In late January, Nina shared this amazing video of her process of creating the perfect miniature Simply Chocolate. After watching the amazing video, I messaged her to ask her if she’d be interested in doing an interview and being featured here on BlytheLife – she said yes and here it is!

Hello Nina! What can you tell us about yourself?
Hello, I’m 29, from Chile and I live in Vancouver, Canada since 2011 with my husband and my two Yorkies. I have a background in acting and I’m also nail technician and crafter. Recently I created a YouTube channel to share my works on miniatures and doll related accessories. I like to explore different techniques and use different materials on my projects. I’ve always interested in miniatures and doll related things. For instance, when I was a child I used my dolls as models for doing clothes rather than for playing with them. My Mom is also crafter and dressmaker, so she used to give me her fabrics scraps to make dresses for my dolls while she worked.

How did you discover Blythe dolls?
The first time I saw a Blythe was in 2008 when I was searching other things on internet. I got very impressed when I saw her big eyes and head so I decided to do a search for more information and I discovered a huge world of creativity and inspiration behind her. At that time, I couldn’t afford to buy one because I was still a student. So I got my first Blythe as a gift from my husband in 2010. (I got married to get a Blythe doll *joke*)

Who is in your doll family right now?
My collection is small. I have a Very Vicky (she is my favorite), a Simply Vanilla which I used to make my first custom, a Simply Chocolate, an Ashley’s Secret, 2 Blyth’s, 3 Littlest Pet Shop and my recent creation, the Blythe inspired miniature.

How did you start creating miniatures? What was your first miniature?
I have always been interested in miniatures. For instance, when I was studying to be a nail artist I used to sculpt very tiny 3D pieces with acrylic to decorate nails and I used to make little charms with polymer clay. When I made my first custom, I created a pair of leather shoes for her. That one was the first miniature accessory for Blythe I did.

You shared photos and a video recently about the process of creating a miniature Blythe doll and it has received some amazing response from the Blythe community. Clearly your inspiration was Simply Chocolate, but what was the design process from scratch like for you?
I had this idea in my mind for quite a while. I wanted to make something different, unique and challenging. I like to challenge myself, so the idea of creating a miniature Blythe was something I really needed to make. First, I did a search on internet looking for a miniature Blythe smaller than 5 cm height and able to move her eyes and I didn’t find anything like this. Then, I started to work on the eye mechanism and later I began to build the doll, defining the scale and drawing the sketch. Then, I decided to make a video as a making of, showing parts of the process, and sharing it on my channel. I was very surprised and grateful when it was accepted by the community. At the beginning, I didn’t have the idea to sell it, because it is a hard work, with many details, but after the great response from the community I am very excited to create more of my miniatures Blythe for collectors.

What challenges did you run into when creating your miniature Simply Chocolate? How did you overcome those challenges?
The most difficult part of the process was sculpting the hands because I tried to make them proportional to the body (the hand size is 1.8 mm). I have a lot of patience and I like to work on them when I’m relaxed and inspired, I don’t like to rush. I was also filming the process at the same time so I had to be aware of the focus of my camera while I was working. When I started to feel frustrated I liked to go for a walk or to do other things (take a break) so when I was back I had more inspiration and I could continue working on my project.

I think it’s very creative that you made a miniature Blythe to scale and with an eye mechanism! Would you make another miniature Blythe?
Yes, Now I’m making another miniature inspired Blythe doll, with more details than the first one and she will be on eBay very soon. I think the eye mechanism is a very important characteristic of a Blythe so the miniature should have an eye mechanism to be like a Blythe.

What has been your favourite miniature pieces that you have created so far?
One of my favorites miniatures until now is a wooden Nutcracker that I created as a tutorial on my YouTube Channel for Christmas. I think it looks very realistic because it has a handle to move his mouth as the real ones. I love Nutcrackers and they are my favourite Christmas ornaments.

What creative projects might we expect to see from you in the future?
I will continue working on my YouTube channel, learning, making miniatures and sharing some techniques, so people can use them as an inspiration to create new things for Blythe. I’m also working on a very special Blythe custom right now.

Thank you so much for doing this interview with me, Nina! What advice do you have to share for someone who’s interested in creating their own miniatures?
Thank you Michelle, just to say that the world of miniatures is a big world of possibilities; you can create whatever you want (i.e. makes a miniature of everything) and you’ll have a lot of fun. Be patient and be persistent are the clues and keep trying until to get the expected results. Practice makes perfect.

You can learn more about Nina and Corali & Co. Dolls on: Facebook, YouTube, Instagram, and her blog.

After a while, purchases in the Blythe hobby just don’t seem that expensive. It’s a really weird phenomenon that you might have noticed in your own dolly spending. First it comes with a $10 dress, then the dresses become $30 or $40 (this gets exponentially worse when you’re not actually in a country that uses USD because of the horrifying exchange rate – Canadian dollar, I am glaring at you…). When I was first venturing into the Blythe hobby, the Hasbro LPS Petites did not exist and the only Petites that did exist were of the Takara variety. These were both awesome in the fact they were (primarily) miniature versions of Blythes that already existed or created to be companion releases, and also seemed exceedingly expensive for what they were. At the time that I joined the Blythe hobby and started collecting in 2009, Takara Petites were probably around $20-40 USD, which isn’t to far off from how much some of them cost today. It just seemed like a lot because shipping alone was often roughly half the cost of the doll. And despite the fact that shipping for a full-sized Neo remains today anywhere from $30-50 CAD, it doesn’t seem nearly as bad as paying 50% of the cost of a doll on shipping. The fact remains that I didn’t get my first Petite until 2011 as a gift from a dear friend, and then later purchased my second LPS Petite from a local chain store when they were still being sold in stores.

