biscotti, wish i had coffee

i don't know what scale these would be suitable for. the first biscottis i'd tried were rock hard and approx 5-6 inches long, so these would mirror them in 1:12.

air dry clay + baking soda :) baked for 15 mins at approx 120 deg celcius. i used Daiso brand "lightweight" clay, using Tomohachi's recipe and adapted it for oven use. the results are inconsistent, so i'm glad these worked out the way i intended! hope to put them in a nice cookie jar soon as i get some time, gotta finish up some stuff and get the house clean!!

/panic on

More experiments and sushi

i tried and failed 4 times at molding this bugger with my alley goop. i'm thinking either 1) i didn't get the ratio right 2) it's too small a volume to mold properly 3) i didn't mix it well enough.

but when i did use a larger amount of molding compound, it still messed up. sigh. looks like i'll have to find another way to do this.

it's supposed to be a cookie/pineapple tart base :( the shiny stuff on it is the leftover silicone goop that seems to like to stick to it. :( i never have this problem when molding larger objects. so this is a major annoyance and waste of expensive silicone compound :( if i feel up to it, i might do a resin mold instead. the air dry one i made seems to be -ok- just that the details aren't as refined, and it's bound to deteriorate after i subject to the abuse intended for this 'project'.



well this experiment didn't turn out too badly. i tried out the polymer clay + thinner + baking soda method by Garie Sim and it seems to be working fairly well. the thinner is giving me a high though XD

the cakes are displayed on a plate painted by Petitplat which i received as part of a swap ^ ^ i have been really pampered lately, and will do a proper post on all the items i've received recently...





and progress on the commission i'm working on. these were the hardest to make of the whole commission. it accounts for why i've 'disappeared' somewhat the past few days. the different parts have to be mixed, baked, assembled, re-baked, individual grains of rice stuck on, re-baked, then the 'eggs' stuck on....i originally was going to make them approx 2cm wide, but realised that would be totally out of scake with regards to the crab stick. these are approx. 1/2" or 1.25cm wide, which translates to 1 1/2" or 3.75cm wide in real life (1:3 scale). i think this size works better with the rest of the sushi rolls....and hope my customer thinks the same too > <

Chinese New Year is approaching, and i'm still quite behind on my swaps and posts...i hope to be back on my personal projects soon i have soooooo many ideas teeming in my noggin!

Congratulations Luc!

Congrats Luc!!!i will be attempting to contact you shortly ^ ^ his/her pet phrase...kinda makes me laugh. cos it takes on a rather different meaning in our local context XD


"moi pet phrase ish... "帮个忙" aka "help lah"... s22"

i think the winner is a 'he' because....i often hear this only amongst army guys haha!

and a big thank you to everyone who played along! i have found myself recently testing out the new pet phrases i've learnt...some were really strange....XD i want so much to play favourites but i think it's funnier if you just read through ALL of the pet phrases yourself! you can read the responses here

http://snowfern.com/2010/02/2nd-giveaway.html

again, gratz Luc!

first attempts at fish.....

so....i've been a little....hesitant (?) about making fish. firstly, i don't enjoy eating it much. secondly, it seems like a lot of hard work. AND IT IS. thirdly, it would require i pick up a paintbrush, and those who read this blog regularly would know i am fearful of painting. anything. even my toenails.

so here i present to you, my first attempts at fish.




the larger one on the left is supposed to be Saba, i think it is the most successful of the lot. i did one of the shisamo (on the right) first. i would take a better pic, but my cam ran low on battery power. RAWRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRR!!!!!!!!! i then decided to do a pair of shisamo to see if i could replicate it, since my attempts at molding it were unsuccessful. yeah. they have no eyes. cos i ate them! nono, cos i wasn't sure how to make them, and thought i'd fill them in later. but i think they're ok too....maybe?


so since i'm on a roll here..i'd decided to attempt one in 1:3 too. this shisamo is about 4cm long. man. what a disaster LOL! again, i will try to take a better pic once the battery has recharged. it's got a better sheen than what is captured here, and i'm rather proud of my first four fishies!

the 1:12 fishies will be part of a trade i'd promised Yuki/Amatheria since gosh. last Nov maybe? I vaguely recall offering to send him some washi paper....then TDA came along and i got caught up, then commissions came along and some other swaps....and since he said it was no rush i'd lumbered along and and....eeps. SORRY! so here are the items i've made today, i specially put aside some time to complete the set. he'd wanted japanese foods, all sorts, and since i'm totally unimaginative, i decided to simply make some basic japanese items. i probably will add a bowl of rice, and maybe a miso soup, if he doesn't already have those items. not sure though, we'll see :) meanwhile, enjoy the pics, and as always CONSTRUCTIVE criticisms are welcome! i can take a hit, or two....and yea i know about the eyes already so....







i definitely will attempt making more fish in the future. i think i've finally conquered my fear of painting foods. XD



oh. and remember that the giveaway is still on in my previous post ;)

2nd Giveaway!

2 fruit tarts, icecream cone, doily and wagashi set

OK! as promised, here's the items you stand to win for the 2nd giveaway! it's really simple, since it's just a thank-you-for-reading-and-following giveaway ^ ^

all you have to do is comment on this post, and tell me what's your pet phrase, and how you came to use it :P yea it's silly i know, but i think the phrase that i tend to use a lot when i'm feeling silly is "how much wood can a woodchuck chuck if a woodchuck could chuck wood", and i believe it's from a lucasarts game "Monkey Island". i just like how it rolls off my tongue XD

what's that got to do with minis, you ask? NOTHING! that's the fun and irreverent bit of it all!

and thanks for following! 106 and counting....the past year has been a blast and now as i move on to my 2nd year of minimaking, i hope for happiness and PLENTY OF FUN while doing this ^ ^ the draw will commence on this Sunday afternoon (or eve, if i'm out, my side of the world)

7th Feb 2010

COMMENT AWAY!

(oh yeah, i'll also add in some cupcake liners just forgot to take pics of them -_-"" bah i have pics of them everywhere anyway.)
((i don't care if you've won or participated before either, it's free-for-all ;) ))
(((edited date cos i'm flaky and do not know how to read calendars XD so far the responses have been hilarious!!!)))

SOY'B 2010

Ok i forgot to post about this. my friends Asuka and Nyann will be holding individual booths at SOY'B!

Asuka will be selling her original works, postcards and some Valentine Day minis, and Nyann will be offering mostly craftbooks, mangas and even a lucky draw XD

please go down and lend them your support! i will be helping out at Asuka's booth, feel free to drop by and say hi to us! (no i won't be offering any of my works, just going there as an extra pair of hands ^ ^ )

kk let me sort out my stuff ok, i promise, next post will be the giveaway post :X :X :X

Swiss rolls, and what should i giveaway?

i don't know if i got the shapes right, it hadn't occurred to me as i worked on them as i tried to balance out the proportions of cake to fruit to cream ratio.....however i'm glad the textures and colours worked out!

still have to give the caramel brittle a coating, and glossing up parts of the cream/fruit....


i haven't forgotten my promise about the 100th follower giveaway! thank you all for your support ^ ^ i know i say it alot but i truly mean it. knowing that people enjoy looking at my works and possibly even reading my nonsense helps XD i will assemble some items i have made that i hope some of you might enjoy, and although they might not be very professionally done, i enjoyed making them, and so watch out for the next post on what you could win!

off to the post office!