weekend at Wendy's

I think when you repeatedly look up a specific doll on eBay/Flickr over a period of several months and then someone says, "I'll pay you for this website work," it may be a nudge from the universe to go for it. Although I was gifted a Blythe in January 2013, I haven't bought one since mid-2012, so I was really feeling the bug.

I love FBLs! I'm not sure why they are less popular than RBLs.

This is another doll whose stock I don't care for at all -- well, except for the shades -- but when in other outfits, I find her very sweet and irresistible! I love the combination of her bright hair and front-facing brown chips. She especially looks wonderful with a bob and a faceup... which makes me think... but I'm not making any advance decisions. Most of my dolls are stock (much of the time I do change eye chips, but leave them untouched otherwise, shine and all). This girl seems like she'd look great with a Licca body, though.

I hope her hair is not too similar to Simply Peppermint's! It looks blue to me, but Takara calls it mint green, and depending on the coloring Flickr users apply to her, it can look very blue or green-blue.

I'm really getting back in Blythe mode lately!

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"You go, Glen Coco."

So, Takara's posted pictures of their newest pink-haired girl, Coco Collette! I was really looking forward to seeing what her hair looked like! While I don't know if there's any stock pink-haired girl that's the pink-haired girl of my dreams, I have to say, Coco Collette looks so close and so up my particular alley that I'm pretty sure I'm going to snap her up! I love pink, peach, and brown, so I'm excited that she has brown eyeshadow, a set of brown eyes, and pale pinky-peach hair -- and I'm glad she has bangs, because I think I prefer be-fringed Blythes. Her hair looks pretty pink in these pictures, I must say! I don't expect it's quite definitively pink, but it's a pink I personally like. Sometimes official Takara photos are underwhelming. Vinter Arden's didn't even come close to capturing her magical hair color, which defies naming and can look very, very different depending on what she's wearing and the quality of the light.

I'm indifferent towards Coco's Lolita stock, except her cutie socks and shoes (I always love Mary Janes), but she looks very sweet and it's easy to imagine her fitting right in with my girls!

I haven't bought a Neo Blythe in a year and a half (just my adorable Middie, Bonnet) and I've wanted a pink-haired girl ever since I got into Blythe. I love Rachel's Ribbon, too, but her hair looks so similar to Vinter Arden's that I think Coco Collette is a better choice for me.

Luckily for me, a little webdesign job has fallen into my lap to give me a little bump of cash. As Ace of Base would say, I saw the sign!

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Rachel's Ribbon

I'm on a never-ending quest for a pink-haired Blythe, so Rachel's Ribbon of course piqued my interest. Her hair is described as "Cinnamon brown with shades of pink" and, interestingly, is "parted on the side with bangs." I love side-parter girls! In real life they can be hard to style (a fact my Very Vicky, Miss Petaline, will attest to), so having a side-parter girl with bangs is like the best of both worlds!

However, Rachel's Ribbon is clearly a peach-haired girl. I can see the pink tint in the picture up against the yellow wall, but even Vinter Arden's hair looks pinker to me. And this girl looks like VA's RBL cousin. That's not a bad thing; she's super-cute and I love VA's hair color even though it wasn't as pink as I'd hoped from the concept art. Her olive eye chips are lovely with her muted salmony-peachy-browny hair too.

I sort of wonder if I took this girl and dunked her scalp into some pink RIT, would she work out for me as the pink-haired girl of my dreams? I've kind of become accustomed to the fact that my Perfect Pink may only be achievable through some amount of custom work. I loved muted tones and I'd prefer a more orangey/melony/reddish pink so it seems like just dipping her hair to enhance the color just a little bit could work. I do love the side-part with the bangs, it's so cute!

Something to think about, sigh...!

I saw the pink-haired girl of my dreams on Flickr the other day... a vanilladolly custom named Phoebe. Double sigh!!

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Middie love... from afar!

1. Set for Middie Blythe, 2. Introducing...., 3. Getting Acquainted!, 4. Middie Macaron, 5. Cherry wishes.., 6. Coat 2.0, 7. little girl~, 8. yellow green pink, 9. New style!

So, I am the first to admit that the introduction of the Middie Blythe last year kind of annoyed me. I've never been attracted to the Petites and my general feeling was, "But, Takara... why not pour your creative energies into making more unique 11-inch RBLs and FBLs?" I actually love blonde Blythes and tend to be attracted to more natural hair colors over fantasy hair colors, but there's been a large amount of repetitive blondes this past year, and even two almost-identical redheads released back-to-back. No matter your preferred Blythe aesthetic, you have to wonder what's up with that. Even I would like to see more variety and better stock.

