Adore Magazine, a Photo Magazine for Pullip, is now a PUDDLE sponsor! Many thanks to Sue for advertising PUDDLE in an upcoming issue. You can find a link to Adore on the Sponsors and Links pages of the PUDDLE website.

PUDDLE mascot Puddle (a Sooni Dal) has a new look - freckles and the JPop wig I got in this year's gift bag! She is looking forward to showing off her new style at next year's event.

The convention code for the hotel guest rooms will be available in the next day or so.

PUDDLE 2010 will be on June 5, 2010

PUDDLE 2010 will be on Saturday, June 5, 2010, at the Elk Grove Village Holiday Inn:
http://www.hielkgrove.com/

It is very close to online shop Pullipstyle.com and their ample supply of dolls. The meeting room can hold 250 people. The convention guest room rate is $69 plus tax per night. Only 10 rooms are guaranteed at the convention rate, but the hotel can add as many rooms as they choose. They are most likely to do so now rather than close to the event. We will get the rate for both Friday and Saturday. I'll post the code once I have it.

The base cost for attending PUDDLE 2010 is $25 per family unit. Each additional person who is a doll fan and will be participating in contests, BST, etc., is an additional $5. Very small children do not have to pay unless they need a gift bag. Grandparents, parents, spouses, and siblings who are just along for the ride and aren't interested in dolls do not have to pay the fee (unless they want a gift bag). I will still need their names, as we will want everyone in the hall to be wearing a nametag so we can tell if someone in the room is not connected to the event.

Anyone who pays their $25 base fee by August 4 will receive 15 raffle tickets. That's like getting a $5 discount! (You can pay for your additional members at the same time but you don't have to.) Email truefan at live.com for the paypal address. Please, please mark the payment as "Personal" as we are just sharing the cost of the event. Also, please no credit or debit cards. You can also send TrueFan a check.
Keep an eye on the website for details as we get closer to the event:
http://www.puddlestyle.com/

And also the blog:
http://puddlestyle.blogspot.com/

I am maintaining an email distribution list for people interested in attending PUDDLE 2010. If you would like to receive updates and help plan PUDDLE, please send your email address to truefan at live.com.

Also, the theme for this year is TURTLES!

The second Pullip and Dal Doll Lovers Event (PUDDLE) was held on June 6, 2009 in the Chicago suburb of Arlington Heights, Illinois. The event was sold out, with 60 attendees who enjoyed gift bags, contests, doll pajama parties, and more. There were at least four dolls on hand for every attendee. Lovers of Pullip, her boyfriend, and his kid sister traveled from a dozen United States and Canada.

The day included a trip to Mitsuwa Japanese Mall for lunch and shopping. Online shop PullipStyle.com delivered both preordered and impulse-purchase Pullip, Dal, and Taeyang dolls, in addition to donating kawaii notepads for everyone. Raffle items donated by online store The Sleeping Elf Ltd and by etsy sellers keelyvh, salukimom, sewgrandmacathy, and BlythesOCDCloset were raffled off, and over $100 was raised to benefit the Save-A-Pet adoption center in Grayslake, Illinois. The event gift bags were filled with goodies from PullipStyle, Jun Planning USA, Rement International, and over a dozen other sponsors, including the Mimi Collection, AmbitiousLove.net, CanCan-Jseries, JPop Dolls, and eTraders Place, plus etsy sellers Megipupu, Jackiekie, FollowtheWhiteRabbit, Burntbao, and CommonlyCute. Etsy seller EffieDalShop made a pair of doll pajamas for every gift bag!

Mamasllama was awarded a Haute Pullip in New York doll, donated by HauteDoll Magazine, for her winning entry in the doll customization contest. Kirakishou, the winner of the dress-like-your-doll contest, won a cute kimono from etsy seller keelyvh. Gogojimmy and tiglem, the winners of the online and event photo/art contests, received gift certificates from online shop panikstoybox.com and etsy seller MyOwnLittleWorld. Seven lucky attendees went home with mini dolls donated by event coordinator TrueFan and given out as door prizes. The $3,000 cost of PUDDLE was funded by a small registration fee and generous donations from the sponsors.

PUDDLE 2009

PUDDLE 2009, on June 6, was an unqualified success! Officially we had 50 attendees (the event capacity); unofficially, it was more like 60 than 50. Details on the winners of the contests as well as links to photos will be along shortly.

If you are interested in attending PUDDLE 2010 and would like to receive email updates, please send an email to truefan at live.com. The date for PUDDLE 2010 has not yet been set, but it is likely to be in early June, in the northwest suburbs of Chicago, Illinois.

Tomorrow is the big day! News to come....

Congratulations to gogojimmy! Her entry Blown Away is the winner of the 2009 PUDDLE online photo/art contest. She wins a $50 gift certificate donated by online toy store Panik's Toy Box. Honorable mentions go to beanbunnybass, glasshouse, and Luffygirl (for her first entry). Thank you to everyone who entered the contest: beanbunnybass, bee_couture, Glasshouse, gogojimmy, haileebobailee, LuffyGirl, Matsuda22, McKenna, Meesa, Miss Mandy Lynn, Tiglem, and TrueFan. The entries received almost 100 votes, and it was really fun to see the creativity and talent. Thanks also to Panik's Toy Box for the gift certificate. Great job, everyone! I look forward to more great work for PUDDLE 2010!