L'epicerie

So, after the flower shop, here is an update on the grocery shop. Well, really it's more like an epicerie in the french way, a fine boutique with delicatessen from the world.

The shop is developed on two floors, The bottom, where customers can go and purchase deli food, and the top, where ideally they can sit down and have a bite before continuing with their shopping.

You can see a close up of the butcher's counter, with many meaty items made by...erm, sorry I can't remember who!, but not me as I'm not that patient when it comes to fimo sculpting :) The only items which I made myself are the eggs, the sausages, and the feathered bird on the right hand side. You can also notice in the background a selection of pickles, all hand made and bottled by me.

Then, on this counter you can see some pasta which I made out of fimo clay, and some of which I also packaged into some glass containers with the Italian flag colours around as decoration.

Finally, on the table, some handmade savoury items made by me (including the dishes): all the tomato sauce pasta, all the pesto pasta, and the pasta salad; and some bought ones: the chicken and skewer with meat and peppers.

I hope you'll like it!

Hydrangeas

I'm definitely in a flower making mood! Here are some miniature hydrangeas which I made in the past few days. I so love these flowers!

Flowers shop - update

Here I am, it's been a long time since I've last shown you my flowers shop. I've been slowly filling it with all sorts of flowers, ranging from ready bought wedding-favours-style ones, to the beautiful ones from Pascale Garnier. Well, ideally it'd be nice to have only handmade flowers in the shop; but as it'll take a long time to achieve that, and I don't want to see an empty shop during the next few years, I've had to use some quick fixes, right?!

So anyways, on with the pictures! I hope you'll enjoy them.

I've also made the typical tin vases from cardboard...

And my latests army of tulips, from Pascale Garnier's kits.

Antique's shop

A big thank you to everyone who took the time and welcomed me back, either by posting a message here on this blog, or by sending me an email. It really means a lot to me! Thank you!

Since I showed you a picture of my antiques shop in the previous post, I've decided it wouldn't do any harm to explore it a bit more.

You can see here below a detail of the lamp which beautifully hangs from the ceiling. In the background of the same picture you can also see the armchair made by me ages ago! And also some shell decorations which I made inspired after a trip to the sea in southern Italy. 

In the second picture you can see some candelabras and art deco lights I made. And also a close up of the fake stone details. Made out of egg carton boxes, painted with some sand mixed into the acrylic. 

Then a few details of what's on the table. Some tatted centrepieces, a shell box (again made after the sea trip), a doll under a dome, and much more. 

And just so you know, I made the stairs myself, using a wooden fan (well, maybe 3 fans), which I skilfully dismantled and cut into small pieces, following an online tutorial (sorry I can't remember which one). 

Well, I hope you've enjoyed this pics! See you soon with the next shop!

A long silence

Yes, dear fellow readers, it's been over one and a half year since I've last blogged. Unfortunately right after my last post back in 2013 a lot of things happened in my life. I didn't have nor the time nor the willingness to share my passion on this blog.  It got to a point where I thought I had hit the bottom. And nope, I went further down. I suffered some irreplaceable losses. I then somehow found  some strength and got back on my feet, but it's been tough and long. Hence my silence on this blog.
I will dare say that life has finally taken a positive turn,  though many things still need shaping. If you get what I mean. After all 'homo faber fortunae suae ' .
I've resumed works on the big mall. And I'm planning to show you in my future posts all the  changes that have been going on.
You'll have to forgive me for the quality of the pics that I will post, but I'm down to my phone.

As a teaser, I'll post one picture right now. For you to enjoy!

Cats and miniatures

 I do not know why my cat loves miniatures so much. She's been attempting to get inside the shops several times...Luckily the perspex panels were there to save me (and the miniatures of course!).

Not to mention that every time I pull out my craft tools (miniature related and not), she comes there to keep a close eye on what I do, and she tries to help...

Fimo...well...that's a different topic on its own, she loves the smell and taste (!!) of it. I've gotta be very careful every time I pull my clay out. I can't ever leave it unattended, or she'll eat it. No kidding.

Anyways I thought you might enjoy these pics, fresh from last night. At least it gives me the opportunity to show you part of the structure of the shopping arcade. As you can see, it stands on two floors, on top of a massive wooden cube. You can see the top gallery to the top left, millinery shop to the top right. Turning around the corner (top floor) there's a haberdashery-shop-to-be, while right below you can kind of see the florist. Oh, yeah, you can also see where the patisserie is located.

The structure has shops all around the 4 sides, in a way it's like Queen Mary's Doll House as you can walk all around it. One day I'll show you better pics of the whole shopping arcade. But for the time being enjoy these photos with my cat in action.

Have a good weekend,

Lucia

Happy Easter!

Just a quick post today to wish you all a very happy Easter.
Also, welcome to my new followers, I hope you'll enjoy my blog!
Enjoy your day! Xxx

P.S. Sorry for my blurry pics but I've used my phone today.

The florist

Hello!

Just a quick update today on my flower shop. It's still far from being finished, but at least there's some flowers adding a bit of color :)

There's some ugly looking flowers I made out of fimo years ago too, I'm keeping them as a memento tho. And then there are some plants made out of plastic fake stuff, and some proper flowers made out of english miniature kits too. But as you can see I possibly need a hundred more of these pots and vases, all filled with pretty flowers :)

I hope you'll enjoy your weekend ahead!

Mini elephants!

I so think these little elephants are so cute :) I made them out of a kit I bought at Miniatura last year. Don't ask me whose kit it is, as I've totally forgot already...erm...sorry! I fell in love with these elephants immediately, but somehow the kit I purchased to make them was left in a drawer for so long. Finally though my elephants have come to life, and I'm really happy about them, they're so cute :) They'll be a nice addition to my toys shop.

Have a nice weekend!

Grocery shop

Hello,

Today I'm taking you on a tour of my unfinished grocery store, part of my shops arcade of course!

As you can see, the grocery store is on two floors, with the second being a terrace where customers can seat and enjoy some delicatessen. But you'll just have to use your imagination for the time being :) What you see on the terrace at the moment is just pure clutter (things that I have to finish for the grocery shop...one day!). 

Next is a close up of the arches in the shop. I've decorated them with some sheep (coming from a nativity scene package) and some shells (which I picked at the sea ages ago). 

From the pic here below you can clearly see the clutter on the terrace, ermmm....just pretend it's not there, ok?!

And finally a close up of the shelf I made myself for the shop. Now all I have to do is make LOADS of grocery items so that I can stock up this shop!

I apologize for the right mess in this shop, but at least you can see some work in progress ;)

I hope you'll all have a lovely week ahead!

xxx