Lighten up!

1:12 diorama (eh?)

*groans at own pun*

The lights are IN! and ON! and....finally, I have a 'proper' roombox to take product photos in! XD

Ever since the magnificent Pepper of http://mitchymoominiatures.blogspot.com/
posted a very comprehensive lighting tutorial, I had been itching to give lighting a try. I thought I could get all the materials locally at Sim Lim Tower, alas, they had nothing to scale for 1:12 T-T. I finally relented and spent countless hours scouring greedbay and googling for the most affordable suppliers (shipping to SG is often higher than the items themselves garrrrghhh) and waited patiently for them to arrive.

and then waited somemore.

worked on the roombox/diorama/scene....

waited s'more.

then i gave up waiting. cos the electrical wire arrived first (although it was the last item i ordered), but the LED lights/resistors and battery casings just refused to make an appearance. frustrated, i decided to just go ahead with whatever i had.

since i'd already 'bashed' some IKEA Billy lights for 'the challenge that fizzled out', why not re-use them?

and since i had a couple of these keychain lights from Daiso, why not use those too? I googled for some paper lampshade templates and came across this one on Instructables. OOOOOOH it made me go on a desktop laser machine video rampage....GRAGH I WANT ONE SO BAD IT MAKES MY TEETH ACHE. alas, being broke and all, i went in search of an easier one. AND FOUND THIS AMAZEBALLS MODERN ONE.

of course it had to be made in mini :D the template provided in the instructable was for a life sized one of course, and so i came up with my own...since the idea isn't mine, i wasn't sure if it would be alright if i posted a tutorial on how i made it.....then again it's all kind of 'generic'...i suppose i might ask the author for permission to post my own version for 1:12 if enough people want to know how to make it (though it -is- DEAD EASY to modify from the life sized one!)

ANYWAY

working with the lights brought up vague recollections of  hazy secondary physics (and primary school) lessons...hazy because I'm one of those terrible students who sleep frequently during classes. :-/ so armed with a dodgy soldering iron, sheer tenacity and lots of swearwords, i put everything together and SURPRISE SURPRISE IT WORKED OMG OMG OMG (and i hardly even hurt myself!)

hurhur. the ceiling was the backing of an ikea glass frame thingy that i'd kept after the glass portion broke :X battery casing purchased from a neighbourhood hardware store....i'm quite new to building and bashing stuff from other stuff lying around so it took quite a bit of trial and error (and re-reading of Pepper's tutorial a gabillion times) to put everything together, BUT I DID IT.

and after all that, i walked out of my room to discover that the LED bulbs off greedbay had arrived.

*facepalm* i have the best timing ever.

i quickly tested them out, but 2 out of the 10 LED bulbs that I purchased were duds :( As you can probably tell, I'm more of a 'glass half empty' type person. But given my moderate successes with bashed together lighting, WHATEVER.

moving along.

 test shot under all the lights + my worklamp

aaaand, obligatory shot of bf's mom's birthday gift. made a similar one for my aunt too, but ran out of time to take pics of the two together T-T it's in 1:6, and Yotsuba seems to be wondering if the orchids are edible....probably me just projecting, since i'm hungry at 3.19am now.

the pitcher/jug was inspired by Marlies' easy to follow tutorial here:

http://marliesminies.blogspot.sg/2009/03/draw-pattern-that-you-want-to-use-on.html

re-drew and re-sized the template for this pitcher closer to 1:6, might blog a little more about it since i came up with my own template etc. but it's a pretty common sight anyway, so....*shrug* not quite 'my style' but i sure hope my aunt and bf's mom like it!!!!

i'm sure i've missed out some links and stuff, but i'm just so happy i wanted to show off like a little kid who has a new toy. meanwhile, here's a sneak peek at another project Asuka and i are working on :)

