…sculpting on them! They are perfect for creating mini pumpkins and cauliflowers on and a whole lot more too. I have a whole pile of cocktail sticks ready with balls of scrap clay clagged on to the end of them (a great use for the wrongly mixed and mucky beyond salvaging polyclay), baked once to give a firm base, I can then apply the top layer of clay and sculpt to my hearts content whilst holding the stick without fear of squishing the clay with my clumsy fingers! AND check out my nifty cocktail stick holder… totally stable and bakeable… a re-purposed metal shaker top! cool huh?

…for me it is a real time, angst and life saver so I thought I would share my uses and reasons for loving this blue and sticky stuff so much and of how I use it every single day… scratch that… every few minutes of every single day.

Firstly, it’s great for removing particles of dust from my hands before beginning working with clay… I keep a great big ball of this stuff on my work table and give my hands a good rub down with it before commencing.  I follow this hand cleaning ‘ritual’ by cleaning down my glass worktop in the same manner, picking up the dust and stray crumbs of clay and then I use it to clean my clay tools:  tissue blade, silicone tipped shapers and even my brushes for pastel powders.  I also use my ball of blu-tack to pick up dust from the surface of my clay (works like a dream on dusty Kato clay).

Working in miniature scales, as you can imagine, there are lots of fiddly bits to finishing mini-food… the green spider like tops on tomatoes for example… there is no way I could manage those without the trusty blu-tack holding my tomatoes in place while I apply to tops… my fingers just aren’t nimble enough (tomato ping pong comes to mind!).

And then for final finishing touches, such as varnishing, the blu-tack comes to the rescue again holding those tiny pieces in one place on a wooden lolly stick so that I can work with ease… and without cramp in my fingers!

Thought it would be good to share a few little tips starting with this one

click on the cover to read this issue

And a must read for anyone interested in modern miniatures!

The cover image, hard to tell that it is miniature, is by AIM member Peter Tucker and you can read more about him and his work inside.  Also, inside, you will find a wide array of modernism from artisans such as Christa Chayata, ELF Miniatures, Richard Kuehn, Linda Master and Ana Maria Villalon Fuster to name just a few!  Along with galleries, projects and our regular features it’s proving to be one of my favourite issues to sit back and read from cover to cover so far.

click above to view video on BBC Click

…so what was it I hear you ask?

3D PRINTING I tell you!!!

click here to view video on BBC website

For now the technology is pretty large… as in too large to sit comfortably on our desktops but in a few years who knows!?!  We could all be scanning in, reducing and printing out our own miniature replicas of real life items.  The possibilities for miniature food artisans alone are mind boggling… simply scan your favourite meal and hey presto… reduced to whichever scale you wish and printed out in 3D in your own home!

Of course this may have the unwanted side affect of putting us all out of jobs but for now I think we can all sleep sound in our beds, as I said…. the technology does need a lot of reducing in size and tweaking of software for home use… at the moment… but just look at the miniature replica of the presenters face… WOW!

…pop in your name (if you are shy then a fake name will do… I won’t mind and might even get a giggle if you are really inventive!),  a must is your email address (no fake ones this time please), then check the boxes for which updates you would like to receive (a choice of latest additions, blog posts, monthly newsletter and special announcements), you can pick as many as you wish.  Almost there, select the format; html (thats regular email with piccies), plain text (no piccies in this one) or mobile (the squashed up version for viewing on your portable personal communication device).  Last step, click on the lovely blue box with ‘subscribe to list’… et voila… you are now in the NJD Miniatures information loop and will have your requested information delivered to the comfort of your very own inbox!

For those lovely mini lovers who have already subscribed to my blog posts, thank you!  And I won’t spam you with this blog post by email… as you already know what it’s all about!

The first being a small bowl filled with lemons, a few lemon leaves and of course the obligatory 1/2 of a cut lemon.

And the second being a yummy lemon tart board… presented so that it looks as if the chef is adding the finishing touches to one very delicious looking lemon tart! 

The photo in the listing for the lemon tart board shows two slightly different views and you can click on the photo for a larger pop-up image. 

It’s not often that I make desserts that I’m happy with… but this one… I just love the simplicity and non-fussy elegance of it!

Bread Mould (#7) for small round rolls with nice ‘split’ tops. The rolls that will pop out of this mould will measure approximately 11mm in diameter. I’ve added texture to the rolls shown with a little ground apricot kernel and then delicately shaded the smoother sides of the bread… but of course you could make these in any colour you wish – endless possibilities!

There are seven styles of bread moulds available in my shop, each handmade from non-stick silicone compound, to see the whole range click here or on the photo below…

AND… remember to download your FREE pdf on using my bread moulds from the Free Projects Page!

The turned wooden bowl is filled with 1 bunch of bananas, 3 green apples, 4 pears and 4 lemons but I’ve left them all loose so that you can arrange them as you wish!

I had forgotten all about this little basket until today!

So what miniature food did I end up putting in it I hear you ask?

Well…. ta dah…

I filled this little basket with 11 ‘juicy’ peaches and you can now find it for sale right here on my website – click here – along with 3 additional peaches making 14 altogether for you to play with!

AIM imag – Issue 34 May 2011