New website + blog

I am in the process of moving to Sugarcharmshop.dk - hopefully the last time I'll be moving :)
the site should be fully up and launched some time this upcoming week - will be keeping you updated via instagram @sugarcharmshop

Sugarcharmshop.dk will be my website, shop and blog in the future :)

Have a great day!
Tanja

Hello :)

I was doing so well, posting on the blog and then I disappeared again... oh well - can post pictures of some of the recent tutorials I've posted on YouTube (SugarCharmShop Gourmet) :)

The one thing that bugs me right now, is the fact that I currently have no idea if I'll be able to continue posting on the 'gourmet' channel. YouTube has been throwing a bunch of changes in the faces of the creators, with limited, if any, communication.

If you've heard any type of 'youtube related news' you might know about the whole 'advertisor friendly'-thing that's going on, which on my channels will never be a problem. But other changes have happened, and it seems like in most cases, the platform is looking for 'quantity over quality' which I don't agree with. Suddenly it's all about mass-production,. putting out daily videos - which when it comes to the type of videos I make is rarely possible. Furthermore, where videos used to spread (be recommended on other videos), they seem to just die out after the span of 12-24 hours depending on the views they get within that time frame. And sure, if it's something people search for (trending/popular topics) they might gain more views in the following days or weeks, but not even close to what you'd usually expect.

A lot of the creators on the platform seem to be experiencing much lower views on their channels amongst other things, and though I'm able to manage the current state of things on my main channel, for now, I don't know how my other channel will be affected long term. Heck, I don't know how either of my channels will be affected long term,.. My current plan for Gourmet is to keep posting and see what happens in the upcoming months. Unfortunately, if things continue the way they have for the past few weeks, I may not be able to prioritize that channel.

Click here to check out the tutorials.

Bakery counter

This was meant to be the bonus video for last week, but life happened and I was unable to post it until now - so with a slight delay, the bakery counter is up as a video :)

To keep the video from being too long, while stilling including a couple of accessories for the 'bakery theme' I chose to include some simple shelves and a blackboard/chalkboard.

Click to watch the video

I am planning on making this a permanent scene that I can use when taking pictures of miniature food - Not with the garden table, and not the wallpaper either, that was just for the sake of this photo :)

Nutella chocolate cake

Cake inspired by a 'Nutella chocolate cake' I found a picture of. I loved the rustic, uncovered sides, the dripping icing/frosting and the piped dollops on top - plus, all those delicious shades of chocolate. .. Maybe not quite 50 shades *huhu* but close enough ^^

Tutorial was uploaded to 'SugarCharmShop Gourmet' yesterday :)

Click here to watch the video

I'm hoping I'll be able to finish the tutorial that includes the bakery counter this week as well, since I am posting 2 videos on Gourmet this week :)
Either way, second video of the week should be up Saturday or Sunday.

Shrimp fried rice

Today's tutorial on 'SugarCharmShop Gourmet' is for some simple shrimp fried rice.
- I also included some extremely simple chopsticks and a quick to make placemat :)

Not much else to say ^^

Click to watch the video

Hope you're having a great weekend so far! :)

Country style bakery counter

I've been wanting to make a vintage, country style bakery counter for a while, and I even started carving the 'little bakery' detailing a few weeks back. I had ordered a tool to make the trim at the bottom (on which the 2 posts are resting), but due to a delay, it didn't arrive until last week. I could have used one of the pre-made trims I have, or even used my handheld electric file,. But seeing as I'd already made the order, I was determined to do it the way I'd initially planned.

The video is going to be posted on 'SugarCharmShop Gourmet' as a bonus video. Not this upcoming week - haven't decided exactly when it'll be up. I still need to finish some more pieces for the video anyway and the video in itself is somewhat of an experiment;

Since I don't post non-food videos too often on that channel, I wanted to try something a bit different. I'm going to finish a couple of additional pieces to go with the counter (small stuff like shelves) and then put everything into 1 video, which I'm guessing is going to be somewhere around the 20-30 minute mark - will try to keep it closer to 20. I know a lot of people find that to be too long, but I do think it makes a lot of sense to do it this way.

And don't worry - I'm not going to pack as much as possible into the video! I just want to make it more of a 'complete scene' rather than an empty counter on its own.

