Alrunia Ahn, Luna Barak and Kyra Reiter form together Dandelion Daydreams Factory. This covers their individual brands of Lilith’s Den, FANTAVATAR & MOONSTRUCK and Wishbringer. Together the three have designed and built Poppetsborough, the Faireland they are also sponsoring.
Alrunia, Luna and Kyra share with us how it is to cooperate in a trio of builders, how Poppetsborough was born, what they are looking forward in this year’s Faire the most and what makes them happy when they are building.
You three are both sponsoring Fantasy Faire and building one of the Fairelands: Poppetsborough. What made you decide to join, sponsor and contribute?
Alrunia: For me it is the second time to design a sim of the Faire and I wanted it already when visiting the Fantasy Faire in the previous years. It is a great honor and pleasure to work together with the many talented designers – and lets not forget the team of coordinators – to provide the best amazing experience for so many people. I do love to support and help where I can with what I can do. And one of the things I certainly can do best is being creative. And nuts, but that … is well known anyway and does not need to be mentioned.
Luna: It is now years I am participating to the Fantasy Faire in the role of seller and two years ago I have been also a sim sponsor, thought was time to give a stronger contribute by adding some crazy looking building and as lucky chance found other two amazing, long lasting friends, builders who agreed to join me in this adventure.
Kyra: I have been to many of the Faires over the years, and each year I am always wide eyed and thrilled at all the wondrous things I see there.. and all of it to raise funds for cancer! It is an amazing thing everyone is doing. I recently lost family that was very dear to me to cancer, and for me this touches my heart deeply. So when the girls suggested we sponsor… I was all in! Besides… I get to work on a huge project with them and that is ALWAYS a lot of fun!
How did the three of you get together to build? How does it work, the cooperation between three builders?
Alrunia: Both Kyra and Luna are part of my life since I met them some years ago in SL and we originally got together due role playing.
We are all three real life artists with design education, have a similar taste, and share the love for Fantasy and for designing things and worlds. The cooperation works fantastic – intuitive almost. We already decorated, built and landscaped together at the long gone but never forgotten RP sim Karamoon, later Luna and I started the Project Medieval Fantasy Grid Crier, then some day Kyra joined me in the RP sim Project Isle of Dee and eventually we three now share the sim Dandelion Daydreams Factory, where we live and work.
Luna: Runa and Kyra are old cared friends, we met in Second Life while roleplaying, and our friendship has grown above the game. Building together is not always simple, the three of us have all strong creative minds and ideas so we need to make a daily job of cooperation and compromises, but this little effort is producing a huge amount of great events and products, so it’s worth it to do it 🙂
Kyra: wow.. I have known Runa and Luna almost my whole SL life.. met them both in an RP sim called Karamoon and we have been friends ever since. They mean the world to me now. When we teamed up to make Dandelion Daydreams Factory… thats where our stores are and our home… it was like something just clicked into place. We all felt this is right. We each have our own creative style, we each love and respect each others creativity… and we have a lot of fun and giggles together. Some of the conversations we have leave me in tears from laughing so much. Working together is easy when we know each others talents and strong points so well… so just each do the parts that we are best at.
How was Poppetsborough born? What inspired it, what is its story?
Alrunia: All Luna’s fault. When she introduced her rough idea to us, we just loved it. Then we begun to collect ideas how to realize it and eventually we begun to push prims, introducing mockups to each other until Poppetsborough was ready to come to life. Poppetsborough is inspired by Childhood Pop up Books and Paper dolls.
The story:
Long ago in an ancient Library cared for by an old man named Jack Dots’n’Comma, a mouse climbed atop a mountain of books and sneezed from all the dust. The mouse fell into Jacks hands safely, but up above something unexpected and wonderful was happening. A book had opened and a world of paper was being created along with a race of paper beings known as the Poppets.
A special to be mentioned :
Behind the Pond is a large laundry line memorial for dedication letters. From the gotya vendor next to it , filled with Fantasy Faire related Head tags, a certificate can be won that allows to hang one personal dedication letter.
Luna: Poppetsborough, the paper world, is an idea that born from the needs to make something that was denying the 3rd dimension in a 3D world by building up a flat world that typically lives in 2 dimensions only. So from that the idea of a paper town and the story to justify such prodigy has come after quite easy.
Kyra: When we had our first meeting to discuss what to do, Luna suggested we do a popup book… and that was immediately loved… and brainstorming ideas around it just poured out of us… We all loved popup books and paper cutout dolls as children.. so while we shared memories, giggles and ideas, Poppetsborough was formed. It was just so perfect! Every time I stepped into it while creating its various meshes, I felt like a kid again.. and I still do as I walk around our little village.
What are you bringing to the Faire this year?
Alrunia: Traditionally I bring of course all my Wisp Avatars – over the time they became collectibles and the collection grows and grows.
