Well, it's been a bit since I posted anything after my initial post, but I got a lot more added to the site than I started out with. I had up 2 of my families, and now I have up 28 of my families. I already have decided I will be re-doing their photos after I came up with an idea for how to proceed with fashioning Lavender Hollow.

After putting together a cart on Amazon for the supplies I would need to make a campfire out of a battery powered tea light and it ending up being $91, I started re-thinking how I wanted to go about creating buildings and items for Lavender Hollow. I'm not even talented at crafting and I already have some pretty expensive hobbies as I am huge into Lego, play video games, and dabble in Playmobil, not to mention time constraints with working, though, I will have a bit more time about mid-October after I am done with the final class of my degree program, that trying to start a crafting hobby might not be the best road to take and that maybe I should chose a way to flesh out my village with something that I am already good at, which is, Lego. I can build with Lego, I have tons of parts and it will allow me to do more than I would be able to do with ordinary crafts. It might also lend a uniqueness to my village and blog not found elsewhere (I am not aware of anyone that incorporates Lego into their SF, if there are, there aren't many). The only con I can really think of is that stuff won't look that realistic, but I will plan on purchasing miniatures and furniture. I will like to grab a good deal on an official house or building but I will be using Lego to supplement. I think it's a good marriage of two big passions that I have. Anyway, I wish I had a sample to show what I can do but I haven't gotten to work on anything yet. I think of one of the big things that I like about using Lego is, the use of stickers and it not having to be permanent. I hesitate putting wallpaper in my houses and etc because it seems mildly permanent. Whereas, with Lego, I can always buy more bricks and something doesn't have to feel ruined.

Anyway, I'm not currently working on anything except sorting all the SF and Lego I have and still purchasing stuff that I want. My newest arrivals from SSK I am actually super excited about. Here are some of them:

Here are some of them, I am super excited about having the Marmalade Bear Grandfather. I never expected to get him because he is an older figure, but they had him in the individual figures section. I am also really excited about having the girl Chestnut baby. I have scoured eBay and always found her either way too expensive or I would get outbid on her. What luck to have found her brand new at SSK to be able to complete my Chestnut family. She was the only one in that family that I didn't get growing up. Now, because of this find, my vintage families from when I was growing up are nearly complete. All I'm missing is a mole family, which sadly, I think will always be out of range for me. My favorite Japanese seller on eBay, Kobejapan, he has a new in box mole family with the baby boy but he wants $125.99 for it and I just can't bring myself to spend that kind of money on a family. Maybe someday I'll break down and do it but for now I just can't. I got some other stuff from SSK aside from what is pictured. I got a tea set and the picture packages and some sleds from their dollhouse miniature shop, and I got the BBQ picnic set, the garden set( I now want 3 more of this one), the country bathroom, the sandwich set and I think that's it. Other things I have acquired recently are Cedar Terrace, the blue woody car, the hammock set, and I'm waiting for Ivy cottage, Applewood Cottage, and a used monkey family to arrive.

Anyway, that is what is up with me. I am really looking forward to getting to work on more stuff again after I get things sorted. I have a few scene ideas but need to grab a few supplies and wait for a few things to come in the mail. I will try to update every time I do something new. I have a plan for a Christmas scene that I'm going to upload to Zazzle so I can send out Christmas cards, but I will upload the photo here to the blog as well.

Anyway, Happy Collecting!

Kim

First Post!

Hello! Welcome to my Sylvanian Families / Calico Critters blog, Lavender Hollow. I am very excited to finally start a blog about these cute little critters that I absolutely adored when I was growing up. My brother and I were 80s kids and we loved collecting them and had a lot of fun playing. I had most of the vintage figures released in the U.S. and since about a year ago, I have been getting some of the family members I missed. I stopped collecting in about 1988 or 1989 and then briefly started again in 1999/2000. About 3 years ago my brother took a trip to Japan and brought me back the newest Marlowe cat family, known to me from my brother translating the writing on the box as the Charcoal cat family. I loved them and immediately joined SSK's fan club and got the Dante cat family. Then for some reason I didn't get any more after that (it was probably because I have several hobbies and collections and a limited income.) But finally I made some purchases from SSK and started scouring eBay.

Even though I am from the United States where they are now called Calico Critters, I stick with the original name, Sylvanian Families because that is what I grew up calling them. Also, I will be sticking to the UK character names regardless of where I purchased them for consistency. I don't buy multiple versions of families, I just get what I can, even if the clothes are wrong.

On the pages with some of the vintage families, if I have a story I remember doing with the family when I was a kid, I'll share that story with you. My brother and I had some crazy ideas. I may even incorporate some of those memories into any new stories that I post under the "Tales" section of on the sidebar. 

I'm not super crafty and i'm definitely not an interior decorator and I don't have tons of money to spend so I won't always have the fanciest photos or displays, but I'm just going to do my best and some of it will be imperfect. 

I hope you can find some enjoyment out of my blog and I hope you'll leave any positive comments or tips you may have as I play around and have fun!

~Kim~