BlytheLife.com opened in July 2010 and is a blog and resource hub for all things Blythe!
Interview with Lisa from Milk-Tooth.com and Parasol Doll Dress Giveaway!
Written on July 31, 2010 at 12:00 pm by MichelleFiled under: Featured, Giveaway with tags: milk-tooth.com, parasol doll, rabbitine
Amazing is one word to describe what Lisa does with art for the Blythe community. Cute and witty, her fabric designs make me smile and I can pretty much guarantee that they’ll make you smile too. If you’re interested in purchasing your own fat quarters of Lisa’s amazing work, please check out her Etsy shop, Milktooth by Milktoof.
You can also find Lisa at her website, Milk-Tooth.com and see what wonderful creations people have made with her fabric at her Flickr group, milktooth – tasty textile treats.
Hi Lisa, Why don’t you tell us all a little about yourself and how you go into Blythe?
Hi! My name is Lisa, a.k.a. Rabbitine on the interwebs. I’m really just an art nerd living the “funemployment” dream in Portland, Oregon. I live with my boyfriend and our two dogs, Jack and Leela whom I love to kibbles and bits! When I’m not playing with dolls I can usually be found at the dog park, making feeble attempts to play bass, painting, reading, or hunting down vintage dolls and toys at local antique stores.
As I am a graphic designer and illustrator by trade, I occasionally get commissions for artwork. One gloomy Portland day, I was contacted by the lovely, Megan (Minklet) to do some illustrations for her band, Gingerbread Patriots. Megan and I became friends and she introduced me to the amazing world of Blythe. For a long time, I was too chicken to buy my first girl, but in the fall of 2007, I visited the Junie Moon store in Tokyo and took the plunge! I bought a Rainy Day Parade for around 11,500 yen. I named her, Ren and my life has never been the same since!
You have a great website, milk-tooth.com – how did you come up with that name?
Thank you so much! This fabric designing stuff is a completely new adventure for me. I wanted a name that would reflect that freshness. I kept telling myself that I was just cutting my baby teeth (milk teeth) like a wee baby and the moniker stuck. I think the name also speaks to the child-like nature of my work. As a bonus, little cartoon teeth are just plain cute and fun to draw!
Mist and Alix model dresses from House of Pinku and Button Arcade. Photo credit: Fashionmimi.
I know you have some involvement with BlytheCon 2011 (which is taking place in Portland, Oregon), what can you tell us about that?
Well, I suppose I could be considered BlytheCon 2011’s official designer but I’m not directly involved with the planning so I’m not sure what juicy tidbits I can leak. However, I CAN tell you that it’s going to be flipping EPIC! It has an awesome nautical theme which I think will lend itself nicely to cute vintage outfits and an amazing location with lots of bright natural light for taking photos. There’s going to be a ton of vendors, some knock-your-socks-off raffle prizes, and lots of fun surprises.
The three BlytheCon inspired fabrics I designed are being printed by Spoonflower as I write this and will be available very soon via the BlytheCon 2011 official ArtFire shop to raise funds for the event.
It’s going to be so fun to meet everyone. I am counting down the days!
Puddles wearing a ButtonArcade dress made with Milktooth fabric. Photo credit: Frankie Darling.
Your fabric designs all have this unspoken whimsical feel to them, what are some of the things that inspire you to draw the designs that you do?
Many of my drawings are inspired by the strange vivid dreams I have which usually contain a talking animal or inanimate object of some sort. For example, last night I had a dream about a brocade pattern made from typography so when I woke up, I sat with my sketch book and drew it out. I am also a total die hard cartoon junkie which is where I think a lot of the goofiness in my work comes from. Most of all, I’m inspired by all of the amazingly talented seamstresses out there making Blythe clothes. Their work is a big part of what motivated me to start designing fabric in the first place!
Donovan wearing a ButtonArcade dress made with Milktooth fabric. Photo credit: ButtonArcade.
What can you tell us about the process that you go through to get from an idea to the physical piece of fabric sitting in front of you?
Usually, I start with a broad theme which is either given to me, like with Spoonflower contests, or that I come up with for myself. Then, I put on some rad music and start to brainstorm all of the visuals and phrases that pertain to that theme. After I brainstorm, I pick my favorite ideas and start to sketch them out on paper or on my Wacom tablet. Next, I draw and color all of the elements of the design in Illustrator and arrange and size them in Photoshop. Finally, I upload to Spoonflower and wait wait wait for my fabric to arrive in the mail!