For those of you who watch the videos on my new channel, I just want to say thank you. I know the channel is still small, and it's too soon to make plans - heck, it's still only going through the second half of the trial period. But know that your support means the world to me. Every time you watch one of the videos I post on there, you're enabling me to set aside more time for these projects. I hope that the channel will some day reach a level that would enable me to post 2 times a week - I've received so many scrumptious requests for different types of food and have lots of ideas myself as well.

Pancakes

One of the first pieces of miniature food I made were pancakes - not the thick/american style ones but closer to crepes (what we consider normal pancakes here). I find that, especially in the beginning, you tend to make foods that you personally like to eat.. You'll then, as time passes, venture in to a world that offers a larger variety of food, making new textures and discovering preferences as to what you enjoy making the most.

Sometimes it's nice to revisit the feeling you get from making those certain, I guess ''comfort foods'', and so since it's been requested quite a few times, I decided that today's video on 'SugarCharmShop Gourmet' should be for pancakes :) 

Click here to watch the tutorial

In the tutorial I'm going to show you how I made the pancakes as well as a basic frying pan. Originally I thought of adding blueberries on the side - but seeing as the video was already pretty lengthy I decided to stick to this simple arrangement.

Lettuce & more on the copycat issue

Today's tutorial on 'SugarCharmShop Gourmet' is for lettuce :) This is a fairly simple project - it doesn't require too much time or too many different materials - and it adds such a nice pop of color to any miniature scene. Fruits and vegetables is something I love to make in miniature because it's so colorful - it makes you happy!

Click here to watch the video

On the post I made around a week ago about being called a copycat, I received a comment, which was written in such a nasty way that I chose to delete it. I still have the comment, but I'm not going to go through the different 'paragraphs' of reasons why this person called me a liar.

And before I get further into this, you might wonder; why even address it?. Because, in a situation like this, there's no winning. If I don't address it, that means I'm trying too hide something, right? which makes me a liar. And if I do address it, I'm trying to hard to defend myself, which also makes me a liar. So my reason for addressing is that what I wrote in that post is the truth, and the comment I received were a bunch of assumptions - all of which were false and to be honest, fairly silly.

One of the examples used were some cherries I made back in 2014 - the person claimed those to be a copy of another miniature artist's work. As I've mentioned countless times I'm inspired by real food or pictures of real food - so though I'm sure there's no reasoning with those who want to believe I'm lying, I wanted to show you a picture of the cherries I made together with the photo I was inspired by;

I don't own this picture - it's one of the many food photographies I found and keep on my computer for inspiration.

In my version I took inspiration from the blue and white enamel bowl, the denim fabric that the bowl is placed on and the rustic wooden surface.

I am aware that there will always be people who won't believe me, or people who are not interested in having actual evidence to support their statements. And if you don't like me or my creations, there's not much I can do to change that.

Just know that when there are so many miniature artists in the world, all working within the same categories and all inspired by real life, the different seasons, holidays etc.- they're bound to make things that look similar, even if they weren't inspired by someone else's piece. When fall and Halloween rolls around, everyone makes pumpkins. For thanksgiving it's turkey, candy canes and gingerbread houses for Christmas and so on.

Another reason why I'm choosing to address this in this post is because after I had finished recording this week's tutorial (lettuce) I decided to search for lettuce tutorials on YouTube. Why? to torture myself I suppose, or to prove a point.. There are only so many ways you can make something and I did find one using CLOSE to the same technique I just used in my video. I hadn't seen this video before, I didn't copy this person or their technique - I just made the lettuce the only way I could come up with in order to get the effect I wanted. I've used these techniques in videos before. (Please refer to the video for more information about the techniques I recommend and don't recommend for making lettuce).

The thing is, that after seeing the other video, I was actually reconsidering even posting the video I made, which is silly since I hadn't seen it beforehand. And as I explained in the tutorial, there are reasons why I chose to use certain techniques over others. So my only other option would be to never post a lettuce tutorial - which is also ridiculous.

But how can the techniques then be so similar? - because again, there are only so many ways you can do something, and even fewer ways to get particular/exact effects. It is close to impossible to make something that none of the other 7.5 billion people in the world has not yet thought of. If we had to search on YouTube, Google or various social media platforms every time we wanted to make something, to make sure it hadn't been done before, we would never be able to do anything.

