it's a small world

Luka is going to live with Ccandy!

2011-02-05T08:28:00.000-08:00

CCandy is the winner of Luka!

The first round of the traveling Blythes has officially ended. :)

Perrin is going to live with SakuraBlythe!

2010-12-17T14:47:00.000-08:00

Perrin's raffle

2010-12-17T04:33:00.000-08:00

The raffle will happen today!

Time: 11 PM CET (converting time zone: http://www.timezoneconverter.com/cgi-bin/tzc.tzc)

Where: https://my.dimdim.com/thetravelingblythes

As soon as dimdim has processed the recording of our meet, I will upload it to youtube and link on here. :)

Finishing line

2010-12-16T13:21:00.000-08:00

The first round of the traveling Blythes is reaching the finishing line.

Perrin's hosts

Perrin's raffle will be conducted on random.org and captured by a screen recorder tomorrow at 11 PM CET [old info: 6 PM CET]. The winner will be announced at the flickr group and on the blog.
She will be sent out early January, as Olga and me thought it wouldn't be wise to send her around Christmas.

@ everyone: If any of you would prefer not taking part in the raffle, please send me a short notice!

If someone decides to skip, I will delete the number and move people up. I hope nobody is too attached with his or her number. ;)

This is the list of all hosts:

1. Hanaagogo
2. mishou
3. Zanalee
4. LadyinGreen17
5. Daisyannesmiles
6. sugaroni
7. redmara
8. MorganOrton
9. cakewalk queen
10. mnemone
11. suzanne
12. whitefridaynight
13. squirreljunkie
14. Turbow
15. cc6069days
16. Lunarsea
17. SakuraBlythe
18. Iclesteph
19. Katsparkles
20. Anam Cara
21. Sai
22. amloro
23. Tibiloo
24. Two_eyes_girl
25. Vainilladolly

Luka's hosts:

Luka is currently with Samara (S.F.K). Today they took a plane to Brazil to visit Samara's family over Christmas. In Brazil Luka hopefully will meet all people that couldn't host her, because customs held her back for so long. Samara and Luka will return to the US in the mid of January.

After returning from Brazil Luka will visit Jayme in Canada (the lovely girl behind this whole idea).

Supposedly Luka's raffle will take place in the end of January or the beginning of February. If anyone already knows that he or she doesn't want to win Luka, please message me.

Whereabouts!

2010-06-16T03:42:00.000-07:00

Luka finally made it, 2 months late she was received by G♥Baby in the US! I will contact all future hosts this week to re-do the schedule. :)

Perrin just was received at Bex' in the UK, no custom fees were collected! :)

Luka's adventure in Brazil Customs.

2010-05-11T23:21:00.000-07:00

I already wrote everyone a mail about this happening, but back then I thought this would be solved very soon. Now this really is affecting the schedule and we can't really do anything about it - so please be patient. Before this hasn't been solved I really can't say when all other hosts of Luka will receive her. As soon as she is free we have to re-schedule. Anybody who wants to quit the project will get their contribution back, of course.

Trackingnumber: EE737078930AU
ice.auspost.com.au/index.asp?ArticleNumbers=0

03/31
Posted. Australia to Brazil. EMS haha
04/06
Arrived in Brazil.
04/14
Still in prison.
04/16
Still in prison. Update: seems like she will be free very soon!
04/19
Attempted delivery! :)
04/21
FUCK!! Luka is still in prison. Customs charged her with 150 $, yes 150 US DOLLARS. Poor Lilian tries to talk to them, filling out forms, explaining that she is a traveling project etc.
04/30
Luka is on her way back to Australia!
05/12
Nice update - NOT! OK, now I'm getting angry. Luka is still in Brazil!

websro.correios.com.br/sro_bin/txect01$.Inexistente?P_LIN...

Perrin Stop 12 - San Francisco // California, USA

2010-05-08T15:04:00.000-07:00

Dilemma acted all miffed cause she wasn't the only doe in the house but in reality she misses Perrin and secretly told me we need another doe in the family. Perrin brought good weather her way and we got to enjoy The Haight, Alamo Square, The Marina, Lombard Street, Chinatown, Downtown, Financial District and the Embarcadero area. Her gloomy mug can brighten even the foggiest San Francisco day.

whitefridaynight

Perrin Stop 6 - Kansas City // Missouri, USA

2010-02-08T02:12:00.000-08:00

Perrin arrived a day or so before I returned from California. She was able to have a day or so to relax, unpack and unwind before I dragged her out into the cold January of Kansas City.

Our first order of business was to tour Hallmark Cards headquarters, which also happens to be where I work. While I worked, Bea took her around to the visitor's center and to see lots of cool things around the building.

Perrin got to see an Emmy, Maxine, original Hallmark art work and original art from the fine art collection, Rainbow Brite paraphernalia and even have a bite to eat in the Crown Room.

On Saturday, Perrin got to do brunch with us in Westport, a favorite haunt for locals for food and music. Her eyes may have been a bit bigger than her stomach. She could not finish her awesome pancakes but she had fun trying. Then we stopped at Poptopia, a Blythe's favorite shop! She scored a baby Ninja plush and got to hang out at the Re-Ment pastry counter.

Next up, a local curiosty called Brookside Toy and Science where they sell all kinds of toys and science stuff like beakers and microscopes. We like to see the weird stuff like the two-headed taxidermy squirrel. Perrin wasn't as amused as we were but she agreed to have her picture taken anyway.

Then we had to take her farewell photos. She got to pose outside the Hallmark building with Bea for a few shots before she had to catch her flight to her next destination.

