More Harry Potter Miniatures, Honeydukes and otherwise :)

This tree is possibly sold, pending approval from one of my clients.  I'll let you all know what she decides :)  I worked my butt off on this tree and I think it really shows :)  Covered in Honeydukes Sweet Shop candies and regular ones, it's all tricked out.  I was so impressed with Sherry's trees I had to make one myself!  Here's the pics which I struggled with due to the humidity fogging up my camera lens outside:

See the chocolate frog climbing the side of the tree?  :)

Sheesh even my glass bottles fogged up outside, including my glasses and camera lens :)  Ridiculous weather!

Oh any Sherry made some regular Harry Potter items as well, including a gadget cabinet (which we have two similar ones but one isn't listed yet) and a potions desk )  Fun! 

  Potions desk

and

Wizard gadget cabinet with lots of steampunk built gadgets :)

  Available now in our store:  http://www.etsy.com/shop/tarayvonne?ref=si_shop

Loyal customer giveaway items done, giveaway to commence! And more trees coming up :)

We're at 100 followers now, and Sherry and I couldn't be more pleased.  We adore you guys and you make us feel like we've really accomplished something every time we get rave reviews from a happy customer :)  What could be better than making someone happy?  Nothing! 

And so this time around, we are doing a customer only giveaway for the people who have supported our work and helped us keep creating :)  Next time will be for everyone who follows this blog, like last time was.  If you have previously made a purchase from our Etsy store:  http://www.etsy.com/shop/tarayvonne?ref=si_shop, please go there and leave me a message to let me know you're joining the giveaway drawing.  Several of you already have, and I know who you are so no need to do it again.  But for those of you who haven't done so yet, you have a week from today to turn your name in.  When we have all the names turned in that we're going to get, I will put all of the names in a hat and have my husband draw to be fair to everyone. 

How it will go is this:  First name drawn will have first choice of the three items I have made for the drawing.  Which are, 1 large Honeydukes or regular candy store shelf, 1 smaller Honeydukes or regular candy shop shelf, and one small lolly display table.  Each item gets smaller, so I expect the first place winner would choose the largest item but you never know.  First place winner gets first pick, second place winner gets second.  The third place winner gets the last item available, but hey, free is free right?  Free loot is nice no matter how big it is :)  Anyway, I guess I can put them up now for all to see since they are done and the drawing will be held in a week :)

First and largest shelf is 4 inches wide:

Side view of how the shelf brackets on both shelves are made.

And now the second smaller shelf (2 5/8 inches wide):

I just noticed I have some of the dark blue glitter from one of my next projects on some of the candy on here.  It brushes off!

And this is the small lolly display table which is the last giveaway item. 

And now my next two projects are a light pink Honeydukes-themed tree which I have a very basic start on:

nothing on it but garland right now

and a Coraline-themed tree which is also only painted indigo blue and sparkled and has a bright yellowish-green garland that I am very excited about :)  Should be fun.  Here's the movie trailer for anyone who may not have seen it (first go shut off my blog's music player on the right side):

And now the colors of the tree might be better understood :)

Very hard to see but it's indigo blue with sparkles, reminds me of Coraline's hair.  This project was inspired by some of my customer's (and friends) love of Coraline.  Also by my love of Neil Gaiman's books which are amazing in a style uniquely his own :)  I highly suggest Neverwhere for adults and the Graveyard Book for older kids.  Coraline for the younger ones.

     

Finally finished on my sold Alice in Wonderland Tree

I am so proud of this, I think it may be one of the best things I've ever done :)  I got a little carried away on what I did with it, and put a ton of work into it.  Days of work, matter of fact.  But it's very true to the movie scenery, and for anyone who doesn't know here is the video of the movie trailer (first go shut off my blog's music player):

This is a darker, Tim Burton-style Alice movie that really grew on me.  At first I wasn't sure about it, but it seriously grew on me when I rewatched it.  It's not perfect, but the scenery is amazing!  The characters are amazing and memorable.  And so I based my tree around the scenery of this movie.  Here's what I came up with and I think it's fabulous!

