Best of Nine in 2015

Happy New Year everyone!

I joined instagram late last year (2015). Yes!  2015 is over for me. I saw many people had this best of nine #2015bestofnine and I thought I will curate one as well from my instagram account.

I am thankful for all the continuous love and support coming from all over the world. As an artist, it truly means a lot to me. I don't have lofty goals for 2016. I actually want to focus on health, staying healthy, because health is wealth. Without a healthy body, I would not be able to continue doing what I love, so actually that would be my priority. So, in 2016, I hope to stay healthy and continue to create beautiful art. Hopefully in the process, I will inspire more people to create MORE art as well. :)

What are your new year goals? I wish everyone a happy, healthy and beautiful 2016!

Dollhouse Miniature Christmas Style Wrought Iron Fence

I made a couple of dollhouse miniature christmas wrought iron fence recently. They were pretty well received and that made me really happy.

This is my first one, where the rose wreath was smaller.

And then, this is my second piece, where my customer requested for a pale pink rose wreath. Though it didn't look like a christmas themed piece, it was inspired by the first one I made.

And then this is my newest piece, and I got more adventurous in making a slightly bigger wreath.

I might make some as I'm in the mood. ^^

Have a beautiful weekend!

Dollhouse Miniature Cooking Pots

Here's some very realistic and absolutely the cutest dollhouse miniature cooking pots I've ever seen!

Comes in blue, pink and magenta. The lid can be opened.

Looks just like the real thing. :)

They are available here.

Black Friday Cyber Monday Discount Code

Just in case you are not following my other social media accounts, I'm releasing my shop discount code for Black Friday Cyber Monday!

Get 15% OFF all dollhouse miniature supplies here or here

Minimum Purchase is US$25

Code: THANKS15

End Date: 30 Nov 2015

Happy Thanksgiving All! :)

My first Instagram Giveaway!

I must be one of the slowest person to join in Instagram. But honestly, I seldom use my mobile phone unless I don't have access to my computer.

But yes, my instagram account is here.

I was going to plan a giveaway anyway for the month of November, and decided I'll do it over at instagram :)

November is such a special month for me, because it's my birthday month, and I'm already feeling the holiday mood!

I hope you will join in the fun, win some miniature molds and create something beautiful with them!

White Christmas Tree Jewelry Necklace

I've always dreamed about white christmas. My ideal kind of christmas is filled with snow. It means new beginnings, a fresh start, pristine clean air and a pure, simple lifestyle. Besides, I've always loved the smell of christmas fir trees. I know this sounds crazy, but I love passing by hotel lobbies during the christmas season just to take a whiff of that real fir tree. So refreshing!

So, all those images I had in mind inspired me to make this White Christmas Tree Jewelry Necklace.


It holds many meanings for me, and I hope you share some of those :)

Wear the necklace against a white or cream top, and I'm sure it'll still draw attention. 

I absolutely love the rainy days we have here recently. It makes me yearn for a good fir tree candle scent. Nothing too artificial...any recommendations?

Food Jewelry Workshop Singapore - Christmas Cake Tower Necklace

I'm pleased to share that I'm adding a new workshop offering in my suite of craft classes available!

Last week, I turned the christmas cake tower into a wearable food jewelry piece! I was happy with the results and I had the idea to turn this into a workshop offering as well. So here it is!!

Over the years, I have received numerous requests about the possibility of teaching some food jewelry classes. However, I had difficulty with that as I use air dry clay for all my craft classes, and it takes time for the clay to dry. For a larger dollhouse miniature piece, I could always plan something for the student to work on while waiting for the air dry clay to dry naturally. But for a single food jewelry piece, you can't proceed if the item isn't dried. Believe it or not, I'm mindful about maximizing my student's traveling time and ensuring that there is enough content to teach in a session. So, that has really been my biggest hurdle and I wanted to wait till I have a project that would take a couple of hours at least to complete before rolling out a craft workshop! Here I am, finally! :)

This Nov/Dec period is perfect for this particular food jewelry piece, so come join me to create your own masterpiece.

For more details about this craft workshop, please click here.

Dollhouse Miniature White Christmas Cake Tower

I don't know if it's too early to post anything related to christmas, since Halloween is not even here yet. But I'm one who has never been the best in scheduling items just in time for the holidays, so I'll just list whatever I've completed.

I think my kind of christmas will be a white and blue themed one this year. I'm drawn to the pristine looking items, that subtly gives you a feeling of calmness and sereneness.

