Claribari Headbands on Etsy

With the burst of energy I seem to have received when the date changed from 12/31/2011 to 1/1/2012, I have poured a lot of energy into my etsy shop. Initially I tried to sell headbands, some dresses, and even patterns. I have a hard time getting started sewing, so I decided to focus on headbands first.


In the past two weeks I have updated the shop with several sets of headbands, many of which are completely NEW! I have also created some ribbon wrapped headbands as well as this fabulous Valentine's antennae headband! Doesn't Cassie look happy?

The other day I had my fiftieth sale on etsy! I never thought I'd have that many, but now I am excited for more! To celebrate I am offering a coupon code for 15% off of your order. The coupon code to enter at checkout is: FABFIFTY

As some of you know, all of the profits from my etsy sales are being saved toward my Kozy Kape!

Reflections on 365 Days of Cassie Part 2

I had to break this into two posts, because I wanted to write a lot, and also show a lot of my 365 photos. I'm very proud of many of the pictures that I took of Cassie. I feel that for as many as were last minute, and not at all creative, so many others were well done and creative. To pick up where I left off, it was just after Christmas...


My best friend Jeannette got a Blythe doll for Christmas! She named her Simply Mango, Melinda. I was so happy that one of my 'real life' friends had the Blythe bug too!


The creativity that sometimes flows through me inspired this photo; Cassie's own dollie-photo adventure. I feel like Cassie probably wouldn't play with dolls! Haha.


365 certainly makes you want to continually have new things. Photographing your doll in the same clothes and with the same props gets pretty boring, pretty fast. I was happy to finally pick up some Lucky Blythe mags from ConfettiLexi. I felt like about this point Cassie came into her own 'style' as well.


Meet Oceanna! The second 'real life' friend to get a Blythe doll...Kristi! I was really surprised that she wanted a doll at all, and more so when she decided she had to have a blue-haired Can Can Cat! It has been really fun sharing my doll hobby with friends that I thought would only admire from afar!


One thing I finally did was to make Cassie an IKEA uniform out of one of my old shirts. I did this for a Physical Challenge, and I had a ton of fun using this shirt as a prop for other photos:



I got more and more into Re-ment and collecting it, using it for props (like the iron above!) I also participated in several personal swaps and the Blythe Swap group on BK. These awesome hairbows are from DollyBird.


Some of my photos got very boring. Others took a lot of time and a lot of shots to capture.



This one for "May the fourth be with you" Haha.


I actually spent a lot of time creating things to 'celebrate' Cassie's birthday, which is May 15.



In June we organized and went to our first Blythe Meet!!! It was at Longwood Gardens and several girls (flesh and Blythe) came out! It was so exciting to meet a Kenner. I of course couldn't decide between my girls and just brought them all! By this point there were six!

As I neared the end of my time with 365, I tried to take Cassie out more and do more exciting photos of her. I took her to work with me for the early morning kitchen planning session one weekend:


Cass had a spa day:


And finally, it was down to our last photo. I poised Cassie, my 365 Queen, with her celebratory spirits, a crown of congratulations, and her camera 'hung up' for the year (NOT!)



The 365 challenge was difficult. There were days where I had a great photo op, days where the LAST thing I wanted to do was take a pic, weeks where I fell behind, weeks where I had too many photos to choose from, and times when I was flat out disappointed with how my photos looked (snapped in haste in the crappy dining room light...ugh) I think that for the good photos that came of this project, it was worth it. I like that I can say, I made it, difficult or no, for 365 days of photo taking. I didn't think that I would (make it). I'm a little sad that it is over, and while I contemplated doing a new 365 set, I don't know if it will be the same. Cassie is especially special because she is my first girl, and the one who came everywhere with me. It's weird to look at the girls and actually choose one to accompany me, because now it doesn't *have* to be Cassie. I think she is a bit sad too, to see it go. Maybe she and I will do another photo project sometime. For now, I am trying to balance the love between my six girls, and figure out if my little family could stand an addition or two ;)

If you get the chance, try out the 365 challenge on flickr. It is a worthwhile project.

