My baby arrived in the mail today! The fact that she was what I call a "zombie Blythe" was extremely obvious when I saw her in person. Her legs, arms, face and torso are all completely different shades and her two trademarks are dated 4 years apart! I couldn't possibly love her anymore though. The first thing I did when I got her was attack her with a screw driver. Fresh makeup, eyes and lashes have made her absolutely gorgeous.

To be completely honest the things I used to do her face up are questionable but for now it seems to be working out just fine. Her eyelashes are made from one of my false lashed left over from a party, her eyeliner is a mixture or actually gel eyeliner and a Derwent water colour pencil. I painted her eyelids with black nail polish which probably wasn't a good idea but it looks gorgeous nether the less. Her skin was meant to be matte but the stupid website I bought my sealant from sent me the wrong spray so instead of Flat I got given Gloss. Apart from that she looks just how I wanted her to. All I have to do next is re-root her scalp and she will be perfect!

Obsessed!

I can't get enough~

Once you start it becomes increasingly hard to stop! By start I mean looking into dolls and the customization of them. First it was Blythe dolls, now I don't think I'll rest until I have at least one of every kind of ball joint doll possible. I'm sire it began from watching YouTube videos about face-ups on gorgeous dolls. NicollesDreams Youtube channel is my new obsession, taking up almost 3 hours of my day. Through practice and watching carefully I've learnt a fantastic method for drawing on the perfect delicate lashes.

I've been practicing all sorts of face-up methods while I wait for my Blythe in the post. My latest experiment being a poor doll I bought from a store called Morning Glory that always looked a little sad. I'm not sure if I'm really happy with how she currently looks but at least she looks much prettier than she originally did.

Anyway moving on the the most exciting part of my day, finding what I think are the most incredible dolls I've ever seen! Both of these dolls are rather large ball jointed dolls (bjd) and are both far more expensive than any doll I've ever bought before, like that's going to stop me though. The first one is an E.I.D basic woman doll by Iplehoue which is 70cm tall and named Yur.

I sadly won't be buying one of these dolls for a long, long time seeing as they cost around $600-$1000. I'm not too fussed though because I found a cheaper and maybe even prettier doll that I actually can buy this week! This doll is a Bobobie bjd which is 42cm tall and named Mei. Her price ranges from $150-$250 so of course I can't resist.

Custom Blythe

Customization is Key

Customizing Blythe dolls is a hobby that excited me even when I had absolutely no idea what it entailed. Ever since I was a little girl dolls have been my favorite toys, I now collect BeGoth dolls and Living Dead Dolls. Both are gorgeously ghouly kinds of dolls but collecting them could never compare to the excitement of being able to touch, feel and even create with a doll out of the box. The idea of combining my love for Gothic dolls and my childhood Barbie obsession in one adorable Japanese package is fantastic!

Where to begin? I probably need to learn how to customize a doll else things could get messy! There are so many online tutorials and blogs that can teach you how to customize your doll, although finding all the correct information in one place seems nearly impossible. I haven't tried any methods yet, seen as my girl is still in the mail but what I did do is research and prepare.

First of all I had to think about exactly what I want to do to her, I'm thinking re-rooting the scalp, face-up job and maybe later even new eyes. Re-rooting is easy enough, find a method, pick a medium for the hair and then put those plans into practice. There's two methods I know of, one being the "knotting" method and the other one is the loop method. My method of choice is loop and my medium is human hair. Human hair is a great medium to use because it can be dyed and styled just as if it was your own hair, keeping in mind it doesn't regenerate natural oils and there's a plastic scalp to think about. Also getting human hair is as easy as a haircut! Or, if you're like me and you are rather attached to your hair, human hair extensions are easy to get, dye and re-root into your Blythe's scalp.

 Minihouse8888

I personally share hair with my Blythe, meaning I shop for our hair at the same place. I've been buying from this eBay seller for almost five years and I refuse to go anywhere else. The price I pay for the quality of hair I get is insane! Qualification wise I'm a hairdresser so hair quality is important to me. I can have gorgeous style-able hair on myself and my Blythe for less than the cost of my lunch!

