SPRING BREAK – The perfect time to go on adventures with your Maplelea doll!  Submit photos of your adventures.  You could win a $5 Maplelea Credit for each photo selected for publication! 

We are excited to announce that we are combining both our famous Maplelea PHOTO CONTEST and our FAN PHOTOS so that we can offer them YEAR-ROUND! This is a perfect opportunity to show the world all the fun you and your Maplelea doll have in all seasons, so don’t forget to snap your photos whether it is sunny, rainy, or snowy! We love to see you and your Maplelea Doll having fun! 

For every photo that we select to publish online or in print, whether it’s just your Maplelea doll/dolls or you with your doll doing something fun, you will receive a $5 credit on your Maplelea account, per photo selected. That means that you can also submit “Photo Stories” of your dolls doing fun things and you will receive $5 credit per photo that we use!

We are looking for two types of photos:

1. Photos of children and their Maplelea dolls being active.  Exploring, playing, discovering, learning, helping, and having fun in various locations all across Canada.
2. Photos of your Maplelea doll(s) doing interesting things in an interesting setting.  Use one photo or a series of photos to tell a story.

Essential criteria:

1. Maplelea only.  Because we are using the selected photos in our catalogue or online campaigns, the clothing and accessories on the doll must be Maplelea clothing and accessories. The only exception to this is clothing or accessories made by the child. We prefer if the outfits/accessories shown with the doll are those that are intended for that character or those intended for all dolls (i.e. Taryn’s outfit on the Taryn doll, or an outfit intended for all dolls on any Maplelea doll. Outfits intended for all dolls have M as the second letter in their stock number.  Check the tag inside the clothing). Do ensure that the doll's hair is neatly combed and/or styled. Please note that although Maplelea does distribute the Dollie & Me line in Canada, Dollie & Me is not a Maplelea product and therefore not eligible for this Photo Contest.
2. Photo(s) must be taken in Canada.  Locations outside of Canada are acceptable only if they have a strong Canadian connection, such as visiting Vimy Ridge or representing Canada at an international sporting competition.
3. Age of participants: Maplelea is designed for children age 6 to 12 and so we tend to choose photos that include children of those ages.  People of other ages can be shown in the photo, but please note that Maplelea is safe only for children three and over due to small parts.  The photographer can be any age.
4. Safety First! If the activity shown is a sport that normally requires certain safety equipment, then that safety equipment must be shown in the photo. For example, if the child is in a boat, then they must be wearing a lifejacket. If the child is riding a horse, they must be wearing a helmet. Where appropriate, if the child has paused their activity for the photo, the safety equipment need only be in the photo. 

What makes a winning photo?  

1. An interesting location!  Every community and part of Canada has its own distinctive features, whether it is the wide open grasslands of the prairies, the cobblestones of Old Quebec, or the tundra of the North.  Show off the unique features of the place where you live, or where you vacation in Canada.
2. An interesting activity!  The child and and/or the doll should be actively doing something.  Hiking through a canyon, checking out a lighthouse, feeding the calves, preparing for a dance recital, playing hockey, helping a senior, learning about maple syrup, participating in a festival, or the like.
3. An interesting story!  Tell us interesting facts or background information about the location or activity or event.  We also love information that helps others learn about Canada.
4. Include diversity.  We want to show Canada's diversity—diversity of people, of activities and of places. We like to show photos from every province and territory. We strongly encourage families living in, or visiting, the territories and smaller provinces to submit entries. 
5. Style your doll in Maplelea: Only Maplelea dolls and outfits are accepted.  We prefer photos where the doll wears a complete Maplelea outfit.  For example, the shirt, pants and jacket should come from the same set.  If the set did not include footwear, then choose something suitable, preferably something sold by itself.  We do accept photos that include retired Maplelea outfits but we would give preference to those wearing currently available outfits and accessories.  The reason for this is because your photos will likely pique the interest of others and it is easier for them to find the outfit on our website if all pieces come from the same outfit and is currently available.  Be sure your doll’s hair is nicely brushed or styled.
6. Pose your doll carefully.  Make it look like the doll is engaged in the activity with the child, or if the photo is of just a doll, the doll should be doing something in a realistic manner.
7. Consider doing a photo story.  Take a series of photos that tell a story.  Check the Discover section of our website to see the example of the Mendelson Family Road Trip, or the Windstorm on Salt Spring Island.  We award a $5 credit for each photo in the story that we use.  We may use only a portion of the photos you submit but the more you submit the more we may choose.
8. No need to look alike.  You don’t need to look like your doll, or dress exactly like your doll, but you should be dressed compatibly.  For example, both in winterwear, or both in dance outfits, or the like—whatever is suitable for the activity.
9. Photo quality.  We look for good lighting, proper exposure, creative compositions, etc.  Photos should be under 5MB and in jpg format.  Please send them as an attachment, not in the body of the email.

