Psst… Aricarai… look inside to find your gifts for the Spring Exchange! «123...Next Go

Martje89

Hi @aricarai When you read this, you’ll know that you are my Spring Exchange buddy. I don’t think we’ve ever met on the forum, so first I’d like to say that it’s very nice to meet you! Welcome to this little thread that will reveal the gifts I made for you the last couple of weeks.

It certainly has been a challenge, but that’s actually one of the things I really love about these exchanges: finding new inspiration, challenging myself, discovering new aspects of my game and in the end bringing joy to someone else. I definitely had a lot of fun! Anyway, I really hope you like your gifts and will have just as much fun playing with them as I did while making them! Enjoy!

Martje89

Gift 1: Pinochle Point Bungalow
As my first gift to you I present you Pinochle Point Bungalow. This starter home for just under 15.000 simoleons was built in Sunset Valley at Pinochle Point 2450 (on a 30x20 lot). Pinochle Point Bungalow features a bedroom, living room, kitchen and a bathroom, which is accessible from the bedroom and kitchen. There’s also an empty, extra room that could serve as a study, nursery, second bedroom or gym; whatever suits your Sim! The backyard has a little terrace with barbecue and seating area. There is also plenty of room to extend the house.





In your letter you wrote you really love starter homes. Since I usually play with families, build big houses and don’t pay attention to the amount of simoleons that will cost, building a starter home was new to me. In other words: a new challenge, yay! You also mentioned liking bungalows, so I thought it would be fun to combine the two. And since you also said you’re more of a builder/decorator, I put in just the basics and made the rooms large enough for you to upgrade them and add your own touch to this house. Hopefully you and your Sims will like what I created for you!

Downloads:
Pinochle Point Bungalow (starter home)

Martje89

Gift 2: Leia Mitchell and Eve Sutton
One thing in your letter that stood out to me was the fact that you’ve never played a fairy or witch before. As I mentioned earlier, I really love discovering new aspects of my game. So I thought it would be nice to make you something that will help you discover new things as well.

So for my second gift, I’d like you to meet Leia Mitchell and Eve Sutton. Leia Mitchell, a witch, and Eve Sutton, a fairy, first met at a summer camp for girls where they shared a room along with some other girls. Leia and Eve have a lot in common, so they became friends pretty quickly. Both girls come from a family where the “supernatural gift” skipped a generation. And although they had loving parents and a nice childhood, they both struggled with their identity sometimes. As if something was missing. Something that their parents couldn’t understand.




While at summer camp, Leia and Eve were inseparable. The girls talked for hours and hours and got to know each other pretty well. They both felt like there was finally someone that understood them completely. The girls made plans for the future and dreamt of all the things that they would do. After summer camp ended, Leia and Eve stayed best friends. They tried to visit each other as often as possible and eventually decided to move in together. So with a little help from their parents, the girls bought their first house. Being on their own now, Leia and Eve could finally embrace their true self and practice their magical skills together.




Lol.. taking pictures of one of the many pillow fights Eve and Leia had made me laugh (it still does). It was so funny to watch because they kept switching between laughing really hard and making weird faces

Something else I’d like to add is that Leia catched a lizard. Having this animal near her, gives her an instant +10 moodlet that will also help her develop her magic. I placed the lizard in her inventory, in the hope it will remain there if you download this household. If so, it’s probably best to buy a cage for the lizard so it won’t escape.



I recently bought Supernatural and never played with witches or fairies either. So yay for first time experiences! I must say though that playing both at the same time felt a little bit overwhelming at first, because there were so many new things to learn. But I really liked the little story I had in mind, so I uploaded this household anyway and played Leia and Eve for a while so I could provide them with some skills. But since I’m not sure what you prefer and I want to give you options, I also uploaded them separately. I hope you like these two supernatural girls!

Downloads:
Supernatural Friends Household (including skills)
Leia Mitchell (witch)
Eve Sutton (fairy)

Martje89

Gift 3: Kailyn McKee and Hydrangea Cottage
After building my first starter home for you, I felt like creating another one. So I started building more, but I wasn’t able to finish these starters because they “didn’t feel right to me”. That might sound a bit strange, but when I’m creating something (no matter if it’s for the Sims or in real life) it’s never finished until I get a certain feeling of joy and satisfaction. I’m a bit of a perfectionist lol . But there was one house I did really like! And when I created a Sim for this house while I was still building, my muse really got started! So without further ado, I’d like to present to you: Kailyn McKee and Hydrangea Cottage.



