The ever so popular photo editing online program Picnik (which you’ve probably heard of through Flickr) is closing as of April 19, 2012. For a lot of people, this means a sudden loss in a photo editing program. Not everyone can afford Photoshop or Paint Shop Pro, so I’ve come up with a list of a few free photo editing programs that you may want to consider as an alternative to Picnik after it goes away for good. I’ve also listed a few pros and cons to each option to hopefully help you consider which program you’d like to try.

GIMP (The GNU Image Manipulation Program)

Pros:

• Comparable to Adobe Photoshop, Paint Shop Pro
• Compatible with Windows and Mac operating systems
• Great for both light and more advanced photo manipulation work

Cons:

• Contains a lot more features than most people would need (can be overwhelming)

Paint.NET

Pros:

• Comparable with Adobe Photoshop, Paint Shop Pro and GIMP
• Super small file size for the program (fast loading)

Cons:

• Compatible with Windows only, not Mac operating systems
• Contains a lot more features than most people would need (can be overwhelming)

Picasa (Google)

Pros:

• Picasa can be used to edit and upload images onto the web
• Linked to Picasa albums (via your Google account), Google+
• Contains most regularly used features for light manipulation

Cons:

• Newest version available is for Windows only, no Linux or Mac

PhotoScape

Pros:

• Has a lot of familiar features from Picnik (eg. frames, speech bubbles) that are easy to add
• Batch editing

Cons:

• Compatible with Windows only

Image from stock.xhng user przybysz.

Valentine’s Day is in a very short two weeks! Why not show your Blythes that you love them by helping them celebrate it? After all, you should show your appreciation for your dolls as well as other loved ones in your life. Some great things about Valentine’s is that there are a lot of inexpensive options out there and I checked out my local dollar store to see what was available:

• Fine sand paper ($1 per package) – perfect for reducing that shine
• Red, pink and white felt ($1/3 sheets) – nothing says “I love you” like a new coat
• Lace ribbon ($1/spool) – good for trims or even has a hair ribbon for your favourite doll
• Pink and white yarn ($1/ball) – it’s time to show you care with a new sweater for your plastic love
• White, water soluble glue ($1/bottle) – might not be Aleene’s, but it’ll still work for eye chips
• Hair elastics, hair barrettes ($1/package) – shiny little baubles for your favourite doll’s hair
• Boxed Valentine cards ($1/box) – show that you love, with something that says that you do

There are a lot of things that you can find at your local dollar store that can be used for your dolls, above are just some examples. As for me? I opted for buying a few sheets of felt for some craft projects, and picked up a sheet of baby pink felt for Blythe projects.

What is the best way to find money in the budget for Blythe? Save money in other sections! This is me assuming that you can pay for everything else in life (rent, utilities, food and other necessities) and you don’t need to sock away the saved money into savings… Although if you put all the extra money that you don’t need to spend into a savings account, you could save it for a rainy day… or a Rainy Day Parade.

Blythe isn’t cheap. It’s really not. I wish it was a cheaper hobby, but it’s not. The dolls are money, the shoes, the glasses, the clothes, the fabric and yarn is all money. Money, money, money. So what can you do to save money to have more room in the budget for Blythe (or maybe savings?).  There’s couponing, for one. And shopping for things that you would have bought anyways while it’s on sale. There’s no need to go all Extreme Couponing (because, let’s face it, no one needs 50+ bottles of mustard in their personal grocery store in their basement), even a few savings here or there can all add up!

The important thing to remember about couponing when you want to save some money is that you’re not saving anything if you wouldn’t have purchased it anyways. Say you have a coupon and you could get a $1 jar of peanut butter – it’s still a wasted dollar if you and everyone that you know hates or is allergic to peanut butter. Take that into consideration when looking for coupons to supplement your weekly grocery trip.

And, as a note before you go of and start downloading coupons – please exercise caution when giving your address online (some sites will mail the coupons to you, while others are printables only).

For my Canadian readers, I know of a few couponing websites, blogs and forums:

• BargainMoose.ca – blog – sales or coupon codes for Canadian and American based shops
• Save.ca – coupons – free coupons that are mailed to your home
• SmartCanucks.ca – forum + coupons database – lots of great resources!
• RedFlagDeals.com – forum+ coupons database – lots of great resources, I tend to avoid the forums section because people are rude, but the content is still good.
• Websaver.ca - coupons – free coupons that are mailed to your home (minimum 3 ordered coupons at one time)

For my American readers, here’s a small selection of US couponing/deal-finding sites (there are a lot, so Google away if you want to find some more!):

• CouponCabin.com – offers of grocery coupons and coupons for clothing stores as well, many of them are printables.
• CouponMom.com – many grocery coupons and state-specific coupons, there’s even a section for restaurant coupons (for those who like to eat out).
• Coupons.com - customizable by your postal code, you can find printable a lot of printable coupons for groceries, house hold items and services in your area.
• RetailMeNot.com – it’s a fantastic website that I use from time to time (for cross-border online shopping), mostly showing coupon codes for a certain amount or percentage off, or coupon codes for free shipping (always important!).

