Possible New Releases!

Dear Sarah,

Ooo, things are getting exciting now that future Blythe releases are leaking via the Internet without being officially released. But then there's a lot of conjecture and then we have to wait a while before they're out.

I was over a BlytheKingdom and since Alexis Emerald has been official released, with a lot of fanfare mind, I was wondering about new releases. I found THIS thread which linked to THIS picture, which I unfortunately can't share. It has really pixely pictures of three possible Blythes along with the names: Pickle Winkle, Melo Melo Mew, and Coco Colette. (Yes, you read that right, Pickle. Winkle.)

The following illustrations are from the Un Salon au Fund d'Un Lac blog writer who went to an exhibition and got to see the original illustrations, then redrew them for their blog. The translations are provided by BK user blythe-chan. (Because Google Translate for this page is horrible.)

Pickle Winkle

What a cutie! Has Takara/CWC ever released an "alternative" girl before? She looks like a collaboration with Tim Burton. (Wouldn't that be awesome, actually?!) Sarah, I already know you're going to have her. 

From BK:

• hair: beige (?) and brown mix, like Veronica Lace or Ahcahcum Zukin
• black cat knit hat
• "pumpkin pants" (which are apparently 16th and 17th century men's breeches, not pants that look like pumpkins...)
• and the writer is "excited about her bobbed hair" (which I am, too! Hopefully she'll be affordable.)

Melo Melo Mew

I'm really excited for her. Since there's been a Neo in this style (Meowsy Wowsy - I wasn't thrilled about her at first, but now I want her) and a few Petites (like Tora Unpappa), word is she's going to be a Middie! We need a Middie with fantasy hair, so I'm really looking forward to this release and future news. And the more I've seen custom Middie's the more I want one.

From BK:

• "Her style is like Meowsy Wowsy's little sister."
• cat costume and striped apron
• "hair and eyes are a beautiful mint." (Mint eyes? Could be interesting. I'm guessing since only one set of eyes were mentioned, it's a Middie.)
• "bangs again."
• "Is it like Simply Peppermint, Enchanted Petal, or Prima Dolly Melon?" though the writer would prefer Peppermint hair.

Here's a quick comparison of the three girls mentioned. Peppermint hair would be nice, though I'm really liking Enchanted Petal's. I think Peppermint's is more of a "mint" color though.

Coco Colette

*Update: It has been confirmed Coco Collete will be the next Neo released.*

Rumor has it she's the next girl out!

"Takara Tomy has changed their factory and the next doll, Coco Collete will come from the factory that have been making the Petites for the past 10 years. They are excellent and we are excited with this move." 

-Junko Wong, from an email to a fan via the Alexis Emerald fan page

This again? Didn't we just get one of these?  Rachel's Ribbon Encore? And then all the dolls similar to RaRi, and now there's another? I really should be happy, because there's a fantasy **green** haired Middie and a Neo with two colors, but I'm just not too thrilled with her. I do like the hair color, but she's been overdone. From the BK thread, people seem really excited about her, so that's always a plus.

From BK:

•  bangs and perm
• "looks like Vinter Arden and Rachel Ribbon's cinnamon pink" (see!)
• "her dress looks like Le Jardin de Maman's" (SEE!)
• "has a lot of ribbons and looks cute"
• silk hat with brown and beige striped ribbon
• "her 'feel' reminds me of Heart of Montmartre and Rendezvous Chou Chou" (case closed)
• "she's so sweet! yeah, I really like her"

Even though I'm not too excited about Coco Colette, I am looking forward to seeing the official designs and releases, and will keep you updated!

Speaking of, I have some posts to do:

1. A Review of Margo Unique Girl, which I'm rather glad I waited until she was released
2. Factory Girls
3. My Factory Alexis Emerald, the newest addition to my family, and a review of AlEm (not sure if this will be too separate posts)

That, and I'm getting a few hats made to add to the shop, so there's a lot of things going on over here!

Hope you're well,

♥ Jillie

P.S. Readers: please see pictures from the EssHippo NYC Meet Up 2012 HERE!

IT'S HAPPENING!

IT'S HAPPENING!, a photo by OnePinkHippo on Flickr.

Sarah and I are finally meeting!

Granny Capes!

Dear Sarah,

I finally listed three of my Granny Capes in our Etsy shop! I'm so excited. It's my first time listing anything on Etsy.

First, an Aqua Cranberry Granny Cape.

I reused the colors I made for the prototype.

Orange Creamsicle Granny Cape

Inspired by my favorite orange girl, Coral.

Spring Fling Granny Cape

I found some yarn in one of the [many] boxes I have under my bed, and this one crocheted up very nicely. It's green and shimmery with slubs of pink, purple, yellow and blue. Coraline wasn't too thrilled with it, nor did she like modeling it, but the other girls adore it.

Enjoy!

♥ Jillie

More New Hats!

Dear Jill,

I have some more hats to show you! I have been soooo busy crocheting them all and at last they are up in the shop :) First there is the Raspberry Ripple Mesh Slouchy Hat...

