Changes

Hello :)
I just wanted to touch base with you all to update you with all the latest happenings in the shop.  There are a number of changes that will be happening over the next few months so I wanted to share them with you all.

 

Contest News:  Our contest will be continuing as always.  I will try to find time to make more frequent postings.  Keep checking back in, and make suggestions as you think of them.  I will be making more spring foods and ice creams.  I am still taking ice cream suggestions.  I will be announcing a new theme in July. 

     My Ambitions:  I love miniature foods and want to share them with the world.  My dream is to eventually be in your neighborhood shops, and restaurants.
      At the present time I have bitty ones at home and very little time to work on my business.  As they enter school I will be focusing more and more time on my business.

     In order to achieve my eventual goals there are a number of changes I will be making over the course of the next two years.

Etsy:  My Etsy shop will remain open, but I am in the process of working with a graphic designer to create my logo, and design more professional packaging. 

Sweetandsavorytrinkets.com is my new website, and it is already ready to receive orders.  It is still under construction and isn't very pretty yet.  I will be making format changes as I am able.   

Growing:  In order to grow a sustainable business, I unfortunately have to raise my prices.  This has already been happening the last month and a half.  There is a very wide price fluctuation, items that are very simple for me to make will still be very low, but items that take a great deal of time to make will be more expensive.  I really did not want to raise prices, but in order to transform my business into something bigger it is a necessity.  

Thank You:  I want to thank you all for continuing to follow my blog, and shop I have a special coupon code for you all to use on etsy.  The coupon code will give you 15% off of your total purchase.  You can use it every time you are in the shop.  To redeem type the word "savory" in the coupon code box at check out. 

As soon as I program coupon or sales prices at sweetandsavorytrinkets.com,  I will announce it here.  I also would appreciate feedback about my new website, and suggestions. 

You Tube:   One of the things I hope to do this year too is make tutorials, and videos for my own you tube channel. 

Thank you all for checking in and participating in my contests!  I will have the ice cream winners announced in July, and expect to have monthly winners once again starting in September.

I am continuing to make donations for natural disaster relief, and will be posting donation links as they are completed.
Your Tiny Chef,
                   Heather

A Quick Update

Thank you all for being so patient.  I have had a couple big orders lately..  so I haven't had time to create my spring foods yet.   There is one more winning food,  but I actually want to make a lot of the foods you guys have been suggesting.  Make sure to check back at least once a month The suggestions you have made will be good throughout summer, and I will definitely be making some of them.

For today though Pam's suggestion of Deviled Eggs wins.  Make sure to contact me Pam with your address. :)  sweetandsavorytrinkets@yahoo.com

The new theme will be ice cream.  So get creative and make new suggestions :) .  The only ones that you can't suggest are the three in my shop (strawberry short cake bars, Neapolitan ice cream sandwich, and 50/ 50 bars).

I will be updating the blog as I make more spring foods, and they will be from your suggestions, so stay tuned.  Heather 

St. Patrick's Day Food

Happy St. Patrick's Day!!!   

If you have been keeping an eye on my shop you may have already seen the St. Patrick's day food appearing in the shop.  We currently have three winners.  We have corned beef and cabbage, and shepherds pie.

Pamela suggested a corned beef platter, and lilyk suggested cabbage.  So both of you will receive a bowl of corned beef and cabbage :)

Adrieana suggested shepherds pie.  Congrats to the three of you.  I do hope to make a few of the other suggestions, and if I am able to find the time to make them there will be more winners, so make sure to check back.  Please email me at sweetandsavorytrinkets@yahoo.com  and leave me your addresses so I can send you your charm :)
  I really do want to make the beers, but I need to find a miniature glass blower first :).   I did try to find cute tiny glass beer glasses but didn't find any quite the right size :(

The last St. Patrick's Day food I made was actually a corned beef sandwich. 

All these Irish foods are currently available in the shop, but I only made about 10 of each.

April Contest Theme

The new theme is spring :)
So put on your thinking caps and start making springtime food suggestions.

