Monthly Food Challenge

Journal Entry: Tue Jun 3, 2014, 11:05 AM
Monthly Food Challenge
A three month premium membership will be awarded to one of the semi-sweeties members that participate in the challenge.

We have been running these challenges for three years now, we have to keep them challenging! So this time we’re shaking things a little: instead of randomly picking a winner from the participant pool, we’re going to pick the entry that makes the most creative use of the theme. Even if your crafting skills aren’t the best, but you had a great idea and were able to transmit it, you have a chance to win the 3 months subscription!


Theme of the month: Berries

For those of us in the northern hemisphere summer is almost here, the fruits are ripping all around! And if you’re in the southern hemisphere, you probably miss the colorful look of a meadow full of berries, so we hope this challenge will please everyone ;)

This month we’re asking you to craft something made out of berries, what kind of berries is entirely up to you. Are you a fan of strawberries? Blueberries? Blackberries? Raspberries? Cranberries? You only have two limitations: it has to be handmade out of clay and it must contain berries! Any edible fruit (real or fictitious) that includes “berry” is eligible.


Rules
**If any of these rules are ignored, you will be disqualified from winning the prize**
  • Participants have to be members of semi-sweeties
  • Submissions must be entirely made by you (no bought canes or molds).
  • Only new work is accepted, submitted to DA between June 1st and 30th.
  • Items must be primarily made of clay (polymer clay, cold porcelain, air dry clay, etc - but NO silicon or resin).
  • ONE ENTRY PER MEMBER!
  • If a tutorial was used, the source must be credited.
  • You must write somewhere in the artist comment box that this is an entry for #semi-sweeties' monthly challenge + add a link to this journal.
  • Submit entries into the "Monthly Food Challenge" folder.

Deadline
The challenge closes on June 30th and the 3 month sub winner will awarded to one semi-sweeties member that in our opinion, made the most creative use of the team.

Entries




Previous challenges and winners
May
(Healthy Snacks) - margemagtoto
February (Chocolates) - fairchildart
October (Pumpkins) - Hybrid-Sheep
September (Veggies) - SteamBerry
July (Ice Cream) - LittlestSweetShop
June (Cake) - LoekazCharms
May (Drinks) - BlackCurtains 
April (Sandwiches) - FatalPotato 
March (Sushi) - gigi9900
January (Food Related Items) - JoannaInMiniLand



:dalove: the team at semi-sweeties
:iconsemi-sweeties:

So Cute, it Rots your Teeth #36

Journal Entry: Mon May 12, 2014, 8:09 PM
Some weeks we will bring you our favourite submissions at #semi-sweeties for that week. Please note that the favourites are just our opinion but not an absolute ranking. 

Please enjoy this week's collection and don't forget to+fav anything you find interesting! If you love clay food don't hesitate to join us at semi-sweeties! This month's challenge is about healthy snacks.

Chinese rice by Selmmma

Fruit Tart by SweetIva
Cookies by Metro-Neko
Chicken Baguette by monpuchikissa
Fun Tip Friday #34 by SmallCreationsByMel



:dalove: the team at semi-sweeties
:iconsemi-sweeties:

So Cute, it Rots your Teeth #35

Journal Entry: Mon May 5, 2014, 8:47 AM
Some weeks we will bring you our favourite submissions at #semi-sweeties for that week. Please note that the favourites are just our opinion but not an absolute ranking. 

Please enjoy this week's collection and don't forget to+fav anything you find interesting! If you love clay food don't hesitate to join us at semi-sweeties! This month's challenge is about healthy snacks.

Miniature Polymer Clay Hamburger by MeganHess

Vanilla Ice Cream Cone Earrings by Xiiilucky13
Donut earrings by M-Made
Jollibee inspired Burger Meal Miniature by margemagtoto





:dalove: the team at semi-sweeties
:iconsemi-sweeties:

Souffle: New Polymer Clay

Journal Entry: Sat May 3, 2014, 7:17 PM
We all have a favorite brand of polymer clay, but some of us use Polyform's brands almost exclusively (Sculpey, Premo, etc) because they are more readily available where we live. So it's not surprising that there's some excitement about Soufflé, the new product made by Polyform, released just a couple of days ago on April 30th.