I've had this yarn about 5 years and never knew what to do with it. I know have a purpose for it! I think it makes a lovely hat :)
Secondly is a monster collection of 19 different coloured hats!

Once again, it's my fav mesh slouchy hat, but this time you can choose to have it make in any of these 19 colours...

Just let me know which colour you would like at checkout! You can even have a mixture of colours if you like, for no extra cost :)

I hope you like!

Sarah
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New Hats In Store

Dear Jill,

What a palava with Quinns eye mech! I can see now where it was put together wrong. I'm glad you got her sorted out, and that she can now look down! It adds so much character to them, doesn't it!

This weekend I have listed 3 new hats for the EssHippo Blythe Etsy shop!

Autumnal Colours Mesh Slouchy Hat

I used some more of Wilkinsons lovely variegated yarn to make this hat - it's such nice stuff and the size of the hat make the colours repeat nicely :)

I Heart UK Pixie Hat

Inspired by all the London Olympics drama happening over here at the moment! I am tempted to keep this one...

Rainbow Mesh Slouchy Hat
A brighter ROYGBIV hat! It was lots of fun to make, picking and changing the colours

All hats are now available in the EssHippo Blythe Etsy Shop now!

Sarah -x-

Bent Bones

Dear Sarah,

Coraline and I are quite excited to see the Vampire5! She wants to know if your vamp will have fangs as wittle as hers.

I promised her no, so hopefully your girl will have nice full fangs. :E

I finally got my hands on some MSC and what a wonder it has made! I have pictures to upload of the new de-shined girls, but I want to share what happened with Quinn's innards first. When I was putting her back together, I noticed her white arch looked a bit funny.

Say what?

Then her eyes didn't close. I posted the picture on Flickr and people said it looked like I had put the eye mechanisms back together wrong. After feeling incredibly stupid, I took more pictures and posted them, because I've never removed the actual eye pieces themselves from the lid part.

Thank goodness for Flickr! Another Sarah, sglahe, the wonder woman behind Kaleidoscope Kustoms Kuties and Rag Bag Designs sent three reference photos for help:

Okay so this is what the rectangle at the top of the clip should look like. It just moves forward and clips on like this.

The clip should be this direction with the shorter parts of the rectangle on the sides...

This is the direction that your clip is and that is why it's extended out like that. You just need to rotate it around so the rectangular part is clipped the other way. The shorter sides of the rectangle go on the sides of the clip...not the top and bottom.

Turns out poor Quinn has a broken bone that can basically never be fixed unless I get a replacement white arch. I can still move her eyes, I just have to do it with my thumbs. So it's not a big deal; she just doesn't have a pullstring.

And she can look down and judge from above!

Sarah said I can share these pictures with our readers so hopefully it will come in handy!

Also, Quinn is sporting new hair.

No matter the hairs, always Quinn. ♥

She's now a bobbed brunette! I took the Simply Chocolate scalp from Hester/Zooey/Brooke and chopped it up. I adore it on Quinn. Now she's a three part hybrid...I guess not even a hybrid, she's like a puzzle girl. And she has a soft spot in my heart for it; she's become one of my favorites.

Currently, Quinn is made up of:

1. Simply Lilac face and back plate
2. Stella Savannah eye mechanism
3. Simply Chocolate scalp and dome
4. Licca Chan body

My little girl of many parts! 

Get those vampire pictures up ASAP! I'm so excited to see her!

♥ Jillie

P.S. Next: review of Margo Unique Girl, and why I'm glad I waited

Operation:Vampire Five

Dear Jill,

For a long time now I have wanted a vampire girl, and since seeing Coraline I know I DEFINITELY want one! She is so cute!!

My problem is I am too scared to buy a Blythe and customise it! Plus I don't have the money to spare if I get it wrong. But I also wanted to try something different from a Blybe/CCE, so I decided to customise a Jecci Five!

This is the girl I got from Ebay...


I chose her for her dress! Isn't it cute?! I want my vampire to have black hair, but again wanted to try something different from yarn. So I opted for mohair wefts, which I bought from Coolcat.

They all arrived in really good time, so I started straight away. My first big problem was trying to get the scalp off the dome - the scalp has flanges like a Blythe scalp and it was glued in...


After much forcing and prying, I got it free with minimal damage...


I removed all the hair, which was really well rooted...


...and prepared the mohair weft. This is what it looks like out of the pack...


I have never used either wefts nor mohair before, so this was a totally new experience for me. I figured it would be best to start at the outside edge of the scalp, and sew it in quite tight with extra strength cotton and a thick needle...


I got about half the scalp done in the first sitting, but had to stop when my thumb just couldn't take it any more! So I left it, and returned the next day.

I got it finished in the second sitting, and all in all it only took about 3 hours to complete the whole thing!


I would definitely use wefts again! It was so easy! At the moment it just looks like a big mass of black fluff...


Lol! I will style it when I put her all together again. I aim to pull it into little bunches!

I then moved on to the face up, which I will tell you about a little later on :)

Sarah
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