There are moments when I look at my dolls and think “Maybe I’d like to add a new one to the doll family”. Let’s ignore the fact that some haven’t gotten an outfit changes in ages, or the fact that I have other more pressing financial goals/expenditures at the moment. We’re only going to focus on the fact that I sometimes have this want for a new doll.

It often begins with Facebook. Now with Blythe friends having added me to the million and three about five different buy-and-sell groups related to Blythe, I get a lot of newly listed dolls and sundries posts all in my news feed. I try to be proactive and decrease the sheer volume of notifications and pop-ups in my feed by simply turning off the notifications (this works wonders for my sanity and my wallet!). Being around dolly people and getting to see fun and new dolls is always exciting. Being around dolly people and attending meets also helps to rekindle a bit of that Blythe love because I’ve been so wrapped up with work lately. There’s always a need to take a breather and to just reassess my hobbies from time to time. Do I need a new doll? Technically no, I don’t. I don’t need a new doll like I need the basic necessities. But do I want a new doll? Oh, definitely! I would definitely be lying if I said no.

There’s something really fun about waiting for a doll to arrive in the mail. There’s the anticipation, the wait for a tracking number, and then the refreshing (and refreshing!) of the tracking number as you wait for it to show up. Maybe I just really like the anticipation of getting mail instead? It’s part of the New Doll Itch that I get from time to time.

The only known cures that I can think of is to either:

• Bite the bullet and buy a new doll, or
• Reacquaint yourself with your dolls in hopes that it helps quell the itch, or
• Buy some new sundries and hope that tides you over.

What are your solutions to the New Doll Itch?

I love when I put dolls in matching (or somewhat matching) outfits. It suddenly makes sense why parents think it’s cute to put their twins in matching outfits, or to have their children of varying ages in cute and similar outfits. Because it’s adorable. I (genuinely) don’t think that I’d subject my future/hypothetical children to matching outfits, but having dolls in matching outfits is fun!

I have my fraternal twins, Mollie and Moxie, who occasionally get dressed in similar outfits. I’m a bad dolly owner for doing it, but they can’t fight back (as far as I’m aware) so I feel pretty guilt-free for doing it:

I think it’s fun to put dolls in matching outfits! It makes things a bit more entertaining (at least for me), and while it may seem to be less creative to dress dolls similarly, it’s highly enjoyable and makes me want to take even more photos, so I guess there’s that as well!

How often do you dress your dolls in similar outfits?

I love (love) going to Blythe meets and hanging out with dolly friends. Sometimes we chat a lot about dolls – who got which new release, which new custom, and oh-look-at-those-darling-shoes (I may be the very vocal gusher about doll shoes…) – and other times we get a little bit off-topic and talk about our lives (work, relationships, their kids as I have none, pets) and all of the time we eat because we frequently go potluck style with our meets which works out really well!

This past weekend I hung out with many of the ladies (and gentleman) of the Vancouver Blythe Bunch group – the group that brought you BlytheCon Vancouver organizers + many of the volunteers/supporters. It’d been a while (I believe our last fairly sizable Blythe meet was in early November) so it was a lot of fun. A lot had changed since then – lots of new dolls in, some dolls out. I brought along my main girl, Primrose, who finally got an outfit change. I’m not 100% sure but there’s a very good chance that she was in the same outfit since BlytheCon Vancouver (don’t quote me on that though).

It’s lovely to get together with people and enjoy people’s companies with good food and good dollies! Hopefully we’ll be able to make the meets a more regular thing now that the holidays are over.

If you know of local Blythe people, how often do you get together?

As someone who nearly exclusively uses her phone to take photos, my photography “gear” or “equipment” is sad and lacking to say the least. I have a Samsung Galaxy S3 (yes, the phone that was released in 2012) and a Sony Cybershot DSC-W150 that I believe that I got in 2008 or 2009? In the grand scheme of things, that is ancient and I was probably due for an upgrade a few years ago, seeing as how the camera is now 7-8 years old.

For someone who tries to keep her Blythe hobby on a  reasonable budget, I do find it hard to justify making big purchases – like if I wanted to buy a new camera. I’d have to be able to look at my photo taking habits and think long and hard to myself about if I really do take enough photos to justify buying a new camera. Sure, a new camera would be shiny and exciting, but when I consider how often I take my camera out now, it’s not that often and probably not really that justifiable – at least not until I’m more flush with spending money. At this point in time, I spend more time using my phone as a camera than my camera itself, mostly because it’s more convenient to use something that I already carry my phone around with me anyways.

My biggest purchase since I started work is this lovely gem (it was actually delivered today, which led to me holding off on publishing this post until I edited it a little bit):

Oh yes, I upgraded my phone (in a big way). It’s shiny and is in need of a proper screen protector and case before I really start using it as my phone. For now, I’ve been downloading the apps and programs that I like to use (and trying to remember all those passwords…), getting a feel for it, loving it! It’ll be really exciting (for me, anyways) once I start using it as my primary phone and finish setting up the new phone.

What kind of photography gear/equipment do you use? And are you like me and primarily use your cell phone as a camera?

I think Kindred (my Velvet Minuet) has been in her current outfit for over a year. And sometimes I feel bad about it, and then I pop a new hat on her and that helps to alleviate any guilt I feel for not spending more time with my dolls. And even still, with this photo I took of her recently:

I didn’t even get a different dress to give her an outfit change. This is mostly because I love how cute the vintage print is on her and also because I wasn’t feeling entirely inspired when taking this photo. This is a very good example of why I am not good at 365 photography challenges and other like challenges. I’m realizing that working and sleeping take a lot of time away from the dolls!

Are you sometimes a bad dolly owner? Share below!

Kindred’s wearing: dress/vintage, hat/Hysteric Candy.