Commission update: 1:3 scale packaged candy

Hello Littlest Sweet Shoppers

I know I'm lagging behind updates on this website. Any news will always appear via our social media channels first. To compile it all neatly into one post is not as straightforward but I will try my best to catch up next month.

Despite my lack of appearance in social media, I was still getting some small commissions which is all I can handle currently. A client was asking if our popular selection of packaged candy could be made in 1:3 scale. Since I designed the packaging, I said of course! And I made a pack of chocolate and a bar of Snickers for her Dolfie Dream.

Client commission packaged candy in 1:3 scale

It turned out so cute so I decided to scale up the others as well! I'm also happy that the client think they look so real. So now it's also available for other Littlest Sweet Shoppers to commission. They are listed in the 1/3 scale menu.

1:3 scale packaged candy by Littlest Sweet Shop

In other news, my Instagram channel was featured in American Miniaturist magazine June 2019. I think this is only my 3rd magazine feature and I'm truly honoured. 

This June is the season when I am the weakest since I am allergic to a specific pollen which triggers my asthma. I am trying my best to debut the new Yume (pastel rainbow) miniature collection and finally finish my big 1:3 scale project. There will also be the new YouTube tutorial I keep talking about since last month so I'm hoping that I can upload it by this weekend. I'm also going to mix things up a little on the YouTube channel - it is a surprise! So come visit again in June for the new collection and I promise there will be more new miniatures.

Bye!

Commission update: 1:12 scale sweets and an announcement

Hello Littlest Sweet Shoppers

I just shipped out 2 commission yesterday so I have a bit of free time to write about another commission for a Littlest Sweet Shopper in England. Like many of our visitors, she too was inspired to have her own sweet shop in 1:12 scale. She ordered our popular rainbow lollipop and some humbugs to start with.

1:12 scale rainbow lollipop made for client

Lollipop and humbugs

In other news, you can now view some of my 'Spring' and 'Easter' miniatures at the Wayland Dragonfly art gallery in Watton, England. 

That's not all! I will also be conducting a workshop there so if you want to learn how to make miniatures with me, please book a place at this link:

https://thewaylanddragonflygallery.co.uk/creating-miniature-food-sculptures-with-nadia-michaux/

Since I have time again, there will be a new Youtube tutorial next week for rainbow pancakes and I am currently creating more new items to debut for March. Please support Littlest Sweet Shop by subscribing to the channel and keep us open!

Bye!

Commission Update - Neko Pan (Cat bread)

Good morning Littlest Sweet Shoppers!

Here is a recent commission that I did for a Littlest Sweet Shopper in America. This is her second order so I am extremely happy that she came back to our humble shop to order more new miniatures. She requested this design of Cat Bread based on a stuffed toy and wanted them to have 4 different expressions. I also made a plain Melon Pan (Japanese bread) for her.

Each bread has a different expression that was hand-painted in painstakingly small detail. Therefore it was possible to give the Cat Breads any type of expression the client wanted. The faces are painted in 'chocolate' so the breads still look yummy AND cute.

Commission for client. 4 Cat Breads and 1 plain Melon Pan

Angry and 'Nyan' faced cat breads

Surprised and Happy Cat Breads

Each cat bread has a cute tail and ears making them super kawaii!

That's all for today's update. Make sure you follow us on our social media channels for more daily updates and subscribe to our YouTube channel for weekly tutorials. Also don't forget to enter our giveaway for a surprise box of kawaii items here. I am currently working on some new miniatures for September so make sure you visit us again to see all of the new items.  I am also currently building ANOTHER dollhouse which is in 1:12 scale so I have been extremely busy lately. I think the dollhouse will only be ready in another 2 months and it will be revealed here after it has been completed.

Bye!

Blippo Fukubukuro Review and Giveaway

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Hello Kawaii Littlest Sweet Shoppers!

In Japan during the New Year, shops often have a promotion selling exclusive fukubukuro (lucky bags) in store. It is usually a set of random items which has been discounted and only available in a limited supply. Blippo.com is my favourite Kawaii shop where I can get all of my favourite Japanese and Korean products. They also have a fukubukuro offer but it is better since it is available all year long, not just during New Year's day. This Blippo Surprise Kawaii Mixed Bag cost less than $15 and includes at least 15 random kawaii items like plushies, stationery and more! The items retail for more than $45USD and it is a surprise since you don't know what you will get.

Blippo Surprise Kawaii Mixed Bag

Blippo was nice enough to send me a Blippo Surprise Kawaii Mixed Bag and there were so many cute items inside the drawstring bag that it was practically bursting! I have to admit it is very exciting to see what is inside since you have no clue. The drawstring bag is also nice since it is in a 'candy' design which is SO Littlest Sweet Shop. The fan was so useful when I was out in London especially in the tube during summer. There isn't any air-conditioning in the London Underground so I was so happy to have a folding fan that was super light and compact. It cooled me down instantly plus it had such a kawaii design which I really love.

