My last post for 2010

It may be some time before I put up my next post. I shall end 2010 with this post wishing all a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year. And I hope my gingerbread men will put a smile on your face.

I'm rather free now, which may make some of you wonder why since I just had a baby. You see,
#1 I'm still on maternity leave
#2 I extended my babysitter for another month, since I thought it would be some time before I could engage a domestic helper (I don't like to call them maids)
#3 My domestic helper came much earlier than expected

The result? My helper does the household chores; my nanny takes care of the baby (she even has time to take afternoon naps now); my mum plays with the baby; I only do the feeding. I know this "holiday" period will end when the nanny goes back to Malaysia next week but I am enjoying it whilst I can. I took the chance to do my long overdue hair coloring and visit to the dentist. To update this blog and make a few sales. To regain some personal time and make resolutions for 2011. To prepare for work in January.

Don't be mistaken though. I love my little gal and I thoroughly enjoy looking after her. Whenever I see her smile, I know it's all worth it. And I know this year's Christmas will be so special because of her.

May you also spend this festive season with your loved ones. Merry Christmas!

Christmas Cookies Prep Board

Just a quick update...

Hardly have time with a kid around but it doesn't stop me from celebrating my favourite season. I luv Christmas!

Here is a Christmas tree cookies prep board with pink frosting. On sale now at my Etsy store.

Gummy bears

Gummy bears attack!

These are really tiny. In fact they are so small that I can't take a proper picture of them showing the shape of bears. I had to put two on my finger before you can see that they are miniature gummy bears.

Unfortunately I had time to make only three colors. I'm still trying to improve on my time management now that baby is taking up most of my time. No, I should say ALL of my time. I'd probably be crying in a week's time when my nanny leaves. :~(

Well... life goes on and things can only get better. Wish me plenty of luck!

Making Chocolate Mint Cupcakes

I came up with a chocolate mint cupcakes prep board and made a piping bag for the first time. I'm glad it came out rather well. I made this prep board whilst waiting for the arrival of my baby. I was really bored then. Could only wait at home as I was too "big" to go anywhere.

And finally, the day arrived. My little bundle of joy... sleeping with arms and legs sprawled out just like the tom boy mother. ^_^

Check out the choc mint cupcakes and other new items in my Etsy store.

Fruit tarts in special October

Yup i last updated my blog only 4 days ago... but since I finally have some peace n quiet, and I don't know when I can have some peace n quiet again, might as well make another entry for October 2010.

This October is going to be a special month. There are two special dates which makes everyone scrambling to hold their weddings - 10.10.10 and 20.10.2010. It's rather memorable. For me, October is special because it's the month of my father's birthday and also my little gal's birthday (though I don't know which date yet).

Whilst waiting for the day to come, I made some fruit tarts - mini ones of coz as I can hardly cook a decent meal in real life. It's also the first time I made raspberries. Can you spot them? It's not clear from the photos (try enlarging them) as the tarts are glossed. But they are indeed raspberries made of many many tiny balls of clay.

Currently available at Etsy.

Beignets = Donuts ?

Yahoo... exams over! Freedom!!! The feeling is great and I had better enjoy it whilst I can.

Here is a set of miniature beignets custom made for a customer. I've not heard of beignets before this. They are a kind of pastry coated with confectioner's sugar and taste like donuts. Or do they actually belong to the donut family? *scratch head* Never mind, I'm just glad that my customer is happy with these beignets.

In the process of churning more miniatures... stay tuned ^_^

Oops, realised I have the same backdrop for the past few posts... It's purely coincidental! I promise it will be something different the next round.

More bread

Still on bread.. but I promise this shall be the last post on bread in a long while ^_^

I'm getting more anti-social these days. I hate it when friends, who haven't kept in touch for a long time, abruptly send me one-sentence sms like "What is the sex of the baby?". There's another friend who sent me a link to take an IQ test at 12 midnight. His point? He wanted to show that my IQ is lower than his. In fact, he said he was very sure that my score would be lower. (ok, if you are so sure, why send me the link in the first place?)

Oops! Sorry about the whining. Let me get back to the main topic and allow me to share these photos of bread with olive oil & vinegar. (Available at Etsy)

Bread et Butter & a dose of thankfulness

I'm into bread recently. I had bread with peanut butter & jam in my previous post. Let's have something more basic - bread & butter.

Something basic... don't we all sometimes take basic things for granted?

I'm very thankful recently. To a few people. It's not that I take them for granted but I appreciate them even more these days.






So, please allow me to use this blog entry to say thank you to

1. My hubby - for every little thing that you do for me & little Crystal.
2. My mom & dad - for taking care of the home renovations, getting all the baby stuff, and cleaning up my dirty house.
   

No miniature talk in this entry... I'll let the photos do the talking ^_^

Peanut Butter Jam Sandwich

PBJ stands for Peanut Butter Jam or Peanut Butter Jelly? In any case, I've not tried the popular PBJ sandwich cos I don't like jam. I can't imagine the two together except in miniature form... maybe not.

Here is the PBJ set. See what I mean? I still didn't stick the two slices of bread together. I'll leave it to the dolls while I treat this as PBJ sandwich preparation in progress. Afterall, I wanted to show the fluffy texture of the bread slices as well as the texture of the peanut butter & jam.

And here is a kid's breakfast set since I had some extra smiley potatoes. All items are now available at my Etsy shop.