 

The brightly-colored mushrooms are done in the style of the movie mushrooms.  They are all copies of ones I saw by freezing the footage on the movie at certain parts.  As you can see in one of the pictures, my rocking horsefly turned out well :)  It's very small, 3/4 an inch tall and the wings are real wings.  I have coated them for protection and dusted them with sparkle powder for shine.  The teapot I sculpted turned out cute, and I decided it looked better without a fussy paint job.  It looks very good in person and yes it is pouring tea down into the teacup on the lower branch :)  My pictures never do anything I make justice and I know my customer who purchased this will be thrilled when she sees it in person.  The talking rose didn't turn out looking good on the pictures but it's much better in person.  It just didn't photograph well at all :(  Most of this looks 100 percent better in person, I so wish I could show you all!  It's so lovely here in front of me!

I have to take a short break from minis so I can make a family member some of his favorite soap and then I will be finishing up my give away shelves.  I'll be back with updates and then we'll have our customer drawing for the free Honeydukes items :)   

Update on my update:) This tree is now sold-Update on my own Alice Tree

This tree has just sold and will no longer be available for sale :(  Sorry dears!  I might make another (but not exactly the same) in the future.  I will still post updates as I finish it up.

I just finished mossing the base and adding some wild details and now I have to begin my clay work.  Should take me a little while because it's painstaking work.  I have mushrooms to make, I'm going to try a rocking horsefly but I don't know how I'll do so we'll see if it turns out (it's so small it may not work but I hope so), a talking rose, etc.  I'll go ahead and post pics of what I have so far.  The tree is possibly sold already, I have to email the lady who's wanting it to see about a price.  I may do another in the future but they will never be exactly the same because they are OOAK pieces.  For those of you who don't know, many people speak up ahead of time in order to have first pick of what I or Sherry are currently working on and blogging about.  This is sometimes the only way to have a shot at the OOAK items being made.  Having first shot at it doesn't mean you are roped into the sale by any means, you can always decide to back out should you not like the direction the piece has taken while being made.  Communication is key.  You simply have to let us know.  Ok, that being said I guess I should hush up and show you pictures :)

I finally got a Mad Hatter ornament on there :)  That's all the characters I'm putting on:  Alice, Red Queen, Hatter.

Now I start making all the hand-sculpted bits and bobs, including the tea pots, cups and saucers.  That should be a wild ride.  I looked through a ton of tea sets online last night and none are what I need them to look like.  So I guess I'll be making my own.  I'm known for elaborate paint jobs on little things like frames and tea sets.  Should take me awhile to get these little things done right.  Detail painting on such little things is challenging to say the least!  I'll update as soon as I get somewhere on it :) 

     

A Return to an Older Favorite, Wonderland Miniatures-and a Giveaway for Loyal Customers!

I had such a good time with my Harry Potter Christmas tree that it made me think of what fun it would be to do my own version of an Alice in Wonderland tree.  I'm sure you all remember 19th Day Minis co-creator Sherry's version which was such a cutie little thing full of happy flower faces and topped with her darling hatter's hat?  It was adorable!  Here it is:

I pretty much wanted to do the opposite end of the spectrum and do the more gothic look for my own tree more in keeping with the look of the scenery of the movie (Tim Burton's Wonderland) which to me was a sort of decaying garden scenery with a run down gothic look that was gorgeous and very memorable.  The large beautiful mushrooms, the broken down windmill in the tea party scene, the goth looking talking roses, etc.  I still put it in occasionally just to look at the gorgeous background and not really to pay attention to the story anymore.  Just to look at the brilliance of the landscape design.  Tim did a great job making a world that was quite intriguing and different than our own.  I love it when that happens, when a movie can take you somewhere totally unique right out of someones imagination.    And this one was brilliantly done. 