The surprise package came with not 1 but 3 different cute pouches! The watermelon purse is so summery and the Pikachu pouch is super kawaii. Girls can never have too many purses!

Purses and little pouches

There was a luggage tag with 3 macarons on it so I won't loose my luggage. It is bright yellow so I will definitely be able to spot it from afar.

Macaron luggage tag

This cute neko plushie was a sweet surprise and will be keeping all of my other plushies company.

Neko plushie

Kawaii items can also be practical. This strawberry candy bar compact comb also has a little mirror folded into it. I love sweet-themed items so this is my new favourite comb. It is also in my favourite colour!

Strawberry candy bar comb and mirror compact

One thing I always love about doing Blippo reviews is that I often get items for arts and crafts. I love making cute things and these pearl stickers will definitely come in handy one day.

Pearl stickers for arts and crafts

The last item that I am reviewing is also my FAVOURITE item in the bag! It is a Hello Kitty spectacles frame and it somehow instantly makes me feel so kawaii when I wear it! I love it so much that I actually got prescription lens for it so that I can use them everyday (even if I rarely wear glasses :p).

Hello Kitty spectacles frame

Obviously there are more really cute and practical items included that I couldn't possible review since there are just too many but I hope you like my review of selected items that I love most. That's not all, you also get a chance to win your own Blippo Surprise Kawaii Mixed Bag by entering the competition below. Blippo ships worldwide so anyone with a valid home address is eligible to enter.

Littlest Sweet Shop Blippo Giveaway

Good luck everyone!  

Back in England!

Hello again Littlest Sweet Shoppers

Just to let you know that I am finally back after almost a month long holiday in Japan and ready to start making miniatures again! Littlest Sweet Shop was on hiatus for almost a month but we are back now with some cool new tools and materials from Japan so stay tuned to see all the new items that I will be creating.

Arc Oasis in Kyoto selling every Tamiya Decoration Series and Padico product you can imagine. My idea of heaven!

All of the rare and hard to find Japanese clay

Please visit my Flickr page if you are interested in seeing my favourite purchases from Japan. There are so many items to make miniature food that is only available in Japan so I was quite pleased to be able to purchase them. I also had the opportunity to buy all of my favourite toys and miniatures from Akihabara since it was my birthday. I also went crazy for all of the My Melody (original Sanrio) products that was available almost everywhere but managed to calm to urge to get everything with My Melody's face on it.

There will also be so many new Japanese food available soon at Littlest Sweet Shop since we ate nothing but Japanese cuisine for a month! I love Japanese food and their delicious sweets so I came home with a lot of new inspiration.

In bigger cities like Tokyo, you can see Shokuhin Samples (fake food displays) like these in the front of the restaurant/cafe entrance. They have everything from soft serve ice cream to ramen! Each sample is remarkably intricate and looks 99% just like the real thing. It is there to help you decide if you want to eat in the shop since all of the display items are based on their menus. I really wished I could make something like this, but I guess I'm already doing it but just in miniature!

Fake crepes in a display at Harajuku, Tokyo

I am Sculpey's blogger of the month for July which means that I will be blogging there once a week and there will also be a special Sculpey project released on the same month so make sure you stick around and I will display the links here if you are interested.

Other than that I am currently working on a big Chinese Take Out project for July. If you are following me on Instagram, you will see that I have assembled 12 miniature take-out boxes and I will be making 12 different Chinese food items to fill each of them. This might take a while to do since I just spent all day making white rice, one grain at a time!

That's all for now. Here is a photo of me in Kyoto to end the post.

Nadia in Kyoto

Kracie Popin' Cookin' Donuts-Making Kit ドーナツ(edible!) Review

Hey Hey Littlest Sweet Shoppers!

Here is another review of a Japanese DIY cooking kit from Kracie. This time we are making edible doughnuts by just adding water.

You can purchase these kits from any Japan speciality store but I got this directly from a supermarket in Asia.

ドーナツ

On the back of the box is all of the instructions with pictures and diagrams simple enough to understand. If you can't read Japanese, please follow this link to read the English version http://www.nerune.jp/product/pdf/doughnut_eng.pdf

You get 2 doughnut batter mix (cocoa and custard flavour), 3 decoration sauces (vanilla, strawberry and chocolate), a packet of crunchy biscuit/wafer crumbs, some topping sprinkles, and all the tools you will need including spatula, molds and piping bag.  

You get a Cruller and Doughnut mold and can make 4 1/3 scale sized doughnut sweets so I made 2 of each designs. The instructions also include some illustrations on how you can decorate your doughnuts. Bear in mind, you can do anything you want with them so be creative and just go crazy!