2012

Thank you for stopping by!!  In this blog I will explain the monthly charm contest, and then give some updates about changes the shop that will be going on this year.

  The Blog Contest
I continuously strive to keep the shop fresh by adding new foods regularly.  I thought it would be fun, to include you all in the products I carry in the shop so this contest was born.  Here monthly I will give you a theme, I will choose at least one of the suggestions and make it for a new charm I will offer in the store.  If I make your suggestion, you receive your food suggestion as a charm.  Many times I choose more than one suggestion, in that case all the food suggestions that I make will win :)
To enter all you do is leave your food suggestion in the comment section of the blog.
The Rules:
1: Leave up to one food suggestion per day.  **  If you have several ideas that is great! I would love to hear them, choose only one a day leave in the comment section.  This allows many to play. :)
2:  Please check the other suggestions made, so you aren't duplicating another persons suggestion.
That's it : )
The current theme is St. Patrick's Day and Irish Food
There are several suggestion made in the last blog posted.  Thank you so much for participating, I already love the suggestions that have been made, and look forward to seeing more :)

Shop Announments
The post office has almost doubled their international shipping prices, so soon I will have to increase international shipping charges a little. There wont be any extra charges for multiple items though it will be a flat charge.  The new shipping charge will be 4.20 for international, and 3.00 for domestic, both of these will be the full shipping cost for all orders (including multiple product purchases).

 Gradually over the next year I will be adding 1/12th scale miniatures to my inventory, for doll house collectors.  In most cases my food items have been larger than 1/12th scale.  I hope to add food magnets to my line of inventory as well.  My primary focus will still be my charm sized food accessories.
This year my I am making my little foods in smaller batches.  The time I have for creating my miniatures has been cut dramatically.   I am only able to create my foods 8-12 hours per week now.  I am not able to offer the charm of the month club, because I wouldn't be able to produce enough stock for the store and the club.

My weekly creating time will be spent making the new/contest items, and other existing foods that I am short on.
There are other changes I wish to make this year,  In the next month, I will be getting a new camera for the shop, and hope to make some tutorials to offer for sale, and some for free....  This change will be slower in coming but it will happen this year.   

I am also continuing to donate to natural disaster relief charities through global giving, but the cost of supplies have also risen.  I want to keep my prices as low as possible, so I will be donating 2.5% percent of sales instead of the 5%
My next donation will be in the begining of February, and I will leave the updated global giving link here then.

Thank you so much for your support!!!   I will be working on the contest food items over the next 2 weeks, so it is not too late to make your suggestions.  Sorry the content of this post is a bit boring, my next blog post will be announcing the St. Patrick's Day, and Irish Food winners

New Beginings

Hello everyone!!!

 I have been very busy this year, and made some great foods this year.  You all have been amazing, and a  great source of inspiration.  This year went by so quickly and many things have happened.  I will be unable to bring back Charm of the month club for now.  My creating time is now 8-16 hours per week.   I will try  to keep lots of charms in the shop, and will continue running the contest. 

 

Blog Contest

The Rules:

1:  You can only make one suggestion per day, that allows you multiple entries but many can play :)

2: Read through the suggestions to make sure you aren't duplicating any suggestions already made.

The theme this time is St. Patricks Day foods.

Good luck :)

 I will update the blog soon :)
 This year 

Happy Thanksgiving!!

This fall has almost completely passed me by.  I do have three Thanksgiving foods that I want to share.  First will be the winning entry for the fall foods, Pecan Pie.  If you suggested pecan pie, please email me your address at sweetandsavorytrinkets@yahoo.com .  The Fall monthly charms will be sent out Monday :)

The pecan pie is very reallistic looking, the filling is actually a mixture of 5 diferent colors of clay.  The buttery crust, and toasted pecans look toasty too.  I also brought back my roasted turkey, but I took a lot of time perfecting him, he looks much better than lasts years turkey.

