Yesterday was Family Day in British Columbia, a statutory holiday. This meant that I was on “Sunday” mode and forgot that it was actually a Monday. This is why the Question of the Week is a day late – whoops! (I knew I should have scheduled the post ahead of time…)

Even dolls take selfies sometimes.

The interesting thing about Flickr is that you can find out what camera people are using for their photos, if the information is embedded into the photograph. I see that a lot of other people also use their camera phones like I do, what did I ever do before I got a phone with data to easily upload photos for all of the internet to see? I rely so much on my smart phone when it comes to a lot of things. My calendar, email accounts, social media, apps related to school, music, news, and my most carried-along camera. Yes, I still have a point-and-shoot camera, but I don’t always take it around with me because it’s not something that I always think about taking it along with me. I really wish I did take more photos of dolls on a regular basis, besides mostly at local Blythe meets, but c’est la vie! My main camera is, without a doubt, my smart phone (a Galaxy S3). So handy and it fits into my bag or coat pocket easily.

What do you use for your main camera?

Author: Louis Bou
First Published: April 2014
Publisher: Rockport Publishers
256 Pages

The Doll Scene: An International Collection of Crazy, Cool, Custom-Designed Dolls by Louis Bou is a great little book that I treated myself a little while ago after seeing photos of it over and over again on Instagram when it first came out. The Doll Scene features 25 artists who customize or fully create beautiful dolls. The aspect that really drew me to this book was the fact that there is a Blythe on the cover (a custom doll by Caramelaw), that was the lure to get me to look at the rest of the book. Click to read more of this entry.

For a very, very long time I was very bad at remembering to pack dolls for local Blythe meets. I would always bring a doll, but it was usually whoever had an outfit change the most recently because I wasn’t about to bring a doll who was wearing the exact same outfit to two meets in a row! I’m a bit better now though. When I’m entering details of a meet onto my phone, I also set myself a reminder the night before. This is immensely useful as it reminds me that I need to have a doll (or two) ready for the next morning or afternoon.

Primrose at a recent local doll meet.
Primrose is wearing Luxie Lou (top) and Blythe Couture (pants).

My processes is now as follows:

• Set a reminder on my phone for the night before a doll meet.
• I (now) pay attention to who was brought to a meet last and try to bring a different girl.
• Then I go forth and dig through the doll clothes and shoes to put together an outfit.
• Lastly, these newly dressed dolls get put into the doll carry bags that I use (the ones I have are by Sew Pixie) and then into my purse or a tote bag for ease of carrying.

Getting the dolls ready the night before means that I don’t have the moments of “Oh no!” half an hour before I have to leave when I realize that my dolls aren’t packed yet. The little act of setting a reminder on my phone means that I don’t have that small amount of stress before going to a doll meet and I am also to take the time to bring a different doll to the meets as well as making sure that they’re fully dressed (you don’t want to know how many meets I’ve attended without doll shoes).

How do you prepare for doll meets? Have any tips to share?

My perpetual shyness when it comes to pulling out a doll in the public has been well documented on BlytheLife. I tend to feel self-conscious unless I’m around other people. Strength (and safety!) in numbers, after all. I don’t tend to carry around a Blythe on a regular basis. They’re fairly expensive, they’re also quite big (and take up a lot of room in my bag), and plus I don’t always have the opportunity to pull a doll out for photos. Despite the last part, I do find it comforting to occasionally have a doll with me.

My regular travel buddy does change from time to time. Occasionally it is a Petite, sometimes it’s a Petworks Usaggie and then there’s my Hujoo Nano Freya (super fun – but still without a name!). Sometimes it’s nice to carry around a doll that’s smaller than a Neo or a Kenner… Don’t let them know that I said that.

Do you carry a doll around on a regular basis? (And who is it?)

Despite my No Spend plans for January, I am already thinking about my future shopping plans for the month of February. However, the little wrench in my plans is that my self-imposed budget is $15 a month. Now how can I stretch $15 for the month of February?

“You wish you found me at a thrift store?!”
Emmalynn is wearing Plastic Fashion.

To make it stretch the most, I will be paying attention to the sundries sales on Blythe Kingdom and in varies Facebook groups. Chances are I won’t be able to buy a whole lot with $15, but I may also take the money to a local craft store and buy supplies to make some doll clothes or something like that. In my dreams though, the shopping plans would include a Kenner (or two!) but short of finding that mystical Kenner Blythe in a thrift store or yard sale (and it’s the wrong season for yard sales here!), I doubt I’ll be adding a Kenner to my dolly family in February (or this year, rather).

If you had $15 to spend on doll things, what would you buy?