The Miniature Way....May 2010!

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Bread & Butter!

I have been so sick of having to make handbag cakes recently that, having managed to make the roll top bread box (thanks to Lauretta's wonderful class) I decided to have a "little" break & make some more breads.....I had forgotten how relaxing it is to make something so simple as rustic breads! :-))
I've surrounded a central bowl of butter curls with a selection of breads & displayed the lot in a hand woven , 2 handled, bread tray, lined with red gingham.....the tray I actually made sitting in the sun in the UAE...see how sad I am...even on holiday, I have to be making something!! LOL

I actually managed to work with wood!

Making things from wood is usually not my forte...I can manage the simple things like cutting boards or cake boards, but when it comes to anything with 2 or more sides for some reason the wood seems to get a mind of it's own! No matter how careful I am measuring & remeasuring you can bet that at least one piece (& more often than not...ALL pieces) end up being very slightly different & of course when you are aiming to end up with a square or rectangle at the end of it, that millimetre difference is like a foot!
On Saturday however Lauretta over on CDHM held the most wonderful class to make a roll top bread box so I was determined to have a go.
There I was all prepared to work along with the class but...guess what...yep, I'd worked out the time difference incorrectly & as I logged on the class was finishing!! So, you see not only can I not measure wood but I can't work figures either :-)) Thank goodness, as a CDHM member, I can access the past classes & "have a go" whenever I want. So as I was cooking dinner last night I was also cutting & sanding & gluing & here is my humble result!

Typically though, I didn't have the correct pieces of wood needed , so had to improvise with the slats at the front....they should be half the width of mine but it was a case of "make do" with what I had. Once it was finished I decided I fancied the "shabby" well used look, distressed it & filled it with some of my breads!

Thank you Lauretta & CDHM......a wonderful class!

The cake that started the soft fruit madness!

Ta da...at last I've made the last soft fruit for a while...well, actually that's not strictly true....I'm actually STILL making them as I'm filling a basket now. It's going to be quite a while before I do any more & that's for sure! I'm sure making a "real" version wouldn't take as many hours, in fact days, as this took!
Anyway, this is the extravagant chocolate & soft fruit wedding cake that started it all! I'm really pleased with the way it's turned out & the photos just don't do it justice..one of these days I'm going to learn how to work my camera properly!! :-))

I'm not too sure that I'd like to have all that fresh fruit on my wedding cake but the chocolate flakes & dark chocolate shavings would definitely go down well!

Fruit, fruit & yet more fruit!

Over the last few days, I've been driving myself mad, not to mention, blind, by making literally thousands of tiny fruits. Red & blackcurrants, gooseberries, raspberries, grapes & strawberries all to add to an extravagant chocolate & fresh fruit wedding cake that in my madness I decided I would make! The cake is almost half finished now & I decided that I needed a break from it & so this little pedestal was born! It wasn't too much of a break though, but at least I was putting tiny fruits somewhere other than on a chocolate cake! :-))

The entire pedestal measures 21mm high & is 20mm at the widest point......I'm sick of summer fruit before it's even grown! :-))

Real life has been getting in the way!

Oh dear....over a month since I've managed to get onto my blog.....I'm just not a good blogger am I? I do have a good excuse though..after all I was on holiday for 10days of that time & then when I got home, it was to find that one of my daughters, her hubby & the 3 grandkids had come to stay for a couple of weeks. They actually got home before I did! Total chaos....nothing like returning from a lovely holiday & immediately having to make up beds & scratch around some VERY empty cupboards to produce a meal!
Needless to say there has been very little action in my mini sweatshop....add to the family being with me, the fact that all of a sudden the grass has started to grow....which means I have to cut it.....& the recent sunshine we have been having has meant that all the jobs in the garden that have been left over the winter just had to be done ! Add to that the fact that my youngest is getting married in August & we are having the reception here in a marquee....so of course I have to force myself to do all the garden tidying jobs that I've put off for a few years...& you might begin to see that at the moment I need at least 48 hours in every day! :-))
The withdrawal symptoms were really getting to me though & last night I actually managed to produce the first 2 pieces in weeks...actually that's a complete lie! I have also managed to make 2 wedding cakes for a commission!

This was a 3 tiered cakestand that I actually made before heading on holiday & I was really desperate to add the selection of cakes & cookies to it & at last it's done!
To balance the sweetness of the cakes & cookies I put together this little cheese board with some French Brie that I had in my "supply" store so making the bread & the grapes & putting it all together didn't take me too long!

The weather is due to change soon, so hopefully I'll be able to feed my mini making addiction properly before I have to "turn to the bottle" :-))