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Friday, May 7, 2010

a ranty post with plenty of pics

EDIT: YAY I SUBMITTED IT! PHEW! asked if it was possible to submit this, and they said it was OK since it was mostly polymer clay ^ ^ wahhhh i'd better remember to RTFM more carefully in future T_T

back to the whiny stuff :X

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i am such an idiot. i did not read the rules BEFORE i made my entry for the semi-sweets group over in dA, they state specifically only POLYMER clay was to be used. somehow got it in my head that any medium could be used, and that the deadline would be 7th. but no, the deadline's 11th -_-" what's come over me?


anyhow *sigh* i couldn't think of what to make so i asked bf what he would like. he said a parfait, with pocky sticks, wafer, strawberries and plenty of strawberry sauce. me, i think it looks like someone bled onto it. so maybe it was a good thing that i disqualified myself from the contest T_T

how i did -that- was, i made ALL the components, the cornflakes, the wafer, the pocky sticks, the strawberries, ALL from polymer clay, BUT!!!!! the 'icecream' was air dry clay! there's no way i can bake the clay in that parfait glass (or should i say, plastic?) which was one of the reasons why i opted for ADC. T_T here's how i did what, for the 1:6 version:

cornflakes - polymer clay, used a towel to get the texture
strawberry slices - polymer clay cane, old stuff i made
pocky sticks - polymer clay, it even had the grill marks on it like pocky sticks do. sigh. then coated with LPC and baked. it's real thin and rather fragile, but eh, i don't know how to get around that. it's barely 1mm thick!
wafer - polymer clay. used the detail on my utility knife
strawberry - polymer clay, then painted with acrylics for detail
chocolate twirl - polymer clay strip baked around toothpick
sundae - air dry clay, piped into glass.

SEE??? SEE HOW MUCH WORK WENT INTO IT??? AUGH *stabs self*

that'll teach me. :(

sigh. anyway. here's a 1:12  version. i guess i could have baked this one had i used PC, but i wasn't sure i'd achieve the peak (it's hard with PC as it's sticky and messy) and since i already had the ADC ready to be piped, might as well continue right? the cornflakes were so tiny LOL i guess i could have shredded up some paper but i really really wanted to challenge myself. or make myself go blind. whatever. i'm sure Yotsuba would enjoy this. looks so bloody, i really gotta find a better way to make the 'sauce'. maybe i'll just dig out everything and re-do it. ha ha. *grim faced*

this is the 1:6 tower i did for a customer. originally, she brought me a pic of Betsy's tower for reference, but i didn't want to 'copy' her works. my customer then said i could interpret it my own way, since i had already made 2 other towers for her and she just wanted a 3rd, different than the first two. i struggled over how differently i could build the macaron tower, so i switched up some elements to complement my customer's colour requirements.made the macaron shells and molds for them myself. had to, or i'd die making the individual shells XD

i don't particularly enjoy making the towers, they are sooo intensive (that's more than 60 macarons on that tower i think, so over 120 macaron shells, i lost count, excluding the batch of 100 shells i accidentally burnt T_T). maybe it's easy to some people, but any form of repetitive work just slays my hands. prob why i tend to mix up my designs and try to minimize batch work.

for those who are keen on making one of their own, Betsy does have tutorials available on her etsy :) i do so admire Betsy's works and contributions to the mini community, probably why i struggled so hard with rejecting/accepting/re-rejecting/re-accepting this commission. it's hard for me to say no to someone who has supported me right from the beginning, encouraging me to explore and invent myself, purchasing my works and commissioning me for more. this is the first time i'd run across this issue. i wish i could divulge more, or that i could have handled this better, but i feel i've already said more than i should :(  

maybe i should just charge higher, so they would go straight to the original artist rather than me XD i really would hate to think of my rates as 'cheap'! *angry look* i put a LOT of work and time into making these!!! grrr. hell i've already reduced greatly my commission slots, maybe i'll give it up altogether, i'm so angry.

anyway. on to happier stuff.



requests from a different customer :) sorry about the eariler angsty outburst. ha ha. these cakes make me much happier cos i had more room to work with, creativity-wise. the raspberry/eclair cake was something i did a long time ago, this is probably the 3rd one i've made so far. i changed the eclair mold though, not that anyone would notice but heck, i do! took this around 5pm, losing sunlight....gahhhh


and..some tarts. these are just samplers for the size. reminds me gotta make more whole fruits. :D

had a burst of creative energy, after being utterly frustrated by the macaron fiasco. funny, that i only made 1 macaron in 1:12 XD here it is, on my 1:12 mini cake! i know they're oddly designed, but i'm experimenting with different techniques. i think my fave is the one foremost, with the polka dots. i would so eat that. :P these are going into my personal collection, i love them so much :D the cake bases, are the burnt macarons XD XD XD woot woot recycling!

