Review: Lavender Hug, 2013 FBL

I had my eye on her since I first started googling Blythe. Something about her just said that she needed to come home to me. She was my first never-removed-from-box doll and it was such a fun, exciting experience! She's the newest release in my collection by 9 years!

Taking in her surroundings.

Hair

Her hair is really growing on me more and more each day. It was initially what scared me in the days leading up to her arrival. I saw a lot of stories of her hair being poor quality, too thin, or badly cut so I was nervous. My girl came out just fine and I was so relieved! I trimmed up her bangs just a little bit but they had the layered out, rounded cut like the pictures. The texture of her hair is kinda fluffy and poodle-like which I decided to fully embrace. She's had one spa treatment just to get some of the weird kinks out from being in the box for a couple years. I think she has a really nice shade to her hair. It's not too bright that she looks off next to girls with natural hair colors. 

Her namesake!

Face

I am fully about the FBL life now. I've seen it, I've experienced it, and I cannot go back. I think she has the sweetest doe-eyed look to her and there is something incredibly innocent about the FBL face. Her skin is pale and she has pink blushy cheeks and pink lips with brown eye shadow. Her special front facing brown chips are definitely my favorite on her. I may add a realistic set of lavender or light pink eyes on her to replace her stock pink eventually.

Cute stock.

Stock
Here's the biggest difference between the newer releases and the older releases, in my opinion. The amount of stock is dramatically different! I really don't have a problem with any of her clothing, there's just not a lot of it. I will use all of it on different girls just styled differently. I think she should have come with a skirt or a dress for under the jacket since no one would just wear a jacket. Right? Overall, good useful pieces that work well with mixing and matching.

Fawn wants to go outside so badly!

Personality

She could never do anything wrong.. not a thing. And that's where the name Fawn came from! I know fawns aren't fluffy like her hair but they're kinda wild and untamed with a touch of innocence. I like dressing her with a bit of a darker side to contrast that. She looks cute with black and white stripes, a little emo, mixed with browns and light baby pinks. She's a little introvert and the sweetest girl in the family! I cannot wait to get her outside and take pictures of her in a wooded area.

Thrifty Finds

I'm on vacation this week! Yes! It's a much needed break from work.. trust me! One thing I wanted to do this week was some thrifting and among other things, hopefully find some stuff for my girls. What I've been wanting are any sort of vintage porcelain animals to pose with them or just to decorate my apartment. If I could find a little deer for Fawn (my LH), I would be overjoyed. Let's begin!

$6.00

I've been collecting (very slowly) any sort 70's inspired artwork of poodles and I found another one today. The green one is the newer one and I love displaying them next to the old phone. Side note: the phone actually still works and is the buzzer system with the ground floor in my century old apartment! It's really cool but you can't call mom on it, only the manager..

$1.00

I found these beads in a pile of vintage beads and buttons. I'm planning on using them for Fawn's pull string eventually.

$3.00

Again with the poodle theme. I found this really cute porcelain poodle with curly puffy hair and it turned out to be just the right size to be a pet for a special girl who will be here next month!

$15.00

Ok, and I saved the best for last! I found these two, perfectly Blythe sized chairs at one of the biggest thrift stores in my area. They were in the back of the store amidst a bunch of other furniture as if they were just another set of normal sized chairs! I'm going to paint them a minty green and distress them to look antique. I was so excited when I saw them!

That's what I found this round of thrifting. It was super fun and I found some great pieces for pretty good prices.

Next up: Highlights from youtube!

Body Talk

Eunice having an out of body experience!

I've been torn on changing out some bodies on a couple girls. The only real problem is that I have such a hard time customizing any of them more than just their pull strings. For me, I think I'm scared they are going to lose that something special when they are not their stock selves!

I'm actually very fond of the stock Takara body. The stance of their legs and arms just has a bit of class and loveliness to it.

The Licca body is something I'm playing with the idea of right now. It does give the doll a bit of a younger feel and I'm curious as to what Fawn or Blair may look like in it. My only real concern is just getting the skin tone correct to match the doll.

The Pure Neemo Flection body is the only one that I've tried. I bought the small size and it didn't really do it for me. Part of what affected my perception is that the body I received had pretty weak joints and couldn't hold the doll up so all she could do was sit. Is that normal? I've seen some tutorials on other BJD bodies getting restrung. I'm just not too keen on having to do that myself so I was turned off. I also think the spindly Takara legs are extremely cute and the Neemo legs were rather thick comparatively.

So I have mixed feelings. I love seeing the pose-ability on other doll owners' pictures but I couldn't really achieve that with the body I purchased. I will probably by an XS size and see if I'm happier with that in the future.