If you had to describe your designs in 140 characters or less (much like a tweet), how would you describe them?
Milktooth fabrics are created with dolls in mind, hand-woven in a factory by elves, and specially designed to tickle your happy-maker.
Casper in a dress made from Milktooth fabric by blair. Photo credit: blair.
You say that you create your fabrics with dolls in mind, why did you decide to design small-scale prints?
On numerous occasions I had heard my dolly-clothing-designer buddies talk about how there are very few cute micro-prints available. I also noticed that a lot of people in the Blythe community make dresses using the same handful of mass-produced Japanese fabrics. Don’t get me wrong, the kawaii Japanese prints are totally adorable, but I thought the market could use some spicing up. I had no idea that creating my own fabric was even a possibility until my dear friend, Maggie of Parasol Doll told me about Spoonflower and encouraged me to start designing for dollies. I probably never would have attempted it without her!
Post models a Fishknees romper made with Milktooth fabric. Photo credit: Fishknees.
What do you think is the most important thing that you’ve learned, from marketing your own designs and about yourself, since you started fabric design?
I think the most important thing I’ve learned is to be more confident in myself and my work and to try my hardest even if I think I might fail. Before I started designing fabric I was pretty confident in my graphic design abilities but less so in my illustration skills. In the graphic design practice, you are always trying to marry your style with the clients vision but with Milktooth, it is 100% me. This is a little scary, but also very freeing! With the continued support of my friends and the greater doll and craft communities I have learned to love the weird little flaws and quirks in my work and now I’m not afraid to put myself out there.
You bring an incredibly unique gift to the Blythe community, how does it make you feel when you see that people are using your fabrics for their sewing projects?
Thank you so much! I get really excited when I see people sewing with my fabrics! Usually I make some sort of strange squealing noise! It’s so delightful to see all the creative things that people do with my prints. I love to collaborate with other artists and I feel like every piece that gets made with Milktooth fabric is a mini collaboration of sorts. I’m such a dork about it, I troll Flickr daily to see if anyone has made anything new!
A big ol’ pile of Milktooth! Photo credit: Rabbitine.
Thank you so much for doing this interview with me, Lisa. In closing, what kind of advice would you give to someone who’s just coming into the Blythe hobby?
Thank you for having me! I would tell anyone new to Blythe not to be shy and never hesitate to ask questions. It can be really intimidating to come into a well-established hobby community when you don’t know anyone or much about dolls but just remember that we were all in that position at one point in time so don’t be afraid! I would encourage them to get involved with their local Blythe scene (if there is one.) Blythe is great at bringing people together! I have made some of my very best friends because of dolls!
Milk-Tooth.com & Parasol Doll Dress Giveaway!
Parasol Doll dress made from Milk-Tooth.com fabric. Photo credit: Keyinherpocket.
Maggie of Parasol Doll has created an amazing dress made from Lisa’s Milk-Tooth.com fabrics as a giveaway prize to one very lucky person here on BlytheLife.com!
You can have up to three (3) entries into the giveaway, which will be done by a random draw. You can enter until Friday August 6th, 2010 at 9:00pm PDT. One winner will be randomly selected and it will announced on Saturday August 7th.
Remember to use a valid email address when commenting. If you are chosen as the winner, your email address will be forwarded to Lisa of Milk-Tooth.com to arrange for the prize to be sent to you.
Please only use one email address per person, those using multiple email addresses for more entries will be disqualified.
Entry #1: Comment on this interview!
Entry #2: (You must complete Entry #2) Follow Lisa on Twitter at @rabbitine! Please include your Twitter username in your comment if you decided to do Entry #2.
Entry #3: Bonus Entry! (You must complete Entry #1 and #2) Help Lisa and me promote the contest by retweeting the following:
@blythelifecom and @rabbitine are doing a giveaway! Read the interview! You get 3 chances to win! http://bit.ly/alFfD4
What a great interview! I love Lisa’s prints. 😀
I’m following her now.
WOW! These are all amazing!! Good Luck Everyone!
I’ve always loved these pretty fabrics. They’re so cute and innocent, they just work on the girls!
