The March Talent Showcase just keeps getting better and better! Lauren, also known as Cakewalk Queen, does it all. She knits, she crochets, she customizes and reroots. Her most recent venture is Sparkle Monster – a shop full of yarn things for Blythe. With the quirky style of granny squares incorporated into a super cute helmet, her work brings about a new look to the Blythe helmet that we all know and love.

Hi Lauren! What can you tell us about yourself and how you discovered Blythe?
I’m 24 and I live in the Dallas area with my husband and dog. I first saw Gina’s book, This is Blythe, and couldn’t get that strange big-eyed doll out of my head. It wasn’t until I saw a Samedi Marche Encore being sold online in a store that I ever thought about actually owning one. I started looking at Google images of Blythes which led me to Flickr and that’s when the obsession started. I just had to have one! We all know how that goes, just one turns into many!

Where did the name Sparkle Monster come from?
I love sparkly things. Glitter, tin foil, diamonds, if it twinkles I dig it! I also love the word monster for some strange reason so the two just kind of came together. I guess I consider myself a bit of a sparkle monster!

How long have you been making things with yarn?
My mother-in-law taught me how to knit in 2008 but it wasn’t until 2010 that I really got into it. Last summer, I taught myself how to crochet and that seemed to be the catalyst for making things for Blythe. I’m getting more confident in understanding both knit and crochet and that’s leading me into making my own patterns and experimenting with shapes.

I know you’ve recently made some sparkly pink hats for a special cause – what can you tell us about that and your involvement?
They were made with special little girl, Alissia, in mind. She’s Rob’s (of Rob & Sioux) niece and she’s fighting brain cancer. She’s only 4 years old and it amazes me how strong little kids are. I wanted to do something that would help her family out a bit so I made the hats in Alissia’s favorite color and 100% of the proceeds are going to her family. I just wanted to hopefully bring a smile to their faces.

What is your day-to-day schedule like when it comes to crafting and getting the word out there about your business?
I don’t currently have a job so I have a lot of time to spend on crafting. I tackle custom orders first, but other than that, I don’t really have a schedule. I almost always have a couple of works in progress and I knit or crochet while doing just about everything! If I could craft and cook, I would. I try to keep my blog, Blythe Kingdom, and Facebook page updated with any new products or information and I’m constantly on Twitter. I’ve found that people are finding me through all of these places so even thought it takes a bit of time to update everything, I know it’s important.

What has been your favourite moment so far since you’ve opened Sparkle Monster?
I recently had someone tell me they wanted a helmet in every color and just couldn’t decide. That totally made my day! I want to make stuff that people will like and hearing good feedback on something you’ve handmade feels great. My first sale was also a big happy moment for me!

Where did you draw your inspiration from for your helmet design?
Like most Blythe people, I love the way helmets look on their heads but it seems like every idea was already in production. I ‘m totally obsessed with everything granny square and thought it would be a fun homage to Blythe since she’s a 70s chick. I started playing around with the pattern and soon it just came together! It’s the first time I’ve had an idea that I’ve seen through start to finish and I feel so proud of my little helmets.

What did you think or do when you first saw someone taking a photo of their doll wearing something that you made?
It’s kind of surreal to see your work through someone else’s photography. It’s a great feeling to know they appreciate what you’ve made enough to photograph it!

Your cardigans are really darling – where did the inspiration for the design come from and how you decide on what colours to use when they’re all so pretty?
I love the look of tiny knits and I also love layered outfits on Blythe. Choosing colors is so hard for me since I really love them all. I have the hardest time shopping for yarns!

What would you say has been the biggest learning curve for you with opening up a shop?
Probably navigating my way around Etsy. I’ve used it for years as a buyer but selling on there is totally different. Luckily, it’s fairly easy to get the hang of.

What kinds of things can we expect from you in the future?
I have so many ideas! Middie sized helmets and cardigans are in the works and I’m also going to have special collections. They will be themed and feature OOAK or limited edition cardigans and helmets.

Thank you so much for doing this interview with me, Lauren! What kind of advice would you give to someone who’s new to crafting for dolls?
Just jump in and start playing around with things. I made several cardigans before I found an exact pattern I was happy with. You will have duds but with every mistake you learn what not to do the next time. Eventually, you’ll get something great!

You can find Lauren over at Flickr under the username Cakewalk Queen, over at Tumblr and, of course, on Etsy with her shop Sparkle Monster.

Cardigan Giveaway!

Lauren has graciously decided to offer up one custom Blythe cardigan, which is why I don’t have a photo to show you! If you are the winner, you will get to choose the colour and any add-ons (buttons, ties, collar and/or sleeve length).

You can get up to eight (8) entries for this giveaway draw and you can enter until Saturday March 24th 2012 at 11:59pm PDT. The draw will be held on Sunday March 25th 2012 and the winner will be announced on BlytheLife.com. Remember to use a valid email address for all comments. If you win, your email will be forwarded to Lauren so you can get in contact about your custom cardigan!

Please only use one email address per person, those using multiple email addresses for more entries will be disqualified.

Mandatory Entry: Comment below about the interview with Lauren! This is worth 1 entry into the giveaway.

