Latest News: Characters & Interests

Welcome to Elfville!
Rob Stanphill’s playful new series takes us to the merriest village in the North Pole.

“I grew up in Southern California, and my family would visit Disneyland® once a year–best day ever! I loved the way that each ‘land’ had its own theme and everything tried together to create an immersive experience,” Rob says. “That idea struck with me, so I decided to bring in that world-building to create a magical Christmas village populated by enchanting little elves. Welcome to Elfiviille!”

Santa’s favorite holiday helpers are the stars of this new series that will feature full-sized festive shops and miniature shop owners, sized to scale with their shop’s front door. Here’s another fun fact: As a 2024, KOC member, your Elfville collection is already in the works! This year’s Dream Box included three exclusive companions to this new series: Ollie’s Ornament Shoppe, miniature Ollie and miniature Lia, the delivery driver. In 2025, we’ll meet the newest small business owner (pun intended) in town at Candy’s Bakery.

Candy’s Bakery
Welcome to Elfville
1st in the series.

“I started by gathering some inspiration images and sketching some small pencil drawing,” Rob says, “I imagined Candy would design her bakery to reflect all the tools she loves to use and all the things she loves to bake every day, so rolling pans, oven, mitts, cinnamon bread, cookies and more all found a place in the architecture of the shop.”

After creating a rough sketch, Rob says he began fine-tuning the details and created “turnaround” drawings that show front, back and side views. Then he brought the images into his computer and created a 3D sculpt. The final result is a quaint and colorful bakery, complete with Candy in her white chef’s hat holding a delicious dessert–and there’s more sweetness where that came from!

“I’m always looking for ways to spark the imagination of kids and adults to explore the details. I’m excited to see Elfville continue to grow with new residents, interesting buildings and fun little places to visit and explore. I’m asking, ‘Who might live there and what are they creating?‘” Rob says. “There’s so much to choose from because Christmas inspires all kinds of wonderful, magical things.”

On the second day of Christmas
Gregor Benedetti brings us Two Turtle Doves!

In 2024, the Twelve Days of Christmas. Papercraft series made its debut and became a new favorite among so many of our ornament fans. So, when Gregor told us he could finally share a sneak peek at his second ornament in the series, that was music to our ears! Featuring two lilac turtle doves nested among glistening gold accents and greenery. this latest ornament is filled with beautiful details sure to make every spirit bright.

Twelve Days of Christmas
2nd in the series.

“Certain details in the series will remain the same each year like the overall shape, number at the top and printed song verse on the back. But I’m giving each new ornament a unique decorative archway border on the front and its own color palette that will make the layered paper scene inside really shine,” Gregor says. “These distinctive features will give series collectors something special to point out about each of the ornaments when they’re displayed.”

After Gregor brainstormed the sketch and initial design, he began digitally sculpting the ornament, playing with textures and color until the team was happy with the final look. Then, it was time to call in the engineers!

“Gregor and I got together and discussed how we could break the artwork into different layers to create more depth in the pieces and bring in bough of finely cut greenery to frame the doves,” says Christina Ferguson, a senior design engineer in the Keepsake Studio. “I worked with him to suggest places the greenery could be placed so they would be securely glued to the wood frames and provide specification for the thickness of the scalloped top that holds the ribbon hanger, making sure it was sturdy and would hold up over time.”

Kristina says Gregor also came to her with the idea to add windows to the back and sides of the piece to let more light peek in and brighten the artwork.

“Gregor is so easy to work with and has a great eye for paper sculptures.” Kristina says, “I love any time I get to spend with the artists! Our process in the Keepsake Studio is very collaborative and everyone’s opinion counts, which makes our pieces a real team effort.”

Speaking of team, another person who helped bring the series to life is Senior Designer Technician R.J. Stebbens After Gregor and Kristina nailed down the design, R.J. used a laser to create a prototype of the ornament.

“This is the most exciting part for me is when you can finally see the ornament take shape,” Gregor says, “Another fun fact is that we’re achieving the original paper mockups from this series in the Christmas Ornament vault. My hopes is they can be part of a future public display somewhere down the road. They’re also so beautiful!”

The collaboration across the studio has made creating such an intricate series smooth so far, Gregor says, “But ask me again when we get to Ten Lords a -Leaping!”