Mar 14, 2010

Mooncake and Baker's Loaves of Bread

Dear readers, 

As I just started my second semester for University, I'll probably update my blog less often til the start of my vacation in August this year. Apologies for that as my course of studies has a tight schdule and there're loads of reports and assignments weekly for me to finish! :X
I'll try to spare some time to update my blog at least once a month =)
Before I get busier, let me show you some miniatures that I've yet to post.
Baked mooncakes

A mistake was made while making the eggs....The undried molded egg pieces were laid on the table (untouched) till it dried. Guess what, sadly, the bottom side of the eggs got flattened abit :( *Brggh...*
Basket of fresh eggs (view 1)
Basket of fresh eggs (view 2)
Here's an overview of different types of bread including loaves of baguette, artisan breads, hotdog buns, chocolate teddy breads etc.! *Drooling...*
An overview of baked goods

Tray of breads and buns
Basket of artisan breads

Mar 5, 2010

Berries Hopping Waffles!

Dear readers,

I just bought a rabbit waffle mold which got from online! Like it so much as I didn't see this type of waffle shape :D Anyway I thought of making a series of mini waffles of different shapes (already did the heart shape waffles). I'm using Hearty air dry clay this time round which doesn't stick to the mold as much than the Resin air dry clay I used previously.
However the coloring process really requires that extra patience... As I mentioned before, I think Hearty was quite difficult to be painted especially after the clay has dried. I wasted my first rabbit waffle as the color became too dark=failed product.  Initially I thought the coloring process would be similar to that of how I painted other types of clay. But I was wrong... The color became darker and was difficult to be wiped off for repaint; even if I used moist towel to wipe away the coat, it was still unsuitable to be repainted. Thus for my second attempt I tried to paint it in a different way, though the result was still not to satisfactory, yet still better than the first *hehe*. 

I snapshot process of making the decorated waffles different stages in case I might ruin the whole plate of waffles at any point of time; especially during the process of doing the 'strawberry topping which I usually don't get a nice natural flow *Ooops*...
Here they are! :)
1. I decorated the white plate with slices of orange and lemon
2. Whipped the cream and placed slices of strawberries at the side of the dish
Wow! Lastly,
3. Topped the waffles with strawberry sauce to sweeten the plate of hopping waffles!!
Ta da...! There you go...
100% Non-Fat Dessert for the day! *Sweeeet*!
Hope this plate of Berries Hopping Waffles sweeten your day ahead..!! :D

Resin (Taiwan) Vs. Hearty Air Dry Clay

Have you ever wonder what's the difference between clay of different brands? I've been figuring this when I started to use the Hearty air dry clay to sculpt my miniatures when my Resin (Taiwan) air dry clay was about to finish.

The following points are the differences which I'd found when comparing the miniatures made with these two brands of air dry clays. :) Hope it's helpful to you!

- Weight: Dried Hearty is lighter than Resin clay,
- Coloring: Color application using oil paint is much difficult on dried Hearty clay; the surface is rather rough to use brush to paint the clay and once the color is applied, it's hard to wipe it away. Whereas dried Resin clay is easier to coat oil paint onto it and the paint can be wiped off easier as well.
Dried resin clay is glossier than dried Hearty clay
Hearty clay shinks much more when dried (3rd donut from left) as compared to the undried Hearty (first uncolored donut). The middle donut is made from Resin clay.
 P.S: The differences between both clays were just my personal thoughts & may differ among individuals. Why not experience it yourself, it's interesting & the results may be out of your expectation :)

Mar 1, 2010

Arrival of Miniatures & Recollection of Good Old Days!

Hello all!

I've been waiting for the news of the arrival of my purchased miniatures since umm... mid of January this year. I was thrilled at the thought of receiving bags of miniature from my friend who came back from overseas yesterday! =D
This is also the week of my start of holiday since my last day of industrial attachment ended last Friday (26 Feb). So my mood is like ‘high up to the sky’ now! *hahaha*
Woke up around noon time (well...I know I sleep a lot :X), and started to unpack the bags of miniature, check the stocks, arrange them accordingly, and at the same time, admiring those miniatures!
Wow..Looking at these items just put a big grin on my face! :D
 The sewing machine is my favourite! It’s so small and when put next to a real one, doesn’t it look like a giant vs. dwarf? I remember my house used to have this similar model of sewing machine but was thrown away, kind of an antique to me...
Purchased miniature kitchen wares (view 1)
Purchased miniature kitchen wares (view 2)
Purchased miniature kitchen wares (view 3)
Mini antique sewing machine
While taking pictures of the miniature kitchen wares, I realised I had a wooden dollhouse furnished with furnitures which were keptat a corner of my house for a long time (about one or two years ago?) Anyway that was fixed by my best friend and I. First handmade dollhouse! :D We bought the pack of premeasured wooden pieces to build the dollhouse (photos as shown below). We polished the uneven parts, organised (as there were plenty of them laying messily in the pack) and glue the wooden pieces accordingly :) I remember that day we immediately unwrapped the package when we reached home and enthusiastically spent the whole night fixing the dollhouse! *thumbs up!* :D
 
Since the dollhouse was kept at a corner for some time, the plastic bag wrapped around the dollhouse and furnitures was kind of dusty =M.
I took them out of the plastic bag and found yellow stains/spots on some parts, =( not a good sign ya... Nevertheless, I wiped it and arranged the wooden furnitures around, trying to decorate the inadequately furnished house. Of cause, without the paint and decoration, this little house doesn't look that cozy. So I tried to furnish it with remaining handmade wooden furnitures, to make it as attractive as possible :)

Hopefully it has gone up a little higher level of standard..! Hee..
Front view of my handmade dollhouse
Back view of my handmade dollhouse
Kitchen on the right side of the dollhouse
Overview of the furnished handmade dollhouse
Living room of the dollhouse
Furnished kitchen of the dollhouse with plates of waffles and icy drink
Tea cozy corner with mini wooden high chair