Bonus Entry #1: Tweet about the contest! Please retweet the following once per day from your public Twitter account! (If you look below, there is a box for you to include your Twitter username, if you do, I can easily verify your bonus entry!) Each tweet is 1 entry into the giveaway for a maximum of 2 entries into the giveaway. Please comment below to tell me that you’ve been tweeting (1 comment per tweet!)

Check out the @blythelifecom interview with Sparkle Monster for a custom cardigan giveaway! http://bit.ly/x388i5

Bonus Entry #2: Blog about the contest! Be sure to include some details about the contest and include links to BlytheLife.com, this interview/giveaway page and to the Sparkle Monster shop! For 1 blog entry, this is worth 5 entries into the giveaway! You must comment below with the URL to your blog post.

Next in the March Talent Showcase is Meg. I ‘met’ Meg (perhaps more known in Blythe-world as irulethegalaxy) online while she was doing her 365 with the infamous (famous?) TMQ. Since then, she’s started to crochet (and crochet and crochet some more!) until she buried one of her dolls in beaded helmets. Her helmets have gotten very popular due to the stylish colour combinations of beads and the gorgeous yarn colours that she uses in her work. With a little sparkle, and sometimes some glittery beads, your dolls can do wear starry helmets, or rainbow helmets, or any other wonderful combination of colours that you can think of.

Hi Meg! What can you tell us about yourself?
Well HI! Hmm, not really sure what to say here, most of the interesting stuff is really up on my flickr to some degree or another. Standard stuff would be married, no kids, 2 dogs (though we are somewhat convinced that the little one is part termite and weasel as well). My job is boring, so we’ll ignore it. Other hobbies besides Blythe include knitting, spinning, and video games; I am also usually interested in shiny things. I have the attention span of a gnat.

How did you discover Blythe? What drew you to her?
First time I ever saw a Blythe doll was in the online knitting mag, Knitty. I think a lot of people who knit will say the same thing! I had never seen them before, and to be perfectly honest…I thought they were kind of hideous. Then I looked up the price…and well, that was the end of any interest. Also, I couldn’t figure out why some were going for HUNDREDS AND HUNDREDS on ebay, and others were going for $20 (petites vs. Kenners)? I was confused, overwhelmed, and to be honest, really not into dolls. I wandered away.

Fast forward a couple of years. I had ordered my first spinning wheel. I became convinced that it was GOING to arrive on my birthday that year. I came to find out that there had been a mistake in the order and only the accessories had been shipped–the wheel itself would not arrive for several more weeks *insert gnashing of teeth and wailing here*. I was super disappointed, and decided to buy myself something expensive and completely frivolous for my birthday. How I ended up deciding it should be a Blythe I don’t remember (except what could be more frivolous than a DOLL?), but I spent a whole week going back and forth over what was in my price range and what kind of doll I wanted. I eventually decided that the one I wanted was Tailor Gibson, with Welcome Winter as the runner up. I bid on an auction, and won a Tailor Gibson…that was Harriet. I remember hoping that she wouldn’t arrive with awful huge red lips like some of the ones in TIB’s Blytheopedia (I didn’t understand the difference between stock dolls and customized ones!) Then I decided she needed a friend and I wanted a fantasy haired girl, and that was Pistachio. For a while that was it…then it sort of snowballed on me LOL.

When did you first learn to crochet?
Yay, an easy one! My mom taught me when I was very young. I imagine I pestered her relentlessly until she did so! I was very bad at it, actually. Y’know those chevron afghans? Mine kept growing at the working end, getting wider and wider…..

Your venture of beaded helmets has been doing very well, what made you decide to crochet beaded helmets?
Y’know, I think it was mostly availability. I had all this yarn, and I had this tiny little box of GID beads I had bought years ago. At some point there came a hmmmmmm…. moment, and I let the idea stew in my brain. I liked the idea of putting beads all over helmets, but I couldn’t quite figure out the how. Luckily for me, I’ve been doing my job for a very long time. My work activities need very little of my few remaining brain cells. So after a few days of mulling it over, I came up with the “how” and the rest all came together.

In retrospect, this is what I refer to as “reinventing the wheel”; ie, I coulda Googled it. Heh.

Since opening The Helmet Factory, what goes through your head whenever you see your work on dolls from around the world?
Mostly, yay! I love seeing them out there on other dolly heads, and I love seeing how people dress their dolls to go with the helmets (or maybe I have that backwards? The helmets are to go with the outfits? Heh, who knows.). Every now and then a bit of OCD kicks in and I wish I could tidy up a flap or had maybe put the beads in a different color order, but luckily, that’s rare!

There are a lot of colour and bead combinations that you could put together – where do you draw your inspiration from for the combinations?
To be honest, things sort of get tossed together as they appeal to me at the moment! I have a lot of strings of beads that I haven’t used yet because they don’t really go with any of the yarns, and vice versa. I do a lot of rainbow colors, as that’s what I like. Sometimes the stuff that is the most fun though comes from what I consider leftovers…they come in handy at the oddest times. I need to be more disciplined when I order my beads though, they’re all just so shiny…..

