Dollhouse Miniature Ranunculus Bouquet

It's been a while since I finished the dollhouse miniature ranunculus bouquet, but it was only today that I managed to mail it out. This was because of some labor disputes going on in Canada Post. I was holding onto the bouquet for over a week now. Thankfully my customer was very patient and understanding and we have both been keeping track of the status. They didn't disrupt the work (fingers crossed) and hopefully continue with the postal service while they sort things out.

I also wrote a FREE tutorial on how to use the Lace Maker to make dollhouse miniature laces easily. So if you are interested, you can check it out here.

Tomorrow I should have new photos up for another remake of the trio wedding cake ^^
I just love making those over and over again for now... :)

Using UV Resin To Make Miniature Transparent Cups

I'm so excited to share with you my experimentation of making dollhouse miniature transparent cups using UV Resin and some molds.

Before these materials were readily available, it was quite hard to make them properly, especially if you wanted your cups or glasses to look the same equally.

Then came the transparent air dry clay, which was pretty much the best answer to creating realistic looking transparent cups. The downside of it was that you had to be patient to let it dry. So if you want to make more than a few, you probably need a few days or even a week or two.

With UV Resin, everything is so much easier and faster. Below, I will write out the simple steps that you can follow to make your own!

How to use the UV Resin with Push Mold: 
It's really simple to use the UV resin with the push mold here. Simply squeeze the UV resin into the mold. It is best to fill up to 3/4 full. A way to check is to cover the top of the push mold and see if the resin comes right up to the lid of the push mold.

It is OK to have some UV Resin touching the top of the push mold. In fact, I prefer that so that your cups will be of the same equal height.

Keep the lid on and put it under the UV lamp for a few minutes.

After a few minutes, remove the top lid and remove cup from the mold. Use penknife to gently cut excess resin that has over-spilled.  Lastly, use sandpaper to gently buff the edges to give it a smooth round finish!

Here, I have the 2 different size cups made with UV Resin.

Both are suitable for 1/12 dollhouse miniature scale.

Cup molds are available here and here.
UV Resin is available here.

Lastly, the same method can be used for making plates, bowls as well! Have fun!

Learn to Make Your Own Dollhouse Miniature Macaron Tower

I'm so pleased to announce my new PDF tutorial that I've completed recently!
This time round, I've written a tutorial on how to make your own dollhouse miniature macaron tower!

The easiest way to purchase it is to go to my Etsy Store here where you can download the tutorial immediately right after making payment.

Air dry clay is the medium being used in this tutorial, so there will be components that you need to allow time to dry before you can proceed. However, I have given a lot of care and thought into writing this in a sequential way that if you follow the same sequence, you will have a smoother, effortless process.

This tutorial is also slightly more lengthy than the previous ones I've written. Estimated project time, not including drying time may take between 2 or 4 hours or more, depending on how fast each person works.

I hope you will have fun experimenting and creating your own dollhouse miniature macaron tower!

Fake Food Tutorial - Miniature Dessert Jelly Update

This week, I'm glad to finally finish making some updates to the miniature dessert jelly tutorial which I've written 2 years ago!

You'll now get to learn 2 different methods to make the dessert jelly in this tutorial.

The craft industry is always evolving, with new innovative products being released quite rapidly. I've always taken an interest to see how new products work, and see how it can be incorporated into what I love doing.

Since the new method worked well, I've decided to include that into my existing tutorial! You can be sure I'll always be revising my tutorials once I figured out a new, fun way to make something.

You can purchase a copy here.

Click onto the image to read more about it! 

Art Clay Tools Leveler

Recently, I had the chance to encounter these art clay tools. I wish they were made available way earlier when I started experimenting with clay. But nevertheless, I am happy to show you something really neat and easy to use!

 

This tool, which I call the Clay Leveler, helps you to create clay pieces of a particular thickness consistently. Simple as that.

 

When it comes to air dry clay, one of the things I am truly grateful for is that it doesn't require any conditioning. This means I don't have to worry about over working my wrists. I believe this is something all of us air dry clay users can appreciate.

 

Getting my piece of clay ready to begin work is much more simplified. 

 

This is how the 1mm thick clay leveler looks like.

 

 

Here I'll show you how to use the clay leveler in 3 easy steps.

