PUDDLE 2023 – PUDDLE Style!

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Polar Opposites

The 15th Pullip and Dal Doll Lovers Event took place on Saturday, June 10, and the theme was Polar Opposites. For the 13th time, the event took place at the Holiday Inn-Chicago Elk Grove. This year 100 people attended.

On Friday there was a group outing to Gigi’s Dolls in Chicago, where the group was welcomed with cookies and drinks. It was fun to admire the huge variety of dolls and to buy dolls and accessories. On Friday night, the group visited Mitsuwa Mall in Arlington Heights for more shopping and socializing.

A guest ticket to the event included an amazing gift bag full of donated items and a door prize. The gift bags and badges displayed cute and colorful art by artist @buboplague. Table Captains decorated the guest tables to fit the Polar Opposites theme. Attendees enjoyed taking their photos with a giant Pullip standee.

Ten vendors sold a wide variety of dolls and accessories for the Groove family and also for Blythe, BJDs, and Smart Dolls. Vendors included Shelby Sawyer Designs, Doll Angel Exclusives, O Costureiro, Mota Doll’s Clothing, Candy Couture, Kit n Kat Shop, Denise’s Dolls, Lady Badger’s Pullips, Quaint Quintessence, and KuddlePuss Kustoms. Second time attendee Sarah Berry said, “I had a wonderful time at Puddle 2023! Wow, was there ever a lot of fun goodies in the welcome bag! I enjoyed shopping with the vendors and even did a few swaps and sales myself in the evening at the buy sell trade.”

Two workshops were well attended. A Smart Doll workshop was conducted by Anna Justice, of Kit n Kat shop for Smart Dolls, and Sarah Berry. Each participant received a free jewelry set. The second workshop was led by Taylor Armstrong and Mandy Gray and focused on Pullip doll customization.

Many thanks to the individuals and shops who help make PUDDLE happen, including AintThatCunnin, Charon Dolls, Dual Wield Studio, eTraders Place, Gail’s Red Doll House, Gigi’s Dolls, the Mimi Collection, Omocha Crush, *Poof* Chibi Planet, and Sew Grandma Cathy. Kaylee Krajnovich, also a second time attendee, said “I had so much fun ~ thank you to the peeps at my table who made me feel so welcomed and like I fit right in haha it was so nice talking to doll people and I’m feeling inspired to organize some kind of doll meetups near me.”

After the event, a donation was made to two organizations to help people in Turkey and Syria affected by the February earthquake.

A number of doll customization contests were held at the event. Judges chose winners, and winners received terrific prizes.

Event contest winners:

Best in Theme Hua Lian by Erin Foster

Full Custom

1st place – Winter by Krystan Chaney

2nd place – Magnetic Riot by Gogce Crynen

3rd place – Venti by Marci Stevenson

Modified

1st place – Eos by Doll Angel

2nd place – Drizzt by Jane Easterly

3rd place – Hestia by MissMandyLynne