When is the deadline?

There is no deadline!  This is an on-going program.  We will accept photos at any time, and we will use them as they are submitted, and as we need them.  Please note that we usually work 4 to 6 weeks ahead, so if you are taking Valentines photos or Halloween photos try to get them in to us at least 4 to 6 weeks before the time we are most likely to use them.  But, if you take photos on Valentines Day or Halloween or whatever, do submit them after the date.  We will hold photos for consideration for two years and may use them at any time during that two years.

Communication regarding the photos

Please note that we do not acknowledge receipt of emails sent to submissions@maplelea.com (though you can set it to request a read receipt when you send it).  Once we decide if we are going to use the photo(s) we will publish them and advise you we have added the appropriate credit to your account.  You can then spend that credit on your next purchase.  We regret that due to volume of submissions, we are not able to provide information when and if we will be using your submission.

Where will the photos appear?

Most will be used online—on our website, in our broadcast emails, in our social media and sometimes also in print media like our catalogue.  Some photos that are selected may only be used once, others may be used in a variety of ways over a period of several years or more.  Not all photos submitted will be selected and it is entirely Maplelea’s choice of whether the photos will be used, and where they will appear.  You are welcome to make as many submissions as you like.

Thanks for reading!  We can’t wait to see what you are going to submit!

Maplelea Girls Jenna and Charlsea visit Salt Spring Island!

Maplelea fans, young and old, love to take pictures of their dolls in action, amid our beautiful Canadian scenery.  To submit your photos or short videos for consideration, see the instructions at the end of this Photo Gallery.

In the Lower Mainland of BC, the daffodils had begun to sprout when they got their first snowfall of the season this past weekend.  Charlsea enjoyed the day with her animals, training her puppy Kootenay while Kam and Loops in their warm wooly natural sheep coats enjoyed the snowy day hanging out.  The Empress was (as usual) up to her shenanigans hopping up onto the stumps.  But when everyone went over to check out the backyard tree named Herman, and hear his tale of woe about the squirrel who chewed off his nose, moustache and mouth, the empress climbed way up high onto Herman’s limbs and Charlsea had a lot of work to get her down.  Thank you to Maplelea fan Shannon G. for this photo story!

Charlsea and Saila bring in the fall harvest on Salt Spring Island, BC.  Taken by Thea Chapman.

Charlsea and Saila enjoy the last few days of summer on Salt Spring Island.  Taken by Thea Chapman.

Shannon G. made a party room for her dolls in honour of Léonie's birthday! Happy Birthday Léonie!

Shannon G. and her husband looked out to find a beautiful blue sky day with sparkling snow and just knew they had to take Charlsea out to enjoy it.  They had a wonderful day atop Cypress Mountain in Beautiful British Columbia while many people stopped to admire her very Canadian doll with her very Canadian outfit.

Hannah F. captured a portrait of Saila in her traditional Amauti and Pang Hat as a light snow gently fell in Sudbury, ON.

A curious fox photo bombed Saila and Taryn’s photography session.  He looked and he sniffed, but he didn’t touch. Submitted by Kimberly K. of Redditt, Ontario.

Charlsea enjoys a quiet moment in the sun on a beautiful Salt Spring Island fall day and just hangin' out! Submitted by Marjorie B. of Washington, USA.

