1:12 ADC Basic Strawberry Cane

strawberry cane for beginners. i'll teach my students how to detail it further in class :)

it's not exactly a tutorial either, gonna use it alongside Lesson 2 this saturday. doubt i'll have time to edit/render/upload more by then, especially when this laptop keeps crashing when i do any graphic editing (the graphic card probably overheated, weather's been really warm lately too). we'll just have to make-do, like we did last saturday!!! :P

another competition! and some quick updates

I was recently alerted to a lantern-making competition, and am hoping to participate! I wasn't sure where more info could be found online, but a quick search on Google turned up this:

http://www.ntu.edu.sg/events/pages/newsdetail.aspx?URL=http://www.ntu.edu.sg/events/events/Pages/ChannelUinvitesstudents.aspx&Guid=dcf9e9a4-bdf0-4811-81b1-77be49732dd0&Category=Event%20Calendar

the brief can be downloaded on a link via the page itself.

Participation is free-of-charge. Pre-registration by 31 July 2011 is required to confirm your participation. All completed entries must be submitted to Central (6 Eu Tong Sen Street, above Clarke Quay MRT) on 15 August 2011, no later than 5pm Singapore time.

i hope to participate, but what with the stuff going on, i am not exactly hopeful :( we shall see!

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been keeping busy, what with a strained neck and all (yea i forgot how heavy clay can get -_-"), hence the lack of updates. made a video to help with lesson #2 of the workshop this saturday.....getting the hang of editing videos. apologies for the poor quality, can't do much with my laptop overheating + virus (cleared with AVG) + crappy lighting/video skills.



not sure if i'll make more videos, depends on how effective they will be (if they can be shown at all!) during class. didn't provide a narrative cos i lost my mic,.... and i don't like the sound of my droning voice (it doesn't sound like me, or the me i think i sound like), so again the class will have to put up with my frantic breakneck speed explanations. :E

the first class went as well as could be, considering the class size and my lack of experience. i hope the students enjoyed at least some of it, i know i wasn't as concise as i'd liked (read: LONGWINDED), but i had a script all ready that sat untouched and unread on my table, that's how i tend to do things! i can't even follow -my own- directions -_-"""""""""""""""""""""""" zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz

ah well. *heavy sighs*

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made these the past few weeks, was meaning to list some of them, alas, my IBS kicked in and i was OOC for a few days, so that kinda messed up my schedule again. *fumes* i really wish my body would co-operate with my brain GAH.

WIP pics. i sent the above preview to Asuka, and remarked that it looked like a poker chip -_-" bf agrees.

LOL.

preview. am setting up a workspace so i can conduct lessons on basic polymer clay caning. syllabus and details should be made available by September...2011 (hahah i said i'd start teaching aug last year....geez talk about slow)

more pics for another post, got some stuff to do, and my comp is not cooperating. *shakes fist at it* grr.

1:12 Caladium hortulanum

 the weather in Singapore has been really warm lately, and thus dampened my enthusiasm for making clay minis. so i decided to work with materials that did not melt in my hands :P

next to Eva's cute little acorn house!

i found a wonderful plant tutorial quite a long time ago, and tucked it away in my bookmarks for until i could find a way to incorporate it into whatever project that would call for greenery. you know how you would print out little projects that you hope to get to 'some day'? i have quite a number of folders of stuff like that :P for those who might want to add another project to that folder (if you haven't already!) you can find it here:

http://les-miniatures-de-victoria.oldiblog.com/?page=articles&rub=212034&nba=3

googletranslate was a great help, and i did manage to get them out within half a day (with plenty of distractions of course, courtesy of a little four-legged 'helper'). initially i was going to finish them with a satin varnish, but initial results looked too plasticky to my taste, so i switched to matte and i think they look pretty good! i don't really like round pots, prefer angular stuff so i picked out a Re-ment planter from the home centre series and used it :)

in case you were wondering what i printed it on, i used a regular old 80 gsm copy paper, but would much prefer something thinner, and set to best photo quality setting for matte papers. the instructions are pretty self-explanatory, plenty of pictures are in the tutorial!

* forgot to add earlier that i did run a green pen down the sides of the leaves to hide the white paper, i think it makes a world of difference! oh and of course that i crinkled up the paper too before i varnished it....

i'm not sure why, although i do like flowers in a 'please don't buy me flowers i prefer them in the field' kind of way, i would much prefer a beautiful green plant. i remember learning about poisonous house plants way back in primary/elementary school science, and caladiums really stuck in my mind. firstly, for the way it rolls off the tongue, and then because they just look....so happy! i really like the shapes of them, and the colours. if ever i were to own a plant (*snort* it's amazing i kept my dog fed and watered daily as it is, and she has to remind me) i would probably pick a hardy green leafy one, like these :) just don't let the kids touch it!

i hope this planter will brighten up my nook a little. going off to try and do a little 'mini-baking' now that the weather's a little cooler today :) hope you enjoyed my little show-and-tell!