Okay moving on from hair the next thing I wanted to talk about was face-ups. I don't know a whole lot about them but I know I want to try it. I found out the basic tools I need to create me vision! I'll start by showing you what I want to do to my Blythe, using some rather unattractive Photoshopping skills.

Like I said, terrible but you get the idea. Basically I want to re-shape her eyes, nose and lips and add fresh cat eye make up with nude lips. According to the internet the main things I need to achieve this look are as follows!

• Mister Super Clear UV cut Flat spray
• Very fine grit sandpaper or sand sponge
• Scalpel or hobby knife
• Chalk pastels or oil free make up

Basically the idea is to dismantle the doll so you can work on the face plate without damaging her hair or eye mechanisms. After doing that you have two choices, either you can spray the Mr. Super Clear straight on the face plate, when this dries it makes the current make-up paler and gives the doll a matte finish. Or you can use the very fine sandpaper to gently remove all previous make up and get a smooth matte surface with generally holds chalk better because of the rougher surface. Before applying any new make-up though, even after sanding, you must apply around 3-6 coats of Mr. Super Clear to seal the face plate so it doesn't discolour of stain. According to people who've done this the spray itself smells disgusting so it's suggested that it's used outside or near an open window. Also if you're planning on doing any re-shaping of the face or eye sockets it's best to do before applying any of the Mr. Super Clear spray else you'll just be scraping it off again. Just to clarify I haven't tried any of this yet! I will be shortly though so if any of these methods don't go as planned I'll be sure to change my instructions.

Budget Blythe

Why not blog a little?

Okay so to start a blog first I'm going to need something to blog about, my topic of choice is going to have to be Blythe dolls. There's two reasons for my choice, the first being my goodness aren't they gorgeous?! Why did it take me nineteen years to finally work out that they existed? The second reason being I just bought one rather cheap and I'm so excited I had to talk about to someone, even if that means I'm typing a whole bunch on nonsense no one will read. Nether the less here I go!

Not even a week ago I discovered Blythe dolls actually exist! Now I know that sounds strange, especially because I've seen probably thousands of photos of them, but it never really clicked that if they could be photographed that I could own one. Well that fact finally did click, and when it did that's when my quest began. First of all I had not a single clue what on earth they were called, all I knew was that they were pretty and they had big heads. Hmm why not Google that description, try my luck. Sure enough after several comparisons I found them!

Blythes Blythes everywhere but not a doll to touch.

It's all very well and good to want something but to get it is a completely different story. Being nineteen and unemployed isn't good at the best of times, let alone when you want something that costs over one hundred dollars. Without saying I got on my knees and begged my mum like a child, well yeah that's pretty much what I did. Not my most sophisticated moment but it meant I could get this gorgeous girl in my life!

So now that we're mildly up to date on the Blythe front let's talk facts. Spending just under $120 on her seemed like the perfect start to what I'd called Budget Blytheing.She is a 12inch Takara Blythe doll. If you know Blythe dolls then you should know that this doll was never one that was released. Judging by the mis-match skin colours on her body there's no questioning that she's a factory Blythe, made from pieces that were more than likely acquired from some light fingered employee. All this means is that her value isn't very high and her skin tones aren't very appealing which to be honest was lucky for me. Like Frankenstein's creation all she wants is a friend.

My cheap and cheery zombie Blythe ready to be loved.

I thought to myself right after buying my unnamed zombie girl that the first thing she'll need is clothes, if she's anything like me nothing says glamorous like a new outfit. Seen as I've never met the girl, I thought I'd go simple and basic, we can't get ahead of ourselves here people! My pockets already being completely turned out price was going to restrict me. To Etsy my dear Watson, and don't spare the horses!

What's that? A sale you say! Sooner or later my luck will run out but for now I'm not questioning it. I bought this gorgeous dress and bow combination from a seller called FluffyFreedom on Etsy who just happened to be having a sale. Spending roughly $7 never looked so good.

Blytheing on a Budget!