I was unable to attend the Friday panel with Allison Katzman and Junko Wong, or the pre-meet in the park, as I was in Canada. So I won’t be talking about either of those events! I know from hearing people talk about it that both were amazing, and I’m very jealous of everyone who was in Seattle on Friday that was able to do both! There are a lot of photos in this post, so you have been forewarned!

The morning of BlytheCon for me began with a road trip with three lovely ladies who are also from British Columbia. We had quite a wait at the border crossing as everyone else was also heading to BlytheCon as well was headed to the United States as it is a long weekend for us up in Canada (Monday is BC Day for those in BC). So there was that. We arrived to BlytheCon and checked in at around 11am. People were already bustling about and buying All The Things! It took me a little while to get myself settled in – I took out my dolls, got some BlytheCon Vancouver buttons out and kind of went on my way to shop. And shop I did! Click to read more of this entry.

It may surprise many of you (some of you?) but I’m actually fairly shy. I’m much better on one-on-one situations than large groups, which is why BlytheCon Portland was so overwhelming for me, and why I wasn’t able to actually be all chatty with a lot of people. Hopefully it is different this time around, because I will know more people this time around. Although, now that I think of it, last time I knew exactly zero people (well, I knew them online, but not in person). So… Things are different this time. Quite a bit different!

I am so glad that we’ll have name tags, and I do hope it isn’t too awkward to try to crane my neck around to see names because I won’t already know everyone’s faces. I try, but honestly… there’s just so many people to know! I probably know dolls better than people’s faces (sad, but true!). I was quite overwhelmed last time – there were so many people! dolls! vendors! So many things to see, new dolls to experience. Now that I think of it, I didn’t even have my first Kenner back then! Things sure have changed since then, it’s rather mind-boggling, now that I’m thinking of it.

What will I be doing differently this time in Seattle? Hopefully I will…

• Ask more questions when I’m at vendor tables! Last time I was so overwhelmed I barely spoke to the people running the stalls (so embarrassing…)
• Say hello! I found out after the fact that there were people that I knew online that I hadn’t spoke to. Not this time (hopefully!).
• Chat with new-to-me people. This may be the hardest part, because being shy doesn’t go well with attempting to be personable and and introducing myself to people. But I’m going to try.
• Not be a socially awkward penguin. This may still happen. No promises.

And hopefully if you are attending, you will say hi to me if you see me?! Maybe…?

Once upon a time, when I began this blog, I only took photos of my dolls and for the blog with my camera. True, it was a point-and-shoot type of camera, but it was a standalone camera. Which also meant that I had to go and pull out a cable, or some kind of adapter, when I wanted to get photos from the memory card, to the computer, to the internet. That’s a lot of steps, and may be the reason why I rarely use my camera anymore.

Not bad for a smartphone that’s two generations old, eh?

Then comes in… my smart phone. It has a camera! In fact, it has two cameras! I can upload to Flickr or Dropbox just by tapping the screen a few times and then presto, it’s on my computer or up for the world to see. It’s a lot more convenient for me that way – less cables, less adapters, more instant photography upload. Sure, the camera on my phone could be a lot better, but given that I’m not trying to have my pictures printed as poster sized they’re not bad.

I know newer cameras out there have more features, with WiFi accessibility, and use of memory cards that could be inserted into my computer’s card reader without me having to hunt down an adapter – Sony, I’m glaring at you and your past need to have proprietary memory cards! One of these days, when I get a new camera that plays nicer with my computer, I’ll probably go back to using a standalone camera, rather than a cellphone camera. But until that happens… More instant gratification! Especially when it comes to doll photos!

Do you use a camera or a camera phone for your Blythe photography needs?

Sometimes I binge shop for Blythe stuff. Actually, that’s probably a lie. I always binge shop when it comes to Blythe stuff. A couple of shirts here, a few dresses there, and a handful of dolly shoes. All at a time. And then I go through this process of eagerly awaiting for the post to arrive because I get Really Excited over the prospect of getting fun packages in the mail – even if I pay for the pleasure of it. I do this frequently. My doll shopping comes in spurts, because I buy a bunch of stuff, and then I go through the process of waiting for it to all arrive, then I’m simultaneously happy about getting mail and not-so happy when I have to go and pay off my credit card bill. So I sulk a bit, and tell myself to not spend so much again! Until the next time, that is.

Rinse and repeat, rinse and repeat. It isn’t so much that I cannot afford it, because I always make sure that I have enough for my mandatory expenses, and when possible, I buy direct from the seamstresses of tiny clothing. I find that I am always late to the party when it comes to sundries coming up for sale on Facebook or Blythe Kingdom, so that is rarely ever an option for me!

Right now I’m in the ‘lull’ period. In my last shopping binge, I bought two dresses, and two tops for the Blythes. And that’s not even counting the other pieces of clothing I’d bought for them previously that they haven’t even worn yet! With BlytheCon on the horizon, I’m resisting from buying until then. At least I’ll be saving on shipping then, and it’ll be a nice splurge with great memories attached to it. On the brightside, whomever I bring down to Seattle with me will have the opportunity to debut new outfits. And we all know how much I love pairing shoes with great dolly clothes!

Am I the only one who goes through the process of ‘binge’ shopping for dolls and dolly things?

While pretty much every most days I’m all about Prim the Kenners, it’s always nice to give some recognition to some of the other dolls that live here as well! So what better way to show some love than to focus on the three most brightly-coloured haired dolls that I have? In case you haven’t seen their photos before here on BlytheLife, here is (from left to right): Mollie (Molybdenum), Moxie, and Minnow. (Mollie and Moxie are the fraternal twins, Minnow just happens to have equally bright hair.)

The thing about having super bright, highlighter worthy hair is that I cannot help but smile when I see them. Ever so cheerful and sunshiney bright, I love the bright saturated colours, and how also how they look together. Out of my entire doll family, these are the only three that have brightly coloured locks. While I do have other dolls with fantasy-coloured hair (Tertiary Jane is a Simply Peppermint, and Sophie the CapChat has silver coloured hair – not completely unnatural for a person or doll to have, but she’s a young’un), these are the bright ones, whom I cheerfully refer to as my little brightheads.

Highlighters to match!

Do you have brightly-coloured fantasy haired Blythes? Do you happen to give equally ridiculous names to your brightly-coloured fantasy haired dolls like I do?