Saturday with Emily: One thing leads to another

At some point in the day I got off my ass and decided to continue Emily's thermal orange re-root which has been sitting in my drawer for longer than I care to mention. I finished doing a patch in the front and the decided I should give her some gaze correction so I opened her up and shaved her t-bar down a bit. Then I decided she needed new pull strings. Emily is the first Blythe I ever purchased and she's had the same old worn out pull string for years.

I found some red ribbon I had in a craft drawer and some cute pull charms I had saved and then decided if I was going to give her new pull strings and charms, I might as well give her sleep eyes. I've never done this on an ADG Blythe before and wasn't sure there might be something that might prevent it from working. But it was no different from doing it on an RBL and it worked perfectly. I love how she looks!




My next project with Emily is to maybe paint her lids (probably a blue tone) and then give her these fabulous multicolored eye lashes that I bought from Melly Kay a while back. I think they will go perfectly with her new flaming orange thermal changing re-root.

Reya Light Featured on Blythe Fashion!

Just  a week or so ago I got a flickr mail from Anne Torres of "Blythe Fashion" a blog about handmade Blythe clothes which was started in 2008. She asked if she could use some images of mine from my Blythe Warmers etsy shop in a blog entry she was working on showcasing not only the ponchos I knit but also having a discussion about the lack of Black Blythes used on etsy shops to showcase handmade Blythe fashions.

This of course spirals naturally into a conversation about Black and Brown Blythes in general and why in spite the large demand and high sales of Heather Sky the one "tanned" Blythe, Takara has ever manufactured, there is still no talk of making an actual, identified "Black Blythe." The discussion of my customizing my first Black Black Blythe, Reya Light carries over into how this reflects a need in the Blythe community expressed by many other other collectors in their own Black Blythe customs.

It's a very brilliant piece and Anne makes a lot of very intelligent points about the tensions between the fantasy of Blythe dolls and the reality that plays into how they are manufactured and identified by both companies and those who collect them. I am really honored to be featured on this blog and I definitely recommend reading it.

Blythe, for me is one of those wildly enigmatic hobbies that exemplify what happens when play, fantasy, craft and reality intersect and I think Anne's blog entry frames this phenomenon exceptionally.  I believe it has the potential to create a larger narrative around this hobby than has perhaps been considered before. At least I hope so.

How Bowie was Born

Looking at Mango Bowie now, I often forget that she was not even a Simply Mango Blythe to start. She's a hybrid; a Prima Dolly Aubrey whose cute reddish bob I sold and switched for a Simply Mango scalp which I adore and then completely re-did her make-up several times! I sand matted her, carved her lips, gave her  freckles, changed three sets of her eye chips and gave her a pair of ultra long two toned lashes which I love and I also feel make her really unique. I sealed her Bowie inspired make-up with MSC and gave her custom pull strings and pull rings. I was a bit scared at first that I'd gone too far her make-up but realized that I had to take some risks making her colors a bit bolder if she was going to have a Bowie like rock chick vibe. I still want to change one of her eye chips in one set of eyes so that she has two different eye colors like David Bowie himself but that's forth coming. For now, she's pretty much done and I am so happy with how she came out.  She photographs really well and seems to have an entirely new spirit.

I think that customizing my Blythes or having them customized really makes me feel that they're one of a kind and really my own. What goes into making each one unique really creates a look that brings out a special story in each little face. And that story is ever changing.

I'm really starting to get a hankering to do another custom soon. It just feels so good once it's done and being on flickr all the time looking all the incredible work of Blythe artists every day is so inspiring!

Kyi Lynn, a flickr friend who purchased my book Little Brown Blythe has just completed her own Brown Blythe recently and I just love seeing all her process pictures! Her girl, Evangeline is sooo beautiful! I really love the shade she used on her and her overall vision for Evangeline is just so very sweet and playful! She also happens to be an exceptional photographer and super creative! I so look forward to seeing her images in my Flickr contacts stream. I think she's definitely one to watch for in Blythe land!
: )