I am happy to confirm that we will have a workshop at this year's PUDDLE, conducted by Requiem. She is one of the best Pullip customizers in existence and will share her knowledge with us.

If you have any customization questions, this will be the perfect time to ask!

Requiem will also be judging the customization contests.

The photo shows the two Requiem customs I own, Ditto and Noirette.

You can see her doll galleries here:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/requiemart/collections/72157622816604041/

A number of great items will be raffled off at PUDDLE. Each item will have its own bin. You put your raffle tickets in the bins of the items you most want to win.

Each gift bag will contain one raffle ticket. Additional regular tickets are 50 cents each or 3 for $1. There will also be three special raffles of dolls. The doll raffle tickets will cost $10 each.

First is a limited edition Comic-Con Lala Pullip. No more than 25 tickets will be sold, with a minimum of 12 needing to be sold for the raffle to take place. Second is a limited edition Doll Carnival Chanti Dal (assuming Jun Planning USA sends her in time!). No more than 40 tickets will be sold, with a minimum of 15 needing to be sold for the raffle to take place. The last raffle doll is a lovely one-of-a-kind custom Pullip made from a rescued doll by May/Day Dreamer Dolly. There is no minimum or maximum number of tickets for her.

Raffle winners will be chosen at the end of the day. A lot of lucky winners will go home happy! Raffle proceeds go to our charity group, the Willowbrook Wildlife Center, for their work with endangered turtles, and to help cover the cost of PUDDLE.

I arrived home tonight to find a big box that turned out to be filled with 25 mystery packages of Re-Ment! The packages contain sets from a rare series no longer available for retail and are a donation from Re-Ment. I peeked inside one and I'm sure everyone who receives a set as a prize (gift bag, door, or raffle) will be pleased.

I also received a big bag of gift bags from Delightfulfreak! She and her friend have been drawing on them and they are cute, pretty, and cool. Thank you!!

Please consider entering the PUDDLE dress-like-your-doll contest!

Although it's great if you have a fancy cosplay outfit for you and your doll, you can also enter in matching jeans and t-shirts or any other coordinated outfit of your choice. Keelyvh will be judging the contest and distributing the three gorgeous doll kimono she donated as prizes. (You can see and buy examples of her work at her etsy shop: http://keelyvh.etsy.com/ .)

***

A reminder that you can post on the PUDDLE forum if you have items to sell at PUDDLE (especially dolls), or if you are looking for a split partner:
http://puddle.forumotion.com/buy-sell-trade-splits-f4/

Grab your camera or your favorite art supplies and create some entries for the PUDDLE photo/art contest!

There are two categories: (1) photographs and (2) artwork of Pullip, Dal, Taeyang, Byul, or Namu with an obvious or subtle connection to the PUDDLE theme of Turtles.

There will be multiple prizes, depending on the number and kind of entries. Each person can submit up to two photographs and two pieces of art. Bring your entries to PUDDLE. They will be displayed for judging and a fan favorite vote. Complete rules here:
http://www.puddlestyle.com/contests.html

Go have some fun and make some art with your dolls!

- True

A big thank you to May, Jackie, Dave, and MissMandyLynne!

May is donating a number of things, including a turtle bed and a wonderful custom doll made from a bait head I purchased. She will be raffled off, with a limited number of special tickets sold. Thank you to Jackie! Jackie, who lives in Portugal, has donated 10 wonderful clothing items for Dal or Pullip. I've attached a photo of some of them. I've purchased quite a few Dal items from Jackie, and they are well made and cute. Her Artfire shop:
http://www.artfire.com/users/Jackiekie/
Her etsy shop:
http://www.etsy.com/shop/jackiekie

Dave's Dolly Decor has been added as a PUDDLE sponsor. Dave is donating two Little Pullip/Dal sized Rocking Chairs. Dave is taking special orders to be delivered at PUDDLE. You can visit Dolly Decor on etsy:
http://kanamai.etsy.com/

MissMandyLynne sent me a nice big box of cute little items for the gift bags.

Thanks, all!

Khait from The Doll Peddlar is attending PUDDLE and will be selling Monique wigs, Petite Luxury furniture, and other doll accessories (no Groove dolls though - please contact PullipStyle about those).

