THE WINTER CLOTHES

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This order was by a friend's mother, whom got this for her boss! I really think it was so thoughtful of her to do so, and I heard that her boss really likes it! Hehe. 

She passed me a photo of both of them when they're on a trip I assumed, as they were both in winter wear! She was wearing a really puffy jacket, whereas the male was wearing double layer too!

Her scarf was really tough to make, especially since it was checkered! I wrote about it on Dayre, and there was even progress photos! You can read it here ;)

I realised I write a lot of WIP on Dayre, and also random thoughts about handxmade, just because it's really convenient to do so. I prefer to blog on squarespace using my iMac, but my phone is always with me, and I just tend to reach it more often than my iMac! So if you like to see more progress photos and thoughts, do follow me on Dayre! It's also a really friendly community, so I think everyone will enjoy being there! ^.^

I'm slowly leaning towards the idea that my blog here on my website is mainly as a portfolio for my work, and I try to keep it short and sweet. I think I will continue to do that, since I don't really want to repeat myself here, feels like I'm nagging HAHAHA.

Her hair was going sideways away from her face, and even more so thanks to the thick jacket! So I tried to portray that too hehe.

The concrete base here also looks a bit more natural, rather than the strict rounded oval shape that even the bottom has! I do like this much better, plus it'd probably help with the stability! 

I managed to also make the double collar on the male, which I thought would be really tough! At least I managed to pull it off phew. 

The choice of sport shoes were made by my friend and me because my friend's mother couldn't find a reference photo of it! I hope we were accurate..

Thank you Vanessa for spreading the word around, even to your mum! <3

THE VINYL

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Lovely baby breathes from @myvalentinesg and prints from @poptsiepaperco when I went for her calligraphy workshop!

These are not sponsored ok, I paid for them with my own money hahahaa but I think good things needs to be shared ^.^

Ember's been a really good friend, and was the first friend who was really supportive of what I do :') And when she ordered this from me - with the new rates no less - I really felt the love. She really believed in me.

This was the first time I tried making air bangs for fringe, and I'm glad to say she loved it! Although I think some people might not, but the most important thing is she did <3

She started getting into vinyls, and I bet it was due to her partner's influence hehe. It was a good influence, no doubt! 

When she asked me to make a vinyl base, I immediately took the chance. It was something new, and I do like a challenge hehe. To me it really made this order unique to them, and that's what I wanted all my custom orders to be. 

Hehe I really love how the pretty baby breathes is making my website look! #noshame

My friend also requested a high bun, and this really reminded me of her! I could totally imagine her wearing it because she always does. Truly making the figurine look like her hehe. 

The male also has really unique hair, especially the sides - they kind of wrap around his face! It was one of the crucial information I needed to take note of.

She requested a T-shirt that has this milk carton on it, and I've actually seen her wore it before! It's really adorable and I've never seen anyone else has it hahaha.

I needed the image itself for the image transfer, and she managed to find it! However, the one she found looked a bit different from what she had, so I did some editing myself. I truly think that it's the little things like these that helps to make the figurine look similar to the person.

Because the background of the shirt was white, the image transfer was pretty okay, although it was still tough because of the size! I had to redo a couple of times *scratch head* BUT IT WAS ALL WORTH IT!

Another interesting trait was the hole on the male's shoe! I think it's really funny that this guy has holes on his shoes, both of them too!

This was definitely one of my favourite works (plus all the baby breathes made it look so pretty right HEHE), and I hope there'll be more to come!

Here are the rest of the photos, just to make sure I at least made good use of them hurhur.

FOOTPRINTS ON SAND

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Firstly.....I gotta find a better title for my blog post about my figurines man hahaha. I am so terrible at this. 

But I guess it's pretty accurate, since it's actually the first time I tried out this!

I actually got the moss at the back specifically as a prop! You can read about it on my Dayre post here ;) 

Truthfully....they're not really doing very well HAHAHAA. I am absolutely terrible with plants, even moss.........

