2009!! Here we go!

2009!! Here we go!

Hey everyone,

Happy New Year!! Hope you're all having a fantastic '09 so far!!

I thought I'd start off the new year with a competition that will put smiles on so many faces. It's called the Manna Energy Dress Drive. If you'd like to participate simply send me an e-mail at gina@thisisblythe.com with 'Dress Drive' in the subject line or visit this contest link on the forum. There are two ways to take part. Option A: For a $10 fee you'll get one of these sweet plain white dresses:



Your mission will be to design/decorate it and send it back to me. You will then receive a dress chosen at random from another TIB member. Option B: You may request up to 5 dresses without paying a fee. Your job is to design/decorate them and send them back to me. They'll be auctioned off at a later date. Now here's the best part: All proceeds will be going to charity. Based on the title of the competition you can probably guess that I've chosen Manna Energy (www.mannaenergy.org), an organization focused on providing clean water to over 250,000 kids in Rwanda (3% of the entire population of the country). Manna Energy was started by my cousin Ronnie, who some of you may remember from my constant bragging last summer. Ronnie is an astronaut who went up in the Space Shuttle in June and did two spacewalks. Where he finds the free time in which to found charitable organizations I'll never know. He's an incredible guy. I'd love to make a nice big donation from TIB, so PLEASE participate in this if you can. It really is a worthwhile cause AND it could get your girl a new frock!!

After years of chatting on-line, I *finally* got to meet Megan/Minklet/Lapushka here in NYC. For those of you who don't know her, she's my TIB moderator extraordinaire as well as the most incredible artist and customizer. She came to town to help me on a super secret Blythe project that will be unveiled in the next few months. Though I can't spill the beans just yet, I can give you a sneak peak of us at work:



You can't tell from the photo but it was about 10 degrees out. That's me crouched on the floor and Megan up above. It really was a blast.