darling dress made out of cut-up vintage curtains; the fabric I either got in a trade or at a thrift shop. The dress was made by Pistachio Libby, "our" seamstress and tailor on Etsy, and now an IRL (in real life) friend I recently met up with for a play day. I asked her to make a "1978 Gunne Sax Prom Dress," and she interpreted that perfectly!

Phoebe is in a tennis outfit by Bon Bon Blythe that I got second-hand on Plastic Paradise, along with the V-Smash tennis racket, bag and can of tennis balls. She's keeping up her tomboy act so far.

In the same PP sale, I got the amazing new hair/scalp for Joey, at the very top. Joey grew up! See her before here and here! Now she's all sassy with a "leather" Harley Davidson vest snatched from Barbie, a tulle tutu, fishnets, purple suede motorcycle boots from Cool Cat and a shiny silver Barbie jacket with purple fur. Next thing I know she'll want a tatoo. The scalp is from a Disco Boogie. Excellent cutting job, Mnemone!

Black bob Bunny is looking rather stylish in slim black flares, a black Megipupu top with delicate crochet edging, and a standout purse from the lovely Diana at La Boutique. The bag is a scale replica Louis Vuitton Murakami roll bag. Makes Bunny look like a million bucks- or at least a couple thousand!

Lastly, FROG in a Kelly top and Strawberry Shortcake shoes and tights, admires the tiny Barbie house ornament by Hallmark while one of the LPS dachshunds checks it out also. Hey, don't your toys play with toys?

The Leesburg Blythe Hotel, our home away from home

After I brought Phoebe, above, home from the Michigan Blythe Meet, I set about making a dollhouse in the location of my former Blythe Manor I. (Blythe Manor II is the one you usually see). I brought a shopping bag full of extra furniture, accessories, and about 10 different cans of spray paint. Krylon Fusion is made especially for plastic.

Since I had some great pieces left that just wouldn't fit into Blythe Manor II, I knew I wanted to make a second dollhouse anyway. So, I sorted what I had into room grouping and then figured out what needed painted in order to fit in. I especially wanted to use the IKEA-like shelf by Smidgehouse on Etsy and the leopard settee by Barbie Furniture and Fashions on Ebay. I also received a great Takara vintage desk in a trade and snagged a Bratz egg chair and lips bed on EbayUK.

Along with all that, I improvised to make a mirror from a silver tray, a "wicker" wall unit from a coffee table, a window blind from a placemat, a frame from a lid, a hanging light from a photo ball, a lamp from an air freshener, another lamp from a dangly pendant bead, records from stickers and key tags and an art desk from some clothespin photo holders and two acrylic frames.

Some other repurposed items included placemats for flooring, a baby's headband for a photo hanger, a piece of sink mat for a bathroom rug, a Hello Kitty plush keyring for a pillow, and a piece of placemat for a window shade.

All the rooms are pictured above, with and without their plastic occupants. The house was a one-day project, thanks to fast-drying paint.