As the first giveaway for the March Talent Showcase draws to a close, I’d like to thank Pauleen of Sweet Serendipity for graciously offering a cute crocheted Blythe beret for one lucky reader here at BlytheLife!

Again, I’d like to remind readers that if you are looking to enter into the raffle, you must complete the task associated with the entry! For example, if you entered and did not leave a blog post comment, I had to remove the entry. This goes for all raffles here at BlytheLife since I’ve started using Rafflecopter to handle giveaway entries.

And a little reminder as to what the drawing was for…

And the winner is…

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Congratulations! Your email will be forwarded to Pauleen so she can get in touch with you about sending you your prize!

It’s another Friday, which means another installment of the March Talent Showcase! It is time for you to meet Leslie, who is the creative woman behind Blythe Happy! So happy to share her and her wonderful embroidered creations with you – what a niche that she entered into in 2013!

Hi Leslie! What can you tell us about yourself?
I am happy to be a stay-at-home wife, mother (although my two kids are in college right now), cat-wrangler (we have four cats who don’t always get along…), crafter, seamstress, blogger, Blythe collector and Etsy shop owner! For the past 15 years we have lived in the touristy town of Williamsburg, Virginia, which I love for it’s small size and proximity to bigger cities.

This is me at Blythe Con 2013 NY with my fave girl Candy. Although the quality of the photo isn’t great, it’s my favorite picture of myself with a doll–you can see how happy Blythe makes me!

How did you discover Blythe? Who is in your dolly family?
I first started seeing Blythe on the craft website Craftster.org in 2012, and I wondered what these dolls were. My curiosity took me to eBay, where I started spending a lot of time scrolling through the Blythe listings. I was especially captivated by Raspberry Sorbet, with her long, swingy hair, and finally I took the plunge and bought her. I hadn’t had a doll since I stopped playing with Barbies at the age of 12, and I had mixed feelings–what will my family and friends think about me playing with dolls??? So I kept my new interest quiet at first, but slowly, as my collection grew and my confidence grew along with it, I became more open about my dolls. Starting my Etsy store this year was the turning point–it made my doll collection more “legitimate”, because I was actually making money on my hobby. Now I have no problem talking about what I do! I’m sure I would not have gotten into this hobby if it wasn’t for all the things I saw people making for their dolls; I love to sew, knit, embroider and do general crafting, and all these skills come together for me in Blythe.

I have a nice variety of Blythes in my collection now, including several of the face molds and lots of different hair colors. My first two girls were brunettes (Petit Dejeuner was #2), but I’ve come to realize that the fantasy hair colors are my favorite. Right after Christmas I lined up all 20 of my Neos and took this picture of them in their bookcase/dollhouse:

What was the first thing that you crafted for Blythe?
The first patterns I found for Blythe were at Puchi Collective, and the first one I made was the Empire Dress. Here is Bonnie–this is both my first dress and my first picture of Blythe! She didn’t even have shoes (she came with boots but they didn’t go with this dress), and I just plunked her down on my front doorstep to take the picture.

Since then I’ve become a lot more creative with both my sewing, crafting and picture-taking; here’s a recent photo. I made the room box on the right, and the winter-themed stand on the left; I also made the yellow table (from perler beads) and the red and white outfit on Heather (my Prima Dolly Violet). Oh–I just added Precocious Candy Mushroom to my collection–this is her first photo!!

Tell us a little bit about Blythe Happy – what made you decide to open up a shop?
As I’ve already mentioned, one of the main reasons Blythe appealed to me was that I could make lots of “stuff” for her. I quickly became involved in swaps on Blythe Kingdom and Plastic Paradise, and I got so much positive feedback from my swap partners about the items I knitted and sewed, that the thought of opening a shop started to form. I resisted it for a while though, because I didn’t want the hassle of running a business–getting a business license, keeping records for taxes, and filing quarterly returns for Virginia sales tax DO NOT appeal to me! Eventually, though, as I sewed cute dresses and knit fun little hats, I really wanted to share them with more people. I decided the hassle would be worth it, so I opened Blythe Happy on Etsy in the summer of 2012.