I won't be addressing this in future posts, because I'd much rather spend time creating and sharing. And in the name of 'sharing the love' I'll list a few of my favorite instagram accounts when it comes to inspiring food photographies (feel free to go through my entire list of the people I follow @SugarCharmShop - lots of delicious food/decor inspiration)

@dennistheprescott - His capability to make any food look scrumptious is outstanding. Even cheese platters and sushi, which are 2 things I don't eat ;D

@annagarciafrigola - photographer/stylist - beautifully arranged food.

@wagyu_beef - I follow a couple of accounts that post mainly raw meat due to my love for butcher's themed stuff.

@still_life_gallery_ - Exactly what the name suggests. Beautiful and harmonic scenes.

Anyway, Hope you'll enjoy the tutorial - I will be using lettuce in an upcoming video together with the cucumber from a previous video - just need to post another component first :) 

Simple Roses

Tutorial for today on 'SugarCharmShop Gourmet' is for some simple roses in celebration of valentine's day coming up Tuesday :)

I am planning on making more flowers as they look great in the background of photos. Some of them might be listed on Etsy at some point, but I'm mostly making them to keep for the photos - just like the green plant you've seen in quite a few of my videos already. And for those of you who are only interested in the food tutorials on the new channel; don't worry, the majority of the non-food videos, including this one, are uploaded as bonus videos - so you're not missing out of any food tutorials :)

I bought chocolate to use in the photo,.. so you'll have to excuse me while I take on the 'super difficult task' of eating it ;)

Currently on my desk

When you don't know what to call a post ;) - though it's not far off; these ceramics are currently on my desk. Undergoing 'quality control' so to say. Basically keeping an eye on them to see if the glaze/clay combo and firing schedule seems to be a match. Crossing my fingers though - can't wait to use them.

One of the new additions are the little flower shaped dishes - they were actually inspired by some plates/bowls I saw on one of the many food-instagram accounts - I'll try to find it and add the name. I did change up the design a bit, but I thought the shape would look gorgeous with some berries or even just on their own. I used my usual combo of the colored inside with the brown glaze on the outside - my favorite combo for ceramics. Just so beautifully rustic.

I would love to be able to sell more ceramics on Etsy - especially since I'll be using them frequently on 'SugarCharmShop Gourmet'. I just need to be fairly certain there won't be any problems with them,.. and I say 'fairly certain' because if there's one thing I've learned by now, is that ceramics is a science.

I'd also love to list some sculpting bases, since I get questions about those daily. But it does require some more testing

If everything goes well though, I'm counting on being able to list some this summer! ^^

Oh - quick note; Next tutorial on SugarCharmShop Gourmet will be up tomorrow :) Promised you 2 uploads this week ^^

Falsely being called a copycat

This post was inspired by a recent event.. I'm not going to name names, and I'm not going to go into too much detail, but I do have some things I want to say - and I'm hoping that the person sees this.
Especially as it seems this person has no interest in actually confronting me or speaking to me about it - so I am going to be pretty blunt in this post, as I don't appreciate false accusations or backtalking  of people you don't know.

Sorry if the post is a bit messy - I'm in a hurry,. have to cook and have to edit today's video.

Basically - not that long ago I was told that another miniature artist had said I was 'notorious for copying' which had be confused. This person also sent 3 of my pictures together with 3 of hers (not to me, but to a friend of mine), calling it evidence and saying I had copied her work...

Now - the 3 pictures were animals; A black cat I made for a halloween tutorial in 2013, a grey sleeping cat I made for a miniature fair in 2015 (I think) and the hamster I made for one of my youtube tutorials.

The funny thing is, that though I have seen a couple of pictures of this person's work in the past, I never looked further into it. In actual fact, I have very little interest in looking at other people's work - it's not something that inspires me. And in fact, I had NEVER seen any of those 3 pictures before.

So why were they used as 'ecidence'? because they happened to be posed the same way as animals she'd made. not the same colors - just the same poses.

The thing is... That those were VERY generic poses. a playful kitten,. a sleeping cat and a hamster standing on its' hind legs. I'm sorry if this offends someone, but it doesn't take a genious to know how animals move - and it takes 2 seconds to google ''playful cat'' or ''jumping cat''; whichever pose you're looking for, google is bound to have a photo of it.

