I’ve been knitting away this month to put together a neat little prize package for BlytheLife.com’s 5th Birthday Giveaway! While this isn’t everything (there will be a few additional items that I’m still brainstorming about), and not everything is finished yet (snaps!), it’s a quick little snapshot of what one lucky winner will be getting!

As mentioned, every non-spam comment this month, until end of day July 30th, will count as an entry towards the giveaway, and then I’ll see who wins and announce on Friday, July 31st. Happy commenting!

In a world where so many different types of Blythes exist, none of them hold a candle to the vintage Kenner Blythes. From the Ashton-Drake Galleries reproductions, to Takara’s BL, EBL, SBL, RBL, FBL, & RBL+, to Middies and Petites (Takara & Littlest Pet Shops), and the notorious fakes/counterfeits – none of them even begin to compare to the vintage 1972 dolls created by Kenner. These dolls were before their time, competed poorly against Barbie, and disappeared from the shelves without a trace.

When I was first getting ready to go to Portland for BlytheCon in 2011, I thought it would be so cool if I got to see a BL in person. Before Portland, the only Blythes I had ever seen in person were my own. Kenners weren’t even really on my radar because they were always something that I considered to be “unattainable”. Maybe it was because of the perceived price tag, or the fact that I just didn’t realize how badly I wanted one until I saw one in person. Once I saw a Kenner Blythe in person, I was hooked. Following BlytheCon Portland, I went back to work and I happened to work a lot of overtime that summer. I decided that I would set aside all of the money I made on overtime towards a Kenner. By the time September rolled around, I had enough for a Kenner. I just needed to find the ‘right one’.

Emmalynn popped into my life of October 2011, a few months after Portland. By then I was pretty much head over heels for all things Kenner. Emmalynn is, without a doubt, an imperfect Kenner. But she was (and still is) my imperfect Kenner.

There’s something magical about Kenners. In the feel of the plastic, the smell of their hair, the adorable pip sound they make that is so soft and endearing compared to the louder eye mechanisms of modern Blythe dolls. The beauty in Kenners comes from the fact that even if you were to take two Kenners of the same hair style and put them next to each other – they will always have their own special differences. The magic is surely a byproduct of being a doll that is 43 years old.

Kenner fever is surprising. It makes you pay attention to the ebbs and flow of the auctioning world. This was before the days of Facebook groups for buying and selling dolls and sundries. I was on eBay a lot, I paid attention to what prices certain hair colours went for, and which dolls just sat there (note to would-be sellers, if you’re pricing a Kenner Blythe doll that looks ragged for well over $1000 USD, it’s going to sit there for a very, very long time).

With a brunette, a blonde, and red-head in my family – I’m pretty content! For now, the feelings of wanting a Kenner has been sated. I know that for some people, these feelings never really go away. Perhaps if I had the funds to put towards a Kenner right now, I would feel differently. I may even get a brunette with more tamable hair, or a wispy-banged raven girl. For now, my three keep my happy and the Kenner fever at bay.

Emmalynn’s wearing: dress/chelleshocks (top), dress/Kult of Kulta (bottom).
Prim’s wearing: dress/Kult of Kulta, bow/Kult of Kulta.
Lily’s wearing: dress/Kult of Kulta.

I don’t know what it’s like where you are, but most of British Columbia has been experiencing a heat wave. This and the drought we’ve been experiencing has led to literally hundreds of forest fires. A couple weeks ago, all I experienced when outdoors was the smell of smoke. It was horrible, but thankfully that forest fire has been taken care of! While the forest fires and drought is not good for anything, and nor is extreme heat, I’m really looking forward to this heat wave dying down and just having some regular summer weather.

I recently dressed one of my dolls up in some temperature and weather appropriate clothing for some photos. I don’t have a lot of swim suits for the dolls, but I did recently knit a romper that my sister had declared looked like an “old school bathing suit” and that it was a good thing I didn’t stripe it black or else it’d be a prison jumpsuit!

