Pottering Around Slug and Jiggers......

I have been Spring cleaning my real house this week but after so much hard work I decided it was time to return to doing some of the things I really want to play with. I hate housework with a passion, I know many people look around and feel a sense of achievement as they work through their chores, me? I just wish I had a cleaner!!

Anyway, I have stained and varnished the pieces for the upper room. I have sanded them down over and over again to distress them but the stain seemed to really bite into this wood. 

 I am not sure whether to tile the back of the sink or not, as it will be covered with gunge, debris and all sorts of bits and pieces I am don't think I really need to.

 I have also added the owl stand by Michael Mortimer as I think Mrs Slug would like a companion in her work. I bought the tiny brass handles at KDF from Pheonix Models and finished off the apothecary cabinet. I really wish I had tried to make a couple of open drawers but it is too late now. Next time!!

 The haberdashery counter has stained really nicely but I do think it needs a proper work top rather than the acrylic top. I bought the counter from Apollo Miniatures a long while ago.

 This is the back view which I really like, it seems a shame to hide it. The chiminea is a piece by Nikki Rowe and the pictures really do not do it justice at all. The coals look amazing. I have had this piece for a couple of years now but I think I have finally found the right place for it. 

 The skirting boards are now in and I have added some LED lights to the upper floor. I also gave the walls and floors a pasting of PVA and water mix to toughen up the interiors.

As I am now looking at the 'dressing' stage of this project I have been looking through various boxes getting together the pieces I have been collecting. This is great fun and sometimes a little shocking, but I do end up spending a lot of time playing.

I found these gorgeous wooden barrels and troughs by S and S Eismont whose work I absolutely adore so........do I put them outside? I want to fill the troughs with miniature herb plants but the barrels are so beautifully made I really don't want to mess with them.

 Barrels and trough?

 Trough high and barrels low? Decisions, decisions......

 I have also added a small table to the downstairs shop as an additional display counter. I even managed to match the paint effect quite well this time which was a bonus!

My next job will be to make some hanging herb sprays for the walls and ceilings and have a major play with all the bits I have been stashing away. I also want to add some copper pipe work upstairs, make a work top and decide where all my grunge, spillages and debris is going in the upstairs potion room. 

Oh and begin dressing all the furniture. More potions to make!!

A Trip to London For The Kensington Dolls House Festival.....

I made a very special trip to London this weekend not only to visit the Kensington Festival but to meet up with lots of ladies whose work I have admired and collected for a number of years. We spent a fun evening at a nearby hotel before attending the fair yesterday.

I was also very delighted to receive these wonderful gifts from Nikki Rowe a handmade gift box containing amongst other thing this sweet door hanger....

 ......and this marvellous pendant made from Fimo. Thank you Nikki, as ever full of life and generous to a fault.

 This was also the first time I had met Debbie Wright whose blog has long been a resource for both information and inspiration. Debbie is incredibly generous with her support and advice to new miniaturists so it was lovely to be able to thank her in person. All the way from Wales Debbie bought me a red Welsh dragon for my Magical Menagerie. I hope you enjoy your mini break in Kent with your friends Debbie.

 We were also joined by a young miniaturist Michael Robbins who is always dropping by my blog with helpful advice and really valuable suggestions. His enthusiasm for miniatures is boundless and he has an incredible eye for the small details. I was so surprised and pleased to receive this fabulous stack of tottering books that Michael has made with my Flourish and Blotts project in mind. Thank you Michael for your super gift.

Michael has just started selling some of his items on Ebay please check out his items here.

All these gifts meant I arrived at the fair with a full bag!! I did, however, manage to buy a few essentials including these fabulous items.

 This water heater in brass and copper is by Jeff Mewies and I am intending to put this above the sink of the workroom in Slug and Jiggers. Jeff does not have a website.

 Of course I had to visit the stand of my absolute favourite miniature potter Elizabeth Causeret where I picked up a few pieces again for the work room of Slug and Jiggers. 

 I have a beach hut sitting on the side of my workshop waiting for me to turn into a shabby chic shop so I was really interested in a new seller from Italy, Cinen, who had a lovely display of shabby chic items. 

I was also really pleased to discover that Lidi Stroud was attending the fair all the way from Australia with her fabulous handmade baskets and these amazing gumnuts. How cute are these!! Perfect for Slug and Jiggers of course. 

Remember the Foam Clay? Preparing for Honeydukes.....

As I was feeling a little 'potioned out' I thought I would leave the dark and dingy shelves of Slug and Jiggers for a couple of weeks and try my hand at sweet making ready for Honeydukes. A few weeks ago I saw these pots in The Range, cheap as chips, ideal for playing with and getting to grips with clay. If my attempts are as awful as they usually are I won't feel I have wasted a ton of money.

The little pots contained a very light, easily kneaded compound that appears to be full of tiny caviar beads. It is a little bit sticky and you have to make sure you keep all your pieces well spaced as they will merge into each other. The clay is air drying too which is good.

 Some lollipops both giant and small. You can see the beaded texture of the clay which is great for sweets. This clay can only be rolled and squashed really and it will settle flat if you try and make something with more weight. I was hoping to make dragon eggs from the more earthy colours but the shapes just flattened on the glass tile.

 Some candy canes. Not too sure about scales yet but they look ok.

 Medium and tiny clusters for jars of sweets. The pom pom lollipops have cheap plastic hair brush bristles for their sticks. A tip that has worked very well.

 The texture can really be seen well here. They look like the horrible sweets you get with Liquorice Allsorts

At the back of the tile are my attempts at liquorice wands and sticks. Again I sort of guessed the scales and thought any over sized ones can be put in shopping baskets. 