Breakfast Bunch

Sleepovers aren't complete without a huge breakfast the next morning. The girls' table and chair set arrived today, so I got to set up this little scene after work.

Cassie, Lilah, Fawn, and Yula (arm on the right) are chowing down on waffles, fresh fruit, 'Top Smarts' and pastries.

The little Re-ment talbe is perfect. I didn't realize that it came with a couple different top covers, including this cute polka-dot one.

We also got our Summer Road Trip Swap package in the mail! It was a pretty boss mail day! Ellen sent us glam sunglasses, a Re-ment blind box, which turned out to be DELICIOUS ICE CREAM!, a beautiful handmade dress, and a little purse with a map in it. I love everything so much!


Hooray for breakfast tables and swaps!

Grown-ups Have Sleepovers too...

...and then they play dolls and their dolls have a sleepover.



My bestie stayed over tonight and we whipped up some PJ pants and set up a sleepover scene with the girls. It was a great way to unwind after working all day!

Reflections on 365 Days of Cassie Part 1

Cassie and I have come a long way since this first picture that we added to a flickr group called "365 Blythe." At first, I was worried about committing to this project, and thought that once Riley was born, I would fall off the wagon completely. I started anyway, and I'm glad I did!


As I got more comfortable taking Cassie's picture I brought her with me on outings, and let some of my friends and family see her. We went to the Poconos with my friend Lauren and she helped me pose Cassie in front of the fire.


I got my second Blythe, Hana, in July/August of last year. I started working on customizing her, including a reroot. Sadly, it still isn't finished, but here is a progress pic!


Every year Hubby and I go to the PA Renaissance Faire, and this year, Cassie came too. I sewed her outfit and took pics of her all over, in between little spurts of rain.


Naturally it wasn't long before all of my SAI sisters got the chance to meet Cassie. This was the September meeting. My best friend Kristi fell in love with Cassie...


Some of my photos were certainly more creative than others. This was taken well after I had removed Hana's old hair, but I still had it laying around when I got the idea for this photo. Poor Cassie would NEVER do anything like that, but at that point they were my only two dolls!


On October 25, my daughter Riley was born! One of my pics from before Riley was home from the hospital was the Cat and Cassie 'sensing a great disturbance in the force.' I got Yula, my third Blythe on my birthday, three days before Riley was born. Poor Yula didn't get much attention, but I did get to some of her custom work very late one night. It's still not finished...eek!


At first I found it really easy to juggle my hobbies and Riley. She slept a lot, and I got some custom work started on Yula (who arrived on my birthday, three days before Riley was born). I kept up with 365 and staged some cool Halloween pics.


Reaching photo 100 felt impressive, but there were still 265 pictures to go!


I met a lot of people through 365, including Kieny, who was also doing the challenge with a Cassiopeia Spice (Summer). Kieny and I decided to try a swap (my first!) and these were the beautiful knits that she sent me!


I finished my dollhouse kitchen in time for Christmas, and staged this photo. By eleven pm, I had all sorts of things to do, but the only thing that I felt I really WANTED to do was to make Cassie's Christmas apron and stage this photo. This was the first time I really had to say, "I'm going to do what I WANT to, and the housework can wait." Until Riley, I'd always had time to do it all.


Finally got to use this coat that I got for Cassie before she'd even arrived.


My fourth doll was a Christmas present from my mom. She got me Kylee, a Moofala custom that needed a bit of TLC (and a scalp re-attachment!). My four girls celebrated Christmas and brought in the new year together...

~to be continued!

Roadtrip Edition: Erie, PA

Cassie and Fawn were selected to come with me and fam to Erie. Cassie was a natural choice, since she is my 365 girl, and we are nearing the end. I didn't want to fall behind! Fawn...is just fun.

The girls packed *ahem* a few things, and got geared up to go!



Mid trip my sweet little Fawn found a caterpillar friend!



