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.

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! :)

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!

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!

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! ;)