My last cookie.

I can't remember. 

It's been so long since I last had a cookie, let alone bake some. 

I do miss the wafting smell of cookies from the oven, seeing as I arrange my schedule every day, I should really clock in a baking session one day.

I found some old photos of 1/3 scale miniature cookies I had sculpted. ♥

Have a wonderful Sunday!

I'm a hand-model. {sweets & cookies}

Saturday morning. 

You're about to see a lot of my hand. My left hand specifically, since only my right hand is strong enough to hold the heavy DSLR by itself.

I was commissioned last month for a box of cookies and sweets, and here are the photos to show.

I started out by sketching some outlines of animals.

 

I know I've posted this photo a few entries down, but I do love the elephant biscuits so.

 

I had fun thinking about the different cookies/sweets I wanted to include in the box. The iced gems that I showed a few entries back were made for this commission as well. ♥

The box is handcrafted as well, remember the entry about drawing the flowers? It became a cover for the box, and there's also a plastic cover.

Thus ends this entry of photo diarrhoea, hope you like it! ♥

Have a great weekend!

The pineapple has spoken.

Thanks for the support, everyone! ♥

A little disclaimer in case it wasn't obvious, that's a real pineapple. In my real kitchen.

how to break fast & photos from Mother's Day.

I don't know if that's the official meaning behind the word 'breakfast', but it sounds pretty logical as it is the first meal we take after a fast of 6-8 hours (when we're sleeping).

So I often take advantage and eat as much as I can hahah I'm such a pig. I even vaguely remember that whatever we eat within an hour of waking up contains only half the calories it actually has. Don't ask me how it works, or if it's true. It's just a comforting thought while I'm scoffing down all that bread and eggs and what-not.

  

So when you think breakfast, you got to think of PANCAKES! 

It's such an English food (erm don't quote me on this as well), but Mcdonalds has spread the culture of eating pancakes for breakfast all around the world, so yup we Asians love them too!

This pancake pendant is sold out in the store right now, but do check back as I'm hoping to make some again!

Today, I also sent out the second issue of AiMail, and also announcing the official opening of May Commissions! Visit the FAQ tab on top to find out how you can nab a spot!

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So Mother's Day just passed, and here are some photos of how my family spent it.

We went for Japanese lunch earlier in the day. My brother and I were treating (my father got lucky since it isn't technically his day hahah!) so we asked my mom to order anything she wanted. And we had loads of sashimi with chawanmushi (sweet cooked egg), came with a heavy price tag in the end but hey, it's Mother's Day.

My mom looks tired in this photo, must be weary from the anticipation of what we kids had up our sleeves haha.

This is a better photo of my dear mom. ♥

After lunch, we sent the parents together with my aunts and uncles for a surprise karaoke session (yes we Asians are big on that!). And the children gathered in my cousin's house and got busy in the kitchen, as we had to whip up dinner! I prepared Vietnamese spring rolls, and it was a bit of a failure as I had prepared the filling the night before and left it in the freezer. On the actual day itself, the filling refused to defrost and I was left with a huge chunk of cake-like filling.

My cousin had to stir-fry the filling in the end, before I could wrap it in the rice paper and fry them in the pan. They tasted not too bad in the end, on hindsight I should have bought more prawns and meat though. -writes down notes for next year's Mother's Day.

Ending off with a photo of roses that we prepared for the moms, one each for each child. So my mom gets two! Roses don't smell too awesome though, took a deep sniff just now and almost choked from the weird smell. :(

And don't stop showing your love for your mom just because Mother's Day is over! 
I'll try taking my own advice this time. ♥

Are you a mom?

For all the washing of dishes, nagging over the phone, making sure we eat our greens, laundry-washing, preparing our meals, being our alarm clocks in the morning..

Moms, you are the most amazing people ever.

Miniature zoo of animal cookies.

Happy Mother's Day! 

♥

To my own mom, I love you and for everything you do for me.

How I lost my voice.

This has got to be a record of the number of days between the actual workshop and me actually blogging about it. A record that I shall not break ahem.

The lag is not without reason though, allow me to explain.

My throat was feeling all scratchy and weird on the morning of the workshop. So that was the first alarm bell ringing off and I had to continually gulp water down during the workshop.

I don't know why my face was like that too. 

After the workshop, my parents (who tagged along as helpers for this workshop for the first time yay!) decided that we should join the rest of my family for dinner, and guess where we went.

A charcoal barbeque and steamboat buffet! My incredibly uncomfortable throat closed up a bit in horror upon hearing that haha. So I ended up paying $30 for a meal which consisted only of cooked leafy vegetables and mushrooms in the steamboat soup. I felt so sad for myself.

But the strict vegetarian, no-bbq diet did not pay off, as I still got a horrid sore throat at the end of the day. Probably from breathing in the bbq smoke. 

And then I had no voice the day after the workshop! I'm counting my blessings that the throat infection happened only after the workshop, and not before. Imagine me speaking in a scratchy manly voice for three hours. Yikes. 

Some of the ladies at the workshop.

 And that is the story of how I lost my voice. 

Maybe I should write a bit about the workshop itself. There weren't many hiccups for this workshop hooray, and I had a lovely group of participants to sculpt with. This time, it was an all-girls turn out, which is a first for my workshops! Usually there'll be a few guys in the mix. :)

Also, my parents were helping out at the workshop as JY wasn't free, so it was a first for them to see me conducting a workshop! Try to spot my mom, she's seated at the back in the photos haha. Thankfully, I didn't have jitters this time, except for not remembering the word 'consistent' and having to use 'so we'll try to mix until we get a homogeneous mixture' instead hahah. Like a chemistry lesson hur.

