NYC Blythe Meet Blast!

Mellisa's Lovely Pink Mohaired Girl

I was actually the second one to arrive at St. Alps Teahouse, which means that Mellisa, the organizer was already there as I walked in, she was setting out her dolls (she has more than anyone I know!) on the little tables and taking pics. Oh, I can't tell you how exciting it feels to arrive early and to set my girls out next to Mellisa's and greet everyone else as they arrived just shortly after, some new faces but mostly ones I know. Linda (Hollychan) and her daugther Katie (Blythechan) and Katja (BlytheOwl) Erica, (Ericaduh) and Georgette (I'm not sure I know her name on Flickr, then Damon (devolanges) and Siri who I met for the first time but have seen very often on flickr as IriS*blakK. It's so funny meeting people whose work and you probably are very familiar with and have probably chatted with online but have never met before. I've gotten used to being called by my flickr name, Zanalee. I will say my real name and people are fuzzy and then I say Zanalee and they're like "Ahhhh!!!" LOL!!


Hong's Blythe Licca


Anyway, our little space in the back of St. Alps got pretty full really quickly and within minutes it was abuzz with activity, fabulous Blythes, cameras snapping and bubble tea sipping. I;m so glad to have had this be my third meet. I was so much more relaxed this time.I was able to float around from conversation to conversation of just be quiet, sip my amazing tea (Black Sesame. Uhmmm the best!!) and take pictures and just disappear into the amazing faces of all these incredible customized Blythes, stock Blythes, Kenner Blythes and even *SIGH* a beautiful charismatic, absolutely heart stealing BL that belonged to Hong. You will see in my Blythe Meet stream that I took several of her. God, she just radiates! If any body really loves me, a Goldie or Hollywood Bl for Christmas will be proof of that. LOL!! No, really.

Mango Bowie and Gina!

Afterward, we took our customary stroll to Gina Garan's studio where this time I met her son Carpenter for the first time. He greeted us on the hallway where we could already here Gina's voice echoing from her studio. It's always an amazing experience being in Gina's studio and she is just such a genuinely cool lady.

Incidentally, I noticed a lot of new dolls in the space I hadn't seen before and happy to see that there were several dolls of color among them. Not that I feel she is at all responsible to have any around. But it was nice to see more than before. There were these adorable customized petites that I don't remember before at all. Oh! They were so sweet! I wanted to look at every one! It looked as if she had just gotten in a large shipment of stuff because there were lots of boxes stacked on the right as we came in. Some were Blythe wigs and others dolls and some really cool Blythe glasses that I had to tear myself away from.

I was very restrained in my purchases this time. The truth is I had a pretty good idea what I needed for the girls. I just got two tops from Moshi Moshi, waiting on a hat from BK and ahem, have a HOP dress being commissioned as I write this. I'm doing okay. I need to scale back a bit and focus on custom stuff so I mostly bought eye chips I really liked and a few clothes. I had to put away a couple of pairs of shoes I liked because I went over my budget a bit but all in all I got what I needed within my means.

I chatted with Gina a bit about really wanting to have a meet which included customizers so that we could have some carving and make-up tutorials. She said I should drop her a line around the Spring to talk about arranging something. I would be sooooo jazzed for that! Imagine? I mean that would rock my socks!! LOL!!

I also had a great chat with Erica about making Black Blythes and she told me a little about her technique coloring eyelids with pastels. Her work is just amazing. Also, it's become apparent that I should be using MSC (Mr. Super Clear) to seal in my work when I'm done to protect it I suppose from smudging and other elements. I've been aware of the use of MSC in doll customs for a while now but I wasn't sure how necessary it was to use until I spoke with Erica. So I'll have to get some pretty soon.

I also talked a bit of camera shop with Katie because I saw that she was shooting with a film camera at the meet and she had a lomo flash attached to Nikon EM which turned out to be the exact same model I have. I was impressed with the attachment of the plastic powder blue Lomo attached to this old black manual camera. She showed me the adapter that allowed the flash to be compatible with it. She also told me about the cool effects you can get shooting expired film. I've seen many photos I love shot with expired film on flickr so I'm really excited to try it myself.  So I had a really great time. I mean I was on a high all day afterward! But that could also be because I was starving and forgot to to eat anything all day besides that bubble tea. LOL!!