I'm proud to present to you my first dollhouse miniature white christmas cake tower.

Measures 3.9cm tall and 2.5cm wide.

It's available here.

My creative rituals

I recently came across a few articles that made me think of my personal creative rituals. I'm sure all of us at some point feel uninspired, or tired. This is actually normal. I think what most creative people fear most is the lack of inspiration because that's pretty much the driving force of our work.

Having said that, I have also learnt through these years, that sustained creativity doesn't come from a single spark of a brilliant idea. You are what you do everyday. I cannot stress that enough. Having consistent rituals are essential to set the stage to help bringing your ideas to fruition.

So, when I saw this article which showcases the daily routines of some of the most world known creative people, I was truly fascinated. You know, I'm glad to know I'm not the only oddball who doesn't sit down for hours in a row creating. It just doesn't work for me.

But do you have creative rituals? And if so, what are some of your favorite rituals? Things that you need to do on a daily basis that helps you to keep your creative journey moving along?

Here are some of my favorite rituals.

1. Quiet mornings

The first few moments when we wake up is actually quite precious and important as it sets the tone for the rest of the day. I like waking up naturally and luckily, I am a morning person and don't have a problem waking up. I also don't have bad mood when I wake up, thankfully! I rarely laze in bed, and I like getting up to a quiet morning to start another brand new day!

2. My first cup of tea

Another one of my must favorite rituals! Nothing better than waking up and enjoying that first few sips! Seriously! I think even coffee drinkers will understand this, as it's similar to their first cup of coffee of the day.
I feel like I can accomplish and get through anything once I get my first taste of tea. I love my tea to be strong, bright and bold :) I usually have one cup in the morning and another in the afternoon.

Photo from here

3. Breakfast

This probably sounds crazy, but I love breakfast and sometimes I go to bed getting excited thinking about eating breakfast in the morning. I've had always eaten breakfast as a child, before going to school, so this is a routine for me. I can't start work without having some food in my stomach. These days, I'm into gluten free honey corn flakes. They are so yummy!

 

Photo from here

3. Take time to find beauty

I found that this works for me. When I'm uninspired, I take time to look and find beauty in things. I like going onto Pinterest to find beautiful pictures. Most of the time, and really I mean 99% most of the time, when I find something, I instantly feel excited and that helps to keep me going. I like looking at flowers, home decoration, desserts, cakes.  

4. Pause and be grateful

I learn not to take anything for granted. Being able to sit and create art is something to be extremely grateful for. I'm grateful that I am healthy and am able to pursue the things I enjoy doing. When you create with that mindset, your world changes. Every moment becomes precious and valuable.

 

Photo found here

5. Get in touch with nature

No matter how busy my day is, I never fail to go out to get in touch with nature. I love to be surrounded by trees, grass and flowers. It actually helps me in many ways. Sitting for long hours isn't healthy anyway, so I love going outdoors for my daily exercise. Depending on weather, I either go for a run, swim or walk. This has become an integral part of my lifestyle. I feel that I am a better artist because of this. 

Photo found here

I hope you enjoyed reading and knowing my creative rituals. A lot of it is living life in a simple way. What are some of your favorite rituals?

Flower Quote

I love flower quotes...I feel that I can learn so much about life through them. I was taking a picture of my recent work and unknowingly took a shot which I can be creative with! I wanted to insert a flower quote into this picture which was so suitable and apt.

So true, don't you think?

I don't know, but the appeal of flowers will likely stay in my life :)

Finished a new piece and decided to paint the planter a pale pink color! I am loving the color!

This is on its way to its new home as well! :)

Dollhouse Miniature Iron Wrought Grill Fence

TGIF all! I've recently been bitten by the farmhouse style lately, and guess what? This dollhouse miniature iron wrought grill fence was picked up by my sweet customer within minutes after it was listed. ^^ I'm feeling very happy and humbled. I know it's going to a wonderful home :)

My first try at designing my own iron wrought door was blogged here.

This iron wrought grill fence is slightly larger, and whereas the previous one looks more like a garden door to me ;)

White color makes it look more like a farmhouse style decor

I actually made my first one a black colored fence, and that was used as a christmas prop piece, and this was actually my second piece.

A perfect decor piece to compliment your flower arrangements! Making this takes a bit of time, but I'm learning quite a bit and am getting the hang of it. Learning to control the tix is quite crucial in getting neat joints.

