I’ve been doing goodness-knows-what with my time on the internet since before I was ten years old. I’ve spent a lot of time blogging (here and elsewhere), posting on forums, posting photos on Flickr, play-by-post roleplaying (yes, I’m one of those) and even just reading blogs for long periods of time on end. It’s probably not entirely healthy, but I do spend a lot of time doing other things offline. I still have face-to-face social interactions, Facebook is not my definitive answer to getting to chat with my friends, but I do still spend a lot of time online (both being productive and not).

How much time do you spend on the computer (and the internet) in a week? And what do you do when you’re not glued to your computer?

I know that I spend a few hours per day on the computer. I maintain several websites, most of my homework is assigned and handed in online (it’s also how all of my professors communicate with us nowadays). I try to limit myself, and to use my time effectively. When I’m not on the computer, I spend my time on public transit, at school, with my boyfriend and friends and family (although generally not together, hah), some time crafting, watching tv (oh noes, another screen!) and just trying to balance everything, but it does get hard sometimes.

It’s hard to dig through the threads of Sundries without seeing someone talk about how they have a dress by Designer A for sale or a hard-to-find pair of pants by Designer B. Not everyone goes for “designer” Blythe clothing or accessories because it can be very expensive and not everyone sees what other people may see. It’s one thing to pay $5 for a new doll dress that someone’s looking to get rid of because they’re trying to fund a new doll purchase, but it’s entirely a different thing when someone’s asking for $150 for a doll dress. Let’s face it, I could clothe me for $150 and still have a lot of money left over for something else. Or I could just get an entire new doll for that amount!

What makes “designer” doll clothing so attractive to doll collectors? Is it a status symbol to have something made by a certain individual? Is it a source of pride to be able to own that $500 doll that wears an outfit worth a fifth of it’s value?

What makes “designer doll clothing” worth it to you? What’s your ‘maximum’ price for a single piece? And, more importantly, how much do you spend on clothing for yourself? (Just to put things into perspective.)

I avoid getting caught up in bidding wars over doll clothing. I don’t know if it’s because I lack the expendable income that a lot of other people in the hobby have or if it’s just my own personal feelings towards clothing labels transferring over to my dolls’ wardrobe (oh, the horror, non-brand name clothing for my dolls!). Of course, if you’re not hurting yourself (or someone around you) by spending copious amounts of money on doll clothes, that’s perfectly fine.

As long as you can pay for your mortgage, insurance, transportation, food, electricity, water, internet (!) and things like saving for retirement or just a rain day emergency fund, why not spend some ‘fun money’ on cute doll clothes? I can appreciate the time and talent that goes into really pretty pieces of doll-sized clothing – I know from my own experiences that sewing small clothes is fairly time consuming (and challenging!). But when second-hand items reach triple digits, I think it should be time to stop and consider what you’re buying and if the price is really worth it.

After all, just because the item can sell for $100 today does not mean that it could resell for a similar (or higher) price later on.

We all have our own personal preferences. While I think it’s incredibly nerve-wracking to hold melting hot glue to an expensive doll’s eyeball, other people don’t seem to have that same issue as I do. I own primarily fully-stock dolls. Most of them only have minor customizations (a few chip changes, sleepy eyes, or just a new string) because I don’t think that I could ever bring myself to take a needle file to a doll’s lips (plus shipping in and out of the country is expensive indeed!).

But enough about me! What I really want to know is…

Do you prefer stock Blythe dolls or customized dolls? Why?

I think there are huge merits to both. Some people only found the Blythe community because they saw a customized doll photo somewhere. Some people are drawn only to the stock dolls and those cute little illustrated teasers. Some are just content with the doe-eyed look that some dolls just naturally have. Which do you love (and have)?

There’s an immense amount of talent in the Blythe community. It’s not just in the photography, but there is a lot of photography involved in this hobby as well. Any day that I log onto Flickr, I’m bombarded by beautiful photography, photos of newly sewn clothes, customized dolls in beautiful colours and knitted and crocheted things.

Everyone has a lot of talent in the community. Some people even do several types of crafts, like sew and knit. Some people design beautiful resin things (think pullrings and jewellery!). People do great things in this community and it makes me happy seeing all the pretty things that people make.

What’s your craft of choice?

For me, I mostly crochet and knit things. I will occasionally sew as well (because buying dresses can get awfully expensive after a while!). But beyond that, I would say that my ‘craft’ of choice would be blogging. It’s something that I can do when I need something to do or just to take my mind off of things. Plus it means that I get to share my thoughts with the world and, for BlytheLife.com, I produce new content to share with all of you about the Blythe community.

What if… is a fun game to play sometimes. It also makes for a great travel game if you happen to be on a roadtrip. Like, what if you could have any animal in the world, what would it be? What if you won the lottery…? (I wish!)

For this week’s Question of the Week, my question is very simple:

What if you had $500 to spend on anything related to the Blythe hobby? What would you get?

If I had $500, I think I would spend it on… thermal dolly hair (for doing my first reroot), a few pair of eyechips and then just splurge on new doll clothes, little doll shoes, maybe a few pairs of glasses and sunglasses as well as fabric, mini buttons and ribbons & trims.