:)
Snowfern Clover - miniature foods in dollhouse scales 1:12, 1:24 & 1:48
Sunday, February 28, 2010
Saturday, February 27, 2010
Tutorial: Easy 1:12 "Glass" Jars, Cups, Bottles etc.
As always, READ THESE FIRST:
1) items obtained from Daiso. it's a chain of $2 stores, meaning everything they sell there is $2 per item. you can check if you have one in your area here:
http://www.daiso-sangyo.co.jp/english/storeinfo/storeinfo03.html
otherwise, you can also probably check out your local hardware store to see if they stock anything similar. and if -that- doesn't work, then....:( sorry. you're better off purchasing ready made items then.....
2) it's not real glass. it's soft plastic, kinda squishy even, much like tubing for....fish tank aeration systems?
3) i'm sure you will find better ways of making or places to purchase nicer bottles, but i enjoy making minis out of found objects, with a little out-of-the-box thinking. so this isn't the most original idea, but heck, it's mine and so, be nice, don't steal images and stuff, ok? ^ ^
4) if you decide to share this tutorial, i'd appreciate it if you let me know first, or ask for permission to use my pictures. it's just common courtesy, and will make my day :) oh and uh, if you do make any of these via my tutorial, a credit would be nice too :) :) :) just link back to this tutorial page itself:
http://snowfern.com/2010/02/tutorial-easy-glass-jars-cups-bottles.html
on to the fun stuff!
these are 'terminals', they're sort of like wire connectors i -think-. i found them at the hardware/electrical section in my neighbourhood branch of Daiso. says here "Produced for DAISO", so for those who don't have a branch near you, or that branch doesn't carry it, sorry you're sh*t out of luck. but why torture yourself like i do? :P
looks remarkably like glass, right? for this set, the package contains 8 of these, and 8 smaller tubings (which i'd forgotten to take pics of). so that's quite a few jars, bottles and glasses you can make. :) at -least- 32 pieces!
again, this is pliable plastic. awesomeness.
i've indicated where you can cut with either your craft knife, or scissors. although i did use a craft knife for the trial version, i've found it cuts easily with scissors as well. just be careful not to hurt yourself, and try to keep it as straight a cut as possible.
you can decide for yourself how tall you'd like your bottle/jar vs glass to be. of course, the taller your bottle, the shorter your glass. if you don't understand what i'm referring to, the left side of the blade will be the bottle part, the right side, the glass. it will be made clearer in following pictures.
TADA! the bottle!
aaaaaand....the bottle standing up!
from here on, you don't really have to do the following steps if you don't intend to fill it, or don't care if it's a bottomless jar. but i -do- plan to fill it, probably with resin? but that's another project for another day. :)
moving along....
find a piece of thin plastic. any old packaging material will do. i used a file puncher to do this job. the plastic is a piece of laminating plastic i had lying around. beats me why i have it, i don't own a laminating machine, i'm a hoarder like that. HA!
at first i tried gluing then cutting round the base of the bottle, but it all just seemed terribly cumbersome and untidy, so i went with the hole punching method instead.
btw. if you're intending to add items to the bottle, like pickled onions, cucumbers, pickles (XD ) etc, this would be a good time to stick them in. easier to arrange the items from the bottom of the jar.
using PVC aka white glue, smear around the inner edge of the bottom. why PVC glue? ionos. guess cos it dries clear, is cheap and useful for almost everything, and well. it just so happened to work? haha.
stick on the round pieces of punched out plastic. let dry! this pic shows the bottoms after the glue has dried thoroughly.
TADAH!!!! GLASS AND BOTTLE!!! wooot woot! if you are worried that the bottoms aren't totally waterproof, i guess you could always give the bottoms a coat of gloss....i plan to do so later i guess....if i remember to....before i fill it with resin or whatever fake water medium you use. i wouldn't recommend liquid polymer clay since you really shouldn't bake these. they -are- plastic after all. i think i've mentioned that at least 2 times before.
