I had so much fun interviewing Andreja, and she was so generous with donating the sweater with miniature notebooks to one very lucky winner. If you’ve forgotten what it looks like, it looks like this:

And don’t forget! If you’re not the winner, you can still head on over to Katjuss on Etsy and buy your own goodies!

The winner is…. Click to read more of this entry.

The second installment of this year’s March Talent Showcase features Becky of Scrumptious Delight! Already known for making adorable plush toys, she’s branched out into customizing Blythe and sewing for the dolls we all know and love! Read on to learn more about Becky!

Hello Becky! Please tell us a little bit about yourself.
Hi, i’m a toy and craft loving mother of two human teenagers and multiple fur kids. I am originally from the UK but have moved around a lot and have been happily living in Vancouver BC for the last 8 years. Some may know me for making plush toys and soft sculptures.

How did you discover Blythe?
Back in the good old days of Flickr I first discovered Blythe as some of my plush friends would post photos of their dolls. When I search to find out more I found a wealth of photos and had a case of the need, want, must haves. It took me a while to get my first doll but once you have one it’s hard not to get her a friend or few!

Who is in your doll family right now?
Right now I have Pumpkin (green haired TBL), Candy  (My Little Candy), a Zinochika who is mid customization, and a Simply Mango and Simply Guava who are waiting to be customized. I recently finished customizing a Simply Mango into a Little Red Riding Hood for the show “a date with Blythe” the new Guava and Mango came along to replace her. I have a Pixie Peaceful and Nanas Little Lass middies, I love their size it makes them easy to take along with you. I also have a few petites including Fluff who I customized with cotton candy coloured hair.

How did you start customizing? Which was the first doll you customized?
The fear of customizing is real. It took me a long time to over come it. Way back I bought and customized a couple of Blybes to get some practise in I wouldn’t recommend it to anyone, hot screws in eyes to get chips out…nuff said.
I then customized Pumpkin my TBL and Fluff my petite. Last year I was finally brave enough to customize a stock doll she was a Cadance Majorette who became Saphy Rose and went to “a date with Blythe” show.
I hope to build confidence and improve my technique. There are definitely more petite customs in my future too.

You’ve certainly jumped into the world of customizing! What are some of the challenges you overcame with customizing Pumpkin or Fluff?
I guess the main challenge was overcoming the fear of carving. I still have a lot to learn, with each custom I try to carve a little more extensively or differently to get a feel for the plastic and learn where I can carve more deeply and how to create the shape I want.

With Fluff the challenge was really her tiny size, I had to carve slowly and try and keep it all as symmetrical as possible.

I know you also sew for Blythe and other dollies. With so many other Etsy shops and crafters out there, how do you make your work stand out?
I don’t think I do, yet! There is a lot of cross over between plush and dolls and my plush work is fairly well know. I always assume that when people buy doll clothes from me that they found my store by some happy accident or that they were looking for plush. I do take pride in the quality of my work though and I hope that customers will find the clothes as well as my other items well made and will become repeat customers.

My tiny cotton candies are the one doll item that I think people actually come searching for in my shop. People in the Blythe community are wonderful about sharing photos and tagging where various items come from, it’s e-word of mouth.

Your Petite custom, Fluff, sports a pretty amazing cotton candy coloured reroot! Can you tell us about your rerooting experience? Would you do it again?
I would, I have since done an alpaca reroot on Boo the petite. The mohair on Fluff was a bit of a pain to work with, I didn’t enjoy having to wet the plugs to knot them. One mistake I did make was to make my plugs a little large when rerooting. I was very close to running out of space for the knotted ends, the scalp is stuffed full!
The alpaca on Boo was really nice to work with and there was no need to wet the fibre at all.

With your fingers in so many creative pies, how have you managed to incorporate your different skill sets together with your work related to Blythe?
I am obviously pretty comfortable with sewing but I really enjoy switching things up a bit and trying out new techniques and mediums. The thing that draws me to Blythe the most is the possibilities she represents. I really enjoyed making Boo and her little room box and all the different skills I had to employ to tell her story.

You created a Red Riding Hood-inspired custom for a charity auction recently, how did you get involved with that? What can you tell us about that project?
I was contacted by Rhodora Jacob who is the owner of Tiny Dodo Gallery and organizer of the event. Rhodora was already familiar with my plush work and had seen some of my work on dolls on Instagram, I also customized a doll for last year’s event.

20% of funds raised go to the Seattle Children’s Hospital fund for uncompensated children, for this reason the theme and vibe of the dolls needs to be child friendly, nothing too gory or dark. This year’s theme was “Dark Woods” that would tie in perfectly with the work of the featured artist Irene Garcia of Sirenita Dolls. I felt quite inspired between the theme and the cause and chose to base my doll on the Little Red Riding Hood from Roald Dahl’s Revolting Rhymes. Roald Dahl was in my opinion the best children’s writer ever and being British I grew up on his books so I was in my happy place.