We had fun, Perrin and we'll miss you!

sugaroni

Perrin's set on flickr http://www.flickr.com/photos/snowangels/sets/72157623141028153/

Luka Stop 5 - Madrid // Spain and Rome // Italy

2010-01-20T09:56:00.000-08:00

"I leave Spain with tears on my eyes. My first New Years Eve was really lovely in Italy with my adopted family (Charo & Javier) visiting the most beautifull city I've never seen before: Rome¡¡. I've discovered old empires, big churchs and I eat all the pizzas, pasta and icecream I found on my way. I forgot... for my first time I have seen 'a penis'... in a classical statue¡¡

See you soon¡"

viva_amelie

Madrid

Rome

Luka Stop 4 - Barcelona // Spain, Europe

2010-01-07T01:43:00.000-08:00

Hi there! I’m Supernenek (aka Ismael or maybe it goes the other way round hehehe!) Luka is a marvelous model and I enjoyed the experience but we prefer sunny days (the weather was naughty throughout her stay and it rained almost one week and a half…)

First day we visited the most quiet place of Barcelona, a little hill located in El Carmelo district. When it’s not raining (we didn’t have luck…) you can see a beautiful view of the whole city.

We decided to go home when it started a storm. It was a good idea… hehehe!

Second day we went to the catalonian Blythe lovers squad’s headquarters, Demasié Café (Luka thinks it’s a cool place and I understand her hehehe!)
Some cookies later we visit one of the most important buildings of Barcelona, The Holy Family. Luka took some pics about it but this is the one I took for her:

Luka was exhausted and the clouds look threatening so it was the end of the day.

We stayed at home the third day (you'll never guess what it happened… yes, it rained all the day hehehe!)

Fourth day we visited the pier for the first time.

Luka was a little bit afraid of the seagulls so we left the pier and we went to our next stop: the Xmas Blythe meeting!

Luka made a lot of friends. This picture proves that:

[“Big people are crazy” said Gala, Tokyo custom, to Luka. Aren’t they pretty?]

The day after we visited Park Güell, one of my favorite places here in Barcelona.
“Gaudi was a genious”, said Luka. I couldn’t deny that hehehe!

It rained for two days so we only left home to visit the Agbar Tower and a shopping mall located in the same district.

We enjoyed a sunny afternoon on Christmas Eve and Luka met Columbus.

Some hours later she had a date with another Vainilladolly girl, my mocha girl, Lakdi. We went to Felip Neri Squire. The girls wanted to emulate Amy Lee, lead vocalist of the rock band Evanescence, in one of her videoclips but it was impossible. Next time…

Christmas Eve day ends with a dinner. Two of my girls wanted to give a present to Luka but a little querub didn’t tolerate that. “It’s not Christmas yet”, he said.

The little angel was right but he didn’t suspect Tristan. He wanted to be THE present to Luka… weird, isn’t it?

Next day we visited Ocata Beach. We were alone but it was normal because it was a really cool day.

Luka enjoyed the Christmas lights in the promenade seafront and we went to the cinema to watch “Where the wild things are”.

Last day Luka visited my home town, Santa Coloma de Gramenet.
We visited Park Europa, the town hall and some beautiful squares. It was a sunny and a quiet day.

[“Interesting”]

On Monday the 28th Luka was ready to continue her travel. She was really excited to meet viva_amelie so I walked with her to the post office. When I said goodbye to her I told her viva_amelie’s plan:
“Good luck and enjoy Rome.”

[O.O WHAT?!? It will be fantastic!!!]

I had a magic time with Luka so I don’t forget to visit the group and enjoy the great photos about the two adventurous girls. Thanks for let me be part of that!

Ismael [Supernenek]
Barcelona, Europe

Perrin Stop 4 - York // Pennsylvania, USA

2009-12-29T09:23:00.001-08:00

I managed to pick Perrin up from the post office late Friday night, after dealing with the horrible holiday traffic and waiting lines. We came home and Lillian helped me unbox her. She's already starting to accumulate all sorts of sweet things, it was so much fun to see her souvenirs!

On Saturday, we got hit with the snowpocalypse, but we went out early before it got too deep and played in the snow. Perrin wasn't particularly excited about the cold.

But with a little help from Anne...

she was soon skiing down a small mountain of snow.

The girls warmed up afterward with a brunch of croissants and strawberries.

On Thursday I had a day off, so we hit some of the tourist sites in York. First we saw the Haines Shoehouse, built in the 1940s by a crazy shoe baron.

Then we stopped by the Harley-Davidson plant, the largest employer in York. Perrin wanted to ride a motorcycle, but unfortunately the tours were closed because of the holidays. So we had to settle for a picture with the sign.

We then went out to the Martin's Potato Chip factory to pick up some snacks. York is sometimes called the snack food capitol of the world (ugh). Perrin did enjoy the chips, though.

Our sightseeing wrapped up in the city of York, where we saw some historic buildings and met the Marquis de Lafayette.

Christmas morning, Perrin was the first one downstairs. She was very excited to unwrap presents, and she was quite happy with her haul: jeans, earrings, and some York souvenirs.

Saturday it rained and was too cold to go outside, so the girls stayed in and watched a movie.

On our last day together, we went up to a county park overlooking the Susquehanna River. It was windy, but otherwise a beautiful day. Perrin loved the view.

I forgot to take pictures of packing her up, but it was so sad to cover up her sweet little grumpy face. Best wishes to everyone still waiting for her, I hope you have as much fun as I did!

