Introducing: NENETL NENETL; my VERY FIRST REAL BLYTHE DOLL!

Thanks to Patty in New Jersey, the one whom I adopted the Little Big Eyes dolls "4 sisters" from, who inspired me SO MUCH to TRY and find a "reasonably priced" real Blythe ...

I found her on the auction site ... for only $125. !  I thought that was pretty reasonable.  First of all, she was never played with and still in her original box.  Then, she was in the U.S., so I didn't have to stress about package delivery, overseas customs, or just plain items getting lost in transit (and if you are a seller on any auction site, you KNOW the issues that can occur!)

She is an ADG;  Ashton Drake Galleries edition of AZTEC ARRIVAL.  Apparently, that is the name of one of the ORIGINAL KENNER Blythe dolls, and Ashton Drake Galleries made some reproduction models of those original designs, keeping the same names.

Sellers photo of AZTEC ARRIVAL for adoption;  Ashton Drake Galleries edition

Another reason I was attracted to THIS doll, is her title:  In high school, prior to all the uproar regarding ethnic mascot names ... our mascot was AZTECS.  I was even in the Drill Team, and our parade costumes included a massive headdress, complete with Turquoise, black and white feathers!

THAT'S ME ... on the left :)

Okay, so BACK to HOW SHE GOT HER NAME:

I immediately went on-line to do a little research, and discovered an entire webiste (probably these are even more of these ... ) dedicated to the RIGHTFUL name of "Aztecs".  In a nutshell, the name/ title of "Aztec" is some sort of insult;  a name conjured up by Europeans. 

Here are the direct quote(s) from their site:

"Aztec" is a name conjured up by Europeans. 
We never called ourselves Aztecs. The Spaniards never called us Aztecs.

Our name is Mexica (Meh-sheeh-kah).

Aztec refers to our people when they lived in Aztlan. In Aztlan it would have been right to have used that word. But in the 16th century, "Aztec" was a word that was no longer used because all the people who came from Aztlan now called themselves Mexica, Tlaxcallan, Texcoco, Tlacopan, or any other of the names of the cities in which they lived. 


Please read the history below so that you will have a good understanding of the Nahuatl names you will be choosing for yourself or for your child. 

a) A ONE WORD NAME, no surname. You would use it twice in order to satisfy European occuppier legal requirements (Mazatl Mazatl or Tochtli Tochtli).

IT IS the tradition for their children to be named with the SAME FIRST AND LAST NAME !

Nahuatl Pronunciation:    How to pronounce words in Nahuatl:

TL: at the end of a word should just pronounce the T---the L should be silent.

So, after all that … I chose:  NENETL NENETL.  Which is pronounced “Nenet” … which means …

DOLL !  I think that is TOTALLY COOL !!!

NENETL NENETL
This is poooooor little factory Blythe, straight out of the box.
Her hair is a beautiful bronze/copper/red color, but the style is quite hideous.
Her FACE IS GREEN (apparently, a known issue with ADG girls).
Her eyeshadow is ALSO a hideous GREEN color.
And to add insult to injury, Ashton Drake decided to add
THE MOST HIDEOUS LIP COLOR to this poor girl!
Did they REALLY think that the PUKE-ISH, PINKY-PURPLE-MAUVY tone went well
with her GREEN TINTED COMPLEXTION and her GREEN EYE SHADOW
and her RED/COPPER HAIR?????
That is not even mentioning her STOCK eye chip colors, yikes.  PINK?  ORANGE?  REALLY????

However, as I am not a customizer ... and I MAINLY have her to model my CROCHET FASHIONS ... I am not sure how much I can do, that will cost little to no money, and require little to no skill ... but can change the MOST glaringly obvious "un-desireble" traits they gave her.

Another note here:  In all my extensive research, I have noticed and read where a doll owner will put her girl up for adoption, for the reason of "not bonding".  I guess it may be because I am of a possessive nature, being a "moon child" and cancer crab (we hold on tight with our little crab claws, and would rather the item break off in our claw, than to let go!  true fact. ) ... but, I could NEVER, EVER give away ANY doll that was once "mine".  (exception: if she was purchased for the reason of re-sale, remained in her box, kept in storage and I never took her out.)

