Miniature Nuts, Berries and Cheese, in dollhouse scale this time!

yeah yeah, we can go on about how I'm going nuts here, and actually, that's exactly why I decided to post today. ;) here's something I made alongside a larger sized commission I did last month. miniature polymer clay nuts! I got the metal nutcracker off greedbay some time ago, finally! a chance to use it!

aaaaand, also inspired by the same commission, dollhouse miniature berries and cheese! polymer clay too ^ ^


==========================personal crap here=========================

so there's good news, and bad news.

the good news is that i've been taken off my diabetic meds cos my (semi-) strict diet and weight loss is keeping my blood sugar levels low. WOOT!

the bad news? the doc put me on 2 different antibiotics right now for a stupid infection that's causing my whole right inner upper arm (what's the correct term?)/armpit to swell. it's a little alarming, it all started with a typical sebaceous cyst in my armpit that started swelling to the size of a hazelnut, and overnight the surrounding area started hurting and a lump the size of a baby potato appeared T-T quickly headed for the polyclinic yesterday and was told that the inflammation was probably due to my diabetes. SIGH. can't win 'em all. if the lump doesn't go away (the potato one, the hazelnut one pretty much cleared up after 2 doses of the antibiotics), surgery has to be considered. wtf, i've had enough surgeries tyvm. NO MORE. PLEASE T-T the whole inner upper arm area is now slightly pink, and dad says it's probably cos the lump has to dissipate. I hope he's right. i'm skaird, HOLD ME PLEASE~~~~~~~~~~~~~

/drama off

so until i'm done with this course of antibiotics that'll probably cause my hair to fall out (AGAIN), my hands will be shaky (am trembling and sweating profusely now, which is why I'm not working now T-T), and so will not be taking commission requests until i'm sure this stupid problem is done away with. this and some other stupid ultrasound that I have to go for cos this whole body is falling apart. fret not, given my medical track record, i'll probably live a long and miserable life. it's usually the strong healthy ones that drop dead suddenly right? yeah, definitely not me. though, if my right arm drops off....OMFG HOW'M I GONNA MAKE MINIS!??!?! ARRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRGHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH

/CRAZED MODE OFF

k well. it's may day, and dad's gonna be at hong lim park at 4-ish, he's gonna speak for a bit, wish I could be there to support him. GO DAD GO!!!!

*apologies if this post is crazier than usual, i'm really not quite myself as you can probably tell.

pink pastries

1:12 polymer clay marie antoinette inspired st honore. commissioned request.

 i couldn't find my doilies (i eventually did looking for something else grrr) and used what was close at hand, a crochet'd doily that i had been planning to use when my prop table arrives. it's unfinished, as in i haven't tacked it nor sewn in the ends, i can say the same for about 7-8 other crochet'd items i have lying around beside my bed.

made strawberry versions, i can't say i like this design as much, the 'sugar flakes' aren't too visible, and the end product didn't turn out as i'd expected. ah well. try, try again!

is it just me, or were the CNY celebrations were rather quiet this year compared to the last?

St Honore Pastry

 St Honore pastries in various scales (1:3, 1:4, 1:6, 1:12)

all made in polymer clay.

base diameter measurements

1:3 - 3.2cm

1:4 - 2.4cm

1:6 - 1.6cm

1:12 - 0.8cm

man, i think st honore pastries have got to be one of the prettiest pastries around.

as with macarons, i'd never heard of, seen, tasted these before. i think i might like it, since i like choux pastries.

with some of my older 1:3 works for scale. i really ought to be listing stuff, but right now i'm enjoying my 'holidays' XD

happy new year everyone! <3

Piping Practice in 1:12

i have shared previously my love for Rosey Sugar, and since christmas is approaching, i decided to do more piping practice. each cookie is approx 6.5mm to 8mm wide. these are the results of the past weeks' worth of practice. i am going to pick out my fave designs and bang them out for my etsy store, so expect some in there next week :)

i was trying to sort out which were my fave designs, i tried not to imitate any cookies i'd seen, but i suppose some common elements are inevitable since they're snowflakes. the important part for me is getting the piping lines and joins clean and thin. i think my fave ones are the geometric snowflake cookies, i'm not so fond of curlicues, more because they're technically more challenging trying not to get the polymer clay sticking and winding up in a lump while i pipe.

