Summertime Desserts

Thought we'd show a few pieces that will be popping up on Etsy in the next few minutes...

Inspired by the lovely summery weather we've been having, today we made a few "Summertime Desserts" with sorbets, sundaes and a mousse glacée.

Needless to say it's now cold, windy and rainy...c'est la vie!

You'll find them together on Etsy here.

Please Take Two Minutes To Help Save The Rainforests

This is slightly off-topic when it comes to miniatures, but couldn't be more on-topic when it comes to the future of humanity.

We're all guilty of perhaps spending more time online than we should, so today please spend just 1 minute 32 seconds of it watching this video and then use the sign up form at the top of the blog to take another few seconds to sign up for the Prince of Wales's Rainforest Project.

Many of our blog readers have young children, many have grandchildren. Don't let their tomorrows be destroyed by our lack of action today.

We all have tons of online contacts so use them!

Contact your blog followers

Use your mailing lists

Post in forums

Tell your family and friends to do the same

Please do SOMETHING...today

Miniature Paper Cake Cases

We've just been making some miniature pastries (surprise surprise!) and thought we'd share with you one of the elements that we needed to make - miniature paper cake cases!

Some of our miniature cake cases

Shown on a real cake case (love these pink ones with the French writing on them!) and a pen nib

Finished pastries shown on a real cake case

Mad About Teapots Too!

From my last post, where I wrote about my collection of plates, you'll know that I have a passion for tableware.

I also love teapots - a happy coincidence seeing as Miniman is English and loves his tea!

As you may expect, this rubs off on my miniature work too. One of my favourite types of teapot is in the style of a "table" - the teapot is given the appearance of being draped with a tablecloth and the top of the teapot then becomes the surface of a table. It's a style that some people may find bizarre at first, but it does give an active imagination a whole heap of possibilities!

I've made pink ones featuring teeny teapots as the handle for the lid...handpainted too!

I've made black and white teapots with another tiny teapot, baby cup and saucer and a minuscule croissant...

I've even made special Christmas teapots with tiny Christmas puddings on the lid!

That's a quarter scale teapot next to the 12th scale version! It even has a tiny teapot cup and saucer and a Christmas pudding on it - we're talking stupidly small here! All done without a magnifying glass too...

Here is that 1/4 scale version on a British penny...

And this week I was chuffed with the way my new one turned out - it's a picnic table setting...

...complete with that classic red and white checkered cloth, a baguette, pork pie (again in recognition of the "Englishness" of my other half!) tomatoes, a roast chicken, some brie and some hard boiled eggs.

I also painted some grass and flowers around the base to give it a summery meadowy feel!

You can find more pictures of this piece on eBay where I've just listed it!

Mad About Tableware

I love tableware and have a large collection of vintage plates (full-sized) which I've amassed over the years from brocantes, flea markets, family clearouts etc...

When I say vintage, I just mean "old"! Many of them have chips and blemishes, but knowing that some date from the 19th century, regardless of the fact that most are worth next to nothing, it gives me a warm buzz knowing that I'm now their "guardian" and they remain very dear to me.

Sadly many of them are confined to boxes having been carefully packed away in newspaper when we moved house three years ago. One day we'll get them hung up somewhere...right Neil?!

So when I'm not making miniature food, the other great passion I have is for making services in miniature - both complete settings for dining tables and individual pieces, on a whim. (Commissions undertaken - hint, hint...!)

Here's one I finshed today which has quite a vintage, nostalgic feel to it.

I love the decal image of the three happy girls but didn't know what to do with it, until today!

I handpainted the border of the plate in black with with dots and painstakingly added gold beading. I knew just after starting the beading that it was going to be difficult to do, but thankfully it turned out nice and regular and even - phew!

Filled with some cookies, I think this would be great for placing in a girl's nursery...

The cookies helped to keep young Martine busy (the daughter of our neighbour...). Only two weeks into her summer holiday and the poor thing's bored to tears at home. So we let her "help" with the last photo. So here it is...

Bravo Martine!

This piece is available on eBay until July 23