Thompson Family-Life

Vintage Camera Embroidery Pattern Progess (and some more pumpkins)

These gorgeous embroideries were created by Kirsty Neale, who is on the Kitschy Digitals Creative Team. :-) This is actually the same pattern, but executed in two different ways..

the first one she actually used her sewing machine to fill in the outline. I think it's a *brilliant* way to use the pattern and I'm TOTALLY charmed by the "sketchyness" of the look.. looks almost hand-drawn! I also love how she used loose little ties/knots to fill in the "dots" at the bottom of the camera design.. I think it's a unique way of doing them, when your first inclination would be to just use a french knot technique (which she uses on the next example).

 

And she hand-embroidered this version which is totally cute in itself!

I have *two* more camera samples to show you (hopefully next week), so that will be *five* patterns in all! I'm so excited about these and I hope to have the Pattern PDF (that will include all 5 camera patterns) available very soon (in time for those handmade holiday gifts you'd like to make!)

Thanks for the kind words on my little pumpkin stash from my last post.. I added another BIG orangy calico pumpkin to the collection last night, and added some stems to the other ones..

 

And here's Campbell generously modeling one...

 

:-) I used the instructions from the November Issue of Martha Stewart Living to create these pumpkins, but i have to admit that Martha always has pretty vague instructions and I often have to decipher things for myself that I can't get from the instructions.

If you'd like me to do a thorough tutorial (with photos!) on how to make these, please leave a comment! If i get enough requests, i think I will create one. They are very easy and actually don't even require a sewing machine. I stitched everything by hand (and i have needle stabs to prove it).. there's only one part that you could do more easily on a machine, but i hand-stitched that too and it doesn't take too long, depending on how BIG your pumpkin is that you're making.

work in progress

 

Some trick-or-treating dollie-style & BlytheCon

So, I was able to take some photos of my Blythes yesterday in their Halloween Costumes (oh yes, you heard that right).. of course it was a day later than Halloween, but as I'm sure alot of you experienced, it was too misty/rainy to take them actually *on* Halloween. But that's ok, because we had gorgeous weather yesterday!

I just HAD to take them in the front yard (I usually save my dolly photographing for the backyard, as I'm sure you can figure out why) because there's a PERFECTLY orange-y fallish and beautiful tree across the street in the neighbor's yard. I was able to set the girls up in my yard so that you could see the neighbor's tree in the background.

I thought I might get away with taking the pics without any passers-by, but of course I was wrong. :-) But I just totally committed to it and even had several curious conversations with people that stopped by to see what was going on. Even one of Cooper's classmates and his parents were walking by, and I of course had to let them in on my world of dollies. :-) Luckily Cooper is at an age where it doesn't bother him in the slightest that Mommy plays with dolls. Now if he was a preteen and his friend walked by, i would be tempted to swoop up my dolls and run into the house as to not embarrass him. ;-)

For the most part people smile (an entire family on one motorcyle - Mom, Dad and son - passed by and slowed down so they could turn their heads and do a double-take at what sort of sillyness was going on. They all smiled and went on their way. I just waved and embraced it! No embarrassed faces here.)

My neighbor that we *NEVER* talk to, they've been our neighbors for 11 years and we've maybe talked with them 10 times, at that. (i think both parties are a bit anti-social. ;-) She was walking to her mailbox to which it was quite hard to pretend she didn't see me, since i was only a few yards from her. I smiled and signaled to her to "come on over!" and I told her the whole story behind Blythe and what the heck it was I was doing. She was impressed with my large reflector and my expensive looking camera. I think that made me look a bit more "legit" and not as "crazy". ;-)

I'm not sure she was convinced that I wasn't crazy, but she was really nice about it and smiled and said "you should dress them up in Christmas outfits, take a photo, and make them into cards to sell!" I was impressed with her idea and thankful she didn't make me feel like a weirdo.

