Another white and blue flowers arrangement

Here's my second bouquet of white and blue flowers arrangement in 1:12 dollhouse miniature scale. This was sold within a few hours. I actually made a third one as well, requested by another customer who wanted it.

Each bouquet, though with the same color concept is never really the same. I am thankful my customers who request for handmade flowers understand that it's not possible to make the same exact one each time.

Believe it or not, I'm starting to make my fourth bouquet today. I think this particular color scheme is just so peaceful and serene.

 

Who knows how my fourth bouquet will turn out? I may put in some different elements...it's always exciting!

 

Happy weekend all!

Lati Doll Food - Black Cherries Cake

I was working on this Lati Doll Food on and off for a while before I left for my holidays. Sometimes a piece of art has its own story, some longer than others, while some have shorter ones. This piece is extremely memorable to me as I was working on it while going through a very stressful period in my life. So, this piece holds a lot of sentimental value and I will always remember this. 

This black cherries cake is modeled after a real cake photo which was requested by my sweet friend Jacqueline. When I first saw it, I thought the real challenge were the black cherries, since it was something I've never done before. The colour of the cherries is tricky, as it's not entirely black, but really a very deep dark purplish red. There isn't an acrylic colour that offers that particular shade, so it means I have to create the shade myself. And when I started working on this cake, I realize there was another challenge - cutting through the cake layers so that it is straight and not crooked...

Working on a 1:12 dollhouse miniature scale and working on a Lati Doll scale still has its own set of different challenges altogether, as I realized. The method that worked so well for the 1:12 dollhouse scale did not work well on a Lati Doll scale. Thus I had to find solutions to solve it.

Along the way, I made mistakes - which meant that I had to re-start all over again. ;)

But to be honest, I was determined to work and find a solution, although I am apologetic to my friend that I took longer than usual to think about it, experiment further and making it as nice as possible.

I am grateful for this challenge though, because not only I found a solution that works, but it increased my knowledge about handling larger size cakes and I think that knowledge is immensely important to me and I am truly grateful for, honestly.

I think that's how I learn - through making mistakes and discovering new ways to do certain things. I also realized that being curious and playful are wonderful, positive and powerful traits to have in this art.

Now that I discovered how to create this in a Lati-scale, I want to re-create this in 1:12 dollhouse scale soon.. The black cherries are calling out to me :)

Blythe Doll Furniture - Cake Display Shelf - Part 2

I finally finished my second Blythe doll furniture! The second cake display shelf is a little smaller in width as requested by my customer.

After I finished it, I remembered to take photos and jot down measurements in my sketch book so that I will have a reference if I am asked to reproduce it again at a later stage. I do have my 1/12 scale dollhouse miniature cake shelf as a reference, but for such a big cake shelf for Blythe Dolls, I just don't have that much storage space at home to make another to store.

At this point, I am not sure how it will be positioned in the store or room box, but I did mentioned to my customer that it can be positioned as a L shape counter too if she desires. :)

You will notice that the space between the bottom tier shelf  and top tier shelf is deliberately made wider (more space in between). That is because my customer has measured her cakes and some of them came with cake stands and therefore are taller, so she wanted to ensure that there is enough space to place them in without feeling cramped.

Ruki was happy to be a model for this, as she was a curious cat wondering why on earth is this cake shelf so huge yet empty :D

Ruki posing in front of the cake shelves!

Hydrangea in hair - Lati Yellow Dolls Accessories

Putting hydrangea in hair is something I've been thinking about making for my Ruki. But then again, it was a matter of not having time plus I've not figured out what's the best way to execute it.

It does amaze me sometimes that how one unrelated project would lead me to ideas for another unrelated project.

I was working on life size macarons for the past weeks and it gave me the opportunity to explore larger scale flowers. I was very pleased and thankful for the opportunity given, for I might never have gotten the idea of implementing this hydrangea hair accessory for Ruki.

This hydrangea flower accessory for Latidoll will only work well on some wigs. I've tried a couple, and let me explain why it won't work with every wig. It's not because of the flower accessory per se, but because some wigs have bangs, and the hair texture on wigs is not soft and natural like human hair, so after tucking the hydrangea flower accessory behind the ear, the bangs would be sticking out and covering it. If you try arranging the hair style, it just looks weird and out of place. Therefore, you need to try experimenting with a few wigs and see how it will look on your doll.

I wear it by tucking it behind Ruki's ears and quickly covering it with the wig. :)

This particular one has been reserved, but I will be listing another one in my shop soon, so look out for it if you're interested. :)

Dollhouse Miniature Menu Chalkboard

This dollhouse miniature menu chalkboard was another impromptu experiment that I did one day. While building Ruki's bakery shelf and thinking of the arrangement of things, I had many ideas that came into my mind. But this particular idea of a menu chalkboard was just the last thing that popped into my mind.

When I saw a graphic design of a menu chalkboard, I kind of knew that this was what I wanted to try making.

I don't exactly know how I ended up with a very Zakka inspired menu chalkboard, but I am really loving it as it has this antique charm and feel to it which fits the bakery pretty nicely. This shade of brown breaks away from the overall antique brown concept, and thus giving it a life of its own.

And if you think I was crazy with the trailing english ivy plant on the top, I actually did see it on the graphic picture that inspired me in the first place, so I followed along.

I love plants and this was just perfect for me, as it combines all the elements of things in real life that I so adore.