SO THAT'S IT!!! oh no wait. there's MORE :P
looky here! this is also a connector/terminal. 6 sets....let's have a closer look shall we?
AHHH!! KETCHUP BOTTLE!!! or whatever squarish bottle you think it can be used for.
deng deng deng deng~!~~
if you don't wish to fill it with resin, you can always easily paint the inside of the bottle with acrylics to simulate whatever the bottle is to contain. alternatively, you could also simply insert a strip of coloured paper, add labels, paint -over- the thing.....possibilities are ENDLESS!!! i only got these today so i will be fiddling around with it more. soon-ish. XD no promises though....
so there you go. my latest tutorial. let me know what you think! and remember to share with us if you've made any of your own ^ ^
p.s. try to resist the urge to squish the bottle after you've glued on the bottom, or it'll pop off rather easily -_-" esp if you haven't 'reinforced' it with resin filling yet......
-----------------------------
update on tutorial, now that i've let the resin set all night ;)
did this like, 2am last night. so i didn't take care to prevent mixing in the bubbles :X don't matter, it's just practice and could pass for soda i guess.
that's not a goldfish. it's a drowning gummy bear XD i made a few 1:12 gummi bears approx 2mm tall, a little larger than i'd like but heck. it's a freaking gummi bear. i bite their heads off first OMNOMNOM.
(before people think i'm a sicko, i admit. i -am- a sicko! nono, i originally wanted to see if resin with resin sank or floated, and the smallest resin piece i had around was the gummi bear. verdict, resin floats in resin XD )
i filled on up to the top. this is because i recalled that resin does not stick to certain soft plastics, what better time to try???
my heart went "doki-doki" before cutting this. i guess if you had immense patience, you could finagle the set resin out of the flexible tube. but i don't, and i didn't want to pop it in the fridge to wait either (refrigerating the resin lets it shrink a smidge, and could possibly save 1 'bottle'). so i CUT IT OPEN. *evil laughter*
what i'm so excited about is that, the tinier bottle could be used as shoyu bottle, or a cute little snack drink bottle, and BEST OF ALL THERE IS NO SEAM.
again. i'm too pleased with myself. humility, where? XD
measurements of the tinier bottle:
4.5mm wide
6mm from top to base of neck of bottle (since the bottom cylindrical measurement is entirely up to you)
off to play with more minis, yay~!~
1) items obtained from Daiso. it's a chain of $2 stores, meaning everything they sell there is $2 per item. you can check if you have one in your area here:
http://www.daiso-sangyo.co.jp/english/storeinfo/storeinfo03.html
otherwise, you can also probably check out your local hardware store to see if they stock anything similar. and if -that- doesn't work, then....:( sorry. you're better off purchasing ready made items then.....
2) it's not real glass. it's soft plastic, kinda squishy even, much like tubing for....fish tank aeration systems?
3) i'm sure you will find better ways of making or places to purchase nicer bottles, but i enjoy making minis out of found objects, with a little out-of-the-box thinking. so this isn't the most original idea, but heck, it's mine and so, be nice, don't steal images and stuff, ok? ^ ^
4) if you decide to share this tutorial, i'd appreciate it if you let me know first, or ask for permission to use my pictures. it's just common courtesy, and will make my day :) oh and uh, if you do make any of these via my tutorial, a credit would be nice too :) :) :) just link back to this tutorial page itself:
http://snowfern.com/2010/02/tutorial-easy-glass-jars-cups-bottles.html
on to the fun stuff!
these are 'terminals', they're sort of like wire connectors i -think-. i found them at the hardware/electrical section in my neighbourhood branch of Daiso. says here "Produced for DAISO", so for those who don't have a branch near you, or that branch doesn't carry it, sorry you're sh*t out of luck. but why torture yourself like i do? :P
looks remarkably like glass, right? for this set, the package contains 8 of these, and 8 smaller tubings (which i'd forgotten to take pics of). so that's quite a few jars, bottles and glasses you can make. :) at -least- 32 pieces!