-Shana

Perrin Stop 3 - New York // New York, USA

2009-12-16T06:05:00.000-08:00

Hi there! My name is Zenzile (AKA Zanalee) and I am thrilled to be Perrin’s third host in NYC! She arrived at my job on my desk last Thursday morning and pulled me right out of a totally depressing work week funk! She is one of the most precious, expressive little Blythes I’ve ever seen and it has been a joy taking her around the city with me and my friends. We were both pretty tired when we got home so I saved all the activities for the next day.

\

I brought her to work the next day and she joined my friend Cecelia and I for lunch at Celsius a new restaurant that has opened around the Bryant Park ice skating Rink. At work, she met my friend Samina and we all hung out in the office until work was done and we went to hang out in the Park for a few hours. I took a few pictures of Perrin in this great window to the park restroom.

That Saturday was pretty dreary and Perrin was pretty bummed about having to stay inside after we got all prepared to go out see more sights. However Sunday was just beautiful and we were totally excited to go to the Bust Craftacular to meet Gina Garan. I took Perrin and Reya along and met my friend Cecelia and off we went. I have to say that Perrin’s arrival could not have been timed better. I was so excited about the prospect of her coming in time to see Gina who recognized her right away and was just so lovely and fun to talk to. We strolled around looking at several table before we found her at the Blythe table with her sister. She graciously let me take a picture of her, Perrin and Reya, both of whom she loved.

For our last day out in New York Molly and I took Perrin to Central Park. We rode the M10 bus along the park and then took the cross town to the East side and hiked up my favorite trail to Belvedere’s Castle. We even visited Strawberry Fields. It’s been so wonderful having Perrin with us. It’s so hard for me to think of her as just a doll but I had to in order to pack her up and send her off. I will enjoy following all of her further adventures in pictures and blog entries from across the world. : )

XOXO!!!

Luka Stop 3 - London // UK, Europe

2009-12-08T07:51:00.000-08:00

Hi there! I'm Laura Kate (LauraKateIsCrafty) and I was excited to have been Luka's third host. Though I'm American, I live in the bustling UK capital of London and there was so much to see and do with Luka. The weather throughout the week was pretty bleak and some demonstrations that caused havoc with the public transport on the weekend didn't help either. But we saw a lot of the sights and sites of the city and had a great time!

Luka arrived on MONDAY, 30 November and I happened to not be working, so I got her straight into the sweater I made for her and we were ready to hit the town!

We walked to my tube station and Luka got to see the famous London Underground "roundel" logo before hopping on a Northern Line train into central London.

We got off at Leicester Square and wandered from there to Picadilly Circus and up to Carnaby Street where Luka really enjoyed all the funky shops, restaurants, and cafes. She also thought the crazy inflatable Christmas decorations were divine!

After checking out the windows at famous posh department store Liberty we took in Regent Street and then took a pause for part of the night. I gathered my boyfriend after work and we met up with a friend of mine for drinks and Mexican food in the Southwest London area of Clapham. Luka thought Mexican was pretty tasty. Especially the Dos Equis!

We had a quiet day on Tuesday, but on WEDNESDAY Luka got the chance to experience some magic in the West End. We weren't seeing a play or a musical, but rather Irish comedian Dylan Moran's show "What It Is" (which was a bday present for my boyfriend!). We were in the 2nd row and it was great. Pics weren't allowed during the show, but Luka posed with the stage set-up anyhow. She was very impressed with her fancy dress and luxe fur stole (borrowed from my Goldie, Clem).

THURSDAY was a 1/2 day of work for me, so we spent the afternoon exploring. It was pouring rain, but we did what we could! We took the bus from East London to the South Bank and Luka thought the fact that London buses are upholstered was quite nice.

We took a peek at the London Eye on the South Bank and were amazed by its size!

Then we braved the cold and wind and walked across Westminster Bridge to check out the Houses of Parliament.

When we got close to Big Ben in the clocktower, Luka had a good time playing Godzilla.

After visiting Westminster Abbey, we headed across Parliament Square and headed up Whitehall to see Downing Street (where the Prime Minister lives) and the Household Cavalry Museum guards (where we were lucky enough to catch the changing of the guard). Along the way, Luka couldn't resist the classic London tourist photo in a red phonebox - even if it smelled like a port-a-potty.

Though it was just mid-afternoon, my camera battery was about to give out entirely, so we snuck out of the cold and warmed up with some classic pub food: sausages and mash. Luka wasn't so sure about the peas, but I assured her I never touch them. We were of great amusement to 2 middle-aged German ladies sitting next to us.

FRIDAY afternoon and evening saw the last of our big sightseeing adventures. We started off by trying to catch a glimpse of Queen Elizabeth at Buckingham Palace (and not succeeding, of course).

Luka really liked the guards' "funny hats" so we took the opportunity to see some guards closer up at the gates of Clarence House further along The Mall. Then we headed to Trafalgar Square where Luka enjoyed the lovely lighted fountains, didn't like the giant tv screen with the World Cup draw happening, and marveled at the beautiful Norwegian Christmas tree that's given by the city of Oslo each year to the people of London (in thanks for assistance during the war). Luka looked like quite the Scandinavian beauty next to the tree.

We stopped by The National Gallery and St. Martin-in-the-Fields and then walked to the Covent Garden Market where we took in a lot of people watching, heard some great music, and tried to buy tiny cupcakes, but were turned away for not having cash.

We then hopped on the tube and headed to the far end of Oxford Street to check out the awesome and bizarre Christmas windows at Selfridges and take a little walk through St. Christopher's Place before stopping for a while when I met up with my boyfriend and some of his friends as they were out for Friday night drinks!