I wanted to write an article for us miniature food crafters, to summarize what it means to us. If you have already tried it please share your opinion! Also let me know if you want me to write more articles about other brands.

Characteristics (taken from Polyform's page):
  • It's lighter than regular polymer clay, but not as much as Sculpey Ultralight.
    Great for those of us that create jewelry, specially earrings. Other than that, I don't think it'll make a lot of difference, really small objects could actually benefit from being a little heavier.

  • They claim that it's perfect for caning.
    I would love to try some complicated canes like a strawberry and see how it holds the detail. Caning for us is a lot different, since miniature food canes sometimes have a lot more detail and don't tolerate distortion. If I could find a clay that would let me do canes without distortion, I would never use another brand in my life.

  • It's advertised to hold detail.
    Sounds great for complicated textures (like cakes) and small details without smudging, but it also sounds like it'll hold fingerprints. I have achieved great results with Sculpey and Premo, but Fimo soft is too soft to hold detail without smudging.

  • It's said to be strong.
    I think this is an interesting characteristic, tiny miniatures can easily crack. I often battle with leaves on fruits and lettuce,so I hope it's as strong as promised.
  • Suede finish.
    I honestly have no idea what it means, or what it could mean to us. Maybe time will tell.

  • 22 "fashion forward" colors.
    I'm not amazed by the colors, and they seem really unbalanced. The name says it all: they're designed for jewelry and fashion, not for mini food. A few of them seem usable, but we'll have to do a lot of color blending to get the best colors. Notice that all the greens are very pale and unsaturated, so we'll have to mix the right color to make bright avocados and fresh veggies. 

I also recommend that you read this amazing review from The Blue Bottle Tree, this really nice lady already tried Soufflé and made a very in-depth review of it. What worries me the most about her review is that she says that Soufflé is very opaque, and real food is naturally translucent. Soufflé doesn't include translucent clay either, so all the colors are opaque without the option of being translucent. This is probably the most important point, and why maybe it won't work for miniature food :( if anyone can confirm this, I'm sure we would all really appreciate it. I'm going to try to get my hands on it, I'm excited to try it too :la:

If you try it, please let us know how it works for you!




:dalove: the team at semi-sweeties
:iconsemi-sweeties:

Monthly Food Challenge WINNER

Journal Entry: Thu May 1, 2014, 8:29 PM
Also, don't forget to enter June's Challenge!

https://th08.deviantart.net/fs70/PRE/f/2014/155/8/d/may2014_by_talty-d7l23th.jpg



Monthly Food Challenge

A three month premium membership will be randomly drawn from semi-sweeties members that participate in the challenge.

Theme of the month: Healthy Snacks
We all love to sculpt cakes, hamburgers and pizzas, but where's the love for the healthy? We want to challenge you with something different this time, so forget all the chocolate, salt and fat and embrace the fruits, veggies and nutritious!

If you were hungry and feeling like eating something healthy, what would you snack? Some carrot sticks? An energy bar? Some assorted nuts? Whatever it is, craft it out of clay and submit it to this challenge, we want to know!

Rules
**If any of these rules are ignored, you will be disqualified from winning the prize**
  • Participants have to be members of semi-sweeties
  • Submissions must be entirely made by you (no bought canes or molds).
  • Only new work is accepted, submitted to DA between May 1st and 31st.
  • Items must be primarily made of clay (polymer clay, cold porcelain, air dry clay, etc - but NO silicon or resin).
  • ONE ENTRY PER MEMBER! 
  • You must write somewhere in the artist comment box that this is an entry for #semi-sweeties' monthly challenge + add a link to this journal.
  • Submit entries into the "Monthly Food Challenge" folder.

Deadline
The challenge closes on May 31st 2014 and the 3 month sub winner will be drawn randomly from the semi-sweeties members that have participated in the challenge.



Previous challenges and winners
May
(Healthy Snacks) - margemagtoto
February (Chocolates) - fairchildart
October (Pumpkins) - Hybrid-Sheep
September (Veggies) - SteamBerry
July (Ice Cream) - LittlestSweetShop
June (Cake) - LoekazCharms
May (Drinks) - BlackCurtains 
April (Sandwiches) - FatalPotato 
March (Sushi) - gigi9900
January (Food Related Items) - JoannaInMiniLand




:dalove: the team at semi-sweeties
:iconsemi-sweeties:

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