I have a new Fancy Pansy and have decided on a name started with B (my two other EBL dolls, Love Mission and Margaret Meets Ladybug, both have names that start with B – Belarus and Bennett) – Brighton.

I know some people use baby name websites, others choose names of favourite television show, movie or book characters or sometimes people just put a word and a name together to create something (erm, like Tertiary Jane, my Simply Peppermint). So I was just wondering… How do you go about coming up with new names?

Some name resources are:

• BabyNames.com
• Elvish Names (at Arwen-Undomiel.com)
• Most Popular Given Names US – 1801-1999

All Blythe molds certainly have their charms. From the vintage Kenners to the more modern BL and EBLs with those lovely pink chips, downward glancing SBLs and easy-to-customize RBLs and FBLs. One of my goals is to have at least one Blythe from each mold – I currently have 2 EBLs, 1 SBL and 3 RBLs and I’d really like to finish out the group one day.

There are little quirks about each mold that I really like. I love the pink chips on EBLs and their eyelashes and that melancholy look that they have. For the Radiance mold, I like how easy it is to take apart for what minor customizations that I do (gaze correction and sleepy eye strings) and for Superior, I have just the one (Velvet Minuet) and I love how easy it is to hand-roll the eyes to get the position that I want without the need to gaze correct her (despite the severe downward gaze that she, and other early SBL Blythes, have).

I’d have to say that right now, my favourite mold types are probably EBL and RBL (I have never seen a Kenner, BL or FBL in person, although I know there’s little difference between BL and EBL for the most part!).

So I just want to know… What’s your favourite mold type (and why)?

On Monday, I happened to receive two pieces of Blythe-related mail. One was a box that was potentially large enough to fit a Blythe that I was rather concerned that I had maybe bought one and forgot about it (does this happen to anyone? It’s never happened to me before, but there is a first for everything…) and the other was a bright pink envelope (which made me really happy, just because it was pink).

This was the most doll-related mail I’d gotten in one day before, two pieces of mail. Although I do think that my best dolly mail day was the day that Margaret Meets Ladybug (Bennett) arrived. The problem with that mail day is that I wasn’t home and instead there was the card telling me that I could go to the post office the next afternoon to free her pick her up from the post office. But as I’m not one to constantly buy Blythe related items (or participate in multiple, overlapping swaps), I don’t get a lot of mail (usually) beyond bills and other boring ‘To the Occupant’ stuff.

The most dolly mail I’ve ever gotten in one day!

So I just have to ask… What’s the most doll mail you’ve ever gotten in one day? What was your best dolly mail day ever? What arrived in the mail?

And if you’re looking for a Flickr group dedicated to just dolly mail, check out Dolly Mail Days.

Occasionally, I get a ‘what on earth am I doing?’ feeling when I’m sewing. Especially when it’s on a machine and I haven’t touched it in a few months (or, erm, years?). But then I find a pattern that I want to try, and it has great and clear instructions and I happened to have a new iron that’s not finicky and doesn’t make me want to throw it out the window along with some new fabric that I actually think is cute. Then I decide to give the whole ‘sewing thing’ another try, and I end up with something like this:

And while it’s not the fanciest dress ever, and everyone else has probably already tried and been successful with the pattern, it was an accomplishment for me because I followed the pattern, sewed the neckline and it didn’t come out looking wonky, and (best of all) it fits! Which is the most important part, of course.

I looked up a lot of sewing tips too, mainly on Plastic Paradise. I used a fray-stopping product on all the raw edges, I ironed the fabric before cutting, I ironed the bodice piece after inverting it and the hems for the skirt portion before sewing. I even snipped along the curved parts on the bodice so it would curve better. All in all, I think I may have caught the sewing bug!

I used the Blythe Empire Dress pattern from Puchi Collective.

I know I’m not alone in the Blythe community as someone who brings a doll to work on occasion. I work in a cubicle, so I usually have a Blythe sitting next to my computer or sitting next to the other toys that I have on my desk. Everyone else has photographs of loved ones on their desks, or figurines, I have toys.

My coworkers are always interested in Blythe, mostly because she doesn’t look like ‘normal’ dolls (must be that giant ego, or that head). Now I’m perfectly fine with explaining to people the history behind Blythe or, as I explained to my engineering coworkers, how the eye mechanism works. What I’m not fine with is coworkers who pick up my doll and then look up her skirt or dress like it’s an everyday sort of thing to do.

Take Thursday (yesterday) for example, I got back to my desk after my lunch break and my (male) coworkers (all engineers, by the way), were at my desk and talking about my doll that I had sitting there and they were holding her with her head upwards, but the skirt of her dress was completely lifted up to expose what underwear she was wearing. Fortunately, she was wearing underwear (if it had been my Love Mission, Belarus, who goes commando, I guess they would have been even more shocked – as it was, they were pretty surprised that my Velvet Minuet, Kindred, was wearing undies).

Even my own mother has looked up the skirt of one of my dolls before. And the majority of my coworkers who notice one of my Blythes’ presence on my desk. Some people don’t even notice the pullstring or comment on the big heads before they go and turn the doll upside down to take a peek.

Has anyone else experienced this? Non-dolly people just deciding to take a look-see up the skirts or dresses of your dolls? How do you react? What do you even say to people when they do something like that? Share your experiences!