The story of Poe

Once upon a time there lived a Disco Boogie Blythe. She was shiny and new and had lovely thick hair with blonde streaks. She thought she looked pretty amazing.



But her owner did not. So out came the scissors, and Disco Boogie had her fringe cut off - right down to the scalp. Then she had the back cut short. It didn't look quite the way that her owner had hoped... Her stock makeup was sanded off, all except for her lipstick. Then she got some new smoky black eye-makeup and lashes.

It didn't go quite as planned.

Her owner didn't know how to fix her, so she sold Disco Boogie to another collector, far across the sea who thought she had promise.

Her new owner called her Poe, because she looked so sad. She tried her best to fix her hair with another haircut. Then she thought perhaps Poe might be a hat-wearin' kind of girl.


She did look quite cute like that, but in the end it was decided that it would be best for Poe live elsewhere. After all, forever is a long time to wear a hat.

Then Poe came to live with me. She looked like this:


And she was very sad indeed. I had never even seen an EBL before, but I thought I could make Poe look a bit better at least. So I took off her hair, sanded her face and gave her a wig.


But a girl can't be bald forever. Poe needed hair. I thought she might look good as a redhead.


But the mohair was too short. So then, I thought perhaps pink mohair might be nice.


But I didn't finish it, and somehow it just didn't suit her at all. Poe still felt sad and looked...ugly. I had done my best but it just wasn't good enough. I thought of selling her, but I liked her too much to let her go. I knew that the next stop for her would probably be as spare parts or as bait for yet another new customiser. So even though I didn't take her out to photograph her, I kept her because one day, I knew that she would be beautiful.

Poe sat in a drawer for a long time, bald and sad. I felt sorry for Poe. She had suffered enough at the hands of amatuers and was really quite cute, under all those poorly executed customising attempts. Clearly expert help was required.

So I sent her to Moofala for a new scalp, faceup, lip carving and handpainted chips and here is how she looks now.



Thank you so much Kate. She is every bit as lovely as I knew she could be.

Little things...

I'm really enjoying working on the shop at the moment. Thank you so much to all of my wonderful customers - every sale feels just as good as the first :)

The problem with being on Etsy so much...is that you discover fabulous things that turn you into a drooling puddle of want.

These are some of the things I'm loving, wanting and erm...buying!

Prints by Hidenseek:

Original watercolour drawings by KarKarStyle


I bought a few of these...they are adorable - and so reasonably priced!

And a Tokissi bunny - I think they are so sweet!

I still haven't opened my Bohemian Peace. What is wrong with me?! I need to set aside some Blythe time really soon.

Don't try this at home....

Sewing is not for sissies it would seem. This is an x-ray of my left hand, complete with snapped off sewing machine needle STILL INSIDE. Eeek! Did I mention that I'm left handed?

I was having such a great day too....

It was my own fault, I was of course doing something silly because, you know, I've never had anything go wrong before. As it turns out, attempting to shove a tiny but thick piece of fabric under the presser foot with a bamboo skewer was not the foolproof exercise I thought it was. I would have been traumatised enough if I had just sewn through my finger like a normal person, with a bit of pain and a bit of blood but no harm done otherwise. But no, I like do these things properly. I managed to get the needle perfectly centred right through my fingernail so that it went through the bone (I still can't quite believe it) and snapped off on the other side so that I needed to go to the emergency room to get the pointy bit removed. Nice.

I have a new understanding why they torture people by messing with their fingernails now. I can't believe how painful it was, and all that remains of it now, 5 days later is a teensy hole in my nail and a tiny cut on the back. And a huge huge bill. That delightful xray cost me $700. I think I shall have it framed.

I'm still here!!

I have been a very bad blogger indeed! After the wedding madness, I felt that it might be entirely possible that I may never want to sew anything, ever again. Seriously. So I didn't.

Here's how the dress turned out (this isn't at the wedding, obviously!). I made another one for my little niece but I don't feel comfortable putting her pic in the interwebs without talking to my SIL about it. My sister promises me lovely pics from the photographer but they haven't arrived as yet, so in the meantime this will have to do. I got lots of compliments about the dress, but sadly it took a bit of damage at the wedding reception (performing "the worm" on a crowded dance floor will do that!) and one of the tulle panels was torn. Oh well, it's not like she'll have reason to wear it again. Miss B danced so hard that her flimsy flowergirl shoes wore out and then she danced right through the feet of her stockings!!