I hope to churn out more designs at a later stage :)

Have a beautiful weekend all!

Dollhouse Miniature Pink Cabbage Rose

Hi everyone! It's Sunday here. I wanted to show you a project that I worked on for the past few days. A special customer of mine requested for a dollhouse miniature pink cabbage rose. Before I tried making one, I had to search for an image to take a look. I was imagining a softer pink, but the ones that I saw on the internet were a darker purplish shade.

So, I came up with my own shade. My customer has a thing for pale pink and has also requested for the jug to be painted in pale pink as well!

I was pleased with how it turned out. The petals are very detailed and has that cabbage leaf print. I think she's going to love that!

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Also, I've just started an instagram account recently and have been updating it a few times a week. I'm still very new at it. But it would be great to have you to follow me there, I tend to post some pics quickly there with my phone camera. :)

Have a great Sunday all!

Dollhouse Paper Flower Kit - Hydrangeas

It is becoming extremely rare to find high quality dollhouse paper flower kits. Their quality is great, and makes crafting so much easier and enjoyable. Here is another great dollhouse flower kit featuring hydrangeas. All you need are scissors, paint brushes, water color or acrylic paint, tweezers, ball stylus tool and crafting glue.

In this kit comes almost all the essentials - laser cut petals and leaves. Also included in the kit is the instruction page in black and white with pictures. 

Tip: You should paint and curl your petals and leaves before gluing them to wires so that it is easier to adjust the shape.

You will find it easy to follow with the step and step illustration! You should be able to make about 10 stalks of hydrangeas with the wires provided, and if you have more petals left, simply get some wires and make more!

Now available in my shop here.

A couple of recent works

I'm a little busy these couple of days with hosting a friend who's visiting from overseas. But I wanted to show you a few quick photos of the latest work I've completed recently and all are on their way to their new homes. I'm so thankful each and everyone of my pieces get to be treasured and goes into their new homes.:)

I wanted to write a bit more about creative routines, which is quite fascinating, but I guess I will have to leave it to a later blog post when I have time to really sit and write.

  Can never really quite get tired of lilac hydrangeas!

And these soft bouquets! Each and everyone is always a little different! I could never get tired making pink bouquets. Hopefully you enjoy these pictures! :)

Dollhouse Miniature Swan Desserts

It's been a while since I attempted to make some dollhouse miniature desserts, and believe it or not, I've not tried making the swan desserts yet! I saw some very elegant ones on Pinterest the other day and that prompted me to make some.

I've always loved the white, elegant, pristine look of the swan. Thus, I naturally wanted to keep that look while making these. White chocolate mousse is the main theme in this dessert.

 

And of course, an obligatory shot of the miniature dessert on my finger. :)

Using UV Resin To Make Miniature Transparent Cups

I'm so excited to share with you my experimentation of making dollhouse miniature transparent cups using UV Resin and some molds.

Before these materials were readily available, it was quite hard to make them properly, especially if you wanted your cups or glasses to look the same equally.

Then came the transparent air dry clay, which was pretty much the best answer to creating realistic looking transparent cups. The downside of it was that you had to be patient to let it dry. So if you want to make more than a few, you probably need a few days or even a week or two.

With UV Resin, everything is so much easier and faster. Below, I will write out the simple steps that you can follow to make your own!

How to use the UV Resin with Push Mold: 
It's really simple to use the UV resin with the push mold here. Simply squeeze the UV resin into the mold. It is best to fill up to 3/4 full. A way to check is to cover the top of the push mold and see if the resin comes right up to the lid of the push mold.

It is OK to have some UV Resin touching the top of the push mold. In fact, I prefer that so that your cups will be of the same equal height.

Keep the lid on and put it under the UV lamp for a few minutes.

After a few minutes, remove the top lid and remove cup from the mold. Use penknife to gently cut excess resin that has over-spilled.  Lastly, use sandpaper to gently buff the edges to give it a smooth round finish!

Here, I have the 2 different size cups made with UV Resin.

Both are suitable for 1/12 dollhouse miniature scale.

Cup molds are available here and here.
UV Resin is available here.

Lastly, the same method can be used for making plates, bowls as well! Have fun!

New Dollhouse Miniature Lace Cake Stand

Hi everyone! I've been busy quietly working here as usual. I wanted to present another new dollhouse miniature lace cake stand which I made just recently.

