I finally got down to photographing the collector cards that Angie passed me centuries ago (Sorry for hogging them dear!) and posting to the flickr group. I started the flickr group last year as a database for these adorable collector cards. Unlike other lists that I had done for the Blythe Resource, there was no way I could do a list of the collector cards on my own. I guess only someone who has collected and deboxed all the Blythes ever released could. (And I really wish I could be that person! Haha! ^^)

I've given a little shout about the group in the Blythe forums and hopefully, there'll be more contributions to the group pool. I do hope it could be a wonderful resource and reference for all Blythe collectors. It'd be awesome if pics of all the collector cards are in the group pool one day! ^____^

2009 was the year of DOLLS. I had enthusiastically expanded beyond the Blythes and into other dolly pastures, thanks in no small part to Angie Goh's infectious let-me-have-at-least-one-of-each-kind philosophy. But in was really in Tokyo that I encountered my first Nikki and fell head-over-heels in love.


BFFs - my Pompom Odeco and Mermaid Nikki.
( More... )

My 2nd Pullip. Blanche is still trapped in her box prison, and the only reason why Cinciallegra is able to breathe the free air instead is because I bought her nude! XD And since I don't have the penchant to name my non-Blythe dollies, she stays as Cinciallegra.


Here she is, my 'lil China girl. I know, I know. Looking as she is right now, I probably should have just bought a NRFB Mir. But I like Cinciallegra's gray eyes much more than Mir's dark ones. Plus Cinciallegra's normal skin tone meant I'd always have the option of swapping her bod out to an Obitsu.


Angie says that Pullips are easier to customise than Blythes. But I'm content to let her remain stock other than just a wig change. I've always felt that Pullips are already so pretty, why re-customise them?


She's sporting a lovely Luts wig. I have another wig for her as well. Plus her stock one, this girl alone has 3 wigs! In this aspect, she edges out any of my Blythe girls. XD

At this point, I'd like to shake my fist once again at my buddy Angie. It's all your baaaad influence girl! I was bad enough being a Blythaholic, and you had to come along and turn me into a Dollaholic! If the mister complains, you're getting ALL the blame!

I've finally got round to updating the lists on the Blythe Resource after yonks! My last update was in July last year...? o_O My bad. I was too caught up in too many other things. What matters though, is that they're all UPDATED! Whoopee! But I'm really happy to have accomplished one of the tasks that I've set for myself in 2010 already. One down, and oh, just another gazillion more to go. ^^

Next up: photographing the stock collector cards.

http://www.freewebs.com/axxessorii

Billie is my last custom in 2009 and I managed to complete her makeover and spa just before Christmas. I didn't manage to photograph her and upload pics before the end of 2009, but here's some of her sneak pics. More of her soon!





Just for the record anyway, I *hate* sectioning!!! I've curled Estrella's (custom StarD) hair and Gilian's (Goldie-inspired) hair, but this was the first time I was attempting small curls and that meant LOADS of small sections, and a lengthy sectioning process. I almost tore my own hair out in the process!

2009 wasn't a good year for many, but I've been very sheltered and blessed throughout the year, and even its end for me was so so sweet. We didn't manage to catch the fireworks. We didn't squeeze in with the crowds. We didn't party and rock. But we got both set of parents. TOGETHER. For a sweet, low-key family dinner with a luxurious plate of sashimi spread before us and a seemingly endless stream of Japanese food, conversation and laughter. That was heaven on earth. ^^

Happy 2010 Everyone! May it be a AWESOME year ahead for one and all, with days of good health, good cheer and good news ahead!

To borrow a term coined by Cybermelli, here's my 'Miss B' Misty, aka Miss-Anniversary-Inspired. Exuding 'Miss A', in a Louos Loves gown, earrings by yours truly and the loveliest crown ever.



( Almost a Miss A? )

Long overdue photo entry of a shoot I took with my Misaki Anti-Social Girl. Even the shoot was long overdue. I got this SouoL by Louos outfit for a while now, and finally got the inspiration one morning to whip her out and photograph her in the dying embers of the morning sunlight. But then again, this is me! I can keep an outfit for yonks before using it on a girl. ^^


Outfit by Louos, earrings & belt by yours truly.

( More... )

Yep, I finally have a Samedi Marche in my fold! Yay for another doll off the wish list! My grail doll is still there on the list though, and the good thing about this is, it keeps the hobby exciting! It gets boring when there are no goals to work towards. XD

( More about Sam and Zoe )

"V" is for "Valentine"
"I" is for "Indulgence"
"P" is for "Pamper"

( I have been teaching my darling his ABCs, and I definitely havn't snapped out of it yet! ^____^ )



( or just Very Indulgent Present )

( This is exactly a month late, but better late than never right? )

As awesome as the Blythe display was, they couldn't steal the thunder from the the real stars that day - the beaming newlyweds! Theirs were smiles of genuine bliss and happiness. Congratulations Potato and Lynn!!!

