Here are my TLS Pastry experiments. Take any color of clay and mix
with a drop of TLS and mash it up until you get the consistency you
need.
Frosting
Whipped Cream
Chocolate Sauce
you name it
Then at The Diner
at the bottom of the page there are other experiments using TLS and
mixing it with clay colors to get gravy, hollandaise, anything that
needs to look juicy and delicious.
Bead makers can do Faux Lampwork beads with this technique.
Any of the techniques used for miniature food can be utilized with
beads, other jewelry, house hold accessories or any of the other
things that are made with polymer clay.
I've been encouraging everyone who doesn't consider themselves
miniaturist to look at this pix, Rumble in the Jungle,
Biz-Archive/Tins/Jungle/Start
Do you make your flowers full size? I don't think so. Anything that is
not life size is miniature. Miniatures aren't limited to doll houses
or room boxes. That's the confines I'd like us to break out of. Play
with your mini food.
Dig... I made two plates of bacon and eggs, with toast, on pearl
plates, and put clip earring findings on the back by sandwiching the
finding with another circle of pearl. I wore these to a brunch for a
joke on my girlfriends. The waitress was so smitten by the earrings
she called over her co workers to come over. I had bus boys, cooks,
waitresses, the hostess all come over and look at these earrings. I'm
all the while wondering in a panic did I clean my ears good enough for
this sort of close scrutiny.
I left the earrings as the "tip" for the waitress, since I have more
clay than money to spare.
Any of the miniature techniques utilized in making mini food,
sculpting original faces, of setting a scene in a small environment,
which could be the space of a pendant, all these techniques are
transferable to other clay works.
The main problem I had with all other polymer clay lists is they work
too big, broad strokes, few of the techniques that are commonly shared
on other lists are applicable for miniatures, but all miniature
techniques can be utilized anywhere you want.
I have earrings made of eyeballs, surrounded by little brown leaves,
goes with the Earth Elemental. It's a set, folks don't look at things
closely for the most part. When someone DOES notice they are eyeballs
we all get a good laugh and it breaks the ice for me to hawk my wares.
DOD Skull Cane makes the best beads. Food makes good beads. Little
faces that are sculpted from scratch and then used as molds will make
your pendants, wall decorations, or figurines original and have your
style to it. Like all my little faces I sculpt without a plan look
Asian.
Take the techniques you find here and apply these techniques to
something you're making, but all y'all have to admit, if it's not life
size, it is miniature. This list family is focused on miniatures and
polymer clay. Take what you learn here and use it where ever you want.
Free your mind, can't we put face molds with flowers and leaves? Can't
we take a breakfast platters and make them into tip-worthy earrings?
Fruit and vegetables when placed on a brightly colored light switch
will be a good kitchen accessory to sell at a craft sale. My kitchen
light switch has a mini tea pot, boxes of Typhoon Tea from England,
and cups and it's bright and festive. I bought a Frieda Kahlo themed
light switch for Milly to match the Hot Hispanic colors in her
kitchen. Goes great with the hanging red hot chili pepper and green
gecko lights.
Loosen up folks, take a handful of miniature items and toss them on
beads, earrings, pendants, light switches, around picture frames and
you tell me that folks don't see them and go "Awww, how cute is that
already? What's not to love?" Humans have been entertained and
fascinated with replicas of their life in miniature. I don't know why,
I'm just glad I can tap into it and entertain folks with the minis I
make.
Use? Utilitarian use? What's that? This is art, this is free flowing
creative happy dancing. Things don't have to have a use to entertain
our eyeballs.
Just like I tell folks, don't measure exactly, don't ask me how many
sheets I stacked, don't wonder how I mixed this clay color, that
doesn't matter. What does matter is what your color choices are going
to be, what color mixes you'll find most delightful, what themes and
patterns you feel drawn to. That's the most important thing. What
other people do with miniature techniques are their own concern, ask
yourself where could you plant these miniatures and make some scene
somewhere.
I saw this Home Matters episode and this lady made a lamp with
drilling a hole through a bunch of books, but she decorated the stand
with miniatures. Now if the old book lamp base was about cowboys,
decorate it with horse shoes, cowboy boots, spurs, cowboy hats. This
gal made these "room box" type of scenes as a lamp base.
Polymer clay's nature of keeping a design even when the cane is
reduced lends itself to quick miniature making more than any other
medium I've been exposed to. Miniaturists are sorely neglected on all
the other polymer clay lists that I've been subscribed to over these
last three years. This is coo coo, polymer clay was invented over 30
years ago for doll makers. It was doll makers and miniaturists who
fostered this medium and they were all but ignored or forgotten when
polymer clay became popular with crafters at large.
This list is to set a balance for that neglect of miniatures in
polymer clay. But folks who say they aren't miniaturists are given
energy here with sculpting, beads, covered eggs, sheet work, and all
the other uses of polymer clay. I make sure that the demos and
tutorials strike a balance, even though this is the Mini Maven's clay
hangout. Just to be more fair than the other polymer clay lists, who
took my sharing miniature tips and tricks as intrusive.
Ok, fine, we'll hang out here and make hard working waitresses giggle
with getting mini plates of food on earrings as a tip.
That's my story and I'm sticking to it,
xoxo
NJ
norajean@norajean.com
http://www.norajean.com
Life is like a lump of clay, both are what you make of it.