Another Rose, Painting with Polymer Clay

I've been playing with many different ways to make flowers lately, and wanted to share this step by step pictorial tutorial. It's pretty much the same method I've covered in the video here, but the clay in this tutorial is a bit firmer. 

I love the translucent shimmer of the STAEDTLER Fimo Effect Rose Quartz colour #206

I also used # 505 Pastel mint, # 305 Pastel aqua, and #052 glitter white.

I filled my metal bezel with a dome of #305 pastel aqua and baked it in a preheated 230 degree oven for 20 minutes and allowed it to cool before I made the leaves and flower. I then used #505 pastel mint to make green flattened teardrop shapes and flatten them out with a soft but firm round paintbrush. A number 4 or 6 will work best and I like to use the Heinz Jordan Synthetic mongoose brushes. I used a toothpick to draw lines in the leaves and baked the piece again for another 15 minutes to set the leaves. Be sure to allow the piece to cool after baking.

Will the Real Toad in a Hole Stand Up Please?

Growing up in Canada with British, Scottish (and a dozen or so other nationalities thrown in for good measure) ancestry, I've had the good fortune to have some seriously good home cooks in our family. (Not to mention a few world class Chefs). I've always, always called an egg fried in the middle of a cut out piece of bread, a toad in a hole. I've recently been re-educated.... Informed by a very rightly informed informer, that a toad in a hole, is in fact..... This!

It's Yorkshire pudding with a halved sausage stuck in.

Soooooo Delicious!

I made a traditional Yorkshire pudding batter:

1 cup of flour

1/2 cup of water

1/2 cup of milk

2 eggs

dash of salt

I beat it up and let it rest.

Then I put a tsp of olive oil and 1/4 tsp of butter in each of twelve muffin holes in a muffin tin. 

I heated the oily muffin pan up for five minutes in a preheated 400 degree oven until it was bubbling.

Then I quickly poured in the batter half way up each muffin cup and sploched in a halved precooked sausage into each tin along with a cherry tomato. Do this very quickly. You don't want the fat to cool down or you'll lose the rise of the batter.

 I baked it at 400 for 35 minutes then turned it down to 350 and baked it for another 10 minutes.

Serve them right away. They are popovers and will deflate if left too long. But it's not terrible if they deflate. They're just as delicious. Just not as beautiful.

You soooooo have to make these!

They are in fact, the true toad in a hole.

I'll call the other ..... a bird in the nest form now on?

What do you call the eggy toast fry thing?

Heart of Gold... and Blue and Silver and White...

Here's a very simple Valentines set made using STAEDTLER push molds and STAEDTLER Fimo Effect clay. These are a mixture of Fimo Effect translucent and metallic gold swirled together to make a marbled effect. I used the push molds to make each halves of the heart beads, then I joined them together before baking and curing the pieces. 

I sanded the heart beads after they were hardened to make them super smooth.

I also made some super simple beads. Just balls of clay with holes. 

I made swirly beads by turning a worm of clay around a toothpick and baking it. 

This set are made using STAEDTLER Fimo Effect Translucent blue, sparkle white and metallic silver. 

I think I like the cool icy colours a bit more.

Hope you're having a cozy weekend in. 

We're getting hit again with another frosty dumping of the white stuff.

A good opportunity to play with my clay.

:D

How to Paint 3D Roses Using Super Softened STAEDTLER Fimo

Excited to share the video on Painting 3D Roses with Super Softened STAEDTLER Fimo.

It's a nail technician's technique, applied to polymer clay.

I love that this Fimo version of the rose allows me time to play with the shapes. The acrylic powder and liquid that I use to create 3D nail art has a very fast cure time and I always feel rushed. 

This really is a very versatile way to make delicate blossoms. 

Can't wait to hear what you think of it.

Super Softened STAEDTLER Fimo: Filling a Textured Surface

I've been playing with a heap of new ideas the last little while and am excited to share what I've learned. I use super softened STAEDTLER fimo for a load if techniques and am pleased a punch at the results. This tutorial for filling a textured surface is the first of many tutorials using this  ultra soft clay mix. I hope you enjoy it as much as I do.

Here's a video showing how I make the softened clay. It's not long and I'd love to hear your thoughts. I know the miniature food creators out there use softened clay to make whipped cream toppings and sauces for their teeny delectable. I use mine as a dimensional paint.

