Roses

One of my purchases last month was some pearl sculpey, which I've made into roses.

Roses in a bottle cap. 

Now I've started putting them onto cakes.

Celebration Cakes decorated with flowers

Day 5 : Celebration cakes with flowers

I made these a few years ago and they are part of my cake shop.

Fridge Magnets

I'm constantly thinking of ways to get my miniatures out there in the big wide world.  I've put food in frames and put them up on the wall and I like this idea because people who come into my house see them but they might not ask to see a dollshouse. The first ones I made were around 10 years ago and I've improved my mini making skills a lot since then and I keep saying one day I will get round to putting them together in a blog post. 

But my latest plan for my minis is a fridge magnet. I had some small round magnets in my stash and thought well why not use them for something. 

And these are the results ... each round board is 4cm across and the food is made in 1:12 scale.

It's baking day...

I think it's good to add a bit of realism to a dollhouse. It's nice to have finished cakes in the window of a bakery or on a tea table but it's also good to reflect real life by having a bit of chaos in the kitchen. A work in progress so to speak. 

I've made some cake preparation boards which would be good to put into a kitchen, or on a counter in a shop. The cakes are 18mm round made from polymer clay. The icing is made by mixing transclucent liquid sculpey and fimo polymer clay to an icing consistency. It is then baked as per packet instructions. 

This peach one is an almost finished iced cake. There is a bowl of icing in the background and a knife covered in icing. 

A large wooden board has the cake, buttercream, knife and lemon slices set on it.

A small marble board with a cake being iced. 

Cake being iced and finished cake.

Strawberry cake being iced with hulled strawberries.

Cake being filled with buttercream, strawberries for decoration on board. 

Finished cake and cake being iced board.

I'm happy with the results as I find strawberries difficult to make and for some reason I always have problems with red coloured things. I didn't add a stalk or calyx to them as they are hulled ready to put onto the cake. 

All I need now is a cup of tea to go with it.  

World Baking Day 2015

I didn't even know World Baking Day existed, but it does and as a bonus for me I made lots of cakes yesterday and this morning I've been photographing the miniatures. It's been a very busy morning. I love the finished pictures and I do like planning and staging them but it takes hours to set everything up, photograph, edit and make sure the miniatures are in focus.

So these are pictures of the finished lemon cakes which I'll be listing on etsy.

Carrot cake.

I've mentioned my minor obsession with Pinterest . I like the hidden surprise cakes or peek-a-boo cakes and have been pinning quite a few.

This carrot cake was found on http://www.thepartiologist.com/2013/03/easter-extravaganza. 

And this is my mini version. It's a first attempt and I couldn't get the leaves to do what I wanted them to do which is why there aren't any on top.

Hidden surprise cakes.

I have to admit to having a bit of obsession with Pinterest. I'll have a look for inspiration on there and spend far too much time then wondering how to recreate it in miniature.  I also have a couple of boards with real life cakes, dinners and foodie ideas but they seem to be permanently in the 'make at some time in the future' rather than this is what's for tea tonight.

I left it a bit late this year to plan any specific Christmas goodies so I started thinking of next year and to  begin with  Valentine's day. I came up with a cute little red sponge heart encased in sponge covered with pink icing and different decorations on top. These are the ones I've made today but I'm sure more variations will appear in the future. 

I love the way the sponge looks so real and lifelike. It's done with a simple technique of using a needle on the fimo clay in small circular motions very lightly on the surface. It takes a bit of practise and patience but it's worth it for the end result. 

What A Start!

It's been less than a month since I decided to start selling my minis again and I feel like I haven't stopped! It's not that I ever really stopped making as I continued to do things for my own collection but I did stop selling.

The break has done my some good because I have a renewed energy and creative burst which has had me working on several new items. 

I'm selling on etsy, the shop name is Magenta Minis, link on the right. Below is a selection of the current items for sale.