Introducing: MOLLY MARINE; Little Big Eyes doll

MOLLY MARINE is one of the "4 sisters" from Patty in New Jersey.  I call her my GRAPE HAIRED GIRL. 

MOLLY MARINE in her STOCK green eye chips

Having a GRAPE / PURPLE hair doll can be, and is, a "challenge".  I don't think it is a very flattering shade for a healthy looking complexion.  Also, it is EXTREMELY difficult to photograph in natural light.  Flash seems to pick up the true color a bit, but in natural light, it looks BLUE!

Also, she is my 2nd grape hair doll ... so we shall SEE what I can come up with to individualize these precious girls :)

MOLLY MONIQUEE MARINE
This is the sellers picture;  her name was JENNA from Jersey

Molly also has a middle name ... MONIQUEE ..

Molly is the name of the USMC Mascot dog … and MY DOG too.

Moniquee is my daughter-in-law (well, that is what I call her ;)

Marine is MY SON.

Introducing: LENA LAROSSE; Little Big Eyes doll

LENA is one of the "4 sisters" from New Jersey, a Little Big Eyes model, with BRIGHT LEMON YELLOW hair.  I already have a Little Big Eyes doll with the same hair, same red stains on her feet from her red shoes ... so again, my mission and challenge is to help make them each individuals, and UNIQUE !

LENA LAROSSE
This is the picture from the seller in New Jersey.
Her name was "Samantha" ... and to me, in this picture, she looks like SAD SAMANTHA ...
I really am quite surprised that TWO dolls, with the exact same hair color, same mold, etc., can look so completely different ... but here you go ... it is TRUE.  I just hope she doesn't STAY sad ... now that she is a
CALIFORNIA GIRL !!!

LENA LAROSSE is the actual first and middle names I picked out for my first, and only child.  Since I was pregnant in the days PRIOR to ultrasound announcements (they had ultrasound;  they just were not ALLOWED to reveal the sex of your child, due to lawsuits, or whatever ... )  ... so in those days, everyone naturally had TWO names ready ... MY CHILD IS A BOY !!!

LENA LAROSSE is also a FAMILY name;  belonged to my Father's Aunt, his mother's sister.

Introducing: KIRSTYN KAVALERI; Little Big Eyes doll

This is KIRSTYN KAVALERI, one of the "4 sisters" from New Jersey, Black Hair model

KIRSTYN KAVALERI
This is the picture from the seller, Patty 
 (she was named Jade, and was a Jersey girl, but NOW she is KIRSTYN KAVALERI, A CALIFORNIA GIRL!)

KIRSTYN is named after an actual girl in my life named KIRSTYN ... sadly, another girl I lost.  She is still on this planet, but just lost "to me".  I love her very much.

The name "KAVALERI" is a version of the REAL girl with that name, who I think embodies strength and inspiration for ALL GIRLS.

Introducing: JAY~ANNA JULY ~ Little Big Eyes doll

(okay, I skipped a few letters of the alphabet ... I will most likely catch up later, but I had a brain-freeze with the letters  F, G, H, and I .... )

Jay-Anna July

She is one of the Little Big Eyes dolls, that also has very special meaning to me.  I was searching the on line auction site, as usual, and I found a lady who was offering THE ENTIRE SET OF 4 Little Big Eyes Dolls!  Not only that, but ... ALL AT ONCE, in ONE auction! 

Well, I know I already have 3 of them ... but I figured, for my DESIGNS, I will NEED a lot of models, so I sent her a little message, thanking her for offering them "all together", and her reply was so sweet and she said she wanted them to "stay together" !  Now, how sweet is THAT???

Further, after I won the auction, she introduced me to the ENTIRE BLYTHE (and clone) WORLD on flickr!  She is a very special person, indeed!

