Two finished shops

Well, it's been a pretty long time, hasn't it? I went into a kind of funk this year and stopped doing anything really crafty. Not sure why. Maybe the horrible events at the beginning of the year had something to do with it. Not entirely sure, to be honest. I pretty much stopped doing anything creative for a long time, including taking pictures, crafting and reading.

Anyway I decided to finish up some of the shops that I had started work on before the hiatus. The Beauty Boutique was almost complete before I stopped, so all I really had to do was furnish it and take photos. Nearly the same with the toy shop, all that was needed were furniture, wallpaper and a custom built shelf. All the painting had been done nearly a year ago.

Here are some pics. I really need to work on my photography skills.

This is Madeline's Beauty Boutique. It was originally meant to be a sewing and craft shop, but after I wallpapered it, it looked more suited to be a classy perfume type shop. I had also originally intended Madeline's to be more of an upscale clothes boutique, but it seemed a bit redundant when I already had the TOMY Village Boutique.

You can't see it in this picture, but the 'tiles' on the roof are black, like the awning. I used sandpaper to tile my roof and awning.                            


Furnished with random bits and bobs--those of you familiar with Sylvanian Families furniture may recognise where the shelves have come from. I was too lazy to pain the shelf on the upper left, so it's retained its normal creamy colour. It's not really much different anyway.                                 

I blu-tacked all the accessories down. The accessories are wonderful and tiny and all, but they fall off so easily.


Blu-tacked just about everything else down too. Makes arranging things much easier. Most of this shelf is Re-Ment, but there are a few SF items, like the rose perfume bottles. I love the little hair clip. It's from an old Re-Ment pharmacy set.
 

I think I need a section for hats and handbags, instead of shoes. I'm not all that fond of the shoes, but they were the only things I could fit into that shelf. I may eventually shift this area to the SF department store and take out some of the baby toys from there (TOO MANY BABY TOYS). Department store needs a jewelry and shoes section!


In this upscale store, ladies dress in their best before coming. No shirt, no service. Shoes optional. And thanks Hayley, for letting me have the opportunity to buy the Soyokaze cat sister. It was definitely an impulse purchase; I don't tend to spend that much on a single figure. I don't regret it in the least--she's so pretty in person.
 

I would have bought the new SF toy shop if I hadn't already been working on this. I wanted a more vintagey feel to some of my stores, and the newest toy shop is a lot more modern. The building originally came no shop sign. I made another sign out of balsa wood and toothpicks. The roof is tiled with sandpaper that I spray painted grey.
 

More random bits and bobs from all over the place. There was a time (a very short time) where I was a bit more of a purist and felt that SF should only be mixed with SF. Not anymore.
 

The toymaker set is one of the more interesting SF sets, I feel. The building also came with only one window shutter. I got rid of the other window shutter, so we just have this open window here where the wind can come in and blow all your nice delicate work off the work table. At least you'll never be stuffy.
 

Toy shelf is made of balsa wood and filled with a combination of Re-Ment and SF toys. Some of the Re-Ment toys on this shelf belong to sets that are a bit pricey on ebay now. I was lucky and got them fairly cheap. I love the little 'care bear' in the back. I also really like the more detailed little cars. SF toy vehicles leave a lot to be desired. The gumball machine really works. And really spills everywhere when you drop it.
 

"Let me just wrap that up for you."
 

Mr. Owner Man