Work and Play

Thank you Eva!! These beautiful gifts were from Eva when she visited Singapore last week, Asuka, Sans and I got together and Eva cooked a beautiful meal for us :D I overate as usual, so much salad (I was being cheeky and didn't say "when" early enough XD XD XD) so I guess it isn't too bad XD will wait for Sans to put up pics cos we used her camera hee hee.

i also got a beautiful little menu done by Asuka herself for TDA! she stayed up all night before TDA to make this...the results were well worth it! i've stored it away safely for when i get a doll *sighs* it's ok, at least i know there's one other person who thinks like me *winks at Jenn* XD Sans gave me a set of small teeny screwdrivers too, it seems we're always exchanging little handy tools and such for minimaking hehehe! NEVERENDING STORY XD in case you were wondering what the 3 items at the back left are, i bought some sanding sponge thingies from Daiso...the numbers are supposed to indicate the grit size i think....haven't tried them out but i plan to do a bit of woodwork when i can...soon.....soon......*sweat*

looks like my little photonook is filling up nicely with gifts from my friends around the world, i'm so happy to have met you, Dale, Rosanna and Eva :) so lucky so lucky! (i daren't put the acorn house and the frog in the nook, cos my shelves aren't held up by anything except some tacky glue XD)

doesn't end there! Rayner came back from a company trip to taiwan. he woke me at about 2am early monday morning to give me this...A HUGE DOMOKUN AHHH!!! I LOVE HIM! he's like this cute clumsy bumbly creature (eh, sounds familiar) and this would be my first Domo-kun related merchandise cos as much as i like him, and PLENTY OF OTHER CUTESY STUFF, i know that surely, if i indulged there would be hell to pay for it.

like a lack of a wardrobe HA!

or lack of a workspace. DOUBLE HA!

all nonsense aside, it really was a good weekend :) i've had to really sit down, compose myself, and get some 'real work' done though. the miniature workshop starts in about...2 more weeks...applications close in 3 days.

strangely, that's not what i worry about. for a few good years i've had to give private tuition, i don't think it would be all that different. me, talking non-stop (i'm good at that, check), faffing around details i find important but will probably not be (high points, check), baffling people with sudden topic shifts (oh look, birdy!).

where was i?

OH yes. 'work'. here's stuff i've put up on DoA Marketplace.....you know, usual procedure, or email me snowfern at gmail dot com yada yada yada....~

NPNT, so here they are! Io)

 uhnnnn i got distracted while waiting for the pics to upload, so a /random moment:

http://rrkra.deviantart.com/

SO DAMN COOL. imma bead a little after i get some work done, got heaps of beads lying around from back when i did quite a bit of it XD

back to 'business'

oh~! i'm so happy! while creating this post, some of the items sold already! looks like i need to do some more pic editing @ @

eh. where did the time go. OH YA. btw, i've added more links to the right....do take a look! ^ ^ man i really love playing spot the difference XD XD XD

Interview, Feature and Updates

aka 'shameless self promotion' lol. by the time i got round to this post, the July issue was made available, and there is another similar page, so i decided against posting it XD

a friend of mine recently interviewed me for this spanking new magazine that features heavily the local arts scene, and since this month's special is all about handicrafts, he asked if i wouldn't mind answering a few questions :) you can view it here!

http://www.pocketsg.com/

i also finally start taking photos and putting up the larger scaled items over on DoA. for those who have access to the marketplace, you can view the thread and items available for sale here:

http://www.denofangels.com/forums/showthread.php?345069-Realistic-Food-Props-by-Snowfern-Clover

or email me for pricings at snowfern at gmail dot com. i have quite a number of other items yet to list, so stay tuned ^ ^

last saturday was so much fun!! photos are in the camera, but i'm all frustrated out (eh?) by all this picture taking stuff that imma go take a break before i tear out my hair. @ @ let's see how much more i can get done today....*wanders off disorientedly*

1-12 Persimmons & Coca de Sant Joan

made out of polymer clay :) they are all approx 0.5cm wide.

 i had previously done some, but had a request for more. i always felt that the older persimmons i'd made were too big and the leaf portion was too thick for the scale.....so i was determined to make them paper thin this time.

compare and contrast :S

better yet, i had a real life model to work from :P problem is, by the time i got the mini ones done, the actual persimmons had been lying in my room for 3 days, and spots had started to appear T-T if necessary, they could probably be stippled with acrylics. we'll see.

big small photos are fun to look at! 

 Eva had mentioned these in an e-mail, and I had never even heard nor seen such a food item (of course! i'm such an ignoramus when it comes to foods -_-")

 so i made this Coca de Sant Joan for her :) i don't think she has time to read this post before we get to meet tomorrow, let's hope it'll still be a surprise tomorrow LOL

made an extra, actually this was the first one i made, but i felt it looked a bit too plain and ordinary. Eva does more fantasy minis, i hope she likes the one i made for her in the tray!

time for rest. weather wreaking havoc with my system again, puked my guts out 3 times today, and that's the less gross bit of what -actually- happened XD ;P :O~~~~~~~~ :X