I’ve been knitting away this month to put together a neat little prize package for BlytheLife.com’s 5th Birthday Giveaway! While this isn’t everything (there will be a few additional items that I’m still brainstorming about), and not everything is finished yet (snaps!), it’s a quick little snapshot of what one lucky winner will be getting!

As mentioned, every non-spam comment this month, until end of day July 30th, will count as an entry towards the giveaway, and then I’ll see who wins and announce on Friday, July 31st. Happy commenting!

I was recently asked this question and it made me think a bit. There are so many dolls that I have considered getting, and many of them are worth the time to save up for. Usually my stock answer is one of the dolls I’ve been wishing after for a while (Aztec Arrival or Mondrian), but then I really thought about it. If money were truly not an obstacle, I’d probably have a Parco.

For those who are new to the Blythe hobby, or don’t pay attention to older releases, Parco was the first Blythe produced by Takara. She was the first Blythe on a Licca body and she was a pretty little thing. She doesn’t come up for sale often, and is notoriously difficult to find with stock. And truth be told, if I had the funds I’d get her. Parco is like a piece of Blythe history. The popularity of Parco helped lead Blythe to what she is today, and I really like that. Plus, she’s rather fabulous.

If money wasn’t an obstacle, which stock Blythe would you get?

Shopping Saturday is a feature on BlytheLife.com to help you either shop or promote your shop’s sales. If you want to have your sale included in Shopping Saturday, submissions must be made by 12pm Pacific on the Friday before and all coupon codes must be valid for the entire weekend that they are featured.

For more information, you can check out the Shopping Saturday page or send questions to michelle@blythelife.com.

• Endangered Sissy has a 40% off coupon code that’s good until Friday, July 31st, 10pm MDT for all in-stock items: SUMMER2015

In a world where so many different types of Blythes exist, none of them hold a candle to the vintage Kenner Blythes. From the Ashton-Drake Galleries reproductions, to Takara’s BL, EBL, SBL, RBL, FBL, & RBL+, to Middies and Petites (Takara & Littlest Pet Shops), and the notorious fakes/counterfeits – none of them even begin to compare to the vintage 1972 dolls created by Kenner. These dolls were before their time, competed poorly against Barbie, and disappeared from the shelves without a trace.

When I was first getting ready to go to Portland for BlytheCon in 2011, I thought it would be so cool if I got to see a BL in person. Before Portland, the only Blythes I had ever seen in person were my own. Kenners weren’t even really on my radar because they were always something that I considered to be “unattainable”. Maybe it was because of the perceived price tag, or the fact that I just didn’t realize how badly I wanted one until I saw one in person. Once I saw a Kenner Blythe in person, I was hooked. Following BlytheCon Portland, I went back to work and I happened to work a lot of overtime that summer. I decided that I would set aside all of the money I made on overtime towards a Kenner. By the time September rolled around, I had enough for a Kenner. I just needed to find the ‘right one’.

Emmalynn popped into my life of October 2011, a few months after Portland. By then I was pretty much head over heels for all things Kenner. Emmalynn is, without a doubt, an imperfect Kenner. But she was (and still is) my imperfect Kenner.

There’s something magical about Kenners. In the feel of the plastic, the smell of their hair, the adorable pip sound they make that is so soft and endearing compared to the louder eye mechanisms of modern Blythe dolls. The beauty in Kenners comes from the fact that even if you were to take two Kenners of the same hair style and put them next to each other – they will always have their own special differences. The magic is surely a byproduct of being a doll that is 43 years old.

Kenner fever is surprising. It makes you pay attention to the ebbs and flow of the auctioning world. This was before the days of Facebook groups for buying and selling dolls and sundries. I was on eBay a lot, I paid attention to what prices certain hair colours went for, and which dolls just sat there (note to would-be sellers, if you’re pricing a Kenner Blythe doll that looks ragged for well over $1000 USD, it’s going to sit there for a very, very long time).

With a brunette, a blonde, and red-head in my family – I’m pretty content! For now, the feelings of wanting a Kenner has been sated. I know that for some people, these feelings never really go away. Perhaps if I had the funds to put towards a Kenner right now, I would feel differently. I may even get a brunette with more tamable hair, or a wispy-banged raven girl. For now, my three keep my happy and the Kenner fever at bay.

Emmalynn’s wearing: dress/chelleshocks (top), dress/Kult of Kulta (bottom).
Prim’s wearing: dress/Kult of Kulta, bow/Kult of Kulta.
Lily’s wearing: dress/Kult of Kulta.

I don’t know what it’s like where you are, but most of British Columbia has been experiencing a heat wave. This and the drought we’ve been experiencing has led to literally hundreds of forest fires. A couple weeks ago, all I experienced when outdoors was the smell of smoke. It was horrible, but thankfully that forest fire has been taken care of! While the forest fires and drought is not good for anything, and nor is extreme heat, I’m really looking forward to this heat wave dying down and just having some regular summer weather.

I recently dressed one of my dolls up in some temperature and weather appropriate clothing for some photos. I don’t have a lot of swim suits for the dolls, but I did recently knit a romper that my sister had declared looked like an “old school bathing suit” and that it was a good thing I didn’t stripe it black or else it’d be a prison jumpsuit!

It’s kind of embarrassing that I don’t own a Blythe-sized swim suit that isn’t pink. Eden has effectively taken over my mind when I buy doll things because for the longest time I didn’t have a lot of pink things and it’s hard when a doll only wears pink. Now I have to consciously be aware enough to look at things in other colours, which is really a good thing because things I buy in other colours have a wider range of dolls that will wear them.

The small towels and pool toys I’ve had for a while (it’s amazing what you accumulate after 6 years in this hobby!) and they just make the photo, I think! I had to tidy up for visiting relatives, which led to me going through all of my doll stuff because who doesn’t love procrastinating? During that tidying procrastinating, I came across the pool toys and knew that I wanted do some photos with it. And there you have it! A pool and beach ready girl- and nobody else!

How’s the weather where you are? Have you taken any summer-themed photos with your dolls yet this season?

Eden Mouse’s wearing: black swimsuit/Prima Dolly Aubrey stock, helmet/chelleshocks (me!), tights/unknown, striped romper/chelleshocks, pink swimsuit/Barbie.