Thursday, December 27, 2012

A belated Christmas present.

I hope everyone has had their bellies filled with holiday goodies the past few days!

I know mine is. :)

Also decided to photograph some of my favourite miniature Christmas works together, and of course that's my awful snow Photoshop effects again lol.


With the coming and going of Christmas, the Christmas Draw is also over! 
The winner has been selected and it's lucky number 23

I won't spoil the suspense for you, and you can go count the votes to see if you've got a belated Christmas present heading your way.


85 lovely people joined in the voting fun this time, thank you!

It's going to be another 11 months before we draw close to Christmas again, but here's something that might make the waiting easier.  



Thursday, December 20, 2012

So here's a really late Christmas Draw.

I made a miniature Christmas logcake and perched it on a ring.

I was looking through photos of Japanese Christmas desserts and got inspired by the strawberry snowmen, how adorable and creative are those!

Pardon the lousy snowdrops effect I made in Photoshop, ahem.

This will be for the Christmas Draw, giveaway is international!


Head to AiClay's facebook to win it!

HAPPY HOLIDAYS!

You have till Christmas Day to submit your entry. :)

Friday, December 7, 2012

A 2-carat Bun.

Yesterday, I was part of a secret mission entourage to the airport, where my cousin had decided to propose to his girlfriend.

She said YES! ♥


Along with a gorgeous diamond ring, she was also presented with a whimsical AiClay commissioned ring - of one miniature bun and two carrots at
the side.
Her nickname was Bun, and the carrots were a play on 'carats'.

Do join me in wishing them a blissful marriage. 
Congratulations cousin Ryo and soon-to-be cousin-in-law Jiayi! ♥

*Photo of proposal taken and edited by cousin Kenji. :)

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Thank you for voting, along with feedback collected from friends and family, I've decided to name the puppy Taro! He's slowly showing his naughty side as the shyness wears off, yikes. Feel free to give me puppy advice, especially when it comes to biting and barking!


Subscribe to my twitter/instagram to view more photos/updates of him!

twitter: https://twitter.com/aiclay
instagram username: joceaiwei

Thursday, November 29, 2012

Pastels and a Puppy.

Hello. 

So here are some miniature works of mine, these are part of something bigger. But I thought the rainbow pastel colours were so pretty I wanted to photograph them separately. 

Can you guess what they are?


Another thing, those who follow me on instagram/twitter would know I'm about to have a new addition to my family next week - a puppy!And I'm kind of in a dilemma about his name (yes it's a boy!), so I need some help.
I'm deliberating between either Taro, or Romeo. 

Taken from my instagram.
Follow me, my username's joceaiwei

 (yup I said puppy, not polar bear lol)

What do you think, let me know in the comments! ♥


Saturday, November 24, 2012

A pair of miniature chopsticks.


Miniature Dragon Nest bento is completed, with a pair of handmade chopsticks. 
They were cut and sanded from a toothpick by the way. :)

Monday, November 19, 2012

Making a bento - miniature style. :)

Hello! I just had one of the most amazing weekends, to sum it up I'm finally going to be able to get a furry friend in my household. :) You'll know more if you follow me on twitter or instagram!

So, today I wanted to conduct a little pictorial cooking recipe for bento. Okay, so it's actually a miniature bento.. and it's made of polymer clay so it's inedible.

But I reckon the steps shouldn't be that far off from a real life recipe. Here goes!

Step One of making bento.

First, you'll need some colourful vegetables and eggs. Yes, the cherry tomatoes have eyes on them and the carrots are cut in the shape of the ghosts from the game Dragon Nest!  


 Step Two.

Next, you want to lay out some fresh lettuce leaves on the bento box. 


Step Three.

Now you want to cook rice and make it into a ghost shape (following the Dragon Nest ghost!) and lay it on the lettuce bed.
 
[to be continued soon]

Wednesday, November 14, 2012

Whattt, within a week? :)

Thank you for the support, lovely people! 

