Notes on Customization of Blythe Dolls: MAKE-UP

MAKE-UP                

After sand matting faces, you may want to put color back into your doll's face.  There are a few tutorials on-line to help you do this.  

All faces sanded ... now to spray with MATTE clear, prior to make-up application

close-up of face-up BEFORE

Airbrush method:  I DO NOT OWN AN AIRBRUSH painter.  I do not have any intention of becoming a professional customizer, or investing in the (costly?) equipment.  I just wanted to make a NICE FACE on each of my girls.  NOTHING too fancy …. Just a nice and NATURAL looking.  But here is what I have found:

LBE and BLYBE TYPE CLONES with HARD PLASTIC FACES: 

          EVEN though you have sand-matted their faces …. The pucci collective is correct:  IT IS HARD TO GET PASTELS (chalk) TO SHOW ANY REAL COLOR !!!  I tried and tried and TRIED …. Until I CRIED !  I was thinking, DARN I came this far, HOW COME THE COLOR WON’T STAY !!!!!?????? #%^^$@$^^$##@*&!!!  I had CHALK DUST EVERYWHERE …. But NONE OF IT was sticking to the doll !!!!  ARGH !!!  I ended up just putting my FINGER into the chalk and dust I had on paper, GROUNDING it in … then GROUNDING it into the FACE! 

I know …. I NEVER saw or read ANYONE giving THAT ADVICE …. But at this point, I did not care, I just did what ever worked!  

[ I bought two chalk sets:  One at Michael's and one at JoAnn's.  Very reasonable prices.   Just be sure they are NOT oil pastels. ]

Planning what hues for each girl, to be sure they all look DIFFERENT

 RE:  Face-ups using paint

            I did SEE a nice YOU-TUBE video on “how to suck less at face-ups”.  [ I should go find that again to give her the credit she deserves ... ] The artist was VERY good, and she was making sort of a dolfie~pullip type doll … from scratch (blank face).  Her advice was to get GOOD artist quality paints (advice I should have had at the beginning, before I started all my eye chip mania … );  and a good ‘medium’ … not water. 

TIP to save $$$:  Use disposable plastic when painting.  Normally not much paint is used/ needed, so little plastic pieces are perfect for this ... then you can just throw them away!

 

She also used MR. SUPER CLEAR, and for the life of me, I know it is reportedly the BEST, and you just have to have it, etc…… but I was NOT going to go back on ebay and spend one more DIME, and who knows?  Maybe it would not WORK on the CLONES!  So, forget it. 

I just went to Michaels Craft store and got some “KRYLON Super Clear” in matte for preserving pastel (and other) type works.  I just thought:  I WILL TRY IT on my ‘murder victim’ and see if it works.  I tried it … it was “so so” …. But STILL not as good as THE REAL BLYTHE DOLL WAS/ IS….. without spraying anything.  I also concede that the benefits of using MSC vs. another brand may ONLY be noticable "in the long run" ... but for me ...and for now ... it worked perfectly fine.  I have seen no changes, no yellowing, etc. for the past 9 months ...

Back to the video  ...   ANOTHER thing I liked about her video was:  she HAD WORDS ON THE SCREEN !  This is VERY RARE on You-Tube, but helped me tremendously …. Because I was viewing them on a computer without speakers, and I “got” everything she was teaching.  So, THANK YOU.

MAKE-UP PROGRESS ...

           

I normally don't the “stock” green and / or blue eye shadow that I have seen on factory-issue Blythe dolls … so I knew I would not only be REMOVING any existing eyeshadow, but NOT trying to duplicate it either.  I DID however, see some very interesting ideas on flickr, which I tried to … well, not exactly COPY, but emulate.  OF COURSE, when I got out my pastel chalk, and it didn’t stick….. The EYESHADOW that I did try, that eventually stuck …. looks like CRAP. 

Just a little experimenting with acrylic water-based paint to see if I could make LIPS ...

This was my attempt to put "frosted" lines on a solid color lip ... sort of an "apple" effect ....