Kailyn McKee is an enthusiastic, creative girl with a great eye for details. She was raised by her grandmother, who was a gifted painter. While growing up, Kailyn loved to help her grandmother pick the subject and colors for her paintings. They often spent their time in the backyard, where they would draw or paint together and held tea parties. They would drink out of an eclectic set of colorful teacups that her grandmother had collected over the years. Kailyn was always amazed by the different shapes, colors and patterns of these teacups. Life was good for the both of them and because Kailyn was always surrounded by art, colors and patterns, she developed a talent for painting as well.



After her grandmother died, Kailyn moved to a new town where she bought her first house: Hydrangea Cottage. It was a mess at first, but Kailyn saw the potential this starter house had to offer and with the money her grandmother left her, she redecorated everything and created a cozy and colorful home for herself. Hydrangea Cottage derives its name from the beautiful hydrangeas that surround the place. These lavish flowers also served as inspiration for the interior of the cottage, that consists of a living room, spacious kitchen and bedroom with access to the bathroom. There is also plenty of room to expand if needed.





The easel of Kailyn’s grandmother found a new home in Kailyn’s living room. She still loves to paint and to find inspiration, Kailyn often wanders around town, sketching things she likes to paint one day. But each time she went out, Kailyn desired to capture more of the beautiful things she saw and that’s why she recently bought a camera. She immediately fell in love and has now found a new way to express herself through art. Kailyn is eager to learn as much as possible about photography!



One thing I’d like to add to this story is that while I was playing Kailyn to provide her with some skills, she prepared dinner for herself and accidently set fire to the stove. A cute fireman came to rescue her and after he put out the fire, they immediately started flirting. That’s also a way to meet new people lol . Edit: Too bad it doesn't transfer into the exchange file. But I really wanted to show you the photo's anyway

Downloads:
Hydrangea Cottage + Kailyn McKee
Hydrangea Cottage (starter home)
Kailyn McKee (in case you’d like to start out fresh)

Update: The story of Kailyn and Jasper continues...

Martje89

I might need this as well...

tanubanue

Adorable Martje

Kgaff

Nice starter home! Building on a budget is the hardest thing to do, you did a great job!

Catdog123

I really like how warm and cozy this house looks. Just downloaded, recommended, and favorited it. Going to add it to a save file I have been working on for a world I downloaded recently.

Martje89

tanubanue wrote: »

Adorable Martje

Thanks @tanubanue

Kgaff wrote: »

Nice starter home! Building on a budget is the hardest thing to do, you did a great job!

Thank you @Kgaff I started with a few, but this was the first one I actually finished and I was happy with. It sure is a hard thing to do! Usually I don't pay attention to money and just build, but this time I had to make lots of choices. Challenging, but fun!

Catdog123 wrote: »

I really like how warm and cozy this house looks. Just downloaded, recommended, and favorited it. Going to add it to a save file I have been working on for a world I downloaded recently.

@Catdog123 Thank you, I hope you'll enjoy it in your game! May I ask what world it is you downloaded?

Martje89

Removed post because I posted it in the wrong place of my thread

SjappielovePaul

They look awesome @Martje89

Martje89

Thanks @SjappielovePaul Hopefully I'll be able to fix what is wrong with Leia. Her athletic outfit looked really weird after uploading her... This never happend before so *fingers crossed*

Edit: I was able to fix it yay! @tanubanue checked it and everything is clean

Bookworm742

What an adorable little start house! Those are always great to have, but they're definitely a challenge to build! It turned out great!

And I love the supernatural sims! Those pillow fights are always so hilarious to watch...they make the craziest faces! Leia and Eve look wonderful, and I really love the hair and clothing choices! (that side braid is one of my current favorites!)

MsPrissy88

@Martje - All gifts have been rec'd and favorite(d)! Love them both. The girls - and their backstory - are really cute. I'm just like you and Aricarai.... in that _I_ myself have never played (really) with a supernatural sim! I've tried dabbling with magic with a normal sim, but.... it didn't suit my fancy.

XxHannelorexX

@Martje89 Pinochle Point Bungalow is lovely I'm always so impressed at how simmers can build such lovely starter homes; I'm hopeless with a small budget, hehe.

I especially love the colours; so cozy!

And your Supernatural Friends sims look like fun to play! I love fairies Less familiar with witches but I remember from what little I have played with them that they can be really fun as well.

Rec'd

Martje89

Bookworm742 wrote: »

What an adorable little start house! Those are always great to have, but they're definitely a challenge to build! It turned out great!

And I love the supernatural sims! Those pillow fights are always so hilarious to watch...they make the craziest faces! Leia and Eve look wonderful, and I really love the hair and clothing choices! (that side braid is one of my current favorites!)

Thank you for the sweet comment @Bookworm742 The pillow fights are definitely hilarious! I bought the Generations EP last Sunday so it was new to me. So much fun! The side braid is one of my favorites as well

MsPrissy88 wrote: »

@Martje - All gifts have been rec'd and favorite(d)! Love them both. The girls - and their backstory - are really cute. I'm just like you and Aricarai.... in that _I_ myself have never played (really) with a supernatural sim! I've tried dabbling with magic with a normal sim, but.... it didn't suit my fancy.