(btw, Sans, that's the magnifier lamp that my brother gave me, but i broke the clamp portion while shifting my workspace stuff around QQ)

it's great to be back! hope to update more frequently now that i have one less excuse for not taking pictures.....XD

(and THANK YOU SOOO MUCH PEPPER YOU ARE AMAZINGGGGGGG)

another peek at my 'roombox'

very little progress, and i'm waiting on some lights/dollhouse wire to arrive (spent the last of my PP credits on them, :X) before I can proceed further. this is what i have completed so far:

- one (and a quarter) wall primed and painted. i used book board (??) for the walls, cos it was relatively cheap, and could cut it with a penknife. a saw worked better for it, but that also meant alot of sanding (and dust) involved, so i tried to keep sawing to a minimum. well, that and this stupid shoulder ugh.

- windows were made out of approx 1mm thick paper (cardstock?) and some 0.25mm plastic sheets. the frosted bits were just anti-cat-scratch film stuck on the plastic. i plan to work on the exterior too, maybe some climbing ivy, a few potted plants...a pond? am i getting too ambitious? XD

-  floor was simply vinyl faux wood sticker, stuck on black A4 paper which was first stuck on a piece of 1mm thick paper (cardstock?!? ionos what it's called) it's not permanent cos i would like to play around with this area :)

- window seat (??) ok, i'm such a failure at all the designy terms and names blegh. anyway i made it out of basswood pieces, the 'cushion' part out of foamcore and fabric. cushions were made sometime ago, and i think the colour scheme works! the doors at the base are working doors, i haven't yet varnished it cos i wasn't sure if i wanted to paint it white. looking at the photo, i think i'll keep the original colour (which will darken a shade after varnishing...hrm.....*scrunches face*)

overall, i don't think there is a 'theme' to the room, but it's slowly working out i think! :D i didn't start this with a sketch or anything, just made things on-the-fly and  hoped that the stuff i have collected so far would fit in it XD so far so good!!! i want to make a 'proper' sofa in the same fabric, and maybe a bookshelf, a coffee/side table....ionos, let's see if the painkillers don't knock me out first!

Credits:
coffee table & lamp - made by mitchymoominiatures
step ladder - gift from Sans!
rectangular shelf - Rement

More WIP stuff

 Miniature Mud Crab, Raw Prawn, and Sea Breams - 1:12, polymer clay

HI!!!! the weather's been wet all day, and it's nice and cool now. my health has not been very co-operative, which means less opportunity to mini T-T but i haven't stopped, just not taken time to blog. I did update a number of these photos to my facebook page though *nudge nudge*

http://www.facebook.com/SnowfernClover

:)

the mud crab was really fiddly but...I DID IT I DID IT! only took me like, 2 whole days to make this ONE crab XD WHATEVER, I DID ITTTTTTTTTTTTT!!!!!!

Miniature Oysters - 1:12 polymer clay 

after my previous entry, re: last post on shellfish, i continued on the seafood theme and made these mini oysters, but my shoulder worsened (inflammation) so all mini work was halted in an attempt to get it properly healed, otherwise there's always this tendency to 'work through the pain', which isn't a good idea in the long run....i guess my posture while working on minis isn't the best, hunching over and squinting while working on items = frozen shoulder = OWWIES.

WIP, first attempts at Sea Bream and cooked prawns (poor blind seabream!! completed ones in first photo, click to enlarge)

 fish is SO FUN to make!!! Kiva makes some of the most realistic mini fish (and foods!) i'd seen, and she often blogs about how she gets on a fish kick, I CAN SEE WHY NOW!!! they were indeed fun to make, though i think i have to work on making them look less...smiley?

/grumble on
i've made a few more other types of seafoods, but they're all kinda jumbled up waiting to be assembled, i feel kinda guilty 'abandoning' them and even dreamt of the assemblage process last night -_-" but i find it so hard to feel motivated when i'm always in pain, or itching from my rashes (which in turn keeps me away from assembling the stuff cos i have to use resin, which would in turn cause my allergies to flare up...vicious cycle aiyaiyai)....waiting for the renovations outside my house (lift upgrading program zzzzzz) to be completed cos i think the dust etc is the cause of my sinus/skin issues.

