I discovered Gina‘s work with Muriel‘s auction, and I was struck by the beauty of that girl. It is amazing how quickly Gina learned all about Blythe and customization. She received her first Blythe in November 2008, customized her in January 2009, and 16 months later, she just completed her 31st custom girl, and her commission list is full!
Gina’s style is unmistakable: look for the sexiest Blythe in the group 
Even her Kenner looks sexy! Many thanks, Gina, for being our guest today. I am very happy to let you speak now and know more about your Blythe successful story 
Photo: G♥Baby. Gina and Blythe.
Photo: G♥Baby. 31st custom – mohair Blythe.
Hi Gina! Can you introduce yourself?
Hi my name is Gina and I live in the San Francisco bay area. I’m almost 26 years old and I still haven’t figured out what I want to do with my life! Until then, I’m just having fun and trying to live in the moment. I have 6 dolls, 2 dogs, 1 boyfriend and over 30 immediate family members who live within 45 minutes from me. I come from a very close knit family and we are a crazy bunch!
How and when did you discover Blythe?
It was only a year and a half ago that I discovered Blythe. I was surfing the internet looking at photos of Roisin Murphy, (she’s like the Irish version of Lady gaga but with more class) and amongst the photos of Roisin I saw this big headed doll that was dressed to look just like her with the same glasses, outfit, and pose. I thought it was adorable and funny so I clicked on the photo which lead me to Flickr and that’s when it all began! I would spend hours and hours everyday browsing Flickr. Blythe was this new exciting thing that seemed almost like a secret club because I had never seen or heard about them before.
Photo: shootingstargaze. Roisin Murphy.
Photo: shootingstargaze. Roisin Murphy look-a-like Blythe.
When and why did you start your collection?
After doing a ton of research I bought my first Blythe, it was a NRFB Can Can Cat for $80. Those were the good old days! A week later she arrived and it was love at first sight. I never intended to start a collection. I thought it would be fun to make a mini-me and that was supposed to be the end of the story. My plan to make a mini-me fell through and so did my plan to have only one doll. You know how it is, Blythe can be very demanding and if she wants a sister you get her a sister! so on so forth! Next thing you know you got dolls all over the place. Plus I found a store near me that sells Blythes so I couldn’t help but buy a few since they were so easily accessible.
Photo: G♥Baby. Gina and her first Blythe, Can Cat Cat.
How many Blythe dolls do you have in your own collection?
Right now I have six dolls. Four RBLs two of them custom, one EBL custom, and one Kenner. The most dolls I’ve ever had at one time was 12 I think. My collection remains small because I can never hang on to girls. I feel that if I don’t absolutely love them, they must go! However I do fantasize about having a whole wall full of Blythes in my room someday.
Photo: G♥Baby. Lola Baby – Redhead Kenner Blythe.
Photo: G♥Baby. Baby – Winsome Willow custom and mohair reroot.
Where do you store your dolls?
The poor things are kept in plastic containers most of the time, but I always have at least two or three dolls sitting on the mantle so I can admire them.
Photo: G♥Baby. What a mess!
What do you like the most in collecting Blythe?
There’s so much that I love about this hobby. All the creativity involved, photography, sewing, knitting, customizing. I love that Blythe is not for everyone. If she were to ever go mainstream in the US someday I think that might ruin it for me.
Photos: G♥Baby. Dresses made by Gina, and her mom.
Most of all, I love the people. I’ve made so many wonderful friends from different corners of the world and that’s pretty awesome. Everyone I’ve met thus far has been so positive, sweet and supportive. I love and adore you all!!
Why did you start to customize Blythe?
From the beginning, the thing that intrigued me the most were the custom dolls and the idea of owning a stock Blythe had never crossed my mind at that point. Some of the first customs I discovered were “extreme” and out of the box, and I loved that. Those were the ones that inspired me to try customizing, although to this day I haven’t made anything that comes close to the creativity in those dolls. I bow to them! I still remember specifically the custom dolls that I first laid eyes on, Le Chapelier Fou’s Mana with the butterfly artwork, Cerise Dolls’ Sweet Macaron the albino cat, Blythephotos’ Omen the alien.
Photo: Le Chapelier Fou. Mana.
Photos: Lillycat’s Cerisedolls. Sweet Macaron.
Photo: Blythephotos. Omen the Alien.
But I’ve always been interested in Art ever since I was young and before I got into Blythe I was doing makeup-art here and there. So the Blythe thing made sense. She’s my little model I can practice makeup on.
Photo: G♥Baby. Lulu – My Little Candy custom.
When I first started making custom dolls I didn’t come across many sexy or glamorous customs and I wanted to bring out the sexxxy! I love that Blythe is so versatile, she really can be anything you want her to be.
Photo: G♥Baby. I am too sexy for my shiiiirt! Halle – Sunshine Holiday hybrid.
How did you learn how to do it?
