Happy New Year 2015!!!

Wishing you all a fantastic New Year!

♥ ♥ ♥ HUGS ♥ ♥ ♥

Looking forward to 2015!

Dear Readers,

Months ago I had started planning many blog posts for December. I had so many projects in mind and I contemplated a myriad of ideas about miniature scenes to display... but I soon realized that none of my plans would become possible.

My bedrooms had to be renovated and this could not wait any further. All the furniture were moved into the living and dining rooms. I could not access my photo studio anymore.  My dolls and miniature remained sadly in their boxed prisons and concealed neatly inside my cabinets.

And then I dropped my phone and it broke, so I no longer could take photos either and had to wait for its replacement.  To top it off, my mood was spiraling downward because of my strict diet and sugar withdrawal symptoms.

December was a month full of frustration for me as the renovation took much longer than anticipated due to factors out of my control so I could not do anything but wait.  But at last, the wait is now over.  The bedrooms have been redone, the furniture are back into their original spot and I can finally be reunited with my hobbies!  

In addition to my mini photo studio, I now have a proper desk to paint and store my craft supplies!  I really look forward to the new possibilities for 2015!

Today, I took a few photos that I really have been wanting to stage since last Christmas.  The Snow Queen is one of my favorite fairy tale and when I saw DAL Dotori, I instantly fell in love with her because she reminded me of Gerda!

"Please take me to the Snow Queen!"

En route to save Kai!

I wish you all a wonderful New Year!  Cheers to 2015!

Winner of the Re-ment Curry Set

Dear Readers,

There were 16 entries for the Re-ment Curry Set Giveaway!  Well there were 17 comments but one person didn't want to participate in the giveaway.

I used the Random.org number generator and the winner is #4: LAURENCE!!!

Congrats Laurence!  Please email me your postal address to mabebecherie @ gmail dot com :)

Thank you everybody for participating !!!

The rest of the month will be busy with the Christmas holiday preparation as well as a lot of home re-arrangement so I won't be able to blog much!

I wish everybody to enjoy this month and to take it slow and relaxed :)

Re-ment Japanese Curry Giveaway

Dear Readers,

It's been a while since I have updated my blog.  I was going to post the Re-ment giveaway in November but so many things kept me away from blogging.   I won't bore you with the details but it has been a difficult time for me.  When I don't feel well, I can't blog at all so I had to wait until the right time comes again.

So without making you wait any further, here is my Re-ment giveaway: the Japanese Curry Dinner from the collection "What's for Dinner?".  It is sealed its original plastic package but the box has been opened (otherwise I won't be able to see what is inside!).  It includes all the miniature items you see in the photo below. 

I mentioned this set in one of my previous post here.  It's a really great set and with good details so I would like to offer it to one of my follower. 

To enter the giveaway:

1.  Be one of my follower via Google Join

2. Leave a comment below

I ship internationally and will take care of the shipping fee so you don't have to worry about that.

Deadline is next Friday at 12pm CET.  I will announce the winner on the next Saturday.

Good luck to everybody :)

Disclaimer: All opinions are my own. I was not paid or received gifts to write this or mention any stores or website. You may find a better store in your area.

Winner of the OHC fashion pack is ...

Dear Readers,

There were 5 participants for the giveaway to win a fashion pack from Only Hearts Club.

1. Emily
2. Capucine
3. Sonia
4. April
5. Lolote

I used random.org to generate a random number.

And the winner is: Number 4 so it's April! 

April, please send me your address to mabebecherie @ gmail dot com :)  I know you are all the way over  in Japan so I hope the package can reach you before Christmas!

I will announce the next giveway during the upcoming week!  The whole family has been sick with a cold so I have not been able to blog much lately.  Hopefullly the illness will run its course and we'll be in top shape for Thanksgiving :)

Have a wonderful week everybody!

Hannah's Miniatyrer

Dear Readers,

I have received incredible miniatures from HANNAH'S MINIATYRER Etsy Shop!  Hannah is an very talented miniaturist from Sweden.  She writes a great BLOG about her creations.  Look at this adorable miniature pull toy sheep!  Also in the package are a hand-women rug and a mini Peter Rabbit book from Beatrix Potter!!!

The book is so detailed and includes text and color images too!  It is just the right size for my Sylvanian Families / Calico Critters figures!

Speaking of Sylvanian Families,  I wanted to enter Eaton Blackberry's Contest and write a review about my new bedroom furniture set on the Sylvanian Families Forum.  But for strange reasons, I can't upload my photos on the Forum so I'll show my review here for now and try on the Forum tomorrow again. 

