Sunday, December 21, 2014

Santa Claus is coming to town

I managed to finish Santa in time for today's tutorial :) I think he came out cute!


I couldn't find the perfect red fabric - something that was thin so it'd work well for miniatures, but at the same time not bright red.. Ended up buying a tank top in H&M, and it worked out well :)

And this one also counts as 1 of 3 dolls without any blue pieces of clothes (refering to the deal I made with myself, mentioned in the previous post).

The more dolls I've made these past few weeks, the more I'm looking forward to doing some more fabric shopping at the next miniature fair! I always buy tons of fabric, but I tend to go for all the 'fun' patterns, textures etc.. I really need to focus on finding more of the basic & one colored pieces - oddly enough, those are the ones you use the most.

Anyway - tutorial for the Santa is uploading as I'm typing this, so I hope you like him :)

Thursday, December 18, 2014

Lady in a bathrobe

Finished my miniature doll - A lady in a bathrobe :)
I'm imagining she's gotten out of the shower and is getting ready. She's holding a lipstick and I made her hair look 'natural' as if she hasn't styled it yet.

I gave her some loose curls/waves by spraying her hair with 'stiffen stuff' (fabric stiffening spray), wrapping it around a knitting needle and blow drying it.. I then used glue to hold it in place how I wanted it to sit :)
Debating with myself whether or not to take a better picture in the morning, but knowing me I'm probably not going to.

I've also decided to keep myself from using blue as the main color for clothing for a while.. This is the third doll in a row, if mr Butcher's apron counts, that has blue clothes..
But I had to give her a blue robe - the drawing/pinup that inspired me was a woman in a blue robe, a towel around her her,. Pieces of dark brown hair sticking out and a big smile - with red libstick, of course. I fell in love with the colors.

Unfortunately I didn't have the perfect fabric to use as a bathrobe..
Towels/washing cloths were too thick.. I had a micro fiber cloth and even though they kind of have the right texture, it was still too thick.
So I ended up using this stretchy cotton material since it could look like a similar texture?.. if you squint a bit, haha.

I didn't get started on the Santa today, so it's probably not going to be up on YouTube until Sunday,.. What held me back was something as stupid as my manicure. My current manicure didn't exactly look need anymore, after approx 2 weeks and lots of crafting - so I had to fix that.. Closeups of chipped outgrown nail polish doesn't look good on camera *sigh* :)


Saturday, December 13, 2014

A butcher & a teddy


I made a miniature butcher :) I love making butcher themed "food" in mini, so I thought that at the next fair, the butcher himself should be on my stall!


He reminds me of my granddad (who passed away in 2010), which isn't a bad thing. I guess this is just the type of face I consider to be a typical older looking man.

Had to paint the blue stripes on the apron - or almost paint them.. The fabric had blue and white stripes, but the blue stripes weren't wide enough, so I had to paint inbetween them to get the look I needed.





















I also made a teddy bear :) This is for a tutorial for today. I was supposed to post it on YouTube yesterday, but I've got a cold (and so many other things got in the way) so I didn't have time to finish it and edit the video.




Thursday, December 11, 2014

Pottery?

Miniature pottery? haha, yeah..
I've been wanting to try my hands on miniature pottery for over a year.. Actually, I first thought of it back in 2011, shortly after I started making miniatures. I liked the idea of being able to make any size or shape of plate/bowl you needed or any tray, pot, vase, jug etc. But back then (since I'd just started out) something like ceramics seemed frightening, and no way would I've been able to afford the tools and materials - I mean, a kiln?!
After I started using metal clay this year, and learned that a kiln doesn't have to take up an entire room, that urge to try my hands on it came back..
After a lot of research to find out what exactly I needed, I decided to make an order for a pottery wheel a couple of days ago - as well as some clay and glaze. I won't be buying a kiln until January or February, but I thought I could practice... I've never, ever made any type of ceramics before and have never worked with a pottery wheel, so practice will be needed, haha.
It arrived today and I've had a quick play with it.
These were my first attempts (still need to trim the bottoms);


What can I conclude so far?;
1, It's a disadvantage to have long nails! - but I'll just have to see that as a challenge.. in my mind it's not an option to cut them.
2, probably should've waited for my tools to arrive in the mail (basic trimming and pottery tools from ebay) but I didn't feel like waiting up to 2 more weeks before I could have a play with this.. So I just used a wooden stick, a makeup sponge, xacto knife and a blade (for removing the dishes from the wheel).

