Miniature crafting challenge 6 : Feeling pretty . STORY: Spring has arrived at the dress shop.

Dear Readers:

"Feeling pretty" was the theme for the latest forum crafting challenge. Delicate lace, soft florals, pastel colours, lovely dresses or anything that feels pretty would fit into this challenge.

Inspired by these suggestions and the arrival of spring ,I decided to make some dresses for Salome´s dress shop.
Discover the new Spring collection in this story:

Spring has arrived at the dress shop.

The new Spring collection has just arrived at Salome´s dress shop. Cecil Maces is taking some pictures for a Sylvanian´s ladies´ magazine.

The poster on the window shop grabbed Jane Seadog´s attention and she dragged her husband Horatio to the shop.

Jane didn´t take long to making up her mind about which dress she wanted.
Salome suggested her to wear a hat and a satin and lace bag to complement her look.

"How do I look?" Jane asked.
"You look beautiful, my lady".

The dress shop poster also caught Olivia Butler´s and her daughter Angeles´ attention.
"Let´s go in. It´s time to get rid of this boring uniform once and for all".

Last time Olivia visited Salome´s shop she couldn´t find the right dress for her.
She just hoped not all the new spring dresses were as revealing at the top as the one on the mannequin.She was looking for something much more discreet but still femenine.

Angeles saw a pink floral dress that would match her mother´s requirements.
"Why don´t you try this dress on, mum? It will look lovely on you".
"I agree.Come on, try it on!" Salome encouraged Olivia who seemed to be a bit undecided.
"I also have a bag and a hat that match this dress". Salome added.

"I can´t hardly recognize myself" Olivia exclaimed when she saw her image in the mirror.

"You look so pretty,mum!"

 Olivia was very pleased with her new look and in a very good mood.
"Angeles, love, would you like to try on a dress? Olivia asked her daughter who had already set her eyes on the pink dress on the mannequin.

"Aww, you look adorable"! Salome and Olivia said at the same time.

Holly Golightly got all excited when she saw that the new spring collection was available.
She wanted to buy a new dress for the annual gathering of Sylvanian dance teachers.

Unlike Olivia, Holly fell in love straight away with the shape of the neckline and the frills and lace of the blue and white dress at the window shop.
"Salome, do you possibly have it in my size?" Holly asked as soon as she entered the shop.
"Look, mum! matching shoes and handbag too"

"I´m sure it will fit you perfectly. I´ll take it off the mannequin so that you can try it on. 

Both Salome and Tiffany complimented on Holly´s looks.

"I love it too!I was just wondering if you have a shawl in case it gets a bit chilly in the evening".

"I think that either this shawl or that blue cape will go well with this dress, Holly".

 "What do you think, Tiffany?"
"Mum, you always look great, no matter what you´re wearing!"

"Shall we go in and have a look , mum?" Rose asked Adrianne.
"Why not, let´s just pop in to say hello to Salome and have a quick look around the shop. Let´s go in, Rosa"

"Hi, Salome! We are just going to have a look at the new spring dresses, if you don´t mind". 
" Not at all! Feel free to try on whatever you like".

"Mum, look at this dress! Isn´t it lovely?"
"It is indeed!, Rosa". 

"Did you know this dress was designed by Stella Chocolate?" Salome pointed out.
"Really?" Adrianne and Rosa exclaimed in surprise.
"Then , Eleanor Bramble turned Stella´s design into this cute and stylish dress" Salome explained.  

While Rosa was trying on the dress in the dressing room, Adrianne was having a look at the new arrivals.
"You have brought lovely clothes and bags, Salome. I´m tempted to try on one of these outfits"

"Wow,Rosa! You look like a princess!" Adrianne said as she complimented  her daughter on her looks.

"Do you like this hair accessory ,Rosa?"

Now, it´s Adrianne´s turn to try on clothes. Meanwhile, Rosa is browsing a fashion magazine

and Salome is placing a mannequin with a new dress at the window shop

Adrianne tried on several dresses until she found the dress, the one she liked the most.
"Maroon is my favourite colour " She said.
"It really flatters you,Adrianne" Salome complimented.

"These bags complement your outfit Adrianne. Which one do you prefer? The bags are half  price when you buy a matching dress".

"I´d love to get a little bag, too. Would you mind showing me the one in that corner, Salome?" Rosa asked pointing at one of the bags on the shelf.

Great!.Good choice, Rosa. It suits the colours of your dress perfectly.

"Good afternoon, ladies!" Cecil greeted cheerfully. I was wondering if you wouldn´t mind posing for a short photo shoot.
The magazine Sylvanian ladies today wants to publish an article about dress shops in Sylvanian villages. The idea is to show that small shops have a personal touch, charm and 
stylish and quality outfits that are nothing to envy the ones one can find at department stores in  big towns.
I think Salome´s shop is a good example of all this.
I´ve already taken some pictures of dresses on their hangers this  morning and I hope you don´t mind my praise but they look much better on you, ladies".

