Hello to my adoring audience! And welcome to the first Love, Sophie post for 2015!

It’s been kind of an up-and-down year so far for me. Michelle has implemented this No Spend challenge and it’s been so hard for me. I’m trying to get her to break it by adding her into Facebook groups and bookmarking eBay listings… But she has a strong resolve, that one. So in lieu of doing some kind of Etsy haul post, I wanted to know what you wanted to read from me this year!

I love writing about fashion, but it has been pointed out to me that sometimes I can wear things that are a bit… pricey. And that maybe your owners are as stingy as Michelle when it comes to her No Spend challenge. If there are any specific fashion topics that you’d love to read about, I’d love to hear about them! After all, Love, Sophie wouldn’t be able to exist without you (and me!).

Sophie is a mostly stock Cappuccino Chat that came to live with me in June 2009. She loves shoes, new clothes, playing with her hair, fashion, magazines full of fluff and shopping. She aspires to be a model and would like to model for some of the ‘great’ dolly fashion houses one day.

The problem with trying to curb the spending is that you become very aware of how bombarded you are by listings for secondhand sundries or new listings for custom dolls. Suddenly all of the new stock releases look very appealing, and one of those fantastic dress seamstresses that I love? I had to talk myself out of hitting checkout with the Etsy cart despite reaching the listing within possibly ten seconds of it being listed.

On the bright side, my No Spend challenge is only for the month of January. After that, I will have a (small) budget set aside for fun dolly spending, which s always nice! But being aware of how easy it is to be sucked into the buy, buy, buy mode is rather alarming (and thought provoking as well). I shouldn’t be too surprised, because a lot of how we interact on the internet when it comes to Blythe.

Maybe if we stare her down, she’ll buy us some new dresses!
Cameo wears Plastic Fashion. Halo wears a dress by an unknown seamstress.

If you go to forums, there are always some Buy/Sell/Trade threads up. If you log onto Facebook and you’re a member of one of the dozens (hundreds?) of Blythe-related groups, you’re probably also in a group that involves buying or selling dolls and sundries. I’m still not sure how I wound up in them, I suspect sabotage by friends who thought it’d be a good idea to invite me into those groups… Regardless of where you go when you’re looking at doll things, it is difficult to not be confronted with listings and ads for new dolls, clothes, shoes, and even furniture! Fortunately (or unfortunately…?) with my schedule now, I haven’t been able to spend a lot of time online, which means that I’ve been missing a lot of listings for dolls, clothes, and shoes for sale.

Two weeks into January and I’m still doing very well for my No Spend month! No new dolls, doll clothes, or doll shoes (sobs!) in the mail for me. I did have to buy a present (somewhat unexpectedly), but that was sort of necessary and not-doll related.

Part of being a responsible Blythe enthusiast is knowing when to slow down with the purchasing. This is also probably why I tend to buy a lot in a short amount of time when I go on my binges. I buy a lot, realize how much I’ve spent on dolly things, and then go on a purchasing sabbatical for a few months before reading the process. My personal best month was receiving a dress in the mail and also purchasing two Kenners. Granted, they needed a lot of T.L.C., but I still purchased two Kenners that month (and what a month it was!).

Prim and Lily think there’s nothing wrong with buying two Kenners on the same day.
They are both wearing Plastic Fashion.

My personal rule of thumb is if it isn’t money that I already have and is not allocated to something else (hello, responsibilities), then I cannot spend it. This goes well with helping to keep credit card debt manageable (completely paid off every month), as well as keeping me in check. If I cannot afford to pay for it in cash, I can’t buy it at all. The use of the credit card is just because people don’t tend to ask for you to mail them crisp bank notes in the post, they’d rather have you pay via Paypal because it’s online and instantaneous.

When do I think it’s a good time for me to slow down on buying things?

• When there are other things that take precedent – e.g. presents for someone that isn’t me, regular bills that weren’t as self-inflicted.
• When I start being surprised at mail as it arrives: Oh, did I buy that?
• When I cannot keep track of what I bought and from whom.
• When I go shopping online and buy ALL THE THINGS and my bank account sighs heavily at the exertion.
• When I can no longer afford it unless I start selling something (thankfully I have never reached this stage!).

When do you think is a good time to slow down on buying things?

If you are a customizer, a tiny shoemaker, a dolly dress seamstress, or an overall amazing person who does something else that’s fantastic for Blythe – consider vending at BlytheCon Vancouver! BlytheCon Vancouver, happening on August 9 2015, is the first BlytheCon held in Canada! And we’re super excited about it and would love if you were vending because you are awesome.

There is just three weeks left to apply – the deadline is January 31st. If you have any questions about BlytheCon Vancouver or about vending, you can email those questions in and I, or one of the other organizers, will get back to you as soon as possible. If you don’t have any questions and want to get straight to applying, head on over to the BlytheCon Vancouver vendors page!

Many moons ago, when I was a new Blythe owner, I was a bit confused by how Blythe had an amazingly massive head in person when it didn’t seem that big in photographs. The sound of the eye mechanism was also a lot louder than I expected (the soft Kenner ‘pip’ is a lot closer to what I thought Neo Blythes would sound like), and the downcast eyes in dolls that didn’t have a gaze lift reminded me of the beginning of a surly teenager about to roll their eyes.

Sophie: The Early Years

Sophie was my first Blythe and she was also the first Blythe doll that I ever held in my hands, and I really just did not know what I was doing. I mean, she had a giant head, make a loud noise whenever I changed her eyes, and her stock wasn’t exciting to me. I had a lot of expectations wrapped up one little doll because of the many dollars I had spent on her. I’d loved seeing photos of Blythe online for years and then I finally had her and her head was a lot bigger than I thought it would be. But then I looked at her, really looked at her, and realized that she just really needed a different outfit. All the photos that I loved of Blythe was always the photos from owners where they had their dolls in non-stock outfits. That isn’t to say that I don’t love stock clothing, because I do, but sometimes stock clothing from some dolls look better on other dolls. Sophie is probably very glad that she no longer has to wear a beige dress or a giraffe print coat, because neither did very much for her colouring. That’s the great thing about Blythe, the smallest thing can make the greatest change. Now I find as much joy in Blythe herself as I do her amazing wardrobe and shoe closet (and we all know how I love the little shoes).

With my newest addition, Lydia Melbourne (Yellow Marshmallow, the Middie), I’m super pleased that she’s joined my family after getting the chance to see one in person earlier in 2014. The two-toned hair is amazing, and she’s got pretty decent bangs – which is always a plus with stock dolls. I don’t have very many Middies (I have two: Jackie Ramone and Yellow Marshmallow), which means that I also have very limited outfit choices for them, which is a shame because they are very cute. I find that I enjoy Middies quite a bit because of the adorable head tilt that they have the ability to do.

There’s just something about the Blythe (and Middie) that really hits me in the feels when it comes to having a bad day and keeping a pick-me-up, or to just have something happy to think about. And having a doll or two (or five!) around really puts a smile on my face whenever I see them. It’s like they radiate joy and it’s infectious.

What about Blythe makes you happy?