Festive Celebrations in Arcfield

Hi everyone!

Although I haven't been playing my collection as much lately, I did set up a holiday scene with my Sylvanians. I took some pictures of it and I posted on my Instagram. My friend Cutata gave me the idea of also posting it here, so here it is! :) Hope you like them!

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Winter is in full swing in the village of Arcfield, and in the huge tree stop in the magical forest near it, the Sylvanians are celebrating the holidays!

Here below you'll see a behind-the-scenes picture of the whole setup!

And then, on Christmas, Santa brought me the reindeer family! Aren't they cute? So they had to join the scene, of course!

And another behind-the scenes picture of the new and revamped setup!

Happy festive season, no matter what you celebrate, everyone! And if you don't celebrate anything at all, have a wonderful rest of the month!

Calendar Pictures and Holiday Wishes

Hi everyone!

First of all, very sorry for my absence. I've been well, just very busy with work and everything related to our house purchase. Good news is, I've got a treat for you! All of the pictures from Cutata's calendar I missed posting: September, October, November, December and the back of the calendar!

Aren't they wonderful? I love every single of them, and I'd like to thank my dear friend Cutata once again for such a thoughtful gift. It was wonderful seeing her beautiful pictures every day.

I hope you're all doing great, my Sylvanian friends, and that you have a wonderful holiday season and start to the new year. Take care and Happy Holidays!

A Day at the Burkes' Rainbow Nursery

Hi everyone!

Here are, finally, the promised pictures of the nursery school! 

Special thanks to my dear friend, Berna, who gifted me this adorable building.

Hope you enjoy them! :)

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Carissa Burke and her husband Bruce are a young couple who has moved to Arcfield relatively recently, soon after becoming parents for the first time. They met when they were both studying at Town, and have been inseparable since. Carissa has now realised her wish to open a nursery school, which she decided to call "Rainbow Nursery" and decorate with rainbow motives in honour of the village's name.

First thing in the morning, before her little pupils arrive to the nursery school, Carissa likes to tidy up and set everything up for them; some toys are a must, of course! 

The mothers of Arcfield were a little wary of leaving their little ones with a stranger at first, but as soon as they slowly came to know Carissa, they quickly changed their minds; she had a kind disposition and a calm, soothing effect on the babies, even the most boisterous ones. Most importantly, all the littles ones seemed to love her!

Some of the babies are dropped in the nursery school earlier than others, so they take advantage of the opportunity to play outside together while everyone arrives.

Wilbur Robinson has come to bring his youngest daughter, Cali, to the Rainbow Nursery. It's usually her mum who drops her off, so Cali is a little nervous today, but Carissa's kind words soon distract her. Fliss, Wilbur's wife, is busy today preparing food and several of her famous blackcurrant pies for a special event at their pub, The Blackcurrant Bush.

As everyone finishes arriving, even Clement, Lionel Grande's butler, who is just passing by on a walk with little Gilda, his employer's youngest daughter, is impressed at how bright and welcoming the nursery school is and how great Carissa is with the children. He wonders if spending some mornings here with the other babies would be good for young Miss Gilda.

  

Inside, the babies draw, paint, start to learn the alphabet and the numbers, and most importantly, play.

 

I think those Chocolate Labrador triplets are up to no good! :D

Since her students are so young, Carissa doesn't really teach structured classes; she prefers to let the little ones learn on their own, led by their own curiosity and will to experiment. However, she makes sure to always be nearby in case they need her, and she also spends individual time with each of them to make sure they learn their basic skills.

One thing that Carissa does actively try to pass on to her students is her love of music, which is what she studied back in Town. The little ones love their daily instrument time! She's also planning to organize a little play for one of the annual Arcfield town events, though that is still only an idea in her mind. She thinks it would be fun and educational for the children to prepare the stage, dress up in costumes and learn a couple of lines by heart, or even improvise.



But, even though Carissa Burke loves all her nursery school pupils very much, there is one baby that she's always looking forward to seeing the most, and that's the apple of her eye, her baby daughter Adelaide, Addie for short. It's always the brightest, happiest moment of her day when her dear husband Bruce comes by with their little one after the nursery school closes down and the three of them go have a walk as a family before heading back home for the day.

