In my packing adventures, there’s a few things I’ve realized:

• I am really bad at making sure doll shoes go back into my dolly shoe boxes. I found four pairs of boots on my desk.
• I have a lot more doll furniture than I realized (primarily chairs).
• I really don’t have enough stands. I didn’t realize how many stands I was lacking until I was packing things up.
• Doll stuff takes up a lot of room. A. Lot. Of. Room.
• I have a lot of customization items for someone who doesn’t really customize.
• I have a lot of doll stuff, period.

Packing is stressful, I’m not even going to sugar coat. Especially when deadlines are imposed on me by other people. But, such is life, and we move on – literally and figuratively. Between full time work (!) and packing, it leaves very little time for dolls and other fun things because the not-so-fun things (sadly) take priority. At the same time, I’ve been enjoying the packing process because it means that I get to rediscover a lot of things. Like dresses I’ve forgotten that I had, and then coming up with new outfit combinations because I’m procrastinating at the best of times.

Also, these plastic drawers that I own can hold a lot of stuff. In some of the drawers, I have dolls wrapped up fabric or in carry cases, and there’s 3-4 dolls in a drawer. Poor dears, good thing they don’t need to breathe.

Often I’ll get emails from people asking where to find an “affordable” Blythe (or, even more often, where they can find a “cheap Kenner”).  While I know that “affordable” is really a relative term, it does make me think about how expensive (and inexpensive) parts of the hobby can be.

These questions will pop up on the Blythe Facebook groups as well, with helpful suggestions coming up about how one can purchase a “factory” Blythe for cheap on less than legitimate sources because factory dolls are counterfeit. But what about those who are looking for a real Blythe doll? What are the options? When I’m asked about where the affordable Blythes are, I find that a lot of people think that legitimate releases are $300 or more, which is hardly th case at all unless you’re looking at the rare and limited release dolls.

There are still plenty of releases that are under $200 USD! Here are a dozen different options:

1. Ashley’s Secret
2. Asian Butterfly Encore
3. Bohemian Peace
4. Fancy Pansy
5. Lounging Lovely
6. Prima Dolly Ashlette
7. Prima Dolly Violet
8. Simply Chocolate
9. Simply Delight
10. Simply Love Me
11. Simply Sparkly Spark
12. Simply Vanilla

I looked these up this past weekend – all on eBay, all USD pricing, all NRFB (never removed from box); costs of shipping excluded. There are still fantastic deals to be found if you’re willing to look for them! Pricing of Blythes can and do fluctuate, but that doesn’t mean that you can’t find affordable dolls if you’re patient. Pro tip for buying Blythes: join one of the buy/sell/trade groups on Facebook or a Blythe forum as you can often find some good deals on secondhand Blythes that someone is selling. While these are not NRFB, they may be slightly (or fully) customized, and you may find the pricing to be somewhat more palatable if you’re looking at a stock doll.

Thirteen months of Middie Monday! Kitty Brighton and Lydia Melbourne are both super pleased that you like Middies (or at least haven’t complained loudly about this feature). What they are not pleased about is the fact that I’ve been eyeing one of the recent Middie releases (Rampion of the Valley). I’m a huge fan of the Disney movie Tangled and Rampion of the Valley reminds me a lot of Rapunzel. From the long (long!) golden hair, to the dress, and the flowers. All she needs is a frying pan and she’d be exactly like Rapunzel from Tangled. Poor Kitty and Lydia.

Chances are really good that I won’t be adding a third Middie to the doll family though, seeing as I struggle as it is to clothe and provide shoes for the two that I have. This is ultimately a First World Middie Problem because I could just start buying clothes for them *ahem*, but that would defeat the purpose of my goal of creating the bulk of their wardrobe. Speaking of which, I really ought to craft some more for them… Maybe tomorrow? Or the day after?

Heart of my Middie hearts. They haven’t gotten a change in clothes in ages.

We’ll see. They’re really not happy with the fact that I knit for them. Apparently it’s ~*~summer~*~ and therefore they should dress accordingly. I keep reminding them that they don’t actually feel temperature changes and they got a little huffy with me…

What Middie is currently tickling your fancy? Do you think Rampion of the Valley looks like Rapunzel from Tangled too?

Kitty Brighton’s wearing: dress/made by me (chelleshocks).
Lydia Melbourne’s wearing: dress/Endangered Sissy.

You know the time I’m talking about – where you wistfully look at live feeds of BlytheCon (and other similar events that are differently named) on the internet, where you wish you were present for some amazing raffles, the fun marketplaces, and just getting to see friends of old and making new friends – all bonding over the lovely eye changing doll that we all know and love.

From now until October there is a major event each month!

• June – BlytheCon Japan,
• July – BlytheCon US,
• August – Blythe Fest (Australia),
• September – BlytheCon Europe (Germany), and
• October – BlytheCon UK (Scotland)

And do you know how many of these events I’ll be attending? (Trick question because the answer is none of them.)

Real life trumps vacationing, I’m afraid, at least for now! I’m hoping finances and time (it’ll be mostly time…) allows for vacationing in 2017. There was recently a poll that happened on Facebook for the new 2017 host city for BlytheCon US and the doll community (on Facebook) voted for Brooklyn, New York. This time (well, for 5 months, anyways), I will be home and enjoying watching the festivities on the internet. Hopefully my friends will give a little wave to me on the live streams, if there are any! Last summer was very different, what with being very busy with planning for BlytheCon Vancouver and juggling that with being unemployed – it really is amazing what a difference a year makes!

If you’re attending any of the above events, I’d love to invite you to write about your experience for BlytheLife! Please email me if you’re interested in sharing your Blythe event experience!

There are often times that I wish I had more time for dolls. The moments when I work a lot in a week, or work mostly nights, results in very little time to devote to the dolls in my life. I wish that was different, but such is life when you exclusively do shift work and often get called for nights.

The moments that I get to spend with my dolls is precious because it’s time that I spend relaxing and enjoying my hobbies. My off-work time is generally for non-work purposes, I try not to think about work or do work related things (which is at times easier said than done). But the moments that I get are often so far and few between, but I still greatly enjoy it because it’s my hobby time!

(Even if my dolls wear the same outfits for weeks or months on end because I really cannot be bothered sometimes to change their outfits, but look at how cute Lottie looks in her dress! She’s been alternating between this one and a Button Arcade dress that I had made for her.)

Lottie’s wearing: dress/Plastic Fashion.