birthday gworl

Tiphanie pics?? On my birthday??? Of course! I am just over the moon with this little dressup. I love the double-down on florals between the top and the skirt. It doesn't match, but -- doesn't it?? There are hints of cream in the skirt! And I love that the skirt matches her front-facing brown chips! The petticoat I have used for her before -- but can you blame me? It's the perfect color for her. Gosh. Tiphanie really is my most striking girl.

Blouse: YlangGarden (which seems to have shut down)
Skirt: gifted to me by Anne
Petticoat: MINIJIJO (years ago)
Socks: I made 'em!
Boots: Takara (Someone's stock? Can't remember! Haha)

I really have to say, I am so glad that I learned to sew little Blythe socks, because it's such a boon to my dolly wardrobe to have socks that match virtually any dressup!

I am posting this on my birthday for no reason other than I can, and because the colors of the dressup are so severely "me" that it just felt CORRECT! It's also because I am gonna sneak in a "little me" photo collage. I put one together for one of those Instagram "add yours" tags stories, but these photos in particular are from birthdays long past...

I was in preschool in the first one, so, pre-kindergarten! Estimating perhaps 1987 or '88. I remember my mom brought some kind of treat and a bunch of helium balloons to hand out to the class, and I remember this dress which was peach, and this pink plastic headband perfectly. (Not pictured, but I am wearing jelly shoes, also, haha!) I recall getting the peach balloon to match my dress, and taking the balloon home after preschool... Of course I went outside with it and accidentally let go of it, and had to watch it float away into the sky. Tough lesson. But the balloon is immortalized here, huh?

I think I was turning nine or so in the picture with the homemade puff paint watermelon t-shirt. I got a BOOM BOX, as you can see! Just a tape deck -- no CD player yet. I think also got rollerblades that year! Sooo 90s!

In the left bottom pic, I am wearing the pink geometric sweatshirt/stirrup pants set that I referenced in this recent Fey 'fit post!

And finally, in the last picture, I seem to be turning sweet sixteen! I had to count the candles in the cake in front of me in that picture to figure that out. I look forlorn, which is typical as my resting face is pretty sad-looking, and although I had glasses by this point, I am for some reason not wearing them in this picture. But as you can see, I had red highlights in the front of my hair. This would have been 1999. I really beat the scene/emo look.

Some more random recent pictures, just for posterity.

Life feels dark these days. But how fortunate am I to be able to enjoy a hobby like Blythe that has expanded my creative horizons with crafting, sewing, photography, and video editing, and brought me into contact with fellow creatives all over the world? How fortunate am I to get together and play music with kind people every week? How fortunate am I to have my little precious hyperfixations like Litten and berets?

Other things I will live my forty-third year of life anticipating:

• I am going to be an aunt, AGAIN! My little sister is expecting another baby!!!
• I live ever-hoping I'll spot cute Blythe-scale things or miniatures out in the wild, and this actually is something that keeps me going in this world, haha.
• Another year of dressing my dolls and hopefully making things for them!
• Making a new-to-me object or learning a new-to-me skill. I hope!

With all that said, just one more Tiphanie pic. To grow on, as they say.

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bday 43 incoming

Taurus season? Another birthday on the horizon, a mere week away? Again? Already? Also, holy crap, why does 43 sound significantly older than 42?

Well, as an adult -- heavy airquotes right there -- I have for the past several years simply asked for monetary donations from any family members interested in giving me such a thing, in lieu of gifts, so I can put the money towards larger puchases for myself. Such as a chair for my sewing table. (I've moreso used the chair while playing my Omnichord but it's still been wonderful for using my second desk for any purpose!) And last year, of course, I had saved up for my gorgeous li'l Tiphanie, and it was so exciting to get her for myself in time for my birthday!

This year I'm sort of thinking that I'll spend whatever funds I get on a new tripod. I have three tripods I use on a weekly basis to film band videos. They reside permanently in the studio space now. That means if I wanted to film a doll video or something, I'd have to decide that well in advance, and make sure to take my most heavy-duty tripod home, get the filming done between band seshes, and take the tripod all the way back to the studio... whiiich is in a different town than where I live, and on the second floor of an old gutted building. It'd be a lot of toting and carrying up and down a steep flight of ancient stairs. That's why I just leave the tripods there now! So I'm not carrying them back and forth every single week! I was doing that for a while.

But, not having my tripod has effectively quashed my ability to film anything for YouTube, as I can't do anything spontaneously. A tripod is a piece of basic equipment I need to film any long form doll video. So I think I'll just get the exact same tripod (or the closest I can find) again so I can have one at home, too. I need one that can hold my DSLR and its lens, which are very heavy. And for me, it's not a bad thing to have another heavy-duty tripod!