I've also been using it to fill textured surfaces. It gives a nice detailed pattern with a smooth as silk finished surface.

On the Wings of Love... Sorry, couldn't help myself!

I made these for the first time almost a decade ago, but I remake them almost every February to get ready for Valentines Day! Thought it was about time I shared them with you.

Materials used to create these pieces:

STAEDTLER Fimo effect clay in 

#08 metallic mother of pearl, 

#28 metallic colour ruby red, 

#81 metallic colour silver,

various jewelry findings to assemble the pieces

ear hooks

leather cord

and any clasps, closures, crimps or jump rings you'll need.

Tools needed to create these pieces:

Basic fimo sculpting set

STAEDTLER Fimo heart push mold

toothpicks

parchment paper

First I made some spacer beads that looked like little crowns. I flattened a ball of silver clay and poked a hole through the middle with a toothpick. Then I made teeny balls of silver clay and set them firmly around the side of each flattened ball bead.

Next I made the winged hearts. I freehand cut out some wings from a 1/4cm thick sheet of mother of pearl clay. My wings were about 5cm wide and about 2.5cm tall. I set two toothpicks near the middle of the wings and used a STAEDTLER Fimo heart mold to make a 3cm wide heart from the metallic red clay. I sandwiched the toothpicks between the wings and the heart. Make sure to twist the toothpicks to make sure they'll come out easily after baking. Bake the pieces in a 230 degree, preheated oven on a parchment lined baking sheet for 20 minutes and allow them to cool.

I strung the leather cord down through one toothpick hole in the heart and up through the other. Then I took both ends of the cord and put them through a crown bead. You can tie the ends of the cord so it will fit easily over your head, or you can add crimps and a lobster claw closure to the ends to finish the piece.

I made the earrings in much the same way. The winged hearts only have one toothpick hole. I added a round silver bead to finish the bottom of the piece and hold the earring together. 

Happy almost warmish weather sometime soon?

We were at -20 something today..... GAH!!!!

Simplicity 4760 Made With Help From a Cat

I'm trying to get a bunch of vacation clothes made before summer and decided to start with some shirts for James. Found this beautiful fabric and couldn't resist a roomy button up. 

The fabric is gorgeous and drapes beautifully. I almost made a dress with it I was so in love. I got started and things were going along pretty well.......

Until.......

This is George, making sure I'm ok..... 

Checking in to make sure I can handle things on my own. I assured him I had everything under control but I don't think he believed me......

He settled in and insisted on supervising the whole sewing day. I must admit it was very nice to have the company.

The shirt turned out well, although roomier than I had expected. I used the exact same pattern pieces that I always use to make James his shirts...... but this time it seems to be two sizes bigger. 

Maybe James is shrinking?

Do you sew with your cat?

Pork Terrine aka Meat Jello!!!

I've never made a terrine before and thought it was about time I learned how. Here's our first attempt at what we affectionately call "Meat Jello".

It really is pretty delicious and very simple to make. It costs pennies a serving too. Pretty economical for a snacky lunchy platter. I think it's going to be something we experiment with in the future.

Well..... Here goes.

Invaded by Elves

 I made these festive little Elves for Mom almost 20 years ago. We bring them out every year to help get us in the spirit. They're our version of a shelf elf. I made them fully pose-able with an armature very like that of the Retro pose-able Santa I made recently for PolymerCafe and STAEDTLER.

I used STAEDTLER Fimo Puppen to make these guys.

Their eyes are painted on. I think that's the biggest change I've made in my doll making process. 

Hope you folks have all had a great start to 2014.

We're looking forward to some bold new choices for Make It With Me.

Can't wait to share all the new ideas and hear what you've all been up to.

Food Labels with PicMonkey

I used the PicMonkey upgrade that I won at Halloween to help me make some of our Christmas presents and thought I'd share how they turned out.

James got some home made hot chocolate mix. Here's the recipe I used. It's delicious and really fast to mix up. I use this pic of James for everything. It's my favorite. 

Here's Maggie's hot chocolate mix label. She looks a like a little devil so I went with it.

Mom got some instant coffee with ground up candy canes in it. 

I used a pic my brother altered a long time ago to make his coffee label. He's replaced Dean Martin's face with his own and it looks like he's telling Frank and Sammy the best story ever told. 

We've had a quiet holiday.

Hope you've all had the opportunity to share some of the season with loved ones.