it's been a while...

Life got very busy and took me away from the world of Blythe for while... but strangely when life got so chaotic that I couldn't cope - my girls were waiting there for me as an escape and a way to soothe my stress.

Almost a month ago, my future mother-in-law had a stroke & we have been on the road a lot and spending a lot of time in hospitals, dealing with a lot of emotions.Things have also been chaotic at my job the last month since we got a new boss who is changing everything daily. When I felt so fried that I didn't know what to do with myself, Blythe came through.

I haven't made anything new for the girls, but I've been enjoying looking at pictures and patterns.  I've been day-dreaming about projects and researching tutorial information. It's been wonderfully calming.  My fiance will go next week on Family Medical Leave for 2 weeks to help out now that his mom is home from the hospital.  Being apart from him for 2 weeks would be so sad and stressful if it wasn't for the plans I have been making to start a new phase of customizing my sweet clone girl, Charlotte & to sew lots of dresses for both Charlotte and Wondie with a big stash of awesome fabric I bought a while back and never had time to get into.

I also want to do a fabric softener hair spa for both the girls, as well as this vintage "Little Miss Revlon" doll that I found at a thrift store, who is in great shape but needs a little TLC.

For Charlotte, I bought two sets of eye chips - one apple green & one handpainted blue w/gold accents. I'm going to be brave and try to get the Blybe/Basaak eye chips out - at least the front-facing ones...

I am going to do a little more sanding on her face-plate to remove her existing makeup & do a new faceup with pastels & acrylics for her lips.

And I am going to try adding some extra hair to her scalp to spruce up her hair without changing her too much. 

I am weird about that.  I'm in total awe of the work that customizers do with Blythe dolls, but I could never rip apart Wondie.  Charlotte I am more brave with because her scalp falls off all the time, so it's really easy to lift it off and see inside her to add sleep eyes and change her pull rings and string.  I gently sandmatted her face w/out going close to her makeup.  I was planning when I got her to change her eye-chips and buy her wigs and such... but I wasn't into the wigs at all and I was afraid to try changing out the clone eye chips because I've heard they are really hard to change & I didn't want to break Charlotte.

I have one really long-haired wavy brunette wig that is close to Charlotte's natural hair.  I got it because I wanted to be able to put in on her as a quick fix and still keep her general look and style... but it was awful - first of all, I felt like I was torturing her to get it on her and she just seemed unhappy.  I know that is weird to say about a doll... but I felt like I could feel her unhappiness with the wig and it just didn't seem right.

I think I will try to use the long hair of the wig to do knotted method in between Charlotte's regular hair to just fill in what she has... then I might give her a little trim to make it all come together.

I used to be freaked out by the difficulty in removing clone eye chips, but I'm getting more confident with it because neither Charlotte nor I like her front facing eye-chips at all.

Here are the hand-painted eyechips I got... I think they are gorgeous. They are made by Elficious on Etsy.

I'm getting a little braver and I just love the idea of fixing up Charlotte so she feels really special and unique.  I am totally in love with Gentle River's face-up and I would like to try something like that for Charlotte - with deep red lips, green eye shadow and warm coppery coral blush.

I think I may try to do her eyelids so her sleepy eyes are colored to match her eyeshadow & add some new longer softer lashes.  It's pretty exciting.

I'm just a fan of stock for proper Blythes, though!  I'd much rather sew that do the customizing, at this point.  Customizing scares me, while sewing calms me... the customizing is for the end result, while the sewing is for the process.

new pullrings for Char-Char!

I got a package from a sundries sale on BK last night when I got home from work - a new set of pull rings for Charlotte and a pair of white socks for each of the girls.  The pull rings are a fantastic milky translucent green with matching string.  Charlotte seems to like them!

Now I'm looking forward to cutting another round of dress patterns out this week & doing some more sewing for the girls next weekend.

mourning a grail girl gone by...

