What pretty feet you have - macarons.

Try saying the title to anyone and you will probably get a puzzled look.

But when you tell that to a tired baker who is bringing out her 294th batch of freshly baked macarons and praying madly they turn out okay, it all makes sense. 

I've read enough horror stories online about baking macarons - shuddering tales of shells sinking in the middle, uncooked in the middle, cracked collapsed weird lumps. (google 'macaron fail' and you'll know what I'm talking about)

So I'm sticking to baking miniature macarons. Thankfully they have always turned out picture-perfect so far, hooray!

 

Everytime I make miniature food, I try to make some kind of miniature packaging for it. Sometimes they are little grocery bags, sometimes burger boxes, this time though it was just a simple white box. I decided that the macarons were fanciful enough to just sit pretty in their clean boxes.

This batch of lavender and rose macarons has a diameter of about 1cm, and was sculpted in 1/4 scale and fits MSD dolls. They are already on their way to Finland, but if you would like your own, just click on the Shop link on the tabs above!

Or if you're lazy.

In other news, thank you everyone for the subsciptions to AiMail! I squeal everytime I receive a new subscription, it is that exciting for me! Please keep them coming, there's still time before the first issue in December! ♥

Crunch. (Cookies in a Jar Pendant)

And so I can't believe I've never blogged about this before. I keep checking over and over again before I post this, because I feel like I must have shared the photos with all of you, but nope, if I did it was probably in a dream. 

Which means I must be going slightly nuts and AiClay-obsessed to be doing work even in my dream! Which is probably another story for another day. 

I digress. 

Chocolate chunk cookies always remind me of the Christmas tradition of leaving out a plate of cookies for Santa when he comes swinging through the fireplace. (Not practised in my country, by the way. Most of us don't have fireplaces and if there are Santas they are probably taking the elevator.)

And here is the pendant I am ashamed to have hidden away for so long. I do like the thought of receiving this in a Christmas stocking, just a piece of Christmas memory encased in a little glass jar.

Available in the store.

Oh yes, did you notice the panel of tabs at the top of my website? Now you can hop to shop in the shop, find out about workshops available, update about your AiClay order, subscribe to AiMail.. So go click-crazy!

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Announcement: AiMail is here!

Bambi is helping to show off what each issue of AiMail will be arriving with. ♥ It is a monthly issue so do not worry about me bombarding your mailbox, I hate spam as well. All email addresses will be kept hidden from other subscribers.

How to subscribe? Just click on the 'Subscribe to AiMail' tab on the top of this website, and leave your email address in a comment there! Alternatively, send me an email to buzz@aiclay.com using your working email with 'I want to subscribe to AiMail' in your subject header.

Just a note about the FREE SHIPPING coupon codes, they will be exclusive to AiMail subscribers. ♥

Lastly, if you like my work and photos, please support AiClay and subscribe! ♥

A fast food war.

My little doll hardly has any toys to play with, so she went a little mad playing with her food (and mine).

That's a real life burger by the way, along with a miniature 1/6-scale burger I handsculpted.

The silly girl feels short-changed at the vast difference in size of burgers.

Hope these brought a smile to your faces! Happy Tuesday! ♥

The last time you made something.. ( SMU Artdicted Workshop 2011 )

.. can you remember when? 

As the world grows severely dependent on technology and gadgets, we are leaving behind the most traditional (and sometimes, most fun) ways of making things.

Now when we think of how an item is made, what comes to mind is sweatshops in a rural part of China, child labour and whirring machines. It wasn't always like this.

Since working full-time on AiClay, I have had the opportunity to create with my hands everyday. Looking at the world around me, I wanted to remind people that our hands aren't just good for clicking mouses or punching keyboard keys.

Therefore, I was really psyched when an arts club (Artdicted) at one of the local universities (SMU) approached me a few months ago, and asked if I was willing to teach a miniature food workshop for the students, as the last event they're holding for 2011. I was more than willing, in fact I was tending much towards the extremely honoured and excited end of the spectrum. ♥

So after much bouncing around in excitement, I got down to planning and shopping for my very first big workshop. Logistics was pretty crazy, and I was still buying brushes and needle tools on the day before the workshop! There were 12 students who turned up, a huge number in my books! 