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Hope you enjoyed this little story, if you can even call it that! Real life has been very busy and demanding, and I've been quite tired and lacking time, but I'm happy to have been able to publish this post at last. 

I leave you with some pictures of the nursery school up close.

Thank you for reading everyone, and have a wonderful day!

July and August 2023 Calendar Pictures

Hi everyone!

Apologies for disappearing during the month of July, oops! I've been well, just busy with work and the house-buying process I mentioned in my last post. It's being a bit stressful and we still haven't signed the papers, but hopefully we'll be able to get everything done, little by little. We hope to move by maybe early next year, we want to take things slowly. Maybe it'll be sooner, who knows!

I was also away for two weeks in July for my summer vacation, but I am now back, so here are the pictures from Cutata's wonderful calendar for both last month and this present one:

July:

 

For the month of July, we have a lovely and colourful picture of Betty Blackberry's juice bar in Sweet Berry Valley. I'm sure her tasty and refreshing juice would be the perfect choice for a hot summer day. Cutata made Betty a little stand with some shelter from the sun, and I think that's a wonderful idea. Arcfield's Ophelia Blackberry is quite jealous! Betty also thought of her costumers and set up a lovely area for them to enjoy their drinks under an umbrella. Love this picture, and seeing the Maces grandparents is quite nice as well. I wish they still made grandparent figures!

Don't forget that Betty also had a spot in the Farmer's Market!

August:

 

The Neptune family is enjoying a wonderful day at the beach! I just adore their tiny swimsuits, they're so perfect! Cutata made them out of ballons, and let me tell you, it's way harder than it looks, haha! I tried it and failed miserably, but then again, I've never been very good at crafting. I also adore this picture, with the endearing Sylvanians and the cute tiny seashells!

I've recently finished taking the pictures for the Sylvanian nursery school story I've been planning, so hopefully that'll be posted soon! :)

Have a wonderful month of August and stay safe and healthy, everyone!

June 2023 Calendar Picture

Hi everyone!

It's the first day of June and here I am, posting the picture from Cutata's calendar on time for a change!

In this adorable picture we can see the Cottontail rabbits on their way to the farmers market with their pony Cinnamon, who is also part of the family. If you haven't read this story, you're missing out! Here it is.

Even though I do not own the Cottontails, I'm very fond of them, specially of the sister figure, Willow. I don't see them very often in stores these days, but who knows, they might end up as part of my collection some day. 

I haven't been very active with my Sylvanians or my dolls lately (I did start taking some pictures for a story featuring the nursery school), but I do have some personal news. Me and my boyfriend are buying a house together! It's a semi-detached house with three bedrooms, an office (which is perfect, since I work from home) and a pretty big outdoor area for Vega (our dog) to run around. There will also be more space for Arcfield and its inhabitants, haha!

Do tell me about your Sylvanian plans!

I hope you have a wonderful month of June. Take care, everyone!

April and May Calendar Pictures + Introducing my dolls

Hi everyone!

I missed posting April's calendar picture! I'm very sorry. Work has been quite busy lately and I also went on a short trip at the end of the month. I'm now back home though, and ready to get back to my hobbies.

This time I bring you both April and May's pictures from the lovely homemade calendar my friend Cutata sent me.

First we have April's picture, with a lovely image of the Puddleford ducks. Did you know the Puddlefords moved to Sweet Berry Valley from Sugarbush Valley? If you don't, don't miss Cutata's story about their move. This picture isn't from that story though; it seems to be part of a set Cutata took to illustrate the miniatures she made for a Spring crafting challenge. Love the beautiful wreath she made and how all the lovely yellow decorations match the Puddlefords so well. The little ducklings are so adorable!

I'd always wanted the Puddlefords, so I'm happy to tell you that I bought the re-release not so long ago. Not sure when they'll make an appearance in Arcfield though. I'm looking forward to that!

For May, we have a lovely picture full of greenery, trees and flowers. I love the floor and little lake, and I can't help but be envious of all those classy Sylvanian ladies enjoying their tea and sweets! A perfect Spring picture, don't you think?

I believe Cutata created this lovely scene to review the Tea and Treats Town set.