"Thank you, Cecil.Compliments accepted.
I agree. We should support our small local businesses.I´ve been in Town several times and even though, I must admit, I love the Grand Department Store, I prefer shopping at Salome´s shop.Today, we just came in to have a quick look to the new collection and we ended up dressed up from top to bottom.

Let´s be models for a day! Go ahead Cecil, take a picture of us." Adrianne said.

"Smile!"

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Sewing is not my strengh but I´d like to thank you  Emily,who runs the blog Dandelion Creek for her Very simple dress tutorial.

For the first time ,I was able to make a proper dress (actually three dresses) following her steps. By proper dress I mean a dress made using needle and thread instead of glue.

My first attempt , some time ago, shortly after Emily posted her tutorial, was the red  dress on the mannequin but for this challenge I made Jane´s  dress and Olivia´s dress following the same tutorial.

For the rest of the outfits I just used pieces of lace and frills and double sided tape; no time for proper sewing if I wanted to have the story ready before the deadline.

I also made some bags.The idea of using these binder clips for making bags is not mine. I saw it long ago in Pinterest and I was looking forward to giving it a go.

Hope you enjoyed visiting Salome´s dress shop.

Thank you very much for reading and for your 

kind comments.

A big hug!

Crafting miniature challenge 5 : Yum!

Dear Readers,

The theme this time for the forum crafting challenge was food related: kitchens, cooking, restaurants, food or eating.

I would have loved to make all the dishes from the Harvester Restaurant menu out of fimo but lack of time and my limited skills to work with polymer clay made me change my mind even before starting.

Then, my real life inspired me to make some miniatures.

A few days ago I left a glass bowl, some eggs and a whisk on the kitchen counter.

I left the kitchen for a minute and when I came back the eggs were broken on the floor.

My three year old son wanted to help me cook!
I recreated that scene at the Kennelworths´ kitchen.I have the feeling Dorothy didn´t get as mad as I did.

I made the eggs with a tiny bit of orange clay and white glue. I knew this glue looked nearly transparent after drying because I had use it for some school art projects.
Here you have the before and after pictures.

For the the broken egg shell I used a bit of white air dry clay. I used the back of a paintbrush to give it shape.

The whisk is quite simple. I wanted to add one more piece of wire but I wasn´t able to do it( and I tried hard!). 

I didn´t take pictures of the process but maybe this picture can give you and idea of how I made it.

A few days later, I made another one.

Look at the size difference between a real one and the mini whisks.

As far as I remember, a whisk is not included in any sylvanian set. I think it is very useful considering most sylvanians like making and baking cakes and biscuits.
Dorothy Kennelworth is one of them.

Today , she had just taken a sponge cake out of the oven and now she is about to bake some chocolate chips cookies.

I don´t remember either any kitchen sets that include a cookie jar so I decided to make a couple of them. If Sylvanians like baking cookies there should have a place to store them (apart from their tummies, of course!)

I also made some chocolate chip cookies out of polymer clay.

Which jar do you think will go to the Kennelworths´s kitchen? 

That was easy!

Who wants a cookie?

For the see through one I use the top of a small spray and grey foam that I painted with silver nail varnish.

The Kennelworths´cookie jar is made out of a red felt tip pen that didn´t work any more.

Then, I printed the label and made the top with red foam painted in red nail varnish.

A few days ago, I asked some of my pupils to classify the felt tip pens we had in class by colours and check if they all work properly.
Some of them didn´t paint any more but I didn´t throw them away. Instead I used them to make some minis.
What do you think of these mugs and the cocoa podwer plastic jar?

Freya and Clara think there´s nothing more comforting than a mug of hot cocoa after a school day.

Even better if there is also a plate of just baked cookies. I made the plate removing and painting the plastic of a metal bottle cap.

I´m afraid Dorothy will have to bake more cookies soon.Oscar will help her, ha,ha!

The mugs and the cocoa plastic jar are also made out of felt tip pens and they can be filled.I lost the cocoa box it came with the supermarket and I made this jar to replace it.

I followed this tutorial

Steps for making the mugs.

A coordinated set. 

I love the tiny mugs!I decorated this one with washi tape.

Nancy Waters who saw me making these miniatures asked me to make some canisters for her kitchen. Once again, a felt tip pen, a bit of foam and washi tape turned these simple materials  into storage canisters.

They are similar to the ones we had in our kitchen when I was a young girl.

Nancy Waters is also happy with her new whisk. Today she is using it to make whipped cream.

Strawberries and cream!

(I made some strawberries out of polymer clay, the cream is body lotion)

Yum! Enjoy them, Nancy!

Thanks for reading!

A big hug!