 

            The CHEEKS look ‘so-so’ … From a distance.  Close-up … not so much.  I am thinking that it HAS TO BE the HARD PLASTIC again.   Because when I tried to put even just a TINY bit of pastel on the REAL BLYTHE ….. IT STUCK IMMEDIATELY!  So, there you have it.

Here is another tip:  When painting on faces:  Just stick to acrylic paint.  I did attempt to ADD a bit of my own lip gloss to the paint, and it sure did LOOK GOOD ... but then a flickr friend told me:  DON'T DO IT !  THE OIL IN THE LIP GLOSS WILL ERODE THE PLASTIC ... and he was right!  So, Thank You Sailorb :)

There just has to be some "secrets" that I have not found, or that I just don't "get".  I know that a layer of MSC (Mr. Super Clear) prior to make-up is supposed to give the chalk "legs" to stick to ... so I can't fully complain, as I did not use that. 

At this point, all I really wanted to do, was to GET TO MY DESIGNS already!   And so ...



* Disclaimer on ALL of my NOTES:  I am not a true customizer.  I have only done the few girls that I own, 7 Little Big Eyes, 2 Blybe, and one real Blythe.  The caliber and skill and professionalism that is so evident by the lovely flickr pictures ... well there is no comparison to my extreme amateur attempts.  HOWEVER, ALL I really wanted to do was to change them from the hideousness that I saw, into just a teeny bit more beautiful, for my own pleasure and sense of accomplishment.  I do not now, or ever, plan to offer my own skills at customization ... the reason for these blog entries is to help the few out there who would like to do just a few little steps, without spending ANOTHER huge amount on their already expensive girls.

Notes on Customization of Blythe Dolls: EYES: EYE LASHES

THIS SECTION will be all about EYE LASHES:

First of all, I HATE the factory lashes.  I just don’t like them AT ALL.

I knew right off the bat, they were ALL going …. Real Blythe and Clones alike.

            LBE’s lashes came RIGHT OUT, no problem.  LBE lashes are BROWN.  They are attached BEHIND the eyelid, and not inside a “slit” like real Blythe and Blybe. 

LASHES of an LBE Doll:  Attached to lid with tiny piece of masking tape

Obviously the eye mech is also completely different on an LBE doll, as it is not controlled with a string and tiny spring, but a massive, huge spring that is connected to a BUTTON on the back of her head.  This button also has a sticker attached with the words:  PUSH HERE.  Not kidding. 

            So, REPLACE ALL EYELASHES.  Sounds easy enough …. But OH NO !  So sorry Cheap Girl, but You bought yourself an ADG as your first Blythe … the one with the eyelashes SUPER-GLUED IN!!!! 

            After removing the LBE lashes and the Blybe lashes without incident … I tried the real Blythe.  NOPE.  Not coming out.  For anything. 

So, what does Cheap (stupid) girl do?  Yep, I got out my ACETONE and proceeded to try and get them out with a Q-tip soaked in acetone!  Yikes!!!  So of course the acetone proceeded to eat up the plastic.  For some bizarre reason, maybe perhaps due to all the other sh—I have been through, I could not find myself to CARE!  I just thought, oh great, whatever!  And truthfully … THE ACETONE DID NOT EVEN WORK !!!!!  I ended up with a MANGLED EYE MECH, and never got all the pieces of lashes out, or whatever it is they have in there!  THIS all and mainly due to the fact that I could not find ANYWHERE on line, any helpful hints regarding the lashes of The Ashton Drake Galleries BLYTHE dolls!

            Not to worry, I told Nenetl (her name) … I will still make you BEAUTIFUL!!!  WHO CARES if your eyelids are all mangled?  When I get done, no one will even NOTICE !  

ORIGINAL eyechips (spokes) and lashes (plastic)

AFTER:  Removed stock eyelashes;  replaced with 2 pair of lashes for women

SEE!  You can hardly tell she has mangled eyelids ... don't look TOO closely  ;)

            ACTUAL LASHES:  WHY pay $5. or more for a pair of “Blythe eyelashes” …. When you can go to the 99 Cent Store and get them there?  I purchased 15 pair, because I planned to double-up on them, and to me, one of the smartest thing that this Cheap Girl has found for her Girls !