Brought down my pasta machine, along with the supplies I usually use and some miniatures to show them the unlimited possibilities of the craft. The students were so cute, they started an orderly queue for the pasta machine even without any instructions from me. :)

I must admit my throat kept closing up and there were some butterflies in my stomach in the first half hour, but we all soon warmed up and the participants were well on their way on making their own basket of miniature bread! 

Some of the proud bread-bakers, snapping photos of their first miniature foods. ♥

I also had my good friend D (blue-shirt lady below) and my boyfriend JY come down to help me out and they were amazing! JY had to drive me and my crazy barang (toaster oven, luggage filled with supplies) down despite being on a tight schedule himself. And D, she was kept busy with setting up the many worktables and sending miniature breads for baking in the oven. Both of them also took turns taking photos of the workshop. ♥ 

I handed out feedback forms at the end of the workshop, and when I got back home after a celebratory dinner and pool session with JY, I got to reading all of the feedback. And they were all terribly heart-warming, so many of them who took time to write a good long paragraph.

There were those who learnt a lot about what goes on behind creating miniature foods, those (the guys) who were surprised at how much they enjoyed it and that crafting wasn't just for girls, those who wanted to eat their own creations (lol), some who were just thankful for the crafting intervention in their otherwise busy lives.

I would be putting up some of the testimonials on the workshop tab (yes notice the tabs at the upper column?) soon! 

If you've attended SMU Artdicted Workshop 2011 with AiClay, I need to thank you for joining me and being a part of this great milestone for AiClay's workshops. And the Artdicted team, and my lovely assistants. ♥

Lolli. Pop.

Part of the order already packed and travelling en route to France. ♥

This is a miniature lollipop, sculpted with casting resin and polymer clay in 1/3 scale. 

Lesson learnt, it was a lot easier said than done to mold a circular shape, but with rare determination I shall proclaim that this wouldn't be my last lolly. In fact, I'm hoping to build a mountain of miniature multi-coloured lollies, ala chupa-chups.

Tied on a little bow on the lollipop stem and gave it to Bambi for modelling.

If she looks surprised, it's because the lolly is a lot bigger than she expected. Well, it's hardly her scale so I don't blame her.

{She's a Fairyland Pukifee Bonnie, fits 1/6th and 1/12th miniatures)

I swear in the next post, I will be showing you guys photos from the SMU workshop (and that the next post happens within this year). Die procrastination, die!

Oh yes, I'm also deliberating on setting up a commission progress list, where all my customers and those interested in commissioning can see the progress on their items, and also the length of the waiting period. Anyone else thinks it's a good idea? 

Have a sweet Friday, everyone! ♥

Are you a burger-lover?

If you're shaking your head in reply to the title, let me apologise in advance.

Because there will be many burgers appearing in this entry. I warned you.

Ahem.

Cheeseburger, hamburger, fish burger. Go ahead, pick a favourite.

They are all handsculpted in 1/6th scale. {For BJD-owners, they fit pukifee, lati yellow, yosd-sized.)

 How can a burger be without its box?

Imagine this last photo in an old newspaper advert for the newest burger joint in town, and you'll appreciate the graininess. Otherwise, I'll just have to admit that I got a little enthusiastic with the grain meter in photoshop. :)

I still have some miniature cheeseburgers to show but I think I'll allow you guys to digest this first eh?

A rare day of Halloween sewing

Carve a pumpkin, give out candies, wear a scary mask.

This can only mean Halloween's here! Sadly I didn't do any of the above, I passed on all of these Halloween festivities due to the SMU workshop which happened last Friday.

But I was quite determined to do at least ONE halloween-y thing this year. So, armed with thread, some green felt and a whim of spontaneity, I set about to sew a Halloween outfit for Bambi.

I snapped the photo below while making her boots, borrowed her foot for a while haha. 

 

 Remember when I asked you to guess which animal outfit I would be making?

A few guessed a frog, but there were some who were right. It's a turtle! ♥

Wish I had time to sculpt a miniature pumpkin, or some halloween candies! But I'm dedicating all the sculpting time to fulfilling all my commission orders instead.

It was refreshing to be crafting in a whole different area, aside from sculpting. Absolutely loved the fact that I didn't have to care about dust and madly clean my fingers every 5 minutes. (Yes I do that when I'm sculpting!)

Here's Bambi blowing kisses to all of you.

Happy Halloween! ♥