Within a week, all slots for the upcoming workshop - Pretty as Cupcakes Earrings, 
have been snatched up! :)
 

For those who did not manage to get a slot, there will be more workshops coming up and more chances to craft together! ♥

For everyone who have successfully registered, congrats and please check your mailboxes within this week as I will send you an email with more details of the workshop! Can't wait for Saturday!! :)
 
The next thing I wanted to announce, is that AiClay now has a YouTube account! And while there is just one video in there now, I will be uploading more miniature food related videos definitely! So please subscribe to the AiClay channel, so that you would be informed when the videos are up.

For my first video, I have some footage of what went on during the most recent AiClay Workshop at Hwa Chong Institution. Do watch it if you have always been curious about my workshops!

Oh yes, I did film and upload the video in Full HD, so do watch it in HD! 

Monday, November 5, 2012

Pretty as Cupcakes Earrings - design your own!

Excitinggggggg news! I have finally organised a workshop where we would make adorable cuppycakes, and you'll get to design your own!  

Workshop details are in the poster below.

As always, it's 10% off (that's $5!) for those who have attended my previous workshops. ♥ 

Head here to see a bigger-sized poster.


Really hoping to have you join me at a fun crafting session! ♥

For everyone who's overseas and can't join us, this is another way you can own this pair of cute cuppycakes (personalised with your own letter!) - http://bitly.com/RAfWG2

Sunday, November 4, 2012

Design your own cupcake earrings! ♥


A little teaser for the upcoming workshop - they are cupcake earrings. 

*Btw, this is just my design for the little cupcakes. You will get to design your own!


It will be happening in 2 weeks and spaces are very limited, so look out for the actual poster coming up real soon.

Save the date for an afternoon of crafting with me!
Will you will you? :)

More details coming up very soon!

Wednesday, October 31, 2012

Biggest craft workshop (so far) !

On 15th and 16th October, I taught and crafted together with two full classes of Hwa Chong Institution students. With 20 students for each class, and a trained assistant in tow. :)

That's 40 miniature baskets of breads made, enough to feed a village eh?


They were absolutely darling to teach, and so polite too! Every time I handed them a tool, or helped them with a question, they would thank me warmly.

When me and Jackie (AiClay Fellow Helper for the day :)) were walking around the school compound, some students even bowed to us in greeting! It did take a bit of getting used to haha.


As usual after my workshops, I have lots of photos to share. So there'll be minimal talking here, just many pictures. Especially love the snapshots of their concentrated looks, bent over their little works. 


And when they're smiling and relaxed, always nice to know they're having fun. 


Oh yes, that's a life-size bread basket in the next photo by the way. ;) This was the first time I brought in the real thing when we're sculpting the miniature version.

And my, the reactions from the students whenever I put the miniature version beside the real one were priceless! Definitely would try to do that for my future workshops. 


 I'm the one in the peach-pink knitted top with the weird expressions. Jackie is the one in black. :)


I always feel a tad like a sales promoter during the demonstration on how to use the pasta machine lol.


The lady in teal pants is Betsy, organiser of the series of craft workshops held in HCI. She was wonderful to work with, very responsible and it's inspiring how far she's come with her own crafting business! Head on over to Knotty Bicsie for more of her needleworks. ♥ 



Good for you if you've made it so far in the blogpost. :)

Guess what! The diligent cameraman, Jack (haha) has also filmed some footage of the workshops! So once I've got around to editing and arranging, I'll be putting the video up so you can finally see in action how it's like during the workshops! ♥

If you would like to have a Miniature Food Workshop conducted at your school/event/company, just email me at buzz@aiclay.com and we'll talk more then! Who knows, AiClay's Workshop might be popping by your school next!

Andddddd, I'm hoping to hold a few Christmas-related Miniature Food Workshops this November and December. Yep, I did say A FEW. :) So keeping my fingers crossed and do check back this space for more! Or just subscribe to AiMail and let me do the work for you.

P.S I only had photos of the first day at HCI, as I left my camera behind for the second day. If you're one of the students that day, and have photos to share with me please do! :) Just share them on the facebook page.