I even managed to grow fungus at one point, so I guess I still managed to grow something....right now they're back to being dried out because I kept forgetting to water it *opps*

Anyway, they're still useable as props and didn't actually die (I don't think they can) so it's all good HAHAHA *shifty eyes*

This is the reason why this blog post is named this way - the footprints that I embedded with the figurine's feet! Hehe. 

Reference photos! (Thank you for letting me post the photos! They're also really beautiful hehe)

As you can see from the 2nd reference photo, there were footprints behind them. and I thought it was really nice! So I tried to recapture that image on my figurines too hehe. It was really cute that they were barefooted too!

I also really love how her hair looks like, the colour, and the wavy look. So I tried to replicate it with my figurines!

The name plate for this order is matte instead of gloss finish, and I think it suits the whole look - the black would have been too dark for the whole thing! 

A comparison with my hand and a few more photos hehe.

This order was a smooth one, and truthfully people like her who trust me completely with my work is rare to come by, so I must really appreciate when they do! <3

DAYRE ORDERS

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Dayre, a place I've been updating almost daily with random day-to-day musings, food and sometimes rants, since I got back to it on November 2015! 

I was actually on Dayre in 2014 for a few months, before I stopped due to school work and part time work in general. Oh my, I was still crocheting then! And throwback to my first post on Dayre after the long break, where I talked about wanting to work as Jocelyn's Assistant for AiClay! 

It was just a good place for me to upload photos with story etched with them, and unless Dayre's server crashed...(touch wood) they'll be there forever. DON'T SAY NO TO FREE STORAGE HAHAHA. It's a mobile based blogging experience, and it has made blogging on the go SO CONVENIENT. 

Slowly, I started meeting new people on Dayre, thanks to Editor's Pick! I really think it was one of the reason that made me stayed on Dayre, because I get to have a peek into other people's life, be it a cook, baker, artist, and more. Editor's Pick is where your posts will be on everyone's timeline for a week, and if they like what you write...they'll want more and follow you! 

And one day....I was picked as Editor's Pick!! 

What a sweet write up :') 

Back then, Handxmade is basically NOTHING, and nobody barely know about me hahahahaha. So being Editor's Pick was like a gift sent from heaven, where SO MANY PEOPLE could see my works, and follow if they're interested! 

Dayre community is so friendly and supportive, it was almost unreal. Of course, as time goes by and more people gets on to the bandwagon, there's bound to be trolls. But that's a story for another day. I STILL LOVE DAYRE. I even made friends, and met some of them! How amazing is that :')

 
 

In the end, I decided to give discount for my orders, and I was pleasantly surprised that I got more than 15 orders altogether! Although one or two dropped out a bit, it was still an whooping amount of people (compared to....like.....0 at that point of time LOL)

I was suppose to take...10 orders? But I ended up taking more haha. 

I also spent A FEW MONTHS to finally get all of them done, and throughout the way...I've improved TONS, and also realise that the current pricing was impossible for me to survive if I really want to keep it a full time job. 

Now, I've changed how I price my custom orders, a better FAQ section, fix my rushing for deadline problem (hopefully), figurines are consistent in how they look, and also improved my forms (big thanks to Kaye from Pixelandcode! <3)

It's been a looooooong while since I updated handxmade blog, and I'm going to post all the works I've done for Dayre supporters! :') 

Need to keep my "portfolio" alive right hahaha.

*I'm going to post the photos based on their submission, but I worked on them differently because of different deadlines (despite saying I am only taking orders without deadlines....)

LONG POST AHEAD!

The couple keychains with distinctive dress

I really love the female's dress, and really enjoyed making it! There's even a hood at the back, and I think the dress does make the figurine special to that someone - because it's just so rare.

By the end of all orders, I have started putting headpins on all the legs of the figurines, just so they will be more stable! It's actually really tedious, but for long lasting figurines, anything is worth it hurhur.