Also I bring Bottle Glass Beads in five styles -one of them for RFL-, 3 Celtic Knot Decorative Marker Stones, 4 pulsating Flower Carpets -one of them for RFL- and my personal highlight , the drop seats that look like nuts! in four colors, one of them being ‘Hulda’ and for RFL.
Also I made a set of 12 zodiac gemstone jewelry to attach as third eye. More will be added along the way.
Luna: Fantavatar & Moonstruck propose some female and male outfit for roleplay.
Kyra: well.. I am the owner/creator of the Wishbringer, and I share what is a dream for me.. medieval fantasy creations. Most of what I create are things I have wanted or needed to fulfill some need either in sim building, or just creating my own special piece of fantasy here in second life. So my big item that I am offering is my home. The Underhill. I made it to live in here at Dandelion Daydreams, and have been asked by several friends to sell it.. but have held off.. now i think it only waited till now. Its a special place, hidden deep in the forest, under a big ol’ rooty stump that nearly hides the door, but inside it is warm and cozy, created like a cob house so the walls are natural, softly curved, and form the different features of the home… like the wall shelves, fireplace, rain drop windows, and seat.
I am also offering the furniture you see inside the rascals Station house.. all made of storybooks! This is a fun item that i really enjoyed creating, and perfect for book worms like me 😉
Next I am adding my kitchen set.. first created for the Isle of Dee’s village cafe, but has since then grown into a full medieval kitchen.
I will also include a few other things from my store that I think will complement the Underhill home.
What is the best thing about building in Second Life? Which things inspire you, make you happy and satisfied when creating?
Alrunia: SL allows us to create a dream, whole worlds with almost no borders or limits. Inspiration is everywhere! A Detail that catches my attention, things I love or feel strongly about or something I dream. The best things though I make when I just build for the sake of creating something, they then get born literally from chaos.
It’s the process of being creative itself that has me happy for as long as I am on it – though I am never final satisfied – always wanting and needing more more more 🙂
Luna: The chance to be able to bring to “almost” real whatever my imagination creates.
Kyra: You really like to ask questions that are hard to answer in short! I actually came to SL to create. Having been told about SL by a friend at work, who told me I would love it because the users get to create the worlds in it… it did not take me long to sign up! And its basically what I have been doing most in in the 8 years I have been here. wow.. 8 years? lol. Anyway, for me, my passion is medieval fantasy. I think I have been an elf here since my first year, and this is the genre I tend to enjoy most in roleplay as well. I like to make things that are natural, and look like they are created by nature mostly. Done in such a way that they blend in with the landscaping surrounding it. I just love to build things that look like it is all alive and belong to the environment.
What are your favourite fantasy realms?
Alrunia: Am I to list them all?? There are so many , so diverse, there are so so soo many fantastic creations out there and so many yet to discover! Okay… I try to pick a few. Pans Labyrinth, pretty and eerie, the imaginative world created by Johnny Hollow ( Canadian Band ), unique and eerie, most of the settings of Peter Greenaway – absolute unique! and Inkworld series by Cornelia Funke and of course the world of Karamoon and Isle of Dee.
Luna: My preferred fantasy realm is for sure the Lord of the Rings saga
Kyra: Fairy and elven realms are my favourite… I read often, bookshelves dominate my sitting room, and almost all of them are fantasy 😉
Do you have a favourite Faire memory? What are you looking forward to most in this year’s Faire?
Alrunia: I do have many good and fond memories of past Fantasy Faires. Time with good friends, making new friends, funny moments like running in some weird avatar into someone else in weird costume and we both laugh and point fingers… But also calm moments at the memorials.
And the freshest… last year running around with Kyra as tiny frog and me as some sort of tiny flying squirrel, was pretty amazing.
The strongest memory is the moment I came across a list someone put together, reading names of all the ones that lost the fight against cancer. It made me sad and same time realize that we all together are strong and can change things. It was probably the initial key moment for me as for what the Faire is standing for.
I can tell you what I am . not . looking forward to : that is when the eleven days are over! Until then I expect a happy time during the highlight of the year in second life 🙂 And I just hope I find time to take part at all shows and events!
Luna: Every FF has been an amazing chance to meet creators and see their wonderful creations and I expect this here will be not less awesome
Kyra: I think last year is my favourite. I explored it with a couple of friends, but mostly with Runa.. and we found this one store that was selling the cutest! little av’s of tiny animals.. so we both got the ones we loved most.. Runa was a flying squirrel and I was a great blue frog! then we ran about the whole rest of the time in those! It is also when I first met a new friend.. who has since become a very close friend. It was a good year at the fair!
Thank you, Alrunia, Luna and Kyra, for taking the time to talk with us. Thank you for creating Poppetsborough and breathing life into its poppets and paper creatures. Thank you for joining us in the Fairelands!
Fantasy Faire SL Archives 