The Sylvanian Families Children's Bedroom Furniture set was a gift from a friend who bought it for me while she was vacationing in Hong Kong this year.

Front of box

It includes:

2 bed
2 pillows
2 mattresses
2 blankets
1 ladder
2 stuffed animals (teddy bear and squirrel)
1 bookshelf with drawers
1 pencil holder
2 pencils
1 ruler
1 timetable
1 ruler poster (to measure growing up)
1 poster
2 plastic books
1 book end
3 cardboard books
4 postcards

Back of box

As with all Sylvanian Families/Calico Critters products, the details will amaze you!  The ruler has small indentations just like a real ruler and the book end was a really great addition.

I love the blankets! Very cute motif!  The bed can be displayed side by side or stacked like a bunk bed.  The ladder fits perfectly on the bed rail.

The bookcase has many compartments that can open.  The book end is a nice accessory and the pencil holder is really cute with the pencils and ruler.

The stuffed animals are so cute!  I was surprised to find out they were not plastic but flocked!

They even have tails!  All flocked and super soft!

The Calico/Sylvanian children figures fit just right in those beds.

Candy Mulberry is very happy to play with two adorable stuffed animals!

This furniture set is just too cute for words!  Candy and Ike agree!

So do you like this Children's Bedroom Furniture set?  And don't you think the miniature from HANNAH MINIATYRER are wonderful?   I am very tempted to buy her teddy bears and her clay pies now that I see how great they look with my critters!

Winner of Little Pullip Rosalind

Dear Readers,

There were 17 participants in my Giveaway for the Little Pullip Princess Rosalind.  I listed them in order they entered the comments (a few did not want to enter so their names were not listed):

1 Danzel

2 Rosethé

3 NarinaNäpertää 

4 Somnium

5 Lisa T

6 Bounnie Doll

7 Capucine

8 Sonia

9 Emily F

10 PaigeLee Ann

11 Eaton Blackberry

12 Jane Smith

13 Maria Ireland

14 Hannah

15 Chloe Liu

16 Chris Dang

17 Lolote

The winner was determined by a random draw via random.org.  I used my cell phone this time so I can make a screenshot of the draw.   Yes it was 3:17 am.  I woke up when baby started waking up too.  

So the winner is Number 7 : CAPUCINE!

Congrats Capucine!  Please send me your postal address to mabebecherie @ gmail dot com

I take care of shipping fee so you don't have to worry about that.

Thank you all for participating!

Good luck for the Only Hearts Club Fashion Pack Giveaway :)

Skipper and Stacie

Dear Readers,

I posted previously about Only Hearts Club clothes which are a perfect fit for my Licca and Dal dolls. One of my follower asked me about the fit on Skipper dolls.  So I did a quick try this morning (baby woke up at 4:30am). 

I am very pleased to say that both dolls seem to wear the clothes well, except the pants are too tight for Skipper.  The shoes fit too both doll very nicely (without socks).

A view of their back.  The skirt is a snug fit on Skipper.

She is such a pretty doll!  I should take more pictures of her!

I wished Mattel would release more clothes for Skipper and Stacie.  Thank goodness for the Only Hearts Club fashion packs though!  They came in really handy for my little dolls.  

If you are interested, I am giving away this nifty rocker outfit from Only Hearts Club.  It comes with a guitar, long-sleeve shirt, a jacket, pants, scarf and shoes!  Ideally, I should have tried it on my dolls so you can see more clearly but it was already 6am when I finished the photos and I had to go to work!   

Let me know if you are interested in participating in your comment below.  You have to be a follower of my blog to join the giveaway.  Deadline is next Friday November 21st at 9pm CET.  I'll announce the winner on Saturday.  Good luck and have a wonderful weekend everybody :)

Disclaimer: All opinions are my own. I was not paid or received gifts to write this or mention any stores or website. You may find a better store in your area.

Turning My Life Around

Dear Readers,

It will soon be Thanksgiving Holiday and I have major reasons to be thankful this year! At first, I didn't want to write about my health problems but I think sharing about it could perhaps benefit somebody.

Blurry vision, numb hands, excessive thirst, high blood pressure, extreme fatigue.  All the signs were there.  My doctor has ordered a bunch of blood tests and she told me that I was showing pre-diabetic  symptoms.  I felt stupid for not taking care of my health better. That was a wake-up call for me.   I am now working on a better eating plan and a better schedule so I can have a daily time to do physical exercise.     