Jenna joined Charlsea on a magical forest adventure and found this charming feather windmill and fairy door! Submitted by Shannon G. of BC.

At this bountiful time of year, Jenna and Charlsea have much to be thankful for. Submitted by Shannon G. de Langley, CB.

In Celebration of Canada 150, Jenna and Léonie cheered on Taryn and Charlsea on as they re-enacted the historic adventures of the Voyageurs on BC’s Fraser River. Submitted by Shannon G. of BC.

Oh dear! Jenna and Charlsea are stranded on one of the BC Gulf Islands!  Will anyone see their frantic waves? Submitted by Shannon G. of BC.

On a beautiful sunny West Coast day, Charlsea waves the Maple Leaf to show her Canadian pride while Jenna and Charlsea were thrilled to be the parade leaders on the occasion of Canada’s 150th birthday! Submitted by Shannon G. of BC.

Ferry boats and fairy doors—Charlsea’s Salt Spring Island has both! Submitted by Shannon G. of BC.

In the city of Toronto, the CN Tower features prominently on the horizon, and on Alexi’s shirt! Photo submitted by Marjorie B. of Washington, USA.

It is May 24th and time to celebrate the birthdays of both Charlsea and Queen Victoria! Submitted by Shannon G. of BC.

Please include your name, the location and a one or two sentence explaining the photo.  Remember, we can only accept photos of Maplelea dolls wearing Maplelea outfits!  Please send them as a jpg attachment to your email.  Do not include people in your photo; for photos of children with their dolls, please see the annual Maplelea Photo Contest which happens in the Spring of each year.

To submit your photos, please send them to: submissions@Maplelea.com with "FAN PHOTOS" as the subject line. 

 Submission of photos to this email constitutes permission for Maplelea to use the photos as they deem appropriate, without compensation, in perpetuity.

Alice, Simon, Emet, Kol, Naomi and Baila Mendelson recently took a road trip from their hometown of Hamilton to Eastern Canada and they took Maplelea along with them. We followed the Mendelson family, along with Jenna and Léonie, on their journey as they explore the sights from Ontario to the East Coast.

A big THANK YOU to our Brand Ambassadors, Fashion Show Models and everyone else who came out and had a fantastic time!  It was wonderful to meet so many of you!  And thank you for helping us introduce Maplelea to so many more Canadian families!

What are fascinators?  They are smaller than a hat, but bigger than a hair decoration.  They are an English tradition, often worn on fancy occasions.  The reason they are fascinating is because you can be as creative as you like!  Feathers, beads, ribbons, fabric—use whatever craft materials you like to make it interesting.  The more outlandish, the better! 

Step 2:  You will need a base for your fascinator.  It can be felt or craft foam.  Use a circle about 2.5" inches in diameter for the doll, and about 3" - 3.5"inches in diameter for yours.

Step 3:  You will need a way to attach the base to your hair when you and your doll wear them.  You can either glue a bobby pin or plain hair clip on the back, or use concealed bobby pins once you are finished.

Step 4:  Then, be creative with your decorations.  If you would like a mini veil to hang down on one side like our blue one, cut an oval out of sheer fabric or tulle (netting) that is about twice the size of your circle.  Attach with a dab of glue to your base.

For our blue one we made two flower shapes out of silk flower petals.

Then we added beads in the centre of the flower.

For our pink one we first attached several long feathers.

Sheer fabric was gathered to make a poof.

Finally beads were glued on in the centre.

Step 5:  Once the glue has set, attach them to the side of your head at a jaunty angle and you and your doll are ready for a Royal Wedding or a Spring Tea Party.  Have fun!

At Maplelea we often hear from our customers.  From their letters, emails and posts we know that there are Maplelea fans of all ages.  Shannon Gair is an adult whose beautiful photography we have featured in the Fan Photography section of our website.  Shannon has graciously offered to share, in her own words, her Maplelea story.

