Her Majesty, Princess Primrose

Stock doll names make horrible doll names in reality. I would never call my Kenners by the name Kenner. I would not refer to Belarus as Love Mission or Minnow by Hi-Ho! Marine. I find inspiration in many different places for doll names. For Moxie and Mollie (Molybdenum), I wanted names that both started with the same letter. For Emmalynn, I wanted a letter that I hadn’t already used. Cedar ended up with a nature-name because of her reddish hair. Minnow was named Minnow because of her marine-themed box and general theme. So sometimes the original stock does influence my naming scheme, if you can call it that, but sometimes a name is just a name. And sometimes I end up calling a doll Prim(rose) due to the immense irony I see in a vintage doll with frizzy hair become called Prim (and proper).

What influences doll naming for you?

Since Flickr announced (and rudely made some) changes to their website in 2013, the photography community as a whole was in an uproar. What was the point of paying for Pro? What do you mean that there would be ads on Flickr? And free accounts really get that much space? When they made the announcement, I did some research into alternative options to Flickr – noteably Ipernity.

Quite a few members of the Blythe/doll community that was on Flickr had moved to Ipernity, but I noticed that many people did move back or just uploaded to both websites instead of just the one (Ipernity). Flickr still has many active Blythe groups, and many new doll photo uploads every day. Sometimes it slows down with the number of new uploads, but with all the integration between platforms and the increased use of smartphones, Flickr uploads still occur on a regular basis. For me, I can’t recall the last time I uploaded a photo taken with my camera – but I do upload photos with my phone (via Instagram or the Flickr app itself) frequently. As much as I think the Flickr website is still bad compared to the previous one, I’ve gotten used to the layout and the navigation. On the flip side, I still think the updated Flickr app (for Android) is still quite an improvement. Plus, with the changes, I now have better access to the Groups I follow and easier to comment, but I still wish there was a way to properly ‘reply’ to people.

Have you successfully migrated away from Flickr?

I tend to make dolly resolutions for the start of every year. I don’t necessarily meet many (or any) of the resolutions, but I do try (for the month of January, at least). Granted, a lot of resolutions are typically full of high hopes and high expectations.

A recap, my 2013 goals were to do the following:

• Doing more interviews and giveaways on BlytheLife – Achieved!
• Doing a closet and shoe clean out – Not achieved!
• A 365 with Eden Mouse – Not achieved!
• An addition of a BL, lucky Blythe #13 – Nope! #13 was Cedar (Monique Magnifique)!
• Wishing for the arrival of a Middie (#1) – Achieved! with Kitty Brighton (Jackie Ramone)!
• The acquiring of squishy vintage Barbie boots (white, tan, brown and pink) – Achieved!
• Celebrate the ‘birthdate’ of each doll this year as they come – Not achieved!

I suppose completing three of six wasn’t that bad at all! What are my dolly resolutions for 2014? I am so glad you asked. Because I wanted to give myself attainable goals, here’s what I decided my dolly resolutions for 2014 would be, and I’m keeping my fingers crossed that they will be achievable by the end of 2014.

• Even more interviews and giveaways!
• Crafting more for the dolls – more sewing, more knitting, more crocheting!
• Build a wardrobe for my lone Middie – she needs more clothes!
• Not buying more dolls – Blythe (Neo, Middie or Petite), Monster High or otherwise – Equestria Girls are excluded from this resolution because I really want Rainbow Dash
• Actually doing a shoe and closet clean-out – for real this year

Fingers crossed that I can achieve these goals this year!

What are your dolly resolutions for 2014?

I can hear the little voices already of how unfair it is
that not all of them got a new cardigan this season…

Occasionally I think it’s kind of a waste of time to give my dolls presents for the holidays. (Please don’t tell them that I said this…) I only sometimes think this because they don’t have jobs, all of the pretty dresses, the clothes, the shoes (the shoes!) are all “gifts” from me anyways. Do I really need a special occasion to buy something for my dolls? Of course not. They get new things throughout the year and, lets face it, it’s not like they’re ever going to be paying me back for the amount that I’ve spent on clothing alone, let alone all the tiny shoes. Yet on the other hand, it seems almost heartless to not include them in the holidays. After all, I enjoy unwrapping presents and little surprises for the holidays – why shouldn’t my favourite plastic girls do so as well? That said, they are fairly spoiled as it is and I’m probably not going to have the time (or the determination) to make presents for them this year. I guess they’re just going to have to suffer (and I will never hear the end of it…) with what I do have time to make them over my winter break – even if it means that there isn’t something new for each of them over to unwrap this holiday season. And, lets face it, given how many dolls I have now, I am not going to make something for each and every one of them. I’d never have time to myself if I did that!

But if anyone has any recommendations of people who create things for Middies, I’d love to expand the wardrobe a bit!

Do you give gifts to your dolls?

It has been many a few years since my family has really sent out holiday cards. It used to be that we’d get dozens every year from family and friends. And this little thing called the “internet” became a thing and then e-cards came in. And then just mass emails going…

Hey you,

Happy holidays!

TTYL

Or something like that. Actually writing cards has become a lost art. Nowadays, I only write in cards for birthdays, because birthday cards typically accompany birthday gifts. This is if I actually remember to buy a card (which I sometimes do not…). This year, I toyed with the idea of getting cards printed, I would put together a festive holiday scene in late October, order the cards in November and get them all out the door in the first week of December so that they would all have time to get to their recipients. Needless to say, I am just not that organized when it comes to the holidays and none of those things got accomplished. I did not send out a single card this holiday season, despite my best of intentions. Maybe next year?

But my dolls are much more thoughtful than I am, and they’ve been writing in holiday cards and receive cards this holiday season.

If you’re interested in printing your own, you can download the Printable Holiday Cards here.

Do you send out holiday cards? Are any Blythes on them?