I love animals. I have a good idea of how they move - and I usually find poses that I feel represent those animals. Eg. A german shephard is to me a majestic dog - which is why I made mine ( a couple of years back) standing on all 4 legs, looking straight ahead. An english bulldog however, is clumbsy yet charming looking, and so that is why I made one, laying flat on its belly with the hind legs poking backwards and a big smile on its face.

And what about the 3 'evidence animals'??;

For the black cat I simply searched "playful kitten" on google, found a picture of a real cat and copied that pose.. the same for the sleeping cat - actually, the only reason why I made the sleeping cat at that time was because I wanted to make a cat for a fair which was only a couple of days away, and I happened to not have any pre-made cat eyes... As for the hamster,.. well, I have had 3 hamsters in my life and the standing pose is once again, a very generic pose for any hamster, and any rodent for that matter (out chinchillas do that too, does that mean I can't make a standing chinchilla?)... but, but why did I make a box for the hamster?? (the person accusing me had done the same). How do you carry a hamster home from the store?! in a box! I'm sorry, but the accusation was straight up ridiculous. People don't own the copyright to an animal pose... so don't build up hate towards someone unless they are CLEARLY copying you; same pose, same color, same accessories, same everything. AND even then, it IS possible for 2 or more individuals to make the exact same thing without ever having seen what the other person made. If one person is capable of coming up with something, someone else is capable of doing the same.
Yes, there are cases where you can see that someone copied your work,.. this case, is not one of those.

Where do I get my inspiration?; from real life.. pictures of real food, real animals, real furniture. I love looking up photos of food photography or searching for different types of furniture, different types and breeds of animals etc. I study the faces of people who walk past me on the street or the people I talk to. I randomly stop to take a picture of a small stool outside of a house or a sign in front of an old butcher's shop.. Most of the time I avoid looking up other peoples' work, both because I'm not interested in looking at it, but also to avoid situations like this one.. I've seen pictures of other people's work - I'm aware of a lot of the other miniature artists out there, but I don't find inspiration in the things they make, and quite frankly, I don't have time to manically look up what other people make so that I can copy it. I need pictures of the real thing in order to study the colors and textures - looking at a recreation is no help. I don't watch tutorials or search 'how to make' because I love figuring things out on my own. It's not enjoyable for me to have someone show me how to do something. Being accused of copying, when it's not true, really hurts...

So if the person happens to be reading this; no, I was not inspired by your work. when I made the black cat for instance, I wasn't even aware of who you were - never seen any of your work at that point. Next time, confront the person instead..

I could go much further into this and list many reasons for why this whole thing is so STUPID - but I'm not going to waste time on that, when I've done nothing wrong...
And on a side note; I very much believe in giving credit if you were inspired by someone else. But it would also be a lie if I gave credit to someone, whom I wasn't inspired by.
I know that there are people out there who won't believe what I'm saying, and unfortunately I can't do anything about it. Just know, that by making false accusations, you can seriously damage someone's life.

More on the topic click here

Happy Birthday!!! - to meeee

In my last video I asked you guys to give the video 'thumbs up' if you'd like to see 2 videos this week and I'm happy to say, that there will be 2 videos! :) In general - the more support the videos receive, the more time I'll be able to set aside for 'SugarCharmShop Gourmet', and that's why, as I've mentioned before, that even if I upload something you personally might not be all that interested in - watching the video, clicking the thumbs up button and leaving a comment still really helps the channel!

Yesterday was my birthday, so for today's tutorial we're making a simple birthday cake :)

I'm not a huge fan of the fancy fondant cakes - I much prefer these more 'home-baked' looking cakes ^^

Click to watch the tutorial;

The second video of the week is going to be somewhat valentine's themed and will be up this weekend :)

Miniature mac & cheese

Today's tutorial on 'SugarCharmShop Gourmet' is going to be a pretty simple and much loved dish; Macaroni and cheese. It's been requested quite a few times both before and after I started the new channel, and even though I personally don't find it that appealing, I do understand why so many people love it.

I chose to make the baked version because,.. let's be honest; mac & cheese is basically goo. and in miniature, that 'goo' is going to look even less interesting - so the baked top adds a little extra something, haha.

