Potions, Potions...

Have you heard - the classic Pixie Dust Miniatures 'Spooky Poison Bottles' are back in stock?! (Find them at the online shop here - and yes, I ship everywhere).

Also, I've created some fun kooky fairytale potion bottles and wizard bottles.

Find all at the online Pixie Dust Miniatures Etsy shop here.

And... watch me make the poison bottles in timelapse at the YouTube channel here!

Where have I been?!

It has now been over a year since I blogged on here, and some of you may have been wondering where I went and why I dropped off the face of the planet! It may have surprised a lot of you since for about 5 years I updated this blog very frequently.







So, here's the truth, the complete truth, and it's a long read!

A year ago something catastrophic happened to me. It was so painful that it's taken me this long to want to come back to blogging properly and really resume business as usual. What the heck happened?! I'll tell you...
I was sitting at my computer one day and all of a sudden the folder I was saving some work in looked empty. I was like "hey, where did my files just go?" I clicked out of that folder and explored the rest of that hard-drive where I kept all my work, and found that none of the folders opened.... panic started to rise from the tips of my toes throughout my whole body, and I waited nervously for my computer-wiz friend to come over and help me check out what was happening. He couldn't even get the hard-drive to open and see any info. Now, this hard-drive contained absolutely all of my work - my entire portfolio of miniatures for both Pixie Dust Miniatures and Hummingbird Miniatures, and also all family photos, and all photos in general in my life. But most of all it was my portfolio going back 5 years - when I started creating and photographing my miniature work. I felt an enormous sense of panic because I knew I hadn't backed up for 6 months. I was terrified to the pit of my stomach that I could potentially lose 6 months work (for me that represented thousands of images, my book 'The Art of Pixie Dust Miniatures' I had been writing and was almost complete, tutorials I'd created and so forth. Nooooooooooooo, please don't let that work be lost, I kept saying to him! We took it to the best place for data recovery in LA (and don't forget, most of the best computer developments come out of California so I knew I was putting it into very safe hands).

Things couldn't get much worse... or could they...?

I went over to another hard-drive where everything (except the past 6 months) was backed up. Just wanted to browse it and feel a bit better.

... Nothing was there.

My housemate had at some point moved it  / wiped it / who knows. He didn't know where it went. Basically it was gone. The only place my entire miniature portfolio existed was on the hard-drive that stopped working. And that was in the hands of these data recovery guys. I waited for their verdict with my heart in my stomach and sheer dread.

They got back to me weeks later. "It's dead" they said. "No chance of recovery". I was devastated, but wouldn't accept it. I searched out the best recovery places in the world (which also are in the US - although I'd have sent it anywhere). I paid a few thousand and sent it to them. Surely if this was crucial FBI material, something seriously important they'd be able to recover it, was what I kept telling myself. I told them I'd pay any amount, I just HAD to have all my work back (hundreds of thousands of files). I waited weeks... maybe a month. The response was negative. I tried one final place, another few thousand dollars. Nope. They could retrieve absolutely nothing at all either.

And in this time my father died suddenly without warning at the age of 61 as well.

So I gave up on my work for about 5 months. Then I managed to climb back on the horse by applying myself in a new direction. Barely creating anything for Pixie Dust Miniatures or Hummingbird Miniatures, I decided to dedicate my time to the short film I have been planning for a while. I started really creating for it in March of this year. I designed and sculpted the characters for the film, which is called 'Good Witches Bad Witches' and started blogging about them here and showing them on the Facebook page for it. It helped. :)

Eventually I also started getting back to creating miniature food again and slowly and steadily rebuilding my Hummingbird Miniatures portfolio here (and on the Facebook page here) with things such as black forest cakes new mini food jewelry and a massive detailed range of Mexican food - which was soon after published in Dolls House & Miniature Scene Magazine.

Recently I finally started creating for Pixie Dust Miniatures again! I created some Jack o Lanterns and listed them at my shop here. See some photos of them below as well.


So! I rarely (or never) talk about my private life here, but I thought I owed everyone an explanation as to where I have been and why I haven't been responsive or active on this blog, or the Pixie Dust Miniatures Facebook page, aside from Instagram feeds that occasionally show up there.