I'm a little sad today, in the world of dolly-related things.

As I was researching Blythe dolls to make my first purchase, I discovered Gentle River.  Many so-called "grail girls" don't really do it for me... Kenners are so expensive that they are not on my radar at all, unless I were so lucky as to discover one in a thrift store. Hollywood is cool, but I'm sort of "meh" for blondes in general.  Kozy Kape is okay, but there are so many other girls I'd rather have for just one of her. Bloomy Bloomsbury is adorable, but it's mostly her stock that makes me like her, not so much the doll itself that I covet... but Gentle River makes my heart skip a beat.  I love her stock too, but I wouldn't need the stock to be thrilled to have her, nor would her stock w/o her make me that happy.

I just love her look, regardless of what she's wearing.  I love her face-up & her hair cut and style... she's so bright and vivid - I can imagine her in all kinds of outfits from that sort of eastern European woodland style of her stock, to rock-a-billy, to 1940's glam to super-cutesy... she would be really fun to sew clothes for and take pictures of... I like all her stock eye chip colors... if I could have one grail-girl wish, I would love to adopt a Gentle River - but she's usually so expensive that I just liked to daydream about her and I never really entertained the idea of adding GR to my dolly family.

That was until this weekend when I saw a GR w/o stock up for adoption for $300 on BK.  I could actually have bought her... it would have been a really, really bad move financially... but I could have done it.  For a couple days, I kept looking at her.  I kept thinking of what it would be like to get her.  I felt a little giddy and naughty every time I thought about how I could actually get my hands on a GR!  But I just couldn't justify it; even at my most wildly irresponsible, it clearly would have been a terrible idea to buy her.

Still I liked to see her available... daydreaming that if I got a sudden windfall of money, she'd be there.  And today she sold. She isn't there any more... there's a thread on BK about Blythe regrets and I wondered when I first saw her go on hold, if I will look back and always regret that I didn't throw caution to the wind and spend money that should have gone towards bills and ordering save-the-date cards for my wedding on a dolly.

But after I checked back later and saw she'd gone from hold to sold, I was suddenly strangely at peace with the whole thing. The more I think about it like a grown-up, the more I know I won't regret it in the future.  Even if I never get a Gentle River or never even see one at that price again, in all my days... I won't regret passing this one by.  If it's right, I know she'll find me.  This one sort of gave me hope - I know it could happen... just like the amazing story (with pictures) on BK of a member finding a Kenner for $2.00 at a thrift store totally makes me smile because I know it's a real thing that could happen.  (Not that I am holding out on it actually happening to me, but I know it could!)

I don't want to be so obsessed with dolls that I am not responsible.  I want to pay my bills on time and, even as fun as dollies are, getting married is far more important and exciting to me - so the choice between GR or holding off on ordering save-the-date cards and having $300 less saved toward my honeymoon was a no-brainer! It's all about having one's priorities in order.

Also, I still feel like I am getting to know and bond with Wondie and she and Charlotte are just becoming buddies. I want to take the time to get to know them and give them the attention they deserve & savor the process.  What I like about dollies isn't just shopping for them. This is a good reminder of what's important.   So, I'm not going to have any regrets... but I am still just a little wistful that a beautiful Gentle River has passed me by today.

style breakthrough!

So I've been bonding with Charlotte's sense of style for a while now, but haven't quite perfected my understanding of Wondie's style... so far, I've found she feels happiest in vintage doll clothes, handknit sweaters, and those big stompy silver boots.  I haven't gotten a good sense of the type of dress she likes and what suits her... until Friday night - I had a style breakthrough with this awesome pattern I bought from Crafty Line Blog.

 It's just perfect on her - it suits her well, fits like a dream & it was both fun and challenging to make.  I will enjoy making this style again and also to collecting more patterns from this site.  They are complex and unique... great fun to make and perfect for playing dress-up.