I’m following her now! My username is xHollyDolly12x
wow super, fingers crossed
i’m following lisa on twitter and my username is sarahboirin
and i’m tweeting about the contest too 🙂
I love this interview! Lisa rocks & so does her fabric!
I love Lisa’s fabric and can’t wait to make something out of it..great interview !
following you on twitter, username mysticartgirl56
Awesome interview! I’m already follow Lisa on Twitter! Woohoo. 🙂
amazing interview!! lisa is so cute and talented!
i’m already following lisa on twitter but i’ve also tweeted about the giveaway here:
http://twitter.com/milkandkisses/status/20015877120
xoxo
Another great interview and fab giveaway! You spoil us. I didn’t know about her fabrics, they look fantastic, i will have to check out her store. I love the mustache print one.
Laura
Am now following rabbitine! My twitter username is legardner
I have also retweeted. 🙂
I love her mustache pattern… great interview! 🙂
Following http://twitter.com/cry5tal
Tweeted here – http://twitter.com/cry5tal/status/20017392914
[…] you want to enter to win the one-of-a-kind Parasol Doll creation seen above, read my interview here and follow the instructions to enter at the […]
OH MY GOSH!!! I am a fan of your fabric and just LOVE what you design!
It was great reading all about how you got started in the world of Blythe.
Hope to get to come to BlytheCon 2011 and meet you in person. Hope you
have a booth with Fat Quarters of your lovely creations, too!!!!
HUGS, Mama Lisa
I love Milk Tooth and Lisa!! I was so happy to have discovered her designs! FANTASTIC!!
<3 Karin
Such an awesome interview! Love your fabric <3
Love finding out about the Blythe family. Will have to add her as a twitter contact.
OOP! Forgot to add that my twitter name is Pomluvtimes5
I just bought the kitty fabric from Milk tooth awhile back. I love it and it is the perfect size for any creation I make for my dolls. I also can’t help but love Maggie’s great creation here. I love the way she uses different fabrics and the unique way she combines colours!
forgot to say my name is rhubs on twitter and I am also posting for the 3rd entry.
Oh and here is my 3rd entry completed :Barbara Christiansen rhubs
contest: @blythelifecom and @rabbitine are doing a giveaway! Read the interview! You get 3 chances to win! http://bit.ly/alFfD4 on twitter
Ooops! I am fishknees @twitter and EVERYwhere! lol and I tweeted (?) for the 3rd entry, too 😛
So cute! I really really love it :3 you picked my favorite fabric for the dress too :3 I also follow you both (@hautecute) and Tweeted the suggested tweet 😀 hehehe! <3
Thank you all for your kind comments and support! I’m going to add an extra secret prize for the giveaway 😀
[…] Life is having a giveaway for this super cute Blythe dress, made by Parasol Doll using fabric designed by Milk Tooth! […]
What a great interview!!
I tweeted it as well!!
Congratulations Lisa!
I *LOVE* the dress Maggie (Parasol Doll) made for the give-away!!
xox
http://twitter.com/agentvalentine
I already follow Lisa on Twitter, but have loved the fabric designs ever since discovering her Monster Finger Puppet print. Thank you for the great interview!
This is a great interview. I havent heard of milk-tooth.com before now and I absolutely LOVE the fabric.
I’m following Lisa now & just retweeted (_lovely)
http://twitter.com/_lovely/status/20077414170
Oops I forgot to include my twitter name @AgentOwen and posting for the third entry.
Great interview! Love the fabrics 🙂
Following & retweeted @hanaagogo
Haha, oops, that’s @notelephone
Oh, those fabrics are so good! I love these interviews.
Following and retweeted @darkdisco
Gorgeous fabric – I’ve often admired Lisa’s work! This dress is beautiful.
I am following @rabbitine on twitter now!
Lisa’s fabrics are super cute! I’m now following her on twitter and retweeted about the giveaway. 🙂 I’m @karawilliamson on twitter.
I love, love, LOVE your fabrics, Lisa! I can’t wait to see what you do in the future. 🙂
Awesome interview ! Amazing site ! Uber cool give-away ! 😀
lovely dresses!~ Thos fabric are the win!