What do you think is one of the hardest parts of putting your work out there for others?
I am fairly critical of my own work, so I feel that anything that makes it to the shop (and yes, some don’t) at least represents the best of my abilities at that moment. I think the hardest part is seeing a helmet that I ended up feeling was amazing or really neat sit there in the shop unloved. That doesn’t necessarily mean unpurchased! Sometimes I’ll see some poor little helmet sitting there with just a couple views and no hearts…I think that’s the hardest. That idea that the Blythe community at large is just looking at the thumbnail and thinking “Oh gawd Meg, that’s incredibly fugly!” Hah! But I can blame some of this on my questionable photography skills. I tell the helmets it isn’t really their fault :).

You’ve started to branch out into making hats for other dolls, like Middie and Odeco, what kind of learning curve was there with the different sizes?
Hah! My dirty little secret exposed! The Odeco/Middie helmets? It’s the same helmet! Stitch for stitch, bead for bead, the pattern is identical. Other than a slight whoops of trying sock weight yarn for them first (resulting in a Petite-sized helmet), there was no learning curve!

Famous last words, of course. I am thinking of trying out Monster High or Dal sized helmets, so naturally since I said it was “easy”, I’ll probably end up tearing my hair out over those!

With a self-proclaimed attention span of a gnat (and I’m sure that’s not really true) as well as work and pets, how do you find to focus and time to work on the helmets and how do you balance helmet making time with everything else?
Okay, I probably don’t have the attention span of a gnat. After all, that’s pretty insulting to the gnat! but remember the aforementioned boring job? Not only does that let my brain roam freely, but sometimes it lets me do non-work things. I can actually work on things like the Middie helmets there (I tried the Blythe sized helmets, but the heavier beads made the yarn have a passionate love affair with the floor). I do much of my sock knitting for Christmas gifts that way, too. Only when someone asks “What are you making?” the answer “Socks for Christmas gifts!” gets a lot less funny looks than “Doll helmets! With BEADS!” does, hah!

As far as the doggies go, well, my older dog Holly is 17 now, she’s usually pretty content to doze on the couch. Oscar is only about 18 months now, but when Holly was younger she was the most active dog on the entire planet. To be honest, he doesn’t feel like that much work…and after 17 years of Holly, scooping up a tennis ball and tossing it barely interrupts what I am doing LOL. If all else fails, a kong filled with frozen treats will buy me a very quiet hour!

Other than that, I am fidgety. I can’t sit still if I am not doing something. If I am reading, or watching TV or a movie, I am knitting or crocheting. The hubby and I play video games a lot (hey, a lot of the plots are better than the average movie…$20 for 4 hours of entertainment at the movies, vs $50 for 150 hours of entertainment playing video games? Not bad.). We do it together, but since we mostly play RPGs that are one player, my hands are free…to make helmets. A lot.

Thank you so much for doing this interview with me, Meg! What kind of advice would you give to someone who’s new to crafting for Blythe?
Yay! Thank you Michelle! And advice?? Geez, I hoped someone would give ME some! Uh, let’s see…I guess a few things come to mind. First: make sure you love what you’re making…after all, if it’s not fun, you’re probably not going to want to stick with it! Second: keep in mind that after the first few things sell, you might have quite a lull. I know it feels like watching your kid not getting picked for a sports team, but try and hang in there. Third: if you’re really new, consider giving or donating some of your goodies…even if you costs you a bit now, having people see your work is your best advertisement. Plus, it’s fun to surprise people with RAOK! Fourth: Try to make sure your puppy doesn’t eat your beads. >_<

You can find Meg (a.k.a. irulethegalaxy) over on Flickr and you can find her helmets over at The Helmet Factory.

Double Helmet Giveaway!

Meg has generously crocheted two of her beaded helmets to giveaway!

The winner of the pink and green helmet (in BlytheLife.com colours!) will be chosen by a random number generator based on the total number of entries into the giveaway.

The winner of the helmet on the right (with fun beads that are white indoors and turn colourful in the sun!) will be chosen courtesy of Meg’s dog, Oscar, who will choose a name out of a hat (1 entry per person in that drawing).

You can get up to nine (9) entries for this giveaway draw and you can enter until Saturday March 17th 2012 at 11:59pm PDT. The draw will be held on Sunday March 18th 2012 and the winner will be announced on BlytheLife.com (either Sunday or Monday, March 19th). Remember to use a valid email address for all comments. If you win, your email will be forwarded to Meg for arranging shipment of the prize.

Please only use one email address and one IP address per person, those using multiple email addresses for more entries will be disqualified.

Mandatory Entry: Comment below with a suggestion for colour combination(s) of future helmets that you’d like to see. This is worth 1 entry into the giveaway.

Bonus Entry #1: Tweet about the contest! Please retweet the following from your public Twitter account! (If you look below, there is a box for you to include your Twitter username, if you do, I can easily verify your bonus entry!) You can tweet up to 2 times on different days. Each tweet is 1 entry into the giveaway for a maximum of 2 entries into the giveaway. Please comment below to tell me that you’ve been tweeting (1 comment per tweet!)

