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! ♥

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. ♥

{ My Take on It } Firmoo Sunnies.

Scroll to bottom for your OWN pair of free spectacles/shades!

Ahem, this is my first product review and I'm so excited to share this with you all!

Firmoo could not have contacted me at a better time. I was just wondering whether I should invest in a good pair of sunnies when I received a email from Firmoo, stating that they would like to send over a pair of their eyewear for a review on this humble blog.

All of my previous shades were too huge and had thin frames which threatened to break with the gentlest twist. So I definitely pounced on Firmoo's offer.

Seeing how eyewear is as much a fashion accessory now as well as a sight aid, please read on my dear readers!

So yes, this post is sponsored but this is all honest opinion, promise.

 

If you haven't heard of it yet, Firmoo is a very popular eyewear company and has eyewear for men and women, sunglasses or any spectacles in frames you can think of. Honestly, I took so long just to choose my pair, they all looked really chic.

Here's the BEST part. For first time customers, Firmoo is offering a free pair of glasses, no matter which price range they are or which style they are. You just have to pay shipping, that's it!

Shipping was pretty darn fast, I received mine within a few days after confirming my chosen shades. And while I didn't get a chance to photograph the entire package, but the sunnies came with a sturdy case, cloth, glasses pouch, extra screws and a handy little screwdriver!

I put them on straight away and wow they are really sturdy. I chose the pair that was slightly aviator-like, with a tortoise shell frame and gold rim at the top. They looked exactly like how I had pictured looking at the photos online. 

Oh yes, they also had a nifty widget in the website which allows you to see how the eyewear would look on you. You just had to upload a photo of your own face.

So my take on my pair of Firmoo Sunnies? I was very satisfied. ♥ Nothing much to pick on at all, honestly.

Here are the useful links again.

 http://www.firmoo.com/free-glasses.html

 www.firmoo.com 

P.S Please pardon my interchangeable usage of the words, sunnies/sunglasses/shades. I'm indecisive like that haha.

August Commissions are opened!

Selamat Hari Raya!

So I wanted to blog about it on the first day (19th Aug), which is also the day marked the end of Ramadan. In case you didn't know, Ramadan is a month-long period of fasting observed by Muslims. Although I'm not a Muslim, my country is happily multi-racial and so I know a little about the festival and religion.

But I was being a tech-idiot and I spent a few days figuring out how to upload photos onto my blog using Flickr when Blogger informed me that I had reached my limit on Picasa Web Albums. Which is why I'm only blogging today. Ok why am I boring you with these information. 

So here are some miniature pastries commissioned as a gift for the owner of Sift Desserts. Just a disclaimer that AiClay is not affiliated with Sift Desserts. But they do have beautiful desserts, I was practically salivating when I was browsing through their gallery. If you're in Hong Kong, you might want to pop by their cafe for a treat!

These miniature replicas are entirely handsculpted and modelled after Sift Desserts' creations, with permission from the commissioner as they are gifts for the owner. There are still a lot more to share in upcoming posts!

 

I was in the markets of Kampong Glam that day for a last minute checking out of Hari Raya goodies and soaking up of the atmosphere. There were swarms of people, mostly Malays getting in some hasty shopping for new clothes and goodies to serve for the next day. Me and Jack bought a Ramly burger to share, mmm it was good! If you ever spot one of these Ramly stalls, you have got to try their burgers. They are just full of kampung tastiness, though I wouldn't want to know what really goes into their wonderful mystery meat. :/

Yay, a photo of them in my hand. I love these photos most, though they're a pain to take. Try balancing a heavy DSLR in one hand and you'll know what I mean.

Finally, August Commissions are now open! 

Only 2 slots this time, because I have some other collaborations taking place. Like, the Mediacorp crew will be heading to my workplace to film and interview me for a segment on a new programme. - excited cheers inwardly. And I really want to gather some time to plan a few workshops. :)

As usual, all AiMail subscribers will receive this announcement at least half a day earlier than the rest, so get subscribing if you want to get first hand notice as well! 

Pandan leaf.

How is summer treating you guys? 

It's unbearably hot here. I step out into the outside and even without the sun glaring down, the heated warm air hits my skin and beads of perspiration form instantly. :(

Today, I have a close-up of the streaks of green in the pandan leaf on the miniature tutu kueh. 

(that's a lot of prepositions in one sentence)

In case you didn't know, pandan leaves are widely used in Southeast Asian delicacies, as it lends a refreshing fragrance especially when it's cooked together with the pastry. Pandan is such a unique SEA-ian spice, so proud of our ancestors who found out about it haha.

Oh and a heads-up, I'll be opening up commission slots next week! ♥

Are you wearing a kueh?

Made the kueh tutu into a charm.

It's so tiny (at 1cm wide) that it can be worn as a bracelet charm, as well as on a necklace.

Available in the store here. ♥

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In other news, a wasp just built its nest on my window and my mom had to knock it off (along with a baby worm inside eww)! Now I'm deathly afraid Mother wasp would return to claim my life for its child, and it keeps hovering at my window (all closed now) right as I type.

Till next entry (if I'm still alive)!

Kueh tutu, and a small announcment.

Just a heads up to those who have been waiting for me to reply to their mails.

Miniature kueh tutu, sculpted by me. 

More pictures coming soon. ♥

Somehow the Hotmail server just stopped pushing mails into my inbox from last Friday, and I was only able to access them on my phone on Monday night.

And guess what, I woke up yesterday to having 2659 unread emails in my inbox. -__- Basically, they marked every mail there was as unread!
(Urgh Hotmail, why you do this to me! Should I change to Gmail hmmm.)

So it's going to take me a while to get to the actual unread ones, please be patient with me guys! ♥

Pretty packaging & le winner!

So firstly, thank you all for participating in the Gold Coast Giveaway!

I was lol-ing through out all your creative ways to crack the macadamia nuts. If you need a laugh, please head to the comments section of the previous post!

Since the number of participants was quite small this time round, I allowed myself the luxury of doing a lucky draw the traditional way. Jack saw me cutting out the little slips of paper, and his jaw dropped and he went, "OMGWTFBBQ are you doing??" Okay, I might have exaggerated.

But he thought I was crazy for 'wasting my time' on that, when there were online tools like random number generators.

Tsk, never mind him. In the end, I gave him the task of picking out a name with his eyes closed anyway. (Yep that's his hand.)

Drum roll please..

Congratulations Mable!

♥

I'm also sending the gifts in this Cath Kidston gift bag.

P.S those polkadot sheets are actually tablemats, and they were a spontaneous buy at Daiso (where everything is at $2!). But my family doesn't use table mats so I decided to use them for photoshoots instead.

Finally, just to share my adorable notepad where I write little notes to my customers. 

Look at that heart cactus! and the heart teapot! Awww.

Hope you have a productive Thursday!

How are you quacking this Friday?

Looking at these little ducks make me think of picnics, ponds and yummy egg mayo sandwiches.

I handsculpted the miniature duck macarons (yes they're macarons!) and made them into a ring. 

Oh the cuteness!

 The ring is also in the store. 

 I decided to get a little absurd with the name this time haha.

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As a side-note, I'm wondering if any one knows someone who can create a Bigcartel widget? It should be like my Etsy widget (viewable on sidebar), but featuring my Bigcartel listings of course. If anyone can help, I'll be forever grateful! ♥

Lastly, 2 more days left till I start drawing lots for the Gold Coast Giveaway! It is such a cheap thrill to draw the winning name haha. Head over to my previous entry and join now!