How has opening a business changed the Blythe world for you?
The biggest change has been all the people I’ve been able to connect with through my shop. Although I am active on the Blythe forums and Flick’r and some Blythe groups on Facebook, I’m not really “chatty”, so it was hard for me to meet people. Now that I have a shop, it’s easy for people to get an idea of who I am by seeing what I make. Many of my customers are also in the on-line groups I belong to, and as a result of their purchases, we’ve connected in the groups. It’s so fun to connect with people!

What is the first thing that you sold through your Etsy shop?
The very first thing that sold was a Happy Cloud Dress, which was purchased by one of my lovely swap partners because it matched a hat I had sent her! See what I mean about connections? Several other former swap partners made purchases from me in the early days of my shop, which really warmed my heart and boosted my confidence–I truly appreciate those first customers, and every single one since then. Here’s a picture of that first dress; I opened Blythe Happy with a dozen dresses I had made as a personal challenge to sew or knit a dress every day for a month.

I soon noticed that a lot of people on Etsy sold outerwear for Blythe, but not many were selling underwear, so I decided to try making some panties. I wanted them to be pretty and practical, so I used white fabric (practical, so there are no worries about staining) and I came up with some simple embroidery designs for the front (pretty, but still practical, because embroidery is flat and won’t cause lumps under clothing like other embellishments–bows, buttons, beads, etc.–would). As soon as I started offering the panties, they sold well, so that’s what I concentrate on now. I try to keep a good variety of designs available all the time, and I’m always coming up with new embroidery patterns to keep the shop fresh. I’ve also started making the panties in Middie size, and they have received a good response from my customers.

Do you end up keeping a lot of what you make, or does most of it end up in the shop?
When it comes to the panties, everything I make is for sale–leaving my own dollies with “seconds”! Only a couple of the girls are actually wearing my panties, and those are the prototypes I made that had imperfections. But I do like to see all my dolls dressed nicely, and I like to see them in items I’ve made myself, so I go out of my way to sew and knit outerwear for them. If a dress doesn’t sell in my shop by the time the listing expires, I keep that for myself. Since I only make items that I love, I am very happy to keep anything that doesn’t sell quickly!

What has been your best-selling panties design so far?
The top favorite design is a flower trio (on the Middie panties it’s a single flower) that I do in several different colors. I consider it my “signature” design, because it’s the only one I do completely free-hand (for all the others, I trace the design onto the fabric and embroider over the lines.) The next best-seller is a kitty face; every time I put one in the store it disappears quickly! But all the designs sell well, probably because I am careful to choose themes that are popular in the world of Blythe collectors–anything cute or pretty or kitschy will work–like animal faces, mushroom houses, gnomes, hearts, crowns, unicorns, rainbows–even a cute little T-Rex! But since the surface area for the design is small, the images can’t be too complicated or detailed. I keep a little notebook where I brainstorm ideas for embroidery designs. Later I go back and decide which ones will work, and I refine those sketches into workable drawings.

Generally speaking, my dolls don’t run around with their underpants showing – how does it make you feel when you do get to see your embroidered pants on other people’s dolls?
This question brings up the biggest drawback to making panties–they rarely get to be seen in action!! Recently, however, I sent a pair in a swap package, and my partner posted a cute picture of her doll raising her skirt to show off her panties–that really made my day!

Photo by Heather Roy – used with permission.

I always enjoy the surprise of seeing pretty panties on my dolls when I’m changing their clothes, so for the most part, the panties are a pretty secret to be enjoyed only by the doll owner (and the dolls themselves, of course!)

What’s been the biggest lesson you’ve learned about business owning and being the owner of an online shop since you’ve started selling things?
You have to advertise! After opening Blythe Happy, I quickly realized that I couldn’t expect customers to find me on their own–as with any business, you have to advertise so people will know you exist. I post links to my shop in the Facebook Blythe groups; and both Blythe Kingdom and Plastic Paradise have sections for shop owners to show what they sell. All of these are fantastic opportunities because they directly target the Blythe community, and they are FREE!! So far I haven’t used the option at Etsy to pay to have my listings at the top of the page when customers do searches, but I am keeping that in mind for the future. Another thing I’m considering is making up something small to be packaged with my business cards to donate to Blythe Con 2014 for the goodie bags. I know that when I got home after Blythe Con this year, I made a point of looking up all the businesses that gave freebies; that would be a great way to put my shop name directly into the hands of Blythe collectors.