i used mini piping bags which you can figure out how to make by doing a simple google search, keep the tip clean, and have a very steady hand. the mix is simply polymer clay + liquid polymer clay mix, it's hard also to explain the consistency, it has to be thin enough to pipe through the miniscule hole, yet viscous enough to hold its line. you can see some of my cookies were thicker as the mix kind of spread out after piping. all this is very tricky and so, i can honestly say, it comes down to practice practice practice. no special tips, tricks nor tutorials. you just gotta get in there and figure out the mix, consistency and PRACTICE. be prepared to be super frustrated. i think it helps if you're familiar with piping real cookies, of which i have zero experience . but as you can see, it's do-able. if you mess up, wipe it off and try, try again.

of course i had to make some gingerbread men and trees. again, these are practice pieces, and testing the consistency of the piping mix.

 i used paper punches to make all of the above shapes, except for the wee gingerbread boy & girl which i shaped and molded. the piping for all of the above were first attempts and have to be adjusted and improved, but i believe i am getting there.

my arm and shoulder are killing me from mixing the piping 'cream', so naturally i'm grouchy and grumpy. BUT! i'm so happy to show off this little tree!!! i hope to fill it up with more details, but i want to keep it somewhat monochromatic, as is my 'style'.

i'm off to the museum :) i need a break from all this intensity -_-" then it's back to making more more MORE cookies! ^ ^

hamming it up at the library

thank you Jane for inviting me to talk at the library! i seldom post pics of myself cos i'm not as dainty nor cute as (some) of the minis i make....

here's one some might appreciate, me being very happy to talk about scales and the importance of it XD

i know it doesn't seem like it, but i felt very shy and embarrassed talking about my works. gah. but otherwise, i definitely do not have stagefright, and am so happy that some of my blog readers came and stayed behind to chat with me! although NONE of you introduced yourselves HRRRRMPHHH! :P

on the display board at the library! Jane gave me the copy on the door. it's now folded away and almost forgotten :X i did grab a couple of the brochures that featured the talk too, but wouldn't have known or thought about it if not for Jane too. haha! appreciate your hard work Jane! *bows*

kids behaving well LOL they are so cute, resisting the urge to touch the items. Thanks again Jane for taking pics for me, i totally forgot about it, and had actually brought the camera only to show the audience what camera i use for my pictures :O

blunders aside, i think it went rather well. as usual, i wasn't really 'thinking' and went through my presentation in 'ramble mode'. but i don't think i put anyone to sleep..ha! i made these as a last minute accompaniment to the nonya kueh (and as a personal challenge) the colours of these nonya love letters are a bit too dark for my liking...although in real life the darker ones are crisper, perhaps due to the caramelized sugar?

so i tried again. but this time it was too light. i have a 3rd batch which i'm FINALLY happy with, however i'm bored with them and want to quickly move on to other things XD

remember these?

finally had time (boy i use a lot of 'finally's eh) to take a group photo, will be meeting my customer on monday for tea! i will miss these, maybe i'll make one for myself?

i was so tired from all the activity and overstimulation that i crashed rather early last night. have so many ideas and plans to sort out, but otherwise there's not much on my plate at the moment. time to work on filling my etsy store :)

wish i had newer stuff to show off

EID sized sushi set. it's slightly larger than 1:3....special request from a DoA member.

yes yes. i know about the soya sauce. :(

largest items i've made so far, in terms of scale. and i will definitely get to that technical post about scales and stuff, just feeling really lackluster lately.

does anyone really read this crap i type anyway?

blah blah blah

played with paints this morning. and some extra large mochi for...i donno. either huge charms or props, i haven't decided. they're approx 2.25cm wide, made them with leftover clay. i realise i'm quite crap at painting. i want an airbrush!!

also, got some cheapo wrapping paper, thought they might be suitable to make little retro looking bags. but i have no idea what they could be holding. candy? chocolate? even tried to make a box but....ahhh feeling so blah. i think i still prefer working with clay. i've got so much unfinished crap lying around it's driving me insane.