Check out the @blythelifecom interview with Meg of The Helmet Factory and Giveaway! http://bit.ly/A7tTTQ

Bonus Entry #2: Visit The Helmet Factory and let Meg know which one you liked (either a helmet that is still in stock or previously sold). This is worth 1 entry into the giveaway.

Bonus Entry #3: Blog about the contest! Be sure to include some details about the contest and include links to BlytheLife.com, this interview/giveaway page and to The Helmet Factory. For 1 blog entry, this is worth 5 entries into the giveaway! You must comment below with the URL to your blog post.

The 2012 March Talent Showcase’s first feature is Samantha! She’s also known as China-Lilly in the Blythe community and she customizes Blythe. She’s been customizing for just over a year now and I love her work. It’s always so much fun to see how the a doll can be transformed into a work of art. Her talents as a make-up artist cross over into the beauty of her magic on dolls.

Samantha and her daughter, Indy.

Hi Sam! What can you tell us about yourself?
I’m Samantha. I live in Sydney, Australia. I am currently a stay-at-home mum to Indiana, 2.5 and Harrison, 1; but before that I was a graphic designer and makeup artist.

How did you discover Blythe and what attracted you to her?
I discovered Blythe through Gina Garan’s photography, which was printed on various t-shirts and bags. I just loved Blythe’s quirky look. I am a huge fan of model/actress Devon Aoki and I see a similarity between her and Blythe.

I collected quite a few of these t-shirts and bags but strangely enough never purchased a Blythe doll until the end of 2010. I do remember picking one up in a store and thinking I was too old for dolls!

Custom #9, the lovely Nightingale.

Why did you decide to start customizing Blythe dolls?
I discovered custom Blythe’s very soon after I purchased my first girl and immediately knew I wanted one. I didn’t have the courage to do it myself at that stage, so I sent my Nicky Lad to Maria of Chuthings. About 3 months later, I finally worked up the nerve to do one myself. My first custom was Kitten in February. Then I made Pastel in March. But my third custom wasn’t until July. Somehow or other that number jumped to 30 by the end of 2011!

Custom #13, Narcissa Rose (reroot by Blythe Laboratory).

30 customs is a lot in such a short period of time! Which one has been your most memorable custom so far?
It’s hard for me to pick just one … one might be my favourite artistically, and others for different reasons. Pastel is one because she introduced me to Belinda/dolls4emily, who was the one to encourage me to take commissions; Narcissa Rose because her look is so striking, Vincent because she was my attempt to give back to the Blythe community, who has helped me through a tough time in life.

What kind of lessons did your first custom, Kitten, teach you?
The main thing would be just do it! Taking that first step is the hardest and the rest is easy. If you had told me 18 months ago that I would be a doll customiser, I probably would have laughed at you!

Custom #32, Magnolia. Gotta love the handpainted chips!

What have you learned about yourself throughout the course of the last year with customizing Blythe?
2011 was a tough year for me. I was diagnosed with post-natal depression and found many days hard to get though. Blythe really encouraged me to be creative again and that helped me so much. I guess I needed that artistic outlet, having always been a creative person, but I no longer had that through work.

I am quite a shy person and it’s hard for me to make new friends. I know so much of the community is online, but through Blythe I met Nancy/tinycutethings, who has children at around the same age and lives close by.

And because I felt that the Blythe community gave me so much, I decided at Christmas time that I would sell Vincent for $5 so that she might help someone else through a hard time. Virginie/Tibiloo ended winning the opportunity to buy her and she gifted Vincent to Gaia. I could not have asked for a better outcome!

Samantha’s make-up artistry.

Has being a graphic designer and make-up artist helped or hindered you in any way from being artistic with Blythe?
I would not say it has hindered me, but it has been a big influence on the type of girls I make. The faceups that I do are very similar to ones I would do on models. I love colour, so I don’t generally make girls with subtle colouring.

I also use some of my makeup brushes to do my faceups – I was a bit of a brush junkie, so I have lots and lots and lots of brushes! I didn’t like airbrushing foundation on models (it just seemed to me too much to carry and I had problems enough fitting everything in my kit), but I think I would like to try it for Blythe’s someday as customising is not really work I need to do on location!

Samantha’s make-up artistry.

Which would you say is your favourite mold type to customize and why?
RBL. I find them to be the most versatile. Even for my own collection, I am drawn to RBLs first but then, maybe that’s because I’ve done more RBLs than any other mold. I am learning to love FBL customs. I’ve only done one EBL so far, so looking forward to doing more of those.

Your custom work is beautiful. At 30-plus dolls now, where do you draw inspiration for the dolls?
It can be anywhere! A colour, a book, a movie, a fabric … I do watch a lot of Sci-fi, which is why I have dollies named Helo (Battlestar Galactica) and Ronon (Stargate Atlantis) LOL!

A lot of the more recent dolls have been commissions and their Mummies often have a general idea of what they want for them. And that’s actually a good thing for me, because sometimes it pushes me in directions that I would not normally gravitate – like #31 Domino.

A small selection of handpainted eyechips by China-Lilly.