You can find out more about Leslie and Blythe Happy on Facebook, her blog and over at her Etsy shop!

Embroidered Panties Giveaway!

Leslie has generously decided to giveaway three pairs of embroidered panties and each panty will have one lucky winner! Winners will get their choice of size (Neo vs. Middie) and design (from Leslie’s existing designs).

The giveaway runs until Saturday March 22nd 2014 at 11:59pm Pacific. The draw will be held on Sunday March 23rd 2014 and the winners will be announced on BlytheLife.com. Remember to use a valid email address for all comments. If you win, your email will be forwarded to Leslie so she can get in contact with you regarding sending you the prize.

Please only use one email address per person, those using multiple email addresses for more entries will be disqualified.

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Like many stock dolls that come with curly or wavy hair, Cedar (my Monique Magnifique) came with atrocious hair (sorry, Cedar, but it’s true). Seriously, this is how bad it is:

Click to read more of this entry.

I am personally a little guilty of this. I typically do not leave feedback unless prompted to do so. This is one of the reasons why eBay and Etsy are some of the few places that I will leave feedback. I get prompted to, there’s emails to remind me about leaving feedback. Heck, even Amazon will send me follow-up emails to ask me what I thought about that book that I bought (and since the book is likely a textbook, no I did not enjoy it). And when I started in the Blythe hobby, what feels like many moons ago, there were few places to leave feedback. Forums weren’t feedback friendly, there were no Facebook Blythe groups, and the economy that is the dolly marketplace was (and still is) relatively self-regulated.

Is this a good thing? Sure, there’s no Big Brother forcing you to toe the line and listings can be fairly individualized. But it was (and still is) occasionally a bad thing because there is no formal feedback system that allows you to see who did or did not renege on a deal somewhere. I sometimes forget that not everyone knows where to go to give feedback, especially those who many be new to the world of Blythe. Feedback, good or bad, should be left because it highlights the good and bad of each transaction.

• Good Dolly Deal
• Failed Dolly Deals
• Bad Dolly Deals
• Feedback Section (on Blythe Kingdom)

If you know of any great feedback places for dolls/Blythes/sundries sales, let me know!

Do you leave feedback?

To kick off the 2014 March Talent Showcase, we’re starting off with an interview with Pauleen of Simply Sweet Creations and Sweet Serendipity!

Hi Pauleen! What can you tell us about yourself?
I am a 26-year-old bohemian living in Mexico City, who has a degree in Computer Science but whose life’s dream is to become a film director and published author. Currently, I’m working as a freelance, self-employed, and self-taught visual artist and crafter. I manage 2 online stores: “Simply Sweet Creations” is where I sell my original artwork, and “Sweet Serendipity” is where I offer I wide array of handmade items and gifts. I consider myself as an obsessive collector, dolls being my most recent passion. I’m also a girl of multiple talents and innumerable interests, an avid traveller, a bit of a technology geek, and a huge, huge fan of Japanese culture.

Everyone finds Blythe a little differently. How did you discover Blythe?
It all began back in 2009. I wanted to enter a contest organised by a local radio station and in order to do so, you had to open an account in their site. Once I did, another member’s profile picture caught my attention. It was of a very pretty doll. So, I checked that member’s information and lucky me, I found she was part of a group that liked “Blythe dolls”. That was all the information I required to start my search on Google and boy did I love what I found. First, I visited the official site and went through all the info there and the pics and the more I read, the more I fell in love with Blythe and my desire of owning one increased by the minute. Then, the obvious next step was to purchase one, but for some reason, in those days the JunieMoon online shop didn’t ship to Mexico. I felt a bit disappointed. Time passed, but the wish of having a Blythe doll never vanished. Finally, the opportunity presented itself in a very, very, very wonderful yet unusual way: in September 2010, I won a trip to Japan and the first thing that came to my mind was: “I’m getting my Blythe!!!”. And the rest is history, well not quite. Once in Tokyo, I went looking for the JunieMoon store in Daikanyama but nobody could tell me how to get there. I also knew the dolls could also be found at the Kiddyland chain of toy stores, but the one I found was closed because they were moving. Yet I was not ready to give up, I wasn’t going back home empty-handed and so, after getting lost in city and with the assistance of my Japanese speaking sister, we arrived at JunieMoon and OMG, that store is a dream! And yes, now the rest is history.