Other things: I'm interested in properly recording/mixing music, so I'd love to get an audio interface; I need another micro SD card; I need another cute trinket display case because my Stitch figurine collection has seen some growth and now need their own case; this specific Litten plush (yes, I am still dreadfully Litten-pilled); and finally, tickets to see Micky Dolenz (of The Monkees)!

I saw back in the winter months that THEE Micky Dolenz was going to be in MY TOWN on MY BIRTHDAY and was like, eyes emoji! "Oh? On my boifday?? Should I go???" But, I don't go to concerts too often, and it didn't even really occur to me to ask for tickets or ask anyone to go with me, or anything of the kind. So I wasn't intending on going. I was just like, OH VERY INTERESTING MISTER DOLENZ... I SEE, I SEE YOU ARE IN TOWN TO CELEBRATE ME...

I was oddly sitting here working on this post when my dad texted me outta nowhere to ask if I wanted to go!

SO I GUESS I AM GOING TO BE SEEING MICKY DOLENZ NEXT WEEK!

I have only mentioned it here once (way back in 2012 when Davy Jones passed) but I am actually a lifelong Monkees fan. As I mentioned in that old post, "(I'm Not Your) Steppin' Stone" was the first favorite song I remember having, as a literal toddler. I have always listened to the Monkees on a regular basis and have my top jams and one of the first songs I learned to play on the guitar was "You Just May Be the One." But when Mike Nesmith passed in 2021 I went on a big Monkees bender and it reignited my long-standing love. Later in the lifespan of the band, the Monkees worked with Adam Schlesinger (RIP) who was a musician I really admire, so that was really fun and cool for me as a fan of both. So I am actually super stoked to go see Micky. How fortunate am I to be able to see a Monkee when I have loved the Monkees so much all my life!!!

Seriously, I think my heart might beat right out of my chest!

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🗝️ chatelaines part 2 🗝️

Featuring the triumphant return of the twin mayors of birthday town: I made a couple more chatelaines for my girls! I wanted to make a silver one and a gold one, and here are Vesper and Citron to model them!

Lowdown on the silver one: Wow, I found some little tassels amongst my craft supplies that I got to attach to the miniature suitcases I made YEARS ago, and since there was an all-silver one, I thought, "Sure!" I don't know what the item could represent in terms of a tool or useful item for Citron, but hey, who knows. But upon further inspection of charms at the craft store (I went back to get more chains for these chatelaines) I actually found one that had tools, specifically! Two types of saws (I used one on here), hammers, wrenches. That's so funny to me. While the wrench might have been the most useful for an artificer-type gal, I liked the shape of the saw the most! I believe this one is a hacksaw, specifically! And I found a fork charm at a local bead store, as well as whatever the one on the rightmost in the photo is. I don't know what exactly this is, other than a drop-style charm, but in my imagination, this could be some kind of scent pot or holder for some little tool or gadget!

Again, I used a gear for the medallion portion of the chatelaine, and just jump ring-ed it on.

For the gold chatelaine: Another local bead store finding, but there is this little gold clasp-looking charm, and I don't rightly know what it is. But it looked like some sort of pocketbook or a cover for a notebook, so that's what I'm pretending it is. (It might be a clasp, but I'm really not sure.) There's also a clock hand from the gear packet, and a colorful charm from the Explorer packet I got for my first chatelaine. Also, I made a little keyring out of a jump ring and several small key charms from a packet I got at Michael's. Even though the keys aren't bright gold, I still felt like it gives the chatelaine a more lived-in, vintage and useful look, instead of just being fancier-seeming items.

I didn't put a medallion on this chatelaine since I didn't really have anything I liked for that.

But here's Vesper's full 'fit...

As you know, I like more elegant looks for Vesper. Things that make her look, dare I say, elfin! While nothing will ever look as beautiful as her stock, which to me is exquisite, this outfit gives her the vibe that she is the keeper of a little fairy garden. One surrounded by a rock wall; one with an ancient well hidden within, which may or may not be a wishing well. She strolls and tends to the flowers in the fairy garden.

I don't think I listed all the outfit deets for Citron in my last chatelaine post, so I will do that now!

Vesper's deer headband: made by me
Vesper's leaf crown: made by me
Vesper's peplum top: Sugar Mag (I got it in 2010 off eBay)
Vesper's skirt: CraftyCoraShop on Etsy
Vesper's shoes: her own stock

Citron's goggles: her own stock
Citron's black blouse: HelloCoolCat
Citron's skirt: CraftyCoraShop
Citron's shoes: Time After Alice's stock shoes

Finally: "the twin mayors of birthday town" is an old My Brother, My Brother, and Me reference (I was an early MBMBAM adopter back in the day, and also an early MBMBAM abandoner, haha) and when I Googled it just now to find the episode I was referencing, the first result was not MBMBAM, but my own blog post about Vesper and Citron??? Whoa. Wild. Real snake-eating-its-own-tail stuff.

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