Cu-Poche

I saw some Cu-Poches on AmiAmi and fell in love. I've seen them online before and just kinda brushed them off because I thought they looked a little weird. I think it's the joints? They actually look pretty awkward and unattractive, IMHO. The ones I saw were from the main line which focuses on articulated action figures with molded clothing. 

But then I saw how they look in fabric clothes and there was no saving me. Soooo cute! I greatly prefer their spin off 'doll' line, Cu-Poche Friends because of the real fabric. I ended up pre-ordering Akazukin, but I also picked up Sayaka Miki in the mean time. I couldn't resist her adorable face. Like Nendoroids, they Cu-Poche has swappable face plates. I'm waiting for the basic body to be released in December so I can swap out Sayaka's current body. I actually don't mind her current body--her design was my favourite in Madoka Magica. But the molded clothing and details get in the way of redressing her and even limits her articulation in some places (ie her skirt gets in the way of her being able to get into a sitting pose). And I've read that Akazukin is due to be released on the 24th, yay!

The more I play around with this figure, the more it reminds me of Pinky St for some reason. I think it's the swappable faceplates and hair. All the fun of a highly articulated doll but without the bother of (ugh) real doll hair. Me and real doll hair don't mix. I love dolls, but I really hate having anything to do with their hair. Also, Cu-Poche has a magnetic stand! It's my first experience with anything like it, and it's awesome! So much more versatile than a Nendoroid's stand, and it also comes with similar plug in the back bits if you need that extra stability or if you want to do a flying pose.

Hasegawa 1/12 scale kits (capsule and crane machines)

I got these kits after seeing them on Flickr user MurderwithMirrors's feed.

I am currently obsessed with miniature gashapon machines (capsule machines), and these kits were really fun to put together and customise. Some people have had issues with the crane machine kit, so I was extra cautious while putting it together. That said, I nearly accidentally snipped off a hinge anyway. I enjoyed these kits so much that I put in an order for another capsule and crane machine, and a couple of the arcade machine kits. I was also eyeballing the Taiko Drum Master arcade kit but couldn't justify it at the time. All the items in my shopping cart were adding up. Maybe next time. I'm thinking of setting up a little 1:12 arcade room.

The crane game came with anime girl figure boxes as the prizes, but I wanted to make a little Sylvanian one. The miniature Sylvanians even fit down the prize chute (a little hard to remove though). I'm getting another crane machine kit to make an Animal Crossing themed one.

The crane game is a bit tall for Sylvanian figurines and Nendoroids, so I've stuck them on a stool. Donna Butterglove is trying to get something that is not a Chocolate rabbit. But with as with all crane games, getting ANYTHING at all is pretty tricky!

That feeling you get when your prize gets stuck and you've run out of money.

This Nendoroid is one I actually bought solely to steal part of a stand off of (after I broke Isabelle's stand :(). She was like only $10 on Rakuten for some reason. She's just been packed away in a box for several years, so I'm glad I've found a reason for digging her out again.

The capsule machine kit came with a sheet of inserts that you could cut out and use, but I wanted some Sylvanain themed machines so I printed out my own. I used pictures from real Sylvanian gashapon machines. These capsule machines also doesn't actually work, which is a pity. I have some machines that do work, and I'll do another post with them in the future. I've used the shells from the working machines in the pictures because the 'capsules' from the kit don't actually open--in fact most of them are solid single colour balls.

Donna: What did you get?
Shelly: A chair and yet another Chocolate rabbit. I have fifteen of those already. They're taking over my room.You?
Donna: *cracks open capsule* Also another Chocolate rabbit. I don't even want to know how many I already have.

I found some smaller Sylvanian toys to put into the capsules. The larger bunny in the above picture doesn't actually fit, unfortunately. Can't put the other half of the shell on.

More Mini Books

I'm currently making some books for Jona Wanders. It's a good way to get back into making miniature books again. I tend to spend too much time on one project and completely burn out on it for several months afterwards. I still need to fill up my Grand Mansion bookcase, stock my newsagent/bookseller and my library.