           BLYTHE DOLL;  INSTALLING LASHES:  Just a bit more difficult ... due to the fact that even though there was a "slit" for installing the lashes, I found this to be too limiting a space for the effect I was going for. 

            LBE DOLLS;  INSTALLING LAHSES:  I KNEW that the original stock lashes were installed BEHIND the eyelid, so I applied a TEENY-TINY bit of tacky glue on each lash (eyelash glue DOES NOT STICK to plastic) and of course the lashes are NOT going to stay in a curved position while drying, so I had to use straight pins stuck into her eye ... to anchor each one down with 3 pins at a time for a few minutes, before moving on to the next lash …. X 7 dolls … 2 eyes each …. Deep sigh.

            ON Blybe:  DUE to the fact that the plastic is SO HARD, and NOT PLIABLE IN THE LEAST, even inserting a pin in each side was not working.  And of COURSE I broke one of her eye slits too, because the pin just slipped and chipped the plastic.  Again, here’s me:  WHAT.EVER.

            On ADG BLYTHE:  AFTER totally anhiliating the eye mech … (have you ever seen plastic treated with acetone in addition to a person digging into it with a dull exacto tool? ) … I decided to just GLUE THE LASHES ON TOP of the supposed “slit” that was now more like a big trough, but not an empty trough … a trough filled with ?  whatever the heck they put in ADG eyelash slots!  Could not get that crap out for ANYTHING!  So, on top of the slit AREA, I glued one row of lashes.  THEN, on top of THAT, I glued ANOTHER ROW of lashes.  And if I need to, I will PAINT part of the eye mech BLACK ... sort of like an eyeliner ...to further try and hide any traces of what I have destroyed.  Poor, POOR, Blytheeeee !

* Disclaimer on ALL of my NOTES:  I am not a true customizer.  I have only done the few girls that I own, 7 Little Big Eyes, 2 Blybe, and one real Blythe.  The caliber and skill and profesionalism that is so evident by the lovely flickr pictures ... well there is no comparison to my extreme amateur attempts.  HOWEVER, ALL I really wanted to do was to change them from the hideousness that I saw, into just a teeny bit more beautiful, for my own pleasure and sense of accomplishment.  I do not now, or ever, plan to offer my own skills at customization ... the reason for these blog entries is to help the few out there who would like to do just a few little steps, without spending ANOTHER huge amount on their already expensive girls.

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: 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 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: BERTHA BELLE; Little Big Eyes Doll

My next girl, is also an LBE (Little Big Eyes) doll. 

Her name is BERTHA BELLE.

She is named after ~

MY 2 GRANDMOTHERS,  both of whom are not on earth, but they both lived very long and happy lives, and my three sisters and I were very fortunate to have them around for a lot of our lives, and even our childen's lives:

Bertha is my Dad’s Mother;

Belle is my Mom’s Mother’s middle name, well, actually it is ella, but close enough.


BERTHA came wearing her stock pullover knitted sweater in off white, with a red heart in the center.  She has on denim bell-bottom pants, and red mary-jane style platform shoes.  All the LEMON HAIR blonde LBE dolls have red stained feet from these shoes:

I did try a few methods to get rid of the stains, but for me personally, I do not plan to showcase her barefoot, or take any photo shoots with her not wearing shoes, and/or stockings/socks.  The feet of the LBE dolls are also quite a bit larger than Blythe, so in order for her to fit into these fashions, I plan to modify all of their feet, making them smaller, just for the purpose of fashionable footwear! 

WHAT'S IN A NAME ?

Prior to beginning to make any changes in the appearance of any of my GIRLS ... I thought I should give them each a NAME....

In the tradition of the original names that Kenner gave their Blythe dolls in the 70's, by utilizing alliterations (i.e., Kozy Kap, Lounging Lovely, Medieval Mood, Golden Goddess, Roaring Red ... well, you get the idea ... )

The very first doll I saw on the auction site, reminded me so much of a person that I knew at one time ... a very young girl, but the undeniable pouty look on her face ... well, it was quite spooky actually.  So that is how it all began ... I shall introduce all my girls, and show pictures of them in their original, factory, "stock" condition, outfits, and features.

