29th February.

Is it the magical day over at your side yet? I've always been curious about this day, might have to carry out some google-ing to find out the reason behind why it only occurs once in 4 years.

 

Someone on my facebook posted that today is a day that we all work for free. But I prefer to think of the positives (plus the fact that I pay my own salary lol), and is there anyone out there who was born on this day? 

Waitttt, I just had a mindblowing thought, does that mean your actual birthday would only fall on your 4th, 8th, 12th etc etc birthdays? 

Actually on hindsight, that isn't very mindblowing. Pardon my mathematical disability.

Anyway, I just want to say a very HAPPY BIRTHDAY to everyone who only gets to celebrate their birthday every 4 years! 

Please have a huge celebration and a rocking time to make up for the other 3 years! ♥

I'm tapping my toes to the beat, are you? ♥

Eggs + Flour = Pancakes

I remember making pancakes on a few occasions. 

Once was on JY's birthday, other times I just felt in the mood for some early morning baking, and once in a blue moon the pancakes craving would kick in really hard.

They are really easy to whip up, and you can find recipes online everywhere. Personally, I like knowing where my food comes from, so it's always good making my own pancakes rather than mixing up some processed bought mixture that comes in a box.

By the way, I've omitted a few ingredients in the title, they might be easy to make but there's more than eggs and flour in them. ♥

Miniature pancakes handsculpted in 1/3 scale, about 5cm in diameter. Plate also handsculpted by me.

Lastly, I love taking shots of eggs, they are such lovely symmetrical natural subjects.

a little guessing game.

I played a little game with my facebook and flickr friends that day. I posted the photo below, and asked them to guess what it is. 

For those who haven't seen it, let's play it too, shall we? ♥

The hint I gave them was that it's a part of something else. Very vague I know, but previous experience told me that my fb/flickr friends are fabulous guessers.

Here's 1 minute for you, before you scroll downwards for the answer okay?

.........

........

......

(hey, no cheating it's not 1 minute yet!)

....

...

(58, 59, 1 minute)

.

Time's up! Sorry to have wasted 1 minute of your life haha.

But did you guess correctly, it's a 1/12th scale cherry stalk! 

 Alright so the stalk is almost hidden by my fat fingers here, the second picture shall show off the stalks better.

I also sculpted the tiny white bowl, as I was getting irritated with the mass-made bowls and plates looking all out of scale in photos.

All of the cherries are in 1/12th scale, handsculpted by me.

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Yesterday I went to a friend's place and carried a little baby of 9 months. Can't remember the last time I was so close to such a tiny human being, and the experience was so sweet. He had such bright eyes and smelled heavenly with that powdery baby smell. Once in a while, he would make little laughing noises which made all the adults go awww and give him starry gazes. ♥

Tonight I'll be going for a local play as I got complimentary tickets from JY. I have no idea what it would be, and don't have any intention to read up on it. Shall just head there and see what's in store. Maybe the actor would just hold a water gun and squirt water at an unlucky audience member the whole 2 hours and keep chanting 'moist'. Hahaha. (joke reference: How I met your mother)

Sunday is a day for making friends.

It's been 2 days since the workshop, and I took the whole Monday to just rest in bed and refuel on energy. Workshops just drain me somehow, must be all the talking and getting psyched before the class.

It is time to share some photos from JY who kindly acted as both assistant and photographer during the workshop. ♥

I just realised that my mustard cropped top was all matchy-matchy with my yellow work tiles. Yup, that's me with that weird kissy expression.

Most of the workshop participants came alone, but it was really nice to see them chatting to each other like old friends, laughing at accidental flattening of baguettes, helping each other catch up on the sculpting.

I believe that at the end of the 3 hour workshop, most of them left having made friends, and that was very sweet to see. 

I learn something every workshop, and this time what I took away from Sunday, was to not engage in enthusiastic conversation along the drive to the location, so that we don't miss the expressway exit and miss out on lunch altogether. Haha.

Thankfully my (empty) stomach didn't complain too much and there wasn't a symphony of embarrassing growls happening.

A huge yay was that the workshop was totally packed, and it's always awesome to have full attendance.

The projector at the back was hooked up to the video camera I had live-recording my every movements on my worktile, so that all the participants had a good close-up view of what I was doing.

Got to thank JY again, for shopping with me for the elusive AV cable which I almost got conned into buying at 500% higher than the price for what I eventually bought it at. Tsk, I will always remember the uncle who almost got away with it, no thanks to my desperation.

Everyone's holding their little baskets of bread, though you can't really see it.

Once again, I was really impressed at my workshop participants' works! It was the first time crafting with polymer clay for most of them, but their steadiness at handling the chocolate drizzle, working with the crazy small raisins, making the indentations in the baguette, had me believe otherwise.

You guys were brilliant, hope to see all of you at the next workshop! ♥ 

Shades of a pastel rainbow {macaron charms}

It's finally Saturday, which means I'm just one day away from the workshop! 

Even though it's not my first workshop, I have to admit it still gives me the jitters a teeny bit. 

I remember when I was still in school, one of my worst nightmares was the teacher calling me forward to give a presentation to the rest of the class. Facing a bazillion (yes it felt that many) unfeeling pairs of eyes and bored expressions just makes me feel so small (and I'm only 1.5m to start with). 

So most of the times I forgot what to say, can you imagine the awkwardness already.

