fresh baked polymer clay “cookies” – plates measure 23 mm by 23 mm
Hi! It’s been a while!
Sometimes life takes unexpected turns, and sometimes, they’re even nice ones. Like, for instance, when you discover that there’s a market for something you’re already making as a hobby.
Did you know that when I started this blog, I originally intended to document all of my arts and crafts, and not just long and short-term illustration projects? It’s true! But for some reason, I haven’t posted about anything other than illustration for a really long time. Then, the longer it went without posting anything else, the weirder it felt.
But the time has come for a deep cut back to February of 2022 when I posted a miniature gallery of tiny, dollhouse-sized paintings. I created them along side full-size studies, but they also ended up hanging in my 1:12 scale dollhouse.
I just love tiny stuff! Over the many decades I’ve been collecting and building miniatures, I’ve made lots of my own little details. From working with printed cardstock and glue to polymer clay and resin, such things are essential just small, individual sculptures.
A personal project this spring had me reproducing antique tins of various designs as print-and-cut type files. When I shared the results and someone asked me where they could get the kit, I spent some time setting up an Etsy shop that’s just for miniatures!
papercraft “antique” tins and plates, polymer clay cookies.
I designed these paper accessories to fill “Sadie’s Kitchen” – a 1:12 scale room box project with a vintage, seaside-cottage feel. I chose tins with colors and designs from a collection of historic examples that I love, picking out the ones that I thought would fit in “Sadie’s” particular room.
All of the plates, platters, and tins above are made from printed cardstock and a few other materials: tiny pebbles to weigh down the “tins”, aluminum foil to emboss the plates with dimension, and a glossy acrylic top coat. Polymer clay cookies are make using rice, poppy seeds, and sesame seeds for texture, tinted-glaze “jam”, and chalk pastels for a toasty color.
You can find finished pieces and pdf print-and-cut kits now at MosswoodMinis on Etsy!
Meanwhile, I’ve also been working on my next illustration project (hint: it’s another pop-up card design). Now that MosswoodMinis is up and running, I’ve got a lot more attention to direct back to art experiments, so stay tuned for more of the regular, illustration-oriented programming soon!