We made it to Erie safely, and the next day ventured to my FAVORITE coffee place EVER...Tim Hortons! They are a Canadian chain that completely trumps DD, Wawa, and Starbucks. They have good, inexpensive coffee and kickin' pastries. The girls are now hooked too.



On our anniversary, Hubby and I went kayaking. I brought Cassie out so that we could do our 365 photo by the Perry Monument. We visited this the first time I went to Erie. This time, we paddled out from the lagoon to the bay. It was interesting to see it from the water.



A few times while we were there we also visited my favorite department store. Kraus Department Store has been in business since 1886. It's family run, and their service is phenomenal.



We went for plumbing issues and had a good chat with their plumber, who was beyond knowledgeable. He looked at pieces of my MIL's faucets and knew what brand they were and how to fix them. We also picked up a ceiling fan for my daughter, and contemplated buying her a Radio Flyer balance bike.



Balance bikes are so cute and cool. They teach children to balance on two wheels from an early age, rather than going the training wheels route.

Even though I had work Friday and we didn't leave Erie until about 2:30 pm Thursday, we stopped at the outlets in Grove City. I had a good time...found a book for me, board books and clothes for the baby, and a new pair of comfy, supportive shoes for work. We got in really late; 3am, eeek! My registered mail slip was waiting for me, so I was pretty excited for....MY FUTURE LOVERS GOGGLES! Except...I couldn't retrieve them because of work. Hubby went for me though, and I got to them when I got home from work :)



They aren't for Cassie, though. They are for Hana, whose hairs are almost finished. I need to seal her face and fix her lashes so that when her reroot is [FINALLY] done, she can be assembled and loved. She is going to be a hard core favorite when she is finished.

Longwood Gardens Blythe Meet

This past weekend we held a Blythe Meet at Longwood Gardens, which is located in southeastern Pennsylvania. We expected a rather large turnout based on RSVPs, and all said and done, there were six of us and fifteen of our girls!



We started off in the cafe, eating and getting to know one another. It was really cool to have all the girls out and about. I was there with my bestie, LibraryChica. We also had MandyRn, a newer collector, Queenbee, who brought Kenner (eek!) StrwbrryStar and her friend Amy. SS had a gorgeous little custom named Sparkle, as well as a Goldie!



I was so happy to meet Queenbee's gorgeous Kenner, Mia. Her skin, hair, and eyes...everything about her was so very different than all of the Neos. She was just so light and delicate. The dress that QB made her suited her soooo well!



Mandy's girl Alexa was another Punkaholic People, so it was fun to photograph her with Yula. Here they are together:



After the cafe we headed over to the Italian Water Gardens; aka the perfect photo location! Here is my gorgeous little Fawn walking by the lake.



While we were lining all of the girls in front of the gardens, lots of people stopped us to ask about them and photograph them. It was funny, because I had read about this happening via the forum, but it was the first time I'd been to a meet and managed to attract that much attention! There was a whole family who posed with them and told us they were taking the photos back to India to show everyone! Another womanj took a picture of her two-year-old with the girls. Too funny.



And here are ALL of us girls, Riles included!



Everyone had a good time and I think that now that we all know one another it will be that much nicer to have another meet. I'm hoping we draw even more people to come out, and eventually can host regular events, and have planned swaps/giveaways, etc. Here's to the future of the Tri-State-Area Blythe Meet!

Cassie's Birthday Celebration!

I received Cassie on May 17th, 2010, so this year marked her 'first' birthday (Cassie is in her twenties though; she is NOT one!) I decided to have a birthday party for her. The girls and I had a good time decorating.



Cassie was pretty surprised! I was just surprised that none of them slipped and told her!



Cassie cut the cake and made a wish, and everyone enjoyed the party.



Fawn with a slice of cake!



All the girls brought gifts for Cassie. They are so sweet! I actually had a lot of fun making the little gift bags and presents. They are made from actual gift bags!



Happy Birthday to my first dolly, Cassie!