I find it hard finding the right parts to assemble and make dollhouse miniature cake stands here, so when I chance upon something, I'm quite excited. Also, you know that there are certain styles or look that appeals to me more than others, so I trust my instincts when it comes to things like this.

The new design is on the left - 1.6cm. Very simple but elegant. I also like the height difference from my previous lace cake design. You see, I think when it comes to styling, it would add a beautiful dimensional look to your miniature scenes when you can find different dollhouse miniature lace cake stands to display your pastries. So, I am quite excited myself when I created the new one. It is available here.

The older version, at the approximate height of 1.9cm is available here.

Have a wonderful week all!

Just to say I'm here still!

This might be one of the rare posts that I don't have any photos to go along with. No, wait! Maybe I will insert something below later. But I wanted to write to update about what's going on. Again, time passes so quickly, and August has been a fruitful month for me in terms of learning about life in general. How do we become a better friend? How do our quiet presence benefit others? How do we deal with disappointments? How do we show our care by simple acts? It might be a lot to digest, and I may be the only one who thinks about things like this deeply. Believe it or not, I think deeply about things like this. At the same time, I always tell myself to be in the present moment - not to dwell on the past and not to worry about the future.

Enough about the deep life topics (which I can go on and on if I want to)! On the work front, I was delighted to be contacted for a few customized orders in the middle of this month. Coincidentally, both projects involved creating fake macarons! You know how much I do love creating them so I always enjoy working on them whenever I get a chance! One project was to be mailed to France and another one to UK. I did not have the chance to take photos of my completed work because I was very conscious about postal timelines. I always want to make sure my customer receives them earlier or at least on the expected due date. Therefore for both projects, I was in a hurry to pack and mail them out as soon as they are done so I set aside ample time for postal delivery. :) Today marks the day where I have mailed out my large macaron order, so I can relax a little.

My next project will be working on a bridal order! One sweet bride-to-be contacted me to create several macaron with rose necklaces for her bridesmaids. So I will be working on those soon. I'm so glad she contacted me way in advance and gave me more than sufficient time to work on them, so I'm truly grateful!

I'll be sure to take some pictures this time round since I'm not working on a tight time line.

Off to bed here.. Have a great day all! 

Dollhouse Miniature Summer Flower Bouquet

I've been crazy over a new colour scheme this week and have been making another new dollhouse miniature summer flower bouquet. I think I've not tried colours together like this before, and so I'm excited. They look lovely together!

Greens, fuchsia, purples, hot pinks - somehow they seem to go well together.

Another new lovely antique planter to go along with this summer bouquet.

Wishing you all a great week ahead!

Dollhouse Miniature Summer Wedding Cake

Hi all! Last week, I worked on a dollhouse miniature summer wedding cake. If you remembered, the first time I tried making a three tier wedding cake was a while ago, and I used some bright vivid colors for my first one. But it's summer time now, and so I wanted a change in the look and feel of it.

As you can see, I've used sweet pinks, greens and pastels for this summer time wedding cake. I'm loving the colors ^^

And of course, the entire cake on my hand to show the scale.

I am excited to see what I'll come up with next. I always like to amaze myself.

Dollhouse Miniature Antique White Kitchen Scale

Hello all! It's been a while I did some photo styling with my miniatures. So I did just that over the weekend :)

I made another antique white kitchen scale in 1/12 scale and decided I wanted to give some scale perspective with my other miniatures. The baking table was perfect for this photo shoot :)

I also saw another pinterest photo with scales stacked up. And here's mine.

Dollhouse Miniature Vintage Kitchen Scale

Hi all! This week, I attempted something new. While browsing pinterest, I found some uber cute vintage kitchen scales and I've always been crazy with anything vintage or antique, if you do not know by now. I wanted to challenge myself and I think I may be able to make it into a dollhouse miniature version.

Yesterday, I spent several hours making my first dollhouse miniature vintage kitchen scale. Most of the real ones are in a lovely shade of teal or turquoise, and it's one of my favorite colors, so why not?!

Again, it's one of those things that I'd not have been able to make several years ago, without the knowledge of using some materials. I made this using only a bit of wood, but mostly plastic and metal, which is a big step for me. I'm slowly learning to discover the beauty of using plastics in my work, but it's still a new technique.

Plastic is wonderful, but perhaps because I'm still new to it, I'll have to say that it's taking me a longer time than usual to cut and glue them together.

And yes there are some plans to make them in different colors, so please stay tuned! :)