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Blythe On A Budget: DIY Photo Backdrop

Written on August 20, 2014 at 1:00 pm by Michelle
Filed under: Article with tags: ,

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A big part of writing BlytheLife is that I get to learn about a whole lot of stuff. Including my adventures in sewing, knitting doll-sized cardigans, and taking photographs. Now, I took photos before Blythe, but I rarely used macro settings before dolls, nor did I have a model to take photos of. Here’s a super simple way of doing a photo backdrop that you can do with things you may have in your house. Alternatively, a trip to the dollar store will fix you right up!

You will need:

  • Foam board – 2 pieces if you are not using a table
  • The backdrop – you can use scrap booking paper, wrapping paper, anything! – Optional
  • Glue stick or sticky tac/blue tac/temporary adhesive (if you’re using some kind of pretty paper) – Optional
  • Clothespins
  • Something to photograph

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Directions:

Get your backdrop imagery onto your foam board, if you decide to use one. You can use scrap book paper or wrapping paper, whatever you’d like. This is optional.

Wait for it to dry. Go browse the internet for new dolly shoes.

Dried? Excellent! I opted to keep mine all white so there was no added drying time.

Clip your clothespins onto the bottom edges of the foam board, as pictured. I used additional clothespins to make it more stable.

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Now you have an upright photo backdrop for all your photo taking needs. Go take some photos! And when you’re done, simply unclip the clothespins and store your photo backdrop flat somewhere for safe keeping.

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The great thing about this set-up is that it is so easy to set up and to tear down. If you want, you can also position lights on either side to reduce the amount of shadowing. Here’s a photo I took of Prim with my DIY photo backdrop:

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QOTW: What is your favourite Blythe body type?

Written on August 18, 2014 at 12:00 pm by Michelle
Filed under: Question of the Week

With so many choices of bodies available, it’s no wonder that people like to have the option of swapping out the stock Blythe body for something that is a little bit more different. From Licca to Pure Neemo to Obitsu, there are so many options out there. My personal favourite is actually the stock Blythe body (Excellence). All of my dolls, except for my custom doll, are on the original stock bodies (or a hybrid – two of my Kenners have Kenner tops and Takara bottoms). My custom darling, Halo, came to me on a Licca body and it just seems to ‘fit’ for her, because she has been altered from her original state.

A little bit neglected
One thing I do love about Licca bodies, over stock bodies, is that they’re a lot better for holding things.

What is your favourite Blythe body type?

An Impromtu Giveaway: The Winner!

Written on August 16, 2014 at 12:00 pm by Michelle
Filed under: Giveaway

Thank you to everyone who participated in the little Seattle/Vancouver BlytheCon giveaway! There were a lot of entries, but there can be only one winner! As promised, an updated prize photo:
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Congratulations goes to… Click to read more of this entry.

Love, Sophie: Fun in the Sun Outfits

Written on August 15, 2014 at 12:00 pm by Michelle
Filed under: Article with tags:

Even though it is halfway through August, I am still determined to have as much summer fun as I possibly can. This includes dressing the part. There are no excuses for your dolls to be in sweaters when it is the summer and the temperature is above 30°C (that’s +86°F for my American fans!). No excuses at all. And I say that as a doll that’s been in the same outfit for the several months now. Months. Do you realize how hard it is to look like someone who knows what they’re talking about it when comes to fashion when I’m stuck in the same dress for months? Granted, it is from one of my favourite designers – which is the only good part.

My summer wardrobe (if someone would actually help me out with a wardrobe change…) consists of:

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Fun and light-fabric dresses, shorts, sandals, other cute shoes, and a decent hat to keep the sun out of my eyes. If you have super long hair like Cappuccino Chats often have, such as myself, you may also want to invest a couple dollars in some hair ties! They’re super handy to have around.

Sophie’s Fashion Tip: if you get the small, thin, clear elastics, they can help keep on finicky shoes when you’re outdoors and they won’t be super-duper obvious in photos!

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And for the beach, it’ll always be a cute swimsuit – to be accessorized with a matching towel (of course!), and a swimming cover-up!  Unfortunately, the weather here has been absolutely dismal for the last week or else I would model for you – it’s just too cold for swim suits! For those curious, the swimming coverup was made for Lalaloopsy Little dolls.

And yes, it is perfectly acceptable for fashionistas to have, and wear, hooded duck towels.

Until next time, stay fashionable!

lovesophie

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.

A Beginner’s Guide: Different Molds

Written on August 13, 2014 at 12:00 pm by Michelle
Filed under: Article with tags:

I can remember back in the day when I was new to Blythe and the different faces were just confusing (and yes, I realize that I am now dating myself when it comes to how long I’ve been in this hobby). For those playing along at home, there are many different types of legitimate Blythe dolls, and then some not-so-legitimate Blythe dolls. This post will be addressing full-sized Blythe dolls which will include: Kenners, BL, EBL, SBL, RBL, FBL, RBL+, and ADG – for the legitimate dolls. And then a short blurb on “factory”, TBLs and fakes.

All Blythe dolls are the same height (11.5″) and have a similar body shape. With the exception of BLs on Licca bodies, all other Takara Blythe and ADG Blythe dolls are on bodies that are very similar to the bodies that Kenners were on (arms sticking out, knees that ‘click’ to bend). Additionally, all Blythe dolls have an eye mechanism where they have four sets of eyes chips (two facing forward, one facing left, and one facing right).

Kenner Blythe Dolls – 1972

Kenners are the vintage, and original, Blythe dolls. They were designed by Allison Katzman in the 70s and produced by the toy company Kenner (hence their name). The dolls are often referred to as “KBs” by collectors, for Kenner Blythe. The dolls will have 6 or 7 lines of text on the back of the doll’s body, unlike modern Blythe dolls they did not come with text on the back of their heads. Kenners come in four stock hair colours: blonde (sidepart only), red, brunette and raven (a darker brown). For all of the hair colours, aside from blonde, the hair styles came in wispy bangs, chunky bangs, centre part and sidepart. Some hair styles are more rare and elusive than others.

ALL the Kenners!
All 1972 Kenner Blythe dolls, in various types of conditions.

The sound of pulling a Kenner’s pullstring is actually a lot softer than with a modern Blythe doll – collectors refer to this as the “Kenner pip” due it being so soft in nature. Kenners can be found in all sorts of conditions these days, the best way to purchase one is to either buy online (from another collector) or via online websites like eBay. Click to read more of this entry.

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