so i didn't win theminifoodblog contest, but i had so much fun making my entry, and pushing new boundaries, so thank you all for your support and votes! i am so happy that other than my bf, his 2 friends and my 2 brothers and 2 friends who voted, i got far more than the expected 10 votes XD (no i didn't vote for myself i'm not -that- narcissistic! ha ha bf says i'll make a crappy politician wuh?) i am looking around for more contests to participate in, oh crap i forgot about the other one that i failed XD better get to work on that, i don't even have an idea yet T_T

thanks for reading. or just looking at the pics. :)

12 comments:

  1. Cindy, I love your entry for the mini food and of course voted for you :). I would be lying if I tell you , yours was easily the best ;p because there were many which were just as good but I LOVE your daring use of black and seriously thought yours stood out. Of course, it helped that you are truly good at doing what you do too ;)!

    This parfait cocktail that you did is remarkable! Polymer or air dry, they are all clay right? It is not like you used paper ! Must you really disqualify yourself ? lol. I think you could have stood a damn good chance. If you keep at this, you must apply for IGMA artisan when the time comes . I am counting on you to do Singapore proud! Cindy, I am sure many people come to you for you. Just keep at developing your own style. Stick to your guns.

    Also want to let you know, I finally tasted my 1st macaroon today. And it was gooooooood, so good I had 3! Arghhhhh...

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  2. oh Sans! i was feeling utterly down earlier, Eva growled and snapped at me when i tried to get her to go into her cage for bed, and it upset me so much, first time she's been so aggressive towards me!!! i think even the hot weather is getting to her. sigh.

    so your comment here really perked me up :) thank you for your vote and constant support! i think you're the only person who's consistently commented on my posts XD

    i re-read the rules, and in an earlier announcement, they didn't say POLYMER CLAY, just CLAY, but i guess i didn't pay attention nor realise that the group was specifically for POLYMER CLAY XD see, see what a goondu i am? well i've posted a question about that and i guess we'll see if i can still submit it, if not i think i'll see what i can whip up in 1 day, since i reserve weekends for bf, so i don't want to burn it just for the contest....

    i have given up hopes on IGMA, mainly because like i posted before, i might have to drop minis for a bit. real life stuff seems to be beckoning a little too strongly for me to ignore, so i'm cramming in as much minis as i can now. pity, i would so love to make mini-making a career T_T but thank you for your confidence in me. we have plenty more wonderful miniaturists here in SG, maybe they just aren't as obsessive about blogging and showing off as i am HA HA HA :X

    macarons are such a sinful treat. my fave has got to be the caramel with caramelized almonds from bakerzin. you had 3? zomgzorz i can almost imagine you trying to run off all that guilty pleasure! to think i really didn't like them much when i first tried it a few months back XD

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  3. this is the coolest thing, i never actually met anyone who made miniatures!! you rock!

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  4. love 'em to bits! they are so cute!

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  5. thanks mr.pineapple man :) you're about to meet many many MANY more!!!

    hi Sumaiya! thank you! ^ ^

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  6. His work is impeccable, very good, original.
    You are a great miniaturist!

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  7. Good that you could do the entry as you did so much work with it :)

    And I also LOVED your entry, I loved the use of black, SO nice :)

    And I have to say that your mini cakes, they look fab.

    Ira

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  8. Your food is really perfect.
    Geneviève

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  9. Thank you Teresa! you are always so kind about my work ^ ^

    Ira! so happy to have found your quirky, and fun blog!

    thank you Genevieve! oh, you have a wonderful and colourful collection, and the cute stories you make with them make me smile ^ ^ yes i dream of miniatures too hehehe!

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  10. Hey! I posted here, where'd it go???

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  11. Dale! i had the same thing happen to me over at Sans', i thought my wonky brain might have forgotten to wait for it to submit properly before i closed the comment window (but i really remember seeing the comment appear before clicking it close :( ), now i know i'm not the only one, yay? XD

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  12. Oh Cindy! I did that so many times when I first started blogging it was embarrassing. I thought I had gotten better. ;)

    I did write you a really sweet note, maby not as long as Sans ;)
    but the sentiment was there.

    I try to remember to look twice anymore when I post. I said I try. lol ;)

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Thank you for taking the time out to comment! :D