1:48 Scale Village | YouTube Video

Hey guys! I recently started a new personal project and instead of just taking photos of the process, I thought... what the heck? How 'bout I make a video!? So... that's what I did!

 Many of you already know the process of dry fitting, but I thought it would be a great way for me to test out how I would go about making a video for miniatures as well as share some content in a new way!

You can find the video by clicking HERE.

I would love it so much if you guys checked out the video and Subscribed to my channel! I have a few videos I am currently working on, along with the behind-the-scenes video of me making my 2015 Creatin' Contest Entry. (Which, btw I got an honorable mention!!)

I also have a personal channel where I've been sharing some home decor projects and art challenges! If you are interested in giving that a look, click HERE. 

I'll check back in when I have more to share! I am currently working on the village, as well as brainstorming for my 2016 Creatin' Contest entry. This year's kit seems a good bit smaller and I hope to make my entry wayyyyy more detailed than my first one!

Thanks for stopping by!

X -Blake

Works in Progress + a Craft Haul!

Firstly, those of you that responded to that last post- THANK YOU! I have been writing down the materials everyone suggested and will soon be trying out some different glazes and glosses!

It's been pretty hectic around here lately... between taking driving lessons and keeping up with all of the normal happenings, it gets difficult to set aside time to work. Well... let me put it this way- it FEELS difficult. As I am slowly starting to learn- being your own "boss" is hard. I have to be the one to lay down the law about when I will work, what I will allow myself to be pulled away from work for, and every other little thing that comes along with running a business. It's already proving to be hard, but with with people like Stephanie Kilgast and Tomo Tanaka to look up to (who both work on miniatures full time) I know I can do it!

Anyways, my main reason for today's post was to show you what I have been working on!

Here are a few pies that I just made. They don't have any glaze yet, but I am SUPER happy with them.

From left to right, there is an apple pie, a pumpkin pie (or maybe sweet potato?) and a pecan pie. I have also been working on some cupcakes! Here are some bases. I will hopefully get around to icing them within the next day or so.

With all of the failed attempts at both cupcake bases AND pie bases- this is the first time that I am happy with them. I will soon show you what the earlier attempts looked like. I know cupcakes and pies are things that a lot of miniaturists drift towards (like cakes)... but I am starting to see why. There is such a contrast in textures, shapes, and colors- that it becomes a great exercise for finding a balance among all these things. It becomes a learning experience!

I am also making some more pumpkins! Now that I have gotten a process down that gives me some pretty realistic results- I can make more! So I bought some new paint colors to try out!

Soon I will have white, tan, green, orange, and mustard colored pumpkins! (and also some black) Yay! I know it might seem like a lot of colors... but I want to be able to provide a nice variety of colors- so that they are more realistic!

As for the rest of my haul- I made out like a bandit! I got 40 packages of FIMO for 99 cents each! I was BEYOND lucky because I was just at Micheal's Crafts by chance, when my mom pointed out the price. She asked, "Is that a good price for that?" - And I grabbed as much as I could.

You can also see in the picture above that I got some beads, a scrapbook punch, and some miniatures. I have never seen miniatures at Micheal's, so maybe this means they will soon start selling them? *fingers crossed*

 I also found this SUPER cute wagon. I want to rust it up and maybe add some words to it to display some things in.

Well... that's all for today! I will be back soon so share how my pies, cupcakes, and pumpkins turn out. Thanks for stopping by!

This Week at the Bazaar ~ 10 Things

The best way for me to get into a productive mood is to put some music on and just start working. Sometimes I make things that I love, and other times I make things that I know I would never ever show anyone because they are THAT bad. BUT! Here are 10 reasons this was a productive week at the Bazaar!

1.) I got this picture! AHHH. I have been feeling a little on the sad side because my photos were starting to move backwards, but I think it was because I was in that funk. But now I GOT MY GROOVE BACK, YALL. Not to mention, the cake. MMM. Love me some cake.

2.) The fireplace just keeps coming along! Right now it has been painted and the wood parts have been stained. (Don't have a picture of that yet.)

3.) I have begun a little work in the library! (Very little, though.) I started to play around with the awkward space here... I was going to make it a wall where you see the banisters, but I actually like this better. I think it will leave the bottom two floors open and airy- just like I like them!

4.) I have been sleeping better! YES. FINALLY. I have a bad habit of watching TV into the wee hours of the morning... and then sleeping until wayyyyyyy passed noon. This week, I managed to get to sleep by at least 12!

5.) I made a lot of progress on my breads! Not only have a made a good bit, I think they are a lot more realistic that my older ones! YAY! ^^'

6.) The hardwood floors are done! Well... kinda. I can't tell if I want to add a little shine to them. I think I do, but I will think on it a bit more. Here is a shot of it so far!