One of my favourites, for sure! :)

Before closing this post, I wanted to tell you about a new hobby I've been having fun with lately: dolls! As you might imagine, as a Sylvanian and miniatures enthusiast, I've always been quite fond of dolls, but in the past couple months I've really been buying quite a lot of them, along with clothes and accessories. I've also started to learn to do some crafting and sewing. I have a lot of projects and very little skill, haha! Hopefully I'll improve little by little.

I wanted to take this opportunity to introduce my new dolls to you all. Hope you like them! There'll be a mixed of posed and candid pictures.

These ones aren't new, but I still wanted to mention them: Skye (actually Miki Hoshii), Belle and Little Red Riding Hood (who featured as Holyster, the shape-shifting spirit, in one of my stories) are Cu-Poche dolls. They are about 7.5 cm high and have articulated bodies. Little Red is an imitation, but the other two are genuine Cu-Poches.

This one is Hazel, a Monst doll. She's actually called Little Bear. Monst dolls are quite lovely, with very good articulation and about 20 cm tall. I think she's adorable. I bought her hat separately, it didn't come with the doll but I believe it's supposed to be part of her outfit since it's on the promo pictures.

This one is Kali (Accalia), who is part of Pennybox' Antu Nature Wonderland set of ball-jointed dolls. These dolls are actually sold as blind boxes, and the one you receive is a surprise, but there are sellers that open the boxes to check the figures inside and can send the one you want, so I ordered this one, who is meant to be a wolf. Antu are apparently shape-shifting wood elves. Kali is my first doll with string articulation. She's about 13 cm tall.

Here is Dahlia, my G3 Draculaura Monster High doll. I had never had a Monster High doll before, but I really liked this new Draculaura. She's very lovely and wonderfully articulated, and came with several accessories and her pet bat, Count Fabulous. She's approximately 25 cm tall.

This is Ember, a Cave Club doll. Her original name is Emberly, and as you can see, she's supposed to be a prehistoric girl. I thought she was really fun and colourful, and also quite different from other similar dolls with her big feet. I think she might be a fun doll to photograph outside, exploring and having adventures. She's a bit smaller than a Monster High, about 20-22 cm.

This is Reagan, my Licca-chan doll. Licca-chan is a bit like the Japanese Barbie, but she's supposed to be a much younger and more relatable girl. I love her anime-esque sweet features. Her body wasn't very articulated though, so I recently bought her a wonderfully articulated Obitsu 22 body that makes her a lot more poseable. As the name implies, she's 22 cm tall.

This is Ume. She's Rainbow High Lila Yamamoto, and a gorgeous doll about 28 cm tall, the biggest of all my dolls. She's lovely and of very high quality. I haven't had the opportunity of doing much with her yet, but I'm definitely looking forward to it.

 

And last but not least, look at these! These are Mini Lalaloopsy dolls, and I became interested in them after seeing them in Jane Chérie's blog (recommended read! She writes about miniatures, dolls, Sylvanians and illustrated books). They are supposed to be rag dolls that became alive with the last stitch, and their appearance/personality is based on the material they were made with. They apparently had regular releases until about a couple of years ago and were rebooted in 2022 with reproductions of some of the original releases. There's only series 1 of the reboot available in my country so far, and I purchased a 3 pack: Crumbs Sugar Cookie, Scoops Waffle Cone, and Sweetie Candy Ribbon's Sweets Fair.

These dolls are about 7,5 tall and there's not much one can do with them since they can't even stand, but I somehow really love them, haha. They're more colourful and plasticky than our Sylvanians, and fit really well with Lil Woodzez's more colourful buildings, as seen, once again, in Jane Chérie's blog. They also have their own houses, furniture and playsets. They come with a pet and several accessories, and their packaging can be used to make a scene to display them.

Their accessories fit well with Sylvanians!

"I will eat all of this ice-cream... for science!".

Well, this post sure turned out longer than I intended! It was fun writing about my dolls. I know this is a Sylvanian blog, but would you be interested in reading more about them or maybe seeing the photoshoots or projects I might do with them?

If dolls interest you, you can't miss The Toy Box Philosopher's blog. Emily does wonderful, detailed reviews. Thank you Posh Pear for recommending it to me in a comment here! :)

Have a wonderful rest of the week, everyone! Stay safe and healthy!

March 2023 Calendar Picture

Hello everyone!

