1:48 scale dollhouse miniature foods

Finally, a 'proper' update for this smaller scales blog :) For those who are keen on my larger scaled, BJD items, I have updated over at http://clover-tea.blogspot.com on where you can purchase some of the items made for SGDC2014!

Meanwhile, here's a quick update on a commission that I accepted in July 2014, but due to a pretty lengthy injury and mad preparations for SGDC2014, I didn't get much time to work on till this week! Luckily, my customer didn't need it immediately, and gave me time to recover and concentrate on his order :)

There are still a few components to work on, but again, I stupidly sprained my index finger taking photos for my new online store, aiee, why do I keep getting into such awkward situations :(

http://snowfern.tictail.com

As I've explained in my other blog, I can't afford the Etsy fees, so I will try to list more over at tictail than Etsy, but I will still keep the Etsy store open for printables and smaller items, scale and price wise :)

Yup. That's the finger I sprained :( It hurts typing and I hadn't realized how reliant I am on it till now. Ah well. :-/

These vegetables were made out of polymer clay, and they are reaaaalllyyyy fiddly. I finished them with highlights using acrylic paints. The onions and leeks were finished off with teeny thread fibres to simulate the roots....not sure if you can see them....not sure why I needed to add them either, guess many people's observations were accurate, I am insane.

They are in 1:35 scale, though I made them thinking they should be in 1:48, so I was relieved to have some leeway in terms of sizing. In case anyone was wondering why I keep going on and on about scale, these food items are meant to go into a 1:35 scale model that my customer is building, and so I wanted to make sure they scale nicely against his beautiful workmanship! I have seen preview photos of the stall, and am so excited to be part of the project! I will ask for permission from him to share his photos once I am done with his requests, so stay tuned for that! :D

Have a great day! WEEKEND IS ALMOST HERE!!!! woot WOOT!

SGDC2014, pre-event update!

*sings* It's the final count dowwwwwnnnnnn~~!! One day (and a half) left to Singapore Doll Carnival 2014!!! Remember to join us at *Scape if you're free, drop by and say "HI" to Asuka and I! We're probably the first table you'll see as you enter the venue :E Woot Woot~!

"ONCE UPON A TIME"

Date : 16 November 2014 (Sunday)

Venue : The Treetop, Scape (level 5)

2 Orchard Link, Singapore 237938

(Nearest train station : Somerset)
Time : 12pm - 7pm
Ticket Price : $18 (door tickets)

(hahha I kope'd Asuka's edit :E)

View the other vendor offerings here!

http://www.sgdollcarnival.com/booth-list.html

After my previous update, I went into full throttle mode and came up with a few more items....

 1:3 scale miniature potato wedges, chicken tenders (suitable for 1:4 too, or YoSD), with BBQ sauce. Air dry clay, epoxy resin, acrylic paint, sealants, paper

2 sets available for each, all items loose

 1:3 scale miniature fish and chip sets, with coleslaw, lemon slice and tomato wedge. Air dry clay, epoxy resin, acrylic paint, sealants

1 set available, the square bowl at back. Casserole set reserved!

1:4 scale miniature nuggets and fries set, for 1:4 or YoSD. Air dry clay, epoxy resin, acrylic paint, sealants, paper

2 sets available.

1:3 and 1:4/YoSD junk food sets XD

Repost of the first pic cos I can't find the photo for the 1:3 nugget set....gyaaa...lazy to take pics. The 1:3 scale miniature nugget and fries sets come with ketchup, coleslaw in a lettuce cup, and a tomato wedge in a ceramic dish. 

2 sets available (far right in photo)

1:3 or 1:4 miniature tomato wedges, air dry clay, epoxy resin, acrylic paints, sealants

For those who have 'liked' my facebook page or followed my Instagram, you probably have seen these.....they seem to be incredibly popular! I made them a tad small so I could use them in 1:4 or 1:3 settings.....they were incredibly time-consuming to make, but well worth the effort I think ^_^v

Back to Japanese food! (or at least, Singaporean versions of haha)

1:3 scale miniature chashu ramen bowl, air dry clay, epoxy resin, acrylic paints, sealants, polymer clay

Only 1 set available, ran out of time to make more T-T 

1:3 scale miniature kitsune udon bowl, with attached chopsticks for posing with dolls! air dry clay, epoxy resin, acrylic paints, sealants, polymer clay, bamboo

Only 1 set available, not sure if this format will be popular...if there's demand I'll make more when I have time!