 

How to use:

1. Get a piece of non-stick sheet and place it on an even surface.

2. Put the air dry clay on top of the sheet, and position the 2 acrylic clay levelers side by side, next to your clay.

3. Begin rolling out your piece of clay with a roller, until it no longer flattens out anymore.

 

End result: You will get a consistent piece of clay thickness! 

 

 

 

What if I need to make thicker clay?

Though there isn't a 5mm clay leveler, you may stack them up and secure the ends of the clay leveler with rubber band. Just make sure your roller doesn't roll over the rubber bands. 

 

I hope you will enjoy this easy method to make your air dry clay experience more wonderful!

Experimenting Milk Paint

I'm so excited to blog about my experience with milk paint! I chanced this while I was surfing the web and was just dying to play with it. My first experience with milk paint was many years ago. The first milk paint I had was in liquid form. Even now, I think they are relatively unknown (at least in my part of the world), except for those who are probably DIY enthusiasts who love doing furniture makeovers. Traditionally milk paint are used on wooden furniture and other textured surfaces to create an antique look, which is why it is quite popular with people who love that style.

These are not sold locally, so I ordered mine overseas. While doing my research on milk paint, I became fascinated with it even though I don't have any antique furniture to try it with. So while others will use it with furniture, I will use it for my dollhouse miniatures.

What is milk paint?
There are many types and brands of milk paint out in the market, some are in liquid paint form which is ready to be used, and some are in powder form. Today I'm going to try out the milk paint powder which requires mixing with water.

Milk paint is an eco-friendly, all-natural paint which contains milk protein (casein), chalk, clay, natural pigments.

Suitable for both interior and exterior painting and is mold resistant.

It is ideal to paint on various types of surfaces, including wood, plaster, drywall etc.

It is environmentally friendly, non-toxic and does not give off noxious vapors (often called VOCs)


How is the texture different from acrylic paint
I can only speak from my own painting experience, but the milk paint offers a very smooth, even painting finish that I can't get from acrylic paints. Sometimes acrylic paints that are kept too long ends up being lumpy, but so far my liquid milk paint doesn't end up like that.

Ways to use milk paint
Simply paint on porous surfaces to create a finish that doesn't chip or flake with time (which is perfect if you make your own dollhouse miniature furniture).

You can add more water if you want to create a "colored stain" or "faded wash" look.

If you paint directly over painted surfaces, allow the paint to "self-distress" and chip away randomly for an authentically aged look. (I haven't tried this yet, but will do so soon!)

Preparing for my experimentation!

So I got my stuff ready, the usual - paint brush, a little container to hold the paint, and a small scoop container to efficiently measure powder and water. You can use a spoon if you have, but I didn't have a deep craft spoon. You can use a small cap or container as well.

For this experimentation, I must tell you that the colour I was going to try out was a light mint blue/green colour. But please note that the colour of the milk powder is almost cream. See below photo. So please do not be alarmed!

The milk paint is ready to be mixed with water.

As soon as I added in 1 scoop of water and started stirring, the colour changes!

Stir well, until the lumps disappear. This was stirred halfway, as you can see there are still some lumps.

The ratio of powder and water is 1:1 But there are no hard rules to this, you can add more water if you like, which I did.

You can start painting immediately after the milk powder is dissolved.

The outcome of the colour reminds me of a discontinued FolkArt colour - Mint Green. Many of my students can't find this colour at the craft store anymore, so this will be the replacement for that colour.

I painted 3 coats over my furniture and it covers well. 

End result colour

It was a fun experiment. I hope you enjoyed my little review of the milk paint! Once I tried the other experiment, I will blog about it!

Clay Sweets Tutorial - Dessert Jelly Tutorial + Dessert Clay Mold

I've finally completed my latest clay sweets tutorial and it's now available in my shop as a bundled purchase!

In this bundled purchase, you will get the dessert jelly tutorial as well as the dessert clay mold.

It took me some time to write and compile this, since I am quite selective when it comes to photos and making sure the whole tutorial gels together and folks can understand what's going on.

I do also intend to publish the dessert jelly tutorial on its own, so do look out for that in a few days' time :)

Learn how to create your own dollhouse miniature jellies!

Now available in my shop here.