I wanted to make some Lord of the Rings books, and oddly enough, the best printable hardcover 'book covers' are from the extended DVD cases. I couldn't believe how hard it was to find nice, printable LotR covers! I also experimented with a pull out map. The version with the outline looks better, I think. I also learned that it was better to use coloured paper or cardstock rather than scrapbooking paper with one blank side. The white shows through. You'd think that would have been obvious to begin with. :P

First attempt:

Second attempt; a three book version with an outlined map

I needed to do coloured pages with lots of two page spreads for this lot, so I experimented with a different method of 'binding' the pages. My previous books were put together with glue and thread, so a bit more like how real books are bound. These are just folded and glued. It actually worked really well and open nicely.

The atlas is a mish mash of stuff from various sources. The insides were taken from a student 'World Atlas'.

Photoshoped a random book cover to make encyclopedia volumes. Makes for a nice little set with room to add more future volumes.

This is my personal favourite cover. I photoshopped the year out and added 'annual' so the book cna be used whenever. Not really sure what should be in an almanac, so I just took what I could find from the Old Farmer's Almanac website. I think I ended up with more articles about plants and cooking than actual weather and planting stats.

I find that adding that little bit of string on the spine to be the most fiddly bit. I think it makes the book more complete though, so I figure I should add it anyway. The books will need a sealer to protect the covers too, later. 

Sylvanian Cake Shop Capsules Series 2 Review

I got the second Sylvanian Cake Shop gashapon series last week. The first series has already been reviewed by Terra of Green Bear Shire so I'll just be focusing on the second series. Also trying something new--hosted all the pictures on blogspot rather than on multiple sources, because of Photobucket's dramatic attempt at self-destruction.

The second series is very pink. I actually quite liked the soft mint green of the first series, but the pink grew on me as I took the pictures. The sets came in colourful little ball capsules. These capsules are usually sold in capsule machines, where you insert a coin and get a random one in return. 

Each capsule had an insert with printed doilies to cut out, and three of  the sets them came with a sheet of stickers and a tiny, clear plastic bag. I scanned the doilies and the sticker sheet:

The first set is a cupcake stand with four cupcakes. The bunny cupcake is the best! The stand looks a bit empty on its own, so I'd fill it up with more items. I find that the cupcakes from the older Sylvanian Sweet Shop fit really nicely!

The second set is a bundt cake, bundt cake pan, a clear cutting board and a knife. The knife and the board are the same as the one from Series 1, save for the colour. The cake fits perfectly into the pan. 

The third set contains a yellow tart, a cake server and a serving platter with a dome. This entire set is very similar to the one in Series 1. It's not an out right rehash, but they definitely share some of the same parts. One odd, small difference is the size of the tart. The base of this set's cheese tart is just a little bigger than the berry tart in Series one. It's just big enough that it gets stuck in the dome if you push the dome all the way down when covering the tart. It's not stuck tightly, and there's not paint to rub off on the sides of the tart so it's not really a big deal to me. One issue to look out for if you leave the tart stuck to the dome long terms is for plastic reactions. Some plastics can melt a little when it's left in contact for too long with a different kind of plastic, but I have no idea whether or not it would be an issue for this set. 

The fourth set contains three macarons and an iced biscuit. The macarons are adorable! I love the paint finish on those. The box is a re-used part from Series 1. The lid doesn't shut properly if you put all three macarons in there. The 'ears' on the macarons are a little too big and get in the way! 

The last set contains three pastries, a wire rack and a pair of tongs. Again, more re-purposed molds. I'm not sure what the pastries actually are, cream puffs or doughnuts, maybe?

It may seem like I'm complaining a lot about re-used molds, but I'm not actually bothered by it. I've quite enjoyed seeing how the old molds have been re-purposed and used to form new sets. These toys are quite inexpensive, and retail in Japan for about 200 yen each, roughly $2. They are well made for the price. That said, Series 2 seems to have a little less quality control overall than Series 1--namely the pieces not quite fitting together. Still, I really like this set overall, and it's a good way to fill up that Sylvanian cafe or shop with more goodies!

I think the colour scheme goes really well with the old Sweets Store. I'd been wanting to repaint the Sweets store blue and turn it into an ice cream shop to go on top of my Seaside Restaurant, but I don't know if I can now! It's just so adorable, and the Sylvanian Club poodle girl makes a great owner. I have a weakness for cute pink stuff. 

New SF haul

Blog is kinda dead, haven't been feeling like much of anything lately. Thought I'd post about my latest lot of SF, since I do like having a little record of what I got in the past when I look through my old posts.