In the revolting rhymes tale Red shoots the wolf and is seen three weeks later in the woods by the narrator wearing a wolf skin coat. I made her a reversible cape, red velvet one side and furry the other with detachable ears, held by magnets. On her eyelids and back plate I drew the wolf and Little Red Riding Hood in the style of Quentin Blake who illustrated Roald Dahl’s books.

What do you enjoy most about creating for Blythe and the Blythe community?
There are so many ways to customize and style a Blythe doll and so many people out there creating so many amazing things, it’s really very inspiring. I work from home and find myself needing new challenges and variety to keep things interesting. There are so many possibilities in creating for Blythe from customizing, making clothes and accessories to carry cases and room boxes, every work day can be different and new and exciting.

The Blythe community is friendly and supportive. The best is meeting in person with others from the community. I love our meetings with the Vancouver Blythe Bunch, my daughter and I have found real friendships there and I can honestly say I haven’t never met a more friendly accepting group of people.

Thanks for doing this interview with me, Becky! What advice do you have for someone who’s new to customizing?
Don’t be too afraid, take your time and try to always work with a plan. Mistakes happen but most mistakes can be fixed or at least turned into something else.

You can learn more about Becky and Scrumptious Delight on Etsy, Facebook, Flickr, and Instagram.

The first person I’m featuring as part of the March Talent Showcase is Andreja! Her attention to detail is phenomenal, as I think you will agree, and she sells under the name Katjuss on Etsy. Her miniatures are amazing and her sewing is awesome! Continue reading to learn more about Andreja, her clothing and her miniature work.

Hello Andreja! Please tell us a little bit about yourself.
Hi Michelle and Blythe Life readers!

I live in Ljubljana the capital of Slovenia, a tiny European country, shaped like chicken. If you look eastern of Italy and south of Austria, you’ll find us there.

I’m graphic designer by profession, I was working 18 years in advertising agency but for a year now, I work as freelance designer. It enables me to spend more time with my family and of course for my hobbies. I’ve been a crafty person since my childhood – I remember I was always making all sorts of things for my dolls, rather than playing with them. I missed that when I grew up. Although I work in a creative profession and love my job, It’s still mostly work on computer. So working with hands like knitting has always been kind of stress relief for me. As a knitter yourself you probably know what I’m talking about.

How did you discover Blythe?
I entered the doll hobby in 2012 with Fashion Royalty dolls (Integrity Toys). Soon after buying my first doll, I joined Flickr. I discovered so many talented people there – I could spend hours and hours browsing their pictures! There’s where those quirky cute big head girls caught my eye. At the beginning I didn’t even know the difference between Blythe and Pullip and Icy. It turned out that the dolls I liked the most were actually customized Blythes, but they were far above my budget. I opted for a more affordable doll and bought my first Pullip. After some minimal alternations (like wig and body changing) I felt confident enough to buy and customize my first Blythe. But I realized soon there’s a huge difference between opening and reassembling Blythe or Pullip doll. I couldn’t even open her head without some help from my husband. And despite being familiar with brushes and pencils, the doll head is not an easy object to draw on, but I enjoyed the whole process and I love her despite all imperfections.

Who is in your doll family right now?
My doll family is small but pretty diverse. Flora is my first (and so far the only) Takara Blythe (Nicky Lad). I bought a fake one with beautiful mint hair to practise my customizing skills but she remains in her original condition (being to busy modeling for my Etsy shop). I have two Pullips – Alte (named Lucie) and the newest addition Merl (which I haven’t named yet). And then there are my Fashion Royalty ladies – eight of them in total.

Tell us about what you do in the Blythe community?
The one thing I like the most about this hobby is the broadness of creative challenges – from customizing to sewing and knitting, making miniatures and building dioramas. I’m always searching for inspiration and whenever I see a new craft or technique I want to try it out. I realized I make more things than my dolls need and It would be nice to share them with doll community across the globe. In August 2015, I opened my Etsy shop which offers doll clothes as well as some 1:6 scale miniatures.

What was one of the first articles of doll clothing that you created? What were some challenges you faced with sewing so small?
The first doll item (if not counting those I made as a child) was a knitted wool sweater. I made it exactly the same way as I would make a human size sweater – back and front part and two sleeves – all flat pieces that had to be sewn together. It was a nightmare to finish it, especially the sleeves. After some trials and errors I worked out a pattern that has only one seam at the back and fits dolls nicely. When it comes to sewing – as a self taught seamstress – my work is not factory perfect, but I put a lot of care and effort to make things neat and cute. I carefully chose the right fabrics, (I don’t want the clothes to look bulky) and I like when it drapes realistic – like human clothes. Another challenge is to find the sewing notions in right proportion. I always look for the tiniest buttons and snaps, yet some of materials are not available where I live (like silk ribbons). I buy some of supplies online, preferably on Etsy.

What was the first item you sold in your Etsy shop? What was that experience like?
It was a dusty pink dress with knitted top and rose print skirt. I was so excited! It’s a nice feeling when someone likes something you’ve made enough to purchase it and add it to his/her collection. I waited 12 days from the opening of my shop till the first sale and it seemed like ages. I realized later it wasn’t that long at all and many sellers waits weeks and months till they make their first sale.

