Sweet Treats!





Aren't they gorgeous? My daughter and I joined Claudine Hellmuth and Amy Powers for a class taught by Patricia Wehmeier in Tyson's Corner last weekend. We'd all made miniatures before, for Club Littlehouse, but with Patricia's instruction, we took it to a whole new level. She is a fantastic teacher, and two of our classmates were seasoned miniaturists as well. We had so much fun, and even at the end of the day, the novelty hadn't worn off. They were sooo tiny!

How tiny? A cupcake, petit four and swiss cake roll all fit onto a dime! We learned about the importance of scale, and how to get the colors, textures and finishes just right.

We even learned how to do placemats, napkins and napkin rings. Pat made domestic goddesses out of all of us. Here is a look at our "kitchen".

Our classmates convinced us that we should make the trip back to Tyson's Corner the next day for the miniatures show, and I'm so glad that we did. The  variety of items was amazing, and every booth was packed to the gills with tiny little delights.

 These fascinated me more than any others. I guess because they have the steampunk vibe that I love, but in miniature! All these creations are the work of Fred Cobbs of Georgia. You can see even more of his work here. If I could live inside a dollhouse, I'd want it to be furnished with all of these wonderful creations. You can click on any of the photos to see them in more detail.

Making all of these tiny little goodies reminded me of my own crystal cupcakes line of jewelry. I am going to do a blog giveaway of one of my crystal cupcakes items. Just leave me a comment before November 15,  and I will choose one person to win a necklace or a pair of earrings - the winner gets to decide.

In the meantime, I am also going to put all of my crystal cupcakes jewelry on sale for $20 each (plus shipping) from now until November 15.  To see all of the cupcakes jewelry go to http://www.crystalcupcakes.com/.

Halloween Matchbox Shrines

Virginia is so beautiful this time of year. The leaves are really beginning to change now, and should be at their peak in a week or so. I like to change the inside of the house, too.

Here is the table inside my front door. The gargoyle on the left came from the dollar store. He looks more menacing when perched on a vintage candy dish under a dome. I change the items under the dome from season to season.

Last Saturday, Terry Pitzel showed our FCCA Altered Arts group how to make Halloween matchbox shrines. I couldn't stop with just one! All my nieces and nephews are getting these from me this year. The older kids will get confetti, and little pins and rings in their matchboxes. The little ones will get stickers.I wanted to make a more durable one to use as a decoration. I used Claudine Hellmuth's sticky-back canvas to wrap the matchbox. I cut a strip and painted it with "dab of yellow" and stamped the fence image.

Then I scrubbed on some "altered orange" with a dry brush. The canvas picks up the brush strokes really nicely. I mixed some "classic teal" with the "dab of yellow" and put in highlights around the fence and at the bottom.

I used the "altered orange" on a circle stamp for the moon image. Then, I used multi-medium to glue on a piece of bat-shaped confetti. I painted the inside of the box, and used an extra piece of the canvas for lining. The sticker inside says, "Happy Halloween".

I punched two small holes in the top of the inside of the box. and threaded some copper wire through the holes for a handle. Then, I added ribbon scraps to the handle.

Fall Preview

I have been busy, busy, busy in the past week! I actually carved out a few days in a row of studio time in order to get ready for some upcoming shows. I'll tell you more about the shows in my next post.

I got inspired while spending so much time in the school supply aisles last week, and so I created some journals. I started with some tiny ones. They are just 3.25 x 4.5 inches. Fairy-sized!

I used Claudine Hellmuth's new line of studio paints, and I just love them. I used the resist technique that she shows on her blog for the backgrounds. I can't wait to get the rest of the colors!

The fairy stamps are from Tim Holtz and the little girl comes from Island Stamping. I bought everything at Handcraft House, one of my favorite places to go for a little half-day outing.

In my next post, I'll show you some of the larger journal covers that I did.

And She's Off!

Hi Everyone,
I am heading to Hampton, VA tomorrow for Art and Soul and I'll be there through Sunday. I'm very excited! I'll be taking classes with Sally Jean Alexander, Jane Wynn, Michael de Meng, Claudine Hellmuth and Lisa Kaus. It just doesn't get any better than that!

I'll also be selling at Vendor Night this Saturday evening. We'll have plenty the porcelain glove form hands that sold out so quickly last year, cigar boxes, scrabble tiles, vintage cake decorations, sewing pattern paper, ephemera jars and bottles and bottles of buttons. And, I have designed four brand new collage sheets as well. It's all packed up and ready to go! And I promise as soon as I get home I'll get those items up on etsy as well.

In the meantime, I've joined a group of artists called The Mixed Media Experience and we're having our first gallery show as a group. The opening is this Friday night at Studio a in Fredericksburg, and the show will remain until the end of May. If you're local, I hope you get a chance to come by and see it.

If you are in Northern Virginia, my Crystal Cupcakes line of jewelry is available at the Chick's Picks event this weekend. For more information go to: http://www.chickspicksbyhillary.com/.

I'm off!