Grow

How does your garden grow?

A few years ago I participated in a craft swap of handmade prayer flags, so now I have a nice little pile of them. I've never used them as they are intended to be used--hanging them up outside until they disintegrate--because I like them too much for that! So I thought I would show them off with my dolls. This first one, "Grow," is one of my favorite themes, and it has my favorite colors too. The Blythe doll is Ichigo Heaven, and I'm pretty sure her turnip friend is by Violetpi on Etsy (I got it second-hand.)

May Day

"Sweet May hath come to love us,
Flowers, trees, their blossoms don;
And through the blue heavens above us
The very clouds move on."
                                --Heinrich Heine, Book of Songs

Ichigo Heaven and Yellow Marshmallow wish you a Happy May Day!

Bee Mine

This Blythe doll is Ichigo Heaven, wearing Junie Moonie
Cutie's stock dress. This picture is #7 in my Valentine's Day 2020: Kitschy Valentines series. 

My friend Angie suggested that I do a picture with a "bee mine" pun, using black and yellow as the colors, which I thought was a great idea. However, the only bee prop I have is this Jim Shore flower figurine, which happens to feature my favorite color combination of pink and turquoise...so the finished Valentine is quite different than the original idea.

Bowling is Fun, Valentine!

This Blythe doll is Ichigo Heaven, wearing Cloud 9 Bowl's stock outfit. The awesome bowling ball is part of a set made for Our Generation dolls at Target. The bowling pins are erasers. Valentine's Day 2020, #4.

It's a Secret

They were looking for a nice spot for their picnic, but what they stumbled upon was a secret garden.

These Blythe dolls are Ichigo Heaven (pink hair) and Simply Sparkly Spark (blue hair.) I hope there is just enough gingham in their dresses for this picture to qualify for the theme "Gingham" in the Blythe a Day group on Flickr! The background is a 3' x 5' picture printed on fabric that I found on eBay.

Interview with a Cat Lover

 "A true ailurophile is born, not made," says Ellie Blythe, in her interview for next month's Cat Fancy magazine. "A love of cats comes from the heart, and the accompanying lifestyle is born of the necessity to express ones' innermost being." You can read the rest of the interview in the September issue, available in stores now.

Blythe doll collecting is educational! I had never heard the word "ailurophile" until the announcement of the upcoming Blythe doll, Ailurophile Style. I am so pleased to learn that there is a word for my love of cats.

This Blythe doll is Ichigo Heaven, posing for the theme "Lover Doll" in the Blythe a Day group on Flickr. I made her dress and the felt cat she is holding, and I drew the pictures on the wall. The white cat and brown cat came out of "Amy's Favorite Cat" blind boxes. The pink and white cat came from a toy store; I don't know what brand it is. 

Green #3: Fly

When your cage door opens, don't just sit there--FLY!!

When I was planning this series of pictures for the theme "Green," Ichigo Heaven is NOT one of the dolls I intended to include...but as I tried to incorporate this cage and dress into a coherent picture, the bird picture I came up with (cut out of a greeting card) was pink, so a pink haired girl seemed to be the best choice. That's the creative process for you! Green background, green dress, green eyes...that's enough green, right?

Be My Valentine

What a nice surprise! We received a handmade Valentine card in the mail today, from a dolly friend on Facebook. Yes, Christin, we WILL be your Valentine!

Ichigo Heaven Blythe doll, and Sonny Angels

Hello Carrot

When she harvested the last carrot, Ellie got a big surprise.

This is Ichigo Heaven posing for the theme "Hello Harvest" in the Blythe a Day group on Flickr. I got a whole box full of these little carrots (without faces) before Easter; they are meant to be decorative "table scatter," but they make great dolly vegetables...and maybe, dolly friends!

Wrapped Up

All wrapped up in the fun of the season.

They are Ichigo Heaven, Bow Wow Trad, and Simply Sparkly Spark.

Goodbye!

Overly-dramatic as usual, April waves goodbye to her sister, who is just going to the store for a bottle of milk. 

Ichigo Heaven is the Neo on the left; Nellie Nibbles is the Middie on the right. 

Pink Agreement

They don't agree on everything, but they always agree that there is no such thing as too much PINK!

They are Ichigo Heaven (left) and Prima Dolly London (right). Yes, their hair is exactly the same color, and almost the same style. The main difference between them is that IH is RBL and PDL is FBL.

New Artwork

Life imitates art.

