Miniature Food

     Something that can be fun to make, but is definitely really fun to have, is miniature food. I have a few different projects going on at the moment that require miniature food. I have cat sets in the works, dog sets will be coming soon, and I needed to get the bags put together for those. Soon they will also have food in them. I love the realism and I love to see the sets come together. Hopefully I can update you all with finished photos very soon!

      Next it was time to make tiny lunches. I need to feed the dolls and I have half a dozen empty lunch bags just waiting. My plan was to make sandwiches and cookies so the first step was to make a light dough colored clay. 

     There are variety of other steps to make tiny cookies and sandwiches, but one of them is adding shading with pastels. This adds so much realism. I have been making things out of clay since I was about 8. Back then I used Play Doh, which I made a huge variety of things out of, including food. Polymer clay makes a finished product that is a lot less delicate and has the potential to be incredibly realistic. This is my extra long loaf of bread waiting to be cut. 

      And here is my batch of finished cookies and sandwiches. I made a couple of extra cookies, in case I am inspired to make a couple more lunch bags. I also made a whole bunch more sandwiches than I needed to make. Making the peanut butter took an incredibly long time. So much mixing! Since it took so long I really didn't want to waste it so I just kept on making slices of bread and making more sandwiches. My dolls might end up with a couple of these. I also might just save some for the next batch of lunch bags. We'll see. 

     I still have more miniature food I need to make, but I got a good start on it. I think my next steps are going to be digging out some other things to go with the lunches, making the feather toys to go with the cat sets and then... not sure. But sooner or later I need to make all the different pieces. Must. Keep. Going. 

 

Letters Home- Canada

     Continuing my series of my doll, Little Elecktra, and her traveling to visit friends around the world she has now made her way to Canada to stay with Terri Wright. When Elecktra arrived I got a quick message "from her" saying she had wicked jetlag and was going to bed. The photos and some of the letter are by Terri (with some adjustments and additions from me. Enjoy!

     Hi Mom!

          After a good rest, I spent my first day with Emmie, Yonne, and the girls, relaxing and settling in. It's Fall here in Canada, just like back home, and everyone is starting to get the harvest in before the snow flies. I am staying in Edmonton, which is pretty far north, and the Fall weather is great. I am sure your weather is flop-flopping back and forth between Fall and Summer (it is) but it's wonderful here. We went out and bought tea and coffee from the famous coffee chain Tim Hortons, which is like our Dunkin. It was fantastic! Remember when I was young how much I hated coffee and tea? Boy have times changed!

          

     I'm still settling in and adjusting to the time change, but Emmie says she has a ton of stuff planned. I can't wait! I will write more soon. 

      Love,

              Little Elecktra
 

More Progress

     Thursday I finished up some more lunch bags. I am really glad I got that idea and that I came up with a workable design. Currently I don’t have plans to make more than these 6, at least before the next sale, but I like the ones I have. Soon I will have tiny lunches to go in them as well!

     I got in a bunch of miniatures for mystery boxes the other day. And I ordered a few things for myself. I got a really nice stand mixer and a cutting mat. I am really excited for these! I have to get around to setting up some more miniature scenes. I just need some time.

     Entries and uploading are open for the Field of Dolls Online Fall show. The entry form is here https://forms.gle/tzN7x7WfRRUvtxma7 The most up to date show information will be posted first on the Field of Dolls Online Facebook page. If you are not a member you can find the page here https://www.facebook.com/groups/1465159400351471.
 

Field of Dolls Online Fall Show Details

 

Field of Dolls Online Fall Show

 

Facebook Group: https://www.facebook.com/groups/1465159400351471

OMHPS Site: https://www.omhps.com/

Entry Form: https://forms.gle/jpKbqdd2G52XMEPw8 

Entry opens: September 18, 2021

Entries and uploading close: October 2, 2021

Judging begins: October 3, 2021

Results: October 17th championship results, special prizes and door prize drawings will be live streamed and full results available on the Field of Dolls Studio Blog, as well as on the Field of Dolls Online Show page on Facebook

Judges: Anne Field and Jennifer Buxton

Entry fee: $30 (Paypal link is in the entry form. Please click send and keep it set on goods and service.)

This show will be held on OMHPS. You will need an account with OMHPS. It is quick and easy to create one. Once you have entered the show your OMHPS user name so you can be added to the show. Please allow 24 hours for me to see your entry and to add you.

