Flossy's Feeling Flustered

Flossy's feeling a bit flustered. She's expecting Sophie the bear at her door any minute, but first she must feed her baby and eat some breakfast herself. Good thing for healthy, quick smoothies! Flossy whips up a smoothie for herself while preparing milk for her new baby.

Sophie is going to take Flossy to the new cake shop. Don't worry Flossy, you'll feel better soon!

I've been very busy with distributing my greeting cards locally. My cards are now in eleven stores in the Portland area, and they are selling quickly. It's an exciting time but doesn't allow as much time for making miniatures. I'm in the middle of a mini cake project that I hope I can finish soon. I hope you are all well. Thank you for your sweet comments and blog friendships. Keep having fun! xoxo Jennifer

Bluebelle Has Been Busy Baking

Bluebelle* the bluebird has been busy baking cakes in anticipation of Sophie and Flossy's visit to the cake shop.

She got up very early to bake her cakes, so there would be plenty of time to frost them before her cake shop customers arrived.

Bluebelle baked two new chocolate cakes--one with chocolate frosting and one with strawberry buttercream frosting. She frosted the cakes generously in anticipation of Sophie and Flossy's delight.

Bluebelle baked the cakes with lots of love. She is so excited about Sophie and Flossy's visit!

* Did you notice that the new bluebird character now has a name? Both Fabiola and then Lucille suggested the name "Bluebelle." Each thought of the name on her own, and I think it's perfect. Both Faby and Lucille have won their choice of any item in my Etsy shop, plus Faby has also won a handmade miniature cake of her choice. Congratulations you two! And thank you so much to everyone who left name suggestions. They were all sweet names, but "Bluebelle" instantly felt right to me. I'm sorry there couldn't have been more winners this time, but I'll have another giveaway in the fall. You'll have another chance then! :-)

If you had won the giveaway, which item from my shop would you have chosen? Or would you prefer a cake, and if so, what kind? I'm interested to know your answers. Until next time, keep it fun! xoxo Jennifer

New Miniature Cakes, Including Disasters

I've made a few more miniature cakes since I made my first one. After making the chocolate cake with white frosting, I wanted to make the yellow cake mentioned in the tutorial I was using. Oops! I got so excited about making the cake that I forgot to add translucent clay to my yellow clay. The tutorial author said that without the translucent clay, the cake would look "chalky."

What do you think? I think she was right! :-D Oh well! I still love the bright yellow against the creamy white. I'll try this one again with the translucent clay when I have a chance.

Next up, I wanted to make a solid, uncut cake with aqua and pink frosting--the main colors in my cake shop. I added tiny no-hole beads to the pink frosting as an experiment. Actually, it's all an experiment with my lack of experience making miniature polymer clay cakes. :-)

Bowl of frosting by Beverly of CuteinMiniature on Etsy.

I like how this one turned out, but I tried painting the finished cake with Sculpey Satin Glaze after baking, and I was surprised at how shiny it made the cake. I had a learning experience!

Next, I wanted to make my own bowl (mug, actually!) of frosting and to add frosting to a spatula. I made the frosting thinner than before by adding Translucent Liquid Sculpey.

This time I added the translucent polymer clay to my yellow cake "batter," and the cake looks tastier than my first yellow cake. I like the thicker frosting better, though, so this cake was another learning experience! ;-D

Finally, I wanted to make a chocolate cake with chocolate buttercream frosting. Mmm, yummy! This is my favorite cake so far, the one that makes my mouth water (heavily!).

I'm still experimenting (and having learning experiences). I recently put several cake layers in my dedicated polymer clay toaster oven. Unfortunately, some of the clay was directly under the heating element, and it got lightly burnt.

I'm thinking of turning some of this into "browned" cornbread, "fresh from the oven." It's fun when I can turn disasters into surprises. If that doesn't work, I'll try something else. ;-) Until next time, keep it fun! xoxo Jennifer