I also left my Blythes to their own devices for a while (well, languishing in a drawer - they don't do much!). And the Etsy shop stayed empty. Instead I gardened, read and went to the gym. I still kept on admiring other people's lovely Blythe photographs on Flickr and speny some time in the forums though...I didn't go completely cold turkey! But for a little while, I felt as though I could just about put the Blythes away and maybe just keep one. Ha!!

I'm just starting to feel like Blythe-ing again now, and it's quite nice :) I participated in a swap and received this super pretty dress and shoe set which went straight on Roxy and has stayed there. I hadn't given her much attention in a long time what with the new arrivals, and re-dressing her made me realise just how pretty she is. Even if she is a lowly factory Blythe!

She really needs her faceup redone though, as it is very faded. One day I'll get some MSC!

I have done a little bit of sewing (like the cute velvet headband she's wearing - the velvet is a pain to work with, but it's so plush!). I put a few things in the Etsy shop and they all sold really quickly. I'm over the 100 sales mark now and I don't quite know how it happened! It's hard to keep the shop stocked, but I'm not stressing too much about it. I find that I don't enjoy it as much when I have to sew, if you know what I mean. Since I made the 100 milestone, I treated myself to some really cute stickers for my packaging and I can't wait for them to get here so I can start using them. I really love the packing side things, probably too much! It's like wrapping a little present :)


I STILL haven't deboxed my Bo Peace....and feel no urge to. I never thought I would be the type who'd have the restraint to do that. I kind of bought her because of this photo by the very talented Sarah. Isn't she stunning? She has the best hair ever! Maybe I should go and debox my Bo Peach right now!!

No new girls have arrived since my still un-named ObviousZebra custom. I've decided to work on appreciating the ones I have more before I go out acquiring more and even then there are only a few that I want. Poe is about to head off to Moofala for a new faceup and lip carve (and also to have her new bobbed Rouge Noir scalp attached). I can't wait!! Kate does such lovely work and I really look forward to seeing Poe come to life. Especially since she has had such a rough time of things so far! The more I worked on the mohair, the more I realised that pink and fluffy was not going to be a good match for Poe's little personality. She's a sulker and a bit sad and not suited to pastel mohair sweetness at all. I don't really know what to do about her original scalp. I don't feel the slightest bit inclined to finish the reroot!

I have a few little things I need to do with my girls right now. Three of them need opening and eyemechs looked at (sigh), two of them need face-up freshening and I'm also looking at my Simply Vanilla and thinking about doing a bit of work on her.

I'm swapping her back to a Takara body as I really don't like the PN Flection one at all. I feel like she's constantly trying to wriggle out of my hands (perhaps she doesn't like me?). Her scalp was always very poor, so rather than doing a full reroot (which I may never finish if my past efforts are anything to go by!), I am considering filling in some of the gaps with some platinum saran I have and putting some lovely candy pink saran underneath. I may have to send her off to someone for a haircut afterward though. It's just such a shame that her hair is so bad! I love the colour so much but it's just so thin and gappy. Even her fringe is very different to most of the SV's I've seen. They all have quite long fringes but mine has baby bangs! They are the best thing about her hair but it's odd that hers is just so different. I'd love to see what goes on inside that factory - someone must have been deep in conversation when they were doing her scalp!

A new girl from far away...

This beautiful girl arrived a few days ago from the UK. She's an Obvious Zebra custom with a Tarts and Tea scalp and every bit as lovely as I thought she'd be. Zebra called her Sitka, but I don't know that it will be staying. She hasn't told me her new name yet ;p.

This girl is responsible for making me want a T & T as soon as saw her, only problem being I didn't just want a stock T & T, I wanted a custom girl just like her and given that T & T is a limited release she was far too expensive for me to consider trying to customise her myself and sending her away for work would have brought her price up to...too much! So when I saw her come up for sale I knew that I would be kicking myself if I didn't get her (even though I had just vowed that I wouldn't be buying any new Blythes until I got my grail girl, Rosie Red!).

I'm so glad that I bought her even though at the time I was doing my best to resist, her eye makeup is so vibrant and her hair is just so thick and gorgeous. She has some really beautiful eye chips as well including a handpainted brown and gold set and a green Ana Karina set, but unfortunately I think something shifted in her head during transport and her eyes are now stuck on this set. They are pretty and suit her, but aren't nearly as amazing as the handpainted ones. I am not too worried as I'm sure it's probably just something minor, but I am a bit scared of opening her up so for now she will stay like this.


