Somewhere off in space, near the Sweetshifters homeland, there's been a disturbance - there seems to be a great influx of trash and littering...!
But what could have caused this? Stay tuned, for a new event in the semi-near future.

(AKA, we had an April Fools event planned, but due to various circumstances and schedule issues we don't have it done on time - between work, school, and theo moving in with me, we have been VERY EXTRAORDINARILY BUSY so please wait a week or so for the event to drop, and when it does please pretend its still April 1st. Thank you for your patience! We look forward to finishing this for you <3)

We finally dropped the Valentine's adopts!! Sorry for the delay - we both ended up being very busy on the day of... but here they are!! Click on the image or link to go straight to the page :]

https://toyhou.se/25828425.valentine-adopts-open-44 - Wraether's Adopts

https://toyhou.se/25828433.late-valentine-adopts-44 - Virtubear's Adopts

Happy Valentine's Day from the Sweetshifter staff!!

This year, YOU'RE all our valentines ❤️ We've put out some new banner art featuring Winnie and Poppy alongside our mascots, and we have a brand new drawing prompt for everyone as well! For this event, the drawing prompt is...
💘 DRAW YOUR SWEETSHIFTER GIVING OR RECEIVING A VALENTINE! 💖
Romantic or friendly, candy or cards, anything is fair game! I'd also love to see people design the valentines cards that their Sweetshifter might give if anyone's into that :D Comment on this bulletin with your entries, and we look forward to seeing what you guys do! (Plus... you can enter even after Valentine's is over, don't worry!)

We'll also be dropping some Valentines-themed adoptables later today! I'll also be posting a separate bulletin later for our featured entries from the Winter Wonderland drawing prompt <3 Please look forward to that - some of the entries were so adorable!!!

For the final day of our Winter Wonderland Advent event, I present to you all something you've been asking for since before the species even launched...

A discord server!

Now, as an FYI the server doesn't have that many channels yet and is in more of a testing phase. We're not sure if we'll have the time to run it, or how exactly we're planning on running it. We're not even sure how many of you/how fast you'll join.
(IE, there's no meme channel, no place for fandom discussions, etc.) We're both unfortunately experienced discord mods, though, so it's not in a state of Disaster or anything.

Just know that new channels may be added / current ones deleted, and if it proves to be too difficult to manage on our own we may either look into getting volunteer moderators OR changing the server
structure so there's less things to moderate and it's easier to manage OR axing it entirely.

Still, we hope you have fun in there chatting and linking up! (And hopefully it's not unbearably busy after the first couple days...)

Please be patient with us in there! This is a kind of big undertaking for just two people, when our world has over 400 members. It may not be everything you're expecting. But happy new year guys!!

Today's advent gift is unconventional, but I figured everyone loves a sweet drink! So, I'll be sharing how I make hot cocoa :) It's easy to make  from scratch and it's much, much better than instant mixes.
This recipe is as simplified as it gets & intended for eyeball-ing measurements. That way, you can customize it to your liking. Be sure to taste as you go!

You will need: Unsweetened cocoa powder, milk (preferably whole but any kind works), sweetener of choice, and vanilla extract. Optionally, instant coffee.

1.) Turn stove onto medium heat.

2.)  Add about 2 or 3 spoons of cocoa powder to a small pot. Regular kitchen spoons do, and don't bother leveling off the top - you want that shit heaping.

3.) Add milk until it's just enough to cover the cocoa powder. Whisk cocoa powder and milk together until relatively combined. (It might take a sec, cocoa powder is hydrophobic, which is why you only use a bit of milk at first. It makes it easier to mix. Break apart any small lumps of powder that form and keep at it you'll get it to be Good Enough)

4.) Add MORE milk (usually like a cup or two) until it looks like a good amount of hot cocoa. I know these are vague measurements, but use your eyes here - does it LOOK like there's enough hot cocoa to fill two mugs? If not, add more milk.

5.) Once the hot cocoa is starting to heat up (not boiling, just steaming) turn the heat down, add a small splash of vanilla extract, and sweeten to your liking. (I'll be honest, I don't even know how much sugar I usually add to it. I just add in a couple spoonfuls, stir, taste, and then add more until it tastes good to me.)