The whole concept of these dolls is just so much fun and I have to admit I get a bit of joy watching the leery looks from people. I just don't get embarrassed by much these days (unless you count the time that Campbell pulled my pants down while standing in line at a Crate and Barrel at the mall.  But that's neither here nor there.)

It was really interesting at BlytheCon because they did a Q&A with Gina Garan (THE woman that essentially "brought back" Blythe! it's such an interesting story, read it here) and someone asked her how she felt about photographing Blythe in public, even after all of these years. She lives in NYC and she said that people do such weird stuff there, it pretty much doesn't even phase people. :-) I personally have only had funny and nice interactions with people while photographing Blythe in public. I think for the most part, people just find it interesting.

(here's Gina and Megan - Blythe customizer - during the Q&A) link

 

(source)

(the photo below was taken at the end of the event. I didn't get to see this - or let my dolls participate! -  because I got REALLY tired and left about an hour and a half early.. i had been there for 6.5 hours already. Gina was such a good sport to do this!)

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Ok, so on to more details about BlytheCon! If you aren't a dolly person, i'd suggest you skip the rest of this post, because it will be chock full of photos from the event.

The space was a *really* cool space. I know that the next BlytheCon they have will be SO much bigger... and since this was the first one, they were really conservative with reserving a space. It made for a really quaint, cozy experience.. the space we used in this building is actually for gallery showings. (the front of the space is an AMAZING  boutique full of handmade goodness.. photos to come) *BUT* I think they underestimated how many people would come.. and it was VERY crowded. :-) But it was so much fun, I don't think anyone noticed.

(set-up, before the show started)

I know the event will only get larger, and I'm sure the space will have to reflect that, so I'm really thrilled I got to go to the first one, which I'm sure was much more intimate than future shows will be. I was so amazed at how far people traveled for this! And thankful that my commute was only 20 minutes. :-)

 

 

 

 

This was Gina's table (Gina on the left) and I have to admit, I had no idea what she looked like, so i didn't realize it was her til I saw what she was selling (products from her site, This is Blythe) And I was like "You must be Gina."... Lol!! She was so nice. I felt like a douche.

I have to admit that I had NO idea what to expect from Gina, and I really didn't know the whole story behind her.. but after meeting her and getting to know her through the Q&A, I just can't say enough nice things about her. I guess this little (or big!) world of Blythe is like any other hobby. People are passionate about Blythe. Alot are actually really emotional about these dolls. And Gina is no exception. I totally admired the respect she has for these dolls. She is a LIFE LONG collector of dolls. She collects ALL kinds of dolls and she probably has too many to count. This is a serious hobby for her. (as i'm sure it is for MANY). Again, i'm sure it's like any hobby that people are hardcore with.

Hearing all of her stories about how she used to go thrifting and would find the original Blythe dolls from 1972 (that would go for $20 back then! Now for thousands on Ebay!), her work with CWC (part of the toy company Takara that makes the dolls now) to bring back Blythe, her work on the Alexander McQueen ad campaign for Target where he used Blythe dolls in the ads (she worked on the commercial for that, view it here), she talked about so many things and she really was just the sweetest, most genuine person. I left this event feeling so excited about my dolls, and wanting to break them out and take photos!

Here's my table after I was done setting up. We had very little to work with (but worked fine for me!).. the table was 4' x 2' and i had 2' x 2' to work with. :-) Quite tiny. I found precut PVC pipe at Home Depot that was exactly 2 feet wide. I got very very lucky on that. I then covered them with leftover wool felt I had. It worked perfectly! then I set my dolls and decals in the background.

 

 

(I sold alot! But I still have quite a few that I'll be listing in my Etsy shop this week. I'm crossing my fingers on that! Last week was too busy with Halloween. I will give a heads-up when I plan on listing them. I need to photograph them and then I'll be set.)

I don't think I ever posted these photos that I took of the headbands at home before the show... i got to make lots of fabric buttons (one of my favorite things to make) for these as well....

