mademoiselle blythe

Blythe is a beautiful doll, but Roz makes her lively, magnificent and often magical! It is impossible not to be addicted to her pictures if you are a Blythe fan. And Roz has even non dolly people who follow her Flickr stream and love her photos, which is quite rare. It is an honor for me that she has agreed to tell us her love story with Blythe and photography!

Photo: RockymountainRoz.

Hi Roz! Can you introduce yourself?

My name is Roz and I live in Boulder, Colorado in the USA. I am RockyMountainRoz on flickr and the doll forums. I grew up in Texas but fell in love with the mountains of Colorado and moved to Boulder as an adult. However, my accent is still Texan, no matter how hard I try to change it! I have a grown son who lives in Chicago. I am married to Joe and we live with a pup named Horatio. He is named after Hamlet’s best friend Horatio, not the Horatio on CSI Miami! I taught high school English and theatre for many years, then took early retirement. I also directed high school theatre, and my one claim to fame is that in the year 2001, I chose Hair as our musical. Peter Jennings was preparing to do a TV Mini-Series called In Search of America, and his producer searched to see which high schools might have asked for the rights to this musical. They found us, contacted us, and the producer came to Boulder to interview me about doing the musical to see if they might want in include us as a one-hour segment in the series, and a chapter in the book being written about it. They did…and from auditions to the last night of performance, we were shadowed by TV crews and cameras. Jennings attended our final performance. It was quite an experience for the students, parents, and everyone involved! The cameras were even rolling on September 11, when the world as we knew it changed forever. I was very sad when Peter Jennings passed away. He was a very kind man.

Photo from the book: “In Search of America”, Peter Jennings and Todd Brewster, Hyperion, 2002. Roz is getting the students into the mood of the Sixties. Colorado teenagers explore rebellion, free expression, generation conflict and the meaning of patriotism through an American rite of passage: the high school musical.

Photo: RockymountainRoz. Horatio and La Mer.

How and when did you discover Blythe?

After I retired, for the first time in my life, I actually had some free time! No more constantly grading papers and staying at school until midnight sometimes rehearsing and preparing for plays and musicals. I started painting some, making collages and cards. I used to search the internet for vintage greeting cards. In searching, I somehow stumbled across these cool dolls who seemed to be able to stand on their own in the outdoors! I was so fascinated with them that I started searching for them.

Photo: RockymountainRoz. Rosie Red wearing Everyday Fabulous.

When and why did you start your collection?

I thought that it would be cool to photograph them and use them on the greeting cards and collages that I was making. I ended up on Gina Garan’s This is Blythe forum. I learned all I could about them and decided that I should have one. So, in May, 2006, I bought my first Blythe. She was Mademoiselle Rosebud. However, I realized that she didn’t look like Rosie Red, the first Blythe that I remember seeing. Rosebud is SBL, and I was shocked to see that her eyes didn’t have that wide-eyed BL look. I soon decided that the BLs were the girls for me. The first BL that I got was Goldie. I fell totally in love with her, so much so that it wasn’t long before I decided that I should have twin Goldies, just in case anything ever happened to my Goldie! I made a point of getting every single BL.  Somehow, I managed to get three sets of BL twins. I have twin Goldies, Rosies, Mondies and Hollywoods. BLs are still my favorite Blythes. They have innocent expressions that I just love!

Photo: RockymountainRoz. Twin sisters Goldie and Melodie wearing Litte ONE Bao, Megipupu and Polly.

How many Blythe dolls do you have in your own collection?

I never count my dolls, but I decided to make an exception and see how many Blythes I actually have. I used a list, so I do hope that I am not leaving any of my girls out! I have a total of 79 girls, think! I have 12 BLs, 14 EBLs, 6 SBLs,  39 RBLs, 1 FBL, 2 Kenners and 4 customs were bought new (Arabesque, Satine, Berry and Miranda). My other customs are dolls that I already had and sent to be customized (Eliza, Gypsy, Dolly, Samantha, Jean Schrimpton and Rose are Happibug customs, and Clara Bow is a Ragazza custom). I know that I have a LOT of dolls, but I have a tough time not getting new dolls because I almost always love them all!