How I arrived in Blythe World

I did not have a Blythe doll in the 70's as a child, as I was probably too old at that time.  I do have younger sisters, but I don't remember this doll at all.  I didn't even play with dolls all that much when I was growing up, because I was too busy.  I am one of 4 daughters, and surprisingly, none of us played with dolls!  We did have some baby dolls growing up, I am sure, but nothing memorable.  We were either outside playing with our neighborhood full of friends, swimming in our pool, riding our bikes, or doing house and yard work!  I also spent most of my free indoor time reading.  I was such an early and heavy reader, that I would use a flashlight at night when I was supposed to go to bed, and when I got older, my MOM made me go out on my first date, because she thought I stayed in too much!  Not much has changed :)

I learned how to knit and crochet when I was about 8, from our Grandma.  We were all taught, but I am the only one who still to this day enjoys the needlecrafts.  I love to create ... knitting and sewing included, but crochet is my favorite.  I call it my "therapy".

I did start a Barbie collection, but that began only in 1992, and I was already 35 by then.  My sister bought me a Barbie (as a joke, really) for Easter that year, because I used to wear this hideous gold-tone bathing suit top ... and that year they had "Sunshine Barbie" ... wearing a shiny gold suit like mine!  And she had blonde hair, so she thought it was funny.  I opened that Barbie ... and I fell in INSTANT love.  I was much more asset liquidated at that time in my life, so I was able to buy quite a few Barbies.  This was pre-ebay you must remember, and all I had was Toys R Us, and some other misc. toy stores here and there.  I also had a 5 year old (son) and so every trip we made to the toy store for Ninja Turtles ... had me in the Barbie section, adding to my collection!

The thing about Barbie collecting though ... they must STAY inside their boxes ... well, to be "worth" anything later.  I knew this.  But seriously, who has room for all that display?  I had so many Barbies, in their boxes, but they were just piled up, stacked up, and being stored in larger boxes ... in the garage!  How enjoyable is THAT?

Enter the computer age ... the ebay years (when it was FUN) ... 1999 and a few years after.  WHAT did I find out about all my precious Barbies that I had been toting around for 10 years?  THEY WERE NOT WORTH ANYTHING!  And ... they still aren't!  I had Barbies that were so beautiful, and special to me ... but basically worthless.  The ones you could go to Target that day and "find" ... were worth MORE!  So, I basically sold off as many as I could, the ones without sentimental value, i.e., not gifts from my friends and loved ones.  But they remained in their boxes, either way. 

Fast forward to ... 2008.  I took up crochet again, in a very strong way.  (Long explanation of how THAT all happened, at a later time.)  I basically stuck with either squares, to be put together later ... or whole afghans (i.e. SQUARE shapes).  NO fancy stitches, no color changes, etc.  Just plain, straight forward "crochet as therapy" for me.  My family thinks I am a crazy person, rightfully so, because that became the ONLY thing I ever WANTED to do  (besides work of course, which I have to do, every day, 5 days a week, for my entire life).

But something quite magical happened during the Holiday Season of 2010.  I was searching for an idea to make a Holiday/ Christmas afghan ... and one of my searches came up with "crochet turkey".  I thought, "oh, man, I have to see this!", because there is a website called "what not to crochet" and if you have never visited that site, you should.  It had me falling off my chair laughing, so many times, it is HILARIOUS!  It basically features HIDEOUS items made from crochet, either from vintage pattern books, or even things they have found today ... but the commentary is just priceless.  (I also acknowledge the stigma attached to crochet items.  When we were growing up, things like "tissue holders", kitchen items, "useful" gadgets, all made by usually your Grandma, were, um ...hideous!  So when I began to crochet, I was bound and determined to stay clear of hackneyed designs and try and make fresh, new, exciting designs, using bright and modern color combinations (Sarah London is a HUGE influence ... she is THE MASTER). 