A Doll for Mom

A Doll for Mom is exactly how I became an adult doll lover.  I grew up as a child loving my dolls and doll play, and my own mom enjoyed them along with my sister and myself.  In fact, some of the best years of our doll play with our mom was in our teen years.  Those were days of film cameras and no online stores.  Still, my mom would instigate my sister and I into dressing all the dolls, lining them up and taking photos of them.  In those days of no internet, my mom was a subscriber to the Western Producer Newspaper.  Through the paper she was able to find contacts to custom order doll outfits.  We had “I Dream of Genie” outfits, pantsuits, Western, pioneer, Spanish, and everyday play outfits for our dolls.  (Not just our dolls but my mom’s dolls too.)  I didn’t know it at the time, but those were the best of times.  Sharing, laughing, engaged and talking with my mom through my teen years.

Time moves on.  I moved away, houses got sold, I got married, concrete bits of my young years got lost through the march of time.  The memories of those precious times with my mom lay dormant in my mind, until I had a little girl of my own.  I wanted her to enjoy dolls as I did growing up.  However, she had no interest in dolls.  I’d put a baby doll into her little arms and she would let it fall down to the ground.  My Little Pony, Game Boy Pet Shop, and the popular dress up stuffs dominated her life, and I was sad.  Then one day she and I were invited to a dance classmate’s birthday party.  The moms introduced me to the 18-inch Maplelea Dolls.  The birthday girl was receiving Léonie that day.  I was entranced by the beautiful box, the soft long hair, the beautiful and high-quality clothing, and the Canadian fun and true education in the journal.  My daughter’s 9th birthday was just the next month and so I ordered Brianne for her.

To my surprise, my daughter bonded with Brianne immediately.  Brianne came everywhere with us.  I was so happy.  A year later Taryn joined her Brianne.  Then a couple of weeks before her 11th birthday my daughter asked me to NOT get her another doll.  I was devastated, but soon realized it wasn’t because of growing out of dolls, but because her two dolls meant so much to her.  They were her friends and companions.  Another doll would be too much for her.  I wanted so badly for her to get Jenna.  My father was born in Nova Scotia.  My son and daughter were highland dancers and Jenna had the most darling “Anne of Green Gables” outfit.  What was I going to do?  Now, I knew I could not get Jenna for her.  Then I thought…I’ll ask my mom (Grandma) to get it for her.  My mom’s immediate answer was a shocking and quickly said NO.  Then after a short pause she said, I’ll buy Jenna for you.  Christmas morning only two weeks after my daughter’s birthday, a huge present was under the tree for ME!  Upon opening it, not only was there a beautiful blue box with Jenna’s name on it, but the little boxes too, and lots of them.  Jenna’s snow suit, PJs, dress-up dress, highland dance outfit, and the gorgeous “Anne of Green Gables outfit”.  The best memory embedded in my mind that Christmas morning was the incredible excitement, pure joy, and the thrill that my daughter showed when I got that gift.

My mom is now gone.  I had not realized my mom’s wisdom she had in giving me a doll that Christmas morning.  Having my own doll with my daughter was a gift of sharing, laughing and creating with my daughter into her teen years and young adult life.  Parties, you tube movies, knitting, cooking and sewing, painting, and building, nothing that had to be done for a school project, family dinner, friend’s party.  Everything was imagination and fun.

A new year (this January) my daughter and I packed her dolls back into their beautiful boxes and into the trunk, with all their wonderful things.  She is moving into her busy adult life, connecting with friends, studying, working, making important decisions that will be her future.  I understand these wonderful days together with her will lay dormant in her mind over the years.  Her dolls lay on a siesta in the silver trunk.  My plan is to, every once in a while, slip in a little blue box with a brand-new outfit for Brianne and Taryn for future surprises.  Their little blue journals hold not only Taryn and Brianne’s stories, but the precious magical life stories on my 9 and 10 year-old daughter.  Then …. I stand in my daughter’s bedroom, and I see Brianne and Taryn quietly standing and smiling at me on the shelf.  I smile, being reassured that another generation of doll, imagination, joy, creating, and mother-daughter bonding is yet to come.

