I love stock Blythe clothing. Some of my favourite Blythe clothing pieces are stock items. Off the top of my head, I adore: Fancy Pansy’s lingerie set and white capris, Simply Peppermint’s black top, Love Mission’s police pants, everything from Velvet Minuet, Nostalgic Pop’s hot pink flowered jacket, Monique Magnifique’s coat, Enchanted Petal’s butterfly dress, and the champagne dress that came with Cappuccino Chat.

Stock items are super useful, especially items that are solid coloured and not overly decorative – they are great for mixing and matching, they come with the smooth, thin dolly velcro for closures, and you know that they’ll fit Blythe = the most important thing. Having clothes that fit well is a glorious thing in the doll world – much like how I prefer clothes that fit me and look good on me, I love it when a dress fits Blythe amazingly.

Primrose is wearing Simply Peppermint (top), Fancy Pansy (capris), and Simply Guava (shoes).

Another nice thing about stock items is that you can visualize them on your doll a lot easier, especially if you have a stock doll, by going onto a photo sharing site like Flickr and seeing if someone else with the same doll has tried those clothes on their doll. You can also see more photos of those specific clothing items on a larger variety of dolls than you can if you’re buying something that is one of a kind. That isn’t to say that I think that stock clothes are better than one of a kind handmade items, but you do get a larger range in ‘models’ than you would with a unique piece. But I do love my one of a kind items as well, because they’re special in the way that stock items would never be.

What are some of your favourite stock clothing items?

There have been many collaboration dolls that CWC has done in the past for Blythe. To point out a few:

• B2 HOLic was a collaboration with Clamp,
• Ribbonetta Wish was a Hello Kitty meets Blythe release,
• Doronjo x Blythe was a Yatterman collaboration,
• Hoshinonamida Hime and Yuki No Namida Hime were both designed with Baby, the Stars Shine Bright,
• Strawberries & Creamy Cute was created with Emily Temple cute,
• And my beloved Margaret Meets Ladybug was a collaboration with Mamechiyo

Yes, pretty much all of the collaboration dolls have been with Japanese companies – but it is nice to dream about what other collaborations there could be.

For instance, they’ve already done a collaboration with Clamp… I wouldn’t say no to a Cardcaptor Sakura collaboration. Or perhaps an official Sailor Moon Blythe (or any of the other Sailor Scouts)? Or even a cross-over with American comics – I could see Poison Ivy being a pretty awesome Blythe!

What would be your dream collaboration Blythe doll?

 

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!

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

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

Large – 1 spot available for May! (325×200 pixels)

• $10 – 1 month
• $18 – 2 months
• $26 – 3 months

Small – 2 spots available for May! (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.

There are always pros and cons to the idea of a ‘bring a doll to work’ day (or week, or month, or even year). It all has to do with the type of work that you do and how safe you feel about having dolls out. If you work in retail or some place where members of the public are constantly traipsing in and out, it’s probably not a good idea to have dolls out because you cannot control if someone has sticky fingers or not. On the other hand, if you work in an office setting or a cubicle, you might be able to get away with having a doll out – but it all depends on the type of office setting and the professional tone that the office has.

For instance, I used to work doing data entry in an office where I had my own cubicle. If I brought a doll in, she’d sit by my computer and she’d go home with me at night. While I trusted the office staff not to swipe or damage my dolls, I wasn’t able to leave a doll that cost a hundred dollars (or more!) overnight there, much like I wouldn’t leave any other valuables at work for prolonged periods of time if I’m not there to watch over it. Now that I’m primarily in the hospital setting, I don’t have my own desk and my things are stored in a tiny locker – there’s really (sadly) no point in bringing in a doll just to stay in a carry bag and be tucked in my locker for 12 hours at a time. I digress, because I’m supposed to be talking about the reasons to take a doll to work, and here they are:

1. Having a doll at work means that you personalize your work space.
2. Having a doll at work means that you have something fun to look at, and will hopefully curb the amount of time you browse eBay, Facebook, or Blythe forums for dolls or sundries for sale. Ahem.
3. Need an excuse to leave the dimly little building? Take your doll (and your lunch!) outside to enjoy some sunshine and to take some photos!
4. If you work in a creative area, you can introduce your equally creative colleagues to Blythe and then you’ll have someone at work to chat dolls with. *One of us, one of us*
5. Had a bad day at work? Blythe will already be there to cheer you up and put a smile on your face before the end of the work day.

What are your best reasons for bringing a doll to work?

For those who are not long-time readers of BlytheLife, it may shock you to know that I do not take a Blythe with me everywhere that I go. In fact, some of my dolls have only left my house once or twice since they’ve arrived. I’m occasionally just a very bad Blythe owner. However, I have made a conscious effort to change that by taking a doll along when I go out. Even if that doll doesn’t come out of my bag, I still carry one sometimes (except when I’m going to the hospital, because then she’d just stay in a carrier, in my bag, in a locker for 12 hours and that just seems unusually pointless).

On two separate occasions, I went for a short day hike with a doll. Most recently, I took along Lydia Melbourne (my Yellow Marshmallow Middie Blythe doll), mostly because she’s ‘newer’ and I felt that she needed some camera time. And you know what? There’s just something so fun about having something to photograph beyond the scenery (not that the scenery wasn’t beautiful, because it was). People passed me on the trail and the look out points and nobody asked about why I was holding onto a doll or asking me what the doll was about. I took photos, posed my dolls on perches, and just have a really good time.

Maybe one of these days I’ll pull a doll out on a busy street downtown and be as comfortable as I was on a trail. Maybe…

Lydia Melbourne is wearing a rainbow knit dress (by me), and Kelly shoes.