In order to ease the guilt of buying her (especially when I have a Bohemian Peace who is still waiting to be opened!), I bit the bullet and sold my Star Dancer. It was the right thing to do as I just wasn't taking pics of her and even though I could appreciate that she was very beautiful, I just didn't feel all that attached to her. Her new name is Trinity (which I love!) and she now lives with Mandy (Jeds123). She looks very well loved and very fashionable these days so I am glad that I moved her on. As it turns out the process wasn't nearly as painful as I thought it would be. I may even be able to bring myself to say goodbye to another one or two after I get back from the wedding. I just gotta have that Rosie Red!

The drawing board - yawn!

Still plugging away on the flowergirl dresses. I decided to close the shop for a little while so I could concentrate on getting everything wedding related sorted , and spent most of the week tweaking the design and resizing things, and now I'm finally ready to spend up on delicious silk dupioni and tulle and get sewing the real thing. I even made a muslin of the bodice to make sure that everything will fit Miss B and sacrificed an old bedsheet to mock up the bustle/bow thing on the back. I have to admit...there's a little piece of me that gets super excited when I see all those piles of pretty and impractical fabrics. Tulle is quite possibly the dreamiest, girliest, prettiest fabric in existance and sadly I just don't get enough opportunities to play with it!

To keep things Blythe-y, I got super lucky on a sundries sale and snagged this super cute outfit for Holly. I love it to bits - especially the hat. I so wish I could knit. Then I'd have one of these babies in every colour!


The outfit came with red tights, gorgeous white zip up boots and even a tiny pair of white glasses (that I'm too scared to put on her for fear of scratching her makeup!). I have to say that it was great to buy a complete outfit - tights, shoes and all - and kind of special to get clothes for her that I haven't made myself. I think I may be hitting the Etsy stores in the near future :)


A little while ago, I also got this super cute pair of jeans from Claribari on flickr in a swap. I love them soooo much! The detail on them is amazing - they even have teeny tiny pockets! Check it out :)



I am kind of feeling the urge to give Ash a makeover at the moment. I saw a gorgeous pic of a FrFr with a tiny fringe and I'd love to try it myself. Her makeup is in dire need of a freshen up too. The problem with not using MSC is that the pastels fade over time, so a touch up is definitely in order. And these horrible fish eyes have to come out. They give me nightmares!! I'd like to replace them with some handpainted chips. Brown and gold maybe?


This pic was taken before I redid her lips. Ick!!! She looks wind-burned!

My Bohemian Peace also arrived, and for once I haven't fallen on the box and tore it open like an animal. She is still NRFB - something that NEVER happens around here!! I think I will try to wait until the dresses are done, and she can be a reward :)

Time for a BL

I never thought I would say this...but I finally get what all the fuss is about. I want a BL. So. Bad.

When I first got into the hobby I could not fathom what the appeal was. Goldie just looked...weird to me and Rosie's forehead was huge and the others, not that special at all really. The RBL's were just so much prettier and so much more affordable, with cooler hair as well. Why on earth would you spend that much on a doll when you could get 3 pretty RBL's instead?

But now the madness has finally affected me too. I want a BL and I can see there's no hope for me but to start raising funds and searching.

For those who don't know, the BL's were the first Neo Blythes released by Takara, beginning with the very exclusive Parco in June 2001. They are of course quite expensive and hard to find these days. Parco is so rare she almost never even comes up for sale, while the others tend to go for anywhere between $300 to $1000 on Ebay. I guess it's all a matter of what people are willing to pay for them.

Here's a list of all the BL girls in order of their release.

Parco Limited (Parco) - June 2001

Mondrian (YSL) - June 2001

Hollywood (HW) - October 2001

Rosie Red (RR) - October 2001

All Gold In One (Goldie) - January 2002

Kozy Kape Inspired (Kozy) - January 2002

Aztec Arrival Inspired (Aztec) - February 2002

Sunday Best (SB) - April 2002

Dottie Dot (DD) - April 2002

As you have probably guessed from previous posts, I'm currently chasing a Rosie Red. Hopefully at the more reasonable end of the scale. To this end, I am swearing off buying any more dolls until I have the funds to bring a Rosie home. And possibly selling off an RBL or two to make it happen. Maybe ;P