An English Christmas Roast

Gosh, where have I been?! I know that's what you must be thinking, unless you follow my 'Caroline blog' (HERE) as I haven't blogged since October! Well, let me fill you in...

In a nutshell, I have had two exhibitions on and so I worked like a crazy person for the past 10 weeks to get everything done! The exhibitions are ongoing right now. One is in Burbank, California (details here on my Caroline blog) and the other is in Shanghai, China (more details here), and I just got back from China yesterday! I'll share all sorts of photos of the exhibitions soon.... but for now, here are some photos of new Christmas miniatures to begin to celebrate Christmas 2014 over at Hummingbird Miniatures! I made this Christmas scene as part of my Shanghai exhibition. There is a roast turkey on a tray with greens and cranberries, a dish of mixed roast veg (zucchini / courgette, carrots and parsnip), a dish of Brussels sprouts, a dish of roast potatoes and plates with very English crackers. The silk table runner has hand-painted trees and there's a holly table decoration with candles and oranges and two golden potted mini trees. This entire table will be available for sale as 1 piece after the exhibition ends (Jan 2015). Attached are hand-blown glass wine goblets, ceramic plates, hand-painted cutlery, a red cotton table cloth and a wooden bread board with sliced bread. To reserve this piece feel free to email me directly.

Below are 'making of' photos as well as close-ups of the finished piece.

I'll re-open my online Hummingbird Miniatures Etsy shop today as well!

Cake in The Dolls House Magazine!

Was chuffed to see one of my new miniature birthday cakes in this month's issue of 'The Dolls House Magazine'! You can find your copy of this fantastic UK publication here.

This is the cake they featured.

Don't forget, I will be selling a whole new range of cakes over at my Hummingbird Miniatures online Etsy shop very soon, and until then I am selling them direct to customers who contact me by email.

In other news.... you have just less than one day left to enter the competition that is currently running! It only takes a few clicks and you could be in with a chance of winning an original Hummingbird Miniatures Halloween miniature.... details here! Competition closes at midnight tonight (PST).

Good luck!

Below are some of my Hummingbird Miniatures handmade miniature dollhouse birthday cakes. All made by myself in 1:12 (one inch) scale, using polymer clay. dollshouse cake dolls house cake dollhouse cake

Inspiration!

There's no more sincere form of flattery than imitation. I often see people re-create my designs (which is absolutely fine, and encouraged if it's not for selling, but for personal use), and I've decided to show some of the designs people have made based on my Halloween cakes. Some of them are really quite cute takes on what I do!  :)

My three Halloween cakes have been available at my online Hummingbird Miniatures shop for 3-4 years now (I keep re-making them when they sell out), but I might be discontinuing these designs in order to create something new and different. So if you really want the classic minty chocolate cake with bat, the orange chocolate cake with cat or the rich chocolate cake with spiderweb, then you might be running out of time!

Competition running...
Don't forget, you may even be in with a chance at winning one of these cakes (or another Halloween item of your choosing) if you enter the competition which is currently running, and ENDS TOMORROW!

Find out how to enter here.

Any questions, feel free to email me here.

Good luck and stay tuned for Thanksgiving and Christmas here at Hummingbird Miniatures....!

Halloween Cake Competition!

Don't you think it's about time I gave something away for free again?! It's been just over a year after all! (See all past Hummingbird Miniatures competitions here).

So... with Halloween coming up I thought it would be fun to offer up a gorgeous Halloween treat. If you enter this competition you can choose from any of my Halloween treats which are currently available in the online Hummingbird Miniatures Etsy store (any of the three fabulously detailed cakes / donuts / donut tutorial / eclairs / cookies / Halloween religieuse pastries).

My reasons for this new competition GIVE AWAY!

I'd love to gain more interest in my company in LA - Tall Tales Productions, which creates content for film, TV and books. It's mostly in the form of miniatures (so I hope it interests you followers of Hummingbird Miniatures), and some illustration as well.

How to Enter!

It's easy! Just click to 'like' / 'follow' the three links for Tall Tales Productions.

FACEBOOK - https://www.facebook.com/TallTalesProductions

BLOG - http://carolinemcfarlane-watts.blogspot.com

TWITTER - https://twitter.com/caromfw

Once you have done that, just leave a comment ON THIS POST, let me know that you have liked the links, and say what you'd like to win (choose from the list above).

See... told you it was easy! I will draw a name out of a hat in 10 day's time (Friday 17th) and this winner will have their chosen Halloween miniature sent to their address, free of charge. It doesn't matter where in the world you live -you can still enter.


How to have a better chance of Winning!

Share or direct people towards the Facebook page / blog / Twitter page and get them to 'like' as well, and I will enter your name twice. Get another friend to like, and I'll enter you a third time, and so forth. Leave me a comment on this blog post to let me know.

GOOD LUCK!!

Halloween Tutorial!

Halloween is coming... have you started thinking about your Halloween costume this year?! I haven't yet, but I have been thinking a lot about the new Halloween Range which I have in progress (here but mostly at my other blog here!)

Anyway, I have a new tutorial listed over at my online Hummingbird Miniature shop. It's for making spooky Halloween Donuts. You can find the PDF here!


For 1 week only I am offering a 15% discount on all tutorials (you can use the discount at both of my shops). Find details on how to claim your 15 % discount at the end of this post below.

So! My Halloween tutorial has been published twice - once last year in American Miniaturist magazine, and again this month in Dolls House World magazine. However, you can also buy my tutorial in PDF format at my shop. It is in more depth, has larger images and includes more steps.

Find all the Hummingbird Miniature Tutorials...

NEW! How to make Halloween Donuts. Here.

How to make Valentines Cupcakes. Here









Other Halloween tutorials...

How to make a Grinny Pumpkin Cauldron. Here

How to make a Spooky Halloween Fireplace. Here









To claim 15% off your tutorials, click to buy a tutorial or two, and enter the coupon code TUTORIAL before you pay. 15% will be deducted from the total price.
This offer is valid for 1 week (ends Sept 28th 2014) and is valid only for tutorials, and not other items. Happy crafting!

My Marketplace - in Print!

I'm so happy to share another magazine feature!

It's in US publication, American Miniaturist, and it's all about my fruit and vegetables in 1:12 scale, namely a marketplace piece I made back in early 2012. Written by Janet Stuart. It came out this month (Sept 2014).


I've included the feature below and also some of my fruit and vegetables from the past and the not so distant past! Some of the photos show fruit in the making from earlier this year.

Don't forget to look out for new fruit and veg at my 'Savoury' section of my online Hummingbird Miniatures Etsy shop from time to time!

Dreamworks Birthday!

I know it's been a while since I blogged here at Hummingbird Miniatures. It's been a busy year, and I often have time only to update my 'Caroline blog' or it's Facebook page these days. You can get updates more often by following those pages. :)

Anyway, recently a friend of mine had a birthday. He happens to be the Lead Concept Artist for Dreamworks, so I wanted make him my best ever miniature cake, with my new, incredibly tiny and 'unbreakable' candles*. I made the little wooden tray for it and painted the little knife with my Hummingbird Miniatures signature dots!

If you'd like a perfectly detailed tiny little birthday cake like this (or want to design your own), then send me an email or leave a comment, or find me through the Hummingbird Miniatures Facebook Page here.

* My new unbreakable candles are made using a different method and medium than I have used in the past. Because they are no longer made using polymer clay, they don't snap easily. They are handmade by myself to a high standard and are possibly the smallest miniature candles on the market. I call them 'unbreakable' because they do not break easily. If you drop your cake then the chances are the candles will not break. However, if you try to break them then I am sure you will succeed!