7.) The second episode of True Blood that came on this last Sunday was just another little nugget of happiness, because I still have the feeling this season will be much better than the last!

8.)Oh! And Game of Thrones is turning out to be a GREAT book. It is miles better than the TV show, because of all the little things they have to leave out in the TV show. That being said, the TV show will always be one of my favs.

9.) I have been playing around with new foods! I don't know why, but I have always been a little apprehensive to try making a new food in miniature. I guess it is just the fear of messing up- but they happens inevitably. This week I worked on some hamburgers! Yay! Here is a shot of one. ( I am still playing around with them.)

10.) Oh! I also listing some candies in my Etsy store. I put some jelly beans and also some caramel creams up! WOOT WOOT! It isn't much, but its a start!

Cheers! Here's to happy weekend and another productive week!

xoxo

-Blake

10 Reasons This Week Was Great!

Hello friends! It has been a GREAT week here at the Bazaar. Not only was it relaxing, but it was productive as well! Here are 10 reasons this week was great-

1. I continued to make candies!

2. I made a lot of progress on The Magnolia! The brick wall in the big room, the floor in the kitchen, and now the fireplace!

3. I prepped some canvases for miniature paintings!

4. I changed the fireplace/ inner chimney! This old chimney was a bit bulky and distracting, so I am thinking this one won't weigh down that side of the room as much, and I think it also gives the room some of its height  back.

5. True Blood began this Sunday! AHHH! I can already tell that this season will be better than the last season. The characters were back to their likable selves and the episode was directed by Bill! Awesome!

6. I began crocheting in miniature! I started off with one type of crochet thread, but have now changed to an even smaller thread. This next picture is of the new thread, and the following image is the old!

7. I also started reading Game of Thrones! I watch the t.v. show on HBO... and its wonderful... but the book... is even better. I have only read about 5 or 6 chapters, but I love it so far!

8. I tagged along with my friend, Ginia, to take bridal pictures- only to realize I had my entire camera bag EXCEPT my battery. So guess what I got to do that day? Carry everyone's bags. >_>

9. I worked out twice this week! (And hopefully I can squeeze in a third time today) I normally don't exercise, so this is a HUGE deal for me.

10. This is my second blog post for the week! Which is the ideal number for me- at least 2 or 3 posts a week. Yay!

The last two images are a preview of some other new things I am working on. The cake still needs some icing details, but I am trying to make my cakes much more detailed! The second picture is of spools of thread! And then the third image is of some berries! :D :D You can click on these pictures to get a better look!

Well, there's this week! Thanks for stopping by!

xoxo

-Blake

Tiles in the Kitchen! (of The Magnolia?)

Hello all! I am BEYOND happy to be back to working on my house on a regular basis. It has actually been making me more relaxed than those hours and hours of TV shows. (Okay, I can admit I have still been watching Grey's Anatomy. What can I say? It's a good show. ^^' ) Today I worked on the kitchen floor! I begun the same way I did the bricks. I cut 1 inch squares from egg carton to give the look of (stone?) tile floor. I used a popsicle stick as a spacer so that each tile was pretty evenly spaced. Here is what I had once the tiles were down-

Not too shabby, huh? I actually ended up stacking some things on the floor at this point to flatten the tiles down better. I was already liking it, but then I painted it and BAM. I started to LOVE it .

I'm still going to go back in and add some grout and dirty it up a bit. I wasn't going to go with white tiles, but I think it contrasts nicely to the dark flooring in the living room. OH! As for the living room floor, when I glued down the wood pieces, some were thicker than others (????) so I am now in the process of sanding it all down to a some-what-even surface. Here is a shot of the whole floor-

Well, I took this picture before I painted the tiles- but you kinda get it! Haha! As for the title of this post.... I was thinking about the name of this build- and it is taking a much different direction than what I originally thought. It has started to take more of an older southern home- so... The Magnolia! I think it is the perfect name, especially after reflecting back on some of inspiration pictures. I will go more into the name a little later, so be on the lookout for that!

Anyways, I am going to go get back to work on ~The Magnolia~ !!! I also made a cake today! It was really nice to be working with clay again, too. And I haven't forgotten about my candy! It is just SO time consuming to make all of it that I am working on it in waves. Heehee :)

Thanks for stopping by!

xoxo

-Blake

Back to Construction!

