Valentine desserts

Sorry that I haven't posted in a long while. I just got a new 8-5 job, and I haven't figured out how to keep up with my crafts. Anywho, I made these a couple of weeks back. I just got Liquid Sculpey, so these were my first experiments with it. I LOVE it!! I can truly make frosting now. The cupcakes were my first attempt at that type of dessert. I like them, but I have ideas for improvements. As for the cake, I've actually never had red velvet cake before, but it looks good, so I decided to create it in mini form. I'm really starting to like creating mini baked goods. I hope I get more chances to practice!

Like them?





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Attempt at a new project

Wow, I haven't written in far too long.  I'm only now starting to recover from the holidays.  Anyways, while I was up in Idaho awhile back, I found something on the ground that instantly screamed "project" to me.  It's a mini ammo box or so I've been told.  It was all cracked and dirty, and I barely noticed it since it was halfway buried in the snow.  Still, I knew what I wanted to do.  I cleaned it, cut off the top, glued the crack shut, painted the bottom half blue and presto!  I had a mini ice chest!  It even looks loved just like a well-used ice chest should look!  I need to make a camping scene now...

Another project I attempted was my first "baking in progress" scene.  I made a chocolate chip cookie dough mixture in a metal bowl, the dough on the cookie sheets ready to bake, the baked cookies, and a canister of flour (I used a chapstick cap).  It's kind of hard to tell, but there really are tons of mini chocolate chips in the dough.  They just didn't stand out very much.  I'm thinking that the baked cookies are not that great, so I may change them.  What do you think?  Is it realistic for my first attempt?

January issue of AM :-(

Well, I woke up today to not so good news.  It was being strongly considered for my Phantom of the Opera project to be on the cover of the January issue, and compensation was arranged accordingly.  I saw the cover today.  I'm not on the cover.  In the "in this issue" section, my project has been reduced to being listed as "cave scene" and "lighting kit."  It's a Phantom of the Opera roombox as they requested.  It's far more than a cave scene and lighting kit.  Perhaps it was copyright issues?  But even if there were copyright issues to using the name (though that falls under Fair Use, I believe), then "Phantom" could suffice, right?  Oh, well.  I'm just a bit bummed because I thought I'd finally done a good enough piece to be put on the cover.

Found a new store!

Hi, all.  So, I've gotten to go to a bunch of mini stores on this trip.  I don't have all my goodies with me because I'm currently at an adorable bed and breakfast in Friday Harbor, WA.  However, I do have two from a recent stop.  On the 7 or so hour drive from Idaho to the San Juan Islands, I slept most of the drive.  However, when I woke up, I was in the old-fashioned German town of Leavenworth, WA.  It was great!  Anyway, I was told that there just might be a mini store in this small town.  I remember that a similar town, Solvang, CA, used to have a mini store.  I used to go there once a year on the way to Disneyland.  Then they got rid of the store :-(.  Anyway, so I decided to take a look in this town.  I walked into a store that I thought was a toy store.  It wasn't, but it did have a dollhouse.  I asked the woman if there were any miniatures, and she told me to go downstairs and sure enough - there was a mini section!  I got this little pitcher and water basin with a windmill to remember the town by, and a set of monkey wrenches for my work bench.  I'll post more pics of the other recent purchases when I get back.  I'll also show you what I made out of an old, cracked, muddy pellet gun ammo case.  Cya!

P.S.  Want to see a map of mini stores?  Visit my custom map at http://writtenbyangela.t35.com/www.Writtenbyangela.t35.com/Mini_Map.html. 

A new store and some baked goods

Hi, all!  Well, as I mentioned, I'm currently up in Idaho which has given me some time to work on little baked goods.  Before I get to that though, I want to show you what I got at Handcrafted for You (http://www.craftedforyou.net/).  I didn't even know there was a miniature store in that area (Oregon City).  I just so happened to be reading American Miniaturist and saw the listing when we were only five minutes away.  So, we stopped, and of course I had to buy a few items: little glass jars, a desk lamp, and glassware.  If you're in the area, come stop by her store!









