PUDDLE gift bags and effiethedal outfits

Check out one of the adorable outfits made by effiethedal and donated to PUDDLE. The fabric featuring paper cranes was custom designed especially for PUDDLE. Each of the 60 premium gift bags (given to the first 60 paid registrants) will contain one outfit. If you want one, make sure you are one of the first 60 to pay the PUDDLE registration fee! And a big thank you to effiethedal for all her hard work and creativity.

The 60 premium gift bags are each a work of art. Here are some photos from Delightfulfreak's flickr stream showing some of the bags she is working on and others already finished by Myufish.

Just a reminder that the deadline for this year's photo/art contest is May 1 at midnight (no matter what time zone you live in). I have posted the entries so far on the forum:

http://puddle.forumotion.com/t47-2011-entries-so-far

New event: WIG SWAP!!

If you are like me, you have a box of extra wigs and one or more dolls that need wigs but not the ones you have. We will have a new event at this year's PUDDLE (thanks to babelglyph for the suggestion).

At a specific time, we will have a wig buy-sell-trade. Bring any wigs you are willing to sell or trade along with your bald doll(s) and meet up with others in the same boat. The dolls can try on any of the wigs available and the humans can work out a swap, a partial swap, or a sale. It's the perfect way to try out some new wigs without buying them first. (And if you need help removing your doll's wig, someone will help you!)

I hope to be "finalizing" the event schedule in the next week or so. I hope you are as excited as I am!

Just a reminder about the convention code for reserving a guest room at the Elk Grove Village Holiday Inn. The group code is PDS. You can book online or by phone. Only 10 rooms are guaranteed at the convention rate, so book early! You can choose a king, a queen, or two doubles. Ask for a room with a refrigerator if you want one - most of the rooms have them.

The room rate is available for June 10 and June 11. Room reservations must be made by May 27, 2011 to get the convention rate.

Web site: http://www.hielkgrove.com/

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

Don't forget to email me your digital photo or artwork for the online photo contest. The deadline for that is May 1.

Thank you to AintThatCunnin!

A big thank you to etsy seller AintThatCunnin! She donated three adorable aprons to PUDDLE.

Visit AintThatCunnin here:

http://www.etsy.com/shop/aintthatcunnin

Pullip Complete Style book from WellerMade!

A big thank you to WellerMade, who donated a copy of the Pullip Complete Style book to be raffled off at PUDDLE to raise money for charity.

I've spent the day sorting through the many things I've got for PUDDLE. We have some terrific items once again this year, for raffle and door prizes, for contest prizes, and for gift bags.

In other news, etsy seller AintThatCunnin has agree to become a sponsor! http://www.etsy.com/shop/AintThatCunnin

If you are considering donating anything to PUDDLE that you haven't already told me about, I just want to mention that what I most need are items that can be used as contest prizes or items for the gift bags. At past PUDDLEs, each gift bag included a special item unique to that bag, normally worth between $5 and $20. I'm particularly short on items that fall into this category right now, so if you sew, knit, crochet, etc. and would like to donate a few doll items, please let me know. Thanks!

Also, because PullipStyle is preparing to move, they will not continue to replenish stocks as we get close to PUDDLE. If you are sure you want to buy a particular doll at PUDDLE, they'll need to know by May. Otherwise you may be disappointed. They will have dolls on hand for last-minute, unexpected purchases, they just won't be able to guarantee that every doll will be in stock on June 11.