I cut down on my sugar intake.  Less sweets for me and that includes not only chocolate and candies, but also sugar from fruits and from carbs like pasta, bread, rice, etc.  It is a difficult change and I am been having sugar withdrawal symptoms for weeks now but it had to be done because I am at risk of having a stroke or losing my vision, or losing my limbs.   It's not that serious yet but it will be if I don't change drastically how I eat and live.

I have been cooking everyday now and I am actually enjoying it.  Having control over what you eat is a very powerful feeling.  I buy more vegetables than usual so I  stop by the grocery store every two days on my way back from the office.  It's actually better this way because I can eat produce that are more fresh and it makes a big difference!

So now you know why I said I was feeling grateful.  If it wasn't for those warning signs, I would have never known that I was so sick.  It's better to react now than to have no clue and then die suddenly from a stroke.  This is why I had been blogging very little during the Dalicious Photo Contest.  I was feeling too ill at the start and then by the end I was busy cooking, working out and planning the next menu!  It is a huge change in my life but it's a good change.


Way too much bread!!!

I used to go the office without eating any breakfast, eat a huge lunch, then a huge dinner.  I was so starved up before each meal that I would eat twice more than what my body needed.  If you follow my Instagram, you know I blog about eating out quite often.  That's very bad because restaurants often gives you ginormous portions loaded with salt and fat.

A breakfast for two... or three persons.

The key is now to reduce my calorie intake but to eat more often so I don't feel starved and lose control when mealtime comes.  Instead of having two enormous meals a day, I changed to having three small meals and two healthy snacks per day:

1. breakfast
2. veggie snack 1
3. lunch
4. veggie snack 2
5. dinner

It's not rocket science but it's also important to choose the right food.  Not all vegetables are actually good because some do contain a lot of sugar or starch.  Fruits are often high in sugar too.  I didn't want sugar completely though.  During the weekends, I allow myself to eat one meal that is off menu like a small bowl of pasta or a sandwich.  Moderation is key.

I planned my new meals based on the Diabetic diet from the American Diabetes Association which has a fantastic website full of information. 

  

I hope my experience will maybe convince you of changing your lifestyle too if needed!  It's never a bad thing to see your doctor to check up on your health by the way.   

Hopefully my next blood tests will show some improvements in my condition but I think I am already feeling better now that I have started to implement changes to my lifestyle :)

A mountain of problems!

SF Bear Family

Dear Readers,

I recently made a trade with Jennifer from PLUSHPUSSYCAT!  I received this beautiful Bear Family (probably the Petite Bear from the Japanese line of Sylvanian Families)!  they are so cute and I love their clothes!   They were much needed for my new dollhouse which I will hopefully finish decorating before Christmas!

The trade was only for the bears so I didn't expect anything else but Jennifer generously gifted me with beautifully photographed postcards!  How cute is Strawberry Shortcake and her friend Orange Marmelade!  

Thank you so much Jennifer for this awesome trade!!!

EDIT:   The cake featured in the birthday card above was made by the Mouse Market!  Sorry for the confusion!

Giveaway Winner and ....

Dear Readers,

The winner of the Calico Critters Cooking Set is: PAIGE LEEANN!!!

Congrats Paige!!!  Please email me your address to mabebecherie @ gmail dot com :)

The winner has been chosen by using Random.org.  I listed all the names and the website randomly chose one name.   I don't know how to link this result from Random.org into my blog.  If anybody knows how, please tell me so I can include it in my next draw!  You can email me if you have detailed instructions or show me another random generator!

If you didn't win, don't worry, there are more chances... starting from today.

I am giving this second prize because the final scores for the DALICIOUS Photo Contest have been announced! My final score lands me in 8th place over 28 contestants!  Woohoo!  

I didn't win any doll but I consider my 8th place as a personal achievement.   I also feel that I have won much more than a free doll by participating in this contest.  I have met wonderful people and I have also learned quite a lot about photography and staging pictures!  And I feel very grateful to have received encouragements and advice from all of you!

To mark this joyous occasion, I would like to offer a Little Pullip Princess Rosalind doll to one of my blog follower.  This giveaway is open to everybody who follows my blog.  If you look on the right-hand side, there is a place you can click on "Join" and that will automatically adds you to my followers list. 

I ship internationally and I take care of the shipping fee so you don't have to worry about that.

Deadline is next Saturday November 15th, 2014 at 9 pm CET.  I will announce the winner that same night or on Sunday.