When did your shop open and what made you decide to start selling things to the doll community?
I opened my “Sweet Serendipity” shop at Storenvy in 2012, but the doll clothes and accessories line wasn’t included ’til mid 2013. I decided to add that particular category for 3 main reasons: a) During the 2013 March Talent Showcase I was the lucky winner of the most beautiful turquoise dress by BlytheStar and was pretty much inspired Lyndell’s work, so I felt it it was time for me to give something back to the community. b) I’m a fairly new crocheter and I learned how to crochet by making amigurumi. Then my knowledge of the craft came to a point where I was confident enough to move on to clothes where an exact gauge is needed, otherwise the garment won’t fit. c) Finally because no matter how many fashion designs I’ve got in my mind, I don’t have the patience to make them for humans, so dolls were the way to go.

What is the first item that you created with the intention to sell, rather than to keep for yourself?
A lot of thinking and preparation goes into determining what kind of products I’m going to offer next in my store and the blue dress with the matching short sleeve cardigan that my Blythe is wearing in one of the pictures was my very first sellable doll item. But it wasn’t always like that. A couple of months before I decided to sell doll clothes, I had crocheted the cardigan just to test out the pattern. Then that piece went into my PHD box (“Projects-Half-Done”) because even though the pattern turned out to be OK, at the time I didn’t know what else to do with it. After getting my BlytheStar’s prize in the mail, I finally had the epiphany of how I could complete the outfit. When I finished the dress and “asked” my Blythe to kindly model it for me, the whole ensemble made sense and that’s when I knew I was ready to offer it online.

Where do you find inspiration for your crocheted designs?
Inspiration comes from everyday life and I always have to make sure to be prepared with pen and paper whenever an idea hits me. Yet for crochet, especially doll clothes, inspiration comes mostly from myself and from my own particular sense of style. You see, I’m an extremely girly girl, I only wear dresses and skirts. So in terms of fashion, I always design outfits that fit my taste and that in a way, remind me of the beautiful garments I used to wear as a little kid. Also, I have this habit of buying craft materials and yarn without a project in mind, because when it comes to creating something from scratch, I like a challenge and what better way to put my imagination to work, than with a table full of ordinary items waiting to be turned into extraordinary masterpieces.

How has your involvement in the doll community changed following selling doll clothes?
It has changed in oh so many ways. For starters, when I first entered the doll world, I was a mere collector sharing pics of my dolls. Now, as a newly seller of doll fashions, it makes me happy to offer something more tangible that will be much more appreciated and perhaps more useful than a single image of my whimsical collection. Furthermore, whenever someone asks about my dolls’ outfits, it feels nice to say: “Yes, I made it myself” or if in a doll-related forum or site I come across the post from someone looking for clothes for Blythe or any other doll, I can gladly reply: “Here’s a sample of my work, hope you find something you like”. In addition, I recently began receiving tutorial requests for a couple of doll accessories I had made just as an experiment . Finally, I myself have introduced a couple of girls into the doll world after quite almost literally mesmerizing them with my very own and ever-growing doll collection.