again, this is pliable plastic. awesomeness.
i've indicated where you can cut with either your craft knife, or scissors. although i did use a craft knife for the trial version, i've found it cuts easily with scissors as well. just be careful not to hurt yourself, and try to keep it as straight a cut as possible.
you can decide for yourself how tall you'd like your bottle/jar vs glass to be. of course, the taller your bottle, the shorter your glass. if you don't understand what i'm referring to, the left side of the blade will be the bottle part, the right side, the glass. it will be made clearer in following pictures.
TADA! the bottle!
aaaaaand....the bottle standing up!
from here on, you don't really have to do the following steps if you don't intend to fill it, or don't care if it's a bottomless jar. but i -do- plan to fill it, probably with resin? but that's another project for another day. :)
moving along....
find a piece of thin plastic. any old packaging material will do. i used a file puncher to do this job. the plastic is a piece of laminating plastic i had lying around. beats me why i have it, i don't own a laminating machine, i'm a hoarder like that. HA!
at first i tried gluing then cutting round the base of the bottle, but it all just seemed terribly cumbersome and untidy, so i went with the hole punching method instead.
btw. if you're intending to add items to the bottle, like pickled onions, cucumbers, pickles (XD ) etc, this would be a good time to stick them in. easier to arrange the items from the bottom of the jar.
using PVC aka white glue, smear around the inner edge of the bottom. why PVC glue? ionos. guess cos it dries clear, is cheap and useful for almost everything, and well. it just so happened to work? haha.
stick on the round pieces of punched out plastic. let dry! this pic shows the bottoms after the glue has dried thoroughly.
TADAH!!!! GLASS AND BOTTLE!!! wooot woot! if you are worried that the bottoms aren't totally waterproof, i guess you could always give the bottoms a coat of gloss....i plan to do so later i guess....if i remember to....before i fill it with resin or whatever fake water medium you use. i wouldn't recommend liquid polymer clay since you really shouldn't bake these. they -are- plastic after all. i think i've mentioned that at least 2 times before.
SO THAT'S IT!!! oh no wait. there's MORE :P
looky here! this is also a connector/terminal. 6 sets....let's have a closer look shall we?
AHHH!! KETCHUP BOTTLE!!! or whatever squarish bottle you think it can be used for.
deng deng deng deng~!~~
if you don't wish to fill it with resin, you can always easily paint the inside of the bottle with acrylics to simulate whatever the bottle is to contain. alternatively, you could also simply insert a strip of coloured paper, add labels, paint -over- the thing.....possibilities are ENDLESS!!! i only got these today so i will be fiddling around with it more. soon-ish. XD no promises though....
so there you go. my latest tutorial. let me know what you think! and remember to share with us if you've made any of your own ^ ^
p.s. try to resist the urge to squish the bottle after you've glued on the bottom, or it'll pop off rather easily -_-" esp if you haven't 'reinforced' it with resin filling yet......
-----------------------------
update on tutorial, now that i've let the resin set all night ;)
did this like, 2am last night. so i didn't take care to prevent mixing in the bubbles :X don't matter, it's just practice and could pass for soda i guess.
that's not a goldfish. it's a drowning gummy bear XD i made a few 1:12 gummi bears approx 2mm tall, a little larger than i'd like but heck. it's a freaking gummi bear. i bite their heads off first OMNOMNOM.