Also, I thought I was kind of over Blythe sticker shock at this point, but the price for these little beauties is more than many full-sized Blythes, and I must admit, find that very confusing. I keep thinking, "Why would I pay more money for less doll?" I think a lot of people felt similarly when Middie was first introduced.

But oh, Flickr! Just looking at it has changed my feelings on a lot of Blythe dolls. I originally never paid attention to Prima Dolly Paris (her 60s stock and purple lips just ain't my aesthetic) but once I saw her re-imagined by all those beautiful Blythers on Flickr, I really fell in love with her! I was also so excited for Vinter Arden from her promo art, but was disappointed in Takara's promo pictures once they came out. Then once I saw her on Flickr, I realized that Takara's pictures had just really sucked and that VA -- while not the pink-haired doll I had been craving -- was still right up my alley.

Middie Blythes have been no exception to this phenomenon. Seeing them customized and more aptly posed and photographed by talented people who really love their hobby and have a huge scope for imagination has made me feel much more excited about them.

Too bad their price seems to still be very high! I have other Blythely things on my wish list but I just wanted to admit my secret: Man, I would love a Middie!

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Halloween flickr faves

1. Happy Halloween!, 2. Glamour Kitty, 3. 303.365, 4. little witch

E did such an amazing job with her girls, dead-ringers for Daphne and Velma! Also, Nettle... you crack me up!

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another adorable lookbook

Seriously, Blythe lovers, check out this spring lookbook for The Stitched Bluebird created by mother-daughter team Janelle and Emily Wind.

It's so freakin' adorable, I could die! The details are so cute and sweet. What a creative pair!

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Saffy!

It's been a while since I've eyeballed any Blythes, as I was saving up for my ghosty guitar. I've also been thinking I must have a pink-haired girl, but none of the pink-haired girls I've seen are right for some reason. The closest may be Dainty Biscuit, but I've come to think she needs to be a custom. I don't want hot pink or something too blue-toned. I like a more reddish muted pink, like a melon color.

Besides pink-haired girls, there are lots of girls I like: Cousin Olivia (I think she's actually Ice Rune's cousin), Raspberry Sorbet, Mrs. Retro Mama...  I love Simply Thumpty Thump and Simply Bubble Boom even though I'm not typically attracted to the fantasy haired girls. I always like them in pictures and customized.

However, the girl I am really checking out right anew now is Prima Dolly Saffy!!

1. Saffy has a name!, 2. 18/365: ahoy matey!, 3. got some digging to do..., 4. dear diary, 5. We needed some new year's color, 6. byebye, 7. Friends, 8. Care for a 7-Up?, 9. Think Spring {for Stacy}

She's been around for a while, and actually, she is one of the first Blythes I remember seeing. She is definitely the first Blythe I ever saved a picture of. There's a Shirley Temple-esque, retro sweetness about her and she can look very innocent or very glam and sophisticated. She looks great stock and even greater customized. She's one of those whose stock makes me skip over her official pictures but who catches my attention on Flickr.

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oh my gosh

Oh, I want this toadstool headband by little dear so bad!! Too bad I'm saving all my pennies right now! :(

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The item is currently in transit to the destination.

I may have misbehaved.

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blue-haired girls

You make the rockin' world go round!

Blue is not a color I gravitate towards normally, but these custom girls, I always stop to look at! I'm particularly obsessed with Drew but they're all so lovely. Is it creepy to be flickr-stalking someone else's doll? Maybe...

1. Little Drew, 2. Blue mohair, finished., 3. 9/365 ADAD 2011, 4. Open Book

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in the air there's a feeling

Hehe -- wow! Beatrix has officially done more modeling than some America's Next Top Model alums.

Uh-oh, I'm warming up more to Vinter Arden thanks to pics like this on Flickr... I'm really torn!

Anyway, now that I'm 90% done with my Christmas shopping (I don't know if you know this, but I am actually Santa Claus) it's just-for-funsies WINDOW SHOPPING TIME!

Amazing coat and hat sets from My Fair Dolly -- this one is just my fave!

Super-adorable jumper dress set by Moshi Moshi. Absolutely love this one.

I can't resist all the lacy accents on this dud by blythewithyouandme.

This Decole squirrel tape dispenser is killing me. It's hilariously cute.

This dress on Ruche is pretty! I really love anything with that kind of detailed ruffled/pleated yoke.

This necklace from JewelryDeli is my second-face necklace from them...!

I think I might wrap a few presents now. I'm in the mood, so even though it's still really early in the Christmas season, that's okay, right?? I probably own't be in the mood to wrap later...! I'll be baby-sitting tonight and I'm looking forward to packing my Epic Blythe Carry Bag with a girl and some yarn to crochet with!!