Custard doughnut with strawberry sauce and cookie crumbs

Chocolate and custard doughnuts coated in vanilla and strawberry sauces with chocolate drizzle. Topped with more pastel sprinkles.

Each doughnut has such a thick caking of candy icing OMG

I tried to use up most of the ingredients it came with. They really give you a generous portion of sauces and toppings! Each piece is practically caked in thick candy icing and I still had plenty of leftovers. Leftovers went straight into my mouth, lol.

It would have been better if they gave us more doughnut batter mix to make 6 doughnuts. There was easily enough decoration sauces and toppings for 6 designs.

So how does it taste? When my husband saw them he thought it was another Littlest Sweet Shop miniature and commented that it looked real.

I told him it WAS real and he could eat it too. So he tried a custard one and said that he actually liked it.

Real edible candy doughnuts

It tasted oddly stodgy like a real deep fried doughnut even though it's just another clever way of engineering candy. However it was still quite yummy and not too sweet for my taste. The toppings gave it an extra crunch but the sauces are on the sweet side so use less if you do not want to make your doughnuts too sweet.

Hope you enjoyed that review! I've made similar reviews here on the blog so just search for it. I'm currently in the middle of a big commission and constructing a Halloween gingerbread house. I will also be taking a 2 week holiday in October but will try to debut more new items by next week.

See you again next time!

Bye

Kracie Popin' Cookin' Cake Making Kit たのしいケーキやさん (edible!) Review

Good day Littlest Sweet Shoppers!

Today I'm reviewing a Japanese product from Kracie. This set is part of their Popin' Cookin' DIY kit which contains everything you need to produce your own decorated sweets using your own imagination. You can also read my reviews on other Popin' Cookin' products here http://www.littlestsweetshop.com/2015/08/japan-candy-box-review-and-giveaway.html and here http://www.littlestsweetshop.com/2016/06/japan-candy-box-review-and-giveaway.html

I got this from an international supermarket when I was on holiday in Asia but you should be able to find it at most Japanese speciality stores. They have a wide range of products so you would be able to spot it easily in the candy / confectionery isle. The graphics are really super kawaii and will stand out.

たのしいケーキやさん

At the back you will find the recipe on how to use the kit. The pictures will explain everything you need to do but you can also find the English recipe here: http://www.nerune.jp/product/pdf/cake_eng.pdf

The kit includes all the items in the photo. Vanilla and Strawberry flavoured cream mix, sprinkles, 2 wafer cones, tart case, wafer biscuits are included together with the piping bag, spoon and container. This is all you need during the process of Popin' Cookin'.

What's included in the box

The vanilla and strawberry powder smells really nice and sweet and mixes with plain water to produce a creamy confectionery. Follow further instructions to create all 3 types of items- ice cream, cake and tart. Just add imagination!

One side strawberry and one side vanilla. Cute and stripey

There is enough cream to make everything here and even extra! The cream itself is not very sweet which is what I love about Japanese candy. It is also very smooth and creamy. Definitely not the usual gummy style candy like the other Popin' Cookin' kits I have tried out before.

My creations

That's all for today. There are plenty of new items that will debut next week so make sure you stick around! Also don't forget to enter our 1000 followers giveaway to win exclusive Littlest Sweet Shop miniatures.

Bye!

Let's go for a picnic with some new items - S'mores, Turkish Delight and Rainbow Belts

Hello again Littlest Sweet Shoppers!

It was such a pretty day so we decided to have a picnic. Akiko also had the brilliant idea of taking some of the new items along with us so we can take photos for the menu!

Akiko with her picnic in the bright sunny day

All of the new miniature food is listed in the 'Sweets Boutique' menu. First one is an English favourite (even though it might not originate from Britain) - the Turkish Delight.

These chunky rose-water sweets are red but coated in fine icing powder. They are now available as part of our Pick'n Mix selection.

Chunks of Rose-water Turkish Delight 

Another new candy/confectionery is also a British favourite found in retro Tuck Shops. Rainbow Belts are long strips of gummy sweets in rainbow colours and coated in sugar. It is also a wonderful new addition to our Pick'n Mix range.

Rainbow Belts in a basket

We now have S'mores in our Sweets Boutique menu! I had trouble categorising this one but we don't have a 'Camping Food' menu so I thought it was best to list it with the other Littlest Sweet Shop candy since marshmallow and chocolate make up the biggest part of a S'more.

If you are not from America, you might wonder what is a S'more? It's short for "Some more" as in "GIVE ME SOME MORE!" because it's just irresistibly good.

Littlest Sweet Shop S'mores are made the traditional way using Graham crackers, toasted marshmallow and our own chocolate. It is a popular camping snack since people can toast the marshmallow over a camp fire and use that as the ingredient.