The figurines hiding in the bed of dried flowers cracked me up though!!!!! HAHAHAHAHA.

And of courseeeeee, reference photo hehe. 

The army guy

This was the first time I made a malay figurine, and it was really fun!!

I love her dress, and of course the original looked much better, but I do think it was pretty similar!

I also tried to sculpt the braid at the side of her head, although it's not very obvious.

Some WIP! 

It was the first time I tried making this kind of texture for floor, and I was determined to get it right! I even asked on Dayre in hopes that someone would take a photo of such floor tiles (because there was none near me, and I didn't know what to Google...), and a couple of people really emailed me, or those who had my number sent them to me! I remember feeling really grateful, and thinking "this is the power of internet"

This was the first time I made camo prints, and also a beret! Really glad I managed to pull it off *phew*

The one I made friends with

Cheryl has been a really good friend, and I'm proud to say that I know her through Dayre 100%! She taught me how to use my DSLR (Yes I got one, shall write about it another day hehe), and even accompanied me to watch Train to Busan when my partner wasn't free (he rarely is, and I really wanted to watch it tsk)

I quite like the peace sign, hehehe.

Army man 2

I was really lucky to get two orders in a go for army boyfriends! Hehehe. This time, I was ready with the correct paint, and mold for the beret! 

It's nice to make keychains, because I can take individual shots like this hehe. 

I'm gonna regret saying this, because I think it can't be unseen afterwards.....but the male's face looks like watermelon HAHAHAHAA. It's just that my figurine's faces are all kinda round..so.........

Some WIP. You can see the watermelon shape clearer here..... *ahem*

The baby

It was the first time I was tasked with adding a baby to the mix, and I was also having mixed feeling about it. HOW WAS I SUPPOSE DO THAT??

It did took me a lot of test and trial, and the placement was really difficult - there was a lot of planning involved. But I made it! 

We even decided that the base to be like the glittery black tile in the reference photo, and I also glazed it with glaz to make the glitter shine out even more! 
I was really proud of that hehe. 

The checkered prints of their shirt would be too difficult to make, and it would have cost a lot more, so she decided the pink colour of the shirt would do for both! I still think it was adorable for them to dress up the same, even the baby was in a hot pink dress. Too cute!

Here's a haeadless baby! XD Apparently it was creepy to some people, but I kinda find it cute. HMMMM.

The Crepe

This was a trip to Korea that my customer went with her boyfriend! I thought it was really sweet of her to include the crepe that she had, with the clothes they were wearing on that day. That was what I wanted my figurines to be, capturing a memory that is special to them :')

The crepe was an add-on, and by itself it took quite a while to make! It was also TINY, and I had to make sure the size is proportionate to the figurine to a certain extent hahaha.

I do like how the jeans for the female looks like tho! Does look like a pair of jeans, eh?

The one where I fixed the head shape

Before this figurine, the head shape of the figurines I made were all kinda rounded. I realise that by making it a bit more oval shaped, it leaves more space for forehead, and thus making it look more proportionate! 

It was really amazing how such small thing matters, and I felt a lot better about my figurines after that! 

I also started getting props so I can take photos with my figurines with them, and use the sunlight to take photos! It makes a HUGE difference in my photo, so I make sure I take time to do it ^^

(Cat postcard from @troopsonprint on IG, and dried baby breathes from @myvalentinesg on IG!)

I always loved such decorative items, but I never knew what to do with them. Now they have a purpose (being props for my figurines hehe), I am more willing to spend money on them, and at the same time support local businesses! Win-win situation hurhur.

I love the first photo so much because of the baby breathes, which imo really make my photos so much nicer! And I used the photo for my FIRST EVER OFFICIAL NAMECARD FOR HANDXMADE! Hehehe. The namecard is design by my friend, Siang Joo. Do check out her works! 

The obligatory front, side, back shots, and also reference photo!

