A dream come true

Dear Readers,

Hope you are all doing well!

Today´s post is my entry for the fifth creative crafting challenge of the year in the Sylvanian Forum.

The theme was: Challenge#5:"The 60´s era".

Peter and Peace are looking forward to giving you good news. They are very excited! Let's see why.

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Planning a trip is always a source of joy for Peter and Peace. So far hitchhiking or taking the bus has been their way of visiting new places but from now on things are going to be different.

For the last five years, they have been putting their savings in a kombi van-shaped piggy bank.

It has taken them time and effort to raise the money to fulfill their dream, but it has finally become a reality.

TA-DA! What do you think? Isn´t it perfect for them?

 They can't wait to show it to you!

Let´s have a look!

It has seven seats. Plenty of place to accomodate their friends.

The trunk is very large. It´s perfect for carrying a tent, camping equipment and everything they need to set up their beach bar.

"Look, Peace! An engine with 100 rabbitpower!"

A DREAM COME TRUE! !Now, it´s time to prepare for the first trip in their brand new van

If Peter and Peace had lived in the 60's, I'm sure they would have loved to do the hippie trail in a kombi van.

This idea still tempts them but right now their piggy bank is empty and soon they will have to set up their beach bar so they can't go very far away.

They are so excited to have their own vehicle that they want to share their joy with their family and friends.They have decided to pay a visit to Peter´s grandmother and cousins who live in Carrot Field Hollows and continue on to Purrchester to visit their good friends Apple and Juice. It has been almost a year since they have seen each other. The last time they were together was at the  Sylvanian Summer of Love Festival.

(The next two photos  were taken by my Sylvanian forum friend Florence Holiday. Thank you for letting me share them )

Here we can see Peter and Peace with their cousins Boyd and Amanda.

Peter and Peace with more friends at the Summer of Love Festival.

The two cats on the right are Apple and Juice, their friends from Purrchester.

In case you are wondering where the toy Volkswagen van came from, I'll tell you it's the gift Peace gave Peter last Christmas. Ever since he was a little boy, he had always wanted to have a van like that. Peter gave Peace a guitar.She plays the recorder very well but she wanted to learn to play another instrument. Peter is teaching her and she is learning fast.

Peter and Peace are used to traveling light. Just the essentials for a few days away from home,a bouquet of flowers from their garden to give to their grandmother,their musical instruments,and something to eat . 

They are all packed and ready to hit the road!

The good thing about traveling in your own van is that you have the freedom to stop whenever you feel like it. On their way to Carrot Field Hollows, Peter and Peace stopped a couple of times to enjoy the scenery and have a snack.

After nearly two and a half hours of driving, a wooden sign announced that they had arrived at their first destination.

In Carrot Field Hollows many villagers live in log cabins, and Peter´s grandma lives in one of them.

When they arrived at her place the door was unlocked so they went inside to surprise her.

 The surprise was for them! because she wasn´t home.

They put the flowers in a glass jar and went to see their cousins who had recently moved to their own cottage . Maybe they knew where grandma might be. Carrot Field Hollows was a very small village so it would be easy to find her.

They knocked on the door and to their surprise it was Peter´s grandmother who opened it.

Mrs Babblebrook face lit up "My dear! For all the rabbits´ears! What are you doing here!"She gave them a big hug and look at them from top to bottom.

"Aww,you look so good!" A little bit thin,though. I wish we lived closer so that I could prepare delicious and nutritious meals for you. Are you going to stay for long? I hope so because it´s nearly a year since last we spent some time together.What a surprise your cousins are going to get! They just went to the village store and they´re about to arrive. Make yourself at home. I´ll make you some tea".

That's how Pearl Babblebrook is: affectionate, talkative and always concerned that her family was healthy and well fed. 

"We only plan to stay a couple of days." Peter said."Then we´ll go to Purrchester to visit our friends. We have to go back to Sweet Berry Valley soon. You know it´s time to start setting up our beach bar".

Grandma had very good memories of the days she stayed with Peter and Peace at the beach last summer.

Mrs. Babblebrook looked a bit disappointed. She would have liked her grandchildren to stay for longer.

Peace immediately realized this and said, “But don't worry!From now on we will come to visit you more often. We have bought a van and this is the first trip we have ever made. 

"Did you! I´m so glad!"She exclaimed."That´s wonderful news!"

Just then, Boyd and Amanda arrived home.

They were thrilled to see their cousins.

They spent the rest of the day talking, singing, laughing and of course eating. 

If there is one thing grandma loves to do, it´s cooking, especially for her grandchildren.She was delighted that Peter and Peace had decided to take their first van trip to visit her.They all had a lovely day.

They spent two days in Carrot Field Hollows and then they headed  to Purrchester. It had been a while since Boyd and Amanda had seen Apple and Juice so they went with their cousins to visit them.

Peter  promised  his grandma that they would come back to visit her soon.

She told them a thousand and one times to be careful on the road.