So my workshops have been forcing me to come out of my comfort zone, and challenging my fear of public speaking. Maybe it's not a good idea to talk about how horrid I was at public speaking just before a public workshop, but fear not, my workshop participants. 

I've come a long way from that timid, self-conscious schoolgirl I was, though I'm still 1.5m. -__-

Maybe it's the fact that I'll be talking about something I have worked with day in and out for years, or maybe it's practice, but there is a lot less nerves talking, more confidence and excitement about sharing the craft.

A small victory for me. ♥

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Here are some macaron bracelet charms that lovely Teresa commissioned a few weeks back. She wanted something in pastel, so I chose these soft shades for her.

I pasted the photo below on the facebook fanpage and asked for guesses on what I was making. Even gave a clue which was 'famous in the land of the tower', and everyone got their guesses right. I'm going to have a lot more subtle next time. 

I enjoyed making them so much, that I'll be making one more set for the store. However, that would be it for now, because I foresee extreme busyness in the next few weeks. So grab it if you like it.

I have decided to cut off registration for the Miniature Basket of Bread Workshop till 6pm tonight, so that's another hour for whoever's keen!

Now please excuse me, I've got some miniature baskets to paint.

Sneezing on a Saturday morning { raspberry tartlet }

Because I'm uncreative at titles like that, and that is exactly what I'm doing. Sneezing I mean.

As much as I would have wanted to leave the workshop post on the top to remind everyone to REGISTER (you get to bring home a miniature basket of bread 'baked' by yourself, isn't that wonderful!!), I've decided that it's probably time to blog.

And when I say blog, I mean it. Usually I just write unfeeling descriptions of the photos I post, like hello this is a photo of my miniature cake, there are 320 chocolate balls on it and 78 cherries on it blah blah blah blah.

I've decided to get more personal with my readers. So be prepared to read more about my daily crafting life, and the joys and trials of being a full-time crafter. ♥

But erm, please allow me to insert another description of my photos - standard procedure, please forgive. 

So here are some miniature raspberry tarts I handsculpted a few weeks ago, jewelled gems decorating a rich chocolate tart.

I only have one last cake stand of this kind in stock, so the tartlets in the shop is the last one I'll be listing for a while. Nab it if you can! Of course it is still a pre-order item so you will need to wait 2 weeks while I 'bake' it fresh for you.

And another almost-forgotten work of mine -  A chocolate muffin ring commission, the customer also wanted the frosting of a pink skull on it.

It reminds me of one of the rings that Captain Planet would have, you know Earth Fire Wind and Water? Maybe it's the way I modelled it, with my fist in a punch.Well, people of my generation would know what I'm talking about. :/

Just one last week to my workshop!
There are still quite a number of people who had emailed me about registering, but had not paid. Please understand that I wouldn't be able to confirm your seat unless there is full payment, as I'll need to prepare materials and tools, and most importantly I would hate to have non-attendees deprive a sincerely interested participant of a workshop slot.

So keep the registration mails coming, there are still slots available at the workshop!

If you are free from 2-5pm on 19th Feb (Sunday) and would be in Singapore, please consider letting your hands come in contact with something other than your iphone screen or keyboard keys. You'll be amazed at what you can create. ♥

Oh yes, and the venue is at Bras Basah Complex, which is walking distance from a few central MRT stations - City Hall, Bras Basah, Esplanade, Bugis. So it should be convenient for almost everyone yay. 

Spent a little fortune on these brushes for the workshop. I've started gathering materials, never too early to start as I learn from previous experiences.

Workshop: Miniature Basket of Bread.

HAPPY NEWS!

I managed to get a reduction in rental costs, and I'm going to transfer this reduction into the workshop fees.

Therefore the workshop is now only $50/pax!  It was originally $65, the poster has been edited to reflect the change. 

Please email me for a slot ASAP as I'm expecting them to be taken really quickly!

For participants who have already paid I will be refunding you $15 each, don't worry! ♥

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The poster says everything.

No, really.

Click here to view larger.

As spaces are limited, please email me to confirm your spot before sending payment. Payment details will be emailed to you then.


*Please note a slight amendment.
I will be accepting participants aged 10 years and above for this workshop.

However participants 12 years and below will need to print a copy of a consent form, as you will be working with sharp tools. Please email me for the consent form.

A parent/guardian will have to read and sign on the form as acknowledgement. Print out the form and scan in the signed copy and send it to buzz@aiclay.com OR bring the signed copy to the workshop itself. 

Hope to see you there!

♥

Maple syrup on that? { pancakes with sausage }

So Chinese New Year celebrations were brilliant. 

In fact, gatherings with friends and family are still ongoing and this weekend will continue to be a busy affair of visiting houses and crazy games.

As usual I have quite a bit of backlog of photos to clear. 

A few weeks ago, I handsculpted this miniature pancakes set, complete with a grilled sausage and orange juice on the side. Oh, and a little container of maple syrup of course.

If you're able to read the small font on the little maple syrup package, it's wholly 100% maple syrup here at Ai, not flavoured. heh heh. :)

That's the little joys in designing your own packaging, you get to write all sorts of nonsense that most people wouldn't bother to read except yourself.

Have I ever lamented on how much I hate taking shots of miniatures on my hand? 

It is a terrible struggle for me, to balance the heavy DSLR on one hand and keep my other hand from shaking.

I need to get a tripod pronto.

I am about 6 hours away from breakfast, sadly it wouldn't be a sumptuous feast of pancakes though.

Off to bed! ♥

P.S Workshop information up next, psst keep 19th February free!