 

This show has 3 types of classes. A traditional performance class list, a specialty/creative entry class list, and halter classes. The performance classes will be all finishes combined (because a good performance entry is a good performance entry). The traditional performance classes will be single judged on real horse show rules. The specialty/scene classes will be double judged on concept and execution. Concept includes interpretation of the theme and overall creativity. Execution includes correctness of the entry and photo quality. The halter classes will be judged by breed type and breed standards. Halter classes will have OF and CM/AR separate.

 

For the specialty/scene classes there are 2 on the OMHPS site for each class. You need to put each of your entries in both so they can be judged twice (for example enter Arenas and Barns and Arenas and Barns #2)

 

Champs, Reserves and winners of the specialty/scene classes will be featured on the Field of Dolls Studio blog.

 

Prizes: Miniatures for 1st-6th place in each regular class. Miniature rosettes for 1st-6th place in each specialty class. For halter miniature rosettes for 1^st-3^rd with miniatures for 4^th-6^th

Champions: We are stepping away from the traditional way of doing champs for this show. Instead of the HORSE that has the most points it will be the SHOWER who has the most points. They will be calculated for every placing in every class in the show. We will name an overall champion, overall reserve champion and an additional top 5. Top prizes will get mini rosettes and a prize pack. Realistic backgrounds are not required. But the background should not be distracting. No class limits. Showers may enter as many pictures as they'd like, but individual models can only have one picture per class.

Other Prizes: We will have a special rosette for the spirit award. The winner will be determined by a combination of interaction with the group, clever photos, and overall awesomeness. There will also be multiple door prizes, the potential for other prizes, and every entrant will receive some fun prizes for entering!

 

All entries should include a model horse except for the Other Animals class.

 

Please include a link to any documentation. Imgur and Google Docs work well, though a direct link to any external documentation is fine.

Class list 

Performance (All finishes show together)

1. Pleasure and fine harness

2. Other harness

3. In-hand (lead-line, in-hand trail, lunging, etc)

4. Showmanship

5. Other Performance (no English or Western)

6. Native American Regalia

7. Arabian

8. Parade

9. Other costume

10. Roping

11. Other Stock work

12. Patterned Western (reining, Western Dressage, etc.)

13. Western Trail

14. Western Games

15. Other Western

16. Western Pleasure

17. Hunter

18. Jumper

19. Cross country

20. Dressage

21. English Games

22. English Trail

23. Other English

24. Hunt seat pleasure

 

Specialty/Scene (double judged)

 

25. Arenas and Barns

26. Epic Performance

27. It’s in the blog

28. PINK!

29. Trading Places

30. Wrong on so many levels

31. What scale?

32. Other (model) Animals (no horse required)

 

Halter (OF and AR/CM separate)

33 Stock

34 Light

35 Gaited

36 Draft / Cob

37 Pony / Miniature

38 Spanish / Iberian

39 Sport / Carriage

40 Longear / Exotic

41 Foals of all breed types

42 Fantasy / Decorator 

Prototypes and Progress

      I almost didn't write this post. Not because it is a touchy subject or anything, but because I thought I had already written it! I'm glad I went to check last night, or there would be no post today. And who knows when I would have time to write it. Anyway, as the title implies there is more about prototypes. The next new thing is the tiny "catnip" mouse toy. It is more like rat sized, but teeny things are even harder to make than just regular small things. So we have some BIG catnip toys. 

      And I made a whole bunch of them! They were kind of fun to make and I think they turned out super cute. I still need to make some feather toys for the cats, but I am making progress. 

     Here's another view of the little mouse. All of the ears were hand cut circles (it's so hard to cut things that small) and are not really identical. But handmade items can have character. And kitties can chew things and make them less than perfect. Cats do that sometimes, don't they? I have never actually had a cat so I don't know what they do with their toys. Other than hide them under the couch. 

     I also finished up a bunch more cat beds. My plan is to have 8 cat sets at the next sale. I have the 8 mice finished, the 8 beds, and I have 8 cat dishes and litter boxes ordered. I need to make feather toys, cat food bags (with food) and I think that is it for them. At least for now. There are, again, a lot of pieces to the sets. I am vaguely considering selling the cat and dog beds singly, a few of them, but I am not even sure how to price anything individually. I know I am likely not charging enough for the sets to compensate for my time as it is. So who knows. I'll keep thinking on it. 

    School was not bad yesterday. I decided I am going to have a positive attitude. The only thing I have control over is myself. Not what students I work with, my schedule, or any attitudes outside of my own. So lets see how this goes. Happy Friday everyone!
 