1:3 scale miniature kitsune and enoki mushroom udon bowl, air dry clay, epoxy resin, acrylic paints, sealants, polymer clay

2 sets available

1:3 scale miniature kitsune and chikuwa udon bowl, air dry clay, epoxy resin, acrylic paints, sealants, polymer clay

Sold, was a custom request that came in while I was prepping the udon bowls :D Thank you!

1:3 scale miniature egg mayo takoyaki, air dry clay, epoxy resin, acrylic paints, scenic scatter, sealants

Sold, thank you!

1:3 scale miniature takoyaki, air dry clay, epoxy resin, acrylic paints, scenic scatter, sealants. not sure what the boat material is, same as the real takoyaki boats....some sort of wood pulp?

2 regular takoyaki sets available, with mayonnaise and bonito flakes. The 'bitten' takoyaki is loose for ease of posing!

1:3 scale miniature lobster salad/salmon mayo, avocado hana maki, air dry clay, microbeads, acrylic paints, sealants

I LOVE EATING THESE! Well, the lobster salad ones. Have never tried the avocado, but seen plenty of photos.....avocado is also so so omnomnommy! ^_^

4 sets available (in trios like in photo)

1:3 scale miniature okonomiyaki, air dry clay, acrylic paints, sealants, scenic scatter, epoxy resin

Bacon and egg okonomiyaki available, 'cut' okonomiyaki sold, thank you! :D

These are work in progress photos, as I have packed them up safely, but hope to take some photos of everything together tomorrow as I price all my items and do a test layout. 

1:3 scale miniature chopsticks in paper sleeves. paper, inkscape, bamboo, sealant

Many sets available! For individual sale at SGD$4, but only SGD$2 if purchased with any Japanese food sets ^_^ 

I also spent a bit of time designing chopstick sleeves from scratch....my initial design was a fugly pink sakura themed one as I felt panicky and rushed to get a generic design out....luckily CH gave me pause to rethink the design. It so happens that we both share the same Chinese middle name, "Yan4", which means "Swallow" (the bird, not the verb heheh), and I had to give my brain a few seconds to recall how to write my name.....*hangs head in shame* In my defense, I hadn't written it in over 2 years......at least I think that's when I last practiced writing it?! *embarrassed* 

Anyhoo, she suggested I use it as inspiration for the design, and I whipped this out in maybe 10 minutes!!! That's got to be the shortest time I've ever spent on a new design bwa ha haaaaaa! *puffs up chest*

The Chinese/Kanji characters mean "Swallow Sanctuary". The 2nd character, "Ting2" could also mean pavilion....or gazebo maybe? I thought it quite sweet :)))) The hiragana should read "tsubame", the Japanese word for Swallow. I hope I got everything right and not committed some faux pas. Out of all my BJD group of friends, I'm the least Japanese-savvy one!!! Heck, I can't even manage my own grasp of Mandarin and I'm =at least= 3/4 Chinese.....*derisive snort* 

1:3 miniature scale "Large" waffles with butter and honey. Air dry clay, acrylic paints, sealant, epoxy resin

Asuka had made some beautiful waffles, and I had coincidentally left some to dry as I worked on the Japanese foods...and when she updated with photos I squealed in delight because 

1) WE ARE TELEPATHIC (hahah joke, joke, I don't believe in woo)

2) as proven many times over, it didn't matter if we made the same stuff, our styles are very different!!

I'll talk about this topic (friend? competition? business partner? collaborator? Folie à deux?) another time as I've been asked a few times how it was that Asuka and I happen to work so well together....it's embarrassing watching us do events, we bicker like an old couple hahahhaha

-_-""""""

ANYWAY. I went back to work on them.....

1:3 BJD scale miniature "Large" waffles vs 1:12 scale dollhouse miniature butter and honey waffles....

Only 1 set available. Waffles attached to plate.

A closer look.....in case anyone was wondering, that's a Singapore 10-cent coin, which is approx 1.85cm diameter. I tried to make the butter look melted.....will try to take a better photo with the DSLR if I have time (or remember to....)

Not for sale at the moment....only made these cos the waffles had been lying around in my UFO (unfinished objects) box for ages, and only needed the resin to complete it...and I knew I would have extra from making the 1:3 one......it also makes this post valid for this smaller scales blog hwa hwa hwa.