WOAH. It's been a while since I laid a finger on my dear ole' model house! Not only was I distracted and exhausted by... well... LIFE... but I also got into a rut. I hate ruts. The only good thing about them is getting out of them! ~LIKE NOW~

Today I was working on the big room in my house. Here are the little steps I took to making the brick wall. I may work some more on it, but I'm not totally sure yet. First I laid all the bricks! They are made the same way as before and they are also the same size!

I painted them in reds and browns first because I thought it would be more realistic this way.

I then grouted the bricks, just like before. This time was a bit harder because there was so much more area to cover.

I then painted over the bricks in a cream color. I liked the way this color looked with the green wallpaper. Oh! Also, ignore the wallpaper that has paint on it. I have more paper, so I will just redo that. Haha! Sometimes even I get impatient. Anyways... I left the cream paint kind of messy because I didn't know if I would like the texture or not, and as of right now I think I may put down some more paint. Its kinda too much texture.

I also found this other wallpaper in the craft store. (Well.... actually it's scrap-booking paper.) I may not use it in this project but I thought it would make a nice wallpaper someday!

Once again, I apologize for my absence. Sometimes I just get so busy... but yet at the end of the day there really isn't much to show for it. It is a crazy phenomenon that seems to be pretty common. Especially among us artists! Haha!

I hope you all are doing well! Oh! I also listed some cake boxes in my Etsy store. I will make a post about them another day, but you can check them out HERE if you want! - 

Thanks for stopping by!

xoxo

-Blake

Easter Is Coming! + House Progress

Hello all! I have been SUPER busy. School has been constantly picking up and I couldn't seem to catch a break... until a few days ago! I have been working on mainly some Easter items- Tweets (Peeps), decorations, sweets.... So here is a little looksie to what I have been up to!

 

 

The Tweets are back! This year I have added a GREEN TWEET to the collection! It rounds out the colors SO well! Now it feels even more like Easter is around the corner! This year I adjusted the shape a bit- these have a more defined shape, which makes them more realistic!

 

I also have these Easter egg decorations! They are going to come in sets of 5 and can be hanged anywhere in your display! These also come in the same colors as the Tweets, so they coordinate perfectly! I will be taking some more pictures of these before I list them- I just have to make something else to go along with them! ;)

 

 

ON TO THE HOUSE! I have been slowly getting back to work on this little baby. I have put up wall paper on one wall and I have been putting bricks up on the other. As you can see in the next image, I still have a good bit of bricks to lay down.

 

As you can see, the house is a mess. I have some furniture here and there and I have JUNK everywhere. I did manage to get a fireplace going! You can see that in the next image.

 



See that wooden thingy? That's my fireplace/chimney! I have been cutting TONS of bricks and I have plenty of egg cartons now, it just takes a while to get it done.

 

If you follow me on Facebook you might already know this, but I have been working to have my miniatures put in an actual store! There is a shop opening up here in town that caters to local artists- it's called Artists View. At the moment I have some paintings and drawings up, but I hope to have my own booth soon. I just need to make sure I can fill the booth AND have things on my Etsy.

 

I apologize if it seems I have not been active with the miniatures! I have been doing more recently, but it can be VERY hard to balance everything right now. I hope to check back in again soon, so let me know what you think about everything so far!

 

XO

-Blake

Brownies and Cookies - Custom Order!

Hello everyone! Well, I have been back in the shop and making some lovely new things! I have some ALL NEW miniatures coming soon, I just need to take care of a few things before I share those.

I recently received a very large custom order! A super sweet lady bought 12 cakes, 30 brownies, and 4 dozen cookies. So far I have got the cookies and brownies almost done! Here is a little peak at what I have so far....

 

I just recently finished the brownies and I have to add some nut toppings. Since I was in the groove of these, I made some extras! I will list those as soon as I have this large order completed! :D

As for the cookies, the order included 2 dozen chocolate chip, 1 dozen sugar cookies, and 1 dozen iced sugar cookies. As soon as I get this last batch of things out of the oven I am going to bed, but tomorrow I will make the cakes! Those are going to be REALLY fun to make. (They're ombre cakes!)

 

Oh! As far as the other new items, I am experiementing with some miniature pottery and I also made some cupcake bases! I will hopefully soon have some regular cupcakes and also some mini-mini cupcakes. Haha! Here are a couple pictures to give you an idea-

 

Friday is over and it was a very productive day! But I still have a lot to do... I need to work on my design project, do my homework, and also work on my other project with my friend. I have everything planned out for the whole weekend, but I don't think I will get to work on my house. Ergh! I have collected a lot of egg cartons! I should be done with the chimney in no time... once I get started. Haha!

Well, thanks for stopping by! I will check in once I complete this order to show you guys how everything turned out. I will also (hopefully) have some of the new items for the shop made soon. We'll see!

XOXO

-Blake