The marshmallow gets super soft and hot thus melting part of the chocolate. We even offer other candy flavours like Strawberry milk or White chocolate as well.

S'mores is the perfect snack during picnics and camping

The gooey hot marshmallow heats up part of the chocolate bar. Graham crackers are crispy and slightly tasteless so it will balance out all of that sugar.

Realistic Graham crackers, toasted marshmallow and our own chocolate makes the best S'mores

Up-close

As usual, we guarantee that all of our miniatures are scaled down perfectly for your dolls. This ensures you get a good quality miniature with so much detail and realism that can make you hungry!

We strive to make our miniatures the perfect size for your doll

Last but not least we have updated our Rainbow cupcakes in the Cupcakes menu.
Each band of rainbow is secured on the cupcake with a thick white frosting resembling clouds. So much colour in one cupcake alone!

Rainbows and fluffy clouds

Our most colourful cupcake design

Before saying good-bye, I'd like to show you some photos from The Most Kawaii Event of the Year in London last weekend. My picture is a bit dodgy because my brother who took it is a medical student so he's not very good with the camera. The event was also indoors with spotlights on the stage so I guess lighting wasn't great either. We all had fun though and would love to meet more Littlest Sweet Shoppers in the future.

Me and the Littlest Sweet Shop accessories collection.

My brother helped me out on that evening.

Maya also came along and attracted many shoppers.

Akiko working hard to promote all of our various products.

Currently I'm working on some new and exciting miniatures as well as a tutorial for Sculpey so make sure you visit Littlest Sweet Shop again next time!

Bye!

Kawaii Box Review and Give-away time!

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Hello Littlest Sweet Shoppers!

There are a million things I miss about Asia - the food, Daiso, the sun, shopping malls.....

It is definitely harder to get anything kawaii here in England (or anywhere in Europe) and usually I spend a lot of money buying merchandise directly from Japan. If I'm unlucky, the package will get taxed and I end up moaning and groaning about how it is so annoyingly hard to get any kawaii items here.

Then I discovered Kawaii Box - a monthly subscription service that will actually hand-select various items from Japan and Korea then package it with love and ship it directly to you (no matter where you are!). This way you will receive around 10-12 items enough to kawaii-fy your life for at least a month.

The October Kawaii Box included:

• Meiji DIY Sushi-Bar Gummies
• Animal Sticker Sheet
• Neko Emoji Mini Mini Pouch
• Jewelry Seal Deco Stickers
• Popcorn Rolling Stamp Set
• Heart Shaped Nail Flakes
• Unchi Kun Poop Shaped Lollipop
• Patterned Envelope Set
• Finger Family Monster Pouch
• Lollipop Pen
• Flan Dakigurumi Plush Pouch

Kawaii Box October (minus the Flan Dakigurumi Plush Pouch )

The great thing about the Kawaii Box is the mix of items that has been carefully selected so you get a variety of products to suit your lifestyle. The biggest plus for me is that they will always include Japanese sweets in each box. Every month you get to sample another new Japanese candy!

The blue and pink lollipop pen looks so cute in my pencil holder.

Lollipop Pen

The stickers were arctic animals themed so I thought they would be perfect to decorate hand-crafted Christmas cards. TIP: To make a kawaii Christmas Card, add stickers and paper snowflakes.

The patterned envelope was a great way to wrap up presents especially tiny ones like this Pikachu animal doughnut phone charm I made for a friend.

Animal stickers and patterned envelope

I've been studying how to read and write Japanese so I reward my hard work with a cute stamp from the Popcorn stamp set.

Popcorn roller stamp set

Flan Dakigurumi Plush Pouch isn't just another cute stuffed toy on my day bed. It has a zipper at the back so you can secretly stash items in there! The pouch is big enough to hold jewellery and cash. Nobody would suspect anything ^_^

Flan Dakigurumi Plush Pouch with my other stuffed toys

Kawaii Box understands how we are all crafters and makes sure that they include items that will get your creative juices flowing! Jewelry Seal Deco Stickers can be used to add some pizzazz to any craft project. I decorated this cookie keychain with Tamiya's deco cream and blue icing and used the stickers to add some sparkle!

Jewelry Seal Deco sticker (the heart diamante)

I don't paint or decorate my nails anymore because I do a lot of polymer clay modelling by hand. So instead of using the Heart Shaped Nail Flakes to decorate nails, I used it on my miniature food instead! Nail art items are great for miniatures since they are always made micro size. I used the heart flake and heart shape to decorate the new Valentine's Day collection.

Littlest Sweet Shop Valentine's Day pound cake and iced mini sponge cakes decorated with Heart Shaped Nail Flakes

Before I sign off, we would like to give you an opportunity to win a Kawaii Box for yourself! Anyone in the world can enter so don't miss out! Good luck :D
a Rafflecopter giveaway

Bye!