WIP 1:3 scale miniature "Large" waffles with icecream, syrup, whipped cream and topped with cherry

Allowing the final sealant coat of resin to cure....I've also broken out in hives from a week of working with resin *heavy sigh*

Above 4 designs available, not attached to triangle white plate (as seen in the honey/butter waffle pic)

My cousin D came over yesterday and helped me finish up the sushi boards, SHE IS A LIFE-SAVER!!!! XD So I'll spend tomorrow sorting out sushi sets....the shoyu dishes are also curing (first attempt was megafail, frustrating, but finally got it right) and will be available separately only with purchase of sushi sets :) I -might- sell some sushi a la carte, but it depends on whether I can figure it all out.....am so tired....and pricing is so difficult...and I can't figure out how to pack everything into the carry-on suitcase.....and my arm itches.......and my bed is covered with unfolded laundry.......and stocks cos I ran out of space to store them.......WAHHHHHHHHHHHHHH *whinessssss*

but so exciting na~~~! :P Remember to say Hi! I love catching up (when it's not too hectic) with dollfriends at our "annual meets" haha! So envious when they bring around their new dolls.....Oh ya, I don't think I have space to bring any of mine :( Maybe Yotsuba if I remember........she can sit in my pocket haw haw *manic laughter*

time for bed. been running on only 4-6 hrs of sleep each night the past week. and coffee. mmm. coffee.

SGDC 2014 - Singapore Doll Carnival 2014, Sunday 16th November 2014

Are you interested in BJDs? Perhaps if you are new to the hobby, and would like to learn more about it, do come down to *Scape next Sunday, 16th November 2014 to see some of the dolls up close! Also, for the first time, there will be doll vendors at SGDC, and of course, Asuka and I will be there again!! Come say hi!!!!

"ONCE UPON A TIME"
Date : 16 November 2014 (Sunday)
Venue : The Treetop, Scape (level 5)
2 Orchard Link, Singapore 237938

(Nearest train station : Somerset)
Time : 12pm - 7pm
Ticket Price : $15 (Early Bird ticket sales from 1st - 30th September 2014)

$18 (door tickets)


Asuka & Snowfern are back together with Matsuri Tabemono!! Their handmade miniature food props will definitely satisfy your dolls' cravings! Please visit www.asukasakumo.com or www.snowfern.com for more details!

For the experienced BJD collector, Singapore Doll Carnival is the (seemingly) only BJD-only event held in Singapore, we enjoyed ourselves tremendously at last year's SGDC2013, and naturally signed up for SGDC2014!

http://www.asukasakumo.net/ ,

https://www.facebook.com/Cloudy.Purplesky ;

http://snowfern.com ,

https://www.facebook.com/SnowfernClover

Asuka has been working hard at her new day job, but also made time to come up with delicious new Japanese food items for your dolls! You can also visit her blog to see her latest offerings made exclusively for SGDC2014 :)

http://www.asukasakumo.com/

A: Golden Tales & Eccentric Romance
B: Nyann & CK
C: TTYA
D: Euphoria Zone
E: Sseiren
F: GG Doll Fashions
G: MaroSweetCraft
H: My Little Memory Doll
I: Pitscraft
J: Darak-i
K: DollHeart
L: M-style
M: Dollfie Dream Network @ SG
N: MyDollChan
O: Oscardoll
P: Arietta Project
Q: Ddress
R: Anemone
S: Clockwork Forest
T: Princessdoll
U: Asuka Sakumo & Snowfern Clover

We both have been working hard to fill our table, and you can find us at table U (as soon as you enter the event area :D :D :D

(OMG I just went to check out the list of vendors are there will be 2 Korean doll companies selling dolls AHHHH I AM SO DEAD)

*composes self ahem*

SO what did -I- make exclusively for the event?

Sushi!!! These are tentatively displayed this way, but might be split up into gunkanmaki and nigiri sets, depending on whether I have time to make more boards....or whether I have any more plates. 

1:3 scale miniature assorted 'raw' sushi, air dry clay, microbeads, paper, acrylic paint, varnish

(this plate is actually a cup cover I found at a neighbourhood store XD everything else is made by me!)

3 sets available

Customers will have an option to pick from this, or the octoganal ceramic black/white plates~ The wooden ones are not available for sale, sorry :( I will try to get more material next week but....depends on whether I can get stocks.....

1:3 scale miniature assorted 'cooked' sushi, air dry clay, microbeads, paper, acrylic paint, varnish

1 set available, but might not have wooden tray....will have to look for another display option...

Next up! For those who do not like raw sushi~~ or for kids!