/grumble off

alas, no space for a proper dollhouse, so smaller scenes would have to do for now! this thing is, in my books, MASSIVE!!! the base board is approx 30x40cm?!?!??



anyways. i was determined to get to work on this piece, which is to be a new 1:12 setting for phototaking, and also to practice on working with roomboxes/settings. the windows were made almost half a year back and had been sitting in a ziploc bag while i sorted out the moving stuff, and after 2 coats of gesso, i decided to take a break and catch up on this blogging thing. the rain means it's taking a little longer to dry, i think i'll continue on it tomorrow. can you guess what it's going to be? ;)

(no prizes, but it's not very obvious although i think most people would guess kitchen LOL)

((no, it's not going to be a kitchen :P ))

Miniature Spaghetti Marinara in 1:12

Whenever I have pasta at a restaurant, I seldom stray from familiar ones like Spaghetti, either Marinara, or Amatriciana. Over here in Singapore, the popular pasta chains make their marinara sauce with Mussels, prawns, clams and squid.

Naturally, my mini version would contain the same! This is made out of polymer clay, the plate was part of a gift or trade, I don't remember who with sorry :( Chrysnbon fork to check if it's to scale...

Here are the components that went into making the dish. I decided against using all of it, as it would make it look too cluttered! So the remainder will probably go into a different item :) Each clam (the smallest ones I made) measures only 3mm at the widest part of each shell......

I will be taking photos of more of my other works (sweet stuff!) but I wanted to get back into blogging, and since this was one of the more intensive items I've ever worked on, I think it deserves a post of its own ^ ^

Miniature Merlions!

polymer clay miniature chocolate Merlions 4mm x 6mm

Long time no see! Singapore's National Day is on the 9th of August, and I'm not sure if I'll have the time nor inclination to blog then, so here's my little contribution :) I had thought of making a range of local foods as a personal challenge, but I also wanted to do something iconic of Singapore.

For those who are unfamiliar with this strange mythical creature that was the inspiration for these miniature chocolates, this is the Merlion :)

Happy Birthday Singapore!!

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Speaking of Birthdays, August is a birthday month in my family, Dad's was on the 2nd, and my youngest bro's on the upcoming 8th...i didn't make anything in mini for them, we usually have a simple dinner and cake celebration at home :) There is one other friend who just celebrated hers recently, and I made this for her....

Polymer Clay Miniature Nasi Biryani 1:12 scale

I hope it is recognizable as Nasi Biryani?!?? there's like, many different versions of it, so I hodgepodged my version of a beef variety with cucumber salad and yoghurt, and 2 pieces of papadums....i hope it fits in her Maharajah's palace? :P

(you've probably guessed which friend I'm referring to then! HWA HWA HWA!)

((i didn't include the chrysnbon fork cos traditionally they're eaten with hands, and the fork was for me to check if the food was indeed to scale...hee))

Polymer Clay Miniature Pesto Spaghetti 1:12 scale

and then...cos another friend was here in Singapore for a visit, I made this for her....she last visited 2 years ago and back then, had made us a wonderful pesto spaghetti for dinner...it was the first time i'd tried pesto and LOVED LOVED LOVED IT! i was really surprised by it as i'm not a fan at all of fragrant herbs and spices (think cilantro etc), but i really could not get enough! i hope it is identifiable for what it's supposed to be. topped with shaved/grated parmesan cheese too :D :D :D again, the fork was just for me to check if i had the scale right, i think i did???

we shared a precious few hours together, the 3 of us, and i cherish those very much. more than i can ever express. helped me sort out and put my petty troubles into perspective too. thank you for letting me be a part of something very special, you two :)

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Miniature Mixing Bowl and Spatula 1:12 scale (Epoxy Resin)

and then, while i was 'away' being busy with 'real life', i took some time out to make some food related items that i've always wanted for my mini kitchen, but could not find nicely scaled ones. one of the purple sets is reserved for another purple crazed friend of mine, while the blue set (bottom right) should have arrived safe and sound with its new owner :D i hope they like it!

