Full House: Blythe Manor

Now what do I do? That's my lament. Planning and decorating the twelve openings at Blythe Manor has been some fun that I'm a little sad that it is full. I could possibly squeeze in one more tower, but I don't want to get too eccentric or have my bedroom look too ridiculous. So maybe it's time to just enjoy The Manor by photographing some of the girlz actually IN it! And like a true minor OCD player, I just keep thinking: but I don't want to move anything and mess it up! We shall see.

Meanwhile, the Re-ment cleaning products and the orange 'pop' cubes from one of the older room sets make a perfect (and OCD?) finish to the laundry room. I couldn't be happier! I'm never far from my own Windex, Brillo, Comet, Bounty, Glade solid and heaven help us all if the pantry gets lows on toilet paper!

Welcome to Blythe Manor! Y'all sit a spell.

Blythe, Art & Vintage

I'm always trying to tie these three together: Blythe, art and vintage. From the looks of the framed print above, you can see someone has done it with much more talent and style. Miss Surprise on etsy http://www.misssurprise.etsy.com often sketches out outfits for the ultra cool Eurotrash of Finland http://www.eurotrash.etsy.com before she goes about making the clothes and helmets she sells. I have no idea why American Blythe collectors call knitted hats "helmets," but it makes us feel ultra cool, too.

Eurotrash is so of-the-moment and hard-to-get that her audiences around the globe check the international time converter and set alarm clocks for wee hours just to try to bid. She loads her etsy store about once a month, and I last saw about two dozen (not cheap) outfits and hats sell in less than three minutes.

I didn't even know about Miss Surprise or her role in the fashion process, but I accidentally found a set of three of her prints on etsy and promptly snatched them up. I chose the frame and mats above for the print I kept, and I gifted the other two to Miss Vicky http://www.cutitup.com, Re-ment habit supplier and to Angela http://www.geminiangelart.com. The scene above is the lavender and sage setting atop the armoire in my office. The girl on canvas and the single cat on the easel were both painted by me.

Speaking of etsy, the crocheted throw pillows pictured above on the lovely green faux leather (plastic) couch were made by me for my etsy shop http://www.hpsgsmith.etsy.com. I got the idea from crochet-covered focal beads or buttons used (usually just one) to close a shawl, stole, cape, wrap, etc. They're the perfect size for Blythe-looks like something they might have purchased at "Pottery Blythe"- you know, that cool store.

I even shared a tutorial for making my little pillows (so much for making my own cool million) on ZNE Dollz http://www.znedolls.com at http://chelise.typepad.com/zne_dollz/2008/02/groovy-little-p.html. Now everyone can have tons of tiny pillows, but why make them when you can get them from me on etsy http://www.hpsgsmith.etsy.com? It's the American way.

The top photo is just Olivia (GR) in her $1 vintage dress and a Supergirl comic, courtesy of the US Postal Service, back when stamps were 39 cents.

What's Better Than a Good, OId-Fashioned Slumber Party? Not Much!

When Olivia Elaia Rose London (GR) returned home from a week at Auntie Angela's http://geminiangelsart.blogspot.com/, the girls were so happy to see her they decided to hold a pajama party to take in all the gossip from Angela's fab Blythe quarters. Maggy (ADG PP#3), in pink pajamas and stuffed monkey by Angela seemed especially aghast to learn there was a BOY in the Blythe midst, the swarthy Arturo. Meanwhile Zena, a custom blue mohair and Violet (FT) in her vintage Skipper pj's, are all ears. The girls got out their pizza, popcorn, boom box (okay, they really wanted I-pods), Magic 8 date ball from Shershe http://gggroovydolls.com/ and copies of Blythe Bliss http://www.blythebliss.etsy.com/ magazine, for a total slumber party extraordinaire.

Gwynyth (ADG PWP) thought they were being immature and silly, so she put on her old cheerleading uniform (re-ment), which was not immature at all, and praticed some of her former high school maneuvers. Looks like she can still do the splits, cartwheels and back walk-overs. Good for her!

Signs of Spring

We've been excited to finally see a few signs of spring, even if one is April showers. They did allow Lilly to put on her Francie raincoat and Re-ment galoshes, umbrella and LV purse. Spring also brought out the imp in Maggy, who decided to don her Neuart gnome hat to go outside. She was rewarded by finding five sparrow eggs in a nest made in the wreath on our front door. Maggy thought it was so cute, she perched herself in another wreath. Meanwhile, Jolene got all punk-y and decided to rock out with her Hard Rock guitar.

