Tutorial: Pimp your notebook 2


I have a weird fondness for brown notebooks.
 Whenever I see them in a store I have an urge to buy a bunch of them. 
But sometimes, despite the love, they do look a little too plain to be used as an everyday journal.
And so I thought it'd be a fun project to turn some of them into personalized designs.
 
The first thing came to my mind is this wonderful Kikki K journal that is unfortunately no longer in store.


A good thing is that it looks easily DIY'd.

Here's a quick how-to:

Supplies you will need
1. A plain notepad
2. Colour paper/ Scrapbook paper
3. White paint/ gel pen
4. Scissors
5. Glue


Draft the outline of the design lightly by a pencil












Decide your colour combination.

If you are stuck in deciding the colours, try brainstorming at colour palette websites.
(I like Design Seeds and Colourlovers, check them out! :)

My final decision is white, green and orange to go with the yellow border.

 

Drawing the patterns: 
This seems to be the hardest part, but it will get much easier when you do it, I promise.
Guided by your draft, use your gel pen/ paint brush to draw a variety of lines on each row.
It needs a little patience to complete the pattern, but once its done you will know it's worth it :)
Erase the draft borders once the paint is dried.
Almost done! Remember the colour papers we prepared from the start? 
Now it's time to cut them out and stick them onto your notebook.
Put on a protective glaze and it is finished!

This design can also be used on hand-bind cereal box notepads.
Modify the design as much as you like, Get Wild :D


Have fun Crafting!
Nassae

Miniature: Fruit Pancake


 
Anything looks so cheery when added with fruits. I love making pancakes and I am planning to make more in the future.

Inspiration: Link Love

Obsessed with the website Design Seeds recently.




Wonderful color palettes, don't you think?
Check out Design Seeds: For All Who Love Color for more pretty colour themes!


Have a nice and pleasant day,
xoxo Nassae

Tutorial: How to Sculpt a Strawberry

Strawberry is one of the most popular fruits being used in miniature. However, it is to me one of the hardest fruit to master. It took me sometime to figure out how to draw the cross section of a strawberry well.

I'd like to share with you a summary of what I've learned so far:

Click here for a full view

A New Start WIP

  A sneak peek of what I've been working on these few days.
 
Cakes are old work, waiting for revamping and re-garnishments :)

Xoxo,
Nassae

Miniature: Back to crafting

The busiest period of the year is over, which means I'm back to crafting! :)
Going to fill these tarts, pancakes and Mont blanc I made.
 
More work will be coming soon! 
 
Also: A doodle of a bird I drew last week


Inspiration: Etsy Finds


Prints I like:



 
 
  




Cinnamon Spiced Tea

I have been quite busy recently,
knowing I'm not able to spare time for crafting is driving me crazy.
Solution? Made myself some tea for a temporary relief.
Even if it seems you're not able to spare any,
sometimes a little break is just what you need.

Tutorial: Pimp your notebook

Tutorial: Pimp Your Note Book - Nassae Ithilwen
If you like this, do check out another way to decorate your notebook with easy patterns and craft paper here.

Miniature: Tartlets completed


After making the tiny tart moulds and painting the crusts, I final got the chance to decorate them with toppings. They are really tiny, I think just around 4mm in diameter. Among the 5 designs I like the mixed berry tart the most.
 
 


Miniature: Pastries and Tartlets WIP

Giving colours to my new work.

There's a charity book sale in a university near by my place this week, 
I'm so lucky to find some inspirational flower design and cook books there.
Can't wait to use my new ideas for my next project!

Miniature: Floret


"Life isn't about waiting for the storm to pass,
it's about learning to dance in the rain"

  
Took a leaping step from miniature food to flowers and jewelleries
Time to start experimenting again :)


Miniature: Pasta


I've been focus on sweets and dessert for my minis for quite a while. 
Thought it would be good to change my taste bud to some savory dishes :D
Like always, I  collect my ideas through my favorite inspirations spaces: Pinterest and Foodgawker.
They are great sites, I highly recommend you to take a look there if you haven't before.


The result of the spaghetti is better then I thought. I piped the pasta into shape with a pipe bag, then add the sauce when dried. 
A little tip : Remember to add some brown and orange to the red tomato sauce for a more realistic colour :) 

For the penne, I first made the pasta with the help of needles. After cutting them, I add some "diced" carrots and sausages to the pasta and mix them together with a ivory clay paste as the sauce.



Sale in my Etsy shop!



I'm happy to tell you that there's a 40% SALE  in my Etsy shop!

Thank you for your time, love you all.

xoxo,
Nassae Ithilwen

Miniature: New Listings on Etsy



 I've added some of my work to my online store Etsy
Please take a look if you are interested :)

 



Miniature: Bundt cakes, ice cream and more!

It's always good to have a break after another week of work, get surrounded by minis. Just need to escape from the reality for a little while and I'll be a happy girl again.
This has been in my file for quite a while, but I didn't find time to edit it. I kept thinking how I should presents this ice cream cones until I remember I have bought these little dessert cups before that can be used as stands for the waffle cones.
They originally are planned for making trifles, but I haven't figure out how I shall make them yet.
  
I made a light box last weekend and found it very useful. This pound cake set is my first attempt in using the light box. The diffuse of light did help in brightening the photo and give a more realistic colour and shades. ( Guess I should use a pretty wrapping paper as background to give the photo more colour)
If you are having lighting problems in photography like I do, I would highly recommend you to try making a light box. It's really worthwhile.
The second attempt I made. This time I added a back drop to set up a mood.
  

I've uploaded more photos in my flickr account: 
Feel free to take a look at my dA gallery as well if you are interested.