Meanwhile… my husband and I are, so to say, going to town, with enjoying dolls.  We built a doll house and we go on excursions to get a photo of the doll in a magical spot in Canada.  The dolls motivate us to do things together, such as hikes, canoeing, snowshoeing and so on.  I’ve made friends from all over the world through the internet.  My daughter comes in to inspect and oversee what the two of us have created.  She smiles, she laughs, and gives advice.  My son, seemingly uninterested will waltz on by, because he knows that Jenna will one day be for his little girl, and in her journal I have written all about his life when he was 11. 

Shannon Gair

THE FIRST EVER Maplelea FAMILY Model Search is NOW CLOSED. Thank you to everyone who applied! 

It's a family affair! Have you ever thought about how much fun it would be to have your whole family in matching pajamas, from oldest to youngest, including your Maplelea doll?  Even your pet pooch can match.  Well, Maplelea is making unisex pajamas and we need a family to model them! 

WHAT ARE WE LOOKING FOR? 

A Canadian family who is proud to rep the Maplelea brand.  Moms, dads, toddlers, teenagers, grandparents, brothers, sisters…whoever you consider to be your family.  Ideally our Maplelea family will be comprised of 5-7 members so we can sufficiently show the range of sizes, and the universal appeal of the very Canadian pajama design. Having a dog in the family is not necessary, but is a bonus!  

HOW TO APPLY: 

1.  Take or select 3-5 recent photos of your family.  At least one photo must have all family members together in one shot. At least one photo must include a family member with your family’s favourite doll. Professional photos are NOT required.  Phone photos are fine. If you have a well-behaved, mid to small size dog who could model a matching bandana, you are welcome to include him/her in your application.

 2.  Open the application (PDF) < click to open.  Save the PDF to your hard drive.  Fill out the application.  Be sure to save to your hard drive when you are finished. 

3.  Create an email, and attach the completed PDF.  (Double check that all your information was saved in the PDF.

4.  Attach your 3 to 5 photos to the email. (Ensure that when photos open, they are right side up!)  

5.  In the email subject line, please include  “Family Model Application - _______________ Family” (put your family surname in the blank.) 

6.  Send the email to castingcall@maplelea.com.  This must be submitted by May 27th, 2018.  

7.  Alternatively, you can print out the application, attach printed photos and mail it to Maplelea, 1145 Nicholson Road, Unit #3, Newmarket, ON L3Y 9C3.  It must arrive no later than May 27, 2018.

There is no cost to apply.

THE SELECTION PROCESS:

1. Maplelea will select a family based on their submitted photos and application. The family will not be required to attend a casting call. However, the whole group will need to be available during the day June 28th, 2018 to travel to Newmarket and participate in a Photo Shoot with a professional photographer. 
2. A dog is not necessary but all members of the family must be comfortable with a dog being part of the Photo Shoot.
3. The Photo Shoot will last approximately 3 to 4 hours.  We will be taking both group and individual shots.
4. The family chosen to model will receive a $400 Maplelea Gift Card at the end of the Photo Shoot. There will be no further compensation unless retained to model again for Maplelea at another time.
5. Applications not accepted for the June 28, 2018 Photo Shoot will be kept on file for 12 months.  One or more families may be contacted at a later time if a further need arises for a family to model for Maplelea over the coming year.

PLEASE NOTE:

1. Maplelea will have the right to use your first names publicly with the photo, along with a general geographic description.  Ie. Family pajamas are modelled by Neal, Chris, Riley, Taylor and Jordan of Toronto, ON, or Modelled by …….of York Region, ON.  You can choose how your location is identified
2. Photos taken in Maplelea’s Photo Shoot may be used for any and all marketing purposes by Maplelea (Avonlea Traditions Inc.) including in digital and print advertisements and editorial.
3. Photos taken of models at a Photo Shoot may be used an unlimited number of times by Avonlea Traditions Inc., in perpetuity, without further compensation.
4. Maplelea may select a sub-set of the family submitted in the application.  We will discuss this with you before you accept the modelling assignment.
5. There is no guarantee that a Maplelea model’s photo will be used in marketing campaigns even if a Photo Shoot is done.
6. The selection of models and photographs used for publication are at the sole discretion of Maplelea.  

Thank you for considering this opportunity!