Marbling 1 Tutorial

Hello everyone :)

I just opened a secondary shop on etsy called Sweet & Savory Tutorials .  After many requests I decided to start offering tutorials.  They are made in document form with lots of photos.  Right now there are only a couple tutorials there, and I will add more as I am creating new batches of my miniatures.  I am starting with the easy ones.

Here on the blog I will occasionally have links to free tutorials on specific techniques I use.  The first one is Marbling 1 .  It is a very fun, and easy technique that I use all the time.

I tend to have cold hands, and it takes a long time for me to condition clay.  I use this technique to condition the clay for all my projects, I use it conditioning single colors, to mix colors until they are combined completely, and I use it to get a marbled or striped look.

 It is very subtle in my tea cups, but if you click on the image to enlarge it you can see the stripes in my cups and saucers.  I do marble them. :)

If you play with polymer clay, and don't marble yet, give it a try.  I hope you have fun with it!
Heather

Ready For Spring

I hope you are all having a wonderful New Year! 

A contagious bout of pneumonia hit the household.  All my items are cured at 275 degrees , and I managed not to get sick but pneumonia is not something to mess with and I did not want to take a chance I would be shipping any germs. 

I did not get to all the Valentines Day items I wanted to.  Your suggestions are still good, and I will be making more items.  The heart shaped sugar cookie was the first winning suggestion.

 




**** Two new contest themes****  
Since I am so behind in creating I wanted to announce the next two contest themes.  You can make suggestions for both now.  The first is Tea Party, and the second is Fair Food.  These two themes will be running till May.  I will announce winners at least once a month till then.

So far I have made a cup of tea, Battenburg cake, and sugar cubes.  I am making at least three more tea party foods, and for the fairs foods make I will be making a lot.


P.S.  peek at my store from time to time.  I post new items as I make them.  If you see I already made your suggestion, convo me :)  I can ship you your prize before I announce the winning suggestions here on the blog.

The last few donations I made have been going to disaster relief from Hurricane Sandy.  So far 688.00 from sales have been donated to disaster relief.  You can see the different disasters that we have donated to so far here .  

Thank you so much for continuing to tune in.
Here are some fun food holidays there are in February.  If you enjoy knowing about the food holidays let me know, and I will post them every month for you.    
February
14th: National Creme Filled Chocolates Day, 20th National Cherry Pie Day, 27th National Strawberry Day, 28th National Chocolate Soufle Day.  
There are many food holidays each month.  I can list them all each month if you would like.  Just let me know in the comment area if this is something you would like to see. :)

Thanks again,
Heather

Contest Announcements, and Holiday Food Winners

Hello everybody! 
This post will be posting the last contest winning foods, announcing the new contest theme, and providing a link to a holiday contest I am a sponser of.  It has been so hard deciding which foods to do, I loved all your suggestions!  It just came down to limited time.. 

The first winning food is hot chocolate with marshmallows.  This suggestion was made by Kaylee91

The second winning food is a plate with milk and cookies. This was inspired by PrettyBows.

Pretty bows, please see my etsy shop, and choose the type you like best, I also have the plate of cookies on a white plate.

The third holiday food is Peppermint bark, inspired by Katherine.

Those of you who made the food suggestions email me your name and address at sweetandsavorytrinkets@yahoo.com


New contest theme!!!!!
Valentines Day
This is not limited to sweets, you can be creative as you like, even your appetizers and main courses.

The red velvet cake pop earrings, and matching charm, are a prize for a contest I am a sponsor of. 

The host of this contest is cake pop gallery
It is a photo contest, so it is great for all of you that love to cook :)

I did make Novembers sales donation to Hurricane Sandy disaster relief.  Donations to disaster relief since we have started making donations have totaled 575.00!   http://www.globalgiving.org/dy/fundraiser/prevfund/gg.html?regid=4918

Gobble Gobble

Happy November!  

I hope that you are all safe and warm.  As Thanksgiving approaches, I am saddened to think about all the people that are being affected by Hurricane Sandy.  It was a completely devastating storm that will take years to recover from.  There are families that lost loved ones, and that is heartbreaking.  I spent days glued to the weather channel day and night.  Needless to say, the next several months, my monthly donation  from sales will be going to Hurricane Sandy relief projects through Global Giving.  

For those of you that are newer to the blog, I decided after the big Japan quake / tsunami that I wanted to give back to those in need from my sales.  I donate 2.5% of my revenue to disaster relief charities.  I also wanted to make sure that you have a way to see my contributions.  So far we have donated to 4 natural disasters.  The New Zealand quake, the Japan quake / tsunami, the mid west tornadoes, and now to hurricane sandy.  Today I donated 55.00 for my September sales.  So far since I have started this, I have donated 532.00 cumulatively to disaster relief with your help.  Here is the link to see past donations  http://www.globalgiving.org/dy/fundraiser/prevfund/gg.html?regid=4918

I just wanted to say Thank you all for your support, and allowing my little business to grow.  I just wanted to give you all this update and let you know just how much we have contributed so far. 