En route home, we wrapped up our Friday night with some pictures under the amazing blue arches on South Molton Street.

I even got a picture of the 2 of us together!

(and I can't wait to see my boyfriend's "behind the scenes" photos of me taking photos!)

SATURDAY's weather and lack of decent transport across the city due to demonstrations mucking things up meant that we just took a short journey to the Tate Britain museum. We walked part of the way to avoid a big traffic accident which was holding our bus up and Luka loved the view of the MI-6 building from the Millbank side of the Thames. She thought she might like to be a spy and work there, but I told her she's far too cute.

After a short visit to the Tate and some of the great art there, we were off to see New Moon (which I sillily forgot to take pics of Luka attending!).

Sunday's weather meant we stayed in and MONDAY saw Luka ready to head to Supernenek in Barcelona. She wasn't too excited to get back into her travel box, but I assured her that Barcelona wouldn't be as rainy as London.

I had an incredibly fun week with Luka and I look forward to seeing the next 22 visits she makes! Please take a look at the group Flickr pool to see all my photos from my week with Luka!

Laura Kate
~London, UK

Luka Stop 1 - Vienna // Austria, Europe

2009-11-28T10:31:00.000-08:00

Hi guys!

I had the pleasure to be the first host of Luka, and I was so amazed by her beauty that I did not dare to unpack her for a few minutes. Olga (vainilladolly) has done a wonderful job on our doll.

I tried to give Luka a good overview about touristic musts in Vienna and to share details about monuments, places or Vienna's features in most of my Luka's photos on flickr.

We visited Vienna's biggest and oldest market, the "Naschmarkt"

Next Luka learned how to order at a traditional Kaffeehaus, without being identified as bloody tourist.

We found an interesting building at Vienna's Number 1 shopping street, "Kärntnerstraße".

Luka discovered the beauty and importance of Christmas bling during the dark winter time.

We did not take a ride with the traditional "Fiaker".

Surprised by wonderful weather, we decided to visit Vienna's most important tourist magnet - "Schloß Schönbrunn"

To celebrate Luka's stay in Vienna the girls hosted a party for her

Vienna was only the beginning, Luka already arrived in the UK by now and has lots of other fantastic places on her route! I can't wait to follow her trip over the next year.

To see all of her adventures in Vienna please have a look on her album over here
Thank you for reading!

Sandra / minkidynamite

Perrin Stop 1 - Chicago // Illinois, USA

2009-11-14T11:32:00.000-08:00

Hello everyone! I'm Hana (hana a go go) in Chicago, Perrin's first host. I had an incredible time with this project, and tried my best to set a good example and inspire all the rest of you participating to have a lot of fun and put some hard work into this! I'm rather new to the city myself, so I had a great time exploring with Perrin. Here are some of the highlights of her visit!

Hanging out in my kitchen :P

We went to Lake Michigan:

Wandered my neighborhood:

Went to Navy Pier:

And downtown Chicago:

Perrin is now packed and on her way to see Mishou in Canada! I wish her safe travels and can't wait to watch her journey around the world.

Thanks for reading! Please check out the rest of our adventures here.

How to ship the girls!

2009-11-13T13:04:00.000-08:00

Things you need.

11.13 How to ship Perrin
Originally uploaded by hana a go go

First: secure her head! I'm an idiot because I lost the plastic band that is part of the original packaging, but I replaced it with a similar material, so you can either use mine again or make your own. It has to a plastic that can be stretched tight to keep her in there as tight as possible. Attach it with tape.

11.13 How to ship Perrin
Originally uploaded by hana a go go

Secure the rest of her body (neck and ankles so you don't wrinkle her dress) and the pull charms so they can't scratch her face.

11.13 How to ship Perrin, originally uploaded by hana a go go.

Cover with tissue paper to protect her faceup, then put her belongings in with her.

11.13 How to ship Perrin, originally uploaded by hana a go go.

Add bubble wrap so nothing can move around, and close the box.

11.13 How to ship Perrin, originally uploaded by hana a go go.

Put that in the shipping box, and don't forget the notes from Sammy, Sandra, and anything else she might pick up along the way :)

11.13 How to ship Perrin, originally uploaded by hana a go go.

More bubblewrap to cushion the inner box, and you're good to seal and ship!

11.13 How to ship Perrin, originally uploaded by hana a go go.

Travel books

2009-11-06T22:33:00.000-08:00

hi everyone, catie here!

if you don't know who i am, i'm the person that made the travel books for the traveling girlies.

the travel books are going to be filled with pictures, words and everything fun from the girls trip.

here's how the books will work...while she stays with you, take some super fun pictures, write some cute letters to her from you and/or your girls, maybe get her some postcards/small map/stuff like that from where you live, maybe some embellishments or pretty stickers that can be put into the book. that way when she's settled down and done traveling she can look back and remember all the fun times she had.

after you do all that, you have 2 choices: you can either make the pages up yourself, scrapbook style (i'll list the measurments/requirements at the end of this) and send them to me or you can just send me your pictures/letters/etc and i'll make the pages myself. :o) it's totally up to you. i'm completely fine with making the pages myself if that's what you'd like to do.

SO, here's the book measurments:

the pages measure 12x9 inches and each host gets 4 pages. the first 3 pages are blank, for pictures, letters, stickers, decorations, etc. the 4th page has a 6x9 inch envelope for whatever extra pictures, postcards/maps, etc you send.

if you have any questions or need my address to send your pages out, you can email me at: thetravelingblythebooks@gmail.com

have fun with the girls and i can't wait to see what everyone comes up with!

xox catie.

Names are chosen!