What do you know now that you wish you had known when you first started to customize Blythes?
I think a lot of it is trial and error. Without having gone through that learning curve, you can’t develop your own style. I do wish I knew how to carve better then – I did find a lack of step by step on how exactly it’s done, but over time, I’ve found my own techniques and preferences.

I do really wish I could sew though!

Domino, custom #31.

You said that you’re a stay-at-home mum. How do you balance your customizing/work time with family time?
It is a fine balance to strike. Indy started “customising” a Basaak with me for a time and it was fun to share that with her. She has 2 clones of her own and has named them “Dish” and “Ugly”.

But as Harry gets older and more active, I find I have to wait until they are asleep or in daycare. They now attend daycare 2 days a week, which is when I get most of my customising done. However, it’s likely that I will start part-time work on those 2 days sometime this year, so that will definitely impact on dolly time.

Indy with her dolls, Ugly and Dish.

Thank you so much for doing this interview with me, Samantha! What advice would you give to someone who’s just starting out in the Blythe world?
I’ve found the Blythe community to be generally welcoming and helpful, so if there are any questions, just ask someone! Most people are really eager to share their knowledge.

You can find Sam (a.k.a. China-Lilly) on Flickr and at her blog (Indy & the Ninja). You can also find her handpainted eyechips for Blythe at her Etsy shop.

I met the lovely Gina (a.k.a. GBaby) at BlytheCon this year in Portland, OR. Before that I was a quiet admirer of her gorgeous customs, all the way back near the beginning when she was working on a little CanCanCat named Billie. Since then, Gina’s work has become sought after and people just know it’s going to be something good when there’s a new GBaby custom being created. Besides the pouty lips that a lot of Blythe collectors know and love, Gina also handpaints eyechips, sews doll clothes and does the most beautiful reroots. I had the pleasure of interviewing Gina and I’d like to share it with you.

Hi Gina! What can you tell us about yourself and how you came to discover Blythe?
I discovered Blythe in Oct 2008 while searching the web for photos of Roisin Murphy. I was browsing the yahoo images section when I found a photo of a Blythe dressed and posed just like one of Roisin’s photos. I was very curious about this doll so I looked into it more. Then I discovered the whole world of Blythe on Flickr and never looked back! Now Blythe has become much more than a hobby for me. It’s my job, but I say this in a very good way. I love that I have been able to make a mini business out of this thing that I love so much and I’m having a lot of fun doing it!

What made you start customizing?
When I first discovered Blythes I fell in love with the customs. I would browse Flickr for hours and hours everyday just admiring all the custom dolls. So, from the beginning customizing was always something that I wanted to do.

Who was the first Blythe doll that you had customized? What did you learn from the experience?
My first Blythe was a CanCanCat named Billie. My original plan was to buy one doll and customize her to be my mini me, but that didn’t really work out. I learned so much from that first attempt. I learned that I was completely inexperienced no matter how many times I read and went over the Puchi Collective tutorials. I learned that black RIT will stain your dolls head, arms, body, and everything else if not washed out all the way. I learned that you will carve a hole right through your dolls mouth if you go too deep. I learned that flat ironing your dolls dry bare stock hair will burn it. and I learned all this the hard way. So you can imagine what Billie turned out to look like at first with RIT stains, over carved lips, and burned bangs! but it was a good experience for me. Since I didn’t know what the heck I was doing, I really had to experiment and try different methods, use different materials, and find my way of doing things. I redid Billie at least 3-4 times after that but never was able to get her right. I actually still have her but now she exists as just a head that I use as a tester for piercings, paints, msc, etc.. the tragedy!

What has been some of the inspirations behind some of your custom dolls?
I get inspired by colors. Sometimes I have no plan for what I want to do or what kind of theme I want for a doll, but I will know what colors I want to use and from there I get ideas on how to use them together. To me it’s the most important part of my creations. I always think of color combinations first and everything else follows. But sometimes I also get inspired by themes. I love making slightly goth looking dolls, I think I have a million ideas for that style. Or I can get inspiration from things. I thought of the idea for Magnolia after seeing a pic on Flickr of a Magnolia tree.

How did you get started in handpainting eye chips?
When I first started customizing I was trying all kinds of crazy things. I wanted to be able to customize every aspect of the doll but I had no experience or knowledge so I would just experiment. I was using glitter ball point pens to scribble all over the back of chips and then put a foil over it to try and keep it in tact. It wasn’t quite the look I was going for so that didn’t go very far. I realized that glitter pens were probably not the right type of thing that I should be using so I tried metallic paints instead and it worked a lot better. At first I was only painting solid colors because I loved the look of the glitter. But there were a handful of people who were doing some really amazing things with painted and custom resin chips. Some people were even using Photoshop to make custom foils, so I wanted to do more than just paint solid colors. I didn’t have a clue how to use Photoshop and the thought of resin scared the crap out of me so I thought I’d give painting chips a go. There are no tutorials out there on how to paint chips so it was all a trial and error type of learning process for me. It took a ton of practice, but now I finally think I have found my own techniques and personal style of painting them.