Anyway, I digress ... Looking at that cute little "crochet turkey" ... just did something to me.  I printed out the pattern, and proceeded to take it home and try and make it ... I didn't even have to buy anything, I had every color of yarn already!  (Picture below is what came with the pattern:)

Of COURSE I screwed up the pattern, reading it wrong ... however, I ended up LOVING it more than their example of what it was supposed to look like!  I could just picture in my mind ... showing up on Thanksgiving Day, plunking the turkey in the center of the table, and my family would be SO IMPRESSED! 
(Picture below is MY turkey ... inside a wreath my sister had up for decor that day ...)

But first ...


I took him to work.  I placed him on my desk, which is front-and-center to several companies, so it was seen by all.  One person in particular loved it so much, she asked me "do you think you could make me one, plus 6 babies?"  WHAT ???  I mean, this ONE TURKEY took me ALL WEEKEND to do ... but for some reason ... I could not say no!    (Below:  The little Turkey Family I made for my friend ... )

And see, THAT right there, is what got me started ... I discovered that my little turkey, is what they call "amigurumi" ... which has its OWN little world!  I began another obsession (you will see ... that IS my nature ;)   I figured, since I could do all those turkeys ... I could surely do some Christmas decorations!  I started with an Angel tree topper ... tackled an entire Snowman Family of 4 ... and then, in my search for "ornaments" ... I saw it ... THE MOST adorable MINI-SWEATER ORNAMENT!!!  Well, I knew right then, I just HAD TO make those!  Had to! 

I began searching ONLY for the sweater ornaments ... checking out designs, patterns, figuring out how to make my own mini-hangers ... because to buy them was either WAY too expensive, or impossible to find any that SMALL!  AND.... here is (finally !) where Blythe comes in ... in my search for "Mini-Sweaters" ... came the most STRANGE looking doll I had ever seen .... BLYTHE!!!  I thought "geez, really?  what is all the interest in this kooky looking doll???"  and didn't give her another thought.  That is until ...

This is one of my crochet cardigans, on AshLeigh Aqua, a Little Big Eyes Doll

I discovered ETSY !  OH MAN?  AGAIN, I came to the realization, there is a HUGE following and deman for items for these Blythe doll lovers / collectors ... and I was on another obsession.  But first .... okay, here it comes .... I needed MODELS for my designs!  If I was going to offer my little sweaters to these Blythe lovers, then, I would need to SHOW THEM what their girls would look like ... not to mention the SIZE had to be just right.  Surely I could get me a Blythe doll ...

RIGHT!  Are you KIDDING ME?  OVER $100. for a used, nude, no-box, who-knows-if it is authentic, doll from overseas?????  You KNOW what I am saying.  Enter the enticing world of ... (Blythe snobs, cover your ears here:  CLONES !)  I am no snob.  I am no debutante, and I have certainly never been spoiled.  In any way.  By anyone.  EVER.  Not because I don't think I deserve it.  NO.  But because I would never ALLOW that to happen.  Firmly believing that all things come to an end, I could not bear it to lose a style I had become accustomed to, so I just stay in the middle ground ... of EVERYTHING.  My choice.

I also am known to not only "root" for the underdog, but BE an underdog.  Off brands don't bother me, if they can still do the job.  I have grown up being resourceful, out of necessity.  I WILL make it happen; if I make up my mind to do something, I will do it.  (Or at least give it the ol' college try ...)  My first thoughts are to try and get it done as efficiently and inexpensively as I can, but there ARE those things:  you just can NOT comprimise on.  And yes, BLYTHE included ...

I am known to be an intense and extensive research artist.  I never jump into anything, without researching the heck out of the subject.  Even before the internet!  In my research, for all things Blythe, as you can imagine, I did see the "Clone World".  I did notice how inferior the poor little clones were, but I thought, heck, all I need is a MODEL!  I don't need a REAL BLYTHE for Heaven's sakes! ... just to make a little crochet sweater! 