I've been mini baking quite a lot.  I'm glad I decided to bring my clay!  Earlier, I posted my two-layered cake and my bundt cake.  Yesterday alone I made the lemon cake (my new favorite) and a slice, my friend's famous Vanilla Bean Cake with chocolate frosting, apple pie (those crossing strips were hard to do!), chocolate pudding, a loaf of bread, a plate of chocolate fudge, a doggie bone (which was approved by my boyfriend's dog, Missy), chocolate covered cookies, and peanut butter cookies.  Today, I made the little dresser from a kit I got.  I had to make some adjustments for the drawers to open, but it turned out fine.  I'm still not quite sure how I'm going to paint it, but I'm thinking of a Better Homes and Gardens inspiration.

Anyway, I think I'll do more mini baking today.  Any suggestions?  There's a Better Homes and Gardens baking magazine upstairs, so I may take a look at that for ideas.

Hope you like the goodies!








P.S.  Though I've been doing miniatures in some form or another for about 10 years, I haven't really sold my work.  I'm interested in starting to sell.  Any advice on what selling sites to use?  Thanks!

Miniatures from the movie "The Aviator"

Hi, all!  Well, I've just arrived up in Idaho, and I'm already on my computer to write up this blog.  Here I thought I wouldn't have any material for a new blog, but I do!  Today, my boyfriend wanted to go to The Aviation Museum in McMinnville, Oregon.  I'll admit, planes are not exactly my thing, but I made sure to look at everything.  To my surprise, they had the miniature models that were used in the movie "The Aviator" with Leonardo DiCaprio. Here are some pictures of the airplane hanger that they made for the movie.  It appears to be in 1:12.

 

Here are the photos they have explaining the process of using the model and a green screen to create the final effect.

They also had the Spruce Goose model.  Here's a close-up of the model complete with dolls of the actors inside.

Here's a shot of the model (right) with the real Spruce Goose.  That plane is huge!

I'll write again soon!

Score!

I went to the Miniaturist Pot Luck and Flea Market today in San Mateo, CA.  I got SO MUCH stuff!!!  Here are photos of the things I got.  I even found dishes for my mini food creations which I've been looking for.  So here's a run-down of what I got (I'm actually curious to see it listed out like this!):

- 4 tubes of paint (2 gold for my Dad which aren't pictured)

- a dress form (actually the proper size)

- a radiator

- an electric Tiffany ceiling light (for my kitchen)

- an electric Tiffany table light

- an electric ceiling fan/light (for the teenage room)

- a seat cushion with ties

- metal plates (2 small, 2 big) and pans (1 with spatula) and serving dishes (1 large, 2 ice cream bowls)

- an electric dome light (for the master bedroom)

- an electric gold candle light (came with two amber glass covers, but one broke)

- a doggie dish

- an upholstered stool

- a multi-color mop (from a grab bag)

- a spilled can of paint

- a pretty embroidered dolly

- an electric desk light

- a candlestick with holder (I'm putting the surviving amber cover over it)

- two shovels (for my mom's potting bench)

- a spitoon

- a weird copper stopper

- a metal alarm clock

- lemon slices

- a rug

- a small dresser kit

- a laptop lap desk kit

- an electric gold ceiling light

-an electric dark brass table light

And the cost of all these items? $12.50!!!!  Yes, you read that right: $12.50!  The electric lights were $0.75 each, but when I brought them all up to pay for them, she only asked for $3 total.  They wanted to get rid of their stock which was lucky for me because I got great prices!

I'm so excited to start working on little projects with my new purchases, but I'm leaving for Idaho tomorrow, so I won't be able to see most of my purchases, but I'm bringing some of them with me to work on.  I'll probably also be visiting my favorite stores up there, so I'll have other blogs to post along the way.  I'll miss California though.  Still, it should be fun.  Anyway, talk to you soon!