I've got to slow down on my minis now. My baby keeps kicking me when I'm sitting down or when I'm sleeping. This explains why I'm updating my blog at 5.45 A.M. I'll try to catch some sleep now. ^_^

Tiny Popsicles

Popsicles! Perfect for a hot summer.

I love how these popsicles turned out, especially the rainbow ones. However, the tiny rainbow popsicles are extremely difficult to make. Maybe it is easier with polymer clay. With air dry clay, I had to painstakingly mix each colour with the clay and sometimes the shade just doesn't look right - either too dark or too pastel. Actually there is purple too but if I add the purple portion, the popsicles become too elongated. So please don't ask me why there are only 5 colors. In fact, these take so much effort that I don't know how to price them for sale.

The neapolitan ones are easier since there are only 3 layers. However, I made a mistake of glossing them as they don't look so realistic now. On the other hand, they look a tad unpolished if they weren't glossed. I hereby announce the neapolitan popsicles a non-success, but I can sell them cheaply to anyone interested. Just drop me an email: ilovelittlethings@gmail.com

I just listed some items in my Etsy shop. Do pop in and have a look.

Fruity Cupcakes

I've been missing in action for about 2 weeks as I was so busy with work. It's a nightmare struggling with tons of excel sheets at 3am in the morning.

Though I'm less busy now, I find myself not being able to work on minis as much. Why? My pregnant tummy is getting in the way between the table and myself!! I find it hard to bend over to do texturing. I got to do it slowly, taking regular breaks in between. It doesn't help that I'm using air dry clay because once you start, you can't stop! I console myself that I work with 1:12 scale and not anything bigger.

Finally have time to feature these fruity cupcakes that I made. I love colorful things. They make me feel happy. Hope you like these photos and if you like the cupcakes, they are available at my Etsy shop.

*Hit 200 followers! Thank you all for sharing my crafting journey.*

Then and Now: Fondue vs Gingerbread

It's a relaxing weekend for me as work slows down a little. Packed more things to make space for baby but my husband picks up the things I throw, saying they carry memories. Maybe I am too un-sentimental. I wanted to throw away an empty wedding photo album given to us by his friend. It turned yellow and I see no point in keeping it. Well, the album is STILL lying around and I am not allowed to touch it.

Then... *no space at home*

Now... *no space at home*

Anyway, back to miniatures... nope, there is no direct link between fondue and gingerbread men. Just that I recently recreated some old pieces with a different look. The fondue was an accident, as I didn't know what to do with some loose ice cream balls and marshmallows.

Now...

Then...

And here are the new and old versions of gingerbread mean. I like the new faces better.

Now...
Then...

Please visit my Etsy shop here.
Wish all a good weekend.

Broken Eggs n Baked Beans

Enjoyed making this little prep board especially the broken eggs, the bowl of raw egg and the baked beans!

Let this be a short post as I've been rather busy lately. Till my next post but hope you enjoy these photos :)

Kids Meal - Cheeseburgers n Smiley Face Potatoes

Saw a pack of frozen smiley face potatoes at a supermarket and thought it would be so fun to bite into one (after they are fried, of course). These are not so common in Singapore. Are they popular in the States? Anyway, they are too cute and I just have to make a miniature version. However my husband said they look creepy and more suited for Halloween. :(


Inspiration from a fast food restaurant "Bob Evans" in the USA. The link can be found in http://www.flickr.com/photos/12170996@N06/4738165340. My blog editting doesn't allow me to copy and paste, so you have to go to my flickr and click on the link there. I chose to type out the flickr address instead of the looooooong website of the photo source. The actual version below seems to look cuter.

Well, if you find the smiley faces creepy too, ask for some fries instead.

Available at my Etsy store.

Refreshing Ice Water with Lemon

A customer enquired about the ice water with lemon set and so I made another one for sale. Someone asked how I made the bottles of mineral water - these are plastic and are part of miniature supplies. I'm only in charge of the lemons and glass of ice water and of course the idea. I hate it when I see some artists copy the idea of other artists. It's fine for common ideas like chocolate chip cookies or donuts but I find it hard to accept exact replica.

The photo below shows the old set but the glasses here are made of plastic instead of real glass. Real glass is more expensive but I prefer its finer quality.

I also updated my Etsy shop banner. Seriously I'm tempted to get professional help for a shop makeover. I'm still thinking about it, so let's make do with this new banner for now.

Start of another week. Monday blues... but I'm so glad it's going to be my second last Monday blue!

Re-ment Baby Stuff & A Rose Cake

I'm into collecting miniature baby stuff recently. See what pregnancy does to me? Spending money on miniatures instead of real stuff that I need. :P


Here is a Re-ment set I bought from Ebay. I think this belongs to the "Pharmacy" series. Sorry for the mislabelling in the picture. I love Re-ment but ever since they got bigger and bigger, I've stopped collecting them. I contemplated buying this set long long time ago and finally it's mine!


For those who can't visualise the size, the diaper pack is about 2/3 of the middle three fingers combined.




I like the baby oil. It looks just like the Johnson&Johnson baby oil bottle.

The lid of the baby wipe can open and close. And some of the cotton buds can be taken out from the container!

My favourite has got to be the diaper pack. The diapers can be taken out. Check out the prints on the diapers! I'm truly amazed by the Japanese.

More collections to showcase!

Before I get too carried away and bore readers who come from the mini food blog *slap myself*, here is a mini rose cake I made but it received no hearts on Etsy. Doesn't matter, I'll work harder next time ^_^

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