But you know what? for a first attempt I don't think they're that bad at all!! *proud* lol

The only problem now is, that I reeeeeeally want to fire it..

Will have another play with the wheel tomorrow, after recording the next polymer clay tutorial for my YouTube channel... or maybe I'll just wait till Saturday.. as if =)


Tuesday, November 25, 2014

Girl in night gown

Little girl in a night gown.
Been really in to working on larger projects lately, which is good! because that equals more variety on my stand at the next Farum fair.

Really happy with her - I think she looks cute :)
And I did record clips from the process of making her, so that'll be up as a video within too long. I didn't record the complete process of sculpting the face, but there should be enough clips to get an idea of how to sculpt a basic child's face.



Saturday, November 22, 2014

Mini Hedgehogs

Not quite a cat,.. haha.
I am planning on making a cat next - but I just didn't feel like making an eyeball cane today, so instead I made these;
Miniature hedgehogs.


Aaaaand - because I'm close to 200.000 subscribers on my YouTube *yay*, I'll be uploading these as a bonus tutorial today :)

Old picture of me.. Probably 10 years or more since it was taken ;)
My mom has always loved hedgehogs, and fed them leftovers from dinner (outside, like you feed birds). She used to bring hedgehogs in to the house and care for them if they were underweight or ill. So I have fond memories of these little critters.

Friday, November 21, 2014

Pumpkin pie & a German Shepherd

Miniature pumpkin pie and German Shepherd - because that goes together.... or not :)



The pumpkin pie was posted as a tutorial on my YouTube Wednesday, and I just finished the German Shepherd today. That dog has good taste, haha - it's (or she is) wearing a sterling silver chain with a sapphire as a charm.


The colors in the picture aren't 100% correct, but it's close enough.
I didn't have the right color of fur/fibre, so I had to use mainly ash blonde together with 2 other blonde/white  shades, and then add extra shading to give it a more golden tone.. Really need to buy some acid dyes in case I end up in a similar situation.
It will be up as a tutorial on youtube,. at some point. The rottweiler will be up today,. The bulldog will be up in 1-2 weeks, and then this will be uploaded a week after or so.

Think I'll make a cat next.. need to take a small break from the dogs :)

Saturday, November 15, 2014

Bulldog, Done!

Finished the bulldog - and I think he came out cute! :)


And then I remembered, that I made a bulldog in 2012 as well,... to be fair, I only made 2 dogs in 2012, and the bulldog was the first one... but it sure looks different, haha.


Wednesday, November 12, 2014

Fur/hair for miniatures

I'm writing this post to answer some of the questions I get about the fur/hair I use for my miniature dolls and animals, so hopefully this is going to help those of you who are wondering about where to get it, what it is etc :)

What is it?
The hair/fur I use is real animal fur/hair/fibres. And when saying this, I usually get some comments saying it's animal cruelty - but it doesn't have to be;
Some of these fibres come from animals like alpacas, yaks, sheep, rabbits and more. It is possible to "harvest" all of these without hurting the animals. You can cut, trim, shave or brush it off depending on which animal you're talking about. As an example it's normal to shave a sheep to obtain its wool. As for rabbits, a lot of people brush them like you often do with pets - this way only the 'mature' strands of hair are collected. It's always a good idea to check with the seller (often it'll be stated on the listing/website).
I do have 1 pack of hair where the animal was killed. This was from lamb. I chose to buy this because I needed a very specific texture (curls that would be small even in miniature scale). But when you think about it, a lamb is one of the animals we eat, and I personally am of the belief that it's better to use up as much of the animal as possible, so if you eat the meat, you can might as well use the fur as well. (everyone is entitled to having an opinion, if you disagree, you can choose not to buy this specific type of fur).

