Blythe | Gentle River

Christina Replies:

Q. How was the "making of Gentle River" journey?: In general it has been wonderful I think. I of course freaked out a bit making the outfit, it was hard to think what would all work together and yet be eye catching enough to interest the judges. You had to think about it being mass produced too so the patterns had to be not too difficult. The coat and the pinny were new patterns too so it was a bit scary, if they didnt work out well I would have had to rethink the whole outfit from scratch!
Q. What were the most difficult moments?: For me it was finding the fabrics. We dont have a very big crafting community here and very few fabric stores so I had to scour all Melbourne to find what I needed. That and the extra time we needed to ship things back and forth between three different countries.
Q. What were the happiest moments?: Getting to know Paul, Melissa and Sar Sar more through this process was great. Ive admired all of them for a long time and we knew each other a little but working together has been really good. Also seeing River come together in Melissas wonderful photos, I couldnt believe how nice she looked, it was like seeing someone elses doll somehow.
Q. How can 4 people who live in different parts of the world work so well together and in harmony? We should learn this to promote world peace!: I dont know how this worked out really*L* I think Sar Sar read my mind when she made the crochet hat, she never even saw the real coat when she started I think. Email is a good thing though, what would we have done without email?*L* Part of it is that Paul and Melissa and Sar Sar are such intuitive,creative people, we each responded to the work of the other memebers of the team.
Q. Tell us who did what part of Gentle River.: I made the fabric parts of the outfit, the little deer and the boxbag.
Q. Give us a message to the Blythe fans of the world!: That Blythe is a great hobby, I cant get over how much she has changed my life!
Q. Finally, a message to the people who are considering entering the next Blythe Beauty Contest!: Just to enter, it was the best thing that has ever happened to me! The process of working on River with the team, finding out we were in the finalists, going to Japan!!! Winning!!! and now being a part of the production of a real doll and getting to see our work turned into a mass produced real blythe doll, I cant even describe how brilliant this all is!
Q. Message to CWC.: We love you! You work so hard and go so far out of your way again and again with what you do and make. Thank you for the competition and this once in a lifetime experience. Blythe really is a passion for all of you as much as she is for us.

Pauls replies:

Q. How was the "making of Gentle River" journey?: Absolutely flawless. Everyone knew exactly what to bring to the table.
Q. What were the most difficult moments?: Not being able to disassemble the head was quite a challenge.
Q. What were the happiest moments?: Seeing her complete was quite a reward in itself. Every step she took shape got more exciting up to the final pictures.
Q. How can 4 people who live in different parts of the world work so well together and in harmony?: These are all the people who inpired me, so everyone had the right ideas immediately without a doubt in my mind.
Q. Tell us who did what part of Gentle River.: I did the makeup, hand cast the eye chips and pullring. I also painted the original shoes.
Q. Finally, a message to the people who are considering entering the next Blythe Beauty Contest!: Follow your heart and inspirations. Don't be afraid to be extreme. Hobbies need that and Blythe is more than ready to oblige!
Q. Message to CWC.: We love you! You work so hard and go so far out of your way again and again with what you do and make. Thank you for the competition and this once in a lifetime experience. Blythe really is a passion for all of you as much as she is for us.
(Same!)

Melissas replies:

Q. How was the "making of Gentle River" journey?: The experience took me through a wide range of emotions - making our contest doll was pure fun - brainstorming with such a creative team, seeing the finished outfit pieces from christina and sar sar, working together with Paul on makeup, hair and eyes - everything went smoothly and it was so exciting watching our idea come to life. After that, working with CWC to make her a real doll was one of the most eye-opening experiences of my hobby life! When they told us it would be a year before she was released, I wondered, "why so long?" but then, after seeing how many tiny little details must work out, I realized just how much work goes into our dear friend Blythe!
Q. What were the most difficult moments?: When we were working on our original photo submission - The very last day before we had to get the 6 prints in the mail, we were planning on taking her ringlets out of the curlers, and photographing her just before sundown in my usually warm and sunny backyard. Well, right after her hair was styled and she was ready to go, a huge stormcloud moved in over our sun and the wind kicked up. I was terrified that we wouldn't get any good pictures of our girl we had worked so many months on! Luckily the clouds parted just enough to get a few good shots, but we really fought the wind that day!
Q. What were the happiest moments?: The day we saw the announcements for the finalists. The whole time, I felt like we were entering for fun - I never win anything. Just being acknowledged along other talented artists was such a happy moment for us. The next would be the day we won. Christina was the only one of us who could attend the show in japan, so we waited at home on pins and needles. Paul and I woke up very early the morning of the show and immediately checked our email - a message from christina was at the top announcing the good news. I think we danced around all day!
Q. How can 4 people who live in different parts of the world work so well together and in harmony? We should learn this to promote world peace!: I agree with chriatina, I think certain details just luckily fell into place, and the rest was thanks to online communication. Christina's detail-orientedness helped as well! She made alternate versions of everything just in case the colors or patterns didn't work out.
Q. Tell us who did what part of Gentle River.: I was responsible for customizing her eyes and hair without opening her, painting her lips, and taking her photos for the contest entry.
Q. What was the concept /story behind GR?: Very early on, we decided that we wanted a woodland theme, with a touch of fairytale whimsy. Gentle River is a sweet, simple girl who lives deep in the woods, communicating with the animals who have become her dearest friends. Her cheeks are rosy from the cold air when she leaves her gingerbread cabin to collect firewood.
We settled on this theme quite early, which helped keep us on track while designing her.
Q. Tell us about Lemon Butter and how she became Petite?: Christina is so skilled at making tiny animal pets, it seemed like a perfect embellishment to our forest girl to accompany her with a friendly deer. While christina was still in japan for the contest, I think they were discussing the final production doll and CWC offered the option of making the pet deer into a petite. It was decided that a stuffed pet would drive up her price too much, so we went to work sketching up little girls in deer suits. During one of our brainstorming sessions, one of us suggested that lemon butter should become more human, since Gentle River communicates with animals as if they are real people. The final doll is a little girl in a brown dress with spots like a fawn, and a plush deer hood. The squirrel finger puppet was Blanki's idea, I think!
Q. Give us a message to the Blythe fans of the world!: I would tell them that they have the best hobby in the world! Blythe has opened so many doors to my own creativity, to people all around the world, to people who have become my best friends and most important people in my life.
Q. Finally, a message to the people who are considering entering the next Blythe Beauty Contest!: Absolutely enter! Do your best and take pride in what you do. You never know what amazing journey and beautiful doll could come out of it!
Q. Message to CWC.: Thank you! for letting a handful of hobbyists design a product for your company. I was amazed that you left so many decisions in our hands, and listened to our ideas. We have enjoyed working together at every step of the process!

Sar Sars replies and picture:

Q. How was the"making of Gentle River" journey?: It was a wonderful experience! The project truly was a joy from start to finish; working with Team Sibley was truly rewarding.
Q. What were the most difficult moments?: The most difficult moments for me was trying to find the precise (at least what I thought was the best)color yarn as there aren't many colors available at the crafting store at my locale. In addition, it wasquite a task trying to visualize the end result colors which naturally must be in harmony with Christina'soutfit set; and not to mention meeting the due date.
Q. What were the happiest moments?: Naturally, watching River materialized into an angel beyond my expectation. Several weeks after we have submitted our finished product, Melissa kindly showed us pictures of River. It was the first time I actually got to see River as a whole and I was really in awe of our hard work.
In addition, I have to add that it's a privilege to work with Christina, Melissa and Paul. They are such special individuals and I would love to collaborate with them again. It's a pleasure getting to know Christina, Melissa and Paul more through this process.
Q. Tell us who did what part of Gentle River.: I made the crochet hat and a scarf for Gentle River.