Thanks @MsPrissy88 I recently bought Supernatural and because of RL stuff and this exchange I haven't been able to really play with it yet. So this was a nice opportunity! A fairy and a witch at the same time was a bit overwhelming at first, but after reading about it and trying a few things I got the hang of it. I will definitely continue their story in my game

XxHannelorexX wrote: »

@Martje89 Pinochle Point Bungalow is lovely I'm always so impressed at how simmers can build such lovely starter homes; I'm hopeless with a small budget, hehe.

I especially love the colours; so cozy!

And your Supernatural Friends sims look like fun to play! I love fairies Less familiar with witches but I remember from what little I have played with them that they can be really fun as well.

Rec'd

@XxHannelorexX Thank you! Building a starter home was a challenge. I'm hopeless with a small budget as well and had to scratch a lot of things I originally built or placed in my home. Making choices is so difficult sometimes lol Before the exchange I didn't have the chance to play with witches or fairies, but I really like it so far!

ciane

But... but... how can she continue her romance with the fireman??? Love the story, the sim, and the starter. I also find it pleasantly interesting that two people picked Hydrangena for names for the their homes.

Martje89

ciane wrote: »

But... but... how can she continue her romance with the fireman??? Love the story, the sim, and the starter. I also find it pleasantly interesting that two people picked Hydrangena for names for the their homes.

@ciane Oh wait... that doesn't transfer into the file? Or does it? Ok I'm offically confused now lol. Haven't uploaded much to the exchange so I'm not that familiar with it And yes, I noticed @XxHannelorexX also picked Hydrangea for one of her homes haha. I guess mine is because I find it really hard to come up with English names for houses or community lots. For Sims or pets it's not really a problem but for everything else I experience a little language barrier. So I just stick to what I do know

ciane

Relationships do not transfer with sims. When you move them into a new neighborhood, they do not know anyone there. You have to upload her with the fireman in the same household to keep the relationship. You are so fluent in your English skills, but I do understand sticking to what you know with language. I often find myself sticking to what I can spell correctly.

Martje89

@ciane I guess I should have known that... feeling a little silly right now oops! But now I know for the future, thanks! I really like English as a language. It so much less complicated than Dutch. Dutch is a mixture of many languages (including English, German and French), but with confusing grammar rules and lots of exceptions on those rules. We also tend to use a lot of words to say what we mean I have a colleague at work who is from Spain and he still hasn't learnt to speak Dutch. He says Dutch is one of the hardest languages to learn. I believe him because he speaks fluent Spanish, English, French, Italian and a little German haha.

ciane

I was always told that if you knew English and German, you could understand Dutch. As you say, it is a mixture; but every language has its exceptions and its slang. I am only fluent in English though I do find language interesting, I just do not have the "ear" for it.

SjappielovePaul

All aanbevolen!

It all looks so great

Bookworm742

Adorable cottage! Thinking I might need both versions of it...just in case I have other sims that want to live there. Kailyn is great. Love her clothes, and her story! Cute pictures! ...and bought generations, did you say? And possibly University Life as well, based on those pictures? Interesting....


And on the language thing: English is one of the hardest ones to learn, so I've heard. Probably because it's *technically* a Germanic language, but it has borrowed so heavily from French (and a few other languages occasionally!) Consequences of Normans deciding to take over England and all! Been working on relearning the French I took in high school lately, and it never fails to amaze me how differently we say things. But for a native English speaker...they sure do mix up their sentence structure! XD

MsPrissy88

Hydrangea Cottage and Kailyn is such a cute starter home and sim! Too bad you weren't able to upload the fireman with her. Oh well.... next time, hon!

Martje89

Just a quick answer to your question since I'm in bed already @Bookworm742 (couldn't resist checking the forum on my phone once again ) Yes I did buy Generations last Sunday and University Life, Ambitions and KPST all came in by mail as well the last two weeks. I didn't think of updating my letter because I was so busy working on my gifts oops... So I have all EP's and SP's now

Bookworm742

Martje89 wrote: »

Just a quick answer to your question since I'm in bed already @Bookworm742 (couldn't resist checking the forum on my phone once again ) Yes I did buy Generations last Sunday and University Life, Ambitions and KPST all came in by mail as well the last two weeks. I didn't think of updating my letter because I was so busy working on my gifts oops... So I have all EP's and SP's now

Even better! (I discovered while decorating recently just exactly how much of the generations stuff I tend to use...apparently, I really like stuff from that expansion, lol. Like that adorable boat bed! It's one of my favorites for kids rooms!)