1:3 scale miniature Ikura, California, and Uni Temaki, air dry clay, microbeads, paper, acrylic paint, varnish

1:3 scale miniature meals, air dry clay, paper, acrylic paint, varnish, epoxy resin

 1:3 miniature yakitori set, air dry clay, paper, epoxy paint, varnish

All items attached to bamboo plate (purchased from neighbourhood tea store), grated radish, 2/3 pcs pickled radish attached to Shiso leaf, lime wedge and 1/3 pc pickled radish loose, Shiso leaf loose

Only 1 set available

 1:3 scale miniature Hiyashi Chuka, air dry clay, acrylic paint, paper, resin, sealant. Plate is a purchased sauce dish

Only 2 sets available.

1:3 scale miniature tempura sets, air dry clay, acrylic paint, sealant. All items loose. Pickles and wasabi attached to Shiso leaf. Dish is purchased sauce dish

2 sets available. Each set contains eggplant, shiso leaf, sweet potato, pumpkin, mushroom & lotus, and EITHER green bean OR grated carrot. 

I will try to make more dipping sauce bowls but they will be sold separately.

I still have some Udon bowls and takoyaki sets, as well as a set of hana sushi waiting to be completed...and if there's time (and if the weather is co-operative, been really wet and humid lately), maybe waffles.....

All  items are sold on a first-come-first-served basis at SGDC 2014 next Sunday! See you there!!! Hope to be able to update again with a 'proper' layout next week :D :D :D So excited!!!

Tokyu Hands - Opening Day Visit!

To all Singaporean artists, crafters, modellers.... I would like to encourage every one of you who visits Tokyu Hands to suggest to their management to bring in more art and craft tools and materials! I certainly did, pity they had no feedback forms yet or I woulda grabbed a few to distribute to you guys hee hee hee

Nevertheless, it's great to see them open a branch here in Singapore, even if it's all the way at Westgate Mall (Jurong East MRT).

For those who are new to this brand, Tokyu Hands is a famous departmental store from Japan, well known for their wide range of art and craft tools and materials, as well as their departmental/lifestyle/beauty/stationery etc items.

http://www.tokyu-hands.co.jp/foreign.html

It is a pity that their craft range was limited to one shelf of "basic school supplies" of drawing paper, Sakura air dry clay (??) and carving tools. Nevertheless, hooray for a (possibly) wider variety of supplies in Singapore!

*pardon the enthusiasm but I had been so envious of my friends raving about the ease of availability of materials from Tokyu Hands Japan and now that they have opened a branch here, there might be a chance for us miniature lovers to easier obtain materials....if only they brought them in!! If there is a demand, there will be supply, so keep suggesting and feedback-ing bwahaha! Now, to find a way to better convince them that there's a market here without crossing the "harassment" line....I dowanna be blacklisted and banned huhuhu

ON to the IMPORTANT stuff. PICTURESSSSSSS

D and I didn't even notice this huuuuge display and walked right past it as we were distracted by some social media kiosks. no pics of that, as a lot of teenagers were doing neo-printy stuff on them. fwao, neoprints hahah do they still have those machines??

The whole area was very bright and inviting, thought quite smaller than I expected. We had arrived at about 4pm and there was quite a crowd still, given the timing.

We walked 2 rounds, a first 'recce' round, and a 2nd more browsing round. The fiance is quite a fountain pen collector, and he told me that the facebook group he was active in had already been flooded with photos from fountain pen buffs. there were at least 3 (might have been 4 or 5) pen shelves full, with 1 seemingly dedicated to fountain pens!

wahhh colourful cartridges~

even a fountain pen stand. haven't seen one of these since i was a kid.

given the popularity of food related accessories, it's no wonder they had a shelf full of them. These caught my eye simple due to the size and price. only SGD$6 per keychain! (or was it phone dongle thingum. eh) Pretty decently made, rather realistic! The rest of the range were miniature magnets and such, didn't pay much notice cos I'd seen them in various shops before and given the crowd, was difficult to take photos....:-/

as mentioned, there wasn't much of an arts/crafts section. Just one vertical wall shelf with a small range of Copic markers, drawing papers and 'basic' school arts supplies. I did however find this Sakura brand air dry clay. It was really soft, the outermost pack had already been squished to...ugh. but anyway. It costs SGD$6 and though I was tempted to try it out, decided against it as I had rather alot of stocks waiting to be used for SGDC2014. I will have to get round to that ADC post that I'd been meaning to write up.....

=_="

There was a fancy shmancy Sakura carving tool set that tempted me - forgot to take a pic-, but $22 for 5 knives with plastic handles just seems a little overboard, when the $4 set I use seems more than ample for my current needs. kek.

As there were too many people around, I decided not to take anymore photos, and browsed through almost every shelf. The left half of the store was dedicated to beauty products, centre mostly for promotions and knick knacks, right side mostly stationery and luggage/travel/umbrellas. Yes, they even carry the self-closing automatic brollies, which start from SGD$60. ouchies.