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My vintage lot arrived! The only reason I was even on FB at the right time to buy these was because I got my pants caught in the wire wheel attachment of my husband's drill. I had been cleaning some rust off the prize machine birdcage. My fault for wearing baggy pants! It caught in the drill and ripped half off my leg. I was browsing FB while waiting for my husband to come and help free me. 

There are some regular dollhouse bits mixed in. I accidentally broke the dollhouse scissors becuase I thought it would pull apart but I ended up snapping the handles instead...

I really hadn't expected the sewing machine set to be complete. That and the little ceramic set with the brown design. All of it is in really good condition! I'm especially stoked about the brass bed, I've been wanting one for ages. It fits so well in the Highfields farmhouse. I'm really impressed by the detail in the vintage accessories. The pain palette actually has molded on paint--it looks textured and real. The little tubes of paint are all individual pieces (stickers need regluing though) and the picture canvas is actually molded and textured to look like a real canvas under the painting sticker. Also, the green slide has such a cute design on it that wasn't apparent in the seller photos.



Also pretty stoked about these figures. They're all in pretty good condition, except for maybe the father Babblebrook who has some discoloured spots. I think the Honeypot bride is missing a bow on her veil. And my first Catwood! She's adorable.

Simple Doormat and Pin Board Tutorial

I saw some cork tags at the cheap shop a few days ago, and thought I'd do a simple tutorial. The cork tags came in two sizes, and the smaller one was the perfect size for a Sylvanian doormat.




First cut the part of the tag that's sticking out. Try to get the edge as straight as possible.




Use a sharpie/permanent marker to draw a design. I used a fine tipped marker for the details and a slightly larger one for the thicker parts. It's a bit tacky at first, but is fine after the ink dries completely. I'd still recommend not leaving the inked parts in contact with Sylvanian figures or plastic for an extended period of time to avoid staining. I just left the underside of my mat untouched so I can leave it safely on my cottage's doorstep.





Be sure not to track mud into Mrs Fenton's house!





The larger tags are a good size for a pin board. Like with the doormat, snip the edge of the tag off. For the first pin board, I used some decorative tape to line the edges.




Tada!  A sweet finished board.





The second board requires a little more effort. Measure and cut some strips of balsa wood, and glue them to the sides of the cork tag with super glue. I prefer the look of this board, personally.




Stick some bits of paper and pictures to the board, and you have your very own Sylvanian notice boards!

My Melody: Winter Vacation Re-Ment review

Happy 2017! Can't believe how long it's been since I've posted. My health wasn't the best last year, and I felt extremely unmotivated to do much in the way of blogging (or much of anything except for stressing over work really).

Shout out to Sylvanian Kingdom for doing a sweet write up on their blog about Plastic Candy! It's the first time I've ever been featured on a blog like that (that I know of). It's wonderful to know that people still like reading my sporadically updated blog. I don't know French so I had to rely on Google Translate.

I bought a very cute winter themed My Melody Re-Ment set last year, and I've been wanting to do a review of it for several months now. Almost everything in this set scales well with Sylvanians, and best of all, it's all rabbit themed. I don't really like using anything depicting humans in my Sylvanian dioramas--in my mind it's a cute fuzzy anthro world that's almost 100% animals. Almost, because sometimes I use Pinky St figures.

Anyway, enough blathering, and on to the review!

My Melody: Winter Vacation 

Brand: Re-Ment

My Melody is a Sanrio character. She's usually depicted as a rabbit wearing a hood. I'm going to do things a little differently for this review. Instead of reviewing each set separately, I'm going to combine some sets and set up a little scene with some Sylvanian furniture for each of the review pictures. That way it's easier to show how these items would look with a Sylvanian figure. This release has eight sets in total.

This first scene contains set #4 Knitting, and #7 My Special Place. The rocking chair is Sylvanian. 

Knitting has an open knitting instruction book, a basket, a yellow ball of yarn with My Melody's face on the label, some knitted mittens and a work-in-progress knit. The mittens are a little weird, but they're meant to depict My Melody's head. The extra appendages sticking out of the back are her ears and not for extra fingers! The book lacks detail--it's a smooth piece of plastic with some stickers on it. Re-Ment has made more detailed books in the past, so this is quite disappointing. The basket came to me with the handle bent from being smooshed up in the packaging. A quick dip in hot water and it's back to normal. I quite like the work-in-progress knitting item. Sylvanian Families has a similar item but it's only found in the hard to get Grandmother at Home set. This makes an excellent substitute and it's a lot more detailed. 

