You have a doll-related website/shop/blog and BlytheLife has your target audience!

BlytheLife.com is an active doll website with a high readership that primarily consists of women who are Blythe and other doll collectors/hobbyists. By advertising your doll-related site or business with BlytheLife, you can ensure that your ad is being seen by the people that are your potential customers. Every time someone visits BlytheLife, they’ll see your ad on the side!

Sponsorship costs are purposely kept low to keep advertising accessible to people in the doll community.

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There are two spots currently available for the month of August and all sponsorship funds from now until July 2015 will be donated to BlytheCon Vancouver 2015!

Small – 2 spots available for August ! (160×160 pixels)

• $5 – 1 month
• $9 – 2 months
• $13 – 3 months

If you’d like more information on how you can advertise on BlytheLife, click here.

Hello, my wonderful fans! Have you missed me? Because I have missed you! Today I am here to talk about why having sisters is okay sometimes okay. When I’m not tapping away at the keyboard of the laptop to “talk” to all of you, I live with a bunch of sisters, both older (Kenners) and young (Middie, Petites). It is hard sometimes to have so many siblings because it means that there is more sharing involved. And do you know how much I like to share? Not at all.

Shoes stolen from Belarus.

The nicest thing about having siblings is that when they move in, they bring a wardrobe with them, and shoes! Shoes are the best part of getting new sisters, because it means more shoes for me. It’s not that the shoes don’t fit my sisters, they do, but it’s kind of an unspoken rule that the shoes become mine the moment that they arrive. There is, essentially, a “shoe fee” for becoming a new sister here. If you want in, you’re going to have to bring me a new pair of shoes! The best sister arrival ever was Belarus (Love Mission) because she brought me two pairs of shoes. I learned from the very beginning to collect a shoe fee. The worst sister arrival was when Primrose and Lillian arrived. Not only did they pretty much show up naked (and without legs, to boot!), they didn’t bring shoes with them. The only saving grace that they had was the fact that Michelle was all obsessed with them (ugh) and bought a lot of shoes after they had arrived. Best thing ever. I confiscated all the shoes for my own closet, of course.

In earnest, I sorta like my sisters. Sometimes. Sometimes they’re okay. If Michelle brings anyone new home, they’d better come with some cute shoes. I’ll take some nice ankle boots, preferably black leather with a cute slouch look.

Sophie is a mostly stock Cappuccino Chat that came to live with me in June 2009. She loves shoes, new clothes, playing with her hair, fashion, magazines full of fluff and shopping. She aspires to be a model and would like to model for some of the ‘great’ dolly fashion houses one day.

Back when I was a baby doll blogger (so, 2011), I attended BlytheCon in Portland but I hadn’t even thought of making Moo cards or business cards or any kind of promotional “me” item at all. It was a total derp moment. Not only that, when I was introducing myself, it was a lot of “Hello, my name is Michelle. My screen name is chelleshocks” rather than “Hello, my name is Michelle. My screen name is chelleshocks, I also write BlytheLife” because… why not? Baby steps, I have since learned! I’ve found, through online interactions and even with people that I’ve met in person, that more people tend to know BlytheLife than my username. And with the upcoming convention that I will be attending, I did not want to make the same mistake that I had made 3 years ago.

The problem for me was to determine where to have cards printed at. Did I want to go the popular route and get Moo cards? What images would I get printed? Would Sophie shank me in my sleep if the majority of the photos that I used did not heavily feature her? (The answer is yes, by the way, yes she would. With a dolly-sized stiletto.) I couldn’t decide if I was going to go with regular business card-sized cards, or with the mini Moo cards. So I did what any self-respecting person does, and I Google’d it. Specifically, I did an internet search on online printer reviews. I didn’t need to order cards from everyone because someone else had already done the leg work for me! And that deserved a teeny tiny pat on the back. And also the world’s smallest violin being played for thinking that. Regardless, I did an internet search, found several blog posts from people waxing about the pros and cons of several major online printing companies.

A lot of good things were said about the Moo cards – both mini and not. I knew from experience, having collected many of these cards, that the card stock is thick, the colours is vivid, but looking on the website also revealed to me that the price was high for a small amount. When I figured out the cost per card, it was a bit cost prohibitive to get a bunch for handing out. That is one of the primary reasons why I decided against getting Moo cards. If I had the money, I definitely would have gotten them. But for a simplistic design, where there were no photos, I think I was okay with going with another online printer.