More weird and wonderful lollipops that will need their sticks cut to size. I allowed everything to dry off overnight and it appears to have hardened off perfectly well. Apparently this stuff sticks to paper as well so I will use the more earthy tones on book covers.

I have also been playing with Sculpey but I will share the results of that experiment tomorrow!!

Let The Light Shine on Slug and Jiggers......

I have finished messing about with the LED lighting at last. I received the warm light strips I wanted from Small World Products. I chose three strips with 6 lights and three with 3 lights plus one for over the false door. These replaced the daylight ones that were too bright.

 Thanks to my helpful followers I have discovered that these lights can be toned down by adding a coat or two of acrylic paint and I have done this with all the strips. 

 I didn't want the lights to be too strong simply a way of highlighting the shelves and shedding a mysterious glow. I left a daylight strip behind the goblin to give the impression of a different room behind the door.

I have filled the last three corner crates with various flasks I have collected by Nikki Rowe, Julie Lawton and PixieDust Miniatures but I am not sure if this is the right place for them.

 What do you think? Should I continue with the glass theme of all the other shelves or do these flasks provide an interesting break from the other pieces?

 I have also purchased these gorgeous mortar and pestles from an extremely talented and helpful miniaturist Dave Williams of Harvington Miniatures. I asked Dave if he would make me a tiny mortar and pestle for my travelling potion case for display in the window of S&J and he instantly obliged. How kind is that!? There are lots of very interesting pieces on the website so please pop over and have a browse.

I finished off the plans for Honeydukes today and I hope I have thought of everything. It was a bit more complicated than I thought so I hope all me measurements are correct. If not I can always turn it into a wonky house!

Shelves are Filled......A New Delivery at Slug and Jiggers

I have finally come to the end of what has been a very long potion making session but the first cabinets of Slug & Jiggers are filled. 

This shelving unit has all the artisan potion makers wares. All selected for their high quality and rareness!!

 There are potions, draughts and ingredients from the kitchen of Witch E.T. Grubb, the menagerie of Luna Lovegood, the laboratory of Wizard Gobalott and the workshop of Deadspider.

 The small jars I have simply put tiny runes as a written label would not have been readable. I have tried to include all the ingredients mentioned in the Harry Potter books in some shape or form.

 After printing and cutting I have used ink pads to edge each label in different colours to match the label: blue for Luna's, brown for Slug and Jiggers and so on.

 The left hand side unit is for all the branded Slug and Jiggers jars. I have also looked up magical animals from Harry Potter and any other magical types to use for ingredients and names. 

 I am really pleased I decided to follow the black lid path as I like the pristine uniformity of the shelves. 

 Apothecary Jiggers has been looking over the renovation and seems pretty happy with the first delivery!

The LED lighting is in place behind the shelves ready to be connected tomorrow and I am hoping the warmer light will light up the different colours of the jars casting a mysterious glow around the shop floor.

Then I will have fun looking through my stash to begin dressing the counter. What I am not doing for a while is making anymore potion jars!!!

Apothecary Jiggers Arrives to View the Shop.......

I recently asked Jo Medvics of Pocket Pygmies if she would make me an Apothecary for Slug and Jiggers. Jo makes wonderful characters so I was delighted when she said she would love to give it a go.

Well he has arrived and exceeded all my expectations. I absolutely adore him.

 I had sent Jo a print of a medieval apothecary I found on the Internet for initial inspiration and I think he has the perfect medieval quirkiness I was hoping for.

 Jo always chooses fabulous fabrics too, he is a great match for the interior of Slug's and the chains are a super touch.

 The face is so expressive. He has a world weary, dour look as if he has had to deal with one to many Hogwarts student!

 I have a lot of characters now for The Alley but am slowing filling the gaps for key wizards or witches and Wizard Jiggers will soon be in place behind his counter.

Do take a look at Jo's etsy shop to view some of her current work or her FB page where you can see some of her own projects which are simply breath-taking

Honeydukes Planning Continues.......The Spiral Staircase Has Landed!!

Ok, I know I haven't even finalised the plans yet, nor bought the MDF or even confirmed that the joiner will cut it for me but......I have a spiral staircase!! The last time I wanted a spiral, for Flourish & Blotts, I built a metal kit. This experience was definitely not good for my health.

 So when I saw the work of Vic Gonnelli I contacted him to see if his wonderful wooden staircase could be sent to the UK. Well as you can see it arrived on Saturday and it is perfect in every way.

 The cost even with postage has worked out less than the metal kit version amazingly as I would have had to purchase extra stairs for the kit in order to get the height required for Honeydukes.

 Of course I didn't tell Vic the whole truth, that I would be spraying it a very definite shade of pink!! Most importantly I will not take the risk of super gluing my fingers together....again!!

With the arrival of the staircase I had to have a little play with my cardboard model, despite the fact that I still haven't fully worked out the plans.

 This was how I had originally planned the ground floor but there is not any room for Bertie Botts and I feel Honeydukes has to have this cabinet somewhere.

 I have also found some 4 inch postal tubes that will be the basis for my very tall windows.

 Here I have taken out the double unit, replaced it with a single and the blank unit could be Bertie's display but this seemed to limit my sweetie shelves. All the units are from Ebay, already painted in cream which will be an ideal undercoat.

This option place the staircase tighter to the corner and side window very much like in the photographs I have seen of the the shop. This means I can have a double unit as well as Bertie's display. Plus I have room on the shop floor to add another display table for all the delicious jars and bowls full of sweeties.

Now I really should finalise the building plans and get to that joiner. Or I could just keep the cardboard one and play with that a while longer!!