So the requirements to enter the giveaway is:

1. Follow my blog
2. Leave a comment in the comment section below

Here are some pictures of the beautiful Princess Rosalind.   She is about 5 inches tall and wears a very elaborate dress.  Her hair is gorgeous!

EDIT: She is an exact miniature replica of the full size Pullip Princess Rosalind.  This is the small version so her body is a little bit like LPS Blythe and Little Dal dolls.

Isn't she a beauty?   I am partial to Pullip and Dal dolls but it's not the case with everybody so if you don't like these dolls, you can participate in the next giveaway which will be a Re-ment miniature set. To be announced in a few days!

Good luck everybody!

Miniature Clay Cakes

Dear Readers,

I recently won a giveaway hosted by Aranera!  She has a really cute blog about Sylvanian Families called EVERGREEN VILLAGE!

She mailed me these adorable clay cakes!  Included in her package was also a hand-made felt bag!  Thank you so much darling Aranera for your precious presents!

I admire very much people who, like Aranera, write beautiful stories about her Sylvanian Families and takes great pictures to show the dollhouses and the critters alike.  

I follow her blog so I don't miss out any post entries she publishes.  It's fascinating to me to read stories written by fans.  I don't own all the dollhouses or critters I want so it's wonderful to see what other people can do with them.  Many of the blogs I follow show incredibly well-staged photos and I enjoy Sylvanian Families vicariously thanks to them.

You can see on the right-hand side of my blog a list of the website I follow.  I divided them in two sections: One section for every blog and the other one for blogs dedicated to Sylvanian Families.  I still have more blogs to add so my list will soon grow longer :)

Have a good weekend everybody!

Sylvanian Families Kitchen Cooking Set

Dear Readers,

I would like to show you in detail the Sylvanian Families Kitchen Cooking Set that I am giving away to one of my dear readers. This set makes a wonderful addition to either a home kitchen or a restaurant. I have displayed the items on a typical kitchen set from Calico Critters. 

Included in the set are :

• 1 kettle with lid
• 1 pot with lid and stew
• 1 pan with lid and 6 ravioli pieces
• 1 skillet with omelette
• 1 oven tray with 2 rectangular bread (or fish cakes?)
• 1 oven tray with 5 round biscuits
• 1 plate with pasta and tomato sauce
• 1 flour canister with a lid
• 1 salt shaker
• 1 pepper shaker
• 1 pair of oven mitts
• 1 spatula
• 1 ladle
• 1 kitchen thongs

But strangely, I cannot find the 6 ravioli pieces anymore!  I don't know what happened to them... Maybe one of my critter ate them all ^_^

All the lid and food items are removable which increases the possibilities of display.   I really like the soft green color of the pot, pan and kettle.   They look very similar to the life-size enamel cooking ware!  The word "COOKING" is engraved on the lid of the pot and pan.  I think that is a really nice design and gives the cooking ware a "real" look.

The scale is about 1:12.  It is made for the Sylvanian Families/Calico Critters but it will also fit small dolls that are 4 to 5 inches tall.  

My Littlest Pet Shop Blythe doll has nicely accepted to model the oven mitt for you to see.  She is a newcomer in my dolly world and I'll post more about her and her friends soon.

Little Dal Humpty Dumpty wasn't to happy though.  She wasn't impressed by the set.  Especially the omelette ^_^.

Another type of doll that fits well with this set is a Mimiworld doll!

The set that I will send to the winner of the giveaway will be in a brand new sealed package.

And you'll be sure to receive the 6 ravioli pieces that I was missing in my set!  You can enter the giveaway by leaving a comment in my post HERE or by leaving a comment in this post as well.  This giveaway is open to my present blog readers only to thank them for their continuous support!  Other prizes will be posted next week and it will be open to existing and new readers.   The participation period ends on Saturday 8th November 2014 at 9pm CET.   I will announced the winner that night (if I am still awake, if not, I'll announce on Sunday!).  

I was going to post a review of this set on the Sylvanian Families Forum but since it is missing pieces, I'll have to find another item to review.  Don't forget you can still have a chance to win a cute fridge (donated by the generous Mariana  from Sugarbush Valley: an Ideal Life) if you submit a review in the REVIEW SECTION of the Sylvanian Families Forum!  Closing date 23 November 2014.  Good luck everybody!

Disclaimer: All opinions are my own. I was not paid or received gifts to write this or mention any stores or website. You may find a better store in your area.

Thank You Dear Friends!

Dear Readers,

October was fun but I am happy we are now in November.  Thanksgiving is a few weeks away but I think giving thanks for one day only is not enough because I have much to feel grateful for. 

