Blythecon UK 2010

I am pleased to announce that Sky have finally sorted out the internet connection in my new apartment, meaning I can post updates on all the lovely things that have been happening in the last month or so. Tonight, I’m going to talk about Blythecon UK, which I’m finding hard to believe happened a whole month ago!

At the very start of October Dan & I went to Oxford for the weekend for the first ever Blythecon in the UK. I left work early on Friday so we could meet up with some of the other attendees for a drink and a chat in the evening. The weather was absolutely appalling – I’ve never seen rain like it! We got there safely, and in plenty of time for beer and dolly chatter with lots of lovely people.

The con itself was on Saturday the 2nd of October, at The Jam Factory. There were all kinds of workshops, competitions and LOTS of stalls to spoil your girls. I spent far too much money with the vendors, and bagged some incredible bits. My girls haven’t had much attention lately, so I don’t feel too guilty… especially seeing as Berlin left the family at Blythecon! She has gone to live with someone who will love her much more than I ever did, and will live out her days in lavish outfits in the lap of luxury, I’m sure. Take a look at my loot!

There’s a new Eurotrash helmet, a Bambina Carabina helmet, a skully dress from Moshi Moshi, two dresses and some dungarees from PinkyJane, a gorgeous Teacupfaery knit dress, hair slides from Funny Bunny, creepers and cowboy boots from Gina Garan, a Dolly Mixture dress set, a couple of jumpers and a dress from Woolly Rockers, and a knit hoodie from Rose’s Blythe Knits. I also won a Woolly Rockers set in the raffle, and a voucher for Millie Made. Not bad going, eh?

One of the most exciting things about the weekend was meeting Gina Garan in person. She is so friendly and down to earth, it was a real pleasure chatting to her. She was at the pub on the Friday night, and had a stall at the con on Saturday. I got my copies of This is Blythe and Blythe Style signed, and was pleased to find out that there is another book due soon! Gina was sweet enough to pose for a picture with Blaise and Pip – every time I look at it I squee a little bit, Gina is Blythe royalty! No, scratch that – Gina is more like a Blythe deity.

It was great to meet up with Blythe people who I hadn’t seen in a long time – Jane and Dan, Em and James, Angela, and Rhiannon I hadn’t seen in far too long! It was even more bizarre to finally meet people who I have “known” through Blythe and other toys for anywhere up to six years now – Ruth, Bethany, Carmen, Liz, Linda, Gaia, Lisa, Holly, Alice, Bex and Christel are the ones that jump to my mind a month on, and I’m so sorry if I have forgotten anyone else!

On Saturday evening Dan & I went out to dinner with Jane and her Dan, with Pip and Bea in tow. I’m fairly certain they are long lost Kenner Blythe sisters you know….

After a lovely face stuffing session at an all-we-could-nom Chinese buffet, we took the girls to The Duke’s Cut – Hobgoblin on tap, much to the delight of my Dan. Pip is wearing her new knit dress from Jane in the photo above, along with one of the hair pins from Helena at Funny Bunny and her new boots from Gina. After this we wandered through rainy rainy Oxford, and found yet another pub full of dolly people for more drinking and chattering.

In the end the final amount raised at the con for the Little Princess Trust was £1,571.62 – £600 of that was from the raffle alone! The weekend did exactly what I hoped it would, and jump-started my Blythe passion again. In dangerous news, I am feeling the need for more Kenner in my life… though it won’t happen for quite some time.

My girls have stopped fighting over their new outfits, and I promise I’ll get around to posting some pictures of them all together soon. There are loads more pictures from the con in the group pool on Flickr – click here if you fancy a look. My only regret is that I didn’t take many pictures while we were there, but thankfully other people did!