 

This girl, Fae from PommePomme shared the other half of the table with me. Her display was beautiful and the craftmanship of her doll clothing is impeccable.. (I bought that cute little mint and lavendar get-up her doll is wearing. :-)

 

And here was the hubbub from my point of view once the show started. It was so much fun! Alot of these folks have met via Flickr so it was kind of like a big reunion as well! I knew a handful of people since I'm relatively new to the world of Blythe.

 

 

 

They had little cafe tables (i guess you'd call them?) where everyone set there dolls out for everyone to see. Every once in a while we'd hear the ever deafening noise of one falling (that hard plastic hitting the ground is not something you want to hear.. did I mention these dolls aren't exactly affordable?) But that is what's so cool about Blythe-lovers! It's all about sharing the love of these dolls. I swear to you that for some women, meeting other "famous" dolls belonging to other Blythe-owners was almost as big of a deal as meeting Gina Garan herself. :-) It's a hoot.

 

They even had a Halloween costume contest... some were amazing! I love the Shining Twins.. i think they won something!

 

 

 

See the girl on the far left with the hello kitty hat on (that i cut off in the photo?)

This is the girl that owns that doll, and she made a matching outfit for herself.

 

Only at BlytheCon. :-)

And this girl had one of my shirts on from my Printfection shop.. loved it!

 

And finally, here's a great Blythe inspired tattoo that one girl was donning...

 

I'm so glad to have been a vendor at this event. I have HUGE respect for artists that do really big craft shows.. this was such a small one in comparison.. I was SO exhausted after a solid week of making the headbands pretty much 24/7. Of course, maybe if I hadn't procrastinated, i wouldn't have been so tired. ;-) I'm very interested to see how much bigger BlytheCon is next year and where it will be held. I would imagine they'll have it somewhere more centrally located in the US.. but ya never know! Maybe it will be here again. It was fun!

(p.s. The dresses and collars my dolls are wearing in those first few photos are from FritzyBitz. I'm totally in love with them. I made the hat for the blue-haired girl... i made the pompoms using embroidery floss and red and white twine. I also made the red patent leather bows for the other girls. I made their clown noses using the plastic balloons from those vintage cupcake picks, like these... they worked perfectly! I made their trick-or-treating sacks using the template from the Halloween bags from PuchiCollective from 2 years ago, but used different graphics on mine. The circus graphics are from Chelsea Ann's Circus Party digital kit! They worked perfectly! The digital gingham pattern in the very first photo is from Karli's digital kit that is available in her Etsy shop!)  

Lastly, i wanted to share a few pics from the Boutique at Young Blood where the event was held. If you are ever in Atlanta, you MUST stop by this place. It's so amazing. And there's a really great cupcake place right down from it and also a KILLER vintage store.. 

Here are the Young Blood Boutique pics... since I do almost all of my shopping online, it was really nice to see so much handmade goodness in person. I saw quite a few Etsy products here.

 

And this is the entrance to the gallery where BlytheCon was held.



Does this incredibly long post make up for me not blogging much lately? ;-)

P.S. Thank you so much for your comments on my last post... Here's an update on the girl.. I talked with her mom a few days after it happened and you could tell she was still pretty shaken up by it.

The bad news: insurance wouldn't cover her emergency dentist visit, so she had to play $500 out of pocket.. and i'm sure she'll have to pay whatever other expensese come down the road.

The good news: i'm not sure if she had the forethought to do this on her own, or if she called an emergency dentist and he/she guided her, but she put the tooth in milk and got to the dentist within an hour, so they were therefore able to save her tooth! They put it right back in and have some sort of brace holding it in until it roots again. (INSANE right?) I also found out that she had been jumping in one of those bouncy houses and collided with another child, that is how it happened. Can you believe how lucky she was to find that tooth? Crazyness. A front tooth at that.. how much would that have sucked if she couldn't have found it? I'm so glad it worked out for the most part.

be nice

So, I debated whether to tell this story, because it's a bit of a downer (because who really needs to hear a downer story, am I right?), but i promise I'll make up for it at the end.. and there's a point to it all. :-)

I've been thinking alot lately on the simplicity of just being nice.