Monday, October 22, 2012

Spooky Halloween is here! { lolly cookie }

Hello! ♥ 

So I've been gone for a while now, if you follow me on twitter/facebook you'll know what I've been busy with! I'll elaborate more about that in the next post, but here's a photo to give you a clue. ;)

 
So I've been getting many emails asking for miniature food tutorials and videos etc. And that's definitely a project I'm working on! Yes, I know I say that always and the to-do list is just horrendously long now. :(

But in the meantime, here's a little how-to in the spirit (PUN INTENDED!) of halloween. I actually adapted them from the real life frosting methods, so you can use them for your real baking as well! Just substitute black clay with fondant for the itsy bitsy spiders. 


Enjoy and do share photos if you make them! :)

Thursday, October 11, 2012

It's a hot dog, no a sausage, no waitt a bratwurst!

Never mind what it's called, it's just really tasty eh. And I love them meat when it's packed in a bun and with a squeeze of mustard and chilli. Mmmm.

Miniature hot dog/sausage/bratwurst bun handsculpted by me. 
Miniature packaging designed and handmade by me too.

It's about 2cm in length by the way.

 

I put it in the store on Sunday midnight, and I woke up the next morning and checked my email as usual. Somehow I had this feeling that the Paypal fairy has arrived and it really did! And took away the miniature hot dog bun and gave me oh sweet cash instead. (just kidding, I'm not that in love with money haha)

That was the fastest I've ever sold something, got me smiling that whole day. :)

But I've got a few of them hot dog buns, so here's another one in store


Today was the first official day I introduced someone new into the AiClay team (hello Jackie if you're reading this!), and she came over to my workspace for a training session and to help in painting some miniature baskets for next week's workshops.

Picture of the mess we made, from my instagram
Follow me there, my username's joceaiwei! 


It was really awesome to have someone to chat to while working on AiClay, and I'm already envisioning a bigger workspace next time with a bigger AiClay team. Working on sculptures, marketing, packaging etc. Of course, there is still quite a while to go before AiClay reaches that, especially with the staggering rental cost of a workshop in land-scarce Singapore.

But I can always work towards that right? ;)

P.S The workshops are held by Hwa Chong Institution so they aren't open for the public. To everyone who has been waiting for the workshops, I'm working on conducting one in November! -fingers crossed!

Saturday, October 6, 2012

A crumb cake to take away.

One more photo, so that you get a sense of the size! :)

Of the miniature crumb cake handsculpted by me. 
(Read backstory in previous post.)


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Also, I've confirmed someone for my fellow helper for the upcoming workshop. But for everyone else who sent in their details, don't worry because I'm saving all of you for future projects! Definitely hoping to get as many people in the AiClay team as possible. :)

It's my brother's birthday this Sunday, happy 21st bro!! ♥ and I've never remembered to say this, but also thank you mom, for the hours of pain and labour 21 years ago resulting in me having a sibling. :)

Happy weekend everyone!

Monday, October 1, 2012

Crumb cake is crumbly.

A back story about this miniature crumb cake.

It was commissioned by one of my most loyal customers, and this was modelled after the crumb cakes her late grandfather used to make. She also showed me some vintage photos of her grandparents' long-gone bakery and shared memories of her childhood.


I especially love it when customers share their precious memories with me, and makes me work even harder at recreating the food miniatures for them.

Her grandfather used to make crumb cakes which were 3/4 crumb, and 1/4 cake, so I recreated that proportion too. I would show more photos soon. :)

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If you're not subscribed to AiMail or AiClay's facebook page, this would be the first time you're hearing this. AiClay team is expanding! Well, it used to be just me (and JY as advisor :)), so now I'm looking for more people to join in the fun and craziness!

This is what I posted in facebook.

♥ ♥ ♥

WANTED: AiClay Workshop Fellow Helper
 
A friendly, smiley elf wanted! 

I'll need you to help out in my miniature food workshops, mainly preparing and handing out materials/tools, and assisting the participants if they have questions. :) This is on an ad hoc basis.
Most importantly, you have to be free on both 15th and 16th October! Besides these two days, I would also be conducting a personal training session for you (nth serious, it'll be fun and more like a free workshop for you!).

Only 21 year-olds and above are allowed to apply. And of course, you'll be paid for being part of the AiClay team. :)

Experience in clay would be preferred, though not necessary as I'll be teaching you during the training session. However, you have to like crafting! :)

If you're keen on being a Fellow Helper at AiClay's Workshops, please email me at buzz@aiclay.com with your full name, age and handphone number, and 'AiClay Fellow Helper' in the headline.