Where can you buy it?
A lot of the fibres I have (Mohair, alpaca and angora rabbit) is from a website called forest-fibres.co.uk... Unfortunately this site does no longer exist. I bought it back in 2011/2012, and had I known it was going to close, I woul've bought a lot more.
But you can also find sellers on other websites, if you make a search on Google, or from sellers on ebay. I have bought fibres from ebay sellers multiple times, but one thing you need to keep in mind is that these listings may not stay available for weeks, months or years if stock runs out and they don't relist.
when searching on ebay try something like "mohair fibre" or "alpaca fibre".

What types of fur do I use?
The ones I use are;
Mohair,. Alpaca/silk mix,. Alpaca,. Angora rabbit,. Merino.
But there are others available as well.

Can you use other types of wool or something else?
In my first bunny tutorial (and for a couple of dogs I made in 2012) I used yarn. Depending on the type you get, this can work really well! but the type I used give the animals a very fuzzy texture and would look horrible for doll-hair.
When I started making miniature dolls I experimented with synthetic hair. The problem with synthetic hair is that it doesn't work well for 1:12th scale. It can be extremely difficult to manage in such a small scale, and even though it can be forced to work, the end result is not worth it. It just looks too shiny and fake, and is too thick as well.

What are the difference between the different types of animal fibre?
I am not an expert, so it might be worth doing some research or experimenting on your own - this is just my opinion;
I've found that mohair is really good for doll hair - I've used that on all my miniature dolls. When it comes to animals you could definitely use it for the mane and tail of a horse or something similar. It also works pretty well for achieving a shiny looking fur on larger animals - I used it for the brown parts of my Saint Bernard.
Alpaca, to me, would work for the same as mohair - I used this for the mane/tail of my unicorn. It's a bit more fine and softer than mohair, so I think it works better for small stuff like the fur on a bunny.
Angora fibres are extremely soft and the individual strands of hair are not very defined. I've used this for the beard of a santa before and I use it for the white fur on animals - as it's the only WHITE I have, I have other 'white' fibres, but they are more like a natural white which would work well as blonde hair on a doll.
Merino is a fibre I only received a few days ago (am waiting for more in the mail). I've found that it is very soft as well, probably softer than alpaca. The individual strands of hair seems to be more defined than the angora fibres but less defined than alpaca or mohair, and I did use the merino for a grey bunny which worked out wonderfully. it looks a bit more fuzzy than sleek.

Friday, October 31, 2014

Finished! - Miniature Unicorn/horse

I'm done!! and I am quite happy with the result! :) I ended up cutting the fur/flocking powder manually with scissors, but it actually wasn't that bad. I used angora bunny hair for the fur (because it was the closest I had to white) and it's much more fine/fluffy than the mohair, so it's also a lot faster to cut.
The mane and tail is alpaca hair :)



I didn't photograph it without the horn, but it IS detachable.
Now I just have to go through 100+ video clips and start editing the first part of the video *siiiiigh* haha.
My first thought was to have it in approx 4 parts. But I'll try to cram as much as possible in to one video and see if I can keep it down to maybe 2-3 parts. Would be great if I could fit all the sculpting in to one video... But I don't want it to be too long either.


Wednesday, October 29, 2014

Miniature Horse/Unicorn

This is one of those things, that although measured out to be 1:12th scale, just doesn't seem like a 'miniature' anymore haha.
I'm playing around, having a go at making a horse. Well, I'm actually making a unicorn, but since I don't think a lot of dollhouse collectors need unicorns, I'm going to make the horn detachable - that way I get to make a unicorn, but if someone decides to buy it, they can use it as a horse (or unicorn, if they want).