2009-11-03T23:02:00.001-08:00

It was close, but it's official now:
Sammydoes's girl will be named Perrin and
Vainilladolly's girl will be named Luka!

Sammydoe's girl is ready!

2009-11-03T00:05:00.000-08:00

I'm very excited to present the wonderful sammydoe custom girl!

All rights of course belong to sammydoe.
See the whole set here!

PS: Don't forget to vote for names, the poll is almost over!

First Poll - Results

2009-10-31T15:15:00.000-07:00

Here are the results of our first poll. The four names of each group, that got the most votes will make it to the second round. :)

This would be

vainilladolly's: * Puck * Scout * Luka * Vanilla
sammydoe's: * Juno * Lou * Perrin * Sammy

We need names!

2009-10-28T08:57:00.000-07:00

POLLS ARE OPEN FOR EVERYONE! Not only for participants, and you can vote for both girls of course!

Soo please send in your name suggestions till Friday 10pm CET. This is on very short notice, since we don't have much time left until the girls start their travels.

Edit: I think we will come up with many names, we will need 2 polls for each girl.

I will make a poll with all name suggestions for each doll on this blog.
The first poll will be open from Friday 11pm to Sunday 8pm CET to make a first selection. The 5 names for each doll that get most votes will make it to the second round.
From Sunday 8pm to Tuesday 8am CET the second poll will be started to decided on a name.

This blog will be updated with name suggestions. I will collect every idea from our flickr group, via flickr comments, mails or comments here. :) Now get your brain started hehe

Edit: I was impatient and opened the poll earlier ... no new names came in today anyway.

Sammdoe's:

♥ Muck (because of the child book "Puck und Muck")
♥ Cherry (because she is an CherryBerry)
♥ Juno
♥ Lou
♥ Aouda (girl from verne's "around the world in 80 days")
♥ Lirael
♥ Ying
♥ Sidney
♥ Atticus
♥ Chuck
♥ Tillie
♥ Olive
♥ Perrin (meaning traveler)
♥ Gypsy (traveler wanderer)
♥ Clara (reminds of a 20ies flapper girl)
♥ Vera (reminds of a 20ies flapper girl)
♥ Sammy

Vainilladolly's:

♥ Puck
♥ Mai (because she has MaMa's hair)
♥ Alva (reminds of an fairy or elf)
♥ Wendy (from peter pan)
♥ Isis
♥ Yang
♥ Resa ("travel" - swedish)
♥ Bean
♥ Roma
♥ Scout
♥ Luka
♥ Wanda (meaning traveler)
♥ Peregrin (meaning traveler) "Per" {pronounced pear} for short
♥ Madelaine

♥ Abrianna (means mother of all nations)

♥ Alita (means winged)

♥ Luke (wanderer, m English, Biblical)
♥ Pearl
♥ Vanilla

Vainilladolly's girl is ready!

2009-10-27T05:09:00.000-07:00

I'm very excited to present the wonderful vainilladolly custom girl!

All rights of course belong to vainilladolly.
See the whole set here!

Sneaky Peek of vainilladolly's girl!

2009-10-24T07:48:00.000-07:00

Why, hello, my first post as a new team member of the Traveling Blythe project! Glad to help out ♥

First pictures of vainilladolly's awesome custom girl (taken from her Flickr stream, all rights belong to her):

You can see the whole set here!

Big Update

2009-10-23T12:08:00.000-07:00

Hi guys!

We are heading now towards pole position. Exciting!! Sammydoe and Vainilladolly are already busy working on our dolls.

Unfortunately, Jayme (cookie) has to step down from the organizing team for a while. She is very sorry and sad about that, as she started this project and is very excited to see it happen. We hope she will be back when life settled down. We think everyone is happy to agree to expand Group 2 (vainilladolly) to 26 positions, so Jayme will be able to host the doll next year.

What does this mean for our project?

♥ Obviously you will have to live with newsletters and blog entries written by me, Sandra, for now. I will give my best, so please don't bother too much about my grammar and vocabs.

♥ Our collective money is still in our traveling Blythe paypal account, which is hold by Jayme. I already made an appointment with my bank consultant for getting another credit card, so I can open a new paypal account for us. As you might like to hear, I'm not fond of the idea of mixing our collective money with my personal savings on my account for my shop. I think it will take 3 weeks before I can open the new account.

♥ Becca (Sai) has joined the organizing team, welcome Becca!! I guess most of you will know her from flickr and PP, she is a darling. We are now searching for 1 or 2 persons, who are willing to help us with the organizing. When making quick decisions it is not always possible to ask all 50 participants on their personal opinion. But we would like to build a team so we can make decisions, that are as democratic as possible. A team means another advantage for us, each one could take an out-time without leaving this project completely. I'm not going into detail what organizers do, if you are interested please write us an email. We want you!

Have you all seen the wonderful travel books that Catie made for us? If not, check out the flickr group. Catie volunteered in keeping and updating them for us. So, this means that each one of us can make like 3 pages for this book. Example: travel diary, photos, collected paper souvenirs ... we will see what ideas we all will have. We haven't talked about it yet, but I think they will be raffled off amongst us, in the end as well. We debated about sending the books together with the dolls or not. As much as we personally would love to see the books in person and to fill in our entries, we decided it wouldn't be wise. Each of the books doesn't weigh to much on its own, but unfortunately the weight of paper snippets and postcards will add quite some summed up weight to our sendings. Which would be extraordinarily expensive for the international senders as you can see in the table below. I have made these shipping calculations with the estimated weight each package will have at the end of our project. Of course each postal service has its own rates, but unfortunately not every postal service offers international flat rates like the US postal service does.