I LOVE all milktooths fabric, I’m slowly collecting I all 🙂 was great to read about her imspiration and design process
I’m following rabbitine on twitter, my username is bussobabe
Ive also retweeted the link to this page 🙂
aww go Lisa! <3 your designs!
wow, designing fabrics is definitely up there with ultimate dream jobs. the possibilities are endless- you really have some great stuff!!!! =)
Love her stuff! So cute and fab! I am now following her on twitter and I have tweeted the above tweet. 🙂
Great interview. And those fabrics must be the cutest ones ever!
nice interview! I love Lisa’s fabric designs.
Loved reading and finding out more about everything Milk Tooth.
I follow rabbitine on twitter already :).
And I just tweeted about this: http://twitter.com/kathi_minikatie/status/20150621903
Love the article, so I’m entering #1. But I don’t tweet so no entering #2 and #3 🙁
Great interview! The kitty fabric is my fave Milktooth deisgh 🙂
Thanks for informing me of this great resource…as someone who lives in po-dunk I am always searching for cute fabric for my girls!
What a wonderful interview! Lisa’s fun, sweet and quirky personality really shines through her words and her work! I love Lisa and Milktooth!
It is such an honor to participate in the giveaway! I can’t wait to see who wins!
fabulous interview. love the fabrics!
My Twitter username http://twitter.com/plastic_fashion
and retweeted
What a fun and darling interview! I just love Lisa’s fabrics, and I love that they are designed for our dollies!
Now to go get some for my fabric stash…
Lisa makes the most brainwashingly perfect dolly sized fabrics 🙂
very cool to see her interview here
awesome! i have seen some dresses made from Lisa’s fabrics before but wasn’t aware they were designed by a “real” person (lol). the first thing i did was check her etsy out!
eeee!!! lisa’s designs are just so very cool! i love her sense of fun and cuteness!
wonderful interview and I love Lisa’s designs!
forgot to say I’m luxielou on twitter!
Commented, already following, and have tweeted 😀
http://twitter.com/drowningsea/status/20274019239
Such beautiful fabrics, Lisa is SO talented. I really enjoyed the interview as well!!
I love Lisa’s little dresses and her designs. I love the name and the little milktooth icon-so cute! this little dress is adorable! I enjoyed this interview and minklet is a remarkable girl and brilliant photographer!
Val (dolly & lolly)
Great interview again! Lisa’s fabrics are fabulous! I love her designs. I knew her but it’s really nice to get to know more about her.
I am fannyzara on twitter. I just started to follow Lisa, and I am about to retweet as well! 😉
Fantastic interview! I absolutely love all the cute little fabrics.
I follow her on Twitter
I also tweeted about it http://twitter.com/KimluvsBlythe/status/20461786267
My girls so need some new duds.
I am following you on twitter: jennytheartist
& I retweeted about the contest!
Awesome interview! love the fabric designs!
Stacy
Hi everyone, thank you so much for participating!
Any posts occurring *after* this one is not eligible for the Milk-Tooth.com & Parasol Doll dress giveaway.
I do, however, encourage any and all comments on Lisa’s fabulous fabrics!
So very dissapointed. I love milktooth and her designs. I read the whole article on my flickr pal and enjoyed seeing her get some limelight for the great work she does.
I saw the dress that was to be given away and thought “bonus” its gorgeous, I’ll enter.
Read the entry instructions and entry part 2 is to follow on twitter!! Im not on twitter-dont want to be on twitter-and never tweet! Guess thats me out of the contest then, just because of my personal choice.
I feel its a little unfair. Please make your comps more fair so everyone can enter!
hugs dolly & lolly (^^)
Hi mike.val,
For this giveaway, there was 3 different ways to enter. There is no need to do all 3 things in order to enter (but method #1 – commenting – had to be done in order for the other two methods to count).
I use Twitter/retweeting as an easy way for more people to find out about the contest. If someone tweets about the contest, there’s the potential for all of their followers on Twitter to read about it, increasing the number of people who will enter the contest and read the interview that goes along with it.
Everyone is welcome to enter the contest, there is no need to follow someone on Twitter or retweet to take part. Yes, it increases the odds of winning, but it doesn’t mean that someone who comments and doesn’t tweet about the contest will not win the contest.
In later giveaways, other entry methods include subscribing to RSS feeds or suggesting products.
Great blog! Keep the good stuff coming!