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And Then, I Dreamt of Furniture

Written on February 27, 2015 at 3:30 pm by Michelle
Filed under: Musings with tags:

I adore thrift stores. One of my dreams in life is to one day stumble across a minty Kenner Blythe. Maybe she’d have frizzy hair, maybe she’d still have both shoes on. But my dream is to find that elusive thrift store Kenner. Previously loved, and then so carelessly tossed into a box to be sent to a local thrift store. I’d come across her and pay the amazing price of $1 and be gleefully on my way.

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Short of that dream, some pattern books for Barbie-sized furniture is always welcome. I came across these ages ago at a thrift store, bought them, and then promptly forgot about them until I was recently cleaning. The last time I did anything with plastic canvas would have been when I took a textiles class in high school, so I was a bit nostalgic when I came across these books and then I was super excited because Blythe fits pretty well with Barbie-sized furniture as they are technically the same scale (1:6).

While some of the colour combinations are bit dated, I think the overall furniture shapes can be mostly be used for a more ‘modern’ set. The nice thing about plastic canvas projects is the ease of it, and plus it’s fairly easy to thread a yarn needle (as opposed to a needle for cross stitching). I do plan on getting my hands on some plastic canvas soon, and see if I have the right type of yarn and then maybe I’ll make some living room accessories in bright colours to go with the IKEA HUSET pieces.

Will there be new furniture in my dolls’ future? Most likely!

The Problems with Tiny Shoes

Written on February 25, 2015 at 1:00 pm by Michelle
Filed under: Musings

As mentioned in January, I was temporarily relocating for part 1 of my practicum this term. I brought two dolls with me, what I consider to be a small selection of clothes, and some shoes. Now that the practicum is almost over, I’ve started the process of packing things up to get ready for the move back home.

All the clothes are accounted for, both dolls are accounted for – my current problem is the shoes. I’ve seem to be misplaced one of the white vintage squishy boots (featured in the photo below) somewhere in the apartment…

Eden and Primrose are both wearing Kult of Kulta, vintage squishy
Barbie boots, and travel in Sew Pixie carry bags.

I’m not entirely sure how, because I took care to make sure to put shoes when not in use into a zipped bag. But right now Prim is hanging out without a boot on. I should probably swap them out with something else to spare her the indecency… at least I didn’t photograph her with only one boot on!

If you were a missing boot, where would you be?

UPDATE: I FOUND THE BOOT.

It was somehow inside of my pillow case. Not on the side where I lay my head, but the underside. How it got in there, I have no idea.

QOTW: Are you attending any BlytheCons this year?

Written on February 23, 2015 at 12:00 pm by Michelle
Filed under: Question of the Week

Warsaw. Madrid. Paris. Vancouver. Gold Coast. London. Chicago.

What do all of these cities have in common? They are all playing host to their respective BlytheCons this year (for Australia, it is their annual Blythe Fest!).

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I will personally be attending the one in Vancouver, Canada (my attendance is mandatory, seeing as how I’m helping organize it!), and haven’t fully made decisions on the other ones. As it currently stands, the Canadian dollar is weak so it’s hard to justify trips outside of the country. However, with the weak Canadian dollar, that means it’s a lot more affordable for people to travel to Canada (bonus!). I love going on trips though, and would love to figure out a way to attend one of the other major Blythe events that are happening this year if I can swing it. That and I’m considering my trips for the next few years based on when and where there will be scheduled events. It’s a nice excuse to go to new-to-me places while having something to do beyond playing tourist.

Are you planning on attending any BlytheCons or other big Blythe events this year? Which ones?

Thoughts On… Sending and Receiving Visiting Dolls

Written on February 20, 2015 at 12:00 pm by Michelle
Filed under: Musings

One of the greatest joys when it comes to receiving dolls in the mail is the anticipation. This comes with the excitement of getting a tracking number, and then the eagerness of repeatedly hitting ‘refresh’ on the postal service’s website because why isn’t she here yet?!

This feeling comes with dolls, and I love this feeling, but like many I cannot afford to buy dolls on a regular basis. Then comes in the idea of travelling Blythes or hosting a visitor.

While there are some more formal programs to take part of (some official Traveling Blythes that have a strict schedule where participators help fund the cost of the doll and extra postage fees needed for international jumps), there are some less formal travelling dolls as well.

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How travelling dolls work is that the previous host (or owner) pays for the postage costs for the doll to arrive to you. You retrieve her from the post office (or perhaps get her at the door) and then enjoy her and all of her things for a predetermined set amount of time. Once your time is up, you pack her and her goodies up (there may be a requirement or expectation that you add to a travel journal or add something to her wardrobe as a ‘souvenir’) and then you pay for the postage (with tracking and, likely, insurance) for her to reach her next post. If the doll had an owner in the beginning, then the last stop would be a return home. If the doll didn’t have an owner at the beginning, there tends to be a draw to see which of the previous hosts would receive the doll in the end.

Overall, I find travelling dolls to be fun! There’s a lot of fun with the anticipation and then you can also act as a tourist in your own city. When I was playing hostess to Makani (custom by Kate/Chantilly Lace) in 2012, I had the fun of exploring around Vancouver, BC with her as well as going to a local park with her for some fun nature shots. It’s exceptionally fun to have that period of anticipation and getting to refresh (and refresh again!) the tracking number for a doll. You get all the feeling and joy of having a “new” Blythe without the gross expense of buying a new Blythe. While there is a cost associated with participating in a (in)formal travelling Blythe project, it still does not end up being as much as it does when you buy a new-to-you custom Blythe or commission for one to be done for you. Plus it’s fun to play tourist!

Have you ever been host to a travelling doll? Would you want to be a host?

Doll Naming Resources

Written on February 18, 2015 at 12:00 pm by Michelle
Filed under: Article

One of the struggles that I have when it comes to getting a new doll is the process of naming the doll. I find that it’s hard for me to develop a personality for them (which comes in handy for photo stories) without a name. As the number of dolls gets higher in my doll family, the harder it is for me to find names that I haven’t already used and like.

20150218Prim and Lily are both wearing dresses by Plastic Fashion.

Here are some of the wonderful resources that I’ve found helpful for naming new Blythes (and other dolls):

  • BabyNames.com – very useful as you can search by gender, alphabetically, or by typing in a few letters that you’d like the name to start with.
  • USA Social Security – Popular Baby Names By Decade – a great website if you’re into ‘older’ names and want to see what was popular by the decade! This website goes back to the 1880s.
  • Baby Center – another good naming resource as you can search by origin too, which is nice if you are looking for names with a specific background. Baby Center also has a UK-centric list as well, organized by year.
  • Today’s Parent has a list of the Top 100 Baby Names for Canada in 2014 – a nice list, especially if the other lists aren’t sparking any inspiration in you. I especially like it when the lists include the variations in spelling (e.g. Lea/Leah).
  • The Bump has lists of what they call “Unique Baby Names“. I don’t know how unique they are after being published as being unique, but that is another resource for you to consider.

Whatever you do decide to name your dolls, it’s always a good idea to make sure that you’re not doubling up on names (e.g. calling two dolls by the same name). I sort of made that mistake when I decided to name one Kenner “Primrose” and the other “Lillian (Lily) Rose”. However, I did get both of them together and they are true sisters in that they came from the same collection, so I’ve justified the similar naming to myself, especially since they both have flower names anyways.

If you have any fantastic name resources, please share below in the comments!

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