Thursday, August 26, 2010

party time!

assorted goodies in 1:3 and 1:4 scale :)

1:3 donuts and macarons, a customer request.
the camera wasn't really co-operating with me (yea, i know the bad workman always blames his tools....ok so i'm a sucky photographer). the ochre seems overpoweringly yellow. well it's not in real life *defiant look* :P

see. and this image wasn't processed :( just cropped.


 or i should just try and take pics when there's more sunlight. bleh

made an extra batch of 1:4 macarons, and just for kicks, here's another contrast pic, 1:3 vs 1:4 :)

bouncing back to the 1:4 cakes and tarts....these were taken under my magnifying lamp light.....i tried to edit the contrasts/colours/exposure...but maybe my eyes are tired?? (oops more excuses...)
contrast that to the pic i took in daylight which to me appears more washed out.

opps, didn't mean to let this post turn into a photography related one.
i think it looks like lightly toasted coconut flakes, cousin at first glance thought it was white chocolate :(
the jam tarts are harder to make than it looks. i guess i have to figure out the right proportion of paint:clay;liquid fimo. had to redo it twice :(

had to make a mold of the raspberries. at least now i have one in 1:12, 1:4 and 1:3 ^ ^

decided to put in 'seeds' to the jam, cos strange as it seems, i enjoy picking them out of my teeth? :X

and because i had leftover clay, i made a few extras, played around with leftover piping too ^ ^

will probably make these available on DoA :) or Etsy. or whatever. too tired to think or care.

i spent half the morning organizing my workspace, the table now has an open space of approx 8" square....i think that will last oh, maybe another day at best. ha ha ha. -_-"

i hope to work on my WIP......got materials for my 1:12 roombox, kinda sick of the old prop that i've been overusing for my pics. and i'm working on stock for TDA, right now i do have 1:12 items for Etsy, but i haven't figured out how to price or package them, so...........guhhh my eyes and haed are spinning! @ @

Friday, August 20, 2010

1:12 gummy bears

haha they are so small i hadn't noticed it was upside down :( it's hard to take clear pics of them as they're translucent and barely 2.5mm tall. i tried making them smaller, but i'm already insane enough, i'll try again for the next batch, no promises! they're tough to make...i used epoxy resin, minute minute amounts....forgot to take pics of the mold....actually made them a while ago, and they took ages cos i had to work in batches for the resin to set (takes about a day for each batch)

finally figured out how to use brushes in GIMP!!!! just download the latest version (it's free) and put the free brushes in the appropriate folder, and TADAH!!!! omg so simple, free, and totally legal (provided you read the TOU for the free brushes XD ) going crazy making packing designs lately....

aaaand the contents of package spilling out, my fave thing to do when packaging minis....

aaaaand YOTSUBA!!!!! she gets some too!!!! i might make some available on etsy....depending on how attached i feel to them.

here's a sneak preview to what i'm making....you can probably guess if you celebrate it ;)

DING!! i'll post more after my friend gets her package (which i am trying to get sent out by today :X )

Saturday, August 14, 2010

Cupcakes Galore!

Thank you Rosanna for the BEAUTIFUL teapot cosy and fruit jam signboard. they are sooo lovely...i am going to drag bf down to pick up supplies to build a country chic (?!?!) display. i am DETERMINED to get one done XD i don't know if and when you'll read this, have a safe voyage home!!!

Asuka and i met up with Rosanna and Sans for our monthly mini meet yesterday, and it was a blast! i wish my hands were more co-operative, but at least we had some mini-making done, i'll wait for Sans to put up pics ;)

i've been on a cupcake kick. the 3 in the picture are in 1:12 and were experiments, alas, the silver dragees really do not survive baking well :( i made a set for Dale when she visited, and so did not put up pictures. wanted them to be a surprise (she didn't receive these, she received the 'good' ones XD )


these are a request for 1:4 alice set + macarons. dang, my hands are shaky today....blurry pics :X

EDIT: BLUE SET SOLD! Thank you!!!

made 2 extra sets for sale, had pretty good feedback on them, but we'll see if they sell. each cupcake is 2 cm wide and 1.5 cm tall, the bottles are 2 cm tall excluding the cork.

you can drop me a mail at snowfern at gmail dotttt com if you're keen, i have already put up pics on flickr, dA and will list them on DoA if they don't sell over the weekend.....let's hope they sell, bf's birthday is approaching and i'm rushing out items to sell in order to get him a birthday gift!!! less than 3 weeks OMG OMG OMGGGGGGGGGGGGGgggggggggggggggggg

Thursday, August 12, 2010

Thank you Eve!

i LOVE it! i won a giveaway on Eve of After Dark Miniature's blog, and this gorgeous little prep board arrived today. i told Eve that i really ought to start on a proper roombox, or display unit, this is the first food/prep board i've ever owned...totally blown away by the gorgeous detail and how everything goes so beautifully together. see, if i were preparing food, there'd be a heckuva mess, not this co-ordinated set here XD


please drop by her blog and say hi! and check out the rest of her beautiful works ^ ^



http://afterdarkminiatues.blogspot.com


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MEANWHILE. updates updates updates. almost done with current commissions, don't think i'm taking anymore (well maybe 1 more) for August. am preparing stuff to put up on Etsy as i have decided to no longer offer the cupcake liners for sale. those little buggers take too much time, and isn't very fun to make. whatever's up on my etsy is all that's left for now, but i have been known to accomodate special requests depending on the state of the hands :)



like i've said, i'm minimizing my time on clay to prolong the use of my hands....so far, that's not really working :X have been secretly working on something for my friends....almost all shall be revealed tomorrow ;)


on to the pics!!!!!!!!!!!!!RAWRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRR

this request is finally done! yayyyyy the teapot/teacup set was the hardest to make, devoted 1 whole week to sanding, buffing, drying, re-gesso-ing, sanding, buffing, shaping, painting, glossing it. and there were some technical issues too, like the handle bit. i had to use wires of various gauges to reinforce the joints, the whole experience was a definite challenge, but that's the way i like it :P



and here are more 1:4 macarons. yes, they are definitely a popular item. i put it next to Eve's board to indicate the size difference XD being used to 1:12 makes the larger scaled items look absosmurfly gigantamous!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!