Being nice to the people you know. The people you don't know. The people you love. The people you might not love so much.

I catch myself being way too cynical about people and sometimes expect the worst before I even have one conversation with them. But I do try to give people the benefit of the doubt.

I'm one of those people that if the whole day is filled with really awesome things, if ONE "bad" thing happens: I dwell on only that one bad thing, and not all of the good things. Almost like, that one bad thing negated everything else. (I know, it's a bad habit and one I'm trying to change!)

We were at Cam's Fall Festival tonight and I was so excited to see the boys dressed up in their costumes for the first time, and I was just in this really great mood, filled with anticipation of all of the holiday events coming up.. just sort of giddy, ya know?

We ate dinner first there, and the place was filled with lots of scurrying of little ones in costumes, giggling, excitement... and we're sitting at our table and I'm talking with this lady that helps the kids out of the cars in the carpool lane at Cam's preschool (which happens to be at a church.. that we don't attend, but it's really great).

And she's just the sweetest lady, and so thoughtful, and talks with me about Campbell and how attached he is to his trains, and she goes to get me a hot dog, because Campbell ate mine (and his).. she just gets up and gets me a hot dog.. like she's taking care of me, like she takes care of the kids that she teaches at the school.

A lady I barely know, just from the carpool line.

And all of the sudden her preteen daughter walks up, in tears, literally with blood running out of her mouth, and an entire tooth sitting in the palm of her hand. Her front tooth to be exact. A permanent tooth. And I realize that not even a week ago, this is the same girl who's face I painted at Cooper's school Fall Festival.

And Ethan and I are just sitting there in shock at this poor girl, knowing that it could be days or longer before she has another front tooth, and how hard that will be on her at school, and not to mention the PAIN she must be going through.. some freak accident that knocks her entire tooth out. All the way to the root.

Usually you have the advantage of a numbing shot at the dentist, but she didn't have that luxury.

So I'm in shock, Ethan leaves to go somewhere, the mother and daughter rush away to try and stop the bleeding.. and I look across the table and there are these THREE adult women (mothers) who are laughing.

At the girl.

Making gross-out faces that only an eight-year old could compete with.

Looking at each other and smirking about the girls apparently "really large tooth".

Like, seriously.

So in my disbelief, I point blank say to them:

"Don't you think you shouldn't be laughing at her? She's probably in pain... That probably really hurt!"

And they just look at me like they can't believe I called them out on it, and one of the women says, in the snarkiest of voices, and again, a *tone* that only a child could compete with, "I can laugh at anything I want to laugh at."

Yes a grown woman. A mother. And probably a regular member of this church (of course just because you go to church, obviously doesn't mean you're a Saint!) And she was a pit-bull, you could tell, ready to BRING. IT. ON.

All I could eep out was a defeated, but strong, "Nice." I'm a pit bull too (just ask Ethan), but wasn't about to fight that battle. I could tell where she was coming from, and it wasn't a good place.

I just felt ick, ya know?

Like #1, I can't believe these women. #2. I can't believe I had a confrontation at a church function with a complete stranger.

I don't know what I was more in disbelief about: the fact that they're laughing at this poor girl, or her reaction to what I said.

I just sat there with a "is this really happening?" look on my face.

And the rest of the night, I just felt sick to my stomach. And I felt like it just "ruined" my whole evening. I felt like I couldn't totally be in the moment with the boys because I just felt sick about it all. Sick for that little girl. Sick about those women. And sick about the fact that they're all raising children!

I'm not perfect by any means don't get me wrong, but even Cooper expressed utter interest in the welfare of that little girl. You could tell he felt utterly bad for her.

so my point is (and yes, i have one.. ;-)

 

(link)

Just be nice.

It's such a simple thing, ya know?

Be nice to your fellow human beings.