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Vinter VTF

First thing's first: VINTER VHAT'S-HER-NAME. Some official pics finally came out.

I'm... underwhelmed, I guess. Sometimes the art and the official pictures are both adorable -- I feel that way about Ice Rune and that's part of what pushed me to finally get a Blythe! Her official pics are some of the cutest ever!

Sometimes the concept art looks so cute, but the girl doesn't excite me in pictures, and sometimes neither art nor the official pics do anything for me but I fall in love with a girl when I see "real" pictures of her in different clothes, in a home, loved and lit with that love (Paris is a prime example -- I think she's the prettiest FBL to customize, so I was going to give her a bit of a face-up, but I even love her strange purple-tinted lips in person). But usually the studio pictures are really nice either way. Strangely, I think the studio pictures of this girl are terrible-looking. To me her hair looks too shiny, like bad plastic-nylon-not-even-soft-to-the-touch shiny. Or maybe greasy and kind of tangled. Either way it looks bad to me. Her stock is absolutely wonderful; that's not the problem. Those boots, gurl!! But even the background of her studio pictures is weirdly shiny and strange-looking to me, in comparison with the tidy backgrounds I'm accustomed to seeing from Takara.

But the pictures of her outside are a lot nicer:

Truthfully I was expecting this girl to be a little more pinky, from the illustration. I'm really curious to see how she'll look in pictures taken by Blythe collectors on flickr. She really might look utterly different.

Not to be too negative -- I just feel like I can't tell what color her hair actually is, and I'm really curious because I really responded to her concept art and I love her stock. Ice Rune has a definite peach tint in her blond hair and I love it, so I wouldn't mind if this girl has peachy hair too, and I love muted tones. I just think her studio pics aren't doing her any favors for me.

Here's a deer girl taking a peek:

I'm think I'm going to have a sale in my Etsy shop this week, starting tomorrow and ending on (American) Thanksgiving -- a little pre-"Black Friday" sale. Stay tuned.

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beautiful things

This girl! This girl. I haven't responded to the concept art on any girl since Dear Lele Girl -- but will she live up to the loveliness? I can't wait to see proper pictures of her. Her stock is absolutely precious, she's got pink hair (it seems like maybe it'll be in the Veronica Lace/Heart of Montmartre vein), and she's FBL!! I have come to love those little FBLs. Having PDPa in person has really made me see the difference, and while I have a super-big soft spot for RBLs I would love another FBL. I'm really in love with Simply Thumpty Thump too. But could this be the pink-haired girl I've been craving? Only time will tell...

Some other adorable things:

This tutorial for these sweet fabric pumpkins!

Beka at ginger*urchin has a bunch of amazing tutorials for Blythe Halloween costumes!! Loving this witch costume and can't wait to see what's next.

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PDP FTW

Happy September! It's raining outside; gray weather is my favorite. I am the opposite of people with S.A.D. -- I feel delicious when it's icky out and I am safe and warm inside. Today I'm doing some typing work, then finishing up another two deer hats. That's my goal, anyway!

Last night I made a purchase I've been hovering over for the past couple of months...

A Prima Dolly Paris. It's funny because I don't like her stock at all, so I didn't even look closer at her for a long while. But I found myself favoriting pics of her on Flickr every time I saw her, and I especially like ones that have been customized a little, so I will probably be doing a bit of that on her too. Not sure yet. You never can tell how you will feel about a girl when you meet her in person, and I still am nervous from not wanting to mess with Tailor Gibson!

Thanks to some good luck and to everyone who's bought hats lately... it's helped me save up for this girl! I expect her to be my last doll until next year. I am already window shopping for her (I don't know if it's just me, but I waver on Etsy purchases for so long sometimes that I miss them completely while I am waffling... I've already missed out on three dresses this past week). It's a good change from flickr-stalking. Here's a few pictures of other PDPs I love!

1. Blueberry forest II, 2. Theodora Love 3, 3. Doyle Spam, 4. Untitled, 5. Colette, 6. Candice camerawoman, 7. Theodora veste Cutie Store, 8. Luna, 9. Bambi

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feeling the Blythe love today

I am in love with this girl by Friends with Blythe. I actually really liked her with the MRB scalp too, but the RIT-dyed SL hair... ohhh. It's such a perfect pink. Not too bright or fluorescent, not too muted, deep and rosy. I'm really envious of whoever can afford this lovely creature.


This tree is my favorite place to take pics. Aury is my favorite subject. Thursday I'm going on a short trip to Dallas and I'm taking her with me! (Unfortunately the tree is too big to take, but I assume they'll have one or two in Texas.)

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