ACTUAL auction site pic from seller (Patty)
L to R:  JAY-ANNA, Lena, Kirstyn, Molly
All 4 are LITTLE BIG EYES dolls, by Streetwise Designs, 2001
Series 1

So, the "4 sisters" arrived from New Jersey, and my mission was to make them all into "CALIFORNIA GIRLS" !   These girls ALSO had special meaning to me, because I AM ONE OF 4 SISTERS as well :)

Jay-Anna is my "favorite" .... there is just SOMETHING about her raspberry color hair, I LOVE !

She is named after my son, and ME!

Jay-Anna … Me and Jason

JULY is my birth month  :)

JAY~ANNA JULY
Little Big Eyes doll ~ raspberry hair
Pictured here with her STOCK pink eye chips; shiny face, original make-up and hair style
She is wearing corduroy overalls and tee from my extensive Barbie collection fashions
(plus a little RUBY bracelet I made just for her ... Birthstone for JULY ;)

Introducing EmALY EriKA; Little Big Eyes Doll

EmALY EriKA is a VERY SPECIAL doll, indeed.

With a VERY SPECIAL NAME. 

EmALY EriKA pictured in her STOCK pink eye chips, and GRAPE HAIR
(BOTH of which were changed out later ...)

Quite a lengthy explanation, but I feel it is totally necessary ... I DO name my girls FOR A REASON:

Her name is comprised of parts of the first names of FOUR GIRLS I never met.  These girls, and their story, are indelibly etched in my mind..  Three of these girls are sisters;  the other one is their cousin (the daughter of the 3 girls mother’s only brother.)

What happened was, one summer not too long ago, (July 26, 2009 to be exact) they all went camping with their families.  The mother of the 1 girl ( the aunt of the 3 sisters) was driving ALL of them home after camping. 

At some point during the trip home, that Mother/Aunt decided that she would DRINK.  ALCOHOL.  And drink QUITE A BIT.  So much so, that at one point, she became disoriented, she couldn’t see, and one of her little nieces even tried to call her Dad to say she was concerned.

Instead of stopping and waiting for help, she drove head-on into an SUV traveling the opposite direction.  On the freeway.  ALL 4 PRECIOUS GIRLS WERE LOST.  And that was in addition to the lost lives of the Mother/Aunt/Drunk driver, PLUS the additional 3 MEN in the SUV. 

My thoughts when I read this, were NOT for the girls, of course, but for the survivors ... most specifically ... the PARENTS of the girls!!!!  Having 3 DAUGHTERS …. And losing them ALL IN  ONE INSTANT.  ALL TOGETHER.   JUST GONE. 

UN-BELIEVABLE. 

ALL I WANTED TO DO was to name ONE OF MY GIRLS, IN THEIR HONOR.  (And a ‘strange’ thing was, when I began to purchase my girls, the story of these 4 girls came to mind, once again, here in 2011.  I went on-line to look up their names … and lo and behold ... ONE OF THEM JUST HAD A BIRTHDAY, THAT VERY WEEKEND.  VERY eerie.  But to me, mere CONFIRMATION.

  

SO, here are their names:  Alyson, Emma, Kate,  Erin

I wrote them all down, tried to use initials, tried to use their last name initials, and NOTHING was coming to me.  I finally put it all away, it was boggling my brain, and a few days later, I took out the papers, and the name practically JUMPED OUT at me !

It is INDEED a little piece of EACH of their names (and I did NOT concern myself in which ORDER):

EM is for Emma  +  ALY is for Alyson =  EmAly  (pronounded Emily)

ERI  is for Erin  +  KA is for KATE  =  EriKA


(More updated pictures of her later ... after all the GIRLS' make-overs ... )

Introducing: DALLET DARLING; Basaak Doll from Thailand

DALLET DARLING:  "DALLET" is a name I made up.  I am not sure it IS a real name, but it starts with a "D" and it rhymes with "ballet", and since the word "ballet" is French, therefore, Dallet is a FRENCH name ~ WHICH represents another GIRL that I lost.

"Darling" is well, just Darling, and the last name of Annie, a FAVORITE character in a series of “fun mystery” books I LOVE by Carolyn Hart.

She has the shiny face, and awesome PINK HAIR that I love so much!  She also has the "twist waist" body type that is the closest to the "real" Blythe doll of all the clones.