Simple Candy Tutorial

It's been ages since I last posted on here. I'm mostly active on Instagram now, but I thought that for a tutorial, the good ole blogging format is best. Since it's very nearly Halloween, I'm going to share a very simple candy tutorial here.

Materials: All you need is some paper punches, shrink plastic and some sharpies/permanent markers.

I used 1 cm paper punches for the gummy bears in the picture. You can use larger punches; they'll just make larger sweets. As for the shrink plastic, you can buy sheets of shrink plastic, or you can look around in your recycling for some clear plastic packaging. All you need to do is make sure that you can see this symbol on it: 

The other types of plastic don't shrink. Once you have your materials, just punch out some shapes. If it gets too hard, punch some aluminium foil to sharpen your paper punches. 

Colour in both sides with your permanent marker.

And bake in the oven for about 3 or so minutes. I use a little toaster oven. I recommend keeping a close eye on the plastic as you are baking it and taking it out as soon as it stops warping and shrinking. Also, bake on a piece of baking paper. And ta-dah! You've now got some teensy tiny candy pieces, perfect to fill up your miniature trick or treat bags with.

More Mini Books

I'm currently making some books for Jona Wanders. It's a good way to get back into making miniature books again. I tend to spend too much time on one project and completely burn out on it for several months afterwards. I still need to fill up my Grand Mansion bookcase, stock my newsagent/bookseller and my library.

I wanted to make some Lord of the Rings books, and oddly enough, the best printable hardcover 'book covers' are from the extended DVD cases. I couldn't believe how hard it was to find nice, printable LotR covers! I also experimented with a pull out map. The version with the outline looks better, I think. I also learned that it was better to use coloured paper or cardstock rather than scrapbooking paper with one blank side. The white shows through. You'd think that would have been obvious to begin with. :P

First attempt:

Second attempt; a three book version with an outlined map

I needed to do coloured pages with lots of two page spreads for this lot, so I experimented with a different method of 'binding' the pages. My previous books were put together with glue and thread, so a bit more like how real books are bound. These are just folded and glued. It actually worked really well and open nicely.

The atlas is a mish mash of stuff from various sources. The insides were taken from a student 'World Atlas'.

Photoshoped a random book cover to make encyclopedia volumes. Makes for a nice little set with room to add more future volumes.

This is my personal favourite cover. I photoshopped the year out and added 'annual' so the book cna be used whenever. Not really sure what should be in an almanac, so I just took what I could find from the Old Farmer's Almanac website. I think I ended up with more articles about plants and cooking than actual weather and planting stats.

I find that adding that little bit of string on the spine to be the most fiddly bit. I think it makes the book more complete though, so I figure I should add it anyway. The books will need a sealer to protect the covers too, later. 

Miniature Canvas Paintings

I've picked up some miniature canvases, and found that I really enjoy painting on them. I used to draw a lot, but my interest waned for a few years. I decided to do up some pieces and post them on a local FB group to see if anyone's interested in buying them. So far, I've sold the Wonder Woman and she will be shipped to her new owner on Monday. Yay

I'm taking commissions, so email me if you're interested. Pricing is from $15 - $20, depending on complexity, plus postage.






Bonus picture--Cloud Dreamer painting Twilight. I've always thought G1 Twilight in the storybooks was so mysterious and pretty. Never had her toy--actually didn't have any MLP growing up despite wanting some. But I did have an awesome MLP storybook. :)