Cane update!

Started to work since August... And to sum up, busy, busy, busy!!! Luckily I managed to steal some time to realise some of my on-going ideas... Among them, fruit canes, at a higher level. I had an update on lemon canes somewhere in my blog, and a not-so-nice kiwi cane previously; and I have to say, cane making is not an easy task!

Enough of words, pictures below. Time for some sleep for another working day tomorrow. (Did I mention today's a public holiday here?)

Strawberry and banana slices, checked.

On a side note, I just bought a new exacto knife from local bookstore at RM 6.90; after my previous knife's handle got misshaped by the heat from my hair dryer... Erh, well, okay, I was using it to semi-cure some clay projects for better handling and touch-ups... But that will be updated as a series later. 

Alrighty, see you then!

Molding miniature plate and bowl with oyumaru - tutorial & review

Today I will be fulfilling my promise to write a review on the oyumaru I recently acquired from the art supplies. With that I will be doing the review by making some molds for plates and bowls, which are essential for miniature food makers. The plate and bowl shapes were inspired by SugarCharmShop.

Before everything, make a few plate/bowl bottoms using scrap polymer clay and bake accordingly. Cool the polymer clay before use.

1. Pre-baked plate, bowl, and cup bottoms.

Then, heat up some water in a pot to a minimum of 80 degree Celcius. Pop in the oyumaru and leave for few minutes (depending on the thickness of the oyumaru bar).

2. Heat the oyumaru in hot water.

Using a pair of chopsticks or skewer (or anything you'd wish), pull out the oyumaru. The oyumaru should be easily bent or changed in shape when taken out. Drain the hot water away using a towel or a paper towel.

3. Drain the hot water using paper towel. I'd recommend towel as this piece
of oyumaru tends to catch bits of the paper towel.

Next, quickly knead the warm oyumaru into a ball and remove possible air bubble trapped within. Smooth out the ball to avoid cracks in the mold later.

4. Knead oyumaru into a smooth ball while it's warm.

Flatten the kneaded oyumaru slightly or to fit to your desired mold shape. In this picture I flattened it pretty much to make a plate mold.

5. Flatten the oyumaru to fit the item to be molded.

Press the plate/bowl/cup into the oyumaru (while it's warm) while making sure the oyumaru wraps tightly around the item. Then, flatten out the excess oyumaru around the item to make the mold thinner (increasing its flexibility later).

6. Press in the item to make the mold.

I always like to flip the molds over and flatten them again to have a smooth and thin top surface around the mold so it will be easier to pull out my products later.

7. Flipper over for a smooth top.

Wait for 20 minutes to cool the oyumaru down. Do not pull the item off when it's still warm or the mold shape will be distorted. If you're impatient, run tap water on the oyumaru to speed up the cooling. After the oyumaru is cool enough, gently remove the items from the molds.

8. Plate, bowl, and cup; and their respective molds.

And, done!

Now let's try to make a cup out of it. I pushed a small ball of scrap clay into the mold, and used a ball tool to make the cup shape.

Raw polymer clay in mold, shaped using a ball tool.

I tried to pull the clay out, but with no success as the cup was too thin, and that the shape would be destroyed when I tried to pop the cup out by flexing the oyumaru mold. As such, I'd recommend some releasing agent (baby oil, cornstarch, or water if it suits you). You can also put them into freezer to harden the clay a little. Alternatively, like me, I popped the oyumaru back into boiling water for another 5 minutes to semi-cure the polymer clay before cooling and popping it out. But this also means that your mold will have to be remade afterwards.

Then the cup was sanded a little to make it more presentable. The cup shape was a bit off on the top, which means that my first cup for the mold wasn't good enough (see the rounded edge on the top edge). Will improve on that!

The mold, and the cups.

Notes after using oyumaru:

1. Cheap when compared to Silicone putty (nearly RM 100 here?!).
2. They are reusable. This makes another strong point to save some money - not happy? Just reheat it.
3. If you leave the oyumaru in boiling and bubbling water, your oyumaru will likely trap the bubbles and will look bubbly as well after.
4. The flexibility of the oyumaru is acceptable, but less so when it's too thick. So always try to have a flattened out area so you can flex the mold better.

Shopping.., again!

I was looking for oyumaru all around when I finally came to know about the reusable features of these plastic compounds, but after looking around in Daiso @ the Curve, and several others in Klang Valley, I finally gave up and took my trip to Multifilla at Balakong, and then dropped by at the Mines' Daiso again just for a cooking pot.

All stuffed into a pot!

Now let's go through one by one. . .

Oyumaru, packed in DIY sushi packs.

On a closer look this would be my packs of oyumaru. Multifilla sells two bars in a packet at RM 7.50; but my kind boyfriend (smart enough) pointed to these sushi packs and asked if these were also oyumaru to make sushi ("so cute!"). So it crossed my mind to take these instead, since I will get 3 bars in the pack at the price of only RM 8.50.

Will be writing a tutorial and/or review on these oyumaru later on.

(EDIT: Good news for everyone out there was that I actually found oyumaru in the Daiso of the Mines! It's at RM 5 for two. *growls* Check out the stationery section. It would be hard to find as it was small, and hung along with other not-so-relevant stuffs.)

Cooking pot from Daiso. RM 5 only.

So the cooking pot is what I will be using for boiling my oyumarus. Just to be safe as to not use the same pot for cooking.

Finally determinedly bought TLS. RM 28. Phew.

And thanks to my trip to Multifilla where everything for clay seems so interesting... And that this item was hung right above the oyumarus... Finally, I got my hands onto TLS that I have been longing for! Sauces, cream, and everything, wait for me! Yay! I am not really sure of the price of TLS in Artfriend, but if you know, please let us know so we could compare them. :)

The old Fimo soft bar in 25 g.

And finally a gold bar on sale for RM 5 each. Took one to keep just in case I start to make some metal-coloured stuffs. These are old old bars, thus on sale; but nonetheless conditionable (though time consuming).

Anyway, I figured that my rate of polymer clay projects production are far slower than my purchasing rate! Ouch! I should be controlling myself so I don't get into financial trouble before my pay comes! :P

Till then, peace!

Weekend project, done.

Been wanting to do a key cover for my newly acquired office key (which didn't work very well on the door, anyway). So there you are... good try yeah? :D

Rilakkuma! How do you love it?

EDIT: This rilakkuma broke into pieces once I slotted in my key into its rightful keyhole and took a 360 degree turn... Maybe I have not baked it hard enough, but I guess maybe just some brands are not as hard though cured fully. Will look into that....

Celebrating the arrival of our new family member!

This is to welcome my beloved niece Gillian to this wonderful world! She is soooooo cute that I couldn't resist hugging her all the time! :)

Baby! Cute baby done as a magnet for my sister.

I hope she has a enjoyable and healthy life ahead. <3 <3

Flat even pieces?

If you do not have a pasta machine... And are trying to get some even pieces, e.g. making cake slices, etc... Read on.

(No money for pasta machine...)

The trick is simple... Just put two objects of even thickness to both sides of your clay and then roll them on!

You may have pieces of cardboard stuck together, or decks of cards (similar number on each side); basically anything as long as you have them both similarly thick, and roll the clay with rolling pin...

Cardboard? Cards? Foam? Anything under the sky!

End product, tada! So no more excuses for uneven pieces. Hee!

Rolled away!

Good luck trying!!

It is our anniversary!

Happy anniversary! It's us being together for 3 years, and I do hope we have infinite 3 years to come in the future. May we be blessed with strength to walk, hand-in-hand, for the rest of our lives. Muah baby! :*

You and me, I love you!