Boy, I was glad that it did stand on its own!

Dollhouse Miniature Cake Display Shelf

This is probably not the first time you have heard me say this, but one of the things I really like about dollhouse miniatures is the ability to create a fantasy in the miniature world.

I love cakes, desserts and of course beautiful cake shelves, but you can't buy the real thing and put it at home, can you? So I try to re-create something that I can look at it for a long time, and enjoy the beauty and charm of all things small.

It has been a while since I last worked on dollhouse miniature cake display shelf. If I have not decided to make a bakery for Ruki, I don't know if I would have worked on that ;)

There are times when I went to a cake shop and at that particular moment, I just wished I could sit there and start creating that cake shelf.  

I cannot recall the last time when I physically drew something first before building it. I may have done that many years ago when I first started. But as the years passed, I just don't work well in that method anymore. 

I like physically looking at things, start forming the measurements and GO.

There is an immense sense of joy when I worked on this particular one, based on the process that I just described. The joy of seeing something coming to fruition is unexplainable. And I think that joy can be understood among fellow DIY fans.

I carefully thought about the height of this particular miniature cake display shelf. The intention was for folks to have enough room to put cake stands on the top of the shelf. With the cake stands on the top, the overall height is just nice. Not too high, not too low, but really just nice. Of course you can also put other accessories as you wish. :)

This is also perfect for Lati Dolls - which I tested with Ruki, as you can see in the 2nd photo. With a cake stand, it will just be at a nice comfortable height which does not cover her face.

Once I get into the mood for wood work, I started another one - a higher one, and I'm pleased that it is a much improved version of my earlier pieces. Once it's ready, I shall blog about it. 

Meanwhile, this piece is available in my shop under Bakery.

Off to enjoy the wood working process :)

Have a great weekend all!

Ruki with her rose hair accessory

Please pardon my Ruki as she models with this mauve rose hair pin. It was just one of those moments, that I took a break from my crafting routine. My sweet friend Jacqueline had requested for flowers to be used as hair accessory for her girls, so I started experimenting.

This rose is definitely way larger than any 1/12 dollhouse miniature scale flowers that I've created. When I tried matching a 1/12 dollhouse miniature scale flower onto Ruki's head, it appeared way too small, so I had to make it a little larger, without losing its details.

I ended up really liked the effect of this! Feminine...

Ruki's Bakery Progress

Ruki's bakery is coming along slowly but surely...On some days I can work on it at great lengths, but then on some days when real life gets into the way, I would not be able to work on it for days...Sometimes I would spend a lot of time thinking about it, and the thinking can be for hours or days lol.

But what has been interesting is how different the actual bakery has come so far from what I imagined it to be. It is not a bad thing at all, my tastes could have changed a little along the way, and that is being reflected in the way of how I decorate Ruki's Bakery.

Sometimes it's about adding those little touches here and there, that takes up a lot of time as I do spend considerable amount of time arranging and finding the best place and arrangement for it.

I like how this little signboard adds a special elegant touch to the shelf.  :)

Dollhouse Miniature Flowers - Red Roses Arrangement

I made this red roses arrangement for Ruki's Bakery. It had me thinking for a while before I decided on red roses, which seems to be the perfect colour for the bakery.

This container was actually in my collection for 2-3 years ago. It was actually a silver basket with handles, and I got it from ebay then. When I got it, I haven't quite had the idea of how I was going to use it, but I was just fascinated with its detail, and kept it in my collection until now.

I removed the handles and also gave it some paint and rust to give it an antique feel. I am really liking its new transformation which sits in Ruki's Bakery perfectly :)

Dollhouse Miniature Food - Cupcakes for Ruki BJD Food

These cupcakes were the latest dollhouse miniature food I made recently, especially for Lati Yellow dolls.

These are perfect for Lati Yellow Dolls, but they are not 1:12 scale dollhouse miniatures as they are actually bigger than the usual cupcakes I make.

I was actually experimenting and I am pleased with them. I am going to make a few more for Ruki's bakery. :)

Building Ruki's Bakery

My last post regarding building Ruki's Bakery was about her dollhouse bakery window. You can read more here. I actually completed it and moved onto the actual bakery shelf - which was exciting to me for many reasons.

Did I want 1 or 2 shelves, what colour would it be and other endless questions came to my mind. I finally sat down and started making it. :)

In the end, I made a bigger one first, and followed by a smaller one. The idea was that I wanted a L shape counter, which was why I ended up making 2 shelves. ----> Have to make MORE cakes, desserts and pastries to fill it up.

Here in this photo is the smaller shelf.

I'm not even done with the entire L shape concept yet as I'm still thinking....so I'll show more when it's done.

Dollhouse Miniatures 1:12 Scale Raspberry White Chocolate Tart

I made these dollhouse miniatures raspberry white chocolate tarts a little while ago - right after I made the strawberry tarts. I couldn't shake off the red colour trend, which had me continue making some red desserts...

Red is such a eye catching, stunning colour. Even when I place them with other desserts and pastries, they just stand out easily.

I might be the only one who is noticing the details, but I'm actually most pleased with how the mint leaf turned out. I was experimenting on them and finally found a new way to make them. Irregularly shaped and with very deep busy veins. I loved how the sunlight shines and make them look too :)

I haven't been taking Ruki out for photo shoots for a while, but the sun was shinning really brightly ...

Ruki looking at her raspberry dessert tart

These are available at my shop now!