 ♥ ♥ ♥
I've already heard back from quite a few helpful elves heehee, but please continue sending your details over if you're keen! There would be more workshops coming up and I might need more friendly helpers! ;)

Friday, September 28, 2012

It's a wrap!

Before I forget all about it, I wanted to pen down my after-thoughts for the filming which took place 2 days ago.

It's not everyday that you get to be filmed by a professional filming crew for an actual television show, and it was an experience I wouldn't have traded for anything. So firstly, kudos to the Mediacorp producer, Karon who found AiClay and decided my life was interesting enough to be featured in her show. :)

That's my mom in the green top, she also had a small part in the filming! 
Sadly I didn't have any photos of myself during filming, so we'll have to make do with this.


Firstly, there have been quite a few people asking how did I manage to get all of these media appearances, on television and newspapers. To clarify, it was always by invitation and usually somebody from the filming crew/journalist circle would be the one finding out about my site and works and suggesting it to the head in charge. And of course they would have to approach me if I was interested and things would start rolling from there. :) So a suggestion to crafters who would like to get their works noticed by media producers, do get your work out there on as many sharing platforms as you can. Like social network sites, facebook/twitter/flickr etc.

But a dash of good luck wouldn't hurt, so I'm defintely counting my blessings on getting picked by these media producers. :)

Now let's go on to my after-thoughts! Pretty lengthy so go grab a cup of tea. :)

1. Too many make-up products out there! Haha, this probably sounds really random but as I had to put on make up for the shoot, I did have to venture into the crazy, expensive world of make-up. Besides wedding dinners or extra-formal events, I hardly ever wear make-up and have always borrowed my mom's products even during those rare times. So yes, I ended up buying concealer, lip butters, and learnt all about primers, eye gels, lip glosses etc.

2. I can't remember lines at all. I had already affirmed this during my project presentations during school. My eyes will always be flitting to my cue notes while I was nervously stammering through the entire presentation. So for the filming, I decided to just get through the interview by saying whatever that came to mind. There were some retakes of the same questions, and everytime the host asked me the same question, I would give her a different reply. -__-

Filming was done at 3 locations, the playground, my bedroom and the dining area.


3. Take a moment to think about what you say on camera. This is related to the previous point. After the filming I started recalling what I had been saying while the camera was rolling. And I so regretted a lot of it, because they weren't true reflections of what I felt and thought. For example, the host asked me why I had chosen this path when I could get a job in the media industry since that's related to my university degree. She asked this same question 3 times, and everytime, I gave her different answers. Sometimes I got side-tracked and started talking about how I had chanced upon clay and realised people liked my works enough to want to buy them. Another time, I told her that my parents had always instilled the belief that happiness and health were the most important things in life. But now that I've had 2 days to mull over the question, I know my true answer.

The reason why I've decided to pursue this path, was that I wanted to have maximum control over my lifestyle. That I could decide when I wanted to lie in bed nursing a fever, when I wanted to jet off to some faraway land, when I wanted to take a toilet break. That I wanted to decide how much I was earning, and know where every cent was coming from exactly. After having experienced one year in the workforce, I know that freedom to live my life exactly how I want to, is something I would not trade with a steady paycheck. :)

The fact that I chose miniature food sculpting over other business ventures, was just a mixture of fate and passion. :)

 My miniature works were sitting on a little platform which was whirling around, while being filmed.


 4. Nobody decides when to stop filming until the producer/director says so. Many times I got tempted to go "waittttt! can we cut here?" during filming. Like when, I was stumbling over my words during the miniature food demonstrations. Or when the neighbour's baby let out a huge wail and I stopped mid-way while talking, wondering if that would affect audio.

5. Never look at the camera. Well, I guess this depends on the type of filming style the program required. For my program, I was not supposed to acknowledge the camera or audience at all, just the host. After so many years of being camera-ready and smiling at the camera during photos etc, this took some adjusting to.

6. My neighbourhood is really noisy! Even though we had small microphones secretly planted in our clothes, atmospheric sounds and noises would still be picked up on by the sensitive booms. A few times we had to halt filming because of various interruptions. The drone of a passing aeroplane, laughter of kids playing at the playground below, slamming of doors by neighbours..

