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!