The sandal was definitely one of the interesting part I made for her order! It's not easy to make, but was definitely worth it! 

The transparent clay

(See what I mean by being in love with baby breathes? Hahaha. Can't believe that before this, I didn't know about the existence of dried flowers, and the fact that they can last at least a year! Really make your money's worth don't you think hahahahahahaha #cheapo)

I was really excited about this project, because I finally could try out the Transparent Clay I got when I was in Japan! 

I started the orders after my Japan trip, and it really was luck that I chanced upon the transparent clay when I was in Japan Tokyu Hands! 

I wrote a review about it on my Dayre, you can read it here.

Long story short, I regretted not getting more of this clay! It looks GORGEOUS for the bride's dress and veil!

It's a shame I can't post the reference photo, it was really dreamy and beautiful!

The female figurine looks a lot shorter than my other figurines, because in the reference photo, she's actually sitting down! 

Before I put on the veil however, I took photos of her hair, because it was the most complicated yet satisfactory hair I've ever made! 

I was really happy when I finished it :')

The veil! I really like how the transparent clay worked out for this project, especially the veil! If I were to use translucent clay...the effect will definitely be different, and it would have just looked opaque.

And here are the flowers!

I have no clue what the flowers are, but just made according to the colour and shape I see in the photos HAHAHA. I think it could have done better, but it being so tiny and all, this was the best I could do. I quite like it though! Definitely gave the whole figurine a dab of colours!

The dress is also made with transparent clay, albeit a bit more opaque. But it does give the dress a really soft look! A good idea for sheer clothes imo.

The cheerleaders

This actually took me WAY TOO LONG THAN I EXPECTED...

I tried using image transfer for this, but since it has a coloured background....it just didn't do too well. Hence, I had to count on my painting skill hahahaa. 

They were SO SMALL!!

But in the end...I was quite happy with it hehehe. I'd better be, after spending so much time on it LOL.

Especially whn your pet love bird destroyed the figurines THREE TIMES and you have to keep redo-ing it T.T That was quite a traumatic experience sobs. I even have photos on it on my Dayre somewhere......

I thought it was really sweet to have a gymnastic mat as a base too! As I think it was probably the most important thing in their CCA :') 

It's so sweet to found your partner through the same passion!

The hair for the female was quite a feat too! She has apparently permed her hair for a performance, and I thought it was one of those things that would latch a memory on the figurine! Definitely made the whole figurine look great hehe.

There were SO MANY reference photos that it was really hard to keep track! But I rather have more reference photos than less, especially for figurines with so many details that I need to take note of!

I even painted the clothes wrongly once (talk about the amount of times I had to redo this...) because I got confused :'(

That was why after this, I made it a point to make a Dropbox paper document with all the information and reference photos inside, with notes, so that I can let my customer check if all information is correct, and it will also help me keep track of all reference photos!

Another hurdle to help me get a better grip for my business. 

After I was done with everything, I had to realigned the guy because he was slanted!!!! OMG. 

Sometimes it slides out while baking, and now I know that I need to make sure it stays, and actually found a way to do it, thank goodness. I was horrified when I saw it, and it was really pushing my buttons!! Glad I didn't break anything when I took the male out! Was really scared hahahaha. 

One last thing that really made me LOVE this figurine - the ribbon! Don't think that just because it's a small ribbon, it must have been easy. I thought so too. But I spent quite long trying to get it work. There's just so many ways to do it, that sometimes you gotta find the right way for yourself! Even had to make sure it was proportionate etc *phew*. All the test and trial was worthwhile. 

The one that made me tried the dipping method

I dragged this project for TOO LONG, because I couldn't get the matte finish right! Thank goodness her deadline was really far away. 

This was how the heartshape looked like when it was fresh out of the oven - the matte finish that I always try to achieve, while giving my figurine UV protection with my matte glaze. 