The photos show the Thanksgiving foods I have completed so far.  There is one left and then I will be working on the Winter Holiday foods.  All the suggestions made so far are good, and I will be making some of them.  I am still taking Holiday food suggestions for the contest, you can add Valentines Day too. :)

Heather 

Happy Halloween

Hello There !

Hello everyone :)  As usual I just can't seem to catch up : ( .  If you have been keeping an eye on my store though you will notice the Holiday themed foods already popping up in the store.

The first Winner this time around is Alison, with the suggestion of different types of pumpkin : )

I am definitely going to make more of your suggestions, and this theme is continuing until New Years, so keep those suggestions coming.  I will update the blog with new winners as I continue to make the holiday foods.

 
Natural Disaster Update:  I made my September contribution to global giving. So far we have donated over $470.00 to natural disaster relief.  http://www.globalgiving.org/dy/fundraiser/prevfund/gg.html?regid=4918

I know it isn't a huge amount but I am quite happy with the progress.
:)

P.S.  The suggestions you made from the last post are still in the contest :)


Here is the fall leaf cupcake collection.  I love the colors!

Here is a Halloween themed lollipop.  If I find the time there will be a couple more Halloween items sneaking in this weekend :)

Happy Halloween!

Welcoming Fall

Hello everyone,
Labor Day Weekend was my very first fair, and I had a great time!  If you took my business card and landed here welcome :)  The last part of this blog post will discuss the blog contest and how it works.  Following that is the Global Giving update.

The last two winners of the ice cream blog contest theme are the red, white and blue popscicle, and the orange and cream popscicle.  Winners, please email me your address at sweetandsavorytrinkets@yahoo.com
Blog Contest.
I just wanted to give a brief explanation for those of you new to the blog.  My blog is basically a running contest.  Most of my posts will announce  the previous winners, and the new theme.  To enter you simply make food suggestions that go along with the theme in the comment section of the blog.

Here are the rules
1. Read through the suggestions made to make sure that you aren't duplicating someones answer.
2. You can make as many suggestions you like, but only one a day.
3. Make suggestions for foods that I don't already have in the store (I will announce them in the blog).
That is it :)

The New Theme
Holiday Food.  Halloween, Thanksgiving, and Christmas
The foods I already make are candy corn, pumpkins, pumpkin pie, pecan pie, turkey, turkey dinner, peppermints, and gingerbread men.

You can start making suggestions now, get creative, if there is a specific idea or colors please feel free to describe what you have in mind.   for example instead of Christmas cupcake, how about a cupcake with a candy cane on it.
Maybe suggest the foods you love to eat at your holiday dinners and parties.
Have fun!!

Thank you every one.  I will post the first winners by October 1st.

Disaster Relief Donations.
After the big quake and Tsunami in Japan, I decided to donate a small percentage 2.5% of my sales to disaster relief charities.   So far I have donated to three charities, you can track the progress and see my donations here.  So far I have donated 437.00 from sales!!!   Thank you all : ).  As more donation are made I will provide the link here on the blog.  

Heather

Changes

Hello :)
I just wanted to touch base with you all to update you with all the latest happenings in the shop.  There are a number of changes that will be happening over the next few months so I wanted to share them with you all.

 

Contest News:  Our contest will be continuing as always.  I will try to find time to make more frequent postings.  Keep checking back in, and make suggestions as you think of them.  I will be making more spring foods and ice creams.  I am still taking ice cream suggestions.  I will be announcing a new theme in July. 

     My Ambitions:  I love miniature foods and want to share them with the world.  My dream is to eventually be in your neighborhood shops, and restaurants.
      At the present time I have bitty ones at home and very little time to work on my business.  As they enter school I will be focusing more and more time on my business.

     In order to achieve my eventual goals there are a number of changes I will be making over the course of the next two years.

Etsy:  My Etsy shop will remain open, but I am in the process of working with a graphic designer to create my logo, and design more professional packaging. 

Sweetandsavorytrinkets.com is my new website, and it is already ready to receive orders.  It is still under construction and isn't very pretty yet.  I will be making format changes as I am able.   

Growing:  In order to grow a sustainable business, I unfortunately have to raise my prices.  This has already been happening the last month and a half.  There is a very wide price fluctuation, items that are very simple for me to make will still be very low, but items that take a great deal of time to make will be more expensive.  I really did not want to raise prices, but in order to transform my business into something bigger it is a necessity.  

Thank You:  I want to thank you all for continuing to follow my blog, and shop I have a special coupon code for you all to use on etsy.  The coupon code will give you 15% off of your total purchase.  You can use it every time you are in the shop.  To redeem type the word "savory" in the coupon code box at check out. 

As soon as I program coupon or sales prices at sweetandsavorytrinkets.com,  I will announce it here.  I also would appreciate feedback about my new website, and suggestions. 

You Tube:   One of the things I hope to do this year too is make tutorials, and videos for my own you tube channel. 

Thank you all for checking in and participating in my contests!  I will have the ice cream winners announced in July, and expect to have monthly winners once again starting in September.

I am continuing to make donations for natural disaster relief, and will be posting donation links as they are completed.
Your Tiny Chef,
                   Heather