Click to watch the video

I do have an old tutorial on my main channel showing how to make this type of cooking dish from polymer clay, and I might make an updated tutorial on my new channel at some point :) The one I used in the tutorial however, is one of my ceramics.

Tutorial for the green plant that appears in quite a few of my pictures - as well as the 'kitchen setup' can also be found on my main channel, in case some of you are wondering :)

I'm currently in the process of doing some more test firings of ceramics,.. can't tell you how much I HATE experimenting when it comes to new clay and new clear glazes... I love making ceramics, and I love the final result, but I could do without the testing -.-'' so *yay* for me - now I have to wait another 2-4 months before I'll feel somewhat comfortable using the new pieces.

Garden Table

So,. I wanted to make a vintage, garden type furniture, heavily patinaed table that I can use for photos. I really want to make a small scene/background to match it as well, so hopefully I can get that done soon.

But basically - I want to, and have been wanting to make some flowers, potted plants and a few other projects like that for quite a while and instead of just having them on a plain background, I wanted to be able to 'pose' them properly.

The tutorial for this table will be up on 'SugarCharmShop Gourmet' and this is where the channel might be a bit confusing - if you haven't read the original blog post which goes through all of that, I do recommend reading it; Click to read.

Click to see the tutorial for the table

The design of this table, other than the engraved details, is kept pretty simple and is easy to make if you have the supplies. The patina in itself, and also the pattern on the table top adds so much detail that I didn't see a need to dress up the rest of the table with tons of swirls and additional details.

Miniature croissants

With a slight delay, next project for 'SugarCharmShop Gourmet' is ready :)

In this video I'm going to show you how to make croissants and a cute, vintage looking wooden tray, which I think goes perfectly with the pastries. I also decorated the tray with some simple lavenders - I did record a tutorial for these, but I'm not sure if they'll be up as the next project, and I definitely want to add another flower in the same video.

Click here to watch the video

I love simple arrangements like these where you get to see each component a lot more clearly, and though the lavenders are super simple, I love what they add to this little scene as well!

Kitten, Gourmet & Etsy

Yesterday's tutorial on my main channel was for this adorable, little ginger kitten. I was trying to avoid making anything animal themed when I realized how many of my recent tutorials have been including animals - not that I mind, but I'm sure a lot of people wish to see other things as well :)

The reason why I decided to make one anyway is because I want to post the video for different cat accessories next week, and it makes more sense if I actually have a cat to pose with those things, right?

I also listed a few more things on Etsy, and I do want to make a quick note to any danish readers;

Because I'm listing things on Etsy again, I might not be going to any more miniature fairs. I can't say for sure if I'll be doing the october fair this year, as the final one - depends if I'll have enough to fill up my stall. I was hoping on being able to maybe fill up a good portion of a stall with ceramics, but I'm not sure yet.

I will also be posting a tutorial on SugarCharmShop Gourmet either today or tomorrow - I was going to make a project using the cucumber cane from my last video, but I realized I need to make another video to go with that project, before I can post it.. So I'll be postponing that video for a couple of weeks. I just don't want to clutter each video with a bunch of items that'll then make it more difficult for my viewers to find the different 'components' at a later time, so I'm doing my best to keep most things seperate - though I will be combining items like the heart shaped bundt cakes and cooling racks, for some videos :)

Cucumber

For today's video on SugarCharmShop Gourmet we're going to make miniature cucumber, as we'll need some cucumber slices for the next project :)

Cucumber canes are pretty simple and quick to make, and they're super useful whether you're making salads, burgers, sandwiches or other goodies!
And, if you're new to cane making, this is definitely one to try out.

Click here to watch the video

Next week's tutorial will be up later in the week due to the furniture delivery I was talking about in the last post - but hey, seeing as this is the second tutorial of the week, that still mean you got a bonus video :)

I'd love to take a moment to thank everyone who has subscribed to my new channel - though I'm sure not a lot of you follow the blog, just know it means the world. Starting a new channel is always a challenge (in many ways) - but I am overwhelmed by the support I've received so far!

Stir Fry - Miniature Food Tutorial & Reorganizing

Hey! Too soon to be proud of myself for keeping up with the blog since it's only been a week, but I'm going to pad myself on the back anyway, haha.