It is mid March already, and Spring is almost here in my part of the world. My allergies sure are here!😭

It is my pleasure to share with you this month's picture in Cutata's gorgeous handmade calendar:

That's a beautiful Spring-themed picture if I ever saw one, with flowers on the wallpaper, the pictures on the walls, the flask, vase, on the Sylvanians' hands and even their dresses! And everything with a wonderfully soothing lilac colour, too. :)

These adorable sheep are Rebecca and Della Dingle. The Dingles own the flower shop in Sweet Berry Valley. I couldn't find this specific picture on Cutata's blog, but I think she made some of these miniatures for the forum challenge "Ultra Violet". 

A couple of days ago I finally posted a new story featuring the polar bears and other Arcfield residents. Hope you enjoy it! Fingers crossed that my enthusiasm is here to stay. :)

Have a wonderful rest of the week!

Wintery Treats & An Old Feud

Hello everyone!

For the first time in quite some time, I'm back in the blog with a new story.

I'm very busy with work lately, but I've been trying to get back to the things I love, one of them being setting up scenes for my Sylvanians and writing stories about them.

For this story I'm trying to cover the first two prompts for 2023 in the SF Collectors Community forum. I'll give more details on this at the end of the post.

Hope you enjoy this story and pictures!

 

In the village of Arcfield, the Nielsen polar bears are the owners of the crêpes and soft-serve ice-cream stands. Father Noah makes the fluffiest crêpes, sweetest waffles and tastiest ice cream sandwiches, and uses all kinds of fruits and other natural ingredients to achieve the best flavours.

 

Mother Barbara is a specialist when it comes to ice-cream, specifically soft-serve ice-cream. She uses the best milk available and makes sure the flavours, which include chocolate, strawberry and cream, always pop.

The Nielsen don't think there's anything strange about serving ice-cream during the cold season, and the villagers of Arcfield seem to agree. Their stands, which are usually right on the central plaza, are always very popular!

Grandparents Rhys and Patricia Chocolate are visiting Arcfield for the weekend, and they've taken their grandchildren out for a stroll. You can be certain they'll be treating them to sweets from Noah's stand!

Noah doesn't waste any time getting the crêpe batter going and works expertly on his special heated surface to make sure it ends up sufficiently thin and with crisp edges. Seems like a waffle is already done on the nearby maker as well!

Freya has asked for a strawberry ice-cream, and Coco is delighted with his chocolate crêpe, filled to the brim with delicious chocolate, his favourite!

Looks like little Crème wants a strawberry and cream ice-cream, and Barbara is happy to give it to her.

Oh, no! Unfortunately, it seems like Crème has dropped her ice-cream, and she immediately starts to cry uncontrollably.

Even before Barbara has the time to offer to make her another ice-cream, Freya comes and saves the day.

"Come on, Crème, don't cry. Look, I'll share my ice-cream sandwich with you if you stop crying. Deal?"

Crème dries her eyes and nods, excited to share with her big sister. Freya might not look it, but she's great with her little siblings!

Ophelia Blackberry also visits the stand, accompanied by a little girl Noah has never seen before. He wonders who she is, and guesses she must be a relative, but he's too polite to ask. Miss Blackberry always keeps to herself, after all. Maybe this new mystery about her will be solved soon, or maybe not.

They ask for a waffle, and he's happy to serve it to the young girl.

In the meantime, the Lowells have arrived to Barbara's stand. She's glad to see that Harvey, Diane's husband, is with them today, as he works long hours as a hotel manager in the city and doesn't get to spend time with his family very often. Tyler, their youngest, is quite excited to see the menus and the ice-cream being poured, and his big brother Ryan is about to give him a boost.

It isn't long before all of them walk away with their delicious soft-serve ice-creams. They look quite happy, don't they?

The Burkes (Bruce, Carissa, and their baby daughter Adelaide, or Addie) are also having some quality family time at the plaza today. Bruce has brought ice-cream for both him and his wife to enjoy. They're both teachers, and today they're celebrating the fact that their project to open a nursery and a primary school in the village has been approved. It's going to be a lot of work, but it'll surely be worth it in the end.