But I'm back now! I will resume updating this blog and listing new items at the Pixie Dust Miniatures Etsy shop. So thanks for hanging in there!

Lovely to be back. Love to all! Caroline x X x

Enchanted Forest in the Making...

What kind of miniature magic is happening over in the workshop of Pixie Dust Miniatures, you may wonder.....

This week I have been building an enchanted forest, complete with toadstools, fairy rings, bluebells, and soon there will be trees with faces as well! Take a look at a few snaps below, but for more information on this miniature project, don't forget to follow my 'Caroline blog' and the Facebook page here.

Must give a 'shout out' to the talented Georgina Steed, as it was her miniature flower kit I used to make the bluebells. They are in 1:12 scale (as is the rest of this miniature set piece).

A Scary Workspace!

I know, I know... I don't blog here enough at all! I update my 'Caroline blog' and its corresponding Facebook page more frequently these days. And of course, there's always my blog and about my range of miniature food here.

What have I been up to lately? Aside from making a miniature birthday with the tiniest candles ever, for a an artist friend at Dreamworks (read all about it and see photos here), I have been creating a scene for one of my favourite miniature magazines ever - Dolls House and Miniature Scene Magazine. Here's a iny glimpse of what is to come below... take a look into my workspace and don't forget to buy this brilliant magazine when it comes out next month! Find the magazine here.

My Workspace... More Candy Apples

Hope you're not getting bored of witchy treats...!

I've made some more candy apples. These ones are a bit more unusual and some have faces, so they'll look fun in the witch cake shop for the short film I am working on (details here).

I blogged here about the inspiration behind these candy apples (or toffee apples as we say in the UK).

Scroll past the photos of my workspace and see some of the sketches / artwork for this project or go directly to the Facebook page and see more on the 'making of' this short film.

My Workspace... Snail Cupcakes

Another unique little Pixcie Dust Miniatures signature item is the snail cupcake!

Remember when snail cupcakes first appeared on this blog, back in 2011? I was trying to imagine what a witch might want to place on top of a nicely frosted cupcake, aside from a cherry. A nice little slimy garden snail seemed fitting.

As you know, I like to re-invent old designs, making them fresh and new and refining the detail. So here's a glimpse into my workspace as I make new snail cupcakes. I don't use bought cupcake molds, but instead sculpt by own bases and 'muffin tops'.

Scroll past these photos to see my original design and you can compare them. Maybe let me know which one you prefer?!

And if you're wondering what all these new creepy witchy foods are for... click over to my filmmaking Facebook page where you will start to see more of the miniature film sets, miniature film characters etc that these little mini foods will be joining. They are for the film 'Myrtle the Witch'. If it interests you then don't forget to 'like' the page to get the updates. :)

Older design snail cupcakes from 2011

My Workspace... Bone Pies

Continuing the theme of witchy and fairytale food, which will be featured in the short film 'Myrtle the Witch' (details of this film here), as well as my book 'The Art of Pixie Dust Miniatures', I have made some tiny individual bone pies.
Each one has a little chicken bone sticking out and is wrapped in black patisserie paper.

Take a look at my workspace below and don't miss other creepy cake and poisonous pies here.

My Workspace - NEW design - Poison Apple Pies

Because Poison Apple Pies quickly became my signature Pixie Dust Miniatures item, and favourite thing to make (just as my birthday cakes with tiny candles became the signature item for my other blog), I like to re-invent them from time to time and improve on the design.

You can see my very first Poison Apple Pies here.

And a few years later, my second design of them was here.

But today, they look even nicer, I think. See them below in the making, and please leave me a comment and let me know which is *your* personal favourite design?

Look out for many more witchy and fairytale foods coming in the next few days, and find out what they're being used for over at the Tall Tales blog or Facebook page.

My Workspace... making Candy Apples

My book - 'The Art of Pixie Dust Miniatures', which will be out later this year, includes some Fairy-tale foods. So, today I have been creating some candy apples to contribute to it. Thought I'd share a sneak peek...

Scroll past the images and you can see my photo inspiration reference from the internet. ;)

I'll finish them soon and photograph. Some of these apples will also be available for purchase at the Pixie Dust Miniatures online Etsy shop.

Don't forget to find the Facebook page for more photos and up-to-date news.