Orange-ya Glad to See More Canes ;)

Hello hello hello! I'm still working on the basics - fruit canes - before I get back to prep boards and mini food scenes. Fall temperatures are finally settling in, which makes my joints a little more bend-y. My exhaustion still isn't letting up, but over the past couple of weeks I had some little bits of energy to re-create the orange canes and lime canes (made plenty of lime wedges too for those teeny tiny tequila filled margarita drinks, ha ha!) I'm still experimenting with technique and true-to-life color shades, but here's what I have so far....

Double click on the photos to supersize! :D

Old, warped looking grapefruit, lemon, and orange slices on the left, and nicer, happy little slices on the right (kinda obvious, huh? :)

Yikes! Did my old limes really look that bad? No wonder I used to "hide" them in jello platters or bury them deep in icings!

Thank you so much for checking out my blog!! :D

Lemon Cane (da da da) Very Pretty....

It's not exactly a "lemon tree" like in the song http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I3FSRW2qFjM...I just had this jaunty little tune rambling through my head as I rolled out my latest new and improved cane work. My first lemon slices a few years ago screamed "FAKE!" The segments inside were flat in color, almost opaque...nothing like a real lemon. Lemon candy...hmmm...maybe...but even that was a stretch! I finally figured out the right mix of translucent and color to create a more see through effect inside the lemon. And using really rough sandpaper to texture the outside of whole or half lemons is working well for me too.

And might I add, the warming soothing effect of rolling out clay canes between my arthritic hands feels pretty darn nice. If only I had more energy to make more in one day!

Click the photos to supersize!

About halfway there, size-wise. A little more rolling needed...

There we go! Now that's the size we want. Dollies in the dollhouse do not need watermelon size lemons! And I'm happy with the way the individual segments turned out. I've yet to see a real lemon slice where each individual segment is exactly the same size. Mother Nature is not perfect. ;)
I'm sooo glad, neither am I! ha!




Kind of reminds me of the "army" of cupcakes I created a while ago. Tons of little lemon slices lined up everywhere on the tile. Enough lemon slices to last through quite a few cakes, pies, and lemony tarts....Lemon cane....very pretty....da da da da da da da! :)

Thanks to everyone for your lovely comments! I love them all!!



Grapefruit Cane Redux

Canes...hmmm...how ironic that I chose to work on fruit canes recently. You know how the hip bone is [supposed to be] connected to the knee bone, and the knee bone is connected to the ankle bone? Well mine aren't connecting anymore. Physiologically impossible but it feels that way. My knees do this tricky little backwards bendy thing when I walk. I can actually hear the bones in my knees grinding and clicking with each swash-bucklin' step. I never imagined I'd need a cane before I reached the big 5 - 0 but my legs are too wobbly, like a newborn deer when it struggles to walk on its spindly little legs for the first time. Pushing all remaining fragments of vanity aside I finally relented and got a semi-modern-looking blue cane. It's kinda hip (pun intended). My kids want to paint flames on it (a-la - "Dr. House") so it looks like I'm traveling faster. :)

Back to the grapefruit. When I first started making polymer clay miniature foods three years ago my fruit canes were...well...they were ugly. The colors were wrong, my technique, or lack thereof, made the segments look twisted. My recent attempt at making a decent grapefruit cane however, is a vast improvement. This cane is one that I'm not the least bit shy about using to adorn my little mini cakes and tarts.

The other cane, the one that helps me walk...hmmm...still not feeling the love for that one yet....but this new grapefruit cane is one that has me dancin' (in my chair of course!)

Supersize me! Click on the photos to enlarge. :)

I <3 comments - please feel free to post a line when you stop by. Thanks for visiting my blog!!