So I wanted nothing more than to try to capture that look and time period in my own tree.  A decaying elegance...victorian, mossy, an aging garden lost in time.  That's what I want to capture.  I have a very basic start on it with an unfinished clay base.  Soon it will be filled with some of those very well done mushrooms, grasses made of German glitter grass which is lovely, ferns, an upelkuchen cake, a drink me bottle which I have to order in so it may be a week or so, a rocking horsefly, and one carefully done rose with a face against the gothic fence panel I added on the side of the tree.  So anyway, I guess I can just show you what little I have done so far so you can see.  I did distress finish several of the ornaments I put on to look aged and mossy :

Like I said, lots to do yet.

Not quite sure what I'll do for a spectacular topper but I'm thinking possibly a tottering tower of tea pots and cups/saucers or something like that.  I'll have to be careful about how it looks so I don't overdo it.  I guess we'll see.

I have more ornaments to make of course but I will be careful to keep them darker and gothic in nature.  I don't want any more color than this in the tree itself.  The colors will come in from the natural materials and plants.  And of course those gorgeous mushrooms!

Sample:

I'm sure you get the idea. 

Also, welcome to my 100th follower!  Yay!  I adore you guys, you keep me going :)  My excitement over making something is much higher because I know other people care and like to see them.  It's wonderful when something turns out well and everyone likes it :)  It really makes me happy and makes me feel like I accomplished something. 

Now that we have 100 followers, we'll have our first customer only giveaway.  I'll take a break from this tree and finish up those items :)  It shouldn't take long.  I'll get back with you all about what I've got done and let you know what's going on.  Ok my dears, have a lovely weekend!

   

Updated, Sold Out-Custom Ordered Honeydukes Sweets

UPDATE:  Most of these items sold out and the few left I will keep to use on my giveaway shelves :) I only need one more follower to host my giveaway now!  If you have previously purchased something from my store:  http://www.etsy.com/shop/tarayvonne?ref=si_shop please make sure you go there and let me know you want to join my giveaway that I will be hosting for Honeydukes items once I get my 100th follower :)

Well my computer got a virus and had to be taken in to be fixed so I figured I had better take a custom order and do so quick :)  So a sweet lady ordered Honeydukes Sweets and although I was previously not wanting to make individual candies for sale I decided under the present circumstances I had better do it.  So I made a wide variety of sweets and cakes for her to choose from.  No idea yet what she might choose and if any will be available after she picks from what I have made so far.  But I know several of you are doing sweet shops right now and might like to see them :)  My version of Honeydukes sweets are a little more wonky and magical looking than those found in the muggle shop at Universal Studios, hehe.  I like things a little more OOAK and true to the movie as many of you have heard me say before.  That's just my own take on things, and I do so love the muggle shop as well.  It's beautiful to look at :)  Well anyway I guess I might just shut it and let you all have a look :)

Group shot, quick bad pictures!  I was losing daylight and had to act fast :(

1) witch ice cream cone holder

2) Cream lolly display

Ick my paper got wet, see the water spots?

3) Milk Chocolate Tray

4) Chocolate Frog Candy Box Display

5)  Funny Bones Candy Jar

6)  Candy Cake on Honeydukes Colors Pedestal with Matching Knife

7)  Jelly Slug Display

8)  Leaning Tower of Strawberry Bunt Cakes

9)  Unlabeled Honeydukes-Colored Candy Bottles 

10) Fizzing Whizbees Candy Bottle and Display Sign 

11) Fancy Bottle of Canary Creams Candy 

12)  Two unidentified Honeydukes Candy Bottles 

13)  Honeydukes Colors Candied Sliced Fruits Tray

And I have one little white wooden box with elaborate antique brass closure on front containing cookies with cherry drop centers (which is in the group picture if you look through it) that my pictures didn't turn out and I will have to photograph it tomorrow.  

I'll add that picture along with an update as to what may be left over after my customer looks it over and makes a decision as to what she wants of this group :)