I'm almost done with the sculpting - just need to make ears, a horn and some corrections/even out a few areas etc.
I'm sure that people who know stuff about horses can find tons of things wrong with it - that's what you get from sculpting partly from images and partly from your own imagination ;) but you know what? As far as I know, there aren't any rules for what a unicorn can and cannot look like! haha. And I don't think you'll even see all the muscles that well once the fur has been added.

I have been recording throughout the process and am hoping on being able to post the first video Friday... otherwise Monday :)

I guess I'll be spending my evening today, in front of the TV, cutting flocking powder for the fur *sigh*

I was thinking of, whether or not some sort of hair trimming device would be able to cut flocking powder faster... might go and ask a hair dresser what they think - I don't want to invest in a hair trimmer that I end up not being able to use...
but for now - I will continue to use scissors.
And yes, I know you can buy flocking powder,. but I want to be able to not only pick the color, but also the material. The look you get from eg. yarn or ribbon is different from the look you get from something like mohair.


I'm using the new doll clay from Fimo; "Fimo professional doll art". The color I'm using is 'sand' which really doesn't matter for this project because I'll be painting over it, but I really like the formular. It's nice and pliable, it comes in a resealable bag - which is always great so you don't need to worry about dust, and it doesn't really change color that much after baking.
It does say that you should bake it at a MAXIMUM of 30 minutes.... I'm a rebel! So I made a small test piece and baked it for 50 minutes *evil laughter*.. Honestly, I don't know why you shouldn't bake it for more than 30 minutes because the result I got was the same as with most brands of polymer clay; Baking it for longer makes it stronger. My test pieces, which was a 8mm thick snake, was really strong after baking, and I could bend it without it breaking - it just bent back into shape. Of course you shouldn't purposly apply stress to the clay after baking, but still.

Saturday, February 1, 2014

Entries from my YT contest

List of the entries for my contest on YouTube

If you entered, please read;
I've been going through the entries 1 by 1, and of course I could've made a mistake. Did you make an entry and your name is not on the list? are you sure you followed all rules? then please let me know and I'll rewatch the entry! but please note:
Some of you have made entries that unfortunately were not accepted - some entries included individual pieces that were not in an arrangement, and I'm sorry, but you had to make 1 arrangement that included at least 3 pieces inspired by my tutorials. It had to be uploaded as a video/slideshow to youtube - not on instagram or any other site.
 
There were a couple of entries that were accepted even though the pieces were not put onto a board/table/tray etc. but only because they'd been arranged nicely as if they'd been on a tray. Some of you had made the arrangements on a piece of fabric, paper etc. that's ok!
I also accepted a couple of entries where people were showing idividual pieces where at least 1 of them counted as an arrangement icluding all 3 pieces. (eg. individual slice of cake,. individual sandwich,. and then a tray that included both croissants, pain au chocolate and a plate). I understand that not everyone had a 'tray/board' to put it on, but not all 'individual/Loose pieces' have been accepted.
 
Entries that were posted after the 24th of January (25th and after) will not be accepted.
I had put an annotation in the video correcting the spelling mistake that originally said February. The rules in the info box also said January, so I'm terribly sorry if you (I know mobile devices do not show annotations) thought it ended later.
 
There were also a lot of people who'd commented on the contest video, saying they'd entered,. but there were no videos on their channel or no videos in relation to the contest. Those entries were not accepted either.

If there's doubt whether or not you followed all rules, I will decide whether or not the entry will be accepted.

Once that's said, thank you SO much to everyone who entered! I'm seriously impressed! I saw everything from gory setups, handsculpted 'wooden trays' and beautifully set tables to an entire picnic scene and gorgeous baking scenes.
You Guys are so creative!! Truely recommend everyone to check out the different entries!
I got so many entries - more than what I'd imagined, so I'm sorry for not commenting on each one. I really do appreciate the Work you've put into your entries, and I hope that this list/post will get them some views <3

The winner will be announced in my YT tutorial the 5th of February.
Thank you so, so much for entering, I'm sorry for the delay - but as you can see, there were a lot of entries! <3