Tell us a little bit about your first sale: what you sold and how you felt about it.
My first doll-related sale was crazy and it didn’t even take place at my online store. Here’s how the story went: I had this Facebook contact, it was precisely one of those girls I mentioned before, the ones I introduced to the doll collecting hobby. Well, this particular girl had just bought her first doll and she was eager to expand her outfit choices, so she wrote to me. She would begin with a dress, but not one from my catalog, she wanted a custom order, a piece that was one-of-a-kind and that would suit her doll’s personality. I presented her with a couple of options I had at the moment, but she was indecisive. Next thing I know, she makes a deposit into my bank account and later tells me: “Forget about the dress, what I really want right now is a plush toy to keep my doll company. So, with the money I paid you, what amigurumi can you make, shipping included”? I was in awe. In the end, I sent her a tiny cupcake amigurumi and from the reaction I got, I can say she was thrilled and I was very flattered. This girl was so excited when she got the package, that she made and shared a video of all the unwrapping process, bragged about her new acquisition, and encouraged people to buy from my store.

What would you say is the most valuable tool that you use for your crafting?
My imagination and my hands, no doubt about it. Without them I wouldn’t be able to do anything. I see my imagination as this computer continually generating new ideas and my hands as the 3D printer bringing those ideas to life. Any other utensil or instrument, like crochet hooks, needles, scissors, looms,… are just helpers in the whole creative process.

What would you say has been the hardest lesson you’ve learned so far with being crafter who sells things?
Don’t bite off more than you can chew. When I started with the whole “selling-my-work-thing”, I resorted to the Internet to sell and promote my creations. Nonetheless, as useful as the Internet may be, it is also a risky business and it can take you off the track in an instant. At the beginning, I was listing my handmade items in multiple online stores and had opened accounts in all major social networks. Soon, I was so busy in keeping all this sites functional and updated, that my crafting time was severely affected. The result: no new products to offer and absolutely no increase in sales. The moral of the story: it’s okay to use the Internet for marketing purposes, just don’t exaggerate.

Can you give us some ideas of what’s in store for you and your Blythe endeavors in the future?
Expect to see more crocheted outfits as well as a wider array of accessories such as jewellery, bags, and hairbands. Also, one of my New Year’s resolutions was to learn new crafting skills, so there may be some mixed-media creations down the road. Then, in a far more distant future, I’m planning a line of doll furniture and perhaps wigs, if all goes well. In addition, I intend to include fashions for Middies and Petites. Finally, I’ve got some nice treats in store not for Blythe dolls, but for Blythe owners and it goes as follows: If you want to showcase your love for Blythe, or you need little trinkets to give out as free gifts on orders placed by your customers, or if you just want to advertise your brand in conventions and meetings, then I’m offering a special service of designing/manufacturing some really unique products to fulfill those needs. This service is already available and I’ve tested it on myself. I never miss an opportunity to wear my brand t-shirts when going out to crowded places.

Thank you so much for participating in the March Talent Showcase this year, Pauleen! What kind of advice would you give someone who’s new to running an online business?
Well, thank you very much to you Michelle for having me, it’s been a great honour. Now, on to the advise. I have three basic rules when it comes to running an online business. First and foremost, your store policies and product descriptions should be clear, detailed, and truthful because should anything go wrong with a sale, you have written evidence to back you up and protect you as a seller. Second, if you offer custom orders, remember that you are not a mind reader, so I recommend creating a guideline or a template for the information you require your customer to provide so that you’re able to translate their wishes into the product of their desire. And third, yes there are mean people out there who seem to have nothing better to do than to leave rude comments on your site. I say: remove that rubbish and be prepared to stand up for your work. A lot of effort goes into handmade and in being your own boss, and no one has the right to minimise or disapprove that.

You can find out more about Pauleen from her blog, on Facebook and at her shop!

Crocheted Beret Giveaway!

Pauleen has generously decided to giveaway one crocheted beret to one lucky reader here on BlytheLife! What a darling little pom pom on top!

The giveaway runs until Saturday March 15th 2014 at 11:59pm Pacific. The draw will be held on Sunday March 16th 2014 and the winner will be announced on BlytheLife.com. Remember to use a valid email address for all comments. If you win, your email will be forwarded to Pauleen so she can get in contact with you regarding sending you the prize.

Please only use one email address per person, those using multiple email addresses for more entries will be disqualified.

a Rafflecopter giveaway