Cooper often tells me of the "rules" in his classroom, like "Stay in your chair."... "Raise your hand." and the other day he said that another rule is "Treat others the way you would want to be treated."

WOW, right? The most basic of rules.

Make someone's day by going out of your way to do something nice. For a family member you might have not talked with in a while, or for your spouse, or boyfriend, or child, or friend.

Just do something or say something nice to them for no reason. No reason at all.

More than anything, if there's anything I hope my boys learn is to Be Kind. Be Caring. Be Thoughtful. Be Considerate. Of their fellow human beings.

I'm not naive. I realize there are mean people out there. People that do horrendous things to other people. And in the grand scheme of things, this woman is a blip on the radar of *meanness*. But i think what made me feel even sicker about it is, that she is a person that is (seemingly) just like me. A mother - a person that usually just naturally has the ability to empathize. To feel pain for another person's pain.

I've realized lately that there need to be more random acts of kindness in my world. Because it could be that one little kind gesture that could make someone's day. Or month. Or year. Because there's so much crap to bring us down in this world, I want to be able to focus on the good. Expect good in people, even when I encounter so many not-so-good people everywhere I turn. Whether it be snarky people online (oh yes), or snarky people in person.

I also realize that probably 90% of the average population would not have acted that way in that situation. The key is to NOT let the small few negate the fact that on average, people do care. I do believe that. But I forget it alot. I'm trying to not dwell on the negativity.. it's something I really have to work at.

All that aside...

One really nice and sweet and unsolicited act of kindness that happened to me last week really just made my day. :-) And it really just filled my heart. And it was JUST what I needed that day. And i sort of felt like that *good feeling* just stayed with me for days. It was the thoughtfulness behind it that meant so much to me. Anyone can say something nice about someone, but the selflessness behind the words is what makes those words so meaningful.

I'm sure alot of you read Floresita's blog.. she's insanely talented, incredibly inspiring and is one of the forces behind feelingstitchy, a site that I stalk pretty regularly.

I love this new concept she has been doing on her blog called "Conversations". She was so kind to do one featuring me.. and like I said, it really meant the world to me!

So I wanted to *pay it forward* a bit, hoping that I can pass on that fuzzy feeling to someone else. Someone I admire. Someone I care about. Someone I appreciate. Someone that has been a positive influence on my life, even if in the smallest ways.

I have three girls I wanted to feature.. I have to say that I'll only do this for this post because this is uniquely Floresita's. And i also have to admit that it's quite the challenge putting these vignettes together! I'm not as talented at it as she is. :-) I adore how she juxtaposes her images and they really seem to relate to each other and "speak" to each other, pun intended.

First I put together some images of mine and of Floresita's as a thank-you for being so sweet and for making my day last week.

1. "progress" by floresita     2. untitled by me

2. "with french knots" by floresita     4. untitled by me

I'm not as eloquent with words as she is, so my conversation includes some of her own words that she posted on her blog about her crafting philosophy. I admire it so much:

I try not to buy new fabrics or materials. Instead of throwing away a shirt, skirt, or pants because it has a tear or a stain, I cut them and use them as fabric for crafts.

For me, this is what crafting is all about: using what you have, and working in the limitations of your own means to make something beautiful.

I also love hearing her words about her family. I love the way she writes. I love reading about her history. And I love that she so openly shares those words. There's something to expressing things via the internet. I think in some ways, we feel alot more open to just let our words float out into this world beyond our computer screen.. not knowing who might be reading, but always connecting in some way with complete strangers across the globe. People we would've never met if it weren't for good 'ole www. :-)

Thank you for being so kind and always inspiring, Floresita!

 

1. new house equals new couch by karli.      2. untitled by me.

3. barbie doll trunk by karli    4. untitled by me.