(before people think i'm a sicko, i admit. i -am- a sicko! nono, i originally wanted to see if resin with resin sank or floated, and the smallest resin piece i had around was the gummi bear. verdict, resin floats in resin XD )
i filled on up to the top. this is because i recalled that resin does not stick to certain soft plastics, what better time to try???
my heart went "doki-doki" before cutting this. i guess if you had immense patience, you could finagle the set resin out of the flexible tube. but i don't, and i didn't want to pop it in the fridge to wait either (refrigerating the resin lets it shrink a smidge, and could possibly save 1 'bottle'). so i CUT IT OPEN. *evil laughter*
what i'm so excited about is that, the tinier bottle could be used as shoyu bottle, or a cute little snack drink bottle, and BEST OF ALL THERE IS NO SEAM.
again. i'm too pleased with myself. humility, where? XD
measurements of the tinier bottle:
4.5mm wide
6mm from top to base of neck of bottle (since the bottom cylindrical measurement is entirely up to you)
off to play with more minis, yay~!~
Wednesday, February 24, 2010
Chiffon Cake Madness
Orange Chiffon Cake Slice
so. i wanted to fiddle around a little more with baking ADC. regular readers probably know i am a little more than fixated on trying to achieve this, and as with all my experiments, i will not be giving out the formula as i am tweaking it. i can tolerate my own failures, but refuse to be held responsible for others' XD XD XD
also, the basic idea was generously provided by Tomohachi, who is always inspirational and creative with her works. (check out her blog, she's got updates! ^ ^ )
you can find my post introducing her, and her technique, here:
http://snowfern.com/2009/10/introducing-la-cocina-alegre-by.html
all i am doing is tweaking it such that i can use my oven instead of a microwave. i have also a previous post about the technique here:
http://snowfern.com/2010/02/biscotti-wish-i-had-coffee.html
so ya. don't ask me anymore about it. XD remember, experiments leave me in a right grumpy mood. ALL THAT WASTED CLAY!!!!
which is why i'm immensely pleased with this. the texture needs a little more tweaking, maybe more baking soda? i'm always a little hesitant to pump up the volume of the soda, but it's time to be braver XD
ITADAKIMASU! Yotsuba having a tea break with a glass of milo! XD
and while i was at it, i decided to bake up a lump of spare ADC. decided to tear this apart instead of the usual slicing, just to see how it'd look. i also deliberately charred the base a little, as you can see from the inverted half on the right. i think it lends a little more to the realism of it all.
bolstered by the earlier success, i tried again, but this time wasn't that successful :( but i'm still rather happy in that, it looks more like it was cut with a blunt knife XD or it could double as an angel food cake. really fuwa-fuwa (light and fluffy?)! bf said at first glance he thought it was a real one, and that made me really really pleased cos he's usually all "can't really see ley" when i show him my works. =3=
Grandma returned with a pandan chiffon cake after i made the orange one in the typical chiffon cake-type pan shape. so i decided to try another big-small attempt at it....
again, the bubbles weren't very co-operative. BUT! i really really love this result still! is it wrong to be this pleased with ones' own works? zomgzorz humble i am not zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz -_-" but but, i am really happy with it!!!!
after SOOO many failures, i am finally getting a rhythm going. and understanding better the process of baking ADC. so yeah i think i am -ok- with being this pleased LOL at least the clay graveyard isn't growing as fast as it used to.
also, here's Yotsuba again, taking a break from her abacus practice. a chance for me to show off some of my fellow TeamMIDS members' works!
table by the talented Ray, http://www.etsy.com/shop/minibuilder
cushions by the always lovely Dale, http://www.etsy.com/shop/dalesdreams
handpuppet by the irreverent and totally hilarious Becky, http://www.etsy.com/shop/beckynot
rest of the props are re-ment, yea the items are mostly 1:6 but since Yotsuba has large hands for a 1:12 girl (she's a tall 7 y/o i keep telling myself XD ) ((ok, so she's more of a 1:10 scale but whatever)), i think they fit her pretty ok. at least everything looks pretty to-scale to me.
oh, and the background is made by me too! ^ ^ i used mounting board, scrapbook papers, decorative wood edgings, lots of glue and quite a bit of messy painting. i need to make some curtains, or windows, or both, but my attempts at soldering have failed yet again (but i'm improving, slowly) so i guess i'll have to try again another day.