I guess they all survived being left home while we took Violet on vacation. Hope they don't start acting bratty when the new girls come.

Easter at Blythe Manor

No clever egg hunt photos taken here, as the ground was swathed in snow Saturday and some still hung around on Sunday along with chilly temps. So, the girls simply got dressed up. The bedding I completed over the weekend. I love the lace-y pillow shams, and I especially love them since I didn't have to sew to do them. My tutorial can be found on http://www.ZNEDolls.com along with some other sneaky dollhouse tricks. I also added a second bed to the 5th floor while Lilly was out. Shhh! She doesn't know yet, and she'll be throwing a spoiled brat fit soon enough.
Tuesday was also naughty, jumping on the new bed and then hanging from the railings in her new Monkey suit- so appropriate!
Meanwhile, the other girls decided to go all classy. Maggy was thrilled to get to wear the carrot dress and purse from Auntie Angela, an art friend and now Blythe friend (her mention of ADD on her post makes perfect sense to me!). http://geminiangelsart.blogspot.com. Her sewing is as exquisite as all her other art, and she's fun and funny, too!
Lilly put on the school girl dress from Gina Garan's TIB shop along with her Re-ment designer purse. I forget if this is the Marc Jacobs on or the D&G or? Speaking of Gina, THE other Gina: there was much chat about her on 3/17 on http://www.blogtalkradio.com/ZNEart. The show is archived and you can listen any time!
Jolene also has a TIB dress from SugarMag and Violet has a swap dress on that matches her eyes.
Some people ask which Blythe is one's mini me. I would have to say Lilly is my wannabe-me and/or is my daughter, Adrienne, while Violet is probably closest to looking like and being me. Tuesday and Zena are the wild children (wild in a good, pre-1960s way), and Jolene and Maggy are just nice girls who popped in with their unique hair and looks.
The girls are being kind of squirrely because they know there's only one dolly carrier bag here from Becca of Sew Pixie http://www.sewpixie.tinfoildreams.com/blog, and they wonder who is going to get in it to go to Myrtle Beach. Haven't decided but did promise that a different girl could go to Art & Soul, Hampton and someone else to the Castle in the Meadow ZNE event in Detroit. Thank goodness film doesn't have to be purchased anymore!!

Crochet for Me; Bath Time for Violet

The lovely Zoe Aarden, grrrlie4 on Flickr and crocheter extraordinaire, inspired me to get out my hook and yarns the day after Christmas. She and I are doing a yarn/Blythe/misc. swap, and I can hardly wait to see what arrives! I got busy making hats about 10:30 a.m. and finally quit about 2 a.m. The end result was nine different hats with time out for eating and napping and other stuff. My last one, when my eyes were bleary, actually is one of my favorites. It is the nubby burgundy one here, modeled by Maggy (ADG#3). There will be plenty of hats to go around, and others to mail to nice people (hint:hmmm?) I also made an American Eagle-like hat as my DH called it and seen on my other blog http://lillysoflondonish.blogspot.com which was promptly mailed to the new Isaac Zygmunt Kil of Freeport, MI. I hope Ike doesn't mind that Lester posed in the hat for photo purposes. Do you suppose a baby's head is much bigger than a Blythe's?

Meanwhile, the lovely Violet (French Trench) of the violet eyes arrived from Seattle on Christmas eve and was smuggled in without the kids and DH noticing. They just get all freaky about Blythe stuff. I have to ease them into it. As I said earlier, I thought I would be a two-Blythe family, but she was a late night deal with pleading eyes. Generous seller SeattleBlythe on TIB sent three outfits, a wig, hightops and more.

Violet took a nice long bubble bath to unwind from her trip and get settled in. She was the first to try out the new Blythe bathroom, with Fashion Fever fixtures arriving 12/26 from DirtyBootsSamantha on TIB and Flickr. I had fun organizing all of the tiny Re-ment cosmetics. I have to use Glue Dots to dissuade my cats from eating them. So far we are missing one rubber duck.

Our Friends, Molli and Zelda

Here's a lovely picture of lindajed's Blythe girls, Molli (the brunette, a Prima Dolly Ebony) and Zelda (Star Dancer like Lilly), showing some of the Fashion Fever and Re-ment goodies my girls sent to them for our swap. I think we might have gotten it just about right, because this is exactly how we pictured her girls would divide up the stuff. We're secretly wondering if sometimes Molli sneaks in gets all gussied up and girly when she thinks no one's watching! You can read more about them and enjoy their mom's wit here http://adventuresofmolli.blogspot.com/.