More info on the travel books will come, I will see to send in my personal entries as fast as possible so you can see what this is all about.

As optional contribution we thought about a little snail mail postcard project. Why? Because we love to receive post cards and think it is even more fun to get post cards written by Blythes. People that missed the sign ups but would love to get a postcard from the traveling girls can send us their addresses. We then provide the info of one receiver to one willing host. :)

Last but not least a few sentences on our blog. Katsparkles asked via the flickr group if every participant will have the possibility to post in the blog. We debated about this and decided it would be better if only a few people have access to the blog's html and settings. Not because we expect anybody to change or destroy something on purpose, but with over 50 parties involved, it is rather likely that an accident will happen. If you are fluent with blogs and would like to help with the blog entries - feel free to contact us. :) For the others, we thought it would be the easiest way, if you send us your entries and photos via email and we upload them for you. We hope that this solution will please you!

Please feel free to contact us with any question, concern or idea you might have. Either via comment on the blog or via email. We try to come back to you as soon as possible.

Thank you very much for your patience! <3

xxx,
Sandra / minkidynamite & Becca / Sai

First outfits!

2009-10-20T11:33:00.000-07:00

Hi guys! :)

I have finished the first outfits for our traveling girls. I hope you like what I've made. If not, no problem - everyone is free to dress the girls after own preferences. I'm really curious how the girls style will develop over time! And of course what their little (so far imaginary) suitcases will carry.

One little disclaimer: the backs of both dresses look awful. They were my first with sleeves and collars and I ended both times with non matching backs.

xxx,
Sandra / minkidynamite

Sneaky Peek of sammydoe's girl!

2009-10-17T04:42:00.000-07:00

Picture is sammydoe's, all rights are hers!

Discussion on hairstyle here: original post

Receive a postcard!

2009-10-16T09:34:00.000-07:00

Time flies by and soon our girls will go on their travels! Isn't that exciting?

If you have missed the sign-ups, please don't be sad!

♥ Sign up for the waiting list!

♥ If you would like to receive a post card from one of the girls, feel free to send your name and address to thetravelingblythe @ gmail.com
We then would provide your info to one host, who is willing to send a post card in behalf of their guest.

Signed Up:

∴ Zanzalee
∴ Suedehead
∴ amloro16
∴ Satorare
∴ Haley
∴ Velusa
∴ Bruna_Wretzky
∴ Buganville
∴
∴
∴

The Girls!

2009-10-04T10:28:00.000-07:00

Thanks so much to everyone for sending in their payments right away. We were able to send the funds off to our lovely customizers and they're out hunting right now for the perfect girls to create for our project! :)

I'll post some updates with their progress and once we see the final pics let's do a vote for their names :)
xox
Jayme

Travel Route Changes!

2009-09-21T10:17:00.000-07:00

Just a quick post, because one host already dropped out.

We need to rearrange the travel route, but we decided to give you another week for thinking about your participation in the project before we do so. Feel free to contact us with any question!

Please keep in mind that stated months on the travel routes aren't 100% sure yet.

<3 Sandra

Travel Route Group 2 - Perrin

2009-09-20T14:19:00.000-07:00

sammydoe
♥ North America ♥ Asia ♥ South America ♥ Europe

1. Hanaagogo ∴ Illinois / North America ∴ Nov
2. mishou ∴CAN / North America ∴ Nov
3. Zanalee ∴ New York / North America ∴ Dec
4. LadyinGreen17 ∴ Pennsylvania / North America ∴ Dec
5. Daisyannesmiles ∴ North Carolina / North America ∴ Jan
6. sugaroni ∴ Missouri / North America ∴ Jan
7. redmara ∴ Georgia / North America ∴ Feb
8. MorganOrton ∴ Florida / North America ∴ Feb
9. cakewalk queen ∴ Texas / North America ∴ Mar
10. mnemone ∴ Texas / North America ∴ Mar
11. suzanne ∴ California / North America ∴ Apr
12. whitefridaynight ∴ California / North America Apr∴
13. squirreljunkie ∴ California / North America ∴ Mai ♥
14. Turbow ∴ Thailand / Asia ∴ Mai
15. cc6069days ∴ Singapore / Asia ∴ Jun ♥
16. Lunarsea ∴ UK / Europe ∴ Jun
17. SakuraBlythe ∴ UK / Europe ∴ Jul
18. Iclesteph ∴ UK / Europe ∴ Jul
19. Katsparkles ∴ Sweden / Europe ∴ Jul
20. Anam Cara∴ Germany/ Europe ∴ Aug
XX. minkidynamite ∴ Austria/ Europe ∴ Aug
21. Sai ∴ Germany / Europe ∴
22. amloro ∴ France/ Europe ∴ Oct
23. Tibiloo ∴ France/ Europe ∴ Oct
24. Two_eyes_girl ∴ Spain / Europe ∴ Nov
25. Vainilladolly ∴ Spain / Europe ∴ Nov
RAFFLE ~ December!