These are not for individual sale, sorry. They will be used in larger projects that I have in mind though. :) 

Polymer Clay Miniature Cupcake Baking Try and Bowl 1:12 scale

Like these....which are a sneak peek at what I will be offering soon-ish....:P :X

There have been so many things happening in my life, a few illnesses, a few deaths, and a lot of adjustments. it takes a long time for me to slip into new routines, and while I have been working on many miniature projects, none of them are completed. I am learning new things through self-experimentation (and heaps of wastage!! ARGH).

One of the few positive things I've learnt is that, I finally feel comfortable saying that I can sculpt in miniature, and not just 'craft', re: Merlion. Prior to this, much of what I had been making didn't seem very 'sculptural' to me. don't know how to explain it. I am still figuring out my mixed feelings about this and alot of other stuff in life, but don't worry, I always look forward to see if there have been improvements. 

AND I SHALL BE BACK WITH A VENGEANCE MWAH HAHAHAHA

but for now, there's this matter of curiosity landing on Mars that I have to check up on!!!!!!! NAIL BITING STUFF THIS

Plonking down with Purple

PHEW! The weather's been pretty brutal lately, and what with all my unpacking/packing and trying to get into a new rhythm of things at home....warm and humid weather really makes it difficult to get much done. polymer clay gets mushy and difficult to work with, and even with the new LED magnifier light that my youngest brother gave to me (came free with his spanking new specially-purchased-just-to-play-DiabloIII desktop computer) i can't do much at night, stupid astigmatism.

but i -have- been keeping busy. i switched to air dry clay instead, seeing as how the humidity means i have a barely-noticeable longer time to work with the clay before it dries out.

i first noticed a beautiful blue cake via my Foodbuzz subscription. i'm not really a 'foodie' in real life, hardly try any new foods unless introduced by way of family and friends (by 'introduced' i mean usually 'challenged' by my middle bro to try out something new, or suffer mild humiliation and taunting XD). but i digress. Foodbuzz features all sorts of beautiful photographs of a wide variety of foods, which is more 'realistic' (or 'rustic'? huh?) than the photographs i've come across in cookbooks. it's also the only 'food-related' subscription i have :-/ maybe i need to surf more, no wonder i'm so uninspired!! huhuhuhu! agh! i've digressed again!

(photo from http://i-heart-baking.blogspot.com/)

ANYWAY! i usually don't take much notice of the daily emails i get from the subscription (free!) but this one caught my eye. SEE WHAT I MEAN?? so gawwwjusss!!! i re-visited the photo a few times, before deciding that i MUST try to make it in mini! i was elated to see that she had even thoughtfully provided a link to the tutorial for icing the cake! AND AND i learnt a new word, "ombré"! i love using these graduated tones and had no idea there was a term for it o.O learn something new everyday!

and then, cos i'm easily distracted and bored, i tried out different combinations and designs using the same method. it's quite labour intensive, and the four in front were my practice pieces before i finally got the hang of it and did the 2 on the cake displays (from http://true2scale.com/!! i love them so much!)

of course i had to make macarons ;) i'd actually toyed with the idea of making these sorts cylindrical towers, rather than the usual cone shaped ones. but macaron making is rather labour intensive too, for all its simplicity in terms of looks. there are 64 macarons just in this 'tower' alone.

i don't recall where i'd first seen photos of these sorts of towers, or who was the first to stack (or popularize) macaron towers like these, but it seemed a little lacking on top. i could have stuck in some 'macaron lollipops' like the photos i've seen online, but it just seemed a little..boring. so i decided to make some flowers to see if it'll break the monotony.