Prototypes

      Everyone knows I have been working on mentally designing new things recently. I try to have one or two new items for every live sale. People have been asking for cat sets and it is a good idea to make what people want. So I have been working on the design for the cat bed. But only in my head. At least until Tuesday. 

      I have worked on the mental design for the cat bed over and over for maybe a week. I had a pretty good idea of what I wanted to do, as well as a pretty good idea of how it would all need to go together. It took me a bit to work up the pattern pieces but I already had such a thorough plan it wasn't overly long. I did tweak the pieces a bit after I started work on the first cat bed, but it came together really well. 

     And in not too much time I had a finish cat bed! I know kitties love cuddle beds, and I wanted one that fits my cool laying down cat, and this is the result. I do really like the design. This bed would also work for small dogs, though this is officially my cat bed design. 

      No experiment is complete until you can repeat your results, so I made a second cat bed, and I timed it. So now I have a pretty good idea of how long they take me, I have a workable pattern, and I am quite pleased with the results. Onto the next NEW item!

      I can't remember exactly when, it was sometime after the August live sale, I was thinking about miniatures and what I could make and it finally popped into my head that I could make some doll sized lunch bags. I had the idea that it would be super fun to make not only a cute lunch bag that opens (of course!) but to have cool little lunch items inside. I struggled over this design. There are TONS of different designs for lunch bags but I needed something that would work in miniature, that didn't take a ridiculously long time to make. And I wanted it to be easy to use and not have little fiddly bits that would make people crazy. I finally came up with this idea, which is similar in some ways to Barbie purses I used to make, though has stiffened sides on all the sides. I think the design works pretty well, is cute, and there is plenty of room inside for tiny lunch. 

       All closed up the lunch bag is very realistic looking, though again, there are SO many designs for lunch bags, and I think this will be fun for the dolls to have. I have not yet made a second one to figure out how long they take, and to make sure that I can repeat the design, but I have one. I love how it came out and I am very excited to make some more. I also have food plans in my head. It might be time to get out the polymer clay again soon. 

        I didn't work a super long day on my new designs, but I got two new items worked up, with easy to use patterns, and one extra cat bed. It feels like good progress. Now I need to work out the rest of the things in the cat sets and get to work on more beds and more things for cats. And more lunch bags and tiny lunch... and then all the other things. 

      I have 11 weeks until my next live sale and have only just barely started making things for it. I do have the dog vests sets finished that I made last week (was it last week?) and I will soon have at least parts of cat sets and lunch sets. After that I might move into the matchy-matchy sets. So I can do the full sets of saddle bags (with the pommel bags) and a matching saddle pad, backpack and... I have blanked on anything else that should have gone into a matching set. So here is a question, would people want the cute printed fabric on saddlebags? Or should I just stick to pretty much solid colors for those. I have a feeling I know the answer, but I want to ask anyway. Oh, and hoodies are supposed to go with those matchy-matchy sets. So yeah, maybe after cat sets and lunch sets I will make matchy-matchy sets. And then... who knows. Eventually I will likely make some dolls too. 
 

It’s A Go!

     The other day I went into Travis's room to gather up his laundry and I walked right into a bear! He was just standing in the middle of the floor. So I asked Travis if the bear was safe or unsafe. He called out, unsafe! I asked him if the bear would leave me alone, and he said no (he was not in his room by the way). So then I asked him if I could get past the bear and he again told me unsafe. So I risked my life to gather up the laundry. And the unsafe bear left me alone. And the whole thing made me laugh because it was a very silly interaction. In case anyone is interested to know, I think that bear is about 6 inches long.

     Other than narrowly escaping tiny bear attacks I also picked up a bunch of supplies at Joann's. Cat sets are a go! I heard back on the 3D printed items I want to get, and while they are not ready yet I have already seen prototypes (amazing!) so I need to get to work on the other items. As I am going to sleep each night I have been working on designs for the cat beds. I want to make them differently than the dog beds after all. I also think I want to make my dog beds a bit thinner. I like the big pillow style, but I think maybe thinner would be good. 

      Design work while I am going to sleep is something I have done for years. I think I have a good plan down for how to do the cat beds, I gathered materials, and now I just need to have time to sit down and try things out. Making a prototype is not usually a simple task. But I need to get into it. I have cat items to design and then I have another miniature I want to make. But more on that soon.