The glaze I was getting (Golden polymer varnish) was only available online, and I was waiting for MONTHS for the glaze to reach me!! T.T It was really frustrating. 

In the end...........there was actually a reseller in SG who takes in the Golden brand paints and more, AND THEY HAVE THE VARNISH I WANTED. IN STOCK! I dropped everything (literally) and went all the way down to visit the shop I never knew existed until then!! And I really thought I went to most of the art stores in SG already! You can read my Dayre entry here where I talked about the shop, Straits and co.! 

By then, I actually finished ALL my dayre orders, and was just waiting for the glaze! So when I got hold of them (I bought two huge bottle HAHAH), I IMMEDIATELY STARTED GLAZING!

I also had enough for the dipping method, thank goodness, because brushing the glaze on actually leaves streak marks, which was what stopped me from sending out the order. I'm really glad I waited, and that I could give my best for this project! 

The matte glaze with dipping method does give the end product the finish that looks like it was fresh out of the oven doesn't it? :') I LOVE MATTE FINISH SO MUCH.

This was also the first project that made us come up with the idea of a plate! My customer wanted to put their names on, so we thought of putting it on a plate, as the base was too thin and short for it.

I personally think that the gold border with gold for the words really give the whole figurines a classy look, and with the suit and dress from the figurines, it does give it their own vibe!

The dipping method is definitely what I will use from now on for glazing, and now I find myself not dread the glazing like before! *THANK GOODNESS*

The gloss glaze

This customer is actually a return customer, and I am really grateful for all her support! :') This time, I'm making some other idol, and not someone from the group Spexial though ;)

She wanted the figurines to be glossy though, and even though I really love these figurines....customer's request are the most important hahaha. I DO LOVE MY MATTE FINISH AS YOU CAN TELL.

I must say, the hair was quite fun to make, and does make the figurine super handsome, right? XD
Even the clothes too! This is definitely on of my favourite figurines hehee.

Wavy wavy

She also ordered this! 

Initially I wanted to use image transfer for the imprints, but in the end, painting was much better because it was much vibrant... Image transfer really only works better on white background :(

I think it went pretty well though, AND OMG THE HAIR. 

The hair is the same size as his head, and I am not even exaggerating!! Look at the reference photo hahaa. It's like, anime hair! I genuinely wonder if it's heavy and how much wax was used....

The strong female

I know I say this all the time, but this figurine was the most difficult I've encountered so far, because of the fragile parts! X.X

The story goes like this: She saw the figurine on the left which reminded her of her boyfriend and her, so she wanted to recreate that position, but this time with the figurines of her and her boyfriend instead! (The reference photo on the right is the dress she wants the figurine to wear hehe)

That's the magic of custom order, you can do anything you want! 

And I'm to make sure that my customer get what she want! :')

I actually made sure that there was a wire in between the two body that were joined, as the female itself won't be able to hold the male just by her hands -  it was too risky, so I had to have some precaution. The female also has a wire through the base to her body, so both were secured!

For the male, because his arms isn't by his side, I also had to make sure it would stay! So wire it is hehehe. This figurine actually required the most preplanning the most, and I also love how the male's eyes were like an emoji! It really does make him look like he's enjoying himself right? Hehehe.

It was also the first time I tried making a kissy lips on my figurine, and I'm very happy to say that  I'm quite proud of it! Huehuehue. 

Overall, a good learning experience, and definitely one of my proudest end product! 

That's all the TWELVE orders I've gotten through Dayre when I was Editor's Pick! :')

I've learn so much from all these orders, all the things I've mentioned throughout this post, and even things like time management (DO NOT ACCEPT 12 ORDERS IN A GO HAHAHAHAA I LITERALLY SPENT MONTHS ON IT), pricing (needed to make sure I can survive and even save with the income I get) and things I needed to improve on, like FAQ section and my forms! 

It has been a great experience, and I think because of all of you who ordered, and everyone on Dayre who was so supportive, that I can truly believe in my work.