My discovery of "LITTLE BIG EYES" had a huge impact on me.  The first one I ever saw was probably on flickr.  Her face was not even comparable to Blythe, I thought.  She looks pouty, sad, moody, even mad ... where Blythe looked more like she had a shy little grin, and even a hint of a smile.  Due to the fact that the Little Big Eyes dolls were SO ugly ... I knew I just had to have one.  I thought she would do PERFECTLY FINE for what I needed her for ... a model.

I ordered her on the auction site, not more than $25. . . and she came from the USA.  I not only was not breaking my bank account, but I wasn't stressing about her delivery.   The very MOMENT I opened that box, and saw her face ... well, I am sure that is how Blythe owners feel about their first Blythe ... but  this feeling for me, was with my LITTLE BIG EYES ... AshLeigh Aqua.  (More on how I named my Girls in a later post).

I took her home, IMMEDIATELY took her out of that box, removed the hideous clothes that she had been wearing for about 10 years (KB Toy Stores sold these in 2001, I believe) ... and stayed up all night making her a nice, comfy, plush spa robe, complete with a waist-tie accented in spring green color, a hairband for her gorgeous hair, and a pair of matching slippers with pom-poms!  THAT is how much I LOVE her!

As you can imagine, it didn't end there.  I now had to search for SISTERS !!!  I wanted her to have 3 sisters, just like I have.  I was going to call my label "Four Sisters Designs".  (but later discovered this was too common, there are a lot of 'sister' names out there).  AshLeigh got her first sister, Bertha Belle, probably a couple of weeks later, also from an auction site, also from USA.  She got the same "spa treatment" when she came "home" ... as they all have.


Two lead to three ... which lead me to ... overseas!  Yes, I wanted to SEE for myself, the "clones" that were closer to how the real Blythe looked.  And all this time, I was researching, reading, looking at pictures, tutorials, etc.  So I was INFORMED.  I just wasn't "hooked" yet ...

My two girls from Hong Kong arrived shortly, and now I had 5.   PERFECT number.  Plenty!  Now, just start crocheting and get on with it!!!  Yeah, right.  I was like the obsessed collector ... just "checking" to see if there were any other Little Big Eyes out there.  Enter PATTY, from New Jersey.  She listed HER girls, ALL 4 OF THEM, at one time, on the auction site!  To me, this was PERFECT!  I wouldn't have to pay shipping times 4, and too, I did not NEED their original boxes!  I knew I was going to USE them.  Which leads me to another thing I love about the Blythe World of collectors ... as opposed to the Barbie World of collecting:  The Blythe World actually ENJOYS, AND PLAYS, AND DRESSES, AND PHOTOGRAPHS their dollies, even making them "talk" !   This was VERY appealing to me.  I was DONE living with crates of "treasures" that didn't even see the light of day, stuck on some shelf, in the garage!  (Don't worry, I DID save SOME of my Barbies for my granddaughters ... which my Son will have some day ... :)

Actual auction site picture by Patty from New Jersey

In my usual style, I bid and WON those 4 New Jersey Girls from Patty ... and I was happy .... Well, as happy as "The Princess and the Pea" could be.  There was just a little nagging "feeling" I had ... like there was "something" missing .... something just not quite right ...  So, after a few conversations on-line with Patty, the lady who allowed me to "adopt" all 4 of her Little Big Eyes dolls (she was offering them as a group, because although she felt she was not fully "into" them, she still cared enough to want to keep them together ... which I think is sweet :) ... she convinced me that if I looked around enough, I could find a REAL BLYTHE at a reasonable price ... and so .... that was all the encouragement I needed ... and the next thing I know, I am the owner of a REAL BLYTHE. 

Oh, but not just ANY Blythe ... no!  I later found out, she is the MOST UN-DESIRABLE of all the Blythes.  Not only is she an Ashton-Drake ... but she is an Aztec Arrival!  With THE most hideous hairstyle, the GREENEST face, combined with the most un-flattering shade of pinky-purpleish-mauve, and don't get me started on her outfit !   I know they were trying to "duplicate" the REAL Kenner Blythe that  came out in the 70's, but geez ... that was the FIRST thing I did ... get that OFF of her!

Okay .... so NOW I AM READY!  NOW I AM COMPLETE!  NOW I can start to crochet ......