What are your thoughts?

Review: I Love You It's True, 2004 SBL

Blair is my I Love You It's True. I think it's a really strange name and I would love to know more about the name selection on some of the dolls! She came to me like my Disco Boogie, without her original box but with all of her stock clothing.

Hair
She has a really pretty, sun-kissed blonde shade to her hair. It's super soft and didnt require a hair treatment although I might try the iron straightening technique. She's my first side part doll and I've definitely had to learn about tying the hair back to keep it out of her eyelashes where it loves to gather! All is not perfect, however as she has very thin hair on the top of her scalp which shows too much skin for my liking. I noticed when I first put her hair in pigtails (adorable, by the way) so she definitely cannot be photographed from above unless her hair is down. Other than that, it doesn't look thin when styled or laying down naturally.

Just another sidelong glance.

Face
She was lightly customized by her previous owner. Spray matted with MSC, new eye lashes (which are really pretty), and I suspect at least one set of eye chips changed from what I can tell by looking at pictures of other ILYITs. She has yellow eye shadow and baby pink lips which you can barely tell until the light hits her just right. She is a simple beauty without a lot of makeup and I think when she is styled right she can look extremely sweet. Her eye chips are the sky blue (pictured), green, pink, and a light champagne color (below) which is my favorite on her.

Stock
So, I'm really not too fond of any of her stock. It's just a personal style thing, not a quality problem. It has a lot of cute pink and blue florals but the outfits just seem kind of dated at this point. Again, with the older dolls, there is a lot of stock here compared to newer releases and you just can't be mad at that! She also has a small emblem on a few of the pieces that resembles tiny butterfly wings. Her baby blue tshirt and cardigan are pretty versatile and have been used before as layering pieces. She also comes with another collared floral top, two skirts, pink mesh socks, sandals, pink bow earrings, and a pink heart shaped purse. Oh yeah, I almost forgot about her best part. Her undies. Very. Cute.

She needs ribbons in her hair. I'm all about attention to detail! haha

Personality
And for her name.. she's actually named Blair after the character in The Facts of Life! She kind of struck me as a kindred spirit to the tv character and I just couldn't get the name out of my head after that.. and so it stuck. And I hope, but cannot promise, that she is the last Blythe that's name is inspired by an 80's sitcom character. I dress her in a lot of pink and girly styles with graphic prints. She loves toys and has a couple she packs around with her everywhere she goes. I really want to get her a cute handmade teddy bear from Etsy someday.

New doll clothing haul!

Today I have a doll haul! A couple weeks ago I purchased a Blythe that I had been keeping my eye on for a while. As per usual, I also ordered her an outfit about the same time.. and I ended up ordering an outfit for everyone and a few extras! I just couldn't help myself!

Boots and socks from hellocoolcat!

Black bow and pink boots from bsskid. Heels from dollbonbon.

Cow dress from minijijo. Play dress from pinkedhood.

Dresses from polarfluff. Sweater from tiredmomknits.

blablablythe is one of my favorite shops. Very unique and stylized items.

And finally, I got a special package in the mail!

Fawn.

I've had my eye on her for a long time! She's a Lavender Hug and my first FBL! I'm in love with her. She has the sweetest face and her brown and blue eye chips are so pretty.

Next up: My review of my I Love You It's True.

Review: Disco Boogie, 2003 EBL

My Disco Boogie, Micah, was my first official Blythe purchase. She didn't come with her box, but was shipped to me with her shipper box and all of her stock. She has a small 'birthmark' on the back of her thigh which I actually think is kinda cute.

She woke up like this.

Hair

I'm obsessed with her hair. It is two toned, with a lighter shade of blonde highlights on the top and a deeper beige blonde underneath. She has the thickest hair I've personally seen on a Blythe. I'm not sure if it's just mine but it's super full and has a lot of volume to it. The curls also lay really pretty. I did give her a spa treatment when I first got her and reshaped it because it was a little messy out of her bubble wrap! Seriously beautiful hair! Sometimes I just stare...

Face

The classic bowler hat!

Being an EBL, she has the wispy eye lashes and I think probably the most mischievous of the face molds. She always seems to look either a bit judgmental or like she may be up to something! Her eyes are probably my biggest let down with her. She has front facing yellow and pink eye chips which, to me, don't feel very versatile. They are actually kind of alarming! I may switch out an eye chip or two for a soft blue or brown but I always change my mind when I think about customizing anything about her.

Disco Boogie stock clothing. The shoes are so cute!