This is very important, and life changing for me. 

Thank you all, from the bottom of my heart ♥

RETIREMENT GIFT

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A retirement gift for Beiersdorf AG’s senior management member, Dr Schmidt! 

Some parts of the photos are mosaicked due to copyright and trademarks issues, which is a shame because they're image transfers (that I rarely work with) and they're such a beauty. But I still would like to show everyone the overall product! 

I've always wanted to make my figurines and framed it up, and am so glad that this project helped me to achieve it so quickly! Well my idea was a bit different, more like miniature furniture, but this is still a really good idea, especially for figurines! :D

If you've been following me on my Dayre, you will know that I'm also working as a Part Time Assistant for Jocelyn from AiClay. She was the one who handover this project to me because they requested a figurine and she thought of me :')

I had so much fun with this project, even though it was something really new to me! It was my first time putting a figurine in a frame, and I had to:

  1. Create the mock up to ensure that both my client and I know what she wants, and that to make sure there is no miscommunication.

  2. Create the backdrop from scratch with photoshop.

  3. Making sure the backdrop FITS the frame!

  4. Making the items with image transfer on polymer clay to ensure the near perfect picture (lots of preparation and test & trial, I had to make sure they were the correct size with inverted image etc)

  5. Make the wooden frame from scratch (this part was really enjoyable!! I love handling wood)

  6. Making sure the figurine can fit into the depth of the frame, which was only 1.5cm! It's really hard to find a frame with a deep depth, and so glad it worked out.

There was tons of mock up and the last one which was the 8th version, was the perfect one! :D I really didn't mind doing all the mock ups to ensure that my client gets exactly what she wants, as long as it's before I started the work. 

Here you can see the gorgeous and even glow from the glossy eyes 😀  I used Padico's UV resin and it's the first time I'm using UV resin! I absolutely love it. 😍  Normal resin needs more than 12 hours to cure, but with UV light, the UV resin will be cured in less than 15min! Also, I could adjust the resin as much as I want without fearing it would dry up halfway hahaa.

A #WIP of Dr. Ulrich, without the hair! Many of my figurines looks funny without hair, but this one still looks pretty good! 😌  Everything is made with 100% polymer clay, even the eyes!

I am really proud of this and it's my best work so far! 

To be honest, all my work at that point of time is always my best work so far, but I think that's good. It's good because it shows that I'm always improving, and that is always a good sign that I'm heading towards the right direction. 😊

Thank you Jocelyn for giving me the chance to do this, and Eileen for liaising with me and being very clear about what you want! 

CAT SAFARI

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On January 2016, I went to Cat Safari with Ariane. (Read all about it on my Dayre!)

Cat Safari is a place where cat lovers gather, and have a therapeutic session with the cats for a low cost of $5 for about an hour! The admission fee which is essentially the fee for the socks is kind of like a donation for the cats' medical treatments, as the cats are mostly taken in from cat farms (which is usually in REALLY bad condition) or strays!

They only opens to the public during the weekends, and during the weekdays, they bring the cats to old folks home/autistic kids school for a therapy session. (Which works!)

I was really touched by the owners' ambition to save as much cats as they can, and also at the same time helping humans to destress! ^^ The medical treatments for pets especially in Singapore doesn't come cheap, and to be honest I don't know how they're doing it.

Since I was really moved, I decided to contact them and donate a piece of clay figurine of one of their cats to them, so they can sell it and hopefully it will help sustain part of the cat's medical treatment!

The whole thing actually got delayed (FOUR MONTHS OMG T.T) because I had a lot of (pleasantly surprised) unexpected custom orders! I feel really bad, and they probably thought I'm all talk no action.......but a promise is a promise (even though I had to put my customers first ><)

Here's the reference photo! 

