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FAQ: Why is Twitter used for giveaway entries?

Written on October 29, 2010 at 12:00 pm by Michelle
Filed under: News with tags:

I was asked recently, via emails and a comment, why Twitter is used as one of the methods for entering giveaways that are held on BlytheLife.com. The short answer is: because it’s easy to track entries (plus it’s a great way for getting the word out about contests).

Twitter is a fantastic method for getting the word out about contests due to simple math. If I tweet on the @blythelifecom account about a contest, that message reaches over 100 people. If even a quarter of those people retweet to their followers, that’s ~25*(average number of their followers) = way more people than the people who follow @blythelifecom. By making retweeting a method for one of the entry methods in a contest, it both gets the word out and it’s very easy for people to do.

Now, it has been brought to my attention that not everyone uses Twitter or wishes to use Twitter. You don’t need to follow specific accounts or tweet in order to enter a contest. Those are bonus entries and the most important thing is enjoying the interview and commenting on that. Everything else is gravy to me because the most important thing to me is that people read the interviews and articles on this website.

Since the first few giveaways, I have incorporated other methods of entering contests (beyond commenting about the interview itself) and those include (and are not limited to): commenting about someone’s website/shop, subscribing to a website’s RSS feed, making suggestions, etc.

If you have any suggestions regarding what other methods of entries I could try to implement into a future giveaway, please let me know by commenting either below or via the contact form!

Blythe On A Budget: Ideas for Decorating Houses (Part 1)

Written on October 27, 2010 at 12:00 pm by Michelle
Filed under: Article with tags:

When I was little, I had one of those doll houses that came with everything needed inside. There was furniture like beds, a playpen, tables, chairs. There was a ‘working’ doorbell, a car, a garage door that went up and down. I loved that doll house and all the plastic people what lived in it and since discovering Blythe, I’ve had the urge to create a new doll house for my Blythes.

I haven’t made that dream a reality yet. It’s mostly for lack of space (as I still live at home with my parents while I’m still in school) and lack of funds (I have, in my head, the idea of a completely custom-built doll home, or just custom-built doll rooms that I can move from place to place for better lighting). But it doesn’t stop me from thinking about it!

I have dabbled in scrapbooking as one of the crafts that I’ve gathered plenty of supplies in. More importantly, I have acid-free glue, photo corners and pretty paper that I was definitely charged a lot more than it cost to make. But if you take another look at it, you can definitely see a lot of potential in things like that.

Scrapbook paper can be pretty expensive at times, but if you pay attention to sales (or already scrapbook, so you can sort of justify the purchase…), you can sometimes get pretty patterned paper for pennies. The nice thing about scrapbooking paper that the most commonly found sizes are 12″x12″ or larger – and your Blythe dolls aren’t taller than that (unless you’ve put them onto a different body, but that’s an entirely different issue). If you’re incredibly picky about matching up the designs, you will need to purchase more sheets of paper so you can align the designs. If you’re not incredibly picky about matching up the designs, it makes the whole idea of wallpapering your doll house with scrapbooking paper a lot less expensive (and less time consuming).

If you want, you can glue the pieces of paper in place. Or, if you’re kind of fickle regarding decorations, you can consider tape or even that blue sticky tac stuff that allows for easy removal (it’s also fantastic for putting posters up onto your walls without putting holes into them).

Funding that new doll purchase?

Written on October 25, 2010 at 12:00 pm by Michelle
Filed under: Musings

Dolls (and all their lovely clothing) gets to be expensive after a while and it can take a lot to fund bringing in a new member to the family or new outfits.

For me personally, I use part of the money I earn over the summer when I worked. I check my budget to ensure that I can afford tuition, textbooks and the splurges I average over the year for new clothes, books and other things before buying a new doll.

I know that some people sell handcrafted goods to fund a new doll or do closet clean outs while others customize dolls or just find another method of finding money for that next big purchase.

So the question is: how do you fund your new doll purchases?

FAQ: Is there some kind of schedule?

Written on October 22, 2010 at 12:00 pm by Michelle
Filed under: News with tags:

I’ve been contacted a few times by visitors via the contact form who have asked if I follow any sort of schedule when it comes to posting.

The short answer? Yes. And no.

I know, it’s confusing, but if I do a little breakdown, maybe it’ll make things more clear.

Just an example of when posts generally go up:

  • Blythe On A Budget, which is a weekly article column, used to be sporadic in terms of which day it went up, now it’s pretty much set onto Wednesdays.
  • Interviews generally go up either on the first of a month or on a weekend.
  • Contests last for a week, unless otherwise arranged with the person providing the prize, I announce the winners the day after the contest ends.

I aim for about 3 posts per week: Blythe On A Budget, maybe some of my musings, other site news or contests or articles or just things that I think should be mentioned. I always welcome guest posts! If you’re interested in contributing to BlytheLife.com, you can check out more information here for general contributions and the ways you can give back and the guidelines for writing articles. Some weeks obviously have less than 3 posts and there is the occasional week where there are more 3, it does vary quite a bit. I don’t blog daily due to other commitments and time constraints. Any non-giveaway or interview posts will generally go up on Mondays, Wednesdays or Fridays.

The best way to know when there are new posts is to either follow @blythelifecom on Twitter (all new blog entries are tweeted there with a link!) or to follow the BlytheLife.com RSS feed – you can use your RSS reader of choice when following via the RSS feed.

You can also access BlytheLife.com on your mobile phone, if you have data/wifi access, as I’ve installed a plugin that allows you to view the website in a mobile-friendly version while catching up on all the latest news – the URL for the mobile version is the same as the one you entered to get here.

Blythe On A Budget: Top 10 Halloween Costumes

Written on October 20, 2010 at 12:00 pm by Michelle
Filed under: Article with tags: , , , ,

Costumes are fun and it’s so much easier to buy enough fabric to come up with a costume for a doll than it is for yourself. But what is your Blythe going to go as this year? I’ve come up with a list of ideas of costumes that should be relatively inexpensive and easy to do, since you do only have 11 more days to figure out costumes for your dolls!

  1. Ghost – use tissue paper or a paper towel, drape accordingly and cut out holes for eyes.
  2. Robot – use tin foil to make a dress/outfit, remember to include a tin foil hat.
  3. Witch – use a plain black dress already owned, pair with a black construction paper witch’s hat.
  4. Card Guard (from Alice In Wonderland) – use two playing cards, tape the edges together.
  5. Alien – use green cellophane and wrap it around, be sure to use green pipe cleaner to fashion a headband with antennae.
  6. Ancient Roman – use a scrap piece of white fabric to twist and drape into a toga, use a brown pipe cleaner to make a ring to fit on top of your doll’s head, tape/glue on small leaves (real, fake, paper leaves).
  7. Black Cat – dress in all black, use a curved pipe cleaner wrapped around the waist as a tail, cut out black triangles from construction paper, attach to a headband.
  8. Vampire – use little white triangle points a teeth, wear a black cape and carry around a Re-Ment goblet (with fake blood inside!)
  9. Zombie – wear ripped and dirt-stained clothing, drool a little bit, have unkempt hair.
  10. Another Stock Blythe – steal someone’s clothing, carry your Blythe around in the stock box of the clothing’s original owner.
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