it's a reversible display :) slot it in facing the other way, and you see this! remember the texture paste experiment?
http://snowfern.com/2009/10/experiment-air-dry-clay-texture-paste.html
(oh crud i just realised in searching for the post that if you click on the "experiment" tag it doesn't show ALL of my experiments argh. need to fiddle a little more with the tags and settings grr. anyway i'll have to remember to transfer the DNS to point to blogger, FTP service will be discontinued in may :( )
ANYWAY, so i have this whole tub that i refuse to use anymore for meringues. it has served its purpose for experiments. so what do i do with it????
it becomes spackle. LOL. well it's not exactly a 'hole in the wall' but it served its purpose. gave it a wash of white cadmium paint....the mosaic tiles i really liked too. i think i will feature it a little more in my future works :)
wow. long post. so there you have it, my latest experiments and works. drop me a comment! tell me what you think, and suggestions on how to dress up my window or lack thereof :( i would really appreciate some ideas, i'm feeling like i'm running dry.....phew.....
Tuesday, February 23, 2010
Thank you Dale!
FIRST TIME i've won a blog giveaway, and look, just LOOK!!!! hahaha
i love this set. it's supposed to be a seat cushion but since there's no post on my chair to tie it to (i thought there were :( ) i think this layout works too heee heee!
like me, Yotsuba prefers to sit on the floor. i can imagine her diving into the heap of pillows and cushions.
Thank you so much Dale! please say hi to her at the following links:
http://www.etsy.com/shop/dalesdreams
http://dalesdreams.blogspot.com/
Sunday, February 21, 2010
Swan Cream Puff Madness
i had been wanting to make these for a while now, and the bug has bitten Asuka as well XD we're still waiting on Nyann for her version, which should be coming up soon :D
i love this pic. i think it's time for a new avatar XD
back view of the cream butt, as Asuka puts it XD
swan vs puffs. ok i'd originally planned to make more swans, but making the neck is such a chore, i wasted sooo much clay and only got 2 reasonably good ones. which is why you only see 2 different swan sizes XD
it all starts with the cream puff, yes? i hadn't realised how addictive/fun ADC is till i embarked on this project. i have another 24 cream puff blanks waiting to be coloured and turned into an army of swan puffs :Psacrificed and turned a foam board thingy into a hedgehog. these days i try to take better shots early in the day (weather permitting) so that i don't have to fiddle around with the flimsy and sucky lightbox i made. i mean it works, but nothing beats natural light.
i have been meaning to do more big/small pics....this one is not all that accurate, but heck. i think they're cute :D i will refine it a little more, add a dash more colour.....that means i have to purchase more of these delish cherry buns hehehehe
ok. so that's what i've been up to lately. have more non-clay minis planned....i hope they work out well ; ;
g'nite :)
Saturday, February 20, 2010
get yer donuts!
okayyyyy
i finally have something listed on my etsy store that's NOT cupcake liners nor doilies. wahaha.
1:12 donuts! or 'lonuts' as i like to call 'em. ;P
http://www.etsy.com/view_listing.php?listing_id=41079360
picssss...since the stupid listing system in etsy is kinda wonky for me. grr.
Thursday, February 18, 2010
strawberries....and sooo many gifts!
a tad late, but better than never, as 'they' say right? (who are these 'they' everyone speaks of anyway?!?!)