I will blog more about it during the course of this month but I want to start by saying a big thank you to all my readers who have being so patient with me during the Dalicious Photo Contest.  Your comments and advice have been such a boost to my resolve to complete the challenges!

I would like to offer to you, my dear readers, a few giveaways this month to thank you for your support and friendship.

The first one is a Sylvanian Families (aka Calico Critters) Cooking Set!   Like all the miniature items from that brand, they are highly detailed and of good quality.   Included in this set are all the items you see in the picture below.  The scale is about 1:12 and I will write a detailed review soon.  I have one set already and I absolutely love it!  You will receive a new and un-opened sealed set.

To enter the giveaway, just write in the comment section that you would like to participate.  This is opened to all my existing readers.   I ship internationally and will take care of the shipping fee. I will draw a name on Saturday November 8th.

More prizes will follow during this month.  I won't tell you what they are now but let's just say that there will be dolls, doll clothes, and many types of dollhouse miniature like Re-ment and Megahouse.  The following giveaways will be opened to existing and new followers.   Have a great month of November everybody!

Dalicious Challenge 6

Dear Readers,

This weekend was my very last challenge for the Dalicious Photo Contest.  The 6th challenge's theme was HAUNTED!

I nearly didn't submit the picture because of various problems but I really wanted to finish the photo contest!  And after 5 weeks of challenges, I didn't want to give up now!

My photo inspiration comes from my friends: many of them are afraid of Lalaloopsy dolls because their button-shaped eyes remind them of the movie Coraline.  So I created a scene where Scout (my Dal Tweety) is seeing some scary Lalaloopsy haunted doll peeking through her window!

For props: Mini Lalaloopsy dolls, Licca bed, Barbie dollhouse and a Re-ment dresser (with a lamp that really works!).  Scout is dressed in a cute pink Licca pajama and the teddy bear she is hugging also comes from that set.

My picture came out like this.

Although I love the colors, I didn't think the mood was "scary" enough so I made a sepia version of my picture.  

So do you think I made the right choice to use the second picture instead of the first one?

It was really fun to participate in this photo contest even though I know I don't stand  a chance against the other contestants.  It made me realize I have so many options with my camera and it made me discover how to slightly photoshop my pictures. 

I was however surprised to earn a 3rd place for my vintage Blythe photo (Challenge 3) and to have my cooking photo (Challenge 5) chosen to be the picture banner for the RE-MENT ADDICTS FLICKR GROUP!  I am not sure how long it was up there but I felt very happy to know I had that honor!

I am also happy that I didn't buy anything new for the photo contest and everything I used were found in my existing collection of toys (except for those mini pumpkins but they were purchased for my home decorations anyway).

But what I like the most about this contest is that I made new friends at the DAL HOUSE FORUM which is a fantastic place to hang out if you are a Dal Doll fan or if you have questions about the hobby!  I also like the DOLLY MARKET FORUM (which organized the contest) because it is a mountain of knowledge and there are also many great people there!  It is however a very big forum and it is taking me a while to browse the different categories.

I am so happy the contest has ended however because I will now have time to show you other things on my blog!  I hope I have not bored you to death with the Dal photo contest and that you will hang around to find out what happened in my dolly world :)

I wish you all a very great week!


EDIT: the pictures for the 6th challenge have been posted! See them HERE.

Dalicious Challenge 5

Dear Readers,

I just submitted my photo for the Dalicious contest challenge no. 5 for which the theme is cooking!  This was a rather easy topic because there is so much possibilities and I have a lot of food miniature at home so I didn't have to be crafty.

My son suggested to stage a cooking show but I didn't really have the kitchen counters, costumes and background to do this.  So I thought of my doll and created a picture based on her character: Tweety Bird.  As you know, Tweety is not very fond of cats, especially Sylvester who is always chasing her.

So I staged Scout cooking fish and a black cat stealing her food!  I used two Orcara Japanese Food sets: a tabletop grill and fish and a tabletop stove with a soup pot.

The kotatsu (japanese table) and cushions are from Re-ment.   The japanese screens are miniature replica paintings from the Momoyama period.

I Tawt I Taw A Putty Tat! or Why Tweety never liked black cats...

It was fun to do this challenge but I am honesty very glad there is only one challenge left in the contest.  Being able to play with my dolls more often was a good thing but I would like to take photos of my other miniature and dolls as well :)

Hopefully after the last challenge, I will be able to post about them!

Have a great week everybody!

EDIT: You can see the other contestant's photo HERE.