So....what did I buy? well...let's just say since I'll be using them for SGDC2014, I'll keep you piqued for the moment :P But I did get this cute little box of ink cartridges, not sure what i'll do with them yet, for SGD$2.90, why not?

Also, hadn't paid attention to the promotion they had, which was a free hand towel for every minimum $30 purchase! I had just grazed past the mark, which means I get to replace my grubby old work chamois. which I probably wouldn't but...it does look like quite a sad state, given it was originally bright yellow coloured.....3M Scotch Brite rag hahaha 'branded' rag! :P :P :P I think the promotion is a 'while stocks last' thing....

Anyhow. You can probably already tell I was rather disappointed, but I already guessed they wouldn't focus on arts/crafts supplies, but THEY SHOULD! Singapore, though small, is pretty thin on variety and range when it comes to art/craft supplies for the -a little more than miniature food- miniaturist....it would be nice to have more options, not that Art Friend and Overjoyed are not good, but they're targetted more towards fine arts and general DIY crafts. I just prefer to have a choice, and range, more suited for builders, modellers and tinkerers. I'll definitely write up a post on where I like to shop at locally, soon-ish! :P

If you are in Singapore, and have a favourite art supplies store, please feel free to share them in comments! Meanwhile, I recommend making a trip down to Tokyu Hands...nice to have some place other than Daiso to rave about huhuhu!!! ;)

Custom Requests Closed for 2014

Custom requests are closed for 2014. :(

http://clover-tea.blogspot.sg/p/custom-requests.html

Yes, the good old wrist brace is back T-T As some of you loyal readers may know (and thank you for following all this while!), I actually got myself this injury almost 2 decades ago from excessive gaming (Diablo II anyone?). It was further exacerbated by the crimping of the teeny cupcake wrappers, also why I stopped selling them individually. Looks like a recent order for 5 of the danish cookie tins has wrecked the hand again, even though I took care to pace myself :(

So, in a final *laughs stupidly at self* attempt at

(haha i took it off to type and it started to ache at the last sentence so now i'm typing with it back on)

let's try this again.

The swelling has gone down a little since last night, zheng gu shui FTW! But it is still very achy and throbby, so I will take it easy for these 2 days to see if I need to get to the doc again. I have actually gotten a diagnosis for it from a specialist before, hence the fastum gel and grotty brace, but the only thing I can do is NOT use/strain it. Good luck to me with that, I'm still tap tap tapping away with just my middle finger on my right hand hawhawhaw *stubborn*

I will still be fulfilling my current orders, thank you all so much for giving me the time to do what I do! I can still paint and such, but clay work is impossible for the moment, unless I train my left hand........


HRMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMM

*painful chuckle* ok imma be a good girl and rest this it's attempting to communicate via morse code again

Miniature Pizza slices and more butter cookies in 1:12 scale

 1:12 miniature mushroom and pepperoni pizza slices, air dry clay, acrylic paints, sealants

Heyo~! Here're more 1:12 items that I've made recently. I want to couple these slices with boxes and perhaps drinks, but I need to finish up some commission work first. Hope to do them when I get some free time!

 1:12 miniature danish butter cookies, polymer clay, soft pastel, craft sand, sealant, paper, decals, Inkscape, tin

So, I've been getting quite a number (okay okay, maybe only 5 or so) of requests for similar versions of these tins since they were sold back in 2011 :O How time flies! Anyway, I decided to go with a more faithful approach so the cookies look more like their life-sized counterparts. The tins were purchased off greedbay, and I made the liners, cookies and graphics myself!

One of the tins is already spoken for, but I did make an extra, and it is available here:

https://www.etsy.com/listing/199284602/miniature-danish-cookies-in-tin-24-pcs

=========================

The past week has been a little busier than usual, as I finished up 3 large-ish requests, also because Ahma had not been feeling well, and was warded for a few nights just to make sure she was okay. I'm really close to her, and it sent me into all sorts of horrible panic attacks and crying in my sleep. But she's okay!!! I usually monitor her pill-taking (she's taking like, 7 different pills a day), but she'll require closer monitoring for her blood pressure, which seems to fluctuate rather wildly throughout the day, thus causing her giddiness/dizziness. The docs have sternly warned her not to go out on her own anymore. For a spritely 87-year old, that's not good news, but it is a relief to the rest of us who've tried to no avail to keep her from gallavanting for quite some years now.... we'll see how long she'll behave until she sneaks out again....-_-"""""  

Back to work!