1:12 strawberries in air dry clay, tracing paper and acrylics. i tried to make it such that you can see the seeds....it's sorta kinda half successful....far better than my initial attempts at strawberries i think ^ ^ these are sooo addictive to make! approx 3-4mm big. i don't know yet what i'll use them for....
and yea. i have really wrinkly palms -_-" something about a hard life....etc.....i hope and think that the worst is over now ^ ^
ON TO THE REALLY FUN STUFF XD XD
so i've been busy with CNY preps, commissions and stuff, and now that most of it is over i am trying to catch up with my posts...i did quite a number of swaps with other miniaturists......SHOW AND TELL TIME! i actually received one more package late today from Dale of http://dalesdreams.blogspot.com, i'd won her birthday giveaway!!! i never win anything so this was a really pleasant surprise! i'll blog about that soon too. PROMISE! ^ ^
in reverse chronological order....here's what i've received....i hope i didn't miss out anyone yikes my memory isn't what it used to be. which is a good thing! well. kinda hard to explain. but it's definitely a plus for my bf's sanity's sake LOL
Kim of http://www.flickr.com/photos/fairchildart/ sent me these wonderful items! i'd initiated a swap with her as i've been a fan of her works for a while now, and since we had a small exchange about some cute little sundae glasses that made me go "nghghghhg" inside...i asked if she would help me procure some, and also requested a sample of her works.....she sent me the cutest jellybean filled dish and a breakfast set!
i remember gasping aloud when i saw this on her flickr set. that runny yolk!!! SLURP :9
the cookie cutters are TOO TOO CUTE XD
and omgomgomgomg!!! i'd been hankering after this set for a while, Kim must be psychic :O so dainty, and beautiful! i was telling Nyann how i daren't open it up....AHHHHHHHHHHHH but how else would i use it then!?!? :(
here are the sundae glasses! they put a small dent in my PP acct but i think they're worth it ^ ^ Yotsuba's gonna have different parfaits for each day of the week XD
Thank you soooooooooo much Kim!
(which reminds me, Dale once educated me on the difference between a sundae and a soft serve icecream. gee i hadn't known there was difference and i felt so silly for it hehehe )
looks like i hit jackpot, eh?? LOL!
Linda of http://lindaslittles.blogspot.com wanted to send me some papers she printed herself, and i was caught unawares by her package! i didn't expect this huge haul of items and materials for mini use! as in all my swap requests, i would ask for utensils, kitchenware etc. since i enjoy collecting them (you should see my re-ment and sylvanian families collection....i guess that's my cue to put 'em together for a photoshoot haha )
i have a soft spot for cutlery. they're sooo dainty and hard to obtain in accurate 1:12 scale, so these were definitely a treat to me! i believe this is chrysnbon too..... but look also at the detail on that ham!
here's some of the papers she printed for me. sadly, my paper puncher just would not work on them :( i think it's too blunt, and since i can't use the puncher without the mega-aid (recurrent thumb injury) i can't seem to punch them out accurately either, and the 3 that i tried were slightly torn too :( i guess i'll have to try again another day the old fashioned way....*snip snip snip
the basket, wooden bowl and jug in the upper right hand corner are also from Linda. I hadn't realised there was an additional film canister in the parcel, and had neglected to photograph it with the main batch of items!
the rest of the items were purchases from Talina http://www.flickr.com/photos/kittiesmademedoit/ who does amazing work and restorations. she gave me the little 'glass' bowls and pie tins ^ ^ i hope my pies made it to her safe and sound...
Thank you Talina and Linda!
and of course, EVERYBODY knows Petitplat / Stephanie XD http://petitplatbysk.blogspot.com/
she specially handpainted these platters for me!! look at how GORGEOUS they are :O
only the upper right 3 weren't painted by her. she also included the cutest cake and tart! i truly truly am in awe of her works. then again, any regular reader of this blog would know by now XD gush much? YES! :X
Thank you Stephanie!!! *huggles*
and lookit this little cutie! ok i'm referring to the puppet. hwa hwa hwa. http://www.flickr.com/photos/beckynot has a WICKED WICKED sense of humour! this is my 2nd swap with her...Yotsuba's super happy with her new toy!
Thank you Becky!
i need to find a way to display all my minis...the cafe has been sorely neglected and what better excuse to get it done up for all these wonderful items, eh? ok. time for bed! thank you so much everyone!!!