My next "conversation" is with Karli, who I also met online a year or so ago. She had bought some of my digital kits and I always *loved* seeing the projects she created with them on Flickr. We started talking a bit via email.. and she would always pop up on flickr or my blog leaving the sweetest most enthusiastic comments EVER. I have to say that I *ADORE* a girl that types many of her words in all caps (to show her excitement!) and that never underuses the exclamation mark! Lol!(there are never EVER enough exclamation marks in our world. ;-) She is literally like a ray of sunshine that brightens my day. EVERY DAY.

I don't think I've EVER "seen" her in a bad mood.. always bubbly, always putting a positive spin on everything, always leaving you the most uplifting and supportive words. Always saying the funniest old sayings, things your grandpa would say! I love her love of vintage and everything kitsch, and that her ability to not take everything so seriously is reflected in her home decor, artwork and more.

I love her cute CUTE family. Her love for them.

I feel so blessed to know Karli and hopefully I can meet her in person one day! (a trip to Buffalo maybe? not in the Wintertime though.. sorry, i can't handle THAT kind of COLD! ;-)

 

1. making sense by Lu.       2. me by me.

3. NovSelfPorts by Lu.       3. new orleans by me.

My last conversation is with Lu.. who I met when I was doing freelance scrapbook art a few years ago, but got to know even more over the last year or so.

She's one of those friends that always has your back. If you sound like you're down, she's the first to email you and offer kind words.

She says the funniest things, and makes me laugh at almost every email.

We don't talk ALOT, but when we do, it's always meaningful and genuine. :-)

I *LOVE* her concept and website entitled Art-Slam. You can read more about her project here.

I admire how involved she is with the blogging community and her participation in the BlogHer conferences around the country. She even spoke on a panel about beautiful blogging and positive posting, which I totally admire!

So thanks Lu for being a great friend and always in inspiration. :-)

If you feel inspired, try out some conversations with some of your favorite people.. but make sure to link back to Floresita as inspiration! :-)

(and i promise my next post WILL be about BlytheCon, and there will be no long-winded stories about mean people. I'll put my "Mean People Suck" shirt away. Promise.)

Elle's Studio Giveaway Winners!

And the winners are (picked randomly):

The winner of the Christmas Goodies is:

oooh this is fantastic!!!
thanks for this :)
dearsuzanne(at)gmail(dot)com

Posted by: suzanne | October 24, 2009 at 09:15 PM

The winners of the Halloween download are:

please enter me! --
l.nicolephotos@gmail.com

such a fun giveaway! <3 <3
(LOVElovelovelove your etsy shop btw. BRILLIANT.)
- L

Posted by: Lauren Scott | October 24, 2009 at 09:50 PM

That stuff is so cute!! I'd love a chance to win. my email is tyggereye@yahoo.com

Posted by: Gina | October 25, 2009 at 02:51 PM

Looks like I have email addresses for everyone, so you'll be receiving an email from me shortly!

Thanks to everyone that entered. :-)

phew...

Wow, one of those weeks where I'm just seriously running around with my head cut off. Fun times! Are you guys scrambling to get Halloween costumes together? We've had Coop's picked out for a while, but Campbell's has been eluding us. But I had an epiphany last night and remembered something I bought a while back at an antique market that will work great. Just need one more accessory and his will be complete. Will take photos later this week. :-)

Their costumes won't go "together" as a theme like they did last year... which was such a GREAT year for costumes for these boys... do you remember? Oh my gosh, it was like the most satisfying photo shoot ever! and I owe ALOT of thanks to my awesome mother-in-law who whipped up her own Princess Leia costume and got into character so well with these boys...

 

and Campbell hadn't quite reached his terrible-twos yet and was pretty easy to photograph back then (my poor pediatrician experienced the wrath of my NOW terrible-two-year-old, today.. poor lady. Oy!)

 

 

 

 

she so rocks, doesn't she? :-) You can see all of the pics in my post from last year if you'd like! they are a hoot.

We're also doing some last minute Halloween decorating on the front of the house. I decided last year that we needed to decorate for Halloween for those boys.. no matter how tacky. And in fact, the tackier the better. :-) We still haven't finished so they won't be up for very long, but at least they'll be able to enjoy them for a little bit!