Then in comes VistaPrint. They happened to have a well-placed Facebook ad at the time that offered a discount on their standard business cards and free shipping. True, their shipping rates are flat-rate, but I am a sucker for free shipping. So I ordered some cards, got their standard shipping.

I ordered on July 3rd, and the email said “You can expect to receive your order in 14 Days.” My order was shipped July 10th and arrived July 15th. So, if we were to assume that they meant 14 days, total, it arrived two days early. But if that was 14 business days, that would have been July 23rd. Either way, it arrived early, well packaged, and I’m quite pleased with the quality! Lines are crisp, the colours are great, and I’m pleased that I’ll have something when someone asks me at BlytheCon if I have cards to swap. True, they’re not as dainty (and oh-so-adorable) as the mini Moo cards, but for the price (and savings on free shipping!), I am more than okay with that!

Savings on cards mean that I could put more money towards other things to bring along to BlytheCon. But more on that later…

Do you have cards – either for a business or just because? Where do you get yours printed?

The wants and desires of the Blythe community seems to ebb and flow – but a lot of things remain high on the wishlist at times. There are certain frocks that fetch a pretty price, or they sell out within a minute of being available on Etsy. There have been helmets of all sorts, kitty, puppy, bear and sheep, that have all gone for astronomical prices that seem mildly (or literally) insane at different times. Prices for some things have remained high, while others have dipped a little due to the following disappearing. Some individuals choose to hoard it all, while others resell at a profit. Whatever the supply-and-demand situation, someone is buying and someone else is selling.

I used to have a lot of wants that I interpreted as “needs” when it came to certain designers and items. That happened more often when I had the money to spend, or the ability to justify the purchase. Nowadays, I’m more reserved about my purchases because I have more considerations to make, what with my expenses and financial obligations in life. Is this what being an adult is all about? I don’t think that I like it… Being responsible means not buying every single thing that pops up, because that would be ridiculous (and mildly stupid). There are still a few things here and there that I would love to get my hands on – primarily more separates. I’m pretty happy (for the most part) with the dresses that I own for my dolls right now, but I’d love for them to dress a bit more like me – jeans, pants, an assortment of tops. That and the Converses. I want more still. Much more.

Some desires I’ve previously had when it comes to coveting doll items were dresses by specific people, vintage Skipper flats, squishy Barbie boots. I quite love the look of vintage doll boots, so those are something that I’m always still looking for. I would personally (probably) never wear pink knee-high boots, but you never know what the future will bring!

What is the most coveted thing for you, right now?

It’s been pointed out to me, on multiple occasions, that I showcase the same few dolls over and over again on BlytheLife. Sophie, Prim (Primrose) and Eden Mouse get a lot of ‘screen time’, as it were. But there are more than three dolls who live here, and perhaps it is time for all of them to get a little bit of the spotlight on them! So I will be doing a small mini-series on Who Lives Here – very aptly named, yes? – and it will stay small provided that I don’t suddenly add a lot of new dolls to the family. Which I’m hoping doesn’t happen. (And at the same time, I kinda hope I suddenly win the lottery and it does…)

To be honest, it didn’t really occur to me that I almost always use photos of the same few dolls, mostly because I see all of them on a daily basis, as they live on my desk, so it didn’t really dawn to me that not everyone gets to enjoy all of their sweet, round faces. But, because I can, I will be starting off with one of the dolls that will be going with me to BlytheCon 2014 in Seattle. She also had the pleasure of attending BlytheCon 2011 in Portland.

This is Eden Mouse:

She is a mostly stock Punkaholic People. She’s had her chips changed, aside from her stock pinks, and she also has been gaze lifted, and her string is pink with a pink pull ring. She only wears pink. This has occasionally led to arguments between her and the other dolls (namely Sophie, and occasionally some of the Kenners) over who can wear what first.

Eden was perpetually the youngest one in the family, in terms of how I view her. She now shares this honour with Minnow, my Hi-Ho! Marine (but more on her later). She enjoys pink, dresses, tea parties, and wants to eat cotton candy all the time. She is also the reason why I have well over 20 pairs of pink doll shoes. In turn, she has also subtly influenced me as I seem to have more pink things in my life, without even consciously collecting it all.