7. A Noddy take. Do you know what's that? It's the filming of just the host, nodding her head and reacting as if I was replying her questions. I also had to be present, so that the host had a point of reference but I was just blankly watching her nod through out. It did get a tad awkward and I looked away a few times haha. I guess the editing team will be cutting the Noddy take and inserting them in between questions during the interview.

8. In between takes, do not remove or reposition any objects within frame. This includes the chair you're sitting on, any tools you have on the table, your hair. Or if you went for a toilet break, make sure not to get any part of your clothes wet. All of this is for continuity sake, so that the final edit would look like everything was filmed in one take.

Look at how much filming equipment there was for just a small one-day shoot! 
There were some more which were out of frame. 


9. Some things are just not within our control. As the episode is mainly about AiClay, I hoped to showcase just my best works. But from the producer's point of view, she wanted to showcase as many miniatures she can and to have enough to fill up a table. Since I hardly produce stock and usually sell off my miniature works as soon as I make them, the only way was to display my old works as well. Therefore, you might spot some in the final cut. I just hope there would be no close-ups of the old/unfinished works, as I honestly cringe at them and would hate to let viewers think that is my standard of craft. :(

10. Anything can happen behind the scenes. What you won't get to see in the actual episode - the gingerbread man flipped over before the frosting was baked and it was smeared. Due to time constraints, there was no way to refilm the entire process and I had to try to repair the damage done. But it still looked pretty horrid. :( And the producer just informed me that everything is shot in HD quality, oh noes.

11. Saying 'this is the last scene' is taboo during filming. Apparently, the word 'last' is unspeakable until filming is wrapped up.

11. Filming is TIRING. I was up since 6am and started filming from 8am all the way till 5pm, with a 45minute lunch break in between. All of this footage for just 10-15 minutes worth of broadcast in the end. I'm no longer surprised when 2-hour movies take up to a year for shooting. I can hardly imagine all the logistics that goes into it!

So that's about all I can remember from the shoot.

The little Toggle mascot which I sculpted as a surprise! 


Finally I want to say a huge THANK YOU to the filming crew.

There were a total of 3 camera men, a host, a producer and an intern. Everyone was extremely nice and patient during the filming, and also continually praised my works which made me really flattered! Especially to Karon, if you're reading this, thank you for picking AiClay and me for the episode, and always ready with a smile even when faced with my silly questions. :)

Sunday, September 23, 2012

Durians, and The Big Day Tomorrow!

Here are some miniature durians handsculpted by me.


But I'm really here to tell you about the BIG DAY tomorrow.

Yes, it's the long awaited filming for the program 'Behind This Door', it's happening tomorrow! -nervous butterflies in belly.

I still don't have my clothes picked out.

and I have this weird spot on my hand which appeared this morning. How perfect for all the macro shots when I'm doing my Miniature Food demonstration tomorrow. :(

But at least, my room is all packed and ready for Toggle Mediacorp production crew.

Wish me luck!! ♥

Monday, September 17, 2012

A buffet of miniature cakes!

So.... Many.... Cakes! 

I haven't had lunch, and my stomach is whining just looking at this photo.

Miniature cakes handsculpted by me, commissioned gift set for owner of Sift Desserts.


A brand new week in September, how fast is this month going by! 

If you would like your own spread of miniature goodies too (or you know a friend who would love it), September commissions are now open! You know where to go to for more information! Only 4 slots!

Thursday, September 13, 2012

Back with some pudding love!

Baaaaaaaaaaaaaack! ♥ 
This time, I brought along my DSLR so I got to snap away. 
Sharing some photos at the end of post, but first.

Here are some miniature pudding cups I handsculpted ('cept for little metal spoon). 
Packaging handmade by me as well.


I searched high and low for Jello pudding cups in the supermarkets here to investigate the packaging further, because believe it or not, I have never had a pudding cup before. They're hugely popular snacks in Hollywood movies, so I guess puddings are just not an Asian thing.