For today's food tutorial I made some miniature stir fry with noodles, broccoli, baby corn and other goodies - quite a few had been requesting different unspecified noodle dishes on my channel and a couple of people had asked for stir fry specifically, so I hope you'll enjoy the video :)

The tutorial also includes a how-to for the simple miniature wok.

Click here to watch

I feel super motivated to create things at the moment, which is awesome, but at the same time I'm as much demotivated by my craft room;

I've been reorganizing my craft room on and off for the past... many months, and for the past while I haven't made much progress. I finally found out what bothered me so much,.;my desks... I love my desks - they're big, spacious, sturdy as heck and they were cheap (got them used from a guy who's 2 sons were moving away from home). But they also annoy me,. mostly because they have this "great design" that's supposed to look fancy, but to me it means 'curvy' table tops that create an uneven work space and don't exactly look neat when you put them next to eachother - which to top it off wastes space. They're also extremely heavy which means I'm not even going to consider playing around with different placements again.. did it once,.. don't want to re-live that. So I pulled myself together and ordered some new desks from IKEA. They're not going to be as sturdy (made sure they could hold the weight of my heaviest tools combined), I know, but they're going to look a lot more neat, sleek, the measurements when combined (3 desks) match my room perfectly, they're going to give me more work space and more space for storage units underneeth - So I'm a happy camper!

They will be delivered on wednesday - hopefully enough time for me to be able to record the videos that'll be up in that time frame and temporarily move a s*** of stuff to our living room so there's room to move out the old desks. Can't wait to get it all in place and get to work on lots of mini projects!

SugarCharmShop Gourmet

So I've spent the past couple of hours doing some serious spring cleaning on this blog. Deleted some old posts, some pages and corrected some links and general information - I'm hoping on updating on here more often, at least when I post on my new channel.
'SugarCharmShop Gourmet' is officially up and running on youtube - and the first 2 tutorials have already been posted; Pizza and heart shaped bundt cakes. Visit Channel

My new channel is actually the reason for making this post - I wanted to try explaining what the channel is about, a bit more clearly than I did in the last post. 

Why did I make a new channel?

Unfortunately with the way youtube is set up, I can't always, as odd as that may sound, post quality miniature tutorials.. One of the reasons why is because some people get upset and complain about me using tools or materials that they don't have access to. This has resulted in the majority of my videos being simplified versions. Another reason is that the majority of the people who stumble across my videos don't find the more serious miniatures as fun to watch, which is really a shame.

What will I be posting on SugarCharmShop Gourmet?

Well.. It's going to be mainly food... ''Gourmet'' does not mean 'fancy, boring 5-star restaurant arrangements', it simply means 'good quality'. There will be videos for fruits, veggies, roasts, fish, poultry, baked good and so much more - serious food. And 'Serious food' doesn't mean their won't be any sweets and things like that - it simply means that I won't be posting branded fastfood or treats such as Mcdonald's, Dairy queen, M&M's, Doritos etc. - if you have requests for stuff like that, please request it on my main channel.

Now for the 'mainly' part of the equation; Once again, 'Gourmet', to me, means quality. I will be posting some other miniatures on this channel as well, such as kitchen accessories, furniture and other household items.. These will only be posted once in a while - again, the majority will be food. And here are some good news; if I decide to post non-food-related items more frequently in some months, they will be up as bonus videos so they don't take away from the amount of food tutorials :) *yay, everyone is happy!*

However, please keep the requests on 'SugarCharmShop Gourmet' food related - non food requests will be deleted (feel free to leave these on my main channel - I might post on it Gourmet.. confusing, I know).

Please help;

I truely appreciate the amount of support I've received so far, and I really do need your support if this is going to work. Though youtube is my fulltime job, having this new channel means I'll be working even more overtime than I already do - so if you enjoy these kinds of videos, please subscribe, watch the videos and share them on social media (using the 'share' options below the videos). If you make things inspired by the videos and post your creations on social media, please let people know who you were inspired by and where they can find the tutorials.

And this might be one of the most important things; Please know, that even if I post a video that you're not particularly interested in, watching it, clicking the 'thumbs up' and leaving a comment helps out a LOT and helps ensure that I'll be able to keep the channel running.

Thank you

Hope you'll enjoy! :)