Suavitel!

I am really going full steam with this Blythe kick. I mean it’s insane and I can step back and see that but I don’t care. I fucking love every nutty minute of it!

Okay, so I’ve been telling myself that I need to get fabric softener to wash the girls hair. I’ve learned from the flickr groups and Blythe tutorial sites that you’re supposed to wash their hair with fabric softener, not regular shampoo. Until recently I hadn’t even really thought about what makes fabric softener different from liquid detergent. Naturally, I’ve always heard of fabric softener but I’ve never used it. I bought Woolite last year for a delicate Heatherette sweater I own and really love but apparently that’s not fabric softener.

Anyway I walked into Walgreens on Times Square after my photography class today. I walked over to the detergent isle where I saw large bottles of fabric softener but I was not trying to pay anything close to fifteen bucks just to wash my dolls’ hair. I scanned the shelf some more and there at the very top I saw it. Sauvitel. I remembered the name mentioned on a picture comment thread on flickr among some of the top Blythe crafters and collectors as a fabric softener they’d used to wash their dolls hair. And at $3.99 a bottle I immediately understood why. Perfect! There were two scents; disgusting and a little less disgusting so I picked out the latter in a yellow bottle said a silent hurray and checked out. When I got home I opened my mailbox with baited breath and found my third dress from Monkeyss on etsy. I squealed up the stairs to put it on Emily Sapphire and then remove her stock blue eye chips for a free pair I got from Blythedesires. It’s so on!

Smoking with friends

Smoking with friends
Originally uploaded by zanalee

Yesterday, at the last minute about an hour before I was due to meet up with a friend, I decided to go to Central Park East, near 110 and take Molly on a little trip down memory lane to a few places in the park, that I used to hang out when I was in high school. It was a wonderful day, warm and muggy but I loved the light and I had forgotten how nice that part of the park is and how close to me.

I still struggle with shyness about taking pics of Blythe in public and as i turns out, the Observatory is so perfect for my purposes. There are wonderful isolated but safe places there where people float in and out but at like 15 or 10 minute intervals. There is plenty of time to set up and imagine click away with out pressure or paranoia. I had a lot of fun. I will be going back there with the rest of the girls real soon.

It's started to give me ideas about a photo shoot which might be a more literal interpretation of things I did in the park with friends when I was in high school.

My Addiction Runneth Over

Item #741 (11.8 + 3.5) - available
Originally uploaded by annyblythe

On flickr they know how to find me. I swear I did not go looking for this.

Well actually I just bought two items from Sugarmag on Miss Blythe so I think that's why they added me. I am aching with adoration. *SIGH*

Hello Miss Blythe

At around 1:00 in the morning surfing around Blytheverse, I have stumbled upon a pearl. The Miss Blythe Store. My Blythe life has just been illuminated. It's a Blythe Doll, clothing accessory and etc resource totally separate from Ebay or TIBX (This is Blythe exchange) which I have to say with all due respect to Gina Garan is really hard to navigate. Miss Blythe is just a lovely clean interface, beautiful, informative, easy to use. However it is based in Europe but hey, you can't have it all.

Washing hair, trying clothes

I finally encouraged Nikki to put on some clothes. I found this dress for her on etsy. But I had to pin it in the back because I get the feeling it was intended for the original more busty Barbie that I grew up with. I love the patterns of these two fabrics.


Also I washed Molly's hair for the first time. I've read that I'm supposed to use fabric softener but I always forget to pick some up so I just used Woolite. Her hair is so funny when it's wet. It feels all heavy and like a bundle of sticks. It's squeaky and sounds like like steel when you comb it.

Back from the Bay

Believe it or not I was having dreams about my dolls on the plane to San Francisco. I think it was because I regretted not being able to take any of then with me but once I got there I was totally submerged in San Francisco and taking hundreds of pics wherever I went.

I think they had fun while I was away and as tired as I was getting back to NYC I was really happy to see them. I've been insanely contemplating purchasing another (had my eye on a Fruit Punch Blythe on ebay) but common sense has finally set in as I'm realizing how happy I am with the girls I have. I may have to get a cheap ADG though to embark on my Black Blythe customization. The idea was to use Emily Sapphire for this since she has been the initial guinea pig for my Blythe customization experiments but the thing is I love Emily Sapphire all the more because of the mistakes I've made with her. She still retains a certain sweet charm and distinctness that I love and I don't want to change her so extremely.

On the other hand it seems a bit crazy to buy another doll, no matter how cheap, just to take apart, sand, spray and possibly totally f*ck up. Well, we'll see. I've gotten really good at changing eye chips. But I still need to get some more pointers from my flickr groups before I even feel confident with this.

How to Make a Black Blythe Doll (The Journey Part1)

I've been doing some intense research online, specifically the "Black Blythe is Beautiful" group on Flickr which has many conversation threads around this subject. I posted topics, asked around. I received the message below in my flickr mail today. I've also been trying to reach out and get a sense of how many black women out there are collecting Blythe dolls and what their feelings are about the total lack of information on Black Blythe customization or the fact that Ashton Drake or Takara never made a black doll.

Hi!

Am trying to customize a black blythe doll and have seen that you've been looking on the same threads as I am. Have you had any luck?!? I'm just going to try a black skipper body with spray paint for plastic that matches for the face. Please let me know if you find anything out, and I will do the same for you. FunnyBunny is a very good source and very nice and helpful. Good luck!

Hi there!
I am slowly moving in the direction of customizing a black Blythe but I just feel there is a sadly lacking amount of instruction available on how to do so and I'm not sure why because I get the sense that a significant number of Blythe collectors want to make one. I have some superfine sanding paper, and I've got my eye on some vinyl spray paint on ebay motors because I read somewhere that this was the best spray especially for rubbery bendy parts like the legs. But i'm still terrified to open my Blythe's head. I don't know if I can put it back together right. And I'm not really confident about the sanding process either.

Pucchi collective has a lot of tutorials on everything but this. So far the only site I've found on one black blythe customization is by jazzmade but but even she claims that this worked for her and may not work for everyone. So I'm pushing on, looking everywhere I can. If I hear of anything I will definitely let you know!

: )