Travel Route Group 1 - Luka

2009-09-20T13:47:00.000-07:00

Vainilladolly
♥ Europe ♥ Australia ♥ South America ♥ North America

1. minkidynamite ∴ Austria / Europe ∴ Nov
2. Carrins ∴ UK / Europe ∴ Nov
3. LauraKateisCrafty ∴ UK / Europe ∴ Dec
4. Supernenek ∴ Spain / Europe ∴ Dec
5. viva_amelie ∴ Spain / Europe ∴ Jan
6. fashionmini ∴ Netherlands / Europe ∴ Jan
7. la_bonita ∴ Swiss / Europe ∴ Feb ♥
8. [jodie] ∴ NSW / Australia ∴ Feb
9. cutiehoney ∴ VIC/ Australia ∴ Mar
10. jenink ∴ NSW / Australia ∴ Mar ♥
11. Pilustrika ∴ Brazil / South America ∴ Apr ♥
12. Gina ∴ California / North America ∴
13. zaloa 27 ∴ California / North America ∴
14. Amanda-Ruth ∴ California / North America ∴
15. imakeitcute ∴ Texas / North America ∴
16. littlesheepeep ∴ Florida / North America ∴
17. Shannon Taylor ∴ Tennessee / North America ∴
18. quiltnookgal ∴ Maryland / North America ∴
19. unicornmine ∴ Illinois / North America ∴
20. CatieRitterson ∴ Pennsylvania / North America ∴
21. sweetlibertygrace Virginia / North America ∴
22. ava111sk ∴ Virginia / North America ∴
23. ccandy 17 ∴ Illinois / North America ∴
24. sammydoe ∴ Illinois / North America ∴
25. S.F.K ∴ Maryland / North America ∴ Going to Brazil with Luka! December/January
26. cookie ∴ CAN / North America ∴
RAFFLE ~ February!

Waiting List

2009-09-15T23:10:00.000-07:00

Please read all the facts and faqs, then answer the questionnaire and send it to thetravelingblythe @ gmail.com to sign-up for the waiting list.

The waitinglist is closed!

North America

∴ Googoojue
∴ Mama Lisa
∴ Betty Wing
∴ Susan
∴ Wendella Dollipop
∴ xalicex
∴ coldlicorice
∴ kathiminikatie
∴ jenniferabe
∴ XoXoAgi
∴ Fruity Blythe - Vicky
∴ Smee
∴ ericaduh
∴ frankie.darling
∴goddessofhellfire
∴gcrepe
∴Linda827

Europe

∴
∴
∴
∴Chibiloo
∴
∴

South America

∴ Bruna_Wretzky
∴
∴

Asia

∴Cloudz
∴
∴

Australia

∴Angel~Lily
∴itsallaboutdolls
∴
∴

The Next Steps

2009-09-14T03:28:00.001-07:00

Thanks so much everyone that applied to be part of this awesome project.
I think this will be so much fun and it will be a great experience to meet new people and these amazing blythes.

We'll be mapping out the girl's travel routes this week and will be sending info out to you all soon regarding timing, how to make your payment and answer any other questions you might have.

We would like to get this moving as soon as possible as I know everyone is so excited to participate and I'd love to give the customizers the go ahead ASAP to start their magic.

We'll be in touch in the next couple of days :)
Thanks again everyone for making this project happen!!!!
I'm so excited!!
:)
xox
jayme

Final Sign-Up List!

2009-09-11T08:21:00.000-07:00

Hi guys!
The sign-up list has been updated with 3 lucky ones from the waiting list.
Approved Participants. :)

For those who haven't made it on the list - please don't be sad! You will be the first informed, if somebody backs out! Thank you so much for your application, we appreciate your support a lot! <3<3

The new info will be mailed on the weekend!

Sign-ups are closed!

2009-09-10T06:40:00.001-07:00

Thank you all for sending in your questionnaires! <3

3 spots are left, those will go to lucky ones on the waiting list!

We will send out mails with new info to all participants soon!

Info on Sign-Up

2009-09-08T15:16:00.000-07:00

Hey guys!

Thank you everyone for sending in your questionnaire! We should have explained sooner how we are handling the sign-ups. Sorry for that!

Sign-ups are divided in
1. has signed up on original list - has priority and will be listed on final list if contributed feedback is ok.
2. has good feedback - will be considered for filling up free spots.

But now that we have a majority of US and EU people signed up, we have decided to give people from Australia, Asia and South America a priority status as well. To use our collective money efficiently it would be best not to ship the doll to a continent only for one person (ideally).

If you have signed up but haven't been chosen, please don't take it personally. It sure is not! Every person and every feedback has been great so far. It really is not easy for us, but we have to draw the line somewhere.

Sandra / minkidynamite

Facts & FAQ

2009-09-04T20:00:00.000-07:00

Facts

♥ 2 Blythes and 50 hosts (2 groups of 25 people).

♥ People from anywhere in the world can join.

♥ Eligibility based on peer feedback.

Penalty. Bad feedback at BadDollyDeals

Costs. Each participant will be required to paypal $21USD to cover costs associated with the project. See FAQs for details.

Risks. Custom fees and stress.

Obligations. Communication, any custom fees incurred when receiving the doll, taking and sharing pictures, being a good host, safely packing up the dolly for shipping, and being responsible for shipping costs, insurance, and tracking to travel to her next host.

Project ending. Every participant will be entered into a raffle to adopt the girl that they hosted with her collected goodies and give her a permanent home.

FAQ

Q: Who are the organizers of this?
A: CooKie95 / Jayme and MinkiDynamite / Sandra are the main organizers.
Aprilxoxo will be helping us when needed.

Q: Which Blythes will be chosen?
A: We will leave this up to the customizers. Both artists will be given a dolly budget to work their magic with. Both Vainilladolly and Sammydoe have offered to donate their time and skills to our project. Both ladies are well-known, talented artists, and I’m sure we will all be extremely happy with the girls they create.

Q: I like Blythes stock! Why do they have to be customized?
A: We thought it may be a good idea to have very unique girls traveling the world. They will be featured in photos for at least a year, so they should be easily recognizable.
We are not expecting the worst, however if one of the girls disappears it would be more difficult to sell a custom doll.

