Sunday 4 May 2014

Welcome to Samhain Sweets

I finished my entry into the Undersized Urbanite competition at 2AM this morning. Prepare to be bombarded with LOTS of photos.

Located smack dab in the centre of the village of Samhain (pronounced so-wen) where every day is Halloween.



The Outside

I was lucky enough to have a nice sunny day today for taking pictures. The last few days have been rainy but today was lovely. Using the good camera and natural light makes quite a big difference to the quality of the photos, who knew? Well probably everybody but me.





 The bricks, stones and concrete pavers were all made from egg cartons. The shingles came with the kit and were individually painted before being applied to the roof.


 The garbage bin houses the battery for the lights. Unfortunately when I got everything plugged in only 2 of the 3 lights worked. For about a minute then 1 of them died. So only the light above the door works. I'm not sure what I can do about it. For now I'll take the Scarlet O'Hara approach and think about it tomorrow.


 The plants were made using aquarium plants, florist wire and acrylic paints. The planters are made to fit over the legs of chairs but when I saw them they looked just like terracotta planters so that's what they are now.




 The Kitchen 

 The kitchen looks quite bare to me. I had to skip over many details I had planned for this room. I started the build 10 weeks ago but about 5 weeks ago the real world decided to interfere and demand my attention. Then the flu hit. I was unable to do anything mini for 3 whole weeks! Sometimes reality sucks.










The Shop

This is my favorite part of the building. Each of the cakes, cookies and lollies were hand made from polymer clay. The "factory" packaged products were made by printing images of wrappers and folding, gluing and stuffing each package.















 I did buy a few things but most of what you see was hand made. In many cases I used tutorials by some of the many talented miniaturists kind enough to share their experience. I will be thanking them individually in an upcoming post, it's going to take me a short while to compile a list. I really need to post this before I manage to lose the photos or somehow destroy the internet completely.

Having said that there is one person that I must thank right now. My talented and patient daughter Christine (christinevalentine.com) Thank-you not only for designing the store logo, the chocolate boxes and lolly packets but for putting food in front of me 3 times a day and making sure I ate it. For putting up with my mood swings when I didn't think I could get it completed. For not complaining that every conversation you have had with me since the beginning was about miniatures. Most of all Thank-you for not once saying "It's only a doll house". I Love you.

To those of you who made it to the end of my very long post Thank-you.

Now I'm off to see to my 1:1 scale house, oh boy, what a mess!





19 comments:

  1. Your work is absolutely amazing!

    I love your build the details are mind boggling with the printies and candied choices. I would just have to sit by this wonderful build and stare at the amazing bits and pieces you placed in it, like the cotton candy and the banana candies in the jar and gummy worms.

    I do hope you do a detailed post about the creation process and hopefully a tutorial or two ;)

    Fantastic! ~J

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  2. Thank-you so much Jane. Your comments made my day. Anybody reading this really must check out Jane's entry it's fantastic!

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  3. Wow!! I absolutely love your project, and it came out amazing! I like how inclusive you were in everything, from the bolts of wrapping paper to the rubbish bin outside...every inch has something going on :-) Something for me to strive for, and I was glad I got to see your piece! If you plan to keep blogging, I intend to keep visiting :-)

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    1. Thank-you Elizabeth I'm so glad you like it. I do have plans to start a new build in the next few days. Now that I have a place to keep all the little boos and ghouls happy, my next project will be somewhere for the groan-ups to hang out.

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  4. I am still trying to pick my jaw off the floor...
    This is mind-boggling amazing! the attention to detail is magnificent! And you've managed to make me hungry with fake food...
    I'm speechless...simply speechless

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    1. Thank-you Lena, such a lovely compliment. I'm not sure what possessed me to make a sweet shop, I don't have a sweet tooth and I don't cook. So a lolly shop and a kitchen? Just to prove how mad I am and to hint at my next build..... I don't drink either. :-)

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  5. This is so, SO gorgeous. (Terribly sorry I have been absent in the comments until now.) I can't believe you made almost everything there. You have made one of those miniatures that you'd never know wasn't life-size.

    PS: Your photos are beautiful too.

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    1. Thank-You Christina. I had a ball making it. Thank-you so much for putting the competition together, without it this little shop wouldn't exist. I'm pretty sure I'd still be staring at the white box I started with wondering what I should do.

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  6. what a wonderful sweet shop, good luck with the contest :)

    Hugs
    Marisa

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    1. Thank-you Marisa. It's really nice to know you like it.

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  7. The detail you have put into this is incredible! I love the inviting feel of this store and your skill in creating the details like the exterior is amazing.

    Anna (My Design Ethos)

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    1. Thank-You Anna. That means so much to me. You have really boosted my confidence.

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  8. Hi Annejuli! I seem to be pulling up the rear a lot lately and so I am only now discovering your miniature Eye Candy! As I write this I know that you have already Won the Undersized Urbanite contest in your Newbie Category so CONGRATULATIONS!!!
    There is no question as this is one Extraordinary build. Your Incredible details both inside and out are "Practically Perfect in Every Way" Indeed, there is nothing that can be added to it or taken away from it. It is well planned and the fact that all of the baking and candy making is your own work is mind boggling!
    Your cotton candy floss looks exactly like it as do the gummy worms, the lollies and all of the cello packs that you have so painstakingly made. WOW!!!
    Super Impressive and mouth-wateringly Good! A FABULOUS display both inside and out!
    Now, while I am here..... is it possible to sample one of everything? :D

    elizabeth

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    1. As it happens it is possible to sample everything... and for free! I realized after the photos were taken that I forgot to put the register drawer under the computer keyboard as planned. Be careful though or you may not get back out the little door!

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  9. Annejuli, Samhain Sweets is a fabulous project full of wonderful detail inside and out. It is great you have made so much yourself. Congratulations on your well deserved win. I hope you will keep up with your blog and we will see many more wonderful projects from you. I think we would all love to be let loose in a shop like that. That cotton candy is looking good!

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    1. Thank-You so much. I had so much fun making it all there's no stopping me now I've already started my next project and a 3rd kit is on the shelf waiting for me. Hello, I'm Annejuli and I'm a mini addict.

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  10. :) This is fabulous, and it takes me back to when I used to visit a Sweets Shop with my parents when I was little...as a child I was amazed then, and as an adult this day observing all your attention to detail, it just amazes me. Well done and thank you for taking me back to a most precious time, now a memory :)

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  11. Wow, so much to look at, just like I like dollhouses =)
    Congratulations on winning =)
    Hannah

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  12. oh my goodness this is totally amazing, such attention to detail I am speechless T

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