Tuesday 31 January 2017

Commission update and Castle Museum charms

Hello again Littlest Sweet Shoppers!

Here is a short update regarding our recent work and commissions. 
A Littlest Sweet Shopper in America placed this order of sweets and gyoza for her dolls. I even made a huge Valentine's Day lollipop for her Blythe and Ruruko dolls are going to receive some sweet treats!
Commissioned items, gyozas and sweets. Includes bespoke lollipop for Blythe scale
There was also a custom commission for Castle Museum Norwich's gift shop. I designed 5 charms to represent the different exhibits in the museum. Each is unique and bespoke since they have all been handmade.
Castle Museum Norwich theme charm bracelet
Polar Bear charms
Wooden pain palette and brush charms
Norwich Castle charms
Scarab charms (to represent the mummy and Egyptian exhibit)
Blue Willow Suffolk teapots (from the teapot gallery)
That's all for now. If you are visiting Castle Museum in February, I hope you can check these charms out and support local businesses.

There will be so many new items for January so make sure you stick around. I have also been going 'LIVE' on Instagram so you can witness me spending hours making tiny miniature (fake)food. I usually go live when I'm doing something interesting but this week I have been sculpting popcorn and cereal so it's a bit boring for spectators. I will try to get back to it next week before we roll out all of the new miniatures.
See you soon, bye!

Monday 16 January 2017

2017 New arrivals - Gyoza, Pastel Heart Lollipops, Waffles and more!

Happy New Year Littlest Sweet Shoppers!

I got back straight to work when the new year started to create some new miniatures. Valentine's Day is fast approaching so we came up with some new sweets to celebrate the holiday.

Our first new item for the year are these gorgeous chocolate-dipped strawberries. We have strawberries and white strawberries for you to choose from. Strawberry halves are dipped into our finest dark chocolate to create something special for Valentine's Day.
Chocolate coated strawberries and white strawberries. Available now in the Valentine's Day menu
The strawberries look so cute and real! I used a technique from a Japanese book to create a new recipe to model strawberry halves.
Littlest Sweet Shop's chocolate-dipped strawberries up close
I modelled so many strawberries and decided to make a Strawberry Parfait using a real glass cup. 
Strawberry Parfait with glass cup. Available now in the Ice Cream menu
Because we use real glass containers, you can clearly see the layers of strawberry sauce, cookie crumbs, cream, and candy. Topped with whipped cream and garnished with strawberries.
Littlest Sweet Shop Parfaits has many layers
My in-laws gave us a waffle maker for Christmas so I have been enjoying so many waffles almost everyday! It inspired me to update our waffle recipe with a better version. Our new waffles are thinner, smaller and in perfect 1/6 miniature scale. Both sides are modelled for extra realism.
New waffles now available in the Breakfast menu
We have plenty of other items that you can mix and match with from the Breakfast menu.
Buttered waffles with streaky bacon
Delicious waffles are also be served with some fresh fruits and a touch of cream.
Waffle in icing sugar with blueberries and raspberries. Waffle with Strawberry and cream
I love gyozas from a Teppanyaki restaurant I used to go to. I love how crispy the skin was and the delicious flavour of the meat filling. At Littlest Sweet Shop we make sure our gyoza is not too oily and taste perfect!
Littlest Sweet Shop Gyoza (Japanese dumpling). Available now in the Japanese menu
I had literally made each one from scratch including the gyoza skin! It took many attempts and practise until I was able to fold each miniature pleat (video on our Instagram and Facebook). You can also order uncooked gyozas if you would like your dolls to cook them instead. Gyozas can be steamed or fried.
Gyoza skins and a tray of raw gyoza
Littlest Sweet Shop is now equipped with a big commercial cast iron cooker from Germany. So many different miniature foods can now be prepared in our shop!
Remember to fry until brown and crispy
Gyozas are usually served with soy sauce (I like it with some chili sauce). Green tea is a refreshing way to wash down the savoury goodness.  
Gyoza now available in the Japanese menu. Don't forget the chopsticks!
Littlest Sweet Shop's Valentine's Day candy
These mini pastel hearts are so sweet and perfect to share with everyone. Love Hearts come in 5 pastel colours.
Love Hearts available in the Valentine's Day menu
These new heart lollipops are so sweet (just like Harumi's ballet outfit). It looks just like real hard candy because of the translucency and gloss.
Red Heart Lollipop and Dark Red heart Lollipop. Available now in the Valentine's Day menu.
They even come in 4 sweet pastel colours
Pastel Heart lollipops.
And last but not least, an elegant new Chocolate Dome cake. Each cake is coated in glossy chocolate and garnished with gold confectionery. The base is a thick biscuit and comes in 2 sizes.
Chocolate dome cakes now available in the Cakes menu
Single serving chocolate dome cake with gold leaf design.

So that's it for now. I'm currently working hard on tidying up the shop (website) and making some Easter items to celebrate the arrival of Spring.


See you next time! Goodbye.