We've also been spending lots of time at the doctor's office (all 4 of us!) And our house has been covered in these things... (photo from earlier this year, no doubt while suffering through Spring allergy season..)

UGH!

How are you all making it through the Fall cold and allergy season? The snot that is being produced on a daily basis around here... well, you know. I'll spare you. We've recently tried a new product that really seems to work, and seems to be a God-send to alot of allergy sufferers: the NetiPot.

Oh yeh, you look quite ridiculous using it... but dude, it WORKS.

Ok, so this has to be the most uninteresting post EVER! :-)

Onto prettier things and topics!

The crazily-talented Maggie Holmes is the new Guest Designer and newest Contributing Artist for Kitschy Digitals! I'm so so excited about that! Her work is just beautiful.. here's a sneak peek at the projects she created for her Guest Design:

 

Make sure to check out the post over at the Kitschy Digitals blog to see her projects up close (you HAVE to see all of the details!) and to read more about how she created them. :-) Don't miss it!

I also posted some gorgeous work that artists and photographers have created using my digital kits for Commercial Use (did you know that alot of my kits have commercial licenses? read the details!)

Here are a couple of images from photographer Laura Collins.. she used one of my digital kits in her Holiday Card designs for 2009! pretty stuff!

Read the post over at the Kitschy Digitals blog to see more images from these artists and photographers! If you've used any of my digital kits for commercial use, please share with me what you've created! I'd LOVE to see. :-) There's an "email me" link in my sidebar. 

I'll leave you with a random image I was playing with the other day.. i hope to incorporate this into the Kawaii Vintage Camera embroidery pattern and also the digital kit! (coming soon)

 

ok, off to put a dent in the dishes that are hurriedly filling my sink.

mini headband update tonight :-)

Just a quick note that I'll be adding 4 Halloween-inspired Blythe headbands to my Etsy shop tonight at 10pm Eastern US time. :-) Or if your girl is a Goth Girl, these would be right up her alley. ;-) I wanted to offer these ASAP since Halloween is right around the corner! I will be mailing these out tomorrow should they be purchased tonight.

Here they are... i'll have a BUNCH of other new headbands in my shop later this week! I'll give an update on exactly when those will be available, here and on my Flickr. :-)

Hope everyone has had a nice weekend!

 

All 3 of my girls got a much needed "spa treatment" last night... their hair was in bad shape. Saffy (who still needs to be renamed!) relaxed while she waited for her curls to set.

It's the life.....that Blythe life. :-)

BlytheCon really motivated me to get my girls out and play with and photograph them. I've missed it! I've been way too busy the past few months and haven't made time for them. It was so nice to get them back out and have some "me" time.. which means some "dolly-time". I still plan on writing up a BlytheCon post this week. Been trying to catch up on so many things.. it was such a GREAT event to attend, and even if you're not a dolly-person, it would've been quite impossible to not be inspired by it!

Elle's Studio Giveaway!

Hi everyone! I hope you all are having a great weekend. :-) We have a weekend that is pretty much obligation/plan-free, and those are the BEST weekends. We plan on being productive, but also taking time to be very, very lazy. :-)

I wanted to let you know about an amazing giveaway that Elle at Elle's Studio is so generously offering here at my blog! I love Elle, and I love her stuff.. she's one of my very sweetest and kindest friends online and I just can't say enough good things about her. :-)

She is crazy talented too and it always boggles my mind what all she is able to come up with! She's superwoman for sure!

If you're in need of some last minute treat ideas for Halloween for your kids, teachers, (or for you!), Elle has a super-cute and classic Halloween treat bag digital download that you can print at home. You don't have to run out and spend money on anything, when you can just print these at home, and as many as you want for such a small cost. *AND* she's offering 2 free downloads of this in this giveaway as well!