Two other families have come to the plaza today, the Robinsons and the Waters, both with their oldest children in tow. Fliss and Molly's gazes meet, and the tension is immediately apparent. Neither of them has forgotten about their latest argument.

"Molly" says Fliss, cautiously.

"Fliss" replies her old friend.

They both stare at each other for a few seconds, neither of them sure of what to do or say. It's Molly who finally breaks the ice.

"Fliss, come here. I'll treat you to a crêpe. I think we must speak".

Fliss nods, and both their families silently agree to leave them alone for a while.

"Noah, I'd like a crêpe for my friend Fliss. Blackcurrant syrup, please".

There was a bit of an uncomfortable silence between the three then, and to break it Noah asked:

"And for you, Molly?"

"Strawberry, please".

The estranged friends remained silent while Noah prepared the sweet treat, Fliss frowning slightly and Molly looking away from her.

Once their crêpes were ready, Fliss and Molly retired to a nearby bench.

Fliss started nibbling on her crêpe, almost cautiously.

"It doesn't really taste like your blackcurrant recipe, doesn't it? Not really". Molly spoke quietly, in a manner very unlike her usual talkative self. "I believe Noah and Barbara might have suspected something was amiss, even though we didn't tell them anything, and changed the recipe".

"Yes, they did. Barbara came to see me soon after everything happened and told me that they'd do it, that she hadn't know how important it was." Fliss responded quietly, between bites of the delicious crêpe. "Still... You shouldn't have revealed all my family secrets so easily, Molly".

"I know, I know. I'm sorry, alright? I'm just an incorrigible blabbermouth, you already know it. I already apologized to you, back then. And I tried to do it for a second time, but you weren't speaking to me. And then I also got mad, and we'd just argue whenever we saw each other, and...".

Molly sounded close to tears. Fliss closed her eyes, distressed. She didn't like seeing Molly, always so cheerful, like this.

When they both were younger, before getting married even, the two had been best friends. And they'd had a dream together: to open a cake shop, in which they'd serve the most delicious pies and cakes with Molly's fruit and Fliss' cooking and baking skills and the special blackcurrant recipe that ran in her family. One day, Molly, being her chatty self, had happily told Barbara Nielsen about their plans, and had included a full description of the secrets in Fliss' blackcurrant recipe, going so far as to even telling her that it would be a great idea to implement it in her crêpes and ice-creams. She hadn't meant anything by it, she hadn't known it'd hurt Fliss as much as it had, but that had caused her friend to lose her trust in her. Their friendship had taken a grave toll, and their dreams had vanished. Fliss had wanted to open a café with her husband after that, but that hadn't materialized yet, either. For now, they only had their pub, The Blackcurrant Bush.

"I'm sorry", Molly said once again, her eyes bright with tears. They had both finished their crêpes and had gotten up, ready to leave. "I don't know what else I can say, Fliss".

"I'm sorry too, Molly" said Fliss, her voice soft, the tension in her eyes gone. "I've been way too stubborn, for way too long. I miss you, I miss our friendship, and I've been thinking I needed to apologize to you for the longest time; for everything, for every single argument between us, big and small. We've known each other for so long; a recipe isn't worth our friendship. I forgive you. Will you forgive me?".

"Oh, Fliss! Always so silly! As if you'd need to ask your oldest friend!"

The two of them embraced then, sharing many happy tears, overjoyed to leave their arguments behind. It didn't take long for them to announce the happy news to their families, and surely it wouldn't be long before they organised a big dinner party for all of them to enjoy.

With closing time fast approaching, and alone in the plaza once again, Mr and Mrs Nielsen exchanged a knowing smile. They had been unknowingly involved in the feud between the two friends, and were happy to know that it was now over. It had been a long time coming. Hopefully, from now on, Fliss Robinson and Molly Waters would come to their stands as friends, to enjoy a delicious crêpe or a sweet soft-serve ice-cream.

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And that's it! I hope you enjoyed this story. I tried to cover the first two forum challenges for this year, Hopes & Dreams (the Burkes', Fliss and Molly's) and Love (love between the two friends). 

I've been meaning to use the crêpe and soft-serve ice cream stands. I love them! They have so many adorable tiny accessories and details. :)

I know I still owe you this month's calendar picture! Hopefully I'll be able to post it very soon.

Have a wonderful week, everyone!