Q: What about the costs?
A: Each participant will be required to paypal $20USD to cover costs associated with the project. These costs include the dolls, a few accessories to start them off, and shipping to the customizers. A portion also goes to helping with long distance shipping charges that can cost more (these will be predetermined), and to send the girl to her permanent home once she has been raffled off. If we have any unused money at the end this project it will go towards purchasing something for the dolls. We don’t expect to have any funds leftover but in an instance where this might happen it will be used towards the project. This is for fun! Not to make money.

Q: Who has to pay for the shipping?
A: Each participant has to pay for the shipping (incl. tracking and insurance) after their week of hosting. For larger international shipments (which will be predetermined) we will refund part of the costs from our community fund via paypal. We ask all participants choose a method of shipping that is as close to 7–9 business days as possible, as we would like to keep this moving smoothly and quickly for everyone. Once the doll is shipped, it is mandatory the shipping number is provided to the organizer.

Q: Some countries are collecting custom fees on importing toys … how can we avoid this?
A: Each participant who ships the girl over the sea must fill out a customs declaration.
*Entering the EU: For not paying fees you have to mark them as “private import of personal belongings”. Since 1/25 of the doll and its goodies belong to you – it counts as personal belonging.
*Entering the US: In the US no custom charges are asked for Toys. A custom form has to be filled in nevertheless.
*More info on custom charges in other countries will come.

Q: How long does the dolly stay with each host?
A: We have planned a 7 day stay. The doll must be shipped on or as close to the 8th day. Understandably, the post office is closed sometimes.
We as organizers will make sure to keep in contact with the sender and the receiver so we know where the doll is at all times and whether to expect any delays.

Q: Can I add goodies to the dolly’s suitcase?
A: It is encouraged, but it is not necessary that you add something to her suitcase. We ask you snap a quick picture of the item or items by themselves and email the picture to your organizer. We will be keeping a photo-journal of all the goodies she collects, as we want to make sure she doesn’t forget anything along the way. The dollys will each travel with a journal specially created by Catie Ritterson. Please feel free to write something about her stay or about yourself ….something that can be shared and enjoyed with all the other hosts.

Q: What are the obligations for participants?
A: Everyone who decides to join the project, has at least a 2 week obligation. Please keep in mind, that you must have time to communicate, to pick the dolly up from the post office, to unpack her, to take good photos of her, to pack her safely up again, and to bring her back to the post office. Furthermore, you have to stay in contact with the organizers before the dolly will be shipped to your place. We won’t let the doll be shipped to you, if you don’t give the OK a week before. Your obligation ends when the person after your turn has received the doll. This will be stressful! Please think about this before you sign up!

Q: What risks are there? What if something happens to the dolls?
A: We can’t and won’t hold anybody legally responsible for loss or destruction. This is one of the risks you are taking when joining this project. You could loose your payment of $20. This whole project is big and of course we hope that nothing bad will happen. But it might happen. Please think about this before signing up!

Q: Do we need a fancy camera to take part?
A: Definitely not! We only ask you take lots and lots of photos. Maybe photos of meeting your other girls, visiting historic monuments, going to the park to have a picnic, trying on new outfits….the possibilities are endless and please get creative!

Q: How will this project end?
A: Once both dolls have travelled to their final stop we will host 2 raffles for all participates to have an opportunity to win the dolly they hosted and all of her collected goodies. We are currently looking into a third party to possibly host the raffle. More details on how the draw will work coming soon.

Sign-Up

2009-09-04T17:31:00.000-07:00

Reasons not to sign-up

• not willing to pay high costs of shipping
• not agreeing on how this will be organised
• not believing in the project
• not willing to lose money, if something unplanned happened
• not being in the position to plan one year ahead.
• not willing to take photographs
• not willing to let the customizers have complete artistic control over
the dolls

Still on board? Then answer the following questionnaire and send it to thetravelingblythe @ gmail.com

Sign-Up Questionnaire:

♥ Full Name
♥ Full Address
♥ Feedback (ebay/etsy, seller or/and buyer, or Blythe community references, please send urls)
♥ Are you 16 years or older?
♥ Have you read the FAQ and know everything about costs and risks?
♥ Please state if there are any times you are not willing to be a host.
♥ Are you willing to ship the dolly internationally and to fill in
custom forms?
♥ Will you be able to post photos?

Approved Participants

2009-09-04T15:06:00.000-07:00

1. cookie95
2. MinkiDynamite
3. Catie Ritterson
4. vainilladolly
5. sammydoe
6. aprilxoxo
7. fashionmimi
8. ladyingreen17
9. Suzanne B.
10. Ccandy17
11. Daisyannesmile
12. Cakewalk Queen
13. imakeitcute
14. GBaby
15. Mishou
16. LauraKateIsCrafty
17. Two_eyes_girl
18. Pilustrika
19. Zanalee
20. Iclesteph
21. La_bonita
22. lunarsea
23. Kate Carrins
24. Sugaroni
25. sweetlibertygrace

26. SakuraBlythe
27. [Jodie]
28. Quiltnookgal
29. supernenek
30. chocolatcake
31. jenink
32. Turbow
33. redmara
34. cc gyate gyate
35. MorganOrton
36. Squirrel Junkie
37. mnemone
38. Shannon Taylor
39. Sai
40. Amanda-Ruth
41. katsparkles
42. PassasAoRum
43. Samara
44. Iveta
45. pollipop
46. amandaramazzini
47. viva_amelie
48. whitefridaynight
49. unicornmine
50. zaloa27