The photo is a bit yellowish in colour, so everything looks a bit more saturated than usual. But rest assure the wall and compartment colour is the same ;)

This adorable little kitten is call Merger (pronounced Burger with a "m") and he's actually a defected Munchkin. Apparently the species Munchkin itself is a defect, made because humans think it's cute lol. And when you get failed ones like Merger, who has really short front legs and much longer hind legs, breeder throws it and nobody wants it. (Sigh, humans.)

Look at that big, gorgeous eyes!! The leg you see here is his hind legs, and they actually CAN'T BE BENT. Because Merger is still a kitten, they can try to "push" his bones the correct way, which is really painful for Merger, but is a necessary evil :( According to Kahyong and Derrick (the owners), he can bend them now and is able to jump a little! Soooo glad it worked out.

Most of the cats in Cat Safari has their own story, and I wanted to create a figurine for each of them and tell their story! But because of time constrains and me being broke....this idea will have to be pushed back :( 

I do hope I will be able to do it one day, in the near future. 

CRAFT SPACE MAKEOVER

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Few days back, I received my craft closet!

Basically, it's a closet, but opens up to a craft storage with a table that can be extended! 

I love it sooooo much and it has definitely made my crafting much more efficient. Now everything has its own place, and keeping everything after a crafting session has never been easier!

Here's a before and after shot ;)

I also wrote a much detailed post about the process of moving everything from my messy table and the area around it (heh) to the craft closet on my Dayre! :D

It took me a grand total of 5 hours, which to be honest, was less than I expected HAHAHA. I thought it would take me at least two days! 

I had so much fun moving my stuff and figuring out where should a certain item's house be at :>

I also love how the things I always need to reach out to are near me, like my clay storage on my left, paints on top, Pocket Roller from Pocket Kitchen kit on my right etc! Ahhhhh such convenience.

The table too, is more of like extension? I love how I can fit my lightbox inside (and the closet can be closed with the lightbox open like this!) and when I do need space, just push it in and tadah! More space to do things like using the cutting mat :D

This doesn't come cheap, but it's a good investment which I can keep for a very very long time. Hell, a piece of SOFA is even more expensive and you only sit on it! Hahaha. Even after almost a week, I'm still so happy when I look at it (and this doesn't happen to me, EVER) 

Anyway, this really marks a milestone for me, the FIRST furniture I've ever wanted and got for myself, and the BIGGEST and most EXPENSIVE thing I've spend on smth craft related! :D

ABSOLUTELY NO REGRETS

A BALL OF HYDRANGEAS

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A custom order from a friend who wanted to support me! :') 

She didn't want a figurine but a ball of hydrangeas instead, and when I told her I've never tried it before, she just asked me to give it a try! 

DSC02990 copy.jpg

I was so worried that it'd turn out back, but it wasn't as bad as I feared hahaha. 

The flowers could definitely be better though, but I do think that using airdry clay would be much, much easier! Maybe I should grab some again and give it a try. I really dislike using airdry clay though because they always try up on me despite wrapping it up properly and putting it in an airtight container :|

A not-so-nice looking photo of how it looks like when worn! 

I really like the twine feeling for a necklace, but I don't think the hydrangeas was heavy enough so it looks kinda floating hmmmm. Need more improvement on that part too.

I recently got another packaging for my works, and I think I like this much better! :D

It's sturdier than my brown paper bags, and looks aesthetically nicer too. I wrap the cotton cloth around it when I package it! Wonder if there's a better alternative for that...I believe there is, just need to open my eyes more and get more ideas :)

But for now, I'm really satisfied with this current packaging! Sadly it can only be used for local meet ups. For mailing I have to use a tougher box.

Finding the right packaging to me is a long journey, and I'll always look for better alternatives! I certainly hope I can find a good one for my products. (Soon)

FAILED ANIMAL FIGURINES :(

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If you read my previous post, you would have seen a completed custom order. However, it wasn't the case in the beginning and I actually failed in the beginning :|

He initially ordered a bear and a koala bear instead of figurines, but also wanted them to sit on the bench. 

