The Artist's Studio 1:12 Scale Build | June Updates

Hello lovelies! As I type this it is 11:45 at night, we just spent an ENTIRE week getting "our new place" ready for us to move in, and we have to be on the road to the coast tomorrow to meet our family at the beach for a week-long getaway!

I haven't had a chance to do *much* work on the artist's studio (TAS for short, because I'm lazy). However, I will show you what I have done since we last caught up! As you can see in the picture above I widened my windows! Since I have two kits- I used the window inserts from both to make up a larger window. All it took was a little bit of work with a jigsaw and instant light!

As I've said before, I love adding more natural light into a build- partially because I am intimidated by adding electrical elements, but also because it gives the build so much more air-y-ness! Over the last couple weeks I also started on the walls.

I used those pesky flooring sheets from Hobby Lobby- I still have no idea how you are SUPPOSED to use these, but I manage to use them a different way every time I get them. I made an oxidation mixture with vinegar and steel wool. Essentially you dissolve some steel wool in a jar of vinegar and it does amazing things to the wood! After a few more touches- whitewash with some chalk paint, a little sanding, some brown paint here and there- I got a pretty authentic looking reclaimed wood finish!

Personally, I love how it's coming along. I imagine a very light and airy cabin by the lake- or maybe up in the mountains. This is all the pictures I have today, but I promise to have more soon!

Okay, a little bit of what I've been up to- like I said earlier, I am moving! Which means I haven't had a place to work for the last couple weeks and it might be driving me a little crazy. The good news is that I have a pretty sweet setup in our new place and I am VERY MUCH looking forward to using it when we get back from the beach! We'll be there a week, and I have to say we REALLY deserve this vacation. And... I need a tan like you wouldn't believe!

Thanks for checking in, I will be in touch soon!

x - Blake

Making Candy "Canes" // My Work-Space

Well... Halloween is over :C  AND YOU ALL KNOW WHAT THAT MEANS!

CHRISTMAS!!

Haha, well... in the miniature world that's what it means! This will be the first year that I will be able to work on Christmas miniatures the way I have wanted to for the last few years! Don't worry, I won't COMPLETELY forget about Thanksgiving! I still have a few more Autumn minis planned, but for now I am getting started on the merriest season of them all!

 For the last couple of days I have been working on candy "canes!" Not actual candy canes, but polymer clay canes. So far I have 7 canes made. I am still in the process of slicing them up (and it might take a while) so I wanted to go ahead and share what I'm working on! As of right now I have 2 styles of peppermints, lemon candies, orange candies, caramel creams, and 2 styles of rainbow candies!

I am planning on using these for small packets of candies, as well as decorations for gingerbread houses! But for now... they are being stored in these nifty little containers.

 Now it's time for me to get back to slicin' !! I have a lot to go, so I better get back to work! Thanks for stopping by!

Using My Light-Box + More Jack O'Lanterns!

I was planning on doing another "This Week @ The Bazaar" post... but honestly it has been one of those scatterbrained weeks. I have been working on more jack o'lanterns along with more candies... and still planning some new items. But more on that later! I am currently listing a few more jacks. Take a look! All of my images today were taken with the aid of my home-made light box. It's amazing what a little foam-core and tape will do! :) As always, these jack o'lanterns can be found in my Etsy shop, HERE.

I once again made white and green jack o'lanterns... but I am starting to miss orange. So... I will most likely make some orange jack o'lanterns soon! :)

And as for my light box... I am loving it more every day! It is a but tricky getting the colors right- today a lot of the images came out kinda blue... but I don't really mind it.

It is so much fun coming up with all of the faces for these! I try to think of what I would actually carve into the pumpkin if it was real. Now that I think of it... it's been a few years since I carved an ACTUAL pumpkin! :O

These last four jacks are "medium" size. The small pumpkins above all measure less that an inch wide, but these mediums are a little over an inch. I am also working on large pumpkins that will be around an inch and a half.

If you would like to purchase any of these little guys, you can check out the Autumn 2013 section of my Etsy shop HERE. 

I have also been working on candies... still... See, I have a good bit of patience but sometimes I can only take SO MUCH. Haha! The candy is taking so long to get a lot made up because of how time consuming it is! Here is a little preview of the candies I have been working on. Give it a click to see it up close!

In this little collage, I have gold foil-wrapped chocolates, Halloween themed saltwater taffy, jawbreakers, small packets of gummy worms, caramel creams, and candy corn... and some spooky gummy body parts!

As for the candy I am working on right now... I want it to be in small portions like one would be giving out to trick-or-treaters... which means INDIVIDUAL WRAPPERS. So far I haven't had TOO much trouble, especially since I spent so much time last year experimenting. I am hoping to have a full post on just candy soon.

Well, that's it for today! I hope you enjoyed seeing the fruit of this week's labor as much as I did making it! Thanks for stopping by!

xoxo

_blake

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

1:12 scale watermelons!

We all know how I have that pesky little habit of starting on something and dashing off to work on something else.... well... I am trying to change that! I have been working on minis that I started and left in the dust (so to speak). The other day I got around to those cake bases I made and made some Bakery Style cakes as well as some Ombre cakes and even some with Sprinkles!

For the last couple days I have been working on watermelons! (the very same ones that I showed you guys a sneak peek of and then forgot about.)

These were actually really fun to make! Like I mentioned before, I have been wanting to make things I've never made before... and... that list is VERY long. I have spent most of my miniature-making career focused on cakes and sweets. There has been the occasional meat or fruit... but not often.

I also have been feeling happier with my photos :) I think I was just out of practice... ERGH. Do you guys ever get into little "funks" like that?

What do yall think about the watermelons? Is there anything I should work on? I'm open for critique! It's the best way to improve! <3 The outsides are hand painted and I was working from pictured I Googled.

I have listed a small set of 3 pieces in my Etsy, to see if anyone likes them. You can find the listing HERE.

Well, that's it for today! I guess you can say I have slowly been regaining my inspiration. Which is good because it was KILLING me not being as productive as I have been. I think I will run off now to make something else :)

Thanks for stopping by!

xoxo

-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