Stock

The biggest thing I appreciate about the older releases is their incredible detail to stock and putting that little bit of story into their accessories. She comes with a green bra and boy shorts, pink star t-shirt, jeans with fray detail, yellow ankle socks, platform sneakers, and a cute pink jacket that says Disco Boogie on the back. Her accessories are a boombox, fanny pack, a visor, and a whistle necklace. That's a lot of stock!! The pieces I use are the t-shirt, shoes, and sometimes the bra which makes a useful layering piece. Overall, I'm not really into the style of her stock and I think she looks kinda funny in it now that she's developed a personality of her own.

Rocking the "no neck" look! :)

Personality
My Disco Boogie's name is Micah and she gives me a tomboy, rough-and-tumble kind of vibe. I want to take more action oriented shots of her which I still need to figure out how to stage properly! I can see her scaling furniture and some fun jumping/falling pics in her future! I really like to dress her in shorts and pants with the socks askew. Little bow-ties and collars make her look super cute too. I also like her in short, shift style dresses, as long as she's got room to move and it's not too restrictive. Overall, she was a great first doll for me and will always be special to me!

Good God, that Grail Girl!

So I thought I would take a minute and list out some of my personal grail girls. Those ever elusive or expensive dolls that hopefully, with luck and a little bit of financial planning, will someday be a part of the family!

Picadilly Dolly, 2002 EBL

I'm a little bit partial to EBLs for some reason. And red heads (although I don't yet have one moved in). And straight bobs with bangs. So, she's pretty much a home run for me! Her stock clothes are pretty cute and she seems like she would have a lot of personality in photos.

Gentle River, 2007 RBL

Gentle River has such amazing stock. I like all of it and the amount that she comes with is really nice. The colors make me imagine a sort of red riding hood elf maiden. I know, it's weird! When I look at how much the older dolls used to come with - a couple different outfits, an accessory, tights, shoes, hair pieces - well, it's nice to see a doll that feels like she is worth the price. I've also found myself attracted to her shorter curly hair. I think I like that on some dolls because it seems fairly manageable. She's also the kind of doll that I think really tells a story and I wouldn't reimagine her style much different than her stock.

Prima Dolly Peach, 2007 RBL

She is probably one of the most beautiful dolls I've seen (although the image doesn't showcase her at all). I'm kind nervous at the prospect of getting her because I'm actually scared at how much I would have to spend on her wardrobe to do her justice. She is not a t-shirt and jeans kind of girl, to me anyway! I think her hair is the perfect shade of soft pink, very feminine and innocent. Her stock doesn't interest me at all but it's definitely about the doll herself and who she can become!

Miss Sally Rice, 2008 RBL

There's something inherently special about Miss Sally Rice. The translucent skin is just so pretty. Such a soft, sweet face and the minty hair color is a dream. I'm always slightly horrified when I see MSR customized beyond recognition! There's only so many of her left in the world! Dramatic, I know.

Bloomy Bloomsbury, 2009 FBL

Another girl with short hair. What is it with the short bobs and me? A girl with beautiful stock. While I don't think I would use much of it outside her total outfit, I have to say, it would be just fine with me to leave her in her stock a good portion of the time.

Nostalgic Pop, 2010 RBL

The skin, the hair, the beautiful pouty face. I can't handle it. She's one girl where her stock really helps to make her a fun, colorful addition. The little green jumper would always be worn by one of the girls, and her mustard yellow blouse would be just as useful. I kinda see her dressed more elegant after she's out of her stock. Yeah, she's lovely.

So that's my list right now.. so far. It's an evolving list so it may change over time. And hopefully, one may come off the list in the future because she has joined my pack! Let me know below what girl has your heart!

Let's get this started!

Hey everyone, it's Josh Gone! I'm pretty new to the Blythe world but it's quickly taken me by surprise. It started a short time ago when I randomly saw a friend on Facebook taking pictures of her doll out with her during a night on the town! I have to say that seemed funny to me but I couldn't get her shiny forehead and big eyes out of my head after that (the Blythe doll, not the friend)!

Within a week I was stalking dolls on E-bay and trying desperately to understand all the terminology out there within the hobby. I started my collection with a factory doll and realized that I was really interested in the stock dolls and beginning a real collection. Soon after I won my first official release on an auction and it was all over from there! And of course, by winning, I mean throwing wads of cash out into cyberspace to get a doll delivered to my door in 2 to 3 weeks. You know, how that goes!

On this blog, I want to keep updates on my current Blythe family, share clothing hauls, customizations, and general Blythe related updates. Soon I'll do a review of the dolls I do have and will do a deboxing blog on my new girl when she arrives next month! She will be my first never removed from box doll and I'm so excited to get her! Join me!