Artober Fest // Shows and Events

Hey guys! I'm at it again... preparing for another craft show! It's relatively local, so if you are in the area- come see me! Here is the event poster!

The festival is going to be TOMORROW at Trailblazer Park in Traveler's Rest, SC, from 3-9 PM. There are also going to be games and events, along with many other artists and crafters! Here is a snippet of some of the things I am bringing with me!

ALL NEW Pumpkin Trick-Or-Treat Baskets!

 Jack O'Lanterns and Pumpkin Topiaries!

Here is a little work-in-progress of some new Glitter Spider decorations!

I will also have some cake items! I am taking some mini cakes and mini cake wearables. These were also at the Indie Craft Parade a few weeks ago, and were a big hit!

Hope to see you there! If not, all the leftovers will be listed on Etsy! Take care, and thanks for stopping by!

xoxo

-Blake

Easter Baking // 1:12 Scale Miniatures

Hey there! It has been a CRAZY year! As I talked about in my previous post- Twintrees has had some changes... and that is always the case for ABB! Things are always changing and growing. Not to mention all the things going on in my personal life... but I'll save you that series of novels. Haha!

Today I would like to share with you guys the recent Easter miniatures I have been making! This year I wanted to carry over the colors I have used in previous year's ranges into other minis!

I was recently inspired by the breads that Stephanie Kilgast teaches in her wonderful book, as well as the real-life counterparts I see on Pinterest. Though, as always I add my own little spin on things. So please take a look! I have Easter bread nests/braids/wreaths, as well as cakes and Easter eggs!

CLICK HERE to see these MINI BREAD NESTS in my Etsy shop!

CLICK HERE to see these MINI BREAD BRAIDS in my Etsy shop!

CLICK HERE to see these MINI BREAD WREATHS in my Etsy shop!

Also, I found these guys! Glitter Easter Eggs I made LAST YEAR! Can you believe that? I made so many of them.... dozens upon dozens... only for them to sit in a box for a year. But no longer will they be kept in the shadows! I brought them out and shot some new pictures of them and they are now listed in my Etsy shop HERE!

Not interested in mini ornaments? That's alright! The hooks come out with a little tug and you can use them as Easter Egg Decorations! Haha!

As always, thanks so much for stopping by! I wish I could say when I will have the chance to make some more miniatures- but I honestly never know. I can say for sure that I miss it! Making these few miniatures was a ton of fun and I hope you enjoy them as much as I do!

Oh! One more thing... look at these candles! I am SO proud of how they turned out and now I want to add candles on top of everything.... BAHAHA! But seriously. Feel free to click on the image so you can easier zoom in! These cakes are listed in my shop HERE and come with a cake slice :)

XOXO

-Blake

Having Some fun at the Bazaar! // Contest Entry + ABB Crafts

Hello everyone! I hope you all have had a wonderful week! I am starting to wind down from the never-ending cane slicing! Haha! If you missed that post, you can check it out HERE. I am only about half-way through slicing them up, but I can only take so much for now! :D

I wanted to take a minute to share a little bit of the fun I have been having here at the Bazaar! Firstly, I want to share some detail shots of an entry I have for a contest over at semi-sweeties! They just made the wonderful achievement of reaching 2000 members, so to celebrate they are holding a "party" themed contest! How fun is that?! I figured I would take the opportunity to make some new things that I haven't had the chance to get around to.

Firstly, I played around with the cake! This is my first tiered cake! I got some more practice on icing as well.

These are also the first cakes stands, macaroons, and cake topper that I have ever made!

My entry wasn't terribly complex, but I had a lot of fun making it and I am excited (as always) to see the other entries! Now, I also wanted to share my fox masks I made for Halloween! Ginia and I waited around until last minute (of course) and I ended up whipping these guys together in under a few hours. I'm quite proud!

 Ginia's fox mask had a festive orange bow on her head!

 While my mask came along with a mushroom pin that I stuck on to my shirt!

All of the elements are made from felt, but with a little playing-around I was able to make it look like fur!

And in the end, I even added whiskers! The party we went to had a costume contest- we didn't win- but I had a ton of fun prancing around in these!

Now! Back to work! Muahahaha! (evil laugh) I still have tons of canes to slice up!

Tutorial- How to Make 1:12 Scale Miniature Cakes

Hello, everyone! I am wide awake this morning (hours before I normally get up) to share some wonderful news with you!

I have been working on a collaboration with Mini Food Tutorials to creative a simple beginner's tutorial for making 1:12 scale cakes! The tutorial covers simple topics such as making a cost-effective base, making some icing, as well as making some different kinds of sprinkles!

I was approached a few weeks ago by the lovely Amelia- who runs minifoodtutorials.com. She was looking for something a little different from what she already offers on her website (which is already great) from someone new! I am beyond happy that she chose little 'ole me to take this chance with! If you would like to purchase this tutorial click HERE.