I have to make Charlotte a matching dress with the same Bambi print in a black colorway & black/white polka dot trim.   Won't they be adorable together?!

I made Charlotte a dress on Friday night too... of my own pattern creation, modified from a vintage Skipper pattern.  I was pretty pleased with this pattern before, since I cut more shaping into the arm and created a more fitted, structured look than the original pattern.  Yet, the new pattern I bought is worlds' better. The main difference on Wondie's dress is the bust darts... that little bit of extra shaping makes the whole dress look more polished.  I really like the look of it and I am excited to experiment with more shaped and fitted dresses.

behind the times...

So the dreamt-of sewing weekend with my dear one turned out to be a busy yoga & family obligations weekend instead.  No little dresses were constructed. *le sigh*

Last night, though... I got to make two of the four dresses I had cut out.  I am excited to get them finished because I got all the fun fabrics & trims in the mail that I had ordered and I'm dying to experiment with them too.

Last night was vintage night. First Charlotte got the xoxoBlythe version of All Spruced Up.

It's a fun pattern, but I still want to experiment with the collar. Since it is unlined, it doesn't finish as neatly as sandwiching a collar between the front and the lining.  I was a little unhappy with the finishing of the neck between the two pieces of the collar in the front.  I tacked it down by hand & and sewed a pretty red vintage button over the top so I do like the look of it now.  The faux patchwork vintage fabric was fin to work with and I have a ton, so I imagine that we'll see more experiments out of it!

And then Wondie had to get a new dress too, so everything would be fair!  She has a vintage print, I call: "entomologie".  I made it an empire & cut the skirt a bit longer to include both the lady bug and the spider in the front... I don't like the long dresses as much as somewhere between knee & calf... but it was a good learning experience and I think the right shoes and accessories would spruce it up a bit more.  We have to order Wondie some of those classic chunky plastic Mary Janes... I tried these pink ballet shoes that came with Charlotte... OK but not perfect... still I think this dress would look cute for an outdoor shoot... one of these days in the Spring when it's dry and light after work... the girls are looking forward to getting outside for an adventure!

I can imagine she'd be cute with some stompy shoes (though the silver boots weren't quite right), sunglasses, a straw hat, and a butterfly net or magnifying glass...  but right now, I think Wondie looks a little pouty because she wants new shoes and a cuter dress.

yearning to create...

This busy week, leading up to events over the weekend, has left me with little time to get creative.  In concert with the inspiring arrival of Wondie, I think the lack of time has my creative mind working overtime with great ideas.  I suppose it's creative tension... but I've been jotting things down as they come to me & ordering lots of fabric on etsy in the moments I do have.  Next weekend, I plan to stay in the whole weekend just sewing and relaxing with my dear one.  This weekend will be chaos - so I'm setting my sights ahead on relaxing next weekend already.

Unfortunately, I don't have a sewing room or a permanent sewing table set up.  I usually bring my folding sewing table and ironing board into the living room & set up by the TV... watching (well, actually more like listening to with the occasional glance up) whole multiple episodes of artsy/fashion-related reality TV back-to-back.  My favorites are the fashion and art shows:  Project Runway, Project Catwalk, Project Runway Canada, Fashion Show, and Work of Art. I also have tons of Top Model from around the world that I watch between my favorite shows to savor the more creative ones.  It's a favorite guilty pleasure to sew or knit that way.

Since the sewing table is kind of disruptive to the state of the living room, I tend to like to get all my cutting done ahead of time and then set up my machine only for times when I have a good long block of time to get absorbed in my projects and unwind.  I've been cutting out a few things this week, getting ready for a big sewing session, as soon as possible.

I also need to go to the regular local fabric store and pick up some more simple fabrics to combine with the fun ones.  I had a thing for polka dots for a while.. and then I got this yellow on yellow stripe that I've fallen in love with for a trim.

I've made two dresses for Charlotte with it & another for Pandora from BK, plus I have one last one for Wondie cut out... but then I seriously need to take a break from trimming everything with yellow stripes!