It’s kind of embarrassing that I don’t own a Blythe-sized swim suit that isn’t pink. Eden has effectively taken over my mind when I buy doll things because for the longest time I didn’t have a lot of pink things and it’s hard when a doll only wears pink. Now I have to consciously be aware enough to look at things in other colours, which is really a good thing because things I buy in other colours have a wider range of dolls that will wear them.

The small towels and pool toys I’ve had for a while (it’s amazing what you accumulate after 6 years in this hobby!) and they just make the photo, I think! I had to tidy up for visiting relatives, which led to me going through all of my doll stuff because who doesn’t love procrastinating? During that tidying procrastinating, I came across the pool toys and knew that I wanted do some photos with it. And there you have it! A pool and beach ready girl- and nobody else!

How’s the weather where you are? Have you taken any summer-themed photos with your dolls yet this season?

Eden Mouse’s wearing: black swimsuit/Prima Dolly Aubrey stock, helmet/chelleshocks (me!), tights/unknown, striped romper/chelleshocks, pink swimsuit/Barbie.

A couple days ago, I was doing some Important Things™ for BlytheCon Vancouver when Chun of Puppy52Dolls surprised me with a print out of some artwork she had made recently. On our first visit to the Orphaned Wildlife Rehabilitation Society (O.W.L.), I had brought Prim with me and we had met this adorable Saw-whet owl named Snoopy. She was inspired by the cuteness of the owl and Prim’s always messy hair and come up with this:

How cute is that?! Super adorable! I just love it, and honestly, Prim’s head is just getting bigger and bigger every day. Or maybe that’s just her hair? Either way, I absolutely love that Prim’s been turned into fan art! It just tickles me and puts a smile on my face.

You’ll be able to meet Princess Prim at the registration table (and me…), along with some real live owls (!) at BlytheCon Vancouver on August 9th! And don’t forget to swing by Puppy52Dolls’ vendor table, a little birdie told me that she’ll have some fantastic items there!

Primrose’s wearing: dress/Puppy52Dolls in BlytheCon Vancouver fabric, capris/Fancy Pansy stock.

Without fail, one of the things that I’m almost always forget to bring to a Blythe meet is a doll stand. I say almost always because I have remembered exactly twice in all the Blythe meets I’ve attended from 2011 to now. Twice. I don’t exactly have the best track record, but I own Blythe stands and, on occasion, consider them to be a good thing to use.

The number of stands I own is dwarfed by the number of dolls that  have. If we go by stock dolls only, , I technically have enough stands for my Neos and Middies. But then I also have 2 custom Blythes and 3 Kenners that do not have stands. Luckily, that’s why I also own some doll-sized furniture that I use for display purposes. I used to have Bennett, my Margaret Meets Ladybug, on a stand but she would continually try to push her sisters over because of her weight (she has a lot of hair).

Overall, I really like the clover stands. My personal favourite moment was when I bought a pink stand for Eden (I believe she came with a black one) to really drive home the fact that everything she touches is pink. The unfortunate thing about the stands is that they are not sturdy enough to hold up a girl with a lot of hair well (e.g. Margaret Meets Ladybug, or Monique Magnifique). They pull apart easily enough for storage if you’re going somewhere. Depending on the doll, I occasionally run into problems with not being able to put their arms down unless they’re also wearing boots or shoes that elevate their height just a smidgen.

For Middies, I don’t usually use their stands, but they’re a bit more user friendly because I haven’t had issues with them yet. This may also be due to the fact that that both of my Middies aren’t particularly top heavy.

Other stands that Blythe has come with include the Licca stand (clear plastic that clamps the legs in place, I can see them working well for Liccas because of the small head but not well for Blythe who has a giant noggin), the EBL stand (very heavy, very useful if you’re taking photos in a windy area, plus these were also clear in colour and did I mention heavy?), the white Kenner Blythe stand, and then there was the standing ovation stand. Fairly rare and the  standing ovation stands don’t come up for sale often, but they were designed to make photography easier because it would be easier to hide the stand due to it’s flexibility. Of the four additional stands mentioned, I own the EBL stand but I don’t use them. I tend to use stands for display purposes at home only (because I almost always forget to bring a stand!), and the clover stands take up less room overall, which is what makes the more attractive to me.

Do you use stands for your dolls? Which one is your favourite to use & why?