BLEARGH.

1:3 mini mooncakes, and a kinda-sorta lizard-frog.....

a new commission calls for some mini mooncakes in 1:3. i decided to make a mold since i will be making a cut version, and thought i might also offer it on my etsy once i get some time to make stock and list items. i didn't have a mooncake mold, and so had to make it from scratch. the base was first made, baked, then the petals individulally put into place, and finally squished a ball of clay into the centre. the snowskin mooncake required translucent clay, and i opted to use FIMO translucent white since it bakes whiter than KATO does, and also will result in a fine matte finish. i dusted the mold with cornstarch before pressing in the ball of clay. since it was a test mooncake, i pressed in the 'cherry' colour and filling to see if it would show through the skin layer, i guess it does ^ ^ am so pleased with it, it really does look edible :O oh yeah, mooncake festival is nearing, right???

and here is my contest entry for the alien competition over on http://teammidscompetitions.blogspot.com/! thank you to those who voted for me, whether you knew it was mine or not ;) i voted for the aliens at the zoo because it made me chuckle real hard, i have been rather a softy lately for pets, probably cos i recently took Eva to the vet XD anyway.....here's the other 2 pics i submitted to show the detail.

i originally wanted to put more scales on her legs, but given that i only had time to make her during the extended deadline period of 2 days, i couldn't complete her as i ran out of clay :( her scales were made using a mix of leftover clay from my sushi and cucumber canes XD and since my oven was too small, i kept burning her feet, it was awkward placing her in position and i guess her toes must have touched the top heating element :(

see :( sadness.

 bf said he preferred the bulbous toes, and i guess they were more appropriate since i made the bulbous fingers first....i just liked the idea of clawed toes.........

T_T le sigh. had to snip off her feet ahhhh~~~!!! headless and footless!!!! XD

anyway. i also gave her chest a bit of detail to resemble something like...actually i donno. i -think- it looks 'cracked-shell-like'.

been a busy week, and i'll be even busier for the next month or so. am working on some 1:3/1:4 commissions, Dale is coming down to Singapore, have to plan out the lesson plans and tools/materials for when i start giving classes (prob July-Aug) etc...and i'm sure i'm forgetting many more items on the to-do list. dangit i really should use my whiteboard now that i have one....oh and i cut my hair, took about 8 inches off :O :O :O wanted to start swimming again, and decided after bf's observation that i was going bald (the final straw really) that the long hair was really, REALLY such a nuisance. see, the thing is, it's never about having the short, or the long hair, but the IN BETWEEN LENGTH hair..

i'll try and make the next post a more technical one regadring challenges of working in various scales from 1:3 down to 1:48. i don't care if nobody's interested, i am, and i do so enjoy thinking to myself........*taps chin*.......

more progress, and some good news

wow look at me go! what, third post in a row? i must not be as busy as i thought i was! XD these are unbaked uh...well they're supposed to be lady fingers, gonna attempt some 'normal' charlotte cakes :D (is there some redundancy here?)

the good news first. brother is out of the hospital after one night's observation. what they thought might be appendicitis turned out to be....well i don't know, but i'm guessing, a huge relief *snort* go me, and my toilet humour XD thanks to those who have expressed concern, i was kinda sorta worried but tried not to let it get to me. guess you all could tell, huh!

so part of the request included some multi-grained breads. the bread part, i can make rather quickly, but once more details such as fruits and nuts are required...oh boy. my hands are now sore from all the rolling and especially the slicing. so i decided to take a break and catch up with my fb games. the thing with RSI's is well, the "R" part. i am gonna try out resting my hands every half hr or so, do some simple stretching as recommended by my aunt, and see if it helps. i'm sure it will, for as long as i remember to take breaks  :P

forgot to take pics of the full teapot + cups + saucers in 1:48 sets. d'oh. i wonder what 1:48 ladyfingers would look like....HRMMmmmmmmm..........................i hope.not like maggots, which i suspect would be the case ha ha ha!