My Special Place comes with a red fireplace, a potted plant with a My Melody design on the front, a pink kettle and a rug. I love the kettle and the fireplace. The stove really opens, and I wish it lit up like the Sylvanian fireplaces. I could probably put a little red LED in there, hooked up to a small battery. I'm not too fond of the rug. I think the dark black outline really overwhelms the rest of the design.

Next is set #2 Honey Ginger Milk. The table and the shelves in the back are Sylvanian.

Honey Ginger Milk contains a bottle of milk, a mug with a lid, a jar of honey, a honey dipper, a pink saucepan, a grater and a piece of ginger. The milk is huge! Compared to the rest of the set, it seems disproportionate. Maybe it's just family sized?  I do wish that the ginger had more detail on it. It looks like a brown blob. The saucepan is a perfect size for Sylvanians. It even fits on a Sylvaninan stove top. I like so many things in this set, including the adorable mug and the little grater. I've never tried honey ginger milk, but it sounds like a yummy thing to have on a cold winter's evening. 

Now for #5 Baking an Apple. The table, shelves and stove are Sylvanian.

Baking an Apple comes with a pan, a wooden spatula, a bottle of rum, a tub of butter, a knife, an apple and some cooked apple slices. The butter is an insert that can be removed from the tub, and it also has an indented design on it featuring My Melody's face. The apple looks really cartoony, and I'm not sure it really fits in with the rest of the items. All the other items have enough detailing on them to make them look at least semi-realistic, but the apple is very simple, with none of the lines and markings that a real apple would have. The pan scales well with a regular Sylvanian stove.

I decided to combine #3 A Special Winter Dinner and #6 Taking a Nap on the Rocking Chair together. The table, shelf and magazines are Sylvanian.

A Special Winter Dinner has a sheep candle, a ramekin filled with soup and bread lid, a soup spoon, a fruit cake, a bread knife and a cutting board. The sheep candle is pretty 'eh' to me. It has a hard time standing up on its own properly. The soup is great. It's a bit big, for Sylvanians, but I guess that it'll be great for someone extra hungry (judging by how many bakeries and cake shops Sylvania has, it won't be hard to find extra hungry critters). The soup is a removable insert. The spoon even has woodgrain detailing on it. The cake and bread knife are nice accessories, but the stand out piece of this set has to be the cutting board. It has woodgrain detailing and a meticulous design etched into the wood. I've taken an extra picture to show all the details in the soup and board accessories. 

Taking a Nap on the Rocking Chair comes with a pillow, a rabbit toy, an open book and a small rocking chair. This is probably the weakest set in the series. The pillow is unattractive, and the book lacks detail. It's the same style of book as the one in the Knitting set. The rabbit is cute, but has a hard time sitting up on its own. It sits in the rocking chair very well though! The rocking chair is detailed, but it's too small for Sylvanians. I thought that maybe a baby figure would fit, but it's too narrow to comfortably fit a baby figure, and the whole thing tips forward when I try to wedge a baby in there. Maybe the little kangaroo baby would work?

Time for #8 Shopping. The table and shelves are Sylvanian.

Shopping is presumably a nice winter shopping trip out to get some goodies! It comes with a purple handbag, a wreath, a jar of jam, a loaf of bread and a paper bag, and a My Melody figurine. The purple bag scales well with Sylvanians, but I think it works better for a sibling figure than an adult. The label on the jar came to me all crinkled. The wreath is really pretty and the loaf of bread has heart designs on it. The bread isn't as long as it looks in the picture. I had it poking out of the bag, or it would have been entirely covered up otherwise. The My Melody figurine is nice and detailed, and comes with a removable base. 

The last set is ironically, the first set in the series. #1 Playing in the Snow.

Playing in the Snow contains a shovel, a bundle of sticks, a pine cone, a lamp and two snow bunnies. The snow bunny with the green ears is a something that kids in Japan tend to make. The snow figures are nicely detailed and will fit in with any winter scene. The sticks and the pinecone are not as detailed. My favourite piece is the lamp. It even has a little flame in it! This scene would have worked better if I'd shot it as a twilight scene, heh. 

That concludes the review. It's a lot longer than I had intended, and I hope no one got bored. If you like the set, it's currently available on AmiAmi and Fan21hk.