TA-DAH!~! ok so they are a little over the top. but i like how they turned out, and i'm sure i could use them in countless other displays! these were made out of air dry clay too :)

i've also been working on a number of other things, some requests and personal challenges....can't wait to get back to working on them! :P

(oh yes, and i'm aware these look more 'pink' than 'purple', but it's such a difficult colour to pin down *whine*)

Miniature Bananas in 1:3

the theme song to "Bananas in Pyjamas" kept running through my head as I worked on this very special request. As I've mentioned before, I stopped taking in commission requests to sort out moving and some personal changes in my life, but since this request came from a friend whom I respect greatly for his meticulous attention to detail, and who seems to throw challenges at me that suit me very well, I couldn't resist! AGAIN! XD

the biggest challenge was figuring out a form to hold up the peeled bananas as they baked. polymer clay tends to soften and droop a little as it bakes, which runs the risk of thin parts breaking off, and banana skins in 1:3..well...it is really difficult to incorporate armature when we're talking thicknesses (thinnesses?!!?) of approximately 1.5mm? I chose to use KATO for this project (luckily just before the request came in I had ordered some 'just in case') as from previous experience, it baked the hardest and for thin parts would bake rather flexible. moreover i wanted it to look 'natural' and i knew inserting an armature would throw in more unknown variables, which i knew i wouldn't be capable of handling in my semi-fragile state :P

the whole thing went swimmingly well in my mind, but as my paper holding-up-thingums (WHAT? i'm tired and my brain isn't as 'smart' as it used to be! *blinks hard*) didn't hold up as well as i wished in the oven, so the bananas kept tipping over and causing the skins to break before it fully baked!!! ALL OF 6 TIMES!! GRAGHGHGHHGHGHH!!!!!!!!!!! *pekcek until can die*

(pekcek is like, a local slang for superduperfrustrated)

i was thinking of giving up, more cos i hadn't even unpacked/packed my stuff (i still have boxes all over my floor) and i always feel the NEED to work in a really clean, organized environment (sidetrack, when i was still an office hamster, my tables were usually rather empty/clean, people who walked by my desk would think it was unoccupied HURHURHUR), else my cluttered mind simply shuts down. but there was a deadline, and I had already made him wait a lot longer than expected, so i told my stubborn brain (eh? that's kinda contradictory but NEVERMIND) STOP IT WITH THE NEAR-OCD CRAP AND GET ON WITH IT.

i'm glad i persisted. the skins are holding up pretty well, flexing in either direction with no indication of breaking (fingers crossed!!!) and my harshest critic, Ahma, approves, so i'm hoping my customer will too..(i don't think he reads my blog so i feel safe blogging (read: whining) about it :E

byebye office :( i'll miss you.

i'm still trying to get used to working from home, i hate having my pretty structured schedules and meals messed up, so it's taking awhile for me to get back into mini work, but i have lots of ideas brewing and have been gathering more inspiration from the real world, as opposed to online....getting out, even just to do a little grocery shopping helps my brain feel a lot less de-cluttered.

have any of you gotten on the Diablo III craze?!?! i've been stealing a few minutes here and there to play while brother's at work (mostly while my clay bakes hurhurhur)....i keep telling myself, keep it casual, don't mess up your wrists again!!! but who'm I kidding, once a gamer, ALWAYS a gamer. :P

so, as you can tell, i'm feeling alot better now. flu's just about cleared, physical ailments just about healed, chocolates just about finished...:P i'm excited about what i can work on now that things are falling back into place. i've even gotten back into reading my friends' blogs, so sorry i haven't really been catching up but i am always lurking on my iphone! (hate to type on it though, thus the lack of comments :X) SO YEAH! i'm BAAACK!!!! :D

meanwhile, there's this pesky demon that needs tackling. *blinks innocently*