I usually hand out feedback forms at the end of workshops, and I shall type the feedback out one day! One of the ladies there, Joan, suggested that we could play some light music during the workshop. And you know what, I'm totally taking that up, thanks Joan! Guess I'll be shopping around for some music hmm.

Lastly, let me introduce you to my new shop! Isn't it looking all spanking and clean!
-beams proudly though it was just very simple html coding.

Now visit the shop please, and let me know if there are any glitches in the system.
♥
Thank you very much! 

Miniature iced gems.

When my titles get all literal like that, you know I'm in a nua mood. (for non-Singaporeans, nua means feeling sluggish and not wanting to move/do anything haha)

So it's been a pretty nua Sunday so far, headed out for roasted pork and rice for brunch with the family and am back home now. It's my grandma's birthday today (sheng ri kuai le ah ma!) and I'll be trooping over to her house for just a small get together. Probably armed with a cake haha.

Speaking of cakes, I got a bag of iced gems at the bakery just now! Guess the craving kicked in while I was editing the photos of the miniature ones I had made.

Oh yes, it's just 2 days away from Tuesday, which is when I'll close slots for the Rose Cupcake Workshop as I need some time to prepare materials etc. So do send over your registration mails if you haven't! ♥

And look at little Mio enjoying the colourful treats, she's so adorable I couldn't not put this up.

I hope you have a lovely Sunday nua-ing away. ♥

The most delicious way to learn colours.

Do you agree? If I were a kid, I would take eating these colourful treats anytime over looking at boring color cards.

These are called iced gems, and I've handsculpted the miniature versions.

If you're interested to see whose legs those belong to, more photos could be viewed at my Flickr.

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Mother's Day was never a competition of the heaviest price tag on the present, it was a day to show how much you care.

Remember how happy your Mom was when you gave her a handdrawn Mother's Day card, or that wonky handpainted ceramic cup? Let's recreate that moment this year.  

Or if your mom is interested in crafting, why not give her an early Mother's Day present by registering for her! She'll have fun at the workshop and have a pendant at the end of the day to always remember your sweet present.

Want to join us at the workshop? Email me at buzz@aiclay.com by 1st May to register your slot! Grab a friend or even your mom and both of you can have matching pendants after that. ♥

Yes, I'm cutting off the registration slots on 1st May so that I have some time to prepare materials, so that's next Tuesday!

and now I have something important to share! ♥

For all of those who have indicated Attending on the facebook event page for the workshop, but not emailed me yet, the reason why I require an email registration was so that I can give you my payment information as I only confirm slots upon full payment. So if you're one of them, email me at buzz@aiclay.com NOW pretty please, thank you!

I know I sound like a broken radio but I can't stress this enough, and I wouldn't be able to accept participants who just turn up at the workshop without registering.

So yes, for the last time, EMAIL ME! ♥

Burning my tongue. { apple pie }

If there was a list of dangerous foods, the apple pie would probably sit near the top.

I don't mean the ones which come as a whole round pie, but those which are in the packet, hot and toasty from your nearest fast food chain. Usually Mcdonald's.

I used to really like getting one together with my fast food meal, the word apple had me convinced that I was at least getting a serving of fruit in my unhealthy junk fix. hahah, who was I kidding.

But underneath the seemingly harmless crusty top, lies a boiling mixture of sweet apples and sauce which is just waiting to unleash its fury and.. Ok so I'm getting carried away haha.

But it's true! If your tongue has ever been burnt by an apple pie, you would understand my frustration with it. Because of the scalding filling, I had no choice but to nibble carefully around the edges and slowly slurp up the filling. 

Miniature apple pie handsculpted by me. 

I forgot to do my usual finger balancing act, but it's tiny like the rest of my works. 

♥

Damn, and I really just want to bite into that crusty pie without fearing for my tongue.

Update on the Rose Cupcake Workshop, thank you to all the registered participants! There are still some slots left, so if you have a few hours to spare on the 5th of May (it's a public holiday!) and you would like to make your mom smile, do join us!

Send in an email to buzz@aiclay.com to register and feel free to get your friends/family to come along! It's next Saturday so do act on it already! ♥

I love my Mom. { Rose Cupcake Pendant Workshop }

Update: All thanks to a great suggestion by a friend, I'm also going to offer handphone straps to be paired with the pendant at the workshop! Details at bottom of post!

 

I was about to start writing a sappy post about my mom, but she walked in suddenly and I felt all embarrassed in true Asian fashion and deleted the chunk. :/

Guess I'll leave that for when it's nearer to Mother's Day! ♥

So I've finally planned another workshop yay! I've crafted it specially for everyone who would like to give their mothers an unique gift this year. It would be held one week before Mother's Day itself, enough time for you to write a nice card to go along with this special gift! ♥

{scroll to bottom for details of workshop!}

The rose cupcake pendant would be a sweet declaration of your love, and dainty enough to be worn by almost any woman. I'm pretty sure most mothers would love it, because my mom chanced upon it on my table and started gushing over it! Haha, okay that was some crazy generalisation but cupcake + light pastels + rose is some lethal cute combination!

Of course if you would like to make this for yourself or anybody else, I'll be more than happy to have you at the workshop as well! ♥

As suggested by a friend, I have decided to offer free handphone straps at the workshop. So now the rose cupcake can hang off your handphone or bag strap too! ♥ And it can easily be taken off and paired with a chain for a cute necklace when desired.

Hope to see you at the workshop! ♥ Maybe I'll get my mom to go as well hmm.