What happens when an avid Blythe collector gets married? Her husband does up a secret Blythe display at their wedding bash of course! ( More sordid details... Not! )

Taking a break from my Tokyo trip photos to post this series of shots, because it's Mid Autumn Festival tomorrow!


( More yummy goodness )

I came across Anita Tedaldi's story by coincidence, and it touched something really raw inside me. I join many others in applauding her courage to share her story of failure. May it help create a deeper sense of revelation about parenthood and adoption for everyone who reads it. For, I believe, this was Anita's objective in coming forward with her cautionary tale.

http://parenting.blogs.nytimes.com/2009/08/26/terminating-an-adoption/

"We can do no great things, only small things with great love."
- Mother Teresa

Yep, the finalists are out! And I'm pretty excited about many of the entries!
http://www.blythedoll.com/eng/special/photocon2009/vote.html

This year's theme was "Blythe Photo Obsession". And here are my whimisical favourites:


#03


#06


#27

Some of the other entries are not bad too, like #31 which pays homage to "Breakfast At Tiffany's". And I've come to accept that there will be a few blah entries just to make up the numbers. Well, anyway, beauty lies in the eyes of the beholder. Perhaps there are more who find the very entries I perceive as flat, pretty interesting? But what rather baffled me was how a few of the over-exposed entries managed to sneak into the final cut. Hmmm...

Nevertheless, to end this entry on a positive note, let me just post one more pic as a special mention, just because I think the Neo Blythe here is adorable!

#21

Day 1 was supposed to be reserved for our trip to Ghibli musuem, but we only managed to get tickets for the last day. So we trooped up to Gotemba instead. Why Gotemba? Well, going up to Mount Fuji would take more than a day. And Hubby didn't like what he saw of Hakone on the web ("Nice meh??!"). Plus Gotemba actually has a lovely view of Mount Fuji, something Hakone doesn't have. Indeed we had a spectacular view of it when we got down from the bus, but we forgot to take a picture! Then we turned the wrong direction and made it to the bridge linking the 2 sections of the Gotemba Premium Factory Outlet only in mid day. By then, the sun was in the wrong direction and the fog was up. *Sigh!*

********
( Getting to Gotemba )

If you havn't seen this, you should!

I'd definitely bring a Blythe with me whenever I travel, but I do try to be fair and let them take turns. Morgan, my LL and my oldest girl, is the only one who has gone on 2 trips with me! This time, I was deciding between a couple of girls and Asia edged out all competition to be my hubby's choice. He said she looked "the most Japanese" of all my Blythes. I have absolutely no idea why though. And I don't think it's common among Japanese to have blue hair?!

We had already extended our package by 3 nights, and we thought that was sufficient. Ditto. Turns out we had underestimated our lousy flight timings. Our first and last days were totally useless and reserved purely for flying. We only had 4 worthy tour days, which meant the original package only allowed one useful day for touring?! That was pretty much our main gripe though. Otherwise, we had an awesome Tokyo adventure of sights & sounds, dolls, museums & yummy food all crammed in 4 days! And it didn't come cheap.

*******

( DAY 0 )

Another long overdue post.



( CG Love <3 )

Before I get into my Tokyo trip, there are 2 long overdue blog entries I have to get out of my system first. I uploaded the pics on flickr waaaaaay back but didn't quite have the time to organise my thoughts into proper blog entries about them.

First up, Gilian finally has her last set of chippies in, at long last!



I realise that I've grown to appreciate the charm of the stock EBL pink chips, especially when they're with an upward gaze correction. But I still can't quite stomach the stock orange ones. Fav stock chip colour: green. Least fav stock chip colour: orange. And amazingly cute as Goldie is, even she can't convince me about the orange chips the last time she was here for a visit. I debated for a while about giving Gilian some gray chips instead, but I really wanted to retain as much of that Goldie flavour for her as possible. I was thus really torn about her last set of eye chips.

Hat: Simpy kir
Dress: La Boutique de Lupi
Shoes: Handpainted Licca mjs



I thought darkened stock orange chips might be a good compromise. I'm still a bit iffy about them, but many of my flickr friends like these chips on her.

Generally, I don't quite like hand painting eye chips. It's important to make sure the paint is thin and even and there are no bubbles. Waaaaay back, my intial efforts were a bit of a hit and miss, with the worse ones looking like they are dark blobs with no iris line definitions. I was a lot more careful this time and I'm glad they turned out quite lovely!

Side note: I guess by now, it's pretty obvious that Gilian is an animal lover. She's often found with one pet or another. How many you ask? Let's just say it's a mini zoo here! XD



I'm too lazy to photograph my hand painted mary janes all at one shot. I'll just photograph a pair at a time whenever my girls wear them. I also have a black version of the scallped mary janes.