Now I have two cups in my fridge, just waiting for the right time for me to indulge. :)

Sharing a few of my memories of Bangkok. :)


1. Scoot airplane which flew us there.
2. The first dinner we had when we landed, Japanese!
3. My elephant ♥ top which I bought in the previous trip there. 
4. Hotel breakfast for all 3 mornings, we got to choose the kind of eggs we wanted - scambled, omelette, hard-boiled. 

I did enjoy my Bangkok getaway, did some crazy shopping too since everything was cheaper over there. Maybe I'll share some of them in the next post. :)

Saturday, September 8, 2012

I believe she asked for Carrots. ;)

Hi all! 

I'll be leaving for a short getaway to Bangkok in a few hours! I'll be back on Wednesday, so all emails and orders will be attended to then.

Also, thank you for all who have participated in the previous giveaway, really enjoyed reading through the proposal stories! Results for the winner are in.

-drumrolls.

Congratulations shoppingqueenie! 
Please email me at buzz@aiclay.com to receive your prize - a Free Worldwide Shipping Coupon.

Hope to see more people joining in the next giveaway, there will be more to come!

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Leaving you guys with another photo of the carrot ring. 

It has a name now too - I believe she asked for Carrots. If you fancy it, please nab it here. It can come with 1, 1.5 or 2 carrots. ;)


Till next Wednesday then, adios amigos! :)

Also, I'll be updating my Instagram regularly with snapshots of my trip. My username is joceaiwei, feel free to follow me!

Wednesday, September 5, 2012

Cake and cute English guys.

Here are some miniature cakes handsculpted by me, part of the commissioned gift set for owner of Sift Desserts.

I also handmade all the little labels and cake boards, they really do add to the realism don't you think? #buaypaiseh


Now let me introduce you to some REAL food porn. 

As much as I would prefer my workspace to be in a grocery market or at a quaint cafe or anywhere surrounded by food, it's not really possible. So I've got to find yummy inspiration to work on my miniature food sculptures.

And I think I've found the perfect one. They come in the form of a few cute English guys, drool-worthy HD videos, and a dashing of spontaneous hilarity.

Just head to this YouTube Channel - Sorted Food and you won't be able to stop at just one video.

I'm leaving you guys with one of my favourites from them - a Lemon Meringue Pie Recipe. You have to watch the part where the meringue is caramelised with a flame-torch, so beautiful and yummy!

Monday, September 3, 2012

Some of my favourite miniature food sculptures.

I hope you like the new blog header. Changed it because I've received feedback that people didn't know what my blog was about, just the word AiClay didn't say much. I wouldn't be surprised if first-time visitors who just popped in thought that this is a cooking or travel blog.

If you've been to AiClay's facebook page, you would recognise that the blog header is adapted from there. I try to change a new cover photo every month on the FB page. Note the word TRY haha.

Lastly, here are some other facebook cover photos I've had in previous months, starting from May.  They feature some of my favourite works I've sculpted so far too. :)


My preference for the tiffany blue colour is crazily apparent huh. :/

The Free International Shipping Coupon Giveaway is still on-going, get participating at the post below! ♥

Wednesday, August 29, 2012

Waitttt, I thought you meant carrot! {give-away}

Giveaway information at end of post!

Sigh. The things guys resort to, to get out of getting a girl her best friend - diamonds
(Or so Marilyn Monroe says.)

1.5 carrot ring handsculpted by me.


This carrot/carat ring idea has been on my list of ideas-to-work-on FOREVER, and a few weeks ago, someone commissioned this as his proposal ring. Of course, this ring was sped up through the list and got made finally. 

After getting the green light that he has presented his fiancee with the ring, I can finally show off the ring! :) 

Personally, I'm not particularly fond of diamonds, and especially not of its hefty price tag. I've heard of girls preferring to get Tiffany's classic ribbon ring instead of diamonds. Also, there are those who swear by the diamond and its symbolism of eternity. 
  
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So here's a give-away because I'm curious.

What about you? What's your dream proposal, or how would/did you propose? 
Or how were you proposed to?  

Share your proposal stories by commenting below (with a valid email address), and a lucky winner would get a Free Registered International Shipping Code for use in my Etsy shop. 

There are no expiry dates for these codes. Only one comment for each email please! Giveaway would end on 7th September midnight. ♥