Obviously it didn't work :(

I even made indents on the bear before I bake it so that it would stick better, but turns out my customer thought that the bear wasn't really sitting on the chair properly. 

Which I could see why! The bear was a little hunched, so if I were to put it a bit upwards it'd be too hunched :< 

I also thought that the koala was a bit too big in contrast to the bear (even though they're actually already very small) 

It was my first time making these two animal, and making one hug the another was even more tough. I was almost really stressed out!!! D:

(You can see the indents on the bear here haha) 

I do like the bear though :D

That's why I made a tutorial for this bear! 

Anyway, in the end I told him I couldn't make it for the deadline and I could refund him, but he really wanted to get something from me for the anniversary (which I really appreciate) hence the figurines! :)

I still made a stand for the koala and bear though because I won't be needing them, but it still means something to them. I don't know what happened to this, but I'm glad at least they're in good hands now! :)

FLOWER GIRL AND BLUE FAIRY

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A return customer (and I am proud to say she is the first customer that wasn't someone I know, like a friend or something hahaha) ordered from me more figurines! :D

You can read about her first order here. ^.^

She always has really interesting (tough, but interesting) reference photos for me to make the figurines out of, and it's always a good challenge.

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I call this the flower girl because she has a flower hair wreath on! And her clothes feels very flowery too. 

She ordered two of the same, and wanted gloss glaze for all her figurines!! I kept asking her if she's sure about it HAHAHA I think she can totally see how much I dislike gloss glaze for figurines *guilty* but gloss glaze does work well on certain things like eyes, because they have water content! It makes the whole body looks oily in my opinion....

In the end she gave in to me hahahaha and decided to go for matte. She said she wanted to try out and see how gloss glaze looks like, that's why she ordered gloss! So I told her since you have two of the same figurine why not put one as gloss then? And she agreed! :D So now you can see the difference of matte glaze vs gloss glaze! Which one do you prefer? ;)

Here's the reference photo! I swear the shirt was really the toughest, since it's wavy and all *phew*

I think I finally got the heels right (even though this is only the 2nd time i'm doing it hahahaa) The legs and body are too skinny compared to the feet though hmmm need to work on that too!

Here's a close up of the roses! 

The roses are actually quite easy to make, and I made a tutorial for it! :D

I still think if it's airdry resin clay it will be easier, but for those who prefers polymer clay more than air dry clay, here's an alternative! :)

I even have multi-coloured petals like in the reference photo! :D The roses looks better in matte though. Even though this is matte glaze, there's a layer of gloss at the bottom as a base glaze, so matte actually looks more like satin. Still gotta work on that, maybe thicker matte glaze and not watered down one? (my glaze requires me to water down)

Next it's this "Blue Fairy"! Also a name I came up with myself just so I can differentiate hahahaha, 

I LOVE, LOVEEEEEEEE THIS SO MUCH!! THE HUGE BUN IS JUST TOO CUTE HAHAHA. Now, I'm not exaggerating okay, HER REFERENCE PHOTO REALLY LOOKS EXACTLY LIKE THIS!!!

SEE! HAHAHAHA.

I also tried to make the flowing cloths that makes her look so fabulous XD It does look like fairy wings, right??! #weirdthingsIcompareto

She initially wanted this as a keychain too, but I was recommended it as a decorative piece instead as the cloth might be fragile. 

I make the floating cloths with dukit clay since they're much more durable and bendable after baking! I can't believe Singapore doesn't sell dukit clay actually, it's such a good brand! I really is less prone to baking and I love it so much.

I'm actually interested in bringing in the clay....hmmm...

In my new packaging! :)

I really love how the figurines fits in in the box nicely ♥.♥

This too! 

I forgot to measure the base BUT IT FIT IN THANK GOODNESS HAHAHA. Need to be careful in the future *whoops*

Thank you so much Zhiqing for ordering from me again! ♥