She is travelling by car, so she will have limited room to bring stuff. If there is something in particular from The Doll Peddlar that you'd like her to bring, please let her know in advance.

The Doll Peddlar is also donating items for the gift bags!

Hi all. This is just a reminder that the deadline for getting the hotel convention rate of $69 plus tax per night for June 4 and June 5 is May 15.

A note to those of you who aren't planning on spending the night: last year a number of people were sorry they hadn't booked a room. Although PUDDLE "officially" ends at 6, we have a room reserved in the hotel dining area so we can continue socializing over dinner. In the evening we'll have a doll pajama party (which basically consists of us chatting and playing with our dolls), and last year's didn't end until well after midnight! It's also nice to have a place to stash your stuff or to change for the costume contest.

If you are at all tempted to stay the night, you can advertise for one or more roommates to split the cost on the forum:
http://puddle.forumotion.com/

The group code for reserving a room is PDS. You can book online or by phone. You can choose a king or two doubles. Most rooms have a frig and microwave. Holiday Inn Chicago Elk Grove Village Hotel web site: http://www.hielkgrove.com/

Phone numbers: Hotel Local Phone: (847) 437-6010; Toll-Free: (888) HOLIDAY

There is still time for you to create one or more entries for the PUDDLE customization contest! There are four categories: (1) customized full-sized dolls (must have new or significantly altered chips, wig, faceup, and clothing); (2) modified full-sized dolls (anything less than as described in number 1, so a stock doll with a new wig and chips would qualify); (3) customized and modified mini dolls, including Angel dolls; (4) any doll, stock or customized, in an outfit completely made by the contestant.

There will be multiple prizes, depending on the number and kind of entries. Each person can submit up to four entries total. (All four can be in one category, or one in each, or any combination across the categories.) You do not have to make the outfits of the dolls in the customized and modified categories (although you can), as long as you note on your entry form who did make the clothing. The exception is the fourth category, which is specifically for an outfit as designed and made by you.

Complete rules here:
http://www.puddlestyle.com/contests.html

Entry slips will be handed out at the event, or you can go ahead and type/write up the information and bring it to PUDDLE. Your entry will be given a number at the event.

Go have some fun and customize/modify/create!

Congratulations to our online photo contest winners! Gogojimmy has chosen "Kisses When Wet" by effiethedal as the Grand Prize Winner:

She says: "I think it stands out because of the color choice - as if it's taken directly out of the 70's, and since you can't really see the Dal's face you automatically focus on the kiss and thereby the turtle, so it's perfect for the theme. Also the fact that last year's theme is present is really nice to see."

She picked "Mermaid" by Strawberry Cuteness as the second prize winner and "Claire and turtle 1" by mioshu as the third place.

She says, "It was really hard to pick! As you can see it has taken me days ;) - all the photos are great!"

Congratulations to effiethedal, mioshu, and Strawberry Cuteness! Effiethedal wins a $50 gift certificate to online shop Panik's Toy Box. Strawberry Cuteness and mioshu will receive a set of notecards of the new minis (donated by Jun Planning USA last year.) (Winners: If you are not coming to PUDDLE, please send me your address so I can mail your prize.)

Thank you to gogojimmy for judging and to everyone who took the time to enter.

I'm particularly happy that effiethedal won. Although she can't come to this year's PUDDLE, she made a Dal, Pullip, or Taeyang outfit for every gift bag, a very generous donation of her time.

Only four weeks to go now! Our charity group this year is the Willowbrook Wildlife Center, located close to where we are holding PUDDLE.
http://www.willowbrookwildlife.org/

Anyone who is interested is invited to visit the Center after we leave the hotel on Sunday. We'll work out details at PUDDLE.

One of their activities is rearing endangered Blanding's Turtles. We will be donating a portion of the money raised from raffle sales to the center, but they also sent along a list of items they can use, if you would like to donate items.

- Reptomin® floating food sticks (turtles)
- ZooMed® Aquatic turtle food
- Aquarium thermometers
- Gift certificates: PetCo, Petsmart, WalMart, Visa, MasterCard
- Duetto® internal multi-filter (model #DJ100)
- Replacement parts for Duetto filter, including: Mechanical pre-filter, Biological filter, Chemical filter cartridge