Of course she had prepared a bag and a big basket of food for her grandchildren in case they got hungry during the way. There was enough food to last them a whole week away from home!

With the help of the map and road signs they found their way to Purrchester without a problem.

When they arrived at Purrchester they passed Apple's parents' house. They spotted Mrs.McClaw who was watering the plants.

Peter and Peace got out of the van and went to greet her.

"Good afternoon Mrs.McClaw!" Peter and Peace said.

"Peace! Peter! What a surprise to see you here! Apple and Juice didn´t tell me you were coming!"

“They don´t know we´re here. It´s a surprise visit! Peace exclaimed.

"We´ve just bought a van, like the one Apple and Juice have, and wanted to come visit them on our first trip". 

"They´ll be very happy to see you! You´re in luck because we´re going to be away for the weekend so you have the whole house for yourself".

“Thank you very much,Mrs.McClaw.You´re very kind but we can sleep in the van. My cousins are here too and we don´t want to cause too much trouble” Peter said.

"No way!  There are enough beds for everyone and a comfortable sofa so there´s no need to sleep in the van!"

"I want you to feel at home. Tell your cousins to come over and go surprise your friends. They're busy in the garden with something about a craft for a forum challenge. I´ll be upstairs preparing the luggage in case you need anything".

Apple and Juice were working on their project when they heard a familiar voice:

"Hi guys! What are you up to!"

They couldn't believe their eyes! What a great surprise! 

They left what they were doing and ran to hug their friends.

Apple and Peace even teared up as they embraced.

They all were over the moon to be together and looking forward to catching up with one another.

Peter and Peace told them that they had finally bought a van and than they would have to set up their beach bar soon.

Amanda and Boyd told them that they had just  moved in together and were enjoying furnishing and decorating their small cottage.

Apple and Juice told their friends that they wanted to participate in a creative craft challenge doing something related to the 60's era.It´s obvious that Peter, Peace, Boyd and Amanda all liked the idea because they love everything related to that period of time.

They all helped to finish the craft.

They´ve shown good team work skills, haven´t they?

Apple asked her dad to take a picture of them to send to the forum.

Peter and Peace also asked Mr.McClaw if he wouldn´t mind taking another picture in front of their new van to keep it as a memory of their first trip.

The truth is that they will always remember this trip because they had a great time at both Carrot Field Hollows and Purrchester.

In Purrchester they had an unforgettable weekend. Being with friends is always fun. Without planning it, they threw their own 60's party. 

They had a delicious barbecue.

After eating, Juice took the record player out to the garden and some records with music from the 60s.

 They sang and danced along the best hits of the decade.

Afterwards, Peace, Peter and Juice played some songs on their guitars.

After listening to some music, they felt like moving around a bit, so they started playing soccer. They ended up feeling exhausted.

Apple and juice told their friends about their plans to travel during the summer. Hopefully they can stop at the beach in Sweet Berry Valley for a cocktail at their friends'bar. Boyd and Amanda would like to travel too but they are broke after moving into their new cottage.

The weekend flew by and it was time for Peter and Peace to go back to Sweet Berry Valley and for Amanda and Boyd to return to Carrot Field Hollows. They promised to keep in touch and try to meet during the summer. 

As goodbyes are sadder than reunions,instead of showing you the last  photo where they say goodbye, I´ll post the photo they sent to the creative challenge of the 60's.Look how happy they were together! 

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I hope you liked the story even though it is a bit long. At first I thought of dividing it in three parts but I didn't do it at the end.

As you probably noticed,Peter and Peace´s new van in not Sylvnanian but they knew it was perfect for them since Apple and Juice showed it to them five years ago.It was love at first sight!

They also liked the Sylvanian retro style turquoise or yellow campervans with flower detail.Unfortunately, they only found second- hand ones in not a very good condition and at a very high price. 

For this challenge, I made some crafts and I also decorated Boyd and Amanda´s cottage. I have to say that the characters of Boyd and Amanda were Florence Holiday´s idea ( a forum friend)but as they are Peter´s cousins they will probably be featured in  more stories.

These are some pictures of the crafts I made:

I made the guitars with cardboard (from a tuna package) and brown foam for the border.I used a playmobil guitar to draw the template.

I found a printable on the internet to make  the record player.I reduced the size a little bit to suit the Sylvanian scale.

I also made the road signs.

Pictures of Boyd and Amanda´s cottage.

The fabric that covers the sofa bed and the armchair was a gift from my friendI Berna (Alcalá de Sylvania in the Sylvanian forum ).Thanks a lot, Berna.She sent it to me a long time ago. It was meant to be for Peter and Peace but it came in very handy for this project.

Peace asked me to send two more pictures to the 60´s creative challenge as a favour.

In the first one we see that the edge of the living room table has been redressed.

(The small bead strip broke off)

This is the second one.

It just so happened that Peace and I have borrowed the same book from the library . Isn´t that a  coincidence?

While Peter is busy writing a hippie song for the challenge, Peace and I are going to have a cup of tea and start reading the book.

See you soon!

Peace and love!