What would you say is a ‘signature’ aspect of your customs that make them yours?
Going back to the colors again.. Color coordination is really important to me and I think it’s a significant aspect of most my dolls. I try to give each new doll a different color combo that I have not used before and it kind of helps make them unique from each other that way. But other people might say that my signature type of doll is a mohair custom girl with two or three toned hair, pouty plump lips and a bad attitude. Hehe.

Your customs have become pretty sought after in the Blythe community, how do you feel about that?
I feel like I’ve come a looong long way because it was not always so easy for me to sell my dolls. It is such a blessing to me that people enjoy my dolls and appreciate all the work and love that I put into making them. I am very thankful for that 🙂

If you could go back to when you were first starting to customize and tell yourself one thing that you’ve learned since then, what would you say?
I would tell myself to reroot mohair DRY. It saves soooooo much time!!

What’s a typical day like for you when you’re working on your custom dolls or eyechips?
The way I work is, I absolutely have to have my coffee no matter what time of day it is. My coffee is my fuel. I also have to have some kind of chocolate nearby, that is also fuel. I have to be listening to my iPod while I’m doing the faceup, painting eye chips, or sewing. But if I’m working on a mohair reroot I have to be watching a DVD like The Office, or Southpark because rerooting is totally boring and does not require thinking, so I need more entertainment than just music. that’s just the way I roll and I cannot work in any other way!! lol. As long as I have those things I can get my work done 🙂

What would you say has been the best thing that Blythe has brought into your life?
This might sound like a broken record, as I’m sure I’ve said this a bunch of times before as well as heard other people say the same, but Blythe has brought so many awesome things into my life!! For one, it IS my life!! But other than that, I’ve met so many amazing and wonderful people both near and far, some in person but some only via the forums and Flickr. I love the people in this community and I never would have thought that I’d have friends in different countries around the world. The fact that a little plastic doll has made that happen seems really fantastic and funny to me. Most of all, this hobby has given me something to be passionate about and something to focus all my creative energy on 🙂

I have 2 questions for you from Erica (ericaduh): Do you plan on opening up your commissions list? And how did you learned to sew doll clothes?
Unfortunately I am not 100% if I will ever open my commission list in the future. I have been moving ridiculously slow with the list for the past year because I’ve begun to do monthly auctions for my OOAK dolls and this takes up a lot of my time. In the future I am hoping to organize some sort of a lottery for the purchase of my dolls. It may happen very soon as my 3 year Blythe anniversary is coming up in Sept/Oct so stay tuned!!

As far as the sewing goes, about 2 years ago I had this urge to learn how to sew so that I could make things for my own dolls. My mom then taught me the basics of sewing and from there I just learned things by trial and error. Even now when I sew the outfits for my OOAK dolls I am still experimenting. I have no idea how to do things the proper way so I just do it any ol’ way that it will work. Sometimes it’s not the neatest or even the easiest way, but I’m still learning as I go along 🙂

Thank you so much for doing this interview with me, Gina! Just one last question: what kind of advice do you have for someone who’s just getting their feet wet into the world of customizing Blythe?
Thank YOU for giving me this opportunity to share a little about myself with you all!!! I appreciate it so much 🙂 …..My advice for new customizers is, don’t be afraid!!!! Don’t think, just DO….

Handpainted Chips Giveaway!

Gina has generously offered up one pair of handpainted chips for one very lucky BlytheLife.com reader! There’s no photo yet because she was just finishing them up recently and haven’t had the chance to photograph them (but I will update with a photo as soon as I get one!).

You can get up to thirteen (13) entries for this giveaway draw and you can enter until Sunday August 14th 2011 at 11:59pm PDT. The draw will be held on Monday August 15th 2011 and the winner will be announced on BlytheLife.com. Remember to use a valid email address for all comments. If you win, your email will be forwarded to Gina for arranging shipment of the prize.

Please only use one email address and one IP address per person, those using multiple email addresses for more entries will be disqualified.

Mandatory Entry: Comment below about the interview with Gina! Do you have any questions for her? This is worth 1 entry into the giveaway.

Bonus Entry #1: Tweet about the contest! Please retweet the following once per day from your public Twitter account! (If you look below, there is a box for you to include your Twitter username, if you do, I can easily verify your bonus entry!) Each tweet is 1 entry into the giveaway for a maximum of 7 entries into the giveaway. Please comment below to tell me that you’ve been tweeting (1 comment per tweet!)

Check out the @blythelifecom interview with GBaby for an awesome interview and giveaway! http://bit.ly/pTYhpx

Bonus Entry #2: Blog about the contest! Be sure to include some details about the contest and include links to BlytheLife.com and this interview/giveaway page. Do not copy and paste information from this page for your blog post. For 1 blog entry, this is worth 5 entries into the giveaway! You must comment below with the URL to your blog post.

I first ‘met’ Nikki when I was following her 365 photos with her Can Can Cat, Quinne. Thanks to the ability to just follow people on Flickr (yes, I’m aware that sounds stalkerish), I was able to keep up with the antics that her blue-haired doll go into and was surprised when there was the reveal of a fraternal twin (Rylee, who is super smart and had been away at school). From her fantastic photography work to the oh-so-cute clothing that she creates, Nikki is the creative mastermind behind Luxie Lou Designs and if you’re going to be in Portland for a certain BlytheCon, you can buy Luxie Lou clothing in person (or just check out her Etsy shop if you can’t wait!).