Here are some that I printed out today.. they were SO fast to put together and have such a classic look. That middle bag says "Eat at your own risk." at the bottom.. part of it is covered up... :-)

And here's a photo that Elle took of some goodies that she put together...

so cute!

Elle is also giving away this super-generous and cute assortment of Christmas goodies!

Think about everything you could make with this stash! Cards, tags for gifts, teacher gifts.. cute, cute, cute. :-)

So make sure to leave a comment (with your email address!) to enter this giveaway. One person will win the Christmas goodies and 2 lucky people will win the Halloween treat bag download!

Also! Please take the time to check out Elle's Operation Write Home Card Contest(previously known as Cards for Heroes)

Here are some details about Operation Write Home from Elle's blog:

They are an amazing organization that gathers cards and sends them to our troops so our troops can write home to their loved ones! Finding cards and even stationary is sometimes impossible for our deployed men and women, so these cards mean the world to them! With help from people like you, Operation Write Home has currently sent over 204,000 cards to our deployed heroes! That is truly amazing!!

You can read all of the details about Elle's Card Contest here where you can win gift certificates from her shop. :-)

Also, be sure to check out the details of Elle's Design Team search!

Don't forget to leave a comment with your email address to enter the giveaways!

Also, make sure to visit Elle's Store and Etsy shop! :-)

P.S. I'll randomly choose names this Monday night and will post the winners Tuesday morning! :-)

I Play with Dolls vinyl decals in shop

Just a quick note before I scoot off to work... my "I Play with Dolls" blythe-inspired vinyl decals are in my Etsy shop! I have a very limited supply of these (basically what I had left over from BlytheCon!) I do plan on ordering more, but it could take a while.. just FYI. :-)

New in the shop & an embroidery sneak peek

I wanted to let you know that if you liked the "Photos Inside" Label Collection Printable PDF that I offered earlier this month, but weren't too keen on printing them yourself, I have professionally printed label sheets available in my Etsy shop now! :-) I'm SO SO happy with how these came out. They are really beautiful. The paper has a really nice matte surface and the colors look great!

Here are some details about these:

I've designed the labels to have a retro feel, so the background is a pretty cream to give them that vintage look (instead of a stark white).

I've designed 5 versions of these labels so that you can pick which best works for your situation! :-)

- Please Do Not Bend
- Please Do Not Bend: Photographs Inside
- Please Do Not Bend: Memories Inside
- Please Handle With Care
- Please Handle With Care: Photographs Inside

These are great for:

- Photographers selling prints of their work via mail

- Family/Portrait Photographers shipping client work (the "Please Do Not Bend: Memories Inside" Labels are perfect for this! And use the "Handle With Care: Photographs Inside" for your larger packages including albums, etc.) Use them for your holiday session orders! :-)

- Mailing your photo themed Holiday Gifts to your friends and family! Keep them safe while en route.

- Any vintage camera enthusiast that wants to protect their outgoing mail!

- Or use the generic "Please Do Not Bend" and "Handle with Care" versions for non-photo related items that you want to protect when shipping

Wholesale orders welcome! :-) please email me (thousandclowns (AT) yahoo.com) if you would like 10 or more sheets of these labels to use for your business. I do wholesale discounts on these. :-)

Here are the 5 different versions/sheets that are available.. these are scans of the sheets so the colors are pretty true to life (although the scanner picked up some weird wrinkle-y shadows along the sides. Rest assured the stock is a nice weight, and not wrinkley!)...

 

 

 

 

and some photos...

 

Definitely hard to capture the true colors of these in photos, but you can get a better sense of the paper texture and thickness in photos...

You just peel them right off the sheet. Super easy.

 

And here is a sneak peek at an embroidery pattern I'm working on.. these pieces were embroidered by the ever so talented Jessie Senese over at sweetjessie.com. :-) She is amazing!

 

 

Thank you Jessie for this beautiful work! I'm so head-over-heels for this pattern, I can't wait to try it myself. I have a project in mind. There will be 3 more cameras added to this pattern set. Coming Soon! :-)