Photo: RockymountainRoz. The BL girls.

Where and how do you store them?

I keep most of the dolls on a bed in the spare bedroom. I don’t have a special cabinet for them. Many of them hang out in our family room on a sofa there. I finally bought large plastic under the bed storage containers to keep the dolls in when we need the spare bed! Otherwise, there is a problem of where to put them when we need that bed!

Photo: RockymountainRoz. The dolly bed

How did you learn photography?

I am self-taught and Blythe brought me a love of photography that I never expected to have. I do have a friend who taught photography in the high school where I taught….and I had him show me the basics! BUT I have been taking pix of the dollies since I got them in 2006…LOL…and you see how many uploads I have on flickr! SO with time and understanding what I like in the pictures and taking hundreds of shots everyday…that is how I learned…most of the things that I do like that have been self-taught… I am a very hands-on learner! Doing collages and water colors and painting with acrylics were also self-taught.

Photo: RockymountainRoz. La Mer and Snowy the horse.

Photo: RockymountainRoz. Yuki, the true Ice Princess, wearing Pineaple Tart.

Who did you ask to customize your dolls and how do you choose your customizers?

There are so many wonderful customizers!  I love many of the customs that I see!  I love Happibug girls made by Lynne.  Her girls have a sweet little girl look which I adore, with personalities that make them seem real.  I also love Ragazza customs.  I love their sweet and sometimes sad faces, and their haunting beauty.  I have one Picara custom, which I love.  She is a Pirate girl and probably the most different from most of my girls.  I also have a Shershe re-root, one of my Hollywoods.  I love the re-roots that Sherri does!  She is totally amazing!  My other Hollywood is a custom made by Isa of Crafting With Love, and she has a wonderful pink mohair re-root.  I love all of my custom girls!  I guess that I love dolls who have an innocent look the best.  I don’t like them to be too sophisticated or changed too much from their original look.

Photo: RockymountainRoz. Miranda Alwilda Picara, The Pirate Queen – Picara custom.

Photo: RockymountainRoz. Clara Bow – Ragazza custom (Cherry Berry EBL) – wearing Cangaway.

Photo: RockymountainRoz. Dolly – Happibug custom (Mod Molly) – wearing My Own Little World.

Which doll is the last one arrived in your collection and what is the next Blythe you would like to acquire?

Stella Savannah is my latest doll. The one that I would love to have next is Tea and Tarts. The one that I would LOVE to have and who I will probably never have is Miss Anniversary. She is so expensive that I don’t think I will ever be able to get her! I can dream though! I might get another Hollywood and have her customized to look like Miss Anniversary!

Photo: RockymountainRoz. Stell-ah wearing Euro Trash.

Did you send any of your Blythe dolls for adoption or do you still have them all?

I made trades on some of my girls twice. I will never do it again because I immediately missed the girls that I traded! I had to buy them again! That was a good lesson for me. Even if I don’t photograph them often, I love each of my dolls! I know that I often photograph the same girls again and again. There are times I do wonder why I have so many since I don’t photograph them all! Cannot completely answer that! I wanted them at one time or I wouldn’t have them!

A final word?

Blythe opened up a completely new world for me. I am amazed at the people I have met on flickr because of this amazing dolly! What a thrill to know people all over the world who share my love of this girl! I guess that is really the best thing about having Blythes! I am so grateful for the friends that I have made! I often think about the TV commercial from 1972 when Kenners were introduced with the words “the wonderful world of Blythe”! I agree with that! There IS a wonderful world of Blythe, and I am so very happy to be a part of it!!!

Photo: RockymountainRoz. Sandra Dee – Kenner blonde – wearing Dollicious and Pineapple Tart.

Thank you so very much, Roz, for your time and making us love Blythe even more in your photos! Your girls are the most beautifully dressed dolls I have ever seen. Watching your stream brings back memories of a period of my life when I was an avid reader of VOGUE and any fashion magazine, where I could admire the latest trends on famous models. Your photos make me dream everyday, and this is a priceless gift. Thank you again, Roz, and please never stop!

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