Here are some of the sewing things I've purchased on etsy lately... I love to day dream of what all the different scraps of fabric & notions will become.

I have a total thing for sailor stuff that I'm working to impart on Charlotte and Wondie too. Naturally, this vintage ribbon caught my eye right away & I had to have it.  I think it will look really nice for both my girls.  In the same order, I also got this cotton eyelet lace.  It was described as blue, yet it looks mint green... then again, it also looks like a yellowy artificial light, so I don't know if they will match; but I think there is potential for these two to look good together. 

I also bought some bits of lace to incorporate into dolly skirts.  I really want to do some solid black dresses with white trim - sort of pilgrim meets Wednesday Adams meets French maid meets Goth Lolita...

Plus some colored lace... because color is fun too!  My favorite crazy use of color is GirlishBlythe on etsy.

GirlishBlythe uses color in such a fun and creative way - bold, cheerful, exciting.  Also inspired by the stock of Milk & Honey Middie & Gentle River... this sort of Russian Doll look & colorway.  I want to play more with that in the future.

I got some Russian stacking doll kawaii print scraps...

And I bought a big scrap pack that contained some fabrics I've been admiring in larger yardages... as well as some random stuff that could come in handy or prove inspiring later on. Here are the pics from the big pack.  The blue roses with owls & the B/W hippos are my favorites!

I have my eye on lots of other scrap packs and prints that I would love to make things out of... but I held back.  I can only make so much at once & I derive such pleasure from the hunt as well, that it's better to stretch it out.  If I spend $5-10 here and there on etsy, I have a continual stream of little presents arriving & more than enough projects to stay busy with... If I went crazy and bought fabric for the whole rest of the year in one fell swoop, (which one could easily do, there are so many great kawaii fabrics!)  I'd be depriving myself of the joy of continual small-scale shopping & wouldn't leave room for new inspiration to strike.  

Now all I need is time, which is coming next week.  Yay!

 

Wonder Mynte is here!

Here she is!  My sweet new girl - my first Blythe!  She is a Simply Peppermint stock girl who came NRFB. I ordered her on ebay from the seller "rareak" based in Hong Kong.  I *highly* recommend this seller!  He had great communication at every step of the process and she arrived 13 days earlier than the earliest estimated shipping arrival. She was in perfect condition.  She likes the pastel Lolita set I made!

{Side note: I started to get nervous about ordering my dolly because I have heard some nightmares about dolls not arriving as described or being fakes. The seller with the best deal for Simply Peppermint when I was looking showed up on Bad Dolly Deals (thank goodness I checked!) & I also am in the middle of a bad experience with a sundries sale with another Hong Kong seller "kingkong_1117".  The shoes I ordered from this seller took ages to arrive & when the package arrived, I discovered the seller sent something totally different, not even doll-related - they've been so difficult to communicate with that I had to file a case on them, much to my chagrin.}

So back to the good stuff!  She's awesome and she's having lots of fun getting to know Charlotte too.  Here's Charlotte dressing up as part of the Mynte family thanks to the wig cap from Pandora on BK, while Wondie is sporting the vintage Penny Brite dress I just got in the mail.

Here they are modeling their matching vintage Skipper party dresses, that still need some restoration from me.

And a picture of the whole family: Miss Charlotte Velvet, Miss Wonder Mynte, and Little Miss Minnie Mynte.

Charlotte's not the only one who can dress up like one of the family... here's Wondie, dressing up like part of the Velvet family.

 They're having so much fun together.  At first, I thought they would be sisters, but they are really just BFFs who like to dress up like sisters from time to time. 


And finally, this is from last week when my camera died mid-click... Bathing beauty Charlotte, modelling her vintage Skipper swimsuit.  I have a matching one for Wondie, as well... but the girls didn't feel like wiggling into swimsuits at last night's photoshoot.