Christmas presents, a new haircut and a closet!

The girls were so excited to receive these swap goodies from Lindajed and Molli and Zelda at http://adventuresofmolli.blogspot.com, our friends from Flickr. The Georgia girls and their mom were so kind to send coordinating fashions and little goodies, like coffee and scones from 'Panera'. Thanks so much to Linda and congrats on finishing your exams. Happy holiday time off to all of us!

Lilly immediately had to call all her friends on the new phone she received. She's also wearing her new leggings. Meanwhile, Maggy got all dressed up in the adorable sweater and skirt set, adding tights and shoes from Blythe dressing room. After zapping her latte and chocolate chip scone in the microwave, she promptly went out and got a haircut! She asked for the Posh Spice/Katie Holmes combo. I hope she likes it, because it's not going to grow back very fast. But, her long hair was unmanageable hanging below her knees, and it was either get it cut or get a Lounging Lovely! You know it's a bad hair day, when only a $150 sister can make it right. However, Maggy looks quite pleased and put her feet up when she got home from shopping and the salon.

The girls now have some storage in the form of a Re-ment closet and cabinet to better organize their stuff and to keep their shoes away from the cats! Wonder what's left for Santa to bring them?

Lilly & Maggy get their own London Flat

Hooray, the girls finally found a decent apartment (in my office closet). It is an open concept and as the closet has never had doors anyway and has been open for office storage, this allows me to enjoy looking at them.

Target had an incredible Barbie dollhouse furniture fashion set for $20. I thought the large cardboard house would be their new home, but after all the furniture was cut loose, which took about an hour, it looked horrible. Thankfully, the closet presented itself.

The first floor is the kitchen, complete with fridge, stove, sink, microwave, mini flat screen tv, butcher block top cart and table and chairs. The crazy miniature artists at Re-Ment and Puchi have created such tiny items I would never want little kids to get ahold of them! There are coffee stirrers and makeup brushes barely bigger than a hair! Thanks to Miss Vicky of Cut-It-Up http://www.cut-it-up.com for swapping. She's having a fabulous Re-Ment event in store tomorrow in Cali.

Upstairs there is a combination living room and office. They have both a desktop computer and a laptop, because of course they both need computers. They also have a larger flat screen TV with remote as well as a cordless phone, in addition to their cell, a guitar and more. They also have two cats and a Yorkie. The Barbie house came with two more dogs and a cat, but that's just too many for a small apartment. Besides, they just their own little annoying Tickle Me Elmo.

We'll be working on figuring out a bedroom. They have sleeping bags, but I'm waiting on some furniture from Hong Kong as well as a closet, and then the interior decorating can start again.

Oh, Hello, Haven't I Seen You Somewhere Before? Meet Maggy and Lilly London!

Hey World! We're here! Maggy and Lilly London, that is. Lilly is a Takara Tomy Star Dancer, newly-arrived in the Midwest from Tokyo, and her sister Maggy is an ADG girl (brunette, obvy) who just popped over from Illinois.

They are true fashion plates who can't resist a deal on etsy or This is Blythe or wherever else their quest to look good takes them. Right now, they're enjoying the world of Re-ment accessories, having lucked out to get the Coach-like wallet and planner in their very first Re0ment box from the TIB store, along with a Starbucks-like travel cup. They also like the OL Office Life series and are excited their office furnishings fit perfectly on their new desk.

Maggy and Lilly have been finding great new clothes courtesy of Barbie's Fashion Fever line and also Only Hearts Club girls. They are awaiting their new wigs from GoodyBlythe, so they can rock out with blue hair, an afro and an Alice look. Meanwhile, the quest continues for the Re-ment Tiffany's bag. They were very exicted to learn some of their ZNE http://zneiscrafty.ning.comfriends like ZNE Queen Chel http://chelise.typepad.com are into Blythe and Miss Vicky from Cut-it-Up http://www.cut-it-up.com is into Re-Ment. How cool is that?

The girls dream of being on the catwalk and are practicing their stuff posing for tons of Flickr photos, which can be see here: http://www.flickr.com/photos/12448123@N07/collections/72157603340424040/. Do come check us out as we are fabu and Blythelicious!

We are building are favorite links at right. If you have a Blythe site to add, let us know!