A
Ancsa Varga
Alina C
Amanda Mann
anciea kim
Anna Bednarska
aypproductions
Angela Rosheim
Ashley T.
AliceGrd
Aricka Acquistapace
Ashlynn Willis
Alexis Khoury
AishahPolymer Clay
Anoek Reintjes
Ayesha  Saed
anna a
ania1908
Angel Lovedragon
apple pie
Aliah Showkatian
Alberte Karlsen
aBbiie Duvet
Annie Edmondson


B
Brooke Mahrt
Bez_Kreatywnosci
beadgirl34
Busra Dogan
BlueberryCake
Brigita Jagelaite
Belinda Vilijoen
Bethany Larochelle
Buda Lica


C
cinnabon
Christina James
Crafty Marg
Cotton Kawaii
ClayCharmer4
cute adorable charms
Carmelilla92
CandyPandaCreations
Crystal Ryan
Chocolate
craftsydaddy
Chunky Berri
Coco R
CraftedMementos
Craftsie
clayforever1234
Craftyamu
CCsweetstore
Crimson Purity
ChocoMint Candy
Ciny Dowdle-Schoen
cornbunny
Charlie87783
cyannemelody
Czudo
Camille Chan
ChoconanaPuppy
cakepop41
Cheers Charms


D
Doll Owl
Diabledemajordome
Daniella Martinez
daniellasblogsales / d garza - 2 accounts, Counts as 1 entry.
Dazzle Dazzleberry
Dreamcatcher846
DokiDokiCrafts
dina uddin
Delta Rubio


E
Elena Salvatore
Elizabeth Gregg
emilysaaan
Emma Creates
Eleonora Caboni
Erica Ne


F
fnurca seyler
Felicia Marguerite
FancyPuppet Crêatrice
Fubuki M.
fern stainrod
Frau Honig
Foleen E.V.B


G
Guineapigcrafts2003
gfloresm
glendapanda
Gumdrop Charms
GradStud89
Gyldan
Gurgaran
Gwendolyn Moriarti
Giorgos Liapis


H
Helena Gouveia
halowolf
hgj189
Hidouchi
Haneen A
HalloweenkingTV
Hannah Xiao


I
irem sismanturk
Itzzy Bitzy Bunnies
Isaac Chang
iloveminiatures


J
Jennifer T
jessicakoon22
Julisa L
Jasmine Lavendar
Jasna Lindberg
Julia McFaun
Jucchan87
julia j
Jordan Owl
Jess Pan
Jennifer Price


K
Kerryanne Boer
kay katt
KawaiiMustacheCharms
kawaii cuties
Kwaii Q T pie
krista cotuleo
Krafty Kayla
Kriss R
Kendall Cunningham
KaiKreations


L
lesly alvarado
Lolitawithcupcakes
LPSkawaiiCrafter
Laurence Bergeron
Lilly Octo
Lady Amazona
Laela Rose
LoverMidnightXD
LorelaiTCF
Lica Tcoi
Lily Lighty
Lucas Schrøder
LuckyCharms
LittleMermaidCharms


M
miemie meow
Marty's Cernit & bijoux creations
MsCuteChicken
merozumi
Marshmellow
momo the snowbunny
Mia knutson
Malena Star
MJYCcrestions
Mia Tartelette
Misaki Hanaka
Mighty Plums
Myshell
minecraftclayfreak
MissCraftyPotato
MrMcCupcake
montse macias
ΜΑΡΙΑ ΤΣΑΡΟΥ
Mya Annin
myjuneh
misspoire33
Markella Viagini
Moid Ali
Marta9453
Marta Khmilyar
Melissa Li
MiMi'sClayCorner
miniclaydelights
MyClayDream
Marta West
MilkChocolate Charm_
MadDog Miniatures
Miriam 'stache
mano Faiza
Myshoppers
MissBerries1