Hi Nikki! What can you tell us about yourself and how you discovered Blythe?
Thank you so much for having me! I’m a crafty girl from New York currently living in Denver, Colorado. I live with my wonderful, supportive husband and our two high energy, fun loving dogs. I love craft fairs, handmade goods and antique shopping.

Aside from sewing clothes for Blythe I also sew purses and have since college. I dabble in other crafts like knitting, crochet, polymer clay, and resin jewelry. I will try anything that interests me and will try to be the best I can at it. I found Blythe sometime in 2005 on Craftster. I was doing a lot of craft swaps at the time and one day found Blythe in the gallery section. People were making and swapping clothes for these dolls I had never seen before. I quickly became very intrigued. At the time I was still pretty fresh out of college and was struggling to make it on my own so I didn’t get my first girl until 2008. After 3 years of off and on research as well as staring at countless images online I purchased my first girl. Quinne (Can Can Cat) arrived on October 30, 2008 and has been by my side ever since.

How did you get started in sewing for dolls?
The day after Quinne arrived I immediately went to Denver Doll Emporium and dropped a bunch of money on Re-Ment. I wanted to have a dollhouse that I built of my very own and this became the perfect opportunity to make that happen. Since work on the house and accumulating things for it began immediately I didn’t leave myself much funds to buy the poor girl some clothes. Thanks to some wonderful sites like Puchi collective I found patterns for Blythe I made my first dress less than 3 weeks after Quinne arrived. The fit was terrible but I made it! I continued to try out a few other patterns and make more clothes. I was spending more money on more Blythe dolls, Re-Ment & Blythe towers at the beginning then I was on clothes so I kept making my own from the fabric stash I had. With some practice my ability to sew clothing improved and with time I began to create my own patterns.

What inspired you to start selling the doll clothes that you make?
A few of my wonderful Blythe friends were very supportive of my clothing at the very beginning. I traded a couple of my skirts for a handmade sweater with one friend and traded some pants with another for items in her shop. Then a friend bought a couple of skirts and another ordered a pair of pants. I thought if my friends liked my clothes and were interested in purchasing them that other people might be too. I thought wouldn’t it be cool if I could sell clothes and be able to use that money towards my doll related purchases. I already had an empty Etsy shop so I began to list clothes for Blythe. I sold my first Blythe item on Etsy in November of 2009.

How does it make you feel when you see people posting up photos of their dolls wearing the clothes that you make?
So happy and excited! It really means the world to me that people purchase clothing from me and then take the time to take cute pictures of their girls wearing what I’ve made. It makes me happy to see people enjoying the products I’ve made.

What do you think best describes Luxie Lou Designs in 140 characters or less?
Luxie Lou Designs are fun, colorful and playful designs geared towards bringing some fun to your day.

An assortment of Luxie Lou goodness! Photo by mydollies4.

I think it’s great that you make your own patterns! What kind of tips do you have for someone who’s wanting to design their own patterns?
Practice and patience!

All of the purses I make are from patterns I’ve created. I didn’t know how to sew on a sewing machine when I created my first purse “pattern.” I sketched out a bag idea I had in mind, cut out the fabric in the dimensions I wanted and sewed it up. For me learning to sew doll clothing was nothing like that. I think that anyone wanting to design their own patterns needs to learn the basics first. I learned how to make pants, a basic dress and a t-shirt from free patterns out there. Learning those three things gave me a huge understanding for the mechanics of sewing clothing. From there I sketched out my three panel skirt and ruffle skirt patterns with a doll and a ruler. If you don’t have pattern paper regular copy paper works just fine, I use both. I would also suggest using inexpensive or plain light colored fabric until you have the fit worked out. Once you get it worked out perfectly than use your favorite fabric! Re-working old patterns like vintage Skipper clothes is another great way to learn to make your own patterns. They can become a great basis for adding to or modifying to create a new look with the right fit for Blythe. I think once you get the understanding down of how doll clothing goes together from other patterns it becomes much easier to create new patterns.

So much of creating patterns is trial and error, draw up your design, cut it out and sew it up. Then if it is too big or small you can see what you need to adjust with your pattern. They will always get better as you work and fine tune them!

Luxie Lou looks good on anyone, especially Goldies! Photo by confettilexi.

What is a typical day like for you when working on things for your shop?
I always start by putting on some music or I pop a movie in my Macbook for background noise. If I have commission items to work on I will work on those first from start to finish. I’ll cut the fabric, sew them up and photograph them. When it comes to working on things for the shop sometimes I know exactly what I want to work on and sometimes I just decide once I start looking through fabrics. I work like a one person assembly line. I will cut all the fabric first – dresses, skirts, bloomers and liner fabric for the dresses. Then I iron all the pieces and fray check them. I sew by thread color so I’m not changing thread constantly. Once everything is sewn up I take pictures in my light box. In between I will stop to spend time on Flickr and twitter. It’s great that I can spend time chatting with my friends, especially on twitter, throughout the day while I’m working. I enjoy spending time on Flickr in between to see what my contacts are up to and I’ll post pictures of my own throughout the day.