Lots and lots of research. Browsing TIB, flickr, and puchicollective.com taught me so much. They have some great beginner tutorials at puchicollective. Everything else I learned by trial and error. I’ve made a lot of mistakes and I still make mistakes even now. But I feel like I improve on some things each time I make another doll. One thing I’d really like to get better at in the future is lip carving. Right now the technique I use for lips is very simple but I’d like to be able to do it with more detail.
And how about the hand painted eye chips you recently start to create?
Yes, I recently began to paint my own eye chips and I have to admit, they are a lot of work! haha.. but all the work is totally worth it in the end because they really do bring so much to the doll. At first I was just painting the back of stock chips or brainworms to give them a shimmer, it’s a really easy alternative if you dont want to try the realistic style: Muriel‘s painted stock chips and coolcats, and Jubilee‘s painted brainworms. I’ve always admired the work of others who paint their own realistic style chips so I decided to give it a try. I learned how to do them by trial and error and eventually I realized that they need to be painted in layers or else the paints will bleed together and become one color, or at least that is my experience with them.
Photo: G♥Baby. Custom hand painted eye chips.
What gives you inspiration for custom work?
Colors. I love all colors, rich, bold, soft, pastel, dark. I think color choices are important and they should complement each other. I might see a beautiful sky in the early evening and get the idea to make a blue and pink mohair girl with soft makeup and shimmer under her eyes.
Also Music. When I was getting the idea for Muriel I was listening to a lot of Ladytron “Deep Blue”. My iPod is practically glued to my ears so I’m always getting ideas for dolls from songs. Every time I listen to “The Ether’s Tragic” by Smashing Pumpkins I envision a Blythe with really long gray mohair prancing around in the woods.. haha.. Someday I’ll make that girl.
Photo: G♥Baby. Muriel – My Little Candy custom and mohair reroot.
What is your work rhythm? How do you like to work?
Some dolls have taken me 2-4 days to finish and others a month, it just depends. Zappa was the doll that took me 2 days to complete and I dont think I could ever work that fast again. I must’ve had too much espresso that night. I like to watch The Office dvds while I’m doing doll work. That’s what I call a fun time!
Photo: G♥Baby. Zappa – Punkhaolic People custom.
How does your studio look like?
My workspace is the dining room table, how sad! I do wish I had a proper studio, somewhere that I could get inspired.
Photo: G♥Baby. Custom in progress.
When you work on custom commissions, do your clients usually have specific requests or do they give you a free hand?
Yes and No. I’ve had some people be very specific about what they want down to the last detail and others let me do my own thing. Either way is fine with me. On one hand it’s always fun to have artistic freedom and do what I want, but on the other hand I’ve had people come up with ideas that I wouldn’t have thought of before and some of those dolls have been my favorites so I’m glad I took their word for it. I love it when people ask me for something different than what I’m used to. It helps me to grow.
Photo: y3nnie . Halle – Sunshine Holiday custom with Ashletina scalp.
Madison – ADG – Before and after.
Calypso – Before and after.
Where do you sell your custom dolls?
Most of the time my dolls can be found at Plastic Paradise and on occasion Ebay.
Would you have some advice for those who want to start their own customs?
Take it slow. Do tons of research. You can find anything you need to know about Blythe out there in the Internet somewhere. The forums are a great place to start asking questions or searching. And don’t be afraid, she wont break! I read all the time how people are scared to open their dolls for fear they might break her and that’s why they haven’t tried customizing yet. If you’re working with RBLs they are actually very easy to take apart, so it’s a good mold to begin with.
Photo: G♥Baby. No pain, no gain! Gina also does mohair reroots.
What are you working on these days and what are your next projects with Blythe?
I’ll be busy with commissions for a while, I have a few mohair girls in the works that I’m excited about. But next year I’ll be working solely on my own custom projects and ideas, as well as sewing more so I am really looking forward to that. In the future I hope I’ll be confident and experienced enough to enter the annual Blythe Beauty Contest… ahhh Someday!
Lastly I would like to say a big Thank You to Fanny for including me in this wonderful blog along with so many amazing and talented people, I am truly flattered! hugs for all <3
Thank YOU so very much, Gina, for sharing your love story with Blythe and for creating gorgeous girls, one after the other! You also are a very talented photographer as everyone can see, and you have definitely added the sexy into the Blythe world, in the way to make Blythe look even more adorable! I am looking forward to seeing your next mohair queens
Photo: G♥Baby. The photographer at work!
Photo: G ♥Baby. Bijan – Simply Peppermint custom.
Photo: G♥Baby. Violet
Photo: G♥Baby. Missy Boo – Rainy Day Parade custom.
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It was nice to read more about G, great interview!
G♥Baby LOVE! Gina is the most creative, talented and wonderful person, she deserves to be in the spotlight! YAY!
Ultra cool G♥Baby! What a down to earth honest interview from a true artist. She rocks the house! Thanks as always for a great, illuminating interview!
jean
jny_jeanpretty on flickr
Hi Gina! It’s Rosalina from Flickr! Love the interview, love all the beauty you keep spreading around, and love you! ♥!