What kind of 1:6 scale miniatures do you make? What are some challenges with creating accurately scaled miniatures? What do you like about it?
For my personal collection I make whatever intrigues me at the moment. It usually begins with the idea for a photography and then I make all the props that I need. I’m often inspired by the season: I’ve made a spring gardening scene, some navy inspired miniatures, several Christmas related. However I don’t make everything by myself, there are some materials that I’m not familiar with, like ceramics and metal. I buy those if I need something like that. I work mostly with paper, balsa wood and polymer clay. It can be a fiddly work to make something so tiny, but the most challenging part for me is to achieve just the right colors and textures to make it look realistic. But It’s really satisfying when hours and hours of working pay with a good result.

But many of these miniatures are too fragile to be shipped (or at least I’m worrying about it), so I sell only those sturdy enough and preferably flat.

What has been some of your favourite pieces that you have made? Did you keep them or sell them?
I love plants and miniature versions of them seems like obvious choice. They are made from paper, each petal or leaf hand painted and individually cut. It took so many hours to make them, they would be too expensive to sell. But I would love to add some plants to my shop and I’m working on more affordable options.

As for the clothes – I hardly choose a favorite one and I don’t have a problem to let them go. I’m glad if people like them and dress their dolls in them. But my favorite item is always my next project – the one that is still in my head or in my sketchbook.

What kind of routine do you have for working on your shop? Tell us about how your day is like.
My Etsy shop doesn’t pay my bills (yet) so my working priority is my graphic design job. But working as a freelancer gives me enough flexibility to dedicate few hours a week to my shop, too. If I have an order, I pack the items in the evening and go to the post office next morning. My shop related activities depend mostly on lighting condition – I only use natural light for photographs and I prefer sewing at day time. I usually knit in the evening (in front of TV). Evening and late night hours are also reserved for computer work – photo editing, listing new items, searching for supplies. When making miniatures I don’t have a typical routine. I make them whenever I feel inspired.

With so many other Etsy shops out there selling Blythe clothing and miniatures, how do you make yourself stand out?
I never had any kind of marketing plan how to be distinctive from my competition. Maybe it’s the combination of clothes and miniatures – usually the shops specialize in either one or another. I don’t have a signature design style but since I love knitting, all of my fashions include a knitted part (usually the top of the dress). However – making only knits would be to limiting for me – I like to combine fabric and yarns, different colors, different textures, tiny embellishments … it’s my favorite part of the process.

What would you say has been the most rewarding experience related to selling your work?
The most heartwarming are the responses from my customers. I love to see their dolls wearing my clothes! As a doll lover myself I know the joy and excitement when a doll related parcel arrives to your post box, I try to imagine how would I feel if I was expecting a dolly mail so I put a lot of care and effort to pack my items nicely.

Thank you so much for doing this interview with me, Andreja! What advice do you have for someone who’s thinking of opening their own online shop?
Thank you for this wonderful opportunity, Michelle! As a relatively new seller I don’t have a lot of experience and trade tricks to share 🙂 The most important thing for me is to do what you love – believe in yourself and be patient. It might take some time till you make your first sale and then some more weeks till you make another … Don’t give up! Keep making new products and listing them. Etsy offers a lot of articles with tips and advices for sellers – they cover many topics from photography, finding the right tags, marketing tips … they are worth reading. But as I said – the most important thing is that you enjoy what you’re doing – it shows in your products and hopefully in sales too.

You can find out more about Andreja on Flickr and Etsy.

Click to read more of this entry.

A little reminder that the March Talent Showcase for 2016 is coming up! For every Friday in March, I will be showcasing a talent in the Blythe community and that makes me very excited! There will be four individuals featured in the month of March, and some of them even have giveaways attached to their interviews (a little hint-hint to check back!).

Not only that, but to celebrate the March Talent Showcase being back, I will be doing my own little giveaway. For every comment that you leave on BlytheLife.com during the month of March, you’ll get one entry into a giveaway for some dolly sized clothes (and perhaps some other surprises, if I can wrangle them together). The winner will be announced in April. Spammy comments will not count, of course, and international entrants welcome. All you need to do is comment during the month of March.

Are you a new customizer or crafter for Blythe dolls? Have you been doing whatever you’ve been doing for two years or less? I am looking for four people (or teams of people, if you have a business partner!) to interview for the March Talent Showcase of 2016!

In the past I have interviewed customizers, knitters, sewers, and many more amazingly talented people!

The interview process is really simple and takes place via email. Most interviews are 9-12 questions long and you can send me whatever relevant photos you want included (if photos are not taken by you, please get permission from the photographer[s] prior to sending me the photos with links to photographers).

If you are interested, please head over to the How to Get Featured page and let me know! Please include links to any blogs/sites/shops/pages that you want me to look at so I have an idea of what to ask you and be sure to mention that you want to take part in the March Talent Showcase!