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!! ♥

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!

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. :)

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!

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!

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!