I know that you will be one of the vendors at BlytheCon 2011 in Portland this summer, what kind of preparation are you doing for that and what are you looking forward to most about the convention?
I am sewing as much as possible! In between working on items for my shop I will dedicate time to cutting fabric and sewing specifically for BlytheCon. I have one of those photo boxes that I am putting just BlytheCon items in. I’m going to have to dedicate some time to hand sewing snaps soon! In a few weeks I will get supplies together to package my clothes and I will work out how my table display is going to look.

I’m looking forward to the other vendors, there are going to be so many great ones! But I am most looking forward to meeting the friends I chat with on a regular basis. I met so many great people at the 2009 BlytheCon and I have more contacts in the community now. It will be so much fun to see old friends and meet new ones. I get so excited just thinking about it!

More Goldie in Luxie Lou! Photo by knittingbarista.

What kinds of things have you done since joining the Blythe hobby to get involved in the community?
I already had a Flickr account when I got into Blythe but I wasn’t very active on Flickr. I immediately became MUCH more active. I joined lots of Blythe related groups and started making friends with people in the Blythe community. A little less than two months after getting Quinne I started the Blythe 365 project with her and right after I finished that I did a second year with her fraternal twin Rylee (Asian Butterfly Encore). I’m currently thinking about when a good time to start a third with their younger sister Shea (Simply Sparkly Spark) will be. I also joined a couple of the Blythe forums and started adding a bunch of Blythe contacts on twitter. I have made so many wonderful friends in the community and I’m always excited to make new ones.

I feel it’s really important to give back where you can in life and I’m really proud to be part of a community that joins together the way the Blythe community does when people are in need. Recently I donated a couple of items to the 4Alissia project, purchased multiple raffle tickets to a few different raffles for Japan and I donated 10% March of sales to Japan. In the future I want to continue to give back where I can through the Blythe community as well as the community at large.

What’s better than one Blythe in Luxie Lou? Two Blythes! Photo by voodoolady.

I know that for a lot of us, Blythe can influence us in so many ways. How has Blythe changed your life?
Blythe has given me another creative outlet for my photography and sewing. I went to school for journalism and photography but I had never photographed like this before Blythe. Prior to Blythe the majority of my photography was journalistically driven. I have so much fun photographing the girls in different scenes and story lines. I love to sew and I sew more now than I ever have thanks to Blythe. While I’m at my day job I’m daydreaming about what I’m going to sew when I get home!

Thanks to Blythe I have some of the most amazing friendships. Blythe has brought me in contact with people all over the world that I wouldn’t know otherwise. I have met and become friends with some of the nicest, most talented people. It’s so wonderful that as time goes on I get to meet more and more of them in person. Blythe has brought me more joy than I ever imagined.

Thank you so much for doing this interview with me! What kind of advice do you have for someone who’s new to the hobby?
Thank you so much for having me! It’s been a lot of fun! I would say join the forums, introduce yourself and sign up for Flickr if you don’t already have an account. You can have a free account on Flickr and you don’t have to post photos everyday. I would also say don’t be scared to start chatting with people just because you are new. We were all new at one time. I’ve had a few people that were new to Blythe contact me with questions about where to buy girls or just to say hi. Just have fun, this is a wonderful hobby to be a part of.

Dress Set Giveaway!

Nikki has generously offered up a super cute dress set for one very lucky BlytheLife.com reader! It’s a pretty sweet little dress (pun intended) with super adorable bloomers. *swoon* So cute!

You can get up to sixteen (16) entries for this giveaway draw and you can enter until Saturday May 7th 2011 at 11:59pm PDT. The draw will be held on Sunday May 8th 2011 and the winner will be announced on BlytheLife.com. Remember to use a valid email address for all comments. If you win, your email will be forwarded to Nikki for arranging shipment of the prize.

Please only use one email address and one IP address per person, those using multiple email addresses for more entries will be disqualified.

Mandatory Entry: Comment below about the interview with Nikki! Do you have any questions for her? This is worth 1 entry into the giveaway.

Bonus Entry #1: Tweet about the contest! Please retweet the following once per day from your public Twitter account! (If you look below, there is a box for you to include your Twitter username, if you do, I can easily verify your bonus entry!) Each tweet is 1 entry into the giveaway for a maximum of 9 entries into the giveaway. Please comment below to tell me that you’ve been tweeting (1 comment per tweet!)

Check out the @blythelifecom interview with @luxielou for an awesome dress set giveaway and interview! http://bit.ly/gNTw9M

Bonus Entry #2: Check out Luxie Lou on Etsy! What’s your favourite thing? What would you like to see in the future? This is worth 1 entry into the giveaway.

Bonus Entry #3: Blog about the contest! Be sure to include some details about the contest and include links to BlytheLife.com, this interview/giveaway page and to the Luxie Lou Etsy Shop! For 1 blog entry, this is worth 5 entries into the giveaway! You must comment below with the URL to your blog post.