One of the main reasons I did this is because it was so obvious to me from the beginning that Amelia's site, minifoodtutorials.com, is aimed at spreading the joy of miniatures. Her blog has regular updates with what other miniature artisans are doing all over the world- plus she has a snazzy newsletter that you can follow! You can purchase my tutorial, which is 100% made by me by clicking HERE. It is SUPER cheap at the low price of $12. And if that isn't enough- there are also some free tutorials you can grab while you are over there!

Now, you guys know that I like to be 100% transparent on my blog. Ya'll's support means the world to me and your feedback and encouragement is what gives me motivation to keep doing what I love! I have recently made the decision to pursue miniatures full-time... for a little while at least. I have tons and tons of ideas that I want to make a reality and I owe it to myself, all of my miniature friends, and to the craft itself to try my best to contribute to the miniature world and spread the word of the craft that I love so much! This is just one small step to doing just that!

So... with that being said- feel free to check out the tutorial! Once purchased, you can download to your computer and even print it out for you to take with you! It is my first tutorial in booklet form, so I in a sense it is a completely new experience for me! I hope you enjoy it! - Remember this tutorial is great for someone who is just starting to make mini cakes! :)

Thanks so much for stopping by!

_Blake

P.S- Today I am going with my friends to a fabric warehouse for a HUGE sale they sometimes have. I am hoping to find some fabrics with patterns small enough to use in 1:12 scale! :D I will let you guys know if I find anything! xoxo

this week at the bazaar!

It's Friday already?!?!?! Where does the week go?! I feel like just yesterday I post last week's wrap up!

Oh well! Lately there is always something going on at the Bazaar so let's get to it!

1.) Today I tried my hand at making a butterfly cane! Not only was it more complicated than I expected, it took forever! Haha!

This wasn't just something random, either. There is a shop that opened up in town called The Blu Butterfly. I met the owner some time ago through Etsy when I was playing around with Etsy shop banners and stuff. I made her a whole branding package and we have still ~kinda~ kept contact over this whole time.

Anyways, I made this cane so that I could make some earrings and pins and maybe even some charms or beads - all for The Blu Butterfly! This is actually the practice cane, but I am gonna make some example pieces with it so I can go show the owner and see what she thinks!

These almost look like drawings to me... which makes me like them even more!

I still want to play around with what I can do with the cane. Like I said before: earrings, pins, beads, charms, magnets (?).... Anyone have any other ideas?

2.) I also practiced my pumpkins this week! (Shout-out to Jenny who loves pumpkins!) I made them different colors other than orange because I want to have a wider variety this year than I did last year - I can't wait to start on Autumn minis!

3.) We also can't forget about my little watermelons! Which, by the way are listed HERE in my Etsy shop.

4.) There was also the Ombre Cakes and Sprinkle Cakes from the beginning of the week!

5.) I also have been practicing on some fruit! I am having a lot of fun with these, most likely because I have never made many fruits before- so you can expect some fruits to be listed in the Etsy shop soon! Haha! But only after I am happy with how everything looks. In this next image I was playing around with the translucency, hue, and size of each fruit.

6.) I also got a request on Etsy for a set of custom cake boxes. The customer wanted a teal box with little white stars- here is what I came up with!

7.) I know I already made one point about the fruit, but one thing I am SUPER happy with is my blueberries and the little basket! I can't wait to make more of these and have them sitting on my produce stand!

8.) I cut my hair! Yes, by "I cut my hair" I mean I CUT IT MYSELF. I don't know how practical it is, but I prefer to cut it myself because I hate going to the barber JUST to get almost all my hair cut off and thrown away. I know this is kinda irrelevant... but... it still happened this week! Hahaha!

UGH. Notice the little lock of hair over on the side. Hey.. I said I cut it, I didn't say anything about brushing it. HAHAHA. Also, I am beginning to hate the color of my room. I love green and brown and it suited me when I painted it a few months ago, but I am ready for something different. Something lighter. Maybe a project for the coming week!? :D

Well, that's all for now! I hope you enjoyed today's post!

Until next time!

xoxoxo

-Blake

Ombre Cakes and Sprinkles

Hey guys! I have been busy working away on some more cakes! The 1/12 Scale Cakes section in my Etsy shoppe is quickly growing... Lol!

The other day I made and listed some ombre cakes. I made 6 of them, one in red, orange, yellow, green, blue, and purple.

They were actually rather time-consuming to make because I had to make a skinner-blend for each one. For those of you who don't know, an "ombre" is a trendy design that is basically a gradient of two colors- most commonly a color blended into white. It's ALL OVER Pinterest and can actually be really pretty when used well. Here are a couple so you can see them from the side. The ombre is done in a "fondant" style.

Here is a picture for size! They each turned out to be about 3/4 of an inch in diameter at the base.

I also made 2 white cakes with rainbow sprinkles. I put the sprinkles on the top of one and on the sides of the other!

If you are interested in purchasing any of these cakes, you can find them in the 1/12 Scale Cakes section in my Etsy shoppe! 

I will be checking in again soon to show you guys my progress on some berries! I have been trying to make a few summer miniatures. I don't know why... but I am always having a hard time with keeping up with whats seasonal! Hahaha!

Thanks for stopping by!

xoxo

-Blake