6.) Pour into mugs, top with whatever you want (marshmallows, whipped cream, a candy cane, etc.) I like cool whip :)

This recipe may feel imprecise because it lacks specific measurements, but the idea is to know How to make hot cocoa so you can scale it to any size/do it without the recipe pulled up.
It's about the process, not measurements, which is why you'll want to taste as you go. Not chocolatey enough? Add more cocoa. Not sweet enough? More sugar. Too sweet/chocolatey/needs to be "milder"? More milk. So on and so forth.
Cook with your eyes and mouth fr - I think with simple recipes it's good to know the basic steps instead of just following a super specific guide. After all, you might like your hot cocoa sweeter than I do!!

You can also add a spoon of instant coffee. It adds caffeine AND brings out the flavor. (& if you're old enough to drink and wanting a new years eve treat, try adding something like bailey's)

Let me know if you make it! And check back in tomorrow for the last gift of the event <3

I've made two fullbody sweetshifter designs (NOT on the chibi base) for today's advent gift :D The first one is a free to enter raffle, and the second one will be offer to adopt. I hope you like them both.

Peppermint ram is intended to be a tall, feminine character who is sleepy yet refined.
I was going for something shy, bookish, and sweet - a cozy dreamer!

Tsundere penguin is intended to be an androgynous, grouchy student with a soft spot for oreo cookies.
I was going for something pouty and grouchy but still totally squishable.

Of course, these are just what I had in mind when designing the characters. You'd be welcome to do whatever you'd like with them should they end up being yours.
Please check out their individual listings for more information, and be sure to check in tomorrow!

Today, I've made two completely free to use winter-themed bases for the community.

Check out their listing for download information!

They're for personal use only (so please don't make adopts with them)  but you're welcome to use them for any sort of character, even if they're not a sweetshifter.
The first one is a little character holding up a present, and the second is someone sipping from a warm mug.

Be sure to check back tomorrow for more gifts!!!

Today, we're raffling off a slot for a custom sweetshifter. It's  completely free to enter!

More information is on the raffle's listing!

(We're  still working on setting up a shop for custom designs, and we've got a decent amount of graphics made - we're not entirely sure when it'll be  ready to launch,
so please be patient, but it should hopefully be within the next few months! Thank you all for your patience on that front)

Be sure to check in tomorrow to see what's new!

Like last event, virtubear and I have collaborated to make twenty winter-themed gacha adopts.
They made the base, and we each made ten designs. The last batch had a very positive reception, so we hope you  like these too!

More details are on their listing!

Additionally, here's a question about adopts: What's everyone's preference for them? Gacha adopts, flatsales, or something else entirely?

It's less taxing to make a larger number of gacha adopts, and we find the interactivity of rolling more engaging and fun,
which is why we've  been doing them - but we know it's not everyone's preference. Some people prefer flatsale. Unfortunately,
it's difficult to make more than a couple of those at a time. The ones we made on launch day sold within an hour, which feels a little unfair
to anyone in a different timezone/etc so I'm not entirely sure how we should go about those.

Going forward, what would you like to see from adopts? Let us know ^_^ and be sure to check in tomorrow!

WINTER WONDERLAND ADVENT!

(Banner art features Labkatt's Danish & Espresso in addition to our mascots. Thank you for participating in the last prompt!)

Hello everyone! We hope you're having a wonderful winter so far & that you're staying nice and warm (or, alternatively, keeping cool for those in the southern hemisphere)
We've put together an event  for the countdown to new years for some much needed holiday cheer :D

From now until January 1st, we'll be dropping daily gifts to our community. They range from small treats like recipes to a whole new batch of adopts.
Be sure to check in every day to see what the next  present is!

Today, we're posting the new seasonal prompt and boosting a few  submissions from last event.
We really enjoyed seeing your Malloween illustrations! Here's a couple we've selected to feature:

Ziggy_peach's drawing of Spicy Candy as Erza Scarlet from Fairy Tail and Matcha Latte as Rainbow Dash from MLP, and aurorapyrrhic's Indra as boombox from phighting!

The theme this time is...

❄️ DRAW YOUR SWEETSHIFTER HAVING FUN IN THE SNOW! ❄️
(Or being cold, miserable, and grumpy if that's more fitting)

For this theme, we're encouraging you to design alternate winter outfits  for your character so they
can be all cutely bundled up for the cold.  Not every sweetshifter is used to the weather on earth!

Please comment on the bulletin with your art, so we know you  participated - a random few will be selected to have their characters  drawn in our next banner illustration. There is no deadline for this.

See you tomorrow! \(^o^)/