My daughter Jenna, the artist, made this AMAZING little drawing for me for Mother's Day. She looked at Blythe pictures for inspiration, then did the drawing from her imagination, so it isn't supposed to be a particular doll. The background is filled in with an intricate tangle of leaves, vines, flowers, stars, and one little heart--this is her unique personal style that shows up in most of her drawings (you can see more of her work in her Etsy store, JennaAndersenArtShop.)  I love it so much!!!!!

Pink Hair

I recently posted a picture of my blue-haired Blythes; today I am pleased to present my pink-haired girls. I've added their stock name abbreviation under each one, and just for clarity, I will write them out below. The abbreviations I used came from the app called "My Dolly Collection for Blythe"--I've noticed that different people sometimes use different abbreviations, which can be confusing. This app is the first thing I've found that conveniently lists every Neo Blythe (even the very newest, not yet released dolls!) in an easy-to-navigate app for my phone and iPad. It is a work in progress; future updates will allow you catalog your personal collection (I can't wait!) 

I've left out my peach-haired girls from this line-up...the difference between peach and pink can be quite subtle, so I understand that some people might classify them differently. I was going to include Dainty Biscuit, and I actually took a picture with her in the group, but she just didn't look right and I had to take her out--even though her hair is officially "pink". Another confusing moment came when I realized that Prima Dolly Peach has pink hair! That's her, second from the right. 

Here are their stock names, from left to right:

My Melody X Blythe--Softly Cuddle You and Me
Snowflake Sonata
Ichigo Heaven
Prima Dolly London
Prima Dolly Peony
Charlotte de Fleurs
Sprite (sometimes spelled Spright) Beauty 
Prima Dolly Peach
My Little Candy

Easter's on its Way

Bunny, chicks, a basket full of colored eggs...

hippity, hoppity, Easter's on its way!

Happy Easter to all from Ellie and her friends. 

Ellie is my Ichigo Heaven Blythe doll. The bunny is a McDonald's Happy Meal toy from the movie "The Secret Life of Pets".

Beautiful New Bedding

What do you do when you want to go to sleep, but your bed looks so beautiful with the new quilt and pillows that you don't want to ruin the effect?

I guess Ellie will be sleeping on the sofa tonight. 

Thank you to Angie Coppi for the gorgeous bedding set. She hand-sewed the quilt (which is very detailed, with lace, beads, and quilted hearts), using colors that I requested; she also hand-sewed the matching pillows and sleep mask; and she knitted the amazing throw from bamboo yarn--which I've never heard of before--it is extremely soft and beautiful. This is Angie's half of a swap we are doing...I am still working on my package for her. I think I need to "up" my game a little, in light of these fabulous gifts!

Ellie is my Ichigo Heaven Blythe doll. She got her name thanks to another swap I did...that swap partner was getting a new doll, and was trying to decide on a name for her. The top contender was "Ellie", so I went ahead and made a white dress with that name embroidered on it as part of the swap. But...you guessed it...she decided on a different name for the doll, so I kept the dress and used the name for the next girl to enter my dolly family!

Friendly Visit

The road to a friend's house

is never long.

--Danish Proverb

This Blythe doll is Ichigo Heaven.  You might have noticed that I played with the colors a bit...

her hair isn't really this intensely pink! 

Resolutions for 2017

Before getting out of bed on New Year's Day, 

Ellie took some time to think about 

how she wants to improve herself 

during the coming year. 

Ellie is my Ichigo Heaven Blythe doll. 

It's Sushi Time

When life get stressful from school, work, hurricanes, or elections, Calliope and Ellie get some take-out sushi. Sushi makes everything better. 

All the little props on the table (and the chopsticks) are a set of Barbie accessories. My friend Susan W. sent them to me as a surprise, along with another set that I will feature in an upcoming photo. Thanks so much for thinking of me, Susan! 

Shoe Love

Everyone loves something. Ellie loves shoes. 

Ellie is my Ichigo Heaven Blythe doll. How did she get her name, you ask? Here's the story: I was in a Blythe sundries swap in a group on Facebook. My swap partner had just gotten a new doll and was talking to me about what to name her. She was considering a few names, but Ellie was her favorite, and as soon as she seemed sure about it, I went ahead and made a dress for the doll with the name Ellie embroidered on it, to send as part of the swap. Well, wouldn't you know, my partner decided not to go with the name Ellie after all!  Since I had this nice dress on my hands, my next new doll got the dress and the name.