The last food for Thanksgiving is pumpkin pie.  I did really want to make a lot more, but just didn't have enough time. 

 I am still taking Holiday food suggestions.  Please leave your holiday food suggestions in the comment section below to enter the contest.  You can make one suggestion a day.  Just browse through the suggestions to make sure you aren't replicating any suggestions.  If google wont let you leave a comment, just let me know your suggestion through etsy or by email.

A Unique Gift for Teacher

Welcome back!!   I haven't had time to do much creating in the last month, but I did make some fun teachers gifts.  I made several varieties of apples in trying to keep with the tradition of bringing your teacher an apple.

Suprisingly enough, all these apples in the photo above are based off of actual apple varieties. I spent a lot of time scouring images of different apple varieties, and found some very pretty apples.  Each tiny apple is hand painted in layers of color then I finish them with a glossy glaze to achieve a glass like look.

This is my replica of the Black Arkansas Apple.  The Black Arkansas Apple is shaped a lot like a plum, it is much rounder than the apples you normally see.  These apples are usually picked when they are a deep crimson red, almost burgandy, and they darken to a deep purple to black as you store them.  It is believed that they were cultivated in Arkansas in the 1840s by a man named John Crawford.  It is usually a apple that is stored, and gets better as it ages.  It is said to have yellow flesh, and is sweet and tart like a dessert apple.   The flavor is known for being complex and has honey and almond undertones.   

This pretty apple is the Ginger Gold Apple.  In 1969 Hurricane Camille left Nelson County, Virginia flooded. Clyde and Francis "Ginger" Harvey's orchards were devastated, and while trying to recover what trees they had left, they discovered one tree that was different then the others.  The Ginger Gold is a rounder shaped apple, that varies from a pale golden apple with a pink blush, to a rich golden color.  The flesh is a cream color, and the apple has a mild flavor with a tart finish.  The Ginger Gold is used a lot in making apple pie.   The Ginger Gold was the offspring of Golden Delicious, Albemarle Pippin, and an unknown apple.

The Jazz Apple has the more familiar enlongated apple shape.  It is a very golden yellow color, with a rich orange rusty colored blush that darkens to red with age.  The Jazz apple was cultivated in 1985 in New Zealand.  They are a cross between Gala and Breaburn apples.  They are sweet, and a densed fleshed apple that are great for eating fresh, or baking in pies.

 The Granny Smith Apple was cultivated in 1868 by Maria Ann Smith in Australia.  The Granny Smith is an enlongated apple shape that contains pretty bright green an yellow colorations.  The Granny Smith is actually the only apple I am familair with on this list.  I have had the on many occasions, alone, and in candy apples. 
Yumm!!

These Duchess Apples have a very water color feel, to an extent they all do, but these really do.  The duchess apple has the familair apple shape.  They ripen in a very stricking way though.  They are a pretty yellow green, then as time goes by pinks and red start appearing around the middle of the apple leaving the shoulders green.  The Duchess Apple is believed to come from Russia in the early 18th century.  These apples are often used in making apple pie. 

The Viking Apple is a beautiful crimson red apple sometimes containing burgandy tones with an enlongated apple shape.  This apple was introduced in 1969, on the east coast of the United States, and is used mostly for making pies.  It is known to have tart white flesh.

The Pink Pearl Apple  is a pink fleshed apple.  The skin is a creamy translucent color, The pink flesh can add pink tones to the outside of the apple from the inside.  The apple was developed in 1944 by Albert Etter in northern California.  I read somewhere that they make a fun pink applesauce.

This fun apple is the Maiden Blush Apple.  The Maiden Blush originated from New York in 1817.  This cutey caught my eye because of its donut shape, and fun coloration.  Most of the images I came across of this little cutie were green on one side pink on the other. 
I hope you enjoyed this little Apple Collection, it is seasonal and will only be offered a couple of times a year.

The Contestis still running as usual.  We are just finishing the Fall foods which will appear in my next blog.  Now feel free to start making your Holiday food suggestions :) in the comment section of the blog