oh, and lest i forget......i love my new keyboard! it's taking me quite a bit to get used to it, bf got it for me when we went on a 'date' to Sim Lim Square and Sim Lim Tower. look at all those itty bitty electrical components!!!! imma have soooo much fun...............*rubs hands greedily* **winces in pain from hands** XD it seems more and more of those electrical component stores are sprouting up at simlim square itself....eh? more people are into DIY these days? bf got himself a metal detector kit....that is so sensitive it keeps detecting the metal in itself XD XD XD *snorts and cracks up at her own joke*

time to hit the shower. really warm week we're having here in Singapore.............oh and, HAPPY BELATED BIRTHDAY SINGAPORE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Friday, August 6, 2010

let's try something new


 there's a film of very fine la doll clay dust in my room. but these aren't the reason why.

had a request for a slight change to the usual sushi sets that i make in 1:3....UNAGI! i can't stand it myself, it's more the fishy taste and the little bones that put me off....otherwise i'd ordinarily eat anything teriyaki flavoured. would even drink up the stuff if i could :X

same customer requested i make these, which i first introduced in my previous post......i think they're adorable XD i plan to make some charms and hang them off my phone or summat....that is, if i can find the time to........

deja vu? yea i seem to be making quite a lot of these sushi sets. funnily, nobody even gave them a 2nd glance last year at TDA 09 T-T

i think the new wasabi and pickles look much better for this batch.

just for fun, i put some old 1:12 sushi i made a while back, onto a very dusty plate (also made by me XD) ok so it's more the gold paint that makes it look dusty, ughh....of course i had to make 1:12 pickles and wasabi....matchy matchy~~!

adjusted the colour on the kitsune, i think it looks better now. that's the initial pour of the soup base, need a second pour, probably will do that later tonight and add the remaining ingredients.

so. what's new? other than the onigiri and unagi, everything else looks....pretty familiar, right? even these forks.....which i had to coat with a silver paint cos i messed up experimenting on one of them. again, MATCHY MATCHY~~~! i think they look pretty ok here...but these are the last two forks in my stash. don't really have a stash, no place to stash the stash...........

oh oh...what a ghostly teapot and teacup set!

i enjoy working with la doll clay. i used la doll premiere to make these. had prior experience with it while making my dolls (pretty disastrous but excellent learning opportunity). they are a little bit smallish, but i based measurements on an actual teacup i had (4.8cm) and the teacups here are approx 1.5cm, while the teapot is approx 1inch wide (excluding spout).
there was plenty of down time as i had to wait for the clay to dry, so i took the opportunity to sand down some older 1:12 dishes i had made (with the help of molds), thus explaining the film of la doll clay dust all over the surface of my table right now. i'm not even gonna bother cleaning until it's all done, hark, do i hear a rattle in my chest?!?!? :P

back to work. oh wait, it's the weekend!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Tuesday, August 3, 2010

so much mail today


Thank you sooo much Talina! i love them all!!! i will fix up the kits soon, i'm sooo itching to get to them, but have to prioritize!! i am so pleased! (can't think of a better word, my mind is so hazy from all the pain so i am not gushing as much as usual)  i LOVE THEM! aiee~~ Yotsuba's expression of glee sums up my joy at receiving these wonderful little gifts ^ ^

(i admit, the little 'tin' cans totally TOTALLY SLAY ME they are PERFECT)

((and i must add, the little yellow pencils in that jar? the eraser tips OMG THEY EVEN FEEL LIKE THE REAL THING. must. resist. urge. to. chew. XD ))

i also received this medium flat rate box today. for those who don't know (i didn't till i received it) it measures 14" x 12" x 3.5". that is a rather big box :O surprised because i was told my order from polymerclayexpress would come in 2 flat rate packages like my previous order did.


all the clay :O i ordered these before i screwed up my hand recently, and during my down-time (emotionally and work-wise) i was fretting over whether i'd still be able to use the incoming clay. well the hand is doing heaps better with the help of ibuprofen, so i hope i will!!






the cake is finally done! my customer wanted some plates too, and from past experience, plates are really quite difficult to get all nice and symmetrical. so as a test run on size, i cut up a disposable sauce dish to act as a plate. size-wise, i think it works. the fork is a jewellery charm, i snipped off the eyehook, and sanded off the rough edge.



managed to work with a bit more clay today. this is for a different 1-3 commission......need to tweak the colour on the kitsune (sweet tofu skin) a little more...but soon i will be able to pour in the 'soup'. have to also paint the chopsticks. might sand it down a little more if my hands can handle it tomorrow.

made the master for the 1-3 onigiri and made a mold for these. i think i must have rolled out at LEAST a thousand grains of rice *faints* took me all of yesterday just to make the original. yikes! just have to stick on the seaweed, and they'll be done. i like the shapes of these though, i love eating onigiri with crab mayo filling, YUM!

gonna rest a bit more. dad's little birthday cum retirement dinner yesterday is wreaking havoc on my digestive system. serves me right for being a greedy little -----  :9