Left to right: Pipsqueak, Shrimp, and Lark.

See the funny thing is that despite LPS Petites being inexpensive, I never really bought many of them (I bought one for myself, and another for a Secret Santa gift exchange with the local Blythe group). I think this is in part because there was no thrill involved. There’s some internalized hype when you buy a doll and eagerly check and recheck the tracking to see the progress of her arrival over the Pacific Ocean. There’s the thrill of sniping an eBay auction or being the first to contact someone on a forum or Facebook on the perfect Blythe doll for your family. Being able to go out and buy a Blythe wasn’t as exciting for me – plus at the time LPS and Takara Petites didn’t really stand out in my doll family (and at a lowly number of 3 with absolutely no wardrobe, they still don’t really stand out – mostly because I’m currently not willing to sew clothes that are that small).

My first two Petites were both of the LPS variety, and they don’t often get taken out as often as I would like despite the fact that they are very pocket friendly and quite easy to pose as they aren’t as top-heavy as their full-sized sisters and have a lower centre of gravity. I still don’t do very much with my Petites, but I do love them. After all, they make for a fantastic and cute handful. I think if I were to add a Petite into the doll family at this point, I would probably look for a Takara Petite because I do like their ‘sleep’ eyes. Plus there is a nursing themed one (Intensive Care) that I actually think would be great to have (even if she’s not a nurse for people like me).

Do you have any Petites in your doll family? How do you have?

It’s an age-old question when it comes to vintage dolls, such as Kenners. Do you restore the doll or do you leave her as-is in the manner that you found her in? If you ask me, the answer depends.

For one of my dolls, I definitely restored her as much as I could. Meet Lillian Rose (or Lily, for short). She got a fancy set of Takara legs (along with a pelvis) and her hair was restored as much as possible. I took her scalp off, secured any loose plugs, and had a trusted friend help me out with those blonde locks – now she looks fantastic! (She’s actually sporting a pretty nasty crack in her torso that she endured from BlytheCon Vancouver – no photos of that because she needs to preserve some dignity, I’m in the planning process of getting her a new modified body so I won’t be fearful of taking her out and about in the future.)

And then there’s Primrose a.k.a. Prim. She came to me with zero legs and got a replacement set (also Takara) pretty quickly and I did not touch her hair at all. One of the things that I loved about her upon first seeing a photo of her was her fantastic and epic hair – who wouldn’t fall in love with that? Since then, her hair makes somewhat regular appearances both here and on my Instagram because Prim has very quickly become one of my favourites since I got her a few years ago, initially because her fantastic hair and also because of her charming face.

I’m a fan of Kenners that don’t look “perfect” because (truth be told) the perfect Kenners are actually a bit intimidating! I’d feel worse about if I had a Kenner with perfect make-up that got scratched or hair frizzed up versus a doll that already has make-up partially worn off or hair already a bit frizzy.

If you have a Kenner, do you restore her (either yourself or have someone else do it) or leave her as-is?

Hello fashionistas! It’s Sophie here!

I don’t know what it’s like where you are right now, but the weather’s been warming up just a smidgen here in Canada – no piles of snow or igloos where I live! And I’m very much looking forward to spring. As the days go by, I need to constantly poke Michelle to remind her that I need an outfit change at least once a day. If she gets to change her clothes daily, why can’t I? She doesn’t seem to understand my credibility as a dolly fashion blogger is seriously impeded by her not buying me the latest fashions or helping me out by taking photographs of me on a daily basis.

She’s horrible and won’t let me succeed in life.

A sampling of pink from Rosiee Gelutie, Endangered Sissy, and Button Arcade.

But besides that, I guess she’s okay. My goal for spring is to wear more florals – anything light and airy is a major plus because they evoke a more spring-like quality. And I think pink will be very in this season (please do not tell Eden that). That and wearing more cute shoes, but I need new ones. Nothing say spring like a good hair of new shoes (take note, Michelle!). It’s not cheap being a dolly fashion blogger, and is certainly not for the faint of heart. I recently got a hold of Michelle’s credit card and did some shopping – like any good fashionista would do. I’m still waiting for things to arrive in the mail, but they will soon enough.

A frock a day keeps the Sophie happy!

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.

I do not often take my dolls out of the house unless I’m going to a Blythe meet (or a BlytheCon, although that doesn’t happen often), or meeting up with a friend who happens to collect dolls. I don’t take part in those photography challenges that suggests you to take photos of your dolls in a grocer store or on the sidewalk of a busy intersection. I can be terribly self-conscious when it comes to bringing my dolls out in public. As open as I am or can be about my Blythes on the internet, it’s not exactly the first thing I tell people about myself. I don’t open an introduction with “Hello, my name is Michelle and I collect dolls”. Mostly because I think people will think I’m weird or they think dolls are weird. I don’t think movies like Annabelle or The Boy have helped at all to quell the suspicions that some people have that dolls are just weird (or scary).

But most recently, I took Cameo out with me because I was meeting up with Pamela of Endangered Sissy. We did some shopping and then had drinks at a small hole-in-the-wall cafe. Having someone else have a doll out helps, I think, make you more brave about pulling a doll out. That and the realization that yes, people see your doll out, and no, they’re not making comments about it. As with many things, I think it’s a “safety in numbers” mentality that I quite enjoy on a regular basis when taking dolls out in public because having other people around helps a lot to make it seem safer to pull a doll out.

Do you take a doll out when you’re by yourself, or do you feel better about having a doll out when other people also have their doll out? Does it matter to you what kind of setting you’re in? Share below! And if you were also as nervous as I am about taking a Blythe out in public, how did you get over that?