For the Australian readers, I didn’t want to leave you out of the money-saving fun! I haven’t tried most of these (seeing as how I’m not located in Australia), but they seemed to be pretty straight-forward when it come to using them, so hopefully they’ll be of use to you.

• ShopADocket.com.au – the site offers coupons for restaurants, retail shops and services, all you need to do is type in your location or postal code to get coupons for your area.
• TopBargains.com.au – a little searching is involved, but there’s a whole section dedicated towards pizza coupons, yum! There’s also a freebies & samples section, which I think is totally awesome.

For people who aren’t from Canada, the USA or Australia… I ran into a bit of a roadblock when trying to find sites that didn’t seem scammish, sorry! If you have any additional websites that you would like to share with your fellow Blythe enthuiasts, please comment below with the URL of the site and what country/countries it caters towards.

Happy saving, everyone!

I find pull charms really cute on dolls, especially when there’s a theme or it just goes well with the doll’s personality. If your Blythe has sleep eyes and you find that the lids are a little droopy, the main suggestion that you’ll find is to add a heavier charm to the string for sleep eyes. It needs a weight to keep the lid open after you’ve taken away the spring.

A lot of people like using beads. As someone who will dabble in designing jewellery, I like using beads too. Some beads can be really expensive (seeing as how you don’t need that many!), but there are a lot of inexpensive sources as well – especially if you can shop smart. You can find beads at a lot of different stores – dollar stores carry both plastic beads and nicer beads (one local dollar store had semi-precious stones and glass beads). If you’re opting for beads from a big box craft store, many have sales or regular 40 or 50% off coupons that you can use on regular priced strands beads. You can cater the doll’s charms to match their hair colour, the theme of their face-up or just whatever you like.

Other sources for charms for your doll’s pull strings are: beads or charms from jewellery [you can find inexpensive jewellery at thrift stores, dollar stores or clearance bins], make your own with polymer clay, vintage buttons or small plastic knick knacks. These are just some suggestions. I’ve also seen people use alphabet beads to spell out their doll’s names, plastic Kewpie charms or even Swarovski crystals (but that’s not really budget friendly!). Whatever you choose, it doesn’t need to break the bank and you can use a lot of things that you already have.

To attach charms, you can undo the knot of their pull string and add the charms on. After, you just retie the knot with or without the pull ring. For the sleep eye string, you want to make sure that the charms are heavy enough to keep the eyelids open so your Blythe doesn’t always look tired.

What sorts of charms do you have on your doll’s strings?

Auctions can be a fantastic way to save money on a doll that you really want. Sometimes they don’t go up as high as the average cost of a doll, and sometimes they got for buckets of dollars more. How do you decide how high to make your maximum bid? What should you take into consideration? What kinds of questions should you ask about that grail dolly? So many things to consider!

About the seller

• Always check the seller’s feedback and read the comments made. Be sure to read not only the neutral and negative feedback but also the positive feedback comments. Take into account how many stars they have for shipping, accuracy of description, etc.
• Has the seller ever sold something so expensive before? How many times have they sold in the past?
• Don’t feel shy about messaging the seller about any questions you may have about the doll. For instance, if the description of the item says that there is a scratch, ask for a more detailed photo if there isn’t one already.

About the item

• Read everything through once. Then read it again. Is it the item that you want?
• How much does the doll/item normally go for? Is it cheaper on Blythe Kingdom or This is Blythe? What are the lowest and highest price points you’ve ever seen for it?
• How much is the shipping charge from the seller’s location to your house? What method are they using? Does the shipping included tracking, delivery confirmation or insurance? Do you need these shipping add-ons? (If you are purchasing a vintage Blythe, I would highly recommend insurance and tracking. Or any Blythe, really.)
• If the shipping method listed does not include signature upon delivery, confirmation, tracking, insurance, etc. and you want these additions, message the seller to as how much it would cost to have these extras tacked on. Take this into account when determining how much you’re willing to spend.

Onto the auction

• So you’ve done your homework by now (I hope), what is the maximum amount of money that you’re willing to spend on this doll? Keep in mind that you also need to pay for shipping. If you are purchasing from outside of your own country, you should also remember that you may incur additional fees or taxes from customs charges. If the maximum amount you’re willing to spend requires you to borrow money or beg for money off of a loved one, please refer to this handy (tongue-in-cheek) chart.
• Keep in mind when the auction ends, set yourself a reminder somewhere that you’ll look (on your phone, alarm on your computer, etc.) for a time before when the auction ends (maybe 30 minutes?).
• Bid your maximum amount. And then go away from the computer. Do not engage in a bidding war – that’s how auctions go higher than a doll is worth or how you end up spending more than you originally planned for. It’s stressful to just sit there and watch the time tick down. It’s also stressful to see others trying to out bid you (or even successfully outbid you). Go away. Wait for an email to see if you’ve either won or lost the auction.

And lastly… Have fun. If you lose an auction, it is not the end of the world. There will be other dolls.