N
Noremy  Studio
NerdyKitteh


O
OrlandoAnon
Oriana Smith


P
PolymerToPorcelain
PastelCloud
Polymerclaynemo
PolymerMiniatures
purplepoppyz
Pepsi13255
PandaCafeCharms
Peytonlist Clayfan
Pêchê Gourmand
pandasarecute
PrincessWiwiya
PokemonsterNiiWii
PolymerClayCrafts 12Official
Princeton Price
paperheartcharms


Q


R
Rebby Arts
R Lin
Raquel Benedetti
RissaStar95
Renney O'Malley
Raneem Tarfa
rustymater90
rainboww fimoo
Roxanne Stapleton
Rezk Mekhael


S
Sana Lulu
Shadedust
SweetCakeFairy
Scream4Sushi
Simply Sandy
Susanna Alonso
Saki Yokota
Sumera Zia
Salma Kanaan
SuperPrincessLauren
Sarah Leung
SweetCharmsDelight
SweetCupcakeSprinkles
Suenios deporcelanafria
sofia love
Sofia M
sosho bader


T
Tai Perkins
TheSugarPlumBakery
Tina Parker
TheDarkLovelyAngel
TILL THE HORIZON
TheNyankoKitty
trunksdbz17
trang ho
th3x1xnx0nly
TheCraftingDays
the World of dollhouse food


U
Unique Charms
Uni polymerclay
Ushi-Chan


V
Victoria Kruse
Vik's polymer clay creations
VanillaIcing21


W
Will Rogo
wmarch88


X
Xarhi15

Y
Yoki T.
Yoselin constantino
Yejin P
Yukiko Gaara
yiannis lazarou
Yaya Love
Yee-Lynn Lee


Z-1-9
ZoewithLove
zel mar

Waiting for answer from these people;
http://www.youtube.com/channel/UCxVevPDlidxf1sRS62IyFuA/about
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zOi3sblqiuk
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GMbSD97AVws
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FZQzDM_uR3k

Thursday, January 23, 2014

Cleaning,. Again?

This is what my desk looked like, when I walked into my craft room this morning;
 
Beautiful,. isn't it?... Seriously though, I distinctly remember cleaning it not that long ago! How can something like this happen, when every tool and material has a rightful spot in the room?
 
 
Then the mailman came by - with a package.
Some stuff I'd ordered off metalclay.co.uk
I'd ordered a new 'ceramic fibre blanket', siligum, a couple of shades of the baroque art gilder's pastes and,... polymer clay, of course.
Now, the problem was that when I ordered this, I didn't really know which colors I was running low on - but they had (maybe still have) "20% off" on all Fimo products, so of course I had to get some. I chose to get some of the colors I use frequently; translucent, black, yellow, beige etc.
 
I also got a small package from ebay - the drill bits in the yellow box.
I've been wanting some for a while - would like to do some wood work,.. at some point,.. in the future,.. it's not something I'm planning on starting right this second, but it's nice having the tools on hand when you DO get an idea that just can't wait.
 
My only birthday wish this year (7th of Feb) is a jigsaw. One that can be attached to the table.
My dad and I found a decently sized hobby-version from Dremel. If I don't get it for my birthday, I'll buy it myself :)
 
Anyway - Receiving all those packs of clay made me want to reorganize all of my polymer clay. I stored most of my clay in this unit (left). Sorted by colors, but it was still a big mess; When the number of packs of clay started to exceed the limit for what could be squished into the drawers, I put the rest of them into one of my desk drawers.. Time for change!
I went through all my clay,. put misplaced colors back into the right compartments, grabbed all the unopened packs of clay and put them into the top drawer in my desk.
Most of the compartments in the unit are still filled to the edge, but at least there's a system to it.. and take a look at how many unopened packs I ended up with (right) - seems like I didn't need to order new clay in the first place, haha.. God, I have packs of clay that I remember getting back in the beginning of 2012! and who knew I already had 4 packs of translucent,.. no need for the 2 extra ones I ordered... oh well, I guess I could make some more fruit canes.
 
 
So instead of crafting - I ended up cleaning my desk. It didn't even take that long, and I still had time to start working on a couple of miniatures.